Well, here we are at chapter three. Loki's in the beginning, so it should satisfy you people a little longer until we get to fully him and Ran.
I hope you guys like it. Please review. I live off of them, and I will stave and die if you do not give them to me.
Nighttime in Asgard was quiet. Ran sat on the roof of the palace, listening to her city sleep. A blanket of diamond-like stars cloaked the velvet sky she sat under. She tucked her knees under her forearms and let her mind go blank. Hearing the breathing of the palace, she was thankful that someone could sleep since she was unable.
A chilled wind blew past her, prompting her to tug her blanket over her shoulders. She ran her fingertips over the, now coarse, faded light green and blue linen. Her blanket was one of her most prized possessions. The old thing was tattered around the edges from her nervous habit of rubbing the material between her thumb and first two fingers, since childhood. Over and over again, her father tried to rid her of the cloth, but she could never bring herself to let go.
The calm of the night made her eyelids grow heavy. Her neck grew weary of holding her bobbing head upright. Laying her head on her forearms, she let her eyelids give in to their desires.
"You've been out here for a while now." The sound made her head bolt up. She looked over to the source, her eyes immediately loosing their sleep. Loki sat beside her, his royal garb crisp and clean; his hair neat.
"You have hurt me deeply, Ran." His elbows sat on his knees with his hand clutched together, meeting in the middle, as he watched her with dark eyes. "You have betrayed me."
She sat staring at him, her face falling into a piteous look. "No, Loki." she said, her voice small, "The game was over and I did not wish to play any longer."
"This game is far from over, sister." He spat, and with one swift motion, standing to tower over her. "My fun is just beginning."
Pushing herself to her feet, Ran moved closer to Loki, her head near his chin. The hand that did not clutch the tattered baby blanket that she had draped around her shoulders reached down to one of his that was balled up into a fist at his side. She stood on her tiptoes leaning into him as he began to close the gap between them. At once, his lips crashed onto hers, angrily, frustrated, furiously.
After a moment, they parted slightly, their green eyes locking together. There was nothing in his mind, that she could see, besides anger and rage. She shook her head, never breaking eye contact, before whispering,
"No, Loki."
The feeling of being rocked broke Ran's slumber. Slowly, her eyes opened, looking up at the edge of Thor's chin and her blanket slung over his naked shoulder.
"Thor?"
He did not look down at her, just straight ahead. With her ear against his chest, she could hear his rhythmic heartbeat and the deep grumble within him as he spoke.
"Sleep now, Ran."
Snuggling into his warm skin, she started to sink back into her sleep.
"Thor," she whispered, sleep attacking her from all sides, "I am sorry. For everything." With that, she closed her eyes. Her body was placed on a soft bed. The rough feeling of Thor's beard on her cheek, his lips leaving behind a soft kiss sent her into deep, dreamless sleep.
The group landed on a cliff outside of the capital city. Snow covered the entire land as far as Ran could see, reinforcing her belief that the realm had been left as nothing but a frozen wasteland. Her ears chilled, she pulled her light blue hood over her head and watched her breath dance before her in small puffs of smoke.
"We should not be here." Hogan looked straight ahead to the city, his eyes cut. Ran stepped toward her brother, her boots crunching in the packed ice.
"Thor, let us just return to Asgard."
Staring forward, Thor started walking toward the ruins. "Return if you wish, sister."
The silence of the place was unnerving. The only sounds that made it to their ears were the sounds of their own feet crushing snow beneath them and their heart beats growing faster. They stopped in front of a large monument with a large, dark figure seated at its top.
"You've come a long way to die, Asgardians." The figure did not move as the deep grumble spilled from its lips. Ran looked intently at it, seeing its blood red eyes glaring at her brother. Thor stood, unwavering under his stare.
"I am Thor Odinson."
The hairs on the back of Ran's neck stood on end as she looked around at the hoards of Frost Giants that crawled out of crevices and caves of the dismembered city, surrounding the Asgardians.
"We know who you are."
"How did you people infiltrate Asgard?" The thunder god's voice was hard, but the Jotun sat, unaffected. The beast's eyes scanned the small party, landing on the brunette son of Odin before flashing back to Thor.
"There are many traitors in the House of Odin."
The team watched as Thor pointed Mjolnir at his enemy accusingly. "Do not dishonor my father's name with your lies!"
The Frost Giant moved out of the shadows, his eyes cut at the prince and his voice rushed with anger.
"Your father is a murderer and a thief. You do not come here seeking peace. You yearn for battle. You are nothing but a boy, trying to prove himself a man."
"This boy is growing tired of your talk."
The circle of Jotuns closed in on them, raising the anxiety level of everyone involved. Loki stepped up to his brother, laying his hand on is shoulder.
"Look around us, Thor. There are too many of them."
Thor's eyes remained unmoving, staring ahead. "Know your place, brother."
"You know not what your actions would unlease. I do. Leave now," the Frost Giant calmly leaned back into his shadow, "while we still allow it."
A forced smile cracked Loki's face as his hand now gripped his brother's shoulder fervently. "We accept your most gracious offer."
Ran's muscles relaxed slightly, seeing Thor turn around, even with his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Run home now, little princesses."
"Damn."
A sickening crunch sounded as Ran swung her axe into the shoulder of an attacking Frost Giant, but as soon as it fell, another was was on her. She held up the handle of her weapon, using it as a shield from the ice clubs the Jotuns used. As the monster brought his arm down with the force of forty men, his club shattered on her makeshift shield, spraying her face with shards of ice and cutting her cheek.
She let out a loud grunt, shoving the Jotun away from her and swinging her axe into his forearm, severing it from his body. His scream of agony was abruptly cut off by one last hurl of her weapon.
Suddenly, she heard a sound of screaming that did not belong to any Frost Giant. Whipping around, she saw Fandral, spears of ice running through his chest.
"Fandral!" She yelled, gaining the attention of her companions. Her tired legs carried her as fast as they could to her teammate, leaping over fallen monsters and large cracks in the ice around her. She heard Sif call for Thor as she wrapped her arm around Fandral's midsection, picking him up slowly.
"We are going home, Fandral." Ran stated as his hands grew clammy in hers. Hogan joined her, taking his friend from the opposite side and sliding him off of the spike. The bloodstains that trailed behind him turned Ran's stomach. She had never really been in battle before, only training and sparring with her brothers. She was nowhere near ready enough for this type of brutality that was set before her and it became glaringly apparent to her at that moment.
The small team ran toward the place Heimdall closed the gate. To Ran, it seemed as though what had only taken five minutes before was taking an hour. The ice began to crumble underneath them as they ran. Fandral's feet drug more and more with every passing yard, making it harder for Hogan and Ran to carry him.
A ground shaking roar came from behind them and before they knew it, claws were swiping at their backs. A great animal chased after them, causing the ice to tremble with every bound of his paws. Ran looked back at the thing several times as it crawled its way to them. A loud shout of thanks came from her as she watched the beast find foul footing, causing it to tumble into the deep canyon made by the shattered ground.
Close to the entry point, Volstagg screamed for Heimdall to open the Bifrost and received no answer back. Ran looked around, scanning their party and noticing something very important.
"We've left Thor!" she yelled. Desperation welled up within her as she looked at the fallen faces of the others. She opened her mouth to protest leaving without him, but was cut off by the quaking of the cliff they stood on. In a moment's time, the mighty claw of the beast that had once chased them emerged from the side of the cliff, letting out a deep roar. Ran closed her eyes, squeezing Fandral's arm that she held on her shoulders, waiting for the pain of being mauled to death by the ferocious thing, but it never came. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw the beast clutching the side of the cliff, a hole straight through his open mouth and the back of his head, allowing the dark sky to be shown through the other side. As it fell, she saw Thor standing on the edge of the cliff, hammer in hand and in a battle stance.
Frost Giants pushed them toward the cliff behind them, surrounding them from the front sides. Ran gripped her axe with one hand and Fandral with the other, ready to fight until the bitter end, but, as though Odin himself was listening to her pleas, the Bifrost opened. In a second, Odin stood before them, his horse towering above even the tallest Jotun.
"Father!" Thor yelled, a wide smile on his face, "We can finish them together!"
Odin looked down at him, disappointment in his gaze, "Silence."
Ran watched the Giant with the red eyes stretch out of his fight stance and closed the gap between them with a small ice bridge. The two looked at each other for a moment before the Jotun's gruff voice sounded.
"Allfather, you look weary" The Jotun's eyes searched the Asgardian's face, looking for any remnant of his old foe and, disappointingly, finding little.
"Laufy, end this now." Odin said in a firm voice.
"You boy sought this out." Laufy rebutted, his pointed teeth barely parting as he spoke.
"You're right. And these are the actions of a boy. Treat them as such. You and I can end this; here, now. Before there's further bloodshed."
"He'll get what he came for— War and death." The ring of the word 'war' sent chills up Ran's spine. Everything she feared had come true.
"So be it." With that, her father sealed the argument and Ran's heart sank into her stomach.
At the portal, Odin walked into the room, ripping Heimdall's sword from it's perch before tossing it the guardian.
"Take him to the healing room." His voice hadn't changed from it's authoritative tone. The warriors limped out of the room, carrying Fandral on their shoulders while the royal siblings stayed behind with their father.
"Why did you bring us back?" Thor demanded, stalking after his father. Odin stood in the center of the portal on the pedestal, looking down at his rebellious son.
"Do you not realize what you've done?"
"I was protecting our kingdom." Thor shot back, his anger rising.
"You cannot even protect your own friends, how do you expect to protect the kingdom?" The purely accusatory question caused the thunder god to step back a moment before returning with even more force.
"There won't be a kingdom to protect if you are too afraid to act. The Jotuns must learn to fear me, just as they once feared you."
Odin stared at him, unbelievingly. He could not fathom the talk that spewed from his own son's mouth.
"That's pride and vanity talking, not leadership. You've forgotten everything I've taught you— about a warrior's patience-"
Ran could feel Thor's blood boil from across the room where she stood behind Loki's arm, peeking out to watch the exchange. This was a tantrum, she decided, just a tantrum that would subside any moment.
"While you wait and be patient, the nine realms laugh at us. The old ways are done! You'd stand giving speeches while Asgard falls."
"You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy!" Odin's rage clashed with Thor's, made even worse by the fact that Odin is from whom Thor obtained his anger.
"And you are an old man and a fool!"
The group sat in silence for a moment. Ran's fingers dug into the bend in Loki's elbow as she held her breath, waiting for the situation to deescalate, but she would have had to wait forever.
"Yes… I was a fool to think you were ready"
"Father-" Loki stepped toward the men only to be shoved back in his place by Odin's wrath.
"Thor Odinson, you have betrayed the express command of you king. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these peaceful realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war." The Allfather jammed his scepter into the port, jumpstarting the portal and opening a gate almost immediately.
"You are unworthy of these wears."
He made his way to his eldest son, ripping away his armor and royal cape. "You are unworthy of your title. You are unworthy!"
The words drove like a spike into Ran's heart as she watched her family unravel.
"You are unworthy of these loved ones you have betrayed." Thor slightly tilted his head, looking to his brother and sister. He saw Ran shaking her head in disbelief before turning her gaze from him, and Loki stare at him with pity.
"I now take from you your power. In the name of my father and his father before him, I, Odin Allfather, cast you out!"
In a brilliant spark of light, Thor was throw backward into the stream of energy that coursed from the portal. Ran walked to the portal slowly, staring at the path her brother had taken, before being yanked backward by Loki, Thor's hammer narrowly missing her head as it flew into the stream after its master.
Tears dripped from Ran's eyes as she leaned back against Loki, steadying herself. Breath returned to her lungs. She looked back at the opening of the portal toward the Bifrost to see her father walking hurriedly home, his scepter almost dragging on the ground as he strode.
Loki wrapped his hands around her forearms, pulling her back to his chest, and kissed her on the side of her head.
"All will be well." he whispered, "I promise. Just wait and see."
Please, please, PLEASE review! I need the encouragement!