I Want to be Kind [-Thorfinn X Reader-] [Vinland Saga]

Midnight Stroll

The men are rowdy, letting out hoots and hollers as they watch two men fist fighting. All of them drunk off a successful raid and the booze they stole. Though it would soon be daybreak they were still vigorously partying to their heart's content.

I make my way through the village towards the treeline, wanting to get a moment of peace from everything around me, the smell of burning wood and alcohol invading my senses. I step over a man passed out drunk on the ground, as I walk I receive several invitations from the men to join in on the festivities for once in my life. But I just simply turn them down and continue on my way.

I walk into the forest, I wander and wander until I can no longer hear the men celebrating. I wander till all I can hear is the song of the forest, the animal calls in the distance, a few hoots from an owl, the sounds of the wind rattling the leaves on the tree branches above my head. I take a deep breath, enjoying the smell of pinewood and earth, a nice contrast from the smell of musky men and dried blood in the village. I looked around where I had ended up and see a fallen tree. It was rotting from the inside out, but it would make a decent enough seat for me.

It was nice retreating to the forest when I felt overwhelmed by my feelings. I've done it for many years now. It was my personal little get away from the life of a viking. Out in the woods I was a nobody, not a chieftains daughter, not a murderer, not a viking.

I think back on the words Thorfinn had said to me and tried to wrap my head around his actions lately. I just couldn't understand Thorfinn, at times he seemed fine with me, the way he would tease at times. But then at others he treated me like I was the worst person on earth. Wait I take that back, second worst, the first would be my father. I let out a loud exaggerated sigh "The way he flip flops is maddening, why is he so confusing!" I say to myself. It never makes sense to me, his accusations, his hate filled words. When every sin I have committed within my life he has committed as well.

At that moment I realized I could no longer hear the sounds of the forest anymore. I looked around, wondering if there was a predator nearby. Perhaps a wolf, or even a bear wandered near me. As I'm looking around I hear a snap of a twig behind me causing me to jump and snap my head to where the sound had come from. "Hello?" I call out cautiously, slowly sitting up from where I sat. I could see nothing, though it was a bright night out due to the moon almost being full, I couldn't see any sign of a human or creature.

Cursing myself that I hadn't brought my bow and arrows, forgetting to grab them in my anger when I had left Thorfinn. I spot a stone on the ground beside the fallen tree and slowly move to pick it up, keeping my eyes trained on where the sound had originated. Hopefully I could use this as a weapon to fight off anything that tries to take me on. Hearing another crack more closely than the last I whipped my head to the side hoping to get a glimpse of the creature.

All of a sudden I felt someone barrel into my side, dragging my body down to the ground. I screamed out in surprise as I took my stone and slammed it against the side of my perpetrator. I hear a curse get yelled out in English as the stone makes contact with their side. But they do not give up their pursuit of subduing me. They grabbed my arm that had a hold of the stone as I had pulled it back for another hit. All I see is the large body of a man above me, heavily panting. Once he has my arms pinned down to the ground he calls out in English to another man out of my line of sight.

I'm trying not to panic, that would be the worst thing to do in this situation. I try to take deep breaths to calm myself down as I need to stay aware and look for an opening for me to take advantage of. From what I can pick up from the English words I know, they were men from the village we had just attacked earlier that night.

I assume they had seen me take part in the raid and probably wanted revenge for what I had done. I saw the other man come into view, he was large and looked to be in his late twenties. He had the body of a farmer, strong and tough from working in the fields. He held an axe in his hands as he walked forward. And he looked at me like I was on his death list. "You. Killed my wife" He said slowly in broken danish.

I felt my heart sink as I heard his words. "I..." I start to say 'I'm sorry' But abruptly shut myself up, I knew my apology would mean nothing to this man. I have killed many, what good would apologizing do me now if this was my end. I could say I'm sorry a million times to this man and it wouldn't be enough for him or for me. "You, say nothing?!" He accused as he took a step forward, gripping his axe harder. I look away from him, unable to try and make an excuse or apologize for what I had done. The man on top of me hurriedly tells the other man something I can't pick up.

Axe man says something back before talking in Danish again "You die, for my wife" he says holding up the axe higher, ready to bring it down on my head. A part of me considers letting the man let the axe fall upon my head without putting up a fight. Maybe in my next life I could be a farmer and escape this bloodshed. But a bigger part of me told me to fight as my body started to struggle harder against the man on top of me.

Then all of a sudden blood is splashed on top of my face catching me off guard. The man holding the axe has his throat slit open, choking on his own blood. Thorfinn stood behind him, his blood stained dagger in hand, my bow and arrows slung across his back. The man tries to fight back with the last bit of his strength as he tries to throw the axe back in an attempt to cut Thorfinn. But he simply moves out of the way of the axe and kicks the man in the side, causing him to fall over.

The man on top of me freaks out letting go of my hands as he tries to get away from Thorfinn. I grip my stone and lunge up, slamming the rock into the side of the man's head. He lets out a strangled cry, falling down to the ground holding onto his head. As I jump to my feet Thorfinn has already bent down and taken care of the man by slicing his throat open viciously.

I watch him as he slowly stands back up, taking deep breaths as if he was trying to calm himself down. He looks up to me and we stare into each other's eyes. It's almost as if I am entranced when I look at him, I can't bring myself to look away. We sat there for what felt like forever before he finally broke eye contact with me looking down at the bloodied men.
"I.. Thank you." I say to him quietly looking down at the blood soaked grass. Thorfinn just silently walks up to me, taking his sleeve and reaching out to gently wipe the blood off of my face.

"You know, you're a lot prettier to look at without blood on you" He says, the compliment not exactly very flattering as I was currently covered in blood, But i was still floored by his words as he continues to clean off the blood. "How did you know I was out here?" I asked him wondering how he had found me out in the middle of the woods. Thorfinn finishes up cleaning my face and pulls his arm back "I followed after you.. You left this by the way." He says, taking my bow and quiver and handing them over to me. "Thank you." I mutter taking them from him when he says. "I followed your tracks through the woods. But I guess I wasn't the only one trailing you." He says giving the dead bodies a glare.

"I would've deserved what they would have done to me." I say directing a look of pity at the man whose wife I had killed during the raid. "Don't say that!" Thorfinn snaps at me, catching me off guard and bringing my attention back to him. He also seemed to be surprised at his words as he took a second to compose himself and think about what he would say next. "I am.. Sorry for what I said earlier. I was pissed after seeing those men about to rape that woman. I took out my anger on you. I have always wondered if you could get your father to make them stop, but instead opted to ignore it when you always ran to the ships right after a raid" He admits awkwardly.

I shook my head "I have about as much power as you Thorfinn. I can't make them stop no matter what I do. I just get a few extra privileges such as a comfier bed, but my father would never listen to me if I asked him to get his men to stop doing certain things." I admit to him. He nods at my words, understanding that I was just the same as him, a child raised to kill. Though my father did love me in his own twisted way, he raised me as a child soldier, just as he had sort of raised Thorfinn as one as well. Only difference between us was that my father loved me and cared about what happened to me, he could give less of a fuck about Thorfinns safety.

"Let's head back." He tells me and I follow him as he leads the way back to the village. I looked back at the dead villagers and prayed that they would meet their loved ones in the next life soon enough.