Ylgr ok Bjǫrn II

Posted on Fri Aug 26th, 2022 @ 10:39pm by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov
Edited on on Fri Aug 26th, 2022 @ 10:39pm

Mission: In-Between (S1:E3-S1:E4)
Location: Holodeck 2
Timeline: Mission Day 7 at 0145
2717 words - 5.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Andrei noticed the ruby on her circlet matched that on the ring he'd..acquired for her. As the scenes changed, he wasn't shocked in the slightest. He did view the turbid water with interest as the boat rocked with the roaring waves. The song of spoken word as the men rowed in unison filled his ears and he watched the movement of their arms in concert. He, for his part, remained in the center of the boat, saying nothing as he would hardly be heard over the chanting. Warriors into battle; things just weren't as they once were. Once, Terrans attacked each other this way. He looked at a group of other men dressed as berserkers rowing steadily. Several of them noticed his glance and nodded respectfully.

The roiling of the water began to even out into something more methodical, the sound of waves crashing on a shore could be heard up ahead, but there was just a wall of grey in front of them. They hit it, and Madeline immediately disappeared first from Andrei's view as did everything around him. Only the sound of the men rowing and the waves were around them now.

"Steðja." Madeline commanded and the oars were suddenly picked up. The fog also began to thin and just ahead they would be able to see the shoreline. Above on a cliff overlooking the sea, they could see the glowing orange light of fires floating in the air, undoubtedly affixed to some structure. The boat came up to the shore, skidding and banking itself on the sand as intended. The men and few women on the ship began to gather their weapons and shields, jumping off the boat and into the sand or water depending on where they were. Madeline shrugged off her cloak, leaving it on the boat so she could slide her spear to rest against her back. Picking up one of the black, red, and white shields, she hopped down onto the sand and began to walk up toward the steep, narrow natural path. She knew Andrei would either catch up or fall in line depending on his mood.

Andrei proceeded up the hill as well. At first he stayed with the ranks of Viking warriors but, after a while he became annoyed with feeling like one of the crowd. His familiar fire wasn’t gone, and he started pushing past some of the larger men toward the front of the pack.

“Hey, watch it!” A man said angrily.

He said nothing, but only smirked and caught up to Madeline, taking up position next to her. He heard more grumbling behind them and he turned to her with a grin on his face.

“They’re talking about us, I think.”

“Maybe, though I bet just you.” She smirked and briefly glanced up to him as he walked with her. The air was most definitely not as cold here, but a chill was still clinging to it and everything just felt slightly damp; even the rocks around them reflected the light. Before they hit the apex of the trail, Madeline signaled the men behind her to get down and touched Andrei’s shoulder to get him to do the same. Carefully, she peered over the ledge and to the medium-sized settlement they had come upon. “I think… we should just walk right in the front gate.”

He got down low as well, his ocular implant telescoping and focusing on several fighting age men talking just inside the gate.

"I don't think they know we're coming." he said in a low voice, though it wasn't needed. "We should charge in and take them in an all-out assault."

"Yes, yes we should." She replied and drew one of her swords, causing the rest of their men behind them to draw their own weapons. There was no asking him if he was ready, she simply climbed with ease over the ledge and pulled herself to her feet before running full tilt toward the open gate. Anyone who left their gates open like this deserved this fate. The others were behind her and could feel Andrei coming up on her side. She was not the fastest of runners and was built more for endurance, but could run at a fair clip.

Andrei kept paced with her, having removed his two axes and was dual-wielding them with a look of growing excitement on his face. The nearer they got, the greater was his feeling of anticipation until they were at the threshold of the gate. The first kill was his as he threw his axe and it buried in the head of one of the men who had been talking at the gate. He gave a cheer and the men behind him agreed, cheering as well. He collected his axe, now doused with blood, and was ready for a slaughter.

"Leave none alive!" Madeline's voice rose above the screams of their soon to be victims and the roars of her warriors. She didn't have to scream it, it came easily from her core and was almost startling in its intensity. It was the type of voice that could be heard by a crowd, and not one someone from Madeline's social status would have usually had. Her order caused a renewed cheer and ferocity among the men and the attack was on. She discarded her shield by the gates and pulled her second sword instead. "Close the gates." She growled to the two warriors who brought up the rear.

There would be no escape.

She launched herself after a group of people running scared, sinking her blades into one and pulling them back. Simulated blood sprayed her face, but it felt and smelled real. Gone was the head of another, and one blade found the heart of the third through his back. She moved with skill, but was not overly finessed in her movements. Still, it was getting the job done.

Andrei was more accustomed to sword than axe but he would make due. He advanced quickly with Maddie, but was sidetracked when a large man with a long beard exited his home with a sword in hand. The metal was unpolished and by his stance, Andrei could tell he barely had more training than a child would at this time. Nevertheless the man charged at him in defense of home, hearth, and wife. He swung his sword and Andrei quickly deflected it away, causing the man to turn his back to him. It was pitiful.

“Give up, your lands and your gold are ours!” He shouted with a smile. The man swung again defiantly, and Andrei knocked the sword out of his hand. In his hands, the axes were clunky things. He buried one of them in the man’s chest and left it there. He used another one to kill another man fleeing from him; he was a scary sight. Then he pulled out his sword. It was time to get serious. He charged forward, screeching with a group of other berserkers.

Madeline for her part continued to prey on those who were trying to flee, showing no remorse on her face from the slaughter. Yes, they were holograms, but it was entirely believable that her feelings would have been the same. As they approached the monastery proper, the main doors opened and from within spilled armed soldiers. A trap. "Wall!" Madeline called over the commotion again and instantly, the warriors collapsed into each other, raising their shields in time to stop the hail of arrows fired down at them, one of the holographic warriors having even saved Andrei from being pierced by several of the arrows.

Not having a shield was definitely a risk, so Andrei waited until the arrows stopped and shoved his sword between the armor of one of the soldiers, pulling his shield off his hands and using it to smash his skull. He then formed up with the rest of the men and huddled, planning to withstand the constant barrage of arrow fire. He was next to Maddie, so he called out to her.

“Fancy meeting you here.” He said, a genuine smile on his face. He was definitely having fun, his depression having melted away for a time.

"Do you come here often?" She returned with a wicked little grin, leaning her shoulder against him and looked for just a moment like she might lean in and kiss him, but her attention was taken by one of the soldiers speaking out to them from the steps.

"Surrender, heathens!" He demanded, "Or die!"

Madeline hilted her swords and instead reached behind her for the spear. The soldier began to speak, promising no harm would come if they stopped their attack and that they would be given all the riches their ship could hold. As he spoke, Maddie backed up out of the huddle slowly until she had an eye line on the soldier. Without any sort of back and forth, she launched the spear at the man, the tip piercing through his mouth and hitting him with such force it pinned him against the heavy door. The rest of the soldiers were distracted for just a moment, horror blooming on their faces from the casual brutality.

"Go!" She roared the command and the entire shieldwall up and began running as one up the steps.

“AHH!” Andrei screamed, his face a mask of rage and frenzy. He charged, leaning the line toward the soldiers who gave fearful looks and then braced themselves. He sped his sword toward one of them. When he attempted to block it, Andrei delivered a blow from his found shield to his face, drawing immediate blood. He then drove his sword deep into his belly and drew it out again, spinning to fight another. Blood wet his hands and was splattered on his cheeks, but he didn’t care.

A soldier’s blade collided with his shoulder, but the bear fur was thick enough that it had no effect. To match Maddie’s efforts, he sped his sword through the man’s mouth and out the other side, so that it pierced the man behind him as well.

Madeline quickly took the steps up to join the fray, now and then catching glimpses of what Andrei was doing but keeping most of her focus on her own fights. She did, however, pause when she saw him shove the sword through one man's mouth and into the face of another. She licked her lips, but then let out a cry of surprise and pain when she felt a sword slice over her upper back at her shoulders. The expression on her face turned from one of wicked glee to pure, hot rage for the briefest of instants as she whirled and beheaded her attacker with the sword she had been sharpening on the dock. As quickly as it had appeared, it was gone and now replaced by irritation and the obvious desire to make them all pay.

Hearing some commotion behind him, Andrei turned around and saw a woman with long brown hair hiding in the doorway, a man in front of her who was presumably her husband. He stepped toward them and the man inflated, holding his sword fast. He knew what he was doing.

“We come for death..and plunder.” Andrei said, looking to the woman and smiling.

“You will only find death for yourself!” The man exclaimed and the. Took several steps forward, raising his speed in the air.

Andrei grinned and tossed his shield down. He chuckled at first and shook his head, and then it turned into a laugh.

“I’m going to kill you, you funny little man.”

Then he leaped at the man with surprising speed, knocking him in the cheek before he moved back, blood rolling down his face. The man returned the sword blow, but Andrei blocked it with little effort. Once. Twice. Three times the man swung, and each time, Andrei calmly knocked the sword out of his way. Andrei returned blows Once, Twice, Three times but the man parried them as well. A dance ensued, where the men advanced and fought, a test of swords and men. He noticed a weakness in Andrei’s stand and explored it, sticking his blade two inches into his exposed chest. It drew blood, which ran down his torso, but did no serious damage. He barely reacted to the pain.

Andrei growled, anger coming over him, and he used his sword to knock the other man’s into the soil long enough for him to grab him by the hair and drive him back into the wall near his wife. Pulling him back, he drew his blade across his throat slowly and bushes his bleeding body onto the woman. When she began to screen and wail, he shook his head.

“Stay pretty for me. I come for plunder later.” He said, then turned and leaped back into the head of the fighting.

The screams of the woman were cut short by an axe flying into her face, splitting her head and causing her to fall. She had said none. She meant none. Madeline could feel the blood pooling on her back but didn't care as she pressed on. Soon, the warriors who had stood against them had all fallen and the only thing left was the monastery itself. "Go, finish." She waved a hand to the men and they immediately set upon the doors. She however did not enter, finding no real entertainment in killing their kind and perhaps it offended some great ancestor of hers that kept her from doing it. She didn't know.

Instead, she walked back down the steps to inspect the carnage they had wrought. Her dark eyes moved over the scene as she looked and listened for any stragglers.

Andrei walked up to her from behind, placing a hand near the place where she was cut before removing it again. He looked at the bodies laying about the courtyard and the pools of blood which had formed in the dirt and mud and sighed. His left eye told him it was all real, but his right eye told him they were holograms. It wasn’t ruined, but not as immersive as it once was.

“So, as Jarl, can you bed anyone you like?” He asked with a smirk, his bear fur billowing in the cool breeze.

Madeline chuckled at that and reached up to touch the circlet on her head. She didn't often play the part of jarl, but had decided to do so this time to make sure that Andrei's first foray into this program had been a pleasurable one. By the sound of his voice, it had been, and as she looked up to him she smirked. "Oh yes. I have my pick of the most fierce warriors." She noticed the injury on his chest and absently lifted her hand to touch the skin near it. It wasn't too bad.

"Sorry I killed your girlfriend." Her eyes danced up to his and she smiled so very sweetly. "But I did say everyone."

“You did it on purpose. You saw how much attention I was giving her.” He said, grinning and looking around the square, ignoring the dead. They were completely alone as all the others had gone inside the monastery. “Jealousy suits you very well. I’ve got a few girls back at the village that you might want to blindside next.”

Madeline’s so sweet smile shifted into that wicked little grin. She didn’t confirm or deny that she had done anything out of jealousy, but she could tell either way the thought made him feel good. “I might… or maybe I’ll have them dragged out to the square and make an example of them.” She stepped closer to Andrei then, their bodies almost touching but not quite.

Before any of them had a chance to speak again, they heard a crashing sound to their right. Andrei looked and saw that it was clearly coming from a nearby house. It was now silent and no motion could be seen. Andrei stepped toward the house a few steps.

“Sounds like we’ve got someone hiding from us.”

TBC