Dark Pools and Fleeting Eyes (Fintric)

Chapter One

It had been a long time since the group had been at real peace, they were happy. They decided to have a night of drinking. Sihtric was just going out for a piss break, fairly drunk, when a sharp hit to the back of the head knocked him unconscious.

The group obviously noticed his absence, but it wasn't unlike him to go with a woman for the night. Even when Finan's heart pounded for him, he chose to ignore it. They were drunk, before they knew it morning had come and Sihtric was still nowhere to be found. Finan's worry increased, so he asked Osferth. "Have ya seen Sihtric? Can't find the arse anywhere."

Osferth thought for a second but then came to a logical resolution, "He's probably just watching the gates, hidden away. He'll be fine Finan." It seemed like a perfectly normal thing for Sihtric, he did it quite often. So he didn't think much of it. Until the next morning, normally the man would be in his bed, but he wasn't. It had been a day and a half since anyone had seen Sihtric, Finan decided it was time for him to go to Uhtred and ask him to help look for him. It wasn't like Sihtric to not tell anyone where he was.

On the way to find Uhtred, Finan ran into Osferth. "Finan? What is it?" The young monk asked the question sarcastically but still had a tone of suspicion in his voice. Finan quickly told him how something seemed off, wrong, so they were going to find Uhtred. It took a little while but they ended up finding him in the food hall.

"Lord Uhtred, none of us have seen Sihtric in days. I believe something has happened to him. I think we should look for him." Finan tried to portray calmness but it seemed to seek out of his heart. He was terrified, he had lost people before but the thought of Sihtric. It was unbearable.

"He's a big boy, are you sure you have not seen him Finan? What about you Osferth?" Both of the men shook their heads, neither of which had seen him. Finan starting to get slightly agitated. "Alright then, calm down. We will look for him, where did we see him last?" The three discussed where and when they had seen the man.

Finan couldn't figure out why his heart hurt so much, he cared for his brother in arms but that was all he was, right? He pushed the thoughts out of his head and started his search. He looked in every back way and alley, each and every building. When he couldn't find Sihtric anywhere he started asking.

"Have you seen a Dane? He has a long braid down his head, he has dark eyes, wears a necklace with the hammer of Thor?" Each and every time he described the man to someone new, they said they hadn't seen him. And every time he got nothing, his heart broke just a little more. The day was almost over already and Uhtred declared they would search at first light. They would look at all the surrounding land.

Finan took a cup of ale and closed his eyes, he thought of Sihtric. How much he depended on him, how they would joke with each other and the baby monk. He thought of his necklace, the hammer of Thor. How it rested on his strong chest, he thought of his braids, his small beard and the dark coloring surrounding his eyes. His eyes, he thought if the dark pools. Finan then pictured Sihtric, where he could be. Where were those dark eyes? Was he hiding someplace? Or did he slip in the rain the other night, and get caught somewhere. Had someone taken him? Was he all alone dying? Was he dead? An image of Sihtric bloodied and bruised taken by men and tortured.

At that Finan opened his eyes, he looked into the nearly empty cup of ale and drank the rest of it. He put the cup onto the table just a little to hard. Osferth looked up at him, since when had Osferth been there? That's when he saw it, a braid down the back of a head. He stood up and nearly ran to the man, he grabbed his shoulder. The man turned and looked at him, at that moment Finan recognized the man was much larger, broader, there was no necklace on this man. He looked up at the man, the man he though was his Sihtric, and into the blue eyes of this man. The man who was not his Sih- who was not Sihtric.