The brightness in the dark [Sithric]

With a ruse he created Sithric was now on his way to Skaggerak. The man talked to Haskell a few nights before stating that a relative of him became sick and he needed to tend to their needs. An idea that he had tought off while talking to his brother, he just needed to get away from Skagen. He had been in the city for far to long now. The moment that Ylva here family was slaughtered and she herself was no where to be found made him even more certain to go. It was the young Maurr who told him that she was taken by boat to some place. So off course he had to go looking for Ylva, but he also needed to talk to someone in particular. Someone he had not seen for years. A thing he chose for himself. It wasn’t safe for him to go to different villages, not since Halfdan was acquiring more and more of his services. Big things where coming up, that was certain. So yesterday he had set sail under the watchful eye of Haskell. A few of the other villagers where a little suspicious but they didn’t make a fuss about it, they just attended there own business.

Waves slammed into the ship, Sithric had taken one of the smaller boats. Mainly because he didn’t want many people to come with him, for his own safety most of all. The ship still demanded at least five other persons with him excluded. It was a pretty harsh trip, they had been sailing straight for a little les then a day. The weather conditions weren’t soothing either. It was raining with strong wind slamming against the ship and the sails causing the ship to rock pretty hard. Not that this kind of weather freighted him, it was better than being stuck in an open ocean with no wind at all. But still these conditions took his toll on the crew, also on him. The man wasn’t feeling a hundred percent, but they had to stick through. They couldn’t just sit around an do nothing, that would probably mean their dead if they did so. Each and every person standing on the deck took his turn to either secure the sail or steering them in the right direction. The last time he had sailed towards Skaggerak it was under better circumstances, but this time it was more important. Some shouting made Sithric turn his head towards his men. “Land ahead!” One shouted clearly while punching another one against the shoulder. A grin appeared on his face. ‘Finally, I was almost worried.’ He scoffed. A few of the men laughed. As if he would ever lose direction? Maybe, if he was on the verge of dying but now? Not ever. As long as the journey had taken, they stood on solid earth again fast enough. The other guys immediately took off, while he stayed behind to secure his ship. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a shield maiden running up to the manor again. Probably to announce his arrival, no surprising today.

For a moment he had to adjust to the dark ground he was standing on. The toll of not travelling for such a long while. He scanned the village, something seemed off. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but Skaggerak seemed different. A frown appeared on his forehead, he needed to find Gunnvor right away. He knew he wasn’t looking to shabby since his hair was a total disaster from al the wind, and he certainly didn’t smell to great either. But he could not afford to lose more time. Sithric didn’t formerly introduce himself to the shield-maiden standing next to the doors, he just walked in like he was walking into his own home. For a few seconds he needed to adjust to the lightning inside, but the first thing he noticed was that Gunnvor was standing alone in the main hall. He walked up to her, and after he heard his name rolling over her lips he put his arms around her for a moment. ‘I missed you loads.’ The sound of his voice was nothing more than a whisper, you could definitely hear he was worn out from the trip. ‘You probably thought you had seen the last of me?’ He grinned while he let go of her and took a step back.