makligr, httyd

iii. the great beyond

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(makligr) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter three; yrsa
❝ the great beyond! ❞

"OKAY, BUD, go ahead."

A low beam of purple filled the room. Yrsa's shoulders sat back in surprise to see the wall in front of her light up in symbols, pictures and maps, all from the Dragon Eye settled on the barrel in the centre of Hiccup's bedroom. He had woken them all up in the early, early hours of the morning (the sun hadn't even risen yet) to show them all what he had discovered━and it was worth it.

The group of Dragon Riders all chorused mutterings of awe, their faces gleaming with the purple reflections of Toothless's beam. Yrsa had no idea what these symbols or writings meant, but it was easy to tell it was a map━one that led out further than the edges of the Archipelago.

She ran patterns along Toothless's scales, a small smirk coming to her lips in amazement.

"Fishlegs," Hiccup turned to the pudgy Viking, "can you make any of it out?"

He walked up to the map on the wooden wall with pursed lips. "There are parts of maps and symbols ... nothing I've seen before," he traced his fingers across the symbols, in awe. "And there's writing━but it's in a language I've never read before."

"What's that thing?" Snotlout pointed to the flaming fist in the centre of the map.

Hiccup shrugged, "Must be some kind of tribal crest or something."

"Oooh!" Tuffnut shuffled his feet giddily. "I like that way better than our tribal crest."

Yrsa frowned at him. "We don't have a tribal crest."

"Well, we should," Ruff countered.

"Yeah," added her brother, "and it should be that."

Yrsa resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Hiccup," Fishlegs was still studying the symbols, "this map, you realise it━"

"Goes beyond the boundaries of the Archipelago, oh, I know."

They shared looks and Yrsa could see━everyone was ready to drop everything they had worked for the past three years; their jobs, the beginnings of their adult lives, to go on this adventure. They were so ready, there was no hesitation━none whatsoever.

Yrsa felt her heart flutter with excitement. She tilted up her chin and met Hiccup's gaze, eyes blazing with the thirst for adventure. "So," she smirked, "what's our next move?"

He returned the smirk, and with the light in his gaze she knew that they were about to find out what this map meant; and what it held.

As the morning sun rose over the horizon, the Dragon Riders prepped themselves for a long journey ahead. They knew, even if Hiccup didn't gain the support of his father and the council, they would be leaving anyway. Yrsa felt like she was fifteen again, going on journeys and missions to find new dragons, to fight the Berserkers or Outcasts━she hadn't realised how much she missed it until now. Missed the thrill; the suprise and memories━how much it has started to shape her into the person she was now.

Yrsa polished her father's axe right before she left, running her fingers down the runes that spelt his and her name. Helrose waited with her bags attatched to her saddle, purring a little to notice the fall of Yrsa's face━something she didn't hold often.

As years went on by, Yrsa started to forget little things about her father, and that made her guilty. How could she forget? How could she forget that he wasn't around? Forget the sound of his laugh some mornings when she was too tired to even function. But the one thing she didn't forget, was the day he gave her this axe. The blade might've changed throughout the years━accustomed to her growth. But the hilt? The hilt has never changed. The hilt has stayed constant through everything.