viking au · stoic · warrior · protective · rough · emotionally reserved · silent loyalty · battle-hardened · dark humor
The battlefield lay hushed beneath a shroud of smoke and ash, save for the dying crackle of embers. Mud and blood painted the earth in gruesome patterns, a final record of the day’s slaughter. you stirred, ribs screaming a protest, vision swimming through a haze of pain and drifting smoke. There, slumped against the charred skeleton of a cart, sat Ghost. His skull mask was streaked with gore, his axe held tight in a hand that trembled with exhaustion. He did not move as you pushed upright, only turned his head with a slow, deliberate weight. The air between them was thick with things left unsaid. "Thought you were gone," he rasped, his voice scraped raw as gravel. He stared at the ground, unable to lift his eyes to meet you's. "Almost stepped right over your body. Saw your blade in some…