The Voyager and the Rogue

Chapter 24

The next couple of days following the tragic encounter with Eyarr's family, we stayed in the woods. He gave me space as I struggled to process everything that had gone down. I had been fearful of him, with a new understanding of what he was capable of, and a deep, primal instinct was terrified of that.

Any hope I'd had that his tension with his family could've been resolved peacefully was gone, and now I had to accept this side of him that he was keeping away.

I tried imagining things from his perspective, but it was difficult for me to fathom the kind of life he had to live just to survive. I'd been very fortunate to live a decently privileged life, even though I rarely ever thought of myself above my own people. That being said, I still knew I was, in a societal way.

I wanted to clear my head by making a visit to the beach, but the mere thought of revisiting the site where Eyarr murdered his father sent chills down my spine. I did not want to relive that horror.

Being near any body of water had always brought a source of comfort, especially growing up. Some of my earliest memories were of my parents wading in the water with me and playing with Ocean. But for the first time in my life, I could not bring myself to go near the beach. It was so confusing for me, and I didn't know how to overcome it.

The water will heal you. The voice in my head kept saying.

But the barrier between myself and the water was that beach. I was afraid of seeing the flashing image of blood staining the land.

I forced myself to leave the campsite in an attempt to overcome the crushing anxiety. I stopped on the edge where the forest met the beach, staring out into the small fjord, towering cliffs surrounding the land. My gaze landed on the opening between two cliffs that led out into the sea. It seemed so far away...

I was broken from my thoughts of Riptide gently nudging my back. His big yellow eyes watched me carefully, attempting to understand the conflicting emotions that I myself didn't understand.

"Oh Riptide..." I whined, sitting down, defeated. A rush of emotion overcame me, tears rolling down my cheeks uncontrollably. The want to face this new fear was palpable, but I just... couldn't. I didn't know what was holding me back.

As I wallowed in my own self-pity, Riptide kept gently pushing me towards the beach. He knew what I should do, but he just couldn't quite grasp my struggle. He warbled in a concerned tone, nudging my cheek with his nose.

"It's not that easy..." I attempted.

"What's not that easy?" Eyarr interrupted, startling me.

"Gods above, Eyarr. Don't sneak up like that!" I snapped.

"Sorry, sorry. Why're you sitting here?" I huffed quietly, crossing my arms.

"Something I'm trying to figure out myself."

"... Is there a way I can help?" I stared at him from my peripheral vision, my frustration building up again.

It was his fault I was afraid.

With an audible sigh, he took a spot next to me at a respectful distance, recognizing that I was not happy with him.

"Laeli." He turned to me, "Laeli, I need you to listen."

"What about?" Another sigh. He pushed his hair out of his face, his gaze shifted from the opening in the fjord to the partly cloudy sky above us.

"I... I know you're upset about what happened here... and I don't blame you for being upset. It wasn't my intention for you to get involved. That being said, there's something you need to understand about this world. I know you're already aware of how different it is from the one you were raised in. There's more that you haven't seen and that I hope you never have to. And... you need to be prepared for the violence that comes with the Viking way of life. New Berk may be different, but that's one island. There's still a whole archipelago out there, and the mainland and those places are nowhere near as peaceful as New Berk is."