The sun was an early riser, never late in its conquest to set the lands alight with its momentous display of power. But just beyond the shore, in a quaint barn not far from the edge of the cliffs, was someone who arose right along with the ephemeral glow of the early morning horizon.

"Ahren, be kind to your sister, now. There is more than enough breakfast to go around, you know that I would never leave you hungry." A gentle voice sounded, hands undeniably tender yet simultaneously agile as they gripped the stem of a pitchfork.

The body connected to those hands was that of an Omega, one who stabbed relentlessly at the fresh bale of hay in an attempt to deconstruct it just like he did with every sunrise; rain, storm, or shine.

Ahren gave a frustrated grunt followed by a sharp whinny of disapproval and the Omega immediately tutted, freeing his fingers from the farm tool that promptly dropped into the pile of hay to instead focusing pale eyes and loving hands on the muzzle of his tall friend.

Ahren was a good stallion, a strong and powerful horse that was easily worth his own weight in gold. The Omega had been raised right alongside the impressive beast, ever since he stumbled upon this quiet village so many years ago at the ripe age of eight harvest cycles, and was lucky enough to secure employment as a stable boy.

It was a tough job full of back-breaking heavy lifting that quickly rendered the young Omega's delicate joints dust. It paid nothing more than one meal a day and shelter from the elements while he slept, but it was necessary.

He was safe here. He could hide away here. And anything... Everything was better than before.

And besides, his manageress – Arne – was nice enough, a widowed shopkeeper whose late husband was the former Jarl, or leader, of the village he now called home.

"Oh, do not give me that look! You know that I adore you!" The Omega praised with a smile bright enough to blind a sighted man. As he lovingly scratched at Ahren's velvety muzzle, the sight of his own, multicolored fingers rendered a reminder of how he ended up here in the first place.

See, this Omega led nothing short of a... unique life. Born into a family with a loving mother and father, that love quickly turned sour as he began to grow and his skin color began to change right along with the rest of him.

Cursed. Damned. Demon... The Omega had heard it all throughout the earliest years of his existence, confusion about why this was happening to him steadily surmounting as his parents sought healers far and wide to take heed of his apparent ailment.

He remembered peering into the lake by his family home, touching his face with soft fingertips as he wondered why they thought that the intermittent patches of paler pigment that gradually spread across his toffee-colored skin were something that could be so terrible.

But unfortunately, when certain falsehoods are repeated enough, anyone will start to believe them.

"Begone, demon. With Odin as our witness, your sins will not taint us here."

He would never forget the day when one too many healers consigned his fate and his parent's love for him ran out. The rain had been so cold that night as it pelted down on his back, strands of black and white curls sticking to his forehead like plaster and obscuring the very last view of his parents that he would ever glimpse before they slammed the door and cast him out for good.

He had been much too stunned, much too confused and perplexed to cry that day. Instead, the eight-year-old had simply stood there, rooted in the spot as he clung to the idea that maybe this was all some heinous, treacherous trick. But only when the sun nudged the moon from the sky and dusk turned to dawn did tiny seedlings of the truth finally seep into the cracks of his gentle heart.

His family did not want him. He was a demon. And now, he was all alone.

A bright neigh! pulled the Omega from the cavernous abyss of his mind, and he wasted no time in swiveling his soft gaze toward the majestic mare that also lived alongside Ahren in the barn.

"Sigge, what is it?" He asked, brushing dirtied hands on his britches after giving Ahren's muzzle one extra pat of well-deserved attention.

A platinum eyebrow rising with increasing awareness, the Omega quickly took heed of the slightest shift in the female horse's expression, the dryness to her tongue when her muzzle opened, and a specific, inexplicable state of understanding that had somehow become second nature to him over the years of living, sleeping and breathing alongside these beautiful creatures.

"Oh, I see," He cooed, making the short trek over to Sigge to run those dual-pigmented fingers through her long mane. The barely-detectable coarseness in the strands confirmed his suspicion. "I am very sorry that I fell asleep without filling your trough last night. Manageress Arne ordered me to help in the house until it was so late that my eyes couldn't stand it a second longer." The young Omega sighed, still surprised by how he somehow managed to stumble back to his makeshift bed in the corner of the barn in the wee hours of the morning. "But enough about me, you must be so thirsty, my love. No worries, I will go to the canal and fetch–"

"Vali!"

The Omega's head snapped around in an instant, an instinctive, self-preservative movement in response to the sound of his name rolling off of the sharp tongue of his manageress. He knew much, much better than to keep her waiting.

"Ma'am!?" Vali answered back in a space shorter than a millisecond, although his fingers remained tangled in the comforting depths of Sigge's mane.

"Fetch me water for my stew! Quickly, now!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Vali moved like a breeze, more than used to being slight and unnoticed. He placed a quick kiss on Sigge's nose before snatching up two wooden pails and scurrying out of the loose wallboards at the back of the barn.

A vague smile tugged at Vali's lips and a quiet melody hummed in his throat as he ambled along the side of the path that led down to the sea and, subsequently, the freshwater canal that it supplied.

The village was on the larger side of small, a coastal town in which everyone knew everyone and rumors flew like the neverending flocks of crows that liked to draw circles in the sky. Vali was never particularly akin to taking part in the gossip, finding himself much more comfortable with existing on the outskirts of their quaint community.

Besides, it was unlikely that anyone would even let him take part even if he wanted to, the objectionable state of his dual-toned patches of skin the one and only nail in the coffin of any probability of social interaction.

Well, at least he had his horses.

"VALI!"

... And Tofa. He also had Tofa.

A high-pitched squeal and a body crashing into his own left Vali tumbling haphazardly into the shrubbery that lined the far side of the pathway, leaving the misfit pair in a tangled mess of limbs and leaves.

"Tofa!" Vali finally giggled once a quick sniff confirmed that his attacker was, in fact, his best friend and fellow Omega. "You nearly killed me!"

Tofa whipped his body back, still hovering over his friend with a mischievous smile but this time providing enough room to at least allow the white-and-black-haired male to take a breath.

"I could never hurt ya'!" The smaller male replied, bright blue eyes glistening despite the fact that the sun was replaced by opaque clouds and heavy fog today. "I'm just tired from workin' all night and I saw ya' walkin' by and it had been a while since I last saw ya'... and... and I just miss ya'!"

Vali flushed, ducking his head to hide the supremely obvious blush that had a tendency to infiltrate the large patch on the left side of his face that was particularly de-pigmented.

"I miss you too, Tof, I truly do." He replied as his hands re-assumed their positions on the handles of his pails, truth interlaced into each word, "But my manageress is not a patient woman, you know that. I must get water for her before she loses patience and I sleep with an empty stomach again."

Tofa instantly deflated but nodded with understanding as Vali pushed himself back up to standing, preparing to continue his trek. However, before he could step foot back on the path, a short body sidled itself up next to him.

"I can go with, and I'll even help ya' carry ye'r pails back! Is that alright?" Tofa offered, and Vali could not ignore the way his soul softened at the sweetness of his friend's generosity.

"Didn't you just finish working the mead hall?" Vali inquired, not missing the dark crescents that loomed just underneath his friend's bright eyes, revealing the Omega's proper state of exhaustion.

The smaller Omega's smile faltered but did not break. "I did. But it's okay, they wer'nt too rough with me last night."

On the outside, Tofa was the embodiment of what everyone thought a 'perfect' Omega should be: pretty and delicate with large, long-lashed eyes and curves for days, all wrapped up in a short, non-threatening frame. But in reality, he was just like Vali – an outsider, an outcast, made an orphan at the hands of raiders in the few years before Vali himself had wandered here. Without a family to tie his name to, Tofa was forced to adapt to his new environment if he stood any chance of survival.

And adapt, he did.

If there was one thing that Vali admired about his best friend it was his strength, his tenacity to transcend any difficult situation that was presented to him. The small male was constantly underestimated, a notion that filled Vali with rage when most simply chose to write Tofa off as nothing more than the 'village whore,' when the Omega truly had so much more to offer to the world than the work that he had to do to survive.

"I would love for you to come with me, but only if you are really up to it. If you need to rest, you can head back and use my bed at the barn for a few hours–"

Tofa's hands waved wildly in front of him, "Oh no, no, no, I'm fine, I promise!" Sleepy blue eyes flickered down to the pail in Vali's right hand, and before the taller Omega could blink, the wooden item was snatched from his palm and Tofa was running, giggling at his own, playful antics the entire way.

Vali gave chase, an excited giggle bubbling up from his own throat as he instantly sprinted after his friend, kicking up dust on the path behind him.

It wasn't like Vali was considered particularly tall at a modest height of five feet and seven inches. But Tofa was short, the Omega maxing out at nothing more than five feet even, and this mismatch of leg length led to Vali catching up in less time than it took to skin a squirrel.

"Tof, you sneaky bugger!" Vali playfully exclaimed, bubbling laughter still emanating from his full lips as he finally snatched one of the pails back, knowing that his helpful friend would still insist on carrying the other. "How do you pack so much trouble in such a tiny package?"

Tofa twirled in a circle as the pair continued down the path, his bucket swinging around with him before he finally settled back around in the direction of his friend, a bright smile painting his crimson lips.

"Dunno! But I'm pretty sure that if I had a mate, they'd return me." The smaller Omega joked, waiting patiently for his friend to catch up once again.

"Oh, please." Vali bumped his friend's shoulder with a roll of his eyes, "You're a catch, Tof. Whoever is lucky enough to be mated to you would be an idiot to ever let you go."

Tofa's face flushed a light pink hue, but the Omega's words contradicted his outward display of flattery. "Good thing I hate Alphas," He emphasized the statement with a kick at the dirt with the tip of his thin shoes, "I hope I never find my mate."

Vali sighed as they approached the steep steps carved into the rock face of the cliff that led to the freshwater canal. He had listened to his friend express his unfavorable opinion of Alphas for years now, each instance a little bit more scathing of the brutish gender.

It could have been a result of his chronic optimism or the fact that he yearned for his closest friend to find happiness with a mate someday, but just as much as Tofa expressed his distaste, Vali couldn't help but gently push back.

"Well, I'm sure the Alpha that Odin has fated to you will be kind."

"Kind?!" Tofa immediately gave his friend a look of incredulity, staring daggers as they descended the steps. "Ya' know Alokki, right?" He suddenly asked, and the rapid change of subject had Vali's forehead scrunching up with confusion. Regardless, he went with it.

"He's the trader whose mate is pregnant, right?"

Tofa nodded. "Yea. But he's also 'the trader' who used my services last night."

Vali stopped in his tracks, turning around to present his friend with a wide-eyed expression of shock. "He... he cheated on his mate?!"

Cheating on one's mate once bonded was considered a high sin, akin to cursing at the feet of Odin the most high himself. In fact, once one found their fated mate and bonded, it was almost impossible for them to desire another. Therefore, learning of Alokki's alleged betrayal had an effect on Vali similar to being struck by lightning.

"Shh!" Tofa shushed his friend, hurrying them both down the rest of the steps and checking over his shoulder to see if anyone could have overheard the scandalous conversation. Only once Tofa towed his friend far enough away to ensure that they were out of earshot, did Vali continue.

"B-but..." Vali sputtered, still at a loss for words as he tried to figure out how this could be true, "Are they fated mates or just informally mated?"

Tofa shrugged as they finally approached the canal, fingers pink from carrying the heavy wooden bucket all of this way, "Does it really matter? It just proves that Alphas aren't good for nothin' but gettin' their cocks hard. "

The taller Omega deflated, dropping his pail to the ground beside the rushing canal. "Well..." he started, trying to find a silver lining, "Those kinds of Alphas might be good-for-nothing pieces of shite, but Odin would never give you a mate that would do something like that to you!"

Tofa shook his head with a chuckle as he carefully lowered his pail into the rapidly flowing current of the canal, deciding that it was time to change the subject to something more desirable than his never-to-exist love life.

"Ya' keep talkin' about a mate for me, when we really should be talkin' about ye'r future Alpha." He teased, wiggling his brows and tucking a few unbraided strands of pitch-black hair behind his ear. "What's ye'r ideal man look like?"

Vali chewed his lip as the gears turned, a part of his brain that had never before been acknowledged set alight.

Of course, the thought of having someone who would unconditionally love you for who you were would be a tempting offer to anyone, and Vali was no exception. The idea of mating was something that had always lingered in the very back of the Omega's mind, a minuscule itch that never quite went away. But luckily, it was easy enough to ignore when one had much more important things to worry about, like staying alive and having enough food to eat by the end of the day.

Just as quickly as it came, what little excitement the thought conjured up in a long-dormant part of Vali's tender heart was nullified once he dipped his pail into the canal and spied a glimpse of his unusually colored fingers – patches of light brown and stark white reminding him of the improbability of such a thing ever happening to him.

Demons weren't worthy of the privilege of a fated mate.

But it was okay. He was used to it. Vali would be fine just by himself.

Vali hauled his pail out of the water, droplets dripping from the bottom of its wooden surface and absorbing into the thin fabric of his sandals as he avoided directly answering Tofa's question.

"I am fine on my own, Tof. I doubt that any Alpha could fall in love with someone who looks like me."

The smaller Omega stomped his foot at once, immense frustration at his friend's response causing his brows to pull together into a piercing glare that sharply contrasted his soft features. "Vali, have ya' even seen y'erself?! Y'er fuckin' gorgeous, I wish I looked like you!"

The white patch on the left side of Vali's face flushed pink at the unexpected compliment despite knowing it was simply his friend being his usual, kind self. And, in lieu of the fact that his body had no clue how to react to such positivity thrown in his direction, Vali playfully nudged his friend's shin with the tip of his sandal.

"Oh, whatever, you're only saying that because you are my friend." He stuck his tongue out and they both finally picked up the water-filled pails, short bodies slightly straining with the weight of the load, "Well, at least Ahren and Sigge seem to like me well enough. They're better than any mate."

The pair fell into a tandem step as they slowly headed back toward the staircase that led back up to the village, the sound of water sloshing around in their buckets reverberating between them.

"Ya' know, ya' always have had a special way with the horses, I say. That there is a gift from Odin with the way they flock to ya'."

Vali nodded, a smile pulling at his lips at the thought of his equine best friends. He truly did adore them, his relationship with Ahren and Sigge one of the few things that he could honestly say brought him joy in this life. They communicated their love without a word, devotion and understanding flowing through an intangible but undeniably unbreakable bond that no one else could possibly understand.

Vali adored his horses, and nothing in this entire world could change that.

The sea was steady, and Vali's heart rolled with the calm waves that crashed against the far side of the cliff as a comfortable silence settled between the two Omegas.

Sometimes Vali wondered what must lay out there, beyond the horizon and past the sea. But he was always quick to quell his curiosity, knowing deep down that he was destined to live and die here; in this quaint, coastal fishing village with its nosy neighbors, lovely horses, and his one true friend.

"You go." Vali said with a gentle smile, nudging his head in a motion that told his best friend to start up the single-wide staircase first.

"What a gentleman!" Tofa teased, winking in his friend's direction before beginning the long trek back up the cliff. Vali scurried up close behind, eager to get back to his demanding manageress and his thirsty equine friends.

But he made it up a couple of steps – maybe four or five – before he heard it.

The pail slipped free of trembling fingers, soaking his britches in ice-cold water and making a dull, echoing sound as it bounced down the very stone steps that he had just ascended.

But nothing echoed as loudly as the ear-splitting shriek of terror that shook the treetops and frightened away the crows resting there.

It was a wail that came straight from the heart of the village; a wail with a level of throat-splitting ferocity that could only possibly mean one thing.

Raiders.

_

A/N: Some notes for your better understanding!

1. Vali has a condition called Vitiligo, which causes progressive loss of pigmentation of the skin in various-sized patches. You can look up pictures if you are curious!

2. Odin is the Viking/Old Norse god

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Xoxo, Alex ❤️