He said one day I'd realize why I don't have any friends [Open]

Wrapping her cloak around her more tightly as a great chilled wind from the bay swept over the area, Iliana kept her head down, eyes darting back and forth as she tried her best to take in as much of the landscape and market as she could. She hated looking out of place, surprised at her own longing to see anything even remotely familiar. But she'd come to Kattegat for a reason; She didn't want to just survive any longer. She wanted to thrive. And that simply wasn't possible while she remained like a ghost living in her parents' home.

The journey from Uddevalla to Kattegat hadn't exactly been easy but Iliana continued to tell herself it would all be worth it in the end.

She wondered what sort of customs, if any, needed to be observed. She had a number of pieces of jewelry to sell and wondered if she ought to gift one to the Queen. It might help her sell her things if Queen Aslaug was wearing some of it. Would that be too forward? The rules of society occasionally escaped her, and she worried it would take her far longer to become accustomed to life in Kattegat than she'd anticipated.

Deciding she could worry about all of that later, Iliana slowed her pace when one of the shops caught her eye. It was a dress shop and she eyed the gowns with envy. It had been so long since she'd allowed herself to spend money on anything as frivolous as a new dress. She'd had more important things to worry about when it wasn't that hard to mend her dresses herself. But this counted as a good enough reason to open her purse a bit, surely?

Shaking her head, she knew this wasn't a good idea. She shouldn't be wasting money on non-essentials so soon. Spinning on her heel, Iliana pushed herself away from the shop quickly, irritated with herself for nearly being so irresponsible. In her haste, she'd had little time to look where she was going and walked directly into someone. She'd have fallen over if she hadn't reached out and grabbed onto their arm to stop herself.

"I'm so sorry!" she announced immediately, hoping whoever this was wasn't hurt at all. And also that they didn't have too much of a temper. She just really wasn't in the mood.

.if i die, i die

The market of Kattegat was very crowded today. The harvest feast was only a few days away and a lot of Vikings and villagers had already came to Kattegat for the big feast. Naemi was doing her daily round, walking the streets of Kattegat to learn and observe the behavior of others. She held the reins of Helios in her right hand while her bright eyes tried to see the brown curls of her little brother. The young Thegn had taken her twin siblings with her today and Bjarne was running around like the active little kid he was. Ebba was sitting on Helios, way more shy than her brother and not quite happy with the trip they were having. Helios on the other hand, looked with his ears forward to all the people and stepped aside when needed. He behaved perfectly, like always.

Bjarne stood next to one of Kattegat’s Vikings, while the man showed off his sword. Naemi grinned, shaking her head. That boy would be a great Vikings some day and he would outfight her for sure. When some people crossed the street before her, Naemi stopped Helios and looked up to her little sister. Ebba smiled, a sweet and innocent smile. Just when Naemi wanted to continue her step, a person walked right against her. She slipped back a bit, but got her act together almost immediately. The person grabbed her arm to provide itself from falling. Two blue eyes looked at her, a pale skin surrounded by red hair. Red like fire. Naemi held her face straight, ignoring the inpatient movements of Helios. "I'm so sorry!" Apologized the girl immediately. The bright eyes of the Thegn narrowed a bit, as she tilted her head slightly. ”You’re not from here, are you?” She asked the girl, not responding to her apology.

at least I'll go down fighting.

Thank you Sarah!

The person, well woman, she'd walked into had narrowed her eyes slightly and immediately noticed that the redhead wasn't exactly a local. It was just her luck, honestly. This wasn’t how you were supposed to introduce yourself to people. Well, it could have been worse, Iliana decided immediately. For example, the brunette she'd accidentally walked into could've just punched her square in the nose. She rather looked the type.

Straightening herself up immediately, she shook her head. "No, I'm not. I've only just arrived, actually." She didn't feel it was necessary to explain any further. She didn’t want to be too quick to judge the woman standing in front of her, but she wasn’t exactly getting ‘please, tell me your entire life story’ vibes from her.

“That’s a beautiful horse,” she commented, still acutely aware that the stranger hadn’t accepted her apology yet, and hoping to amend the situation. She wasn’t exactly trying to make friends on Day One, but certainly didn’t want to make any enemies. She sent a small smile and wave to the young girl sitting atop the horse. Iliana had always found children easier to deal with than adults. They were a lot more honest and a lot less hostile.

“Are you a shield maiden?” she wondered finally, asking the question she’d had since first getting a good look at the other woman. Iliana was always in awe of such women. She knew enough to protect herself, but she’d always been envious of the women who had the discipline and inner strength to become warriors. Like her mother had. She did occasionally regret not committing to training with her mother when she’d had the chance, but in all honesty, she just wasn’t warrior material.

“My mother was a shield maiden, but she died when I was young.”

.if i die, i die

The young Thegn looked at the red-headed girl like she was imagining twenty ways to kill her. And maybe she was. Naemi isn’t a person’s-person, obviously, and all those strangers made her cautious. But it wasn’t her task right now to just punch the girl in the face and truly, it would be a sin to mess up a pretty face like that. So Naemi tried to stay calm and signed a little before her eyes looked at the clothes the girl was wearing.

That the girl wasn’t from Kattegat wasn’t because of the way she looked, or the way she had her hair done. Naemi had never seen hair red like that before and her accent sounded a little different. "No, I'm not. I've only just arrived, actually." Said the red-headed girl as a respond. Naemi nodded, not really knowing what to do with this stranger. Not that there was anything she had to do, to be honest. But she was still standing in her way and with Helios it was impossible to just step aside her and walk away. Naemi’s bright eyes slipped away from the girl for just a second, to find the brown curls of Bjarne just across the street. Helios sneezed and stepped one pass aside, impatient while his eyes looked curious at the stranger. “That’s a beautiful horse,” The girl commented and Naemi looked at the orange horse, before her attention went to her sister. Ebba was smiling at the stranger and looked at her big sister before waving back. It was this little action of her sister, that made Naemi smile too. Ebba always liked other people, even though she was shy. Naemi wanted to thank the girl for her compliment, but said ”He is,” instead. Even though it were only two words, you could hear the love trough her cold voice.

“Are you a shield maiden?” Just when Naemi looked back at the girl, a small voice was making himself heard. “She is going to be!” The young thegn looked down at Bjarne, who stood beside the girl smiling from ear to ear. “Just like I’m becoming a great Viking.” You couldn’t miss the enthusiasm in his voice while he was jumping around. “Can I see the blacksmith?” He then asked his big sister. ”Sure, but don’t wander off.” Naemi respond and Bjarne nodded. “I won’t!” The little boy promised, before running away. Naemi looked at the girl, forcing a smile on her face. It looked as cold as her voice sounded. ”Like he said, I’m going to be a shield maiden.” She confirmed. The red-headed girl didn’t look like any warrior what so ever and it made Naemi kind off curious. But before she could ask anything, the girl spoke again. Normally Naemi would have left already, but with Helios by her side she couldn’t get away that easily. And the girl got somehow her attention. “My mother was a shield maiden, but she died when I was young.” Well, that was some sort of information Naemi didn’t could do anything with. ”And what are you?” She then asked. ’You surely don’t look like a shield maiden.” Naemi said while frowning her eyebrows.

at least I'll go down fighting.

Thank you Sarah!

It seemed her complimentwasn’t exactly going to ease the tension of the situation as she’d hoped, but at least the brunette in front of her had let a small smile slip in her sister’s direction. And Iliana could tell from the reply that the woman opposite her was quite fond of her horse. At this point, she’d take what she could get.

A small boy appeared out of nowhere and Iliana turned to get a look at him. He was clearly related to the pair in front of her. He seemed quite rambunctious and the redhead wondered how people managed to deal with that much energy all day long. Nevertheless, she grinned down at the happy little boy. His enthusiasm was catching, it seemed. She nodded at their response. It was obvious this woman wasn’t just another villager.

“That’s very impressive. I know how much work it takes to become one.” She didn’t often offer so many compliments in one conversation, but this appeared to be the sort of person whose bad side Iliana didn’t wish to experience. A Thegn was no one to mess with.

When she was asked a question in return, Iliana smiled. “No, I’m no shield maiden. I’m afraid my mother’s attempts were not very fruitful. My name is Iliana, I’m a jeweller. I’ve just arrived from Uddevalla.

“Actually,” she began, taking a moment to look around the crowded street, “Do you think you could point me in the direction of the jeweller shop?” She wanted to get a look at it and discover if her coming here was going to cause problems for anyone. It was best to deal with any potential problems immediately, she’d decided. She could locate her new lodgings later. Hopefully it wasn’t too far away, and the Thegn could simply point the building out to her.

.if i die, i die

It just wasn’t Naemi’s nature to just take compliments and thank people for them. If she had intentions or wanted something from the other person, Naemi could be quite persuasive. But in this case, she didn’t want anything from this stranger, only for the other person to step aside. Instead of doing so, the girl gave more compliments. About Helios, for example. Naemi loved her horse more than she did most people and in her eyes, he was the most beautiful animal the Gods had ever given someone.
Ebba was very fond of the color the girls hair had. Her blue eyes sparkled and she couldn’t get her eyes of the girls hair. When Bjarne arrived, he made himself known in the only way he could: by interrupting their conversation. Naemi didn’t care, though. She wasn’t even sure why she was still talking to this stranger.

“That’s very impressive. I know how much work it takes to become one.” The girl said and Naemi nodded a bit before she titled her head again. She wanted to narrow her eyes but instead she frowned her forehead. ”You just have to gain the right skills to do so.” Her voice still cold, distant. Not everyone was born to be a warrior, like herself and Naemi knew that perfectly. Many people had tried, many had failed. Only the strongest and fearless would become a Shield maiden or Viking. The young Thegn had all those qualities, practically lived for fighting. Everyone had a duty to fur fill and Naemi was certain this was hers. The red-head on the other hand, didn’t look like a warrior at all. More like.. What did she look like exactly? She was too well dressed to be just a villager, but not well enough to be someone important. And in her own, almost offending way she asked what the girl is supposed to be. “No, I’m no shield maiden. I’m afraid my mother’s attempts were not very fruitful. My name is Iliana, I’m a jeweller. I’ve just arrived from Uddevalla.” The girl then explained. Naemi titled her face up, signing. This girl deffently was someone who loved talking. Giving information Naemi didn’t care about. But that was her own shortcoming, her lack of interests. She would never admit, but she could learn a thing or two from this Iliana.
“Actually,” Iliana began, and Naemi grinned a bit. It was a uninterested, almost annoyed looking grin. Naemi hadn't spoke out her name yet, leaving that for later. “Do you think you could point me in the direction of the jeweller shop?” The question got Naemi by surprise and the girl narrowed her eyes for a bit. Did she look like a guide or something? But Ebba encountered Helios to move forward, making her sister known that she wanted to help Iliana finding the shop. So the young Thegn forced another smile on her lips and nodded. ”Sure, it’s this way.” Naemi pointed out forwards, trying to step aside without letting Helios bump into people.

at least I'll go down fighting.

Thank you Sarah!

Despite appearances, Iliana was not often this forthcoming or chatty, especially to strangers she wasn't attempting to sell her goods to. However, the Thegn in front of her hadn't seemed the friendliest sort, and the last thing the redhead needed was to turn a potential customer and/or friend into an enemy. She hadn't come all this way to make a new start only to mess it up on her very first day in Kattegat. And warriors were the last sort of person she wanted to upset. There were quite a lot of warriors in Uddevalla and few of them were calm, even-tempered people.

She noticed the younger girl was staring at her a bit, and sent another smile in her direction. If the child's approval meant the woman in front of her was a little more tolerant of her, she'd use it to her advantage. After all, it was never too early to work up good will towards future customers.

The Thegn's next comment didn't really surprise her. After the reaction to Iliana's first compliment, she'd been expecting something similar this time around. It certainly did take a particular skill set to become a viking or shield maiden. A skill set Iliana was, unfortunately, lacking. She simply nodded in agreement. It was an accurate statement, and didn't seem to require much follow up. Iliana found herself wishing she did have the skills to be a shield maiden. She imagined fewer people would be so brusque with her. Though the amount of training and dedication it took would've gotten in the way of her jewelcraft, and that was something she'd found she was passionate about.

After asking for directions, it didn't escape Iliana's notice that the smile plastered on the Thegn's face was less a polite, friendly smile and more a warning smile. The warning appeared to be something along the lines of 'I'm not going to tolerate this much longer'. She'd been about to retract her question, and apologize for holding the pair up when the girl atop the horse seemed to make the decision to help Iliana, forcing the other woman into action. She pressed her lips together tightly, not wanting to risk offending the Thegn, but more than a little amused at the younger girl's initiative and apparent lack of care towards the woman's obvious distaste for the task at hand.

Iliana immediately stepped out of the way to make it as easy as she could to get past her, and followed just behind the brunette. She winked at the younger girl when she thought the Thegn wasn't looking, her silent way of saying 'thank you'.

"Thank you so much," she said aloud to the woman leading the way. "Kattegat is even larger than I'd imagined. And I hadn't expected it to be this crowded. Is this quite normal?"

.if i die, i die

Despite the fact that Naemi had lived her whole life in Kattegat, she didn’t had many friends. It was because of her own shortcomings, her distrust in others and fear of being let down. She found it hard to just chat with others, not knowing what to say or how to act. Naemi isn’t the social type and maybe never will be. She tries to work on that, just being friendly en chat with others she comes across. But there weren’t many people she wanted to spent her time on. And that was maybe the biggest problem: she didn’t want to spend time on people she toughed would be useless to her. For her it was all about the fighting and training. But with this big feasts coming up, she had to be a little more gentle. The Gods had been gentle to her, to all Kattegat and she felt she had to do something in return.

Talking to this stranger was something Naemi normally wouldn’t do. Or at least not this long, although it were only minutes. But for the young Thegn it was a awful long time. Iliana then asked Naemi to show her the way, something the Thegn got by surprise. She didn’t wanted to do it, but Ebba clearly did. When Helios stepped forward a few steps, Naemi had to give in. So she got that distend, forced smile on her lips and agreed. Luckily the shop wasn’t far from here, so she could get rid of the stranger quickly. Even though Iliana had something interesting, it would be such a relieve.
Iliana stepped aside, making space for her and Helios. The horse stepped forward right away, following his owner and made the little girl on his back giggle. Ebba looked over towards Iliana, smiling. Naemi didn’t notice the reciprocity between them and honestly, didn’t care. Her bright eyes looked straight forward, her lips closed and her step a bit fast. "Thank you so much," Naemi heard from behind. She didn’t turn her head, but nodded softly. ”It wasn’t up to me.” She said, her voice as cold and calm as before. "Kattegat is even larger than I'd imagined. And I hadn't expected it to be this crowded. Is this quite normal?" Iliana then asked. Naemi looked up to the sky, asking herself why the Gods would want her to show this woman the way. And then again she remember the Gods had been gentle with her, so she had to be gentle in return. ”Not this crowded, no.” Naemi replied after a few minutes of silent. ”It’s because of the harvest feasts, people from all sort of villages visit Kattegat for it.” She explained, without giving the girl one look.
Naemi stopped before a small shop, turning her body towards Iliana. ”Here it is,” She said, nodding. The young Thegn moved her step again, taking Helios with her. ”Enjoy your stay in Kattegat .” Naemi said before she walked away from the girl, heading towards the blacksmith. Ebba turned her face and waved at Iliana and looked at her until she couldn’t see her anymore.

-Not my best one, sorry!

at least I'll go down fighting.

Thank you Sarah!

   Trying her best to memorize the route from the dressmaker's shop to the jewelry shop, Iliana kept scanning the faces in the street. While she was accustomed to being on her own, she also knew just about everyone in Uddevalla, and only ever had to be wary of strangers. Here, everyone was a stranger, and she was feeling more than a little anxious about it. It was rather like the exact opposite of being claustrophobic; The world was too big, and she needed to get inside the shop and have a chance to close everyone else out and gather her thoughts.

  The redhead felt more than a little guilty, having first walked into the other woman and then sort of cornering her, making her answer her questions and show her around the village. Iliana wasn't too sure how to fix the situation, and trying to come up with a suitable solution was preventing her from paying close attention to where they were going. She decided she'd have to find a way to thank the Thegn at a later date. After all, they both lived in Kattegat; Surely they'd see each other again at some point in the future.

  "Harvest feast?" she repeated, unable to stop herself. No, she didn't want to irritate the brunette any more than she already had, but this was the sort of topic that required a more in depth answer. However, before the Thegn could answer, they’d arrived. Oh well. Surely she could find someone else to fill her in. If it was such a big deal that people from other villages would be in attendance, she might even pick up some chatter from the other people on the street.

  Iliana eyed the shop up and down quickly before turning towards her reluctant guide. “Thank you!” she called to the shrinking figure, sure to smile wide and return the wave to the little girl on horseback. Once she was more situated and familiar with the village, she’d seek out the young woman and try to offer a proper thank you. It was the least she could do.

  For now, she eyed the people in the streets, skirting a look to the large manor in the distance, and finally pushed the door to the shop open, wondering what Kattegat could have in store for her.

» Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends [Jötunn]
» Don't realize how mean I can be [Kettil]
» Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet!
» Job to do (open)
» The Hunt (open)