Happy Leap Day! Study hard! Work hard! And always remember to have fun! :)
Chapter Three: Welcome to the Swamp
The trek through the swamp to Jormungandr's 'home' took too long for Jormungandr's liking. He had the area completely memorized and could find his way back home with his eyes closed if he needed to. However, Sleipnir didn't have the experience that he had. The older of the two kept tripping over roots and kept acting paranoid. Any little noise made him jump. Sleipnir would have walked right into a patch of quicksand if Jormungandr hadn't grabbed him by the back of his fancy armour and dragged him back.
The extra time gave Jormungandr a chance to think over what had happened earlier. Maybe he had been a little too mean to Sleipnir but Jormungandr had lived his entire life alone and having a finely dressed boy suddenly show up and claim that they were brothers threw Jormungandr off guard. He had acted tough mainly because he didn't know how to react.
A few hours ago, he had been curled up on his favorite rock and taking a nice nap while soaking in the very limited amount of sun that the swamp received. Then an extremely painful headache blinded him and he felt like throwing up and passing out at the same time. His mind had cleared up and a rush of memories shocked him so much that a burst of magic that he didn't even know that he had transformed his serpent form into one that resembled a teenage boy. He didn't even have hair a few hours ago and hearing that another boy had the same problem made Jormungandr a little apprehensive.
The truth was, he was lonely. The only people he ever saw were the occasional Alfheim hunter or a group of rowdy kids. He knew there were rumors about the giant serpent that lived in the swamp and kids would dare each other to try to find him. Most of the time, he left the strangers alone and nobody had ever truly seen him except for one man whom he assumed was from either Asgard or some other realm. The man had managed to sneak up on him when he was taking a nice nap and attempted to kill him, probably on a dare or some stupid quest. Jormungandr had retaliated and gave the man a nasty bite in the stomach that eventually killed the man because of his venomous fangs. The man had left Jormungandr with a painful scar that crossed over his left eye and would have blinded him if the cut had been deeper.
The swamp had a reputation of being dangerous but Jormungandr knew that he was the reason by people considered it that way. Even though he practically ruled the swamp, after the event with the man, Jormungandr learned not to trust anyone who entered, especially those with weapons. And he would have killed Sleipnir if some part of his subconscious hadn't prevented him from doing so.
Jormungandr scrambled over a pile of rocks and shook away his feelings. He didn't want or need any help and he only allowed the horse-boy to tag along only because the other kid seemed to be telling the truth. The horse-boy wanted Jormungandr to help him find their supposed siblings but Jormungandr saw it as an opportunity to use Sleipnir as a way to seek revenge on the man who abandoned him in the swamp.
He hadn't left the swamp since he came here and he honestly hated it. Although he could go wherever he pleased, he very much doubted that he would be welcome anywhere else, considering that most people usually are afraid of a giant serpent. He had nowhere to go and no reason to leave until the horse-boy came along. Maybe he let Sleipnir join him because he was looking for an excuse to leave the stupid swamp.
Jormungandr shook his head and grumbled to himself. No, he didn't need a family. He had managed to survive on his own for a long time. After he killed his grandfather, he planned to ditch the horse-boy and find some other place to live by himself.
The mix of conflicted feelings almost made Jormungandr walk right past his 'home' before he realized that he had already reached his sunning rock. It might have been a stretch to call it his home even though he had lived there for years. He never really felt attached to the place and only stayed there because the cave offered protection from the weather.
The cave was more like an opening in the ground. The entrance sat below a tall, almost dead tree, its drooping branches and vines hiding the opening. Medium to large moss-covered rocks dotted the ground around it. Anyone could have passed by it without a second thought unless they knew what they were looking for.
The leaves on the tree were so thin that it allowed the sun in. The moss on Jormungandr's sunning rock, a large rock underneath the tree, had been worn down from use. The sunning rock came a lucky bonus to the already perfect cave.
Jormungandr brushed aside the vines and branches and led Sleipnir inside the cave. The cave, a lot more commodious than it looked on the outside, had a stone ceiling. The roots from the tree held up the walls and snaked around on the floor. The only light came from the entrance, a puddle of water glistening from the late afternoon sun. The cave could fit Jormungandr's giant serpent body comfortably with room to spare.
Being at least several thousand pounds lighter and hundreds of feet smaller than he was used to caused Jormungandr suddenly feel very small and insignificant. A nervous shiver traveled down his spine and he hugged himself against the cold, damp air.
Sleipnir stepped into the cave with less confidence than Jormungandr did. The older of the two looked around apprehensively, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"It's kind of dark, isn't it?" Sleipnir asked, his voice echoing against the stone.
Jormungandr shrugged, trying to act nonchalant despite feeling trapped. Although he could sense the horse-boy's nerves, Sleipnir had a sword and could take him down a lot easier with his new body. "I can see in the dark so I guess it's fine."
"Oh."
Sleipnir awkwardly rocked on his heels and glanced around, seeming very nervous. Maybe Jormungandr had scared him too much.
Trying to say something to break the awkward silence, Jormungandr walked over to his stack of animals that he had caught and saved for later. He picked up a dead rat and offered it to Sleipnir.
"You hungry?" Jormungandr asked, attempting to be nicer.
Sleipnir's face suddenly paled and he looked about ready to throw up. His hazel eyes landed on the pile of dead animals and quickly glanced away.
"Um, no thanks. I-I-I'm vegetarian," Sleipnir managed to mumble. He avoided any eye contact with Jormungandr, which was fine with him because he had grown tired of the horse-boy's wide-eyed gaze.
"Well, I am," Jormungandr said. He waited until Sleipnir looked back at him and purposely took a large bite of the rat, chewing slowly while the horse-boy gagged and turned away quickly.
Jormungandr smirked at Sleipnir's expense. However, the small amusement of teasing Sleipnir faded as his appetite disappeared; he stopped chewing and tossed the rat onto a pile of bones that he really needed to clean out one day.
"Are we going to do anything?" Jormungandr asked. The wet stone made his bare feet cold, too cold for his liking. He felt cold all over and would have sat on his sunning rock if the sun hadn't already started setting.
Sleipnir hesitated when he turned around, afraid that Jormungandr still had the rat. "I don't know." He looked up out of the cave, trying to discern where the sun was. "We don't have much daylight left to do anything productive."
Jormugandr shrugged. Already, the cave had gotten darker from the lack of sunlight.
"Are we going to kill our grandfather tomorrow?" Jormungandr asked.
Sleipnir didn't look too happy with the question but he nodded. "Eventually, yes. Right now we need to get some rest. It's been an eventful day."
/\/\/\/\/\
Darkness came upon them a lot faster than Sleipnir expected. Sleipnir had gathered a pile of dry sticks and anything else that he deemed flammable. He had been trying to start a fire for the last thirty minutes, accomplishing nothing by rubbing two rocks together trying to get sparks.
Jormungandr sat off to the side, watching with an amused smile on his face. The smile offset his shivering form.
"I thought you said you knew how to do this?" Jormungandr teased, his teeth chattering together. The swamp tended to get chilly during the night but Jormungandr had never felt this cold before. And having nothing on except for a thin, sleeveless shirt and pants didn't help at all.
"I said how hard could it be," Sleipnir snapped back, becoming irritated. He had watched many soldiers start a fire easily with other items and he assumed that they had always used rocks or sticks. He realized now that he had no idea what he was doing.
"Why haven't you tried to start a fire before?" Sleipnir asked, looking up from his pitiful pile of sticks.
"I didn't have hands, dimwit."
Sleipnir sighed and tossed the rocks away. His stomach rumbled but he didn't dare to eat anything in the swamp because there were no plants that he trusted and he didn't eat meat.
Giving up on trying to start a fire with rocks, Sleipnir stuck his hand in the center of the sticks and closed his eyes. Concentrating, he imagined a bright fire, warm and inviting. He had never tried anything like this before and he had a feeling that it wouldn't work but he had to try. Seeing Jormungandr sitting there, shivering made Sleipnir's heart hurt with pity. Whoever left his younger brother to suffer alone in this horrible swamp was going to pay for their actions.
A flame suddenly shot up, almost catching Sleipnir's sleeves on fire. Sleipnir let out a yelp and pulled his hand away. A nice, warm fire burned on the pile of sticks, the red and orange flames flickering and crackling.
Sleipnir cried with joy and held his hands over the fire. Jormungandr scooted over and did the same, his face looking a little less pained.
"How did you do that?" Jormungandr asked, impressed even though he would never admit it.
"I don't know. It just sort of came to me," Sleipnir replied. He added more sticks to the fire and watched the smoke curl up out of the opening of the cave and into the starry sky.
Jormungandr gave a hum of approval and laid down on the hard, damp floor of the cave. His shivering had slowed down but he still hugged himself for warmth.
Sleipnir wanted to lay next to him to share body heat but he felt that Jormungandr would stab him if he tried. He shrugged off his vest and laid across Jormungandr's shoulders instead. Jormungandr curled up under the vest without opening his eyes. Watching his brother's chest rise and fall, Sleipnir suddenly felt like crying.
He was so close, so close to figuring out his past and going back to a life that he once had. Tears started rolling down his cheeks, blurring his vision. This was the start of a brand new chapter of his story if Jormungandr let him into his life.
Somehow he had a feeling that Jormungandr would be tough to get close to. The younger of the two had had a hard life, living alone in the swamp. All those years would make it difficult for Jormungandr to adjust to any other way of life. The future looked uncertain yet more promising than it was a day ago.
One thing that Jormungandr knew for was that he would keep searching until he got his family back again, even if he died trying.
More coming soon! :)
