Hello everyone!
This is it! The last part of the story, the epilogue that I was planning to post for months, I finally sat down to finish it. At the bottom you'll find longer A/N - my thoughts, a summary of my adventure with Wattpad, and a little chitchat.
Anyway, enjoy!
^^^
It was only 9 AM, yet the west coast of Normandy was already roasting under the harsh sunlight. Runa angrily unbuttoned part of her leather jacket.
Olaf rolled his eyes. "Just take it off already!"
"Excuse me?! Respect the fit, ok?"
"Whatever..."
Two weeks prior the crew set off from their homeland to trade their goods around Europe. Today it was Runa and Olaf's turn to guard the ship while the rest headed to the city center. The girl wasn't particularly fond of this situation.
"After everything we did in Scotland, we still get to do the boring work! That's for rookies! Not for us!"
"Don't be so dramatic. Everyone gets their turn. And you're the last person I know who would want to get special treatment."
"It's not "special treatment"! I'm simply saying I would be much more useful for the team if I went with them. And instead, I'm stuck watching the ship!"
"Oh, you just want to party in the city." Olaf teased her
"One doesn't exclude the other!"
"Well, it's 9 AM, perfect time for a pint or two, isn't it." he chuckled
The girl kept complaining but Olaf didn't listen to her. Something else caught his attention...or rather someone.
"What's going on?" Runa asked when she noticed a deep frown on his face.
"Don't be obvious" he lowered his voice "but look at the man in a green doublet."
Runa nodded, did a full 180, and looked at the crowd behind them. Olaf pulled her back angrily.
"What part of 'don't be obvious' you don't understand-" he said through his teeth
"Relax! He couldn't see me. There are too many people. Anyway, the one in a fancy hat? What about him?"
"I think it's the man that had been spying on (y/n) in Scotland."
Runa gasped "Woah! Are you sure?!"
Olaf nodded.
"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's punish this creep for stalking our friends!" Runa said and they followed the spy.
They used a trained maneuver where one of them, this time Runa, was obviously staying on his tail. As expected, it quickly caught the man's attention. Thinking he was slipping away from his stalker, the man was in fact being pushed into a less crowded part of the harbor where Olaf was already waiting. The man couldn't do a thing against Olaf's tight grip and strong arms. They got to him in one of the narrow alleys and pulled him into a small warehouse.
As soon as they pushed him inside the building, he shouted in a thick german accent "What is the meaning of this?!". Then he covered his mouth with a white, silky cloth, like a nobleman whose nose wasn't used to the musty scent of the room. "You are going to pay for this! I am Markgraf Wilhelm von-"
"Cut the crap, you bastard!" Runa said angrily "We know who you really are - a spy and a traitor!"
The man smirked and instantly lost his noble mannerism. "So we met already, it seems." he said in a much lighter accent.
"You were spying on our friends!" Runa clenched her fists
"You have to be more specific, I'm afraid." the spy chuckled friendly
"Scotland." Olaf said simply.
"Oh! I knew that case gonna backfire." the man scratched his neck "(y/n) was her name, right?"
"And Merida, and everyone else!" Runa shouted "You nearly got us all killed!"
The man shrugged "I didn't do anything. I just observed and did my job. I can't be responsible for what that crazy lady was using the information for."
Runa's face became so red that Olaf grabbed her in case she wanted to jump at the man.
"You don't seem to feel responsible for what happened." Olaf said, trying to stay calm.
"Why should I?"
At that moment a bell could be heard, signaling it was already 10 AM. The spy frowned at the sound and looked around nervously.
"What? Are you in a rush?!" Runa smirked.
"And they say you Norsemen are stupid." he returned a sarcastic smile. "Listen up!" he said more seriously "I'm not fond of unnecessary violence so I'll give you the last warning. I'm working for a very influential person at the moment and they would hate to hear I'm indisposed. You might be able to beat me up in this room but then I guarantee you, even your strong, muscled arms will not help you reach your boat in one piece."
"I think it's still worth it." Olaf said, cracking his knuckles.
"I'll pay you." the man said calmly.
"You think we would choose money over our friend's honor?!" Runa laughed out loud.
"Young lady, I'm a spy, I don't pay with gold." he smiled and pulled out a small envelope "I pay with information. I studied your friend for weeks. She is not stupid nor shallow. What do you think she would prefer to get: her friends' dead remains or groundbreaking information that would benefit your whole community?"
Olaf stepped back and sighed "I mean...he has a point. Maybe we should think about this."
"Are you crazy?" Runa looked at him angrily "Have you forgotten what had he done?"
A short moment of distraction was enough for the spy. Before the girl had a chance to finish her sentence, the man was already gone. Only after the door creaked, the two realised what had just happened. Runa sprinted after the man but Olaf stopped her.
"Don't be reckless!" he scolded her "He said he is not alone! Do you want to run into their crooks?"
"So we're just giving up?!"
Olaf shook his head and pointed at the envelope on the floor.
"Heh! Reliable spy, what an irony." Runa laughed.
They picked up the message - it was a letter. Olaf started examining the text.
"It's from someone called "Trader J.", he's a merchant who often travels North..." he took a few seconds to read the next part "It seems the spy worked for him and as a reward, the Trader is giving him a map how to safely access an island." he read the next part and his jaw dropped.
"What?!" Runa asked, impatiently.
He simply handed her the paper. She looked at a hand-drawn map of an archipelago. She knew where it was, the location wasn't far from their land but they never traveled there because of the deadly whirlpools that made that place isolated from the rest of the world.
"Alright, and?" she glanced at her friend "What's so special about those islands?"
Olaf pointed to the last paragraph. The girl had issues with reading cursive but she couldn't overlook that word.
"Dragons?!"
^^^
Thank you for reading!
Yeah, it was supposed to be a teaser for another series that would include HTTYD. Normandy was also hinting at another character.
I STARTED THIS STORY IN 2018...
It really feels unbelievable how everything changed since I posted the first chapter back in 2018. Now it's almost 2023, I'm much more confident and open to trying new things, and my adventure on this platform was one of the factors that helped me change for the better. Even though I'm not pursuing a career as an author, my experience with writing and interacting with an audience is often very useful at my current job or just in everyday life. It's also nostalgic to remember how much free time I used to have that I could spend on writing, especially in contrast to the limited free time I have now. Suddenly I feel old, haha.
DO I MISS WRITING ON THIS PLATFORM?
Yeah, sometimes I do. A few times before I was already typing a new story after watching a great show or playing a game. However, it was never anything that was universally seen as interesting (like a romance) but instead, I wanted to explore the most random part of the plot that only I found exciting. On top of that, grammar checking and other editorial corrections were taking too much time. The urge to write is still there, haha. But I'm not planning to come back for now.
HUGE THANK YOU
I'm really thankful for all the people who vibed with my story and enjoyed my writing. Thank you for all the thoughtful comments and constructive criticism. Thank you for the people who saw my work as something a little more than a simple XReader (even if it technically was exactly that). Thank you to all the people who had been hanging out here for a long time, and those who just discovered the story.
As always - HAVE AN AMAZING DAY, I know will :)