Chapter 11: Of Trails and Deja Vu

"Do you think, perhaps, Odin will notice our disappearance?" Hogun asked, staring noncommittally at the flames of the small fire flickering, holding its own against the frosted morning. He lifted a boot and smothered the flames quickly.

A cold breath of wind rolled itself into their makeshift campsite, and Astrid shivered. "Of course he will. But he'll know exactly where we've gone."

"And if he and his men find and kill the worm first?"

"Nonsense. You're the best tracker in all of Asgard, and everyone here knows it." Volstagg pounded his silent friend on the back with a grin on his face, thoroughly insulated against the dawn's chill with layers upon layers of fur wrapped around his substantial body.

"And yet it's been two days, and we are no closer to finding that damned snake," Sif remarked dryly, rubbing a stone slowly up and down a deadly-looking knife.

Astrid turned away and pretended to be playing with her horse's girth to hide her scowl of impatience. It was taking far longer than she had expected to find the worm and smash it to bits.

"So we haven't found it yet. There are signs," Thor stated, displaying an unusual amount of forbearance, "that it has been through this clearing."

The glade they now rested in was spacious and grassy, with aspens waving their branches gracefully all around. It was beautiful, but beautiful was not something Astrid was looking for. She was looking for something she could kill. Preferably messily.

The grass was flattened out in the centre, instantly showing them the size of the worm (unbelievably small for its species) and leaving a trail that a blind man could follow. The six of them had tracked it, all secretly please with the simplicity of their mission. But at the end of the dell the scent went cold. There was nothing; not a breath of wind, a broken branch or even a turned-over leaf. It was as though the snake had disappeared into thin air.

"Perhaps we should just abandon the hunt?" Loki suggested, tilting his head a quarter-fraction up from where he was studying the trail.

Astrid rounded on him with a irritated look. "No. We have come this far, we must just... think of something else," she finished lamely.

Thor looked thoughtful. "Perhaps we should separate - we'd cover more ground that way," he explained when he saw the others' doubtful faces.

"I suppose... it might work," Fandral commented slowly. "The worm is small enough that two of us could finish it easily."

"Volstagg, you, Fandral and Hogun go north. Lyndworms like the cold. Perhaps it has made its nest towards the mountains," Thor instructed them bossily, waving a hand in a northerly direction.

The three nodded in unison and walked to ready their horses, standing patiently in a row at the end of the clearing.

"And that leaves the four of us, yes?" Astrid asked, turning to mount her chestnut horse.

"No." Thor grinned. "I said that two of us could kill it."

"Ah. So Lady Sif and I, and you and your brother?"

"I think it might be more effective if I went with Thor," Sif said, winking at Astrid's crestfallen expression. "After all, he and I are far more used to sparring with each other, and, well... you and Loki are used to fighting with each other. We'll take the west, you go east."

Astrid glowered, but instead of protesting, mounted her horse and spurred him into a gallop towards the east, not waiting for Loki to catch up.

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"Would you hurry up?" she snapped.

"It takes time!" he snapped back, not looking at her. "It takes time, to cast a tracking spell."

"I think you're just making the whole idea of 'tracking spells' up," Astrid grumbled. "I've never heard of them."

"That does not mean they do not exist, Lady Astrid," Loki commented dryly, humoring her and rolling his eyes.

They stood on the edge of a cliff. The wind pushed against her back, whipping her dark blue cloak about her ankles. Astrid looked thoughtfully at the drop below her, wondering if she could survive the fall. The princes might be able to, and Odin definitely would, but an ordinary Asgardian might break a bone or five. Still, the murky river swirling far below her looked far from inviting. She took a step back from the craggy, precarious cliffs and kicked a small stone off the edge, watching its quick journey down to the bottom. She was too high up to witness the small splash it made.

Loki's black garments moved slightly as he turned back to her, a mask drawn onto his expressionless features. "It's nearby," was all he said.

She lowered her eyebrows. "Oh. Well, that is very informative." Astrid looked around, spreading her arms out for effect. "Tell me, just where is 'nearby'? There are hardly any trees for miles!" They had left the forests behind a while ago.

"Nearby. Nearby is..." Loki glanced to his right calmly. "Nearby is in the cave."

Astrid felt herself pale slightly as she saw the cave he was pointing at - across the ravine. "You cannot be serious."

"Are you really asking me that?" Loki raised an eyebrow calmly and looked at her. She flushed and scowled at her boots, scuffing one of the toes into the ground.

He rolled his eyes. "Come." Taking the lead, he disappeared suddenly and reappeared on the other side of the substantial drop. Loki waved to her dryly.

Astrid crossed her arms, huffed and waited.

He sighed and waved his hand, and she appeared next to him. Astrid nodded her thanks curtly and strode off in the direction of the cave, tightening the hook sword clasped about her waist. It wasn't hers, per say, but rather borrowed from the training yard.

"Should we wait for the others?" Loki asked, standing still behind her.

Astrid continued her brisk pace without turning around. "Why? Fandral said two of us could finish it easily. So let's finish it."

Loki followed her to the mouth of the cave silently, probably pulling a face at her turned back.

What stretched in front of them was a gaping, black maw, but the cave was little more than a giant pile of boulders slumped together. Astrid coughed quietly, trying to disguise a choke.

Loki strolled past her casually, smirked and turned to her mockingly. "Scared, Astrid?"

"Certainly not," she replied indignantly. "Now, are you going to stand around all day?"

"Certainly not." He sauntered into the darkness.

Astrid made to follow him, but heard a grunt of pain from within the cave and was promptly hit by a heavy object that came flying out of it.

She landed on her back several feet away. Sucking in a breath of air, she jumped to her feet and drew her sword.

Loki struggled to his knees in front of her. He had been 'the object' that had hit her.

"What? What happened?" she hissed, her voice a mere whisper.

"We're... going to be needing more than - than two people... to take this - one down," he gasped, trying to catch his breath, not taking his eyes off the cave.

Astrid followed his gaze and her mouth fell open, a strange sense of deja vu creeping over her. She took a breath to try and say something, anything, but nothing came out.

A gargantuan beast slithered silently out of the darkness, ruby red tongue flickering in and out, tasting the air. It towered above her, its head nearly three times the size of her body. Its onyx scales glittered in the sun rays that still poked out from behind the gathering clouds, looking nearly purple. Its green eyes locked onto Astrid's, and she could almost read its mind.

Lunch.

"It figures," she muttered. Sweeping her gaze from left to right, she darted around Loki and, before the beast could react, dug her sword into its left eye. The only problem then was that she couldn't pull it out again. The worm reared up, giving an earth-shattering roar, black-and-red blood spurting out of its wound and taking her sword with it.

"A little help here?" she asked furiously, glaring at Loki, who had watched the whole spectacle calmly, hands in his pockets.

He gave her a half-smirk and his lips moved silently in some sort of incantation. The worm's head was brought back down to the ground, shuddering. Astrid pulled out her hook sword swiftly, only to be thrown across the side of the ravine when the worm's head slammed into her. She landed on her back for the second time, her own blood trickling into her eyes, and lay there for a second, thinking that she deserved a few seconds' rest, only to see the worm right in front of her once again, ivory fangs bared.

Words that would have curdled milk flashed through Astrid's mind and she rolled to the left just as the worm struck the ground, right where she had been a millisecond before. Breathing an internal sigh of relief, she glanced at Loki, who was walking towards the worm.

Walking? He's walking?!

He scuffed the ground with the toe of his boot loudly, like she had done only a few minutes earlier, and the worm, momentarily distracted, swung its head around to look at the noise.

It has to be young, then, and inexperienced, Astrid thought, otherwise it wouldn't make such a mistake. But it's huge. And she drove the tip of her sword into the snake's right eye. It screamed and thrashed away, but not before Astrid had pulled her sword out again and was rewarded in a shower of black-and-red gunk for her efforts.

Yes. Deja vu, indeed.

The young snake froze, knowing that it was now sightless. Its tongue flickered out again, its chest heaving with what was probably a mixture of fear, fury and bewilderment. Astrid nearly felt sorry for it. Then a bead of sweat ran over her scar and she forgot her compassion. She had more important things to feel. Like outrage, for example, at what Loki was doing.

He stood, perfectly still, right on the edge of the ravine. He was whistling. Whistling. Like he wanted to be killed. The worm slowly turned towards the prince, sliding towards him with a quiet conclusiveness that signified death.

"Loki," Astrid snapped. "What are you doing?"

He ignored her, save for a small, smug smile that crossed his face. The snake, now right in front of him, lunged and grabbed him, piercing him through with both fangs. It realized a little too late that there was no ground underneath it, and, before it could react, slipped off the edge, its own huge weight pulling it down, plummeting to the river far below. A beast could not survive a fall such as that, even a worm of that size.

Astrid sprinted to the edge of the cliff, screaming. "Loki!"

There was no movement below, save for the still-roaring river. The world pulsed before her, taking on a muted quality. She screamed again, looking for him. "Loki!"

"Yes?"

She whirled, sword out. Loki stood behind her, unruffled. "Can I help you, Lady Astrid?"

Astrid screamed again, but not out of fear. This time it was out of fury. She was so tempted to kill him, herself.

"Scared of my death, perhaps?" he asked, a smooth grin flickering over his face.

"Scared only of what I might have to tell your father," she replied tartly, having regained herself.

"I learned recently to copy myself," he told her thoughtfully, approaching the cliff to look for his handiwork. "It has come in handy in battle."

"What a coincidence," Astrid said sharply. "I learned recently not to care. It has come in handy in ignoring you."

"So full of childish bitterness," he mocked her, clicking his tongue.

"So full of childish arrogance," she mimicked, hands on her hips.

Loki looked as though he wanted to say something, but instead just shook his head and disappeared, appearing on the other side of the ravine, walking to where their horses stood.

Astrid threw her hands up in the air, annoyed. "And me?"

He disregarded her completely, untying both their horses, giving her chestnut stallion a slamp on the rump, so that he bucked, neighed loudly and cantered off. He mounted his own black horse and saluted Astrid, standing on the other side of the ravine.

"Oh, that is just amazing," she yelled, knowing he probably couldn't hear her. "What am I supposed to do now?"

There was a crack of thunder, and the skies opened. Astrid was soaked instantly. Her shoulders slumped.

Over on the other side of the cliffs, Loki sneered at her. She picked up a rock, roughly the size of her fist, and launched it at him. Of course, it missed.

Loki shrugged. "It's the thought that counts."

Astrid heard that loud and clear, and screeched more unintelligible words across the gap between them.

Ignoring her with the skill of a practiced expert, the prince flicked his black cloak over his horse's saddle and trotted off. Astrid, wet hair flopping in her eyes, growled and began to run after him, looking for a way over.

Overhead, thunder rumbled and lightning split the storm-filled skies.

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A/N: Hope you guys liked this chapter. Couldn't resist bringing in another lindworm. Next chapter... should... have a little bit of a twist to it, but knowing my liking for mixing chapters around, it may be the next next chapter... or the next next chapter. But it will be here! Eventually. Also, couldn't quite find song lyrics to suit this chapter. I just don't think any songs have been written about fighting giant snakes... or being covered in gooey snake slime... etcetera, a sadder note... around 2800 views? That's crazy (for me), and only a couple of you guys reviewed? I'm gonna go cry in a corner now (muhahaha... guilt trip). Special thanks to those who have reviewed - I wuv you guys. Starcrier, jemlou, algie888, BaconChan, ForeverisGone13, Rikka-sama, Cacow, derpfacedapperson; you're awesome! Thanks for reading and reviewing!