Loki was tired of everything; he was tired from all the women who'd try their luck with him, he was tired of being treated like a monster by Sif (just because he had cut her hair when they were young, a milenia ago!), he was tired of his brother's stupidity, and especially tired of his father's favoritism. Could the All-Father not see that he was so much more intelligent than Thor? Could he not see that Thor would drink like a pig every night and then take some unknown woman to his bed while Loki would spend most of his nights studying to become a great sorcerer?
Loki was disappointed, tired and angry at everyone. He was currently in his quarters thinking of some big prank to pull on everyone when he heard Thor barging into his quarters uninvited – nothing unusual here.
"Brother! You must come!" Thor exclaimed in a rather enthusiastic tone. Loki just answered him with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't too patient today to deal with Thor. Actually today Loki felt like strangling him, but he would have to refrain from doing so – obviously. "One of the guards in the southeast outpost is here. He brings news about some giant beast-like-bird in the forest. He asks for our help to hunt it down." Thor looked expectantly at his younger brother.
"And why should we worry about a measly bird, Thor?" Loki snarled. He was in a very bad mood today and he couldn't control the emotion from showing in his voice.
"Ah, you see, brother," Thor continued his explanation without taking notice of Loki's venomous voice "the guard said he had never seen something like that monster. He also said that the bird was very hurt and that it still managed to kill all the other men in the outpost but him. To win against some of our very powerful warriors, it poses a danger to our people. We must slay it."
For a brief moment, Loki pondered if he really should bother joining his brother; he'd certainly called for Sif and The Warriors Three already and he didn't feel like meeting any of them today. But he was also curious about this... bird. Perhaps he could tame it and cause a ruckus, or perhaps he could keep it as a trophy. Or both. Yes, Loki thought I will find a way to keep it. Nothing like a new pet-beast to entertain him. After Sleipnir, Loki did not try to create another living being with his magic, so getting a new pet seemed like a great idea.
"Let me prepare for the fight, brother. I'll be with you soon." Thor's mood brightened up and his eyes filled with happiness. Loki just rolled his eyes at this.
"Thank you, brother! I knew you would not run from a good fight!" with enough energy of half a dozen Loki's, Thor finally left – but not without hugging his brother first. After he left the younger prince sighed; his brother knew Loki did not enjoy being touched much. But today, the dark haired would let it slip. Because soon, he'd be getting a new plaything...
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
The two day trip to the outpost was rather unpleasant. The few times Loki noticed Sif looking at him, he could feel her hatred piercing through him. The two idiots Fandral and Thor were making jokes about some crazy fights they had while drunk in the middle of the night. Volstagg would boast about dating quite a few women – perhaps (according to him) many more than Thor. Hogun on the other hand was as quiet as Loki but the warrior still seemed to be in a much better mood.
The problem was that Loki was rather tired of this. With Sleipnir he could arrive in the Southeast Outpost in 4 or 5 hours. But his brother and his friends did not have such an amazing mount as Loki's, so he had to slow down to accompany them. And if he got there first Thor would make him wish to be in Hel or Jotunheim. Anything would be better than a nagging Thor after all.
Finally after a few more minutes they got to their destination. The outpost was quite close to the forest but not much of it was left. Apparently, the monster had destroyed most of it.
"This looks bad." A surprised Hogun exclaimed.
"I wonder what is the size of that thing to be able to pierce a hole THIS big in here..." Sif said pointing at a hole in what was left of the outpost's roof. "This must be its beak's size."
All of them made their way to the hole. Now they knew why the outpost warriors had been killed so easily. They could see that the bird's beak was thicker than a person and perhaps as long as one. This wasn't good.
"This thing must be as big as a tree in this forest!" Thor shouted. "This will be a great hunt! Let us go find this thing; the first one to see it must shout for the others to come and help!" The Warriors Three and Sif nodded. To find the beast would not be too hard. It was hurt and big. It couldn't have flown so far so there should be a path of destroyed trees close by.
Loki decided to do something different. If the bird had been created with magic or if it was imbued with some of it, he could be able to sense it, especially if it was nearby. He closed his eyes and first heard the wind, then the dust flying, the leaves moving, the presence of Thor's mjolnir... Then he felt it; weakened, but he definitely could feel a different presence. As quick and as quiet as possible, Loki made his way to where the beast was. Fortunately, no one had found it yet.
The moment he saw it he was surprised at its beauty; its head, beak and claws were like a harpy's, and its wings had black spurs coming out of it. The tail had two very long feathers that reminded him of a pair of scissors. All its feathers were a light cream color but the two feathers in the tail seemed to shine a dark purple color. Quite an exquisite being in the prince's opinion.
He carefully approached the bird (luckily for Loki it was asleep). And it was then that he noticed the beast was gravely injured; there was a very big hole on the right side of its belly, as big as the prince himself. It was possible to see the other side of the forest through the wound. Any other being would have already died from it – possibly instantly. How it was still alive, Loki had no idea.
"LOKI!" Thor apparently had found them "GET AWAY FROM IT!" his loud voice was more than enough to wake up the bird, now very close to the dark-haired prince. Loki sighed; now he'd have quite the headache to calm this beast down. But before he could do anything, the blond man had already jumped and tried to hit the beast with his Mjolnir, but the monster managed to barely dodge it. With Thor still in the air, the monstrous animal raised its left wing and hit the blond prince making him fly away; he only stopped when he hit a tree.
Loki turned to look at the beasts eyes; why wasn't he attacked? By now it should have tried to hit him too (not that he would allow that to happen) but the bird was carefully analyzing him. There was something different on its light gray eyes too. Something like... Intelligence?
Loki was taken aback; he did not expect for this being to be much smarter than a bird. Could it really be?
While the two examined each other The Warriors Three and Sif arrived, helping the Mighty Thor to get up. They took their fighting instances and prepared for the attack, but before they could do anything stupid, Loki cried "STOP! It attacks only if it is attacked."
"And why would it attack the guards in the outpost them, Loki?" asked a rather angry Sif.
"Because maybe, Lady Sif, they attacked it first." The younger prince let out all his sarcasm escape. That just managed to make Sif angrier at him.
"You-" before she could do anything else though, Fandral and Volstagg held her down and told her to be quiet.
"Calm down Sif, perhaps brother is right." And for a moment Loki was happy that his brother took his side. "But the fact remains that this is a very dangerous being." And Loki's happy moment vanished.
"You will not hurt it! It already has a hole in its abdomen! It was just protecting itself!"
"Oh yes Loki, because you love all types of living beings and that is why you are trying to protect this one, right?" Sif mocked. She knew he didn't exactly like being around people and the only animal/beast that he actually liked was Sleipnir.
The dark haired prince's blood boiled. It had been some time since he had actually wished to kill Sif. Before he could answer her though, the bird gave a weak cry. Its hole on its abdomen was now bleeding. Maybe the bird wasn't sleeping before, but it was trying to concentrate on its healing. Slowly, Loki approached the beasts wound. It looked pretty bad now. Worse than before. Again, how was it still alive? He did not dare touch it, but he turned to the bird and said "I believe you are an intelligent being. Perhaps more intelligent than the female over there." He pointed at Sif. She was fuming but stayed quiet nonetheless. What surprised them was that the bird nodded once, looking directly at Sif with... disdain? "I can help you with your wound, if you would allow me." Loki continued. The beast eyed him suspiciously. "I am the second prince of Asgard, Loki." He presented himself. The giant bird seemed to feel somewhat more secure with him, so Loki decided to get even closer.
Now less than one and a half meters (five feet) away from the beast Loki watched it open its wings and give another weak and painful cry. With a strong, beautiful light around the bird, it changed its shape. Everyone – Loki included – gasped; a naked woman fell flat in the dirt.
So, should I continue this?
a. Yes.
b. No.
c. Your English is crap. (oh really? lol)