It was interesting, looking up at the art that covered the walls of the great hall. Many chiefs and their families painted onto decorative shields, including one of Stoick and Hiccup, painted when Hiccup was a bit smaller and younger. Several dragons, of course. Some more scary and vicious left from the days the Berkians fought them rather than tamed them. But what you found interesting were the gods.

Every land you'd visited had them, some lands shared gods with others. Some had their own entirely. But everyone had a pantheon, and there was a god for each aspect of life. Notably, the kings of those gods often seemed to have something to do with the sky.

Sometimes you wondered, what if despite the different names and stories, those gods were all the same? Every land had a sky god, a sea god, an afterlife god etc. the name may differ, the myth may differ, but the subject matter was the same. So maybe, out there somewhere in the universe those gods existed and simply went by many names.

Or maybe each land had their own gods, that watched over those people specifically. Your homeland and the surrounding areas had the Olympians, Kemet had their animal headed creators, the Nordic and Berk had their life giving tree and the gods that lived atop it. Maybe each land was watched over by a different group of gods. Which in turn made you wonder more. If you were currently on Norse land, were Thor and their gods watching you? Or were Zeus and the Olympians keeping an eye on you despite being away from home?

"Heard all those stories on your travels?"

You jumped slightly hearing the sudden voice behind you, just Hiccup through, no need to worry.

"Most of them, interesting how similar some of the stories are to other cultures. And yet there's also some that differ so wildly..." you replied.

Hiccup stepped beside you, looking up at the art of the tree of life on the wall you'd been gazing at. His peoples myths and religions were all he'd ever known, despite his tendency to travel he'd never left the archipelago which all fell under Nordic beliefs of some kind. To him, the lighting and thunder came from Thor, any mischief and trickery from Loki, wars and death came from Odin.

"You have different stories and gods to us don't you?" He asked.

"We do, although I've noticed all the lands I've been to or heard of seem to have similarities. The rulers and kings of the gods are always associated with the sky for some reason..." you replied.

"The sky is much bigger than the land, or the sea. No surprise it gets the spotlight"

That was true, it was vast and all encompassing, always there and ever changing. Sky gods were bound to be the ones in charge.

"Does your land have a patron god?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah. Everyone in the area respects all the gods, but different cities and towns have a patron and matron. Ectacos is full of hybrida and is pretty wooded and dense, so we favour the rustic gods. But our patron and matron are the twins Artemis and Apollo. They're hunters, and archers. Artemis leads an all girl group of huntresses, who never marry or be with a man of any kind. She rules the moon and the hunt. Apollo rules over the sun, medicine and the arts... and is very bisexual and has a lot of lovers" you explained.

"Opposites then? Mirror images" Hiccup observed.

"Pretty much. Most twins in our mythology have a close connection in some way or represent mirror images. Apollo and Artemis are mirror images. Thanatos and Hypnos, death and sleep are connected under unconsciousness and their mother the night"

Hiccup had always found the stories other lands told of interesting. But being confined to within the archipelago, he'd only ever heard differing versions of the gods he already knew. Some tribes painted Loki to be a mere trickster, some painted him too be outright evil. But they all had a story of Loki. Your land however, didn't have a Loki at all. Or a Thor or an Odin. This was all brand new to him.

"Are there myths about your kind? Where you came from?" Hiccup asked.

"No one actually knows for sure, oddly. Those tales are so old they've been fragmented and changed over the years. But many believe we came from some form of chimera, creatures made from two or more different species. Some say we came from the underworld, not the bad parts like Tartarus, the good parts like Elysium. But no one knows for sure" you explained.

That must be endlessly frustrating, not even knowing your own origin. Hiccup knew the humans creation according to his peoples myths. The first humans Ask and Embla, made from driftwood found by a trio of gods and bought to life in the form of three gifts. After the events of Ragnarok, the creation is mirrored in the survival of two humans from wood: Líf and Lífþrasir. From them, humankind is foretold to repopulate the new and green earth.

In your land the creation of humans was credited to Prometheus, who moulded them out of clay and mud. Athena then breathed life into them, and man was created. Followed by the whole giving fire to humanity thing that got Prometheus eternally punished.

But the hybrida? There was no solid myth on where they came from. Why they came to be or who or what created them. The existence of hybrida being so ancient that the original myth had been lost to the passing of time. Hybrida may even pre-date humans, no one really knew for sure.

But you never really cared for that, you existed now and in 100 years you'll be dead and gone. Roaming the underworld. Or perhaps Valhalla if you died on Berk soil, who knows. Either way, you'll be gone and not have to worry or care for the land you walked upon today anymore. So where you came from didn't really matter in your opinion. Focus on the now, and making the lost of your life while you could.

"I suppose you have festivals and celebrations? Something akin to our Snoggletog?" Hiccup asked.

"Plenty of them. We've got a whole god for it, parties and festivals are his thing, he has his own but if there's a celebration, he'll be there in spirit" You replied.

"A festival to celebrate a god that is known for partying? That sounds wild"

"It is, Dionysus, god of wine, the harvest and getting shitfaced drunk at a party. His festival is a week of non stop black out drunkenness. I prefer to stay sober enough to actually remember the night before myself. But it's always amusing to watch others stumble into the grape barrels"

Now THAT was something Hiccup needed to see at least once. Viking feasts we're rowdy, but that sounded like a whole other level of rowdy.

"But hey, the lovers like the festivals too. Gives them an excuse to go on week long dates and go crazy together. Our goddess of love, Aphrodite, she's probably seen lovers kiss in all kinds of weird states during a festival" you snickered.

"I'm sure our love goddess Freyja has probably seen some similar stuff too, especially during Snoggletog" Hiccup chuckled.

Even being from completely different lands and cultures, even different species, there was always a sense of familiarity between your land and Hiccups. It proved to you something, mortals all just wanted the same thing. A bountiful harvest, a sense of belonging and love. No matter the myth used to explain it, that's all anyone really wanted.

Hiccups genuine interest in your life, your stories, your kind, you. It gave you that sense of belonging, despite being the only winged one on the island. Hell, it even gave you a bit of a sense of love too...