Not alone

Kainan was not the only one, soon enough, another stranger stood infront of the villages gates.

But this one was fully armed.

Luck

Bows were being strained in his back and there was no doubt, standing right in front of the gates made both of them an easy target. Kainan was happy their leader seemed to like him enough to give in to his pleas and to let him talk to the other Outlander. They were standing face to face.

"You shouldn't have come," Kainan hissed.
"We're a rescue squad, what else were we supposed to do?" the other man hissed back.
"You're too early." Kainan exhaled once. "There is a Moorwen hiding somewhere in the surroundings."
"I know." The stranger grit his teeth, looking ready to jump at the throath of the man he was supposed to save. "Why the hell do you think I'm alone."

Kainan really couldn't do anything but gape. He hadn't realized that, even with all the equipement they sure had with them, the rescue squad had not made it. No one had made it. All, but one.

He took a calming second before looking at the other man, only a flicker of questionning passing by.

"If you're asking how I got out," the man leant closer, he reeked of dirt and sweat, "I got lucky."

And with that, he stomped past Kainan, putting on his helmet, arrows simply bouncing of his armor. A few stray arrows struck the ground in front of his feet, but Kainan dismissed them as he stared at the other Outlander from behind. He sure looked a whole lot bigger than he used to be.

Size

"Kainan," Olaf greeted, patting the man on the shoulder, "Say... We were wondering, is the stranger a giant in your lands or are you simply a midget?"
Kainan gave a small embarassed laugh, looking over to Baastian who was further away, polishing his weapons. "No, he's just a giant..."

Baastian turned slightly and offered him a soft smile over his shoulder.

Another point of view

Baastian drove against the door with his shoulder and stumbled into the outside world, falling to his knees with a frustrated yell that shook every fiber in Kainan's body as he hurried to catch up. Sure, Baastian may have had a drink too much, but the grief and rage in his wails were real, the thick tears of despair rolling down his dirty cheeks were real. Not giving it a second thought, Kainan kneeled down next to him and pressed his forehead against Baastian's, a strong hand in his neck, closing his eyes.

"It's been hard on all of us," he felt his voice break yet strained to go on, "I lost my wife and my little boy-"
"But you-" Baastian interrupted for a sob, "You weren't there when it happened! I watched! I watched as that thing took Ivan! Three fucking survivors and I had to be one of them!" he ripped away from Kainan, thumping his fists into the muddy ground with yet another yell of hurt and anger, before rising his arms to the skies, yelling for them to hear, "Jeg elskede dig, Ivan! Du var alt, alt, hvad jeg havde! Jeg ønsker ikke noget andet! Intet andet, er det ikke nok?!" ("I loved you, Ivan! You were everything, everything I had! I don't want anything else! Nothing else, isn't that enough?!")

Kainan brought a hand over Baastian's mouth to silence him, afraid that maybe the natives would understand too much for his own good. Cries muffled by the hand, Baastian clawed at it in a desperate attempt to free his voice, struggling for a while. When he went limp he only had one wish.

All he wanted was to change point of view, maybe opt for discovering the carnage instead of witnessing it.

Fight

When Gunnars men stormed the gates, all grabbed their swords and spears to rise and fight with a yell rising from their throats, first and foremost Baastian in full armor, blasting shots from his gun like there was no tomorrow. The blue ball of energy hit the enemy's lines with a tremendous noise and the ground shook underneath their feet, but no one could afford stopping the fight for long.

"In the name of almighty Odin..." Olaf whispered when he watched Baastin knock out a man with a swing of his foreign weapon, blood spraying as the warrior's brain splattered on the ground.

The enemy could already see from afar that this man fought for the sake of fighting.

Dangers

Kainan folded his hands in his lap.

"You can't talk like that here. The folk here wouldn't understand."
Baastian looked away. "They don't understand my language."
"No, they don't, but-" Kainan had to pinch the bridge of his nose. "They only need to ask about Ivan."

Kainan could see Baastian biting his cracked up lips in an effort to hold back his words until they bled. It sure wasn't easy to deal with this boy. Kainan gave a stained sigh.

"Just tell them he is your brother," he muttered, leaving the hut.

Return

Baastian and Kainan were watching the open skies, seeing the stars detach themselves from the dark and come down to them. Baastian turned his head to the side to watch his friend draw his sword form its sheath.

"You're not coming, are you?" he asked, a dubious look on his face.
Kainan didn't meet his eyes. "No."
"You know I can't stay here."
"Yes."
"This is just the wrong time for me."
"Yes."
"Are you just going to answer all my questions with one syllable?"
Kainan turned at the taunt, visibly confused. "No?"

Baastian laughed and cupped Kainan's face in his hands, leaning in to give him a sweet kiss. Somewhere hiding between bushes, Frida couldn't hold back a shocked gasp.

"I'm leaving forever, Kainan," he whispered against the other's lips.
"No. Just like Ivan, I will always be with you."
Baastian gave a short laugh. "I'll remember that," he said with a smile, letting go and stepping onto the ledge of the ship.

Fireworks of gold sprung up from the machine Kainan split with his blade, but Baastian didn't see. He was long gone to return to what they once both called home.