Prologue: Part 2

I was supposed to release this chapter yesterday, but I wanted to do some final edits, so mb. If we can get to, let's say, 50 power stones, I'll release a bonus chapter this week. Enjoy the chapter!

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Screams. Screams would be the only thing you'd hear if not drowned out by thunder and lightning. Below in the cabin of a ship, a woman hollers in pain, a man drenched from head to toe at her side.

"Won't be long now. The island isn't too far. We'll be safe soon, I promise." He spoke gently, with a low and comforting voice, stroking the woman's head as he held her hand, attempting to soothe her.

"We... ngh... better be." The woman uttered in pained groans, "I don't know how much... ugh... more stress my body can handle." Her voice was soft and laced with an assertive tone as she spoke to her partner. She squeezed the man's hand as if to tell him to hurry and get them to the island.

The woman watched as the man grinned at her before leaning down and placing his head onto her stomach, gently holding it as she smiled at him. Putting her hand on his cheek, she caressed him while her other hand stroked his head. They enjoyed the brief silence between themselves as if the storm they faced was nothing but a minor nuisance. As they held each other, they considered how they had gotten to this point.

They were not supposed to be here, away from their homelands, but things in life don't always go as planned, do they? They came from two different tribes, and unfortunately, they did not acknowledge relations between the two. So when they found out the two of them were courting in secret, they were furious. The man and woman had already planned on leaving as they had stocked a boat with as much food as possible to last them a while at sea.

Although leaving their people caused the two much grief, they didn't know what would happen if they stayed. But now, they might finally have a place to call their new home. Getting up, the man wipes the sweat from the woman's head before giving her a gentle kiss.

"Try not to worry too much. Everything will be fine. I'll go see how much further we are from the island." He told her before making his way out to the deck. As he did, his expression changed. It was more serious as he rushed toward the ship's helm.

The waves crashed into the ship, making it sway wildly. Wind rammed into the sails, attempting to throw the boat from the sea. Thunder roared louder, and lightning danced around him. Dashing toward the ship's wheel, he clutched it desperately, trying to keep the boat afloat.

They've come too far to die now, and he was not going to let his partner below and the life inside her perish. Not when they were so close to safety. While he fought to keep the wheel straight, a lightning bolt struck the ship, narrowly missing its mast.

"Shit!" The man shouted, "Almost there, almost there. Just a bit further." He whispered to himself.

He fought for what felt like hours to steer the ship toward the island, but to him, it felt like an eternity passed. When they finally made land, he breathed a sigh of relief before spotting a dock. He didn't expect to see the dock, especially when this was one of the few islands good enough for them to live out their lives. His surprise was quickly replaced by concern as he went to fetch the woman.

Leaving the ship, they saw a stairway leading up the side of a mountain. Quickly and carefully, they rushed up the steps. Upon reaching the top, they saw a large wooden gate between two rock faces. Seeing that it was open, they spotted a village inside. Walking through the gate, the man began shouting for help as they entered the town.

He yelled, but the rain and thunder drowned his shouts. With no other option, they began to look for any suitable shelter available to them that would shield them from the severe storm. The winds howled around them, and as they searched, they spotted a considerably large door embedded in stone with statues of two giant Vikings guarding the front.

Banging on the giant door, the man yelled again, making himself known to anyone who could hear him. Immediately, the door swung open, and a large, burly man with long red hair stood in the doorway, his lengthy beard blowing in the wind. Taking a glance at the couple, he stepped to the side. 

"Quickly, inside, this storm ain't gonna let up anytime soon." The man pushed them inside and closed the door with a loud bang. 

Now sheltered from the storm, the two saw people ranging from young to old holding up inside as they sought shelter from the harsh weather outside. Turning to the man, the woman lowered her head in thanks.

"Thank you. You don't know what it took for us to make it here. I don't know what we would have done if you didn't let us inside." She thanked him gratefully.

"Don't mention it. For now, grab something to eat your fill. Y'all ain't going anywhere anytime soon, and we have plenty to go around. Welcome to Berk." With that, he walked away, leaving the two on their own.

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A few days later, the storm had finally passed. The people of Berk started cleaning and fixing the damages that were sustained to their homes. And while the couple, although new and out of place, surprisingly, were openly accepted into the village.

They even began having a house constructed for them, but the two were extremely worried about their baby. It was too soon for it to be born. The woman lay in bed, the man at her side as the village doctor, and a few others assisted with the birthing process.

After some long, grueling hours, a baby boy was finally born. They gazed upon his skin, akin to milk chocolate, and were shocked to see the tips of his fingers were black. They looked toward the doctor, seeking answers, but were only met with a head shake. The only thing they could do now was wait and take care of him to the best of their abilities.

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A young boy groggily opens his eyes, yawning tiredly as he throws his bedding off him. Dragging himself out of bed, he stretches and rubs the sleep from his eyes before perking up at the smell of food. Rushing out of the room, he runs down some steps to see a woman preparing breakfast.

"Morning, Mom, is breakfast ready?" The boy asked as he walked toward his mother.

"Almost. Can you set the table so we can eat after I'm done?" She told him as she stirred the pot of what looked to be stew.

He did as was told, setting the table and quickly finishing before turning to watch his mother finish cooking. Once everything was done, the woman took a ladle and placed the food in wooden bowls before bringing it to the table. The boy's mouth watered at the smell.

Sitting on the opposite side, the woman smiled as she watched him eat the food. She was happy to see her son growing steadily, but if she was going to be honest with herself, she'd been worried ever since he was born.

Slowly but surely, the charcoal-colored marks started crawling up his hands. At first, they were barely noticeable but soon started covering each of his fingers, and now they were up to his knuckles.

After she and her husband noticed, they started paying more attention to the markings. She asked her son if they ever hurt or if they felt weird, but he only answered by saying he was fine and they looked cool. Though she knew her son, she could tell it bothered him greatly. He even asked his father to make him a pair of gloves so he could cover his hands. After they finished eating, the boy jumped to his feet before he put on his shoes and rushed toward the door.

"I'm heading out now. I promised to meet with Helga at the arena today." He said as he slipped on some leather boots.

"Aw~, my baby boy is growing up already." His mother teased.

"It's not like that, Mom." He groaned as he opened the door.

"Alright, alright, just be back before dark. Oh, and remember to watch out for dragons!" She yelled as he exited the house.

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Twelve years. Twelve years since, the boy has been born into this world of dangers. Lately, though, he's been having strange dreams—nightmares, if you will. Where he was in a completely different world, living a life that he felt was his and yet not at the same time.

Then he'd get pulled into an ink-like void, where the real nightmare would start. It was as if he was floating in an ocean before being dragged deeper and deeper until he could no longer see the surface. Once he felt he stopped being dragged down, where he'd find himself to be made of light.

It always felt weird. His dreams felt too real. After some time passed, he'd always feel a familiar presence watching him, like he'd met with it before, and then it would begin its attack. He lost to that thing multiple times, and each loss resulted in the marks slowly climbing up along his hand. He couldn't control when he got these nightmares, but after entering the nightmare so many times, he finally learned to fight back, though he never won.

What he found more interesting was that each time he entered his accursed dream, he felt like a fragment of a distant memory would enter his head as if he was regaining what he'd once lost. Eventually, after a long time of questioning whose memories he was entering, he figured out they were from his past life.

And if he was being honest with himself… He hated having the memories. His previous life was so mundane and monotonous, like the life was sucked out of him. They were not pleasant to have floating around in his mind. He did, however, like the memories of when his previous self was watching his childhood show.

Though he couldn't remember all of it, his memories were still fractured, and he didn't like to enter his nightmare to learn more. It seemed to be an alternate reality to his own, with a few discrepancies here and there. But even without most of his previous memories, he knew the ones he did have would still be useful to him.

Yet it still bugged him that he could only remember so much. Shrugging to himself, he disregarded the thought. It was only a matter of time till he eventually remembered everything anyway. As he walked through the village, he began to recall the time his parents told them about how they first came to Berk.

To him, it was pretty amazing and weird how easily they were accepted into the Hooligan tribe, though he was sure they proved themselves in some way he didn't know. Then there was the fact that Berk was still at war with the dragons. It didn't bother him, but if the memories from his previous life were correct, it would eventually be resolved, though there were still more dangers in his future that he'd have to deal with.

It irritated him to no end to have bits and pieces of memories of the future and yet know nothing simultaneously. And he doubted everything would even go exactly as the memories were portrayed. Continuing to the arena, he waved to the villagers he passed while walking through the village.

Most of the children in Berk weren't trained to fight at a young age, but the few who were were taken to the arena to practice their combative abilities and see how well they'd fare in battle. He was taught mostly by his mother and father but would sometimes train alongside the others.

Finally arriving at the arena, his ears were met with the sounds of grunting, yelling, and sharp clanging noises. Walking in, he saw two girls fighting each other. One girl was blonde-haired and wore a green sleeveless shirt, blue pants, and leather boots. The boy recognized her as Astrid right away. Wielding an axe, she swung down on the other girl who wielded a sword and sword.

'She is not going easy on Helga at all.' The boy thought to himself as he watched the brown-haired girl being pushed back as she tried blocking Astrid's strikes.

She had identical clothing to Astrid, except she wore a gray tunic and black pants instead. The boy watched as they fought each other for a few minutes, leaning against the wall as he analyzed their movements. Astrid continued her assault, swinging her axe as Helga kept getting pushed back until she was up against a wall.

"Come on, Helga, push back!" Looking over at the boy, she smiled at him before pushing off the wall with renewed vigor.

Blocking Astrid's axe with her shield, she ducks beneath a punch before using the butt of her sword to jab her in the chin. Seeing that she was staggered, she followed up with a leg sweep. Astrid hit the floor with a groan, and just as she was about to get up, she saw the tip of a sword pointed at her.

"I… win." Helga panted as she dropped her arms at her side before falling to the ground.

Walking up to both of them, the boy begins clapping as he compliments the two.

"Not bad, you've gotten better, Helga. You actually managed to beat Astrid this time. And Astrid, you were too tough on her. Lighten up a bit." He said as he offered Helga his hand.

"Tsk, she always fights better when you're around. I don't know how, but it feels like cheating." Astrid clicked her tongue as she got off the ground and dusted herself off.

"Do not!" Helga instantly retorted as she turned her head away from the boy.

"Either way, she did beat you. A win is a win." He smirked.

"Easy for you to say, Kaarik. We haven't beaten you once, even when we decided to double-team you." Astrid sighed as she went to pick up her axe.

"Just get better." He shrugged.

"Hmph." Astrid huffed and began to walk out of the arena. "Well, my training session is over. I've had enough sparring for one day, so I'll be going now. See you guys later."

"Later." Helga waved as she watched Astrid leave.

After she left, there was a moment of silence between Helga and Kaarik as they stood awkwardly next to one another.

Coughing, Kaarik turns to Helga, "Always fights better when I'm around, huh." He was promptly punched in the shoulder. "Ow! Hey!"

"Shut it…" Helga groaned as she began walking out of the arena as well.

"So, violent… anyway." Turning towards a myriad of weapons hanging on a stand, he grabbed a sword and swung it a few times, testing its weight. "Eh, good enough." Taking the sword, he began his training.

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Kaarik's POV

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Ok, I may have overdone it. After a few hours of training, I was lying on the ground, breathing heavily, and barely able to move my limbs. My muscles burned from overexertion, and I still had stuff to do today. I've been pushing myself a lot more than usual recently. It's probably because of the recent knowledge I gained through my nightmares.

Even if the reality I saw on that TV screen isn't mine, it doesn't mean it won't happen here, either. I need to prepare for whatever comes our way. That is the only way to protect those I care about. Clenching my fists, I get up with a groan as I slowly make my way out of the arena. Helga is probably waiting for me at the forge right now. Sighing, I begin making my way over.