POV: Arngunn, the freed þræll.
Date: Þórri 21st, 798 AD. (Alt: 2nd February, 799 AD.) Location: Götaland (Ancient Sweden.)
"This would be a rather nice increase in strength for Rod." He looks at the new Mímisbrunnr saplings in hand, taking 5 home to plant in all wall-meeting corners of the (forest farm.)
And 1 set in front and central to the portal within the Deer Clan's camping site, to then be used and decorated for nice postcards or paintings. Heath had apologised to the Crows for the scare of illness after resurrecting all of the creatures, but they said it was of no worries.
These new growths are exponentially more magical in cost than normal trees, but the result being the acceleration of their growth cycle into adulthood was totally worth it in Heath's opinion. As for how much Rod's strength had grown with their addition? > 1,500x in value. They could not approximate for Rod always grew in strength, but that was the margin. Nowhere near the strength of Heath, but enough to easily destroy the entire farm he lived in. But there was a ˢᴹᴬᴸᴸ little problem.
"What, have you, done?" Heath saw the hovercopter had somehow been overridden in its automated flight control functions and had knocked itself into the trees, pushing many to the ground.
"HOW?" Heath's slitted glare into Arngunn's own horrified face. "I-. . . Had asked my personal Drone golem to allow me to have control?" Her smile was forced, inching further away to behind a tree that was still standing. Heath snapped his fingers, his will righting most of the damage. "You will still own this machine. BUT. With greater restrictions." He stepped forward, height dysphoric with the form he chose for this realm within the pulsing psionic wave that now makes him appear colossal compared to her own.
He leans down, face inches away from hers. "I will teach you how to drive, how about it?" He mouthed. She stayed as a statuette, finally giving a single nod before the pressure put upon her had dissipated. The dynamic dysmorphia now gone, he appeared as he normally did.
While that single snap had made it appear unmarked now, it would take multiple replantings and healings for the extensive, deeply penetrative damage to the ecosystem, luckily, throughout it all, there were no further deaths. "Really, I am happy you care for my children, but understand if it is something you are not trained for, call me. You could have been hurt, or worse if I had not been warned when arriving." Heath sat down upon the now-healed grass, contemplative of the austerity to her technological naivete and understanding, yet grateful for her instincts.
She finally calmed down, expression still tinging with fear. Not a fear of him, but of what happens if she were to break his trust again, to be no longer a friend. Arngunn sat down next to him, both looking at the quickly regenerating ecological setup. She softly patted his arm.
"Any other news?" Heath asks, letting a blue beetle crawl upon his hand before releasing it upon the flowing grass again. He was then told of the present left by Goldie, Valyria and Sterling in his room, and of their knowing of Ghiliana within the picture by his bedside table. Heath knowingly huffed in silence, expecting another conversation to be brought to him that may be in order. "Thank you, and I am sorry I reacted." Heath's apology was accepted quite quickly by Arngunn, but she knew that it was really her who needed to do it.
"See you soon, blondie." Heath waves, now warping off to see everything in turn. She waved, happy that it was otherwise a simple fix for something that felt so destructive. She breathed in, smelling the scent of the artificial thicket before flying off within the hovercopter.
She stayed in the air while slowly orbiting around Den höga ormtungan (The tall snake tongue,) seeing the world from the perspective of a being with flight again, she called her Drone golem to bring a bottle of mixed berry cider, drinking >≈ a litre before setting herself upon the comfortable captain's chair and putting the pilot hat upon her eyes, drifting off to sleep. She dreamed a few scenes in her mind, flying around with Heath in the copilot seat, describing to her wonders thought impossible, and afterwards shooting a giant Ari that acted like King Kong.
After defeating the Ari King Kong, the scene swapped to a quick cut. . . Romantic ensemble, she had felt few attractions to the people in the Völsung Clan. And her own sensibilities, such as not liking those who are locked or married, played into the wet, raunchy dream.
The king-sized bed of her new room in the building, Eirikr, upon the quilt cover with a stern, yet loving countenance and bedroom eyes that followed her face in loving embrace. The false window had a beach-side scene, it fell onto her that she began her consumption of the flesh, swamping both her and his dream counterpart's lustful desires in thick swathes of lecherous, yet hard to picture scenes. The more emotional she became, the harder it forgoed to keep the dream grounded, which was until it reached a tipping point, forcing her back to consciousness.
"*-AW~*" She moaned out loud, giving herself a moment of embarrassment before realising she was alone in the hovercopter. She patted her face to keep herself straight and narrow, refocusing on what she had wished to do this evening.
She silently flew over a grand opening of the empty plains by the south. Now setting the vehicle down, she began doing a small hobby that she would do when passing the time: Thatching. She would first collect a large pile of grass by cutting it with her adaptable hilt, storing it over into her small closet in the hovercopter and letting it dry by increasing the heat of the ventilation within. She has already made a bunch of dry grass, and with it being enough, she will now try to make a small rimmed hat.
She saw their creation in example videos on the new Internet set up by Heath, and she was rather interested. She first grabbed two bundles, splitting them to edges and thinning them if they were too thick, lastly twining them together to make a new thatch strand.
She repeated this process, now creating multiple thin thatch ropes that are then interlaced, swapped and flipped over within a frame designed over a small dried concrete bowl she had also made on the off-hand. After 2 or so Model hours of trying, she was successful in making a straw vessel with sparsed gaps where the brim visor would fit in! Now, she creates a circle of a slightly larger circumference, now going round and around until making it reach one of her hand-spans, and lastly finishing it off with a bit of brown resin to lock it.
She grabbed an extra agricultural leather strap that had been made and tanned by the automatic farm, covering the edge where the surrounding visor and hat edge would meet and tied it together into a nice boater hat. She tried it on, seeing that it fitted well on her.
"Nicely done." An old voice had said from beside her, sounding happy that she had followed her hobby correctly. "Adal?" Arngunn asks, soon hearing the memorable paw taps that would patter through the terrain. "Yes. And how long have you been learning this?" Adal small-talks.
"For the past few nights." She walked off into the storage compartment set on the side of the closet, showing a few of her failed examples to him. "I had felt the need to give a gift to Heath, after he gave me the cat plushy." She smiled to herself, happy with the cute toy that she now keeps in her room. "Same here, to be fair." Adal gave a surprising response, suddenly pulling the dog plushy from his beard. "I had wanted to show my appreciation to him for giving a home to my father, focusing greater on my work towards our safety."
It goes silent for a moment, next with both nodding in unison. Reaching the same conclusion to help each other in a few parts of their ideas. Adal's strength and Arngunn's dexterity and hovercopter helped them achieve a few of their goals.
The first, easier to achieve one being a few different styles of hats that are of the right head size for Heath, a slightly larger boater, a fedora-like one and a lifeguard-style floppy hat. Each is styled, and the strap that covers the edge was made with an engraved Heraldic H, the same symbol upon the back of his left hand. While Adal's work involved a 'job' that required 4 normal-sized hands. A half-sized, sculpted statue made of rare 'white' earth metals: Aluminium, platinum, silver and mixed steels. The darker shades are used to make the fringes, clothes and hair, while the brighter shades are used for skin.
They began with the body, using the available photos online of him when Heath was trying to document everything that had occurred for historical reasons, they would try to create the proportions for his legs, hips, waist, broad chest, shoulders and head.
It took a few hours, but was quickly finished with its touches through the usage of the many adaptable hilts and metal-moulding tools provided within the respective workshops. IE. Creating a thin 'portal stick' to template long hollow barrels within parts of the body that would be used to slide on the clothing and hair to work like an extended tang for increased stability. Now creating 2 halves for the 2 pieces of clothing, the creased trousers and tunic are then fitted through the tang holes and glued with soldered metal to both halves.
Both of them tested its stability by trying to wobble the clothing off of the body, but it kept still, lastly blasted, sanded, and smoothed throughout the surfaces where the soldered metal gunked up, and now, it was time to create the hair that makes the beard.
The multiple steel shades were mixed, formed and entombed in a sand mould. After release, any parts that were too smooth or jagged are further lined through with a 'portal dremel' and 'portal micro-drill' to create patterning and lines to recreate the look of hair. Having made sure to look perfect, down to the last details, to then be fitted through with the chin-tang hole, fitted and metal-glued on underneath the nose, extra material was added above through careful manoeuvring to then make the moustache and the hair that fits over the cheeks appear good.
Now to also create the details within the eyes, nose, dimples and fitted eyebrows, they completed in creating the visually impactful character we know of today! The statue was about shoulder height to Arngunn, and. . . It was finally finished by the next day.
Both felt completely burnt out by the end of it, yet could barely imagine how difficult it could have been without these magical or modern tools provided by Heath himself. Yes, they could have called Yufren, but that would ruin the constructive impacts and personal touches added on in emotion. The expression of the statue was a half-smile, looking upwards as if aiming for the heavens, hand outstretched while grasping a small orb, the details upon it showing that it was meant to be a simplified version of the Earth, recreated as best they could.
It was also a rather heavy object, weighing ≈ (79.5000-Kg (175.2675-Lbs)) of solid metal. As much as she weighed with the armour on. Both of them called for a Drone golem to come and carry it into the hovercopter, ready to be transported over and to be parked in front of the north portal.
Heath was seen editing to make a Drone-Digger golem for himself, copying the blueprints provided by his children as to see if it was feasible. He tested its functioning with toggling the 'portal tools' upon its octagonal tentacles, showing that it was truly working as expected, he created a box that contained over versions of the modular tools that could be fitted, such as the elemental prospector. ". . . I better reward my kids for this, but how?" He was heard mumbling to himself, earning a chuckle that made him turn around. "Arngunn! Adal!"
He walked forward, hugging them both in turn while talking about how the design made by the 3 'little' ones had made him as happy as can be! They continued on in that positive mood where he was then told of the new gift that they had come up with.
Heath was asked to go to the hovercopter, where he soon perceived the statue in the seating area. "Oh, you all!" He gently lifts the statue, soon creating a plaque made of CrCoNi that he would sit it on, telling both of their names and the date of creation. "-YES-!" He balled his fists and gave a victorious stance, enjoying that today had gone so much better than expected. He gave a second batch of hugs before moving off to see the creation of 110 Drone-Digger golems, the same population size as the Bus-Guard golems.
The likeness was truly canny, set in his lounge and looking out the false window of his room, it appeared as if it was staring out into the simulated environment, while looking for all knowledge of the Earth it was holding. As if it was always meant to be there.
"I will always remember this." Arngunn comments, sniffling slightly, Adal passed a tissue, allowing her to blow her nose. They continued until it reached midday, lastly finding other uses of the Drone-Digger golem, as a flying sentry gun with its internal battery storage.
It would shoot a hail of 'portal bullets' that looked closer to a laser for a Model minute or so, recharge over a few seconds and then repeat, and with the upgrades to these 220 golems with *Dyḗusium material upon its exterior with celestial bronze supports for magic, they were a true threat on the battlefield. One invisible and undetectable, the other to take all of the attention as a machine gunner's bastion. One could create many surprise tactics or flanking feints to pincer unsuspecting opponents.
"Always with the weaponry, Heath." He self-rhetorics, annoyed that he has fallen into the habit of thinking up the weaponisation of a 'peaceful' tool. "Where are the 3 'bigguns' anyway?" Heath asks Adal and Arngunn, who say they would be with the deer on their floor.
"Meeting with Himlauf?" His 'cross-species diplomacy' has been discussed by many around. Similar to Frichga's except with greater friendship rather than cordiality. "He has mostly been talking with Agostino, forensically planning housing arrangements and abo-" Her mouth was covered by Adal, to not spoil the surprise that was in store for Heath. Her head snapped backwards, spitting out the hair that had fallen onto her tongue, and to pick it out of her gums. "*Ghrm*" Heath's throat made a noise too close to a car horn, near-breaking into a laugh.
"Okay then, how about you bring me there?" Heath's asking was of course obliged, and they went to the floor where the deer were gathered around the portal room in the centre of the floor as they were before, the many hallways now filled with open tables and seating areas.
"What is all of this for?" Heath questions, where as soon as that was asked, the confetti shot up! "Bóndadagr day, of course! We had no time over during Þórri 7th (January 19th.) So we thought that after your mission, we could all celebrate together." Gorm responds from the back, a glass of historic mead in hand and swigging it with his now young liver working overtime. "I am not a húsbóndi (Etimology for husband (Married master of the house).) However?" Heath was pulled in by the many deer. "Does not matter, celebrate!" And the music started.
This continued until the night's first moon's passing, many unconscious upon the tables and prolifically merry throughout. Everyone had their fill of food and drink, and rotating dances were played over the multiple musician bands' jolly, jaunty ditties.
"Eh-yeah,*hic*Iⁱ, really never expected youᵘu to be who you were when we first met-." Asdos lolls about on the table, head overcome by gravity with a slightly split glass of vodka in hand. "*hac*I loᵒve you, fwrienth (friend.)-" After saying that, he passed out almost instantly, head bonking the table and body fully slack, eyes rolled out of their mind in their sockets. Heath smiled, helping the few now comatose people to their respective rooms, and with hangover medication, beside lots of water, to be brought in once they were awake.
"ᵀᴼᴼ ᴿᴵꟲᴴ." Rod whispers from behind Heath by the stairway of Leif and Sigrid's shared home, now helping to put them to bed under the covers. They move out, now finally ready to talk normally. "I'd better create a few drinking limits, otherwise their livers would need multiple healings per year." Heath comments to Rod in English, both of them nodding to that assent. "Everything alright, pal?" Heath notices the somehow creased wrinkles upon the leaves of the young God, something he thought impossible with their infinite stamina.
"Overwhelmed, is all. Spending time with Adal has given me much food for thought in how political many of the family dynamics back home could be." Rod talks like an old man, having helped Adal be put to his own room asleep as well with his unexpected drinking streak.
"We'd better give them something like this, as while we are growing stronger, the Vísivættr (Spiritual Guide) would be a threat, probably on par with Malgosha." Heath saw Rod shake his head. "Less, probably, you're stronger than you were in that realm now." Rod complimented, making Heath pat the wooden shoulder of the tree God. "Though I did not see my children, where're they?" Heath's question was met with an asking for him to be followed, soon reaching the top of the right tower where the trio was with all of the children and teenagers, watching over them.
"That is part of the reason you'd not seen me at the start of the celebration." They were set up as a giant nursery, all of them given enough recreational entertainment to last for the entire night, and with endless kid-friendly food and drink too. Arngunn, still awake, gushed on the cuteness.
Pretty much all were still wide awake, probably waiting for their parents to collect them, both the Völsung and deer younglings acting as if this was normal. Heath, Arngunn and Rod helped put them to bed.