Sigrid The Relentless - How to Train your Dragon

44. Trials Of Devotion

The day had finally come.

Mala was still ever so gracious in allowing the couple to use her own trial for themselves. She'd told Sigrid that it was no problem, again and again, and that she was looking forward to watching. Even after the departing of their elderly Great Protector, who'd left their island in search for her resting place on Vanaheim, Mala still welcomed them with open arms.

"It's all about perspective, and the way you choose to see it." Mala explained. "For us, we see this as a well deserved rest for our Great Protector."

That was a nice way to think about it. Sigrid had always viewed death from one perspective, and one perspective only; fear.

Perhaps, it was time for her to take Mala's advice - and what her dad had been begging her to do for years - and change her perspective. But to what, and how? She didn't know that yet.

But now came a different task; the Trials of Devotion.

Dagur had been planning it for weeks, and Sigrid had just kind of watched over his shoulder. To Dagur, this was his thing, he needed to do this. Sigrid knew that giving him the space to do that would be the best option, instead of her trying to pipe in and change things however she wished. Not that there was much to change, though, this was still Mala's original trial. It was more working out the invites and seating arrangements, plus snacks.

"Dad!" Sigrid called out after seeing her father land on Skullcrusher.

Her father looked around the island with strangeness, studying the place he'd been told so much about by both his children... mostly Sigrid.

"How are you, lass?" Stoick questioned, after hugging his daughter. "Nervous?"

"Why would I be?" Sigrid laughed, before caving in as her father raised his brow. "Yes, I'm nervous. Just a little bit."

Stoick chuckled. "Dagur might be a changed lad, but he hasn't grown out of his title yet."

It was a joke, of course, but he was right.

"Eh" Sigrid shrugged, not disagreeing with her father. "Keeps things fun."

It was great to see that her father was excited about the trials. Again, not that she was really worried about it, the man loved tournaments, as proven by the arena on Berk.

But she wasn't sure if he would be so excited about one tiny little surprise... Well, a surprise to anyone who wasn't herself, Mala or Throk.

Sigrid would be joining the trials herself, side by side with Dagur, which he had no idea about. This all came to play when Dagur first started planning, and Sigrid thought; "why should he be the only one to prove himself?" So, she decided to partake in the trials as well, to prove her own worthiness to the Chief of Berserkers.

See it as proposing, and both parties getting an engagement ring. But now they're swimming through lava instead of exchanging jewellery. Romantic, right?

---

After a few minutes of getting ready in her assigned hut, Sigrid heard a knock on the door, before it opened.

"Here." Mala approached Sigrid in her lended hut, carrying a bundle of cloth and armor. "I doubt that fur would be a good choice to wear when walking the Pool of Valor, so we had these made for you in advance."

Mala showed the clothes to Sigrid, as they shimmered a beautiful violet hue in the light.

"See this as an early marital gift, from the Defenders of the Wing." Mala smiled. "I hope that it's to your liking, we took great inspiration from your dragon."