All Fair in Love and War || Wintersday92 & Enjoytowrite ||

[wintersday92]

The early morning air was already warm on Kathrine's soft pale skin as she stood outside her wooden front door. She closed her olive green eyes enjoying the morning peace. With a gentle breeze moving her chestnut hair that flowed down to the curved of her perky breast, there wasn't much rustling of the trees and only the odd bird decided to share the songs. It was a rare moment which Kathrine always stopped to take in, for most of her day would be busy with little time to eat, much less time to enjoy the quite.

With a final deep breath she opened her eyes and took her morning stroll across the farming fields. Her choice of dress wasn't anything fancy but did help shape her rather curvy figure. A few of the village women where already hard at work and she made a note to make an extra berry pie to thank them for their hard work. With the invasion of the Vikings most of the men in the village had been sent to help fight against them, leaving her with worried women and scared children. Her own husband had died a few tears back from another kind of war, so she knew best how they felt and worries the hold close to them. It was something she would never wish upon anyone. No wife should have to feel the pain of loosing her husband in an unnatural way and no child should have to loose their father without growing up to know them. Still it had happened to her and the only thing that helped her through the worries and the later heartache was to keep busy.

Her stroll wasn't long, the bushes were the ripest berries where wasn't too far from the farm fields and rested on the outskirts of the woods. There was strawberries, blackberries and a few blueberries bushes for the taking. Normal she would bring her son Ben along with her but he looked so peaceful sleeping and it had come a rarity that he slept through the night after the passed of his father. Plus she enjoyed the peace and quite and her little 'me' time. Picking berry after berry she notice a little rusting in the behind the bushes. Her olive eye searched the area as she leaned a little closer, trying to find out what or who was making the noise. Suddenly some brown dashed out from between the bushes and leaped right in front of Katherine, causing her to cry out and dropping her basket of berries. Catching her breath and looking down she notice it was nothing more the a little squirrel searching for a nut.

"Oh you little shit..." She muttered under her breath as she glared down at it. It sniffed around her basket for a moment before dashing off up a nearby tree. Her eyes narrowed she watched as it hopped away feeling foolish that she let a little squirrel scare her so much. Her mind had a way of running off to the worst scenario. She had been told that the Vikings hadn't headed this way yet, but her mind always lingered on the word yet and that it could only be a matter of time. Her village was only small and they didn't have the man power to protect it from invaders. The stories of what the Viking did to small village was something like a Halloween story or something from nightmares.

When there came another rustling from the bushes and trees nearby she decided not to let her mind get the better of her, it was most probably another squirrel. "You know I should hunt you down and make a nice stew out of you all." She teased to bushes as she picked up her basket and continued to pick up at the berry bushes.

 

[Enjoytowrite]

The war raged on, and Peter was just another soldier in the fight. The vikings fought up close and personal to the englishmen, bows for the most skilled, axes for the most ruthless. The combination of them? Meant you were a leader of some kind. Peters bow was forged from the very tree his wife used to love, she would sit under it and read him and his children stories most sunny days.

And then the catholics attacked. They did not like the vikings gods, and if they wouldnt convert, would ravage their women and kill the rest. Peter watched as an enlishmen raped his wife, and then cut her head off. Peter converted for about two days, before he slaughtered the entire camp with two other men, burned their bodies, and then left to join the new war that began.

Peters taste for vengeance was quelled after the first few battles, the catholics had started this war but spun it to make the vikings look like savages and brutes, Peter had no interest in that.

His bow strung, he notches an arrow, and lets it sing through the air, not really aiming, sometimes he even aimed for nothing. This war meant nothing, they fought farmers, no one from the church actually fought, Peter is a few years into this war now, his beard thick on his face, his body rigged with muscles, sweat coating his skin and a manly scent flowing from his body.

His body was hardly ‘clothed’ which he was sure to add to the brute image, a leather belt with some cloth in the front to show his modesty. His axes strapped to either side of the belt, he had two axes and a bow. Yet he didnt want to be here.

As he daysdreams, autopilot shooting arrows into the air, he sighs gently. Then an arrow sings through the air right back at him, and pierces his shoulder. Hes shooken out of his dreaming and looks around, his men were retreating back to the boats, they were losing. He cries out as he groans, and heads the opposite way into the forest, his quiver bouncing on his back. The lack of clothing served the vikings well, they were more agile, able to have full movement of their limbs. Jumping over brushes, past trees, he ran for half a day it seemed.

When night comes he lays against a tree, cutting the arrow from his shoulder, and pulling it out of the wound. Using his bottle of salt water all the vikings carried, he pours it on the wound, cleaning it out. He rips the cloth from his leather, leaving his heavy meat exposed, and then wraps it around his shoulder and ties it tight. Finally, sleep comes to the exhausted viking.

When he wakes, it was due to a heavenly voice speaking around him. His eyes open as he slowly walks closer to the voice, his shoulder sore and flaring with pain, blood drenching the cloth. His eyes shift over the woman who looks exactly like his wife, and grins wide. He’s found heaven. “Sarah...” he says gently as he walks from behind the tree, unknowing he just found his wifes twin sister, his wife having left the englishmen to be with the vikings.

 

[wintersday92]

One by one Katherine continued to pick the berries, their sweet scent slowly filling the air around her. Her eyes only drifted to the area of the rusting once a figure could be seen from the corner of her eyes. Her eyes shoot up at the man, he was dirty, naked and bleeding from his arm. Even though it seemed he tried his best to tend to the wound, the blood had already soaked through. Who was this man? Was he a Viking or an Englishmen?

He had not clothing to indicate which he was. The last she heard of the Vikings they didn't exactly state they ran around naked but then surely if he was an Englishman of Knight he would of some kind of armer or more clothing. Unless her had been taken hostage?

As her eyes drifted taking him in, she held her basket tightly. She had a small knife hidden under her dress. Something her husband had always told her to do, incase she ever got into a tight situation. The only issue was when to best use it. If he was a Viking surely there would be more of them lurking in the woods? Maybe they sent him out to see what threats there where in her village. None obviously but she wasn't going to let him know that.

"Who are you?" Katherine called over to him, loud enough for him to hear but not the women working in the fields. The last thing she wanted was to cause a panic, especially if there was nothing to worry about. "Are you alone?" She asked, her eyes looking around before heading back over to him, taking him in once again. She couldn't guess his age with his beard, men always looked older with a beard but if she had to take a guess he was older then her. If this was under different circumstances she would be quite attracted to him, he was in amazing shape and his manhood was, well lets just say impressive, even in his state. Katherine cleared her throat and made eye contact with him.