Windstar: This is my first attempt at writing Thor fanfiction. I hope that it's satisfactory. Please let me know what you think, this story is finished and I will update it when I have the opportunity to do so.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Thor, its partners, or its affiliates. All rights reserved to Marvel Corporation.
"This is not a good idea, Thor." Loki wondered what the point of speaking was as he looked at his brother – all he could see was the man's pig headed desire to do as he wanted. Nothing was getting through to the big lummox, and he was just about ready to let the great idiot go off and do what he wanted (despite the fact that he was probably going to get killed in the process).
"Nonsense, this is a great idea!" Thor was excited as ever, and Loki sighed in frustration.
"There's a reason why we're not allowed to go to certain worlds…" he tried softly, but Thor was waving him off.
"All will be well brother! You'll see!"
"I do not wish to see. I wish to stay here and not be chided by father when he realizes what you've done. I'll be blamed for this, you know. They'll never believe that you just conjured this idea on your own."
"I'll swear you had nothing to do with it, will that make you feel better?" Thor was laughing at him, and Loki glared back. The older god was absolutely insufferable. He was strapping weaponry to his chariot, and preparing his goats for battle. The stables were annoyingly empty, and there hadn't been a curious servant dropping by for a frustratingly long time. Loki continued to glance over his shoulder in hopes that he could catch someone's eye, if only to tell them to inform their father immediately of what was about to transpire. Just his luck, no one was approaching.
"It won't change a thing and you know it." Loki bit out, crossing his arms over his chest. He leaned against the nearest stable, and glanced over his shoulder as the horse inside came to say hello. A velvety muzzle started to push against the side of his face, and nip at his hair. He shifted slightly and reached back to scratch the great beast's cheek. He received a happy puff of air in his ear of his efforts.
Thor, for his part, was laughing heartily. He continued to strap things here or there, packing supplies into the chariot and double-checking everything to make sure all was well. "Well if you're going to be blamed anyway…"
"That logic is beneath even you." Loki scoffed, and the horse behind him gave an impatient whinny in his ear. He turned his attention fully on the horse and gave it a firmer rubbing on its neck.
"Brother…." Thor was whining now, and Loki gave him an impatient look.
"You shall lead me to my death one day, I'm sure of it." He hissed, and Thor whooped with delight. It was as close to acceptance that he was likely to receive. Hurrying over, the blonde wrapped his arms around Loki and squeezed him tightly. The younger god gasped out as his bones shifted around his lungs and he coughed when the air was expelled from his chest. "Release me! Before you kill me here and now!" He hissed, and Thor did as he was bid.
"Great songs and tales will be sung of this day, brother!" Thor exclaimed happily, and Loki grimaced, rubbing his aching ribs.
"Great songs and tales will no doubt be written about someone." He griped. Thor laughed merrily and boarded his chariot. He held out a hand for Loki. "Oh no, I'm not riding that thing."
"Why not?" Thor asked, raising a brow in honest confusion. "It's a fine device, and Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr are wonderfully able bodied. They are excellent companions in battle."
"Yes I'm sure. I may be small, brother – but I'm not small enough to fit comfortably on that thing with you and all of your war gear beside. I'll bring my own mount, thank you very much." He pulled away from the pen he was leaning against, and the horse that he'd been petting gave him one last hopeful rub on the arm. He indulged it with another firm scratching.
"Surely you do not intend to take Sleipnir…" Thor commented as he watched Loki say his goodbyes to the friendly creature beside him.
"Of course not. I may be insane to following you into Muspelheim, but I'm not completely raving mad. I would never endanger father's horse like that." Thor frowned slightly, a look of confusion crossing his face as he watched Loki travel to the other side of the barn and begin to take care of a gentle horse that Frigg had bequeathed her youngest son only two years before.
"Strange is it that you call him that."
"Father's horse?" Loki clarified, glancing over his shoulder to look at Thor.
"Do you regret giving him to father? Having him here?"
"Thor, he is a horse, and I would rather see him with father than at the hands of another soldier or at the mercy of a hunter in the field. Father cares for him, and Sleipnir cares for father too. He protects him, and for that I'm glad."
"Can you…speak with him?" Thor questioned, and Loki saddled his stallion as his brother spoke. The trickster laughed slightly.
"What an idea, speaking with my own child." Thor glowered at him.
"You know of what I speak."
"Yes, I can understand him, brother. As he understands me." Loki affirmed. "He's a good child…a good horse." Thor nodded and looked back towards the eight-legged creature that was focusing fully on them.
"Do you regret doing as you did?" Thor asked casually, and Loki mounted his stallion.
"Do I regret fornicating with a giant's horse in order to keep our fair Freya from marrying him?" Loki drawled out, more than a little amused when Thor blushed furiously and stammered in response.
"Must you say things so bluntly?"
"Must you dance around the issue? Sleipnir is just there, and he and I are both residents in this place. It is not an unknown topic – Thor."
"Yes, but…well…your feelings on the matter?"
"I do not regret having my son." Loki confirmed easily. "Appearances have never mattered to me – Thor. Nor should they to you." The thunder god nodded his head, and smiled brightly at his brother.
"Are you ready, then?" Loki sighed.
"Yes, yes. Onwards, to our doom. Let us die in honor and all of that. Really, are you certain that you don't want to call this off?"
"Yes, quite certain. We're going to be famous, dear brother!"
"We already are, only now we shall be famous and dead." Loki muttered in annoyance. Thor laughed heartily and slapped his reins on the backs of his goats. The beasts took off sharply and hurried down the Bifrost, stampeding quickly towards the gate. At an equal pace, Loki rode behind his brother, wondering just how it was that he was dragged into this mess.
To all others, Loki had no difficulties in persuading or tricking into doing things his way, but he balked at doing so for Thor. Perhaps it was because they'd sworn long ago to always honor each other and to never cause more harm than good in their relations towards one another. Whatever the case may be, though, Loki knew that Thor would leave by himself on this damn fool's venture, and then he really would be killed. No one would be able to stop him, or save him, in time. So Loki knew he had to go…even if he was desperately looking for a way to stop this madness before it began.
They approached Heimdal casually, and Thor gallantly strode before the gatekeeper. He spoke promptly about his mission and what he wished to accomplish. Muspelheim had decided to invade Alfheim, and the good elves of Alfheim needed their help. Heimdal didn't so much as change his facial expression, before telling them that it was forbidden and that they could not leave.
Thor gave Loki a beseeching look, and the god of mischief wondered if this was why he'd been dragged along on this damn fool's crusade in the first place. Thor didn't know how to get passed the gatekeeper. Rolling his eyes, he held his hands up. He wanted nothing to do with this. He'd told Thor early on that he was going to be blamed for this, and right now he was not giving everyone the excuse they were looking for. If Thor couldn't get passed the gate then that was his problem, not Loki's.
"Heimdal!" A servant was running towards them now, and Loki couldn't believe the luck that his brother maintained. He knew the look on the servant's face even before he spoke. Odin had given him a message, and if Odin was summoning Heimdal…then the gate would be left unguarded for a time.
Heimdal was giving Thor a look that could kill – clearly he was unimpressed by this delay, and just as soon as he'd finished glaring at Thor he turned his gaze on Loki. "I had nothing to do with this." Loki commented dryly, temper mounting slightly as Heimdal began to slowly pass.
"If he is harmed because of your folly…" Heimdal's threat was sincere, and just once Loki wondered what anyone would say if it was he, and not Thor, who was put in harms way. He doubted anyone would care or notice.
Thor had the good grace to wait until Heimdal had left the Bifrost completely, before slapping the reins of his goats once more. "Thor…I really do urge you to reconsider."
"Nonsense. We leave now." Thor encouraged happily. He waved his hand towards the gate. "You know how to activate it, don't you?"
"No." The lie came out easily. "Only Heimdal can activate the gate."
"Well…give me your staff then."
"Whatever for, Thor?"
"It should fit in that hole." Thor was waggling his eyebrows suggestively and Loki wondered if he'd be knocked in the head as a child.
"I'm sure I should be laughing at your clever mind, brother, but your jest falls short of humor. We will die if we go to Muspelheim. You must know that."
"Brother, we shall be heroes!"
"Dead ones." Loki muttered in agitation. Thor stepped off his chariot and quickly approached Loki, he looked his brother clear in the eye and spoke with all seriousness. His smile faded from his lips, and his eyes met his brother's firmly.
"Dearest brother, you know I would not risk your life intentionally. Just as you would not risk Sleipnir's. You are my brother, my family…and I know you come with me know to ensure that I do not lead myself into folly. Loki, we shall not be harmed in Muspelheim. We shall succeed. This war will be finished and the bloodshed stall stop, and we shall be the ones to do it. Trust me, Loki. I would not lead you to harm." The god of mischief looked down at his brother for a long while, his uncertainty was palpable, and still Thor gave him that beseeching look. Finally, though, he relented and passed his staff to Thor.
"Do not break it, or leave it behind." He instructed sternly, but Thor was nodding his head. He quickly hurried to the center dais and thrust the staff into the keyhole. Twisting sharply – lightening struck inside the gate, and Loki licked his lips.
"If we die…I shall forever send my Vörðr after you." He hissed, and Thor laughed merrily.
"And I will be at its mercy, little brother!" He announced cheerily, jumping from the dais and onto his chariot.
Lights started to spark all around them, and Loki shifted uncomfortably in his saddle. He glanced back towards Asgard and took a deep breath. At least Heimdal knew where they'd gone. He should be able to inform the others of what had transpired here at the gate. The tunnel was opening, and Loki turned his attention to his staff, still in the dais.
"Thor, wait we need to-"
The feeling of his stomach dropping out from inside of him wrenched his mind away from the dais and through the twisting world of the rainbow bridge. He gasped, the uncomfortable sensation making his head spin. His stallion galloped confidently on the bridge, but he was less certain. He still couldn't shake the feeling of something being very wrong about all of this.
With a mighty effort, he threw his power towards the dais and wrenched hard on the staff that rested in its gullet. The staff was lodged free, and flew towards him, but to his horror – the gate shut closed behind it, and the staff clattered on the wrong side. The bridge failed underneath them, and suddenly they were flying through space and time – the horses and goats shouting in determination as they flew their way to the harsh burning earth of Muspelheim.
They touched down, and Loki felt his breath catch in his throat as his lungs congealed. It was hot here. So torturously hot, that he felt sweat pouring from his scalp and face within only seconds of arriving. His mouth ran dry, his skin chafed instantly, and his eyes blurred and burned.
Vaguely he was aware of Thor laughing, saying something, but he couldn't make it out. Something wasn't right…and whatever it was- was affecting him deeply. He tried to say something, but his throat constricted around the words. He choked, raised a feeble hand to his throat. He felt his head spinning violently. His stomach was still rolling, and still for whatever reason – he couldn't work out what was happening.
"Brother?" Thor's voice sounded far closer than it had before, but it was echoing – as though he was speaking in a large canyon or drifting from far away. Loki raised his eyes to meet Thor's, but everything was blurred and the light burned sharply. Pain radiated through his head. He felt as though his very skin was peeling off of him, and he gasped against the burning air. "Loki!" The voice was booming, echoing, crashing into his senses, but he couldn't respond…couldn't tell it what was happening.
He tipped sideways, reeling away from the sounds and the sensation around him. He hardly realized that he was on a horse, a horse that was suddenly cool beneath his thighs. He was falling, falling forever – until he was jerked back roughly and thrust the opposite direction. Thor had caught his arm, keeping him from abandoning his mount so ungracefully. Instead, the great god of thunder had wrenched him off his horse and onto that damnable chariot.
Thor pulled him so that he was laying as a child in his lap, and for whatever reason, Loki could not understand what he was doing that for. His brain was working one step an hour and everything seemed slowed down and wrong. Nothing quite made sense. He felt all moisture leaving him, and he grimaced.
He knew they shouldn't have gone to Muspelheim.
Vörðr - (pronounced vur-thur): a wraith like spirit that is a shadow of the soul. Occasionally this spirit can appear while you are still alive, but it is more common after death. The Old Norse equivalent to a ghost. Literally translates to "guard."