Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hilda held the phone up to her ear. The dial tone lasted for about 3 seconds before she heard the familiar voice of Frida.

"Hello?" Frida asks.

"Hi Frida, it's Hilda," she responds. "I was wondering if you wanted to do anything today? I saw this really cool cave by the wall..."

She was stopped when Frida responded with "Oooooooh, I can't today, sorry. I got magic lessons today with my parents."

"Your parents?" Hilda was confused, given their hostile initial reaction towards Frida's magic.

"Well, they say they want to know more about what I do so we're going to Tildy’s place to show them."

"Oh, ok," Hilda says in a dejected voice

"Yeah, sorry. I'll hang out with you some other time. Bye.” Frida says. "Bye." Hilda hangs the phone. She decides to call David. After a few extra seconds, David picks up.

“Hi David,” Hilda chirps, hoping her friend is game to hang out today. “Hi Hilda. Listen, I’m sorry but I can’t hang out today,” David says. “Oh come on, you too?!” Hilda exclaims with palpable disappointment.

“Well, we're going to my grandma’s house.” David responds.

“Oh. Umm….how’s she doing?” Hilda asks, now feeling awkward about letting her emotions leak out like that. Last time David mentioned his grandma, she was suffering from a flu which left her hospitalized.

“She’s been doing better. She just got admitted out of the hospital last week so mum decided to pop by for a visit.”

“Alright, have fun.” Hilda says as she hangs up the phone. She decides at that point to just let herself go limp on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

Johanna asks “No one wants to hang out today?”

“No, they’re both busy." She said with melancholy. Then, she asked "Hey mum, do you think we could go out today?”

Johanna’s face then scrunches in a way that shows she has a disappointing answer. “Ooooh, sorry Hilda, I can’t. I’ve got a lot of projects to do. We’ll hang out some other time, ok?.”

Hilda sinks in her posture “Oh, alright. Hey Alfur...”

Alfur puts his notes down on the drink coaster he was using as a table to say "I’m afraid that’s going to be a no from me too." He puts his arm over his head "I’m up to here in notes and reports so I'm going to be busy for a while. I also have to submit the piece I co-authored with Adeline for peer review."

Hilda remembers Adeline, especially how into Alfur she seemed. "Oh, how is she?"

Alfur blushes slightly and runs the back of his head "Oh, she's alright. Still running the fanclub. I'll tell her you said hi."

"Thanks," Hilda says. But now, she has no one to hang out with. David and Frida are off doing their own thing and the 2 adults she knows are both busy. Once she finds a comfy position on the couch, she plops onto her side and takes the remote. After some surfing, she settles on a sitcom. Johanna, clearly seeing that Hilda isn't having the best of times, decides that she could use a pick-me-up.

Recently, Hilda had been pretty helpful around the house; tidying up, laundry, helping Tontu clear space in the closets, etc. She's also been trying her best to not keep major secrets or sneaking out. Hilda would forget to keep her mum in the loop with certain things. For instance, she was thoroughly confused as to why Hilda was dropped off on the apartment's terrace by a Lindworm who apparently had crippling social anxiety. But she made an effort, and Johanna could respect that. She said she'd reward her but it slipped her mind.

Johanna grabs her handbag and, after some rummaging, she finds her wallet. "Hilda, come here," she says. Once she's by the desk, Johanna reaches into her wallet and pulls out a bank note and tells Hilda "Here's a 20. Why don't you go out and treat yourself? You've earned it."

Hilda gave it some thought. It had been some time since she went out with just Twig. It had always been her with David, Frida, Alfur, or someone else. She likes the idea of going out with just Twig, it would be nice to get out and spend some time with her brother from another mother and father.

There also isn't much food in the house as it's the end of the week and Johanna hadn't gone shopping yet so it would be nice to get something from outside.

Hilda takes the bank note and puts it in her pocket. "Thanks mum," she says. "Come on Twig." The little deerfox gets up from his favorite spot on the couch to join Hilda. As they make their way out the door, Johanna stops them.

"Hilda, wait." Johanna says. She kneels down to her level and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Now I know you're just going out for an afternoon but I still want you to stay safe."

Hilda thinks Johanna is being a bit paranoid. "Mum, it's ok. I know Trollberg like the back of my hands. And besides, Twig will be with me," she says as she gestures to Twig who gives a nod of assurance.

"Alright, just please be home before sundown. And if you can't be home in time, have Twig come get me, ok?"

"Ok mum." Hilda says. She understands why Johanna is a bit concerned. After all, their last few adventures together have been a bit dicey. And by dicey, I mean nearly being eaten by trolls more times than most people would care for.

"Good, have a nice day," Johanna says as she gives Hilda one last head pat before returning to her desk. At that point, Hilda and Twig are off to explore Trollberg for the day.

Once Hilda makes her way outside, she takes the weather in; sunny with only a few clouds and weather spirits in the sky, not too hot or too cold. Today’s gonna be a great day.

As Hilda makes her way to the docks, she sees a few familiar faces, the first one being an old black man tending to a lovely bed of flowers. “Hello Hilda, how’s it going?”

It’s Mr. Ostenfeld. Hilda responds with “I’ve been doing fine. How were those cookies?”

“Oh the ginger snaps, they were delightful, thank you,” he says as he rubs Hilda’s hair. Besides trying to be more reasonable with her mum, another resolution Hilda made after seeing an unearthly abomination stack bodies like it was in pl_upward was to make friends with Mr. Ostenfeld. The man already lost the chance of true love; he deserves some happiness.

"So, are you still up for some Dragon Panic tomorrow?" Hilda asks to which Ostenfeld responds with "You know it."

Hilda then walks off with Twig following suit "Ok, bye Mr. Ostenfeld."

The old man waves back, glad that he now has friends to spend time with.

Eventually, as Hilda sits down in the local park, she thinks out loud to herself. "Maybe I could go see the Salt Lions by the docks. Yeah, let me try that," she says as she runs to the docks with Twig just managing to keep up.

Once at the docks, her senses are assaulted from all prongs. The sights of fishmongers and people on their boats; the sounds of gulls, water crashing on the docks, and the indiscernible chatter of various people going about their day. And the smells. Oh my sweet Jennifer, the smells. There's the usual smell of the salty air with a pinch of gasoline but it's clearly garbage day because there's the paralyzing reek of rotten fish bits and ammonia.

It's so bad that Hilda wraps her scarf around her mouth and nose like a face mask. It helped a little but it's still not great. As she makes her way away from the docks to the rocks by the tidal zone, she wraps her scarf back around her neck and tries to catch a glimpse of the salt lions.

For a while, there's nothing but the monotonous call of gulls and the static noise of the people on the docks. Hilda starts to lie down on her back as she grows bored waiting. Twig, being Twig, sees this opportunity and curls up on her belly for a nap. This would be a pretty good day for sunbathing if it wasn't for the windchill which would make being in a swimsuit quite uncomfortable

Soon, she sees several fish beach themselves on the shore. As they flop about, Hilda wonders for all of 5 seconds why they jumped out of the water. Following this, a group of salt lions run onto shore and busy themselves with eating the stranded fish they chased onto the beach. All except for one.

A salt lion cub is trying to eat but he can't swallow. His neck is tangled in fishing wire from one of the trawlers. He's quite skinny too so the poor thing must be starving.

Hilda knows what she has to do. In her satchel, she's able to find her camping knife. It's a fine little knife of the Swiss Army persuasion. Lovely ergonomic design with all sorts of little features. Johanna said her grandpa bought it for her when she was in the Sparrow Scouts. The blade isn't very long, but it's good enough for what Hilda needs to do.

Being as sneaky as she can in those giant boots of hers, she creeps up to the young salt lion, trying her best not to get the attention of the adults. Salt lions aren't habitual man-eaters but they have been known to kill people who've pressed their luck.

Once Hilda is mere inches from the baby, it faces her and hisses with wide-open eyes and fangs bared. Hilda grabs the cub by the neck and gets to work cutting the fishing line from it. It's a feat of endurance to hold the strong, slippery cub still as she tries to free it from the plastic net. She's almost done when the cub's mother turns to see what all the squealing is about.

While staring down the massive carnivore, Hilda makes the last few cuts needed to emancipate the emaciated cub, who immediately rushes under the safety of his mother's bulk. The much larger salt lion stares at Hilda for a few seconds and she slowly backs away, trying to put as much distance between her and it as possible. It gives her a sniff; Hilda’s almost sucked into its nostrils from the vacuum it creates. She’s also forced to put the scarf above her nose to prevent herself gagging as the breath of an adult salt lion is never pleasant. When your diet consists of fish, squid, marine mammals, and beached carcasses, your halitosis will be extreme.

Thankfully, the salt lioness decides that her child is safe and attacking the small human isn't worth it. The great predator picks her child up by the nape and retreats back into the water with the rest of her pride.

Hilda sits on a rock, relieved that she wasn't eaten while Twig looks for some physical assurance that she's alright. Hilda happily delivers this via some head rubbing.

Speaking of eating, Hilda is pretty hungry now. Thankfully, there are more than a few options for dining at Trollberg's docks. After thinking about it for a bit, she decides on the Salty Maiden. The Rat King seemed to like the sandwich there so maybe it's good.

Chapter Text

The tavern is alive and bustling with activity. Waiters bringing people food and drinks, the bartender serving pint after pint from the tap, and various customers talking amongst themselves and playing games like Sea Bones. The smell is positively intoxicating. The odors of salt, cigarette smoke, and fry oil permeate the air, creating a particular bouquet truly endemic to the tavern setting.

After a while, Hilda sees an unoccupied stool by the bar. With a little effort, she's able to get on the stool with Twig able to jump onto Hilda's lap and find a spot next to her.

Once she sees the bartender is done pouring out another pint, she tries to flag him down. The man is a baggy eyed, gray bearded fellow. He's been working the tap since college and he wouldn't have it any other way. Seeing and talking with people from all walks of life, especially the sailors and fishermen, is something you can't put a price on.

Hilda asks "Excuse me, could I please have a cod sandwich?"

The bartender gives a few tut tut's before saying "We ain't serving cod right now missy. Safety Patrol got on us for food poisoning and now we gotta find a new supplier." He then produces a small, laminated menu from the back of the bar. "Here. Anything that ain't got cod in it is good. Let one of the waiters know when you're ready."

"Thanks," Hilda says as she takes the menu. The menu is titled "Lil' Nipper’s Grub" and is strewn with a bunch of smiling cartoon sea creatures. She looks through the options. Everything seems to be kinda similar so Hilda just thinks to herself “Eeny, meeny, money, mo.” After a few minutes, she settles on the chicken tender plate.

“Excuse me,” she says as she flags down a waiter. A somewhat clammy young man in his early 20’s comes to her with a clip of paper. “Yea, what will it be?” he asks with a hoarse, monotone voice. “I’d like the chicken tenders please. Oh, and can I get a cola please?” He writes down the order and asks “Alright, anything else?”

“I’m good,” Hilda responds. “Actually, would you mind getting something for Twig?”

“Alright, I’ll get him some cocktail shrimp,” he says as he jots down the order. Many patrons bring their pets with them and it’s not unusual for someone to order some food for their dog. As long as the pets don’t try to jump a waiter or do their business on the restaurant grounds, they’re tolerated.

As she’s waiting for her order, she looks around to take in the sites. Soon, a bottle of soda appears by her as the bartender says "Here you go," and gets back to the tap.

The bottle's logo is sleek and modern. As well as the words "LEO COLA" in bold white, the main visual feature is a lion standing proudly from atop a cliff. Hilda knows this image very well as it was the work of her mum. Johanna was commissioned by LEO BEVERAGES LTD. as a part of their brand modernization campaign to create a more appealing logo. She did a pretty good job all things considered.

As Hilda reaches for the bottle, a large, bearded man clears his throat. As she turns around to see, forcing Twig off the barstool, she sees a familiar face. "I thought I told you not to come back," said the sailor, the same one who threw Hilda into the dumpster.

Hilda protests by saying "I didn't even do anything. Why are you so mad at me?,"

"Now LOOK HERE!!" He yells as he grabs Hilda with his big, beefy hand, his grip squeezing the life out of her. A friend of his, the black man whose boat he lost to Woodman who lost it to the local Kraken, says "Ayy ayy Wilson, lay off the kid. She didn't do anything."

He just gets a stern "SHUT UP JAMES!!" right to his face. Wilson turns his attention back to the little blue-haired girl in his arms, tightening his grip. "Now look, you can either leave now, or I will personally throw you into the harb-," his threat was interrupted by a sharp bite to his leg.

Twig, upon seeing his best friend being grabbed by this brute, goes for an exposed bit of leg, biting as hard as he can. Winston lets go of Hilda, who lands on the ground and steps back out of reflex.

Winston lets out a quite loud scream of pain. "Why you LITTLE?!" he utters through gritted teeth as he gives a powerful kick, throwing the deerfox off his leg and right into the wall.

"TWIG!" Hilda shouts as she runs to see if he's alright. At this point, pretty much everyone is watching her and Wilson.

Thankfully, Twig's alright if quite sore. Hilda's cradling him in her arms, thinking of what to do as Winston gets ready to throw them into the same stretch of water she saw the salt lions in.

She then gets an idea, whispering to Twig "Play dead." The little deerfox immediately goes limp in her arms as Hilda initiates part two of her plan: crocodile tears.

As she starts to cry, more and more people in the bar are presented with an appealing sight: a little girl crying over her injured pet with a large man who seems ready to beat them both like she owes him money. Along with Hilda's crying, the patrons jeer at Winston. An elderly man says "Oi, what's the matter with you?" He pulls Hilda and Twig into his arms "Bullying a little girl, have you no shame?!"

At this point, Winston is now a stuttering mess, unable to explain why he lost his cool so badly. James then comes over to walk him away. "Come on Winston, deep breaths, you didn't mean it, just calm down," he says as he pats his back. Winston puts up little to no resistance in this state. Clearly, this man is not alright upstairs.

Hilda stops crying and eventually, the normal ambiance of the tavern returns. The old man speaks to her. "I am SO sorry about Wilson. He’s got rage issues. Loses it at the drop of a hat he does."

"Hey, thanks for defending me back there," Hilda says as Twig stops playing dead. "Oh, no problem. Name's Ezekiel by the way," he says as he puts out his hand.

"I'm Hilda, and this is Twig," she says as she takes his hand and is lifted back up on her feet. She then asks "Would you like to sit with me?"

"Sure, that would be very nice," he said. Hilda climbed back on her barstool while Ezekiel pulled a stool to sit beside her. Suddenly, the waiter comes with a red plastic basket with chicken tenders and french fries. He’s holding another plate with crab cakes on a bed of coleslaw. “Here’s your chicken tenders kid.”

“Thanks,” Hilda says. “And here’s your shrimp,” he says to Twig as he puts a small bowl filled with cocktail shrimp onto the floor for him to eat. “Excuse me lad, I do believe those are my crab cakes,” Ezekiel states. Once the waiter gets a glimpse of his face, he puts the plate down by him, saying “Sure are, enjoy.”

As the two help themselves to their respective meals, Hilda decides to start up some small talk. “So how are the crab cakes?”

“Oh these?” Ezekiel says between a mouthful. He then breaks a piece off of one of the crab cakes and hands it to Hilda. “Here, try some.”

Hilda takes the piece and pops it into her mouth. As she masticates, Ezekiel can see a little smile forming on the corners of her mouth. When she finally swallows, she says “It’s good. It’s really good.”

“I know.” Ezekiel says while wiping his face “I used to come here with Elinor all the time. These were always her favorite.”

“Who’s Elinor?” Hilda says between a mouthful of french fries. Ezekiel gives her the low down. “Oh, her? She’s my daughter. We used to do everything together. Fishing, sailing, the lot.”

Hilda, noticing his use of the past tense, decides to ask “So what happened? Is...is she ok?” She tries to approach the situation carefully in case it turns out that his daughter happened to “pass on.” Hilda once asked “how’s your husband” to the florist and she was not happy. One benefit of living in the wilderness alone was that there weren’t a million social faux-pas to navigate. She’s a lot better now but it’s still annoying to deal with sometimes.

Ezekiel explains. "Well, when she turned 13, she just lost interest in me. I don't know if it was me or her but we both just drifted away. And when she got accepted by this super fancy college, she was pretty much gone after that. I see her around Sonstansil but that's it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that," Hilda says.

"Ah, it's alright," Ezekiel says. "Just the way the world is. We all drift apart, you just gotta enjoy the time you have together."

Hilda nods. "Hmm, I haven't been hanging out with my mum much. I love her but, to be honest, I need to get out there on my own."

After hearing that, Ezekiel put his hand on his head, saying "It's alright Hilda. You seem like a nice girl and I'm sure you love your mother. It's not your fault for wanting to get out there."

"Thanks," Hilda said, reaching for her cola. Suddenly, the bartender comes up to Ezekiel, saying "Here's your check." He reaches for his wallet but unfortunately, it's not there. "Aww shucks, I forgot my wallet at home."

Hilda, wanting to help her new friend, takes the banknote from her bag and says "Here sir. This should cover us both." The waiter takes the bill, wishing Hilda a nice day.

Ezekiel was very much impressed with this random act of pure kindness. "Wow. Thank you, Hilda."

"Oh no problem," Hilda says, finishing her soda.

Ezekiel gets up from his barstool, stretches a little, saying "I like you." He then makes a hitchhiker gesture towards a table with a few other old men. "Why don't you and Twig there hang out with me and the lads for a while?"

Hilda can never turn down an opportunity to turn strangers into friends "Sure."

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, back at the flat, Johanna found that she was able to get through her backlog pretty fast. Now, she's on the couch, flipping through the TV. As her eyes wander around the room, an old book catches her attention.

She decides to pull the book out from the shelf. The book is titled "Family Memories." It's a binder with laminated pages. As she flips through, there are several pictures she took of Hilda ever since she was born.

Her particular favorite is one of Hilda when she was 3 and drawing right next to Johanna while she was at her work desk. She even used that drawing as an inspiration for when she was commissioned by a brand of children's clothing.

As she's looking through the memories, she suddenly hears an abrupt thump on the glass window.

"Ow, ow, ow my face," the voice says. Johanna swears that she remembers that voice from somewhere. As she goes to the window, she sees a raven. The bird greets her "Hi. You're Hilda's mom, right?"

Johanna is almost underwhelmed. After all the stuff she's been through when she lived with Hilda in Trolberg, a talking bird is small potatoes. "Um, yes?" Raven then asks, while trying to peer past Johanna "So, is she here?"

Johanna shakes her head a little and says "I'm afraid you just missed her. Hey, sorry about throwing you out by the way."

Raven shrugs "Eh, it's alright. I've had people do worse to me. Hey, is it ok if I come in? I'm kind of thirsty."

Johanna relents. "Alright, come in. I'll get the kettle started. Just please don't poo everywhere."

Raven is a little insulted by this. "I beg your pardon Hilda's mom. I may be a bird but I am sufficiently potty trained."

Johanna replies with "Good to know. I'm Johanna by the way. By the way, what do you like to drink?"

Raven asks "Do you have any cocoa?"

"You're in luck. This is one of the last packets." Johanna says.

"Alright, thanks." Raven takes the remote and flips to the nature channel. In a few minutes, Johanna brings him his cocoa and puts a plate of biscuits on the table. In her hands, she has her usual; a mug of peppermint tea.

Suddenly, Raven sees a small, furry creature next to him appear on the couch and take a few biscuits.

"Oh hello," Tontu says before disappearing again into the couch. Raven then sees him appear on the kitchen counter, take a steaming mug, and take that into the void as well. Raven understandably freaks out seeing this little freaky little guy popping in and out of the ether. “Who or what is that?!” Raven cries out.

Johanna lowers her mug from her mouth to say “Oh him? That’s Tontu. He’s our Nisse.”

Raven accepts this. He’s old enough to remember when Nisse and humans knew each other well and some Nisse would even present him offerings of food. His eyes then gravitate towards the family album. “Oh. By the way, I saw you were looking at that book earlier, what is it?”

“Oh this?” Johanna says as she holds the book. “These are just a bunch of pictures I took of Hilda when she was young.”

Raven then asks “Can I see?”

“Sure, why not” Johanna says as she sits next to Raven and opens the book to show him. Johanna has several pictures of Hilda throughout her life, including a ton of super cute baby pictures.

Raven can't help himself when he says "Oh, those are ADORABLE." Then he notices that Johanna is a bit down. Being a very sympathetic corbid, Raven asks "Hey Johanna, are you ok? You seem kinda blue."

"Oh, it's nothing. Honest," Johanna says. Raven tries his best to cajole her into letting it all out. "Come on, you can talk to me about it. Please, what's on your mind?"

Johanna lets out a deep sigh and says "Well, to be honest, I think Hilda's outgrowing me. I don't know if she's interested in me anymore or if we're just drifting apart. Sometimes I miss when it was just us. You know? Us together in the woods, her in my arms as I rocked her to sleep."

As Johanna monologues, Raven notices that tears are welling up in her eyes. He puts his wing over her hand and tries to cheer her up. "It's alright Johanna, we all feel that way. And Hilda's a nice girl, she won't just forget about you. Heck, I left my nest eons ago and I still love my parents. This past week, I even visited my mom for her birthday."

Johanna wipes her face and says "Thanks Raven." He then grabs Johanna by the waist and pulls her in for a hug. "Oh don't mention it. These things are hard to talk about but that's what friends are for."

Trying to find a way to lighten up the mood, Raven looks around the room and notices a Dragon Panic box. He's a bit rusty on board games but he thinks he can make it work. "So, wanna play some Dragon Panic?"

Johanna replies with "Sure. I'll get some more snacks from the kitchen. Do you want anything?"

Raven asks "Oh, do you have any pie?" The last time he was at the house, he raided the fridge for pie. It was some pretty good pie.

"Yeah, there's some lingonberry pie in the fridge, will that be good?" Johanna calls out. "That would be perfect, thanks." Raven said. So they shared the pie and whittled the hours away with Dragon Panic. Raven wasn’t very good, given how birds don’t often play board games, but Johanna was just happy to have a friend to talk to.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, back at the Salty Maiden, as afternoon becomes evening, Hilda and Ezekiel are chatting with many of the local sailors and fishermen. Hilda has another cola with some crab cakes and Ezekiel has a fresh IPA from the tap. One of them says something on the lines of "and he still blamed it on Draugen. What an idiot!"

Most of the old men laughed but some were fairly stone faced, with one of them saying "Um, the Draugen are real though. I've seen that ship during storms."

His friend tries to shut him down with "Peter, have you been to a therapist recently? There ain't no such thing as Draugen."

Hilda, having gotten to know Draugen more than she'd like, decides to give her 2 cents on the matter. "The Draugen? They’re real. I saw them. I was even on their ship."
 
Peter clapped his hands, exclaiming “THANK YOU.” Another of the sailors said “Kid, are you good? Are you sure you’re not having night terrors?”

Another sailor says “Yeah, you can borrow my belt if you like,” as they start laughing at her.

Suddenly, someone from another table speaks up. “She ain’t fibbing. I’ve seen the Draugen. Scared me to near death they did.” The waiter adds with “Yea my dad said he saw a ghost ship when he was out fishing with his brother”

The bartender barges himself into the conservation by saying “You’re all being ridiculous. There ain’t no such thing as Draugen and there never will be.”

Hilda feels a bit insulted by this man’s insinuation. So, she walks up to the bar with Twig in tow and says “Now look, I know what I saw and I can say WITH CONFIDENCE that the Draugen are real.”

The bartender fires back with “You wanna bet on that? You know what? I’ll be nice. You don’t have to do a THING if the Draugen aren’t real, which they aren’t.”

“And if I win?” Hilda asks. The bartender shrugs his arms “I don’t know. What do you want from me?”

Hilda thinks of what she should ask for. Then she gets an idea. “How about this? If I can prove the Draugen are real, my mum and I can eat here free for life. And any parties we bring with us eat free too” 

The bartender considers this a fair deal. “Sounds alright to me. It’s not like the Draugen even exist so it ain’t any skin of my bones.” Then Hilda takes out her check and writes all the terms discussed. If being with Alfur taught her anything, it’s that paperwork is extremely important, especially if you wanna make sure someone keeps their word. “Sign here,” she says as she hands the check to the bartender. After looking it over, he signs his name. Hilda then lays out the time and place. “8PM. St. Guglows Cemetery. Deal?” Hilda extends her hand out. The bartender takes it and gives a hearty shake. “Deal.”

The bartender then shouts to everyone “Ya here that lads? 8 o’clock at the cemetery. We’ll see if this little nipper isn’t just fibbing.” The patrons all shout and raise their glasses with a “hurrah.” 

Hilda’s a bit nervous now. Not about the Draugen, it’ll be fairly easy to grab the stick from her house and show everyone. It’s just that she’s never done anything like this for an audience, let alone one of total strangers. 

She then asks Ezekiel “Excuse me. What time is it?” He looks at his watch and tells Hilda “about 7:30 I’d say.” Hilda looks out to see that it's getting quite dark. "Oh I gotta go. Come on Twig," she says as she rushes out of the restaurant with Twig in tow. 

Johanna, Raven, Alfur, and Tontu are now playing poker in the living room. Alfur is clearly the winner here while Johanna is lagging behind a bit; not as bad as Raven though. 

Raven thinks about it. He doesn't have a lot of chips but he has a pair of jacks and a pair of queens. "All in baby," he says as he pushes his chips towards the center of the table. "I fold," Johanna says. "Same, I'm not stupid," Tontu says as he puts his cards down. 

But Alfur isn't folding. Alfur may be a bit of a Sparrow Scout but he's no wimp. He lifts a few of his chips and throws them into the pot. "I'll take your bet," he announces. 

Then the cards come down. Raven had a 2 pair with jacks and queens but Alfur had a pair of kings and aces. "Welp, I'm out," Raven says as he throws out his arms and flops on the couch. 

Everyone laughs a little when all of a sudden, something starts scraping at the door. "I'll get it," Johanna says as she gets up to open the door. As she does, Twig and Hilda rush in. After letting Hilda catch her breath for a few seconds, she says "Hilda, where have you been? Are you alright?"

Hilda tells Johanna "Sorry mum, I lost track of the time. Oh hi Raven."

"Hi Hilda," Raven says as he waves to her. 

"Would you like anything for dinner-,"Johanna was unable to finish her sentence before Hilda went off to her room. Within a few seconds, she was out again. Johanna could see her putting some weird looking stick into her bag. 

Johanna puts herself in front of Hilda, saying "Hilda, where are you going at this hour?"

Hilda realizes she can't just lie to Johanna again. She struggles to explain. "Well...uh...I...uh." 

Johanna just sighs and gets on her knees. As she puts her hands on Hilda's shoulders, she says "Hilda, we talked about this. You shouldn’t be afraid to tell me what you’re getting up to. Now, please, tell me. Where are you going?"

Hilda thinks about it. She can't just say "Oh nothing much mum, I'm just resurrecting a bunch of pirate ghosts to win a bar bet." But she didn't have to give all the details. Just make it sound better.

Hilda takes a breath. "Well, I promised some friends that I would meet them at 8," she says. Then she pulls the summoning stick from her bag "and I need this stick to summon them."

Johanna relents. "Alright, I'll take you. Where did you say you'd meet them?"

Hilda tells Johanna "Oh, they're in St. Guglow's Cemetery." Johanna's eyebrows raise a little, concerned that her daughter made plans to meet someone in a field filled with dead people. 

But she was game for it. "Alright. It's a bit odd you're meeting people in a cemetery but I guess that's just your thing."

Raven decides to intervene, asking them "You guys need a ride?"

As everyone makes their way to the terrace, Johanna asks "Now what sort of spirits are these?"

Hilda responds with "Oh, a bunch of old sailors. They seemed nice."

As Raven transforms into his Thunderbird form, he leans down, saying "Alright ladies, all aboard. I'll try to fly smoothly."

Hilda decides to put Twig into her handbag so that she can have both of her hands available to hang on. Johanna tries to find a comfortable spot on Raven's neck. One she does, she clings onto his feathers as tight as her arms and hands will permit her. 

She was never one for heights and being on the  back of a Thunderbird was not her idea of a good time. 

Raven announces "Alright, hang on everyone," as he vaults himself into the air. "Where did you say this place was again Hilda?" 

Hilda yells "St. Guglow's Cemetery." Johanna was just focused on hanging on for dear life, letting out little screams whenever Raven made a turn or experienced any turbulence

Hilda looks back and puts a hand on Johanna's arm. "It's alright mum, Raven's a very safe flyer." After hearing that, Johanna loosens her grip a little and looks down below. 

Trolberg from this view and at this hour was truly beautiful. Johanna could see all the little cars, the houses just turning their lights on for the evening, even a few clouds. The air smelt truly pure, and for a moment, she put her arms out and giggled for a bit. It was almost like she was a kid again. 

They even passed a weather spirit. "Uff. Watch where you're going, you blasted bird," the literal windbag shouts. 

Soon, Raven lands at the cemetery. As he lands himself outside the resting grounds, he says "Alright everyone, hope you enjoyed your flight." Hilda let's Twig out of the bag who jumps right down onto the ground. Hilda follows quickly while Johanna gingerly climbs down. 

Raven transforms back into his smaller form, wishing everyone a good night. "Alright, so I can't really hang out here anymore. I got somewhere to be with my family. Anyway, have a nice weekend."

As Raven flies off, Hilda, Johanna, and Twig make their way to the cemetery. As they approach the gates, Johanna notices that there are more than a few people already there. 

"Oi, it's that blue haired girl," one of the men cries out. 

Another man says "Holga I think her name was"

A woman then says "It's Hilda you idiot."

Johanna's perplexed by this influx of people who all seem to know her daughter. "Hilda, you didn't tell me you'd be having guests."

"Oh, them?" Hilda says. "They're just some friends I met down at the Salty Maiden."

Ezekiel steps out from the crowd to say "You must be Hilda's mother. It's an honor to meet you, love. Name's Ezekiel."

"Well, hello. I'm Johanna." she says to the man with his hat in his hands. 

Soon, an impatient man cries out "Oi, when are we gonna see the Draugen?"

Johanna asks, in a confused tone "Draugen? I thought those were just stories my granddad read to me?"

Hilda sarcastically responds with "Yea, well so are deerfox, Gryla, and the Yule Lads" as she takes the stick out of her bag. 

She clears her throat, makes her posture upright, and announces "Alright everyone. I'm going to summon the Draugen. You should all stand back a little. Actually, a lot. Ghosts can be pretty cranky when they get visitors."

Hilda takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. This requires consummate concentration. As she rolls the stick on thr grave, she reads out the enchantment spell. "Deep in the earth, your mouldering bones. For posterity lay, but on this night, they stir and moan when you come out to play."

The stick just sits there for a bit. Someone in the crowd decides to break the silence by saying "I told you she was just fibbing."

Then all of a sudden, the stick starts spinning like a bottle at a high school party and, all of a sudden, ghosts start to spring up from all over the cemetery, all of them a little tired and annoyed. A stout, broad ghost with a massive beard comes up to the crowd and yells out "Right, which one of you decided to wake us all up? Seriously?! Do NONE of you know the meaning of rest in peace?"

As he looks over the crowd, all of whom are quite frightened at this point, he sees Hilda. His voice and demeanor immediately softens "Oh, you're the girl that brought our families back. Thank you," he says as he rests a transparent hand onto her head. 

"About that, would you happen to know where Abigail is?" Hilda asks. Johanna doesn't like to say that she's speechless but this is one of those moments where it would be justified. Here is her daughter conversing with the dead like she's just saying hi to the neighbors. 

The ghost then calls out at the top of his non-existent lungs "ABBY. You have visitors." 

Soon, Abigail floats up next to her dad. "Dad, I told you not to call me that. I don't want me crew getting any ideas." Her dad apologizes. "Sorry, sorry, it's just such a cute name." Abigail lets out a groan only a cringing daughter can. When she catches some of her crewmates giggling, she gives them a death stare. 

While Abigail no longer has the sea green glow that Draugen are known for, she still sports a fashionable kelp hair do, a sailor's coat that was in dire need of tailoring and a wash, and her trademark crab claw. 

Everyone finally realized that Hilda was not fibbing. She not only excised the dead from the Earth like it was just Tuesday, but she even knew a Draugen captain by name. This kid was weird. 

Abigail also recognizes the child who reunited her and her motley crew "Hey, you're that blue haired girl. What can I do for you?"

"Well," Hilda says as she gestures towards the crowd, "some of these people don't believe the Draugen are real. They think you're just a fairy tale, a fib, a ghost story."

Abigail puffs out her chest and says "Oh REALLY now? Well, I can tell you lot that I have PERSONALLY sailed these here seas for over 300 years and I will NOT have any of these people telling me that I'm just some fairy tale and the next person who calls me a fib will-"
 
"Temper Abigail, temper" her dad says, wagging his finger. 

"Dad, I have been out at sea for 300 years, nonstop. I've tangled with whole packs of  salt lions, courted an ocean spirit, and danced with the FLIPPING KRAKEN. I can be as angry as I FLIPPING please AND NO ONE'S GONNA STO-"

Hilda clears her throat to get her attention back. Upon seeing everyone staring at her, Abigail immediately produces a sheepish grin and rubs the back of her head with her crab claw. "Yea, my bad. I'll try and watch my temper dad."

Her dad simply says "Thank you."

Hilda combs through the utterly stupefied crowd to find the bartender, eyes wide open, barely blinking, and white as the ghost she just said exchanged pleasantries with. "So, does this mean I won the bet?"

The bartender merely said "Yea you win, no contest."

Upon hearing this, Johanna says "Hilda, what bet?" 

"Oh, well the bartender here said that if I can show him the Draugen, we can get free food and drinks from the Salty Maiden for life: as well as anyone we bring." Hilda says. 

Johanna goes up to the bartender and asks him "Is it true? Did you tell my daughter that she and I could eat there for free if she found the Draugen?"

The bartender merely nods and pulls the check/contract out of his pocket. Johanna takes it to have a look. It says "If Hilda can prove the existence of the Draugen, she and her mother may eat and drink at the Salty Maiden for life. This includes anyone that they choose to invite." She has to admit, it wasn't a half bad contract. 

As Hilda looked at all the ghosts shooting the breeze, one of them caught her eye; Craigie Williams himself. She runs up to him, trying to flag him down. "Craigie, hey Craigie." 

He responds with "Aren't you that girl who wanted her friend's boom back so I'd tidy her room?"

Hilda just says "Yep. And I wanted to say I found your book. A Nisse took it but it's back on the shelf."

Craigie's overjoyed to hear this. "Oh marvelous. Thank you so much for getting my book back. Now, does your friend still need help tidying her room?"

"No, she does that on her own now. She was kind of depressed about it for a bit but she's better now," Hilda says

Craigie responds with "Oh, that's delightful to hear. Tell her I said hello, won't you?"

"Sure thing,"  Hilda says as she makes her way back to her mum."

Johanna says "I'm going to be honest with you Hilda, I didn't think I'd be in a cemetery watching you talk to ghosts."

Hilda let's out an "Oh" as she looks down and rubs her arm a little. Johanna puts her hand on Hilda's cheek, lifts it a little and says "I didn't say that was a bad thing. It's nice that you can make friends with all sorts of people."

"Thanks mum," Hilda says. Suddenly, her stomach growls with some intensity. "Mum, can we go back to the Salty Maiden for dinner? I'm really hungry." 

Ezekiel comes up to the two, asking "Would you two care for a ride? My car's just parked a block down."

Johanna accepts. "Sure, that would be very nice." 

Abigail barges in with "Oi, can we come? It's been a while since I've hit the pub." The bartender just shrugs his arms and shouts "Sure, why not? Let's invite a bunch of ghost sailors. Alright everyone, come on."

As Hilda and Johanna get into Ezekiel's car, they're hit with a mild smell of cigarette smoke and garbage. Ezekiel apologizes. "Sorry ladies, it's been a while since I took this thing in for a cleaning."

As the car starts, Hilda can see many of the ghosts, including Abigail and her dad following the cars by floating. She thinks it would be fun to be a ghost. But then you'd have to be dead which is less fun. 

Once everyone's at the Salty Maiden, everyone kicks back and relaxes. The bartender is producing whiskey and beer from behind the bar, the waiters are serving everyone food, Hilda's recalling her adventures to a group of sailors, Johanna is talking with Ezekiel about their daughters, and Twig is by Hilda's side, dining on a bowl full of shellfish. 

Abigail takes a beer mug from the counter "Ahh beer. How I missed you my love." However, in being dead for 300 years, she forgot that when you're a ghost, everything goes right through you. Literally. 

As the beer hits the floor, she sheepishly apologizes as the bus boy gets a mop. 

Soon, the various patrons of the bar sing through various sea shanties. After everyone's done singing "Drunken Sailor," Abigail floats onto the bar itself alongside some of her crew. "On my cue boys," she shouts to them. In a few seconds, her voice rings out 

Oh I bid farewell to the port and the land

As I paddle away from brave Trolberg's white sands

To search for my long ago forgotten friends

To search for the place I hear all sailors end

Eventually, everyone in the Salty Maiden is singing along. Twig howls his little heart out while Hilda and Johanna try their best to join in on the main chorus. 

Johanna couldn't deny it. Her daughter was weird. Very weird. But something she admires about Hilda is just how outgoing she is. Here she is having united a bunch of gruff sailors with their ghostly counterparts, all of whom are engaging in fine merriment. That was Hilda for you.