More Than A Dane

Old Friends and New Friends

Hello friends, I hope you are all well and safe and staying hydrated, because I sure as hell ain't lol. Updating will be weird, but I will attempt to update regularly. Enjoy!

Warning: sensitive/heavy use of wording

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Outside, there was a girl and a few boys running about with wooden swords and two teams. One team is led by the girl, her best friend, and another. Another group, led by another boy and three more, were "playing" a similar battle to the one currently going on between the three Northumbrian kingdoms and the Danes. 

The Dane army was led by Steele, and her men were Sven and another boy, the same age as Sven, maybe younger, named Ivan. The Saxon army was led by Aric, and his men were Arkyn, his brother, Brynjar, and Rune. 

"We're outnumbered!" Ivan cried out, watching the four boys approach. "Just stand your ground," Sven called back. He could easily take on two of the boys at once, he thought. But, while glancing at Steele, who looked unfazed by the odd numbers, he couldn't help but feel anxious about what the girl had up her sleeve. 

Soon, when Aric and his men were at a distance, Steele flashed a smile at them to throw them off, then yelled a quick "Run!" She turned around and started racing for the hill behind them, with Sven and Ivan on her heels. Unaware of the girls' plan, climbing up the hill, she looked at the two like she was signaling them to hide. Partially understanding her plan, Sven grabbed Ivan, confused, and ran to hide behind trees. While the other boys ran up the hill, they stopped to catch their breath before running toward it again, unaware of the trap ahead of them.  

As the four ran past the trio, Aric and Arkyn were ahead of Brynjar and Rune. Steele and Sven made eye contact, nodded, and lunged at the two in the back. For the unfortunate souls, Rune was tackled down by Steele, who pretended to stab her wooden sword through his heart as he yelled. Brynjar was about to turn around when he felt Sven place his wooden sword on his throat, pretending to cut it. Brynjar, being dramatic, threw himself onto the ground with a loud thud.

 During Sven's attack, Arkyn heard Runes yell and turned around to face Ivan, trying to attack him from behind. Of course, being twice the size of the poor boy, Arkyn was at an advantage. Meeting swords with Ivan, he managed to swipe him from under his feet, knock Ivan down, and "cut" off his head.

All that was left were Steele, Sven, Arkyn, and Aric. Aric soon noticed the absence of his fellow comrades and turned to see the commotion. First, he looked over to his brother, watching Sven charge at Arkyn and clash swords with one another. Then, glancing at the scene more, two of his men were already down, and Steele was getting off the ground, staring at Aric. He immediately knew what he had to do and stuck his head up and marched to the girl. We'll fight sword for sword, and I'll have your blood, Dane!" Aric warned the girl and charged at her with force. 

Grinning from ear to ear, she took it as a challenge and charged at Aric. After some swords clashing and a few pushes, Aric unarmed Steele, who was now defenseless. Trying to make a run for it, Aric tripped the girl before she could get any further and picked up her sword, tossing it aside away from the girl. Then, approaching the girl, he went to swing his sword at her when a tall figure stood over him, hooking their arms under his and pulling him up. 

Thrashing around in the figure's arms, Aric tried to free himself and look at his capture until he heard Steele's voice call out the name, "Ragnar!" The girl got up as the man laughed, "Hurry, Lady Steele, put an end to this Saxon." Then, grabbing her sword, she 'plunged' the wooden sword through his chest and called out, "The Danes win!"