I'm back with another chapter! I had a five day weekend because we had a snow day for school even though there was no snow. This weekend is kind of long and repetitive so I decided I had plenty of time to finish writing this chapter. So, therefore, enjoy! :)
Chapter Two: Reunited, And It Feels So Strange
The bright colors of the Bifrost faded as soon as he touched down on the soft ground. Sleipnir stumbled and caught himself on a tree branch before he fell. Looking around, Sleipnir surveyed his surroundings, wondering where his brother could be.
The landscape was covered with trees so thick that he could only assume that the Bifrost sent him to Alfheim. Alfheim, the land of the Light Elves, typically had a reputation of being an inviting realm but now the trees blocked out the sunlight, casting ominous shadows onto the moss-covered ground. Alfheim had the most forests out of any realm yet somehow Sleipnir landed in possibly the only swamp in the realm.
Moss covered the ground, making it soft and squishy. Strange birds chirped in the treetops and frogs croaked unseen on the shore. Vines drooped from trees, dragging on the ground from the low-hanging branches. Algae turned the closest pond water green, hiding whatever lurked underneath. A slight fog hovered low in the still air, swirling with the occasional breeze.
Luckily for him, he had landed in the only relatively dry area of land. The Bifrost had burned the moss away, leaving the symbol that he knew but had lost the meaning of a long time ago.
Being careful, Sleipnir slowly started walking in the direction that he guessed would lead him to his brother. He drew his sword and held it in front of him like how many of the guards would whenever they were being skeptical of a possibly hostile area. His boots sank into the ground with each step and released him each time with a wet squelch. He saw an alligator basking in the only sunlight that streamed through the trees.
The swamp seemed scary and out of place in a realm known for its light and beauty. A feeling that he was being watched hovered over Sleipnir like the fog. He felt like he was trespassing on someone's territory and that he should turn back but the need to find his brother kept him going.
He was so focused on watching the trees for an animal that could pounce on him that he wasn't watching where he was stepping. His foot collided with something dry and large, his momentum sent him rolling over an unknown mass. He barely managed to avoid landing on his sword and sat down hard on his rear.
His stomach gave a little jump when he saw what he tripped over…
A large, clear snakeskin - big enough from him to crawl through - lay on the ground. The beginning and the end of it disappeared into the fog.
"What in the Nine Realms?" Sleipnir mumbled out loud, his voice wavering with fear. What did this swamp hide? A snakeskin surely meant that the real creature was out there, and most likely unfriendly.
Sleipnir struggled to his feet, his legs suddenly felt like jelly from nerves. Nobody could survive an attack from something that large; what if the snake ate… No, his brother had to be alive, he must be.
As Sleipnir bent down to grab his sword, a rustling in the trees above him stopped him. His heartbeat started racing at an unhealthy pace and a cold sweat chilled the back of his neck. Thinking that maybe he was being paranoid, Sleipnir turned back to his sword, feeling the need to get out of there as soon as possible.
However, before he could take even a step, something suddenly dropped down on him, flattening him to the ground with its weight.
Sleipnir yelled and rolled, trying to kick the thing off. A kick awarded Sleipnir with a grunt and also confirmed his fears that he was being attacked by something alive and possibly very dangerous.
He never had any training for self-defense but adrenaline finally kicked in and his head felt clear. His senses narrowed down and he was suddenly in the moment. The creature, he realized, was just as sloppy as a fighter as he was, but the creature had the element of surprise. Sleipnir could barely get his feet under him when a hard punch connected with his jaw.
The recoil made Sleipnir lose his grip on the creature and he fell backward onto the ground, the softness dampening his fall. Sleipnir reached for his sword but it lay out of arm's reach. Strong arms wrapped around his neck before he could do anything, squeezing hard.
Sleipnir gasped for air and clawed at the arms in an attempt to loosen the grip, but to no avail.
"Who are you and what are you doing trespassing on my territory?" the creature hissed angrily in a voice that sounded vaguely like a teenage boy.
"I'm...looking...for...my...b-brother…" Sleipnir managed to gasp out; the lack of oxygen made it hard for him to focus. He gave up trying to escape, thinking that if he couldn't break free right there, then he was going to die alone in a musty swamp.
Just when the darkness almost completely consumed his vision, the arms slid off and Sleipnir fell forward onto his stomach. The sudden rush of air into his lungs made him cough. He slowly rolled onto his back after he got his wits about him and propped himself on his elbows to look up at his attacker.
A teenage boy about his height and possibly a year younger then himself stood with his bare arms crossed angrily in front of his chest. The only clothes he had on were a pair of black leather pants with holes ripped in the knees and covered with dirt and a sleeveless silk shirt that at one point must have been white. His feet were bare and covered in dirt. His ears were surprisingly pierced with shiny silver earrings in the helix of the ear and the earlobe.
What stood out the most was the boy's hair. His hairstyle looked nice on him - an undercut with shaved sides and slightly wavy hair piled on top that needed to be cleaned and brushed. However, the color of it surprised Sleipnir. Instead of being a normal hair color that one would expect, the boy's hair was green. It faded from dark green out to almost lime green at the tips of his hair. His hair was long enough to cover his eyes but he had brushed it out of the way to reveal his bright, golden eyes that Sleipnir could see clearly, even from the ground. A dark remnant of a scar crossed over his left eye, standing out against his pale skin. High cheekbones and a thin face similar to Sleipnir's made him even more intimidating.
The boy had more muscle definition than Sleipnir yet he also appeared to be skinnier due to lack of nutrition. He had a wild look about him that made Sleipnir wary of how to act in front of him.
"What's your brother's name?" the boy asked just as menacingly as when he first talked; his voice seemed rough from lack of use.
Blinking the sudden blurriness from his eyes, Sleipnir took his time to think over his response. He didn't want to anger the boy any more than he already had.
"J-Jormungandr…" Sleipnir finally answered.
The boy raised an eyebrow in recognition.
"Are you sure?" the boy asked.
"Yes," Sleipnir replied, his voice quiet from fear of being attacked again. He noticed that his sword lay behind the boy, the hilt sticking out of the mossy ground.
The boy shook his head. "I don't have a brother."
That single sentence hit him as hard as the boy's punch from earlier.
"I-I-I'm sorry. W-What?" Sleipnir said, trying to grasp what the boy just said.
"I don't have a brother, so get lost," the boy snapped. He turned his back on Sleipnir and started walking away, jamming the sword further into the ground as he passed it out of spite.
In an act of bravery or pure stupidity, Sleipnir scrambled to his feet and chased after the boy. He grabbed onto his shoulder and spun him around. Ignoring the extremely pissed off glare that the boy gave him, Sleipnir gripped the boy's shoulders tighter and stared in right in the eyes.
"I don't think you understand," Sleipnir stated, trying to make his purpose clear for the boy. "I am looking for my younger brother and his name is Jormungandr. I can spell it out if you want but I'm almost certain that you are him."
The boy gave a dry laugh, clearly not amused at Sleipnir's insistence. "I'm going to tell you one thing and one thing only. I have lived here for thirteen years and never in my entire life have I ever had a brother, and certainly not one who is a fancy, know-it-all prince."
Fighting against his subconscious that was yelling him to leave the crazy boy alone, Sleipnir left his hands on the boy's shoulders and kept eye contact with him.
"Do you even know where you are?" Sleipnir asked, going for a slower approach.
"Alfheim. Where else would I have gotten these clothes from?" the boy responded, his frown never wavering. When Sleipnir didn't say anything, the boy explained, "I stole them from a teenage elf who was too stupid to realize that he trespassed onto my territory. If I were you, I would leave unless you want to end up dead, just like that boy, and have me steal your much nicer clothes off your corpse."
The threat was enough for Sleipnir to let go of the boy and take a step back because the boy seemed like he was being serious. However, Sleipnir continued pushing.
"Do you not know who I am? Do you not remember our younger siblings?" Sleipnir asked, following the boy who had started walking away again. He yanked his sword out of the ground and slid it into its sheath just in case the boy kept his threat and ended up killing him. "What about those summer nights where we would watch the stars and chase each other until we were too exhausted to continue? What about our father-"
"Oh, would you just shut up?!" the boy shouted and whirled around to glare at Sleipnir. His golden eyes were burning with anger. Sleipnir took a step back, knowing that he had crossed the line.
"My 'father' abandoned me here when I was not even three years old. I had to learn how to take care of myself. How else do you think I managed to survive? I am not your brother and I certainly do not care about my 'father.'"
"How are you supposed to survive while you are living in the same area as a giant serpent?" Sleipnir continued, his temper rising at the boy's stubbornness.
"Oh, I won't hurt you unless you piss me off. But unfortunately, you have pissed me off and I suggest that you leave and never come back if you want to live to see the light of day."
So the giant serpent was the boy. That would explain why he reminded Sleipnir of the little snake from his memories. They really do grow up fast, considering how large the snakeskin was.
A nickname suddenly came to him as the boy moved to turn around again. Sleipnir grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled to face him before the boy could take another step.
"Jormy, would you just wait?" Sleipnir pleaded. He was so close to finding one of his siblings; he wasn't about to let one of them go without trying first.
"My name is Jormungandr," the boy hissed and yanked his hand away from Sleipnir. Jormungandr stepped up close to Sleipnir and glared, his breath warm and smelled slightly of fish.
"I don't need a family or a brother or a father, for that matter. But what I need right now is to be left alone," Jormungandr said, his voice dangerously low. "My father never cared about me. If he did, he'd be the one out here looking for me instead of some stupid horse boy."
Jormungandr bared his teeth and hissed in Sleipnir's face before spinning on his bare heel and storming off. This time, Sleipnir let him go but he called after him in one final attempt to persuade his brother.
"So you do remember," Sleipnir pointed out, his voice making the only noise in the still air. His memories of the day in the throne room came rushing back in sudden clarity. "And you are wrong. You were not conscious when we were separated. Our father had tears streaming down his face as he struggled against the guards. If anything, that proves that he cares and didn't want us to be separated. Our real enemy is not our father but the one who separated us in the first place."
Jormungandr stopped in his tracks, his body almost swallowed up by the fog. Sleipnir only took a few steps towards him, still keeping his distance.
"I can barely remember anything after that day. You were gone, our younger siblings were gone, and our father was gone. All those memories came back not even a day ago and it felt like I was truly alive for the first time. You must have had the same feeling: waking up feeling different, constant headaches, feeling like your life was a lie, and trying out something deep inside you to form your new body. I'm sure that our father is feeling the same way as us. He cares about us. Our father didn't separate us and threw us away like we are some monsters, our grandfather did!"
Sleipnir's voice started cracking as emotion took over him. A sudden feeling of abandonment washed over him and tears started running down his cheeks. Nevertheless, Jormungandr's quietness gave him the strength to continue.
"You can do whatever you want - I'm not forcing you to listen to me - but you should realize that I did not travel all the way over here to lose you again."
The moments that followed seemed to take an eternity. The breeze stopped rustling the leaves in the treetops and the fog stopped swirling, or maybe it was all part of Sleipnir's imagination as he patiently watched his brother's back as the younger of the two stood there contemplating Sleipnir's words.
After a long pause, Jormungandr finally turned around, his lips pressed in a firm line and his eyes blazing with anger.
"I am going to kill my grandfather," Jormungandr said, his voice barely above a whisper. "And there is nothing that you can do to stop me."
A thin smile slowly crossed Sleipnir's lips. He had finally gotten through to Jormungandr and the younger had accepted him in a way that only he could.
Confident of his decisions, Sleipnir stepped up to stand in front of Jormungandr, physically and metaphorically closing the chasm that separated them.
"Then allow me to help."
Next chapter is coming soon! Please review! I really, really, appreciate any loving responses I get from you all. :)
