Fate Rebellion

After his tussle with the wolves, Harald brought his son back to the camp, where the healer they'd brought with them began to treat him. 

Fortunately, the ancient Vikings weren't entirely ignorant about medical techniques. The healer managed to stem the bleeding and disinfect the wounds as best as possible, while the bone suffered from a greenstick fracture. 

The healer, of course, had no idea what a greenstick fracture was, and simply assumed the bone was broken. For Rurik, however, this was good news. Greenstick fractures often occur in children, because their bones are more flexible. They also heal faster, as is often the case for children with most injuries. 

Rurik realized all this when he woke up an unknown amount of time later, groggy from the medicines he'd been fed while unconscious. 

He blinked slowly and groaned. A dull aching radiated from his arm, but it was nothing he hadn't felt before. His thoughts slowly began to take shape out of the groggy fog in his mind. 'Well, still alive for now, I guess, so I didn't bleed to death… that's good.' 

The first thing he did after awakening was check the work they'd done on his arm. A greenstick fracture was easier to get back into place and make a full recovery with, but it still needed to be set properly. 

He turned his head slightly and his nose immediately wrinkled form the sweet smell of honey, mixed with bundle of other herbs. His arm was bound by linen, wool, and a wooden splint, everything held together with a few leather straps. 

Although Rurik was far from a medical expert, he'd still spent his fair share of time tending to wounds and even learned some things from an army combat medic he recruited once. At first glance, he didn't think he himself could have done a much better job in setting it. 

Still, that didn't bring much relief. 'I may have survived for now… but my troubles aren't over,' he sighed inwardly. 'It could still get infected, or the bone might heal wrong.' 

Suddenly, when he tried to move a little more, he felt his chest flare up. Looking down, he noticed some more bandages applied there. 'I guess the wolf clawed me when I was going down. I barely noticed…' 

He closed his eyes and sighed softly, 'I really got lucky this time. Those wolves probably should have shredded me, but it seems like I still have a shot at this.' For a moment, he thought about the reason he risked his life: Maria. Did he regret it? Would he have done the same thing again, without knowing the outcome? 

But then he dismissed those thoughts. It didn't matter. What happened, happened. 

Looking around, he realized he was back in Nidaros, in the cottage he shared with his mother and sisters. Clearly, they'd carried him back after treating his wounds as best they could in camp. 

At the same time, he noticed the young girl kneeling next to him, asleep, her head resting on the bed. He pursed his lips wryly and sighed as he noticed the dried tears on her cheeks. 

On the other side of the cottage he noticed his mother, sleeping with his youngest sister, Ingegerd. She was only five years old now, so he wasn't surprised they weren't waiting by his bed. Ingegerd likely barely knew what was going on, and Elisiv needed to continue caring for her. 

He looked at Maria indifferently for a moment, but then he scoffed. 'I go through all that trouble to save her, and then she ruins her posture by sleeping like that?' 

Fortunately, she was on his right side, so he was able to stretch out his dominant arm and caress her soft, blond hair. 

Slowly, Maria's eyes began to flutter open. Confusion shone within, until she realized what was happening. Her eyes quickly widened and she opened her mouth to say something, but Rurik quickly shut her down by literally grabbing her lips and keeping them close. 

"Shhh," he whispered, while nudging his head towards the other two sleepers. 

Maria seemed to realize what he meant and quickly nodded, her eyes already filling with tears and filled with relief at seeing him awake. Rurik sighed wryly. He wasn't good at dealing with emotions, and found her display uncomfortable, despite the warm feeling it created in his heart. 

With her agreement, he released her lips, and scooted slightly to the left, careful not to stress his wounded arm. He still winced in pain a little, but he was careful not to let Maria notice. 

 Then, he patted next to him. Maria appeared conflicted at first, but then she hesitantly climbed on to the bed and laid down next to him, big, puffy eyes looking at him sadly. 

"I— I'm s— sorry," she sobbed softly. 

Once again, Rurik sighed. He put started to caress her hair again, "Don't give it another thought, Maria. We both made mistakes back then. I shouldn't have reacted so aggressively." 

"N— No!" Maria exclaimed, a little too loudly, before quickly bringing her voice down to a whisper again. "I— It was m— my fault! I— I won't ask about Luna again! I swear!" 

Rurik smiled slightly as he looked up at the ceiling. "Thank you…" he said, as he obviously still didn't wat to discuss it. "Maybe I'll tell you one day, though. But you were right; I tried to shut you out for the last few months. I won't anymore, alright?" 

"R— Really?!" she whispered, elation in her voice, a wide smile on her lips. "S— So you don't hate me now?!" 

Rurik immediately felt like he'd received a gut punch when he heard the joy in her voice. 'I can't believe a little sister is so dangerous,' he thought helplessly. 'I'm sure keeping her at arm's length would be far healthier for me, and yet I'm not sure I'm able to.' 

"Yes, really, and no I don't hate you," he sighed, something he found himself doing a little too often in this conversation. 

If possible, Maria's smile widened even more. "T— Thank you, Big Brother… for saving me… I'm really sorry… I— I don't hate you either…" slowly, her words became softer and softer, until her eyes fluttered close. 

Yet, just before she fell asleep, she whispered one last thing, "I wish I could fight like you, Big Brother…" 

Rurik frowned, and continued stroking her hair thoughtfully, even as he made sure not to have any more physical contact with her. After all, despite his current body, he was an adult in the same bed as a little girl—his sister, no less. He felt only protectiveness and care towards Maria, and doubted it would ever be anything more. 

Of course, he might still die if his wound got infected, but thinking about that was pointless, and mentioning it to Maria would have been needlessly cruel. Still, he wasn't overly worried. He had enough medical knowledge to know how to keep a wound clean, and antiseptics did exist in this time. 

After Maria drifted off, so did Rurik. He still had a lot of recovering to do.