Line of Time

Cruel Seas

Over the many weeks that passed Tino and Gunnar had grown closer, they were now friends again just like they once had been when they were both children. They would laugh and talk about things during the time they spent together at home but when they were in public it had been made a rule to not do such things. After all Gunnar had bought Tino as a slave and it wasn't right for a slave and it's master to do things like laugh in public. Thralls were meant to fallow their masters and do what they were told and nothing else. Tino went on hunts and fishing trips, he fallowed Gunnar everywhere. But he also had to deal with Lukas and Mathias who had made it very clear that they wanted nothing to do with him from the beginning. Tino knew this and tried to stay out of their way but sometimes it was hard to do when he couldn't understand a single word they said, that caused a few fights, each time Tino lost and earned a new sore spot on his body and cut or bruise on his cheek. Gunnar would show concern when this happened and worry about him when they returned home but Tino always managed to fix his own wounds after he had learned where Gunnar kept the supplies for it. Tino never talked about when the other two men would hurt him. 

Buts as the months went on the cold harsh winter came and was worse than what it was when Tino had arrived. He had thought that the winter was already there when he arrived but he was wrong, he was very wrong. He had learned that the lake they had fished at so many times was always frozen because it was farther up North and at the base of a few snowy mountains. This was normal temperatures that he struggled with everyday.

When the winter raged with storms that blew snow and frozen winds in every which direction. Something happened to Tino, he had been waiting outside for Gunnar while he talked with Lukas and Mathias in private, they didn't live that far from each other but a heavy snow fell that day. The houses were nice and their structure was strong as they showed to hold up a snowy roof with ease. The design was simple, the house's shape was simple a triangular roof went down to the ground and a few windows here and there along with a great wooden door. They looked warm and could be cozy looking after a while. At the moment they looked uninviting to him. But he knew that the two women that lived their with their new Viking husbands would make them have a womanly touch and fix that appearance. Tino waited outside and tried to stay warm but he didn't end up waiting alone. Two women came out of the houses. Lukas's and Mathias's wives, the same two women that he considered his older sisters came to see him. They hadn't seen each other since the boat ride here and were more than overjoyed to see each other again. They all hugged and they kissed the top of their little brother's head. 

"Tino we missed you so much, you really had us worried." Hanna said as she squished his cheeks lovingly and he gave her a soft smile.

"We thought that you had died, we never saw you anywhere in the village." Astrid said as she pulled him into a suffocating hug, her being taller than him she squished him with her breasts. He hugged her back as best he could but she held his arms down clued to his sides. That was unfortunately when the three men walked outside. Mathias threw Tino into a snowbank and away from his wife, his mind going somewhere else than a friendly embrace from two who saw each other as siblings and nothing more. He stared him down with hate and distrust he was ready to reach for the weapon he always carried on his belt, a sword. But he then eyed his wife but he dropped it with a huff, seeing as she was not hurt or in any distress. Tino got out of the snow after a few failed attempts because of how deep it was. But when he did he gained some attention form Hanna because of how he acted. He was shaking far more than before and looked paler. He was frozen to the bone. His skin had earned a blue frosted color from the elements around him because he had been exposed for to long, it had been there before but now he felt it more. He couldn't even remember how long he had been waiting outside for Gunnar to come back outside. Gunnar noticed this as well and motioned for him to come closer to him, he did and his steps showed that his whole body was stiff, his muscles had turned to ice, snow from his fall stuck to his clothes and would melt causing him to freeze more later but at this time it showed no sign of melting anytime soon. He stood next to Gunnar and closed his eyes as the group of men talked again and he didn't move until he felt Gunnar pull him along. When they returned home Tino spent the rest of the night in front of the fire, at least the time he had when he and Gunnar weren't busy with a task of making sure that things would be ready for the next day and rest of the week. Gunnar had found him a new change of clothes that were dry and that would be better than the ones he wore before.