In the next few days, a fleet worth a hundred longboats sailed down Norway's coast. Picking up several more along the way, they finally met another sizable fleet near Norway's southern tip.
Three hundred ships finally set off towards England, their hearts soaring with a desire for glory and adventure. Soon, their boats would reach the English shores, and their conquest would begin!
At least… that was their intended fate. But the interference of several powerful individuals has ensured that history will be forever changed…
* * *
It happened suddenly.
One day, somewhere in the middle of their journey, Rurik was sitting at his longboat's bow, leaning against the wood. He had his sword resting against his chest, and his wolf cloak wrapped around his body. The boat was rocking slightly as it cut through the North Sea waves.
In front of him sat Eilin, and between them rested a Hnefatafl board. Hnefatafl was a chess-like board game, where a white king with a small number of soldiers was surrounded by a larger number of black soldiers. The goal was for the king to escape the ambush by reaching the board's edge.
He'd learned the game two years ago, to alleviate boredom during sea travel, and quite enjoyed it. He occasionally played chess with Luna in his past life, and this reminded him of those times. Fortunately, Eilin was a prodigious opponent.
"Checkmate!" EIlin grinned at her Master victoriously, chest puffed out in pride.
Rurik sighed and rolled his eyes. "I don't think checkmate really works here, Eilin. I believe you're supposed to say 'tafl' to indicate a win."
Eilin pursed her lips and scoffed. "Well, I think the winner can decide how to celebrate!"
Rurik couldn't help but smirk at her attitude. Obedient and devoted she may be, but she stayed her own person, and he enjoyed that. He certainly didn't want some emotionless doll… where was the fun in that?
"Anyway," Eilin suddenly said with a concerned frown. "Usually the win-rate is more in your favour, but you seem to be distracted. Are you thinking about what Mistress told you?"
Rurik nodded slowly, but remained silent, his eyes pointed up at the sky. Technically, Luna had only told him to make sure Eilin was in the same boat as him, but surely, she wouldn't have done so without a good reason? Yet, they'd already travelled more than halfway towards England without incident.
Suddenly, the lookout alerted the ship about a change. "Fog ahead!" he roared in alarm. Instantly, Rurik and Eilin stood up, sheathing their weapons to keep their hands free and looked around.
To the right, left, and back, where longboats as far as the eye could see, each one of them a part of Harald's invasion force. In front of them, however, was an incredibly dense fog, and Rurik looked at it solemnly, his body tensing up.
"Prepare yourself, Eilin," he growled cautiously. "We don't know what's going to happen exactly, but this is surely what Luna was talking about."
Eilin nodded in acknowledgement, her head on a swivel, inspecting every point of the fog ahead for anything out of the ordinary.
Around them, all the boats slowly started ringing loud bells. Viking ships needed to maintain close proximity, but not so close that they'd crash into each other. The bells would help accomplish that during the fog. This way, they couldn't lose each other or get too close. Their ship was no different.
Finally, they disappeared into the fog. It was, without a doubt, the densest fog any of them had ever been in. Rurik lifted his arm with a frown, but couldn't even see his own hand anymore, let alone Eilin or anything else.
He quickly reached out to where he knew his right-hand-woman to be and grabbed her shoulder. "Eilin?" he asked, to be sure.
"Yes, Master," he heard, and felt her soft hand cover his.
Rurik nodded, despite knowing no one could see it, and kept his hand on her shoulder. Knowing he couldn't see anything anyway, he closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around him.
At first, he only heard the loud ringing of bells, but then he started hearing a voice… It was soft. So soft he couldn't understand what it was saying over the noise of these bells.
Intently, he focused on that voice, trying to hear what it was trying to say. He barely noticed how everything else receded into the background, until only that whisper was left. "…ik Ru… rik… Ruuurik… Ruuuuuriiiiik…."
He frowned. It was saying his name, and… getting louder. Or did the bells get softer? Did he recognize that voice? Was i—
"Rurik!"
The whisper suddenly became a roar. His eyes flew open in surprise, and he stumbled back. "Shit!" he cursed due to the shock, his eyes flying around to find the source of the voice.
But he quickly noticed a problem. He was still surrounded by fog, but… there was nothing else. No Eilin, no boat beneath him, and no bells at all. His head was on a swivel, trying to determine where he was, or what was happening.
Surprisingly, the fog had thinned to manageable levels. He could now see his body, and a few meters into his surroundings, but even the ground he walked on was like a glass floor over a mist bank.
Finally, a vague form separated from the white clouds and approached him. His eyes immediately focused on it, and he took a defensive pose, quickly pulling the sword from his back and holding it in front of him. "Who are you?!" he growled threateningly. "What is happening here?!"
"Don't you recognize me, Rurik…?" the voice sounded again, pleadingly, enticingly.
This time, Rurik recognized it as Luna's, and he relaxed a little. "Is that you…?" he asked, hesitantly.
Slowly, the vague form solidified and finally showed his wife's beautiful blond hair, and haunting purple eyes. She smiled at him softly. "Of course it's me, my love. Come, put down your weapon and kiss me!"
She approached him softly, arms wide, and Rurik only hesitated for a microsecond, before he sheathed his sword and met Luna with a relieved smile.
The two time-crossed lovers almost touched, their lips rapidly approaching.
shing
squelch
"Oh," 'Luna' muttered as she looked down at the knife Rurik had stuck in her side, expertly hitting the kidney.
"Hihihi," a young, playful voice suddenly giggled from nearby. "I told you he'd notice, eldest sister!"