[i]Collaboration between Idle and Kuro

Night time, outside of Trelleborg[/i]

Einnar sat still, his cloak around him and his eyes gazing out into the blackness of the forest, the only movement was the white steam that rose from the shadow of his hood. The trappers slept together, huddled and the two strangers sat close, their heads hung down against the cold. They had been quiet, keeping to themselves and their eyes spoke of their exhaustion and hunger. Why Loker had bothered recruiting them was beyond him but they were still alive and that was something. 

He fought off memories that crept forward, of his mother's wild fits when the gods would seize her. How she would foam at the mouth and shake, piss herself and they would have to jam a stick between her worn teeth to keep her from choking. It had reminded him of how his father would spit and gnash his teeth, bite his shield and roar with fury at his opponent as he was touched by Odin himself. Einnar had decided early on it was worth avoiding the attention of the gods for it made people mad, insane with power that was beyond their ken. 

The huntsman watched the fire, the cold wind making it flare up now and then. His father's dark snarling, scarred visage sneering at him, flickering in the low flames and he saw him open his mouth to speak, a black maw that screamed at him a wordless shriek. Einnar snapped awake, unsure if he had dozed off and dreamed or had truly seen a vision. It took a moment to register it had been Vigi that had shouted and he felt foolish for thinking it could have been his father trying to reach him from Hel. 

The hunter leaned over, grabbing Vigi's shoulder and whispered harshly, [b]"What is it, seidrmadr?"[/b]

Vigi gasped and jerked violently away from the touch. He moved away from it as quickly as possible on his hands and knees until he was halted by a tree he had not seen. His wide eyes snapped around wildly at his surroundings, expecting to see a tall, broad warrior ready to slay him. 

He saw none however, just the outlines of the search party. His racing mind began to calm enough to remember that this was the waking world and there was no one here who was going to kill him. Even rationally knowing this his body would not stop trembling with fear.

Einnar watched him scramble away, letting him go in case he would strike out in fear of whatever vision was holding him. Once he seemed to realize he was not in danger, he approached, squatting down to peer at the delicate fair face of the shaman. He looked even paler than usual, his nearly white hair in a disarray against the bark of the pine tree. 

He offered his hand to help him up, [b]"That was quite a dream."[/b]

Vigi looked up at the solemn face of the dark haired hunter and slowly shook his head. [b]"It was no dream."[/b] He whispered, his voice straining to be heard as his throat was clenched tight with fear still. 

He shakily grasped onto Einnar's hand, glad for the assistance back to his less than steady feet. He ran his hand over the right side of his face and patted his chest just to make sure he really wasn't injured. He could still feel the ghostly wisps of pain from his dream. 

He shot a look around camp relieved that his terror had not woken the others. It was shameful enough to have one man witness his fear. [b]"Odin...Odin himself delivered a vision to me."[/b] Vigi whispered to Einnar, his voice less strained than before. [b]"I think I know the origins of this curse and...and my time on this world will not be for much longer."[/b]

Einnar studied his reaction and kept the hand on Vigi's shoulder to steady him. He listened and cocked his eyebrow at what the seidrmadr told him. The intensity in the man's voice was worrisome as was the direness of his message. The hunter felt a chill down his spine, as if a drop of ice had snaked its way down the back of his tunic. 

[b]"Sit and tell me if you wish,"[/b] Einnar said, bending to pick up Vigi's fallen cloak. [b]"Why do you think your time is short? What did the old Wanderer show you?"[/b]

Usually he scoffed at the portents and signs but in the back of his mind he knew that some could not be ignored and the will of the gods could not be denied. He readied himself for Vigi's tale, surely to be one of dark horror by the look on the young man's face. If it had not been for the emergence of the draugr, the walking corpses that reeked of rot and the sea with their clawing insatiable hunger he would have not bothered. The truth was, despite his cynicism, he knew that what drove the dead to walk alive again was not anything of their realm, it had to be the work of the dark magic.

Vigi gladly accepted his cloak and pulled it around his shoulders as the chill of the night started to seep in. He looked over at the rest of the search party and motioned for Einnar to move just a little bit away so they could avoid being over heard. What he was shown was sensitive information and he did not want to risk the wrong ears hearing it. He was only telling Einnar because, despite being a bit of a drunk, he was the trusted huntsman of the Jarl and he was possibly the only person in the fort to understand what he had experienced. 

When they were away enough that he felt comfortable speaking, but was still able to hear and see the others Vigi sat down on the ground and took in a deep breath. [b]"Odin showed me a raid of a Christian church."[/b] He began softly, twitching a bit as the goriness of the mass slaughter flashed before his eyes again. [b]"In a locked room, in the church there was a very, very withered remains of a draugr."[/b] He said, wrapping his arms around himself. [b]"It was dressed like one of the priests, leading me to believe that it was, in a way, one of them. The raiders broke down the door to the room and attacked it, only one of them was injured by it though. I assume it was killed shortly after, but somehow they must've disturbed some kind of powerful magic for the curse of that man to move to us."[/b]

Einnar crouched down, his hands on his knees and listened intently. He was sobered up enough, though still groggy from exhaustion and a lingering hangover, he understood his words and dread filled him. He glanced up at the boughs of the pines, dark spines against the cloud laden night sky. What had been unearthed in the Christian holy house by the men going aviking. He wondered at it, and looked at Vigi, [b]"What black magic to the Christians practice that could lead to this? Nothing our gods could do could compare."[/b]

He rubbed the stubble on his chin and moved to sit next to Vigi, quite for a moment, listening to the sounds of the wind in the trees and of the occasional skitter in the underbrush. It was utterly lightless, no stars or moon to be seen, the deep darkness broken by the meager flicker of their campfire. [b]"I regret the Christians not coming, one of them is a holy man I hear, he must be questioned. If they are the cause, perhaps they know how to kill them so they stay dead. And you said, Odin showed you all this...and what about you Vigi, what of your fate?"[/b]

[b]"I plan to go to the Christians myself to see if I can learn anything from them. I ask that for now you keep this information to yourself. If word gets to others they may attack and kill the Christians in rage and we will learn nothing."[/b] He said, thinking back to his conversation with the slave Wilfred. He had said these demons were not of their faiths origin, did he truly not know they were or had he been lying?

Vigi tensed at the question about his fate. [b]"I have never been hurt in a vision before."[/b] He began in a murmur. [b]"This vision though...when the man attacked me I could feel the coldness of his blade and the pain it caused...I have never experienced such a thing." [/b] He said a bit brokenly as his mind flashed back to that moment in his vision. [b]"I believe I will be murdered by a warrior. I don't know why or who, but with the rising tension at the fort...it may be soon."[/b]

[b]"Of course, I won't say anything," he replied.[/b]

This was beyond him and despite what he knew of the gods and the other worlds gleaned from his mother's madness he was no eager to pursue what magic would be powerful enough to turn entire villages into draugr or whatever they were. Vigi was on his own, save for perhaps the help of the Christian holy man, with his venture into the dark power that created the madness. 

When he spoke of feeling the wound in his vision and his belief he would be killed, Einnar clenched his jaw. If raiders had brought the curse back with them, perhaps they were among the survivors who had fled to Trelleborg. Someone desperate enough or perhaps someone driven mad by the horror outside the walls might lash out at the man who spoke with the gods. 

[b]"Death by a warrior is not too uncommon for often they are quicker with their blade than their mind,"[/b] he said, masking his worry. [b]"You will need protection if you really fear the truth of what you saw. I'll ask Loker to find you a place at the Hall and his men guard the doors. I can even keep an eye on you if you don't mind that it is sometimes bloodshot."[/b]

Einnar grinned a little, trying to lighten the heaviness of the atmosphere around them that Vigi's revelation had brought on. To cover his own fear and worry and to see if he could ease the trouble on that fair face. He blinked and coughed, spitting to the side and looking away into the woods toward the camp.

Despite the gravity of the conversation topic Vigi found himself smiling and let out a soft chuckle. [b]"Thank you but I'm cautious to accept such help, it could potentially be what leads to my death. One often meets their fate on the path they take to try to avoid it. I've heard enough legends to know this very well."[/b] He leaned his head back against the tree behind him and let out a heavy breath from his nose as he thought of his options.

[b]"Hmph, maybe it's best to die young. I won't have to worry about having no one to take care of me in my old age."[/b] He said with a slightly bitter chuckle because it was true.

The hunter tilted his head, [b]"Perhaps, as they say, you cannot undo what the Norns have spun, their threads are binding. But again, Odin is not always so clear with his messages. At least that is what I was told, only Loki is more of a trickster than he."[/b]

Einnar furrowed his brow at his last statement, [b]"If you want no wife, just buy a couple of slaves. One to do the heavy work and one to cook for you. You would treat them well enough, probably too good. I would not tell them you will free them when you die or risk them hurrying you along."[/b]

He gave Vigi a closed mouth smile, [b]"That's my plan anyway. No good woman would marry me because I have little to offer in terms of property and being the son of mad parents does not sweeten the pot. I haven't got time for some slattern who would keep company with other men while I am gone hunting and for me to waste time raising her bastards. No, I'll probably find a docile little slave to tend me when I'm older. Right now I can look out for myself, as always, since I do not know what will become of any of us who worked for the Jarl."[/b]

Einnar touched the broken spearhead tucked into his belt and glanced at Vigi, [b]"That's planning far ahead though, who knows if we will make it through the winter."[/b]

Vigi arched an eyebrow before snorting. [b]"Want no wife? Einnar my friend that is ALL I want. I dream and fantasize of having a wife that loves me and a house full of children to fuss over and raise. But look at me,"[/b] he held out his arms and motioned to himself. [b]"No father would allow this into his family, it'd be too shameful to marry his daughter off not only to someone that can't provide but that looks like a woman himself. And no woman would wish to marry for the same reasons."[/b] He shook his head slowly. [b]"You chose to be alone Einnar, I do not judge you for wanting to be...but I am not of the same sentiment."[/b]

The huntsman looked at him bemused, [b]"Surely you could seek out Freya's favor? If anyone could you could. Though to be fair, it would be hard to find a woman who would want a husband prettier than she is. But seidr do not often marry, whether male or female, and for good reason. My parents were never actually married you know. No one cared if my father tupped the witch in the woods and what became of their spawn. Most are too busy with their duties to provide for and raise a family."[/b]

He paused and stayed quiet for a moment, [b]"Though, that being said, you are unusal for a man of seidr. No matter what you look like."[/b]

Einnar sat up, [b]"You manage to make me into a chattering magpie."[/b]

Vigi chuckled, wringing his hands slightly because his vision was still weighing down heavily in him. However he gladly accepted the distraction their conversation offered. [b]"Now I'm strange even for other men if seird? Odin should be proud, I'm a proper outcast then."[/b] He said with another chuckle. [b]"You say that as though it's a bad thing though, to talk to others. Maybe if you spoke more with people you would not feel so inclined to drink. At least not do it alone in the depths if the forest. I will say though, you must be very skilled to get drunk here and yet still make your way back to the fort in one piece."[/b]

His eyelids lowered, his eyes taking a hooded look to them, [b]"My woodsman skills know no bounds. Most people don't want to talk, you are a stranger here so you do not know better."[/b]

Einnar pulled his cloak closer and leaned his forearms against his thighs, his gaze directed at the sleeping men near the fire. He had spoken far too much, Vigi was a stranger, he did not know his reputation or that of his family and he had managed to spill it out. He sighed to himself, once again thinking of how he should have gone out alone. It took only him shifting his leg to remind him of how deadly it would be if he did not have Vigi or the others to help him now that he was injured. The way back to the fort would be dangerous, the draugr would be around and now they had two wounded men.

Vigi blinked at the shift in Einnar's tone and frowned at himself. [b]"I'm sorry, I spoke too hastily."[/b] He apologized softly. [b]"I didn't mean to offend you."[/b] He wanted to kick himself for how he'd spoken. Was he that desperate for companionship he'd forget his manners?

Einnar waved him off, [b]"Takes a lot more to offend me, Vigi. Don't worry yourself. Now since you're up, did you want to take your shift watching?"[/b]

He shifted his leg stiffly and looked back at the fire and the sleeping men around it. His body ached for rest though he had gone longer without sleep before, it was not a rare occurance in his line of work.

Vigi didn't believe him, he could sense that the tone of the conversation was ruined. [b]"I'll take over watch."[/b] He agreed with a nod of his head, pushing himself up to his feet and offering his hand to help Einnar up. [b]"Will we be moving out at first light?"[/b] He asked.

Einnar nodded and took the man's hand, grunting at the effort to rise and he picked up his crutch. [b]"At first light, we're making for the fort. This hunt is over, I just want to get back, to get everyone back, to Trellborg's sturdy walls."[/b]

Vigi nodded in agreement, he looked forward to returning to the safety of the fort...But it would be with a heavy heart. The young Jarl was dead which meant that the position was open for the taking. 

[b]"When we return with the news...I don't know if we'll be any safer in the walls than we are outside."[/b] He muttered, not looking forward to playing witness to such volatile politics. [b]"I know nothing of Thegan Ragnar...but I imagine Harald's tactics will involve some amount of blood shed."[/b]

The huntsman raised his eyebrows and smiled with a tight lipped expression, not looking over at the fair young man, [b]"Men like those will always want blood for power to them is like mead to a drunk."[/b]