FINN AND FAMILY

A/N I thought I would write about Finn for a change. This story takes place in the settlement of the Vikings in Virginia, and it is before any of the siblings became vampires. Finn, Elijah, Kol, OC.

Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries and The Originals do not belong to me. Additional characters, such as Rika, are mine.

Finn, eldest son of Mikael, walked toward the rock ledge beside the river. The sun was just coming up over the low hills to the east and shown on the blue tones of the forested mountains to the west. It lit the grasses and shrubs that were sprinkled with morning dew, glowing like tiny diamonds. Above him hung the dripping branches of several large trees. He enjoyed this time of day and this spot beside the river, where he could hear the natural sounds of birds and running water. Soon enough, the noises of the settlement would rise – the sounds of many voices and of axes on wood.

Hearing the tread of footsteps behind him, he turned and smiled at the young woman who was approaching. The hem of her long dress was now damp from the dew, as were her bare feet. She smiled back, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Good morning, Rika, my love," he said. He certainly did love her. Although the blonde woman had a pleasing face, she was no real beauty, except in the eyes of those who loved her.

"Good morning to you, Finn," she said, coming right to him and slipping her arms around his body. She was several inches shorter than he was, which was five feet eleven inches, and she was two years younger than his eighteen years. She rose on tiptoes as he leaned down slightly to kiss her.

"I wish we were married," she said softly when their lips parted. "I know I say that often. My mother is not at all against it. Father is not so sure. I wish your father had a different opinion of me and my family." This was not the first time they had considered their predicament.

"I wish the same, but I don't know how to change their opinions." He turned to face the river, his arm drawing her against his side.

"I'm not ashamed of my family," Rika said, looking at the rushing water that, a short way further to their right, spilled over a rocky falls. Like Finn, she found the sound of the water pleasing. "What were you thinking before I arrived?"

"I like the river. The sound of it. But the water also reminds me of our long journey years ago. I was just a little boy and it frightened me sometimes. The ocean waves. The cold wind. Monsters in the deep. I dream of it sometimes to this day. Mother would hold me and tell me that God was watching out for us. I guess she was right."

"You once told me your mother is a Christian. Or she was." Rika was the daughter of Jan, and her family believed in the Norse gods, which the Christians thought of as mere pagan mythology.

"Yes, but my father insisted that we children know the gods of our own people. Powerful people. Frightening people. Odin. Thor. Frigg. All of the others."

"I know. They are important, Finn. An integral part of who we are."

"We— you and I—, are not the same, according to my father." Finn shook his head in frustration. He turned to the young woman again and kissed her with passion. He did not think of her as different. He had known her most of his life, but it was only recently that he had found himself in love with her.

Rika pulled away a bit and added, "He worries about the future, I suppose. I don't intend to take anyone's life, so I see no reason for me to ever turn." She didn't mention that both her own father and two of her brothers transformed into wolves every full moon. Finn already knew that.

"You should not be concerned," Finn said firmly. "Except for your aunt, none of the women in your clan have turned when there is a full moon. There's no reason why you would."

"Only Aunt Greta has killed anyone. It's the men folk, because of fighting the Skraelings and killing some." Most of the native people in this land over the sea from the Norse homeland were friendly, but some were not. Raids and battles had happened with increasing occurrences. When someone of Rika's clan killed anyone, he would change form during the full moon nights, becoming a werewolf, a creature the natives feared.

"My parents think even the women will change if they kill someone, which is surely true. Father says I am not to bring werewolf children into my family," Finn said with a sigh.

"We haven't made any children," Rika murmured against his warm chest. "But I wouldn't mind doing that any time."

"Me, too." He was too obedient a son to go against his parents' wishes. Especially those of his mother, the witch Esther. He loved his mother and feared his father. Mikael was a Viking warrior, even here in this far land. He was one of the leader of the community, which had been established from three ships loaded with brave and adventurous settlers— men, women and children of various ages. The location of this settlement was far south of the one established by Leif Eriksson and far warmer. Centuries after Finn's time, it would be called Virginia.

In the sixteen years the Scandinavian group had been settled here, children had grown to youths and young adults. Finn was one of those. Unlike some of the young males, he had never killed one of the indigenous people. For Rika's clan, killings had sealed their fate. For Mikael's people, their situation was normal, but they too were often wary of the werewolves on the nights of the full moon. The wolves roamed the forest, hunting animals such as deer. One such Viking had been killed by the natives when it attacked one of them, but for the most part, the wolves stayed away from villages and camps. The problems was that the number of werewolves increased over time as children matured and became warriors.

Finn turned and planted another kiss on the warm lips of his beloved. He felt aroused by this contact, but did his best to hide it.

"Kissy. Kissy," came a child's teasing voice from nearby.

Both Finn and Rika turned to see who it was. Finn was not surprised to find it was his kid brother Kol. The five-year-old could be a real nuisance. With medium brown hair and dark brown eyes, the boy looked much like Elijah, a brother almost three years younger than Finn. All other family members were blond to some degree, even Niklaus with his strawberry blond hair and golden eyebrows.

"Get back to the house!" Finn ordered.

"You can't make me," Kol said with a grin. But he turned and ran when Finn moved toward him.

"What a brat," Finn said to Rika.

"Oh, he's just a cute little boy with a mischievous bent to him." She had a couple of younger brothers, too, and she was more tolerant of their antics than Finn was of his two youngest siblings, Kol and little Rebekah. "I bet you would have been annoying if you had had an older brother or sister."

"I did."

"Did what?" she asked as they walked back through the woods to the main part of the settlement.

"I did have an older sister. Freya. She died back before we made the journey to here," he said.

"I didn't know that. I'm sorry to hear it." She and Finn were well aware that many children died early of diseases or accidents. Finn's own mother had lost a couple of babies, but luckily others lived, including Kol the brat.

"The strange part is that I dream that I saw her go away with some woman. Freya was crying and didn't want to go. My mother says it was just a dream, because Freya got sick and died. It was a terrible blow to my father. He came home from some journey and learned of her death. I think he's been angry ever since, but I suppose his anger just covers his grief."

"That's a shame, but his anger probably makes him a good warrior."

"You're probably right."

A/N I hope you find this story interesting. I think there are many things I can write about Finn and his family.