A/N: Hello everyone ;D I've had an idea for a Lokane for a while now, and I've finally gotten the courage to post! So please, read and enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: Anything recognizable belongs solely to Marvel!
Wild winds whipped frothy waves as they tumbled carelessly over a cragged edge. Shards of rainbow, haphazardly crushed in a god's desperation, weightlessly flew into an eternal abyss, left to be caught in the looming branches of Yggdrasil.
Ahead of the broken bridge sat the ever lit stars linked together by the magnificent cosmos as they twinkled and winked at the scene unfolding on Asgard's threshold. Tossed like ragdolls by the backlash of Mjölnir's mighty strike, two gods, two brothers, one light and one dark were thrown without a moment's hesitation over the side of the Bifröst. Clad in a startling crimson mantle, the eldest of the two frantically reached out into the void and caught onto Gungnir, the large spear that held the younger brother, the darker brother.
Before the eldest could come to grips with death and then life in the golden halls of Valhalla, a rough hand clasped his armored foot and kept the brothers from plunging into those fierce waves that rushed mercilessly below them.
Odin Allfather looked down with his one good eye at the two men dangling over the edge. His newly returned strength preserved them from the star studded depths as he leant over the fringe of the Bifröst. Craving the safety of his two sons, but having the foresight to know that only one would return with him, he looked down with what could only be called resignation.
Suddenly, the younger son, garbed in emerald, yelled up to his adoptive father with a desperate plea.
"I could have done it Father!" He panted. "I could have done it! For you! For all of us!"
His green eyes, once calm and cunning, now were filled with the vain hope of pleasing his king. Wanting nothing more than to be noticed, wanting nothing more than some small piece of praise that he had been starved of for so long, longingly he stared into the face of the one being he had tried to prove his actions by.
Alas, the weathered old man could not give what his youngest greedily ached after. Instead, disappointment marred his features as he stood, towering over the tumultuous precipice.
"No, Loki."
Like a flame, the hope that had been kindling within Loki's being was abruptly extinguished as he stared spiritlessly up at the chief of Asgard. What had once been an overpowering desire to be accepted and to please, now transformed into shallow indifference that glazed over his beryl eyes.
Above him, the eldest brother, the firstborn, the golden child, Thor Odinson, looked down in anguish at the one who had previously stood by him through countless dangers. Seeing the god of mischief and chaos lose his determination, immediately Thor knew what Loki would do, and ever fiber of his being cried out in opposition as he watched the pale hand at the other end of Gungnir slip.
"Loki, no..."
And in that moment, Thor, god of thunder, forgave his little brother as fear overtook him. With that desperate plea, he begged Loki to stay.
Sparing a sidelong glance at the one he had grown up with, his so-called equal, Loki realised that he would never measure up. If he stayed, Thor would still become the king, and he would be left to waste in the adumbration. Steeling his jaw, he looked up at the Allfather and tucked away his foolish sentiment. No longer would Loki stand for being in his elder brother's shadow, rather would he simply relinquish his hold on Gungnir and the delicate runes embedded into its sides.
Ivory hands slipping down the shaft, they forsook his hold and as his cape whipped airlessly around his torso, a ragged cry pierced the cosmos, following him like a poison.
Bitterness curled within his stomach as he freefell into the magnificent space between realms. It was never about having his brother or father profess to love him, instead it was about the acceptance of him as he was, Jötun or not.
Ever since the weapons vault and the discovery of his true parentage, Loki had relentlessly poured over every moment that he could recall, questioning what in his upbringing had been genuine. Odin himself had told him that he was meant to be a pawn for the relations between realms, so what was the life he had lived? A mere spattering of forced affection on the Allfather's part? What had Odin presumed? That Loki would be so grateful for the scraps sent his way like a beaten mongrel that he would willingly participate in the Allfather's universal plan for peace? Be forced into submission through blind obedience? No, he thought scornfully. Unfortunately for Odin, Loki had been drawn to the Casket of Eternal Winters, and he had witnessed his skin rebel for the second time into the frosty blue so distinctive of the Jötun. Now he knew that his entire life had been one enormous façade. A hurricane of forced smiles and artificial moments. For what had he ever been, if not Thor's lackey?
Mind foolishly addled by brotherly affection, he had followed wherever Thor had gone. Always he was there to smooth talk their way put of trouble, reliably saving them from innumerable perils, but receiving none of the credit. Accolades lauding the strength of Thor came tumbling in by the hundreds from the Æsir, while very few drifted through the air with murmured congratulations for the cunning one. In the world of warriors, strength and might would always outweigh cunning and resourcefulness. Honor and valor over skill and magic. In the eyes of the Asgardians, the god of mischief was useful and skilled in battle, but unable to hold a candle to the god of thunder's blaze of adoration.
The eldest could do what he wanted at his leisure! And hadn't he? Was it not Thor who brought them to Jötun-heim in the first place? Was it not Thor who hungered for war only three days ago? Loki had only been trying to prove that he was the superior son, the worthier son! He had been ready to destroy an entire race, a race of monsters! And still, got no further than a few crags of ice before he was stopped, only to be overshadowed by his brother's honor. The nothingness of space and time swallowed up any sound of disgust Loki could have made as he remembered how changed Thor returned.
Anger roiled beneath his skin at the thought of Thor's perceived perfection. Never was Thor in the wrong, or falsely accused, or outright blamed for unexplainable problems, but rather Loki the mischievous one. Whether or not it really was his doing was moot, for all things were abscribed to him regardless.
But what angered him the most, was that his own brother, or rather, the god he had known to be his brother, had stopped him from destroying the one race he himself had been so keen on fighting. His new found love for the Frostgiants made Loki's stomach roll. Earth had changed him. That insignificant woman had managed to make the blundering Thor merciful. That woman, little more than a child, had the power to alter centuries long habits after a mere three days.
Asgard only a infinitesimal speck in the distance, he crumpled in upon himself as a cavernous wormhole consumed him into its blackened depths. Plunging rapidly into the aphotic tunnel, chinks of his armor froze over and violently ripped away, leaving specks of silver in his wake. All light fell away and had he not been the Master of Magics, he would have despaired. But, magic unfurling from his chest, he deftly maneuvered the chasmal passageway, for as it was well known by now, there were other ways through the realms besides Bifröst.
And he, Loki Laufyson, had made a promise.
~Please let me know what you thought! Was it good, was it bad? Reviews are much appreciated!