Hey All! Thanks for the reviews! They were pleasant! :) As requested, I have chapter two up and ready to read.
Thor and Loki sat next to each other, looking at their feet dangling from the tree branch. The two boys were sitting on one of the largest trees in the castle garden. Both of them were grinning as they illuminated with pride. It had taken them nearly two hours to climb up the tree. The length of time to do so was due to the fact they made this attempt determined to go without the aid of a ladder. "Wow!" Thor laughed, "I never knew how much you could see from up here!"
"And to think that this isn't even outside the palace walls…" Loki smiled.
"We should make this a secret hideout!" Thor shouted.
"How would we do that?"
"We could hallow out the inside and-"
"Where would we put the insides?"
Thor had to think for a moment, staring intently at his small feet. His eyes widened when he finally thought of an idea. "We could dig a really big hole and bury them!" He grinned.
Loki stared at his brother strangely as he tried to decide if the idea was a good one or if he should just outright laugh.
"What are you two doing up there?" A small voice shouted from below.
Both boys nearly fell off the thick branch from the unexpected shock. Loki had to seize hold of the tree's massive trunk and Thor had to seize hold of Loki in order not to fall. They both looked down, breathing heavily, to find a young Sif staring straight at them.
"Nothing," The two boys sang in unison.
"I don't believe you!" Sif scowled.
"So?" Thor shouted, "Even if we were doing something, we would not tell you!"
"And why not?" Sif demanded.
Thor looked at Loki for an answer, but only brought disappointment when his brother only shrugged his shoulders. "Because you're a girl!" Thor shouted quickly.
Loki's head shot back and looked at the blonde boy. "What kind of reason is that?" He whispered.
Thor shot his shoulders up in the air briefly.
Sif's mouth dropped open slightly. Her face turned a bright shade of pink. "What kind of reason is that?" She screamed.
"It's a good reason!"
"No it's not!"
"It's a good enough reason until I can come up with something better!"
Loki rubbed his eyes with his right hand and shook his head, sighing.
"I'm coming up there!" Sif shouted.
The two boys looked at each other, their eyes wide with horror. They looked back at the ground and found that Sif had found decent footing on the rigid bark. She began to climb the thick tree, her white dress scraping against the tree's thorny skin. Loki and Thor watched Sif climb fluidly upwards, despite her attire.
Loki looked at his elder brother, his eyes half open and inhaling deeply. "How is it that she is making it up here in a fraction of the time it took us?"
Thor shook his head slowly, "If only I knew…wow, she's really good."
When Sif came near the two princes, she reached out to grab the branch, but due to a miscalculation on her part, she missed and grabbed Loki by the cloth around his leg instead. The younger prince let out a yelp and instinctively shook his leg. This caused her to lose her grip on Loki and she quickly reached out, wrapping her hands tightly around Thor's leg. Thor, having little clue what was going on, lost his balance and fell. He had made the attempt to grasp for the branch, but missed and grabbed his brother's foot instead. Loki, by this point, only had one hand that was keeping all three of them away from horrible trip back to the ground. Loki bit his lower lip as he tried to swing his free hand back around the branch, but the weight of both Thor and Sif proved to be too much as the young prince lost his grip.
Odin stared at his two sons and their friend. All three children had broken something. Loki's left hand had been bandaged, Sif's right leg had been bandaged, and Thor's right arm had been bandaged. Odin, at this moment, was not a king, he was a father. A very frustrated father. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, rubbing it thoroughly, and sighed. "And which one of you wants to explain to me how all three of you managed to wound yourselves out in the garden?"