So this was where Valkyrie had chosen to go.

..interesting.

Perhaps he wouldn't have chosen to come here personally if he had any say in it, but he'd always known Valkyrie as a free woman who went wherever she pleased. Clearly she hadn't changed any since he'd seen her last. Though he was grateful to have reunited with his brothers, he'd yet to catch up with her - and Kvasir's vague ranting about raiding had definitely piqued his interest. It wasn't any surprise to him that she'd want to make a name for herself here too.

And what about him? All he really wanted to do was escape from this wretched curse. Not that he was even sure if such a thing was a possibility. It seemed to follow him and his brothers like a shadow - a dark cloud that chased them wherever they went, with no chance of escape. They'd been banished from their homelands under the guise of 'needing to appease the gods,' whatever that meant, though Halvar wondered if they'd simply wanted them gone for good, regardless of their excuse.

So went his perpetual torment, stuck somewhere between wanting to earn the favor of the gods that could reverse their curse on them and also partially wanting to live life to the fullest and embrace the damned fate of his lineage. Today though he wasn't thinking about such things. Instead, Halvar was intent on finding Valkyrie once and for all - as elusive as she could be, when she wanted to - and securing a place in her group. Unsure if Aesir or Kvasir had mentioned his arrival, he decided to take matters into his own paws.

By the time he reached the island he was sopping wet and not looking horribly impressed with himself. After a few firm, overly enthusiastic shakes he decided he was mildly presentable - and so with that he pressed on, slipping beneath the luscious foliage of the jungle trees in search of her.

"Halvar?" she asked from the shadow of an overly enthusiastic and thus massive shrub as Halvar entered the forest. Her young companion had alerted her to arrival of another wolf on the island before the horned male had even made it to shore. Naturally Valkyrie had gone to investigate. She'd hidden herself away in a place hiding place that could double as an ambush point if necessary and waited for the 'stranger' to approach.

She stepped into the light and lit up as her guess proved right. "I knew it; I'd recognize that adorable face anywhere." Switching gears suddenly, she sniffed haughtily then teased, "Took you long enough to find me."

He didn't spend long traversing through the jungle before he found her, peering at him from behind the cover of thick shrubbery. "It's me, in the flesh," Halvar replied smoothly, a slow smile spreading over his lips. "Didn't think you could lose me that easily, could you?" His mood was remarkably light currently, and he almost threw a quip at her about not being the only cursed one around here, but he decided against it before the words fell from his lips. The curse that had befallen he and his brothers wasn't exactly the most uplifting conversation starter, Halvar knew that much, regardless of what Valkyrie thought of it.

Her comment earned a quirked brow, though he quickly shook his head, horns briefly dipping to the ground. He wasn't really one for compliments and he quickly brushed off the comment as Valkyrie being her usual self. Adorable? Really? Halvar huffed as he refocused his attention on her. "As if I've been looking for you this whole time," he teased lightly back at her. Her company was weirdly comforting, especially after being away from home for so long. "Though I'm glad to have finally found you. I hear you've been gathering a group," Halvar added, almost conversationally, head tilting in interest as he gazed at her.

Valkyrie feinted offense at his words. “Please, as if you have something better to do than run around with me.”  She glanced up at the sky with an expression of mock wistfulness. “Oh, the adventures you’ve missed, my friend.” After a best her gaze returned to his and she smirked playfully.

“Not been getting a group together,” she corrected with a grin, “Got a group together. The band’s called Hjarrandi and it’s basically what we dreamed up as kids. At least I want it to be. We’re still in the training phase.” As a pup Valkyrie had been in love with the idea of becoming a raider. She’d devoted hours of play to acting out that fantasy and all of her friends at some time or another had been roped into a game. Whether they were raiders or raidees usually depended on how willing they were to play, but Valkyrie had always been a raider.

“You know, we could use more good men in our ranks,” she prompted with the ghost of a playful smile on her lips. “A handsome devil such as yourself would fit right in.”

Her feigned offense earned another low chuckle from Halvar, shaking his head. The truth was that he'd been more concerned with figuring out exactly what he and his brothers ought to be doing, but they'd found their way to Valkyrie and he had trouble imagining a life too far from them.  "Whatever you have to tell yourself," he returned the jesting remarkably easily, that same smile still tugging gently at his lips. "And I may have missed some, but I'm here now, aren't I?" Regardless of what adventures she'd had without he and his brothers, well.. they were here now and hopefully he wouldn't miss the next one.

He raised a brow as she matter-of-factly corrected him, saying she had a group already. Called Hjarrandi, apparently, and she described it as the type of group they'd wanted when they were kids. His grin widened just a bit. "Count me in," Halvar offered quickly, before she even offered; he'd already decided he'd be joining Valkyrie in her endeavors, alongside Kvasir and Aesir and whoever else might've trailed after her from their homelands. The handsome comment admittedly caught him off guard - was she goading him? - and he took a moment to recover. "Whatever role you think suits me is fine by me." He was positively beaming now, brought back to the days of their childhood when they'd pretended to be raiders, though perhaps that was more a future possibility than a childish dream now...

Valkyrie dipped her head in genteel concession. He was here now; that's what mattered.  "True, true." Halvar had been a good friend growing up. Something could be said about his mercurial personality, but where others might have seen fickleness Valkyrie saw adaptability. With the right guide Halvar would do well in Hjarrandi and the band would flourish with him.

 

He agreed to join her before the words were fully out of her mouth and Valkyrie couldn't help but mirror his enthusiasm. She grinned at him, too pleased with the outcome to bother with continuing to tease him.

Her smile faded a little as she tried to decide on a rank for him. Enough time had passed that she was unsure of his skill or where his interests lay. "Every able-bodied man and woman raids, but what you do between raids is your business. We'll trade or keep what we win, and you're welcome to craft things to trade or..." Her smile grew again, the corners of her mouth rising impishly because she knew what she was about to suggest was a bit devilish. "Should you be interested in wetwork or the like, we'll be offering that for trade as well."

""