Author's Disclaimer: I don't own a thing belonging to "ATLA" or "Assassins Creed: Valhalla."
Author's notes: Thanks to CharlieBarrow for beta-reading and a few timely suggestions.
"Raid and pillage"
Chapter three "Alpha's Return"
Keld smiled as he took his leave of Ty Lee. He had his feelers out in the area, but he couldn't help spreading further lies. With Ty Lee having given birth weeks ago, he'd preyed on her mother's fears. He told her he'd gotten word that Azula had been killed in battle. Her body had been burned already for the god's pleasure.
Ty Lee had quivered, her eyes filled with tears, but she said she didn't believe him. Then she'd sat alone, with her warrior Mai by her feet. No, Keld was not allowed inside. Everytime he'd try to enter, Ty Lee would put him off and Mai's dagger pressed into his belly on one occasion convinced him not to approach that shelter. Keld had tried to talk to her over the warrior's head, but Mai's weapon was sharp, and he was forced back.
Keld was certain once her woman's feelings were over, she'd be more open to his wants. He'd been careful laying the seeds to an apparent friendship for months now. Ty Lee had been careful to keep his friendship but was supremely loyal to her absent jarl. Keld would have been impressed with her loyalty if he wasn't trying to whittle her patience down.
The village had been abuzz for weeks in the wake of the pup's birth. A few months had passed as the pup grew. Keld had noticed the servants doting on him as if he were the heir apparent already. With each day and week, they doted more on the pup than him and his own men. Keld needed to move his strategies faster. He was tired of waiting and Ty Lee was still beautiful.
Azula's pup would be his pup. He'd make sure of it.
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Ty Lee was dreaming. The colors and images swirled past her, and she darted through pelting rain. Her jarl was just out of reach. A figure in armor and furs stood opposite her and reached out. Ty Lee screamed her jarl's name, fingers scraping along her gauntlets, throwing herself into her arms. Azula's soft laugh just in her ear.
"Ty Lee…..mate….."
Ty Lee woke gasping and pressed a hand to her breast. The fire had gone down low, and Mai started beside her.
"My lady," she rumbled, as always, ready and alert. Ty Lee rolled over to gaze at her sleeping pup. Her son was sound asleep still, breathing softly. She bent to kiss his brow, smelling his baby scent. His natural scent mingled with echoes of Azula, and Ty Lee ached recognizing it. "The other one keeps lurking."
"Did you put him off?" Ty Lee murmured. She sat up and reached for a comb to sort her hair. Mai watched her with sullen eyes.
"I always do. Azula won't want him near you. You kept your part, housing him and his warriors. He keeps trying my patience."
"Mine as well," Ty Lee murmured. Her dream had been so vivid as if delivered from Freya's hand herself. Her mate had been on a long boat, traveling hard. The dream had cut her close to her mate's side and Azula's sharp golden eyes had pierced her. "She can't be dead….."
"He's lying. I can smell it," Mai agreed. Ty Lee dressed and then picked up her son. The baby started, babbling to her. Ty Lee hummed to him and wrapped him in a new blanket. It was one of Azula's tunics cut up and fitted for him. He seemed to like her scent. Her pup's wide golden eyes watched her, his fingers grasping.
Thunder cracked loudly outside. Mai propped the shutter of the window open and inhaled the clean air outside.
"Odin's wrath indeed," she murmured. Ty Lee had to agree. The sun was up, but the sky was overcast and dark grey, almost to match her heart's status. Her mate couldn't be dead. Keld was lying. She murmured to her pup, leaning over him on the bed. The pup's eyes widened as he reacted to the thunder. A cry burst from his rosebud lips and his golden eyes looked all around the room.
Ty Lee and Mai exchanged a look. "He is brave," Mai commented. Ty Lee was happy that so much of his sire was in him. The pup squirmed on his back, rolling to his round tummy.
"He does like the storm," Ty Lee murmured. When she and Mai went down to the dining hall, Keld and his warriors were taking up the servant's time, eating almost all of the food and talking loudly as usual. Keld stood up hurriedly, coming to her. Mai took her aside, cutting him off.
"It is a harsh day, my lady. You should stay in," he urged. With him? No. Ty Lee felt a shiver run down her back.
"I'll be going out with Mai. The pup loves Thor's storm," she murmured. Keld's expression glowered but he agreed.
"I can send a few warriors to escort you," he suggested. Ty Lee gave a rueful smile.
"Mai is warrior enough," she said and knew it. Mai had confided in secret she had hamstrung a couple of warriors that had tried to tail Ty Lee through her village unseen.
Mai helped her into her beloved blue cloak, tucking the edges over her arms and shoulders. Ty Lee smiled as she slid her pup into a sling around her neck and shoulder, making sure he was covered in the cloak's folds. Mai knelt to slide her boots onto her feet and Ty Lee sighed as the door to the long hall was opened. A sudden gust of wind made her stop in her tracks, but her pup wriggled in the sling, warm against her, babbling happily.
Ty Lee stepped out into the storm and she and Mai ducked under coverings in the village square until they got to the fence surrounding the edge. Ty Lee covered the pup's head against the pattering rain but the squirming against her told her the pup was fine with it. Mai paused beside her as they waited under a tree on a small hill along the coast. Patterns of the rainfall hit them at a sideways slant and each boon and crash of thunder made the pup's eyes widen. But he wasn't afraid, Ty Lee saw. He delighted in the loud noises and gave a delighted cry aloud on each one. Azula's pup…..Even so young, he was so brave.
Ty Lee nuzzled the dark tuft of hair on his head, kissing him. Her pup's fists swung up to brush against her cheeks as she did so. Mai watched them with soft eyes.
"She has to be out there. Do you think she is?" Ty Lee murmured. Mai swept her gaze out to the ocean. On each bright flash of lightning, she strained to see. She could swear just by willing it alone, a longship would appear, cutting through the dark water….
"I can feel it. She has to be out there." As the moments drifted on, the thunder crashed and roiled overhead, and lightning arched over the water. The pup squealed at each crash and boom, delighting in it.
Her hair grew wet with rain and Mai adjusted her hood over her head. But Ty Lee began to sneeze. The pup was well covered, but Mai worried for their health. She came to a decision.
"You must go back inside. I'll make certain you make it to Azula's hall. But I will stay and wait," Mai promised. Ty Lee sneezed again and ducked beneath the tree branches.
"I can't ask you to. You'll grow ill," Ty Lee protested. Mai ducked a corner of her own cloak over Ty Lee's head and led her to the village square. Under a wooden awning, Ty Lee was able to tug the cloaks edge from her son's head. His wide golden eyes took her in and widened further when he caught the sight of another lightning arch.
"Go directly to your room and lock the door. Only let in the servants 'til I'm back," Mai said. Ty Lee nodded. She opened the door to her father's hall, letting out a roar of laughter inside. Keld's men were in the ale again. Azula would be so displeased at her stores being depleted so.
Ty Lee made it to the back staircase before one of Keld's men saw her. He called out a greeting, but Ty Lee hurried up the stairs.
"Stay in there, my lady," one of the servants urged outside her and Azula's bedroom door. Ty Lee nodded, ducking her wet hood off. She latched the door then laid the pup on the edge of the bed. He was squirming and frowning, indicating he needed a changing. Ty Lee took care of him and lay beside him, patting his soft belly. The pup's legs wriggled and kicked, and he grinned up at his mother. Ty Lee curled protectively around him.
"Please, Odin, send Azula back home," Ty Lee whispered. The thunder crashed and roiled outside.
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Azula sprang into the knee-high water surrounding the longboat as they scraped up along the shore, far from the lights of Ty Lee's village. Their village. Her boots splashed hard as she ran in a crouch toward the trees and hills nearby. A crouched figure alarmed her, and her axe was raised high with one hand.
Mai was crouched, soaked through, her hood hiding all but the corner of her lips. They curved up in a smile. "Jarl. Thank Odin."
Azula helped her up and clasped her wrist tightly. "Why are you out here?" Mai was startled to see worry in her jarl's eyes. Her unspoken question, 'where is my mate' weighed between them.
"Waiting for you. Your mate wanted to stay, wet be damned. I made her go inside. She and the pup can't grow ill waiting too long," Mai murmured. Azula reeled, her heart surging.
"Pup…." She murmured, tasting the word. The idea was still abstract, she had to see, to make it certain. Soon. "Who is in my hall?" she demanded Mai.
Mai fisted a dagger as Azula's warriors flanked them. They ducked beneath their hoods in the rain, jogging to keep up. "Warrior Keld and his clan. They have been a pestilence on your hospitality….."
"Then we cleanse the hall," Azula growled. The thunder roiled loudly overhead. Thor seemed to agree. It was time to come home.
The last of Azula's warriors darted into the town square, crouched low and jogging between patches of bushes toward the brightly lit long hall. Mai tugged on Azula's elbow.
"Not the entrance. The tunnels," Mai said. Azula nodded. The servant's tunnels led beneath the kitchen of the long hall but was tight and compact and directly under a portion of the dining hall. They needed to be quick and quiet. They'd have to shed all their clothing and armor to keep any noise down. One of the men, stripped to his smallclothes and drenched wet in the rain, lifted the hatch beneath the side of the long hall. Azula cast her gaze to the lightning arching overhead and shrugged her cloak off, tugging at her bracers, armor, tunic and pants. Her boots too and her bare flesh rose in goose pimples as the cold rain beat down.
The warriors held onto their weapons and waited for Azula to slide in first. The dirt floor of the tunnel had compacted to soft mud from the storm and Azula sidled in on her belly, axe in hand. Mai was close behind her.
The closer they got to the kitchen, the louder the hall became. Azula's heart roiled as male laughter not of her warriors sounded as warriors caroused and yelled. They were eating her food. Drinking her ale. Stealing sustenance from HER mate, her family. Her pup! Mai said it was so.
Fury warred with joy in Azula's heart as they opened the hatch in the kitchen and popped up, one after the other, like mushrooms in the dark and damp, surprising the servants. They instantly recognized their jarl and grinned, sliding back to the oven and letting them pass. Azula's fingers traced the shoulder of one of the older servants, one she knew doted on Ty Lee and nodded at her in passing.
"They're in the dining hall," one of the young girls whispered, trying to be helpful. That was evident from the noise, but Azula rose to her full height, muscled torso bare.
"Stay in here. If any can get to my lady, do so. Stay by her side," Azula growled. Two girls nodded, ducking out of the kitchen's side door for the back stairs. Taking a deep breath, Azula kicked in the door to the dining hall. She strode in as the laughter died down.
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Keld was more than alittle drunk. He was well on his fifth mug of mead, laughing and joking with his men. The servants had been run ragged, cooking and bringing them plate after plate of food. The Lady Ty Lee did keep a bounteous table. Drunk on power, Keld stood at the head of the long trestle table, lifting his mug high.
"We shall not leave! This village is ours. The lady is mine. We know it! Listen!" Keld grinned as thunder roiled overhead. "Thor agrees with me! His battle rages in the sky, but we have already won! Azula will not return. We shall reap our reward!"
Keld was still laughing when the axe's blade sliced hard through his thigh, severing his leg at the knee. Keld toppled over abruptly, his laugh turning into a scream as blood sprayed across the floor. Azula kicked at his side, knocking Keld the rest of way over, and slammed the butt of her axe against his face again and again. He collapsed, stunned; limp, powerless, spent. Finished.
Azula lifted Keld's overturned mug, emptying the remnants of the ale over him. "Warriors!" she yelled. Her men and women, stained with mud and un-dressed to their smallclothes, burst in after her and the laughter of Keld's men turned to screams.
Bodies fell and Azula whirled, tossing her axe in another's direction. After the fighting was done, her warriors had suffered no injury and almost all of Keld's men were down. One or two had survived and were being trussed up. Keld whimpered at her feet. Azula scrubbed a damp forearm across her brow, trying to smear her wet bangs out of her eyes.
There was a commotion at the main staircase and a loud gasp met her ears. Azula knew that tone. Her wild eyes turned toward the woman approaching her, one arm cradling a toddler in a sling close to her breast. The other hand was extended toward her as she approached, wide brown eyes open in wonder and fear.
"Azula?" Ty Lee murmured. Azula's wet arms went around her. A loud wail came from the bundle at her mate's breast and Azula felt Odin's heavy hand on her bare shoulder.
Home, she was home.
"Pup?..." Azula whispered to her mate. Ty Lee's grin spread, and she lifted the chubby toddler in her arms. The pup's golden eyes were her own. Azula reached a muddy hand out and the baby grasped her fingers, muddying his hand and laughing. The missing part of Azula's heart seemed to slide into place when she wrapped an arm tight around Ty Lee's waist, drawing her close, burying her face in her mate's hair, then down to her pup's scalp. Her abrupt inhale told her everything she needed to know. Her scent was twined with Ty's in the babe. He was hers in every way. The pup batted a mud-splattered hand against her cheek, laughing. Azula laughed and was surprised when Ty Lee's free hand slid into the hairs at the base of her neck, drawing her close.
Azula would grant her mate any liberty as their lips drew close and she was kissing her mate at last. Ty Lee trembled against her wet, muddy torso.
"You did good, mate," Azula rumbled lowly for her ears alone. Ty Lee's eyes shone up at her.
"I missed you," Ty Lee whispered. Their brows pressed close, the toddler squirming between them. Azula grinned. Her men and women shuffled around them, and one warrior intruded on the private moment hesitantly.
"Any plans for this snake?" one of her men growled. Azula raised her face from Ty Lee's shoulder, noticing her mate's wide grin and tear-filled eyes. A muddy thumb rubbed her mate's cheek, wiping a tear, but dirtying her in the process. Ty Lee smiled up at her, despite the mess.
"Those that survived should watch my work. And then spread the word to what happens to those that disobey me," Azula growled. Someone had DARED to cross her rule, had tried to take her family! She put a bare wet arm around her mate's shoulders, holding her close. Her battle ardor down, the cold of the rain made her shiver and goose flesh raise. Ty Lee placed the toddler in a basket at her feet and tugged her cloak off, wrapping it over her shoulders. Azula laughed as the babe squirmed, crawling to get out. Ty Lee fussed and scooped him up. Azula held a clean arm out and the babe was at last in her arms. She buried her face in his tuft of black hair and lifted him up high.
"My son!"
Her warriors cheered down the length of the hall amidst the carnage. Azula carried her pup outside and her mate followed as Keld was dragged out to the village square, legs trailing.
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"This should hold his wound….for now," one of the healers said, kneeling beside them. Keld was held up against a beam of wood, arms lashed to the top. Ty Lee had given their pup over to one of their trusted servants to put to bed. This wasn't for his eyes. Azula's eyes had tracked the older woman as she carried their chubby toddler away. The woman had bowed to her. She was loyal, as Azula recalled, but her soul cried out to be near her pup.
But work first.
Ty Lee's eyes were grave as she took in the bloodied, injured man. He wasn't conscious but gained it when Azula pressed her dagger into his sides, pricking him. He screamed, coming to. Mai fussed over Ty Lee. She was shivering as they stood beneath an awning in the village square. Rain still fell heavily down the sides of the covering, but they were dry beneath. At least for now.
"Did he try to touch you?" Azula asked her mate. Fury underlined her words. Ty Lee looked her mate in the eyes and inclined her head in a nod.
"He tried to…..win my favor. I wouldn't let any but your hand touch me," she said. Azula was touched and placated. She knew the truth in her mate's eyes. But she turned to the ashen-faced man and cut his trousers open at the waist.
His cock was exposed, soft and pale.
"Watch," Azula told her warriors and the villagers gathered round in the rain. "This man wanted to take what was mine. MINE. My mate!"
With an efficient cut, his cock was severed and Keld's scream was shrill. Azula tossed the bit of meat to a nearby hound who wolfed it down with relish.
"He may bleed out," one of the healers worried beside her. Azula knew she wasn't worried for Keld's health. She worried he'd expire before she was done.
"Pack the hole," Azula suggested. She flexed her powerful shoulders, Ty Lee's blue cloak falling down her bare back, as she picked up a hammer. She nodded to Mai who flanked Keld's other side.
"He tried to fly under my rule. Now let him struggle to unfurl his wings," Azula said. She struck a mighty blow to his right shoulder, breaking it. Keld screamed again and again, Mai striking his other left shoulder. His battered arms twitched against the wood.
"Lean him forward," Azula ordered. Her warriors held Keld forward. Blood burbled on his lips as he coughed fitfully. Azula was handed a sharp dagger and she began the cuts across the back of his shoulders. Mai worked on his other side, and they cut and dug in, tugging his lungs out the back.
Azula didn't pay any mind to the blood coating her fingers and wrists as she pulled the lungs taut, imitating the darker look of a bird's wings. The bloody eagle was aptly named for its grotesque display and Keld was nearing his end, eyes rolling back as he shivered and shook in episodes of shock. His skin tone was paling dramatically, and the healers worried over packing the worse of his wounds with enough carry-me herbs to hold his life off for moments, not hours.
"Try to fly now, Keld," Azula murmured, leaning into his face. His eyes rolled up, trying to focus on her and Azula was pleased his last moments would be of her. "Fly. Fly to Hel."
Mai gave her a nod over the man's shoulder and finished tying off his lungs. Keld gurgled, his wheezing breaths slowing. And then the breaths stopped. The villagers and warriors murmured behind her. Ty Lee pressed close into her bare side, arm around her waist. Both of them watched the light leave Keld's eyes.
"Look at what happens!" one of her warrior women called. "Jarl Azula's reign will cut you short."
"Don't overreach," another added.
"Jarl Azula!" the villagers called. They had lived better lives under her rule. Aula's lips quirked in a smile as she looked at her mate. Ty Lee had bravely withstood the torture and she hadn't looked away. She gave her a small nod, eyes shining.
Azula tossed her dagger aside and accepted a wet rag from a healer. She wiped the blood from her hands and took her mate into her arms.
"Stake that up outside the village gates for all to see," Azula ordered. "Now, let us all retire to our pleasures."
Ty Lee blushed as she was pulled away inside the long hall and toward the staircase. They filed up together to their chambers.
Halfway up, Azula pressed Ty Lee up against the wall and took her lips in a hungry kiss. Ty Lee's arms wound round her back, rubbing the bare muscles under her cloak.
Her jarl was home. Servants milled at the door to their chambers. They bowed their heads, awaiting orders.
"Our pup?" Azula asked. The older woman beamed.
"Falling asleep, curious for you, I bet."
Ty Lee laughed as her hand brushed over mud across Azula's bare belly. "My jarl will need a bath. Draw up water."
As the servants scattered to do so, Ty Lee led her jarl into their chambers. Azula noted the cradle at the foot of their wide bed. She couldn't help padding closer and sighed as she watched her son sleeping. The mud had been scrubbed from his hands, and Azula feared smearing it over her mate. For she wanted to keep touching her in every way. As Ty Lee stripped her muddied and wet blue cloak from her, Azula's arms went around her, drawing her close.
Their kisses stringed together, hot and sweet. "Well, now you're coming in with me," Azula suggested, tugging at Ty Lee's tunic. Ty Lee nodded, eyes shining. The fire was stoked higher in the hearth in their room and a large tin tub was set out, buckets of heated water poured in.
Azula was home. Odin was just indeed.
End for now
End notes: Here we go, another chapter. Hope you liked! I've been playing Assassins Creed Valhalla and I'm liking it a lot.
Pen 7/24/2021
-Angaar