Polynya

“You know what, Liz? Normally, I’d argue with you, but Uncle Goblin is tired right now and all I really want to do is eat something, drink something, relax under the stars, think about some of my past loves and see what arises if you get my hint, and sleep in tomorrow. So, just to show you how big of a gentleman I am, I won’t respond to your clear and bigoted hatred towards good eating.”

The two lock eyes.

“And one other thing,” says the goblin, “um, thanks for saving me back there.”

“It was my pleasure, Hiccup.”

“Although it was actually Marbles and Twixy who saved me, but you were the first to go for it.”

“You’re pushing your luck. And seriously, I’m not eating charochakcha.”

Hiccup snorts, “Fine, fine, Your Highness, the kid and I will catch some fickin’ fish for you. Ain’t that right, Marbles?”

“Um … sure.”

“Fickin’ fish – that has a ring to it!”

Chapter 16: Poisoned by a Seagull

After waking at the crack of dawn, Ryuk looks up at the ceiling of their yurt, something FeeTwix apparently had stuffed in his inventory list, and from there, he glances around the circular tent to find the Swede and Zaena cuddled up under a blanket. A glance to the door and he sees the goblin with his back pressed against the wall, snoring loudly.

Hiccup wears a soiled bathrobe and a pair of, oddly enough, Japanese clogs, called geta. Where the goblin gets his odd clothing is beyond Ryuk. Further adding to Hiccup’s general air of bodily excretions is an actual snot bubble expanding and contracting as he snores.

Ryuk chuckles. He’s only seen that before in manga and anime, never in real life.

Real life? Ha!

He gets out of the small bed and makes his way to the front door of FeeTwix’s yurt. The cool morning air greets his face as he steps past a pile of discarded fish bones. He remembers catching the “fickin’ fish” by firing an explosive marble into the water. It was, of course, Hiccup’s idea, and it worked brilliantly.

After stretching his arms overhead, Ryuk walks down to the water and sits on a flat rock with some Thulean writing etched into it. There’s a sweet scent to the air, and while the chill is there, it shows clear signs of disappearing in the next hour or so.

As he stares out over the misty water at the herders on the other side of the lake, he runs his finger along the etching. A deep breath in and he notices the smell of the lake, and with it, a sweet smell that reminds him of watermelons.

Ryuk takes his slingshot off his belt and pouches one of his new gravity marbles. He was so distracted last night that he forgot to give the marble a test. With everyone sleeping, he now has the time and quiet to see what it is the marble actually does.

The gravity marble is clear with a cream swirl running through it. It is slightly warm to the touch, and even as he holds it in the pouch of his Magic Slingshot, he notices that it adds an odd weight to his wrist. He aims at the water, pulls back and …

“Hi.”

He hops off his rock at Zaena’s voice and nearly lets the marble fly. The Thulean takes a few steps in front of him, her orange hair disheveled.

“You scared me,” he says, a bit too late.

She shrugs. “I figured squeezing your shoulder with my konoshlo would have scared you even more. Let’s see it.”

“My new marble?”

“Please, you said it was a gravity marble, did you not?”

“Yep.”

“Fire it.”

Ryuk aims at the water and zings the marble away. As soon as it touches the surface, a large scoop of water lifts several feet into the air and hovers there.

“Whoa,” Zaena says. “How long will it last?”

Ryuk palms another marble. “No idea; that’s the first one I’ve shot.” He glances around for a moving object. “I need to test something in motion.”

“Test me,” Zaena volunteers.

He hesitates. “You sure?”

“I’m sure. Let’s see what it does.”

They both watch as the floating scoop of water loses its shape. Droplets form on its underbelly and plink onto the surface of Lake Klattenhoff.

“I don’t want it to hurt you.”

“Come on.” Zaena leads Ryuk to a clearing. The Thulean runs a few paces away from him and drops to a battle stance. “Do it.”

“Um … ” Ryuk aims his magic slingshot at her. He doesn’t like the idea of firing on Zaena and is in the process of lowering his weapon when she shouts out to him.

“Do it, Ryuk! Don’t be a little bitch!”

Fwwhip!

The gravity marble strikes her in the sternum and sends her flying backwards, not by explosion, but by something that reminds Ryuk of a clear bubble.

“Shit, Zaena!”

The Thulean zips backwards until she smacks into a tree.

“Damn!” she shouts out, baring her teeth as she laughs. “That was crazy!” Zaena tries to squirm out of her pinned position. The tree branches above shake as she attempts to use her ghost limbs to pull herself up. “It’s like glue!” she says, once she realizes she’s unable to move.

Ryuk looks down at the gravity marble in his hand. He turns to see that the scoop of water hovering over the lake has dissipated.

It doesn’t last very long …