The prompts I chose are: "I'm cold. Come closer", and "I'm not going anywhere".

Warnings: mentions of death

You didn't often take a walk at midnight, but when it was a full moon you sometimes decided to take a stroll.

The moon was strong, his light falling onto your way, which you took from your house to the forest near you.

In the moonlight you could watch your shadow walk alongside you, your dark twin walking with you in perfect harmony.

There was something different about this night, you were sure of it, you could feel a strange yearning in your chest, and you knew there was something extraordinary in the air.

It was colder than the usual summer's night, and you could see even the trees shivering in the distance.

When you reached the forest you immediately decided to stray from the path, because you felt the woods changing around you.

You could feel as well as hear it, it was as if the forest was heating up as soon as you set foot on the hypnotically green moss beside the human-made way, and you could hear a whispering going through the trees.

Whereas you had heard people describing the wind running through the leaves as a whisper you could actually make out words, but they didn't make any sense to you.

You didn't mind not understanding what the ents were saying, and you followed the whispers to see where they were leading you.

The further into the forest you got the more heavy grew the air, heavy with rain and warmth, and though you'd never been to the jungle it reminded you of it.

You could swear that through the roof of leaves above you you could see the moon shining brighter with every step you took, urging you to go further still.

It was like a fairytale, but in a deep, darker, more twisted way.

It wasn't a feeling you could describe, the longing for something unknown mixed with the utmost admiration of what was taking place before you, something far deeper than you could ever be able to fathom.

Walking further you reached your destination as you stepped through a last row of trees before they parted and made way for a perfectly round clearing, in the midst of which the earth rose in a perfect heap, which was encircled by a gathering of stones that was set up around it.

In a way it looked very majestic and peaceful, and you knew you had to step closer.

The initial warmth of the forest seemed to fade with every step that you took, letting the cold rule over you and sink into every fiber of your body.

You didn't let that cold get to you though, and you knew that it was a necessary cost to witness something this extraordinary.

Stepping through one of the stone monuments that looked like a gateway you were overcome by an intense shiver that run down your spine, leaving you to shake like a leaf for a second before it stopped.

The cold was still in the air, biting as ever, but you couldn't feel it anymore.

On top of the small hill, where you were sure nothing had been before stood a tall man, leaned forward over what looked like heavy metal crutches, a hood and cloak heavily weighting on him.

You were left to stare at the stranger who had appeared out of nowhere, and he stared back at you.

You couldn't hear the sounds of the forest anymore, it was dead silent except for your breathing and that of the stranger, though you knew he was too far away for you to hear his breath, you did.

"Who are you?", you heard the strangers voice as he made his way slowly towards, and though you knew he was speaking a foreign language, a long forgotten one, you understood every word.

"I'm Hayley", you answered in this same long dead language, taking a step towards him.

"What are you, Hayley? Are you one of the Norns? Do you see my fate? Are you a seer, stranger?", he asked, and his voice grew more pressing with every word until he came to a stop in front of you.

"I'm neither", you answered, and though he seemed strangely familiar you felt fear emitting from the stranger, and you knew that he wasn't afraid, but he was the reason why many had been.

"Who are you?", you asked him and through the darkness under his hood you could see unnaturally blue eyes staring back at you.

You could see confusion surface on the blue debths of his eyes before you could feel the coldness leaving him, and you knew he was pleasantly taken aback by the fact that you didn't know him.

"I am Ivar", he answered your question, his voice less dangerous than how he had spoken to you before.

"Hello Ivar", you answered him, feeling a strange pull towards him and knowing that he was what you had been searching for, and he nodded as a greeting, before he decided to pull the hood off his head, leaving the moon to illuminate his face.

He had a strong face, harsh eyebrows that framed eyes that couldn't be human, stubbles above his lips and hair that was neatly pulled into braids that looked so tight they couldn't be comfortable.

You didn't know what to do or say next, and you watched him moving to one of the laying stones, sitting down on top of it, facing the small hill.

"I'm cold. Come closer", you heard him say and you did so without hesitation, following his instructions as if you had done so your whole life.

You sat down next to him on the freezing stone, but close enough so you could feel the body heat radiating off of him.

Looking up you saw the stars shining down at the two of you, but they weren't the stars you were used to seeing over your hometown.

When you look at Ivar, alarmed by the strange constellation, he seemed entirely at ease, and you knew that the stars were his, not yours.

"You don't fear me", Ivar began and you shook your head slightly, agreeing with him.

"Everyone else did. My brothers, strangers I met on the streets, even my mother...", he began and you listened closely, not feeling the cold nor the tiredness seeping into you.

"But not you", he added and you nodded again.

You had felt the fear of him others had had, but you didn't feel that way at all.

You were strangely drawn to him, which should have made you feel uneasy but you only felt reassurance and comfort towards the stranger.

You could feel the pure strength and grief he felt like it was your own and you just knew that he had seen more than you could, or ever would.

Feeling that great grief you reached out to him, taking his gloved hand in yours as you looked at your feet, waiting for him to go on.

You felt him gripping your hand tighter and you smiled slightly, and after a silence he continued talking.

He told you about his life, everything that had happened to him until he couldn't remember how he had gotten to this circle of boulders that had a very harsh resemblance to an ancient grave.

He told you about all the injustice he had to endure for being different, extraordinary as you had pointed out, and he told you about his regrets, killing his brother and losing his other brothers in the process, falling in love and being deceived by that same woman, so much so that he had wanted to believe that he was a God, because he desperately wanted to believe and be loved.

Hours went by during which he told you about himself, and your eyes grew heavier with each passing minute.

After a while you changed your position so the both of you sat on the grass, your backs leaning against the stone you had sat on previously, and your head on his shoulder, which earned a small smile from him.

He was still talking while you held onto his hand, telling you his favorite tales of the Gods when you started yawning repeatedly and strongly, and Ivar smiled again.

You apologized for yawning and you felt Ivar shake his head softly against yours.

"Don't apologize, you can sleep. I'm not going anywhere", he told you and you nodded, breathing the smell of the leather and linen he was wearing in, the smell of the moss and grass beneath you and his voice luring you to sleep.

When you woke up you were alone.

You were stretched out comfortably on the moss right next to the part of the road you had abandoned to make your own way through the forest.

You sat up, and when you did so you immediately knew that the magic, or whatever had happened to you, was gone.

In the distance you could see the sun rising, leaving a red smear over the horizon that strangely looked like a trace of blood.

You knew you hadn't been dreaming, or maybe you had, but you knew that you had had that connection with the stranger either way.

Getting up slowly you walked back home, the morning sun painting a long shadow behind you.

When you returned home you went straight to the kitchen to make yourself some tea.

Looking closer at your hand you could see the outline of one of the clasps of Ivar's glove imprinted into your skin, slowly fading.

You smiled at the knowledge, sitting down to enjoy the tea you were making.

You now remembered why he had seemed so familiar to you, because you had read and heard of him.

It had indeed been a grave you had visited, you were sure of it, a mass grave digged by Saxons for dead vikings that had fallen in a fight of nations and beliefs.

You had heard of Christian souls staying on earth and seeking peace, but was that possible for vikings?

The stranger had been Ivar the Boneless, King of Kattegat and ruthless warrior, and all he had needed to leave earth for Valhalla was a bit of forgiveness, kindness and love.