Loki's chest was on fire.

With each breath he took he began to cough uncontrollably—his lungs not used to the warm damp air of Asgard.

This may be harder than I thought.

His eyes watered, his throat was sore and is pale skin shimmered with sweat. And he hadn't even gotten to the city yet. He tugged at his itchy wool shirt and rubbed his hands on the rough fabric of his too short pants—clothing he had managed to steal from the first empty cottage he had come across. Loki kept his eyes on the ground trying to dodge as many rocks and sticks as he could—he wasn't able to find any shoes.

Much harder.

He wasn't exactly sure where he had ended up in his travel from Jotunheim to Asgard—his only care was that Heimdal, the all-seeing god, didn't know he was coming; at least not until he was ready for him too. Loki had studied the hidden pathways in the galaxy, pathways long since forgotten but he knew them like the back of his hand. The only downside was that he didn't know where this pathway had put him. He needed to keep walking.

"Are you lost?" A woman's voice asked.

Loki nearly jumped out of his skin—he was so exhausted from his hike (and coughing) that he had fallen asleep leaning up against a tree—he hadn't heard the speaker walk up to him.

"What?"

"Are you lost?" The woman repeated herself. She looked older, with gray in her hair.

"I…I guess I got turned around. I'm trying to find my way to the city."

"I'll say, my property is one of the farthest ones away." She smiled at him; Loki didn't know how to respond so he said nothing.

"You aren't far from the road though, I can show you where it is," she started to point in a direction when she noticed his bare feet. "You won't get far like that. Come on, I may have a spare pair of shoes."

Loki didn't move—and still said nothing. He wasn't used to someone being kind to him.

The woman looked at him with an amused look on her face, "I won't bite you know."

Loki offered her what he hoped would come across as a smile and followed her to her cabin.


"Have you been out here long?" The woman asked while she rifled through several chests.

"A couple days," Loki replied after swallowing a chunk of bread she had offered him and helped it go down with a gulp of ice (thankfully) cold water.

"Lucky I found you then," She let out a little whoop of celebration when she found the shoes she was looking for, "Although you look like you've been through Hel." She handed the shoes to him.

"A bit," Loki mumbled as he eased the shoes on, careful to avoid the blisters that had formed from walking barefoot through the forest.

"What brings you to Asgard?" The woman didn't flinch when Loki looked up quickly and stared at her when she asked the question, "I only ask because I think you would have stood out by now." She said lightly.

"I…I wished to speak to the Allfather."

"Hmmm, well, I hope you get to speak with him sooner than later, but his appointments with his subjects usually run out weeks at a time."

"I think he will speak to me." The woman considered him for a moment, her stare making Loki a little uncomfortable but he refused to show it.

After a long while she finally spoke, "Yes, I think he will too."


The woman had sent Loki on his way with a full stomach and a canteen full of water. For the first time in his life, he felt grateful—and excited—the last few miles passed quickly and he could see the backs of the market stalls and the hum of voices.

He finally had arrived.