Between Waves and Clouds

PART 1 - LONELINESS

The day started with a clouded sky and pretty chill temperatures, making the usually colorful lanscape appear almost grey. Despite the wind slowly foresaying winter was coming, life in the village was going on just like any other day. After all, vikings was known to be tough and stubborn, even the thickest snow covering their island couldn't stop them.

However, while the village was busying with life, there was one of them who wasn't. Lying on his bed inside the family hutt, a young man was perfectly awake but still.

Sunkissed skin echoing with golden blond hair, eyes as green as sun-bathed grass, faint freckles dotting his cheeks and nose, he used to be as bright as his appearances. But not that day. That day, his hair was disheveled, his eyes were dull. He was only eighteen, yet he had the eyes of an old man who had lived too long and was waiting for the final rest.

Eyes lost in the ceilling, arms crossed under his head, his thoughts were empty while he was filling his ears with the sounds coming from outside. He was listening to the village and its inhabitants waking up. He was hearing footsteps, voices, somes words he could make out, greetings and chattings, some wheels on the dry earth, and several noises made by the dragons. Wings beating, happy or angry roars, chirpings, warbbings...

New Berk was kind of lively, especially with the company of the winged reptiles, and the young man was mentally thanking his clan for this. He wasn't doubting that, in the long time, that would help him recover even if, right now, he was feeling really down.

Not that he didn't have anything to make him happy. He had loving and understanding parents, with mighty reputation, a protective and caring big sister whom he was close to, a bunch of friends to which he could talk about anything, and a dragon as best friend.

However, he was missing something very important in his life, if not the most important, and it was gnawing him from the inside. He often questioned himself about this, but it had never been such a torture as it was right now.

He didn't want to think about it, still his mind kept wandering back to this topic, not leaving him alone. He tried his best to clear his mind. He remained lied to find the strength to get up. He listened to the outside noises to keep his inner thoughts at bay. He kept his eyes on the ceilling so he wouldn't look throught the window, where he could see him. He kept his mind empty to not think about the pain, and tried to think about what could make him happy instead.

He crossed his fingers under his head, his hair tickling his arms. Thinking about his arms prevented him from thinking about his eyes, puffy and sore from all the tears he had shed during the night. Thinking about the throbbing pain in his temples prevented him from thinking about the pain in his heart.

When he shook his head to make his thought quiet, asking him how and why it had happened, he felt a braid stroking the skin of his forearm. Still trying to keep his emotions and memories at bay, trying to push them behind the wall he was building in his chest, he grabbed the braid. Softly, he stroked the intertwinned strands behind his right ear. He used his other to check behind the left ear, finding two more braids. He smiled faintly.

His mother surely made them last evening, when he had miserably fall asleep on the dining table after pouring out his freshly slaugthered heart in front of his family. His mother had always loved to braid his hair, just like she did with his father's and sister's. While growing up, his sister Zephyr had growned tired of this and asked her mother to stop, which had made the mother sad in a way. For his part, he liked it, so his mother was more than happy to braid his golden blond hair he had inherited from her.

He soflty shook his head at the memory. If it wasn't the case when he was a kid, now he really liked the braids, and even more seeing the smile on his mother's face when she was doing them. It was priceless and precious. Plus, braids were a symbol of strength for vikings, everyone was wearing them in the end.