Viking AU scenario?
There is a tale of a terrifying captain that led his band of murderous sailors to ports and coastal towns in the dead of night. He was known only as Shadow— Demon of the Waves. He would take all their food and treasured goods and never left a man alive. He would allow the women and children to run for the hills, but not before letting his men make a sport out of attempting to catch them. He seemed soulless; a machine built for wars no one asked for.
After decimating the population of a small, underdeveloped coastal village, most villagers ran away desperately with their families as The Demon commanded for the chase to begin. It wasn’t long before he began to hear the desperate wails and screams of the gutted.
But these wails sounded very... familiar. He recognized the cries of his own crew. One after the other, scream after scream followed by eerie silence.
When he reached the base of the hill the cries had come from, he stopped, almost tripping over his own feet. At the top of the smoking hill lay the bodies of a large portion of his crew and standing over them was a mystical sight. A maiden of fair frame, caked in the blood of Shadow’s men and shakily holding herself up by the hilt of his right-hand man’s sword— which almost dwarfed her in stature. Her posture and trembling of the sword gave her a deceitful air of weakness, but her bright, piercing eyes were full of otherworldly wrath.
Quickly getting over his superstitious assumption that only a goddess of war could carry out such a horrific feat on her own, Shadow seethed and stepped closer to the creature, his anger over his fallen brothers getting the better of his judgement. War goddess or not, she would pay for what she had taken from him. She already appeared worn out from the battles prior. This would be an easy revenge, he likely thought as his red-tinged quills stiffened in fury.
As he ascended the hill, their furious eyes were locked onto one another, unblinking. The demon captain raised his broadsword over his head without a second thought and swung his blade down towards her skull. As fast as Shadow had swung, the maiden dropped to her knees and parried his attack by getting under his fallen comrade’s blade and using it to fling his own sword down the hill and out of sight. Though he was momentarily surprised, the maiden failed her attempt to fight back as she stood up too fast and teetered, falling harmlessly into Shadow’s arms.
In those few seconds, he noticed the way her blood-soaked dress clung to her lithe figure. Her tail, which usually helped her impeccable balance, was weighted down with so much blood and mud that she could hardly stand. He felt her tremble with fury as she continued to venomously stare at him, her olive green eyes shining in an almost bewitching manner despite the overcast sky. Before she could right herself and try again, he had already locked her head between the crook of his elbow and the side of his breastplate. He reached for the dagger at the side of his belt and heard her breath quicken.
“Tell me, small maiden. Do you expect me to believe that you took my men down all by yourself?” he spat, holding the dagger’s hilt firmly against her jugular.
“Ask those who remain, though I’m certain they won’t want to admit it. But maybe one will,” she smirked in defiance. “Try it, it will be good to find an honest man to replace your right-hand.”
The demon captain bristled in anger and began to press the blade against her pelt.
“So be it. My husband awaits in Valhalla,” she muttered.
He paused at her words. Not a maiden, but a widow? Her small frame deceived her age. It was only now that he noticed the simple wedding band on her finger. A jagged line akin to a bolt of lightning graced the center of the band all around. Shadow’s curiosity was a mighty flaw of his.
“Your husband taught you to fight, no doubt.”
“Haha… I taught him,” she grinned widely, enjoying the captain’s struggle to accept being outsmarted by this woman. “You took him from me. It was only fair trade to take your finest. Let me rest and leave with your useless treasure.”
Shadow’s brow furrowed. His pride refused to allow her to cross over with a victorious smile on her face. “And what makes you think I wouldn’t keep you for myself? I collect the finest treasures from around the world.” he said as he loosened his grip around her head. He shifted the dagger in his hand so that his thumb and index finger were free to hold up her chin and meet his gaze. “So what, pray tell, could be a grander treasure than a powerful, woman warrior? Nay, a valkyrie in the flesh?”
“You flatter me, but I was never much for poetry,” the young widow deadpanned, trying to shake herself away from this much gentler grip. But as she tried, she felt his digits tighten against her jaw.
“I wonder what it’s like,” he smiled deviously “…to taste the lips of a goddess.”
For the first time, the woman’s bravado fell. She began to shrink against his breastplate, her knees giving way to her weight. The captain took pleasure in her revulsion, seeing her face redden at the humiliating thought of being kissed by anyone but her beloved. Shadow chuckled, finally discovering how to flaunt his power over her, and continued to press his luck by inching closer to her face. But by placing all of his force on the back of her head to keep her from escaping, he did not expect her to throw her head forward into a mighty headbutt.
The two fell to the ground at the force of the impact, Shadow stabbing his dagger into the dirt to keep from rolling down the hill. The young widow sat up, her eyes giving away the plan formulating in her mind. He followed her line of sight to his sword at the bottom of the hill and saw her preparing to slide down after it. Before she could crawl far enough, he found his footing and tackled her back down. The weight of his armor coupled with her exhaustion was too much to bear.
“A treasure indeed,” he chuckled.
“End it,” she demanded.
“Never. I have decided. You will be my bride.”
“That is not a decision for one unit to make,” she said after spitting at him right between the eyes. “I am Sandra Électro. And I will remain as such for the rest of my days!”
“Sandra… that’s a strong name. How much stronger could it be, coupled with my own? You haven’t experienced my true power yet. Much less my influence.”
Before Sandra could speak her retort, the sound of men crying out for regroup broke her focus. The remaining crew was getting closer. If she was struggling against a single man now, surely her chances to fight back were finally over. She felt nauseous, now struck with the realization that her honorable death would be tarnished by being forced into bedding this scoundrel. Her world spun out of control. She felt her body go weightless for a moment as the captain hoisted her over his shoulder. All she could see now was the backside of the captain’s armor and the disturbed, bloodied ground he stood upon.
Shadow faced his incoming crew. “Report,” he said curtly, breaking the sailor’s trance upon seeing so many of his crewmates dead.
“W-we are loaded, Captain,” the sailor said, a pup looking not much older than 18 years of age.
A cayuga duck came up behind him and smiled sinisterly at the girl in Shadow’s arms. “Ah-hah, I see the Captain’s bringing some entertainment for us during the voyage!” Sandra swallowed hard. She could not see him, but there was no mistaking that drunken slur. Her skin crawled at the thought of his eyes ogling her body as she was unable to move.
“She is not for the taking,” Shadow suddenly barked, his naturally gravelly voice becoming more guttural. “No one is to lay a finger on this woman. She is mine. Get yourselves down there to load.”
“Yes, Captain,” the two soldiers cried out and marched towards the ships, not wanting to incur the powerful hedgehog’s wrath.
“As for you,” Shadow said, shifting Sandra on his shoulder. “I am not to lay a finger on you as well. Treasure like you should not be defiled. I trust you’ll see the error of your ways when I show you the luxuries you’ll be privileged to obtain.”
She laughed. “Is that supposed to impress me into marriage?”
Shadow smirked. Though he could not see her face at the moment, he could perfectly picture that smug, defiant look on her face. It’s a look he looked forward to getting used to, no matter the struggle.
If all else failed, she’d be a decent replacement for the right-hand man she felled.