The sun had not even risen when Bragi had awoken before the cusp of dawn. The sky was still covered with darkened velvet and the stars that littered the dark blue night were obscured every now and then by the clouds that drifted across the skyline, blocking out the moon’s beams even at times as they continued to move lazily. It was hot and humid though the breeze that drifted through the ancient trees of Stavanger Bay’s forest from the sea served as something of a coolant. He had hunted small game to feed himself before setting off.
As he moved south east gradually the sun began it’s ascension into the sky, breaking through the darkness though the overcast day made it hard for the traveler to determine the exact time of morning; regardless, he pushed on. Having no real destination in his mind made the journey and resulting territories he crossed into more enticing than the last as he wondered which one would claim his ultimate attention. Learning the lands surrounding Stavanger Bay would only prove to be helpful to both his goal as outrider apprentice and to the pack as a whole. The young Viking moved with the ambiance of leisure having no real objective other than his own. Plus, it helped him sort out his opinions on Ragnar Loðbrók which were …mixed. Half of Bragi felt admiration for the once great Jarl of Odinn’s Cove, likely imbedded into him by his mother’s own reverence for the conqueror, and trepidation. Bragi couldn’t place this feeling of utter hesitation around the older male, but he wondered if anyone else had realized how much they looked alike? Perhaps it had just been Bragi to make that uncomfortable assumption with it’s equally as uncomfortable partner: what if. He couldn’t be sure and would never know unless someone came clean with him but there was a small inkling of Bragi that thought Ragnar might be Sveið’s mysterious ‘Heimdall’.
Giving his head a quick shake to dispel those dramatic thoughts he turned eyes of Caribbean ice to the Creek he stumbled upon, pausing long enough in his stride to map it upstream, admiring it for a second as he saw that it cascaded from ledge to ledge down the mountainside like a mini waterfall. There had been a tall waterfall whose waters had streamed into Odinn’s Cove and they had always had fun daring each other to jump off of it and into the blue waters below. A soft smile played at the edges of the youth’s lips as he meandered nearer to the banks of the creek, bowing his head down to the water to lap at the cool, crisp water, enjoying the serenity that clung to this undisturbed and unclaimed territory and for the moment reveling in his own solitude.