#leif ingerman

Homesick was an emotion Leif wasn’t used to feeling. He hated it. He was hoping the gentle sea breezes would calm the nausea swirling in his stomach, but to no avail. Fuse & Spark tailed behind him, picking up pieces of driftwood to show each other; their huffs and snarls being the only solace in Leif’s ears. This island had a deafening silence he wasn’t used to. His tribe was always bustling and rife with activity. Outside of his friends- brothers that had decided to come with him, everyone else here tended to keep to themselves. Leif hoped that would change here someday

“Just one night” he had told Annika - his sister. That thought still hadn’t fully processed for him. He had fleeting memories of a time before Caldera Cay, but he had just chalked up the ones with two little girls in them to dreams. He had always wondered who the faces in those dreams belonged to, flaxen blonde and burning red hair that flew in the wind without any cares.

“Just one night” - He had told her those words two weeks ago; something in his mind urging him to stay. He wasn’t sure why until this particular night.

~

The girl was short, if he had to wager he’d say she was a few years younger than him. She was sitting on an uprooted tree trunk - one that had fallen down the embankment, or been ripped out by a dragon he wagered - staring out into the ocean. A trio of Terrible Terrors lay in a pile at her feet, sleeping peacefully. They must be her pack, he thought.

“Um…hi?” Leif waved a hand in greeting, not wanting to scare her before he got too close. She didn’t react, but the three Terrible Terrors chattered and flew in front of her to grab her attention. One flew right past him, nearly clipping his ear before landing on Fuse’s head. The girl let out a snort at Leif’s reaction and gave him a polite smile and wave. He walked closer and took a seat on the other end of the tree trunk. 

“I’m Leif, uh Annika’s brother. I don’t know if you…” Was she staring at his mouth? She was a nice girl, but not necessarily his type. Once he stopped talking she looked him in the eyes, almost expectantly. “What’s your name?” It was foolish of him to admit he hadn’t really been listening when Anni had given them the rundown of the island on the boat ride over. He had been too busy fussing over his dragons and trying to not let the swaying of the ship get the better of his stomach contents. 

After a beat of silence, the girl picked up a stick. She pointed to herself with her free hand, and began writing in the sand. H-I-L-D-A

Hilda.

Hilda handed him the stick and pointed to him. “Name?”

L-E-I-F

“Leif.”

She laughed, motioning her hand like a falling leaf - like he’d never heard that one before. She grabbed another stick that was behind her and erased her name with her foot, replacing it with more words.

You’re Annika’s brother, right? You look like her. But more boy-ish

Well, I am a boy

He got another squeaky chortle from that.

I’m from Berk. I can’t hear well, so I make do with what I can

I’m from Caldera Cay. How long have you been here?

A couple months

My sister hasn’t been too bad to live with?

She doesn’t tend to like being around anyone. Except Hiccup.

The Dragon Rider?

That’s the one. They’re Hooligans but work out of Dragon’s Edge.

What else do you know about them.

Fishlegs is cool. He likes dragons like you do, I think you’d get along well.

Annika never mentioned a Fishlegs.

Probably weirds her out. You guys are Ingermans, right?

Yeah

So is he. I think it’s a cousin thing from what Gustav was telling me.

I have cousins on Berk?

Oh you have no idea

He’d lost himself completely, Annika was aware of this fact. Her brother had left their camp to go save their sister; but the only thing he had brought back was that pesky parasite - and a lust for human flesh. By all intents and purposes, Leif was no longer her brother. If he was she wouldn’t be hiding out in a storage closet in an abandoned cabin along a lakefront with a bloodied axe in hand. They had been at this for days now. He’d hunt her down and try to turn her. She, in kind turn, would fight him off with whatever she had and run for her life. Whatever was in this outbreak, it didn’t let any of it’s victims feel exhaustion; they were all pretty much dead anyway so it really wouldn’t have mattered. What did matter to Annika was that she was still very much alive; and despite how hopeless her life seemed, she really wanted to keep it that way. The sound of the door crashing down made her jump, gripping the handle of the axe even tighter, her knuckles going a vein-ish blue under the pressure. Leif’s footsteps thumped through the cabin. He knew she was here, he just couldn’t pinpoint it. One by one, every door was bashed open, splintered, or torn straight from its hinges in an effort to find her. ‘Well, I’m probably going to die either way’ She thought to herself as she quickly opened the door to her hiding spot and took a loop around the house. If she could just catch him by surprise…

THUNK!

Leif’s body slumped to the ground with an agonising groan. Annika pulled the axe back to prepare to swing again as the undead corpse of her triplet stood to face her. The yellow in his eyes swirled with animalistic rage as he groaned again; if Annika had to guess a translation it would probably be “you bitch!”. Before he could take another step, she swung again. Lodging the blade upwards under his left rib, she pulled it out and took another swing. Blood poured over the pair as any remaining light left her brothers eyes. As the crimson proof of any mortality he had trickled from his mouth, another groan left his body. Annika knelt to the floor and could only hope what that one meant.