Kapitel 4: Chapter 4

A soft shaking brought Alvar out of his dreams and back into reality. Opening his eyes he rubbed the remaining sleep out of them while seeing the blurry form of his grandmother standing over him.

"Wake up Alvar. The sun is about to go down and we're heading over to the great hall in a few minutes." His grandmother spoke as she was leaving his small room to grab herself some fur coat she could wear late into the night. Alvar, accompanied by a yawn, swung his legs over the edge of his bed where he remained sitting for a short while to completely wake up.

'I wonder if Veli and Gerdi will be there today as well? I haven't seen those two in a while…' Alvar thought to himself as he rubbed over his face one last time after which he stood up and stretched himself upwards with a slight yawn. Walking over towards his nearby closet Alvar grabbed himself another coat lined with fur to keep him warm tonight and after drapping said cloak over his shoulders walked out of his room from which his discarded furs had mysteriously disappeared while he was sleeping.

"Ahh good, you are awake. Are you clothed warm enough? It's going to be a long night for you Alvar." His grandmother asked while looking him over to which he replied positively.

"Yes, I think this coat should be enough. My other furs are dirty anyways so I don't have much choice anyway."

"Ivar dear, we are ready to leave! What's taking you so long?" Alvars grandmother called out into the longhouse where her and her husbands chambers were located to which a gruff voice replied:

"Coming, coming. No need to be so hectic. We still have lots of time left." Alvars grandfather Ivar responded after which he emerged from their shared chamber with a small grin and accompanying wink directed at Alvar plastered on his face which brought a grin to Alvars own face. His grandmother on the other hand only huffed in exasperation at her husband's antics.

Joining the grandmother and grandchild at the entrance the trio stepped out into the fresh evening air, their breath condensing into vapor in front of their faces while small droplets of water appeared on their coats.

Together they marched towards the center of Hoelbrak where they could already see the warm light and flickering shadows of the great bonfire burning in the distance while laughter and murmuring framed the background.

With each step towards the great hall of Hoelbrak Alvars heartrate increased as this was a grand moment for those of his generation. Today some of the children would be elevated to the status of young adults and be granted the right to choose their desired profession for the future of their lives though Alvar hoped he wouldn't have to choose right away. In his mind that would be foolish as they hadn't really had any possibility to experience the possible professions and along with it no idea if they had any talent for those. Though rationalizing his musings didn't really decrease the butterflies that were dancing in his stomach on his way and he hoped the whole procedure would start already!

Soon the trio reached the great hall and stepped through the giant wooden gates to join the already boisterously celebrating crowd of Norn to take place in Alvars names day and his ascent to join the ranks of the young adults.