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The white-haired man walked through the great halls of the castle at a brisk pace, his footsteps echoing through the great chambers. The black-and-grey motif distinguishing the uniform of the Einheirjar gleamed on his backside.
Various personnel of the Valhalla Army lined the corridor leading to a great set of enchanted doors, both as high as giants, towering over every living thing in the precinct. Everyone knew who was on the other side of those great portals but rarely did any one person ever attain the chance to walk through those.
Fortunately, he was not to be one of those ill-fated people.
The soldiers and other such military personnel half-milling about in the halls went silent and disjoined to make way for his advent.
Dino scowled at this display of lackadaisical behavior which halted as soon as he stepped into the room. He was well aware of the widespread indolence that was so prominent in the Valhalla Army, especially amongst the lower ranks.
They raised their arms up in a rigid salute as the prodigious Einheiri passed by, lowering their gaze in respect for their superior officer, ignorant or perhaps indifferent to the look of disapproval on his countenance.
Dino was completely cognizant of the fact that they'd go back to their nonsensical chit-chattering as soon as his presence were to depart. That seemed to be some kind of law of this place after all, something one would would find to be as natural as breathing.
He'd already resigned himself to one day reform this corruption-ridden force, starting with his own regiment, no matter if it were to take him a millennia or even ten.
These men and women were supposed to be the staunch defenders and wards of the civilians inside the domes, they couldn't afford to slack off while on servitude.
He paused in front of the lofty doors, preparing himself to stand in audience of the Lord and Allfather.
After a moment, the doors slowly, agonizingly slowly, creaked open and he stepped inside, continuing onwards on the dark burgundy carpets, to where he was summoned by the Allfather himself, Odin.
He took slow, deliberate and painstaking steps, conscious of leaving the indentations of his boots on the crisp and spotless floor coverings.
The doors slowly closed behind him with an ominous creak that wasn't present when they were opened. The major thing of note were the carvings embedded into the great doors only on the side of the throne room.
These carvings mainly outlined various depictions of the might of the Gods, with Odin present in the forefront, before all others.
The intrinsic and painstakingly meticulous carvings created by conscientious hands did well in depicting the victories and glories of the Gods and their stories, many of which Dino recognized near immediately.
They even showcased stories and events with humans in the forefront and spotlight, though less in magnitude, were spared no expense in detail and enthusiasm.
Hallowed carvings and abstract images graced the ancient long-forgotten wood; The likes of which could only be delineated as decadence for the reverent eye. The knowledge, passions and talents of these artists was more than evident in this magnificent work of appreciative art.
It took him little time to get used to the change of illumination.
Darkness invaded every corner of the great room whose ends the man could not make out, even with his enhanced vision. Much of the features of the great room were concealed in deep shadows.
The only source of light in the seemingly endless room was the mighty throne at a distance from him, which cast a soft while light around it in a set radius. He could see a figure sitting on the throne. He had no doubt that was Lord Odin, the Allfather Himself.
Even at such distance, Dino could feel His disinterested, yet equally expectant gaze resting on his undoubtedly tiny figure. Sweat collected on his forehead and trickled down his arms. His normally-comfortable Einheirjar uniform was starting to feel unbearably hot.
I wasn't called here for anything worthy of punishment or some similar unforgivable offense, was I?
Dismissing his unfounded feelings of baseless anxiety, the white Einheirjar walked up within close proximity of the throne, then finally stopped to lower his head in respect for the Lord Odin.
With one knee braced against himself and the other making contact with the finely carpeted floor, a hand clutched in front of his chest and the back of the other pressed against his spine, he bowed down in the presence of the mighty God of Gods.
"Lord Odin." He spoke in a level tone, making no effort to hide the hint of reverence in his otherwise level voice.
"Dino." The Allfather acknowledged. He sat with his legs crossed and chin resting in the palm of His hand, the index finger playing with a stray strand of hair.
One might even say the mighty Odin looked rather bored.
"Can this humble servant inquire as to the reason why the Allfather wished to see me today?" Dino asked, head still lowered.
To anyone looking in (though he doubted anyone could do so without coming under perception of Lord Odin), his exterior would exude his regular calm collectedness and apathy. But Fates knew how giddy he felt on the inside, the sheer force of his nervousness threatening to burst out from his ribcage and leaving him a convulsing mess on the floor.
"You may get up now." Odin announced once some time had passed. Dino quickly sprang to attention, chest proudly puffed out and hands wrapped behind his back as he watched Odin stand up from His throne and walk up to him. The God took slow, casual steps, as if He was in no hurry to do anything. And considering His status as the Allfather of Gods, he had no doubt He did.
With every step towards him, Dino felt the air crackle and hum with charged energy, a crystal consolation for allies and a threat for any who might be against Him. Dino had to fight the urge to shift his body backwards, away from the growing source of overwhelming energy and power.
"And as for the answer to your question, I have a job for you, Dino." The God fixed him with an expectant gaze.
"I'll gladly accept any mission the great Lord Odin bestows upon me." Too late, Dino realized he was just on the verge of breaking the boundary between speech and shouting as soon as the sentence left his lips.
Thankfully, the God didn't seem to mind. He even curled his lips in a small smile, long blue strands of stray hair slid forward onto His face.
All of a sudden, Dino picked up the sound of barely audible footsteps to his right. He tilted his head back slightly to see who was there.
He wasn't at all surprised to find that it was none other than the mighty Lord Odin in his peripheral. Dino immediately returned his gaze to the now-empty throne.
He hadn't witnessed the Allfather take another step, merely heard the presence of footsteps and looked to see that He was there.
The Allfather was truly marvelous, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Dino's normally rigid gaze trailed upwards to the top of Odin's throne, where it settled on the gleaming golden frame of a hollowed sphere surrounded by similarly colored lines of gold. They alternated in size, one long and one short, and poked through into the circle at their midpoint, representing the Sun.
Dino knew well what it symbolized but he couldn't help but find that that particular design looked more like the maw of a giant than any Solar body.
He once again trained his gaze to focus only on one tiny spot. To look around the Great Allfather's throne room would be akin to a child going through a stranger's house.
"I feel proud seeing your enthusiasm, Einheiri. I'm sure you won't disappoint me like some of my previous candidates." Odin hmphed as he began to circle around Dino, halting every now and then to stare at him, as if trying to inspect something about him.
"I want you to keep a close eye on someone. Someone...quite dear to me." Odin's eye flashed with a blue light, a ghost of a smile lingering on his lips.
"I am at your command, Lord Odin."
"Yes yes, very good. You will find the details of your mission with the head chief. You may leave and prepare for your mission as it'll require you to stay outside the domes for an extended period of time."
Dino was a little taken aback at this.
Was he really supposed to watch someone who was living outside of the domes?
"And do not shun your duty in providing consistent and detailed reports to me on time. That is all. Dismissed. You may leave now." Odin announced, having left no room for negotiation before sitting back down in his throne, taking the exact same position as before.
His soul piercing eyes were trained at the Einheirjar, watching him closely as he took a moment to bow in respect before whirling around and leaving the throne room, once more taking great care to refrain from leaving imprints of his soles.
Before the doors closed behind him, Dino could just barely hear Odin's next words over the clanking and creaking of the giant doors.
"I trust you will not disappoint me, Einheiri."
───── ⋆⋅.𖥔 ݁ ˖⋅⋆ ─────
Dino surveilled from atop a tree branch, hidden among canopies covered with a hefty amount of snow.
He relied only on his enhanced power of vision, courtesy of being an Einheiri, in order to keep a watch on things, lest the Sun reflect off of objects like binoculars and lenses and give his position away to the target and give rise to some rather unsavory situations.
He fixed his sights on the subject of interest, a young woman with a long scar running down one side of her face, with a trained eye, observing the most miniscule of movements as well as the most obvious of actions.
The scar began from just under her eye and continued on a downward trail down her face and disappeared past the neckline. This was one aspect of her he was still a bit puzzled on, since all members of the Tribe of the Golden Tree had the spontaneous ability to heal almost any injury depending on their total exposure to natural sunlight.
He was quick to push those intrusive thoughts aside and focus only on his task. There was no point in getting distracted by useless thoughts on matters that were of no concern to him.
No detail must be spared in this mission. He had to make this meeting look as organic as possible.
And he had to do it quickly. He was sure she was getting increasingly suspicious of being watched if the way she repeatedly glanced around at her surroundings at random was any indication of her wariness. She'd proved to be more perceptive than he'd initially anticipated.
Everything else was set up near perfectly: Moving into a decently sized cabin nearby, news of a new neighbor traveling fast throughout the rogue villages, maintaining a regular appearance and familiarizing acquaintances with the rest of the locals nearby.
Of course he ran a decent background check on everyone living outside of the domes beforehand, especially with regards to this particular rogue village. And quite frankly, he was surprised to find a severe lack of criminals among their records.
He'd always imagined life in the rogue villages to be a lot more....lawless? Anarchic?
But the people and communities here were surprisingly normal and pretty much exactly like the people inside the domes, only a lot more rugged and hardened. Go figure.
Aside from the sudden appearance of Odin's subject of interest, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary for most if not all of the people he was to be living among for an unprecedented amount of time.
He'd met up and bonded with just about everyone in the immediate vicinity, save for one person: this woman he'd been keeping under scrutiny for the past week AKA the actual subject of his constant surveillances.
Odin had specifically instructed him to keep a close eye on her, something that could be done even better than if one were to spend all their time hanging about on treetops by simply forging a close bond with them. And he was about to undertake exactly that, with the first step being: to arrange a meet-up with the object of interest.
The only problem was: How in the Hel was he supposed to accomplish that??
Now, this might seem like an extremely idiotic and jejune question to be asking after you've made acquaintances with about 10 locals within the past week. And perhaps it was.
Ok no, it definitely was stupid.
He should just walk up to her, a freshly baked meat pie so aromatic that anyone without a nose within a radius of five and a half miles could smell it steaming inside a nicely wrapped wicker basket; Strike up a pleasant conversation and maybe invite yourself over to her residence for a hot drink or two.
Nothing he hadn't already done for anyone else out here.
Sounds easy, right?
Absolutely not!
This woman was to be his object of careful observation and close surveillance for however long the Allfather decrees him. And in order to strike up a decent bond with her, everything has to be carried out in the most discreet, inconspicuous, explicable and natural way possible. There was to be absolutely no room for mistakes and mishaps.
Hence why he'd been half-dangling off of this sickly branch in the freezing cold for the past two hours. Now, Dino was no stranger to the cold, nor did he ever before mind being exposed to the elements for any extended period of time.
But when this extended period of time encompassed living outside of the snug, artificial warmth of Odin's benevolent protection for Fates knew how long, away from all sources of viable stimulation and also his job as Einheirjar and regiment captain, one could most definitely find themselves feeling crabbier than usual, he'd argue.
But enough of this!
Dino set his meticulous sights back on the woman, named Asha Marcia, who was now racing across a clearing of snow-covered pines. She seemed to be following the tracks of a lone herd animal, one who'd probably lagged behind the rest of his herd for this year's migratory season.
Finding any sizable animal aside from the seasonal trout was particularly rare around this time of year, so it would serve as a pleasant surprise to be finding any tracks at all, let alone those of an animal as large as a buck.
Dino watched carefully as she clambered her way up the hill through knee-deep snow, immediately stopping in her tracks once she set eyes on the prize: a fine, healthy buck, nibbling on some low-hanging evergreen branches.
It's antlers seemed to have been freshly shed off its head in preparation for an unlikely spring, the shallow, hollow spots where the keratin-and-bone structures disjoined from its head still a deep red.
The woman backed up cautiously, taking cover within a particularly dense patch of trees before unstrapping her crossbow off her back and loading it with expert speed.
She aligned the scope with her eye, preparing to shoot the oblivious animal.
The animal stopped it's absentminded nibbling to raise it's head, sniffing the air and observing it's surroundings, as if suspicious of being watched by an intent gaze, or even two. A small inkling of what was to come flashed in its large dark eyes, as if remembering similar occurrences in its lifetime.
The woman tensed, prepared to watch her prey scamper away from her sight at any moment.
Fortunately for her, the buck seemed to push away its suspicions and went back to chewing at the coniferous leaves.
The wind blowing uphill and the woman's calculated quietism certainly helped in staving off its animal panic from taking over.
Dino watched the scene unfold in the distance, grabbing a small pebble from nearby as an idea struck him.
At that moment, he knew exactly how to arrange the perfect meet-up, completely organic and inconspicuous in regards to both parties.
He squinted, narrowing his field of vision until the trigger of her crossbow was the only thing he could see. He watched for the tiniest margin of movement in the finger positioned over it, hovering back and forth as she waited for the perfect moment to release its killing strike on the deer's jugular.
He watched the finger start to press down on the trigger, lightly applying pressure for its eventual release. He had no doubts concerning her marksmanship, which was exactly why he would have to intervene.
Just a little more, just a little more....
Now!
Dino reeled back his arm and launched the small stone into the air, where it sailed brave and true towards its destination: the small patch of trees between Marcia and the deer. An attempt to foil her killing shot.
An attempt that proved highly successful.
The pebble landed squarely on the snow-covered canopy of the trees between them, shaking the powdery snow and making it slip away to the forest floor in heavy sheets. The sudden interruption startled both her and the buck, making the deer rear up in shocked surprise and the arrow miss its mark, grazing past the vulnerable neck.
A thin line of bright red spread across the frightened animal's neck. It reared and bolted off in the opposite direction, away from Marcia and right towards him. Just as he'd hoped, otherwise things would have proved to be much more troublesome.
She cursed, quickly reloading an arrow into the crossbow, but not before fumbling a little in her hurrying and blindly chasing after the prize of a deer.
Dino knew full well what the implications of losing such a large animal in this winter posed to the average hunter: the loss of weeks' or even months worth of smoked meat, luxurious fur which could be used to make coats and clothing or even sold for profits as well as the hooves and antlers which could be used in the making of meretricious trinkets, ornaments and traditional medicines.
There was a lot to be missed out on with the loss of such an animal, presumably for the next few months.
Luckily for her, that won't be happening this time.
Dino expertly jumped off the tree and, picking up the hunting gear he'd stashed away inside a small tree hollow just in case, dashed across to a spot where he'd have a good shot of the deer.
Soon enough, the sounds of hooves scrambling and barrelling through snow could be heard, even by normal human standards. The buck soon followed into the clearing, jumping over the snowdrifts in a majestic leap.
Only then did it spot the hunter lying in ambush between the trees. Man and animal locked eyes and it was as if a mutual understanding passed betwixt them: It had taken its last leap in life. Too late, the animal tried to twist its body mid-air.
Dino chose that moment to fire the rifle with consummate precision, its powerful spray of pellets blasting through the animal's skin mid-leap. It was a direct shot to the heart, piercing the top of the heart and the lungs. A hunters' preferred way to kill such animals.
Penetrating these vital organs (with a bullet or an arrow) leads to massive blood loss and a quick death for the animal. It also resulted in very minimal meat damage, a definite plus.
The buck lurched upwards, shooting straight up in the air before coming down in a landing stagger, running off unsteadily into the opposite direction. Dino chased after it, following the trail of blood on the snow.
It didn't get very far, perhaps thirty yards?
It dropped to the pristine snow, the small hole just above its foreleg gushing a good amount of blood onto the once-white snow. It twitched its lithe legs once, twice, three times, before finally going completely still, one black eye staring up into the cloudless sky.
Soon, the sound of running could be heard and the woman burst into the clearing shortly after, taking off her visor as she glanced between the white-haired man and her once-prey lying on the ground, its top part resting on a bloodied patch of snow.
"Ah, I'm—I'm so sorry!" He yelled, feigning ignorance. "I didn't know someone was already hunting this deer! Please forgive me, Miss!" He made a show of dropping his firearm and bowing down in a position that would surely have any normal man's spine screaming in pain.
Just act casual. Act natural. Like it's your first time seeing her.
"Oh, nono, it—it's completely fine!" Marcia stuttered, raising her palms in surrender and also to signal him to tone down the formalities. "I accidentally messed up my shot and wouldn't have been able to catch this—" She gestured at the lifeless animal on the snow. "This deer over here. I'm honestly really glad someone got to it even if I didn't."
She smiled down at him.
"Please stand up, dear stranger. There's no need to be so formal to someone who rightfully lost her kill."
"Lost?" He immediately jumped back up, whipping his head between her and the buck. "You didn't lose anything, ma'am! We can just share this deer! He's a fine specimen and I'm sure there's plenty of stuff in him for the both of us." He grinned as he scrambled back where he'd kept some rope and began to tie up and secure the large deer.
"Are—Are you sure about this?" Marcia uttered nervously while she helped him tie up the animal's hooves. "I mean, you're the one who shot it and I didn't so—"
"Don't worry about that, Miss!" Dino interrupted her, trying hard to stave off her doubts. "I already have a lot of game stocked up for the winter season, more than I alone can manage actually, so there'll be no trouble in us splitting this thing 50-50 or however much you'd prefer to. Promise."
The smile he'd shot her must've been enough to convince her of his claims because she seemed much more cheerful and carefree as they loaded the animal up in a sled and started to haul it in the direction of the village.
Along the way, they introduced themselves to each other and began conversing about various aspects of village life.
"I take it you're Asha Marcia?" He guessed, seeing her nod brightly in response. "I was just thinking of visiting your house recently, so I think it's actually a pretty nice coincidence that we've met each other like this."
Marcia agreed with his sentiments.
"So you're the new guy who just moved into the village a week ago that everyone's been talking about?" Marcia asked in surprise as she gave Dino a late once-over. "I've heard nice things about you. No offense but...I didn't expect him to look like such a callow city-boy."
"Yep! The new guy, that's me. And uh, none taken." He gave a good-hearted chuckle. "To be honest, I actually was a 'city-boy' up until a couple weeks ago. I originally lived in the domes with the rest of my family. But after..." He paused, a pained expression crossing his features.
"After a close relative passed away and some financial difficulties hit, I decided to move in to my grandparents' home out in the sticks."
He cast a soft, nostalgic glance at the approaching village, as if he were relieving through old memories.
"I used to come here often when I was little. Practiced shooting here with my grandfather, back when I still thought of it as a sport. Who'd have thought it'd turn out to be my main source of income later on in life?"
He laughed at the absurdity of it, finally falling silent on that cheerful note. Of course, all that had come out of his mouth just now was a lie. A mix of careful fabrications and falsehoods to conjure up a suitable story for his having moved here.
Marcia looked over at him, taking note of his downcast gaze on the snow crunching under their boots. Dino presumed her to be feeling upset if she'd made him remember something he didn't want to.
After a while, she began again.
"You practiced shooting with your grandfather way back? Wow, he must've been really good. Because that shot you made back there? Totally awesome."
Dino looked up in surprise, his eyes narrowing in disbelief.
"You really thought that shot was good? I honestly thought I got really lucky with that one." He admitted earnestly.
"What do you mean 'lucky'?!" Marcia burst out, having taken offense at his choice of words. She momentarily dropped the rope and stomped in front of him and placed her hands on her hips.
"If that was lucky, then I'm a pine cone! That was seriously one of the coolest shots I ever saw anyone make, hands down. The way you shot it as it was jumping?"
She paused to make vigorous arm motions in the air, perhaps trying to replicate the scene of him shooting the deer but it only served to make her look like she was trying to pull off an extremely enthusiastic rain dance.
"Even seasoned hunters would have trouble pulling that off, and you only took a single shot."
"Uwah—?!" Dino jumped back in surprise at her sudden advance.
She leaned forward and jabbed a finger at his face, making him bend backwards and sentence his spine to yet another position that would have anyone else begging for mercy. He raised his hands up in the universal sign for surrender.
"So don't you dare sell yourself short, Mister! If you have talent, then it's well within your rights to show it off to the world!"
And with that, they both stood staring at each other's face without a single word uttered between them.
Marcia was the first to break.
"Uh, s—sorry about that..." She apologized, picking up the forgotten rope and clutching it tightly. "I tend to...sort of get carried away sometimes." A red tint spread across her face.
Dino gulped, pulling on his end of the rope again.
"Um yeah, I guess you're right about that...I really should learn to have more confidence in my skills after all. It's actually been a problem for me ever since I was little. Anyway, that's enough about me. Do you mind telling me why you're living outside of the domes?"
They slipped into pleasant conversation all the way down the steep hill towards the village, where Dino had opted for the both of them to come over to his house to divide up their spoils to which Marcia happily agreed.
This is going perfectly, Dino thought to himself, contented and maybe even a little gratified at the amount of progress he'd made with the subject in a single afternoon. The first step of the mission was complete.
If things kept going at their current pace, he'd have her grow close to him in no time at all. Odin would surely be pleased to hear of all this progress in his next report.