ReunionOnni was worried. Reynir hadn't been over for many days. Sometimes he visited every night, and that was clearly too much. Onni may have given him a piece of his mind the last time he wouldn't stop talking. But, he hadn't told him never to come over! Surely Reynir didn't think that?
Next morning Onni asked Lalli about it. "Have you heard from Reynir recently?"
"Yes"
"Oh, he visits you still?"
"No"
"But, you just said...?"
"No. He came by and said he will not be coming for a while. Then he went, and hasn't visited since."
"Oh, and why is that?"
"So that we wouldn't worry."
"Well, I worried? Why didn't he come tell me?"
"He asked me to let you know, in case you are interested."
"He did? Why didn't you?"
"I just did."
"??"
"As soon as you showed interest, I told you."
Lalli was serious in his confidence he had done exactly as asked.
"But you... I... Never mind. Did he say why he won't be coming?"
"Yes"
"Ok, so... why are you being difficult. Just tell me!"
"I'm not being difficult. I don't know how to deal with things like this."
"What things?"
"Feelings. Other people's feelings."
"Reynir has feelings?"
"Everyone has feelings all the time. Emil has told me."
(muttering) *Mielikki help me...* "So, Reynir is not coming because of something to do with feelings?"
"Yes"
"What kind of feelings?"
"He's sad"
"Sad? Why?"
"Unndís has told him to go."
"Unndís? His wife? Why?"
"Reynir didn't say. Maybe he doesn't know. Such things are hard to understand."
"Ok, so, how did he seem?"
"Sad"
"Lalli!"
"Sad and confused, even more confused than usually. But he wasn't ill or anything."
"Did he... did he tell you not to seek him?"
"No. That would be stupid. I can't seek him anyways. He's the one who can cross the Dream Sea."
"Oh, right. Well, thanks for telling me. Eventually."
"You are welcome."
Onni's dearest friend and companion was sad and troubled. He'd have to try to help somehow. Getting to Iceland in the physical world took a long time, and Onni couldn't walk on the Dream Sea any more than Lalli did. But, there was something he could do. It was draining, but is was possible. He'd done it before, although never as far as to Iceland. Well, there was nothing to it. He had to try.
Beseeching Ilmatar the air mother, Mielikki the keeper of forests, Tapiotar the mother of birds, and others, he set on the long journey. He made his presence as light as possible, for the way was long in the Dreamworld too. And all the better, if he could avoid detection, because there were the... denizens of the Dream Sea.
So, the spectral owl took wing and started towards the spiritual equivalent of west. He flew for what felt like days, even though he knew that not much time passed in the physical reality. Staying almost ethereal was tricky. It made traveling easier, but it also made it harder to keep his spirit focused. Several times his
luonto appeared in front of him and called him by name, a couple of times even pecking him with its great beak. "Hold on to yourself, my friend. Don't lose your
itse!"
After a long flight, he noticed that the sound of the Dream Sea was different. It sounded like surf. He was coming to someone's shore! And indeed, ahead he saw land at long last. Rolling green hills, in partial shadow. But not fully, there was always sun in Reynir's area. The great owl swooped over the shoreline and into the valley. There was a copse of trees there, and within those trees was a stone outcrop Reynir liked. And indeed, there he was, sitting on his favorite spot.
Finally, he had reached his friend. Reynir was concentrated on something in his hands and didn't notice the arrival of the wisp-thin spectral owl. Onni was exhausted, and he absolutely had to rest now. Still, he couldn't swoop on Reynir, so he spread his wings to slow his descent. He'd land on Reynir's shoulders, nice and gently. Reynir would see he'd come to help.
http://sssscomic.com/mainimages/art/2019_calm-before-the-owl.jpg
Itse is one of the three parts of the Finnish soul, in addition to the
luonto and
henki, which is the life force that keeps the body alive and blood flowing.
Itse is the part that makes the person who they are, and that may remain after death (
henki leaves at death and
luonto goes away, to become someone else's
luonto later).
I had some idea for the following parts of the reunion, but I realised I need a timeline for the Toivosaari and Spirit House continuum and so I was working on that. In any case this goes between "One door closes, another opens" here
https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=1262.180 and "Hypocrisy" earlier in this thread.
