berkian | three axes. voice.

three axes. voice.

[ Oh, looks like Astrid has something to say again - albeit not related to the draft, which she's obviously not on. No, this entry is brought to Luceti by her new attempt to read. Not that she's against reading - she read what little Berk had to offer, back home - but it is not her main hobby or even in the top ten.

But she's trying! Which is...something, anyway. ]

Hey. So, I assume some of the books in the library are from other worlds. I mean - I know they are, but I assume they're from the worlds of people here?

So I thought I might ask if anyone has recommendations. Preferably for something with action. But I'll try anything, I guess. That would make it a lot easier than just picking things at random based on title. ...Which is the worst way to choose a book, apparently. Or my luck is just bad today.

[ And if she sounds mildly uncomfortable asking for book recommendations, it's just because she's asking for book recommendations and that's entirely new and weird. ]

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What type of action are you looking for exactly? Lots of fighting or is general adventure fine as well? There are some books that are heavier on the adventure than on fighting, after all.

Fighting is preferred, but general adventure is also acceptable. I like exploration stories? Brave new worlds, and all that.

[ Viking nature, maybe. ]

I think a good classic would be "Treasure Island" then, pirates, ships, hidden treasures and betrayals all around. "Gulliver's Travels" is a good one as well, very fictional though.

And... If you feel adventurous and want to give a try to books that are a bit different from what you asked, any novel by Natsume Soseki would be good. I've seen two of his works, Kokoro and Sanshiro at the library. Don't expect fighting in those thought, the exploration they do is more... Spiritual than physical. But they are still good.

I like pirates. I mean - I don't like pirates, but I like ships. And ship battles? And I don't mind about the fictional.

[ Yoh, she is the exact opposite of spiritual. ...But she'll write those down, too. Although he'll also get a skeptical question. ] How do you do spiritual exploration?

I don't remember if there are ship battles but, yes there are lots of ships in Treasure Island.

[He laughs.]

Well, it's hard to explain, but... You could say that spiritual exploration is about self-discovery? The struggle between what you are, what society expects and wants you to be... If you live in a small village the expectations are different than if you live in the city, for example. It's basically about... Finding yourself. The "you" that you're satisfied with that makes you feel happy with your decisions and without regrets.

For example... Your dad could want you to dedicate your live to do something, and actually the place you live in, its society could want the same thing. But that doesn't make you happy, yet defying your father's wishes and the expectations of your village or city isn't something easy. It may make you feel as if you're doing something wrong... Those books are about that more or less, about how one comes to terms with that dilemma. I think it's something everyone really goes through sooner or later, but... I don't think books like that are for everyone, so I can't blame you if you think they aren't worth your time.

[ ...Oh. That is honestly what she almost says: "Oh." Because...that sounds boring and sort of too spiritual and philosophical for a viking who spends most of her time focusing on swinging an axe around or training with her dragon, although Astrid does briefly consider the fact that this sounds like something Hiccup would probably like. Yoh is just giving the recommendation to the wrong Berkian.

...But.

He did take the time to try to recommend books for her, and to tell he what they were about, so...

...she should probably read them? Like, that would be the polite thing to do? Not that being polite was her top concern (or even in the top ten concerns she had) but...well, she had asked, and nothing was lost from trying but time. ]

...I'll give it a shot. It doesn't sound like what I was looking for, but you never know until you give it a go, right?

[ Once upon a time she would have said no off the bat, but then dragons became their allies because Hiccup had done something no one else ever had, outside of his comfort zone.

She...could at least read a book, if he could do that. ]

[A small chuckle.]

That's true. It never hurts to give new things a try, even if they don't work out you can say that at least you tried it.

I'm sorry I can't give you better recommendations, I'm not much of the reading type in general. My friend Manta would have probably been able to give you a wider and more accurate list.

It's fine. I'm not really the reading type either, but...someone I know suggested giving it a go. Keeping busy.

Which is a thing that I am all for. Keeping busy, I mean.

I think everyone in this place is all for keeping themselves busy. It's no wonder, most people come from really busy lives and being idle here ends making people think about our situation... Which is a really bad thing to do unless you want to get depressed.

[Even he gets depressed at times by it. Depressed and really angry, enough to make him want to kill the Malnosso himself. But he keeps it all inside as always and instead finds a way to laugh at it, even now his tone sounds carefree and happy, as if he wasn't affected at all.]

What other things have you considered to keep yourself busy?

The Kyoshi Warriors thing for girls that Suki was setting up sounded interesting. And learning new weapons, I guess.

I'm...trying to be open to new suggestions, really. The more I have to do, the better.

What about you?

Oh. I almost forgot - I'm Astrid. Hofferson.

That sounds good! And useful with all those drafts, you never know when you're going to be taken to those. And with all the different worlds in this place I'm sure there are lots of weapons you can learn about.

[Yoh laughs almost apologetically.]

Me? I'm a rare cookie myself, not having much to do actually suits me fii~ne. My fiancé never gives me a moment of rest back home and in general the circumstances don't give me much time either even if she decides to let me be for a while, so be able to spend the day simply watching the landscape or the sky is a small blessing for me.

I still train though, there's a difference between relaxing and doing absolutely nothing.

Ha...I've managed to avoid them so far, but yeah, probably. I do have a dragon, though. If...they let you take that sort of thing on a draft.

Your fiancé? [ Not too surprised, since vikings probably get married earlier too, but. That must suck, being apart from someone that important. ]

There is a difference, yeah. Training...what do you use? Weapon-wise?

I don't know, though if he helps you fighting I don't see why they wouldn't allow it.

[Then again the Malnosso like to send people who can't fight to the drafts as well so it's hard to tell.]

Yeah, my fiancé. Her name's Anna, it's not the first time we are separated for this long so at least I deal with that without many problems.

[He still worries about her though, and misses her terribly. Not to mention how he wonders about his son, by this time if he was back home and they had survived the Shaman Fight the kid would have already been born.]

I use a sword, mainly. What about you?

She. [ Just a small correction there; she doesn't sound annoyed, since she didn't say what gender the dragon was to start with. ]

Ah...sorry to hear about the separation, anyway. Maybe she'll show up.

[ It's always weird to offer that up to people. This place...but moving on. ]

Axes are my favorite, but as long as it's metal and you can swing it, I'm fine with it.

Oh, she.

[Yoh repeats laughing softly and sheepishly. He doesn't feel overly bad but it's still bad to mistake someone's gender even if he had no clue on it.]

Indeed, maybe she will. Though it's probably better if she doesn't and I just go back soon, right? I'm not sure if her being brought here would be safe for her, unless it's possible for people to be brought from different moments in their lives.

[Besides he doesn't want his son to be born in Luceti. Unless the pregnancy froze or something but that doesn't sound healthy at all to him.]

Axes, uhm? I once met someone who used axes to fight, though now that I think of it most of the people I know that use weapons prefer swords. Len uses a lance though and Choco Love claws, so there's variety after all.

Stormfly. She's a Deadly Nadder. [ Yes, she does sound more than a little proud of this fact. ]

Safe...? This place isn't particularly safe, but what do you mean by that?

[ She won't press, but. ]

Swords seems to be a popular answer, but I've always used an axe so...why swap? I wouldn't mind learning about swords now, though. Like I said: I need ways to spend my time, here.

Hmm, I don't think you have a picture of her or something so I can see her? You got me curious, though with those names attached to her she sounds both awesome and scary. Deadly Nadder sounds quite impressive.

[He's honestly sorry to now know about dragons now, because if he knew then he probably would understand better why she sounds so proud about the dragon's kind.

He hums again, thoughtfully and for a bit longer, before he answers her question though.]

Because when I left our world she was pregnant.

[He says no more and despite how his tone is calm and honest he won't be surprised if Astrid takes it as a joke or something.]

I don't think there's a reason to swap if you're used to a type of weapon and like it. But even leaving aside the need of ways to keep oneself busy it's probably good to learn about other weapons and how to use them, don't you think? That way if your weapon of choice isn't available you won't be so helpless or lost about what to do.

Unless you're also trained in martial arts and hand to hand combat like boxing or something.

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