You Got it All Wrong {Beowulf}

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For a moment Beowulf wasn’t sure that the woman would give in. It was an uncomfortable realization that he might have to follow through on the attack on an unarmed woman. However, it seemed the heathen woman had some sense after all and gave in. Beowulf sheathed his knife while he listened to the words. He looked up sharply when the word ‘interview’ passed her lips and he glowered. He wouldn’t give an interview. He didn’t want to talk to people who might twist his words around. That was not what he wanted.

“Ja,” Beowulf answered shortly. It was good to know that Astrid felt the same way he did about the interview. This editor woman was tricky. She knew what she wanted from them, but she wasn’t going to get it. He would see to that. He didn’t trust her at all.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said instead to Astrid. “We got what we wanted.” He headed toward the door, trusting that Astrid would follow him out, but then he looked back at the editor woman. “We won’t give an interview.” Then he turned back around and headed back out the door to the lobby.

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Astrid watched Beowulf carefully, nodded when he responded, and looked to the editor. Part of the Viking teen wanted to apologize for refusing, but really, they'd been the ones coming here as injured parties in the first place. As far as Astrid was concerned, the editor should have been doing the apologizing.

Besides, if the editor's feelings were hurt, she certainly show it. There was a shrug, a noncommittal gesture if there ever was one, and that was pretty much it. So Astrid nodded, added a "Print that retraction," and then followed Beowulf. Followed for a few footsteps, that is, because soon enough, Astrid was side by side with the Viking prince.

"I don't even know why they're bothering to print junk like that,' she said, jerking her head back to the office. "There's a war brewing, and they're worried about your social life. It's just... stupid."

And totally not how Vikings operated, that much was certain.

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Beowulf was pleased that Astrid was following his lead. He wouldn’t ever tell her that, but it did mean that she trusted him at some level which was more than he could say about most of the heathens that inhabited this place. It was a relief that the only other human Viking in the awful place was one he could trust.

He glanced over at Astrid as she began to talk. The young prince wasn’t sure why he tolerated as much as he did because all she ever did was talk. Didn’t she know the value of peace and quiet? Beowulf doubted that rather highly. Everything to do with Astrid was loud. He just shrugged in reply. She had brought up a good point. There was a war going on and they had to print out all this nonsense about things that had nothing to do with the war. It was stupid was what it was.

“If you hadn’t noticed,” he replied, “people around here are stupid. They’re heathens.” The fact that they were all heathens was exactly what was wrong with these people. It would have been better if they were all Vikings.

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Astrid favored Beowulf with another sidelong glance as they kept walking. Things always seemed so simple from the Viking Prince's perspective. Non-Vikings were heathens; heathens were stupid; you don't need to think beyond that. Astrid couldn't help but envy that a little. She knew that she couldn't think like that, at least not now. She instead turned to look ahead.

"Well, at least we've got them to stop this," she said, nodding. "I'm definitely glad. It's just so stupid. Anyway," she shrugged, stopped and looked to Beowulf. "I'm going to go get some training in. We're going to have to hone our skills if we're going to fight off this army. I've... heard of them," she'd nearly met them, and she looked to the side, "and I've got a feeling they aren't going to be easy. I'll see you around...?"

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Beowulf agreed that it was good that the newspaper would stop printing their absurd stories that had no basis in fact. There was a war coming and people were worried about the affairs of others. There were more important things at stake than finding out who his “romantic interest” was. Beowulf didn’t even like people enough to care about anyone in that fashion.

He nodded at Astrid. He didn’t believe that she just knew about them. She was reckless at the best of times and wouldn’t be surprised if she had gone to spy on the enemy, but he said nothing. If she wanted to say something about it, she would. She certainly talked enough. He appreciated the warning, though it wasn’t necessary. He knew how to train for war. He fought in enough wars to know never to underestimate the enemy. That got you in trouble you couldn’t fight your way out of. Beowulf had seen it happen before and wasn’t about to let that happen this time.

“We’re Vikings,” he told Astrid. “We’re made to fight monsters. We can handle a few men.” Vikings were made to fight and kill. If Astrid was fighting at his side then he had nothing to worry about.