"Brother, what did the mule say to the goose?" Loki's voice seems to echo across the forest trail. He is riding a white horse some feet behind his mother, who rides a chesnut horse, and Thor walks in front of her leading the horse, and Odin rides a horse so dark it seems to have some violet to its shading. It is Loki's fifteenth birthday and he pleaded for a quiet event instead of the usual party and feast. Odin allowed this and now they were all on a three day outing.
"Not another joke!" Thor groans.
"Answer your brother, Thor," Frigga scolds and Thor sighs heavily.
"I know not, Loki." Thor says in a despairingly bored voice. "Please inform me."
"He said nothing, for mules cannot speak!" Loki says with a loud cackle, causing all family members to groan. They had been walking along this trail for three hours and thus had been stuck with Loki's jokes for equal length. First the jokes had been found as amusing, and then only slightly so, but now Thor could hardly bear to hear his brother speak for it meant being subjected to another terrible joke.
"Ah, admittedly not my best one," Loki admits. "But this next one is quite funny, I assure you!"
Thor sighs and rolls his eyes, thankful that his younger brother cannot see. They should be nearing the clearing any moment now, so Loki would have to be busy with helping to set up camp and such.
"How do you cause a baker to cry?" Loki asks.
"Brother, I love you dearly, but if you don't stop talking, then I will force your head in the dirt," Thor says over his shoulder with an irritated bite to his tone.
"Thor..." Frigga says with a warning to her voice and Thor sighs.
"Fine. How do you cause a baker to cry, brother?" Thor says with a roll of his eyes.
"You slaughter his family," Loki replies. There is a brief moment where everyone else widens their eyes, turning to look at the boy.
Odin is the first to laugh, eventually leaning forward to clutch his sides and nearly falling off his horse.
::::
"And that, my sons, is why you would be a fool to try and capture a griffin, no matter how powerful a weapon its talons can make." Odin says, stirring the fire with a large stick. It was sunset, and the small family was gathered around the fire. After arriving at the clearing in the woods, most of the last hour and a half had been spent gathering firewood, setting up the large tent, and collecting water. Now they were huddled around the fire; Thor and Frigga with a blanket draped around their shoulders and Loki kneeling by the fire next to Odin. Loki was perched on the tips of his toes in the most peculiar fashion, as though he were prepared to grow wings and take flight.
"Is there any creature more powerful than that?" Thor asks. His eyes are alight and he is wringing his hands slightly, seemingly imagining that he has a griffin by the feathers of his neck, for what greater advantage could he have than such a powerful creature under his command.
"More powerful in what way?" Odin asks, lifting his brow slightly. "Surely in strength, a griffin would outmatch you, son, but you would also be outmatched by the siren, who—though poor in strength—would render you quite indisposed with their dulcet tones."
"Let us not forget the unicorns, who possess the highest of magical qualities," Frigga offered quietly. At this, both the teenage boys looked at her with fervor.
"Unicorns?" Thor said, his eyes brightening with interest, whereas Loki's seemed to grow with the knowledge of everything that he knew of unicorns. He had read every book in the library he could find; the unicorns possessed so many magical properties that to see even one would be a gift in and of itself.
"Oh, yes, brother." Loki said. "Unicorns are indeed the most magical of beings, even more so than the most gifted sorcerer. You see, nearly everything about a unicorn has magical properties. It's hair, its blood, its horn. Why, even its tail hair is nearly indestructible. One would use the hairs to tie knots that wouldn't break or could be used to repair damaged chain mail."
"Really?" Thor asks, his eyes glazing over with the possibilities.
"Of course, now it is almost impossible to find a unicorn," Odin says. "They've been hunted into near extinction and now it is extremely forbidden to hunt them."
"For good reason," Frigga says with a frown. "They are the most gentle and innocent of creatures, as well. Never hurt a soul, they would, and they've spent the last goodness knows how many centuries trying to hide from us."
"Only an imbecile would go looking for one now," Odin grumbles, stirring the fire once more. "Because they're so innocent, other creatures—stronger, deadlier kinds—have become a kind of guardian of them."
"What do you mean?" Thor asks, narrowing his eyes.
"Let us just say that if you were to stumble upon a unicorn, it would be wise to turn and run away as fast as you could." Odin says gravely.
::::
Loki is lying awake, his eyes focused on the plethora of stars up above. He hears someone stir next to him and he looks over, seeing that his brother is also awake.
"Can you not sleep?" Loki asks in a hushed tone so that he won't wake his parents sleeping in their tent.
"Nay," Thor says, sitting up and throwing another log on the fire. Loki watches him with a frown on his face.
"What troubles you?" He asks.
"Nothing, really. It is just...well, I cannot stop thinking about unicorns." Thor casts a look over at his younger brother, seeming to be slightly embarrassed. Loki, however, sits up and grins at him.
"Fascinating beasts, aren't they?" Loki asks and Thor immediately smiles widely in agreement.
"Is it true that their tail hair is nearly indestructible? That a knot you tie with them would be impossible to break?" He asks with a tad of skepticism. Loki nods quickly.
"Yes, I have read it in several books. Of course, their horns have more magic to them, though. As weapons or to be crushed into a fine powder to be used in potions and medicines." Loki says. "I remember reading in our histories that the first unicorn horn was combined with mead and cured our people of the Rotten Plague. That is why it is tradition to have it with our supper and at celebrations; to drink to good health. Of course, we don't use actual crushed unicorn horn in our mead anymore."
"Of course," Thor agrees and then looks up at the starry sky, thoughtful. "Ah, but to have a unicorn. Any one of those things would be of great use for our family. But just to think...a hair that is indestructible. Why, you could use that as a weapon, could you not?"
Loki nods.
"I wish I had one. I could think of a hundred different uses for it," Thor crosses his hands behind his head, lying back down in the grass. After a moment, his eyes shut and he falls asleep with a small smile on his face.
::::::
Loki had been practicing, but not for this purpose.
Shape-shifting is a hard craft to master but Loki had been studying very intently. He was sure he could complete it without draining himself too much. As he quietly moved away from the sleeping camp, he could feel his bones humming with the anticipation. Once a decent distance away, Loki carefully stripped down and moved farther into the woods.
He crouched down, beginning to whisper the ancient words to invoke the magic within him. Growing up, he had to concentrate extremely hard and often due more to stir up and heat the magic running through his veins. But now he only had to whisper the words and someday he would only need to think them.
He was surprised by how exceedingly painful it was. He hadn't quite anticipated that, for it wasn't as though his bones were actually shifting and merging to take a new shape. It was merely the air around him putting on a very thick layer of magic, tricking both himself and anyone around him to believe in the form he wanted to appear as. Though Loki had shape-shifted into other people and even dogs, it wasn't nearly as painful as shape-shifting into a full sized unicorn.
Once the process was complete, Loki stretched his muscles. Though it wasn't real, it was hard to convince himself of this. He took a few minutes to scuff at the ground with his hooves and smell the air. Then he began searching.
It really shouldn't have been so hard to find a unicorn, because Loki's scent would have been easy to carry into the wind and unicorns traditionally flock together. A unicorn should have been drawn to him. But Loki had been walking in the woods for two hours now and still nothing.
He walked through a bundle of fruit bushes and found himself in a clearing. There, drinking water from a stream, was a pure white unicorn. Loki almost backed up before he realized what it was. It was alone, drinking quite peacefully.
Almost holding his breath, Loki cautiously approached the unicorn. Though he had read extensively on the creatures, he had no idea how they interacted with each other because they avoided contact from his kind, making it impossible to study them. The unicorn sniffed suddenly and looked over at Loki. He paused, watching. Wondering if it would run away. It just stared at him for a moment and then went back to drinking the water. Loki let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding before slowly trotting up next to it.
As he leaned down and took a drink of the water, he was aware of the magic this creature was radiating. It was pressing into his side like an anvil. Carefully, Loki backed up and circled around the unicorn. He just needed one hair for Thor. That was all. He would just take the hair and run for it. He wanted nothing else from the creature.
But as Loki leaned forward, ready to grasp the white tail hair with his teeth, a sudden shriek came down from above. At once, Loki felt a sharp stabbing into his back and agony consumed him. His magic left him with a flourish and he became his original form once more, screaming as whatever stabbed him continue to attack him viciously.
"Fiend!" A shrill voice screamed. "Vile, insolent creature of filth!"
Loki was picked up several feet off the ground and shoved back into the dirt once more. He could feel the blood streaming down his back as though someone were pouring a bucket of hot water on him. All he could see was the color red, even when he closed his eyes. He could feel the creatures claws ripping through the flesh of his back, taste the pain in his mouth. He screamed so hard he thought his throat might split open.
"Dare you to steal from the innocent? To hunt from the gentle? To kill the young!" The raw bellowing continued. "To what do you wish to achieve with the stolen goods, sorcerer! Answer me!"
Loki was lifted off the ground before slammed back into it, choking on dirt and blood.
"Nothing!" He finally managed to gasp out, sobbing with fear and pain. "Nothing! I meant to give it-"
"To a lover? Sinful rotten hellbeast! Consumed with lust, you destroy everything in your path!" The claws dug in deeper, and Loki felt bile rising up his throat. "Just as your fathers did before you! And their fathers before them!"
"No! Please!" Loki screamed but whatever the creature was, it showed no mercy.
"The bloodshed will never end! You will always be selfish; you will always be cruel!"
Loki dug his nails into the dirt, scrambling to get away.
"You are still young, so I will spare your life," The creature hissed, though Loki was sure he was going to die any second. "But this curse I place unto your soul: You will kill your lover. The darkness inside your soul will consume you and you will take their life!"
Images of Thor's golden hair flashed through Loki's mind and he shook his head fiercely, shrieking in terror. "No!" He screamed. "Please, no!"
There was a sudden screech and Loki felt the claws removed from his back, leaving him open and bleeding on the ground. The pain was still growing, consuming. Like a thousand birds eating away at his insides. He gagged from the pain and began slowly dragging himself across the ground because his legs seemed to have failed him. But he heard a familiar whisper and then something was gently lifting him before he was laid gently across a horse. Someone cupped his face and Loki blearily opened his eyes, finding his mother staring at him with fear and concern.
"We had a treaty."
Though he could hear his father's voice, he heard it in a way that one faintly hears the wind late at night. Father was a great distance away, and though pain was all Loki could feel and think about, he struggled to hear more.
"I protect the innocent."
"The boy was innocent," Odin said with anger.
"I do not consider any creature that will harm precious beings to pursue their lustful causes one of innocence-"
"No, please!" Thor's voice faintly rang out. "He was not pursuing the unicorn for lust. We were speaking of them earlier this evening and I had told him how badly I wanted a unicorn hair. I had no cause to believe he would have pursued one, though! His intentions were pure! I am his brother."
There was a beat of silence.
"All the same." The scratchy voice of the creature continued. "I have punished the boy by placing a curse on him."
"Can you take it back?" Odin asked and there was a harsh steeliness in his voice.
"It is in his blood. I cannot remove it." The creature didn't sound terribly upset by this. "He will merely have to deal with the affects as he reaches maturity."
"So be it," Odin finally said. "Come, we must take him to a healer at once."
As the horse turned, Loki was able to catch a glimpse of his attacker. It was a large griffin seated on top of a rock, looking most disapprovingly at Loki. Right before his view was obscured by the trees, the griffin took flight and Loki could see his own blood on the creatures claws.
