Author's Notes: Welcome to Jotunheim ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, worlds, things, etc. Too bad, that would be fun. :) But alas, 'tis not meant to be. :'(

Ice. Everywhere you look. There is no escaping it. It is everywhere. All of Jotunheim is covered in endless ice.

The warriors pulled their cloaks tightly about them as they attempted to adjust to the drastic temperature change. Going from the warmth of Asgard to the frigid realm of Jotunheim was hardly a pleasant experience for most. Loki was surprised to find the change had little affect on him. He was slightly uncomfortable, but the others acted as if they would freeze to death. He could not tell whether to laugh or feel concerned.

But as they began walking across the frozen wasteland they had landed in, the warriors seemed to adjust to the cold a little better. After some time they even stopped bothering to pull their cloaks so tightly about them. Finally, even Thor adjusted to the chill air and almost forgot that he had other reasons for keeping his cloak pulled so closely. He still needed to be careful, else he risked the warriors turning back to return him and Loki to Asgard.

Not that Loki would have minded going back even in the least. So far, this adventure had seemed rather uneventful and simply contained a tremendous amount of walking seemingly aimlessly through the snow and ice. This caused even his vague sense of curiosity to die.

For hours, they trudged on through the snow like this. They had gone this far into Jotunheim and thus far had not seen so much as a single frost giant. Loki wondered if Thor had even bothered to see why these warriors had been coming to Jotunheim in the first place. So far, it seemed they had simply come for some sightseeing, which was unheard of, but it is not like they were doing much of anything else. The cold might not be bothering him, but Loki began to wonder if he would die of boredom before they got back to Asgard. Not to mention, all of this walking was getting quite tiresome. He wondered when these warriors intended to stop for the day or at least take a rest, or what it would take to persuade them to stop.

After just a few short seconds of concentration, Loki heard one of the warriors up ahead of him give a short cry as he slipped on a patch of snow that had suddenly become pure ice. Loki hid a smile at his spells success as the other warriors laughed at their 'clumsy' comrade. A few minutes later, a second warrior slipped. She blamed it on growing tired from the long walk, and the group went on. After a few more slips and the group still moving, Loki began to wonder just how much it would take to get them frustrated enough to need a break. The laughter was less now, but the only person truly irritated now was he.

Already being in the back of the group, no one noticed when Loki stopped following the others. Tired as he was, even walking was affecting his concentration now, so he stopped to better focus on his final attempt to irritate the others. A strong gust of wind picked up and the snow under yet another warrior turned to ice. This time the ice froze to part of the man's boot; rather than just slipping, he fell flat on the ground, recieving a face full of snow. And the ice melted as quickly as it had frozen. Loki ran to catch up to the group of now halted warriors just in time to hear the snow covered warrior shouting angrily. The man's face was bright red from his anger and the cold snow, some of which still clung to his beard. No one was laughing now. And his yelling was likely to draw the attention of the still absent frost giants. To calm and quiet and him, one of the others proposed they take a short rest to regain their strength. Most of the others agreed and soon all of the warriors were seated in the snow, some slept, some ate, all were glad for the rest.

Loki finally allowed himself to laugh as he dropped down into the snow next to Thor. He was glad everyone had settled down quickly; he was not sure how much longer he could contain his laughter from the trouble he had caused. He found it safe to assume the warriors would not have taken kindly to his laughing, especially since they would likely have then discovered it had been he who had caused it as well.

"I take it this was your doing then?"

"Naturally. I am surprised you even have to ask, brother." Loki's laughter began to subside, and he lay back in the snow to catch his breath.

Thor's only response was to laugh. A few minutes later he went over to where most of the warriors sat huddled in the snow. When he returned, he carried a small amount of food with him. The warriors were rationing their food somewhat in case the journey proved longer than expect, however long that was to begin with. Thor took his place next to his younger brother again and offered him some of the food he had brought back.

Careful not to let the hood of his cloak fall, Loki sat up from where he lay in the snow to accept the small meal his brother offered. They sat in silence as they ate, simply looking around at their surroundings: the snowy mountains, the ice covered ground, and the warriors doing various activities during their break from the long walk.

"Do you know why we are out here?"

"For adventure of course." Thor laughed and looked at Loki as if the question had been completely absurd.

"You call this adventure?" Loki looked about at the vast nothingness around them agian. There was hardly anything in sight that warranted calling this an adventure.

"Just wait. We'll have to run into some frost giants here eventually. And that's when the fun will begin."

"But you forget, we are currently at peace with the frost giants. If we run into any, there should be no fighting."

"I don't expect this peace to last, and neither does father. Why else would he have sent a group of warriors?"

"I admit I do not know. But why have the warriors been sent anyway? What is the purpose for having come here? And do not say it is for adventure, brother. You know as well as I do, there is another reason for our coming here. Why were the warriors sent?"

Thor hesitated for a moment. Loki feared that meant either Thor truly did not know why they were there or it was something bad. "They have been sent to speak to Laufey."

Well, that got Loki's attention. He guessed this would be bad, and that was why Thor had avoided telling him why they were here. "Why?"

"I don't know. I couldn't find out why. Only that they have been sent to speak with him and then return to Asgard."

"Since when are warriors messengers?"

"Maybe father expects Laufey to take the news badly. Maybe we are witnessing the end of our so called peace here."

"We should not be here." Loki shook his head and just looked down at the snow. He tried to think of how this could possibly turn out well, but he did not even know where to begin. He had no idea what to expect from this. With luck, it really would go as simply as Thor stated it. But the likelihood of that was not good...

"You worry too much, brother."

"We shall see."

Silence once again fell between the brothers. They simply watched the warriors around them. The sun was getting low in the sky; soon it would set and leave them in darkness. They would not be resuming their walk today; they would have to wait for morning to come now.

Before long rain started to fall on the weary travelers. It was light at first, but soon it increased in intensity, drenching the already freezing warriors. The cold hadn't bothered Loki, until it started raining. That was unpleasant for everyone. This was going to be a long and miserable night.

Loki took one last look around in the pouring rain and dying light before lying down to try to sleep. The warriors looked annoyed by the rain. He figured they, like he, wished they were back in the comfort of Asgard. Thor looked a tad miserable in the freezing rain, but he still had a smile on his face through it all. All he cared about was the possibility of fighting some frost giants later; he could tolerate the bad weather now if that is what it took to get there later. Loki wanted out of the rain and to just go back home. This was hardly the fun adventure he had been promised, and he had not even wanted to be here for that. No one except Thor seemed to want to be here. Even the frost giants looked unhappy. Loki closed his eyes to try to get some sleep before another day of perpetual walking.

Wait...Something was wrong with his evaluation there. Loki shot up from where he lay and looked around again, his tired mind not yet able to catch what was wrong. The warriors looked the same as they had since they had stopped, only wet from rain and some now staring at him for his sudden movements. Thor looked at him as if he was losing his mind. The frost giants were staring at him. The...it finally clicked in his sleep clouded mind. There was a group of ten or so frost giants watching the warriors from the side of a nearby mountain. They did not move or make any sign of coming any closer; all they did was stand there and watch them. Loki dropped back to the ground where he had been lying moments before.

"We have company."

Thor sat up quickly, eyes wide. "Frost giants? Where?"

Loki indicated where the frost giants stood on the mountainside. But when Thor looked, he saw nothing but snow and ice. "You've let the cold go to your head, Loki. There is nothing but ice out there."

Upon looking again, Loki no longer saw the frost giants either. Sleepy as he was, he knew what he saw. He was not crazy. "Guess I am just tired."

"Get some sleep. You'll need it." Thor lay back down, visibly disappointed that he had seen no frost giants.

Loki lay back down in the snow, still not believeing that he had simply imagined the frost giants. They had been looking right at him...He could not have imagined that. And they knew he had seen them too; that was why they had kept their eyes on him until he turned away, and then disappeared before anyone else had seen. He lay there, acting as if nothing had happened and seemingly trying to sleep. But he could not sleep, not now. He kept a watch out for the frost giants, in case they had anything planned for the sleeping warriors. He would watch all night if he had to; he knew the frost giants were out there somewehre, and they were up to something...