354. Vikings – ft. Thor and Loki, + Heimdall, the Warriors Three, and Sif
"Loki, get down from there!" Odin called from the deck, thumping Gungnir on the polished wood. Loki looked down from where he sat on the yard, holding tight to the halyard with one hand, swaying with the wind. "Loki Odinson, if you do not get down from there-" Loki ignored the rest, looking back out onto the ocean. They were sailing to the land of the Angles. Odin, his father, known as the Great Odin One-Eyed, had come home after conquering Angle-land to retrieve them – them being his family, made up of his Queen, Frigga, his heir, Thor, his spare, Loki, and all his bastards. Out of them all, Heimdall was Loki's favourite – he stood only paces away, in position at the head of the mast, watching as he was supposed to. He wasn't fooled by Loki's tricks, but never called him out on them, either, not like Thor.
…and speak of the Faen.
"Loki, father wishes you to come down, to return to our lessons in swordplay," Thor huffed, hauling himself up, gripping the mast tightly. Loki glanced down again, lip twitching as he saw the famed Warriors Three, Thor's friends, and brothers and sister-in-arms. Sif herself, much similar to Loki, seemed at ease up high, climbing and then walking easily across both the yard and Loki to sit on his other side, dropping down with either leg over the beam. Volstagg, much like Thor, gripped the mast tightly, standing uncomfortably close to Heimdall in an attempt to gain more stability, while Fandral and Hogun stayed attached to the mast below the yard, seeming to be having some sort of competition, obviously instigated by Fandral, to see who could stay on the longest with only one hand.
"Loki, it is not safe up here," Thor warned, eyeing the deck below warily. Loki smirked, letting go of the halyard.
"Scared, Thor?"
"Never," his brother blustered, but his pale skin opposed his words.
Loki shrugged faux-innocently, "My apologies then, brother. It must be the rocking of the boat which turns your face such a ghastly colour."
"Oh, stop it, Loki," Sif pursed her lips, "Or do you want to watch Thor throw up on the sail?"
"It would be amusing," Loki said with humour, going to continue, only to stop as he saw it on the horizon. "Thor-"
"Loki-"
"Thor, stop, look!" He stood, using the halyard as leverage, eyes wide. "Tis the land of Angles, brother!" As one, his brother, Sif and the Warriors Three all looked, Fandral slipping down the mast in his haste. "Heimdall, do you-"
"I see it, my Prince," Heimdall agreed lowly, before calling out to the sailors and warriors below, "Land ahead!"
Loki's mind was abuzz. What would it be like? Would it be like home? Would it be cold, warm, wet? Would it be so windy that houses blew down, or would the lands be absent of such strong breezes? Already, he could see the shape of the land – up and down, at every which level. Not so different to the rest of Scandinavia, then. But then a hand clamped down on his shoulder, tugging him back to awareness.
"Let us descend, brother," Thor grumbled, and was it just Loki, or was Thor giving the land of Angles a rather…disgusted, look? It was their father's newest addition to the Realm, should he not be happy? But Loki had to focus on keeping his balance – Thor would force him to fall, if he kept handling him like this!
The land of Angles awaited.