Virago - Ivar The Boneless

Alone

Little Bear tried to find people, she even tried to find animals but came across nothing. 

She needed to focus but her mind was filled with thoughts of the worst kind. Taking deep breaths, she trudged on. The day slowly turned into night, but she couldn't bring herself to return back to the settlement. 

The blonde finally stopped on the side of a large mountain. Sitting on a boulder, she stared out over at the places she had just walked. She knew she had walked so far, travelled far from where she had started. 

Her life had not been easy but her life had not been too difficult when she thought about other's lives. Her mother had been loving for the first many years of her life, she had made a mistake in sending her daughter to Kattegat. The day her mother had murdered Aslaug, things changed for the blonde, she loved Aslaug no matter what, like her own mother. 

The moon and stars lit the sky as she stared out. 

The light shone down on the settlement in the distance, it was large but far away from where she was. Her eyes watched even though she could barely see anything. 

She wondered what was happening there. 

When Hvitserk returned did he tell him the truth? Did he mention how he threatened her? Or did he simply lie and say he lost her? Was Ivar worried about her? She had been avoiding him for a while, all she really wanted to do was get lost in his eyes. 

XOXOX

Little Bear awoke when the sun rose, she didn't even know she'd fallen asleep. 

Getting to her feet, she looked around. She could feel something was wrong. She was not one for regret too often but the feeling in her stomach made her question her decision not to return. The rays from the sun were barely warm making her shiver as she got to her feet. 

Her eyes cast over all the places she had been before, she wanted to return home, to Kattegat. She did not want to return to her mother, she wanted to return the familiarity of the place she had spent her teenage years. Time had changed many things, Aslaug and Sigurd were dead, gone and would never return until they met in Valhalla. Bjorn and Ubbe had headed away to travel, they wanted to find new places and do all the things their father wanted. 

Iona pulled to the darker side of Ragnar's fame, his battles, the way he killed people and took over different villages becoming the great man some people remembered. She wondered if it was the fame that might come with being that great or if something else pulled her that way. 

She wondered if Ragnar watched over his sons. Did he support the different paths they were taking? She wondered if he watched over her, she felt that she needed his guidance more than ever right now. Little Bear had questions, she needed answers yet she feared Ragnar was the only one who knew them. 

As she walked away from the spot she'd fallen asleep, she hoped did not know where she was going. If she returned to the settlement she would have to confront Ivar about everything but not going back would leave her alone. As much as she loved to be alone she knew now wasn't the right time for that. 

Her eyes landed on movement in the nearby trees, stopping in her tracks, she watched carefully. Crouching down, her eyes were quickly moving side to side as she stared. 

Passing by was a small group of men, some on horses, others that just walked. Keeping low to the ground, Iona was careful not to be spotted as she observed them. She did not recognize these people, she wondered where they might have been heading since they were heading in the opposite direction to where she had been. 

"Child," the voice was strange, the accent was different but as she turned her head she saw a man watching her. 

She looked up with wide eyes, her hands pushed her up from her knees so she could stand as she stayed silent. 

"You are a long way from home, are you not?" 

Looking at him, she knew he was not like herself. She was a warrior but this man, he was not. Her eyes darted to the necklace that hung around his neck, the cross that he bared was there for all to see. 

The man stepped closer to her but she took a step back cautiously as she tried to think. 

"I can help you," the man spoke in a kind voice. 

He was a priest, she kept her eyes on him the whole time. "I do not need your help," the young blonde finally spoke as she kept her head up. "Please leave me."

A smile crossed the lips of the man, his right hand clutched his cross as he looked at the young woman. "I cannot leave a young woman out here, you need protection."

"Leave her," a second voice spoke getting her attention. She looked up at the man who had interrupted them, "She's a heathen."

Iona's eyes narrowed as she looked at the new man, he looked like a warrior but something about him gave off a different vibe. "And you are a Christian," the words sounded more like a question but it was not. The way his voice sounded was different, he was not from anywhere Iona knew.

"We must help this child," the first man spoke in a clear voice as he turned to the taller man who did not look impressed with this situation. "She is clearly misguided in her ways."

Little Bear sighed as she reached into her cloak, her fingertips grazing over the knife in the inside of it. She needed to silence this situation, to get out of here. 

Pulling it out, she was quick to move towards the first man, her grip tight on the blade before the second man knocked it from her hands and her to the ground. Iona tried to lash out at him, her rage taking over but the man restrained her tightly against the floor. His hands held her wrists against the damp earth and his right knee was in her stomach keeping her against the ground. 

The man stared down at  the young woman, her eyes were wild and dark, he'd noticed when he had first laid eyes on her that she had blue eyes but now he could only see black. She reminded him of someone but he couldn't quite picture who it was.

"There must be some redemption for her, surely?" The first man spoke as he got the attention of the stronger man who held the blonde on the floor. "We should bring her, I can teach her the Christian way."

Little Bear shook her head as she smirked, "I will never be like you. Many people have tried to change me, all failing." 

"Only God can save you, child," the second man told her as he stared into her eyes. "It is not too late for you, Christ can save you. One day all the Pagans will find themselves slaughtered," he told her as the colour returned to her eyes. "Things can be different for you, if you try."