[Eirhel]

Do not follow the trail of sweets, for a witch certainly lives there ready to feast on your
bones

She sat within the classroom that had been given to her, although it was more of a research lab than anything. The entire room was lined with shelving that held glass bottles and ceramic bowls. Light filtered in through grimy windows that made the room dim. It seems as though it would appear dreary but in fact it was quite the opposite. Light colored fabrics decorated the room, hanging from the ceiling to divide the rooms up with colorful strands of beads creating doorways. The entrance was decorated with rugs of deep colors, reds, purples, and blues all embroidered with elegant designs, bought from a young man with dark unruly hair from the harsh Outcast Island.

The main room was decorated with tables that allowed plenty of work space for her students, and a main desk for herself. A large chalk board was behind her desk and showed the most recent work she had her students do, a potion for pain relief. A small room off to the left had several plush seats along with a smaller coffee table and a low chalk board, a small lecture room for those that wished to simply study different herbs and their properties.

Although the room was brightly decorated many often found it more disturbing than pleasing.

Creatures hung suspended within the jars, the fluid grimy and brine looking. Herbs of all kinds, both poisonous and healing strewn about in the stone and ceramic bowls. Some of the glass jars held living creatures within them, small tadpoles and newts along with small jarred plants growing, showing off both roots and the herb leaves themselves.

Her latest work had been with eels, their blood having been shown to be poisonus.

They sat preserved in jars all around her main desk, the fire glowing within the fireplace off to her right. Blood from the slimy creatures pooled within a small container as she mixed different herbs into the poison, wanting to create something that could kill rather than cause simple ill effects. Her messy black hair pooled down around her, tied back slightly with twine. The dark robes she used to wear having been switched out for a long sleeved black dress that held tight to her body. Slim hands worked with a mortar and pestle, grinding down Foxglove and a few cotoneaster berries together. Both being toxic to the body and she figured if it was mixed with eels blood that it should provide a rather poisonous concoction.

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[Hiccup]

### words

for Eirhel

"Hiccup" - "Toothless"

A PERFECTLY CONSTRUCTED ALIBI

Sometimes it was just nice to get away, when a troubled mind and a heavy heart became so weighted down and overwhelming that it was difficult to take even a single step forward, and he was well past that point. He liked taking the time to visit the Academy though, he liked seeing what was going on, because it was just as much a research facility as it was a school, and he was amazed by the things everyone got up to here. If he did nothing else worth remembering in this tiring life, he was glad that he could do this, that he could facilitate the learning and advancing that was going on here.

A lot of people found Eirhel creepy, unsettling, unpleasant to be around, but Hiccup found the woman to be fascinating. She has a catalog of knowledge about plants and concoctions that he couldn't even begin to understand, and she was always making breakthroughs of all kinds both by herself, and with those who learned under her. She was strange, there was no doubt about that, but he hardly found her as scary as some students whispered, even despite the outcome of their initial meeting.

The reaction from Toothless when they neared the hut was visceral, and he glanced back with a questioning glance at the Night Fury, who shook the smell from his nose and backed up further, "eels...Why is she fooling with eels..." He wrinkled his nose in a disgusted and horrified way, which earned a chuckle from Hiccup as he patted the dragon's nose, "alright alright, you stay outside then, Bud..." He was here for a reason, but knowing she was doing something with eels had his curiosity piqued, the aches in his joints could wait, he needed to find out what she was doing in there first.

He was too young to be walking with a limp like this, he realized, too young to feel 100 years old, physically and mentally, too young to need a cane like some haggard elder. He poked his head in and wrinkled his nose, the smell in here was always pungent and strong, "Eirhel...Toothless tells me you're doing something with eels?" There was a curious lilt in his voice as he stepped in, seeking out the strange woman.

x

[Eirhel]

Do not follow the trail of sweets, for a witch certainly lives there ready to feast on your
bones

The rooms silence had become comforting to her, the only noise being the soft crackling of the fire behind her and the shifting of fabric and beads when the slight breeze drifted through them. She could tell when her silence was about to end however, the beating of wings outside her door as well as the voice that rang through her work place shredded her silence to nothing more than a mere memory. Her eyes drifted upwards to see Hiccup standing within her doorway, his dragon no where in sight which she guessed was because of her work with eels. A slow smile came across her features as she stood, slick hair running down her shoulders like oil. A soft breath escaped her lips as she felt her limbs creak and crack with her movements, having been hunched over her notes for the better part of the night and now morning.

"Master Hiccup, how are you fairing?"

Her speech had greatly improved due to her lectures and remedy exchanges and it was now more than evident in her voice. Her voice was crisp and clear like morning wind, carrying through the silent room like water running along a river bank. Her eyes were brighter and she had put on a little weight, not that it showed on her stick thin form. Her dress fluttered about her as she walked forward, leaning on a new crutch a student had given her. It was a deep colored wood and was decorated with brightly colored clay beads that wrapped around the cane head tightly. She would have been lying had she said she wasn't a fan of beads, having grown a small fondness for the little decorations a while ago after the first bead doorway had shown up courtesy of the Berserker Chieftan.

She walked over to the clay cup and pot set she had on her desk, walking among a set of four shelves looking for certain ingredients. Her eyes trailed over the herb sets that laid in colorful clay jars, having taken a liking to working with clay even if the only thing she was able to properly make were fat, flat, and strange looking clay bowls. She gathered dark looking leaves that smelled strongly of tea as well as a small jug of yak milk, she carried them over to her working desk. She placed the pot of yak milk over the fire, happy to let it start boiling as well as gathering up a small vessel of honey. She walked over and grabbed a small jug of water and filled the pot with water and placed the tea leaves within it to steep.

"Have things been well Master Hiccup? Come, I'll make tea."

She gave him a soft smile before taking the boiling yak milk off of the fire. She strained the tea leaves leaving the dark drink behind in the pot. She poured the tea into the cups, only filling them halfway before pouring in the yak milk, allowing the liquid to froth up. She poured in some honey and gave them a quick stir. It was a simple black milk tea, the froth of yak milk still steaming on the top. She set the cups out on a the small coffee table in the side room and beckoned Hiccup fourth to sit on the plush chairs. She placed what she had been working on upon the coffee table as well, her hands working deftly to grind the ingredients together.

"I've been working with eel blood, it has a very negative effect on the body. I was mixing it with Foxglove and Cotoneaster berries to try and make its effect deadly rather than unpleasant."

She sipped at her own glass of tea, watching as a fat, furry, brown shape dart across the lands around her new home. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed, irritation plain on her features. A low sigh escaped her lips before she spoke again, eyes trained on the window.

"I was hoping to use it against our groundhog problem, they like getting in my gardens and eating whatever they can get their grubby little paws on. Sikphine and Ecphine wont go near the ugly things either, I doubt any dragons will go near this poison thankfully since it smells like eel."

She looked back to her experiment and took a sip of her tea, wondering just what else could be added to make sure it would kill the stupid creatures. Her mind also wandered over why the Chief had come to greet her this day.

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