𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬

985.

(Childhood)
It was the year 985 A.D and the world was still new and flourishing. It was the time where it was only man against the elements of the earth...and the Vikings had decided to conquer lands to claim their homes. However amongst them...were the werewolves. The seemingly evil creatures who had been around the earth for eons, living in the darkness as beasts...or so it seemed.

The woods were nearly always the colour golden yellow during the day, because this was when the huge ball of fire known as the sun would shine through the green and yellow leafs, it caused a golden light of sorts, which man used to see, and sneak for their pray however at this particular moment, it wasn't only being used for that.
At that point in time, the trees were being used as a spot to hide. And behind a huge oak tree, was a small frightened boy doing just that. Hiding.

His father had said that he would teach the boy to go hunting earlier that day, but the boy knew better than to act happy. Because whenever he went out hunting with his father, the Viking would scream violently at the boy, and shame him for not knowing what to do or doing it wrong. So the small child always thought that if he hid away just well enough, that he would not have to go hunting with anyone.

He stayed curled up in a ball behind the tree, with silent breaths and a racing heartbeat. The sound of the chirping starlings being his only company for that while.
The little blonde boy had learned to be ashamed of himself, because if his father called him trash, then surely he must've been. This ashamed expression only ever turned more into self hate by the days that passed him by. The boy hated who he was for not knowing how to hunt or fight and slowly he had started to loathe everything else about himself, including his appearance.

He had gotten so deep into his self loathing in fact, that he had not noticed the hazel green eyes who were looking at him from afar, and only did the sound of a twig snapping cause him to snap out of his trance and look up at who it was.

At first he assumed it was his mother or one of his brothers coming to get him and convince him to go back, but upon this figure not coming to him right away, he grew...suspicious, however of course he was a child and so he didn't think to get up and fight right away. The figure got closer, and the closer it got the more details it showed of its body.
It was small- no; she was small. Smaller than the boy, that was for sure. And she seemed shy at first.

The blue eyed boy could just barely make out the figure of a small girl's dark hair when she stopped in her tracks.

"Don't be scared...I'm not going to hurt you..." the boy called out as he sat upright.
His words seemed to ease the girl because soon enough she looked to her left then right before she walked up to him cautiously.

Her skin was light and slightly dirty, and her hair was a deep brown with flowers in it. But perhaps her most notable details were her big green eyes. They looked gentle and kind. They reminded the boy of the green springs they had each year; and the reminiscence of it all, made him surprisingly comfortable around her.

"Why do you look so sad?.." she asked him.

The boy studied her concerned face then her soft spoken voice. She couldn't be older then him! She must've been younger, and she mustn't have been from the village, because he had never seen her before. Even then he was rather stunned by her question.

"I uhhhm- well..well I don't want to do
so-something! Who...are you?"

"My name's Andrea.." the small girl; no. Andrea began to smile a little brighter since she found no threats with the boy. He didn't seem harmless so little by little, she got even closer.

"Nice to meet you, my name's Niklaus..." he replied gingerly as he stood from the ground to appear
-taller- to her. However tall or not, Andrea didn't much care, she had only seen as the boys frown had faded into a small smile towards her.

"Whatever it is...maybe you don't have to do it right now!" She finally spoke after the few seconds of unary silence between them, and Niklaus could tell that this little girl enjoyed conversation...however he was far too shy to start. Especially with strangers.

"....you aren't from around here are you?" The boy replied with another question. He was puzzled. What did she mean when she said perhaps he wouldn't have to do it then? If he told his father he did not want to do it then, he would have been beaten senselessly by the aggressive Viking.

"That would depend...I'm not...from your village but I was born here!"

"If you're not from the village, then where could you have been born?"

"My pack, silly!"

At that time, Niklaus obviously was not aware of the impact of werewolves in the area, and so when the little girl before him spoke the words 'pack' nothing dangerous came to his mind. In honesty, he thought she was referring to another word for village, and so he simply nodded in fascination, which caused the little Andrea to release a childish giggle.

It was a sound that the little Niklaus never knew he wanted to hear so badly. He had his sister and his mother, but besides them, he didn't have much contact with any other girls in his village.
They were always in their homes learning to cook and bead together clothes.

Why Andrea was there now, made him curious. However he liked her company so he wouldn't ever complain.

The two spoke at random for what seemed like hours of pleasure. Sharing tales of siblings.
Andrea had none, but she considered the other children in her pack as siblings; all the while Niklaus told her all about his five siblings. How they got on his nerves but how he loved them! Elijah would teach him to hunt, and he would protect Rebekah when the thunderstorms took hold of the skies.

The stories fascinated Andrea and soon enough she longed to know more and more about her new friend's lifestyle. However there came an interruption when Andrea heard someone coming close.

"I have to go..." she mumbled then got up with a hurry, keeping her smile anyways.

"Why..?"

"I don't want my parents worrying!" She softly said before she pat his head, which made him let out a goofy smile.

"I'll see you soon Klaus!" She smiled and began walking off.

"It's NIKlaus!"

"Well Klaus is your nickname!" Andrea giggled before she disappeared off into the woods. Leaving The small blonde boy lovestruck as Esther came to fetch him.