Elder

An hour had passed since Fandral and Otr had had tea and water. Now, they were in one of the newly unblocked parts of the nearly unrecgonizable lower city. More specifically, they were moving giant chunks of fallen grey-brick walls and thick wooden beams from in front of a store's door. With a grunt they threw one of the other stores splintered half-beams onto one of the many swiftly growing debris piles. A ways down the street Volstagg, Hogun and Sif were doing the same though they hadn't approached him. This was a good distraction because he didn't want to deal with his friends yet. For a second, he stopped as a cloud covered the sun and scraped his hair off his forehead.

There was a desperate shout of, "Fandral !" and he turned just in time to catch his mother. As he bent slightly to actually hug her she pressed her face into his shoulder. "Oh, oh thank the Norns you're all right ! When you didn't show up last night, you had me so worried my little Fan."

If it were any other time he would have been incredibly embarrassed to hear, "Little Fan." in public. As it was, he didn't care, he was just glad she was alive too. 'Show ? Oh, valiant Verdandi ! I completely forgot I promised to visit her and Father.'

It was calming to inhale the lavender oil she always used when she went out, to see her dark-blond hair pulled into a low tail and wearing the dark-silver and light-cobalt necklace; besides that she wore a darker-blue dress. For the first time since yesterday, he felt grounded in reality instead of trapped in a living nightmare. 'She wore that necklace and dress the first time I took Loki to our house.'

Flashback

He and Loki both soaked from the pouring rain burst into the large, dark-apple wood house before slamming the door closed. Mother called, "You're late, little Fan."

As Loki stared then grinned at him, he blushed in embarrassment and replied, "Mother ! We have a guest."

Mother apolgized while they threw off their cloak hoods and he still wasn't used to Loki's baldness. Since it had been Loki's seventh birth-day a week ago, like all male children of that age his hair had been shorn. After Loki's hair finally started to grow back until he was three hundred years old his youngest friend would be an adolescent. It excited him because his own birth-day was in a few days then Loki wouldn't feel so odd because he still had his hair and Thor had already grown quite a bit of his hair back.

Then he and Loki hung up their cloaks on the lower wall rack before turning into the main hall and walking to sit on the bear-skin rug in front of the lit fire place. Mother, a few feet away in the kitchen, was pouring what smelled like hot apple cider into some clay mugs.

Mother turned holding two of the mugs then seeing Loki gasped, "Oh, oh my ! Please accept my most humble apologies, My Prince, it is an honour to have you in our home. I am Lady Daell."

Now it was Loki's turn to blush and the prince said, "It is my pleasure to be here, O Lady of Gentleness. Truly you live up to your name with all that Fandral says of you. Even were it not according to Mother you did manage to captivate and gentle Lord Ari the Great-beard."

With a smile Mother chuckled, "Well, if My Prince isn't a charmer than I know not who is." Slowly, Mother walked around the table and over to them and they accepted the steaming mugs. "Did either of you want honeyed oatcakes ? I made some fresh this morn and Fandral ate almost a whole batch by himself the last time, then his father finished the rest."

While he took a sip of his drink the warmth chasing away the rain's chill, Loki replied with a yes to Mother's question. It almost surprised him when Loki split the oatcake with him because Thor wouldn't have thought of it.

End Flashback

He blinked the memory away and replied, "I am sorry, Mother...it's just...last night, Loki. H-he-"

"Oh, oh, honey, I-I'm sorry. He was such a nice boy, he always said the nicest things and had the sweetest gifts for you. When I-I visited him a few days ago h-he said t-to tell you that he loved you still." Mother's grip on him tightened as she broke into a sob at the end. All he felt was a brief weightlessness as it echoed in his head, then it was almost crushed by grief.

Father demanded, "What ? How ?" prompting him to look up. Father looked shocked and he absently stroked his great hip-length, silver-beard. Like always Father's beard was tucked into his bronze belt thusly covering most of his brown-shirt and grey pants.

A few feet away, Otr cleared his throat, "Your pardon, Lord Davlinnson, but he was impaled by a Dark Elf on Svartalfheim."

"Thank-you, Einherjar Otr. Do yourself and Fandral need some help ?"

"All that we can get."

Reluctantly, he let go of Mother then all of them finished moving debris away. The first thing he saw was the door laying on the floor as sunlight streamed in through the broken ceiling onto knocked over shelves. Mother rushed past him, around the counter to alarmedly exclaim, "Elder Taufin ! Sinn, Sinn, we need to get him to the healing room, quickly."

Father rushed forward as well, then they picked up the oldest Asgardian anyone alive knew. Taufin was eighteen thousand years old, so old that his healing abilities had nearly stopped working. In the last years Taufin had become slightly forgetful, blind, nearly deaf and had many joint problems. Despite that, he'd never missed a day of work since before King Bor was alive. Loki and himself had always gone to buy something, visit and/or help Taufin who would tell them of the battle with the Dark Elves in exchange.

Flashback

The brown-eyed, white-haired elder squinted at him and Loki before breaking into a great smile. Taufin greeted, "Hello, Prince Loki, young Fandral."

Simultaneous, "Hello, Elder Taufin."

Taufin nodded, then started rambling, "Did I ever tell His Princeship how much he looks like Queen Lopt ? Aye, that you do it's that hair and eyes you mark my words. Her Majesty Air and His Princeship Closeness such pretty names and nice personalities too."

While he pulled a stack of books out of Taufin's arms and went to put them away, Loki replied, "Perhaps once else you did I think. What about Fandral and old Fangrim ?"

So, there was a steady stream of chatter as the three of them worked and some people wandered through. Both he and Loki eventually ended up working on the same shelf and so intent on it that they slammed into each other. They traded confused and amused looks. It suddenly felt like his heart was beating too fast.

Taufin called for them to stop then, after they went up to the counter they snacked on barley bread and mead while Taufin started talking. "Aye, I remember that Malekith and I only saw him for a second. Nasty sort, he'd probably have killed his own mother if it got him something. Hel, he killed most of his own people without a care so that he could escape the coward. The Svartalfar were far worse than the frost-giants no matter what some say. I hope he's freezing in Hel right now, it's all he deserves. Anyway, take a look around, you boys deserve a gift for helping me so much."

He protested, "Taufin, no. I don't have any money with."

"You've been helping me for three months without my paying you. You deserve a free present."

Loki put a hand on his wrist, then said, "Compromise, I'll pay for Fandral's and take mine for free."

It confused him when Taufin started chuckling. "Well, I can't argue with that."

As himself and Loki shared looks, the elder just kept on laughing.

End Flashback

When Father and Mother went to bring Taufin past him, the old man put a hand on his arm. Taufin was bleeding from a long cut across his stomach, the bottom of his shirt completely soaked.

The old man asked, "Fandral, is Loki somewhere about here ?" It felt as if the cloudy, brown-eyes were looking right through him as they cast about.

It suddenly felt far too hard to breathe and he couldn't force an answer out. Across from him, Otr mouthed, "Forgive me." Seconds later, Otr said in a perfect imitation of Loki's voice, "I'm here, Taufin, what do you need ?"

Mother and Father shared shocked looks with him. 'I don't remember Loki saying that he'd run into Otr before...maybe, maybe they met while he was in the dungeons. Maybe he's just an acquaintance or not even that. That or he's just really good at impressions...like Loki, except Loki had his shapeshifting to help out.'

Taufin murmured 'looking' between himself and Otr, "You two take care of each other, just like my Drofn and I did. Maybe I'll get to see her now, heh, death 'n no bilgesnipes in sight. She always said it'd be one of those stinking things, I'd prefer it to death by Dark Elf."

He stared worriedly after his family and the elder as they moved away. In his own voice Otr said, "Again, please forgive me. I think it would have broken him to know the truth. I met him once or twice. Now, I should go inform His Majesty of Taufin's injuries for it shall be an even sadder time if he is to die...the end of an age almost."

The Einherjar skirted around Sif, Hogun and Volstagg as his friends approached. How he wished he knew what Skuld had planned for the conversation to come.