Chapter 4: Arise

(1) Norns: Are female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men.

Thanks to Loki's bread, the tribe with its recent vitality, managed to stock up as it had not done for a long time. Before the food was barely enough to survive, now instead, they even managed to secure supplies for days to come, managing their food in a fair distribution system that benefited all the members.

But nothing is predestined to be eternal and soon the tribe was faced with a great dilemma.

They noticed it gradually. The hunting group began arriving with fewer and fewer animals and the collectors reported one day, that most of the surrounding trees and shrubs did not have more fruit to harvest. The moment they feared had arrived: the resources of the sector were running out.

A trio of elders visited Loki. Contemplating him with a gloomy air, they explained the situation in worried tones.

"Tell me, have you developed agriculture yet?" Loki asked them, after rummaging through his memory for some solution to the problem.

"Yes, we have tried, but nothing that we had planted, has borne fruit. The truth is that this land is too arid and it rains very rarely, and when it does, what we can collect is barely enough to supply all of us. It would be impossible to maintain a crop under these circumstances"

"And you still keep the organic food that I gave you?"

"Yes, we only consume the bread, but we keep the rest. We were thinking of using it for some eventuality"

"Good. This food is quite resistant, I have the idea that if you plant it, it will be able to grow with very little water and even in a land like this"

The vegetables were then cultivated and the tribe waited expectantly to see the results. They didn't have to wait too long, Loki's food took root and grew. The new plants gave the soil new nutrients and this made easier for them to plant some local herbs, which also grew.

Realizing the success of the venture, people began to work on their personal crops and despite being a laborious job, they felt excited. They began to embrace with enthusiasm the idea of staying in a fixed place and thus procure food for themselves.

Loki and Tony immersed themselves in the task of designing a new water storage system. The idea was to make the most of the austere precipitation and to devise an efficient method of irrigation for the new harvest.

Multiple ponds were then built to collect the rainwater and soon, several canals could be observed, flanking the surroundings.

Everyone helped. Pepper, who was an expert organizer, distributed the different tasks according to the attributes of each one of the members of the tribe, draw upon their personal talents. This caused some of the people to begin to specialize.

New professions such as blacksmithing and goldsmithing originate, which improved the casting and molding techniques for the construction of new tools and weapons.

Peter, who was part of the hunting group, organized a team to investigate more remote locations. He hoped that with the new tools, they would be able to hunt animals that were previously out of their reach.

The quest was a complete success. When Peter's group returned with much more food than any of their other raids, the tribe celebrated for days.

Noting that everything was going well, Loki then proposed the possibility of building more durable homes to replace the unstable tents.

He wasn't what one might call a construction expert, but dusting off some past knowledge and aided by Tony's inventiveness, together they managed to develop a mixture that was then used to build sturdy houses that would protect them from the inclement weather.

For the first time after a long time, the tribe began to progress.

Mortality decreased due to the nutritional capacity of the new crops and the tribe began to grow in population. New babies could be seen in the arms of new mother

The times were changing, his nomad days were in the past.

If possible, the esteem for Loki did nothing but grow. People went to visit him and, amazed by his apparent knowledge, they began to ask him for all kinds of advice.

Loki appreciated the attention, made him feel useful whenever he managed to offer a helpful solution to their problems. It reminded him of those times in Asgard, when he, in spite of all his antipathy, was recognized for his intelligence and accurate judgment.

The change in the relationship he had with the tribe was gradual, so much so that Loki did not realize it. It started with small gifts of gratitude for the help given and then one day, without warning and to his greatest dismay, people began to call him "God Loki"

At that moment, he thought that the Norns(1), must have been having a great laugh at his expense.

When he spoke with Tony, he simply shrugged and smiled amusedly. His advice was that he should simply ignore them all. He was of the opinion, that there was nothing to do when a thought had spread and generalized among all the members of the tribe.

Loki refused to accept it, simply on principle. He tried to contradict them and correct them, but eventually, even he had to surrender at their insistence.

It was Loki against a whole tribe and eventually, they won the battle.

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Tribe 1 Loki 0

Hahaha

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