"So... why were Gjalp and Skadi fighting?"
Hearing that, Gjalp backtracked, casting a quick camouflage spell as she stood at the door.
Loki, his brothers, and the king were apparently discussing the fight from earlier while they ate. All eyes were on Loki, the only one who'd been present at the time.
"I'm not honestly sure." the third prince admitted with a frown. "Skadi was yelling something about younglings being killed, and Gjalp was telling Skadi that whatever campaign she's apparently running will get her killed. But after the fight had been broken up, Gjalp decided to stop teaching me runes and give me a lesson on insults instead."
Byleister snorted, and Laufey looked vaguely amused.
"And how do our jotun jibes compare to Asgard's?" Helblindi asked.
"It could just be her anger at Skadi, but it seems to me like most of the insults Gjalp taught me were invented by witches."
Well, she couldn't deny that. Gjalp bit back a huff, leaning against the doorframe.
"Well, a lot of them were, actually. In the old days, witches fought alongside warriors, and would cow their opponents by shrieking abuse at them." Laufey commented. "From what I heard as Skadi ranted to Helblindi and destroyed the courtyard, Gjalp went really low with a few of her insults."
"I dunno, I'm pretty impressed by the bitemark left on Skadi's leg." Byleister hummed.
The conversation went in a new direction from there, and Gjalp bored of it quickly. Pushing away from the wall, she wandered off.
Skadi was the type of jotun Gjalp wanted to respect. She was strong and determined, a good leader, a fine hunter, a noble, and a witch. Witches were wary of each other instinctually upon the first meeting, but the conversation with her had just gone downhill so fast and hard they might as well have been digging through the ground!
But she refused to be used, coerced into convincing more people to throw their lives away seeking danger out. That was something only witches should do, Gjalp decided, picking at the scabs on her stomach from rescuing Loki. Danger was a male, so courting him was exclusive to the women with the nature to do so. Especially knowing that leading a hunt meant taking protection away from the younglings at that community. Trolls weren't stupid, and Skadi should've known the danger of that.
Gjalp huffed, plucking at her skirt.
Yes, she was a witch of the family of Aurboda.
That was exactly why she feared trolls so much. Knowledge of the brutes instilled fear in her chest, understanding that it took a lot merely to injure one.
If Skadi wanted to be stupid about it, fine! Damn drift-brained eel-den!
"Oomph! Hey, watch it, stone-foot!" Gjalp snarled as she bumped into someone.
The warrior grabbed her shoulders, looking at her sternly.
Oh, goodie. Her father.
"Gjalp, what was the fight about?" he demanded.
Huffing, she turned away.
"Gjalp!"
"That ice-womb wants to use me and the blood of Aurboda to convince more warriors to join her troll-hunts!"
"... Huh?"
Uh-oh. She didn't like that face or that voice.
"... I had actually sent a letter to Skadi telling her about you. It seemed like the sort of thing you would enjoy a lot..." Geirrodr said softly.
"You... You did what?!"
The witch pushed her father away, eyes blazing. "Are you an idiot?! Hunts like that are suicide! And trolls— They're not smart, but they're not stupid! They'll figure out that the communities are less protected and go after them, the younglings and people who don't go will be defenseless, meat-fodder!"
"You criticize others for doing dangerous things, yet seek it out yourself." he scowled, reaching out to brush his fingertips over the bruise on her side.
"Because I was made for danger! Warriors are made for combat, dags for magic,and witches for danger and chaos! I do not condone the slaughter of people who are not truly willing to fight!"
"Gjalp, be sensible!"
"Sensible?! Sensible?!"
A flurry of snow was blown roughly into his face, and a wall of ice shoved him to the side. Falling to all fours, Gjalp loped away, growling furiously.
Drift-brains.
All of them.
Bursting outside, Gjalp skidded to a stop, gouging lines into the ice with her claws. Taking a deep breath and filling her lungs with fresh, sharp air, she stood up and picked a direction. Moving at an easy lope, muscles tense and vocal-chords thrumming with angry growls, Gjalp eventually came to an area full of rubble. Looking around, she found herself to be at Utgarda's temple.
Where Loki had been left.
The temple was still undergoing repairs. It wasn't used as often as other areas of the capital, so Laufey had been putting it off, she was told.
Falling onto all fours again, Gjalp curiously stole into the temple.
It wasn't like she would get in trouble for being here. It was a public place, after all. But there was an air of silence laid thick over the area that made her feel the need to behave more reverently.
The temple smelled of wolves and cloud-striders, though there were a few roc-feathers blown into the corner. Gjalp looked around, head tilted to the side. This temple was ancient, and there was wear on it even without the stress of the war or the obvious troll-inflicted damage that punched through the wall. Drifts of snow rested against the back, though the altar still stood in the clear.
Standing up, Gjalp walked over to touch the stand.
It was getting dark out, but enough light filtered through the holes beaten into the temple to reveal red stains all but immortalized in the ice at her fingertips.
"... Wow."
Gjalp's head snapped up, ice already forming on her arm.
Loki held his hands up submissively. She relaxed, turning back to her inspection.
"This place... is something else." he commented, pulling the fur he wore about himself.
"I've never actually been here before. My father told me stories from when he was little though, about how there were once celebrations here when harvests were good, or trolls had been killed. But that all stopped with the war. We didn't have the time, and now we don't have the resources for many more celebrations than the coming-of-age ceremony that happens once a year." Gjalp hummed.
Loki was quiet.
Gjalp rubbed her fingers over the stain.
"... I would've been put right about there, wouldn't I?"
Slowly, she nodded.
This blood at her fingertips... it was probably Odin's.