Cearbhail:

I know it's been a long time since I posted something. I wanted this chapter about Olin to be special and it took me this long just to figure out what I wanted to do with it. My brain only seems interested in doing my Maleek/Ruby story, as well as trying to make me create a new story for Veselle, who is a Dunmer conjurer from a future series. But anyway, this chapter is pretty something. Not sure where I stand with it, so I'll let you all decide that. I never imagined this sort of thing would happen, but it did and now my brain won't let me change it. So, there you go. Enjoy. ^^

[Olin]

I don't even know how many days it has been since I have arrived here. Every day is pretty much the same. I wake up, I eat something small; I think they are eggs, but I'm not sure. And this really fluffy round stuff. Everyone calls them hotcakes. They're pretty good, and this white powder that reminds me of snow, they sprinkle the hot cakes with it, and it tastes really sweet. They call it sugar. I don't know what this sugar is, but it feels magical and tastes like it too. It makes me feel really happy and energetic. Must be some secret English thing to make their workers work harder. I bet it's super healthy for me.

After I eat breakfast, I grab my gloves and go outside to help clear away all the fallen lumber. The giant ship in the middle of the port has finally be stripped bare and separated into several piles of different wood beams and metal nails. We were using the metal and wood from the stripped ship to help rebuild the town. With the iron coming from the newly opened mines we're getting new smiths to help us forge new structures to help us rebuild the town.

I spent the majority of my time helping ten other slaves hammer in flat boards of wood onto the ground creating a pier for incoming ships to dock at. Some ships would come into port and drop off more materials for us to use for the buildings. It was going pretty fast. We're halfway done with the town in just the few … not sure how many days it's been. But we're at least scuttled the ship. That's something, right? Now…we just have to rebuild the entire flattened town and pier. Sure, we have one open ramp that wasn't damaged and we're almost done with the second one, but we're still behind schedule, according to our advisors. The outside wall the other slaves are working at have it almost completed. Not the tower, mind you, but the wall is almost done. They might be done before us, but everyone doubts it. It was a pretty big tower.

I was preparing to begin another day of exciting hammering. My arms are tired; my hands had blisters from where I was holding the hammer. At least I was building some muscles. Father always complained because I was weaker than the other boys. All this heavy lifting and swinging hammers has done wonders for my chest and arms. My legs are getting a great workout too. Every time I lift a beam, I squat down to pick it up. It really helps my legs develop. I've only been at it for a little over a couple weeks, but I'm definitely seeing some progress. I haven't had a break yet, but I'm at least getting stronger. And that makes me happier about myself.

Sitting down to a nice plate of hotcakes, I was beginning to see my shift advisor, Eric Johnson, coming over to sit next to me. He had his own plate of hotcakes and eggs. He worked the same shift as me and my other workers and he watched over the ten of us every morning to early evening. Then the night shift would come in and clean up some of the mess and prepare the lumber for the next morning. They had a shorter shift, but they had just as much work as we did, if not more.

Eric smiled at me, nodding to me as he began eating eggs. "So, I see you haven't taken any breaks yet."

I shook my head. "They sound cruel. I wouldn't want to go break anything."

He sat there for a second. "You…" He started laughing. "That's a funny joke, Olin. But seriously…" He leaned forward, giving me a stern look. "You need to take frequent breaks, otherwise you'll overwork your body and you'll be useless anyway. We recommend one day off for every three days. And you're overdue. So, I'm forcing you to take the next three days off to recover your body."

"Off what?" I looked up at him. What was he trying to say to me?

"Off work. Three days off of working. No working, just relaxing. And I'll tell you when you can start back up. Go do something. Go to the town, go eat some food. You have some built up meal tickets. Go eat something from the bakery or something."

So…a break was an invitation to relax? Why didn't they just say that to begin with? I wondered when they'd let me just relax for once. So, I nodded to him, gesturing to my eggs. "Ok, I understand now. Breaks are invitations to relax. I will comply and just relax for a day."

"Three days." He said to me firmly.

"Ok, three days." I nodded to him. "What should I do? It's not like I'm allowed to grab a sword and challenge your people to a fight for my honor and glory."

"No, that would be a bad thing." He said to me. "Just go walk around, find a girlfriend, get laid; hell I don't care. Just don't sit around here like a log." He said, standing up from the table, grabbing his apparently empty plate. "Just remember to watch out for the killers in white robes. They're dangerous."

I nodded to him. "Got it."

I watched as he left the tavern after dropping his dirty plate off to one of the cleaning slaves to have it washed. I continued to sit on my seat, eating my eggs and hotcakes. So, I had the next three days off. What was I going to do to pass my time? I really had no idea. But I guess I could find something to pass my time. My stomach turned, telling me it was full and that any further bites would only upset my stomach further. I pushed the plate away from me, groaning out as I sat back. I looked up at the ceiling. I didn't really feel like just lying around all day; I should go to the marketplace. I hadn't been there yet, nor had I even been inside the city. This could be something amazing.

I was starting to feel excited over the fact that I hadn't been inside the town yet. Now I wasn't hungry at all. I stood up from the table, grabbing my plate as I did so. I walked over to Pat, the slave on duty for cleaning the dishes this morning. I passed it to him, nodding my thanks as I did so, and exited the tavern. I started walking down the pathway leading to the walled-off town. It would be about a five minute walk. The entire walk down, I thought about what I might see inside the town. Perhaps a roaring fire pit where the warriors gathered to share tales of old and the giant drumsticks of the fallen prey they had hunted just minutes before. Perhaps a massive longhouse filled with the best warriors training with the sword. Seeing how the buildings looked in the port town, I doubted there would be any longhouses. These houses looked less long and more square and double-layered. Not just one floor, but a floor on top of another floor. That just seemed unsafe. What if raiders took the first floor? Where would you run? Charging down would be suicide, and jumping out a window would be just as much.

"What is your business in town today?" A guard asked me as I approached the gate.

I paused for a second. "Day off." I told him.

The guard nodded, looking at my tattered clothes. "One of the slaves then?" He nodded, stepping aside. "Be courteous and don't do anything stupid. We'll be watching you, slave."

I nodded to him. "Kay. Thanks for watching out for me." He seemed like a nice person. Once I stepped past him, I was overwhelmed at what I was seeing. People filled the streets; chattering with each other, laughing at stuff I didn't fully understand. Everyone was dressed in similar earth neutral colored robes and dresses. Not very colorful, but I guess that's normal enough. The buildings here were higher than just two floors. Some buildings went up to four or more floors.

Then it was my nose that was overwhelmed. All the different smells of roasting meat, people covered in sweet smells, and poor plumbing all rolled into one scent. My stomach started growling, telling me that whatever I ate this morning was suddenly not enough to fill me up. Now it wanted some of the food in this town. After eating nothing but eggs and hotcakes in the mornings, gruel for lunch, and gruel and eggs for dinner, I guess I wouldn't mind trying something else instead of gruel. So, I followed my nose to a place baking something I recognized as bread. I looked up at the sign above the shop window. It was foreign symbols I had never read before, but they started coming clear in my mind as I took understanding to their purpose. The sign said 'Nottingham Sweets Bakery'. A bakery? I don't know how I knew this, but I knew that a bakery was somewhere where products made of flour and stuff of the like were turned into edible and often very taste food items. It made my stomach grumble.

A nice girl about my age with red shoulder-length hair noticed me, smiled, and walked up to the bakery stand. She nodded a welcome. "Hi, I'm Isabella."

A passerby snickered and looked over to her. "We all know you're Red, girl. You can drop the act."

Red, or Isabella, whoever she was, rolled her eyes and looked at me. "I'm Isabella. Welcome to Nottingham Sweets Bakery. Anything you're looking for in particular?" I was stuck at looking at her. I hadn't seen someone like her before. We heard tales of the Gaels and how they had red curly hair. She had red hair, slightly curly. Was she a Gael? "Hello?" She called to me. "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you one of the slaves?"

I found myself nodding. "Yes. My name is Olin. I'm a Norseman."

Her eyebrows shot up once she heard that. "Wow. I didn't know you guys could speak English. How did you end up a slave?"

"My village was attacked and burned to the ground. Your warriors found me in the snow outside my old town. They brought me here because I had nowhere else to go. They probably saved my life." I guess that's how I looked at it now. At first I hated them for what they did, but they actually did me a service by bringing me here. Nothing else waited for me other than dying in the woods, or being killed by the other tribes near our village. This place was a new start for me. Someday I might get back to my village. Maybe someone survived. But I doubted it. I saw just how badly the village was burning and how our enemies charged the longhouse. They would only do that if everyone behind them was dead. I was certain of it. I've had two weeks to do nothing but think about it.

Red smiled at me, leaning on her arms. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. Not about your village being burnt to the ground, but that our knights were able to save your life. Welcome to Nottingham."

"Thanks." I smiled as I replied to her. I looked down at her stall. I could see different types of bread, some them looked small and round and flat. They smelled the best. I didn't know what they were, but they looked delicious. "What are those?" I asked her.

She looked down at the small round things, smiling. "Cookies. Probably never had one before, right?" When I shook my head, she frowned. "Ahh, poor thing. Here you go. You can have a few on the house." She handed me a few cookies.

I took the cookies from her, nodding to her as I prepared to take my first bite. My mouth salivated at the thought as I took the first bite. I thought that white powder was amazing, this cookie tasted like bread with that white powder added to it. And it was just soft enough to make me very upset that I didn't know something like this back home. My family would have loved to have something like this back home. That first bite was so amazing that I practically shoved the other cookies into my mouth and spent minutes just chewing them, moaning in joy as I did so. Half the village probably passed by me, giving me the weirdest looks I've ever gotten in my life, before I finished my food-gasm.

Red was chuckling at my face the entire time. When I finished, she took a step back from her counter. "Is this your first time in Nottingham?" I nodded to her. She nodded back, smiling to herself and started undoing her apron. She hung it up on some hanger and looked back at someone behind the wall. "Hey, Mr. Phillips. I'm taking the rest of the day off. Ok?"

Some man from inside the shop said, "Ok, Red. I can handle the rest of the day myself."

"My name is Isabella." She called back quickly.

"Everyone knows you're still Red on the inside. Changing your hair color doesn't change who you are." He called back just as quickly.

She rolled her eyes and looked at me. "Come on, Olin. I'll show you around town."

I found myself nodding. "Sounds fun." I replied.

She exited through the doorway, rushed up to me, grabbed me by the hand, and started pulling me. "We'll start with the town's garden. It has this beautiful lake with some of the prettiest flowers you'll ever see." She was quick to pull me to follow her. "So, what was your town like? What did you do for fun?"

What was my town like? "It was a small town. Maybe 40 people. We were mostly farmers and hunters. We would raise cattle, hunt game, and train warriors. I was the son of the chief. I didn't really have much fun other than fishing with my friends, or training with spears and swords."

"Really?" She asked as she looked back at me. "You're a fighter?"

I didn't really know what to say. I never expected to be asked a question like this. "I guess." Was my reply. "I'm not the best, but I can get by."

She beamed at hearing that. "You enjoy it, right?"

I nodded. "I do enjoy it."

"There's a tournament starting up tomorrow. If you want, we could watch it together." She said as she grabbed onto both my hands. "I have this friend that will be competing in it. I promised I'd cheer him on, and it would be a great change for you to see what our fighters are like. That sounds interesting, right?"

I don't know why she was asking me to join her on a tournament, but I nodded. "That does sound like fun."

"Great!" She squeezed my hands and then continued to pull me. "But until then, I still have to show you around town. This will be a great day for you, I'm sure."

She led me to the garden, where we sat in the grass and just looked at all the flowers for a couple hours. It was really quiet except for all the questions she asked me about my village and my family. She kept asking me about all the girlfriends I had, or at least all the girls that I had liked. While I had a few crushes, and I told her about them at her request, I didn't really have much to tell her about anything else. My life had been pretty normal. I'd train with the other kids, milk our cows, and clean our game once in a while. Once we spent a few hours in the gardens, Red pulled me out to show me the castle. It was pretty big, much bigger than my father's longhouse. I almost couldn't believe it.

When we were done with the castle tour, Red led me to a part of town that was disgusting. The walls looked ruined, the road was filled with blood, and I could see outlines of where people had been lying when they had been burnt to death. It reminded me too much of my town. Red squeezed my hand tightly, as she whispered. "What was it like? When you lost your home. What was it like?"

Thoughts of fire and screams returned to my mind. "I felt lost, and in pain. I would dream of my father and how I didn't know if he was alive or dead. There were a lot of uncertainties with what happened to my family. I don't think they survived though. I still dream of home, of all my friends, of my father. All of us one big happy clan with no war. Then I wake up and I'm still a slave. It hurts. All those familiar faces gone, erased from our planet, returned to the dirt. They wait for me in Asgard to join them, and I will when my times for me. Until then I live up to my father's legacy. It's all I have left." That and the treasure I was charged with protecting. Once I find it again. Maybe Eric knows where it is. I should ask him soon.

Red squeezed my hand. I could hear her crying softly beside. I looked over at her. She was glancing blankly at the street, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I grew up on this street. I had a lot of friends…a clan, I guess, a boy I liked. And just like you…I can still see their faces when I close my eyes. They smile at me, always urging me to keep going forward, to make them all proud." She touched her cheek with her free hand, a smile breaking open. "My friend's grandmother watches over me, telling me to be strong for the others, the ones that survived the purge on our family." She looked at me. "You know what I'm going through." She hugged me close to her. "I hate not having anyone to really talk to who understands me."

I had no idea what was going on, but I found myself hugging her back. "It's ok?" I said to her carefully as I hugged her.

She almost chuckled. "I do have my sisters, but I know it brings them pain for me to bring up. They hate talking about it, but I need to. And my new coven mother isn't as comforting as someone who's lived through it." She pulled me away, looking me in the eye. "I'm sorry for that. I try not to let it bother me, but I just really needed that. Do you feel like continuing the tour?"

I shrugged. "Sure." I replied to her. I can understand wanting to talk about your painful past. I hadn't had anyone to tell about my village until today. And Red and I had shared our stories with each other as we continued walking through the town. We stopped by a cold icy creamy stuff shop and we ate some white creamy substance with round sugary colorful small things that she called ice cream with sprinkles. We continued the rest of the day just talking while walking around the town. We ended back in the burnt part of town where Red lived.

She smiled at me as we came up to some old building. "Well, this is where I live. I guess I'll see you here tomorrow morning, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll be here right after the sun rises."

She smiled and leaned in. She kissed me on the cheek, ducking into the doorway. "I had a great date. Thanks for letting me show you around town." She closed the door behind her, and I was frozen in my spot. That was a date? How come I never figure these things out until it's already over? I shrugged it off and turned to leave. Right as I turned around, two men who looked upset with me blocked my exit. One of them was dressed in all green and brown, with his hood pulled up over his head. The other one looked dark in complexion and wore the most simplistic of outfits I've ever seen.

The guy in the hood talked first. "So, you're…who exactly?"

I guess I didn't have much of a choice but to answer them. "My name is Olin. I'm a Norseman. I'm currently a slave working on a project for rebuilding the port town."

The guy in the hood nodded. "Ah, that makes sense. My friend and I have been following the two of you around all day. Little Red is like a little sister to me, so I like to make sure she's protected. So, let me say this just once. If you hurt her…I will hurt you."

I nodded. "Understood, sir. Can I go back home now?"

He nodded. "Sure, I don't mind."

His friend, the one with the dark complexion, held up his hand. "Hold on, Hood. There is something…different about him. Don't you see it?"

Hood looked back at me for a second. He scanned my body for a second. "I don't see anything."

"It's not about seeing, it's about feeling." He replied. "I guess you didn't get the feeling from the cross because you hadn't been near it, but I felt something from the cross when the King used it. I can feel the slightest feeling of that same energy from the boy." He looked at me. "Excuse me, boy. Have you been exposed to unnatural magics that you cannot comprehend?"

Did he know about the sacred treasure? Was he with that tribe that tried to kill off my family? It would figure that this holy artifact would only cause more people to seek it out to claim its power. I don't know if he would believe me if I lied, but I had to try. No one should know about the sacred treasure. I had to find it and get rid of it forever. "Nothing, why?"

The man continued to look at me for a few seconds before he shrugged. "I guess it's nothing. If you do see some sort of spear or some round orb that feels funny, please tell me. There is a plot with bad people trying to get it. And if they do…this entire planet could be in danger. I'm trying to keep that from happening."

I don't know why, but I felt like he was telling the truth. So, I nodded to him. "Ok, sir. I'll let you know if I see something like that." I started to walk away from them, and I could feel them watching me as I walked back to the gate leading to the outside of town. But that wasn't the only thing that was on the back of my mind. I kept thinking about Red and how she kissed me right before going inside her house. That kept running into my mind until I found myself back at the camp.

The sun had long set and by the time I got inside, I could see Eric laughing with some slaves while they all drank some of the liquor still stocking the shelves. When he saw me, Eric raised his mug to me. "There he is! Hey, Norseman! Some share a pint with us. Tell us about your day."

I sat down next to him, taking a pint of whatever it was. "I went on a date."

Everyone looked surprise, but Eric only nodded. "Boy, you work fast."

"I didn't even know I was on one until it was over and she kissed me." My voice was barely even registering that I was talking. And I couldn't shut it up either.

Everyone started laughing and nudging each other. Eric only nodded and raised his mug in a toast. "I request that you tap this." He tapped his mug to mine. "Sounds like you had a fun day. You still have two more days before you return to work. Maybe go out with her again."

I found myself shrugging. "We're kind of already going to watch the tournament tomorrow. I wonder if it's another date."

Eric nodded. "More than likely. Just have fun." He stood up, patting me on the shoulder. "Get some sleep. It's late, and it seems like you have an early morning tomorrow."

I nodded. Yup, I definitely needed some sleep. Was I going to get any tonight? Probably not. Red was probably going to haunt my thoughts all night long.

Cearbhail:

And next chapter will be a part of the tournament. It will include some povs of both Zorro and Olin. and yes, he's on a date with Red.