A/N: I'm gonna be entirely honest, I know nothing about Vikings, which is today's prompt. I literally read through their Wikipedia page until I found something that might work for this story. So if this seems terrible, I'm sorry, and I'll do my best to make tomorrow's better. Anyway, I've rambled enough. On with the shitshow!

Bakugou's POV

"Katsuki, would you go milk the cattle, please?" my father asked me after I ate breakfast.

"Fine," I groaned, leaving my empty bowl. "Where's the hag?"

"Collecting walnut shells for me. And please don't refer to your mother that way,"

"Uh-huh," I scoffed before heading out toward the livestock pens.

While making my way there, I could see that the several Thralls had been out here since daybreak.

Our society is broken into three classes.

There's the Thralls, who are slaves. They do a bunch of basic chores and work. Some of them were kidnapped people from their homes by the warriors. Many people look down on them too.

Sure, they practically live like livestock, but that doesn't mean that they are.

Sometimes they're sold off so we can get silver. Fucking silver!

I'd like to imagine a human being is worth far more than a piece or two of silver!

Y'know, when I was younger, I dreamed of becoming a warrior, but after Toshinori Yagi almost died, and Enji Todoroki took over, I saw the carnage he brought on other people's homes.

The next level up is the Karls, which is where my family and I are. Some own farms, some own cattle, some own both. We own farms and cattle, but that's more work for the Thralls and myself.

I'm the only child my parents had that lived past two weeks.

And I was the first child they had.

After my sixth sibling died, I'd essentially grown numb to the death of those in my family.

It's inevitable, and I know it's going to come someday.

Eventually, the people who we've pillaged and stolen their people from will come to either do the same or kill us all.

I'm just bracing myself for the day it happens.

The third class is the Jarls. They're wealthy politicians, wealthy hunters, and wealthy assholes in general.

Fucking hate them.

Any Thralls they owned would sometimes be killed as a sacrifice if their owner died, and I fucking just...

Words cannot even begin to describe how much I despise Jarls.

Once I arrived at the pens with the cattle, I grabbed the bucket I needed, and hopped the fence.

"Alright, c'mere," I said, heading over to the corner and pulling the stool out.

One of the cattle, the sweetest one came over.

I call her Freyja. She's almost entirely a chestnut color, the only splotch of white being on her stomach, right above her udder.

Placing the bucket down, I lightly stroked her side, scooting a bit closer.

"Sorry if this hurts, Freyja," I mumbled, about to start.

Then I heard a loud thud against the other side of the fence.

I stood, and saw a boy around my age, with his long dark hair in a braid while covered in scars.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, walking over to the boy.

We met eye contact, and his red eyes widened.

"Please, don't hurt me! Please! I-I just need a place to hide for a few days," he cried, covering his face with his arms.

His forearms were littered with whip marks and scars, a few burns too.

"Follow me," I said, hopping the fence again. "Stay there, Freyja,"

A small moo came from the pen as I offered the boy a hand.

"I-I can leave, just d-don't hit me!"
he quietly begged.

"No, I'm helping you," I deadpanned. "You're a Thrall, right?"

He looked up at me with these big puppy eyes that melted my heart a little.

A small nod was all I got as a response before I could hear a group of men release war cries from not too far.

"Shit, okay, I gotcha. Head into the barn, hide in a stack of hay, I'll be back in a few," I said, jerking a thumb to the barn.

"Th-thank you!" the boy smiled at me, revealing sharp teeth. "Thank you so much!"

He was off in a flash, going straight in the direction I told him too, jumping over barrels and hay bales.

"Alright, Freyja, ready?" I sighed, hopping the fence.

A moo and jingling of her cow bell told me she was good to go.

I began to milk her, doing it slowly as not to hurt her.

Right when I was almost done, I heard a bunch of footsteps approaching.

"Boy!"

I sighed, standing up and turning to them.

"Have you seen a black haired Thrall run through here?"

"Yeah, sure have," I said, crossing my arms.

"Which way did he go? You'll get a handsome reward for helping us,"

"The Thrall went that way," I said, pointing to my left.

The opposite direction from the farm.

"Very well,"

And just like that, they were gone.

"They'll probably be back later.

Freyja had walked away from the bucket, and I saw that it was at least a fourth of the way full.

Enough to fill up two bottles.

Heading back to the barn with the bucket, I grabbed two bottles from the shelf to pour the milk into, when I remembered the Thrall who I let hide in here.

"Thrall, they're gone. You're safe to come out," I said as I began to pour the milk into a bottle.

A hay bale to my left rustled beside me before the scarred Thrall came out.

"Thank you so much," he said with a sigh. "How can I repay you?"

"No need," I said, handing him the full bottle and a cork. "Here, drink up. You probably haven't had anything to eat or drink in a while,"

"No, I haven't," he said before taking a quick sip.

"So, if you don't mind my asking, why were they looking for you?" I sat down next to the black haired Thrall.

"My master recently died, and I was to be killed as a sacrifice. Enji's men murdered other Thrall my master had owned with no mercy,"

"May I ask the name of your master?"

"He never told us his name. Said we wouldn't need it,"

"What about yours?"

"I don't remember all of it. Only my first name,"

"What do you mean you don't remember your name?" I asked in shock.

"They only ever called me rude names. Never my own. Only an older Thrall knew my name, and she only called me Eijirou,"

"Then that's what I'll call you,"

"What about you? Are you a Thrall too?"

"No, I'm a Karl. I don't like how Thrall are treated though," I scoffed.

"Oh," was all Eijirou said as he looked at the ground.

"Uh... I'm Katsuki, by the way,"

He gave me a nod, and we continued to just sit there.

"Uh... Katsuki?"

"Yes?"

"Can I stay here for the night?"

"Sure. You'll have to sleep in a hay bale, though,"

"It's better than stone,"

"Let me go get you something to eat, okay?"

"Thank you,"

"Sure thing,"

A/N: Not quite romantic, I know, but cut me some slack. This was a bit of a challenge for me. Anyway, I will see you guys tomorrow! Stay safe and healthy! - Septic / Spark