Hey guys! Sorry for the late updates! Promise, I'll try to update as soon as possible.
RECAP: Caroline helps Nik away from Mikeal and applies medicine on his wounds. Nik asks Caroline to teach him her tribe's warfare and Caroline decides to seek permission of the Alpha by swimming to the other ship!
And thank you for your review justine!
Caroline smiled as she felt the comforting 'whoosh' of air in her ears. Just before she entered the water, she twisted her body to look down at the water, her arms joined and outstretched in front of her. She cleanly cut through the water and went several feet underwater due to the force and height of her fall.
She looked around herself in the water. It was so peaceful that she felt compelled to stay there for a few minutes. She stood there, still, except for her legs which were kicking slowly to keep her from travelling further down into sea and drowning. She turned stiff as she saw a dolphin swimming towards her. 'By Odin's missing eye! How could I be so stupid?' she cursed herself. The dolphins of the sea were known to be very aggressive.
As the dolphin approached her, she could see that it was a very old one. As it came near her, it stopped next to her and just gazed at her with its wise, serene eyes. Then, it just swam away. Caroline thanked all the gods known and unknown. The age would be of no matter if the dolphin had decided to attack. In her relief, Caroline had failed to notice a younger dolphin behind the old one.
She recoiled in shock as it swam up to her stealthily and butted its snout against her shoulder. She looked on it in shock as it bounded around her, as if excited to play. Caroline couldn't help but smile. It seemed like in every species, there was always one who broke all the rules and went against its own nature. It was the sea dolphins' nature to be ill-tempered, aggressive and murderous, but there one was, right in front of her – a sea dolphin who wanted to play.
Cautiously, she stretched out her hand hesitantly, to pat the dolphin. It turned to look at her with wide eyes. She turned stiffened, her hand still stretched out above its head. Suddenly, it jerked its head up and made contact with Caroline's hand and nuzzled against it.
Caroline giggled. It was just so cute. Suddenly, she saw a large shoal of fish swimming towards them. It swam through them, not even bothering to deter their route. But they all scattered as soon as the dolphin jerked its head and swallowed a fish.
Then, the dolphin swam around her in circles so fast that it made her dizzy. She started laughing, but immediately stopped as she realized that she had just lost most of her air supply. Her eyes widened in fear. She was several feet below the surface and had very less air supply. Trying not to panic, she started to swim towards the surface.
The dolphin followed her and again butted its snout against her shoulders and swam around her in circles. Her eyes widened. Was it possible? Her Alpha was the only one she had ever heard of who had ridden a dolphin. Well, there was only one way to find out. Determined to save herself, she caught hold of the fin on the dolphin's back and braced herself. She knew that her chances were slim of making it back to the surface all by herself.
She grinned in delight as the dolphin swam upward, its tail lashing back and forth powerfully. She frowned as she realized that it was swimming nearly vertically to the surface. 'Oh God ! It was about to jump! 'She shut her eyes tightly, her lungs burning for air and waited for the jump to break the surface.
Niklaus was worried. Several minutes had passed by and she hadn't surfaced. Panicking, he ran around the deck shouting "Help! Man overboard! Help! "
A dozen men came running onto the deck. Niklaus recognized them to be from the Northern Tribe. He ran to them, panting, and gripped a man's arms and said, "Caroline. It's Caroline. She jumped off the deck." The men visibly relaxed. The man whom Niklaus was gripping called out to everyone, "No reason to panic, everyone. It's just Vigdís."
The men relaxed and a few even laughed. Niklaus saw Mikeal and Ester come out onto the deck. "What is it?" Mikeal asked, approaching them. Niklaus just ignored them and whispered urgently to the man, "No. You don't understand. She has been underwater for a long time. Too long."
The man just laughed and patted Niklaus on the back, "Don't you worry son. Vigdís is one of the best swimmers in our tribe. In fact, she is the best next to our Alpha."
Niklaus, now frustrated, screamed at the top of his lungs, "YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND! She has been underwater for more than TEN MINUTES! And this is not freshwater we are talking about, this is saltwater!"
The man's eyes widened in shock and fear. Everyone knew that one cannot hold one's breath in sea water for as long as one could in freshwater. He pulled out a piece of parchment and coal from his pouch that hung on his waist, scribbled something and let out a piercing whistle. Everyone watched as a hawk flew over to them from the Northern Tribe's ship which was sailing parallel to them.
The man rolled the parchment and put it into a cylindrical hollow container made of metal which was tied to its claws. The bird took off. The man turned back to the rest of them and said, "I have informed the Alpha about Vigdís."
Within a few minutes, the hawk came back and the man popped open the cylinder's lid and took out the parchment. His eyes widened as he read the message. He turned to his men and whispered, "The Alpha himself shall be entering the water." At this, all men ran to the railings and leaned against it, craning their necks to see what was happening on the ship that was travelling parallel to them.
Niklaus, followed by Mikeal and Ester, too went to look along with the other men. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a clear view. He saw as a man came striding across the deck and tore off his shirt, preparing himself to enter the water. "The Alpha..." the man next to him whispered.
He saw another man stopping the Alpha in his tracks, probably trying to dissuade him from entering the water. Niklaus winced as the Alpha roared at the man in anger. His shout could be heard till their ship! The man next to him shook his head in despair and whispered, "Not good. So not good. in all my years, I have never heard the Alpha raise his voice like that."
"Then how does he get people to obey him?" Niklaus asked, whispering. The man gave him a strange look and scoffed, "Because he doesn't need to. People respect him too much to go against him. He is the most pure hearted man I have ever seen. And anyway, he is not one to shout and get frustrated. He has the most brilliant mind and his plans never fail. Not to mention that he is a deadly warrior. He moves like a cat, lithe and graceful; his attacks are steady but sure. My name is Niál by the way."
Niklaus turned back to look at the Alpha. Even from the distance, he could see that the Alpha was a very strong, well-built man. His long golden blonde hair glowed in the tender rays of the rising sun as he climbed onto the railing of the ship, ready to jump into the water.
"Aaargh!" Caroline screamed in exhilaration as they broke through the surface. Her body flew behind her as the dolphin cut through the air. Caroline held onto the dolphin's fin for dear life as her body flew in the air alongside the dolphin's body, making it as if she were flying. Caroline couldn't stop screaming as adrenalin rushed through her as they cut through the air. She quickly took another gulp of air before the dolphin entered the water and her world was plunged into peaceful darkness once more, now slightly tinged orange with the sunrise.
The decks of both the ships were stunned into silence when suddenly, Caroline came flying out of the water, screaming and hanging on to a dolphin. The Northern Tribe ship broke into whooping and cheering as Caroline entered the water again. The Northern Tribals next to Nik too started cheering loudly, thumping each other on the back with joy. Niál thumped Nik on the back and clapping and said, "I have never in my life seen anyone ride a dolphin like that! Our Alpha is the only we know of who has ridden a dolphin, and believe me, even he hadn't made his dolphin jump like that! I saw it myself you see, so I would know."
The cheering grew louder as a screaming Caroline again emerged from the water on her dolphin and this time, the beast had jumped so high that it nearly reached the level of the ship's deck surface. Now, Klaus could clearly see Caroline's face. It was euphoric. She was clearly enjoying herself. Then the dolphin began its descent by giving more slope to it so that they wouldn't be completely submerged in water when they hit it.
For a second, they both disappeared under the surface, before Caroline broke the surface, her face glowing and the dolphin came up right next to her. A rope ladder was thrown down the Northern ship and Caroline strongly swam towards it, closely followed by the dolphin. She grasped the end of the rope ladder and hoisted herself up. She started climbing the ladder, while the dolphin waited in the waters beneath the ladder.
As soon as she reached the top of the ladder, she was pulled into a very fierce manly hug by the Alpha. They both hugged each other hardly before the Alpha gathered her in his arms and twirled her in his arms. As soon as she left his embrace, Caroline slid onto one knee in front of the Alpha, placed both her hands on top of her hoisted knee and bowed her head. The Alpha announced called out something to his men, who all roared, the guards banging their spears against their shields.
Caroline then swiftly got onto her feet and whispered something to the Alpha, who nodded and said something to the man standing next to him. The man went down into the ship's interiors and soon returned with a large fish in his hands, which he gave, bowing respectfully, to Caroline. Caroline then walked upto the edge of the deck and threw the fish to the dolphin waiting below, which hungrily swallowed the fish whole. It then flipped once in the water, as if to say goodbye, and swan away into the endless ocean.
Then, the Alpha gave a long speech to his men, to which, the men reacted so enthusiastically that every water beast within five miles must have been irked.
Ester's breath caught when she saw the blonde man twirl Caroline in his arms. No, it couldn't be. Could it?
Niklaus watched as Caroline and the blonde man walked hand-in-hand to the edge of the deck and once again, threw themselves backwards into the sea. He watched as they both swam upto his ship. Niál threw down the rope ladder and seconds later, Caroline was standing on the deck, when all the men swarmed up to her and they all slid onto one knee around her, bowing to her.
A second later, the Alpha emerged from the rope ladder. Now that he was nearer, Klaus got a better look. He had a defined face. Blue eyes that shone like the sea on a sunny day, full lips and dimples, that currently showed as he stood there, watching his men pay homage to Caroline, pride evident in his features. His bare chest was surprisingly smooth and hairless. His hair flew out behind him, like a lion's mane in the gentle breeze. He grabbed onto a clean cloth that was hung on the ship's rails and wiped his torso dry.
When the men got up, the Alpha moved towards Caroline, stood by her side and announced to his men in a clear voice that held great authority, "Today, my daughter has once again proved her worth by riding one of the violent sea beasts. She has not only ridden into battle by our side, but has also accomplished many a feat in her years since she has started training. She has proved to us men that even women are capable of being as much as a warrior as a man or sometimes, as in case of my daughter, better than a man. My men, you and your kin and comrades have yourself, willingly, given my daughter the title 'Vigdís' and have given your approval to my decision of her being my Beta. And there is many a man present here who my daughter has led into battle, taking my place as the commander when I was dealing with other matters at hand back in our tribe-land. Now, I ask of you, my men, to give your approval of me making my Caroline, your Caroline Vigdís as my heir! She has proved herself worthy in every way and thus, I have made my decision. Your comrades and brothers on the other ship have already very enthusiastically agreed to my decision and I ask you, because every man should have a say in who his leader should be; do you think my decision is wise? Do you accept Caroline as your next Alpha?" he roared.
The answering roar was deafening. Even the men on the other ship started celebrating, knowing that their comrades had agreed to their Alpha's decision.
A giggling Caroline tugged the Alpha behind her to where Nik was standing as the celebrations still proceeded around them. "Father," she said to the Alpha. "This is Niklaus." She gestured to Nik. "He wants to learn our fighting and I said I would ask you." He looked at her questioningly and she nodded back at him, replying, "He can be trusted." The Alpha grinned and turned to look at Niklaus.
"As long as Caroline trusts you, so do I." Saying so, he leaned forward and hugged Niklaus. "Pray, what is your name, lad?"
"Niklaus, my lord." Nik answered. The Alpha's eyes widened in surprise. "Is that so?" he asked. "I think you should know that your name is very dear to me. It was my father's. Now Caroline here tells me that you want to learn to fight. Now I would like to meet your parents before deciding anything lad. May I have the pleasure of meeting the parents of such a fine young man?" he asked.
Nik nodded and led him and Caroline to where Mikeal and Ester were standing. "My lord, this is my father, Mikeal and this is my mother Ester. Mother, father, this is the Alpha of the Northern Tribe." Nik introduced them to each other.
The Alpha's eyes widened as he laid his eyes on Ester. He stiffened slightly, but only so that only Caroline could feel him stiffening because she held his hand in hers. The pregnant woman too, now stood transfixed. The Alpha inclined his head slightly towards Mikeal as acknowledgement and held out his hand for Ester, who placed her slightly trembling hand in his and bowed slightly. He brought her had to his lips and kissed it softly, murmuring, "It's nice to meet you Lady Ester." He let go of her hand and stepped back lightly, not leaving her gaze.
But only Caroline detected something wrong as the men celebrated around them.
Okay, I know you guys would have guessed who the man is! And to some of you, I wanted to clear your doubts. Caroline is not a goddess - 'Vigdís' is a title showing her bravery in battle, that's all. And I've got some tricks hidden up my sleeve! ;)
Think I want to introduce Elijah, Rebekah and Kol in the next chapter. I know that according to Rebekah, they were all born in Mystic Falls, but I decided to make a small change and make it such that only Henrick would be born in Mystic Falls!
Until next time...