We're all just broken pieces trying to fit somewhere [Open]

Despite her mother’s numerous warnings not to go anywhere near the wolf’s wood, Yrsa had still spent the better part of an afternoon there, taking her time as she wandered. The shield maiden liked to explore and continuously hoped to come across some wild animals. She’d been trying to catch a horse she’d spotted a few weeks ago, but any time she’d come close, it’d run off. She’d seen a doe with it’s fawn and hoped to get closer to them as well but again, they’d been spooked and hadn’t let her near. At least farm animals seemed to like her, she thought. The wood was the only place she felt she could do whatever she wanted without having to worry about what people would think. Her mother had made it abundantly clear that if she kept acting the way she did, everyone would think she was addled and ‘no man will want to marry you’. To which Yrsa had laughed until she cried, and left, heading immediately towards the tree line.

But she knew the sun would be setting soon and made her way back into the village, not wanting anyone to worry if she was gone for too long. Her father didn’t seem to worry too much with how she spent her time outside of training and Yrsa wished her mother would follow his lead. She was a grown woman, a shield maiden. Maybe she needed to think about getting a house of her own, she considered a moment, thinking that could solve a few of her problems.

She’d need to discuss the idea with her father, she decided, knowing he’d be more rational about the whole thing. Her mother had become a bit too attached to Yrsa since her brother, Garth, had moved to Kattegat years ago. It was more than a little annoying.

As soon as she reached the village, she waved and paused to say a quick ‘hello’ to anyone who smiled in her direction, not in any kind of hurry to get home. She was a very outgoing young woman, and knew just about everyone in Skagerrak in one way or another.

While greeting a pair of older women who appeared to be gossiping about everyone who walked past, she noticed a toddler in front of one of the houses nearby was throwing rocks at something. Upon closer inspection, she realized the child was throwing rocks at a pair of puppies. Without even pausing to excuse herself, Yrsa hurried over, scooping up the scared pups and turning to stare down the child. Sure, children didn’t know any better and all that nonsense, but as far as she was concerned, that child was lucky she had her hands full of puppies or she’d get a solid smack across her bum.

And with that, she looked around at everyone in the area, holding the puppies up for their inspection. “Are these yours?” She asked loudly, making sure everyone could hear her. “Do these puppies look familiar?” No one seemed to recognize them, which was good because if Yrsa found out someone had abandoned the poor things, she’d be mad enough to fight them. The sorry looking pair of mutts were clearly malnourished, had cuts and scrapes that couldn’t all be from the child throwing rocks at them, and stank something fierce. If they did belong to someone, they’d been sorely neglected. But she planned to fix that right away. Apparently she had two new puppies, and her mother was just going to have to deal with it.

“You’re going to need a bath before she’ll let you in the house,” Yrsa told the puppies absently, already trying to pick out names for the pair of them. She was so preoccupied looking at and talking to the animals in her arms instead of paying attention to where she was going, she walked straight into someone’s back.

“Sorry!” she apologized immediately without looking up to see who she’d walked into. And honestly, her apology was more for the puppies she’d accidentally squished a bit than whoever she’d just assaulted. As the person she'd walked into began to turn to face her, she apologized again quickly, hoping there'd be no hard feelings.