Hello everyone. The last few years I have been pondering on a new way to redo this story and bring it back for you, with updates. I hope that you remember it, and I hope you can enjoy the rewrite. Sorry for my prolonged absence :) -Alycenwonder

Anything in italics will be Oliver hearing people's thoughts, or speaking her own. Anything in bold is in Swedish.

Chapter 1: Days long past.

I awoke among the trees. The light shown down through the canopy above me. My eyes were foggy, like a thin layer of film lay over just over the surface, and I reached to rub it away, sitting up on shaky knees seeing only more woods. My tunic was clean. My hands and arms seemed that way as well. How did I get here? But more importantly the question lingered in the back of my mind; where had I come from?

I reached to my bare feet, noticing a small row of bumps, curling my toes into the mossy ground. I was cold... I needed to get up and find a way to get warm.

I scrambled to feet, wobbling a little as I blinked a few more times, clearing the last of the murky film away, the woods becoming far more crisp and clear to me now, then in the time I'd been sitting and trying to figure out the colors.

"What in the world?" I whispered, jumping as wisps of blonde fell over my shoulders over my chest, tickling my collar bone, making my heart pound in my chest. Reaching to touch the small braids, and round dreads in my fingers, I noticed my skin; my fingers. I was short, that was clear; maybe only just over five feet tall. My fingers were long and thin, attached to long thin; pale arms. I couldn't be that old... Somehow I had to young.

The forest was dense, the foliage tall and winding, molded together somehow and as I started to walk I tried to figure out how I was going to get back to wherever the hell I'd come from. I couldn't have come far. I was clean enough. Maybe there were people looking for me? Maybe they were worried.

I walked until my feet hurt. I walked for minutes, or maybe hours. I walked, and time wasn't clear to me. I walked until I came to an ocean, and I followed that, pushing myself harder. It would be dark soon. Whoever I was, however I'd gotten here? That didn't matter. What mattered was I would likely die out under the elements if I didn't find a place to stay; find warmth. But even as the sun began to set beyond the treeline, I came to wonder if maybe I'd made the wrong choice. Maybe staying put would have been the better option. Maybe I'd gone the wrong way, and the people who loved me might be looking in another direction?

I wasn't sure that this situation could get much worse. Maybe if an animal was following me? Something big, that could stalk me, come for me when I slept? That didn't matter either. What mattered was; I was lost.

A few hours later:

"I saw something."

I opened my eyes in the darkness, reaching to rub dirt from my face, "I swear it, Eric. I hear something... Breathing? There's a body there."

Those were voices! I sat up quickly and used my tunic to wipe a small tear from my cheek. Hopefully whoever it was would know me, or maybe be sent out to look for me? Maybe they could help me?!

I swallowed, watching as the bushes shifted, the rustling I was hearing growing painfully near; three very large men trumping towards me. Three large, very blonde, and very confused looking men. The two on the left, I noticed right away; were older. Their faces messy, their hair long and tangled. If it weren't for the younger man in the middle, with giant wandering blue eyes, I might have been afraid.

"It's a girl... Eric." One of the grumbled, "Ah I thought it might be a deer." Seems a little young...

"So it is." The middle one bent low and reached for a twig on the ground between us, snapping it as he watched me, "Are you lost little girl?"

"Y-Yes. I... I mean, do you know me?" They didn't seem to know me...

The man named Eric chuckled, the sound a little strange; almost jolly in my ears as he tossed the twig, "No, I do not know you. Why? Do you not know you?" Interesting.

"I... Woke up out here..." I didn't even know my name. "I don't remember anything."

"Right. Well. We happen to be heading back to my village." And she looks viking... "That way." I followed his finger with my eyes, back behind me through the forest. "We will bring you. Find you some warmth for the night, yes?" I tilted my head, watching him carefully as he smiled.

"Yes." I cleared my throat, feeling my chest a little tight as I climbed to my feet. "That would be nice, thank you." I had no choice. I hoped this was the right decision.

It was the third time I'd awoken to new surroundings. Still I was unsure of where I was exactly, and how I'd come to be in a bed. It was a large house, but the lack of noise, and gruff men sort of spooked me. Where had they gone?

I tugged at my hair, pulling to locks free and tying it up into a messy bun, sliding out of the bed. I needed to get out of here and figure out what was going on. Somehow, some way; someone had to know me. Right? I tugged the blankets with me, wrapping them around myself; over my shoulders and tight to me as I made my way out the door, into a big open darkened space. I squinted, the light from a large, bright fire stinging them.

"Ah, here she is Ulfrik! Our guest has awakened." I looked from the painful lights to the woman sitting nearby. "Come child, I will not hurt you." I watched her hand sway as she beckoned for me to sit, and I shifted a little closer. I dropped my bum on the end of the bench, far enough away that they couldn't reach me, pursing my lips as I looked between the two unknown people. "I am Astrid, and this is my husband Ulfrik. Do you have a name sweet girl?"

I stared blankly for a moment, trying to think of a name. But nothing came to mind... Because there was nothing there. "She said she doesn't know her name, or where she might have come from." The familiar voice of the man they'd called Eric hit my ears and I turned my head just slightly to look over at him as he came to join us at the long table.

"Yes, yes. Eric tells us you were out there alone." The older man said again.

"I... I woke up in the forest. I don't remember anything before that. You don't know me? Maybe someone is looking for me?" Someone. Anyone? Someone who at least might lead me in the right direction?

"No sweet girl. You are not from our village. In fact, I do not recognize you, or I would point you in the right direction..." She kept calling me that; sweet girl. Did I like being called that? It was sort of sweet.

"Recognize?" I was confused.

"Your hair color... Your eyes." I do not know anyone who looks like her. She's very beautiful. Fair.

"M-My eyes?" I reached to rub them, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"Sweet girl. Your eyes are a color I have never seen." She watched me carefully, and I could detect a little worry in the way her eyes followed my hands. "You will stay with us, hm? I like her Ulfrik."

"Yes, I do agree." Added, leaning towards his father. At least I assumed it was his father, they looked fairly alike. I didn't answer, dropping my hands in front of me on the table. Honestly, I was happy to be safe for now. If I could figure out how I came to be here, that was a bonus.