The day was unbearably hot and the additional humidity the forest and surrounding waters provided did not, it would seem, work to hide that. Still, the platinum Viking kept on his patrols, stopping when he could to keep himself hydrated and cool off in the shade though the respite the forest offered was little in comparison to the baking the sun seemed determined to do to them. It was a smidge cooler in the shade and wading through the lake was better still. The ocean, the scarred Northman had considered, would probably offer the coolest waters. He had made immediate plans to head to the shore and let the sea cool off the heat that had him panting, sides heaving from the action as he swept to the next section of borders only to pause abruptly in his patrol. Black, leathery nostrils lowered to the ground to inhale the scents that littered it. His body tensed as his blood ran cold at the scent of loners …two of them within Stavanger Bay. Within claimed territory.

Any plans of bathing in the sea had been abruptly scorched from Ragnar’s mind as he lunged into the woods, following their scents, hackles bristled and teeth exposed with a low growl of territoriality. How anyone was ignorant to freshly and extremely strong scent borders he didn’t know and, frankly, didn’t care. He would tear their entrails from their bellies and wear their bloodied skulls like a helm for trespassing. When Ragnar bowled onto the scene like a tank, eyes zeroing in on the woman in the waters he charged at her stopping only at the bank of the waterfall, eyes of Caribbean ice bearing into her viciously, his tail held high over his back. It was a stance that transcended language barriers. He was the King, and their lives and punishment was in his paws.

They were trespassers and Ragnar had no patience for such a thing. “Why are you in my territory?” The Viking demanded of them, a low snarl rumbling in his throat. He gave Surra a quick glimpse out of the corner of his eye before his gaze settled back upon the two trespassers. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right here and now,” It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command. “Make no mistake though, if I do decide to spare your lives this day there will be consequences for your trespassing, regardless.” To prove that he had no intentions of just letting them go. No, Ragnar was not a lenient man and they would learn a lesson for trespassing into his borders. If he decided not to kill them, and currently that was a fairly sizable if.

The show of submission, the lowering of the girl’s body was satisfactory but it did not serve to pacify the scarred Northman. The fact of it was that they had trespassed and showing him respect and submission wasn’t going to excuse it. It smothered his anger in some small forms but it did not ebb the territoriality that he felt with every pulse he felt as his blood surged hotly through his veins. The male’s growl as he placed himself in front of the growl earned him a seething and sharp glare from the Alpha. As far as Ragnar was concerned he held no right to growl when they had been ignorant enough to trespass in the first place. Ragnar was within his rights to do what he saw fit to them. There was a consequence for trespassing and he was not a soft man to let it go with a slap on the wrist. If that was what they were hoping for they had trespassed on the wrong territory. His look was intended to silence as he contemplated the options he was willing to give.

The girl began to babble in what Ragnar assumed was fear, and he listened in stoic silence. Sorry didn’t cut it. Not by a long shot. “I do not understand how you didn’t smell our urine all over our borders. We just claimed this land and I know, for a fact that the scent is very strong.” Their borders were well marked and equally as well guarded. They had managed to slip in past the putrid urine marks that lined the entirety of their borders. To have it be considered that some part of the borders was unmarked was ludicrous and insulting to the Viking who was surprised he even still retained the ability to relieve himself after the constant strain of forcing himself to urinate to mark them thoroughly in the first place.

The more the girl spoke the less Ragnar was able to understand her. With English as his second language her accent and slurring and cutting off of words made it hard for him to understand what she was saying. His gaze flickered to Surra for a split second before it rested back upon the two intruders, as he wondered if Surra could make out her words. Considering he could barely understand her reason, though he was guessing it had something to do with the heat, nevertheless, it wasn’t one he would consider good. Stavanger Bay wasn’t free territory anymore. They had made a mistake, yes, but all mistakes held consequences. If he didn’t force them to learn from this one then they would never learn. In that way he saw them almost like children.

“Tell me child,” The scarred man addressed her mainly, if because her older companion offered no words. “What do you think I should do with you, hmm? What do you think your punishment should be?” Ragnar inquired, hoping that he could make sense of her answer. He had softened his tone to address her having realized that she was, essentially, just a child. A juvenile. He had a softness for kids even if he wasn’t sure how to handle little ones such as his own; luckily death would not be in the Seer’s runes for her. He did not kill children, and he was reminded of how easily this could be one of his own children someday facing up to a mistake they made. The platinum Viking had a few ideas of what punishment he could give them but if she had an idea he was willing to listen.

Ragnar received no answer in regards to how they had not scented the rank urine markings of a brand new, freshly minted claimed pack lands and though it served to annoy the Jarl he let it go for the simple fact that he had too. He could not make them give him a response when, in reality, they already had. It would have been redundant but nevertheless he still didn’t understand. He sincerely doubted there was an area of their borders they left unmarked so he summed it up to the fact to what was the only apparent reason to him: their noses must have either been broken or not working correctly. Or, he added as an after thought, they just hadn’t cared. Perhaps Stavanger Bay, Ragnar considered, was not the first they had trespassed on. Perhaps they were simply so used to trespassing and getting away with it that they thought the Bay would bestow them the same courtesy. They wouldn’t. Or, at the very least Ragnar wouldn’t and since he was the Jarl his word was the law. In a way this thought was strange because he was used to having to restrain himself for Pump's sake, but her death had bestowed him the freedom he had desired from his ball and chain that had kept him compliant to her word despite that most of the time he had disagreed with her leniency. Death was not how Ragnar had wanted to break free of the ball and chain, and certainly not with hers at that but nothing could be done about it.

Ragnar was silent as the girl spoke, taking a long moment to dissect her words even though her speech was incredibly hard for the Nord to understand. It was cut off English, or perhaps it was just her accent but, again, he struggled with it despite his fluency in the common tongue. He was fairly confident, however, he got the gist of her suggestion, if only because it was similar to his own thoughts. He had considered taking them as his slaves, a practice that was common to his culture and to the Cove, however, keeping them as the Bay’s Captives was a more temporary solution that slavery. Besides, the girl was still just a child. If she had been an adult he would have insisted the slave route given that it was his pack and his judgment to make, however, her obvious youth spared her of being tied to the Viking for the rest of her life, or, until he decided to free her. “My culture has only ever taken slaves,” Ragnar broke his silence with a thoughtful look spared to Surra before his gaze settled back upon them. “However, you, girl, are still a child. I will not take a life of freedom and choices away from you,” Ragnar knew he had a tendency to not want to let his slaves go, forming attachments to them and essentially treating them like family over the months they served him. “Your companion is spared from slavery to the Bay only because he watches over you,” Though the girl looked to be of a capable age to take care of herself. “You will be apart of Stavanger Bay as our captives for punishment of your crime. You will do whatever the Bay wolves ask of you and if you do as you are asked and do not retaliate in two weeks time you will be free to go, or stay as respectable members if you choose,” Ragnar decided, speaking to them. “It is a lesson of humility. Hopefully it will encourage you two to be more vigilant at not just our borders but at the borders of other packs as well.” There were other packs, Ragnar imagined, that wouldn’t care that the girl was a child and would resort to death no questions asked. The girl Ragnar could make an exception for given her age, the male though, surely he was old enough to know better.

With that the Viking fell silent.

With judgment passed, in a small little form of what resembled the trials the Cove had held against their ‘criminals’ or accused, except the bulk of the pack was missing from it, Ragnar was content with the sentence he had given them. Eyes of Caribbean ice moved from the Bay’s two Captives to Surra when he spoke that he had work to start them on. “Do with them what you will Surra,” The Jarl granted with a nod to his subordinate, before his gaze went back to linger on the two for a few prolonged moments as he spoke, “If they give you any trouble don’t hesitate to call for me.” though this was mainly to Surra it was spoken aloud for their benefit as well. The two weeks would be a painless sentence for them as long as they obeyed and did as they were asked. “I will come find you when the sun begins to set,” The Jarl spoke to the pair, now. “And we will decide where you will sleep.” Ragnar would not have the Captives any where close to his children and they would be under his watchful eye during the night so they would less likely to escape just to prove that he was definitely serious about the punishment and that if would go to any measure to make sure they did not escape. Even maiming if he needed too. Ragnar did not abide by any sort of moral code and would do whatever it took.

With a last glimpse at Surra the Jarl turned and departed, and headed back to his patrols.