A/N: so what does Fandral have to say about all this? lets find out!
The Return to Asgard
Chapter 14
Clint remained between the tall fire and a resting Fandral. On the other side of the camp Gulfurn slept in a pile of Geri's fur. Beside him, Volstagg slept silently for once. Worry kept him from his snoring slumber. It was a long time before he reached the state of rest he now attained; a product of time and Clint's constant prodding to make him. Fandral was going nowhere. Not alone anyway. It wouldn't do any good for Volstagg to exhaust himself. After all, they would need him to carry Fandral across the inlet to the ice once again. He needed his strength more than anyone.
Clint promised to keep watch. It was easily done. His thoughts kept him awake mostly with the grinding of his disturbed stomach. Discontent always went straight to his middle and ate away at him from the inside out. Having this noose of the Enchantress's bargain around his neck was enough to keep any man awake. Fear for Thor, thoughts of the war, images of Loki, all of these thoughts flowed in and out of his mind as he glared into the fire.
Beside him Fandral was beginning to come around. He was sleeping soundly no doubt, but his features improved. Color returned to his cheeks after water was forced through his lips. Clint may hold some reservations of his recovery, but they were lessening.
Thoughts of home were long gone now. He had thoughts only of the now. Now he needed to get their troop back to the line. Now he needed to bring Fandral around and get his information to Odin. Now his first mission was over and he needed to get started on the next. It was obvious the Enchantress must be in Loki's confidence, but how were they communicating? There was a spy in Asgard but who was the man? What could his endgame possibly be but the destruction of the capital city and to tear down the rule of Odin? There was much to think on. Sleep was too trivial a need to indulge in when such questions were still left unanswered. Thor brought him to Asgard to solve this. Clint needed to do just that.
The embers from the fire rose into the clear night. It was good to be off the ice and back under the star filled sky. If he tried hard enough he could almost focus in on the galaxies and planets spinning alone up there. It was easier on the Bifrost where everything could be seen clearly. This was a close second. Better than the place he normally lived.
"A vision it must be. Surely not my friend. Surely not."
Clint looked down to Fandral beside him. Since the last hour had come he'd begun to speak quietly in his slumber. He expected this to be nothing more than more of the same. But Fandral's eyes were open now. Clint expected his reaction to be more knee jerk than it was. He expected when Fandral awoke that Clint would scream or cry or at the least wake his companions. But he did none of those. He was surprisingly very calm.
"Fandral. You've been missed."
His voice was low through the tight clench of his dry throat. Knowing the feeling, Clint offered him a hollowed hard mushroom cap full of water. His friend drank slowly but kept it down.
"Missed." Fandral said. "I hardly know myself what has—archer are we on Asgard?"
"We are." Clint replied. "Why, Fandral? Where were you before? You said to me Jotenheim."
"I said to you?"
"You did."
"How could I have done that?"
"I'm assuming the Enchantress helped you. You showed up bleeding on my floor back on Midgard."
"Why did she not have me contact Thor instead of you?" Fandral's eyes closed. Clint was patient with him, keeping watch as the man fell back to sleep. Across from him Freki raised his head from his paws. Two fire lit eyes watched him.
"Shh," Clint told the wolf. "Don't wake them. They need their own rest."
The wolf twitched his ears in acknowledgment and lowered his head back to his paws. Any reservations Clint felt towards Odin's pets was gone now. It was natural to be in their presence, to converse with them as if they could understand his words. If they could speak, Clint had no doubt they would do just that. He did wonder why the Enchantress had gone through all the trouble to get a hold of him. Why didn't she simply drop Fandral in front of his feet? Why these dreams? Nightmares? What was her game in all of this and what could she possibly gain from having aligned with the likes of Loki? When Fandral came awake again he had all the appearance of a bear exiting its den unwillingly. There was also an urgency in him.
"Easy," Clint told him.
"Asgard?" Fandral asked, picking up where they left off.
"Yes. The Flaming Falls. You have the water to thank for your life though I imagine that's why you came here in the first place."
Fandral shook his head no. He indicated the mushroom cap with a shaking hand and Clint brought it to his lips again for another drink. When he was through, he went on. "Loki's gateway, left open to Jotenheim. Far side of the island. Well hidden."
"The gateway is here?" Clint said, surprised.
"Was." Fandral corrected. "Moved since or destroyed. I left the Joten I came from in a fair disarray. What has occurred in my convalescence?"
Clint stood to fill the cap again. The thunder of the falls held a rhythmic peacefulness in the night air. As if all of Asgard was not falling to pieces around them. Geri was awake now. Her ears followed Clint as he moved but she didn't shift from beneath the arm Gulfurn held her with. It looked like the warrior was clinging to a stuffed wolf larger than himself like an infant would cradle a favorite doll in the night. Clint returned with the water and fed it slowly to Fandral.
"Your speech is new to me." Fandral said.
Clint grinned. "Too long on Asgard. I'll start saying thee and thou by the time I go. Asgard is attacked. Jotenheim the cause. Ice extends nearly from the shores here all the way to within the walls. Joten means to attack them and take the city, but as yet Thor's line has held." Clint placed the water to the side of his makeshift bedroll of leaves and moss.
"What, within the city? Who has controlled the walls?"
"Heimdall stands by the main gate. He told me he's been frozen once and will not do so again soon. Within, Wagren has stationed guards about the city and beneath. She's well-fortified."
"Wagren!" Fandral may have shouted had he a voice with which to do it. He may have wanted to stand and throw himself about in distress as well, but exhaustion kept him glued to his mat.
"Yes Wagren. Captain of the guards is a natural choice, Fandral. Gulfurn there is a palace guard loaned to me for this journey. You owe a third of your rescue to him."
"No, no!" Fandral continued to exclaim. "Wagren? It cannot be! We must be gone, we must, you understand? Get me up, wake the others, slaughter that Gulfurn before he slits your throat and mine!"
Clint placed his hands against Fandral's shoulders as the man struggled against his body to get up. It would do none of them any good to have him rampaging off and tear his healing insides to shreds. It took some hurried exchanges before at last Fandral could be persuaded to stay down. Clint looked over his shoulder toward Gulfurn. As far as he could tell the Asgardian was still asleep. Volstagg began to snore. Freki's head was up again, ears pinned forward to listen in. Geri too had her ears twisted to him, but to prevent waking Gulfurn did not move.
"You must away!" Fandral whispered to him. His voice was pleading and desperate. "Please, go. Wagren is the man. Odin sent me and Wagren is who I found. You don't see he has the walls already!"
"Fandral, quiet!" Clint forced him. It was difficult, but the warrior stopped and waited. "Now explain it to me. Everything you know."
"Thor was away. He had gone to Midgard and while he was gone, I was instructed to find this man in Loki's employ. I interviewed, followed, stole silently within rooms and homes. I am a swordsman and taken to stealth as my trade. Odin's belief in me is a warranted one. Wagren held Loki's keys that evening he escaped to Midgard. It was a hidden fact, Wagren had murdered the boys he accused of being there in his stead to cover the tracks of his traitorous intent. I followed him, watched him, closely. It was he that led me here, to the passage off the island to the bowels of Joten and the witch of the Enchantress there. I escaped with barely my life. That is all I know."
"Wagren is Loki's man." Clint tasted the venom in the words. That knowledge was a power as mighty as Thor's hammer. "You came here. You were ensnared by the Enchantress. She hid you away in the cave assuming it would be Thor who came for you."
"She meant to take him?"
"A surprise?" Clint didn't really ask. Fandral knew it was not. "Only Thor didn't come. I did. You sent me a message from within the cave. I now get it was the Enchantress who helped you do it. It convinced me to come here. I was having strange dreams about Asgard. About a battle, war, you. I asked Thor to check into them and he found the place in the middle of a Joten invasion. You tell me Wagren is for Loki then Wagren already has all of the city. The Warriors Three have been scattered, at his request always. Sif is at the wall, so far as I know, and Hogun under the city as far from battle as possible. Volstagg is here and Heimdall guarding a gate, not even in the thick of battle despite his experience. Thor makes up for their loss by never leaving the field. The Asgardian line is trapped between their own walls and the Frost Giants of Joten. They don't even realize they've been surrounded already."
"Great Allfather." Fandral cried.
"I must get to Odin. I must warn him." Clint moved to his feet, but Fandral took his hand.
"Please, my friend, please!"
Clint stooped beside him again.
"Do not take Wagren's man with you. Not alone. Do this for me."
Clint looked at Gulfurn again. The man had proved himself proficient and dedicated. He seemed genuine. He'd pledged his sword and his life to Clint's mission when possible death was the result of it. Did Clint trust him? The answer was going to be yes. His mind now, though, was altering. What had Wagren said about him?
Clint said. "Your men, do you trust one to take me to Loki's cells? I have to see Hogun and assemble a party to search for Fandral and that portal."
"I will only set Gulfurn at your disposal . . ."
Wagren hadn't answered Clint's question. Given the events at the time, Clint thought nothing of it. Was Gulfurn really a double agent? Keeping him close in order to kill him in the end? Now that Fandral was with them was his plan to kill all of them?
Fandral still had Clint's hand in his. He'd thought nothing of that until the warrior suddenly gasped. Clint turned swiftly to see what was the matter and he realized Fandral was staring at the mark on his hand. Fandral squeezed the palm with his own iron grasp. His eyes holding all the horror Clint had already endured in Gulfurn.
"Enchantress?" Fandral breathed, as if to say her name would bring the devil woman out to request her wish.
"I'm sorry." Clint told him. "It was the only way I could see."
"For me you've done this?" The terror of the answer almost stopped him from asking.
Clint pulled his hand away. "I have to get back. Volstagg will be with you here. I'm going to wake him and you can explain what you've told me. But wait until I've gone already. Otherwise he'll try and follow and I don't want you being moved yet."
"A favor, first, I beg you!"
Clint nodded. "Anything."
"Leave Asgard."
The strangeness of the request surprised Clint more than anything else he'd just been informed of. Why would he ever leave this place? Asgard was as much his home as anywhere else. What would make him leave when already there was so much he must do?
But Fandral explained in hurried words. He needed Clint to leave. Any friend would if they truly cared for the archer at all. It did not matter where Clint was sent. Alfenheim, Midgard, Ymir, any of the realms just not Asgard. He must leave. Leave and hide in a place the Enchantress may never find him. Clint may be determined to stand his ground against the woman, but the severity of Fandral's plea was not wasted on him. It nearly drove Fandral to tears to see Clint branded as a slave. He knew better than anyone what she was capable of forcing Clint to do.
Barton eased his fears with a wordless nod. He may not get the chance to leave Asgard, but perhaps he would try for Fandral's sake and his own. Clint grabbed his quiver from beside his bedroll and made a small motion to Freki. The wolf stood soundlessly and slipped into the woods toward the black sand beach. Clint crossed to Volstagg. He roused him with a gentle word, forced him to rise quietly, and instructed him to look on Fandral. Despite Volstagg's protestations, Clint told him no more than not to disturb Gulfurn at all costs. With a wary eye, he agreed to it.
"Geri." Clint whispered. He slipped into the trees, not waiting to see the wolf carefully pluck herself from beneath Gulfurn's arm. Undisturbed, the companyman continued to sleep as she stole into the forest behind Clint's form.
They would make for the beach, Clint decided. From the beach to the ice. From there on to the city. It may have been faster with Volstagg carrying him, but Fandral needed him for that. Gulfurn was no longer an option. The wolves understood the meaning of the journey. By the time Clint hit the sand, Geri was already ahead and joining Freki in the churning waters. The tide had come up from before but showed signs of pulling back now. The current would be with them, pulling them to the ice with little need to swim hard. Clint only paused to tie his boot laces together and drape them over his neck before he entered the water behind the wolves and made on to the ice pack.
"Careful at the edge!" Clint called forward to them. "Don't be swept under, wait for me."
They took his direction, coming up short of the ice shelf and working against the current to keep from being pulled beneath. Clint went ahead of them. He'd tied the rope around a chunk of ice and allowed the end to flow through the water. He expected before getting back up may prove troublesome without some sort of aid. He was correct. Even with the rope in one hand, trying to find purchase with the other as his body was dragged mercilessly beneath the ice turned into a struggle of brute strength he wasn't sure he could win. The sea crashed against the ice, throwing his chest into the protruding block and grabbing his body all at once. It was an exhausting fight dragging his body onto that small plateau, but he made it.
"Let me—Let me drop something down." Clint told the wolves breathlessly. His body was shaking with the cold and his exertion. He hadn't even put his boots back on. He grabbed one of the saddle blankets and threw it into the water, holding tight to the end. Freki came first. His front paws dug into the blanket while the back ones shoved their nails in as well. He floundered, pulled, and at last was up. Next Geri came and the three were once again on the frozen waste.
"Well," Clint said to them, wrapping himself in a coat. "Guess we get to do this walk all over again."
Freki's tail swished to one side. He dipped his head down, dropped beneath Clint, and bounded forward at the same time. Clint was riding on the back of a dire wolf. Geri howled into the fading moonlight. Freki echoed the cry and across the ice they ran towards the city of Asgard.
Memories of home faded again. They had left so quickly this time compared to the last. Despite all of Clint's efforts he was becoming an Asgardian to the core. His thoughts were of realms and stars and Frost Giants. It was nothing to ride the back of the massive dire wolf. He and Freki were like a single being. Their minds sealed together on the same goal. Clint could ride like this forever.
:(:):(:):
Natasha rolled over against the stone floor. She rubbed her eyes, hoping to clear the filth that worked its way under her eyelids. With the other hand she felt around her body to find her weapons in proper place. Wait…how could she touch her face at all? There was supposed to be something protective—like a space suit—over it.
"Natasha, that you?"
She sat up trying to look around her through the darkness. "Captain?"
"Yeah. Over here. I'm on your left. Lemme ask, can you not see either or am I blind?"
"No its pitch black. Waking up underground suddenly sounds a lot more reasonable then when Banner was just pretending about it. You scout around yet?"
There was a shifting of rocks as Steve began to move around. Their area sounded large, but it was impossible to tell. A gust of wind blew from the left and whistled through the cavern.
"Big place." Steve said. "Can't touch the ceiling. Where are you?"
"On your right." She replied, standing. She shifted her feet some but found a sudden and unexpected drop beside her foot. Her perfect balance kept her from falling forward. Instead she tiptoed across the ledge to discover the extent of it. "Careful, pretty bag drop here. I'm right next to you now. The drop is on the right."
"Wind's coming from the left. Means outside is that way. Your oxygen working ok?"
"It might be, but this helmet screen crashed on impact. Guess Richard's space suits can't hold up to interdimmensional travel."
Steve unlatched his own helmet and took a deep breath. The air seemed normal enough. He hoped they were on Asgard, but it was impossible to know that from their current location. With care they extracted themselves from the shelter of the suits. They'd have better access to their weapons without them.
Together they moved single file toward the location of the blowing wind. From the walk they could tell they were in a cavern of some kind. They were on a very specific path, lined on either side by a steep drop into nothing. So far down was the bottom of the cave floor that even the largest stone they could find to drop down it never returned a sound back. They both decided it was better not to fall off the path.
As the Avengers reached closer and closer above ground world, light illuminated the cave. It was a strange network of catacombs. Below them the floor was impossible to see though the stalactites and stalagmites were easily observed. Sunlight wasn't what greeted them, however, but the massive sconces of firelight.
"I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas." Steve whispered to her.
She didn't reply to him. Both slowed their steps. If they were going to walk into a bad situation, then the last thing they wanted was to get caught on this path. Steve gave her a few signs in the low light. Natasha tapped him twice in understanding. Away they went.
Steve rushed the entry first, banking a hard right while Natasha went left. They hit the first wall by another doorway and turned to see two men guarding the access of the tunnel. To say they were surprised would be an understatement.
"Confederates!" One shouted, "Men of Loki, hold them! Stand fast men! Fehkwin! Guards!"
"Guess we're in the right place," Natasha said.
"Hang on there," Steve told them. "We aren't with Loki. Far from it. I'm Captain Rogers from Earth. This is Natasha Romanov. We're friends of Thor and—"
Steve was interrupted by a massive garrison that flooded the hall from either side. Behind them the door was opened to a second garrison. At least it was nice to see that Asgard was taking the guard of the illustrious prisoner seriously. Although Steve and Natasha would have preferred to not appear right in his prison uninvited.
Steve held his hands up. He must have made some sight in his space suit. How did Clint do this? It might have been a good idea to plan what they were going to say when they got here. Steve was so sure this would never work he hadn't exactly planned that far ahead.
"Everyone just take it easy. We are two friends of Thor from Earth. We came to help, that's all. We can explain everything to you." Steve went on calmly.
One soldier approached him. A broad sword almost as tall as Steve he rested against the Captain's neck.
"No man comes from Midgard without a sign of Thor. Unless you are the man of Barton."
"I have met the Brother of Asgard, this puny soul is not he." Another stated.
"Cap?" Natasha asked. Being grossly outnumbered was a familiar position, but surrounded by friendlies she'd feel less inclined to break them. This was going to be his call.
"Cooperate." Steve told her. To the man he said. "Bring us to Thor and you will see. Just tell him that Steve and Natasha are here. He'll understand."
"No traitors request audience with the heir of Asgard. Thor is on the front. The city's wall remains sealed to all but the bearer of Sleiphner's bow." The soldier replied.
Natasha focused on the man with a razor glare. "Sleiphner? You're talking about Clint?" A scythe was held against her throat now. It was difficult for her not to snap the bearer's arm in half.
The Asgardian it belonged to hissed. "You will show respect to the Brother of Asgard. The wielder of Mjolnir and the Warrior of Midgard."
Steve and she exchanged a surprised glance. They knew Clint was accepted on Asgard as a friend, but where did all this come from? Since when was he so high ranking in the soldier's minds? This, they were not prepared for.
Steve decided to play along. "We are his friends from . . . Midgard. We've fought beside him against the Chitauri invasion and against Loki. We'll follow your instructions, but we are his teammates. We fight on the same side."
The sword remained against him a moment longer as the commander decided what he thought was best. Slowly he pulled it away and returned it to his scabbard. With a motion the others retreated as well.
"We cannot validate your story now. Both the brother of Asgard and the Heir are in the thick of battle. We are meant to protect the entry of Loki's prison which no man may enter. Midgardian or Asgardian. You will follow this palace garrison to the surface where you will meet with the army chieftain, Wagren. He will decide what is to be done with you. Have you weapons?"
Steve held his shield, which a soldier inspected and returned. Another was handed perhaps two of the twenty hidden weapons on Natasha's person. Even with a few men checking her, there was no way for them to discover the rest. With a full hundred men set around them, they were shuttled up to the city above.
SPOILERS FOR THOR 2 (if you haven't seen it, stop reading now, and press that little review button down there to tell me what you think!
(ok, anyone who reads this religiously and went to see Thor 2 might be just as giddy as i am! When Loki took out the statue with the hovercraft? Yeah i saw it as Hengrel's Cuff. Loki's portal hidden away on a decidedly volcanic-looking island? Welcome everyone to Arabachy! The war, the people, the sea, the city, and the awesome dungeon was just such a great representation of everything i've tried to write and then some! Oh, and i couldn't help but geek out over Odin's reaction to Jane. "She's of Midgard, she doesn't belong here, send her back". I was like aw Clint had the same treatment! And when the arrow was launched to Frigga's ship i had this sudden inspiration slap of what if it was Sleiphner's bow that fired it? And the hooded fellow was really Clint Barton? Future story perhaps? I think so!
ok, rant over. For some inspiration check out: peechtao . tumblr .com to see some amazing shots of Thor in action, a clip of (Hengrel's Cuff to me) from the movie and some great photos and art work with Freki and Geri. Enjoy!