Fire And Ice (Rœkia)

[skadi]

It was nice to be home, in any sense. For the past few weeks, she had been walking through old cemeteries, searching the runes for the names of her loved ones. She had found some and paid her respects to them, bidding her family farewell. The third cemetery she searched was where she found the tombstones of her father and her brothers. For the first time in years, this finally forced her to cry, collapsing into a ball and sobbing right there in the cemetery. Had she not been the only one there, she would have been embarrassed, but it was a safe place.

She remembered this place all too well. The countryside empty, she changed from her ‘modern’ clothes back into her pelts. There was a volcano around here. She needed adventure. She was going to climb it. As she climbed, it began to get warmer, but her powers activated on their own, sending a gentle drift of snow down the side of the mountain. As she climbed she thought of all of her family and friends who had clearly passed on by now, leaving her alone. Suddenly, Rœkia entered her mind and a smile fell upon her lips. She remembered her friend well, having spoken to him about how imbecilic some of their ‘family’ could be. Most would call them merely a clan, but they were different. They were brothers in arms. He was the last person she had spoken to before falling into the ice.

As she neared the top of the volcano, random bits of lava began showing up and rather than stepping around them, she froze them solid, enjoying her new talent more and move. When finally she reached the top, the entire volcano was dusted in snow, which still fell lightly, mingling with the ash in the air. The volcano had recently errupted. Of this, she had no doubts. She found a place near the edge, but not too close, where she could watch the lava rolling within the mountain’s belly.

Suddenly, she heard something that could have only been footsteps. Her eyes narrowed and she took up her axe and sheild before ducking under the rock she had been sitting on. Someone couldn't have followed her up. If she was a master of anything, it was stealth. It was nearly impossible to sneak up on her. Alvor continued to crouch behind the boulder in wait, wondering who else was here.

[ozzy]

Sleep was lonely. Well, after such a long period of time, it really wasn't considered sleep anymore. Your body shuts down into blackness. And then there is nothing. Until just about an hour ago. Rœkia's eyes had snapped open as he was lifted out from the crater. Immediate confusion and disorientation fall over him as he floated in the air, molten liquid surrounding him. He'd been propelled forward after a short time and in the end, been laying on the hot earth.

Once he'd gotten to standing, more confusion. Where was he? The similarities were definitely there, but everything was overgrown. When had all of these trees appeared? How was he even still alive after being thrown into the volcano. He was still wearing his battle gametes, an Axe hanging at his side and a shield strapped to his back. After exploring for some time, he'd come across tomb stones. What the devil?! Names of his family and the family of others like him. He'd staggered back to the volcano, ready to end his life. And then, something remarkable. The lava floated up of of the earth and circled around him.

Cracks spidered across the ground and the temperature rose. More lava? He swung his Axe outward, mentally screaming for all of this to stop. And it did. The lava dropped. Rœkia let out a roar of blind fury, severing the trunk of a tree in one powerful swipe of his Axe. There was a crash and... something else? Foot steps? He dove behind another tree. The stiffness in his bones lessened. What? Snow? The smallest flake sent a shiver through his bones. His heavy breathing quieted as he saw a figure dive behind a rock.

"In the name of Oden!" he called. Rœkia leaped forward with his Axe. He turned the rock into rubble, trying to get a good look at who he was going to kill. He raised the Axe so that is blocked the sunlight behind him. The molten liquid rose up and circled around the head of the Axe as he prepared to send it into this persons skull.

[skadi]

Luckily, her entire figure was concealed by her shield, one advantage to being small by a warrior’s standards. She was about to draw her own axe until she realized something bizarre. She knew this voice. But...that was impossible. Cautiously, Alvör poked her head out from behind her shield, only to see that her outrageous idea had actually been what was true.

“Rœkia?” she asked dubiously, slowly lowering her shield and narrowing her eyes to get a better look at him. She imagined he wouldn’t be very expectant of the surprise. After all, she was supposed to have been dead. As was he. “Is that really you?”

Part of her wished to run up to him and embrace him, but another part, the warrior inside her, warned her to be careful. After all, things were not always as they seemed. It was impossible. Then again, was it? She was here, after all. And why was he by the volcano?

[ozzy]

Rœkia picked up the Axe by its head. He was so confident in his knowledge of the weapon that he didn't it cutting him. In a flash the Axe was back at his belt. His features seemed to soften, but his muscles stayed tense. He never let his guard down, for anyone. It had to be Alvör. Her shield even had her families crest on it.

Seeming to have a mind of its own, the Lava near him raced to melt the ice. Though, somewhere in his mind, he knew that this strane power was his to control. "Alvör, where am I?" his voice was deep and somewhat demanding. That was just a sign of respect, though. When vikings spoke to each other, brutality meant familiar ism and affection. Or hate and anger. But he couldn't hate Alvör.

[skadi]

This was normally not something Alvör would do, but before she even considered answering Rœkia’s question, she dropped her shield and closed the distance between them so suddenly it was a surprise to even her. In an instant, her arms were tightly around his neck in an embrace. She had believed herself to be alone in the world now. As it turned out, she wasn’t. She had missed Rœkia more than she was willing to admit aloud. His skin was hot against her icy skin. It was oddly comforting.

When she realized what she had done, she quickly pulled herself away from him and answered his question. He must have thought her to be mad, but that didn’t stop her from answering the question. “We’re home. We’re just too late.” The words were harsh, more to her than they were as they drifted from her mouth. She hated being reminded of just how much she had lost. But now it seemed she had gained something, if he was willing to stay with her.

[ozzy]

Rœkia heard the clammer of the shield on the earths surface. He tensed, hand griping his dagger. As he moved to unsheathe it her arms wrapped around him. And for a moment, his iron strong grip wrapped around her in a slightly awkward, but pleasent way. This new world had softened her, had it? There was no way he would ever say that out loud. Alvör would surely kill him, no matter how soft she may have gotten.

When she pulled away, it was a mix of relief and regret. From what he remembered of that day, the clearest image had been her. Before he was taken hostage, he beheaded the man who through Alvör into that ice burg. He had little time to say a short prayer before he was attacked and taken to what he had thought would be his final resting place.

Rœkia instantly wished he hadn't asked the question he had. Though he had many, many questions in his mind of one thing he was sure. They were all dead. Not just the two clans, but everyone. The entire Viking race was now extinct. Except, of course, these two. Alvör and Rœkia. A deep pit of too many emotions he'd never felt before settled into his heart.

He could imagine what she was thinking. "Oden must have brought us together for a reason. We can not separate now." he said, his voice clear and direct. He was completely sure of his decision.

[skadi]

She smiled at his words. It had been a rare sight back when she used to pillage with her father and everyone else, and an even rarer one now. “I was hoping you would say that.”

Alvör bit her bottom lip and looked down, unsure of how she could tell him that she was…different. Finally, she decided to just say it. “Rœkia. I’m not like I used to be. I’ve changed, somehow.” she looked down, slightly ashamed. Ordinarily, she was much blunter than now, but she was extremely vulnerable lately. She wasn’t fond of the feeling.

Suddenly, her brow furrowed in confusion, she knew how she was here but…”How’re you here?” she asked suddenly.

[ozzy]

Rœkia looked down at her. She was...different? "How are yo-" he'd started to say, but then a question was asked that stopped him in his tracks. How had he gotten here. One moment he was pushed into the volcano, expecting death. And then, what?

"They pushed me into the volcano. Must've thought it'd be funny." he said, surprising even himself at the sharp bluntness in his voice. "And then, nothing. But now, I just woke up. The volcano erupted and..." he hesitated. Hesitation was not something you would ever see him do. He just didn't know how she would react. "I seemed to, control the liquid fire." he finished.

For the first time since his awakening, he noticed something. Rœkia was extremely hot to the touch. His chore seemed to b made of molten lava itself. Strange indeed.

[skadi]

Her eyes went wide. That sounded exactly like what had happened to her, only she was shoved into icy water, not lava. She rubbed her forefingers against her palm, and then suddenly got an idea.

“I know you don’t like me touching you, but please bear with me for a moment.”

She closed the distance between them again and put a calloused hand upon his face, astounded at how hot it felt. She smiled again and resisted the urge to kiss him with glee. Alvör giggled, something that rarely happened. It was one of those things that reminded others that while she was lethal, she was still a woman. In fact, Rœkia was the only one who had ever made her laugh before. She had alway been fairly comfortable with him and with time, a fondness began to form for him. The type of a fondness that Viking's generally didn't share. Upon thinking he was dead, she regretted not having shared it. But now that she knew he was alive, she was frightened of what the outcome might have been if she had opened her heart to him. Not only would she lose the only other Viking in the world, but she would lose her friend. Again.

“It’s not just me.” she whispered happily. “The same thing happened with me as well…only with the ice.”

She took her hand from his face and caught a snowflake. The flake expanded until it was a clear and glorious ice ball. It was normal to her touch, but in all actuality, it was beyond freezing. She glanced up at him and caught his eyes with her own, holding them, realizing how close they were, but reluctant to pull away. Nervously, she swallowed a lump in her throat, but stil found her feet bound to the earth beneath them.

[ozzy]

It was odd, how willing this lava was to serve, Rœkia thought. He'd only had this ability for mere hours. He figured that at some point, he would have to test the limits.

"And why is it that I would not want you to touch me?" he said in a voice just above a whisper. It sent chills down his own spine. He'd never spoken to anyone like that before. A gentle fierceness and something else that he couldn't quite put a name to. When her hand was to his face, it was sort of indescribable. Again, he didn't really know what to call his time in the volcano. Maybe he had dreamed, just not remembered it? It felt like only yesterday that he was sailing on a ship, preparing for battle with Alvör by his side. What was this sudden flare of emotions? Thinking she were dead for an hour felt like a Milena. How could she survive longer then that... alone? He felt a pang of emptiness as her hand left.

His own eyes widened slightly at the ice. He looked to the side of him, spotting a boulder. A sudden idea struck him as well. With a small amount of concentration, the rock seemed to melt into the same lava that resided in the volcano. Rœkia looked back at Alvör, holding his hand outward. The hot liquid seemed to leap for his hand and form into it's own ball.

Vikings could be extremely blunt. And he new nothing of suddleness. So almost reflexively he moved forward. The lava dispersed. He closed the gap further as his lips brushed against hers. That same indescribable feeling returned, multiplied by millions. Once he realized what he'd done he took a small step back. The look in his eyes seemed almost, apologetic? He'd never apologized to anyone before.

[skadi]

A lump formed in her throat with his whisper and she swallowed it quickly. “You just seemed uncomfortable.” she explained, her voice much more feminine then it had ever. She realized this and her face wrinkled in distaste. “Oh, Thor.” she said aloud, “I sound like a woman.” The way she stated it made it seem like the worst thing that could have possibly happened to her.

Alvör smiled upon seeing what he had done with the lava and beckoned another snowflake to land upon his sphere of fire. Rather than melting, the ice in the snow expanded and froze the entire ball. In order to further confuse him, she ordered the ice in her hand to melt and spared across her arm, then over her body, until she was completely coated in ice. She didn’t keep the veil of ice on for long though. She ordered it off of her and away it went, sailing off her body before collapsing onto the ground.

At first, Alvör was unsure of what had happened. Did Rœkia just kiss her? He had. In a daze, she stared up at him, noting the apologetic look in his eye. That was utterly bizarre. Of all the things he was, Rœkia was not apologetic. No Viking ever was. Before he could begin to feel too uncomfortable, she wrapped her arms around his neck again and returned the kiss fiercely. After all, being subtle was something that Vikings didn’t do quite well.

[ozzy]

Another look of confusion crossed his face. How had she done that?! It was hard to understand these new found abilities. That wasn't really wasn't what was on his mind though.

For that short moment, something inside him lurched. He was about to speak and then they were kissing again. His hands found the small of her back. He lifted her of the ground. Rœkia kissed back with passionate forcefulness. It seemed as if one or both of them would shatter into a million pieces. Being the fighters that they were, these exchanges were like a battle. A fierce, yet wonderful battle. team literally seemed to rise between the both of them. Probably the result of their inter-mingling power. Small intervals formed between the kisses. He seemed to raise her higher of the ground as the actions proceeded.

[skadi]

Beneath her feet, frost began to form, spreading up her boots and onto her legs and a massive amount of snow began to drift down, sugaring her hair and what was exposed of her body. Often times, her powers would do things on their own, but at the moment, this wasn’t her biggest concern.

Alvör could not deny the fierceness of the kisses they exchanged, the closeness of their bodies. She wished she could touch more of him, but his armor got in the way. When at last she began to pull away, she ended the union of their lips gently, and reluctantly. However, she did not remove herself from their embrace.

She swallowed a lump in her throat before speaking. “Well we’ve never done that before.” she stated suddenly, still in a bit of a daze.

[ozzy]

Armor was a setback that he didn't find very pleasant. Rœkia hadn't noticed the giant cracks spidering out around the two of them. It was as if he could feel the magma underneath the earths crust, pulsing like a heartbeat. He set her down very carefully. The closeness between the two of them hadn't changed.

He found himself chuckling slightly at her words. "I think I would have remembered if we had," he looked down at her again. A sudden sense of overwhelming dismay came over him. It was clear in his features. The set of his jaw, the way his muscles seemed to tighten once more. "They are all dead." he said, not as a question but somewhat of a confirmation. They were all that was left of their people. The thought of how lonely it must have been for her flooded through his mind again.

[skadi]

She smirked. It was nice to hear his laugh, rough and short though it may be. “I know for a fact that I would have.”

As sadness swept across his face, his crept into hers as well. She nodded shortly. “I’ve been paying my respects for the past few weeks. My father and brothers aren’t far from here.” She bit her lip and looked down. It was impossible to deny the closeness that Alvör felt for her family. Now that they were gone, it became worse. Rœkia may have thought she had become soft since they had last met. She was still as rough as ever. She could take a punch better than most men she had know, and probably better than all men here. She wasn’t soft. She was merely sad and lonely.