Disclaimer: I don't own this! That's why I'm writing this!
A/n: Thank you guys so much for all the wonderful reviews! You totally make my day. I actually was running low on inspiration until flyfloyd reviewed and said that she wanted a Lost!Loki story and everything just clicked into place. :D I owe this chapter to her.
It isn't my fault Ull can't take a joke, Loki thought to himself bitterly as he kicked up the dead leaves off the ground. They were sent spiraling into the air, floating back down onto the ground peacefully. The young prince wished that he was kicking Ull instead of the leaves.
What Loki had done had started out as a simple and innocent gesture of learning. He had only just started to learn how to use his magic, so he was still inexperienced. This is what he tried to explain to Ull, but the archery god would have none of it.
Loki had turned himself invisible, yet hadn't been aware of it until he had passed a group of guards. Normally, they would acknowledge the prince with nod of courtesy, but when they did nothing, Loki got curious. So naturally he came up with a hypothesis and a theory. In order to test said theory, he needed a unsuspecting victim.
Ull, who had been walking on the Rainbow Bridge, seemed like the perfect target for Loki. Ull had just returned from one of his training sessions in one of the other realms, so he was already worn out and easy to scare.
Now, Loki had never been allowed to be on the Rainbow Bridge by himself before—whenever he asked, Frigga always said it was because he was much too young and small. Perhaps it was the thrill of disobeying his Mother, or simply the hilarity of the joke, but as soon as Loki had popped up and scared Ull, the boy became visible once more.
Loki didn't care. He was laughing too hard. Ull had the most ridiculously surprised expression on his face. The brunette had been so shocked that he jumped backwards, almost falling off the Bifrost himself. But he didn't fall.
However, his arrows weren't as lucky. When he had jumped, his quiver of arrows had slipped off his shoulder and had fallen into the dark and mysterious abyss below them.
Ull had been outraged, suddenly shouting at the small boy with vigor that Loki didn't even know that Ull possessed. The elder god scolded Loki for scaring him and for making him loose his arrows. When Loki asked what was so important about those particular arrows, Ull launched into a full-on rant about how his arrows were magical and how nothing could ever replace them. How when he used said arrows, anything Ull aimed at got directly hit.
How Loki would now have to go to his cottage in the middle of the woods right outside of Asgard and retrieve his spare quiver and bring it back. When Loki protested, Ull actually threatened him and said that it would serve as corporal punishment.
Loki seriously considered just standing the god up and not ever returning with his precious arrows, but Heimdall had observed their fight, and Loki just knew that the guardian would rat him out to his Father if he didn't follow Ull's orders.
"'They're magic arrows, Loki'," the prince muttered to himself, quoting what Ull had told him previously. "'They can make me hit anything and everything I want!' Pfft. It makes him sound like he has bad aim..."
The boy crossed his arms over his chest as he walked further into the forest. From here, he could see the palace walls; the golden landmark towered high above the tips of the trees. Loki had no idea where Ull's cottage was, or if he was even smart enough to build one. At this point, he was basically just wandering around, thinking of ways to get back at Ull.
Or, at least he was, until he heard a familiar sound: the cawing of a raven. And not just any raven; one of his Father's ravens.
Their names were Hugin and Munin. They sat perched on either side of Odin's throne, staring down at everything and everyone that entered the Great Hall.
Loki never understood why his Father needed them. Multiple times, he had asked their importance, but he had often been denied the answer. But once, his Mother had told him that they were apart of keeping the peace of the Nine Realms.
How could two birds keep peace? The birds didn't keep the peace. Odin, the almighty All-Father, kept the peace. As far as Loki was concerned, all those birds ever did was stare and occasionally caw at him. Loki recognized the particular caw as Munin's.
Loki had never seen them leave the side of the throne before. Perhaps that was why he got curious and decided to follow Munin.
The bird flew deeper into the forest and Loki nearly had to run in order to keep up with it. The sea of trees only went on for so long, that much the prince knew. At one point, the forest simply ended and if you weren't careful, you might fall right off Asgard and end up in one of the other nine realms.
So why was his Father's bird flying to the end of the kingdom?
"Thor, have you seen Loki?"
The blonde prince was currently lying on a bench in the courtyard, lost in a world of his own. He was blowing puffs of air from his hand and onto a butterfly. It was trying in vain to get closer to him, but kept getting pushed back by the small burst of wind.
Sif scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Thor," she tried again, louder this time. "Thor! THOR!"
Thor jumped, being snapped from his daydream so suddenly. He sat up and shooed the butterfly away.
"Sif, why are you yelling? I'm right here, you know," said Thor innocently. Sif nearly clapped her hand to her forehead.
"I have been trying to get your attention, that was why I was yelling!"
"Well you have it now."
Sif sighed, her arms dropping to her sides. She unconsciously reached up to twirl her hair around her finger. However, she was reminded that her hair had been cut short when her hand met air. Thor noticed her disappointment.
"Are you still upset?" he asked. Sif shook her head, the new spikes of her hair swaying along with her.
"No, I've gotten over it," replied Sif. "In fact, I rather like it being shorter. It doesn't get in my face anymore."
Thor scoffed. "Right, well I'll be sure to tell Loki that he did you a kindness by nearly shaving you bald."
"Shut up, it isn't that bad," snapped Sif. "Oh! I almost forgot. Your Mother wants to know if you have seen Loki."
Thor shook his head. "No, not since this morning. Why?"
Sif pursed her lips. "She's panicking. Apparently, no one has seen him at all since this morning; not even the guards. Ull said that he sent Loki to go and get his extra set of arrows in his cottage, and it's almost sundown and he still hasn't returned."
"Well haven't they checked the cottage?" questioned Thor, raising an eyebrow.
Sif nodded. "He's not there, and the arrows are still there. It was as if he wasn't there at all. Do you think he just ran off?"
"No," replied Thor, standing. "Loki wouldn't do something like that. He may be annoying, but he is not stupid."
So where would his brother have gone? Concern started to build up in Thor's chest. Loki was still too young to be out on his own like that. It wouldn't be hard for someone to sneak up behind him and—
"We have to look for him," said Thor, the words spilling out of his mouth before he knew they had even formed.
"I thought you might say that," said Sif, nodding. "Come on. Let's go ask Heimdall if he knows where he is."
And so they made their way through the palace to the Bifrost, passing by bustling guards and one hectic Frigga, who was pacing back and forth in the throne room. When they passed, Thor considered stopping and trying to comfort his Mother, but his Father was already trying.
"Darling, I'm sure he is fine—" Odin tried but got cut off.
"But what if he isn't? Oh, he's so small...Not to mention young! He's only a child and hasn't been familiarized with the whole city yet! What if he's lost? What if someone has taken him? Ooh, if something happens to him, I'll just die! But nothing shall happen, as long as I have a say in it! Double the guards! Triple them, even! What was Ull thinking anyway, sending Loki of all people to fetch his arrows? If Loki doesn't come back, I'll wring Ull by that skinny neck of his! Oh, my poor little Loki..."
Thor raised his eyebrows at Sif and she mouthed "Wow" back. They continued passed the throne room and out the palace doors.
When they reached the Rainbow Bridge, Heimdall was standing stock as ever, his blank expression not changing upon their arrival.
"Heimdall, we need your help," said Sif. "Loki has gone missing, and—"
"You wish to know where he is," Heimdall cut her off.
"Yes," said Thor, "can you see him?"
The gatekeeper tilted his head down, than up slightly in what Thor guessed would be a nod. "I can. He still is in the forest. The guards are not far from finding him, but he has already found someone else."
Thor's heart leapt into his throat.
"Who?"
"One of the Three," replied Heimdall cryptically. He became silent after that, and didn't answer Sif and Thor's many questions about who 'the Three' were.
Loki didn't know how long he had been following Munin. The bird had lead him deeper into the forest, far past where Ull's cottage must have been. It was dark now and Loki feared that he would get attacked and than eaten by wolves.
That is, until Munin lead him into a clearing. The dark bird nearly blended in with the clear night sky above, and for a brief moment Loki lost sight of him. But in the moon's soft glow, he could see another figure there, it's back turned to him.
Munin appeared again, landing on the figure's outstretched arm. The person stroked Munin's head with the tip of their finger. Loki frowned, confused. Munin was his Father's bird. What was this person doing with him?
"Hey!" called Loki. He seemed to have frightened the person. They whirled around quickly, and Loki's breath caught in his throat.
The person's eyes were beautiful. He couldn't tell what color they were—blue, green, yellow, red...All the colors of the rainbow seemed to be pulled together, shifting with each other like a kaleidoscope.
If he thought about it later, Loki would remember the details which he could only just make out in the darkness—a small, dainty, defined figure, long hair, and perfectly chiseled facial features. Clearly female.
If he thought harder, Loki would remember the barely audible sound of her gasp.
And if he thought even harder, almost to the point of pain, he would remember hearing the tiniest tinkling of a bell before he fell into unconsciousness.
When Loki woke, he was in his bed back at the palace. How he had gotten there, he didn't know. All he could remember was chasing after Munin and those eyes...
"Loki!" cried Frigga. She had only just opened the door to his room when her son had opened his eyes. She was instantly at his bedside, pulling the boy into a hug.
"Mother...you're crushing...me," Loki managed to choke out, his Mother's vice-like grip cutting off his breath. Frigga immediately let go, and Odin walked into the room next, Thor at his heels.
"You're awake!" said Thor cheerfully as he and his Father walked over to Loki's bedside.
"Where did you leave to?" Frigga demanded.
"I was just going to Ull's cottage like he told me to—"
"Don't ever listen to anything Ull says ever again!" said Frigga quickly. "You had me and your Father worried sick! You're lucky that the guards found you when they did. Otherwise, you would have been out there longer and..." Frigga trailed off and pulled Loki back into her arms.
"...M...Mother..."
"I'll let you breathe in a minute, I promise," Frigga reassured him, not letting go this time.
"We were all worried about you, son," said Odin sincerely. He put his hand on Frigga's shoulder and the queen let Loki go. She stood and smiled.
"I'm just glad you're safe. Now I've got to go call off all the rest of the guards...," the queen muttered, turning and heading out of the room, her husband at her side. Only Thor was left in the room with his brother.
"If you run off again," said Thor, "Mother will have your head when she catches you."
"Was it really that bad?" asked Loki, cringing slightly.
Thor shrugged. "More or less. But what I want to know is where you were. Don't bother telling me that you went to get Ull's arrows, we both know that that is a lie. Heimdall said that you found someone; one of the Three."
Loki blinked. "What? I didn't find anyone. I only followed Munin into the forest and that's it."
Thor hummed, his lips pressing together in a straight line. Obviously the boy wasn't satisfied with this answer, but Loki wasn't about to tell him about the mysterious person and their eyes. In fact, the more he reasoned with himself, it seemed that they were only a hallucination...
...Yet he still couldn't get those eyes out of his head.
A/n: ...I'm not proud of this chapter. I feel like my eyeballs just sort of threw up and this happened. I do, however, love Frigga and her awesome motherly-protective-ness. ^^ Plus, the last sentence sounds weird.