Thrúd was getting impatient.
It's been two whole days since she sent Huginn away on his assignment to track down Sindri, the only person in the remaining realms who can improve Mjolnir. Back in Asgard, she had memories of Odin sending the ravens away on quests to find any nugget of knowledge they could that may have benefitted him in any way. It wasn't out of the ordinary for them to be away for a long period of time in their pursuits.
Besides, it hadn't concerned her at that moment. What Odin was doing was his business.
It was different now that she was the one sending one away on an assignment. Especially one with her father's legacy at stake. If there was a chance that Mjolnir could get destroyed before she could prove that it is good for more than just slaughtering innocents, then she needed Huginn to find that dwarf as soon as possible. But if what Lúnda said was true, then Sindri may not be in a very charitable mood when she meets him. However, Thrúd reasoned, he needed to be found first. One problem at a time.
Constantly fretting about the bird's whereabouts would do nothing to get him back here with results faster. So instead of worrying about it, Thrúd threw herself into what she normally throws herself in once she begins to feel stressed or backed into a corner.
Training.
Thrúd said her goodbyes to Lúnda and thanked her for her services before having Huginn send the two of them back to Midgard. After dropping her off at the Council of the Valkyries, Thrúd sent him off on his mission. With nothing else to do, Thrúd began preparations.
Her dad had showed her how to set up training dummies for herself years ago; she trained with one at least three times a day in her room on Asgard. Collecting the supplies needed, Thrúd cut down a few nearby trees, chopped them into manageable pieces and bound them together with rope until they resembled featureless scarecrows, eighteen in all.
Now came the necessary, but grueling task of placing them where she wanted.
With Mjolnir now in her possession, getting from one place to another is now substantially easier. What better way to work on her accuracy than to place these bad boys all over the lake?
In groups of two, Thrúd placed the dummies all across the frozen lake and in the forests, memorizing where each of them was. Satisfied with their placement, Thrúd placed herself in the center of the council of Valkyries. In front of her was one of the dummies, behind her was another one; the start and finish lines.
Rolling her neck, Thrúd took satisfaction in the cracks and pops before falling into a runner's stance, one hand on the ground, the other hovering over Mjolnir at her hip. Her eyes narrowed on the first dummy, several yards in front of her. All of the seats surrounding her remained empty, but she could feel the eyes of the council's namesake upon her as if they were sitting there, waiting for her to show them what she's got.
And damn it all if she was going to disappoint them.
Wrapping herself entirely with lightning, Thrúd dashed forward and took out Mjolnir, reducing the dummy to twigs. One down, seventeen to go.
Still doused in lightning, Thrúd swung the hammer upward and allowed it to pull her skyward. With this impressive view of the lake, the goddess zeroed in on the next target. Thrúd remained in the clouds for mere moments before finding herself in the middle of the woods, a small crater forming underneath her feet.
To her left was the closest dummy. Taking out her mace, Thrúd closed the distance and swung at the dummy's head, knocking it clean off and sending it soaring through the woods. Spinning on her heel, she found the other dummy partnered with this one. Putting her mace away, Thrúd threw Mjolnir at the unsuspecting dummy. It was obliterated upon impact.
Now came the real test.
She snapped her fingers.
Nothing happened.
Cursing under her breath, Thrúd ran over to where the hammer landed and placed it back at her hip. No need for leaping out of here, she thought, not with the next targets so close.
The frozen shore was just outside the line of trees to her side. Covering herself in lightning once again, Thrúd skipped over the foliage and landed on the ice, using her speed as momentum to slide across the ice for a quarter mile before ramming her shoulder into the dummy.
Digging her feet into the ice, Thrúd slowed herself to a stop. Multiple yards in front of her was a longboat, propped up on a large boulder with half of the boat stuck in the ice. Underneath the damaged boat was another dummy. Thrúd ran forward with Mjolnir in her hand. The entirety of its head smothered in lightning, Thrúd dragged it across the ice before swiping it upwards, shooting a torrent of ice shards toward the already damaged ship.
The ice salvo pierced the rotted wood of the ship like it was made of paper, weakening the already weak body to the point where it could no longer support itself. With a satisfied grin, Thrúd watched as the top half of the boat slid off its winter home and onto the ice, crushing the dummy and sending splintered wood in all directions.
Five down.
Thrúd found herself in a comfortable pattern. She thrusts the hammer aloft, finds herself at the next location, demolishes the dummies she assigned there, and starts again. The process was sufficient enough in distracting her from the errand she sent Huginn on. It was not, however, very efficient at helping her forget about her inability to summon the hammer back to her.
Every so often, Thrúd took a gamble and threw Mjolnir at a few. With each throw and with each snap of her fingers, all she did was affirm how far behind she was of her father. But that didn't stop her from trying.
Maybe this time-
Snap.
Nothing.
She moved onto the next location.
Alright. This time for sure.
She threw it at her target.
Snap.
No response.
She repeated this process more times than would probably be advised. Each time, despite her hopes, she came no closer to understanding how to summon the damn hammer back to her.
But if Thor could do it, then she could too.
After destroying the last of the duos, Thrúd sent herself on a course back to the council. She was soaring down towards the council with her arm outstretched, her fingers gripping the shaft of the hammer and her hair fluttering behind her. Below her, she could see the final dummy.
She had dressed this one up to partially resemble the Traveler she had encountered at Svartalfheim. Bigger than the others, bulky, and a tad sturdier. Thrúd meant to smile at the thought of crushing her adversary, but she couldn't help the scowl that came across her face instead.
Now gripping the hammer with both hands, Thrúd brought the hammer behind her head and unleashed a mighty yell as she flung Mjolnir down at the last dummy with all her might. Mjolnir spun end over end on a collision course with Grámtrist part deux, lightning sparking behind it as it fell until it crushed the dummy with the force of a comet.
For a moment, it completely vanished in a plume of dust and debris with the occasional arc of electricity shooting out. Thrúd landed next to the dummy's remains as the dust began to settle, revealing a heap of snapped wood with singed tips, Mjolnir directly in the center of it, its sparks dying out.
Thrúd took in a deep breath before slowly approaching the hammer, as if it was a wild animal that just tore apart its prey for sport. She stood over it with her hand stretched down toward the hammer but did not pick it up.
Rather, she closed her eyes and took three calming breaths, doing her best to drain away the adrenaline from her workout and focus on summoning the hammer to her hand. She snapped her fingers and flexed her hand wide open.
She let out a frustrated sigh when she felt a distinct lack of hammer in her palm.
Head rolling back in agitation, Thrúd ran her fingers through her hair, marching back and forth while muttering a flurry of curses on herself for not being able to summon Mjolnir when it's 'right fucking there'.
In midstride, Thrúd scooped up the hammer and slammed it on the ground over and over, scattering the dummy's remains across the council floor.
"ARGH! RAUGH! FUCK! HEL!" Each curse was accentuated with a blow from the hammer. Normally she would have to squint to shield her eyes from the bright bursts of lightning coming from the hammer, but her vision was so obscured by red and rage that she didn't need to this time.
With one final swing of the hammer, Thrúd stood up tall, panting to catch her breath.
"Wow," came a softspoken voice from behind her. "The last time I saw a tantrum that big, you were just a toddler."
Gasping, Thrúd turned around and found her mother standing between two of the Valkyries' chairs, her fingers laced together at her waist, ever so regal as always.
Thrúd fought away a blush of embarrassment before placing Mjolnir back at her hip. "Hey-uh, hey mom," she stuttered, scratching the back of her head. "What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing. But," she glanced around, looking at the debris scattered across the floor. "I think I can piece it together. I don't think the Valkyries will appreciate you making a mess of their council though."
"Shield Maidens, mom. Not Valkyries."
Lady Sif nodded. "That's right. Sorry, still getting used to that." The two of them fell into an awkward silence for some time before Sif began to walk toward her daughter. She gestured to Thrúd's waist. "I see the rumors are true." Thrúd looked confused. "You found your dad's hammer."
Thrúd's eyes went wide in realization, her mouth in an O. "Uh, yeah. I did. Sorry, I meant to tell you. You were just so busy." She made a face. "Wait, rumors?"
"Your visit to Svartalfheim has kind of left an impact."
She sucked in a breath through her teeth. "You heard about that?"
Sif couldn't help but smile, waving away her daughter's embarrassment. "Thrúd, honey, if your dad were still here, he'd have boatloads of stories to tell you about his mistakes with it."
Her mother didn't know it, but the mention of Thor made Thrúd's stomach drop. Before Sif got any closer, Thrúd looked down at the debris she had created, unable to meet her mother's gaze. "How did you find me?"
"The same way I found your dad whenever I couldn't find him." Her stomach dropped again. "I followed the lightning."
Thrúd didn't seem impressed. "You have something you want to talk about?" She began gathering the broken logs in her arms.
Confused by her daughter's sudden shift in mood, Sif decided to roll with it rather than press further. "There's still work to do back in Vanaheim, but Hildisvíni and I believe we're ready to bring the displaced Asgard citizens over to their new homes."
"Congrats." Thrúd was only halfway genuine with her accolades. For the past few weeks, she had heard plenty of bullshit rumors that Vanaheim was ready for the others. Each time was the same as the last: one more thing needed to be addressed, and then another, and then another. It was getting to the point where she believed they'd never get Vanaheim ready.
"Your friend is back at the temple helping with the last-minute preparations. It shouldn't be too much longer, now."
Thrúd kept gathering the wood in her arms. "And?"
Sif blinked. "And," she paused, "there's a house there. For us two."
Thrúd stopped gathering.
"I, uh, I know that it won't be exactly what I promised. I wanted us to be a real family again, too." She bent down to be level with her daughter. "And even though he's not here anymore, I think we can still-" before she could finish her sentiment, Thrúd stood up and walked over to another pile, leaving a speechless Sif in her wake.
"Is that so?"
". . . Yes." Sif's patience was running out with her moody daughter. She stood up and followed her.
Thrúd let out a breath, her woodpile growing larger. "Have fun in your house. But I'll be pretty busy. Gotta train."
"You can train in Vanaheim. I made sure to give you a room big enough to fit more equipment. You'll be plenty-"
"It's not about that."
"Well, what is it about?"
Thrúd began to run everything through her head, doing her best to find a way to explain it all to her mom.
Hey, so there's this guy who found a way to damage the fuck out of Mjolnir. I caught wind of this random dwarf who can help, but Odin's over glorified messenger crow is struggling to find him. Oh, and also, the guy who can damage Mjolnir will more than likely be able to find me anywhere I go. He's called a Traveler after all. With a name like that, they seem like they know how to get around.
Mom's got enough on her plate, Thrúd thought. She doesn't need to worry about Grámtrist coming after us, too.
"I'm sorry mom, but Vanaheim doesn't have what I need. I can't go with you just yet."
"Vanaheim doesn't have what you need?" Sif repeated, unable to believe what she heard. "Well, I'm sorry that our hard work didn't meet your insurmountable expectations."
"Mom, that's not what I meant."
"Then what do mean?"
Thrúd set her pile down. "Something's come up. Like, really important shit that I can't go to Vanaheim for. At least not yet."
Most of Sif's annoyance was drained out and replaced with motherly concern. "What is it, Thrúd? How can I help?"
Shit.
"Mom," Thrúd began, "I don't think this is something that you can help with."
"How am I supposed to know that if you won't tell me?"
Thrúd had assembled another pile of twigs in her arms. "Just please don't worry about it. You've got enough to worry about."
The goddess gestured to herself. "Thrúd, I will always make time for you. I am your mother. And I'm certain that if your father were still here, he'd-"
"If dad were still here, I wouldn't be in this fucking mess in the first place!" She threw her pile on the ground. "If he were still here, he'd still have this stupid hammer and the only thing I'd have to worry about is what time training starts! But he's not here and this hammer is my problem now, not yours. So just go on your field trip to Vanaheim and leave me alone!"
Sif was silent for what felt like forever to the two of them. Raising Thrúd had always been a challenge for Sif; juggling her obligations to the Aesir with her daughter's hot temper that could rival Thor's was never a walk in the park, and Sif was aware that she hadn't given Thrúd the best environment to grow up in, either. Her own bout with alcoholism was a period in her life that she was not proud of, and it had sparked more than its fair share of arguments between the two of them. Amongst other things in her life.
But this seemed different. Thrúd hasn't been this bothered by something since she was just old enough to hold her first weapon.
Unfortunately, there was no time to see if she could discover what it was.
Letting out a calming breath, Sif nodded. "Alright, Thrúd." Her daughter blinked. "If you're not ready to come with us, I won't force you to. I should've realized a long time ago that you're old enough to make your own decisions."
If this were any other time, literally any other time before now, Thrúd would have loved to hear those words coming out of her mother's mouth. But she couldn't bring herself to feel anything else than regret at the sight of her mom's defeated face.
"Mom, I-"
"Finish your training. Become the best Shield Maiden you can be. Do whatever it is you need to do, and whenever you're ready, you're welcome to stay with me." She did her best to hide her hurt, but wasn't confident in her ability to do so. "But for now, I have to meet up with Hildisvíni back at the temple."
Thrúd took out Mjolnir. "Let me give you a ride."
Her mother held her hand up. "I hated the 'rides' your father gave me when we first started to court. I'd rather walk."
With that, she turned her back to her daughter and began to walk out of the council. Thrúd gathered as many broken logs as she could before following her out, not brave enough to walk beside her mother and instead settling for walking behind her all the way back to the temple.
Not a word was spoken between the two of them throughout the duration of their trip. With every step she took, she came up with another idea of how she could have handled her talk with her mother differently. Not that she'd bring it back up right now. The damage was done, and both needed a moment.
Due to the tension between them, the usually brief trip from the council to Týr's temple felt significantly longer. Despite how much she wanted to, Thrúd couldn't find anything to make the situation any better.
Before long, they reached the base of the elevator. Somehow, the ride up to the bridge was even more awkward than their walk over. Thankfully, the weight of the pile of wood in her arms was beginning to distract her from her guilt.
They reached the top of the bridge, exposing them to the chilled breeze. Thrúd found it fitting, considering the cold shoulders they were giving to one another. Together, they walked across the bridge after Thrúd dumped her woodpile at the base of one of the massive brasiers. About halfway across, the doors to the temple at the very end opened, releasing the flood of Asgardian refugees led by Hildisvíni.
The God from Vanaheim stopped in his tracks when he saw the mother and daughter approach. He nodded his greeting to them. "My ladies," he gave a small, respectful bow. Sif half returned it while Thrúd offered a small wave. If he noticed the tension between the two, he didn't show it. "The refugees are all accounted for and ready for travel. If you are ready, I'll allow you and your daughter to lead while I follow from behind."
Sif approached and stood next to him. "Thrúd will be remaining here. She will continue to train and will join us when she is ready."
Thrúd's nostrils flared at the tone her mother had. It was the kind of tone and implication what was only noticeable between a mother and daughter. Hildisvíni, while not fully understanding, nodded. "If you are ready," he gestured to the crowd behind him, "please take the lead."
Not even sparing Thrúd a passing glance, Lady Sif approached the crowd. Their chatter and murmuring slowly died out once they saw Sif before them. Her hands laced together in front of her once again, she addressed the refugees.
This was one of the things that Thrúd admired about her mother, crowds didn't scare her. Granted, they never totally unnerved Thrúd either, but she's never had to speak before anybody yet. Thrúd stepped aside and made her way over to the railing, leaning on both elbows over it.
"Asgardians," she began. "Midgardians. Everyone. These past several months have been challenging for everyone present here. But in the midst of the destruction, and all of our deceased loved ones, one good thing has come out of this. The All-Father is no more."
At this, a rousing cheer went up from the crowd. Sif waited for the cheerful cries to dwindle before continuing. "Though we remain shaken, we all must move forward to survive. We thank you for your patience as Hildisvíni and I made a home for you all in Vanaheim." At this, a few murmurs of disapproval rippled their way through her audience. She held her hand up to silence them. "I understand your reticence. But please understand; this arrangement is only permanent if you wish it to be." They seemed to calm down at this statement.
"During your time in Vanaheim, you will have provisions, food, shelter, clothes, everything needed to get your feet back on the ground. If you find this lifestyle beneficial, you are more than welcome to make it your home. If not, you will be free to find lodging elsewhere in the realms with mine and Hildisvíni's blessings."
Thrúd blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Hey, Thrúd," she whispered to herself. "I'd like to offer you my blessing to continue your training without any guilt. And I'll stop talking about your dad every five seconds." She gasped, feigning surprise while placing her hand on her chest. "Why thank you, mother. I'm touched."
A chuckle behind her alerted her. "Wow. That was a solid impression."
She jumped and turned to find Skjoldr approaching, a light, amused smile on his face. He joined her at the railing. "Almost thought she had a clone of herself running around or something." His smile fell when he saw that Thrúd wasn't humoring his comments.
Lady Sif's speech seemed to be winding down. "Ragnarok has affected us all, but it was not the end of us." She gestured behind her to the bridge with a realm portal waiting on the far side. "We've built your new homes, now please help us build our future."
With one last cheer, the crowd began moving forward, being led by Sif across the bridge, the number of bodies so large that the parade of refugees was still coming out of the temple once Sif reached the portal on the other side. With a wave of her arm, the pile of rocks formed an archway with the blue veil filling the inside of it, leading to Vanaheim. Lady Sif stepped aside and allowed the crowd to enter, smiling kindly at them and accepting their thanks.
Thrúd eyed Skjoldr next to her. "Aren't you joining them?"
"Not yet." He pointed a thumb up at the damaged statue of Týr. "Remember that project I was telling you about? Turns out a few others agreed with me." Thrúd looked back at him with a furrowed brow. "We're staying here in Midgard to spruce this guy up."
"Who the Hel did you manage to wrangle up for that?"
"Mmm, about that."
Skjoldr jerked his head over to the side. Thrúd followed his gesture and found a small crowd of people who were not part of the march toward Vanaheim, about ten of them in all. They all waited patiently for the parade to be over. Among them was-
"Asmund," Thrúd all but hissed with enough venom to rival the World Serpent's supply.
Her eyes narrowed to slits, she looked back at her friend who only was able to offer her an innocent shrug. "Hey, I agree with you. The guy's an asshole. But I've seen what he could do back in Asgard. He's a born craftsman. Knows his way around tools."
"I should wrap his head around my tools."
"And actually, he was the first onboard when I mentioned this idea. He's the one who rallied everybody else."
Skjoldr kept talking, but Thrúd tuned him out the moment her gaze locked with Asmund's. The moment she saw him, her blood boiled at the memory of his selfishness in the temple a few days ago. Despite this, she did her best not to show any signs of annoyance. For a moment, his eyes glanced down and his eyebrows raised the slightest bit.
Thrúd looked down to see if she could find what he saw and discovered that he was looking at Mjolnir, surprised to see that she had found it. With a small puff of pride, Thrúd twisted her hip all the way toward him to show off the hammer. He didn't give her the satisfaction she was looking for. Instead, he resumed chatting with the others.
"Prick."
"And I was also thinking," Skjoldr continued, totally oblivious to the silent confrontation between the two petty contestants. "This coin." He held it up. "Sure it's nice, but I'm not sure if I could ever find a use for it. You think your mom could use it where she's going? Or maybe even just as a parting gift or some shit?"
Thrúd's attention was yanked back to her friend the moment he brought her mother up. Her eyes went from the coin to her mom, still standing on the other side of the bridge, ushering the ongoing line inside the portal. She wasn't totally sure, but Thrúd thought for a moment that Sif was looking at her too, almost hopeful that her daughter would join the line and go to Vanaheim with her.
"Do whatever you want with it." She snapped, causing Skjoldr to flinch back in response.
The last of the refugees exited the temple. With Hildisvíni behind them, he did his part in guiding them to the portal. Seeing this, Skjoldr looked back at Thrúd, who was leaning against the railing once again.
"Hey, uh, I know you're not going with them because you want to train, which is none of my business obviously," he chuckled nervously.
"No shit," Thrúd chided.
"Yeah. No shit. But I'm getting the impression that you want some time away from her."
"And who the fuck told you that?"
"Nobody needed to. You don't hide your annoyance as well as you think you do." Thrúd let the jab slide due to how bold it was. "Listen, I didn't know my parents very well. Least of all my mom. I can't even begin to tell you how much shit I'd have to tell her about if I could see her again."
"What's your point?"
"Odds are you're not going to see her for a bit. Are you really sure you want to go that long without clearing some shit up with her?"
Thrúd mulled over his point in silence. On one hand, she hated how her mother devoted all of her time to Vanaheim as soon as Ragnarok was over without coming to check in on Thrúd in Midgard once. But on the other hand, Thrúd hadn't reached out to her mom either. And she may have been a little too aggressive in her approach back at the council.
Soon, Thrúd had an entire list of things she could have done differently back there.
Her guilt came back with a vengeance. She let out a sigh and dipped her head down low, her wild hair obscuring her face from Skjoldr's view.
Sucking in a large breath to recompose herself, Thrúd stood upright and looked to the end of the bridge. The last of the refugees were approaching the portal.
"I'll be right back."
Thrúd stepped away from the railing and began marching toward the beginning of the bridge, prepared to make a beeline to her mom and clear the air . . .
"CAW!"
. . . only to stop dead in her tracks as a familiar call reached her ears.
Ever so slowly, Thrúd turned back around to look at where she just was. On the railing, Hugin was perched, his head twitching left and right, always having one of his eyes on her. Skjoldr jumped back in alarm, unprepared for the bird's appearance.
Thrúd's breath picked up exponentially. She looked back to her mom, then to Hugin until she lost track of how many times she twisted her head back and forth.
"CAW! CAW!" His call almost sounded annoyed at her lack of enthusiasm to see him.
At the far end, Sif's eyes were clearly on her daughter, filled with hope that she'd at least come to say goodbye.
Logic and common sense told Thrúd that was the right thing to do. But paranoia and anxiety were a Hel of a duo to one's mind.
Thrúd twisted on her heel and ran back to the raven. She didn't see a disappointed Sif enter the portal behind Hildisvíni or the portal collapsing into a pile of unsuspecting rocks behind them.
Before she knew it, Thrúd was face to face with Hugin. She approached with such ferocity that the raven had to flutter his wings to regain his balance.
"Did you find Sindri?!"
"CAW!"
His head gestured downward to his feet. Thrúd followed his gaze and gasped in surprise when she found a scroll attached to his leg, a tag hung off it which read 'to whom it may concern' in spidery cursive.
Eyes wide and heart thumping loudly in her ears, Thrúd reached forward and removed the scroll from Hugin's leg. He squawked one last time before jumping to her shoulder, as if he himself was curious as to what the scroll said. Skjoldr remained silent the whole time, waiting to see what his friend's reaction was going to be before asking any sort of question.
With shaky hands, Thrúd unfurled the scroll and read the two words to herself.
'FUCK OFF'
Thrúd would've found the note hilarious if she hadn't just ditched her mother to read it.
She was stunned to silence. No one present was totally sure how long they all stood there without moving a single inch.
Thrúd had a million follow-up questions for Hugin but couldn't find her voice to ask them.
Where was he?
Can you find him again?
Was he with anybody?
She could hear Skjoldr approaching from behind, cautiously looking over her shoulder to read what it had to say. He blinked when he read it. Then blinked again when he reread it to confirm that's exactly what it said.
"Huh." Was all he had to say.
Silence filled the air once more, at least until Lúnda appeared before her with a FWIP. Skjoldr yelped and fell back in surprise, unprepared for the dwarf's sudden arrival.
"Thrúd!" Lúnda exclaimed. "Thank Freya I finally found you!"
The young goddess finally looked away from the note, finding Lúnda's concerned pudgy face looking up at her.
"I know where Sindri is!" The dwarf said, not waiting for Thrúd to even acknowledge her presence.
At that, Thrúd let out a hollow laugh, crumpling up the note before chucking it over the railing, letting the wind blow it away.
"Yeah? Well, he doesn't want to see me. But you know what? I don't really give a fuck." She turned her head to look at Hugin. "My little buddy here knows where he is too, and he can take me right-"
"That's what I'm tryin' to tell ya, lil lady! Hugin can't bring you to the realm between realms!"