The brothers, even Ivar, stared in disbelief, as (Y/n) caught the handle of the axe that Sigurd had just thrown towards her twin. The young shieldmaiden glaring menacingly, before she began to stalk towards their older brother; Sigurd backing away, until his back hit a tree.

Yes, he had scoffed at the suggestion that he might be scared of their sister; but........but he was. It was true that she was a girl and younger than him, but she shared the same glint of madness in her eyes as Ivar did; and despite how she may appear, she was not only strong, but she was also quick and brutal in her attacks. She gave no quarter, heard no pleas for mercy. She killed and she killed well. And given the fact that had always let his dislike for Ivar extend to their sister, there had never been the love between them, that there had been between her, Ubbe and Hvitserk. In fact, he was well aware that she hated him for talking to and treating Ivar as he did. So, this would not be the first time that he had feared for his life around his sister.

"(Y/n)........!" Ubbe called out, as she covered the last of the space between her and Sigurd in a mere moment.

"(Y/n), stop.........." Ubbe called out again. Yet his usual pleas were falling on deaf ears. The oldest son of Aslaug looking to Ivar for help; but given the smile on his face and the look in his eyes, he knew there would be nothing coming from him. Ubbe about to step forward, to come between (Y/n) and Sigurd; only he found himself stopped by Ivar's arm.

"Next time you want to throw an axe, Sigurd; may I suggest that you throw it at me. But know that if you do, you better hit me; because I can promise you that if you don't, I won't miss..........." (Y/n) hissed disdainfully, before lodging the axe in the tree right next to Sigurd's head.

"You..........you're mad..........." Sigurd managed to say. Doing his best to sound as unconcerned as he could; but failing abysmally.

"You have no idea, Sigurd. But if you try that again, I swear that you will find out.........." Her warning low, menacing; her look chilling. Sigurd feeling a shudder go down his spine as she finally turned and made her way back to Ivar. Her twin clapping his hands and laughing like a giddy child, as she came to stand in front of him. Ivar holding out his arms and waiting for her to turn so that he could get himself onto her back.

                                                        >>-----------------------------------<<

(Y/n) sat next to the bath as Ivar bathed, absentmindedly pushing around the water. She was still angry about what had happened earlier that day; still angry at Sigurd, but that was nothing new. Once it had been a different story, when she and Ivar were small, (Y/n) had loved Sigurd just the same as she had loved Ubbe and Hvitserk. The little girl always curious about his eye, about the ouroboros that lay within the orb; Flóki telling her and Ivar that it was Jörmungandr, the World Serpent, one of the three children of Loki and Angrboda, who grew so large that it was able to encircle the world and grasp its own tail in its teeth. Yet one day, one day things seemed to have changed, and Sigurd had become cold, particularly to Ivar; and with each insult their older brother sent her twins way, the more that she grew to hate him.

In part, she felt that some of the blame had to fall on their mother; Aslaug had always doted on Ivar, and in turn, her too. They were her Freyr and Freyja, she would always say; and because of her love for them, she had neglected her other children. Yet Sigurd was the only one that seemed to have let it affect him as it had. The only one that had allowed it to get to the point where he would insult Ivar every chance that had got, who would do something as foolish as throw an axe in his direction. And although she could tell that it was more aimed at the horn cup that Ubbe had just passed her twin, the mere fact that he had thrown it in the first place, was enough to bring on her ire.

"How did you do it..........?" Ivar's latest question bringing her back to the moment. She knew that he had been talking, he had been laughing and talking about what had happened at the training area since she had carried him back to town. He delighting in the fact that it looked as though Sigurd was about to piss himself, when she had slammed the axe into the tree, right next to their brother's head.

"What...........?"

"How did you do it.........catch the axe? You have to teach me..........."

"I........I don't know, Ivar; I just caught it. I could just as well have lost all my fingers. I was just tired of Sigurd, how he was acting like a child again, and I just caught it. Now can we stop talking about it......about Sigurd. I am done with hearing his name. I want something to take my mind off all this......off him..........."

"I can think of something to take your mind off it............" Ivar told her, a smile pulling at his lips, as he placed a hand on her cheek.

"Oh, and what would that be, brother...........?" (Y/n) retorted. Her own smile growing, as she took the hand from her cheek, and kissed it.

"There is room in this tub for two, especially when you sat on top of me..........." (Y/n) slowly getting to her feet and removing her dress. Ivar holding out his hand and helping her into the bath with him.

"I thought you would never ask, Ivar.............."