FINDING AMERICA

~Leif Erikson~

Leif Erikson stood on the forefront deck of his ship, balancing himself as the ground rose and lowered beneath him continually in an even pattern. For years, Leif, the Chieftain of Greenland had been sailing the seas in order to explore its grand mysteries, but neither him nor his men had ever been this far north before. The young captain wasn't an idiot. He knew the risks of traveling so far with little to no real knowledge of the land beyond the waters, but he was a Viking! It was his job to explore the lands others wouldn't dare to tread and it was his job as both Chieftain and Captain to show his men that even in the face of unknown dangers, he would never back down.

"Captain, land ho!"

Leif turned at the call and his eyes shown bright as they widened, staring in the direction they were going. He had been so caught up in his inner thoughts he hadn't really been seeing anything beyond the dark waters. Finally, after months of travel, they had finally arrived.

"So this…this is North America?" asked his first mate in awe.

The two could only stare as the land mass became more detailed, more beautiful with its lushes green forests and beautiful mountains peeking high in the distance. It took Leif's breath away; something that was rare when it came to the young captain who wasn't easily awed by anything, less it be a woman.

"Get ready to dock, we aim to take this land", he responded, his chest swelling as he looked around him, the mere size and grandeur of the place striking every man with speechlessness.

"North America…huh", he stated to himself as he smiled and turned to prepare for docking.

H~H

Leif and his men unloaded the boat with what gear they needed in order to make a small camp near their ship. The jungle around them was silent, yet seemed so wild, so free.

"I want to go have a look around the perimeter, anyone wishing to come may join, however I need some men to remain here with the ship in case of natives."

Several men volunteered to stay with the ship, all fearful of the untamed and unknown land before them, but some like Leif himself, were practically begging to go into the dense forest. These men, along with their Captain, started out to find out what exactly made this land so captivating.

H~H

From within the forest, two small pairs of eyes peers out at the strangers who had just landed on their shores. They had never seen men like these before, but they knew almost immediately what they were. Vikings. Their mother had told them about the strange explorers in her vivid and detailed stories of the outside world.

"I want to meet them", one whispered to the other.

"Are you crazy?!" the other whispered back with exasperation, "Mother would never allow it."

"Mother isn't here right now", the first one said with a tone as though the other should know it was obvious.

"Well yes", the second said with a sigh, "but…mom would be angry. We should wait. At least until she is with us."

"Are you scared?" the first asked with a hint of gloating in his voice.

The second frowned. Of course he was scared! He could only wonder why the other acted as though it was perfectly normal for men with swords to come wandering into their home. He had to go warn mother!

"I…I will be back, I am going to go tell mother", he said as he took off.

The other sighed in annoyance, but continued to watch the men who had trespassed into their lands. Mother really would be angry, the child thought to itself, but that thought didn't stop the curious native from inching closer.

H~H

Leif felt like something was watching him. He didn't know what it was, but that nagging feeling in his gut like something was stalking him was beginning to overwhelm his senses.

"Keep on guard men", he whispered to the others, "we have visitors."

A bush rustled a bit to his right and he smirked. Obviously whoever was following them wasn't great at it or it was merely an animal that was attempting to hunt them, probably unaware of what a person even was, if natives didn't live in this territory as some of his men were speculating.

Staying down and silent, Leif moved to the right nonchalantly as though having never noticed the noise. He didn't want to spook whatever it was away. Person or animal, he wanted to find out what inhabited the land. He motioned to his men to go around back, ready to make a move should it actually be a beast for some kind.

Just when Leif was close enough to reach out the touch the bush, a noise in the sky captured his attention. He looked startled when he saw a grand bird flying through the air, circling them.

"What an odd looking bird", he remarked casually, somewhat awed by everything he saw, yet he kept his mind on the present mission: Find out who was spying on them. He decided to use this moment to his ultimate advantage, for as soon as he side stepped a bit closer to the bush, seemingly peering into the sky, he twisted around and reached into the bush, grabbing a hold of the very first piece of skin he came into contact with.

Of all the things the man had been expecting, what he found was definitely not it. Leif just stood there staring at his captive with utter disbelief. Meanwhile, the child within his arms kicked and squirmed, trying to get away from his rough grip.

"W-Wha…who the heck are you?" he muttered as he knelt in front of the child, struggling to keep a hold of it as it stared up at him wide eyed.

"What did you find Cap'n?!" came the voice of his first mate who had circled around back in order to stop the spy in case it had fled.

Leif could hardly find the words to answer his friend and shipmate, so mesmerized was he, for standing in front of him, barely as high as his knee cap was a small child, a girl with short light colored brown hair and ocean blue eyes. She was so lovely and so pale skinned, he was sure he must be seeing a miniature forest spirit.

His shipmates also crowded around the child, all of them staring at her in wonder. The girl herself had stopped her struggles as she stared up at the men standing around her. She had never seen such men before, though her mother had spoken of them. Vikings…she believed they were called.

"Can you speak?" Leif asked as he knelt in front of the small girl.

The child furrowed her brow, as though in wonder at the strange language. Perhaps, he though, she merely couldn't understand their tongue.

"I suppose it would be too much of a stretch to think you truly can understand me", he sighed, but as he went to stand, her small hand stopped him, grabbing hold of his coat.

"A-Amer…ica…" she whispered.

The men all stared at her, stunned. She had really just spoken! All of them burst into smiles, pleased that she could speak. Only Leif remained frozen. America. Had she just said her name was America? Wasn't that the name of this land?

"Your name", he stated as he knelt down once again in front of the small child, "Is America?"

The little girl looked down at the ground, her bare foot digging into the soil beneath it as she nodded shyly. Looking up, he was startled when his eyes connected with hers. A barrage of emotions filled up as he looked at the child. It was as though he could see a future so full of beauty, yet madness for this land around him. When the vision stopped, he sat back in total astonishment.

"What are you", he whispered so only she could hear him.

The child just looked at him.

"America", she replied again and grinned.

AUTHORS NOTE:

Alright, so this was my first chapter and my first attempt at a semi-historical viewpoint of the history of America part 1, the time of the Vikings. Now I know I have a lot of work to do still, but work with me people, it will get better as time goes along ;)

Now, here is my first question to the readers. Should I do another chapter with Leif or move on to Christopher Columbus?

Let me know in a review! If you don't, I will just pick the one ;P