Quest Details:

The reason Vali was at ease to return home was that he thought; finally, he'd be at peace. Of course, he couldn't be more wrong. The Jarl sighed and thought of his mother for a quick moment as he and his father watched Lord Ikua and his men vanish into the distance. Skaal was lacking warriors thanks to the Rune Knights. Vali balled his fists up, attempting to keep his anger under ropes. His beastly instincts were telling him to deal with Ikua now, alas there was no honor in that. This was a declaration of war and fortunately for Ikua there were rules that he would have to abide by. He was a Viking, and Vikings fought with pride. Reluctantly, the leader of Skaal turned to his father. No words were said.

Tristan knew well enough what his son was going through right now. "Our first war..." Bunda spoke from behind the two nobles. Vali turned to face the General with a nod. "Aye, another meaningless war." He responded. Bunda raised an eyebrow before his eyes met with Tristan. The two elder men had fought together many times. While Tristan Onfroy was also annoyed, Bunda seemed to be excited. "The gods are with us, Jarl Vali. We will not lose." Bunda added. "Indeed. Though we lack the necessary warriors in Skaal, our Nekomata allies may be just what we need to tip the scale." Vali remained silent for a second as he began walking back towards his home. "Gather all boys over the age of 14 and teach them to hold a weapon properly. We begin training tonight, we'll need all the help we can get." he said.

Oh, how he wished he didn't have to say it, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Bunda nodded with a small smirk before turning to his men. "We're going to war boys!" Suddenly, the Vikings cheered. The Titan, however, held his nonchalant expression and returned to his home. There, he would leave his savage brethren to dream of entering the halls of Valhalla.


Vali stood in front of the gates of Skaal as his Wyvern rested beside him. Behind the two of them were a total of ten warriors with his father, Tristan and the General of Skaal's army making that twelve. It was early morning. The sun was out, brightening the entire world before them. All of the men standing outside of Skaal's gates were on their horses waiting to travel to Treerin village. It probably would have been smarter for the Viking Lord to make his way to the Nekomata's during the night but he didn't want to take any chances. When Nightfall hit Worthwoodsea became an ocean of darkness. Although Vali's own eyes were anything but normal, his peers would have a hard time managing.

There was no need for him to lose warriors like that. The Titan turned to face the forest, patting his loyal steed for a moment or two. Then, he'd climb atop her. The dragon extended her wings knowing that she was about to travel and then proceeded to flap. "Hyah!" Quickly she brought herself and her beloved owner into the sky which would indicate for the Vikings behind them to start moving.

The trip to Treerin village wasn't long. The Nekomatas were in the north, but further away from the water and the cold weather. The only reason the Viking Lord traveled by sky was to keep an eye out on what was in front of his men, and so he did. Soon enough they had all arrived at the gates of Treerin village. The gates weren't literal gates. The Nekomatas only had a large wooden fence to separate their village from the rest of the forest. Upon approaching, Val would pat his steed which meant that it was time for her to land. As the dragon lowered herself, the Nekomatas began to shout. "It's Jarl Vali! Open the gates!" And just like that, the gates were opened.

When the Wyvern finally landed, The silver-haired titan would hop off and allow her to fly wherever she felt like going. She was smart. She knew how to avoid the eyes of other beings. The horsemen would finally catch up and then the Jarl would proceed to enter with his men, immediately making his way to Cheif Leonus's home. There was no reason for him to knock or to be escorted as he was the ruler of this village- the true ruler. When the Vikings entered Leonus' home, the Cheif stood. He was surprised to see his Jarl here so early in the morning. Leonus' eyes filled with confusion but Vali would put him at ease.

"Sorry to arrive on short notice." He'd say. Tristan and Bunda would be on each side of him as all ten men stood behind him.
"It's fine, of course, Jarl Vali. Is there something wrong?" He'd ask. He could sense his Lord's energy. Hell, he was so obviously tense the entire village could probably tell that there was something wrong.

"Last night we were visited by Lord Ikua."
"Lord Ikua?!" Leonus' eyes widened.
"Aye. He told me that you two were familiar with each other."
"Yes... about two years ago we did business with one another..."
"He's declared war on Skaal."
"What!? W-why?! That scoundrel! He was always looking for a reason to pick a fight. This isn't good, Jarl Vali. Lord Ikua has a strong army."
"He demanded that I bend the knee, and I refused. Skaal is in no condition to put up a good fight- at least not when we don't know anything about him. We lack the men and the resources to resist him by ourselves."
"Right..."
"Skaal lacks the men necessary to win but I believe that with the help of the Neko army we can overpower him."
"W-with all due respect, Jarl Vali, my men are not very...good fighters. Many of us will die."
"Your men?"
"I-"
"I wasn't asking for your help, Leonus."
"Right, of course, but-"
"There is no 'but' Leonus!" The Desiertan's voice boomed, echoing throughout the hall. "I will not allow this stranger to take away all that I have left. Do not confuse yourself, I am not asking for permission."

Leonus nodded his head. Despite taking over the Nekomata village with sheer intimidation, Skaal had no intention of abusing the Nekomata tribe. Leonus was no dumb man, he knew all too well what Ikua was like.  Even if he wanted to turn away, he could not because, for Vali, failure was no longer an option. Leonus wouldn't dare try to turn Vali away, not when he needed him most. The Cheif and the other three Vikings would find themselves sitting, discussing everything that was important. Leonus expressed that he had only been to Ikua's village once and didn't remember the details. Right at the moment, Vali decided that a team of spies would suffice for that reason. Then the conversation continued.

Vali was going to bring the fight right to Ikua's doorstep. Surely he wouldn't expect the Viking to be so bold. The four leaders spoke until finally, they came to a battle plan that would have to work. It took some time but they were finally getting somewhere. Just before the sunset, Val ordered his father to return to Skaal in the case Ikua had someone watching them, waiting for a weak point. So, with the men that came, the former Jarl went back while the current Jarl stayed. Treerin village was now a target and Vali had to make sure they were safe.

Soon the sun was gone and the moon had revealed itself. It was time for everyone to rest. The stars twinkled in the sky and for a moment the young leader was able to forget where he was. He wouldn't speak to the gods- not yet. Not until the battle was over so that he could determine if they had abandoned him or not. The titan sat in the front of Leonus' home. While everyone else was asleep except the numerous guards, Val could not rest. Not when he knew the fate of all his people depended on how diligently he worked. He couldn't allow Raquin or Priscilla to be involved in this so he knew it was best for his home to not be the fighting ground. Just as he lie back, he heard an explosion at the gates of the Nekomata village.

Quickly he shot back up, seeing a large fire in the distance. For a moment it was silent, but then he heard loud tribal screams. His nose could smell a mixture of scents. It smelled like blood and soil and that's when he knew. Without a moment of hesitation, he pushed open the doors of Leonus home. "Leonus, We're being attacked. Round up your men, let's go, let's go!" Suddenly the chief popped up, rubbing his eyes. Soon he could hear fighting in the distance and he too knew what that obviously meant. The Young Lord then stood up and zoomed towards where the battle was taking place. Some of the Nekomata warriors had found themselves meeting with Iron Star warriors, the others found Vali and awaited his commands. The people of Treerin village ran in fear of the giant men and women. Nobody wanted to die."Line formation!" he shouted as the Neko's quickly spaced themselves. They didn't have many weapons and hardly any shields... this would be a rough battle.

The giant tanned berserkers charged straight for the Line of Nekomata. It was too bad he couldn't call for a shield wall. All the young Jarl really could do was play an offensive defense. "Attack!!" he shouted as the cat-people charged forward bravely. These fighters were weak, but their numbers were so large that this battle could go any way. "Come on..." he begged whoever was dictating this fight. As he moved amongst the line,  glanced over and he Bunda fighting amongst the Nekomata warriors who were first to be attacked before the line."Bunda!" he shouted as one of the Iron star warriors swung his blade at him.

Swiftly he weaved and drew his sword to slice the enemy's head clean off from behind. Then another charged wildly towards him. The Jarl parried with his own blade then proceeded to stab the Iron Star warrior in the stomach, throwing him to the ground. Bunda was fighting wildly with, yelling just as Viking Warriors did. The elder man heard his leader's voice. "Vali!" he called as the two fought through the men to close the distance between them. The Nekomata men fought diligently. It was a 3 to 1 fight, but the Iron star Clan was strong and sturdy warriors. They were already in the village and the fire was now behind them. " Hold the line!" He shouted as they fought to keep the Iron stars at bay.

Finally, Bunda found himself beside his Lord. "Bunda, go to the village and get back up, now!" The general seemed confused. "No, I will not leave you here Vali!" The Titan sliced and stabbed his foes making sure to dodge and weave hits until he was sliced across the chest, damaging his armor. "GRAAAAAAGH!!" He shouted as he found his footing again and pushed back. Bunda too was fighting fearlessly like the veteran warrior he was. "That's an order Bunda!" With a grunt, the elder man sprinted towards his horse to return to Skaal for backup.

The Nekomata men were fighting as best as they could, keeping the line stead, but they still dropped like flies. Leonus stayed away from the fight but shouted from behind his Jarl. "Vali! We are losing!" The Jarl tried not to get frustrated with Leonus' stating the obvious. "Archers, we need archers!". "We have none!" Just when the leader thought things couldn't get worse. Then, once again he was hit, this time with the hilt of a blade to his face. Val fell to the ground but soon stood only to see a man with armor and a slicked-back ponytail. "Forward!" The man shouted while glaring at Vali. Then the two of them would engage in battle.

The Desiertan roared, swinging his blade horizontally towards the man's neck but the armored iron star leaped back. While Vali was occupied with the man before him, he could see the Nekomata's getting pushed back. To hold the line he also stepped back but he slowly became anxious. "Jarl Vali, be careful! That's General Makub!" The white-haired titan wince. He'd be fine, he actually wasn't the problem nor was General Makub. The problem was that they were slowly being pushed back. The General charged forward and the two army leaders began to cross blades. They swung, punched, ad pushed for what felt like hours. If Vali had used the Eye of Kaom or his beastly form he would have been able to end this quickly, but there was no need for him to reveal such abilities. Especially if he could help it. So, the battle continued. With each passing moment, the line was forced to take a step back.

The sound of the Icebergan warhorn was enough to stop General Makub. The man turned to see what it was. He know off the bat that he was probably outnumbered now and they were not going to win. "Retreat!!" Makub shouted. There was no way Val could allow the general to leave safely though, so quickly he used the hilt of his sword to crack Makub in the head, immediately knocking him out. Suddenly, the warriors of Skall emerged from behind the Iron star warriors, yelling like deranged human beings as they joined the fray. Just in time. Vali thought. Bunda nodded towards the Jarl, and together with all the Nekomatas, they were slaying Iron Star warriors left and right as they tried their hardest to escape. Within moments, most of the Iron star warriors were dead, while some did successfully getaway. Those would be the ones to tell their leader about what happened here.

"W-we won? We...won! We won!!" Leonus shouted. Then, the rest of the people cheered. Both Nekomatas and Icebergans were happy to have taken the win. However, Val knew that this wasn't the real battle. He knew that this wasn't over until the Iron Stars or Skaal was extinguished. He could taste the blood of his enemies as it dripped onto his mouth from his face. The blood was everywhere; his armor, his hair, his face...he was tired of blood. With a sigh, the Viking fell to the floor, sitting while gazing up into the sky. It wasn't like he wasn't happy that they won the battle, he just was saddened that death and war seemed to follow him. "Jarl Vali." Bunda approached. Behind Bunda followed two of Skaal's warriors. "That man right there..." he pointed. "He's not dead, take him to wherever the Nekomata's hold their prisoners." The men obeyed and picked up General Makub's body.

"Vali." Bunda said again. The Jarl faced forward, gazing upon the river of dead beings. "I'm only twenty-one, yet I am so tired of fighting." He shook his head. Bunda nodded from directly behind him, sighing. "...Sometimes I get tired of fighting too." Bunda admitted. "I'm tired of a meaningless war, Bunda. I don't enjoy killing anyone, and I don't enjoy losing the people I love. Why would I? Because they will enter the halls of Valhalla to fight for the rest of eternity?" He clenched his jaws, holding back tears. "That is not enjoying life... that is taking life for granted."

"War is inevitable, Vali. No matter where you go, War will always be a way of life. Our gods just embrace it, because there is honor in fighting your enemies fearlessly. It is not war that we yearn for, as much as it is death. We fight for the gods just as much as we fight for ourselves."
Vali sighed. Bunda wasn't understanding and that made sense. He was an old-school Icebergan. "It's traumatic. Kids should not have to witness such things. Killing should not be what people enjoy. We kill innocent people, defile them in disgusting ways...women, children...we're monsters. After this war, I will have no more of it."

"Jarl Vali, The Eyes, they're back." "The eyes" meant the Nekomata spies he had sent off earlier. Without looking back he stood, then walked past Bunda towards Cheif Leonus' home,
Ignoring Bunda's puzzled facial expression.