Rick Vasa

**Rick** is a nerdy kid who lives with his grandfather and obsesses over the local myth: under the Viking runestone in Pineville, a Viking king is buried. He wears a big jacket that feels like a cloak, which his grandfather brought back from Europe, over jeans and tennis shoes, and carries a messenger bag filled with books, which he thinks *awesome*.

He's set up the roof above their shop with some scavenged furniture, complete with a flag he made when he was young. It has a view of the river and forest.

## Family

He lives with his grandfather in an apartment above their shop. His parents were both rangers and disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

## Relationships

### Duncan

Duncan gave Rick a copy of Led Zeppelin III, and from that a sort of friendship sprung. As they've grown up they developed different friend circles, but Rick knows they can still connect through music.

### Stephanie

There was a time when they were all younger that Stephanie was a nice person, and as they grew she started turning into someone else. What scares Rick is that it's not a phase—she's not going to grow out of it, and this is just the person she is now.

### Alex

Rick doesn't really know Alex, other than he has that classic "kids say the darndest things" going on.

### His grandfather

Rick is close to his grandfather. It's unknown what happened to his parents, but he's lived with his grandfather for some time, and the two share the belief that there's something supernatural going on with the ley lines in town.

## The Willies

Rick's grandfather is a true believer, and would have him out to the ley lines when he was a little kid and tell him stories. There's a local legend about the town: *"We don't know what, and we don't know when, but it's gonna happen here."* Some effect of having spent so long walking the ley lines has given Rick a supernatural ability. No one knows it, not even Rick, but he's inherently sensitive to supernatural presences.

## History

Rick is first seen waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. He doesn't know why, but the listeners know it's from a strange something falling from the sky, activating his supernatural sensitivity. He can't sleep for the rest of the night, and goes to school tired the next morning.

### History project

He's much less attentive in his first period history class than usual. Mrs. Delancey looks to him when announcing their school project, surprised that he doesn't have much of a reaction. Once he realizes they're being given the opportunity to film an historical video, he's must more interested. He gets put in a group with Stephanie and Duncan, and they agree to make it about the Viking runestone.

After school Stephanie has cheer practice, so Rick returns to his grandfather's shop to start their research. His grandfather is very pleased to hear about the project, and collects books and maps about the history of the ley lines, the runestone, and other useful subjects. He warns Rick to not do all the work by himself—the other kids need to learn about it, too. They talk about Rick's sleepless night, and his grandfather tells him to not stay up all night reading, but to try to get some rest. Rick takes everything up to his room to sort into two piles: what his teacher will tolerate as fact, and what she will not.

Stephanie drives them all to the runestone, and Rick starts translating the runes for Alex. He tells him about the dwarves making the silken cords to bind the—and his supernatural abilities active, and he vomits.

### The Huldra

They go back to Stephanie's to review the footage, and Rick points out a disturbance in the video, like a part has been removed. They head to Anomalies & Antiques, where they learn about the huldra from Rick's grandfather. They're forest spirits that lure young men away and enslave them. His grandfather doesn't know how to deal with them, but knows people who do.

They head home for the night. Rick is reading more lore books when he gets a panicked call from Stephanie—the huldra has lured Brick into the woods! Rick grabs his bow and homemade arrows, hops on his bike, Shadowfax, and heads for Stephanie's.

### Youth League

He meets up with Duncan and Alex on the way, but they're stopped by Sheriff Johnson at the Founder's Cabin, who wants to know what they're doing out so late. Alex questions what everyone is doing at the cabin. Johnson says that Rick should ask his grandfather, and sure enough, Rick takes a look around and spots his car. They don't manage to convince the sheriff that they're just gathering to watch that night's *ALF*, and he escorts them to Stephanie's house.

She's waiting on the front porch with a firepoker, thus causing the sheriff to become more interested in what they're doing. After some confusion Johnson leaves and brings back Rick's grandfather, and Rick comes clean about the huldra, while also wanting to know why he was at the Founder's Cabin. They take the kids back to meet the other members of the Youth League.

Rick meets Leslie and learns that there's a name for his strange ability to sense the supernatural: he's a Senser, and so is Leslie. They learn more about the huldra, and that they can trap in underneath the runestone with its male counterpart. The adults go back to the runestone to set up a circle needed for the incantation, and the kids plan out how to lure it there.

### The Runestone

Rick easily follows Brick's track through the woods, and when the tracks stop, Franklin finishes the job. Duncan knocks Brick out and they bring him to the runestone. The huldra doesn't appear until Rick starts hurting the trees. He lures her into the circle by shouting *"Cow end! Cow end!"* repeatedly in Old Norse, enraging her. Duncan and Stephanie close the circle, and Rick triumphantly shouts, *"You shall not pass!"* The incantation is recited, and the huldra is sent underground.

When it's all over, they finally watch that episode of *ALF*, and some time later Franklin shares the joy of Dungeons & Dragons with them.

## Trivia

* Rick was based off of a fourteen-year-old Philip.
* In a game of Dungeons & Dragons, Rick plays a ranger because of *The Lord of the Rings*.

## References and Footnotes

1. ↑ He's only called Rich by two people: Stephanie, because she can't remember his name, and Alex, because Stephanie does.
2. ↑ His grandfather calls him Richie.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ep. 156 Kids on Bikes Reviewed
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ep. 150 “Kids on Bikes” One-Shot Prologue
5. ↑ This was an additional rule provided by Scott Woodward in the Kids on Bikes Deluxe Edition.
6. ↑ Going against everything *The Lord of the Rings* has taught him.
7. ↑ Ep. 152 “Kids on Bikes” One-Shot Chapter Two