My ears couldn't exactly make out the deep rumbling around me, but I could definitely tell they were voices. Whatever I was lying on was firm, but my hand was covered in something soft. One thing was for certain, and that was that my body was hurting ubiquitously. My consciousness was coming back, and I couldn't stop the painful groan that escaped my throat. The deep mumbling suddenly seized. Opening my eyes took some serious effort, seeing as they were sealed shut. A sharp pain flooded through my temple, causing me to grimace. Blinking a few times, I focused in on the four silhouettes standing in front of me. Four sets of crystal blue eyes were all fixated on me. With all of my strength, I shot up on my elbows. Wrong move. The breath was knocked from my lungs again, and a sharp pain resonated through my torso. I could tell that something was wrong with my ribs, but what exactly, I'm wasn't sure.

"Lie down." A hand rested on my shoulder, but the voice caused my eyes to widen. I knew that language, but why would he be speaking that? My widened eyes traveled the length of his body. His clothes were worn, and his blond hair was shaved on the sides. He spoke Old Norse, which my painful head tried to process.

"Where am I?" My voice came out as a croak, and I looked over at the only dark haired one. His eyes were so blue that the whites of his eyes were practically glowing. My hand traveled down to my aching ribs, and noticed white cloth wrapped around my torso.

"Just outside of Kattegat. What business do you have here?" The blond asked with his mouth set into a dangerous line. My eyes looked around the room, and noticed the old cottage like structure. The sweat on my palms started sticking to the fur blanket that covered my lap. The oldest looking one stepped forward with his hand covering his sword.

"Oh god. Where the fuck am I?" Struggling through the pain, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and tried my best to keep the dizziness in check.

The thought of having four men in the same room as me made multiple red flags go up. After I stood, I rushed from the room in a panic. I fled from the cottage into the cold, snappy wind. My head swiveled back, making sure none of them were following me. Turning back around, I came face to face with a stark white horse. The horse reared back, whinnying. My heart leaped into my throat, throwing myself back into the hard ground.

The worst pain hit me like a rock, causing me to scream out. My eyes clenched together, and I grasped my ribs.

"Ubbe?!" A new voice came from above me. Hands gripped onto my shoulders, holding me up. Three steps of footsteps came bounding towards me. My eyes opened in alarm, checking my surroundings. Another set of small, blue eyes looked down at me.

"What is this?" He questioned fiercely. His eyes traveled down my body, taking in my clothes and wound.

"I found her by the water. She was in pain, so I brought her back." The man, Ubbe, answered the bigger man. He went to pick me up, but I shoved hard at his chest. He didn't budge and was completely unaffected. He took another glance at the other men. A scraping sound came from behind me, and I scrambled back, away from the large, blond man.

"Please, just stay away from me." With one hand holding my ribs, I held my other out to the group of men. Fear was prominent in my mind, causing my heart to beat uncontrollably. I still had my jeans, combat boots, and black tank top on. Now, covered in mud, it caused my jeans to stiffen.

"Fine. Leave her to die." The voice came from beside me, and my head swiveled around to face the dark haired boy. He looked to be about my age, but that wasn't what caught my attention. He was leaning on his hands, bound legs in front of him. They were thin and frail looking, and were clearly useless. Recognition flashed through my mind, and my fear transformed into dread.

"Boneless..." My voice was barely a whisper, but his smug grin turned into a serious line. His blue eyes froze over and glared at me. His expression caused me to scoot back some, the dread returning to fear. It settled deep in my stomach, and I remember back to class, when Mr. Griffin often talked about the most well known Vikings. But these couldn't possibly be Vikings, and the aching pulse that resonated in my temple caused me to believe that I hit my head hard enough to be imagining this shit.

"Come girl, get back inside. You can leave at dawn tomorrow." The large man with fur clad shoulders motioned inside. I contemplated getting up and running away, but the pain slowly surfaced again and I leaned up against the post behind me. I used my open hand to put my weight into the wooden fence, and stand up. This plan failed completely, with me almost face planting into the mud. Hands wrapped around my waist, and lifted me higher into the air. I felt fur against my cheek, and watched as the man brought me back inside.
I heard them talking and they called him Bjorn. After he placed me in the bed, the pain in my side caused my eyes to droop. Anything to subdue this agony. The soft furs around me were comfortable, and helped my mind rest.

The pain blurred my vision, causing my eyes to water. One tear dripped down from the corner of my eye, and into my hairline. My mind was screaming for me to run, to get away from these strangers dressed as Northmen. The pain in my side said otherwise, telling me to rest.
In the end, the painful ache won over and I let myself fall asleep.
~ ~ ~
A rough, calloused hand gripped onto my shoulder and shook. Searing pain traveled its way up my body, causing me to gasp. My mind reeled with what was happening, and my wide eyes caught sight of Bjorn. His furs were no longer covering his broad shoulders, but a simple blue tunic clung to his muscular arms. He held his large hands up in surrender, and backed away. My back was rigid, and fear began to settle deep in my mind.

"I'm not going to harm you. I simply have... questions." His voice was deep, him too speaking Old Norse. The language was getting easier to keep up with, due to my mind being clearer. He motioned to the end of the bed, and started to sit. Through the pain, I pulled my legs toward my chin. His large body made the bed look miniscule.

"My name is Bjorn Ragnarsson, and you have met my brothers, Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd, and Ivar. Your clothing is odd, where have you come from?" His question caught me off guard, so I stared at his beady, blue eyes. The names caused me to do a double take, and when it finally registered through my foggy mind, I gasped.

"As in Ragnar Lothbrok?" His eyes changed, studying my every move. He stood, crossing his arms in front of him, head tilted. His long, ponytail swung behind him as he resituated.

"If you are looking for my father, you will have no luck here. No one, not even his sons or wife, have seen him in many years." He shook his head, and started to walk away. His boots made hard thud noises as he strutted away.

"Wait!" My voice was still hoarse, but loud enough for him to hear. He stopped, slowly turning to look at my face. His eyes roamed over my features, and started walking back towards me.

"I uh... don't know Ragnar Lothbrok, nor do I have business with him. But to answer your question, I don't even know my reason for being here. I don't know how I got here either." My voice depleted with each word, coming to a whisper at the end of my sentence. He must've noticed I was on the verge of tears again, and his brow slowly softened.

I couldn't think of any other excuse except for the fact that I am dreaming. The thought made me want to cry by itself, but holding the tears at bay, I kept my eyes on Bjorn. The little sun that was evident outside, shone through the wooden planks, signalling morning.

"You are free to travel to Kattegat with my brothers and I. Just long enough to recover from your injuries. You may take time to learn how to return to wherever you came from." His offer caused me to loosen some, hoping this would be the best for me. Maybe I will find someone that knows something about this shit.

"If you'll have me, that would be very generous of you."

About midday, the other men decided it was time to go. Bjorn helped me on his white stallion, situating me on the back while he slid on in front of me. He led the other brothers, all of us riding down a never ending dirt road. With every step, my jarred injury reminded me of the tremendous pain I was enduring. I've figured that the fall broke, or at the very least fractured some of my ribs on my right side. The brothers were strong enough to bind my bandages tight enough for it to keep them from moving too much.

The ride only took an hour or so, when we arrived in Kattegat. We were greeted by the few people, mostly working slaves running about doing their daily work. I received various looks, mostly ones of confusion. About half way through our journey, I couldn't hardly support myself any longer, resulting in me leaning against Bjorn's back. My arms loosely hung around his waist, but continuously fell due to my limp attempts to care.

Ahead of us, there was a group of people formed into a circle. Bjorn's head perked up, along with the other brothers. We stopped, and Bjorn hopped off, helping me down. Ubbe, Hvitserk, and Ivar all were enjoying the show before we arrived. Bjorn strutted ahead of me, pushing through the thick group. My curiosity caused me to walk over to them, standing next to Ivar.

"Who wants to be king!?" Then I saw him. He was just as the history books described him, wise and powerful looking. His beard hung to his chest, moving about in the small gusts of wind that graced us with their presence. His crazed blue eyes traveled among his sons, challenging them. Each one stood down, then his eyes landed on Ivar, and his mouth crept into a smile.

"Hello Ivar. There is no mistaking you." I glanced down at his expression, only to find a smug grin. When my eyes moved back up to Ragnar, his wise, blue eyes were looking directly at me. My body shrank beneath his intent gaze, his feet bringing him up to me. His eyes glazed over in astonishment, and his full lips parted slightly, taking deep breaths.
My eyes watched as he studied each one of my features, taking each one in carefully.

Recognition flashed over his eyes, and he gazed into mine as if he has committed them to memory.

"Runa?" His hand came to rest on my cheek, but my instincts made my face jerk back. His mouth turned up, much like the way Bjorn's did. He stepped back, eyes flashing with anger.

"WHO WANTS TO BE KING?!" He threw the sword into the dirt, glaring at his sons. Then I watched someone walk out towards him, sword in hand. Ubbe had a look of fear and concern on his handsome face, and Ragnar looked at him in fascination.

"Ubbe? You want to be king? King Ubbe!" Ragnar questioned, and Ubbe kept his ground. He clapped his shoulder with a chuckle. That's when I coughed, a burning feeling filling my throat.

Turning away, I kept coughing into my elbow, and I felt fluid come up. When my eyes travelled to the bend of my elbow, fear shot through me once again. Crimson dripped down my arm, onto the ground by Ivar's feet. When I looked over, I noticed his glowing eyes staring at me. My feet stepped back, knocking into someone.

"Sorry." I said in English, not realizing until afterwards. My mind was occupied with the blood on my arm and the burning in my throat. The urge to cough came again, this time much worse. Blood sputtered out, landing on the ground in front of me. The pain radiating from my side caused me to drop to my knees. My coughing turned into almost gagging, and when I looked up, I realized I had caught the attention of more people.

I felt arms wrap around my shoulders lifting me, but they weren't like the strong ones that belonged to Bjorn.

"Floki, take her to Helga," Bjorn's voice came from beside me, and when I looked up, I noticed the face of someone different. "I will take care of my father." From what I could see, the man nodded and started taking large steps away from the crowd.

The pain was continuously getting worse, and eventually, my vision started to blur from the outside. This was it. I am going to die. I'd always pictured dying in a hospital bed, near the ones I loved. This was the total opposite. I was okay with the first idea, this one however, wasn't too great.

With that, my lids fluttered shut once again.