[Fanfic] Näkki
Title: Näkki
Author: kainoliero / mirrorshoppe
Prompt: Norway, Finland, supernatural creatures/Medieval
Other Characters: -
Rating: 18+
Content Notes: Finland/Norway, sex, but the consenting to it is dubious at best.
Summary: Norway falls over his own over-confidence about supernatural creatures.
Näkki
Light slowly changed its hue as the evening crept in. The summer nights were bright but the greenish-blue tint of the forest around him heralded the late hours' arrival. Norway glanced down, annoyed. He was in no hurry what so ever: darkness would not catch him off-guard and shadows had no place here except for the deepest corners of the rocks, and the thickest spruce forests. He still had many hours of easy traveling.
What Norway did not know was that there was still one more place for the darkness to make its home at. There the shadows grew, running together like oil, taking over their own little spot in the now stubbornly sunlit world and circled a spring in the middle, clear of water but blacker even than the shadows around it.
The surface rippled though nothing disturbed it. For a moment the forest seemed to hold its breath and then something climbed out of the water and onto a rock next to it. There it sat, still, listening to the sounds of the evening and the wind picking its way softly through the branches. It leaned forward to look at its own dim reflection in the inky water and went through an eerily liquid metamorphosis. When it was happy with the result it leaned back and smiled.
Norway bent down to tie his shoe laces. New shoes were annoying like that, he mused, one had to keep on re-tying the leather ties for days before they grew soft enough to stay knotted. Straightening up again he brushed his long hair off his face and behind his shoulders, tugging at his long cloak a few times to make it sit better.
To be honest neither action had a necessity behind them. There was nobody around here in the middle of the forest who could have judged his looks, it would take a few more hours' travel before he would approach a town and yet there was a small touch of vanity in him that dictated that he must always be presentable in appearance, even clad in his everyday clothes. He was about to continue walking when something caught his attention and he stopped to listen. There it was again now, a faint melody sneaking through the trees, that alarmed him as much as it enchanted him.
Norway prided himself on his knowledge and no one could have called him ignorant on the various dangers that lived in the lands beyond human control. He had plenty of forests of his own and creatures in them that were on the lookout of a next meal and it was not unheard-of that they'd use music to lure in their prey. This music was somehow different though. The melody was simple, far simpler than those that the hidden preferred and what was more, the musician was not of the typical unearthly perfect type. There were small hesitations, a few notes that fell flat, tiny mistakes that would have been nonexistent among the forest creatures: the music carried along a touch of humanity that the supernatural could never hope to accomplish.
He decided to investigate the source further and realized that he had already taken a few steps off the path and into the woods. Norway gritted his teeth out of sheer annoyance. For a moment he almost turned around but something in the sound compelled him still and on he went, now a little more warily, moving spruce branches out of his way, hearing them whip back in place behind his back.
The forest grew thick and it was hard to walk until all of a sudden the trees seemed to part in front of him revealing in their middle a solitary pool of water and on the other side of it... a somewhat familiar-looking young man playing some kind of a box lute that he knew to be typical for this area. Finland, yes, that was his name, that quiet and almost unnoticeable addition to Sweden, readily following him everywhere he went. Why would he be sitting in the middle of a forest playing a lute was mysterious on its own but nothing in comparison to the fact that he was doing both completely naked.
He didn't know how long he had been standing there before the boy finally lifted his attention from the instrument. He didn't seem entirely surprised but curiously he also made no sign of recognizing Norway though he should have known him well. Norway wondered if the shadows were falling on his face and covering it and took a step forward, but Finland just watched him, his eyes as unreadable as the pool itself. His face bore a little smile that spoke rather of invitation than of greeting someone familiar.
Maybe something happened to him right then. It was as if the shadows began to melt away and the only thing that existed properly was Finland, luminous against the black water with his pale skin and blonde hair, his eyes both languid and demanding at the same time. Norway realized he had taken another step when he sunk thigh-deep into the cold water but somehow that didn't matter. He waded slowly forward, sinking a little deeper each step. By the time he had reached the rock on which Finland was seated the water went up to his chin.
He did notice that things were wrong, dangerous, but the only thing he could do was to look up at Finland sitting above him dangling one foot in the spring. The lute lay abandoned behind him and he looked back at him with a mixture of amusement and hunger. He bent down, dipping his arms into water, sending little streams brushing gently against his body, moving his clothes against his skin and Norway shivered though he had long ago forgotten the coldness. Finland's face was so close now, his arms wound themselves under Norway's and around his body, pulling him even closer and up, lifting him halfway out of the pond. His lips were cool and the taste brought to his mind images of lakes, trees, sunny days and refreshing shade.
Norway felt his clothes fall off of him somehow, inexplicably, but his head was too full of whiteness and some kind of soft buzzing that he would have cared. Using all his strength he managed to lift his hands on Finland's shoulders and Finland laughed into his mouth, grabbed a handful of hair and pulled his head back slowly, kissing his neck. He felt a sharp, piercing sensation on his side that surprised him but now he didn't mind that at all, whatever this young one wanted to do with would be allowed. A distant sound and a sudden feeling of looseness around his waist made him think his leather belt had somehow just broken in two, and with a quiet splash it and his sword disappeared into the depths of the pool.
His memory became hazy. He had no idea how things had progressed but he did notice he was no longer facing Finland but sitting in his lap and he was having him. Norway managed to wonder how he could still care so little, but seeing how strong Finland was, struggling would probably have amounted to nothing at all. Besides it wasn't as if he could have moved now, it was as if he were drunk on wild rosemary -spiced beer, the poisonous herb that grew thickly around here and spread its overpowering scent all around. He could only lie limp against Finland as he lifted him up and let him fall back down on his own weight, it hurt but yet
it felt
so
good...
A sound from within the forest was probably the first thing to make its way through the haze that was clouding his thoughts. Finland seemed to have heard it too - he froze and his nails dug painfully into him again, but now the sensation seemed to wake him up further. Norway blinked and the rest of the whiteness fell from his eyes. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything Finland slid off the rock and into the water below, dragging him along.
How was the pool now so deep? He couldn't feel the bottom anywhere under his feet and the darkness of the water was so thorough that he barely saw a faint glow of light above him. He kicked and fought but the enemy was indeed stronger than him. His lungs burned and just as he was beginning to think he would have to give up soon he managed to land one good elbow punch right on the creature's - for now it was certain that this was not Finland at all - face. It let go for a small moment and Norway surfaced, gasping for air, but the little victory was soon gone and he was pulled under again.
The water's calm was now thoroughly broken by the fight. Norway kicked sharply below him and this time when he came back up there was someone else standing by the side of the pond -
"Näkki!"
His voice was so clear it seemed to ring through the forest and to the very bottom of the spring itself. "Näkki, let go."
Another pair of hands claimed him and began to pull him to safety. For a moment two Finlands were dragging him to two directions but the other's face had turned strangely liquid in appearance. With disgust Norway watched the features run together and rearrange itself into something greenish, wrinkly and hideous, the hair grow out into a long, tangled mess, nails take on their real, claw-like form. Finland behind him called the creature by its name and commanded it to let go once more, and now it finally relented. With an ugly hiss it sunk back into the depths it had come from.
With a final tug Finland got him out. He dragged him a little way away from the pond where they sat together, both out of breath, Finland still with his arms tightly around him. Now finally free of every part of the illusion Norway saw that his clothes were hanging off of him in tatters, clawed through, and that his body was marked all over with crescent-shaped cuts where the creature had sunk its nails in. They were now bleeding and no doubt Finland's clothes were now almost as thoroughly ruined as his own.
"What in all Gods names was that?"
Finland, still cradling him in an absent-minded manner, seemed to think for a while before answering.
"I named it Näkki. It's a shapeshifter, lives in bodies of water. Feeds on humans." He was still breathing heavily after the struggle. "It mostly likes young women and children but in the end it's not picky about its prey."
"It was playing music though. Human music, not the kind that the hidden play."
Now Finland looked at him and seemed a little uncomfortable for some reason.
"Yes, it's what it sometimes does... it's a water spirit after all, they're masterful players. This type just prefers playing human-made instruments, but it does use the music as a lure, just like the rest. For some reason it seems to work best on maidens, alas - but to get at you it must have done something more devious than the usual pretty boy act. Can't really see you falling for something that simple. Was it a floating log for example? Or a water bird? They say that Näkki can sometimes even read your mind and show you what you really want to have. Did it change shape several times? I saw it take on my face when I fought it, they do that sometimes when they want to throw you off your guard. Once they sink their nails in they really don't want to let go! They hate hearing their name though, they can't keep up the illusions long after you call them by it."
Finland went on chattering about the creature and for once Norway was happy that he did because it gave him a reason to just lie still and listen to his own heartbeat. Eventually he replied:
"Yes, y'see... not entirely certain of details here, sorry. It really confused me well. I think you're right though, must've been some kind of a bird." He turned a little to lie on his side and pressed the side of his face against Finland's chest, grateful for his warmth. "Looked at it, thought I knew what it was and somehow really wanted to catch it." Alas, he continued in his mind, it had been a futile attempt that he would better learn from. What he had wanted would never belong to him.
End notes: Näkki, Näcken, Nix, even Vetehinen or Vesiraukka are all water creatures that try to drown you. Näkki is typically female, often described as an ugly old hag in real appearance, but it can change shape according to which kind of prey it's going after. Finnish water spirits typically play a violin or a kantele, and the west-Finland Näkki is especially known for its playing skills (in the rest of the country they're likelier to sing than to play an instrument). A particularly upsetting fact about the Näkki is that you could tell its victims by the claw marks she left on them when she pulled them under water. The water spirits were also somewhat notorious of trying to get their way with their prey.
Of course I never learned all these upsetting extra details when I was a kid - I found out about them later on. What I was told, however, was that Näkki absolutely hated its name. If one attacked you the best way of getting rid of it was to shout its name repeatedly - that is if your mouth was not full of water so you couldn't shout anything at all. Therefore, the lesson ended, never go swimming alone.
Author: kainoliero / mirrorshoppe
Prompt: Norway, Finland, supernatural creatures/Medieval
Other Characters: -
Rating: 18+
Content Notes: Finland/Norway, sex, but the consenting to it is dubious at best.
Summary: Norway falls over his own over-confidence about supernatural creatures.
Näkki
Light slowly changed its hue as the evening crept in. The summer nights were bright but the greenish-blue tint of the forest around him heralded the late hours' arrival. Norway glanced down, annoyed. He was in no hurry what so ever: darkness would not catch him off-guard and shadows had no place here except for the deepest corners of the rocks, and the thickest spruce forests. He still had many hours of easy traveling.
What Norway did not know was that there was still one more place for the darkness to make its home at. There the shadows grew, running together like oil, taking over their own little spot in the now stubbornly sunlit world and circled a spring in the middle, clear of water but blacker even than the shadows around it.
The surface rippled though nothing disturbed it. For a moment the forest seemed to hold its breath and then something climbed out of the water and onto a rock next to it. There it sat, still, listening to the sounds of the evening and the wind picking its way softly through the branches. It leaned forward to look at its own dim reflection in the inky water and went through an eerily liquid metamorphosis. When it was happy with the result it leaned back and smiled.
Norway bent down to tie his shoe laces. New shoes were annoying like that, he mused, one had to keep on re-tying the leather ties for days before they grew soft enough to stay knotted. Straightening up again he brushed his long hair off his face and behind his shoulders, tugging at his long cloak a few times to make it sit better.
To be honest neither action had a necessity behind them. There was nobody around here in the middle of the forest who could have judged his looks, it would take a few more hours' travel before he would approach a town and yet there was a small touch of vanity in him that dictated that he must always be presentable in appearance, even clad in his everyday clothes. He was about to continue walking when something caught his attention and he stopped to listen. There it was again now, a faint melody sneaking through the trees, that alarmed him as much as it enchanted him.
Norway prided himself on his knowledge and no one could have called him ignorant on the various dangers that lived in the lands beyond human control. He had plenty of forests of his own and creatures in them that were on the lookout of a next meal and it was not unheard-of that they'd use music to lure in their prey. This music was somehow different though. The melody was simple, far simpler than those that the hidden preferred and what was more, the musician was not of the typical unearthly perfect type. There were small hesitations, a few notes that fell flat, tiny mistakes that would have been nonexistent among the forest creatures: the music carried along a touch of humanity that the supernatural could never hope to accomplish.
He decided to investigate the source further and realized that he had already taken a few steps off the path and into the woods. Norway gritted his teeth out of sheer annoyance. For a moment he almost turned around but something in the sound compelled him still and on he went, now a little more warily, moving spruce branches out of his way, hearing them whip back in place behind his back.
The forest grew thick and it was hard to walk until all of a sudden the trees seemed to part in front of him revealing in their middle a solitary pool of water and on the other side of it... a somewhat familiar-looking young man playing some kind of a box lute that he knew to be typical for this area. Finland, yes, that was his name, that quiet and almost unnoticeable addition to Sweden, readily following him everywhere he went. Why would he be sitting in the middle of a forest playing a lute was mysterious on its own but nothing in comparison to the fact that he was doing both completely naked.
He didn't know how long he had been standing there before the boy finally lifted his attention from the instrument. He didn't seem entirely surprised but curiously he also made no sign of recognizing Norway though he should have known him well. Norway wondered if the shadows were falling on his face and covering it and took a step forward, but Finland just watched him, his eyes as unreadable as the pool itself. His face bore a little smile that spoke rather of invitation than of greeting someone familiar.
Maybe something happened to him right then. It was as if the shadows began to melt away and the only thing that existed properly was Finland, luminous against the black water with his pale skin and blonde hair, his eyes both languid and demanding at the same time. Norway realized he had taken another step when he sunk thigh-deep into the cold water but somehow that didn't matter. He waded slowly forward, sinking a little deeper each step. By the time he had reached the rock on which Finland was seated the water went up to his chin.
He did notice that things were wrong, dangerous, but the only thing he could do was to look up at Finland sitting above him dangling one foot in the spring. The lute lay abandoned behind him and he looked back at him with a mixture of amusement and hunger. He bent down, dipping his arms into water, sending little streams brushing gently against his body, moving his clothes against his skin and Norway shivered though he had long ago forgotten the coldness. Finland's face was so close now, his arms wound themselves under Norway's and around his body, pulling him even closer and up, lifting him halfway out of the pond. His lips were cool and the taste brought to his mind images of lakes, trees, sunny days and refreshing shade.
Norway felt his clothes fall off of him somehow, inexplicably, but his head was too full of whiteness and some kind of soft buzzing that he would have cared. Using all his strength he managed to lift his hands on Finland's shoulders and Finland laughed into his mouth, grabbed a handful of hair and pulled his head back slowly, kissing his neck. He felt a sharp, piercing sensation on his side that surprised him but now he didn't mind that at all, whatever this young one wanted to do with would be allowed. A distant sound and a sudden feeling of looseness around his waist made him think his leather belt had somehow just broken in two, and with a quiet splash it and his sword disappeared into the depths of the pool.
His memory became hazy. He had no idea how things had progressed but he did notice he was no longer facing Finland but sitting in his lap and he was having him. Norway managed to wonder how he could still care so little, but seeing how strong Finland was, struggling would probably have amounted to nothing at all. Besides it wasn't as if he could have moved now, it was as if he were drunk on wild rosemary -spiced beer, the poisonous herb that grew thickly around here and spread its overpowering scent all around. He could only lie limp against Finland as he lifted him up and let him fall back down on his own weight, it hurt but yet
it felt
so
good...
A sound from within the forest was probably the first thing to make its way through the haze that was clouding his thoughts. Finland seemed to have heard it too - he froze and his nails dug painfully into him again, but now the sensation seemed to wake him up further. Norway blinked and the rest of the whiteness fell from his eyes. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything Finland slid off the rock and into the water below, dragging him along.
How was the pool now so deep? He couldn't feel the bottom anywhere under his feet and the darkness of the water was so thorough that he barely saw a faint glow of light above him. He kicked and fought but the enemy was indeed stronger than him. His lungs burned and just as he was beginning to think he would have to give up soon he managed to land one good elbow punch right on the creature's - for now it was certain that this was not Finland at all - face. It let go for a small moment and Norway surfaced, gasping for air, but the little victory was soon gone and he was pulled under again.
The water's calm was now thoroughly broken by the fight. Norway kicked sharply below him and this time when he came back up there was someone else standing by the side of the pond -
"Näkki!"
His voice was so clear it seemed to ring through the forest and to the very bottom of the spring itself. "Näkki, let go."
Another pair of hands claimed him and began to pull him to safety. For a moment two Finlands were dragging him to two directions but the other's face had turned strangely liquid in appearance. With disgust Norway watched the features run together and rearrange itself into something greenish, wrinkly and hideous, the hair grow out into a long, tangled mess, nails take on their real, claw-like form. Finland behind him called the creature by its name and commanded it to let go once more, and now it finally relented. With an ugly hiss it sunk back into the depths it had come from.
With a final tug Finland got him out. He dragged him a little way away from the pond where they sat together, both out of breath, Finland still with his arms tightly around him. Now finally free of every part of the illusion Norway saw that his clothes were hanging off of him in tatters, clawed through, and that his body was marked all over with crescent-shaped cuts where the creature had sunk its nails in. They were now bleeding and no doubt Finland's clothes were now almost as thoroughly ruined as his own.
"What in all Gods names was that?"
Finland, still cradling him in an absent-minded manner, seemed to think for a while before answering.
"I named it Näkki. It's a shapeshifter, lives in bodies of water. Feeds on humans." He was still breathing heavily after the struggle. "It mostly likes young women and children but in the end it's not picky about its prey."
"It was playing music though. Human music, not the kind that the hidden play."
Now Finland looked at him and seemed a little uncomfortable for some reason.
"Yes, it's what it sometimes does... it's a water spirit after all, they're masterful players. This type just prefers playing human-made instruments, but it does use the music as a lure, just like the rest. For some reason it seems to work best on maidens, alas - but to get at you it must have done something more devious than the usual pretty boy act. Can't really see you falling for something that simple. Was it a floating log for example? Or a water bird? They say that Näkki can sometimes even read your mind and show you what you really want to have. Did it change shape several times? I saw it take on my face when I fought it, they do that sometimes when they want to throw you off your guard. Once they sink their nails in they really don't want to let go! They hate hearing their name though, they can't keep up the illusions long after you call them by it."
Finland went on chattering about the creature and for once Norway was happy that he did because it gave him a reason to just lie still and listen to his own heartbeat. Eventually he replied:
"Yes, y'see... not entirely certain of details here, sorry. It really confused me well. I think you're right though, must've been some kind of a bird." He turned a little to lie on his side and pressed the side of his face against Finland's chest, grateful for his warmth. "Looked at it, thought I knew what it was and somehow really wanted to catch it." Alas, he continued in his mind, it had been a futile attempt that he would better learn from. What he had wanted would never belong to him.
End notes: Näkki, Näcken, Nix, even Vetehinen or Vesiraukka are all water creatures that try to drown you. Näkki is typically female, often described as an ugly old hag in real appearance, but it can change shape according to which kind of prey it's going after. Finnish water spirits typically play a violin or a kantele, and the west-Finland Näkki is especially known for its playing skills (in the rest of the country they're likelier to sing than to play an instrument). A particularly upsetting fact about the Näkki is that you could tell its victims by the claw marks she left on them when she pulled them under water. The water spirits were also somewhat notorious of trying to get their way with their prey.
Of course I never learned all these upsetting extra details when I was a kid - I found out about them later on. What I was told, however, was that Näkki absolutely hated its name. If one attacked you the best way of getting rid of it was to shout its name repeatedly - that is if your mouth was not full of water so you couldn't shout anything at all. Therefore, the lesson ended, never go swimming alone.