Hello everyone! Thank you again to A Wild Clover- Thanks for pointing out those typing errors; I hate mistakes like that so I'll definitely go back and fix them. I'm glad you liked the last chapter! I've read a few fanfictions where Loki is still portrayed as weak even when he's an adult and that just doesn't make sense to me since we see in the movies that he is clearly not weak at all. Loki definitely grows up in this story to be as tall/strong as he is in the movies so no worries there :)
Cougar roly-poly bug- Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! :) I knew when I started this story and decided to begin with their childhood that I definitely wanted to include that movie scene it. Thank you for mentioning that!
When I finished this chapter, it was originally over 4,000 words so I found a nice place in the chapter to cut it off and take it down to a little over 2,000 words for this chapter. The next chapter is a direct continuation of this one as they were originally combined into one long chapter. So, I feel it's only fair that I double post tonight. Chapter 9 will be up shortly after this one!
"Wow, that is quite interesting what King Odin shared with both of you!" you said once Thor had finished telling the story.
Loki had recounted part of the story as well, interjecting when Thor got the facts wrong from the tale of the war or providing the facts when Thor asked for clarification.
"Do you think we will ever have to face the Frost Giants again?" Sif asked.
"It is likely that since they have committed an act of war before that they will do it again." Loki answered.
"It will be of no matter because if they do I will slay them all!" Thor roared.
"I know you definitely could." Ingrid added as she leaned closer to Thor.
Thor smiled at her, "Thank you for the confidence you have in me, Lady Ingrid."
"My pleasure, Thor." Ingrid said with a smile.
"Surely you would not face them alone, would you?" Sif asked, eyeing Ingrid.
Thor shook his head. "No, I would want to fight with my friends. There is no greater place to be with your friends than on the battlefield."
The Warriors Three raised their hands in the air and yelled, "Agreed!"
Thor patted them on the back and laughed. "Someday my friends, we will fight in many glorious battles and be victorious!"
"It is unlikely that I will be taking part in such events." You spoke with a chuckle.
"Why is that? Even Loki here will fight in battle one day." Thor said turning toward you.
Loki looked unfazed by Thor's use of the word "even" when referring to him fighting in battle. He had probably expected it in some form.
"You know that I'm not very good in combat. I'm okay with a sword, but not great." You said shyly.
You felt insecure about your lack of proficiency in combat compared to the others who really embodied the Asgardian lifestyle of excelling in combat. Loki was the only one who didn't exactly fit the mold, but even he was becoming more adept at fighting as he grew older.
"Do not doubt yourself, Lady Aurora. Women are not expected to be great warriors, but I think any woman could become one if she wanted to be." Thor said which earned a smile from Sif.
"I think I should like to become one." Sif said which earned a glare from Ingrid who no doubt disapproved.
"Should you want to become one, I shall support you." Thor said earnestly earning a thank you from Sif.
Loki turned to you and spoke next, "You need not worry. Just focus on the weapon you are best at, the sword, and harness your skills with that weapon. I also believe that you have not yet found your niche. When you find it, you will become great at it and you will see that you can perform much better in combat than you think you can."
"You really think so?" you asked him.
Loki smiled at you and nodded, "I do not think so. I know so."
"Thank you, Loki." You said as you hugged him in front of everyone.
Loki hugged you back and whispered in your ear, "You're very welcome."
"That was rather kind of you, Loki." Liv spoke up.
"It is the truth." Loki replied.
"I think so too," the other boy, named Ivar spoke, "I'm only really good with a bow. I'm not much good with anything else."
Loki smiled and gestured toward Ivar with his left hand as if to prove his point.
A scoff came from Ingrid's direction as she said, "Well, I'm not bad at anything, but I have no interest in fighting so what about me?"
"After training ends you'll do what most of the women do. You won't be fighting any longer unless you wanted to." Ivar said to her.
You realized that this was probably the first time Ingrid had ever felt out of place, like she didn't quite belong. For the first time, you felt more comfortable in a group than she did. You hoped that you would get to witness it again one day.
"I'm not just like all the other women though." Ingrid huffed.
"That you aren't." Fandral said as he winked at her.
Volstagg punched Fandral in the arm as you just rolled your eyes. It was typical of Fandral to flirt with girls. You were just glad he had appeared to have given up on you after the day he had been tricked by Loki.
Ingrid smiled at Fandral and flipped her long, silvery blonde hair over her shoulder. You noticed that Hogun and Loki looked moderately uncomfortable and Sif did not appear to be amused. Thor and Volstagg were grinning, however. Ivar and Liv were both staring at their feet.
Desperate to break the awkward silence that was pervading the air, you asked, "We have training relatively soon, do we not?"
"Indeed! That we do, Lady Aurora. Perhaps we should make our way over to the arena so that we are not late. Vali would not take too kindly to our tardiness." Thor announced as he stood up.
Everyone else followed suit arriving at the arena moments before Vali did and some other people in the class.
"Good afternoon, everyone! Today, I have something special planned for you all." Vali greeted the class.
You groaned. "I don't like the sound of 'special'."
Loki chuckled. "Special is often a synonym for 'difficult' which means that I would have to agree with you on not liking where this is most likely going."
"Today, I have planned to divide you each into groups and send you on a mock mission. It is important for me to emphasize that this mission is not real and will not put you in any actual danger. It is merely a simulation or practice run, if you will, of what it will be like when you leave training for actual battle." Vali elaborated.
You sighed and looked lazily at Loki. "Difficult indeed."
Loki offered you a smile and squeezed your hand in encouragement.
You turned your attention back to Vali as Loki glanced over at Fandral who was eyeing him as well. You noticed this and were not oblivious to the tension between them. You hoped for Loki's sake that they were not on the same team.
"Since there are fifteen of you here, I will divide you each into groups of five. I have already chosen your team so I do not want to hear any complaints; it is fixed." Vali said firmly pointing a finger at the cluster of us on the benches.
We nodded our understanding and Vali announced the teams.
"Group one is Liv, Agmund, Canute, Kari, and Gunner. All of you please stand to the left." Vali said gesturing to where he wanted them to go.
You didn't know how this mission was going to work, if the winning team was rewarded and the losing teams punished, or if only the last place team was punished, if it was even a competition at all. Liv wasn't a great addition to her team; she was competent but possessed no extraordinary skills. Agmund was the best swordsman in the class so he certainly posed a threat. Canute was very good at setting traps so he could also prove to be a problem. Kari was very timid and excelled at making herself difficult to find. You weren't sure how that would play out in the mission. Gunner was a brawny kid which made him pretty intimidating.
"Next is group two." Vali spoke.
You glanced at who was remaining. You hoped that you were not on a team with Fandral or Ingrid. You also hoped that you were on a team with Loki.
"Group two is made up of Ivar, Aurora…" Vali began as you smiled at Ivar- you liked him well enough to be happy to have him on your team.
"Ingrid…" Vali said which immediately caused your smile to fade.
"Ragnvald, and Loki. Group two please stand in the middle here." Vali gestured to the place in the arena next to where group one was standing in the dirt.
"At least we're in the same group." Loki said to you as the both of you made your way over to stand with the rest of your group.
"Thank the gods for that. I don't know how I'm going to tolerate having Ingrid on our team. I know that sounds really mean, but honestly, you know how she irritates me." You said.
Loki looked thoughtful for a moment. "At least she isn't useless though."
You sighed. "I guess you're right. She is actually good whereas I'm the most useless person on this team."
"Hey," Loki turned to you fixing his gaze on you, "don't say that about yourself. You aren't useless and even if everyone else thinks you are, which they don't because I checked, you're the most important person to me in this group."
You smiled at Loki before looking at him confused. "What do you mean you checked?"
Loki simply tapped his temple twice and smiled.
"Loki!" You exclaimed as you lightly pushed him in jest.
Loki laughed and stumbled slightly. "I couldn't resist!"
"Well, you better start learning how to resist the urge to peek into people's minds. One of these days you aren't going to like what you find!" you warned.
Loki shrugged. "Perhaps, but I think I'll manage."
You shook your head as Vali didn't bother to list the names of those remaining, he just instructed them to congregate to the right of your team. You had to admit that the team of Thor, Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun looked pretty unfair. Yet, since Vali made it clear that he wanted no objections about the teams, you kept your mouth shut.
"I'm sure that you are all wondering what sort of mission this will be," Vali began, "and I will tell you now that it involves you all going into the forest here."
"Into the forest?" Ingrid scrunched her nose.
"Yes, is there a problem with that, Lady Ingrid?" Vali asked.
"Well, yes, it's dark and creepy in there. Plus, there are all kinds of nasty creatures in there." Ingrid said with a whiny tinge in her voice.
"Firstly, it is only the afternoon so it will not be too dark in there. Secondly, while the creatures would certainly not take kindly to being called nasty, none of them will hurt you." Vali said.
"How do you know they won't hurt us though?" Ingrid asked, obviously not convinced.
Vali sighed. "The creatures will not hurt you because I have specifically spoken to Heimdall about this mock mission and asked him to pay extra close attention to what is going on during it. If he sees anyone is in immediate danger, he will handle the matter."
"If you say so." Ingrid rolled her eyes.
Vali opened his mouth to chastise her for her poor manners, but decided he didn't have the energy to bicker with an overly confident daughter of Freya. Instead he continued talking about what the mission entailed, "Each group will have a base to convene in and discuss strategy. It is up to your team to be mindful of other teams that might be spying on you in an attempt to discover your plans. Your bases will be less than a half mile from the entrance to the forest. The goal of this is mission is to navigate through the forest using your skills and a map to reach the forest's center. There, you will find a clue that will tell you where you must go to the find the object I have sent you out to find. You will know what it is when you see it for it does not normally exist in a forest."
"That sounds confusing." Thor said with a frown.
"Do not worry Thor, we will find whatever it is and win!" Volstagg said as he patted his friend on the back.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that Volstagg!" Gunner spoke.
"No, my group is going to win because I want to get out of the forest as quickly as possible so we're going to find it first!" Ingrid added.
"Healthy competition, this is good!" Vali laughed.
"Healthy?" you asked leaning toward Loki's ear, "I feel sick."
Loki laughed and said back to you, "Try to quell your nerves. All will be alright."
"I hope so." You muttered nervously.
"It will be." Loki said as Vali handed a member from each group a map.
"If it's not, I blame you." You glared at Loki in mock seriousness as you clutched the map Vali had handed you.
"Oooh, I'm positively frightened at the prospect of what you might do to me." Loki said as he put his hands up.
"Shut up." You laughed as you lightly pushed him.
"Okay everyone, let's start walking toward the entrance to the forest." Vali said as you all began the walk to where the mock mission would take place.