Strength. Valkyrie/Vanir.

There was something magical about having two daughters of the same age. They had been born of the same father, hatched in tandem on the same ice cliff and reared together under the guidance of their mum.  The same moon had blessed their arrival and the same stars would guide their nights. As the seasons ticked by, the pair would grow and explore life together, rarely more than a heartbeat apart. All their first experiences were aligned, and their destinies amalgamated. They would be eternally together, like two bits of ice forever drifting in the same ocean. 

It left Vanir and Valkyrie with a breathtaking bond that would grow more solid than the permafrost that supported them and more ancient then the mountains gave them shelter. Skadi found it indescribably magnificent.

But only when they weren’t trying to eat each other’s faces off.

Vanir was absolutely screaming with rage, her jaws flashing with drool slicked teeth as she snapped at her sister. The fury in her small blue eyes was palatable from across the cave and Skadi could feel the growing headache that scraped at her skull.

Valkyrie wailed back just as hard, kicking and screaming with all her might as the pair rolled across the damp floor, sending bones and rocks skittering across the ice like frightened mice. Their wings made enough noise to compare to an entire flock of geese that were stuck in the brambles, and their voices made it sound like death itself was chasing small children. There was another screech and a horrid ripping nose as freshly hunted pelt got caught between their smacking claws. 

Skadi twitched in irritation, hoping they would sort out whatever in the five seasons had them so flipping upset. They had better do it before the sun finished dripping out of the coal black sky and the frigid night air made its way into the cave. She preferred to be fast asleep before the chill started so she could sleep right through it.

But at this rate?

With a horrid crash, a pile of geodes hit the ground, cracking the fine crystals into smaller chunks. The bits of ore and scrap metal that had been stabilizing the pile were quickly turned to weapons as the girls pitched them at each other from across the room.  Every blow left more environmental carnage and ear shattering noise.

But of course, they hadn’t hurt each other yet. No, they never actually hurt each other. That would be cruel and unsisterly. They just fought with the fury of a mother bore in order to out rage each other until one of them gave up and stomped off. The art of the bluff, one might call it. Well, these girls were not artists. In the process, they trashed Skadi’s horde, damaged the cave and woke up every flight member within 10 miles.

She was about to deck them both if they didn’t shut up.

Another crash and gods damn it why did they have to do this inside?!

Skadi’s roar shook the ground and made both girls freeze in terror. Their wings withered to their sides as they instinctively tried to become as small as possible, their bright eyes enormous with fear. Their little jaws trembled, and they didn’t dare look away from mum.

Skadi snorted and stood up, towering over the girls and the chaos that surrounded them. The last of the light was dripping from the sky as fast as the blood from their cheeks. Valkyrie swallowed a dry lump and gave an apologetic squeak. Vanir dipped her head and tried to hide behind her sister without actually moving her feet. It was about as effective as their fight had been.

Skadi growled, demanding answers. Demanding to know why the pair of ungrateful brats thought that their destruction was warranted. What horrific betrayal of sisterly trust could possibly have happened to lead to the mass devastation of their sanctuary? What, pray tell, did they flipping think they were doing?  

The pair squabbled out incomprehensible answers with the grace of a pair of crippled whale.

Skadi’s hiss shut them both up immediately. She nodded to Vanir, who was usually the more level-headed of the two and far less prone to making false tales. The young white dragon started to explain something about a squirrel but Valkyrie instantly interrupted, insisting that she hadn’t done anything wrong. That headache Skadi was nursing was pounding even harder. She snapped at Val to silence her and forced the pair to take turns telling their sides of the story.

With every new fact, Skadi felt her stomach drop with a dull numbness. She had to close her eyes to stop from rolling them so hard she fell over.

They were fighting over a bloody ground squirrel. A dead flipping squirrel. Vanir had buried it behind their nest for later this winter when they would all be hibernating and impossible to find. Apparently, they were her favorite snack and she didn’t want to do without. And now it was now gone. Thus, she accused Valkyrie of taking it. Valkyrie insisted that she had not touched the ‘stupid, disgusting pile of rot’ and that she would rather die than eat it. Vanir insisted that Valkyrie was the only other dragon who knew where it was. After all, Vanir thought herself excellent at hiding things.

Skadi was not painfully aware that the carcass she had thrown out had been a little more important than just a forgotten meal. It had been rotting in her home, making a horrible stink, and she had assumed one of her absent-minded darlings had just abandoned it. Apparently not.  

Apparently, it was worth a deathmatch over.

Skadi screamed and the pair booked it to their bed, not daring to stoke the fires of mama’s fury any hotter. They tucked close together and tried to make themselves as small as possible.  They blinked in unison as they watched their mama stomping around and trying to return everything to its place.  It was one thing to pick a fight with someone your own size, but an adult? Nah the girls wanted to live to see tomorrow.