The next time Eirik woke up he felt a lot better, despite his burned right side stinging quite a bit. He felt more rested, more healthy. Amazing what a good nights' sleep in your own bed can do for your wellbeing.
He carefully got out of bed, trying his best to avoid stretching the damaged side of his body too much. He didn't want the scabs to crack open and start bleeding. He could smell coffee and guessed that Freja had brought some from the Cantina. "Honored Frigg, Goddess of Birth, Healing, and Foresight. Please, let her have remembered vaseline for my burn wounds." He sent a thought to the goddess before he slowly made his way out of bed.
Freja was sitting at the table, holding a small container with a smile on her face. "Just make it over here, and I can soothe those wounds," She said while waving the container of vaseline around. A short walk and a whimpering half-hour later, Eirik's wounds had been properly moisturized and no longer threatened to crack open the skin. "You are such a baby when you are wounded. I didn't know you could make such pitiful noises, love"
"I'm a man. When I'm broken, I'm allowed to whine!" Eirik defended himself, "Besides, you were rougher than you needed to be!"
"I know, I love watching you suffer!" Freja retorted with a glint in her eye as she danced away from Eirik as he tried to grab her. "Never going to catch me when you are that wounded!" She teased him, "Drink your coffee. Your brothers are waiting, they have been by twice already. You slept almost 16 hours."
"Damn, That long?" Eirik was surprised. That WOULD explain why he felt so rested though."Better get a move on then." He spend some time drinking his coffee and limbering up his right side before he headed towards the cantina for some food.
He never made it there. As he closed the door behind him, 2 shapes dropped from the ceiling, causing him to kick out in reflex. Unfortunately for Eirik, he kicked out with his right leg. Trasti's block was good and the pain flared through Eirik as he fell to the ground, his body locked up on account of the pain.
"Are you okay, Captain?" Trasti and Las'Tai asked in unison. They had been getting progressively more troublesome as Trasti expanded upon his prank knowledge. Las'Tai was down for almost anything that could give them something to laugh about. That girl was certainly not high caste material, preferring life as a free being the stagnation as a politician and leader.
"I'm fine!!" Eirik hissed, the flaring pain slowly fading. "Just don't scare me as long as I'm wounded like this. My reflexes are not accustomed to not being allowed to work!"
"Sorry Captain. We just wanted to see you, make sure you were alright" They both said. Was something going on there?? They were awfully much in sync with each other. That was something to look into.
"I'm quite fine, just banged up with a painful injury covering most of my right side. Can you help me up?" Eirik asked and they both hurried to get him up.
"Terrans are heavy!" Trasti huffed when they were done. "Are all Terrans so heavy?"
"Not heavy. Dense." Eirik clarified. "Gravity on our world is higher than yours. meaning, we have denser bones and muscle structure. This leads to increased mass, which increases weight. And yes, all Terrans are this dense... Provided they grew up on Terra. Colony-born or void-born Terrans tend to have less muscle structure, but increased flexibility, both in body and thought. True Terrans are hardier than our spacer cousins. Our spacer cousins are more adaptable than true Terrans. Together, we make a hell of a team."
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"How much higher is your gravity?" Las'Tai asked curiously.
"20% higher than the Kloxna homeworld. You would gain a full 5th of your weight just by entering Terra's atmosphere. Everything, even breathing will become difficult. But I still expect you both to join me next time I visit my retreat, which is sooner rather than later, as my brothers need a place they can be left in peace and I plan to offer them the use of my place. I have a blade to make for Las'Tai and I would like to work on your blade as well, Trasti." Eirik still remembered that he had offered Las'Tai to make a blade resembling the one her mother had used. But he had planned something special.
"Aye, Captain," They both said before they scurried off down the corridor. "Note to self, CHECK THE BLOODY CEILING IN THE FUTURE!!" Eirik made a mental note. He never wanted to experience that kind of jumpscare again. It was straight out of a horror movie
He found his brothers in their room, They all greeted him, Peter, and Mads were the most enthusiastic, Matthias and Jonas, slightly more subdued. They were still malnourished and horribly pale, but they had all regained the will to live in their eyes. "We need to talk about granddad," Eirik said after they all had said hello.
"There is nothing to talk about, Eirik." Peter spoke up, " We want to hear his reasoning, from his own mouth, and then we will cast judgment."
"A fair and measured response. Now I know I have my brother back!" Eirik smiled. "But I demand to be present. He has already informed me of his reasoning and I want to see if there is another lie on the table."
"Acceptable," Peter said after looking at the 3 others and getting nods from them.
"I have a proposition for you. Many things have changed during your time away. I own a piece of land in Sweden, deep in the forest. There is room and supplies if you want to stay there and regain your strength before facing granddad. It would also ease my worries to be able to make sure you get fed and ready to work again. I am going to need my brothers in the future. I have plans I want you to be a part of." Eirik laid his idea on the table and leaned back as his 4 brothers talked it over.
They eventually settled on taking Eirik up on the offer, all in agreement that gathering up strength before facing the man they used to idolize, but now didn't know what to think about him.
"I'm surprised you are still only a Captain in the Terran navy. Even more, so that you have Kloxna on board. We have been informed of the war." Mads said. He had always been the practical one.
"I am no longer a part of the Terran armed forces. I have not been a part of them since our last mission. I am now a free agent. I do what I want when I want. Think of my ship as a longboat, brothers." Eirik said. He knew this would come. He was also keenly aware that his brothers did not know of the betrayal.
"Because of a single mission going wrong?" The 4 brothers echoed each other as they looked at Eirik. He had always been the most eager soldier, the perfect trooper. relishing battle, demanding loyalty through example, and always ready to lead from the front.
"Because I did not see the betrayal that caused our mission to go wrong, brothers. I failed us all and thus, proved I was not worthy of being a leader." Eirik said. He had been dreading this.
"Who?" the single word was growled from his brothers, their eyes locked on him.
"Dalle. The Plyxii bought him. He managed to escape afterward. I have been hunting him ever since, without much success. Which, amongst other things, is why I need my brothers with me. I have the money to get what we need, no matter what it is. But first, we got to get you back in fighting shape. And me too." Eirik explained.
Later, Eirik made his way to the bridge to ask David about their arrival at the smuggler station. 2 days was the answer. 2 days for him to get better. Eirik remembered Knud and went to get the ointment. After that, he would go talk to Jensen. He had promised Freja.