Virago - Ivar The Boneless

New Faces

Little Bear didn't recognise a single thing, nothing in her surroundings looked familiar. She sat and watched from afar as camp was set up near the water, her eyes taking it all in. The lands were so beautiful, everything was stunning, it was like she was opening her eyes for the very first time and taking it all in, like she was eternally grateful for what she could see. 

She could see Hvitserk approaching her, he smiled as he made eye contact with her. She stared at him, her eyes wandered over his figure, taking in every inch of him. She tilted her head to the side, a small smile on her lips as she held his furs close to her body. "You must be hungry," he said to her when he got closer before sitting beside her on the large rock. 

Turning her head, she looked at him, "Now we are here. What are we going to do?" Hvitserk didn't think he would need to explain anything to the young woman, she'd blindly followed him here but he'd not directly told him anything. "How am I going to be of any assistance?"

He wrapped an arm around her, dragging her close to his side. "You don't need to do anything. You may stay back at the camp and wait. I want you to feel and be safe." He planted a kiss on her temple as he stared out into the distance. There was only a small amount of time that he might keep her by his side, he hoped that she'd always remain in his life but given the events about to take place, if she became blind to Ivar, she might leave his life forever. 

- 

The evening began to fall, Little Bear found herself in a tent with Hvitserk, sitting in a chair, she lightly slept as Hvitserk sat at a table eating. Her ears pricked up at the sound of the canvas of their tent being moved, her eyes remained closed as she listened to the sounds in the room with her. 

"Hello Hvitserk," a voice spoke as a breeze passed through the tent. 

"Bjorn," she heard Hvitserk reply. 

A second passed before she heard the other man speak again. "Iona? How?"

There was a couple of sounds, like something dropping on the table before Hvitserk's voice spoke again, it was gravelly sounding as he spoke this time, "It is better that we speak of it another time." Little Bear knew Hvitserk would do anything, say anything to protect her. 

"Very well. Where are you going with such a large army?" The other man spoke, Iona had realised his name was Bjorn as per what Hvitserk had called him. She wondered how he knew her, what he looked like. "To support Ivar I suppose?"

There was a scraping sound on the floor before Hvitserk replied, "On the contary. To attack him. To attack Kattegat with King Olaf and you, I suppose." Maybe he'd not realised she was truly not asleep, maybe he was passed caring about what she had to say on the matter, after all, Little Bear could not remember Ivar, therefore he meant nothing at this moment in time. 

A few seconds passed, when she heard a yelling sound, her eyes opened. A large man, tall and imposing was making the sound before pulling Hvitserk into a hug exclaiming, "This is one of the happiest days of my life!" Her eyes watched him as the two men spoke, he had something about him, an aura in which she could not describe. Then his eyes landed back on her as he pulled away from Hvitserk, "Sister."

The young blonde moved her face fully, her eyes widening and the shock evident on Bjorn's face when he saw the damaged side of her face. She kept quiet, almost unsure what to say as she could not place him. 

"Bjorn," Hvitserk spoke as he stepped to the side. "Your sister, she-"

"Tell me, did he do this?" Bjorn's voice boomed as he looked at Hvitserk.