The Animal Goddess

Training

There was light snowfall, snowflakes glittered and danced in the sky until they fell to the ground covered in snow. Estrid walked outside behind Skadi, as soon as she saw the snow she became amazed. Skadi looked back at her, smiling a bit.

"Have you never seen the snow?" Estrud shook her head slightly at Skadi's question.

"It's beautiful." The girl mumbles under her breath, a bit of frost could be seen as she exhaled. Skadi chuckled then grabbed a staff, handing it to a confused Estrid.

"This is a staff, I suggest you learn how to use it. It will protect you but for now, let's put it aside. I'll help you to learn how to fight with your fists and the staff. Let's go." Skadi taught Estrid a few basic moves first then showed her how to put some moves together. It took a long time for Estrid to get the hang of fighting.

"I can't do it!" She huffed in frustration. "I'll never ne good like you or the other gods and goddesses."

"Young one, it takes a while. You have to keep training, it's the only way to get better. You need to know how to fight because something bad in the future will happen to you. Come on, try again." Skadi mentioned, her voice soft but serious. The two got back to fighting. Estrid slowly got better as the days went by, soon becoming unpredictable with every move. She practised for almost five weeks. Estrid started to learn how to fight with her staff and once she perfected fighting, she got a new staff from Skadi. It was better, stronger, lighter so Estrid's attacks were fast and swift. It had a silver blade smelted into the blade and marks were etched into the edge of the blade.

"Take this, it's a weapon you must never abandoned. It was made by the most skilled dwarf named Brokkr, it was made especially for you Estrid." Skadi smiled. "Keep practising so you never falter." Estrid grabbed the staff and twirled it around. She smiled back at Skadi.

"Thank you so much. By the way, why do I need to know how to fight? What's going to happen in the future?" She asked confused.

"Not much can be said as you need to find out yourself young one but it's not just fighting you need to learn, it's thinking as well and you need to learn more about your powers."

"How do I learn about my powers?"

"We'll go back to the forest, you've been said to be the animal goddess that was born from the Living Primrose. You can talk to animals but there is more to you. To your powers."

"Okay, then what about thinking?"

"It's simple. Think before acting. Ever heard of that young one?" Estrid shook her head, confused by the saying. "The mind is sometimes the most powerful weapon. It helps us to decide those difficult choices that others sometimes won't do. An example is I was hunting one day for meat but saw frost giants heading towards the sheep. I could of still hunted the sheep and tried to fight off the giants... but I didn't. I thought about my possibilities. I would get the meat I wanted but I would be in danger. Or I could leave the sheep and giants alone and find somewhere else to hunt."

"And like you said before, you chose the second option, to avoid a fight. I understand. It's sort of the same with my family, I could have fought those strangers but didn't."

"Yeah, sort of like that. It was more fear holding you back from fighting, I wasn't scared of the frost giants. It's okay though. I'll teach you that, don't worry. But for now, wake up your brother and we'll go to the forest, all three of us. He needs to start waking up early like us so he can help you keep in touch with your animal powers. Okay?" Estrid nodded, heading towards the little hut. She opened the door and Stein came running out, nuzzling his head against her leg.

"Morning Estrid!" He said happily.

"Morning Stein. Come, we're going to the forest." She replied back.

"Cool, what's it for though?"

"To help me get in touch with my animal powers. You're kind of a big key to my powers." Estrid smirked slightly. "Not to brag but I'm getting better." Stein laughed and the two started to walk to the forest, it wasn't that long of a walk. They soon saw Skadi kneeling on a rock with her biw out. She shot an arrow, a pig squealing in the distance could be heard. Skadi turned her head and gestured for the two to follow. They did, soon coming across a pig that had been shot. Skadi grabbed out a dagger and put the pig out of it's misery.

"Dig in Stein, you haven't been eating much." She backed up from the pig and Stein dug his face into the meat, munching on it. "Follow." Skadi said to Estrid, the girl did so and saw the goddess of winter sit down cross legged on the Earth. Estrid sat down on the ground in front of Skadi. "Now, the forest is your home. I want you to relax, to tune in with the forest noises so you can unlock your powers. Now close your eyes and focus on your breathing." Estrid closes her eyes, her shoulders tensing while she was trying to focus on her breathing. Skadi could hear the uncomfortable grunts from the girls as she tried to focus and relax.

"I can't do this. This is hopeless." She crossed her arms and pouted.

"Now, now, let's not give up yet. Some gods and or goddesses get their powers easily, some not so much. Let me tell you something. Have you ever heard of the siblings Sol and Mani?" Estrid nodded at Skadi's question. "Well, they didn’t know what their powers were or what their role was in the new world. Then the gods met together and created the different parts of the day and year and the phases of the moon so that Sol and Mani would know where they fit into the great scheme of things. Sometimes it takes a while but they eventually did it. And get this, they were reborn as children, around your age and refigured their powers. It's not hard if you just let everything go. Try again. Close your eyes, relax your shoulders and focus on your breathing." Estrid tried again, this time really focusing on her posture. Her shoulders dropped slightly and she was breathing at a nice, steady pace. Estrid could hear the birds chirping and a few roars from bears and other noises from other various creatures. She could feel herself being open up to a new world she never saw before. Skadi opened her eyes, following the same process as Estrid to see a baby horse in front of her, resting on it's legs with it's snout pointing down. "Estrid." Skadi called, Estrid slowly opened her eyes and got up, feeling her legs shaking as she tried to stand properly.

"Whoa... what happened to me?" Estrid asked, looking around as got glimpses of what she looked like. She formed into a brown baby horse with deep brown hair.

"This is something else you can do. You can shapeshift into animals." The goddess said with a smile, getting uo on her feet. Stein stared in awe at the transformation that happened.

"That. Is. Awesome!" He exclaimed, running towards Estrid. It took around another four to five weeks to channel this power so it could just be called upon without hesitation.