Forhåbning of Courage_Hetalia Nordics

A Strange Child...

(Lukas' Pov)

I was born a strange child. Everyone in my clan thought I was a gift from Valhalla; That Odin was the one that made my mother pregnant instead of my father. I know why everyone would think that, even I speculate if it's true or not, because I was still born. I was dead; and then I was alive, almost like the gods were looking out for me. No one really knew how I came back to life so they turned to the heavens and thanked him for sparing me. But it's strange still. I never get sick and whenever I get injured, the wound heals in an hour or two. Throughout my entire life thus far, strange things happens when my eyes turn a light sky blue.

I woke up with the warmth of first sunlight on my face, the bright red shining through my eyelids keeping me from going back to sleep. The smell of butter and cheese wakes me up completely from my trance, reminding me of what today is. As fast as I possibly could so I didn't waste any more of today, I quickly jump out of the blankets and off my bed and run to the chest across my small room to grab my shirt, pants, and the riding boots that my father gave me yesterday because they finally fit! I slip on the clothes in a rush, finally wrapping a belt around my waist to hold my extra large shirt close to my body and so it looked like it fit me more than it actually did. I make my way to the exit of my room, a wooden ladder that headed down into the large room of my house.

"There's my little babe." My mother said as she saw my reflection in the mirror she was looking in as she put the intricate braids into her long platinum hair. I walk up to her with a happy smile placed on my lips, my mother turning to the side so she could actually look at me. This was my favorite part of the morning, watching my mother braid traditional patterns in her hair that just accentuated her beauty even more. Sometimes when I ask or when it's a special occasion, she puts small braids in my hair as well, despite how short it was compared to hers. She pats her lap for me to sit, and I do, facing the mirror to see my deep blue eyes looking back at me.

"Mamma, Can I have braids in my hair today?" I ask softly since I just woke up, "just like yours?"

"Well maybe not just like mine, your hair is way too short for that my boy." she responded with a soft and caring laugh like her laugh normally was. "But aye, you can have braids today. It's not every day my child Lukas turns ten, is it?" I shake my head no as she began to brush my hair out carefully with the fancy brush that my father bought her before their marriage. Now it's all worn down and some bristles are missing, but it was still very beautiful. I watched in the mirror, she pulled half of my bangs back and began to braid in a simple style, since I'm still only a child. She finishes it off by weaving in a flower to keep the braids in place, since we don't have the means to buy the fancy hairpins with silver and rhinestones.

"There you go honey, now everyone will know that it's a special day today." she said as she pressed a kiss to the side of my head, "Now go eat something small for breakfast, your father is waiting for you in the stables." I nod and hop off of her lap and head across the room to the kitchen, grabbing myself a slice of bread and putting a small slice of cheese on it before grabbing my small bag full of the small wooden toys that my father carved for me from my last birthday, putting the bag on my belt as I eat the bread quickly.

"Bye!" I call out to my mom as I open the door to leave.

"Tell your father to bring you home before sundown" she called back to me as she started braiding her hair again, she's probably going to keep that hairstyle for a few days because of how hard she was working on it. I nod to her as I close the wooden door, the handle making a click as it closes. I quickly run down the main dirt road of town in the direction of the town horse stable, only the early light from the sun shining in the fog that hung in the air making the morning bright. I walk into the wooden stable to see my father standing at the end stall, strapping a worn down saddle and harness onto his brown horse.

"Father!" I yell out to him in excitement, running up to him and jumping into his arms. He jumps a bit, but he quickly catches me, letting his deep and boisterous laughter fill the stable as he picks me up from under the arms and spins me around high into the air.

"Come on lad! You can't sneak up on your old man like that!" He said in his continuous laughter, placing me at his hip as I hold on tightly with my arms around his neck.

"Aye! I can!" I disagree with a wide and teeth showing grin, "I just did!"

"Can't argue with that" he said with a grin as well. He puts me down as he walks over to his satchel that was laying up against the wall, "I have a surprise for ya'! A birthday present!" he said, kneeling down to grab something out of his bag, his back facing me.

"Oh Oh! What is it?" I said in full excitement, presents from father were always the best.

"Do you have no patience?" he said with a playful chuckle as he pulls something out and stands back up, turning to face me, a wooden sword in his hand with the handle facing me. "You are now a warrior! Sir Bondevik, the protector of Myrr!" he said in an proper way, acting to play along with the game he's created.

"Thank you king Bondevik!" I said with a bow as I laugh and play along, taking the wooden handle and picking up the sword. I wish that my father was actually a king, and I wish that I was actually a warrior, but then again, I was happy with what I had now.

"Will you teach me how to fight?" I asked as i looked up to my father with hopeful eyes.

"Woah there! I thought you wanted me to teach you horseback ridin' first!" He said as he walks back over to the horse to finish clasping on the saddle. I nod,

"I want you to teach me both!"

"Both I hear?" he said with a laugh, finishing the last clasp and turning to face me, "Are you sure? You just turned ten!"

"Ten is just a number, I can do all the stuff that you can!"

"Let me just teach you horseback for now, maybe later I can teach you how to swordfight." he said as he lifted me from under the arms again and placed me on the horse's back. I put my practice sword in my belt, the handguard keeping the sword from falling. My father puts his foot in the foothold of the saddle and swings his other leg over so he was sitting of the saddle behind me, holding onto the harness as well as his arms being around me to keep me from falling off.

I don't know how my father made it go, but soon we rode past the exit of town and following the direction of the path to the closest woods. With only a few moments of being on horseback, I knew that I loved it; the wind blowing in my face, making my hair that wasn't braided down go free. I close my eyes and smile, lifting my arms out like a bird. Soon, the horse slowly comes to a stop and I open my eyes in confusion, lowering my arms and looking around the forest to maybe see something that father stopped for, but when I didn't see anything I turned around to face him.

"Father, why did w-" I try to make out before father clamps his hand over my mouth.

"Shhhh... Lukas, I need you to stay quiet and still, ok?" he whispers to me, and that's when I notice that he was looking into the direction of the thick woods in concern. My eyes widen when I hear rustling and animalistic panting in the nearby bushes where father was looking. I nod quickly and father pulls his hand away from my mouth before slowly getting off the horse and grabbing his iron sword from its sheath, not moving his eyes away from the bushes. With his sword in front of him, he walks into the woods cautiously, one foot in front of the other.

Soon, the brush of the bushes hide him from me, and the silence around me just makes me more and more terrified for what could happen next.