The Black Forest – Beautiful Rapunzel
Payton Rae; Not Your Cinderella
Loki walked towards the direction of the town, but grew tired and laid along the ground before he fell asleep. When he woke, he curled his brow as he lifted his arms. The little pouch Heimdall had given him was gone and he sniffed as he curled his brow and raised his head scowling. He followed the scent back to a small den he clawed at, and pulled two foxes from the ground as he bared his teeth. The vixen and Tod looked at him in shock as he ticked his eyes between them. "Thieves! No fox steals, no fox shall ever take without giving back what they have taken!"
"We did not steal!" The vixen cried as Loki held her up, narrowing his eyes.
"And lies! No fox will ever lie! Return what you have taken and admit the truth and I will leave you be!" Both foxes shook their heads, insisting they didn't take what had been stolen and lying about it as Loki squared his shoulders and dropped them to the ground. "What comes from your mouths will be all that tears you apart!" He walked away and stayed within ears range as the day passed, going back to the den in the evening and grabbing a small kit from the window he stole away again. The little fox cried as Loki chuckled. "I will return you to your parents when they know they did something bad. For now, look here." He sat the little fox down and watched as the young kit bounced around the magic he'd created in what would be a child's paradise. He returned to the vixen the next day, seeing the father gone and cursed her as she searched for her missing child, after she denied stealing and lied to him again. "You will speak no words until the truth comes from your lips." He growled before leaving again.
The tod returned in the evening, his mate unable to explain what had happened to their missing kit. He was enraged by her silence and refusal to speak as she stayed silent. Loki returned that night, stealing another kit and returning to the magical place he'd created again, smiling as the two young foxes giggled while they played in the magic. He returned again in the morning, telling the vixen to be truthful and admit they'd taken it and lied. Her mate was gone again hunting as she shook her head, denying again they'd done any wrong. Loki left, listening to the tod screaming again that night as she stayed silent. He gave her another chance the next day… and still, she refused to tell the truth. As the evening fell, Loki came in and took the last child they had. The next day when her mate arrived home, he accused her of eating the children, he bound her to a pike and filled the area with wood as he held up a torch. The vixen saw the face of a fox in the flames as it asked her once again to be truthful. She cried out that she had lied, and the tod dropped the torch as Loki sprang from the flames in front of them. They each cried out again as a gold band appeared on their fingers, and Loki let his red eyes glow as his nine tails waved behind him, revealing his true form. "You are bound to your words as much as you are bound to each other. See what lying and stealing truly costs! Return what you have taken, say that you will never lie or steal again, teach it to all others and I will return your children!"
Both foxes agreed and Loki returned their children, raising his head as the tod fell to his knees with his mate as they ran to their parents arms. He held out the little pouch as Loki looked down at him and raised his head as he took it from the other fox's paw. "This, family, is the most important thing. She cannot protect them if you do not protect her. If you cannot trust each other and do not talk, it will fall apart. A lie will come back and tear everything you have built together apart. You may be tricky with your words, but never take something without giving something back. Do not lie, do not steal. Teach them better, for your word is all you have that matters and all that others can truly judge you by. You will die with honor, only if you have lived an honorable life." The tod wrapped around his mate and children nodding as Loki left. The kits excitedly told them of the magic they'd played in while their parent's pet and preened them….
Loki made his way to Gosforth, watching the little town as the sun came over the mountains and frowned at the state the foxes were in as his ears perked. Heimdall sat beside him sighing as he looked around. "I did all I could, Brother. They would not listen to all I had to say. It was difficult for me just to get them this far. They are in need of someone…like you. The mammals of this world fear things they cannot see, believe in things that do not exist. Foxes do not. They believe what they can see because they live in the darkness others fear. Perhaps you can put out the fire that seems to be tearing them apart and brighten things with another. Maybe some of your magic can change their minds and free them from these dark ages?" Loki nodded as Heimdall handed him a parcel. They shared a meal together and the fox looked down shaking his head, before Heimdall caught his attention again. "They value so little of each other."
Loki smirked as he picked up a stone and looked it over. "Hearts of stone can be changed to clay with the right amount of heat, Brother. I see hope in this world when none lies in the one we hail from."
The hare laughed as Loki looked at him grinning. "I thought that was the other way around."
The fox shrugged as he looked around. "It seems everything here is backwards from Asgard." He looked back to the hare as his long ears tipped forward and raised a brow. "Something has caught your attention, Brother?" Heimdall nodded absently as he turned. "I believe I can handle this alone. Go find what vexes you Heimdall. I know what it is like to have a voice in your ears that rings constantly." The hare cupped his shoulder smiling before he ran off as Loki stuck his paws in the ground again. The earth lit up as the fire lifted a large chunk of ore and he used his fire to burn away what was unneeded as his paws shaped a large pot. He looked it over satisfied as he tossed the small stone inside. Looking around he saw several trees and cut away a few sections of bark he placed in the pot, smirking before he shifted back to an old witch who started pulling the pot behind her as she made her way into the little town.
Heimdall ran across the world, searching for a voice he heard crying out for help and praying to him as he reached a village and looked around. The wolves there went about their business, giving him a curious glance as he walked around. "Hare…why do you come to our village?"
Heimdall lifted a brow as he looked around. "I heard someone crying for help. He said he was a wolf, that he wished to save his princess."
They all looked at each other cringing before they glanced back to the mountain shaking their heads. "Popocatepetl went searching for Iztaccihuatl on the smoking mountain beyond the blue horizon. When her father thought him dead in the war he went to fight, he betrothed her to another, and she went seeking him. You have good ears if you can hear him, Hare. It is many days' journey from here. You will never reach them soon enough."
"I will still try." Heimdall dipped his head as he left the village and ran up the mountain. His eyes dropped as he found both wolves, and he sighed as he took a seat in the snowy rocks. "I know you are here, Grace." He looked up and found a raven smirking before it flew in front of him, and took a seat after becoming a darkened swirl of air that turned to an aged old vixen. "He could not save her. I was too late to save either of them."
Grace sighed as she looked to the two wolves and shook her head. "Love grows in the strangest of places, Heimdall. But it never dies. Perhaps you should let the world know…that even as life dies. Love remains?"
Heimdall smirked as he tipped his ears up. "You wish me to give them…a Sign?" the old vixen laughed as she tipped her head, and the hare smiled as she changed back to a raven and flew away. "Give them a sign….."
Heimdall waited until night fell. He opened the burning bridge and stepped onto one, taking his own size before gently setting foot on the world again. His large paws curled into the earth and pulled it forward and up over Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl as he built two mountains. He capped them both with snow before he stepped back on the bridge, shrinking to a normal sized hare again. He listened as the villagers below woke, seeing the fading rainbow and two new mountains that now sat in front of what was known as the blue horizon. The hare smiled as they named them the three horizons, saying it was a sign from the gods that love would always live and Heimdall had given them three horizons, where once only one had been. He returned to the black forest tipping his head as Loki smiled and leaned into the cane he was using in the frail disguise he'd taken. "Do not say it, Brother. I hate this form, but they would not have trusted me in my own."
Heimdall dipped his head in agreement as he folded his paws behind his back and raised his ears. The red fox smiled as he shook his head. "How did it go?" he asked as he started walking with Loki.
"Only one approached me…at first. He was the sickest of all in the town. Living in a broken-down little shack. He gave me the wood to start the fire. Why is it- it seems in this world that those who have so little are more willing to share than those who have much more? It was only when a young vixen from a family more well off than others approached and gave me carrots to add to the pot that they all came together."
Heimdall shrugged as he looked back at the town and shook his head. "Do you think what you taught them will work?"
Loki shifted as he tossed the cane away and tipped his head as he looked back at the town. "Hmm, they were not happy that I shared with others. I told them I would return in a year's time. We shall see."
"Then let us return home, Brother."
The fox stopped cold as Heimdall let his ears fall. "I do not wish to return to Asgard, Heimdall."
Heimdall nodded and smiled as he pointed back the direction they'd come from. "Then I am sure there are some rabbits and wolves who would tolerate our company still?"
The fox laughed as he wrapped an arm over the hare and walked back towards the home of Nason and Ezra. Heimdall stopped, swiveling his ears and looked back to his brother smirking. "You should start a fire, Loki. I think we should stay here for a while." Loki furrowed his brow as the hare dipped his head in a sneaky fashion and took a seat, smiling as he set a small fire between them.
"What have your ears caught this time, Heimdall?"
The hare lifted a brow as he gazed at the fire. "Something that wished to catch you and I. Something I think you will enjoy catching, and teaching."
Loki grinned as his ears perked, when the sound of rustling caused Heimdall to let his ears fall as he dropped his head, hiding his smile. The fox lifted his head as they were surrounded by other foxes, and smirked as they all brandished weapons. Heimdall looked around and lifted a brow as several of them growled. "I thought you dead. It is a shame I was mistaken." He shot as Loki lifted a brow. "Our brother drowned in the river, his belly was filled with rocks, another is missing with our mother. You stole our prize and we will have one back!" An angry Tod growled as Loki lifted a brow looking at Heimdall.
The hare shrugged as he smiled. "The one who drowned did so for being gluttonous. He swallowed a doe whole. I pulled her from his belly unharmed. You ran when I captured your brother and your mother. I thought the poison from the dragon had taken hold of you, but it seems it was merely cowardice." The tod's around them growled as Loki dipped his head, keeping himself fairly hidden under his cloak.
"YOU! You will not think us cowards when we cut your guts open for the birds to feed on!"
The fox sitting across from the hare lifted his head and looked around as he tipped a brow. "Birds? You wish birds to eat him and not you? You had no problems wanting to eat the bunnies you had caught. Why is he different?"
The tod narrowed his eyes as he tried to look under the hood the other fox was wearing. "His white fur is worth more than his body. Why do you hide? You travel with a rabbit, a fox against every natural instinct built into him by the gods."
Loki let his smirk show through as he tilted his head. "You believe a fox should kill a rabbit? That the gods think it is acceptable? Just because you can kill that which is weaker and smaller? And yet you ran, you left your brother and your mother to the mercy of the one that saved you by killing the dragon? I think you kill because it is easy. You are lazy and weak and will not work for what you need, taking advantage of those distracted by caring for others."
"Lazy and weak?!" The fox jumped forward with his blade snarling, and Loki held a paw up as Heimdall started to stand. The hare ticked his eyes around, watching as Loki stood in front of the snarling fox pointing a blade at him.
"If it is so easy to kill, if you kill to get what you want. I stand with no paw that will raise a weapon." Loki smirked as he held up a small pouch and jingled it, letting him know he had coins. The fox lunged and Loki stood taller as the other tod blinked, clutching the hilt of the blade that had gone through his shoulder. "No fox will prey on others, lie, steal, or cheat. No fox will kill. You cannot give back a life once it is taken, we do not take what we cannot repay!"
The tod in front of him screamed and withdrew his paw as the blade in Loki's shoulder melted. He and his brothers watched in horror as the molten materials fell to the ground. They tried to run screaming as a ring of flames encircled them and Heimdall tipped his ears, grinning. The hare sat still and watched as they all fell to their knees, while Loki's eyes shifted to a bright yellow and his fur turned black as he grew large enough to hover over them snarling. "I told you! I told you there was a fox bigger than a wolf!"
"What manner of beast changes like this! What power in the natural world would allow one to grow with eyes that glow like the sun!" Another tod asked as he held his paws over his face.
Loki's front paws landed on each side of them, thumping into the ground as he dipped his head in an angry grimace and spoke in a deep gruff voice. "My power comes from the moon. I grow as it grows. The moon is full this night." He snarled as they all scrambled away on the ground. "Perhaps I should turn you into that which looms over you, to that which you fear? Perhaps I should just eat you. Maybe that would take the power you think you hold?"
"NO!"
Loki raised a brow as Heimdall sat up tipping his head. The fox looked down and caught one of them standing as he stepped forward and Loki narrowed his eyes as the hood dropped. "A vixen? Dressed as a tod?" Heimdall shook his head as Loki frowned.
Loki let his lips vibrate as the vixen reached to her waist and pulled a pouch. She held it out dropping to one knee with it in both paws as the giant black fox in front of her looked down curiously. "I will give you all the silver I have to save them!"
"You think I desire such things?" Loki asked with a disgusted face.
"Please! The moon is a gentle creature that sheds light in the darkness. Surely one who gains his powers from it has a gentle heart!" She asked as she bowed her head.
Heimdall bit his lip, smirking, and turned the other way as Loki blinked and took a seat, looking down at her as his front paws stayed on the ground with his tail swaying behind him. Loki sighed as he looked her over. "You wear the rags of a thief, and yet the others wear fine clothing. You have silver and yet they steal. Why are you not in the same fashion as they are?"
The vixen turned her eyes as she looked to the tod's. "I clean the chimneys and the homes of those who live wealthier. I save what I have earned and stay with the tods at night. They are all I have in the world. My clothing does not matter when I wish to look like something else."
Loki dipped his head lower, growling as the tod's cringed. "They are your family?"
"No," she answered as she let her eyes hit the ground. "My mother died when I was born. My father remarried and his new bride and daughters did not like me. He passed away suddenly a few summers ago. I have nowhere else to go. I have been cleaning since I was very little."
Heimdall cringed as Loki let his bright eyes fade to a pale yellow. The fox nodded as he took the bag of silver and held it up. "How long has it taken you to save this, you are still very young."
"Seven years." She answered as Loki looked back to the tod's and curled his lip.
"You work in the cinders and they care for you as you save what you have earned? I will let them live for this, for you. For seven years they will spread the word of how a true fox should be. They will be the omens that warn of pending danger, and the hope that it can be changed. They will roam these lands as the ravens who advise those on a wrong path and teach the ways of a true fox. If in seven years' time you have been able to keep the secret of what they truly are, they will return to you. Light a fire. If you have remained silent for those seven years, as soon as their feet hit the flames they shall return to the ten brothers you have chosen them to be, only if they appreciate what they have taught and know the value of being a true fox."
"ELLA!"
Loki narrowed his eyes as the other tod shook his head. "She works among the cinders and her name is Ella? She is a Cinderella?"
"I am not a cinder-Ella! And you are no prince! You could not be charming if it were required!" The vixen growled as Loki chuckled.
He dipped his head lower and she turned her eyes as he smiled. "My what big ears you have."
"All the better to hear you with." Loki chuckled as she looked back at him and the vixen cringed as he licked his teeth.
"What big eyes you have."
"All the better to see you with." Loki licked his mouth as he dipped lower, remembering what Heimdall had said about the bunny who spoke of the fox's teeth after she was swallowed whole.
"WAIT!" Heimdall and Loki turned their heads back to the tod's as another stood. "You cannot trust this beast! Who will keep you safe while we are gone?"
Loki scowled as he tilted his head. "You are concerned for her safety, yet you drag her to the danger?" Loki leaned forward as Heimdall's ears set. The giant fox narrowed his eyes as the tod's ears tipped back. "You do not wish to be thought of as a brother, do you? Twelve brothers in all, ten in this gathering- one lives as a frog now, one who wishes for something - more." The vixen's eyes widened as his ears pinned to his head and Loki nodded as he sat back chuckling. The fox waved a paw at the vixen and she yelped as she fell to the ground, looking at her feet. "They will never break."
She gaped at the silver slippers as Loki pointed to Heimdall. "If you wish for her and she wishes of you, this will remain. You shall keep to seven years. They are made from the silver coins she offered. One slipper will be hidden in these lands. Seek it out, it will fit no other vixen and will never break. If you return with it to her, in seven years, with a heart of gold where stone once laid, she will be yours if she chooses it - and only if she chooses it. Prove you are worthy of her in a new life, as you have not in this life. A mate will protect the one he loves as she has done for you. When the slippers are reunited, they shall fetch a price suitable for you to make her a Den worthy of how you see her."
"How does he see me?" The vixen asked as she stood, looking at her feet. Heimdall laughed as Loki picked up a paw and tapped the tod's head with a giant claw. The vixen lifted her arms and spun until she was looking at the glowing dress she wore as her eyes glazed over.
"This is how he sees you." Loki chuckled as the vixen shook her head.
She turned again, looking over herself before her eyes locked with the tod whose head was hanging. "I will wait for you."
The tod shook his head as he stepped closer. "There will be no one to keep you safe, Ella."
Loki chuckled as he pointed to a far-off range. "She will be safe. In seven years' time, on the night of a full moon, when you have found the slipper and the foxes know the ways you have taught, go to that mountain. There you will find a tower no one can climb. Fly to it as she lights the fire. Rap upon the wall three times and her tail will grow long enough for you to repel from the tower. In the time she spends there I shall leave her a sword. The sword will sing and teach her how to fight. When you are returned, she will teach you, and you all will teach others. A small sack of silver was not what saved you. It was a heart of gold."
The tod nodded as Loki waved a paw and the vixen watched as they all turned to ravens, flying away in every direction. "Ella." She turned as Heimdall removed his robe and threw it over her. "It is chili and you are cold. Take this to stay warm." He leaned down and pulled a slipper from her foot before she removed the other and placed it in a pocket sewn to the side.
The vixen looked herself over and turned back to the huge fox, tipping a brow as he smirked. "How will I pay for the dress? The hood?"
Heimdall snickered as she turned to him and tipped his head. "I'll take your first child as payment."
The vixen's eyes widened as Loki shook his head. "Heimdall! Do not tease when she has offered and given so much, or I will rumple your skin until you are still enough to remove it!"
The hare laughed as he twirled the slipper around and looked to the sky as he smirked. "What would you call me then brother? Rumpelstiltskin?"
The vixen blinked as Heimdall stepped closer. "Repay this by naming the first vixen in your family, merry on that day. Keep the name as the first to each one born in your family's generations."
"Name her merry on that day… Marry? Marry on that day? Marion?"
Loki chuckled as Heimdall lifted a brow. It wasn't what Heimdall meant but he bowed to her smiling in agreement. Loki shook his head and lowered as Heimdall doused the flames in ice and stood in front of the fox, holding a shining silver slipper as he knelt in front of her. "Climb upon my back. My brother will hide the slipper. I will take you to the mountains and make a tower to keep you safe. You will want for nothing while it stands. A single rose will be inside. Eat one petal each day. It will provide all you need and the tower will teach you while you wait, but all within it will crumble when your feet hit the ground again."
"Loki, you wish to leave her locked alone in a tower? You of all should know it is not good to stay in a single place and not be able to move about the world."
Loki watched Heimdall cringe and looked off in thought nodding. "I will leave a mirror you can look into, it will keep you company and teach you anything you wish to know, a wealth of knowledge like no other has ever known. It will show you anything and anyone you wish to see. You may leave the tower on one night each month when the moon is full. At the window you will change under its light and become a swan so you can stretch your wings in the world. You must go no further from the tower than the lake and return to the tower when the reflection of the moon leaves the water. If you do not return you will stay a swan for all your days, for all the knowledge you have gained from the mirror and the singing sword that is meant to be taught to the other foxes will be an owed debt you cannot repay. Keep your word to repay what I have given. Tell the foxes the stories you learn while you are there. Tell them of truth." She nodded and Loki tipped forward letting her climb onto his back. Heimdall took off laughing as Loki chased after him.
Word spread through the black forest about a hound from hell who chased an angel of death. That a beauty in a red hood rode the back of a beast. An old witch trapped a maiden in a tower, ravens talked in the shadows, and unseen forces were moving through the world. All while another raven sat watching. Its head tipped to one side in a sly smirk that Graced its beak before it flew back into the darkness it had come from. Loki and Heimdall left the vixen waving from a tower, laughing as they recalled the shock she had when he revealed his true form and told her they were gods…..
Notes; The ten and twelve brothers and ravens refer to several different Brothers Grimm stories.
Time is also a raven, and death. It is a reference to Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven poem. Grace is Mother and Father Time, (Growing old with Grace) Time is also Darkness, Death and Fate.
Honestly, I do not remember the name of the story I used for the gold rings and Loki taking the children of the ones who lied and stole from him. In my story, he created the tradition of wedding rings. The fable of the ten and twelve brothers was based on Mary taking a young girl to heaven in one of the Brothers Grimm stories. She unlocked twelve doors with a key that led to her silence after she lied about opening a door she was not supposed to open. (Similar to Pandora's box which also comes up in the story) Religion is not my cup of tea due to how it is often twisted to fit someone's views and can be easily corrupted, but I liked how the little story came to fit this tale, seeing as how Loki and Heimdall are the key.
Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl is another fable I used in the story in Think like a fox, and how Heimdall became known as the God of Three Horizons.
I don't believe Disney ever did The Swan Princess as a feature, but its in here. "an owed debt that cannot be repaid- Odette. A wealth of knowledge like no other- The name Odette means wealth. She changed to a swan each time the moon left the water.
Others mentioned-
Cinderella
Beauty and the Beast
"Rap upon the wall three times and her tail will grow long enough for you to repel from the tower." = Rapunzel
Heimdall teases the vixen Ella about taking her first child as payment for his robe and the dress Loki made. Loki says to stop or I will rumple your skin until you are still enough to remove it- Rumpelstiltskin.
The rose Loki leaves with her in the tower to eat a petal from each day, and her riding on his back is a nod to Beauty and the Beast.