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.
The waves seemed almost angry with the fishing boat in the middle of the ocean. The waves pushing and pulling on the boat, almost like it was fighting with itself on where it wanted the boat to go.
While the sail thrashed around with the wind, a crack was just barely audible over the howling wind and rain pounding against the ocean surface. The noise immediately alerting Bo and Aegir, worry filling them both.
The next noise was what made the two realize just how in trouble they were. The sound of cloth being torn, the sail ripping. That made the fishermen jump into action. "Bo! Lower the sail!" Aegir yelled. Running, the young boy grabbed the rope attached to the sail and untied the knot to start pulling it closed, but due to the powerful winds and rain soaking everything, the rope kept slipping from his hands and the knot didn't budge.
"I can't untie it!" Bo yelled, digging his fingers in and trying to pull the rope free. Heavy footsteps rushed over to Bo as Aegir grabbed the rope from Bo. Another ripping sound made from the taller man groan, trying with all his might to save his boat.
Bo knew that in current conditions he wasn't going to be much help with the rope, so with quick think he ran below deck where they stored everything before the storm and grabbed two knives, the objects feeling sickly familiar in his hold.
Running back into the storm, Bo ran straight for the mast. "What good will those do?" Aegir asked, still struggling with the rope. "Just watch!" Bo yelled as he jumped and dug the knives into the wood, Aegir releasing a noise of discomfort at the fact his boat was even more damaged.
The blonde boy started to climb the mast, high enough that he could grab the top of the sail, which he grabbed with one hand, the other hand still holding the knife. Pulling the weapon out enough that he could slid down the mast, Bo manually pulling in the sail in, Aegir was able to untie the rope and pulled the sail in as Bo lowered himself, securing it closed when Bo reached the floor again.
There was momentary relief, before the waves made themselves known again and threatened to flip the boat with how powerful they were. Without the sail, and with the wild winds, they weren't going anywhere anytime soon, forcing the two fishermen to ride out the storm.
This weather made Bo think back to every storm he dealt with while with his brother. Getting lost remembering how he used to throw an arm over his brothers shoulders in hopes of keeping him warm, it was one of the only times his brother would let him touch him with people around. Bo remembered how he would hold up is jacket to protect them from the rain, wanting his clothes to be soaked rather than his brother.
A wave slammed into the boat, throwing Bo off balance and towards the angry sea. A hand grabbing the back of his shirt stopping him right at the edge of ship. Looking behind him Bo saw Aegir with a panicked look on his face.
"Talk to me boy! Whatever it is that's holding you back, let it out so you're not trapped in the past! Let it out so you can actually take a step forward instead of being in the same spot!" Aegir yelled over the pouring rain, pulling Bo's shirt so that he was back in the middle of the boat.
Bo hadn't realized he was staring off into space, too lost in his memories. But something was pulling at his chest, pulling him to spill the words that were building in his throat. "I'm thinking about my brother." Bo answered curtly. Aegir wasn't satisfied, his brows pinching together. "Yeah, and what about him."
The waves knocked Bo off balance again, making him fall down, his back colliding with the side of the boat. "He and I used to get threw storms together." Bo said, keeping his words short. "What's his name." Bo knew it was like pulling teeth for the other, but his brother was a sore subject.
But Bo thought about it for a moment. All Aegir wanted was for Bo to get better, thinking back to his earlier words, 'let it out so you can actually take a step forward' Aegir just wanted the best for him, to help him get better. And Bo himself wanted that too, he didn't want to be stuck as the person he used to be, he felt like he was at the bottom of the ocean and was stuck, he wanted- no needed to swim to the surface.
He needed to get this weight off his chest so he could have any hope of swimming to the surface, becoming a newer and better person. Bo was tired of all the weight on his chest, tired of the nightmares, tired of feeling like he was drowning. He needed to breach the surface soon or he would die.
Taking a deep breath, Bo spoke his name for the first time in months. "His name is Thorfinn." An invisible weight seemed to be lifted off his chest immediately. "What was he like?" Aeigir asked, now sitting next to the younger boy.
"We're just like each other. We were born on the same day, I was born first and ever since then I've been protecting him, from enemies in battle to the rain while traveling. He's just like me, he was at least. The day Askeladd was killed we got separated and now I don't know where he is." And not knowing where Thorfinn is was killing Bo, his brother was his other half, his best friend, his only family left. His eyes stung but he just thought it was the rain getting in his eyes.
"Who killed Askeladd?" Aegir's arm wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him close to the elder's warmer, comforting embrace. "Canute." The name made the other freeze for a moment. "The new king Canute?" The brunette asked, to which the other nodded. "How did you get that close him?" Aegir asked, rubbing soothing circles in Bo's shoulder. "Thorfinn and I were his personal guards while he was in Askeladd's protection." The younger boy's voice broke and his eyes still stung.
Aegir hummed, taking in the new information. Suddenly a question made it's way out of Bo's mouth before he could really think about it. "Why did you buy me?" Again, the other froze and was quiet for a full minute before his voice came out quieter than before, if it weren't for the close proximity Bo wouldn't have heard him.
"Because you look like my son." The taller mans voice had never been this soft before. Aegir sighed. "You told me about you, guess it's only fair I return it." He said more to himself but Bo managed to pick it up. "When I was young I was a warrior. After a few years I met my wife, she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, and I knew from the moment I saw her that I would marry her." A soft smile graced Aegir's face, a softness that didn't match the rest of his appearance.
"It wasn't even the next spring that we had a son, Fredrick. Every time I came home we would go fishing and he would tell me everything that happened while I was away. He kept saying he would join me on my adventures when he got older, and at the time I couldn't be prouder to hear that. But after his first battle, he died. After that I bought a boat and set sail. I bought you because when I saw you for the first time I thought I saw my Fredrick." Aegir finished.
"But what about your wife?" Bo asked. Aegir sighed. "She died from sickness when Fredrick was sixteen." Yet another wave crashed against the side of the boat, the freezing ocean water sending a chill up Bo's spine. "What was she like?" It was Bo's turn to ask questions, but the other just shook his head, his smile not as bright as it was moments earlier. "I told you enough about my life, let me keep this little bit to myself."
Bo nodded in understanding. He thought back to what Aegir had said about how he resembled his dead son, and realized he was a replacement. But Bo couldn't help but be thankful he looked like another mans dead son. Bo couldn't remember a time he felt this light, much of the weight on his chest being lifted, making it easier to breath.
He could feel himself starting to swim to the surface, he was at the bottom of the ocean and there was still something weighing him down, but he was swimming up. His cup was slowly being filled again, granted it was a slow drip, it was still being filled.
Almost like the gods above were watching, the rain had started to slow until it came to a stop, the waves and the wind had calmed down, and the clouds parted to let the sun out from behind the clouds. Letting the trapped sunlight shine down on the boat in the middle of the sea.
A/N: so funny story... this chapter was ready to be published last week but i'm glad i waited cause i added another 1,000 words today. anyway i hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their day and thanks for making it this far :)