What do Stars do?

An Unexpected Surprise

Byleistr brightened. “I think he would like that.” He agreed. “Hearing your song, I mean. I don’t actually know if he’d want magic, even if you could grant it to him. The only way he should get magic is if he gets it from me if I die before him, but that rarely happens and I don’t exactly plan on getting myself killed.” He shrugged.

“So, I never thought to ask this while my spirit was among you, and I hope it isn’t a rude question but….our legends say the stars are drops of Ymir’s blood. Obviously you’re a someone in your own right, but….where do you come from? Are you drops of his blood given life? Something else?” He hoped he wasn’t asking an impolite question, but a listener’s journey was just that; you listened. He didn’t actually get to ask many questions.

Yvaine smiled back at Byleistr, glowing a little herself, pleased that she could help repay some of her debt to the brothers. “I shall ask him when he returns then.” She shrugged, unconcerned by him not wanting magic because as far as she knew she didn’t have any to give. Granted she never tried before, but still.

She smiled at him like the question was amusing to her. People on Earth had been asking where the stars came from as long as she could recall. “Its not rude, I’ve heard that question more than you think.” She shifted on the bench a little and thought about how to answer the question. “Stars vary as much as the people that inhabit the universe. There are some stars that come from Mother Moon, others are made from blood of Ymir, some are made from both Mother Moon and Ymir’s blood and a thousand other ways.” Some of those ways were mundane, others were extraordinary, it depended completely on the star. “I am made up from Mother Moon and Ymir’s blood.” Its probably why she was so old.

An Unexpected Surprise

“A listener’s journey is taken just before or after a shaman becomes a shaman.” Byleistr explained, expecting that not all stars would know the term—if indeed any did. They just shared stories with him without asking where he had come from, so it was entirely possible. He smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think they do, become rock and dust. The things we call falling stars probably aren’t stars at all, but pieces of rock that were a planet or something at one point. But maybe sometimes….I don’t know.”

He clucked his tongue then. “Most of us can’t hear the starsongs.” He said. “That’s why we need the shamans, to hear the songs of the stars and tell everyone else what’s being said. I have the gift, but my twin doesn’t.” He paused and his expression saddened. “Ymir didn’t grant him any magic at all. I got all of it.”

Yvaine listened to Byleistr’s explanation and hummed quietly, it was interesting. While she didn’t always watch the people on Earth she was still fascinated by them sometimes. That fascination seemed to transfer here too. She nodded and looked down at her ankle. “We do not last when there is not enough belief or magic to keep our shape.” She explained to him, it was why she couldn’t cross the Wall, however, it seemed like that was changing--slowly mind you, but still changing.

Brows rose at that new information, really these people were so interesting! Her face fell slightly as well, feeling a sudden need to try and help, although what could she--her expression brightened and she shifted on the bench. “I cannot help with giving him magic, mostly because I don’t have any to give,” or at least she didn’t consider anything she had magical, “But, if he wants he could hear at least the song of a star.”

An Unexpected Surprise

Byleistr laughed. “You speak as if I’m the only shaman who’s ever taken the listeners journey!” He quirked a smile. “Then again, I suppose with all the directions to go in, it’s expected you might not see all that many of us, and I was away longer than most of my fellows.” His expression saddened at that, but he continued anyway. “You’re the first star to fall in my lifetime. Most ‘stars’ that fall are really pieces of rock, and we see plenty of those.”

He squinted when she glowed, as if worried she might blind him, but when it remained manageable he relaxed again. “It’s no one’s fault if they don’t know you for what you are.” He continued. “Unless they can hear the starsongs, how would they know?” He took another look at her ankle. “Why did you fall? You don’t look like an old star by any stretch. I’m sorry. I don’t know what causes stars to fall.”

#an unexpected surprise #utgardprince

“What is a listeners journey?” Yvaine asked, there were things she heard, but many stars didn’t take the time to discuss the habits of people on planets they looked at. Or if they had it must have been when she was in Stromhold. She hummed softly, that was odd, why wasn’t she reduced to rock and dust them. “I wonder then why I keep this shape, if my sisters became rock and dust...” She murmured, mostly to herself.

“Well, I told your brother and what I guess to be a guard and they both thought me mad.” Yes, she was still a bit sore at being thought crazy. “Not all of you can hear our songs?” She sighed and colored a little, “I was not paying attention, a bloody rock slammed into me and well, here I am. Many things make us fall, the first time I was minding my own business and a bloody necklace hit me and knocked me down. Age can do it as well I suppose,” she smiled and chuckled, “I’m probably far older than you think I am.”

An Unexpected Surprise

Byleistr blinked at her in surprise, then knelt to examine her ankle and touch it ever so carefully. “I think it’s just sprained.” He said. “Brother. Could you ask Mother for a wrap? Thank you.”

Helblindi’s mouth worked a couple of times, but then he turned and left. Authority wasn’t a straight line on Jötunheim and in this instance Byleistr had authority over Helblindi, even if Helblindi didn’t like it. Once he was gone, Byleistr looked back at Yvaine.

“You’re an honored guest because you’re a fallen star.” He stated. “I can hear your unconscious song….though I am so glad it’s quiet. Some of your sisters can be horrid loud, and I don’t blame them since I’m sure they have to be, but I think I’d go deaf if you were like that here and now. I’m a a bit surprised I didn’t hear your song until you actually came in here, but not complaining.” He smiled.

Yvaine bit her lip as Byleistr examined her ankle and touched it, even if he was being extremely careful--which she really appreciated--she had walked on it more than she probably should have and it was very tender.

She watched the King leave and looked back down at the brother that remained with her. Now it was her turn to look at him in surprise. Very few knew she was a star on sight alone, many believed her when she said she was, but it was really only witches that normally knew on sight. “Stars must not fall here often, if your brother did not believe me when I told him what I was.” Which begged the question, how did he know?

Her surprise turned to contemplation and she tilted her head to the side as she regarded him for a moment, well that answered that question. “...you are the one that traveled into our midst, aren’t you?” He knew the stars were sisters, again a fact no one was aware of unless they had met a star. She relaxed and smiled at him, glowing a little in happiness. “They can be, bloody loud if they want, but is helpful in talking to one another,” she chuckled softly, “I have lots of practice making my song as soft as I can. This is not the first time I’ve fallen, though it is the first time I’ve been here.” And it was no longer as awful as she had thought only minutes ago.

An Unexpected Surprise

Helblindi inquired his twin through their soul bond as to his location and then headed in that direction, helping Yvaine along. Ymir grant him patience. He wasn’t even sure why he was being so kind to her other than she seemed harmless enough—even if she was—by his guess—a delusional Asgardian.

The found Byleistr in one of the alcoves their father had commissioned for their mother so she could have privacy. It could be heated, but considering a Frost Giant was in residence, it currently wasn’t. Byleistr looked up when they entered the area and stared for a few moments before he shot to his feet like he’d been bitten by a snow flea.

The look he shot Helblindi was accusing, which was confusing. “Here.” Byleistr said. “My Lady. My name is Byleistr. I….my brother didn’t tell me we had such an honored guest!” He reached out to help Yvaine himself. “Here, what is your ill? Your ankle and your head? Or is it just your ankle? Does anything else hurt? Is there anything I can do to help make you more comfortable?” He was bringing her over to the bench to sit, ignoring Helblindi completely and leaving his twin—and King—utterly flummoxed.

By the time they got the room that this shaman was in Yvaine was ready to sit down. She looked at this shaman while he looked at her, though he seemed as if he was staring more as if he was shocked and surprised. The red tattoos on his face were interesting, but other than that the two were most definitely related.

His behavior was vastly different from his brother’s so it was no surprise that she was able to be more courteous to him than she had been at times to the man that she was currently leaning on. She smiled as the shaman helped limp her way to the bench, at the same time she was wondering why he was acting the way he was. “Thank you,” she told him in regards to him helping her to the bench, “My name is Yvaine. Its just my ankle, my head is fine.” She lifted the ankle that was hurt--sprained or possibly fractured if she had to guess--for Byleistr to look at.

“Why am I an honored guest?” She knew of places that worshiped stars, she had heard of them as had her sisters. But this couldn’t possibly be one of those places, considering that the King and his subjects (or at least one of his guards) seemed to think her mad for saying she was a star.

An Unexpected Surprise

Both Helblindi and the guard looked at her, and then at each other. Helblindi waved a hand at the guard. “Sure.” He said. “Of course you’re a star.” He rolled his eyes at the guard. “Come on then. A shaman can have a look at your ankle, and your head too. Seems as if you took a bit of a bump.”

He would take her to Byleistr, he decided. His twin was way more patient than he was and would know how to deal with her delusions easier, while he barely had any patience for it at all.

Yvaine looked at both the guard and Helblindi and surprised they thought she was out of her mind. These people had shamans and dragons yet didn't believe she was star. Honestly, Tristan had believed her and when she had met him she had believed him to be far more than an idiot. Gift for his true love indeed.

"Oh Mother Moon, save me." She muttered, more than annoyed at the two men. "Yes, very well, your shaman can have a look at my ankle. But he is going nowhere near my head." She made a motion for them to get a move on, she would have started walking herself but alas no crutch! So she had to lean on Helblindi, a man she was bound to but didn't believe what was right in front of his face!

frostfall

#home

An Unexpected Surprise

"Dragons are rare, and forming a bond with one even rarer." Helblindi replied, trying to spare her dignity this time—not to mention that she was heavy for her size—by letting her use him to lean on while she walked. "So….what are you? You look Aesir, but you don’t smell it." She smelled like nothing he could define, in fact and he could have sworn she’d glowed or shimmered or something earlier. Was this one of those Norns the Asgardians worshiped?

One of the Ymirjar—his elite guards—joined them then and peered at Yvaine warily. “My King…?” He questioned and gestured to her.

"I expect you saw the light in the sky we thought was a falling star." Helblindi said. "Instead I found this woman. She’s injured and my guest. Make certain the others are aware."

Yvaine hummed and frowned ever so slightly, that was worrying and she hoped the dragons on this planet would have a better fate than the ones on her own. "I see." And lean on him she did, she knew it would do her no favors to put her weight on her ankle. She didn't have a witch gunning after her heart to heal her so she'd be happy and shining.

She knew she was trying to be better behaved but at the question she couldn't keep the surprise and a 'you're kidding' expression from her face. These people had dragons but couldn't recognize a star when she practically fell in their laps?

She listened to Helbindi talk to someone she guessed was a guard, and her brows rose closer to her hairline. "You found the star and brought her back with you, to hopefully get her ankle looked at," she said while gesturing to herself with a bit more emphasis on her ankle.

An Unexpected Surprise

Helblindi grunted in reply and the dragon turned to walk rather than fly back in the direction of the city. Considering his size and a ground-eating lope he adopted, it wasn’t a long ride, and for that matter a smoother one than being on a horse. His back undulating in such a way as to cause more of a gentle rocking motion than anything more jarring.

Once they arrived at what was clearly a castle-like structure, for all that it was just as clearly a run down sort of place, Helblindi helped Yvaine down again and turned to give the dragon scritches along his eyeridge. “You great, lazy beast.” He said affectionately. “Couldn’t be bothered to fly, could you?” Trygve gave him a gentle headbutt in reply and Helblindi turned back to Yvaine to help her again.

Yvaine thought about her predicament while the dragon she was currently riding moved towards a city. Or she had presumed they were going to a city. When they get there she had to be sure to see if this place had any Babylonian candles so that she might go home. She didn't want the humans to think she had quit shining. How awkward that would be if she was gone and they assumed her gone only for her to shine once again in the sky.

The star eye'd the run down castle, wondering what had happened and why didn't they fix it. But guessed that perhaps there was a reason that it hadn't been fixed, like the tower that she had stayed in after Tristan died. She stood to the side, her attention torn between watching the man and dragon and looking around the city she currently found herself in. When Helblindi turned back to help her once again she accepted it with far more grace than she had the first time. "I did not know that people still were able to bond with dragons. I have not seen that in many years." She commented, might as well try and bond with the person that had saved her. She was going to be here for awhile after all.

#starfacts #in the book yvaine refers to the other stars as her sisters

Headcanon

All stars are female. Its not that they don't understand the differences between male, female and everything in between. They are just all girls.

An Unexpected Surprise

"Big ones." Helblindi remarked dryly in answer to her comment about creatures and came closer to crouch and pick her up. She was heavier than he expected, but he compensated easily enough and turned to climb back out of the crater. The ice creaked ominously under their combined weight, but he got them out and Yvaine got to see a big dragon peering at her.

"Trygve, leg." Helblblindi said to the dragon, and the animal rumbled before he obligingly extended a leg so Helblindi could get onto his back with Yvaine. "I’ll take you to our city of Utgard. One of our healers can look at your leg." Likely with his mother nearby as the only one Yvaine’s size.

#an unexpected surprise #utgardprince

"Lovely." Yvaine replied just as dryly, this would more than likely bind them to one another, as the laws of her people stated. She was a little startled that he decided to pick her up, her hands flailing for a moment before clutching him. She should have expected it she supposed, it wasn't as if there was really anything nearby to fashion her a crutch of some sort, and she wasn't sure she could even walk on her injured leg.

She didn't react much to dragon, but she was surprised this place still had them. Most of the dragons on Earth had been killed, it was only thanks to the masking power of Stormhold that some had managed to survive. What she was surprised about was that the dragon was allowing this man to tell it what to do and that it was listening. They must have a very strong bond, the dragons she had seen usually didn't listen when someone told them to do something. Once seated she looked back at Helblindi and nodded, "Thank you."

An Unexpected Surprise

"Bunch of people living on it?" He repeated. "People that look like you? You must mean Midgard, then." So she wasn’t Asgardian, though she certainly had the sass level for it. She hadn’t heard of Jötunheim before either though, so now he was getting a bit confused—but also annoyed with her sarcasm. He could kill her—he ought to—but then she glittered for a few moments and he forgot all about his murderous thoughts.

It was hardly rational, and considering in the right light snow too could glitter it seemed almost ridiculous that Frost Giants had an almost magpie-like attraction to things that glittered. But they were how Ymir had made them, and for some reason shiny things was second on the list to food things. She wasn’t food, but she was evidently shiny and he was going out of his mind. People didn’t glitter. “Do you want help or not?” He said instead, maintaining his gruffness—she had been rude to him, after all.

Yvaine looked at him for a moment and then down at herself, "Yes, I suppose they do look similar to me." But none of them glowed, and all of them had to eat food. Granted, she did as well, but hers was much easier to come by. A look of understanding flashed through blue eyes, "So that is what they meant when they were talking of Midgard. I had wondered..." Now she was wondering where this Asgard was, maybe she could get herself over there the next time she fancied herself a shooting star.

The star eye'd him when he spoke to her next, as of right now she had no reason to trust her safety to him. Then again, in the short time frame they had known one another he had not tried to kill her. So she supposed that was a mark in his favor. Her jaw worked for a moment. "No, but I do need it, " she sighed with a small nod, "I would be thankful for the help. I don't know what sort of creatures live here." Which could bind them together if he ended up saving her life. Oh Mother Moon how she hoped that did not happen again.