Drums of Asgard.
Thanks for all the reviews so far! They are very much welcomed. I shall continue onwards now and we'll see how Loki gets out of this one!
Green: Part 2.
His brain pounded against his skull as he came round slowly, the world around him foggy and tinged green. It felt like his entire body was melting and sticking to the floor and Loki could barely remember what happened or where he was. His body twitched of its own accord and aches made themselves known. Opening his eyes fully, Loki realised he was still on Terra, but without the Doctor to act as his guide, and this made him huff a little in annoyance. Could that man not wander away for five seconds?
What happened to him? Who had attacked him without his guard being raised?
Barely anyone could sneak up on Loki. Even Hogun, a warrior renowned for his stealth, failed every time.
It was too hot and his thoughts were sluggish, his limbs awkward and uncooperative. He panted for cooler air that wasn't available and a prod startled him out of his daze. The tanned face swam into focus and the frost giant pulled up the corner of his lip in a half-hearted snarl, a vague attempt at warning this person to leave him alone. The face withdrew again and Loki closed his heavy eyes.
The Doctor cursed to himself in Gallifreyan as he trekked through the vast space. He was following Loki's signature based on his blood and so far, the tall man could only follow the trail and hope he would see a sign of the Asgardian soon. Strange flies, about the size of a golf ball, hovered near his face, huge eyes staring at him under some stray bits of white fur. All eight of them blinked rapidly in time with its translucent wings and he thought that it looked quite cute.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have seen a pale, green guy, would ya, little fella?" he asked with a chuckle and the round fly gave a high pitched squeak in response before zipping out of sight. "Ah well, can't say I didn't ask the locals."
A branch cracked like a whip in the distance and his whole body tensed, stopping his progress. Someone was watching him, possibly using any moment of distraction to catch him by surprise. The Doctor took a cautious step forward and something crashed out of the trees, pointing a spear in his face with an angry grunt.
"Whoa whoa!" he cried, backing away with both hands raised in the air. "I'm not here to hurt anyone…see? I'm putting my screwdriver away, so no need to panic. We're good, yeah?"
The native man, for that was clearly the case, lowered his spear a little, suspicion hard in his eyes. The Doctor couldn't believe that there were people living here after all. Surely they'd all been cleaned out by the Cybermen?
"Who are you?"
The hoarse voice poked into his stream of thought and his brown hair flopped as he glanced up, an easy smile on his face.
"Hi, my name is the Doctor! I'm looking for a friend who came with me to visit your lovely planet! Have you seen him? I'm a bit worried he's been eaten or something."
Small lines of humour appeared in the skin of the man's leathery face and he relaxed his hold on the spear completely.
"We did not think he was the only white man here. He is with us, alive and under our arrest."
"You ARRESTED him? Blimey, what for? He didn't try to burn down any trees, did he?"
The warrior snorted, turning his back to start leading him through more undergrowth.
"No, we are wary of invaders. Since men that shone like cold gold came and killed many of our people, we have hardened our hearts to strangers."
The Doctor felt sorry for these natives. He knew the emotionless cruelty of the Cybermen from first-hand experience and he shuddered at the possible atrocities committed on Terra.
"Look, I am really sorry to hear that. I've heard of those metal men and I know what they can do. But we're not here to hurt anyone. It was more of a history lesson for my friend than anything else."
Without meeting his gaze, the tribal man carried on with that steady gait of his.
"You will stay until we trust you."
The Gallifreyan sighed. He knew what that meant.
Now they were BOTH under arrest.
A slightly cooler touch to his brow helped his eyes flicker open once more. An earthy brown material shifted above him and a single name floated through his sludge-like mind in relief.
Doctor…
"Hey Loki, I'm sorry, bud. You don't look very well."
Loki buried his head into his guide's torso and the Doctor frowned at the surrounding tribe.
"How long has he been like this? What did you do?"
"He received no sickness from us."
They parted for a wizened, little old woman and a wrinkled, little old man, both thumping staffs adorned with colours and tribal carvings. Gold and silver beads were threaded through their long silver hair, different to the blue and red beads of the others.
"Your friend is imbued with the heat of our forest. He cannot cope with it."
The Time Lord didn't understand. Loki was an Asgardian and they never seemed to get like this under pressuring heat. Why was Loki so ill? A faint touch to his hand brought his lament back to Loki, who trembled with fever and struggled for air. They had moved him to shade, but it wasn't helping.
"I…"
His friend had no strength to speak so the Doctor patted his cheek in sympathy.
"We'll make you better, Loki, I swear." He promised and the lost Prince of Asgard lay his head back in his lap, the veins in his eyelids standing out amongst the sheen on his milky skin.
"…'kay."
The two elders squatted beside the outsiders and waved their hands in small gestures.
"We will ask the spirits to guide his path to healing. In the meantime, you will talk with us."
The Doctor stared quizzically at them both and said;
"Who are you?"
They smiled in wisdom befitting their sanctions.
"We are the tribal shamans. We speak to the spirits of the air and sun, earth and water. We commune with our ancestors and hear their messages from the gods. Our Sun God gave a name long ago to fit our golden temples and skin. We are the Aztecs."
All words failed him.
Ta daaah! A new chapter finally! Sorry for the wait! I imagine them speaking in short sentences because they're not overly eloquent like us. They were probably simple yet wise and mature and I tried to convey that here.
Love Lily. X