Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel-characters!

AN: Can I just thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter! I was overwhelmed! Seriously guys, I love each and every one of you! I planned on updating this story somewhere around Wednesday, but because you guys are so awesome, I focused on this chapter. Seriously, I had to write a paper for my clinical psychology class, but I wrote this instead.

Please let me know what you think!

~ Fields of Blood ~

Chapter 2

The air was dry.

Loki couldn't help but think of this when he woke. He wondered why the air was so dry. It didn't smell familiar either. Then he remembered he was not lying in his own bedchamber. In fact, he had no idea where he was.

His eyes fluttered open and he quickly sat up. He shouldn't have done so because his skull felt as if it was about to burst open. He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. The sharp pain ebbed away and was replacing by a more permanent, throbbing pain. He told himself to keep breathing steadily. At least he wasn't feeling nauseous.

Slowly, Loki opened his eyes again and let them roam around his surroundings. He found himself in a rather small room with one square window near the ceiling. Even if he would stand, he would still have to move on his toes to be able to see out of it. The walls and ground had a dirty brown color, but it looked clean enough. At the opposite side of him, he saw a heavy metal door with a small peephole.

He found himself sitting on a bed so he considered himself lucky. His condition could have been worse.

The throbbing pain was starting to ease away as well and Loki wanted to check if he had an open wound. It was only then that he realized his hands were bound together. That in itself wasn't so strange – he was a prisoner after all – but the odd markings on the chains were. Loki examined them closely and found that they were runes.

Magic.

He swallowed heavily. He didn't understand what was happening anymore. He was growing more and more concerned. He remembered one of his attackers calling him Odinson so they had known who he was since the beginning. The runes against magic now proved they knew about his magic. Not that magic would have helped him in any way. He could perform a few tricks, nothing more. He was still learning.

But if his captors knew he was the son of Odin and if they knew of his magic, then what else did they know? Loki was beginning to understand that all this had been thoroughly planned. After all, it wasn't a secret that Thor and Loki often went into the forest. The real question was if Loki had been the only they had been after. Sif had been under attack as well. Had they taken her? Had they murdered her? Had they taken Thor?

A shudder ran down Loki's back.

Thor was a brainless, ignorant, irresponsible and foolish bastard!

The giant metal door opened. It produced a high, shrieking sound as it scraped the floor. Loki winced. The sound made his head hurt even more. Three men entered, but Loki didn't know if they had been present in the forest as well. They certainly looked as rough and muscled as his first attackers.

Loki refused to feel intimated.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked with a strong and confident voice. He eyed the men evenly. "I demand to know what is going on."

The three men exchanged looks. Loki was starting to distrust all this.

"As your prisoner, I have the right to-"

"You have no rights here," the tallest of the three men interrupted him. He was also the broadest and he had a thick, pink scare running across his face. He looked absolutely terrifying.

The brawniest of the three stomped the tallest one in the side. He was almost verging on obesity. Loki could barely believe that such a round man could still appear so imposing. He certainly didn't want to cross him either.

"We are not supposed to talk to the prisoner," the brawny man said, "the lord forbade us."

Ah, Loki thought, the lord. That gave him some information. These savages were clearly working for someone. A lord apparently. Loki didn't know why, but he found some comfort in that fact. It meant someone was controlling these stupid men.

"If the lord forbade you from talking to me," Loki said, not wanting to stay quiet for too long, "then why are you here?"

He realized too late that he shouldn't have asked such a question. Did he want to know why these three men were here? If they didn't want to talk, then what did they want with him? It couldn't be anything positive.

He swallowed heavily.

The three men smirked. They stepped forward and Loki couldn't help but move away from them. The only problem was that he was currently sitting on a bed and that his back was already pressed against the wall. He couldn't escape. He felt his heart beat furiously inside his chest. Loki wanted to defend himself, but he was absolutely powerless.

His hands weren't even free.

The tallest one grabbed his arms and dragged him onto the ground. Loki couldn't stop himself from landing on his elbow. It was very painful, but he refused to make any noise. He didn't want to appear weak! However, before he realized what was happening, he felt the men kicking his stomach, chest and face.

The pain was overwhelming and Loki tried to curl himself into a little ball in order to protect his body. He failed. The kicks kept coming and they grew stronger. By now, his torso and face probably had a wide range of black and blue colors. Loki wanted them to stop, but when he opened his mouth to speak, he only tasted blood. He could barely restrain himself from throwing up.

Only a few minutes had passed, but Loki already felt as if he was about to lose consciousness. He was weak. Pathetic. Why couldn't he fight back? Why couldn't he defend himself? Thor wouldn't have lain down like this? Thor would have shouted and screamed and attacked these men.

Finally, the men stopped kicking and Loki gasped for air. It felt like he was drowning in his own blood. He whimpered, afraid to close his eyes and afraid to move. He watched the brawny man suddenly dropping a waterskin before him. Loki eyed it carefully. He wasn't sure what it meant. Had they really kicked him so badly only to give him water afterwards?

What the hell did that mean?

"We don't want you to dehydrate," the third man grinned, "so drink up."

They left.

Loki was still breathing hard and spit out more blood. With shaking hands, he grabbed the waterskin. He was indeed very thirsty and he longed for some fresh water. Moving his arms and bound hands caused him pain, but he bit through it. He refused to be defeated so easily.

He eagerly drank the water and then moved back onto the bed.

He drifted off into a shallow sleep.

~ 0 ~

It was unbearable. Thor could not stand to see all the worry on his mother's face. He wanted to embrace her and tell her that everything would be okay, but he felt he would be lying. At this point, he couldn't know if he would ever see his brother again. He shouldn't have left him in the forest. He was an idiot!

And he was an idiot for standing there doing nothing. He should be doing something. He should be searching every cave, crevice and underground hole in order to find his brother!

"I'll organize a search party," Thor said, addressing both his mother and father, "I'll find Loki and I'll bring him home."

It was too bad Heimdall could not see Loki or the men that had taken him. Otherwise, this problem would have never been a problem to begin with. It would have been solved already. But Heimdall being unable to localize Loki unsettled Thor greatly. Clearly someone had taken precautions against Heimdall's all-seeing eyes. Someone had been very prepared.

"Where will you start?" Odin asked skeptically. He had concern and sadness in his eyes. Thor didn't think he had seen his father so vulnerable before. "Asgard is a vast realm, Thor, your brother can be anywhere by now."

"We don't even know who has him," Frigga added tearfully.

"I don't care," Thor protested, anger rising in his chest. It was as if his parents had already given up hope. Thor refused to give up already. "I will not give up."

"Neither are we," Odin countered. His grip on Gungnir tightened and Thor understood his father would fight for his son as well. It was a comforting thought. "But we must handle this strategically. Loki must have been taken with a purpose."

A loud and sharp sound echoed through the throne room. Someone had knocked on the large, golden doors. Thor growled with frustration. How did anyone dare to disturb them when they were discussing such urgent, troubling matters? But Odin called out for the person to enter.

It was a guard. He entered, bowed respectfully and quickly approached Odin's throne. He held out a letter for his king to take. Without saying a word, he left. When the golden doors closed behind him, it produced a dull thud.

Thor didn't understand what was happening so he kept his gaze on his father.

"I have been waiting for this," Odin murmured, "it is a ransom letter."

Thor felt his heart skip a beat. "What does it say?" he asked impatiently.

Odin sucked in a deep breath as he closed his eyes after he read the letter. His fingers crushed the paper. Thor swallowed heavily, afraid of what would follow next.

"They demand I give them the Infinity Gauntlet," Odin explained after a long and heavy silence, "they will torture Loki for every day that I do not."

Thor opened his mouth to speak, but he found no words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He no longer cared that his father was king and he no longer thought of treating him that way. He quickly stepped forward and snatched the letter from Odin's old and trembling hands. His eyes drifted across the note.

He felt sick in his stomach to be reading this.

Odin Allfather,

I have your youngest son. If you want him returned to you, you shall hand over the Infinity Gauntlet. For every day that I do not receive it, I will torture your boy. Send a guard to the place where Loki was taken and let him leave the Gauntlet behind. I will know when this has happened and I will return Loki to you.

Do not test my patience. You know I do not make empty threats, Odin.

Sincerely,

Your old friend.

"The man who wrote this," Thor said hollowly, "he knows you."

"Indeed," Odin replied, his eyes connecting with Thor's, "I know who has Loki. His name is Arta Sigdanson and he was once my friend. He used to be a lord at the court when my father was king, but when I became king, we drifted apart for different reasons. Arta swore he would one day have his vengeance."

"His vengeance?" Thor didn't understand anything his father was telling him. Was he supposed to understand what was happening now? "What did you do to him, to Arta?"

"I married the love of his life," Odin sighed as his eyes drifted towards Frigga, "but that is not why he is so angry. Arta believed I would be a terrible king. He tried to steal the throne from me, but it ended in a battle which I won. I didn't have the heart to execute him, however, so I banished him instead."

"You should have killed him," Thor spat angrily, "Loki would have been safe now."

"No one is to blame here but Arta," Frigga defended her husband, "besides, we shouldn't be arguing about him right now. What happened in the past does not matter anymore. We need to focus on Loki."

Frigga appeared strong, confident and fierce again. Her tears were gone. And though she was defending her husband, she mostly appeared like a lioness ready to protect her whelp. Thor had always known his mother was protective of her children, but she didn't often show it so vigorously. Now was the exception.

"And what if we don't find him?" Thor asked timidly. He knew he was about to pose the one question Odin had been avoiding. "What if we don't find Arta? Will you give him the Infinity Gauntlet to save Loki?"

There was a long silence.

Thor despised it.

"I cannot," Odin answered quietly, "I cannot risk Arta growing stronger. I cannot risk giving him the Gauntlet. He would have unlimited power and I am certain he would use it to attack Asgard. I must think of our realm first, of our people."

Thor wore a disdainful expression on his face and said, "But this is Loki we are talking about, this is your son. You are condemning him!"

"I am not," Odin replied calmly, "because you will find him and you will save him."

~ 0 ~

When Loki woke, he didn't know how much time had passed since he had been kicked so severely. He simply knew that every inch of his body ached and that he wanted to fall asleep again. That would be impossible now. Slowly he opened his eyes, wanting to know if it was still day or night already.

His little cell was almost completely dark.

He wanted to push himself into a sitting position, but he found that he barely had any strength left in his body. He tried to remember the last time he had properly eaten, but his mind appeared to be laced with a thick fog. He could barely focus on anything.

Never before had he felt so sick. He was hungry, thirsty and cold. His head felt like it was about to split in half and his muscles felt like they were on fire. When he lifted his head a few inches, he thought he would throw up. Yes, he had definitely lived through better days.

Then his eyes fell on the far left corner of his cell.

He wasn't alone.

Loki's heart skipped a beat and fear invaded his mind. Only a second later did he recognize the figure. How could he not have recognized those broad shoulders, that round face or those blue eyes? How could he not have seen the shoulder long blond hair and the kind, yet goofy expression on that face?

Loki swallowed heavily, feeling confused.

How could this be?

"Thor?"