The Night Rider: Book Three

Chapter 30: O' Tears, Wash it Away

ASTRIDS POV.

"Heather, come on. You've got to talk to me." Astrid said, looking across the table at her friend, but Heather didn't look back at her. Instead, her eyes remained down on her brother's still features. Astrid sighed, heavy and deep. "Heather, please."

No response, and Astrid frowned. Heather wouldn't even look at her, it was like she was invisible; a ghost or an apparition, something that can't be perceived by the human eye.  Honestly, she kind of reminded Astrid of herself after her parents had died. She didn't think about them much, not as much as she should, the memories were just too painful, so she locked them away.

"My parents..." she began, her throat immediately becoming sore as she clutched back at the wave of emotions. "...they were two of Berks best. Two of our best warriors, two of our best fishers, two of our best builders, they were two of our best people. My whole childhood I idolized them, I wanted to be like them more than anything else—they were my hero's."

Astrid paused for a moment, sniffling back her emotions and swatting away a tear that was forming in the corner of one of her eyes. "So, when they died...it broke me. They were the only family I had; for weeks after it I hardly spoke to anyone, all I did was train during the days, and when I slept I had...nightmares. Horrible nightmares—of them."

"What's your point, Astrid?" Heather breathed, her voice hollow.

Astrid blinked back tears, tilting her head back a fraction to try and keep them from falling. "My point...my point is that I know what it's like to lose someone you love. It's the worse feeling in the world, but you can't go through it alone; you can't lock everyone out."

Heathers eyes welled up with heavy tears, the large droplets dripping out and down onto the assortment of flowers around her brother's body.

"It's just..." Heather raised up one of her hands and placed it gingerly onto Dagurs chest, her fingers gently caressing the soft black fabric. "He's right here, I can feel him, but as the same time he's...he's so far from my reach."

"I know." She said, her own tears spilling out of her eyes.

"I kept him locked in a cage for months! And when he got out he gave up his life for my own!" Heather cried, her sobs shaking her entire body.

Astrid placed her own hand onto Heathers that sat on Dagurs chest and gave it a squeeze. "That's because he loved you!"

"For so much of my life I hated him! And for so much of my life I wanted to kill him! But now that he's...he's gone...I want nothing more than to talk to him one last time." Heather, full of sadness, collapsed onto Dagur, burying her face into his chest and wrapping her arms around him as best she could.

Astrid moved around the table to Heather and embraced her from behind, feeing the rattling of the girls crying in her own body. The two of them stood there, both crying, for minutes, and Astrid would stand there for as long as Heather needed her to. Astrid said nothing, as there was nothing more she could say that would help Heather. All she could do was hold Heather and let her friend know she was there for her. The black haired warrior eventually pulled herself off of her brother, her face stained with fluid, and turned around towards Astrid to better hug her.

"I—I—I just do—don't know what to—to do!" Heather balled, her hug squeezing tight against Astrids body.

"This is what you can do. You can feel it, you can grieve him! This is all you can do for now!" Astrid assured her friend, her words only seeming to send Heather deeper into her crying.

Astrid became like a crutch to Heather as the girls legs gave out beneath her under the weight of her emotions, and Astrid gently and carefully led Heather over to the wall where they could sit together. Once on the floor, Heather buried her face into Astrids shoulder, and Astrid tried her best to continue her embrace around Heather. The two of them sat until Heather could cry no more, the walls of the small house having absorbed all of the noise of her crying, and the floor soaked up all her tears. Once Heather was silent, the continued to sit with one another, neither of them having anything to say.