Life had... not been great for the Trygg family lately. With his mother's untimely demise and his father seeming to follow shortly behind her with his depression, the Viking pups had been left to raise themselves for the most part. It was fine; hardship proved to be the greatest tester of mettle and the strongest of steel was forged in the hottest of fire. Hallvarðr viewed it all as the will of the gods, though whether it was a punishment or a tribulation, he did not know. Either way, it left him and his siblings with the unfortunate circumstances of having to celebrate their first birthdays on their own without their parents—so Hal would take it upon himself to make their birthdays something worth smiling about. It was the least his brothers and sisters deserved.

He had heard of the Armada market time and time again, and now that he was old enough to venture off the mountain for extended periods on his own, the Viking boy headed down from Hemlock to see if he could find something worthy of birthday gifts. He strode through the natural stone gates of the Col, feeling very out of place amongst the hustle and bustle of the market. His discomfort showed on his face as he wandered through the market, checking out the stalls of merchants' wares with silent appraisal. Nothing stood out to him—until one thing did. A girl running a shop of her own. A girl he recognized from the Hallows bonfire. Wynter. Eyes of ice light up with recognition, but he hesitated back from approaching her. What if she didn't want to be bothered by some heathen boy from the mountains? Would she even remember him? She seemed busy... maybe he should just keep on going. But what if she had some ideas on what he could get his siblings for their birthdays?

Hal slowly approached her stall, lingering at a nearby one for a time to make it look like he was just perusing around before stopping at hers by happenstance. He peered down at her with a little smile feeling awkward on his face. "Hello Wynter," he greeted her, his voice in the in-between stages of deepening to lower baritone levels in his adolescence. "I would like to buy some things from you." Nice, good social skills there, heathen boy.

"Hallvarðr Trygg"

When she set up her stall in the market she had no idea it would be so busy! She had seen the market on days when it was completely empty and quiet and others where it was bustling and full of life. Today seemed to be one of the latter. It made her day go by very fast and she was throughly enjoying meeting all of these new wolves and getting to make some trades. She felt like she was learning a lot about bartering and the value of certain things by doing this which was the whole point of this exercise. Although, in truth, she was having so much fun that she might just keep doing this even after her training was over. She'd need a pass time in-between diplomacy meetings, right? Maybe she could even parter up with Ignita to sell some of the armor pieces she made.

As she thanked another customer and watched them walk away, she turned to see who was next in line and was surprised as she looked up to the familiar face of the boy she had met at the Hallows bonfire festival. "Oh, Hallvarðr! Hello!" she replied with a smile, her tail wagging behind her. He had certainly been a bit rough around the edges when she asked him to join her for some snacks at the festival, but their brief interaction had certainly been memorable and there was something charming about him all the same. She had even practiced saying his name in the days after she got home just in case she ever ran into him again. She just hadn't been expecting to run into him again so soon or here in the market! He mentioned that he wanted to buy some things from her and she nodded, gesturing to the display of items in front of her. "Of course! Was there anything in particular you were looking for?"

"Wynter Fatalis"

As soon as Wynter saw him, she regarded him with bright eyes and recognition. She even mostly said his name right! Hal was so caught off guard that he didn't know how to immediately respond, just standing there wide-eyed and wearing a more genuine smile now. "That's right! You were very close with the pronunciation too," he complimented her, his own tail giving a subtle tag behind him, the first time it had wagged since his mother's death. He wouldn't make to correct her though; he was just delighted that someone outside of his family had actually made an attempt to learn and pronounce his name, since he was incredibly proud of it. His dopey giddiness was broken momentarily when Wynter asked what he was looking for and Hal... he realized a glaring problem. "I don't know," he replied with all the confidence of a man sent to do the shopping without a list. Perhaps if he explained to Wynter, she might be able to point him in the right direction.

"Spring is my litter's birthdays. We turned one year old this season," explained the Viking lad in his somewhat rough speech, lacking refinement yet full of emotion. "I want to get my brothers and sisters birthday gifts, since our parents are unable to. But I realize now... I'm not sure where to begin." Hallvarðr gave a gruff hum as he looked down at all of the miscellaneous wares strewn across Wynter's stall. Ice blue eyes peered up at her from beneath his lashes, meeting hers with a sheepish embarrassment. "Do you have recommendations for good gifts for yearlings? Three brothers and two sisters." He especially had no idea what the girls would like.

"Hallvarðr Trygg"

Seeing how Hall seemed to light up when she greeted him with his full name–even if she had gotten the pronunciation a bit wrong–made her feel like the practice and all been worth it even if it had felt a little silly at the time. The genuine smile it pulled from him looked good on him. However, that seemed to be pretty short lived as she asked the obvious question of what he was wanting to buy. Her head tipped with slightly concerned curiosity as he faltered and then admitted that he didn't know. She was confused about why he was here if he didn't know what he was looking for, but then he went on to explain that he and his siblings turned one with the coming of spring and he was wanting to get birthday gifts for them since their parents were unable to. She wanted to question why their parents wouldn't be able to help with their gifts, but when he looked to her for direction and recommendations for gifts for his brothers and sisters she knew she had to help him out.

"Sure! Let's see..." she agreed immediately and began to look across the table and in her basket of other goods that had yet to be put out. She still didn't know a ton about him or his family, but after meeting him at the festival she had asked around a little bit about Hemlock and the wolves that lived there so she at least knew a little more than she had when they first met. "Well, lets start with your sisters, maybe? If they're more of the girly type I have a couple different kinds of art and a couple pieces of jewelry," she suggested, pointing out a few slices of wood that had flowers and mountain ranges carved into or painted on them, a couple stone figures of a deer and a bear, a silver necklace with a opal pendant, and a thick gold bracelet with vines etched into the surface. "Or if they're more the rough and tumble type like many of my relatives are, I have some more practical things. Materials for armors, a couple simple weapons, some herb bundles... things like that." She moved over to the other end of the stall as she spoke, pointing out some more options. She didn't want to overwhelm him with choice, but from her experience girls were the the most variable in what they liked so she figured it was better to get the harder gifts out of the way first.

"Wynter Fatalis"

Without asking too many questions, Wynter began to launch into showing off some of her wares that his sisters might like. Hallvarðr was grateful that he didn't have to fill out a questionnaire regarding his siblings, because honestly, he didn't know if he'd be able to do it. His siblings were so scattered and varied, the only one he truly knew at a profound level was Rúna, and even then she managed to surprise him. Chalk it up to a consequence of growing up without strong familial bonds or two parents that were hands off in their methods. Thankfully, Wynter seemed to be delighted at the challenge of helping him find gifts for his siblings with the paltry information he'd given her.

She started with some pieces of art and jewelry for the girls, but Hal was quick to shake his head. Though he didn't know Rúna extremely well or Lumine much at all, he knew enough to know they weren't girly-girls. "They're not the typical feminine type of girls," he explained. Wynter then showed him some materials for crafting, but Hal's eyes had noticed something on the stall. Little stone figurines of animals—namely a deer and a bear. The viking boy tipped his head to the side, studying them. He recounted the stories his sire had told him about Odin, of the legendary berserker warriors, named so after the bears whose pelts they wore. Rúna was equally as pious in their faith as he was. Perhaps she would find the same meaning in the bear effigy as he did.

"That," Hal pointed to the stone bear, "will be perfect for my sister. For the other, do you have something for maintaining armor or weapons?" He knew Lumine had a set of armor already, but perhaps something to help her keep her battle ready would suffice?

"Hallvarðr Trygg"