Author's Note: Whoop! Three chapters in less than an hour, though admittedly I wrote this a while back and am just now getting around to posting it. I own nothing.

3. Hitching a Lift

As the years dragged on she became more and more curious, until finally she broke down and told her mother about the dreams and showed her the drawings. Frigga recognized the grove immediately. It lay in Vanihime and was one of the most magical places in all the nine realms. Very few knew of its existence for it was a highly protected secret because that grove was one of the few places one could directly access the trunk of Yggdrasil, the world's tree. Loki should not even know off its existence but here she was only a child of fifteen drawing detailed and accurate sketches of it. Frigga told her daughter what she knew of the grove and Loki insisted that she needed to go to this grove. Frigga agreed but knew they needed to ask Odin for his permission.

"No! My love it would be too dangerous. Rogue frost giant spies still wander the nine realms. I will not take the chance! Loki's powers grow by the day and we cannot afford for them to fall into the hands of our enemies."

"But if it is what I believe then it cannot be ignored for long."

"Then we must hope you are wrong." And that was the end of the discussion. Loki was not pleased with this and locked herself in her room.

"I'm nearly an adult! I hate being here, it's wrong. And Thor is allowed to wander where he will while I remain here like a relic locked behind walls. Well not this time." Loki sat down in front of her mirror and conjured a perfect replica of herself. It sat down in the edge of her bed and stroked sabers head. Turning back to the mirror Loki focused. The easiest disguise would be to become a Vanir so as to blend well when she got to Vanihime, getting there might be difficult but she had a plan of sorts. But the disguise was what she had to worry about first. She shrouded her chambers in mist, so as to hide from the watchful eyes of Heimdall and focused. Her shoulder length black hair grew until it reached her waist and as it did so the color drained from her locks leaving them a soft brown her skin darkened slightly to the tanned shade of the elves. Her ears lengthened at their tips and her clothes shifted to a simple dress of light blue fabric. She hated to leave the green behind but she had to, at least for now. Her eyes shifted to a deep blue, common among the elves she'd seen at court. With a wave of her hand she braided her hair and moved through the shrouded magic to her window. The sun had set not too long ago and under cover of darkness and magic Loki scaled down the wall of the castle when she reached the ground she lifted some of the shrouding magic and sent a command to her construct.

'Let no one in. Do not be discovered.' And with that Loki adjusted the belt she had grabbed on her way out with a small bag of coins hooked onto it and headed to tavern where she would find the key to her escape. A young man by the name of Fandral, a young warrior with a boat and a soft spot for brunette elves.

Fandral was nothing if not helpful, provided you were a beautiful maiden of any kind, he wasn't that picky. But he did have a particular love for the women of Vanihime and so when he saw the young Vanir girl being harassed by a tall muscular man at the end of the bar he had no choice but to step in. She was very grateful to him for his assistance and even accepted his invitation to join Fandral at his table, which he was sharing with Hogun and Volstag at the moment. The three of them were inseparable and a force to be reckoned with on the battle field. So much do that the town had begun to refer to them as the warriors three. But the best part about then was they backed each other outside the battlefield as well. As such would both do anything to help this latest girl Fandral had taken an interest in.

Her tale, as it turned out, was quite the tragic one. She had come here seeking news of her parents who had been fighting in the civil dispute that was currently taking place in Alfhime only to learn that her father had died and her mother had returned to Vanihime. She was trying to return there herself but could find no vessel willing to take her there for the meager amount of money she possessed. The warriors three were devastated to here this and after a quick counsel amongst themselves all agreed that they would help her immediately.

So the party of four set off for the docks and their ship that would carry them to Vanihime. Loki watched Asguard disappear into the distance as the boat traveled the long river that connected Asguard, Vanihime and Alfhime. The bifrost was of course an easier way to get places but Loki knew that the warriors three preferred their ship and that Heimdall would never have allowed them past. Not while she was with them anyway. But that mattered little now, she could almost hear the music that haunted her dreams as they drew closer to Vanihime.