A weight seemed to be lifted off Bo's chest after leaving Kjallakr's farm. The ocean breeze making him feel at ease. Although, there was a man with red hair and a deadly flame in his eye that screamed for revenge.
Bo didn't talk to this man, just glanced at him briefly, but he knew that this red headed man was planning something sinister and dangerous.
"The trading port is three days away. It's on the top of Norway." Aegir said, breaking Bo out of his thoughts. "We'll catch some more fish while we sail, people at the market go crazy for fresh fish."
Bo had been to a multitude of ports while with Askeladd, but hadn't paid any mind to the stands or what they were selling. But if he looked back he could remember seeing a number of people with handfuls of fish.
Humming, Bo moved to grab the net that was made to catch fish while they sail. Over the next three days not much happened, all they did was pull the net in and gutting the fish, then throwing the net back out only to repeat the process.
Except on day two. While the two were gutting fish, they sailed past the aftermath of a viking raid on a village. The sight made Bo freeze, dropping his knife, the clanking of the metal object hitting the floor was the last noise Bo heard before the pounding of his heart took over.
Houses were on fire, blood covered the almost pure looking grass below. Flowers looked so out of place with splatters of blood on them, like their beauty was being tainted by the hideous actions that took place hours ago. But the screams. Oh gods above, the screams. They would joint the horrendous chorus in Bo's dreams.
The noise sounded like it was ripped from their throats, sounded like they were going through the most excruciating pain known to man. But in a way, what happened to them was the worst thing imaginable.
The destruction and damage that got inflicted on these innocent people could never be erased, even if they lived for a hundred years. Bo had a sickening realization, war only led to more war, violence only led to more violence. And he was the living example of that. His father got killed, so he killed other young boys father in revenge.
Bo could practically see a young boy amongst the destroyed village finding his dead father and swearing to every god above that he would seek vengeance and kill the men responsible.
But what others didn't realize that Bo did, killing the person who caused you pain doesn't make it go away, it just makes you numb so you think you don't feel it anymore. And the numbing anger is easier to feel than the soul crushing sadness.
And just seeing what was left behind made Bo disgusted with himself. How could he do such a thing without a second thought? How could he sleep in the houses of peoples lives he just destroyed?
Just the sight made Bo feel the blood dripping off his hands. Hear the yells and shouts of people's he'd killed. He wanted to get soap and clean his skin, rub it raw until he was scrubbing at his bones.
But it didn't matter if he used all the soap in the world, the blood would still be there.
A hand coming down on his shoulder broke Bo out of his haze like state. "You okay, boy?" The older man asked. Silently, Bo nodded and picked up his knife with shaking hands to resume his previous actions. "Just got lost in thought, sorry." The younger boy said in a low, quiet voice.
Nothing much was said after that, not until they reached the trading port that acted as a market for the towns people. When they arrived it was nightfall, so they made a plan to wake up early and set up the fish before the market got at its peak for customers.
The two fisherman rose with the sun, setting out the barrels of fish they collected over the past few days. Once they were finished setting up, Aegir smirked at Bo. "Now watch a pro-trader at work, and maybe you'll be making deals next time we're here."
The older mans personality seemed to change. Just a few minutes ago he was calm, collected and mature in his years. But now, he was more playful, in a joking way, a way that made women leave gentil, intimate touches on his arm, but make men want to throw an arm over his shoulder and laugh like they'd been friends for years. His smirk was overly confident and paired with the right flame in his eye, could leave some ladies blushing.
Watching Aegir work was incredible, it was amazing how he could sweet talk the customers into paying more for the fish. It was also amazing how he could go from relaxed with a smooth voice to aggravated with a sharp tongue.
One man was refusing to pay the price Aegir put out, claiming it was too high for the quality of fish. The brunette was quick to escalate after that. "What did you say about the quality? I don't see your ass out on a boat rain or shine to feed ungrateful pieces of shit like you! So you either take my price or find someone else who has fish from Denmark! Oh wait." He said mockingly. "I'm the only one with fish from Denmark!"
The customer didn't say much after that, just pulling out his coin pouch and slamming the money on a barrel before walking away. Aegir could get loud, Bo wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the market heard him, and Bo guessed that was why nobody tried to haggle prices lower after that. However, Aegir always made people pay more than what he originally said, it was his special talent.
A woman came over and was buying four fish from Denmark, two fish from the ocean just behind them, and two fish from the ocean between Denmark and Norway. Originally the price was set at thirty gold pieces, but got her to pay fifty.
It was close to sun down when things took a turn for the worst. A man with black hair and dark eyes shifted his gaze to Bo, and suddenly his dull eyes had a fire lit in them. He stormed over to the shorter boy and lifted him by the front of his shirt. The man was head and a half taller than Bo, but he wasn't intimidated, he's fought taller men than this.
"You killed my father, you asshole! You thought you could hide in normal civilization, like a wolf in sheep's clothing!" He seethed, tightening his grip on Bo's shirt. Said boy's eyes widened as he ran through his memories trying to remember the man, but he didn't recognize the man in front of him. Too many lives taken for him to remember someone caught in the crossfire.
"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are." The blonde boy said, bringing his hands up in defeat. The commotion caught Aegir's attention. "What seems to be the problem boys." He said with a bit of a warning edge in his voice as he turned to the still unknown man. "Did he steal one of your toys?" He teased, a shit-eating grin on his face.
The back haired man turned his snarl to the older man. "He stole my father's life from me." Aegir's face remained unchanged. "That's war and life kid, some people live some people don't." Before the enraged man could speak again, Bo grabbed the hand holding his shirt. "Sir, I'm very sorry for everything I've done. I'm not that person anymore, I promise you."
Bo thought back to the burning village they had passed on their voyage here, and how Bo had killed this young mans father, and now he was seeking revenge as a young man. The cycle never ends, this brutal and cruel, cycle.
"You're just talking out of your ass, you don't mean a single word of it! I can tell just by the look in your eye that you're full of shit! You think that if you sweet talk me I won't kill you, but it's too late. I've been searching for too long not to avenge my father." The black haired man says, letting go of the shorter boys shirt, and drawing his sword. Bo didn't have a weapon on his, nor did he want to. He wanted to solve this without violence, but it didn't look like he had much of a choice.
Bo raised his hand in a fighting position, out of the corner of his eye he could see Aegir questioning his stance. It was an unusual stance, it was the stance Bo used when he fought with his knives, which was slightly different than a normal fist fighting stance.
Taking his battle ready position as a cue to start, the stranger ran at him with his sword clutched tightly and close to his chest, almost like he was using a spear. Leaning to the right, Bo dodged the attack. The stranger pivoted and swung his weapon down at the blonde boy, who once again dodged the attack.
After a few minutes the black haired man shouted in frustration. "Attack me damnit! Be a man and fight me!" Taking a moment to breath, Bo finally took notice of the crowd around them. "But I don't know you, we haven't met until today. I have no reason to hate you or fight you." Bo explained.
The man readied himself again and glared. "Well I have every reason to hate you." He said with so much venom Bo was surprised he didn't drop dead on the spot. And with that the stranger charged at the shorter boy. Sighing, the younger decided that enough was enough and decided he would put an end to this quickly. He was sure if any more attention was brought to the two fighting, guards would throw them both in jail.
Taking a faster approach this time, the man thrusted his sword at Bo, but the blond boy was faster, easily ducking and hurling his fist into the mans stomach making the man keel over and clutching his stomach.
Wanting to get out of the attention of the on lookers, Bo snapped around and walked back to Aegir. The older man must've had the same idea, as all the barrels were put away and the ship was ready to depart. "I see you're pretty popular, huh?"
Stepping onto the boat, Bo sighed. "Unfortunately." Aegir boarded the boat behind the younger and the two wasted no time getting back out to sea.
It was a while before either said anything, Bo realized he wasn't much different from the man who tried to kill him. If anything they were the same. That thought resonated in him for a while.
"I can practically hear you thinking boy, what's on your mind?" Aegir said, and something compelled Bo to spill his thoughts to the man he had only known for a short time.
The two sat across from each other, letting the wind take them wherever Aegir thought fit, possibly to another port or another fishing spot.
"My father got killed by a heartless man, my brother and I tried to kill him, but failed. I turned into a heartless man and killed someone else's father, and now they failed to kill me." Bo confessed looking down.
Saying it out loud made old wounds resurface, the pain coming back tenfold. "When will the cycle end?" The younger boy asked with a shaken voice.
"Boy, have you ever gotten over the death of your father?" Aegir asked, his voice getting closer. Only then did Bo realize his vision was bleary with tears. The questions made Bo really think, how could someone just get over the death of their father?
Realization struck Bo at that moment. He'd never processed the death of Thors, how could he when he had to look over his brother? Bo had to be strong for his brother so he never got the chance to really get over their father's passing.
After a moment Bo spoke up with tears running down his face. "No, I haven't." Strong arms wrapped around the smaller boys body, engulfing him in warmth, a warmth he hadn't felt in years.
Bo slowly returned the embrace, letting himself feel what he hadn't been able to. To fully get over Thors' death. Bo sobbed into Aegir's shoulder, if the taller man was unsettled with the tears and snot covering his shirt, he didn't show it.
"You remind me of my son." Aegir said so quietly that Bo doubted if he really heard it, or if it was just some figment of his imagination.
Maybe it was possible for Bo's cup to be full again.
A/N: so... it's been a while. Basically my grandma fell down a hill trying to microwave a fish we caught while making coffee in a submarine we rented for a forest vacation. So sorry for the wait, I promise I have everything written down for what I want in this arc/ section of the story but actually writing it is a pain in the ass.
I should be updating more regularly, this chapter is dedicated to all the people who have been waiting months for this chapter