Green and pink, with a sprinkle of red blood.

The boy had never been a morning person. Still, the life of a Herra started pretty early. Even though he had thralls to help him out whenever he wanted them to, he took it upon himself to take care of his equipment. It was what a true viking would do. It was what his father would do. It was that thought that made him get up early enough to have time to get breakfast and do a quick inspection of his weapons and armor. He had to go to the forest at dawn, for some kind of hunt slash training. His mentor had not given much details about the job, just that he would be joined by a shieldmaiden-in-training. And that he had to train his leadership skills, along his hunting skills. Which probably meant he was in charge of the whole hunt today. It put him under some stress, especially because it felt like the success would depend on his judgement. Something he knew he would have to do later on, but also felt like he wasn’t quite ready for. Anyways, he better get going, as he was running late.

His mentor had said not to bring his horse, which was normal, yet he wished he could’ve brought one. He would travel so much faster.. Although he would only be slowed down to a human pace again because his companion would be on foot. As he was used to travelling by horse, he completely misjudged how long it would take him to get to the meet up point. The sun was already up when he finally arrived. It was no surprise the other person was already there. Well played, Freyr. ”Hi”, He greeted her with an apologetic smile. ”I’m sorry I’m late”, He excused himself. After that, he took his bow and attached the string to the groove, so it was nicely tensed up. ”You ready?” He then asked her. They might as well get right into it, as they were already behind schedule due to his mistake.

When he arrived, he apologised quickly for being late. She made very clear how she thought about it with an array of displayed emotions. "It's fine." She then said, now in a more neutral way. He didn’t really know what to think about it. Was it really fine? She didn’t seem fine seconds earlier, when she was rolling her eyes at him. But then he realised.. She was rolling her eyes at him. Giving him attitude. There were not a lot of people who dared to act like that around him. So either she didn’t give a fuck about who he was, or she simply didn’t know. For some reason that made him feel a bit euphoric. Ever since his father had become Earl, lots of people had changed the way they talked to him, or even avoided interaction at all. The bare minimum, so they wouldn’t insult him or anger him in any way. It wasn’t as if Freyr would go complain to Rigas, but people were more careful in general. No one would roll their eyes at him, until now. It caused him to smile, so he quickly turned his attention towards his bow, which he started preparing for the upcoming hunt.

"Do we... Do we have a strategy?" She suddenly asked, while he was testing the flexibility of his bow. He then held it loosely in his hand, after which he turned his eyes to her again. ”A strategy?” He echoed her, a bit confused. ”It’s just a simple hunt. Catch as many prey and take it back to the village”, He continued. Did she not hear the assignment yet? Did his mentor expect he would explain everything to her? ”I think we have the best chance to find some prey near water, so I suggest we walk towards the river and look for tracks”, Freyr then said. It was a good plan, he reckoned. It was something he had learned from his father, and Rigas was never wrong. This method had proven to be profitable, so they might as well run with that for a while. See where it would take them. This whole ‘being the leader’ thing was more fun than he had estimated.

To him, this ‘training’ was just a regular hunt. He had been on several hunts before, so it was not really much of a challenge. What could become a challenge, was having this frú to cooperate properly. She didn’t seem to like his comments, or his presence in general. After his answer, she shoved her quiver in his face. "Do you think these are enough?" She asked, and he blinked a bit surprised. "I'm sorry. I'm just... Nervous, that's all." She then excused herself. Freyr managed to put a little smile on his face. ”It’s alright. If you need more arrows, you can borrow some of mine”, He suggested, hoping it would take off the edge a little bit. Besides, he knew that a hunter usually only shot one arrow. If he missed, the prey would most likely escape. No need to shoot again. The more positive outcome would be if he killed or wounded the animal enough to finish it with a dagger. Again, no other arrow would be needed.

Right now, he figured out a plan that would most likely have a successful outcome. "Sounds good." She replied. "I really hope I can be of help." She then said with a broad smile. ”I’m sure you will”, He assured her. "Shall we go then?" She asked, and he nodded. He looked around for a bit, checking the environment. When he finally found a set of rocks and some trees to orientate himself, he started walking in the direction he assumed the river was in. When they were walking, he kept his eyes on the faint path they were following. ”One thing, if you can hear the river, assume the animals can hear us too. So try not to talk”, He said, offering a piece of advice. They walked on in silence for a bit, and the dense forest seemed to open up a bit. Less trees and not as much thick brush, which was nice. The tracks would be more easy to spot now, if there were any, that was.

It honestly didn’t really come to his mind that not everyone had the privilege of going out on hunts regularly. Not everyone had a father to show them how to. That somehow justified his reaction, but she didn’t seem to agree. He wondered if he had offended her in any way, or if she was just like this. A more sarcastic person. Maybe she acted like this all the time. He wouldn’t know, because he was quite sure they had never had any sort of interaction before. If his mentor had picked her out to test his patience, he had sure picked someone that would probably push him to that limit. Although he was a very patient and kind person, he too had his boundaries. He wouldn’t use his father to get what he wanted, but he sure knew other ways. He had seen his parents do it over and over again, and along the way he picked up some tricks. Rigas wouldn’t be Earl if he had asked the previous one nicely, would he?

But it seemed like a little bit of encouragement already gave her more confidence. He guided her through the woods, in the direction of the river. Or so he hoped. His map awareness wasn’t that bad, but with a forest like this no one could ever be sure. Getting lost was easy. Spending the night was dangerous by itself, and he wasn’t really sure he would want to do it together with this frú, to be brutally honest. Luckily he seemed to have taken the right decision. He could hear the river running just a bit ahead. He focused on his breathing for a bit, trying to make as little as possible noise. Freyr reached to his quiver, and took an arrow out of it. Just in case. He put it on the string.

The boy moved himself through the brush, as he tried to avoid stepping on branches. His eyes found some tracks, that seemed fairly fresh. He stopped for a second, so his hunting partner could catch up. With the tip of his arrow he pointed at the tracks. ”Deer”, He whispered very softly. If they could shoot a deer, that would be great. A deer was a big prey. They would probably have to shoot it, then finish it off with a knife or something. He knew an arrow would most likely only wound it. ”Aim for the shoulder or hip”, He instructed her, as he had leaned in a bit so he could keep his voice down.

Spotting the tracks was quite easy if you knew what to look for. By the way the grass was pushed down, he could see the animal wasn’t in a hurry. It was just pressed down straight, so the deer hadn’t been running. Which was good. The animal wasn’t sensing any danger. A nervous prey was usually a hard one to catch. If it didn’t suspect anything, it would maybe be easier to take down. He gave her some more instructions. If he wasn’t wrong, the river would be right through these brush. The redhead took initiative this time, making her way forwards. He followed her, a bit more to her left. To his satisfaction, the deer was right in front of them. He saw the girl getting closer, and he positioned himself next to a tree. In its shadow, he would be less visible. But the deer was still just sipping from the water. Not really paying attention. He pulled the arrow back, and almost simultaneously let it go. The whizzing sound triggered the deer, but it was too late. His arrow hit almost at the same time, in the same area as hers.

The deer fell down, screaming in pain and confusion. ”We did it!” She shouted, obviously excited. He felt the same rush. ”That was amazing! Did you see our arrows hit at almost the same time?” He grinned back. He then gestured at the deer. ”You finish it, you deserve it”, He said, offering her the honour of dealing the final blow. He walked over to the spot with her, where the animal was still trying to get away. The sooner she slaughtered it, it would be relieved of its pain. Freyr heard her slit its throat, but something else had sparked his interest. Or more so, his worry. Something.. Something was sneaking through the brush a few meters away from them. Before he could say anything, a mighty roar echoed through the woods. ”Run! Run!” He shouted, dropping his bow and tugging at her arm when he ran past her.

This whole plan had turned out better than expected. In the end, she had been nervous for no reason. She had shot her arrow perfectly. They were a good team. He could use his knowledge to track down prey and with her help a takedown was almost assured. It was different than going on a hunt with his father. But that was mostly because those trips were meant to teach him new things. Hunting a deer was a little more advanced than hunting a rabbit or a squirrel. But they had managed to catch it anyways, which was really an accomplishment. They were allowed to be proud of themselves. He also felt the familiar rush of adrenaline flowing through his veins. It was a special way to feel connected with her, knowing they had done this together, despite them not even knowing each other’s name.

In a generous moment, he allowed her to finish of the deer. She had earned it. Quickly the redhead walked over to their prey and slit the throat with her axe. It put an end to her suffering. Now it was just a matter of taking it home. But.. Something messed up their plans. A growl sounded from the brush, and even though he didn’t recognise the sound, he knew it meant trouble. Only big predators made noises like this. Wolf? Or lynx? He had no idea and he wasn’t planning on finding out any time soon. So he told her to run, grabbing her arm while he ran past her himself. They ran for quite a while, but he made sure not to lose her out of his sight. When he suspected the predator wasn’t following them anymore, he slowed down a bit.

”I think there was a wolf or a lynx hiding in the brush”, He explained, panting heavily but he managed to get out the words pretty clear. For a moment he went quiet, listening to the woods. ”Maybe it stopped to steal our prey”, He continued, but they couldn’t be sure. If it was a wolf, it probably had a pack too. ”We need to get back and tell the villagers to be careful”, He said. His loyalty was with his people, as he felt responsible for them. As the son of the earl, he was taught to care for them, so it was his duty to warn them for any danger.

When he was sure the predator wasn’t following them anymore, he dared to slow down. If the beast was still chasing them, it would probably make a whole lot of noise. It’s presence was known anyways, so it didn’t have to sneak around anymore. Then again, he had no idea how lynxes or wolves hunted. It was best if they just went back to the village and warn the people. They could send out a patrol to see if it was safe again. More experienced warriors to handle the threat. The both of them weren’t really equipped to deal with the problem either. ”Yes…" She said, while trying to catch her breath. ”Yes, we should go back.” She agreed. It would suck to show up empty handed, but at least they were making the right decision. He knew both his parents and their mentor would appreciate them being careful and putting the village first.

When he was about to walk back, the redhead said something that made him turn around again. ”Oh… My axe.” She said, and he spotted the empty holder at her belt. ”It’s alright, I lost my bow too. We can come back later to look for it, or have some Vikings pick it up”, He said, hoping she wouldn’t protest. He still felt like he was in charge here, and he wouldn’t let her go look for a stupid axe if her life could be on the line. It wasn’t worth it. ”Or I’ll get you a new one. It really is no problem. You shouldn’t risk your life for a weapon”, He continued, hoping to convince her. They had no time to argue now, they should be heading back instead of wasting time here.

Now they had a solid plan, he wanted to execute it as soon as possible. He didn’t trust the lynx one bit. The sooner they were out of these woods, the better. Especially now they both were unarmed. He still had his sword, but that was it. No bow, no axe. And they were on foot as well. She seemed a bit more worried about her weapon than he was. So he tried to convince her to just leave without it. There were many things he would risk his life for, but a weapon was not one of it. And he wouldn’t allow her to do it either. If he had to pick her up and basically carry her ass back to the village, then he would. Luckily she agreed without having to be threatened. It took some attempts, but eventually she followed him as he was getting back to the village. He recognised this part of the forest, as it was closest to the main road. Normally that would make him happy, but now it bothered him. The predator was way too close. He had never seen them this close to the village ever before. During the winter the cattle was kept in the stables, but he didn’t think that would stop a really hungry big cat if they really wanted to grab an easy snack.

After a short walk, they arrived at the main entrance. ”I’ll go look for the Hersir, you go find the Countess”, He suggested. He didn’t really think twice about the fact that she might be more comfortable if they switched it around. He interacted with Gunnvor on a daily basis, as she was his mother. He had no idea she could leave quite the impression on people that didn’t have the chance to get to know her outside her leadership role. ”We’ll meet again at the training fields afterwards”, He continued. Maybe they would send out a small group of vikings to go take a look. Then they could point them in the right direction.