"Oh, by Odin, Tofa," A small giggle of hope choked its way through Vali's tears at Tofa's optimistic words, elation at his friend's discovery of his own fated usurping any and all fears he may have previously held. "This is such wonderful news!" Vali mimicked his friend's movements, unable to keep his fingertips still as they caressed every available inch of Tofa's face, mind still not fully caught up with the truth that his best friend – the only person he ever considered family – had survived. "We must all introduce ourselves! Come, come!"

Gathering up his friend in the crook of his arm, Vali led Tofa the few feet back to where both of their Alphas still stood. Standing tall and broad as ever, the attention of both men was drawn to their reunited Omegas in a split second, gravitating toward their respective mate in such a way that many would only describe as wholly instinctual.

Knowing that such a gruff man was Tofa's fated changed everything about how he perceived the intimidating fellow. And as he watched Kerr float his way over to Tofa's side, a solid mass of muscle hovering just behind Tofa's petite form like a bodyguard of the highest order, Vali's initial apprehension poached itself down to none other than an airy simmer.

"Shall we sit?" Vali offered, gesturing to the array of furs when a sudden, notably domestic urge to provide a hospitable environment for their guests overcame him. There was, after all, much to discuss.

Kerr bowed his head in acknowledgment of Vali's offering, and as Tofa stepped toward the array of soft material that littered the far corner, the towering Viking trailed behind his fated like a shadow, taking a seat beside him only after pausing to allow his Omega to select a spot of his own, first. And as Vali followed close behind, taking a seat adjacent to the pair, Einar provided an ever-present silhouette of his own as he descended in a heap, somehow slotting his monumental body between the wallboard and Vali's back in order to fit the Omega perfectly in the space between his long legs.

A small yelp of surprise chimed from the back of Vali's throat once Einar took the unexpected action a step further still, heat flaring into the apples of his cheeks when a heavy arm wrapped tight around his midsection, hauling him backward against a chest that felt as if it were a closer relative to steel than skin. It was only then, when Einar's Omega was secure in his hold and his primitive Alphan instincts named themselves satisfied, that the prize Berserkr found it within himself to relax his muscles by a trace, bending one knee upward in order to utilize it as an armrest.

It was a precarious position, likely considered somewhat indecent if they possessed the gall to assume such a stance in a public setting. However, as Vali swiveled his attention back to the other fated pair who sat with at least a foot-wide chiasm between themselves, the Omega momentarily caught a gleam of longing that twinkled across Kerr's hazel eyes as the Alpha glanced upon Einar and Vali entangled in such an intimate embrace.

"Tofa, my friend, I would very much like to introduce you to my fated mate as well," Vali began, reaching across the space between them to take both of Tofa's hands between his own. "My Alpha is called Einar. And just as you say your fated has done, he, too, has saved me from the clutches of a much crueler fate."

The throaty scoff of dissent that sounded from the stormy depths of Kerr's chest made Vali's brow scrunch up into – if Einar were to describe it– an astonishingly adorable, albeit staunchly bewildered expression. "Pardon?" Vali questioned, wondering what could have caused such an enigmatic reaction. Kerr was quick to indulge his inquiry.

"Tofa deserves to feel the sun on his skin, to frolic in green pastures and glow in the shine of the fireflies that dance through each and every evening breeze," Kerr's response was absolute, as sure as the sun rises at dawn. The Alpha's eyes lowered then, equal parts adoring and miserable as he angled himself to gaze upon Tofa's firelit profile. "And as fate may have brought us together – a truth for which I am eternally in Odin's debt – it is also true that while Tofa remains in hiding with a slaveman's bounty tied to his throat, I will never accept the honor of having been anointed as anyone's savior." Kerr finished his declaration in one breath, gaze never wavering from that of his fated.

The arm that rested upon Einar's knee contracted, hand curling into a solid fist as he calmly attended to Kerr's proclamation. Kerr's passionate words struck a vivid picture of the kind of man that this immensely powerful yet broken Viking truly was, and as Einar listened, arm latched tight around the only man who had ever given him the desire to live for something other than fear, Einar wondered if he and Kerr may share similarities that resonated to a level much deeper than something as artificial as their Berserkr rankings.

"I understand." Einar's voice rang out like a gong, the smoky yet indisputably demanding sound gaining the attention of all three other men without contention. "However, I must also inquire as to how you propose going about achieving such an endeavor?"

As if it, too, were waiting with bated breath, the fire torch blazed slightly lower then, casting a shadow across Kerr's face so dim that it nearly made the colossal man disappear into the wallboards themselves. But no matter how faint and murky the visibility, the words he uttered next rang loud, clear, and undisturbed by the darkness. 

"We must kill Guiscard."

"No." Einar's reaction was fierce, so immediate and visceral that the Alpha himself didn't even remember forming the command in his mind before it slipped past his lips. "I will not. We will not." The Alpha spewed his disapproval like hot bile, a sense of reactionary upheaval settling into the marrow of his bones and stinging like the all-too-familiar lash of a barbed whip.

"My brother, please–" Kerr attempted, hands held out as an offering of peace.

"I am not your brother!" Einar leaned forward then, looking especially terrifying as stray strands of dirty blonde hair fell into his eyes, fist smashing down into the floorboards with enough force to rattle the entire loft beneath their feet. "You dare ask this, knowing what he has done to those who have found their fated before us! Knowing that we are outnumbered, knowing that you are risking the souls of both of our Omegas if and when we fail such an imprudent, thoughtless mission!"

"Einar, I beg of you, just–"

"I said no!" The Alpha's words were a growl now, both thick arms encapsulating Vali in a grip so tight now that the Omega felt his lungs constricting against the force. "You cannot ask this of me, I will not risk his life for some foolish fantasy that possesses no possible route to victory." Fingers entangled at the back of Vali's mound of black and white curls, Einar held the much smaller man to his chest in a similar manner to which a dragon might protect his most precious treasure. "He is too strong, Kerr," The Alpha finished, slightly more subdued once he filled burning lungs with the saccharine scent of his Omega. His Vali. "No matter how we may try, Master Guiscard will always win."

The sobering silence that settled upon the solemn shoulders of all that resided within the loft was similar to the sharp tip of a blade, slicing through all hope until nothing but a hollow carcass of emptiness was left in its stead, fragments of what could have been sifting through its ghastly remains.

But as quickly as the silence fell, Vali rose onto his knees, shifting himself in Einar's steely hold so that he could face his Alpha and use his palms to frame the handsome, firmly set jaw that he'd come to admire so. Then, forcing as much of a smile as he could muster onto the expanse of his full lips, the Omega spoke in tongues of tenderness.

"Einar, look at me." He ordered, echoing identical words to those he'd spoken innumerable times before. Instantly, cerulean waters called to him, the shipwrecked seas that were his Alpha's eyes flickering homeward. "I know that you have endured countless horrors that would make even the most powerful of adversaries fall to their knees for mercy," He whispered as Einar's fingertips tightened, digging into Vali's waist with a force that immediately confirmed such suspicions, "And I know that right now, you are scared, frightened that you may have to endure such atrocities once more. But right now, we are being offered a chance. It does not mean that we must take that chance, or that we must even consider it. But what we can do is listen."

"My ástvinur–" A delicate finger pressed to his lips may have quieted Einar's dissent, but the smile that Vali offered just before he leaned down to press a reassuring kiss to his Alpha's forehead rendered him speechless.

"Allow Kerr to speak. That is all that I ask." Vali settled back down in his Alpha's arms, tilting his head in such a way that his curls formed the perfect halo around his face and Einar's heavy breaths were reduced to diminutive shudders. 

The corner of his lip twitched, and in the next moment, Vali found himself crushed against Einar's chest again as the Alpha reluctantly turned his attention back toward a patient Kerr. "Speak."

Kerr's hands shook as he wrestled a losing battle against the tears that formed around the bleakness that was his encroaching future. But still, through it he persevered.

"Einar... Just as Guiscard's whip has disfigured you, body and soul, know that I bear the same scars" He began, voice wavering as he held his gaze to the floorboards. "And through it all, he has made every effort to separate us, to strike fear into every thread that makes up the wretched web of our lives on this earth so that we remain beneath him – right where he wants us." He rose his head now, locking eyes with Einar, and Tofa stared up at his fated with eyes full of stars. "But hear me when I say that we are not alone, that we are not separated. In the dead of night, whispers from the slave cabins speak endlessly of the vile sins that Guiscard hath committed upon them, and of what they would do if they were provided the opportunity to condemn him to similar fates." 

Kerr leaned in closer then, the long plait that ran down the center of his skull slipping over his shoulder. And although Einar's gaze remained as impassive as a boulder blocking off a stream, the Alpha could not deny the way his brethren's declaration resonated within his gut, knocking at the door of some long-dormant place that he thought Guiscard had destroyed many, many moons ago.

"We have already learned that hiding is not an option. And if we try to outrun him, he will always find us. But if we forge a stand here, on our land, we outman even his most devoted bondsmen by numbers upwards of ten to one. And with Odin's good sword on our side, we have the means to provide the rest of the bond with the opportunity they so desperately desire and deserve." Kerr's voice was a stable thing now, although it contrasted the steady flow of tears that waterfalled their way down his cheeks, disappearing into his beard before they could drip onto the dusty floorboards. 

Noticing his Alpha's struggle, Tofa hesitantly leaned into Kerr's side, wrapping both arms around one of his tree-trunk-like biceps in a heartwarming gesture of placation. Vali immediately noticed the way the Alpha jumped as if his Omega's touch were electric, the Alpha's cheeks burning a bright pink as he gazed down at Tofa's blatant display of affection as if he could not believe that what he was currently experiencing was real. 

Blinking a few times, Kerr cleared his throat, and although reluctant to tear his sights away from his fated, the Alpha forced himself to continue onward, knowing that this moment was a crucial formative factor of not just one, but all of their destinies.

"And so, I humbly beg of you to reconsider this proposal; not only for myself but for the futures of all who have – and will – be made victim to the perverted greed that Guiscard's ongoing existence perpetuates." Kerr beseeched, a determined sense of resolution inoculated into each and every word, "Help me, Einar, in proving that in spite of everything that he has done – regardless of all of the souls he has stripped from this earth – that Guiscard is only a man, made of bone that can be broken and flesh that can be bled."

Do I smell an alliance forming? 😏

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