Eventually, Thor threw himself onto the ground in frustration, just before the opening of a gaping crevasse that scarred the landscape before him. Feeling his body begin to shudder with hopeless sobs, he pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees, resting his head upon them. He looked like a vulnerable child. In this moment, he was. It was only after a few moments of gently snuffling into his legs in desperation, that he began to hear a matching sound of dismay coming from somewhere close-by. At first he thought it may have just been the reverberations of his own cries, but after holding his breath and forcing himself to quieten, he realised with a surge of attention that it was not. There was another person close at hand. Only one word came searing into his mind. Loki. He scrambled onto all fours urgently, crawling towards the noise with all the strength he could muster. He hadn't eaten. He was exhausted. He was weak. But that noise, that hallowed sound that could only be, had to be, his brother, filled him with a refueled sense of purpose and determination, after hours of nothingness. He pulled himself to the edge of the gorge and looked around him. He couldn't see anyone. With a profound sense of dread, he proceeded to turn his gaze downwards, into the gaping hole that lay below him.
It was there that he saw the tuft of black hair, balancing precariously on a small ledge that jutted out over the vast expanse of the chasm. His heart convoluted violently in his chest, tingles of shock seeping down his arms and legs. His brother was there. Right before his eyes. He fought to keep his shaky voice from breaking as he called down to him, relief and concern and fear all consuming him at once. "Loki. Loki! It is Thor! I am here!" he cried biting his lip to prevent the newest surge of tears from cascading down his cheeks. He had to be strong. Upon hearing Thor's voice, the tuft of black hair tilted his head backwards to look up at him, revealing the glistening emerald eyes of his brother, just visible in the dark. Although he couldn't see much of Loki's face in the darkness, Thor could tell how frightened he was. "Thor" came his brothers tenuous reply, as he grappled to come as close to him as he could, digging his fingers into the loose dirt that coated the wall of the crevasse, as if to try and pull himself up, even though he knew such an act was useless. "I am sorry. I thought I had heard something in the distance, I only meant to stray a short way from the path. I followed a false trail and was lost." Loki's voice shook as he removed one of his arms from the wall and wiped his sweat covered brow with the back of his grubby sleeve. "I came too close and the ground gave way. I thought I would never be found." Thor tried to make his panicked voice sound as level as he could before replying.
"Brother, it is okay. It does not matter how you came to be here, what matters is that I am here now, and I am going to get you out." Determined, Thor proceeded to extend his arm downwards towards his brother, pushing himself as far beyond the edge as he could possibly go, hooking a foot through a thick root that protruded from the surface of the ground for stability. "Take my hand!" he shouted insistently, stretching each muscle in his arm and fingers out as much as he could in his attempt to reach him. Loki responded urgently, heaving himself up and reaching up his hand as much as he possibly could in return. He groaned with pain as he strained himself further and further upwards, but still his fingertips remained a few inches shy of his brothers. Cursing in frustration, Loki began to throw himself fiercely against the muddy wall, attempting to gain some sort of foothold with which he could pull himself closer. As he attempted this a third time, the loose ground hanging down the edge gave way, sending a filthy cloud of debris hurling over Loki, and sweeping him downwards. Horrified, Thor struggled even further over the edge, shouting deafeningly in anguish. As he was carried back down the small distance to the ledge, Loki thrust out his arms to stop himself in defiance. In doing so, his arms and body were sent slamming into the edge of the outcropping with a sickening crack that echoed up and down the chasm, drilling into Thor's young ears a sound that he would never quite forget.
As the dust settled, Thor struggled to peer though the cloud to see his brother, who was groaning in pain as he scrambled his legs beneath him to push himself up and over onto the ledge once more, where he rolled over onto his back, clutching his right forearm. A wash of relief came over Thor as he saw his brother had managed to climb back onto the outcropping. This soon turned to dread however, when he fully registered his brothers cries of pain. Loki lay clutching his right arm, as blood began to seep through the fabric of his sleeve. With a twinge of horror, Loki had noticed that, in throwing his arms out to protect himself, his right arm had been dragged over the sharp and craggy rocks jutting out of the side of the ledge, leaving a deep, trickling gash from his shoulder to his elbow. The surface injury on this arm was ghastly enough, but the searing pain he felt singed through them both. He knew that he had also done considerable damage to both arms internally, whether they be sprained, or fractured or broken. Either way, his arms were no longer useful, barely even functional. The pit in Thor's stomach churned as the image of his brother lying in agony, just beyond his reach, came to him. He could not bear it. The air around him began to grow cold, and he could sense a damp in the atmosphere. A flash storm was coming. The weather here was nothing if not wild and unpredictable. He knew that within moments, it would have no hesitation in sweeping his brother away, for good this time.
He looked down upon Loki with distressed eyes as he realised what had to be done. What he had to ask Loki to do in order to save him. His magic was drained as he was, there was no other option. His brothers healing abilities would be severely impaired; useless, as would his. He knew this to be so. Thor felt himself tremble with horror as he addressed his brother, in as soothing a voice as he could summon. "Loki" he began delicately, before his brother cut him off abruptly. "You do not have to say it, brother" Loki gasped, in between the stabs of pain that were shooting up his arms. "I am not a fool. I know what must be done." He pulled himself uneasily to his feet, steadying himself and blinking through the white hot flashes of pain that now seemed to be aiming to cripple his whole body. Blood continued to trickle down his arm, as he fought to keep level headed. He didn't even have anything substantial to stem the flow, save for the dirty material of his shredded sleeve. A pool of fear gathered within him as he looked upwards at the face of his older brother for reassurance. He was going to have to jump. Jump and hope that he caught Thor's hand, and didn't plunge to his death. Jump and know that even if he did, he would have to endure the unspeakable torture of having his whole body weight pulling on his splintered arms. He wasn't sure if he'd even be able to cope with that level of suffering. He was only a child after all, and no child should ever have to go through such an ordeal. But of course, he wasn't an ordinary child. And neither was his brother. Why were they here? To catch some stupid bird for a pointless quest that they had already proved to have failed?The relative meditation that Loki had been managing to maintain began to crack, as he felt all of his tangled emotions force their way out via the mud streaked marks that lined his boyish face. He moved his fingers naturally to clench his fists to stem his tears, only to wince at the hurt it caused him to do so.
He wasn't going to make it. He wasn't strong enough. He wasn't brave enough. It would be easy for Thor. He thought wistfully, kicking his feet in shame. He fears nothing. He is tough, he would get himself out with ease. What use am I? Loki pressed his eyelids shut, trying desperately to blot out all of his scathing thoughts. "Loki" he finally heard a voice, bringing him back to the world around him. "Loki" His eyes flew open as he looked up once again at the ever-present form of his brother. "I am so sorry" Thor proclaimed frantically "I am so sorry that you have to do this, but there is a storm coming. By the time I go to get the guards, it will be too late. It will hurt, but I swear to you that I will not let you fall. I will get you out of here. Do you understand me?" Loki broke his brothers gaze, looking uncertainly down into the blackness of the deep hole below him. "Listen to me Loki. Look at me!" Thor cried desperately, in an attempt to wrench Loki's thoughts from the unthinkable. Loki obeyed, turning to lock his brothers eyes once more. "Everything will be alright. We can get through this. As long as you trust me, we will be okay. You are not going to die. I forbid it. Mark my words, we will be back home, fighting over the last apple once again before you know it, as we always do." Thor smiled weakly. Truthfully, he did not know if he would even have the strength to pull up his brother. He was drained of stamina himself. He did not know if Loki would even make it to his hand. But all he knew was that he had to trust Loki to do so, as Loki had to trust Thor to catch him. It was all they had. And if it failed, they would go down together, for Thor knew that if his little brother was fated to plunge into a dark abyss and meet his death, then he sure as Hel wasn't going to let him fall alone.
Thor could hear the thunder before it came, a precursor to his future talents that fortunately provided him with a small advantage in his impossible situation. He leaned downwards and reached out his hand once more towards his brother. "Just look at me Loki. Keep your eyes on me, and I will catch you." He spoke firmly. Loki looked up hesitantly into the comforting eyes of his big brother, who evoked the same warmth and calmness he had always been able to instill in Loki's wild nature when he had needed to. It was now or never. Taking one last long look at his brother, Loki took a step backwards, before bracing himself and summoning the last of his strength to propel himself forwards and upwards towards Thor's outstretched hand. He seemed to be suspended like a puppet, floating in the air above the sea of nothingness for an eternity. He was certain he was going to fall. His eyes even closed instinctively in preparation for what was to come. "LOKI!" He heard his brothers screams ring hysterically in his ears as he traveled through the air. He was gone. And then, he was not. Every sense in his body was suddenly prised open by the poker hot surge of undiluted agony that scorched his crippled arm, as his body jerked and pulled down upon the iron-like fist that gripped him like a vice.
Thor had caught him. And he could spare no more restraint to ignore his pain. He was a child, and he was sore. He allowed himself to howl in agony, his eyes growing swollen and puffy as he felt every stab of pain pierce his arm and course through his body like a seizure as his brother began to heave him upwards. He couldn't grip his hand back. His fingers weren't moving. His legs dangled helplessly above the void, his entire life held by a shattered thread in his brothers hands. He wanted to pass out with the pain. Suddenly, as Thor had predicted, it began to rain. Heavily. Or rather, it was more like hail, as the temperature plummeted more and more. Even as it battered upon him and threatened to slack his hold, Thor grasped Loki's arm tightly, biting back the strain, as he knew how much pain his brother was in. He could almost feel it throbbing under his skin as he clutched his blood-soaked arm with both hands. And still Loki strove to raise his other, allowing Thor to clasp that too, whimpering as he did so, but allowing it all the same. His brother was so brave. He was so young, and he couldn't imagine how much he must be hurting.
Thor's heart contracted with pride, even in spite of the awfulness of the circumstances. I do not know if I could have endured such a thing.He pulled and pulled further, as Loki's sobs grew fainter and fainter. At last, he got his brother far enough up to the edge that he could release his arms and shift his hold to across his chest instead. Loki's heart was thumping. He could feel it through his back against his, and it comforted him to know that while the rest of his body appeared to be motionless, his brothers' heart was still fighting. Loki's arms fell limp at his sides as Thor moved, pushing and pushing his feet against the ground as he hauled him up to safety. Finally, he succeeded, and he and Loki rolled over in a tumble onto the safe, muddy embankment that bordered the cliff. By now, the sky was rumbling in its charcoal pallet, sending rain and sleet spitting over the land in violent torrential droves. But Thor didn't, couldn't, notice. After ripping up a piece of cloth and binding it tightly around Loki's open wound, he clutched the shuddering and silent form of his brother in his embrace, holding him so tightly he never thought he could let him go. "It is alright. It is alright brother. It is over. It is over now. I have got you."
Cradling Loki's head in his arms, he rocked back and forth, tears streaming down his face and mingling with the rainwater, as he buried his face in his brother's drenched and freezing hair. After a while, he felt a gentle movement beneath his arms as Loki slowly, and groggily, wiggled himself upright, as Thor kept a caring hand on his shoulder. It was still stained with Loki's blood, but the rain had begun to wash it off, as if it sought to soothe the turmoil that the two boys had just endured. They looked at each other with the purest and rawest display of a child's emotion and vulnerability as they fully absorbed what had just transpired. "We made it." Thor breathed, a frail smile curving at the corners of his mouth. Even through his pain, which was still relentless in racking though his body even now, Loki managed to exchange Thor's smile. Overcome with emotion, Thor reached out and protectively pulled his little brother close again, wrapping his arms around him, the relief of having him there coursing through him like a warm blanket. And in spite of the fact that it caused him scrutinizing further agony every time he moved, Loki did the same, allowing the little boy that he was to take comfort in his big brother in his time of need. At that moment, everything, the world around them, shrunk into insignificance as they held each other, two children, alone and terrified in the dark and vast expanse of the unknown. It did not matter. The lightning in the sky flashed vibrantly as Thor's emotions rose, as did the land around them begin to blossom with grass as Loki's did the same. They felt their powers heighten in incredulity as they stared at each other, awestruck. Their father had been right. They were each others strength.
"You have more bravery than anyone I have ever known, brother. You will have done Father proud, I am sure" Thor finally spoke thickly as the boys huddled together as the rain continued to pour. Loki smiled falteringly. "I was the one that got lost. I do not know that Father would approve of that. Yet you still came after me and gave up the quest?" Thor grinned. "Well I could not just leave you to die could I? What sort of brother or prince would I be if I did?" Looking at Loki, Thor noticed that there was something troubling him. Even in the midst of extreme shock and physical pain, Loki still had the ability to wonder. He shook his head in slight disbelief before turning to his brother inquisitively. "What is on your mind, brother?" Loki shifted slightly, fumbling absent-mindedly with the makeshift bandage on his arm, before wincing at the pain that shot though him as he did so. He stared into the distance in thought, his green eyes mulling over the contents of his next sentence before he spoke it aloud.
"Can you promise me something?" he said finally, turning to look at Thor with the innocent and vulnerable visage of the child he was, that he had never shown before this night. Thor swallowed hard, taking in the sheer openness of his brother's manner, of which he was not accustomed, before agreeing. "Promise me" Loki began, his glassy eyes addressing Thor sombrely from beneath his raven hair. "Promise me that if this happens again, you will be there." Thor looked at Loki, taken aback by the oddness of his request. His level of pain must be clouding his mind. "Promise me" Loki continued, "That if I get lost again, no matter how far I go, or how lost I become, you will always come to find me. Promise me that you will still search for me even when all seems hopeless and bring me back as you did tonight. Promise me you will not give up, even if it hurts me so much that I want to scream. Promise me that you will always be there to save me, even when I do not believe I need saving."
As Loki finished, Thor could only gape at his brother in astonishment. His wish was so child-like, so vulnerable, and yet at the same time it contained a plea, a foreboding wisdom of one that could only be described as older than their years. He just could not place a finger on why it struck him so. But Loki was looking at him, waiting imploringly for his response. "Of course" he replied softly. "I promise." The two boys smiled at each other feebly as Loki began to feel drowsy with pain once more. At that moment, they caught each other in fright and smirked in recognition as two crows squawked past, landing on a nearby tree. They were soon accompanied by the sound of rustling in the trees as Thor and Loki helped each other stumble to their feet. Their Father had arrived to bring them home.
