Thorfinn's brother (Vinland Saga)

Sun Behind The Clouds

Bo awoke from lying on his mat with a yawn and stretched his arms, rolling his shoulders to get rid of the stiffness in his muscle. The bright morning sun warming his face pleasantly, there wasn't a cloud in sight. Grabbing onto the side of the ship to help him sit up, he wondered why his body felt so heavy this morning, almost like there was someone weighing his back down.

Shrugging it off as him still being tired he stood up and turned to the ocean to relieve himself. But as he looked at the waters below, a decomposed face stared right back at him. Bo wanted to jump back in fright, but a hand shot out from the water and gripped his face in a crushing grip, making the scares on his face throb.

The hand on his face started pulling him towards the water, Bo held onto the side of the ship for dear life and dug his heels in. Bo tried to look around and caught Aegir out of the corner of his eye. "Help me!" Bo screamed in desperation, but the other man didn't make a move to help, staring blankly as two more hands grabbed Bo's shoulders.

"Aegir, help me! Please!" He pleaded again as he struggled more to keep his body in the boat. But Aegir still didn't move. "You deserve this." He said finally. "What happened when they screamed for help? What did you do? You killed them." He spat, eyes glaring daggers, so much so that Bo was surprised he didn't have a stab wound.

A boney hand grabbed Bo throat as the sky turned grey and rain started to pour down. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" The young boy said as the hand on his neck tightened, restricting his airflow. "You're sorry?" Aegir said mockingly. "You think saying sorry is going to bring these people back? Do you seriously think your pathetic words are going to make everything fine again?" Bo couldn't respond. He couldn't breathe and his face was about to be submerged in water.

As Bo finally went under the water, hands grabbed every part of him and dragged him further into the blackness of the ocean. He couldn't breathe, he was already short on air when the hand grabbed his throat, but now that he was quickly sinking down into the water, he was drowning.

But just as the black spots started to cover his vision, right before the last of his air left him, a rough shaking of his shoulders woke him up.

Gasping and shooting into a sitting position, Bo gently touched his neck feeling for another hand as he sucked in as much air as he could, but felt no other hands on him.

"Christ, boy! You scared me when you started screaming for help in your sleep." Aegir's worried voice was barely heard over the sound of Bo's heart beating. "I'm fine." The younger huffed, still trying to get enough air in his lungs. The older man looked skeptical before sighing and standing up, turning away from Bo.

"It's going to rain today." Aegir said after a brief silence, making Bo cock his head, brows pinching together. "It's clear skies, though." He said matter of factly. Bo had lived most of his life on a boat and he was sure he knew when it would rain, and today would not bring rain. Aegir shook his head, eyes not moving from the cloudless sky. "No, trust me boy, it will rain today." Bo wordlessly nodded, despite the other having his back to him. The blonde boy folded his blanket and got ready for the (rainless) day ahead.

Bo ended up being right, until he wasn't. The morning held no clouds, barley a breeze, and no sign of rain. But when the sun hit it's peak the wind started to pick up, and dark clouds could be seen on the horizon. The faint smell of a thunder storm filling Bo's nose, make him groan internally for being wrong.

Bo and Aegir thought they had more time to prepare for the storm, evade it even, but the winds were not on their side and the storm was on top of them before they knew it. It started as a light rain, that's when the two fishermen started to pack things away below the deck so nothing would fall onto the ocean during the storm. But the drizzle quickly became a downpour and the winds thrashed the sail around wildly, making it so Aegir's boat couldn't go anywhere, stuck in the storm.