A/N: This is my first time writing a fanfiction, though I've been an avid reader for awhile now. Reviews are welcome! I'd really like to know what you think!

Chapter 1

"You're getting fast, young one" Erlend Thidriksson grunts while blocking a blow from a sparring sword. He pushed the sword away and spun to face his attacker.

"I've always been fast, you're just getting old" Runa teased her father. She lunged forward with her shield then attempted a strike at her father from above. He blocked it again, twisted his body to get beside her and forced the sword from her hand with one hard blow, then proceeded to strike against her abdomen. Runa huffed in disappointment.

"I may be old, my love, but I've got more experience."

"Let's go again," Runa insisted, "I'll beat you this time."

"No, no, no. This old man is tired and it's getting late. We must pack my things for the voyage tomorrow." He grabbed her sparring sword and carried them inside along with his shield. Runa picked her shield off the ground and followed her father into their home. Inside Erlend propped their training weapons against the wall and sat in a chair near the fire and begun to remove his boots. Runa began pulling out a knife and a pot to begin the stew she was going to make with the rabbit that her father caught earlier that day.

"You really are getting better every day my dear. Be sure to continue your training while I'm away. And tell Ubbe I said not to go easy on you. If you are to learn, you must be taught with the same force that you will face in battle." He lectured as Runa began chopping the vegetables.

"He may be careful, but he teaches me skill. But there's no need to worry about it because Hvitserk and Sigurd show no mercy when it's their turn to spar with me." She smiled thinking of her friends and how they've become so close as they've grown.

Runa was born to her Viking father, and a slave mother. Runa's mother, a Saxon woman, was taken from her homeland of England and was made a slave in Kattegat. Erlend took a liking to her and since he was a highly respected warrior, everyone knew that his slave was untouchable. Their tale definitely isn't one of love, but nothing was done by force or against her mother's will. They were attracted to one another and whenever either of them wanted the other, it happened. Under Erlend's interest, Runa's mother was kept safe and had privileges other slaves didn't and was treated rather well. When his slave fell pregnant, Erlend distanced himself. He was fond of her but had no intention of marrying a Saxon woman or having a child with her. He built her a small house near the river, hidden by the forest, where she could raise her child. He would make sure they were fed and comfortable, but he made it perfectly clear that he wanted no relationship with her child.

When the time came, Runa's mother died whilst giving birth. Helga, Floki's wife helped deliver the baby girl and didn't know what else to do but to deliver her to Erlend. He still wanted nothing to do with the child, but once Floki informed Ragnar of the situation, he convinced his friend to keep the baby and that he and his wife, Aslaug, along with Helga and Floki would help him raise the girl. Helga did most of the work, caring for the child in her own home, much to Floki's distaste, until she was old enough that Erlend could care for her. As a toddler, Runa spent a lot of time in the home of Ragnar Lothbrok, who adored her. He constantly thought about his daughter Gyda who lived such a short life and having Runa in his home made the darkened corner of his heart come back to life that he thought was gone forever. He'd chase her and his own sons around the great hall as they laughed and when she would fall, they'd all come to her rescue, attempting to soothe her cries all at once. The boys began to see Runa as their own sister, all but Ivar who even as a small child was cold and harsh to others. When Runa was almost 4, Floki decided it was time that she lived with Erlend. He had grown to love the child, but she needed to be with her father. Erlend clothed her, fed her, and did all the duties that would require keeping a child alive, but affection was hard to come by. Though he was a great warrior with strong beliefs, he soon realized he had a weakness. After only a few weeks with Runa, he fell completely in love with his daughter. He began to teach her the ways of farming, began training her very young, and whenever you saw Erlend in the streets of Kattegat, Runa was either in his arms or struggling to keep up beside him while he held her hand. Whenever summer came, and he was to prepare for raiding, he was no longer eager to go, for every Viking knew the risk of raiding. The only thing that eased his mind was knowing that Helga and the Ragnarssons would be there for her if anything were to happen to him.

Saying goodbye to her father has never gotten easier for Runa, and today at the age of 17, she wants to hold onto him, while screaming and crying the way she did when she was a child. But instead, she just hugs him, neither of them letting go too soon. If it wasn't for Hvitserk barging into their goodbye, she assumed they would've spent an entire hour holding each other on the dock.

"Oh, come on Runa," he exclaimed while either of his hands came down hard to pat both of their backs, "your old man here has never come back with more than a few scratches on him. Don't be such a woman." Runa broke the hug to push Hvitserk in his chest. He stumbled back a few steps while laughing before walking off to find his own father.

As she turned back to face her father, both of his hands came up to rest on either side of her face. "My beautiful Runa, please be safe and stay close to Helga or the boys as often as you can." Though she had the protection of her father, Floki, and even King Ragnar, there were certain naysayers in Kattegat who thought she should be a slave, just as her Saxon mother was. Even though Runa was raised in their faith, they believed her to be a Christian and having her here as a free woman only angered the Gods. She was born in Kattegat, yet they deemed her an outsider and would happily push her out of their city, given the chance.

"Yes, father. I will, I promise. And you must hurry back to me. For even though it's summer, when you're gone it feels like the coldest of winters." Erlend pulled his daughter into one last tight hug before kissing her on her temple.

"My dear Runa, I miss you already!" Ragnar bellowed as he stalked over to them. "Come on, don't be sad, I need that smile to send me off or our voyage will start on a bad note." Had anyone else said that to her, she would've just walked away, but she had grown to love Ragnar as a father as well, for he has never shown her anything but kindness and love as if she was of his own blood. She couldn't help the large smile that stretched across her face and she jumped into his outstretched arms to give him a goodbye hug as well.

"Dear father, you have yet to tell your sons goodbye, but look for Runa as soon as you get to the dock. Lucky we like her, or we'd probably be jealous." Ubbe said as he came up to them, Sigurd and Ivar following.

"That's because all four of your smiles put together don't equal even one of hers." He smiled as his thumb and forefinger lightly grabbed her chin. Runa moved out of the way so the Ragnarssons could say goodbye to their father. As they exchanged hugs and loud pats on each other's back, Runa wrapped her arms around her father's arm and rested her head on his shoulder, trying to keep close to him until the last possible moment.

"You are a grown woman, yet you cling to him as if you are still a child. Pathetic. Show some pride." Ivar spat while looking at the pair. The brothers and Ragnar all looked their way, but she remained in her position and squeezed her father's arm tighter.

"Thank you for the advice Ivar, but it's not needed. Besides, you have enough pride for us all." Runa countered. Ragnar laughed as Ivar glared at her in silence.

"Ivar, let the girl love her father. Won't you swallow your pride for a minute and hug yours before he leaves?" Ivar looked up at his father and then brought his eyes back to Runa. She gave him a large smile while his face remained locked in his usual angry expression. Before he could crawl away, Ragnar bent down, wrapped his arms around his son and pulled him up into a hug. His brothers laughed as they knew Ivar wasn't fond of unwanted physical contact. He yelled at his father to put him down and when he finally did his focus went straight to Runa.

While never breaking eye contact with her he slyly said, "Erlend, won't you take our dear Runa with you and leave her with her Saxon people, where she belongs?" Runa let go of her father and began to charge toward Ivar but Erlend caught her arm and pulled her back before she could get to him. Ivar may be crippled, but he was already a fierce warrior with a swiftness no one had seen before, and only at the age of 18. And once she touched him, no one in Kattegat would be able to save her.

Ivar gave a low chuckle before crawling away back towards his home. Ubbe came up to Runa and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't let him get to you. You already know how he is." Looking into Ubbe's bright blue eyes, she began to slow her breathing and calm down a bit. "You know he's only like that with you because you're the only one that comes back twice as strong when he throws out his insults."

Runa could only remember one moment when Ivar had been kind to her. She was only 9 years of age and he was 10. The warriors had gone on a raid, so Runa was staying with Queen Aslaug and her sons. The children were all out playing and had come to the small hut near the river where they often liked to visit. There they kept small wooden swords and shields where they would spar with each other, imitating what they're fathers had taught them. Ivar often sat by the edge of the river and watched, he rarely joined when Runa was around. She was sparring with Sigurd when two teenage boys maybe 16 came out from behind the trees. No one was ever this far down the river. It was only ever her and the boys.

"Well if it isn't the little Saxon slave." One of the boys teased. Runa was used to this name calling when her father wasn't around, but this felt different. They were around the same age as Ubbe and she wished he was there, but he had run off somewhere just moments before.

"Our father says you don't belong here. You are not a Viking." They got closer to her and Sigurd and Hvitserk stepped in front of her. The older boys pushed them both to the ground and grabbed Runa by her arms. She was no match to their strength. They began to run towards the edge of the river and Runa began to scream, "UBBE!" But before she could scream again the air was knocked out of her and she was surrounded by water. She resurfaced for a second but couldn't stay above the water. Finally, she felt someone grab her and when she opened her eyes, Ubbe was swimming back to the edge of the river with one arm around Runa's waist.

When she was back on land Ubbe kept asking her if she was okay, but she couldn't take her eyes off what was in front of her. Ivar was straddling one of the boys, both hands around his neck, choking him. The look on Ivar's face, even as a boy was fiercer than she had seen on any man before. The other brother was lying unconscious, not far from where she was, and she could see cuts on his face and already his face began to swell. He was alive, but someone had knocked him into unconsciousness.

Ubbe had jumped in after her so she was sure it was Ivar who did it. Ubbe ran over to Ivar and tried to get him to unleash the boy with no success. "Ivar, stop, you'll kill him!"

He didn't stop. Ubbe looked up at Runa and must have noticed the shock on her face, looked back at Ivar and yelled, "You're scaring Runa!" With that, Ivar let go, turned around to meet Runa's eyes and proceeded to crawl towards her. He came up to her and grabbed her face. "Are you alright? Runa, are you hurt?!" he asked worriedly. She finally spoke. "I-I'm ok." His hands left her face and began to rub her arms to warm her, until he started to give commands to his brothers.

"Hvitserk, Sigurd, take her back to our house and have the servants prepare her a warm bath. Ubbe, stay with me." Ivar didn't speak to her anymore that day, but a couple weeks later when Ragnar and her father returned, the boys who attacked her along with their family were exiled from Kattegat. Since that day, she had tried numerous times to speak with Ivar kindly and try to become closer to him, but he remained cold as if that day had never happened. She even tried to thank him for what he did, and he said, "I don't know what you're talking about. It was Ubbe who saved you, not me."

As she watched Ivar crawling down the main street of Kattegat, she couldn't help but remember that day and wish that they could've become as close as her and the other boys were.

"Well it's time to go. Be safe, and take care of Runa, understand?" Ragnar said to his three remaining sons who stood before him. Ubbe put his arm around Runa and rubbed her arm. "She'll be safe as long as I'm here." He said seriously.

Ragnar nudged his friend and nodded towards the pair. "My son and your daughter, they make a good match, no? Now that's a marriage that would make me happy." He smiled brightly at them.

Ubbe's hand left her arm and landed on the small of Runa's back. She looked at him, only to see him smiling shyly. She smiled back before replying to Ragnar's suggestion. "Now why would you want your son to suffer so? He deserves a docile woman who will bend to his every will. Our strong personalities would only clash in a marriage." She chuckled. Ubbe quietly chuckled as well, but his smile had faded.

"Well when you do choose to marry, please pick one of my sons. Having the most beautiful girl in Kattegat for a daughter in law would only make me that much happier." Ragnar pushed.

Runa simply laughed as her father grabbed her hand and began walking down the dock with her. As they walked away Ubbe quietly told his father, "I wish you wouldn't make it a priority to embarrass me in front of her."

"You embarrass yourself by not telling her these things on your own."

"I will. I just have to wait until I can confirm her feelings, if there are any, for me."

Ragnar sighed. "Well then my son, you go ahead and wait, and have fun with your right hand until then." He gave Ubbe one last squeeze before walking down the dock towards the boat. Runa was already walking back, and he gave her another hug as well.

Soon she was standing with the brothers as they watched the ships leave the dock. Runa had held it together for her father, but her strength was starting to deteriorate. Ubbe noticed her eyes beginning to water and exclaimed, "Now it's been a few weeks since we last sparred with Runa, eh boys? How's about we watch her try and beat us again?"

At that, Runa couldn't help but laugh with the rest of them. "Alright, let's go. I'll try to be gentle with you Ubbe." She replied and they all began their long walk to their training area.