Chapter 2:

Cody must have passed out again because this time when her eyes opened she was laying back on a large fur laid out on the floor. The room she was in was well lit by a large open fireplace that sat in the dead center of the room.

"Ah.. My dear it is nice to see that you are okay.." The woman's voice cooed as she walked towards the wet girl slowly. "I mean you no harm."

"Where am I?" Cody asked, blinking rapidly as she had before.

"You are in my home. Shh... Come now. Calm yourself so that you do not swoon once again." She sat down next to the small girl, crossing her leg. Her bare foot snuck out from under her flowing dress. "That's it. Shh now."

"I.. I don't understand." Cody stammered as she made eye contact with the woman. She seemed friendly enough. That is until a loud crash thundered through the room as three small boys and a little girl came running inside. All of them looked just like their mother. Brown hair, Brown eyes and they were tall! Cody's body tensed as she backed up into the wall behind her. She was scared and it didn't take a genius to figure it out.

"There is no need for fear. These are my children and they will cause you no harm. Bjorn, Calder, Aeon and Gretta." She pointed to each one from oldest to youngest. "They are all I have in this world." She sighed loudly as she set both feet back down onto the dirt floor. "Now. Tell me where you have come from. I wish to take you home as soon as the rain stops."

Cody relaxed a bit as she tried to think of what she should say to this woman. Clearly Cody wasn't in Kansas any more.. "I don't know."

"You don't know? How is this possible? Certainly they wouldn't leave their daughter alone in the woods?" Mags wondered that.. Her children had rules to follow.. If they didn't have someone with them at their age then they wouldn't be out in the woods on a full moon.

'Well no lady, clearly no one left me here! I am dreaming and I should wake up soon...' Cody thought to herself. "Well no.. I meant that I know where my parents are..." Dead... Or not even born yet. "They died. Other then that I have no clue how I got here."

"Hmm.." She watched Cody for about a minute before she turned around. "Gretta go get washed up. And don't stop and doddle.. Five minutes." The boys wandered off and began doing their own thing as the small girl nodded, running out the front door. She turned and looked back down at the small girl huddled on the large furs. "Okay."

Cody was wondering what she was talking about?

'We have to come up with a good story. Can't have her end up a slave..'

"You will stay with us. How old are you child? Are you from our village?" She asked hurriedly.

"Eight. ahem.. I am eight." Cody coughed, trying to get used to the strong smell of rose water that seemed to permeate the air. "I'm not from here. I don't know where I am from.." She nodded to Cody as she finally stood off the small stool.

"You will stay here and together we will figure out how to swing all this. As far as I am concerned you are in need and we can help you. Does that sound like a plan? What was your name?" Mags could see no other alternative. Clearly the girl was hiding what her parents had done. They had thrown her out.

"Cody.. And yes. I mean please, I would like that." Cody had no other option, she had to take her offer. Hopefully she would find her way back home sooner then later. She wasn't sure what year it was but she noticed there was no running water or electricity not to mention a whole lot of other things Cody needed for her life to be normal again...

"Alright then. Welcome to Mystic Falls child."

Ten years later:

Cody didn't think about it much these days.. Life here was solid enough. No one was chasing her down. No one was trying to hurt her with words or otherwise. And the people that had taken her in became her family. A family she had grown to love. She had brothers and a younger sister who she could talk to and she had a mother who cared if she was sad or hurt in any way.

Mags was a good woman and she did what she could to provide for her children. Without a husband this meant hard work and dedication. It also meant sending her children off to earn for their king, the leader of their village Mikael.

As they lived in a small cabin in the middle of the woods it was rare that Cody even saw another human being except on days where she was made to go to the market and sell things that her, Mags, and Gretta had worked hard to make. She liked it that way. She liked the solitude it brought with it.

On the right day you could walk an hour into the bush and hear nothing but the birds and the wind in the leaves. It was peaceful to say the least. But Cody had a secret that she tried hard to share only with her brother's Aeon, Calder and Bjorn. She trusted them.

They loved to fight. They taught Cody all they knew from the others in their village. And every day she would head out to the clearing with them to practice, rain or shine.

She loved the small Axe they had gifted to her one year on her birthday. Since then Cody had thought herself a great warrior. She even hunted with her brothers. She was fast and she was nimble. She could lunge like no one they had seen before and she did it often. To them Cody was a sister they had never been without and she played along.

Being a slave had never been a bright prospect for any girl. But Cody did love them like they were her own true family.. "You there? Cody!" She felt a small rock hit her temple and bounce off into the grassy crater they had climbed down into.

"Ow! Geez!" Cody rubbed the sore spot with her palm, "Why'd you have to throw things at me?" She whined.

"Because I was trying to figure out what you are going to do tonight? It's your big day. Are you nervous?" Gretta asked her sister impatiently, shifting herself on the large rock. "Are you gonna wear that dress Momma bought for you? It's so pretty... I can't wait till I turn eighteen.."

Cody loved the girl but she had a tendency to talk and talk without waiting for your answer. "Gretta?"

"I want it to have green lace.. Like the one Rebekah wore on her day.. " Cody had no idea what the hell Rebekah wore, only who she was. Cody had never talked to her and she had really not seen her since they were all younger. Her father kept a good watch on his daughter and sons.

"Gretta!" Cody grumbled, kicking her younger sister's leg.

"What? Why did you kick me?" Gretta asked as she rubbed her leg and glared back with confusion.

"You asked me a bunch of stuff.. You want an answer or do you just need to hear your own voice?" Cody laughed as she spoke, biting a berry into two pieces, sucking the juice out of it. The black berries were really ripe this time of year.

"Ugh.. Fine. Go on then.." Gretta sighed grumpy that her sister had interrupted her gibberish. She had to many questions.

"Yes I guess I have to wear that dress she got for me... I don't much want to." Cody hated wearing dresses. Mostly she wore leather pants and linen shirts. Of course they weren't super boyish as she tightened most of them to fit her properly. But most around here would say they weren't very womanly. "Also no I am not nervous." She lied, of course she was. But Cody was the older sibling and Gretta needed her to stay strong. At least that is what Cody told herself most days. "I don't know what you think will happen tonight. All we do is go into town for the celebration. It isn't meant for me.." It was a festival they had every year around Cody's birthday. The only difference this year was that she was able to go to it unsupervised. That doesn't sound like much but it did also mean she could stay up all night if she wanted to.. It was freedom to their people. A chance to be an adult.

"I don't get you Cody. I cannot wait until I am allowed to meet boys." Gretta sighed as she watched Cody enviously. "I can't wait to marry and have my own home.. And babies."

'I can't wait for my wedding night...' Cody cringed as she listened in on her younger sister's thoughts. She was pretty sure she would brake the hands of any man who tried touching her younger sibling.

"Yes well. We don't all sit around dreaming about those things Gretta. I just want to protect what is mine. I have no urge to run off with a man and have his children." Cody hated being touched past her own brothers training her to fight. Ever since the night she was visited by her foster father.. Ever since she killed the man. She couldn't do it. Not to mention Cody hadn't met anyone worth allowing to touch her. Things were good here any ways, why mess up a good thing?

"Yes, well... You will have to eventually otherwise mother will force you. She is patient now but I know she will not be forever." Gretta told COdy, crossing her arms over her chest. She was most likely right. They came from a poor family, they didn't have enough to go on like they were forever. Soon they would have to marry to obtain an income that could help their mother survive her old age.

"Maybe we will get lucky and you will marry one of the Mikaelson's." Cody said, smirking down at the small girl.