Swish… Swish… Swish…
Bjørn opened his eyes slightly, he felt like he hadn't moved in months. It was so bright despite his eyes only a quarter of the way open, he tried to move but a sharp pain shot up his body. Bjørn could only make a groan of pain as he lay there vulnerable. His nose began to twitch, and he smelt something weird in his nose, it was tiny, but clearly not living. Opening his eyes a bit more, at least halfway, he saw sand in front of him. He then realized that he was laying on his chest the whole time.
His hearing slowly came back as he heard the water behind him, though he didn't feel the wetness of the liquid at all. His whole body felt numb and cold, but that didn't stop him. He gave an attempt at getting up but was quickly met with failure as his body refused to move.
"Alright, one at a time then." Bjørn flexed his fingers over and over again, once he got back feeling, he focused on his toes. He moved on to his wrists, he moved them around and moved his ankles. Bjørn inhaled as he prepared himself to move his arms and legs. He began to clench the muscles in his limbs, he then relaxed them, then clenched them again. He slowly moved his arms and placed his elbows in a position where he could push himself up. He dragged his legs and placed his knees up to his stomach.
Bjørn slowly pushed himself to his knees and looked around, he felt the water come out his ears as he did so, clearing up his hearing. He wiped the sand off his torso and his face, spitting out some sand onto the dirt before him. As his hearing adjusted, he heard the chirping of birds and saw trees; flora of all kinds around him, like he was in a whole new world. He saw the clear blue sky; it was almost blinding compared to the dark red of Avernus. Turning his head he faced the sun, raising his arm weakly to shield himself from the brightness. He averted his gaze from the hot gassy sphere and looked at his hands. They weren't broken, in fact, none of his arms, legs, or anything was broken. He was alright.
No. This had to be an illusion, was this Valhalla? No, it couldn't be. The entrance to Valhalla was supposed to have big holy doors, and more warriors who have died in battle. But no one was here, it was only him. Bjørn moved his left leg to stand and pushed, forcing him to stand on two feet. His legs were wobbly, and he looked at them with a worried gaze. Bjørn realized something, his weapons! He turned his head around to search for his weapons, not daring to move his legs out of fear they'd collapse. He looked behind, he looked in front, nothing. His axe, his javelins, his shield, his great club! They're all gone!
"Fuck, man..." He grumbled, he turned his body to face the water and found that it was a river. The river must have carried him all the way here, he narrowed his eyes. His stuff must have been carried by the stream, his gaze followed where the stream was flowing, left. He glanced down the path and saw a bunch of trees and grass in his way, but thay won't stop him. Bjørn took one step forward and nearly fell down, he groaned in pain and breathed through his teeth. Just like before he had to adjust one at a time. Eventually, he began to walk somewhat normally, still stumbling from left to right sometimes. But as he followed the stream, he eventually heard the sound of a mass of water falling.
"Aw hell naw," Bjørn groaned as he found the waterfall, he walked close to it and he looked down, finding that he was on a huge cliff. It looked to be about a sixty to eighty feet fall. Bjørn clenched his fists in anger. His weapons were gone. His weapons were gone! He sat down with an exhale, looking at the waterfall. "Now what do I do? My weapons are gone, no food, I have a water source, but no shelter."
A voice perked up in his mind and told him to get up and do something about it, Bjørn sighed and reluctantly listened to it. As he got up, he turned around and walked back to the place he woke up. He looked down at the spot he left in the sand and chuckled at the massive spot he left there. It looked like he had been buried in there, the spot outlined his body and with a smirk, he gave himself a thumbs up. A sudden need for water took over his mind and he kneeled down next to the river. His mouth felt dry, how he hadn't noticed before was beyond him. He cupped his hands to let water fill and raised his hands to his mouth and downed it; Immediately he was met with absolute refreshing bliss.
He gasped before training his eyes on the river before him and began to gorge on the water like a dehydrated dog, taking large gulps of water before coming back up for air. He smiled and looked at the river, "This shit is divine!" He stood up to his feet and wiped the water from his chin. He looked around and trained his eyes on a tree. As he began to reach for his axe he had suddenly remembered it wasn't there, swearing under his breath he tried turning his hand to a Grizzly Bear's paw. As he felt a source of energy go into his hand, something suddenly stopped it from progressing and forced the energy to suppress. Bjørn raised an eyebrow and forced his hand to turn into a paw once more, hoping it would work a second tome.
He was met with resistance and his hand didn't turn into a Grizzly Bear paw; he began to try with his Grizzly Bear head but was met with a migraine that swept over his head. Bjørn groaned in pain, nearly collapsing to his knees, he winced and closed his eyes, "Note to self, don't try and transform your head to a Björn." He thought to himself, taking deep breaths he slowly pushed past the migraine and looked at the tree, what could he do now? He could always try and make an axe, but out of what? Where would he find the metal? He could try to sleep, hoping to wake up in Valhalla, but even he wasn't sure if he was actually dead. An idea flashed in his head, and he gazed at the tree once more, then looking at his hand.
He knew what he had to do, and he had the strength to do it. Bjørn walked up to the tree and curled his fingers, making a fist. He rolled his shoulders before cracking his knuckles with a wide grin. And thus, he threw a punch.
A Guard stood in the training yard watching his fellow guards train, he saw as many shoot magical spells or other projectiles at the hay dummies and saw the others spar against one another. The Guard was a Unicorn and had a dark green coat with a light brown mane with a tint of red. He watched as they sparred, and others hit the hay targets.
"So, are you just going to watch or are you going to train?" The Guard spun to meet another Guard, this time a Pegasi with a blue coat and dark blue eyes. "What will it be, Jade Tango?"
The Guard - now introduced as Jade Tango - gave the Blue Guard a half-lidded deadpan. "Aren’t you supposed to be on duty? Can I just enjoy my day off in peace, Sparkling?"
The Guard huffed, "If you're gonna say Sparkling, you might as well say my full name, Sparkling Water. But for buck's sake, Jade, how many times have I told you? Call me Sparkle." She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "And if you're off duty, why are you wearing your armor? Heck, why are you here?"
Jade opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came to mind. He sighed and looked out to the training field. "I don't know, Sparkling, it's just that I feel safe in this. Like nothing can hurt me."
"First, call me Sparkling again and I'm punching you. Second, I understand what you're coming from. The meaning of this armor makes me want to wear it every day, but you gotta stop wearing it if you wanna have more days off. Captain Shining Armor always forgets that you're on a day off and puts you on duty." Sparkle said.
Jade looked at his golden footwear and sighed, looking over to his friend. "Alright, I'll change out of my armor." Sparkle smiled as he rolled his shoulder, "Heck, maybe I'll pay a visit to the Canterlot Museum while I'm at it, I've never been."
Sparkle's eyes bugged out, "You've NEVER been? Oh, that's my favorite place in Canterlot. You HAVE to go." She began to push Jade forth much to his annoyance.
"I'll go, I'll go, good grief."
Bjørn punched a hole through another tree, looking up at it, seeing it shake a bit, he pulled his fist out and looked back down. He gripped the tree firmly and pulled on it, letting it timber and hit the grass with a thud. It made the birds nearby fly away, briefly he looked up at them with wonder. He shook his head; he sighed and wiped the sweat off his brow. He took a seat on the sand with an exhale as he looked at the collection of wood he obtained, an honest four trees. The other trees were already stripped of their branches and leaves, but when he looked at the most recent tree he knocked down, it still had everything on it. The leaves, the branches, everything.
Bjørn sighed and decided to catch his breath for a little bit, he remembered being stronger and being able to punch down at least four times as much before working up this much of a sweat. He looked at his sweaty hands, lost in thought. "So, my weapons are gone, my beast powers don't work, and now I'm weaker than I was before. Is this… Is this a reset? What God did this to me? Where even am I?! I've never seen a forest like this, it's… Quiet. Nothing but just me." He rubbed his temples before taking a sharp inhale, but then his gagged.
Bjørn blinked a little surprised, he looked around sniffing as to find the source of the nasty smell. He then paused as a thought washed over him, he raised his armpit and sniffed himself before he recoiled in disgust. He gagged once more and held his nose, "Ack! I really need a shower; this shit is disgusting." Briefly, he looked back to the river before ultimately deciding against it, the river was his only source of water and contaminating it would not be wise. He grumbled and looked around, "Now what do I do?" His body responded to him in kind and his stomach growled. He hummed in amusement. That answered that.
Bjørn sniffed the air to try and pick up the scent from any animal, he didn't really care what animal, as long as it was edible. His noise twitched as he picked up a scent…
"Björn…" He licked his lips and began to go on all fours, beginning to track the bear like a dog. As he crawled, he noticed bear tracks. There were other small bear paws too, most likely, its cubs. Bjørn hesitated briefly, would he really take some poor cubs guardian away from them?
Grrmm…
His stomach said yes, and thus he sided with it. As his hand touched the grass and something else. He felt fur, gazing down and turning his hand over, he found the fur to be brown. "Grizzly…" he thought to himself before pressing on. As he got nearer to the scent and the tracks were more and more common and were frantic as if it was being chased. He tilted his head, what animal would dare pick a fight with a Grizzly Bear? As he tried to decipher an answer, he heard the snarling and growling of the Grizzly. Bjørn ducked down and began to army crawl to a bush to hide, he was massive, but the bush was big as well, covering a majority of his body. He narrowed his eyes as he peered through foliage, and what he saw sparked fury in his heart.
It was a mother bear defending her two cubs against a pack of… Wolves? No, they were made out of wood, possibly timber… Timberwolves? Nah, they're Wood Dogs. These Wood Dogs were about a little under half his size, thus, Bjørn began to count them, one, two, three, four, five of them. All five of the Wood Dogs were making slow approaches to the Mama Bear's cubs. The Mama Bear roared and approached, pushing them back before quickly going back to her cubs. Bjørn raised an eyebrow, why wasn't the Mama Bear swinging its paws and snapping the Wood Dogs' spines?
He got his answer when he heard the whimpers of the cubs as the Mama Bear growled at the Wood Dogs. It all clicked in his mind, the Mama Bear wasn't attacking the Wood Dogs because if she did, her cubs would be left defenseless and would get slaughtered like pigs. Bjørn clenched his fists and glared at the Wood Dogs, those bastards. Bjørn went on his knees, getting ready to run but then hesitated, would he really help the Mama Bear despite wanting to eat it earlier?
"KÄMP TILL VI DÖR!" Bjørn went to his feet in an instant and sprinted towards the closest Wood Dog. As the dog conjured out of oak turned around it was immediately me with a tackle. Bjørn wrapped his arms around the Wood Dog's torso as they rolled across the ground. The Wooden Canine tried to bite Bjørn's face, but he held it far enough so that it wouldn't read him. Bjørn flinched slightly as the Wood Dog was snarling unlike any wolf he had encountered. Bjørn and the Wood Dog rolled once more before the Barbarian slammed the monstrosity against the ground. Bjørn sat on top of the Wood Dog and raised his fist to punch it in the face.
Bjørn heard the growl of one of the Wood Dog's pack mates from behind him and spun around with his arm out just in time to nail the beast on its snout with his elbow. The beast stumbled and crashed against the ground. Acknowledging that being on top of a snarling - and quite terrifying - beast was not the best position to be in. Bjørn jumped to his feet and prepared to stomp on the Wood Dog's chest but was surprised when the canine rolled out of the way. The two canines he encountered stood together, snarling, tree sap pouring out of their maws. Bjørn raised his fists and got in an Orthodox Boxing stance, he watched as they slowly came close, but he couldn't help but look over to the Mama Bear. The Mama Bear was still having trouble dealing with the three savages circling her and her cubs.
Bjørn then blinked in realization; they thought the Mama Bear was way more dangerous, than him?! The Lion, the Witch, and the audacity of these bi-
"AGH!" Bjørn yelped in surprise as one of the Wood Dogs he neglected pounced on him, its maw was open wide, and its claws were ready to dig into him. Bjørn narrowed his eyes and threw a left hook right into the Wood Dog's nose, making a loud CRACK as it hit the ground. The second one tried the same maneuver as the first and was met with a right hook, in which he instead hit it on the temple, hoping to knock it out. As it hit the ground like the one before it, Bjørn sprinted over to the Wood Dogs tormenting the Mama Bear and performed a flying knee into one of the beasts. He sent the canine into another, making a domino effect, making them fall down.
The last one lunged towards one of the Mama Bear's cubs but Bjørn was on it immediately, grabbing its tail and pulling it back and slamming it onto the ground. Bjørn went by the Mama Bear's side and growled as the Wood Dogs all got up from their injuries. Even going as far as repairing their broken pieces of their body. Bjørn glanced back at the Mama Bear, and she looked back at Bjørn, in that moment their eyes locked, an unspoken understanding and form of trust dawned on the two of them.
They're going to work together and send these Wood Dogs to Helheim. The Mama Bear let out a fierce roar and charged, beginning to go to work. As the Mama Bear fought off the Wood Dogs, one of them slip past her and went towards Bjørn. As the Wood Dog charged, Bjørn got ready to punch, he heard the scared whimpers of the cubs behind him, he will not let them die.
Not like Pip.
Bjørn drove his fist into the jaw of the Wood Dog, he twisted his fist and performed a corkscrew punch. The Wood Dog didn't have time to yelp in pain before its head flew off. Natural Twenty. The Wood Dog's body collapsed and hit the earth; Bjørn looked at his fist in shock before looking at the corpse. Carefully, he kicked the corpse away and watched the Mama Bear carefully. As one of the Wood Dog's lunged at the Mama Bear, it turned towards it and with deadly precision slammed its claw into its ribcage, snapping it and sending it into a tree. The body of the Wood Dog split into pieces and collapsed against the ground.
The Mama Bear let out a fierce roar at the Wood Dogs and the beasts whimpered in fear. They slowly backed away before howling in defeat, turning around and running with their tails between their legs. Bjørn watched the Mama Bear with amazement before fear took over as the Mama Bear growled at the Barbarian. Quickly, Bjørn stepped away from her cubs, backing away a few feet. The Mama Bear walked over to her cubs calmly and began to sniff them, checking for any blood or injuries. When she found none, she looked back at Bjørn, giving a curt nod to the Barbarian. The Mama Bear let out a moan as it motioned the human to come closer.
Bjørn's stomach growled as he walked over to the Mama Bear, the Mama Bear stood up, reaching over ten feet tall. It completely towered over Bjørn and sweat poured down the human's face. It leaned down, putting a paw on Bjørn's shoulder to prevent herself from falling, she began to sniff Bjørn, and the Barbarian closed his eyes, accepting death... Only for the Mama Bear to give him a big lick on the face. The Barbarian blinked in shock as the Mama Bear let go, it began to walk away as the cubs let out adorable little grunts at Bjørn before following their mother. He smiled softly as they marched off before he sighed.
"Well, I guess I have to look for something else to eat." As Bjørn turned around he heard the Mama Bear groan. He turned to see the Mama Bear was waiting for him to follow her, and with a wide grin, he happily followed.