Characters: Emil, Sigrun

Inspiration: "Vinland Saga" by Leaves' Eyes

"We didn't survive by having good grades or fancy toys, Emil. We survived by knowing how to fight."

He would have liked to protest that Sweden's advanced technology had helped them very much through the Rash, thanks. What came out instead was "It's helped us some…"

Instead of scolding him for contradicting her as his previous captain would have done, Sigrun only grinned. "Nah. You see that?" Squinting through the dusty window to see what she was pointing at, Emil managed to make out a row of flat black and silver objects that were propped open like books… except instead of pages with words, there was a blank dark surface and a flattened keyboard below. Televisions, he thought they were called. "You have anything like that in Mora?"

"No," he admitted. "Not anymore."

"Exactly." Sigrun gave a satisfied nod as if she'd just scored some indisputable point. "The Old Worlders had all this fancy tech, and it didn't help them one bit. We're the ones who made it."

There wasn't much Emil could say to that. According to his parents and grandparents, his great-grandmother had lived through Year 0 and was old enough to remember; she'd had all sorts of tech that she'd held onto long after the batteries that had powered it had died, the Old World stations that sent it signals had collapsed, and the components themselves had started to wear out. After she'd died, the possessions she'd been unwilling to part with in life had been auctioned off for prices that had made Emil's head spin when his parents had told him—but it seemed that no one outside of Denmark was interested in what had once been.

"Emil! Keep up!"

"Oh! Uh, s-sure!"

It was another gloomy day in Silent Denmark, with no snow on the ground but the lowering clouds promising some form of precipitation at any moment. Emil hoped they would find what they were looking for soon, so they could get back to the tank before getting too soaked… or being trapped outside in a blizzard.

His wish was half-granted. The two of them found a bookstore just as the rain started coming down in torrents, pounding on the roof so loudly he could barely hear himself think. Sigrun shone a flashlight over the shelves while Emil made an effort to wring out his sopping hair—in spite of his best efforts, he hadn't managed to get inside quite fast enough.

"Okay, pretty boy," Sigrun declared, patting him on the back. "Go ahead and pick out the good stuff. And take your time about it; we don't want to be lugging valuable books around outside until it lets up a bit."

Well, he was in no hurry to go back out into the rain, but… he didn't want to get stuck in another troll nest either. At least Sigrun hadn't left him all alone this time. With a sigh, Emil began scanning the nearest bookshelf while the unsteady light of Sigrun's bobbing flashlight brightened and dimmed in the darkness behind him.

A book on runes… well that was complete junk. Emil replaced it on the shelf (who knew, they might still get something for it if there was still room in the tank after cleaning the valuable stuff out) before sliding out several more. Anything that mentioned science or medicine, or had a lot of words he couldn't understand, went into the bag.

Not even a single shelf's worth had gone into the bag before it began to bulge with the added loot, the strap cutting into his shoulder. Emil turned back to Sigrun and was just opening his mouth to say that he had as much as he could carry—

The stealthy scratching of claws on wood, the same sound he'd heard the first time he'd been alone in a dark abandoned building in the middle of the Silent World—and they were coming from right behind her. "Sigrun, look out!"

The grossling was fast—but so were Sigrun's reflexes. Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, she had lurched to the side, away from the outstretched claws that instead scored the wood of the bookshelf behind her, right where her neck had been only a split second before. Even as she dodged, her dagger had appeared in her hand, but the troll didn't continue to press its attack—or at least, not on her.

Emil tried to step back, to dodge as she had done, but the bag—the stupid, heavy bag—was weighing him down, throwing him off-balance, and he ended up on his backside on the floor instead. Before he could even reach his dagger, the thing was on him, claws tangled in his uniform and hot rotten breath wafting into his face…

…and even more goop showered on him as Sigrun's dagger plunged into its head. Emil lay panting on the floor as she shifted the body off of him.

"You hurt?"

"I don't think so."

"Good. Now let's move!" She hauled him to his feet, books and all, and together they ran for the door and back out into the rain.

"Thanks," she said as they slogged back to camp, their nice white uniforms splattered head to toe with mud and Emil's hair now thoroughly plastered to his head. "I'd have been done for if you hadn't warned me."

"Yeah, me too," he admitted—in spite of his best efforts water was seeping into his bag; it would be a miracle if the precious books he carried weren't reduced to worthless pulp by the time they reached shelter. In all honesty, he'd thought he was being stupid again, shouting like that in the middle of a nest… but it seemed there were some things that even Sigrun couldn't do.

"We make a good team, yeah?" She patted him hard on the back, nearly sending him sprawling face-first into the mud as they finally came within sight of the tank.

"Y-yeah," Emil managed as he struggled to right himself. "I guess we do."

A/N: I'm gonna try to go the "soundtrack with a single artist" route, deciding on Leaves' Eyes because of how well the music matches the atmosphere of the comic. Doesn't hurt either that the vocalist is Norwegian. Why am I even rambling about this it's not like anyone even cares.