Pain. Too much pain.
He could sense he was being pushed out of somewhere, by something, but he had no idea what it was, as he didn't have time to think because he was assaulted by overwhelming pain again.
He started screaming and kicking for it stop, but it felt like it was endless.
The pain finally stopped after what seemed like years, and John finally opened his eyes for the first time, since darkness took over.
Even though he could barely see, he could make out some colors, and that was enough to bring tears of joy to his face, after being tortured by darkness for an unknown amount of time.
By the time he stopped crying, he found himself in the arms of a woman with flawless blonde hair and sparkling brown eyes, gazing at him gently, before he felt sleepy from all the tears and emotions running through his mind, and passed out.
The last thing he heard before blacking out from the woman's voice.
"Your name will be Johnhild"
Even though he didn't understand most of the sentence, he somehow guessed 'Johnhild' will be his name now.
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In a room, a boy with pale skin and short blonde hair, with sparkling blue eyes was lying in a bed with a book in his hand, before he heard the dinner bell.
He threw the book back in his bed and walked out of his room, going through a corridor, before arriving in a spacious room, and finding a woman in her 30s setting up plates and bowls.
"Johnhild, let's eat" The woman's voice was gentle as the words were directed at the boy.
The boy was John, 5 years passed after he was born again in this new world, and he came to know a lot of things.
He was born in a family of 4, he has a younger brother, Reinhardt, and the village he was born in was named Svitsby.
His mother's name was Jutta, and she was a typical Danish woman, having skilled hands for weaving, even though she was mostly at home taking care of the kids, she was sometimes going to the market to sell some of the things she made, and buy food and other necessities.
His father, Ove, was a 6'2 tall man, and his body was made of muscle, and he had short blonde hair and blue eyes. He had an intimidating presence, but he was gentle to his family, even though he wasn't there sometimes, as he was a soldier in the jarl's army.
His aunt helped his family in the house, feeding the pigs for the winter and taking care of him and his younger brother.
Jarl Grimwulf, the one his father was working for, was one of the 5 Jarls who was leading the Danes. There were no kings, and only the Jarls, who were occasionally fighting each other for more land and influence on the Danish people.
There was a truce between the Jarls, as summer came, to stop any aggression between themselves, and focus on raiding other places, like Russia, where they pillaged Baltic tribes, and sometimes continuing to go east, and raiding the Khazars.
John's younger brother was born a year ago, and he was taking care of him occasionally if the slaves or his mother weren't there.
John was curious about how and why he was born in this world, he wondered about his purpose, but there were no answers, and if he wanted any, he would have to work for them and gain more information as he spends more time in this new place.
At 4, he started running laps around the outskirts of the village and started doing chores, helping his mother and the two slaves occasionally when they needed it, and taking care of his brother if there was no one else home.
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Time passed...
At 6 years old he began training and practicing his techniques with his dagger. Even though he doesn't have most of his memories, his knife skills are established in his mind and it would be hard to forget them, even if he was in another body.
The kids in the village would occasionally have mock fights, and John would most of the time win, even against opponents that were 4 years older.
At 7 years old, his father hired an archery instructor, and even though he found it a bit hard, as he was unfamiliar with it, he learned the basics quickly.
As he got older, he learned more about fighting in this age, and he felt that gradually, he could see more important memories of his past life.
He developed his own archery style, but it was too taxing, and he didn't feel comfortable using it and told himself he would have to practice it when he got older.
The coming of age ceremony gradually became closer...