Disclaimer: Feh…just the usual… Ragnarok doesn't belong to us…yadda yadda yadda… Oh, and read the review responses please! Thankies and enjoy!
Warnings for possible OOC-ness…but you can't really expect Loki to act the same after all that has happened, ne?
Chapter 5
Loki stared. Below them, the path dropped down, following the contours of the sloping land. His eyes followed, and came upon what Ruri called her village. Village?
Dark, jagged mountains surrounded one side, shrinking into hills before becoming flat plains on the other. Loki did not think it was possible to see so many shades of green. A long, sparkling blue river went on its winding way towards the far-off sea. But that was not what made the place remarkable, what kept his eyes transfixed.
It looked like every major culture in Midgard, not to mention several exotic ones, was squished into the space of a town. Pronteran architecture was set alongside distinctly un-Pronteran buildings; ancient brick amongst strong steel; wood against glass. Did a crazed god decide he wanted a mini-Midgard toy set to play with?
"How is this possible?"
Ruri glared at him threateningly. "I told you, you weren't listening. Honestly, I'd tickle you to death if my arms were free."
Ah. All the talk about the traveling caravan her grandmother joined.
"Hey, great! You actually remember."
He jerked and gazed at her face. How did she know that? The only one almost capable of deciphering my expressions accurately had eyes the exact same shade of violet-blue…
Why was he staring like that? She suffered from heebie-jeebies when people stared without blinking. Does he expect heat rays to shoot from his eyes and burn me until I'm charcoal or something?
"Er…are you alright?" If not, want us to go back and delay a huge headache brought about by reading teeny foreign handwriting from too many old and yellow pieces of paper?
Loki suddenly blinked and turned away, but not before she saw something in his eyes. Okay, that was officially freaky. Maybe he is crazy after all.
"Er…are you alright?" Loki snapped back to reality. It took him a split second to realize he had been...dreaming? He averted his gaze from Fenris' eyes and looked at the village without really seeing it. Wait a minute…Fenris' eyes? What just happened to me?
"Let us be on our way."
"Uh…sure, right. The quicker the better."
He failed to notice that for once she was unusually quiet.
In a few minutes, she wasn't quiet anymore. In fact, Loki decided that, to be able to live with Ruri, many pairs of good earmuffs were a necessity. It was not easy to travel with an excessively noisy, bubbly young girl.
"…and that's the end of it. Hey, we're here!"
They were.
And he found that the buildings weren't the only things that were multi-cultured. The inhabitants themselves were an astonishing variety of people. Fat, thin, short, tall, tanned, pale, long-robed, miniskirt-clad, shabbily garbed, colorfully clothed, on foot, riding all sorts of animals, flying on brooms, monks, mages, farmers, rich politicians, pet merchants, food vendors, gypsies, rogues, novices… the only place he could compare it to was Geffen City in the midst of its triennial magic gala…but in Geffen, the inhabitants there were mostly magicians.
However, the variety was not as all-encompassing as he had previously assumed. Loki noted that combat-oriented people were almost absent. He barely saw any guards or knights. Still, it was enough to overwhelm a person.
Apparently not Ruri, though. She seemed right at home, and if possible, her bubbliness and pointless conversation had escalated to even more alarming levels. She smiled, waved at people, and greeted her friends. It was irritating him, the way she noisily stopped every few meters to greet random persons.
Ah, well. At least she is not-
"…oh, and this person with me is Loki. I'll have to introduce you guys…"
-including me in her useless endeavors.
Several hours later, the sky was growing darker; the trees' shadows were getting longer, the nighttime crickets' chirps becoming louder. A contented Ruri, licking the largest ice cream cone he had ever seen, and a silent Loki, carrying more scrolls of parchment, were on their way back to Yuki's bungalow.
Thankfully, a mouth full of ice cream prevented Ruri from chatting too much. In fact, by the small slurping sounds she was making, it was entirely possible that she would refrain from talking until it was all gone.
Loki took advantage of her silence to reflect on the day's events. While he was still surprised at the variety of people, it was now directed at a different facet of their being. After all these years, Loki found he was still profoundly fascinated by the intrinsic complexities of humans.
And those he found in abundance in the people he was introduced to. Not that he wanted to plunge himself into their lives, of course, but a few hot, dusty hours earlier, he found his interest stirring from years of sleep. Still, he was glad the scrolls that prevented him from shaking their hands, or doing the numerous other forms of greeting Ruri was capable of performing without visible compunction. (Which included nose rubbing, spitting, and palm kissing.)
And he had discovered something else.
"So Ruri…looks like you got a cute one this time. Funny, he looks healthy as a horse, are you sure there isn't anything you're not telling me?" Sanya was introduced to him as a very outspoken person, but Loki did not know she was that blunt. It was also slightly disturbing the way she, and several other females, had ogled his person.
"Ah…well, you see…" As Ruri started explaining how they met, Loki frowned imperceptibly. His assassin's nature did not approve of spreading information for all to hear. Thankfully, Sanya remembered she was in a hurry and ran off before Ruri could finish.
As she was waving at an increasingly smaller figure that was Sanya, Loki asked her another question. "What did she mean by 'this time'?"
"Eh? Didn't you know?" As she explained, he stared at her, aware of an all-too-familiar feeling of interest. The same feeling he had when he was once faced with a little princess girl and a fiery Rune-Knight.
"You help random strangers without considering any consequences?"
"Yes." the answer was considerable shorter, but it held the same determination and feeling a certain Rune Knight had when faced with the same question.
"Why?"
"Because it's the right thing to do. It's right to help others when they need it." She smiled at him, a big, bright, innocent smile. "And it makes me feel good."
Instead of enlightening him, it only served to puzzle him further. It different, wildly different, from the one he had received long ago. 'It makes me feel good.' So in helping others, she also serves her self? The 'right thing to do'? Humans are perhaps more perplexing, less simple, than I originally thought.
And another thing that added to his confusion was a tiny feeling that she wasn't being entirely honest with him.
Loki noticed it when she stiffened beside him. Pulling himself back to the present, his instincts told him that there was something wrong. Before he could discern what it was, a half-finished ice cream cone had dropped to the ground.
"Don't move." He would have if her voice had sounded any different. Cold and quiet, the very opposite of the personality she had shown Loki. A moment after she had uttered it, Ruri's figure blurred and was gone, and he couldn't hide his surprise.
Seconds later, there was a loud crashing in the trees to his left side. By that time he was clad in full sleletor freak ensemble and ready for combat. He turned to see some fallen trees, a gargantuan spider motionlessly sprawled on its back and Ruri on top of it, gaping at him, back to being herself.
"Whoa…cool! You look like a first prize winner in a Halloween party!" She jumped off the monstrosity and onto blood-spattered ground, her eyes wide, and proceeded to poke and pry at every inch of his bone armor. Loki immediately called it back. Then he shocked her by grabbing the back of her shirt and lifting her up to meet his eyes.
"Hey! What the-!" For the second time that day, he fixed her with his piercing stare. Unlike the first time, however, she did not turn red. Instead, she continued demanding that he put her down, complete with threats to his safety.
"How did you manage to kill that monster in a few seconds when it took you an hour to defeat the golem even with the help of at least three armed men?" It was easily the longest speech he had made so far, and that fact was not lost on Ruri. She gaped at him, her mouth as wide and round as her eyes, and he released her.
"Ah…I got very lucky today…it was caught off guard, see…and Gram taught me a lot about these…erm…big spider thingies…so…I, uhh…you know…I know how to kill 'em easily." Loki saw her eyes shifting, and wondered what she was keeping from him.
"Ack! It's completely dark! We have to hurry or Gram'll kill me!" And with that, she ran ahead, leaving Loki with even more confused than ever.
End of Chapter 5
PENNY'S REVIEW RESPONSES:
About Lorelei… it's not important right now. Ahehehe…((sweatdrops))
Paul: She just couldn't find a title for the story. Anyway, Lorelei was your usual brave and good hero. The village was named in memory of her. It'll be explained later.
People seem to think this is a Fenris/Loki story…well it is…in the prologue. ((scared laugh)) I'm experimenting with the story; this is my first ficcy after all…The name Tomoeda is another lapse of creativity on my part. (Card Captor Sakura, anyone?)
Ruri, by the way, is small and dark and with bright green, blue-streaked hair. Please tell me if she comes off like a Mary Sue. She might seem like the typical bubbly random shallow girl…but Ruri's a bit deeper than that.
To all who read and reviewed, thank you so much! ((tackle-glomps)) I really, really appreciate it!
I'm suffering from an EXTREME case of writer's block(hence the pointless chapters)! Help! And it looks like we'll have no time to update at all! School takes up all of our time, so everything's rushed.
Reviews inspire us though … Till the next chapter then!
