All hail the new kids [Haskell, Hakon & Sofie]

The fact that Sofie was leaving home to go to a whole new village still hadn't quite settled in her mind. That she was going to be leaving her sisters , and her mother to travel with three grown men to Kattegat was a somewhat scary thought. However the fact that she trusted the men she was traveling with, was enough to make it not as scary. Plus she would be very far away from Halfdan, and that thought was enough to have her feeling even better about the whole situation. Sofie had done her part in making sure her sisters were going to be alright while she was gone, and she even made the effort to go and say goodbye to Aleinn as well. Because she knew she was going to miss spending some much time with him like she had been doing, and so she wasn't rude and just left without saying anything at all. Maybe it was silly of her, but Aleinn didn't seem to mind, and so she was glad she did it. Making the decision in her mind that if she missed him horribly, she would tell him her feelings when she retuned home with the men.

The boat ride hadn't been too bad, Sofie had mostly kept to herself at first. The events of what happened still so strong in her mind. Besides, the weird way Halfdan had watched her as the boat made itself away from the docks had been enough to give her cold chills. She was still so worried that he would change his mind at any moment and she would be killed or hurt, but she also trusted Haskell. After their talk tighter the night she went to his house in the middle of the night, she felt a lot better about things. She trusted Haskell to keep her safe as he said he would. She would do everything he told her to do, and more, as long as Halfdan was kept far away because of it. She just prayed to the Gods that her sisters would be left alone while they were all gone. For he knew about them now, and he seemed interested in them. After a while the boys had been able to get her to open up more and not be so closed off. It had taken a little bit of pushing however, but she was glad they did it.

Sofie was kind of amazed when the boat docked in Kattegat. Sure things seemed to be similar, but she could already see that things were different as well. The clothes were a little different, jewelry looked different, just little details here and there that made her much more excited to be here then she had been before. She would have to ask Haskell to let her got to their markets, so she could buy things for her sisters and take them home with her. Plus she was going to have to look and listen around to see of how many Ivar's there were here. Or if Ylva really had become friends with the prince Ivar she had heard about. She needed to find him before she left, and have some words with him if she could. Hopefully he would know something about what happened to Ylva, seeings as she had spoken so fondly about him. Maybe if they were lucky, he was the crazy person who took her, and they would be able to find her and take her home with them too. Sofie doubted that they would be so lucky however.

Having no idea what was going to happen next she was glad when she heard Henrik speak “Where to first?” he had asked them, and Sofie turned her head toward Haskell. She as sure he had planed this all out before coming here, or at least she hoped he had done so. “Does anyone have anything in mind or should we just figure out where the nearest tavern is?” Henrik said next and Sofie decided to voice her option on the mater while she had a moment. "I don't care what we do really, but some food and a place to get clean sounds great to me....so if this the tavern, then great." she says to them all first before putting a smile on her face. "Then going shopping sounds lovely to me too, I can get my sisters some things, but that doesn't have to happen today I suppose." she says to the men who probably could care less before shrugging her shoulders. "So Haskell, whats the plan?!" she says last before looking away and looking around some more. She really wanted to go exploring, however she knew that they weren't going to let her out of their site that easily.No, she would be watched a lot she was sure. Something she already found very annoying, and it hadn't even started to happen yet.

Of course the tavern sounds like a great idea to Hakon, because what better place is there to meet the people of a village? Besides the blacksmith's shop, of course, and he plans on making his way there as soon as he can. But his belly is grumbling, so of course he isn't going to say no to the tavern. When Sofie says she wants to shop, Hakon outwardly rolls his eyes, but inwardly thinks maybe he'll go with her and pick out a gift for Freyja. Not that he's going to tell Sofie that, of course. "I'll accompany you, if you want to go to the marketplace." He knows, of course, that setting Sofie lose in Kattegat is a terrible idea. She's come along for her own safety, and he knows none of them are too keen on letting her be alone, not with all that's happened recently. He hopes at least Freyja can relax a little, knowing Sofie is safe with them and far from Halfdan's influence. Thinking of Freyja is like a short, sharp knife to the ribs. He misses her, more than he can admit to his present company. And quite frankly, more than he's willing to admit to himself right now.

Thinking of her makes the tavern sound better and better. He can't help but give Sofie a smug little smirk as Haskell says she has to go with him. He manages to behave like an adult and not stick his tongue out at her, but it's close. "Have fun, then." He turns to Henrik with a serious look on his face. "The tavern, then? Or the blacksmith first?" He's taking it for granted that Henrik will want to see the forge in Kattegat, although he realizes after he says it that he may be the only one who really cares about the smiths in Kattegat. He's curious about their technique, about the quality of their steel, and what other metals they work with. Hakon plans on learning what he can while he's here, and using it to improve his own craft. It's the first time he's left Skagen since opening his own forge, and he's curious about the blacksmiths in other cities.

Most people don't think about blacksmithing too much, but for Hakon, it's his destiny. He knows there's more to blacksmithing than simply swinging a hammer. There's a finesse to it, an art that an unpracticed eye simply cannot see. It's a beautiful craft, and noble, and when he's in his forge, it makes him feel closer to the gods. Like he's in control of his own life, like he's finally reached his destiny. Besides, right now, thinking of hammers and forges is easier than thinking of Freyja. He still doesn't know what he's going to do about that little problem. They'd pretended to be together to trick Sofie, and Hakon thinks maybe coming to Kattegat is best for both him and Freyja right now. Maybe this distance will make things return to normal by the time he gets back home. He hates feeling like he's destroyed their friendship somehow. It feels like his heart has been ripped out of his chest.