To England!

The following days were filled with preparations for the raiding parties. The last boats needed to be built, especially since there were going to be even more warriors than expected. Supplies needed to be stored away, weapons needed to get crafted. Tjorvi had tried to help out wherever he could, starting to make a good impression with his fellow raiders. There were so many interesting people around - the shieldmaiden Gyda had been teasing him more than he would wish for, and he found out that the 'giant' was actually Halfdan. Known as the Mad Dog by most of the village. The three people that had been with him at the stables were known as his pups. Halfdan the Mad Dog and his pups. The pups were orphans. They lost their parents at a very young age, and they had been taken in by Halfdan himself. A huge man who didn't seem to care that much about others, so it was a huge surprise to see how he took care of the men. Raised them in his own image - to be ruthless warriors. Finally old enough to fight, they were going to come along on the raids as well. {if Respected by Halfdan =true}Luckily Tjorvi had managed to get on their good side, somewhat. Halfdan and his pups weren't too bad, just a bit rough around the edges. He quite liked that, actually..{endif} {if Hated by Halfdan =true}Unfortunately, Halfdan absolutely hated Tjorvi. Insulting him hadn't been the best choice, but there was nothing to do about it now. It may be best to ignore him as much as possible, but the young farmer wasn't going to let it get in the way!{endif} The young warrior had also been spending some time with Natasja. They had a lot to talk about since it had been such a long time, and it was just pleasant to be around someone like the cheerful blonde. {if MFM NATASJA =true}And well, Tjorvi couldn't forget about the wedding night... He would be lying to say he didn't want more, and the two of them found themselves shamelessly flirting when nobody was around. Even when Bjor was around, the Viking Princess wouldn't hold back as he didn't seem to mind at all. {endif}

The blacksmith of the village had been more than happy to craft him some gear, although it did cost quite some silver coins. Before long, Tjorvi was ready, and he was actually starting to look like a Viking. He was especially proud of his new weapon which was a major upgrade from the axe he used to cut down trees back on the farm. It was a true battle axe! Sharp as his blade, with a strong handle that - hopefully - wouldn't fail him in the middle of battle. It happened many times that a tree took out his weapon, especially if the wooden handle had been rotting a bit.

One Week After The Feast

Tjorvi had managed to get over the initial sickness. The langskips got separated in the storm, and the only thing left to do was keep the course in the same direction. They had to hope for the best, hope that the Gods would show mercy on them as water poured down from the sky and waves seemed to try to push over the ship! Inside, the Vikings were **** to hold on. None of them were scared to go, but this was an enemy they couldn't fight. It was stronger than the strongest of their warriors, and they couldn't do anything else but to trust in their own fate.

"You okay, boy?" One of the Vikings grinned down at the farmer who had ducked down for a moment, running the back of his hand over his eyes to get the water out of the way. That same man who had called out was standing up in the middle of the boat, just holding onto the mast as he stared into the distance. Tjorvi nodded as he pulled himself back up a bit, looking over at the water. Being swallowed in there would be a straight ticket to Hel. They had only taken off a day before when they already got into the eye of a heavy storm, and the crew feared that some of the ships wouldn't make it through. Tjorvi could only hope that Natasja and Bjor made it through, as they were by far the most important people for the Vikings...

Before he could think about anything else for too long, he would be able to feel another body bumping into his own. "Oops." A playful tap against his nose made him look up, staring right at the shieldmaiden. Gyda... She was gorgeous, but more so - she slid down to plant her ass right into Tjorvi's lap! "I'm going to need you to hold onto me, big man." She leaned down to whisper into his ear playfully, and so his strong arms wrapped around her body. Even for him, it was some kind of comfort as they waited out the storm.

Two Weeks After The Feast

Land!

The husky voice attempted to call out as he took a sip of the water, pointing in the direction straight ahead of them.

Anglo-Saxon land, to be exact!

The entire crew raised their heads. It had been a calm day so far. After the initial storm, the journey had been more than okay. Songs had been sung, echoing over the waters and drawing most of their ships back together by the time they arrived to England. It looked beautiful from afar - the sun was shining bright today, and it was clear that the Gods had blessed them with an arrival like this. It was so much different than their home. Norway was beautiful and rough. Rocks everywhere, and covered in snow a lot of the time. Cold, too. This place was beautiful as well but in a completely different way. There was so much green, and most of the warriors had already shrugged off their furs as the climate seemed to be completely different as well. "My father would love this place," Tjorvi mumbled to himself as he realized why people had tried to set up settlements here. This wasn't just a paradise for raiders, it was even more so for farmers!

Maybe one day...

One by one, the ships arrived at the shore. They were pulled further to ensure that none of them would drift away back into the horizon, and everyone seemed thrilled. However, as thrilled as they all were - it was clear that everyone was keeping their eyes open. These lands had already been visited by Norsemen like themselves. As far as he could remember, most of them had set on to further lands. Frankia, or beyond that! Either way, not a lot of them had been kind to the locals, and their arrival might've been noticed considering the number of ships they had. Tjorvi could tell why Bjor had decided to get on land right away here - there was a monastery nearby. These used to be easy targets. Full of Christians with no way of fighting back, but that might've been changing. Kings and Earls were starting to place more of their soldiers around these holy places, which only made them so much more interesting. Some of them might actually be a challenge, and clearly, Bjor wasn't going to wait too long to announce his arrival!

Tjorvi had never been in a serious fight before. Not in Norway, and definitely not in a foreign land like England. However, before he knew he found himself in a large group of Vikings storming for the monastery. Loud shouting would alert the monks inside, and Tjorvi could see some movement behind the windows. By the time they had arrived in the courtyard, loud bells were ringing. "Perfect! Let them know we're here!" Bjor laughed as he took the lead, but everything just seemed empty. There wasn't any movement around - apparently, the soldiers sent out to protect the holy places of Christianity hadn't arrived here yet. All of the Norsemen stayed somewhat cautious as they headed for the entrances, wanting to see if there would be anything worthwhile inside of the buildings.

Suddenly, one of the doors swung open. Tjorvi was standing very close to it, and he could jump back just in time to avoid getting sliced open. A heavier man - dressed in beige monk clothes - had come outside and was swinging around quite a large sword. He didn't seem very dangerous, and even less intimidating so Tjorvi could just hear the other Vikings grinning. With no hesitation, the monk lashed out once again but the warrior had easily interrupted it with his own axe. The monk must've heard stories about raids happening all over England, or maybe he had already experienced one so he started preparing. It was Tjorvi's first actual fight, and nobody else seemed to be getting involved. Some Norsemen were watching, cheering him on to slaughter the monk, others had decided to just take a look inside so they could get out of there as fast as possible...

Finally, Tjorvi managed to shatter the sword out of the monk's hands. It would slam against the wall of the monastery as the eyes of that monk filled with fear for a second...