Almost lost {&Freyja}

Dark brown eyes looked over the docks, towards beautiful wooden ships. The young man stood still, observing how the villagers worked. But he was actually looking for the shipbuilder, for Sithric. People from Skagerrak had told him that he had a brother who still lived in Skagen. Zakarias had left Skagen when he was a boy and never returned, untill now. He was curious about his brother, about his past. His feet moved him towards the ships while his mind thoughed about the fact that his father used to bild these ships. A legend, he had heard. Zakarias had the love for wood from his genes, but never wanted to be a ship builder. No, he had other passions.

There was only one problem in his search for his brother: he doesn't know how Sithric looks like. He doesn't know anything beside a name, place of recidence and a rank. But that isn't much to go on. When he reached the ships, Zakarias stopped and looked over towards a older woman. "Hello," Zakarias greeted the woman with his kind and charming smile. "Do you know where the shipbuilder is?" He asked her, not knowing that she is a builder too.

{&Freyja}

Having recently finished the ship she’d been working on, Freyja was getting her supplies and tools ready to start fresh. It wasn’t easy work, but she had a system, and after five years, it was an efficient system. She liked to have all of her supplies present and accounted for on Day One, so there was no pausing to drag things down to the docks, or scrambling when she discovered she was missing something. It took a bit more time for her to actually begin the work, but things ran far smoother for her this way.

And looking over everything she’d accumulated for the new ship she’d be working on, she was certain she was now ready to begin. Taking a quick break to rehydrate and shovel some food into her mouth, she counted the ship fittings a third time, just in case. Yup, she had everything she needed.

Before she had a chance to actually get to it, Freyja noticed a man nearby looking at the ships. Wiping her hands and her mouth quickly, she approached him, noting the easy smile on his lips, and smiling back. Shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand for a moment, she finally got a good look at his face. She didn’t recognize him.

“Hello,” she answered with a nod, and then grinned at his question. “You’re looking at her. I’m Freyja. What can I do for you?”

There he was, an adventurer in a strange but suppose to be familiar village. But it wasn’t that familiar, not as much as he had hoped. He thought he would remember everything at the first moment he would set foot in Skagen. But sadly, it was just another village like any else. And it annoyed him. He had heard so much about this land, this village and its people. Zakarias was only a child when he was taken to Skagerrak and for that to little to remember things about his life in Skagen. He knew he had a brother and parents who adored him.  But he knew that only by stories he had heard.

It didn’t take much time to arrive at the shore, seeing the ships that were and are build there. He was trying to imagine himself playing there, a little brown-headed boy with too many curls which covered his innocent face. His father, editing the wood while his brother kept close attention to every move his father made. But he didn’t know how his father looked like, nor his brother. So he saw only himself as a boy, running around the ships.
Zakarias stopped his walk to take a better look at the people who were present near the ships. For not knowing how Sithric looks like, he decided to ask someone. So he approached one of the people who worked there, a older woman. The woman had already seen him and came up to him. Zakarias smiled, like always, and greeted her. He liked her kindly smile and his question made her grin. The young man tilted his head and frowned his eyebrows for a moment. “You’re looking at her. I’m Freyja. What can I do for you?”  Kind of surprised by her response, Zakarias pulled up his eyebrows before scratching the top of his head. ”Of course,” He said kindly, nodding his head a little. ”I did not mean to be rude.” He smiled again, hoping he didn’t insult the woman. For being a Carpenter, he knew how hard it is to work with wood. Building this many, beautiful ships, he had a lot of respect for that. ”I’m looking for Sithric Leifsson. I heard he is a Shipbuilder here at  Skagen as well.” He explained his question, hoping his sources were right. He did not know Skagen had more shipbuilders and it made him wonder if his brother was still alive.

Grinning at the man’s reaction to her announcement, she waved away his comment about being rude. “It’s not the first time that’s happened. No need to worry.” Few people believed her when they were first introduced to her, so she was used to it. Anyone who wasn’t from Skagen often found it hard to believe.

“Sithric? I haven’t seen him very recently, but we each have our own way of doing things, and try not to get in each other’s way, so that’s not unusual.” Freyja tried to recall the last time she’d seen the other shipbuilder, and also where she’d run into him the last few times they’d interacted. “He could be sailing, if he’s just finished working on a ship? Or, have you tried the blacksmith? Or, well, there are any number of places he could be, really.”

It wasn’t as if the two of them were the best of friends. More like casual acquaintances. “You’re welcome to hang around and wait for him, if you’d like. I wouldn't mind the company.” She’d need to get back to work sooner or later, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hold a conversation. She liked people, after all, and she could out talk just about anyone. “What do you want with Sithric? If it’s a question about ships, I can probably help if you don’t want to wait.” Hopefully he wasn’t one of those sort of people who thought she couldn’t be as good because she was a woman. Freyja didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but it was a fairly common reaction.

For knowing how difficult wood can be, Zakarias had a huge respect for shipbuilders. He didn’t meant to insult the woman and it made him feel kind off lame. He scratched the back of his head, making his curls bounce a bit before apologizing. The woman grinned and Zakarias showed a little smile. “It’s not the first time that’s happened. No need to worry.” The woman said. Luckily she was kind and didn’t had the temper he could have. But it didn’t made his search any easier. If she is the shipbuilder, what does that mean for his brother? Zakarias narrowed his eyes for a moment, before asking her about his brother. “Sithric? I haven’t seen him very recently, but we each have our own way of doing things, and try not to get in each other’s way, so that’s not unusual.” The young man nodded. At least it meant his brother was still alive, for her knowing his name. “He could be sailing, if he’s just finished working on a ship? Or, have you tried the blacksmith? Or, well, there are any number of places he could be, really. ”

Sithric could be anywhere, according to the woman he spoke to. ”Sounds like he is a busy man.” Zakarias said, his voice calm and his smile right on his lips. It was hard for him not to smile, he enjoyed almost any type of connection with others and it his smile made his personality. Sithric wasn’t here, clearly, so he had to look somewhere else in this village. Zakarias looked around the area before the ship next to them caught his eye. It wasn’t finished yet, but the wood was beautiful attached to each other. “You’re welcome to hang around and wait for him, if you’d like. I wouldn't mind the company.” Her voice made him look back at her and he nodded. ”Only if you’re okay with that. I don’t want to hold you off your work.” He replied. Zakarias liked being around others, but he didn’t want to take too much time of this friendly lady.

His eyes slipped back at the ship for a moment, before she spoke again. He was really intrigued of the carvings showing in the timber.  “What do you want with Sithric? If it’s a question about ships, I can probably help if you don’t want to wait.” Zakarias grinned, shaking his head what made his dark curles bounce a bit. ”I don’t even know how to sail a ship, so it won’t be any use to me.” He said jejune, pulling up his shoulders. ”It is something personal, and I do like your ships,” Zakarias looked back at the ship besides them, nodding approving. ”At least, if this is your work?” He then asked her, not knowing if it was one of her creations or his brothers. He turned his body a bit so he could have a better few of the ship. The young man put his fingers around his chin, narrowing his eyes a bit before he stepped forward. The ship hadn’t had that much details, not as much as he put into his work. ”The carvings could have more detail, and maybe more precisely.”

Freyja grinned and shrugged at the young man’s assessment that Sithric sounded like a busy man. “He could be,” she acknowledged with a nod. He seemed nice. Freyja wondered who he was, but he didn’t seem to be very forthcoming. Of course, she hadn’t really asked either, so she couldn’t blame him quite yet. “What’s your name?” she finally asked, preferring to put a name to the face and have something to call him other than ‘young man’.

When he said he didn’t want to interrupt her work, Freyja shrugged at him again. “You wouldn’t be. I don’t mind,” she told him with a smile. “I’m still getting things ready.” It was a process, but at his next comment, Freyja wasn’t too worried about him thinking her ship building process was strange. “You don’t know how to sail? That’s a shame. I love being on the water.” This probably wasn’t a piece of information he needed to know, or cared about, but Freyja was a chatty person on occasion. And she really did love being on, in, or near the ocean.

“Ah,” she commented when he told her whatever he needed to speak to Sithric about was personal. She wouldn’t pry, then. “It is,” she answered proudly when he said he liked her work, but immediately had to resist the urge to glare at him at his next comments. She was half sure he hadn’t intended to be rude, but Freyja was particularly proud of her abilities, especially when it came to carving. Luckily for him, her new apprentice had been using that ship for practice, so she wasn’t quite as offended as she could have been. She’d taught the teenager how to carve, after all, so it was ultimately her skills as a teacher he was criticizing. “The ship I built, yes, but the carvings aren’t mine. I’ll take your critique into consideration, though.”

Freyja was still curious about this newcomer who apparently had enough skill at wood carving to criticize the ship he was examining. “Do you carve?” she wondered, trying to keep her tone neutral. Any tradeskill profession required taking criticism from others, but Freyja had believed she was through with that stage of her life.

It felt like a whole new adventure, coming to Skagen and look for someone whom he only knew by name and rank. And it was, off course, an adventure. But Zakarias didn’t want to admit it to himself, he wanted to remember this village and its people, its places and secrets. Only the smell this land had was kind of familiar. Like a long lost smell which always danced around his nose and could only be placed now.
“He could be,” The woman acknowledged his statement about Sithric. Hearing the sound of her tone, it seemed like the woman and Sithric weren’t the closes of friends. Zak smiled friendly and nodded a bit. The place he thought Sithric would definitely be, was a dead end. “What’s your name?” Freyja then asked and Zak’s dark eyes looked at hers a few seconds in silence, before he answered. ”My name is Zakarias,” He introduced himself, only saying his first name. Freyja had introduced herself with only her first name too, so Zak was glad he wouldn’t feel the need to say his last name. He didn’t want others to know he was Sithric’s brother, or at least have the same fathers name.

The shipbuilder had asked him if he wanted to stick around, giving her some company. “You wouldn’t be. I don’t mind,” she told him with a smile. “I’m still getting things ready.” Zakarias smiled and nodded again. ”If you need help with, like, anything, just say so. I don’t know a lot about ships, but I do know a lot about the tools.” He said friendly, offering his help if she needed. If he would stick around a bit longer, he could better be useful. His eyes looked at the ship near to them and observed the wood as good as he could see. “You don’t know how to sail? That’s a shame. I love being on the water.” Freyja said and Zak grinned, slightly shaking his head. ”That is a good threat for a shipbuilder,” He said faintly, still caring his grin. ”I love wood and making creations out of it, but water.. I can’t swim, and as a kid I was learned how to sail a few times but I never paid much attention and now I forgot.” He laughed softly. The woman probably didn’t care about the reason why he didn’t like water and didn’t sail, but Zak likes to chat with others.

When he took a better and closer look at the ship near them, he missed some details from the carving. And as impulsive as he was, he said what was on his mind. Zakarias didn’t think about his comment and how rude it may sound, how disrespectful. For being a perfectionist, Zak always wanted his work to be perfect and put a lot of details in his work. Not everyone is as a perfectionist as he his, luckily, and the work was still beautiful. Just not the way he would’ve done it. “The ship I built, yes, but the carvings aren’t mine. I’ll take your critique into consideration, though.” Freyja’s voice took his attention and his eyes looked at hers again, seeing her look has changed. Zak realized he had said something to offend her and he turned his gaze down. ”It still looks beautiful, though. I’m sorry, my mouth is sometimes faster than my mind.” He explained himself, feeling like an idiot for criticizing her or her apprentice’s work.

“Do you carve?” Freyja then asked him, and Zakarias nodded with a big smile around his lips. ”I do, yes.” He wiped away a lost curl in front of his eye. ”I make a sort of furniture from wood. Beds, chairs, tables, anything.” He told her. ”I’m going to open a shop here in Skagen, so if you ever need a new bed or table..” He laughed softly.