Not a lot is known about the last battle that took place in Skye, so it was good for me as it means I can take many artistic liberties. Although, I have done TONS of research on it, and hopefully I kept as true to history as I could have. If you see something that is wrong and shouldn't have happened, feel free to point it out and I will change it, plot line permitting.

And thank you everyone who reviewed/favorite/alerted! You all make me really happy and I give you all Denny's sexy axe (remakes of course, the original is all mine)

Disclaimer: Hetalia is not mine, the characters are not mine, Vikings are not mine, and Scotland sure as heck is not mine.

Enjoy!

Lukas could only stare in disbelief at the Dane-no, Mathias. That was his name. Best friends? But…no. That couldn't be true, could it? Surely, Lukas would remember him clearly if that were so, and not merely this small itching at the corner of his memory.

"But…no. That's not possible." Lukas stuttered out, and Mathias looked broken.

"Think, Lukas. Think. Surely, you must remember something. Anything at all. I mean, we spent almost 3 years together, I saw you every day, I-"

"If brør says he doesn't remember you, then he doesn't remember you, and you would do well to recognize that!" Eiríkur yelled, and he stepped out from behind Lukas. Mathias seemed shocked to see that someone else was there, as if he had only seen Lukas, and noticed nothing else.

"Brør? But…I don't remember you. And you two look to be only a year apart on age…then I should have met-" Eiríkur quickly cut him off.

"Look, you're obviously making this entire thing up, so you can drop this façade you've developed. We're not buying it! Honestly, thinking you could trick us with this obvious lie about knowing Lukas! How stupid do you think we are?" Lukas was surprised. He had never seen Eiríkur this heated before, and every time Mathias went to intercede on the boys' rant, Eiríkur only seemed to grow louder and angrier.

"Eiríkur…I think he may be right." The two other Vikings turned to stare at him disbelievingly, Mathias with hope and Eiríkur with disdain. "Not that whole part about being 'best friends' but I think I might have known him once. I'm not entirely sure, but I have to admit there is something familiar about you." Lukas said, and Mathias' face turned crestfallen, then happy once again.

"At least you know that we used to know each other. That's a start, at least." Mathias said, his mouth quirking up into a lighthearted grin. But, yet again, his grin faded as he seemed to realize something.

"I-I still have to take you guys with me. I'm sorry, but it's the only way you guys can be safe. You don't know what they'd do to you if it weren't for me. They were planning to-"At this, Mathias seemed to become sick as his face took on a shade of green. As if the idea of someone harming Lukas was sickening to him…

Lukas wondered at how close they had been, when they knew each other. Who was this boy, to remember who he was enough to come out and save Lukas from the Densen's? What were they to each other…?

"No! You cannot take us! We won't allow it, right, brør?" Eiríkur yelled out, and he looked at Lukas for reassurance.

"I…don't think we have much choice in the matter, Eiríkur. This seems to be the safest course of action we could possibly take. It's either this, or…" Lukas' voice trailed off, and he looked out to where his faðir's boat was. The Densen's boat, along with the one that picked up the berserker, was almost there, and he could almost hear the shouts of war reach him across the waves and wind.

"But-Lukas!" Eiríkur stalked up to him, and they began having a whispered argument about what to do.

"I don't know if we should trust him, Lukas! This is most likely all a lie, and he'll probably…hurt you if finds out." Eiríkur said, and Lukas scowled.

"Then I won't let it slip. Simple as that. And I didn't say I trusted him, I merely said it was our best offer. Plus, if it wasn't our best offer, do you think he would be letting us discuss this right now? Obviously, he won't treat us to much harm." Lukas ground out, and Eiríkur looked unsure. The latter glanced back at the Dane, who was looking out over the water to the fight on the sea. He had walked down near the bow of the long boat to give them space, but not enough that they could attack him without him seeing them.

"He wants to keep us as slaves, Lukas. Whether he treats us well or not, we'll be slaves. You can't honestly tell me that you're going to accept this without a fight." Eiríkur whispered unbelievingly, and shook his head. Lukas had to wonder at when Eiríkur had suddenly become so…sure.

"It is the only choice we have, Eiríkur. If we don't go with him, who knows what will befall us at the hands of the Densen's." Lukas was furious, and had to think about what could possibly be running through Eiríkur's head, and why he couldn't see reason. Eiríkur looked angry, and he and Lukas had a staring contest, something that had not occurred since Eiríkur had wanted to go and find Berwald after the Swede had gone to Scotland. Then, after a mere few moments of their gazes meeting, Eiríkur had backed down; now, however, it seemed Lukas might be the one to lose this battle.

"Uh, guys? I know I kinda made it clear that you guys could talk this over, but I'm kinda in a hurry. Either you can come with me without me having to handcuff you, or knock you out, or I can do just that. I don't want to, but it'll keep you safe in the long run. I promise. So please…I really don't want to have to hurt you, Lukas." Mathias said, sidling up to them. Lukas turned to look at the Dane, and he could see that he was telling the truth.

"We'll come with you." Lukas said, but then he realized something. "However, we will on only one condition."

Mathias' eyebrows quirked together, coupled with him saying "Oh? And what would that be?"

To which Eiríkur also said "Yeah, Lukas. What condition?" Eiríkur seemed truly puzzled, as if he had completely forgotten the women below the ship.

"You tell the men of your village that our women went off in another ship, on another route that my brother and I were not told; and that there is nothing of value in this boat, and that it should be dragged to a riverbank and left to rot." Lukas stated, and Mathias seemed to think it over. Finally, he nodded.

"Fine. But they most likely won't believe me; they'll want to check the brig and see if there is anything available to scavenge. And when they do, they'll see I'm a liar, and won't let me keep you, and…well…you can see where that would lead." Mathias trailed off, thinking aloud as he realized how flaw-filled Lukas' plan truly was.

"Not necessarily. The door to the lower decks locks from the inside, so it is useless to your people." Lukas huffed, folding his arms over his chest.

"Jeez, Norge. I've seen you for the first time in about ten years, and you already get an attitude." Mathias grinned, but he seemed to accept the scenario as Lukas said it.

Lukas was frozen.

"What did you just call me?" Lukas said, shocked. Norge? Where did that come from?

"Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting that you don't remember me, heh. Well, it was a nickname I came up with for you. Pretty cool, huh?" Mathias said, and he seemed awfully proud of himself.

"Please tell me we were really young when we knew each other. Because if it was recently, and you came up with something as stupid as that, I'm afraid I would have to doubt your sanity." Lukas muttered, when he felt something come up close to him. He glanced back, about to ask Eiríkur what he wanted, when he saw his younger brother had retreated to the other end of the ship, sitting alone.

His eyebrows drew together, and he looked around again. He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look at it, it disappeared.

What could it be? Lukas wondered.

But, Lukas couldn't see the whatever-it-was again, so he didn't know.

"I will do everything I can to keep you and your brother safe, and I will do my best to make sure they don't go into the storage areas. I promise." Mathias said as he appeared at Lukas' side. Lukas jumped; he had been distracted finding the unknown being to hear Mathias step up behind up.

"That will have to be enough…" Lukas trailed off with worry. Countless possibilities of failure sprang forth in his mind, and he closed his eyes, holding on to the edge of the boat. The wind still pushed the boat farther and farther out to sea, and the waves still crashed against its side, and spray still flew all around them.

"I…you know I would much rather help you without taking you guys prisoner, right? It's just…this is the only way. If I could help you any other way, I would but…" Mathias trailed off as well, and Lukas could sense how much he hated the idea of harming him and his brother.

"I know, Mathias. I may not know why I know, or why you do, but I know." Lukas sighed, and he closed his eyes. He felt the spray hit his face again, and he realized he was almost drenched. He shivered, and wished he hadn't given his extra cloak to Eiríkur…

Lukas' eye opened as he felt a cloak fall over his own shoulders. He looked to see Mathias in just a tunic, and Lukas noticed it was ragged, made in the same fashion as his shoes had been; like they were merely scraps of leftover fabric.

Mathias grinned at Lukas, who felt his face heat a small bit. Luckily, it wasn't that much of a difference from his already-rosy cheeks, thanks to this insufferable cold that billowed around them like a blanket.

"You looked cold." Mathias replied to Lukas' confused glance. "I thought this would help. It's the least I could do, since I'm going to be taking you prisoner and stuff."

"And stuff. How elaborate." Lukas muttered, and he could already feel the beginnings of a headache pulsing through his head. Then he heard a shout across the water, and hastily turned to look back at the battling ships.

It seems the Danes had finally boarded the ship. Lukas turned away, and Mathias put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"Brør…do you think that they'll…?" Eiríkur appeared by the two Vikings, and Lukas bit his lip. Eiríkur's sentence could be interpreted in two ways: that they would live, or wouldn't. Lukas had no idea what he meant, and, as they both knew the answer to that, he didn't answer.

"I'm sorry for what my people have done, Lukas. I am so sorry…" Mathias repeated that sentence, over and over, until Eiríkur burst again.

"Oh, yeah? Say that to my faðirbróðir! Or my little brother! Or my cousins! Oh, wait, you can't-they're all being killed for no reason." He yelled, and Lukas turned to look at Eiríkur.

"Brør, calm down. There is no need to-" Lukas said, but Mathias cut in.

"It's okay. It's the least I could let him do, considering what I'm doing."

"Don't try to suck up to me, idiot. I know you're just going to do things to brør the second I turn my head. Look, you're already making him trust you with that stupid cloak!" He burst out, and Mathias looked confused.

"Oh, don't tell me you honestly don't know. It's obvious what you want with my brother. It's written all over your face." He spat, his voice growing louder and louder.

"Eiríkur, the women will hear you, please be quiet-" Lukas tried to intercede, but was cut off once again.

"I seriously don't know what you're talking about. I would never dream of doing anything to you guys, honestly. I wouldn't lay a finger on-"

"Oh don't make me laugh. What other reason would you have for this? I mean, we don't even know you-"

"It's not my fault that Lukas can't remember-"

"He can't remember because it never happened-"

"It did too! Just because you hadn't shown up yet doesn't mean-"

"Will you guys be quiet?" Lukas yelled out, finally caving in to his annoyance at his brother and Mathias' bickering. They ceased their yelling, and looked at him, their breath slowing.

"Honestly. Eiríkur." Lukas said, and his younger brother snapped to attention. "You will go along with this. You have always trusted my judgment before, so go along with it this time. I trust him-to an extent-and thus you will too. Understood?" Eiríkur nodded, and seemed frightened; he had never seen his older brother act like this before.

"And you. Mathias. I will not allow you to speak to my brør like that. You said you wanted us to come along without a fight, and yet here you are, egging him on. You don't need to defend me at all. I can fight my own battles. Clear?" Mathias hastily nodded as well, and Eiríkur nodded again.

"Good. Now, Mathias. You said we needed to be taken captive; where are we going to be going?" Lukas asked, and Mathias stood at attention, not unlike Eiríkur had but seconds ago.

"Well, we're going to head to Scotland. I know, we're from Denmark, why would we be taking you guys there? Well, we have a colony over in Kilmuir, and since we were going to be heading there eventually, I guess they thought it'd be okay to, well…you know." Mathias answered, shrinking away at the last sentence.

"Scotland? But that's where-" Lukas silenced Eiríkur with a glare.

"Where what?" Mathias asked, his curiosity evident in his bright blue eyes.

"Nothing." Lukas answered, his eyes going back to the boats in the distance. The wind had carried them even farther from the battling ships, and he could barely make them out on the horizon.

They were going farther and farther away from his father. From his brothers. From his cousins. From the majority of his family. He only hoped he could keep the other part safe from the hands of the Densen's.

"Do you know someone in Scotland?" Mathias asked, persistent. Neither Lukas nor Eiríkur answered his inquisition.

The three boys lapsed into silence as the wind pushed them southwest, through the roiling ocean. The cold persisted, the waves persisted, the spray persisted, the silence persisted, the fear persisted.

Lukas sighed. Perhaps being reminded of Berwald Oxenstierna would come in handy as they traveled to Scotland.

What? No information this time? What has the world come to? Haha, but I'm sure you guys are pretty thankful. Like I said before, I have gotten most of it out of my system. Maybe there'll be more, maybe not…

What did you guys think of this one? And sorry for its lateness, I've been working on some other one-shots that I've gotten ideas for. And school stuff. I know, excuses excuses…I truly am sorry for it being so late though. I feel like the worst author ever…

Oh, and for those of you who think that Iceland is acting OOC (there haven't been any people saying so, so far, this is just a pre-emptive STRIKE AGAINST THE HATERS) he isn't OOC. Iceland is supposed to TRY AND ACT all cool and calm and such, but underneath he's all heated and feeling-y (if that's even a word) and he ends up exploding more often than he would like.

It just annoys me when people make Iceland and Norway act the same, when they're not. Iceland merely strives to act like Norway, but fails. A lot.

And I know this chapter was bad, hopefully the next one will be better!

R&R please! Whoever does, gets Norway's cross barrette!