Probably should've seen this coming [Stafnsdóttirs]

With so much changing in her life, it seemed, with her mother getting married, and getting an apprentice, and her sisters all trying to find their place in the village, Freyja had been thinking lately that there was no reason she couldn’t spend a bit of the money she’d earned on something useful. So, she’d spent an hour or so discussing it with her mother, and had later wandered over to the stables.

She spoke to the stable master at length, wanting to know exactly what sort of horse she should get, and why, and what she needed to do to take care of it. Freyja was nothing if not thorough. She liked to be prepared, and know what she was getting into.

Finally, she’d picked out the mare, and walked her home, talking to her the whole way, because that’s how Freyja always interacted with animals, especially ones that could kill her with a well placed kick to the head.

Once she got home, she put the horse in the enclosure beside the house where their father kept a horse when Freyja was still a child. Since then, they’d used it for storage but Freyja had cleaned it out earlier that afternoon.

Walking inside, she located her sisters right away and told them the news. “I got a horse. She’s a she, she’s 15 years old, she’s calm and friendly. I don’t know if you want to name her? I’m fine with whatever. I’m heading down to the docks now to see how things are going. So, you know, go say hi if you want. Sofie, don’t scare the poor thing away. And no, you cannot use her to help with any of your pranks.” Freyja was standing firm on that point. "She's a horse, not a puppy, okay?" Giving them a stern look, she nodded once, turned on her heel and left.

After her mother’s wedding announcement, Visna immediately took for herself the task of making dresses for each one of her sisters. After her little accident with the axe, and after having her arm almost cut off, Kara decided that the girl had to rest and since her arm wasn’t in the best conditions, Visna wasn’t so useful at her mother’s shop.

Nonetheless, the happiness of the girl was uncontainable. She only wanted her mother to be happy and she was glad Kara was finally turning over a new leaf after Stafn’s death. She trusted her mother’s judgement and knew that the man she chose for herself was a good man, she knew it by heart.

Visna first started with Freyja’s dress. She was the eldest daughter and she had always worked extremely hard for them. The girl thought she deserved to be the first she worked for and also maybe needed a new nice dress, since she didn’t own many of them.

She was working in the room where they all slept, in her little corner, knowing that no one was going to interrupt her or bother her in any way, but then she heard the sound of a door opening, followed by a voice. The girl assumed that her sister Freyja came back and since she wanted her dress to be a surprise, she got up and quickly but carefully, set aside the fabric that was soon to become a pretty dress. Not to draw too much attention on what she was doing, she simply decided to go in the main room, and when she was in the hallway, she heard her sister saying that she had bought a horse. She heard her warnings and right when she entered the room, she saw Freyja going away. ”Freyja got a horse?” The girl said with her eyebrows furrowed after her sister left the room. ”Why does she need it?” She asked then, curiosity filling her voice. She didn’t really like horses, the girl didn’t know how to deal with them, but maybe that was going to be a great addition to the family, maybe she could’ve learn one or two new things.

Sofie had been having a pretty lazy day in her bed today. Working on her dress fro the summer, and skipping training for the day.She had been to tired to go today, and taking one day off wasn't going to kill her when she literately went every other day in the week. So if she got in trouble for skipping one day then so be it. She was tired, and she would have just been shit to be around anyways if she was honest. She would have lost or come close to losing, and she was not about to just lose in front of people because she was tired. Sofie was too good for that, and had too much pride for it too. She was a great Frú and one of the strongest in the group too. She wanted to move up quickly, so losing was just not an option for her. Rubbing her eyes a bit she slowly put her dress away, and got up and started to head down into the main looking area of the house. Looking around she could see some of her sisters were already moving around the house as well. Just as she was about to go move about some more, she heard Freyja start to talk. Turning to look at her, she was able to pick up on most of what she was saying.

Freyja bought a horse, one that was to be used for work and was a little bit on the old side of things. She was also told that she was not allowed to use the horse for pranks. That made Sofie roll her eyes at her. She was definitely going to use the horse for pranks now just because she was told she was not allowed to do so. Freyja should just know that was how her brain worked. Freyja ended her talking with saying that the horse was a horse and not a puppy. Sofie just raised an eyebrow at that statement, no shit it wasn't a puppy. She wondered what her sister even meant by that in the first place. All she did know was that she was going to go and check this horse out. Sofie loved animals, and horses were on her top favorite ones. ”Freyja got a horse?” she heard Visna ask and then turned to look at her sister. She knew that she was scared of horses when they were little, she wondered if the was something that was still true about her. ”Why does she need it?” Visna said next. Sofie just shrugged at her before smiling.

Walking over to the table she grabbed some of the flowers off it before walking back over to her sisters"I don't know why she needs it, but I do know I want to make it pretty!" she told them with a bright smile before she turned and walked outside, the flowers still in her hands. Looking at the beautiful horse she got excited when she saw the colors in her hair. They could do so many wonderful and pretty things with this horses hair, and she was getting excited already. Slowly walking over to the horse she put out her free hand so it could smell her. "Why hello there pretty girl." she said to her first before smiling and petting her nose. Looking over to the sisters who had followed her outside she smiled at them. "Come here! she's so pretty and friendly!" she said all excited. Like a child given a new gift, and in a way she had been. The horse may be her sisters, but the others were going to take a liking to it as well, she was sure of it.

Tóra loved animals, and it was to her great disappointment that they'd never had any. Not that they really needed any, since their house was crowded and hectic enough already. But still, that didn't stop her from someday hoping that they could maybe get a dog. She never dared to hope they could have an animal as amazing as a horse. Some of her friends had horses, and the old farmer that she spent her mornings with learning about plants and herbs had a horse that he let her pet sometimes. She was sitting outside, her back against the wall of the house, when Freyja came up the road leading a horse. She didn't immediately notice, since she was turning a small root over and over in her hands, learning the look and feel of it from every angle, reciting its properties in her mind. The stalk of the root sat on her lap, and the flower, although she had carefully separated the pieces of the plant so she could remember that each part had its own distinct uses.

She follows her sisters to the fenced in field after Freyja leaves, the parts of the plant still clenched absently in her fist. She realizes and slips them into a pocket of her dress first, since she doesn't feel like explaining to Sofie and Visna why she's walking around with pieces of a plant like some type of weirdo. She's told Freyja she wants to be a healer, but not Sofie and Visna. She hasn't told anyone, not even Freyja, that she's started learning about plants and herbs from an old farmer on the edge of town. They're gone all day anyway, they barely notice her comings and goings and that suits her just fine.

She follows Sofie up to the horse, stroking one hand down the sweet mare's strong neck. Her coat is thick and soft, and she giggles in delight. "Oh, she's so soft!" She grins up at her sisters. She's glad to see Visna up and walking, she'd been worried about her but hadn't wanted to bother her to see how she was feeling. She gives her sister a warm smile, her bright blue eyes darting quickly to her sister's arm, and she tilts her head. "How are you feeling, Visna?"

Animals weren’t exactly Visna’s priority. She liked watching them from afar, she liked seeing how people would interact with them, but nothing more. Not that she ever tried to do something about it, she simply wasn’t interested. That was until she fell due to two huge horses that in the midst of the chaos of the streets “pushed” her and caused her to cut her own arm with the axe she was carrying. She wasn’t scared of animals now, but while she used to look at them with no interest at all, now she was more aware of them and tended to be a lot more cautious when she was near any kind of animal, especially horses.

Seeing her sisters being so excited about this new addition to the family, she knew that in her heart, she had to accept and learn to live with this new creature, but maybe that wasn’t exactly a bad thing. Maybe that was her chance to discover new things, maybe even discover a hidden talent, discover that she was great at taking care of animals, for instance.
"I don't know why she needs it, but I do know I want to make it pretty!" Sofie’s voice interrupted her thoughts and Visna rolled her eyes at her excitement. She heard Freyja saying to her lovely sister that she didn’t have to use the horse for her pranks and she really hoped that Sofie would follow the “orders” for once and leave that poor animal be… But now the horse was part of the family, wasn’t she? She had to be pretty.

Visna followed her sisters while they were rushing to the horse that was right outside their house. Sofie was the first one reaching her and caressing her nose. "Why hello there pretty girl." Her sister’s voice was so soft, she didn’t expect her to be so gentle. Tòra followed Sofie right after the older one called for them to join her and not wanting to be alone standing right at the door, Visna slowly walked up to them. She didn’t dare going near the animal as her sisters immediately did, she was fine with the distance they had between them for now. The brunette started thinking about a way in which she could help Sofie making the horse pretty. Maybe she could’ve sewed a nice blanket for her.

"How are you feeling, Visna?" The girl heard her little sister Tòra calling for her and she turned her gaze towards her little sister. She realised she was talking about the wound on her arm and quickly smiled at the blonde girl to reassure her. ”I’m feeling well Tòra, thank you for asking.” She said before folding her arms across her chest. ”I think I can sew a nice blanket for her.” She told her sisters with a wider smile, trying to move the topic of the conversation away from herself. Visna was trying not to think about her uneasiness and even though she was grateful for Tòra’s concern, she would’ve gladly done without it, since it reminded her of her accident.

Sofie was still petting the horse in a gentle way and enjoying how calm she was when she saw Tora come over and start to pet the horse as well. "Oh, she's so soft!" Sofie hears her youngest sister say and she smiles at her and nods. The horse really was super soft and fun to touch."She is!" Soife says to her. She was very glad that her sister Freyja had boughten the horse. She was going to be an amazing addition to the family. Even though she was told she was not allowed to use the horse for pranks, she would still make sure that the horse was super pretty all the time. Because she knew that the horse was going to be used for work, and her sister was not very girly at all. So it would be funny to see her sister ridding around in her normal clothes with a horse that had flowers in its hair. "How are you feeling, Visna?" At Tora's next words, she looks away from the beautiful horse and to her sister. She forgot that Visna was scared to horses for a moment in her excitement over how beautiful the things was. Looking at her sister she smiled gently at her. Then Sofie's eyes follow Tora's gaze and she looks to her sisters arm. Sofie was still mad that her sister hadn't come to her for help and that she had gotten her arm cut and hurt as badly as she had done.

Visna answers ”I’m feeling well Tòra, thank you for asking.” to Tora and Sofie gives her a small smile. ”I think I can sew a nice blanket for her.” Visna says next and Sofie nods to her. "That will be an amazing idea I think. Your work is always so beautiful." she tells her next with another gentle smile. Looking back to the horse for a moment she thinks of how to make her sister feel more calm. "Do the two of you want to help me braid her hair and put the flowers in? I'll make sure that nothing happens at all I promise." she says to her sister. Holding out her hand to her with a smile. "We can make her beautiful, and she is seems very gentle." she says to her next. She was glad that Tora was here with her. The two of them could do their best to comfort Visna, and help her work with her fears. If she could get over her fears, then she could love the horse and not be so scared of the other ones around the village.

"But if you don't want to, don't feel like you have to. I just want you to know that I will keep you safe, and that she looks to be very nice." she tells hr lastly. At least at this rate she tried, and Tora would hopefully help her braid the horses hair and put the flowers in before Freyja got back home. Then she could see that she was going to have a pretty horse for a while, if not all the time. "Oh, and Freyja said to think of a name, so we need to do that too" she adds in looking at them both.

» Coming of spring.
» Spend the days dreaming and the nights awake [Stafnsdóttirs]