Kratos x Reader

Twelve

With each step the sound of the hammer hitting the anvil got louder. With it came the feeling of a fire, that was kept alive somewhere and the smell of sweat.

From the corner of your eyes you could see Atreus.

He was talking to someone, his mouth filled with a thousand different words that he wanted to say all at once. He giggled, his hands were reaching for things.

"Is that an apple?", you asked and picked it out of his hand.

"Hey!", he protested and grabbed it back. "That's mine. If you want one ask Sindri. He has a lot of those."

With a broad grin he hurried his teeth in the much flesh and ripped it out to swallow. Apple juice dripped from his lips, covering it in a thing glaze.

"You eat like a pig.", a light voice complained.

It sounded noisy, a little too negative and scared. As if the person that was talking was petty.

"You're always complaining, aren't ya? Let the boy eat so he can get some muscles. He looks nothing like his father and more like a wet cloth.", another voice said.

This one was deeper, rougher in its way of talking. But there was also a smile that could be heard, hidden between the words.

Interested by the voices, you turned your head and looked into the faces of two men. One of them seemed normal, pale skin and a brown bearded face. He looked like a human, but with short legs.

His upper body was dressed in a noble armour made of hold. He was wearing leather gloves.

The other one looked a lot coarser. His skin was blue, his beard something between black and a bluish grey. He wasn't wearing a proper armour but a leather apron and some tools around his belt.

He was shorter than the first man but had no hair on his head.

Surprised by the sight, your eyebrows rose.

"Dwarfs?", you asked.

Eagerly, both of them nodded.

"That is absolutely correct.", the taller dwarf said. "Let us introduce ourselves. My name is Sindri, master smith of the dwarven folk."

He bowed, politely and elegant.

The blue dwarf shook his head, obviously mocking him.

"I'm Brok. This weird fucks brother.", Brok offered you a hand to shake. "You don't look like the usual company that these two have. Why are you out here again?"

Throwing a gaze over your shoulder, you could see how Kratos eyebrows moved.

He was annoyed.

Suppressing a grin, you turned away again. You were slowly getting better in reading his little facial expressions and it kind of scared you how accurate you became.

Maybe he wasn't that big of a mystery.

"I hired them.", you said.

Letting out a whistle, Brok grinned.

"You're mercenaries now? If I would have know the two of you would be rich people now. We need some things, iron, some leather and the heart of a soul eater. If you could collect some on your way we would appreciate it."

Laughing, the dwarf brothers returned to their smithing work. Their hands worked quickly, but without loosing their perfection or quality.

You had heard that the dwarves were a folk of great craftsmanship. Their weapons were worthy of the gods and even Odin longed for such skilled hands.

As you watched them, Sindri eyed you up and down, before flashing a thin smile.

"You're unarmed I see. Do you need a weapon?", friendly, he offered you a dagger.

It wasn't special but the blade shimmered in a soft light, as if it was smithed out of pure silver.

You had to admit, you hand twitched and for a moment you wanted to take it. But as quickly as this feeling came, as quickly it disappeared again.

Softly, you shook your head.

"No, thank you. I prefer to go without weapons.", you said, raising a hand.

Confused, the dwarves looked at you.

"This world is dangerous. You should take it.", Brok insisted.

Again, you shook your head.

"I can't. I made a promise to someone once."

Unsure, Brok glared over to Kratos.

He shrugged, but held his hand out for the dagger.

Without a word, Brok gave it to him, getting a small amount of silver in return.

You feared that Kratos wanted to pass it to you, but he didn't. Instead, he let it disappear in his little pocket that was hanging on his belt.

With curious eyes, Atreus looked at you. He clearly did not understand why you refused a weapon but he wanted to know more before he was making fun about it.

"But (Y/N), why can't you carry a weapon? There are so many monsters out here, no promise could be worth of nit being armed.", he said, grabbing your wrist.

A thin smile appeared on your face. He was so innocent, yet so caring about your well-being.

"I promised that as a healer, I will not take a single life. I carry no sword because even if I just defend myself, I might hurt someone. And that is not the path in life that I have chosen.", you stroked through his short hair, smiling. "But I'm fine, you are here to protect me, aren't you?"

A giggle filled his small chest.

Behind you, Kratos moved. A displeased sound left his lips.

"That's unwise.", he said but did not say anything more.

With a loud sound, he let his axe fall onto the desk of the dwarves and asked them to take a look at it. But their eyes were stuck to you.

Filled with disbelief, they their mouths moved, trying to find the right words.

"(Y/N), you say?", Sindri stuttered. "Protector of the weak and sick? The angel of the gods?"

"Are you sure?", Brok asked, even more shocked than his brother.

With both lips pressed together, you nodded.

Immediately, the two bowed.

"Oh, if only we would have noticed sooner. Forgive us our rudeness, godly angel. We didn't wanted to disrespect your promise to the godmother Freya! We swear.", Sindir apologised.

With a nod of the head, you accepted their apology and allowed them to stand straight again. But their shame wasn't fully drained yet.

"Please, what brings you down to us? You see, my brother and I, we owe you our life! Yes, our life!", Sindri continued.

Mit knowing what he meant, you tilted your head in question.

"You were the one that saved us at birth, godly angel.", Brok explained. "We would have died without your gift and tenderness."

"Ah.", you said. "My apologies, but I don't remember a lot from the past anymore."