Jötunheim: Norse land of giants
"I'm just saying, guys, if we keep going north we're going to need some heavier clothes. North equals winter!"
"Kitty, do I need to give you a lesson on weather and geography?"
"You know what I mean, Mr. McCoy! Besides, how do we know where we're going without a map?"
"We are so not starting on the map debate again. Jean, tell Kitty to shut up!" Jubilee snapped.
"Children!" Ms. Monroe warned.
I feel for you. A bird, smoky gray and the size of a sparrow, told me sympathetically from a bush as I rolled my eyes skyward.
"If you really felt for me you would take my place." I said aloud without realizing what I was doing. That got me a whole host of slightly confused stares mingled with a sparse few amused ones. They quickly shrugged it off as my normal behavior and went back to arguing.
I don't feel for you that much. The bird said back snarkily.
The floating castle and the fire spitting elephant were quite a few miles behind us now. I was glad to be away from it. Something that unnatural and unpleasing was best left out of my sight. Though, a couple miles away I began to wonder if we should not have stayed. It was out of character for the X-men to leave just as soon as they arrived, wasn't it? But still, staying in that area was dangerous, even if Alistair was an idiot.
Though idiocy is something that can't be gauged as well as others.
I leaned back lightly against the bush. Plant life was sparse and growing thinner as we kept going farther north. This was the first bush I've seen above two feet in several miles.
We've been walking for a day and most of the night of said day. We all slept for about three hours and were moving again. Everyone was short tempered, with the exception of Mr. McCoy and Jean. They must have caffeine circulating through their systems.
I was taking the sidelines on the fight, closing my eyes at periodic times to get a snooze, but with all the commotion, it wasn't working. I had even less sleep than they did, because I had the odd, creepy feeling that something had been coming beside me in the night and leaving before I opened my eyes. It was just the invasion of space I was feeling.
I don't really like having my space invaded.
"Can we just start walking now?!"
"You just want to find Scott! Well, newsflash Jean, we're tired! We need to rest! We can't do anything if we're falling asleep in battle!" Kitty snarled.
I wasn't aware Kitty could snarl.
A little disturbance in the background speech caused me to take a glance over my shoulder.
"Stop it, all of you! I thought you guys were supposed to be a team, and all ah see is a bunch of idiots!" Rogue butted in before Jean could start yelling back. "Yeah, we're stuck out here. Bad plannin' on our part. But we gotta keep goin'. There's stuff we havta do, and we ain't getting it done sitting here arguin' at each other."
Everyone was quiet after this piece of advice.
"Sorry Jean." Kitty said finally.
"I'm sorry too. How about we take a rest now?" Jean amended.
"Might not be a good idea." I said, squinting at the black dot to the east of us steadily becoming larger.
"What is it?" Jean was immediately at my side, looking at the dot with me.
I jumped a little at her sudden appearance, then shook it off. "I don't know, but the animals aren't that annoyed. That could mean one of two things."
Jean waited a moment, then impatiently asked, "And they are?"
"Either it's harmless, or it likes animals." I said, squinting at it and listening to the tones of the animals as it passed by them. Just complaints about heavy foot falls. Too tall. Smells like a really big human. Kind of sounds like…
"Giant. There's a giant coming." I told them.
"A giant? Well he should be friendly, right?" Jubilee asked. "He's almost human, right?"
"Humans are not the best thing to put a generalization of morals on." Crepuscule warned her.
"Yeah, and haven't you heard the stories of giants that eat people and grind the bones to make bread?!" Ray whispered audibly.
"I think those are only the giants of the Rocky Isles." Crepuscule informed him.
"Do you think I care?"
A tremor shook the ground. Then another. And another.
Heavy footfalls.
"Okay, maybe we should, like, run?! Kitty began back pedaling as the giant came further into view. The others began to follow a little slower, not willing to move away unless it proved to be dangerous.
I could see it clearly now, even though it were several thousand feet off. His steps were so large and fast that he was covering ground faster than people that get on Mr. Logan's bad side.
I think it was a he. The beard was red and had things twined into it. There was a scraggly mane of hair covering his head, and by my estimate, he was almost forty feet tall. He was dressed in a leather tunic with furs everywhere, many from different species. On his back there was a pole, and I couldn't see if it was attached to any blade.
"Danny!" Jean hissed out. It was then I realized that I hadn't moved, too caught up in trying to see what the giant looked .like. But by the time I was about to move, it was too late.
"AREN'T YOU GOING TO RUN?!" His voice boomed at me, glaring down from his forty plus height.
"Am I supposed too?" I said before I could stop myself. I should start slapping myself, my thoughts are really out of hand.
"BRAVE FOR A LITTLE GIRL. ARE YOU NOT FRIGHTENED OF ME, CHILD?!"
The tone made me wince. I crossed my arms over my chest. I had come this far, might as well make the illusion stick.
He laughed. The sound made my ribs rattle.
"YOU ARE BRAVE. STUPID, BUT BRAVE. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"
"Danny."
"DANNY?! I AM DANEC," He grinned down at me, showing some gold teeth. "SMITH OF THE HIGHROAD CLAN OF THE JÖTUNHEIM."
"Nice to meet you." I said, not really sure how nice it was.
"WHY DO YOU WANDER HERE?"
"We're going north to find a friend of ours. Or maybe two. We're not all that sure."
"A BLIND BUT NOT BLIND FRIEND?"
"Is his name Scott?" Jean popped up next to me again. I sucked in a breath and glared at her for scaring me.
"YES. YOU KNOW HIM?"
"Yes! Tell me where he is!"
"YOU ARE VERY BRAVE TO ORDER THINGS OF ME." He mocked. "SO BRAVE TO COME BACK EVEN AFTER YOU HAD BEGUN TO RUN AWAY."
Jean blushed red.
"Could you tell us where he is anyway?" I asked before she turned on her 'psychic mojo' and got us into trouble.
"IT WOULD MAKE ME EVEN WITH THE BOY…VERY WELL. GO EAST, TILL YOU SEE THE TOWER OF THE DOGS. THERE, IN THE TALLEST ROOM, IS THE BOY."
"How do you know it's the Scott we're looking for?" I asked Jean quickly as her face lit up. She quickly got a guilty look on her face and looked away.
Psychic mojo.
The giant shook his head. "I'VE DONE MY PART HERE. TELL THE BOY SO. I AM LATE FOR MY OWN MEETING. OUT OF THE WAY, LITTLE ONES!"
He tromped off, the earth shaking underneath his footfalls. Everyone scattered as fast as they could to get away from an imminent squashing.
Danec comes every once in awhile through here. He knows much about magical items, like rings. The bird said suggestively as it flew away from the bush.
My left fingers twitched involuntarily and I looked down at them. A ring was on the ring finger. The ring given to me by the robed man. I don't remember putting it on my finger at all.
I think someone is trying to tell me something.
"Let's go! We can go free Scott and then take on this Soul King!" Jean sounded very happy.
"But what about Logan? Is he here as well?" Ms. Monroe asked.
We all looked at each other. None of us knew.
"Logan can take care of himself. Let's focus on Scott now." Rogue broke in. "Logan's tough, he can do anything. Right now we gotta go after the people we know about."
"She's right. Let's go after Scott." Jubilee agreed.
"Okay, then we're decided." Jean said after everyone voiced their assent. "We're going east."
PrincessOfWildfire: I'm glad you liked it. I was torn between fire and electricity, and decided lightning was the way to go. I hope you like this chapter as well!
Asteria:. Oops. Sorta busted. Fact is, that little spot was the bump in my winding mental writing road. And I wanted to get over it fast. As far as Alistair is concerned, he will come back, in some way or other (I won't ruin anything) and that chapter (hopefully) will be the worst one I have. And wouldn't it be Dex and Arcane, as Adelia already has Crepuscule? Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter better than the last.
Anongirl88: That's okay. George ate my dog monkey cookie cutter. I hope you liked the chapter, and thanks for the cookies!
Raliena: We thank you for the fruit cake as I am not a fan of fruit cake I shall leave it all to Herman) and I hope you like the chapter!
Asp: Glad you liked it (everyone seems to be pleased with eledactyls) and Storm did take a long time to get back, didn't she. Oh well. I hope you like the chapter!
Herman will take the reviews! A giant sized thank you to you all!
