Okay, Sparky here. Just a quick note before you read this. It's not very long but it's the first oneshot I'm happy with, so that's an achievement. I made up the story in here and I don't own Thor or Loki or anything you recognize, only Miriel, her mother and the plot. Sorry if it's OoC. Let me know what you think! :)
"I love this time of year," Miriel said as the first stars shone over Asgard.
"Why?" Prince Loki looked over at him friend as she hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on top of them.
"When I was young, we would hold a celebration to announce the beginning of autumn, one again for spring and another for summer. We would dance well into the night, the flutes merry and fires bright. I miss it." It was no secret around the palace that Miriel was a cross between elf and nymph. Her pretty, but wild features were often whispered about when she wasn't around.
"Do you miss it?" he asked of her.
"Yes." There was no hesitation in her answer, she had not wished for the palace, and for once Loki agreed. She was a free spirit; she belonged in the forest with her people. Miriel looked from the hill where they sat in one of the gardens down to the thick forest where one could easily get lost if not careful.
"Come with me," Miriel looked at him, her red hair flying everywhere.
"Where?" The prince asked stupidly.
"Just come!" she stood up and Loki looked at her.
"Where?" He asked of her again.
"To the clearing." Loki looked at her as if she was speaking another language. The half-elf, half-nymph grabbed his hand and pulled him up. Loki allowed himself to be pulled along by his friend (although if asked he wouldn't deny the feelings he had for her) towards the forest. He had the feeling that this would be a long night.
After catching Miriel a few times after she almost tripped in her haste to get to the clearing, they finally arrived. Loki hadn't been in this part of the forest before. Always told not to by his father, as nymphs weren't known to be the kindest of creatures if you wandered into their territory.
"Come!" Miriel exclaimed and pulled him closer. He could start to hear music, the high, shrill of the flutes and the deep sound of a cello. The trees stopped and the two had to step over a foot high wall of roots. Loki's eyes widened considerably. He had read almost all of the books in the library in his long life but none of them went into the ways of the nymphs and elves. No one had ever really seen them. They were rumored to be even more beautiful than the Æsair. And the rumors were right. There were almost only females here.
"What-" Loki asked, but his friend, sensing his question didn't even let him finish.
"The males are more reserved than the females here. And they don't really care for dances. Now come. I want some wine!" With that she lead him over to the table that was made of a group of stones. She poured him some into a goblet and then handed it to him before doing the same for herself. Loki glanced at her as she peered over the top of the goblet at him and he got the feeling it would be a long but enjoyable night.
Loki stood at the edge of the clearing, watching the dancing that went on. It had to be at least midnight. The nymphs and elves, including Miriel had abandoned their shoes long ago for their dancing. It was clear from the way that they moved, smiled, and talked that more wine had gone on the ground than in their bellies. But that did seem to matter to them. He watched his friend, twisting and twirling among her sisters, hair free and messed with leaves in them, largest smile on her face that he'd ever seen and breathless laughter that escaped her mouth. She looks so young and free, surrounded by these fire leaves in autumn, Loki mused, and she looks happy.
It couldn't have been five minutes after he'd watched her and made the young and free observations before she stumbled over to him.
"Come dance Loki!" she begged and tugged at his hand.
"No, Miriel. Dancing is not my scene."
"Just one? At least for me?" This time Loki did, magically banishing his armour as he did. It would only way him down and there was no threat here. He gave a weak smile to his best friend as she lead him to the middle as a light-hearted, fast paced song started. He felt out of place, in the middle of a clearing, dancing with nymphs, the only one with place hair among greens, earthly browns and sunshine blondes. But, as the night wore on he felt himself relax, and was almost surprised by how much he enjoyed the dancing. Miriel let out a string of laughter as they twirled and circled and he could not help but join in. I seemed almost serene; a little piece of the world where no one that mattered would find him. Miriel almost seemed glowing among her sisters and the trees, almost so that he didn't recognize her. And although he stood alone, she never let him feel left out.
"One last dance before we leave?" she asked and he looked at her, surprised at the amount of energy that she had left.
"I suppose I could manage that," he smiled. Another song struck up, this one slower than all of the others that played.
"I love the story of this song," she said as she held him tight.
"Tell me it," he said as the soft voice of a nymph sung in a language he'd never heard before.
She laid her head on his shoulder as he held her and they moved in a slow circle.
"The nymph that loved a human," she sighed, "a traveler walked through the forest one day, looking for healing berries for his sick sister. These berries were incredibly rare and there was only one bush in the forest that the berries grew on. So the traveler walked deep into the forest and tripped on a root, spotting a nymph sitting on a rock near-by. The nymph, having been rejected by her sisters had mercy on him, and rather than kill him helped him.
" 'What is it you seek?" she asked, her voice like that of Asgardian bells. The traveler fearing her answered, 'the berries to heal any sickness'. Confused the nymph asked
'Why would you need them? You do not look sick'. The traveler hastily replied,
'Not for me, my sister has fallen ill and the healers cannot help her'. The nymph, understanding the love of a sibling showed him to the berries, redder than any blood and sweeter than any strawberry.
'Take one,' the nymph said, 'and hurry to your sister.' The traveler nodded and asked how he may repay her. The nymph, having had fallen in love with him in that short time only asked for a kiss."
"But how could you have fallen-" Loki interrupted and was shushed by Miriel.
"Hush and let me finish the story." Loki nodded for her to continue. "Now, the traveler, having been bewitched by the beautiful nymph agreed and granted her one kiss before he ran off to give the berry to his sister. Saying that in one week he would come back for her, and marry her.
"The nymph, dizzy with love's spell walked home, singing about what had happened, and a jealous sister heard of it and went to tell the mother. The mother, though kind, had forbidden any contact with humans, and punished the nymph to die one week from when the human had kissed her if she could not kiss him again. The nymph searched for her love all of that week and could not find him until she remembered that he said he would meet her in one week to marry her. She hurried back to the clearing where they met and saw the traveler. He smiled and thanked her because the berry redder than blood and sweeter than strawberries had healed his sister. The nymph, growing weak with the mother's spell told him of what had happened and lay down, feeling worse and worse."
"What happened?" Loki asked when she paused, to consumed by her story to notice that they were the only ones left in the clearing, or to notice how close they were standing to each other.
"The nymph, over taken by the mother's spell lay her head on the traveler's lap and closed her eyes. He shook her but she did not awaken, nor did she when he called her name. He remembered the mother's spell and kissed her." She barely acknowledged the feel of Loki's lips brushing against hers, kissing her tenderly.
"And did she wake?" he asked.
"No," she said sadly, "it was too late; the mother's spell had already killed her. But the mother, taking mercy on them and realizing their love, turned the nymph into the moon, and the traveler into the sun, and they only rarely meet, the nymph's tears creating the stars for the love that she could not be with."
"I heard a different version, about the jealousy of the darkness who loved the moon, but she loved the sun," Loki said as they parted, rain starting to fall.
"That is your version, that was mine," Miriel said kindly.
"I suppose," Loki shrugged.
"We should go," Miriel looked up to the grey sky, "it shall be light soon."
It was almost light as Loki and Miriel laughed as they neared the palace, Loki's cloak shielding them both from the rain as she ducked under it.
"I'd love to see your families face when you-" Miriel's smile was wiped off as she came face-to-face with Frigga and Miriel's mother. The prince and his best friend (although she was unsure if they had progressed after the kiss he had given her in the forest) looked sheepish as the two mothers raised their eyebrows at them.
"And where have you two been?" Frigga asked.
"We went to the clearing!" Miriel smiled bashfully.
"You took Prince Loki to the clearing, my sweet?" Miriel's mother asked.
"Yes Mama. We danced and we drunk and we-"
"Kissed?" Frigga said, amused. The pair were back to being sheepish.
"Never mind that for now. You two both get inside and have a warm bath before you catch your death!" The two mother's said in almost perfect unison. The two best friends looks at each other as they ran inside the palace. Laughing as they left puddles behind them.
"Do you think it was worth it?" Miriel asked as her mother dragged her away.
"Definitely!" Loki yelled back as he received the same treatment from his mother. Odin laughed as he walked into the room and saw his youngest son being dragged like a child in one direction by his wife, his son's best friend receiving the same treatment in the opposite direction.
Good naturedly he said, "I think I shall have the servants mop up the puddles in here!"