Theres magic everywhere

[seekingvinland]

WHO: Thorfinn
WHERE: Around the Village
WHEN: Saturday, October 29th
OPEN TO: OTA
WARNINGS: None
STATUS: Open!

---

Thorfinn's day hadn't started well, loud screams ripping through the house until he was pulled out of his sleep by either or both of those he lived with. The nightmares were worse than than had been for a long time, he had sat at the end of his bed staring off into space until he realize what was outside of his open window. Snow. He shot across the room fast taking in a deep breath of the cold air outside. Like a child at yule, it was everything his soul needed.

The cold sticking to his face. He smiled leaning half out the window, it was only when a few snow flakes landed on his bare chest he remembered that it wasn't the best idea. Pulling himself back inside it was time to get to work. Layers. Layers were important in the snow. The long johns pulled on under the outfit chosen for the day. The stained up scrubs pants and the tunic Kate made. He pulled the black wool coat from the back. It wasn't a style he knew but he had asked about it before and pulled it on. He made his way out of the room stopping long enough to clean his face and braid his hair down over his ears to keep them warm. He was already missing a chunk of one, so he tended to style his hair over the ear to hide the fact it was missing a bit.

"Going for wood, we will need more!" He called upstairs before closing the door. he didn't bother making a fire, he was sure Jo or Kol would take care of it if they intended to stay indoors. No sense burning wood if no one would be home. Once he was outside he found himself unbuttoning the coat again. Strange, he expected it to be much colder. The snow was nice though.

Swinging the axe over his shoulder he headed for the woods.

It was around noon when he made his way back from dropping more wood off at home. He was brushing wood chips off himself as he made his way across the village. Trying to decide if he should go to the inn and see how Kate and the other's were holding up, or go to the blacksmith to give forging the Bog iron another try. In the end he just ended up walking with his arms crossed over his chest. Taking in the beauty of the world around him.

Comments

[turned_to_steel]

Sansa couldn't begin to explain just how uncomfortable she was in the clothes that she had been given. It wasn't that they were actually uncomfortable but more that they weren't a style that she was used to. She wasn't the Stark girl that had a fondness for dressing up like a boy. She liked to look feminine and soft, like a lady, but that seemed to be nearly impossible here in this new place.

She was a tiny bit confused by the clothes she was supposed to wear under her normal clothes. They were supposed to be long but she wondered if maybe that was for someone shorter than her. After all, she was tall and they seemed to fit her just fine. Not long at all.

The one thing she could say about them was that they were warm, especially when combined with the coat that she wore over the black clothes that she had arrived in. The coat was fine but she was already missing the cloaks that she was accustomed too and so she was already formulating a plan to get the things that she needed to make one for herself. Then maybe she could make some for her brothers, for Margaery and for anyone else that might need one. It was something she would definitely have to look into.

But for now she was merely looking around the village, her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket while she walked with a pleasantly curious smile on her face. Her once again auburn hair was tamed back into a long braid and her eyes were bright while she enjoyed the snow. She was even looking upwards, thinking about how much her father would enjoy the sight of the fluffy flakes falling to the ground. She was so captivated by it that she wasn't really watching where she was going or who she might run into.

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn like Sansa was taken in by the beauty of the first snow. The first snow was always so pure and beautiful. He wasn't paying attention as he walked with the axe resting against his shoulder. Thorfinn's instincts usually kept him on guard even when he wished they didn't. Today he was to enthralled with the snow to pay mind to where he was walking.

Then he bumped into someone. Not just anyone but someone bigger than him. It wasn't unusual for him to see bigger people than him but when they collided he dropped the axe over his shoulder realizing he had bumped into a woman. His own form went off balance when he dropped the axe upon collision, luckily the axe fell far enough back that when he shifted to keep from landing on his ass he didn't land on the axe. (again, his knee was still healing from the first time he tripped on it.) Speaking on his knee, when he shifted to keep from falling, it ended with him basically knelled at the girls feet. His eyes wide,a nd cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

A seasoned warrior should never fall. At least he made it look cool...

[turned_to_steel]

Sansa was momentarily mortified by her own slip up. She had trained herself to be so careful back in King's Landing, to always watch where she was going and to know who was nearby. Being caught off-guard even for a moment sometimes meant that she would end up in pain somehow and she had forgotten that lesson. For one brief, beautiful moment she had forgotten and now she was frozen by a sharp feeling of fear when she bumped into someone rather carelessly.

"Oh." It came out as a soft, surprised noise as stumbled back but was able to catch herself. Then she was reaching for him, instinct taking over as she tried to keep him from falling but was unable to.

When he landed and went still, she blinked as she finally focused on the young man and felt some heat creep into her cheeks. She noticed almost immediately that he was blonde but she chided herself on the sudden worry that crossed her mind. Not every person with golden hair could be a Lannister. Still, she was careful as she reached out her hands. "I'm so sorry, please forgive me. I wasn't watching where I was going."

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn was still knelled at her feet when his mind fully caught up with what happened. Part of him was relieved ti be able to space enough to walk into someone. It had been awhile since he'd had such a slip up with anyone besides his sworn brother; Einar. This girl was most definitely not Einar.

He blinked looking at her face as she spoke to him hands reaching out towards him. He KNEW her but from where? He couldn't place it. He knew he knew her somehow...

"I'm sorry." He mumbled out realizing he hadn't actually said a word and was likely staring at her. "I... was not paying mind." He spoke his words had a pause to them, like one searching for the right word. With a thick accent it was kind of clear the language is not one he had known long. "It is my fault." He spoke as he moved to push himself back to his feet in a quick fluid move.

[turned_to_steel]

If she noticed the look that he gave her when he first set eyes on her, she didn't let it show. She merely watched him while he continued to stare at her up to the point that she felt a bit of heat creeping into her pale cheeks. She started to feel a touch nervous too as she wondered if he was trying to figure out who she was because he was possibly tied to the Lannisters.

The thick accent gave her pause though and chased the worry from her mind while she stepped back as he got to his feet. "No, I must be the one to apologize. You're not hurt, are you?"

He didn't look like he was hurt but she thought it was best to ask so she didn't look so careless. She looked him over quickly before returning her eyes to his face once more. Then she offered a soft smile, hopeful that he was okay.

[thecatinahat]

Carlos hasn't had much luck in finding his memories. No matter what he does or who he talks to, he can't find anything that brings him back to the present. So instead, he leans on Jake a little too much (and finds that the man is every bit as interesting as he'd thought to begin with). He can't always hide behind him, though, and he heads out for a walk, seeing a man looking as chilled in the weather as he is.

After so long in Mexico, then California, Carlos isn't used to the chill. "Hello," Carlos greets him, his English still awkward, but an easygoing smile on his face. He recognizes him, though he hasn't been very outgoing and forward. It's hard to explain that he hasn't got his memory, especially when everyone seems to know him and expect him to be something else.

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn looked a little chilled, but in truth he wasn't as cold as he looked. He had already unbuttoned the jacket back. Finding buttons awkward, but mostly becuase he was used to much colder weather, and the jacket offered warmth in a way he wasn't used to.

"Hello, Cougar!" He greeted happily, he had been waiting for winter since arriving and the cold snap had him in high spirits even if they were not ready yet. Wintersnight was not even upon them yet. Thorfinn came to a stop before the other, he had noticed Cougar hadn't been around as much but he figured there was reasons. "Liking the snow?" he asked in his heavy Scandinavian accent.

[thecatinahat]

The man knows him, but is also calling him by the cat's name. Carlos frowns as he tugs his coat a little tighter around chilled, pink cheeks, his system not used to this cold of a winter. "You know me?" he asks, even though the evidence is already there. Maybe he's just asking so that he can go forward with his next question.

"Why cougar?" he wonders. "I am no cat."

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn stopped in his tracks at Cougar's words. Blinking looking surprised at the lack of recognition. "Yes, I know you." he lifted his hands motioning back and forth. "we friends, work together." He explained. Wondering if something had happened, if this was the multiverse, or whatever happened to Thorgrimm that made him forget everything. He had not spoken to Thorgrimm after his freakout, but he had heard the tale in passing. The man had such a scare that he just shut down, forgot everything even his brother Alti. A child in mind from that day on. That seemed to extreme for a man like Cougar, it had to be the multiverse. He wished Jo was with him, Jo always knows.

"A cougar is a cat? I did not know.... Cougar is the name you gave me when we met." He explained, trying to not let his concern show as much as he was. He couldn't hide it even when he wanted. Cougar was one of his closer friends here. Being forgotten had always been a fear. "I am Thorfinn." He spoke his name, hopefully maybe it would help.

[tobeclosetohim]

[ Earlier ]

It's not like sleep is ever truly a given in her world. Jo doesn't sleep well, but she sleeps better than the constant daily alarm that is Thorfinn, and she'd just come from Medietas, where Thorfinn and Sam woke up the house regularly. Even if the most of them weren'e sleeping all that long or that much anyway. It's annoying for only a flicker. Sleep deprivation is kind of a way of life when you get this many years into it.

Waving Kol off at his door. Down the stairs in a trundle of anything but quiet bare feet. Through the door, and into another bed, to shake Thorfinn awake while dodging anything that looks like getting decked in the dark, by someone who never expects her or remembers she does this often. At least not until it's been a minute or two of gasping breath.

Before she blows it off and goes back upstairs, supposedly back to bed, without back to sleep, for both their sake.
She hates leaving him there, at the end of his bed, but she doesn't push it either. They all have their demons and ghosts here.



[ Later ]

Jo is sitting on the wall under the awning of the porch when Thorfinn gets back. Feet Indian style, elbows on her knees watching the snow fall. A contemplative expression just enough out of focus. She'd heard him leave, and Kol was around, doing whatever it was Kol did when Kol was around. Unlike Thorfinn, she didn't have her jacket it on. The cold bit at her skin, and she let it, trying both to and not to think about Christmas, and how maybe it had been a year.

Not exactly a year. Maybe two-thirds of a year. But too far. She'd come too far. Too many months, and two worlds.

Later

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn returned as he usually does, with his arms full of split lumber. The axe stick in a stump in the back yard, where he dumped the lumber. He was dusting himself off. His jacket hung open since he got overheated quick. He was coming around from the back. Though most of his work was in the backyard he always came in through the front.

He had not expected to see Jo at home, not before dark. He smiles before here even noticed it. He moved over standing in the snow before the wall where she was perched.

"You enjoying snow?" He asked curiously. Jo didn't strike him one who loved the snow.

Re: Later

[tobeclosetohim]

Then, he will be pleasantly surprised.

There's a glance to him, before it's back to the snow. Maybe half for his question and half for the fact she'd been somewhere far, far, far away before he'd tromped up to her, asking that question. Reminding her of the so little people knew sometimes, and how none of it was things that made sense to share until things like this happened. Given they didn't always.

"I love snow." Her words were soft. Maybe only soft enough to reach him. It's not a word she uses more than flippantly. At least she hasn't in the rest of this year. Not since being pulled on to those flying boats. It's not about that Christmas. (But, oh god, it is.) Her head titled, skirting the subject.

"It snowed every winter in Nebraska." Beat. "Where I grew up." Home. Back when home was a place and thing. Before everything changed. It was part of why she couldn't entirely avoid or ignore it back in The Apocalypse, too. Winter, and snow, and Christmas. Half the reason she wa sitting out here, letting the chill numb her unconvered skin, in her tank top and scrub pants. But not, too.

There would be no cars here to turn the roads slushy grey-black, and only foot paths to disturb it as it settled.

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn stood quietly, he could see how she seemed spaced just after he had spoken. He hadn't noticed before, but his face lit up when she said she loved snow. There were people out and about some seemed happy other's not. He was content for the time being, and hearing Jo loved the snow filled him with a bit of happiness. It was so unexpected, he expected her to hate the snow, and for her home to be one of the hot places. He never would have guessed her Nebraska was a place where it snowed.

But then again, he knew so little of America, but what people had told him of it. Enough to put most of that place out of his mind. That place couldn't be Vinland. "I would never know, you dress so...warm." He tried to think of the right word, and again his words failed him and he knew as soon as he said it. "for warmer place, like Jess and his home." He explained motioning towards the backyard since Jess lived in the Inn, and the inn wasn't too far behind their home.

He moved forward up the steps, moving up to stand by where she stood on the wall, tossing his jacket back on the porch behind him and leaning on the wall beside her, but not sitting. Just his covered arms rested on the wall, propping his head up. "Tell me about your home." Not all those worlds, but her home in Nebraska, the home where she lived with her father and mother.

[almightythor]

It did snow upon occasion in Asgard but the snow here blanketed the ground thick and it had been a long while since Thor had seen such in abundance. It lightened his heart, honestly, because his mood had grown foul through the rains and it had been difficult to pick up and move on from it. Each day, this place felt more and more like a prison and yet, with the snow, he felt a lightness suffuse him that made it seem a little easier.

Seeing Thorfinn helped in that regard as well and he gave the younger man a bright smile and greeted him, hand lifting in a quick greeting. "Did you bring the snow, Thorfinn? I love the snow!"

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn had been preparing for winter since he first arrived. The feeling of the place put him on edge, years of hard survival coming down to this place. He didn't want to die of the cold he loved so much or starvation, so seeing the snow it had lifted his spirits as well. When he heard the voice he lifted his head and smiled, lifting a hand with a light wave.

"I am but a man, I did not bring the snow. I wish though." his face brightened when he was in high spirits. It was the rare kind of happiness that made him shine. He loved the snow so much. More as he got older. "As do I my lord, my home is often like this." He spoke as he looked around then. "It's like going home." an honest admission he had told none other, but Thor was his god so, he can tell Thor. "How have you been settling in?"

[almightythor]

"It has been fine. I have friends here now," Thor said, thinking of Natasha, Steve and the others who had arrived along with him. It had been nice to know there were others who shared his fate, those he'd fought alongside and considered close friends.

"The snow reminds me of Asgard. When I was a boy, my brother and I would try to see which of us could hit father in the face without him noticing who threw the snowball. Have you ever tried that?"

[seekingvinland]

"That is good to know, I hope they are not to upset by this place we are all stuck in." Thorfinn spoke, even if they were Thor's friends, the idea of someone's people arriving seemed like a thing to celebrate.

The young norsemen let a bit of a giggle and snort escape. "Not to my father no, I knew better." There were a lot of lines he pushed in his youth but snowballs and Thors didn't mesh well. "I did often with other children, and when I grew older I played a game much the same with another." Pelting Askeladd with snowballs and running as fast as his short legs would take him was a past time he still kind of missed. For an old man, Askeladd was fast. "Do you hope for your family here?" He inquired after a moment.

[thenewways]

Nerys has had a similar idea, looking at the snow. She only infrequently has burned wood for warmth, in the last several years, but she knows what she needs to get a fire started and going. Started could be a bit of a problem, in weather like this, but at least she'll be ready for the next time.

While she's got a pretty basic saw, she sticks mostly to fallen wood, this time, to save her energy--and she's got a good armful by the time she gets back to the village center, at least. She'll need more, that's for sure, or someone else will need it, and it's another chore to add to her daily list, she supposes.

Thorfinn is simply wandering, looking up at the sky and the violently colored trees. Nerys still isn't used to this riot of shades of dying leaves, and she can't really blame him for admiring it all through the small flakes of snow. "I hadn't expected this," she says, gesturing and speaking softly, almost reverently.

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn had been born and raised in cold places. From the day after he arrived he had been preparing for winter. The back yard of the house he shared with Jo and Kol was lined with wood and timber he had drug back from the woods and chopped from tree he fell with both an axe borrowed from the weapons crates, then the one he had to put together from a box he received. Though there was still so much left to do he couldn't help taking the time to appreciate the beauty of the world around them.

He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of her voice. Turning and blinking a little. Seeing her arms full he stepped forward offering his own arms out. "Good morning, would you like a hand?" He offered, his English as always was ever improving. He was still having problems here and there but he was getting better. "I don't think many did... I thought we had a couple more weeks yet." He admitted.

[thenewways]

"You're too kind, thank you," Nerys says, appreciating the help carrying the wood and giving some of it to Thorfinn to ease up her load. Not that she can't manage it, but her arms are getting a little sore after the walk through the woods. It's not the easiest of jobs, but she's going to have to keep doing it, and the idea of that isn't exactly appealing.

"I don't know the plants around here that well, but I can tell when winter's coming. I think it's the same in a lot of places," she says. "But this, but snow, that's a surprise." Laughing, she adds, "I feel a little bit better if it's surprised you too."

[seekingvinland]

"Your welcome, I'm always glad to help." He replied as he took what she offered over. He had honestly expected it all, but he said nothing and smiled anyway. His sister would have done the same, he knew that much. Some woman were built of stronger stock.

"I know the seasons well." He spoke shifting so he could move to walk along side of her, since he didnt know where she lived. He actively tries not to pay that much attention. "As soon as the leaves start to change after the killing moon, winter comes. Usually after wintersnight which I didn't expect quite yet. This place isn't exact to places I have traveled, but close enough to guess." He explained, looking a bit pleased to it.

"I can't be upset by it though, I love the snow. My home is very cold, even now the snow would be much higher by now in Iceland."

Backdated Wintersnight Oct 31st- Closed to Jess

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn had been worried about carrying out his plan after Bushy had been found ripped apart. Most of the day he had planned to go had been spent as usual. Working here and there and keeping busy until just after sunset when he made his way to the inn. Of course he didn't tell Kate or anyone else why he was taking Jess, he just borrowed the boy for a few hours. After all, with the snow still piled the Norsemen walked with the other, with a makeshift torch in hand leading them to the treeline. His backpack had a few things in it and hung over one arm. He was worried this was no longer a good idea, but he had been neglecting his faith and had made a promise.

"This way, we go to the waterfall."

[booklegging]

Bloody snow. Jess had no qualms with it in general, but here, in this place, after the months of scrambling they'd been doing just to keep their heads above water? It felt like a bad omen on top of a worse one: the dead sheep, found boldly laying in the middle of the street.

The savagery pointed to an animal attack, but the timing of it right on the day Thorfinn planned to do his own sacrifice had struck Jess as strange enough of a coincidence that he'd furrowed his brow a little quizzically and asked the question on his mind. ("That wasn't your handiwork, right?") He hadn't thought so, he'd just... wanted to double check.

In light of a potential predator skulking around town, Jess was especially eager to grab his coat and pack and join Thorfinn. Better everyone keep together until they figured this out. "You think your gods will be happy?" Jess asked absently, following slightly behind the man where he could keep a constant vigil on their rear.

He wasn't scared to be out after dark on what was technically Halloween night, but after what had happened to Margaery and Kate, and now the sheep, his guard was up. "They got a freebie out of Margaery's herd."

[seekingvinland]

Thorfinn had had the whole ordeal on his mind the whole day. After overhearing the words Margaery throw at Ygritte, they had cut him to the very core. The whole situation had him in half a mind to just not do the sacrifice, the only reason he hadn't abandoned it was because he had promised Jess weeks before.

He had been more quiet that normal after picking Jess up from the inn, which said a lot since Thorfinn could sit silently for hours doing little tasks. He never needed small talk, he mustly spoke as much as he does for the sake of others that seemed bothered by the silence.

"No." His voice finally spoke up as he moved quietly through the woods for the waterfall. "What happened to Bushy was no sacrifice. It was wasteful murder. I do not care about what people say or do, but we hunters are already worried about the animal population. We risk hunting the woods dry just to fed us all. Killing the sheep was a waste." He stopped and turned. "The gods demand sacrifice yes, but it is not always death. A blot is whatever you have to offer Jess. Blood is not always needed. Even when it is, the animal killed is given to all around prepared and shared. We are descended from the gods, by taking it in ourselves we share with them." He tried to explain knowing he may not be doing to well.

Reaching up he scratched behind his ear and finally just said what he assumed was to be asked, what he expected others to say to him. Those that know where he's from what he did in the past. "I did not kill that sheep."

[booklegging]

"Bushy?" he echoed. Oh. Had that been the sheep?

Internally, Jess winced. That was why he found giving names to animals trouble. It personalized them, made them easier to care about. And when something went wrong, it led to the sort of upset Margaery had displayed today. Granted, he suspected stumbling across a murdered animal and not knowing what had caused it had more than a little to do with her reaction, too.

"That might be the most I've ever heard you say at once," he remarked, stopping in time with the man. One didn't have to be a genius to see the murder had gotten under Thorfinn's skin, to yank such a lengthy explanation out of the normally stoic Viking. "Even if it hadn't looked as though it'd been torn apart by another animal, I know you wouldn't have killed a sheep for no reason. None of us are eating so well that we can afford to toss away the protein."

He wasn't just speaking to Thorfinn's character, though he thought he knew the man well enough to suppose Thorfinn wasn't some bloodthirsty sheep-killer sneaking into animal pens in the middle of the night. Thorfinn had a survivor's mentality. Realistically, it just didn't make sense for him to lose his cool on some livestock, only to leave it lying in the street without taking usable parts of the carcass.