[video]

[forbiddenfriendship]

[the video feed turns on, and a giant, curious yellow eye stares back, accompanied by a deep, rumbling noise that sounded a bit like a cat's purr. Off in the distance comes a young man's voice talking in Norse - although thanks to the communicator's translation, there's an easy English text version popping up]

Toothless, what are you doing with that…[there's a crash, as the voice has apparently just dropped something]...oh gods, it's a magic book.

[the giant eye twists away, as Toothless lifts his head up to look inquisitively off at something to the side - the source of the voice, presumably. The angle is strange, and all you can see is part of his head, but it's clear enough that Toothless is covered in black scales, and big.]

Okay, okay…Toothless, just come over here, okay buddy? [Toothless rumbles softly, but takes a step away from the book, and out of view.] That's it, come on…let's get away from the magic, probably cursed book…oh gods, why me…

Comments

[djinnigenie]

[Seeing that big, yellow, familiar eye and hearing the rumble, Elissa cannot *help* but to laugh. She manages to actually turn on the video this time on the first try and flashes a delighted grin to the screen.]

Well, hello, big friend! You are as bad as my Mabari, I swear it. Even Dane would try to use one of these things.

[Hearing the other voice, she calls out to Hiccup.]

Hello? Greetings? Is someone else there?

[forbiddenfriendship]

[And suddenly, Toothless is back, staring at the screen with that big yellow eye of his. That was the voice of his new friend!]

Toothless! No, what are you...oh gods now it's talking. We are so doomed.

[djinnigenie]

Tis alright, friend! He knows me! I helped him find his way from within the star vessel.

[There is an unmistakable tinge of delight in Elissa's voice.]

It is my guess that you were the one he sought?

[forbiddenfriendship]

A friend? [Well, Toothless does seem to have taken to the talking book...somehow...

Hiccup is still out of sight, but you can hear his feet as he shuffles a little closer. He switches to English now, since that's what the magic book keeps talking to him in]

How could you help Toothless when you're a book? And how do I know you're not cursed?

[djinnigenie]

[Warmly, the female voice answers. If he gets close enough, he can see Elissa's face with her faint smile.]

I am not a book. My name is Elissa. We are using strange devices to speak to one another. Sometimes, they allow us to see one another as well. I am still learning to use mine.

Your friend's name is Toothless?

[That causes her to chuckle.]

He had teeth when I saw him!

[attention_wenches]

[Loki's answer comes in Norse, though with a rather awkward, precise accent. It's the language of magic, if not everyday conversation at home, and he knows it like a classicist would know Latin.]

Not cursed. Simple enough enchantment, as far as I can tell.

[Loki likes being helpful when it makes him the smart one in the room.]

I see you've found your friend. He's rather charming, isn't he? I've never seen one so close.

[forbiddenfriendship]

[There's a moment of silence as Hiccup takes this in. That - that's Norse, proper, normal Norse (even if it was in an awkward accent), and not Errlgrazian. And he knew that voice]

I - I know you. I talked to you the other day. [Hiccup's voice sounds distant - largely because he's standing several metres away from the book, holding Toothless at bay and staying well away from the book.]

Did the spell trap you in there?

[attention_wenches]

[He'd have been happy enough to speak Norse then, too, but someone was being uncommunicative.]

There are no traps involved. It's a talisman of communication, the same way a mirror or a pool would be.

[Since Hiccup's talking about magic, Loki assumes he knows a bit about it, perhaps unwisely.]

Decidedly useful, if one is inclined to pay any mind to it.

[forbiddenfriendship]

[And now the top of Hiccup's head comes tentatively into view, as Hiccup peers down at the book - which is now lying discarded on the floor]

So it's not bad magic? It's not going to...I don't know, decide to steal my voice or turn Toothless into a cat or anything like that?

[attention_wenches]

[Bad magic. What a silly idea. Magic simply is. There's no more bad magic than bad swords or bad pens, unless they don't work.]

Both of those would be rather difficult and essentially pointless. All it does is send your image and voice to people elsewhere. I'm sure you can see the utility.

...Honestly, where did you find such a sweetly behaved little dragon?

audio + text

[akito]

[ oh, gosh. does that ever look like a dragon. he'll speak in semi-modern Icelandic, which is the closest thing to... Norse? that he knows. ]

Hello, little dragon! Your scales are very pretty.


[ and for its companion, Akito sends a text: ]

The book is not cursed!
It is a method of communication.
Possibly magic
More likely some kind of technology though.

[forbiddenfriendship]

[It's out of Akito's view, but Toothless's ears have pricked up. He hears the sounds that humans make!]

Toothless? What is it, buddy?

[Unfortunately, Hiccup can't hear Akito, and having moved away from the book he can't see the text. Getting a conversation going here could be a little tricky, Akito...]

[akito]

Toothless! Is that your name?

The winds say hello, too!

[ and they may or may not feel a friendly little breeze twirling around - toothless moreso than hiccup. ]

[forbiddenfriendship]

[Wind! Toothless turns around in a circle, trying to follow it, while Hiccup yelps. How did a wind get inside? Toothless wants to try and follow it!]

[akito]

[ he laughs, and the breeze picks up. the winds catch on to akito's playful mood and so the invading breeze tries to lead toothless in a game of chase. ]

[Audio]

[loveshishammer]

[Thor knows the sound of that language! That's the second time in two days, in fact! He perks up, from where he's waiting for his next load to carry before tomorrow's expected storms, and listens in to his communicator with interest. Ah, right, that boy! With his dragon! When he replies, his accent is, as it was before, pretty bad, but at least it's understandable.

Not as precise as Loki's, of course.]

Hiccup, my friend! You have found the network, I see.

[Aaaaand he just hopes he doesn't freak the boy out again.]

[video for Hiccup forever]

[forbiddenfriendship]

Thor?! Oh gods...I mean...um...I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to summon you...please tell me you're not trapped in the book...

[Thor can't see it, but Hiccup is inching closer to the book, ever so slightly]

[Audio, only since he's "at work" technically]

[loveshishammer]

No no. You did not summon me at all. I merely heard your voice, and thought I would say hello. I am actually in Poseidon now, speaking to you over a network of sorts.

[Oh, right, Viking. He explains more simply:]

Long-distance communication, using the very air. Quite clever, really, and very useful.

[forbiddenfriendship]

So it's like messenger birds? [Invisible messenger birds?] Except instead of carrying a note, they carry sound?

Uh, but I hope I didn't bother you or anything, Your Thunderingness. [oh gods talking to a god is still nerve wracking]

[loveshishammer]

[Thunderingness. Thor isn't sure what to make of that, so he just skips it right over, and goes for a kindly explaination.]

It would probably be easier to compare it to magic than a physical being carrying the message. The transfer is instantaneous, after all, and it can transmit images and written text, as well.

[It isn't magic, it's technology, but... yeah. Viking. Even Thor isn't going to try and explain that just yet.]

I assure you, regardless, I am not bothered in the slightest.

[video]

[girlworthfighting]

[She's not going to sigh at him, because while his reaction is a little spastic than hers Mulan basically had similar thoughts about the communicator when she first arrived too.]

It's not magic. It is made of machines. Technology; very elaborate and advanced to you, no doubt. But entirely made by the hands of man.

And you might want to get your...pet, away from it. So that it doesn't get damaged.

[video]

[forbiddenfriendship]

[cautiously, Hiccup inches into view. He's talked to a few people through the magic book by now, and...well, so far they don't seem to have been cursed to a horrible and painful doom by it. Not that it's too late for that...]

Are you sure about that? Technology is...you know, pulley systems, catapults, better ways of reigning down fire and destruction upon your enemies, etcera ectera.. This is a book with moving pictures. How could you make something like this without magic?

[he glances off to the side, where Toothless is presumably stashed out of view]

Toothless...Toothless isn't really a pet. He's my friend.

[video]

[girlworthfighting]

Your friend, then. It doesn't change the fact he might break it. And I'm not sure how one would go about getting these replaced.

And I understand your confusion; it sounds as if technology is at a similar state in your world as it was in mine. But there are a lot of things here to prove that invention has far advanced that which we know.

[video]

[forbiddenfriendship]

[Hiccups glances off to the side where Toothless, still out of view, lurks]

Oh, don't worry. I won't let him break it. He's never torn my journal before, so I don't think this would be a problem. But - advanced inventions? [he looks very interested in this] What kind of inventions?

[video]

[girlworthfighting]

Machines that fly. Carts that move faster than those drawn by horses, without any beasts drawing them at all. Weapons that can injure or kill with a single small blast.

I'm probably not the best person to ask about details, though. I don't pretend to understand much about how it works. It might as well be magic, it's only as a point of distinction that it's not.