Thorfinn x reader, A Vinland saga romance

A smile

East Anglia
1014

* * *

The half-sword... not as small as a dagger, but not as big as a sword...
...
where did I get it from again?

I sat up from the bench.
   I was still covered in carpets and furs when I opened the big blocky door to check the weather.

Snow, all I could see was a thick layer of snow. The naked trees were dressed up in white, just like a bride. The river down the fjord was frozen through, just like in fairy tales.

'This is the coldest winter I've encountered so far.'

I went inside again and dressed up. I wanted to see if I could find any animals, that day, although I knew I most likely wouldn't get any.

I grabbed my bow, and put the arrow holder on my back as I walked out.
   '... mountain fox.....mink, or maybe rabbits? They're white-coated in the winter, so they're pretty hard to find though...
Deer maybe?

I started walking straight from the cabin to the other side of the mountain. Towards the main river.

'One day I'll row down here, I've had enough of this ridiculous mountain'

Hours went by, hours and hours.

I couldn't find anything at all, and now it started to get dark already... the days were so short in winter. And soon there would barely be any daylight left.

I was feeling disappointed, and walked slowly back to the cabin again while twisting my hair around my index finger. I would just have to survive a few days without proper food until I could get some...

Suddenly I noticed how the dark had already crept inside the trees, spreading at a rapid pace, making it a lot harder for me to see. But that was not a problem yet. I did know my way, so I continued the same route as earlier.

'Crack'

I heard a low growl from behind. Maybe ten meters away from me.....

...no way
It's a wolf!

Creeps went up to my back. The wolf bared its fangs.... and started shouting out loud:

Daisy! DAISY! Wake up! WAKE UP!

* * *

I woke up from the sound of someone grunting. It was Daisy. She was sleeping on a hay-ball but had rolled off of it. The cold, wooden floor was now her bed, and it didn't look good.

I walked up to her so that I could wake her up, it was almost morning too, so I figured we could get going soon anyway.

She was turning around and sweating a lot. I stretched out my hand and felt her forehead, but immediately pulled it away, she was burning up.

"Daisy! wake up!"
   She continued turning around, but also started mumbling:

"No, don't....hhhh....me... not yet. aaagh ha...." She started shivering and was breathing a lot heavier as if someone was trying to choke her.

'What if she actually can't breathe'

I impulsively started shaking her "Hey! DES! Wake up! Wake up!...."

She finally opened her eyes but didn't seem very good. Her fever was definitely much worse today.

It wasn't that weird she got it in the first place, as we had marched for a very long time in the snowstorm yesterday. We had no choice but to go since the rest of Askeladd's team were still days in front of us.
But the fact that she was even worse was a little concerning as she had slept through more than the whole night.

Suddenly she sat up and started coughing, she covered her mouth, as she coughed up slime. Suddenly she stood up and ran out the door.

'Huh?'

  I went after her in case something bad happened.

Daisy walked out in the deep snow, it reached above her knees. She bent down forwards and vomited.
   I was becoming really worried when blood came out of her mouth. A dark red colour stained the bright white snow, mingled with the drops of tears that ran from her eyes.

I tried calling for her, to make her come inside the barn again, but she didn't want to hear me.
    I then started walking out in the snow too, to force her inside. I didn't want her to die from the cold.

Suddenly, Daisy disappeared, she had passed out and fallen under the white surface.

"Ah, shit" I started running towards the place she had been and picked up her unconscious body. The snow had almost buried her already.
    As I carried her, I noticed her skin was paler than usual, and how the dark red blood was dripping from her mouth, it made her look..dead...

I checked her pulse just to make sure, and with relief, I could finally let go of my breath.

'She is still very much alive, but for how long? I've never handled a fever like this before, and we still have to walk in this extreme blizzard...'

Once we came inside again, I laid her down on the most comfortable hay block, it was carved into the shape of a soft chair.
   I covered her up in all the blankets we had, I couldn't have her die on me.
The only thing you could see, was some snowy white hair sticking out from under the shivering blankets. Even her hair looked paler than usual.

Daisy continued shivering and breathing irregularly, while I warmed some cloths over a torch to put on her forehead. I had already changed them multiple times during the day.
She was a little better already, and since the sun was finally getting up, we could probably move again soon!

* * *

I woke up, it felt like the millionth time, but everything still felt like a dream. Except it didn't.

The dream I had, wasn't just a dream, it was real, I had encountered a wolf before... I didn't think I'd ever been so scared in my whole life!
    But now I was somewhat back into reality, laying on hay in an abandoned barn.

So I had dreamt of my past?

   Beside me were some ropes that were knitted in weird shapes. Peculiar...
     I tried sitting up, but my arms failed when I leaned onto them, and I rolled right on my face.

I laid there in agony for a minute but sat up when I felt cold water on my cheeks.  Blood from my nose was running down on my lips and spread out on the floor. Although I knew blood should feel warm, It felt odd and cold compared to my warm head.

   'Or maybe I'm just really cold? It feels like both warmth and cold at the same time...'

"Daisy..." Thorfinn looked at me from above as he sat down to help me clean up the blood that had stained the wooden floor.

"I fell.." I felt too hazy to finish the sentence but it wasn't necessary anyway.

Thorfinn didn't say anything and I was too tired to start fighting about it, so I pressed down the urge to say any rude comments. I had after all caught sight of how much he cared for me earlier.

"Are you in any condition to walk?"
Thorfinn squatted beside me, looking rather tired.
'Had he been up all night? For me?'

"I'm fine to walk, let's continue soon... And thank you Thorfinn..."

I felt my face go warm. Not because it was embarrassing to thank him, but because....;

'He smiled....'

Authors notes:
  The flower daisy, also called Bellis, is associated with innocence, childhood, and purity in a number of folklore traditions. In Norse mythology, the daisy is tied to Frej, the goddess of fertility, motherhood, and childbirth. In Celtic traditions, the daisies grew for the spirits of children who died in birth. And in ancient Roman mythology, the nymph Belides turns herself into a daisy to preserve her innocence while she's pursued by Vertumnus, the God of the seasons
        - Excerpt from the book of Floriography by Jessica Roux