Under the great Tree of Existence, Idras sat the old Norn, a six-armed weaver of human destinies, spinning the fabric of the cosmos from her silken platinum hair. Her eyes, clouded with time, were blind, but her hands were skilled and precise - the fabric beneath them was smooth and weightless.

  At the roots of the golden-leaved tree, three fair-haired children watched over her tireless work. Their amber eyes were clear and attentive, their gazes too focused for their young age.

  Despite their outward resemblance, Norn was not their mother - the triplets were born from the singular fruit of Idras, the tree of life. They were meant to grow and learn the craft of weaving. However, to the teacher's dismay, the children had vastly different characters.

  Urdr was attentive to Norn's teachings, eagerly absorbing every word. Verdandi was marked by excessive zeal, at times hindering her from fully grasping the mentor's doctrines. And Skuld was plagued by excessive doubts, sometimes even about Norn's fundamental tenets.

  - What if people don't like how their destinies are woven together? - inquired the curious Skuld, and Norn sighed heavily.

  - Their happiness is not your concern, - the mentor replied displeased, tired of such heresy.

  - But we could easily fix it, couldn't we? - Skuld naively remarked.

  Norn became visibly angry - her blind gaze gave away her frustration as she looked at the careless student.

  - By weaving an extra thread into the fabric, you leave its end clumsily hanging, - Norn explained.

  - Pull on it, and the thread will unravel, leaving an unsightly mark on the fabric...

  The mentor fell silent. Her unquestionable tone indicated that the discussion was over.

  - All of you, go and practice weaving destinies: war and sea are the most intricate patterns, - commanded the mentor.

  - But you, stay behind, Urdr, - she stopped one of the girls. - I have something to tell you...

  Verde complied, but her expression was discontented. She cast a curious glance towards her sister who remained, then obediently followed Skuld.

  - Do you think Mistress Norn teaches Urdr separately from us, right? - the girl spoke up anxiously.

  - Why would she? - Skuld genuinely wondered.

  - I don't know, - Verde shrugged. - It's just that she seems to weave better than anyone else.

  - I wish I had another pair of hands soon, so I can weave patterns as quickly as our mistress does, - Verde admitted shyly.

  - Mistress Norn said it will happen when we reach the right age, don't worry, - Skuld reassured her friend, who was particularly troubled by such matters.

  - I know, - sighed Verde, - but I wish it would happen sooner...

  - Are you skipping practice again? - she asked Skuld when she saw the girl veering off the path.

  - I don't want to weave those patterns, - confessed Skuld.

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  - Mistress will be upset with you again... - Verde warned half-heartedly as Skuld walked away.

  Skuld indeed often neglected the instructions of Mistress Norn. Instead, she would go to the Source of Change to watch the river serpent Nidhe gnaw at the roots of Idhras. And on clear days, from the edge of the world, she would peer down at the human realm, separated by a veil of clouds.

  Today's weather was unusually overcast, and Skuld, venturing to study the mortal world, quickly despaired of seeing anything. Walking back along the winding path, she pondered the words of the ancient Norn, inventing all sorts of new crazy ideas.

  But they all flew out of her head when she spotted Verde lying in the tall grass. Her eyes, unblinking, gazed at the sky, and were as clouded as the blind eyes of their mistress.

  - Verde, - Skuld called out to her sister, clearly concerned. But Verde didn't respond, didn't even stir at the sound of her voice. Only the wind rustled through Verde's platinum locks, swaying the whispering blades of the drooping grass at her brow.

  - What's wrong with you? - Skuld asked again, unaware of what death was like.

  - She stopped seeing, like Mistress Norn, and now she's upset that she won't be able to learn from her anymore, - Skuld decided, mistaking her sister's silence for distress.

  Her heart filled with pity and compassion for Verde, who desired so strongly to master the great mystery but was doomed to lose this opportunity at such a young age.

  Skuld found it unfair:

  - Don't be sad, Verde, - she soothingly stroked her sister's light curls.

  - I will fetch the fruit of Idras for you - it's the source of life and surely can restore your sight.

  Filled with this thought, Skuld hurried to the Tree of Existence. She knew that this plan, like others, was not destined to gain the approval of their mentor, Norn. And so, to bypass her, she decided to climb the vast tree from the side of the Source.

  This turned out to be much more difficult than it seemed at first - the bark of Idras was smooth, and the nearest branches were very high. But the girl didn't give up, slipping down time after time, and trying again until she finally grabbed hold of the lower branch.

  - What are you doing? - a familiar voice sounded from behind her.

  Skuld turned around and saw Urd, who was watching her efforts. The girl looked much older than before - her amber eyes had darkened, almost turning coppery, and in the wide sleeves of her shirt, another pair of hands could be seen. But Skuld's fleeting glance didn't immediately notice these changes.

  - I want to get the fruit of Idras for Verde, - the girl explained, sitting precariously on a thin branch.

  - She has gone blind, like Lady Norn, - Skuld continued, catching her breath, - and she was deeply saddened that she could no longer learn to weave...

  - Come down, - demanded the girl from below.

  - I want to help her - please don't tell Lady Norn, - Skuld begged, knowing how Urd zealously followed Lady Norn's instructions.

  - The fruit of life won't help her, Skuld, - Urd replied indifferently, - Verde is dead.

  - Dead? - Skuld asked, puzzled.

  - That's your fate - Verde's and yours, - Urd confirmed just as coldly.

  - When it's time to die, the weavers of fate go blind.

  - But why? - Skuld wondered.

  The cruel words of her sister about death didn't so much frighten Skuld as they sparked a new wave of curiosity in her. After all, the only death she had witnessed before was the cutting of threads by Norns during the weaving of human lives.

  - That's because there's always only one weaver of destinies, Skuld - explained Urd.

  - From the fruit of Yggdrasil, three are born, but the previous weaver chooses only the most worthy.

  - And that's you, Urd?

  - Yes, Lady Norn chose me, just as she was chosen before among three sisters.

  - But I don't even want to be a weaver - confessed Skuld - why do I have to die?

  - Because as long as you're alive, you still have one part of the fruit of life from which we were born.

  - And without it, I won't attain my true form - shrugged Urd.

  - But don't worry, sister, the time is almost here: look - your eyes have already lost their amber glow - noted Urd, whose appearance was continuously changing.

  Skuld, driven by her own curiosity, leaned forward thoughtlessly to see her reflection in the crystalline waters of the Well of Change. However, the branch of Yggdrasil beneath her proved too thin - it trembled and bent, ultimately breaking off.

  In Urd's astonished ruby eyes, there was reflected both Skuld's fall into the churning waters and the way her delicate form was caught in the whirlpool, spiraling and then sinking into the abyss.

  The serene countenance of the beautiful maiden Urd did not darken with sorrow at this sight. However, a hint of confusion shone through when she looked at her hands and realized that there were now only four of them...