Summary: The war between Jotunheim and Asgard draws to a close, but thanks to a horrible twist of Fate (or perhaps not), the nameless runt of Laufey-King is not discovered by Odin and so begins a remarkable journey of life that should not have been. Jotun!Loki AU. Set pre-/during-/after Thor/Avengers Assemble. MCU-verse only.
Warnings: ANGST! Loki-whump! Language, adult situations, violence, child abuse, dub-con, sexual assault (also of a minor), substance abuse, one abortion scene (sort of), slavery, sex trade (maybe), some mild original character/Loki M/M pairings.
Comments: This is not a slash fic. Sorry. It's Loki-centric, although I definitely show the rest of the Avengers and etc. Please review! Constructive criticism welcome.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers. Marvel owns it. I do not get paid for this piece of work. Sadly, but understandably. LOL.
What happens when you are tutoring a kid and reading "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen with him as well as marathoning Stargate SG-1...
I'm finding that writing this stuff is so hard because I wanna go in detail and show how Loki did stuff on Sleen, and yet I also wanna move forward the plot a little and get him closer to really fun stuff I've got planned. ARRRGHHH! So yeah. There's a lot of side stories that I could write to flesh out this epic. Which is great, right? When it's over, there's stuff I can add, which you guys can enjoy. But... meanwhile, I need to be careful I'm not rushing things – but I'm not killing your interest or the pace of the plot. .
I hope you guys enjoy this chappie regardless.
PULSARS! (no, not really. But gosh, I love pulsars...)
Distortions In Time
[Bitter Desolation, Incandescent Harmony]
Chapter 71
Loki: The Low Road VI
Drip, drip, drip, drip... drip... drip... drip...
Thick beads of pearlescent water fell in slow monotonous rhythm as rain, falling from unseen grey skies, fell with unrelenting beat onto the broad flat leaves of the canopy and then slid downward, bending the slick green foliage, releasing a slower shower of rain on the unhappy creatures below. It was a wet world, hot and humid and sticky and damp, and inhabited by a variety of insects and birds and animals, all of them colourful and exotic and dangerous in their own right: small black bugs dotted with the colours of the rainbow, large flying things with thick, long black bodies and six legs which buzzed and hovered above foul-smelling flowers, whining gnat-like flies, and the long-tongued ant-eating goose-like birds which waddled about slowly from mound to mound. Far off the wail of cats and other more vicious animals, the rising and falling snarls and yelps offered little comfort for the stranded traveller.
A dark forest, brilliant yet gloomy with occasional shafts of grey light which filtered down through the canopy of broad green leaves overhead, the jungle planet's forest floor was nothing but a wilderness as far as the eye could see. Fronds and flowers, great trunks and slender saplings, tender shoots and thick grasses, spreading moss and climbing ivy obscured the loamy soil, making passage slow and difficult. The trees were vast, vast and old, climbing up as it were to the stars, and their trunks, at times so wide one could carve a house into its interior quite easily, spoke of a long life of peace and growth. If one could climb such a specimen and push one's way beyond the insect-populated understory, one would be able to look across a sea of broad leaves interspersed with giant pollen trees, towering above the forest canopy.
One would see a blue sky, bright sunlight, a sunlit land, and below, another world, a dark, dim, wet realm.
This is the Planet of the Jungle-Sea. This is the Prison Planet of the Karona'as Judges.
This is Jela.
[...across the spaces...]
[...and time...]
[...which passes with each...]
[...counted by the stars...]
[...silent sentinels of time...]
Back to the slick-smooth bark of a grand pollen-tree, Loki sat, head resting upon his now soil-stained blue forearms crossed over equally the equally muddy knees of his orange and blue prison garb. Above him, a leaf shifted and quivered, releasing its small burden of rainwater as it tipped downward, splashing and sprinkling down on the lower plant-life – and Loki's unresponsive head. Hunching forward further, the Jotunn attempted to ignore the deluge which soaked his white undershirt, plastering it to his thin frame.
He needed to think. He needed to think like he had never done before.
How... The exiled Prince wondered, not for the first time in his life. How did it come to this?
[...such light reminds those who would look...]
[...we are not...]
[...we are not...]
[...are not...]
Loki's decision to remain on Sleen had not upset the Captain as much as he had first anticipated. Standing before the grizzled old spacer and noting how the Captain was clearly imbibing while on duty yet again, Loki felt even more resolved than ever to remain on Sleen and take his chances with another crew. Half of the crew is spacked out on spacer's dust or some other Hel-forsaken drug, Loki shivered, led by an incompetent fool with an expensive taste for wine and women. Captain Lavyr deserves his crew in a way... a fair punishment for criminal leniency and a lack of competence.
With a blank face revealing none of his distaste, Loki watched the old Captain carefully. Lavyr shuffled a few data-flimsies before him in an absent-minded kind of way and grunted noncommittally.
"I know this will leave you short-handed-"
"Hmph. I have two crew members in the brig, ten of a mind to gut the other two and now you want off the boat..." Captain Lavyr shook his head. "I should have guessed."
Yes, Loki agreed caustically. You should have been able to foretell your own doom, judging by the signs.
"Two members in the brig?" Loki asked instead, politely and with an added note of genuine concern the better to ease his exit. Ha. "The ones who submerged?"
"Ilo'or? Konya? No, no... no. That would be Shova and Zeni."
"Shova and Zeni." Loki repeated, bringing to mind a slight Half-Breed and a shifty-eyed Skrull.
"Huh. They were on guard duty, weren't they?" Captain Lavyr snorted in disgust. "Who do you think got a nice fat payment from the Sunners for turning a blind eye while they raided the ship?"
"They probably gave in – for self-defense," Loki pointed out, while wondering why he was suddenly mediating for two fellow crew mates for whom he had no real care. "After all, two could hardly stand up to a group of Sunners, however ill-equipped they must have been-"
"Sunners have their own tech weaponry-"
"Then it makes more sense that those two would just give in to save their skins."
"Well, they were careless. Lounging about with the ramp down and all. Criminally careless," the Captain spat, his wrinkled frown even more deeply engrained into his hard face. "No. They were paid off. We found their stash – which will go toward our losses somewhat."
Loki did not have much to say in reply to the seemingly overwhelming evidence. With diplomatic adroitness, he carefully returned to his initial topic. Three papers were signed, his traveller's booklet and card updated by the Captain and with that, Loki left to pack and say farewell to the few whom he had come to tolerate. Quite a few enquired after Loki's intentions, to which he had replied with appropriate vagueness. The Fen'chi Galaxy, he said, was his original destination and remained so. Perhaps another ship headed there would pass by Sleen.
Perhaps, they had agreed with indifferent shrugs. Asta gave Loki a hard look before parting with a few words of advice. Be warned. Few ships which visit Sleen hold the legality of the Spashta – and many pirate or smuggler crews wander the far reaches of the wilds of the Mye'Hyoi Peyt, out of the jurisdiction of Skrull or Chitauri or Kree law. Loki nodded and reassured her that he would take care.
And what will you do around a backwater planet such as this? She asked, looking down the ramp at the gently swaying trees, the white sand and the blue-green crystal-clear waters break against the store underneath a brisk ocean breeze. Loki had shrugged and smiled crookedly. He would find something to do.
What I will do, he mused, is anyone's guess, but returning to Kolm will solve nothing and only delay me further, perhaps. Jotunheim, Asgard... Moving forward is the only option.
Moving forward.
Forward.
[...such light...]
[...reminds those who would look...]
The night of Sleen, on clear days, was filled a vista of soft light as the uncountable fields of stars spread before the lone traveller as he lay on a thin mat upon the flat sand close by the gently lapping waves of Sleen's great ocean. The ocean seemed as unending as the galaxy displayed before him. Observation over the months stay had allowed the quiet visitor to Sleen to map out the portion of the sky as seen by his bit of beach.
What a star-filled sky it was! Filled with thin pin-pricks of light and the larger glowing moons and planets which revolved with Sleen about its own sun, the night brought back to the observer the overwhelming nature of life, of the universe – and the underwhelming power of himself. Out there, among the stars swarmed armies and city-planets and empires and other natural phenomena which he had studied for so long within the Mage's Academy. The life cycles of the suns, the muthr'a'ginnung (here known as the taishu), the spinning arms of the dancing, dying stars and the deadly paths of light from other collapsing celestial entities. All of them gifted with life and for those who would hear, with a song.
Here, in the stillness of the Sleenian nights, he could hear them calling out across the voids of space. He could hear their singing, beginning and ending – a comforting thing, in its own way.
And in the day, when the stars disappeared into the blaze of the overhead sun, Loki worked alongside the Sunners. It was a small thing, he thought, to aid them undo the damage which the crew of the Spashta had wrought. Drugs, he learned, could easily be introduced into the Sunner's breeding ground and into the youngling's pools in which they first grew. Drugs such as one's supplied to the Trenchers.
The newcomer knew that his poor attempts at mediation between the Sunners and Trenchers within that region would probably not last beyond his stay. Still, he spoke with both parties under the careful watch of the local Sunner lord and offered what advice he could, pushing aside the debilitating regret which rose even now at times such as these. What could have been, let it come to fruit here, he hoped as the two species learned the meaning of treaty and parley. Perhaps, one day, some kind of peace will be brokered.
After such days, he would awake, feeling even more reinvigorated than usual. The colour of his skin, he discovered, could hold the pale white and green eyes of his Asgardian colouration for longer periods of time if he wished, unless otherwise taxed.
Breathing in and out, taking in the fresh sea air and facing each day with renewed optimism, he waited. He waited – and he watched.
[...such light reminds those who would look...]
[...we are not...]
[...we are not alone...]
Time was relative on Sleen, but by his own time, Loki spent three months on the water planet before finding a suitable ship headed toward the Fen'chi Galaxy. It was called the Kyl'la, after some kind of horned beast on Troax, according to the hard-eyed, crafty looking Skrull who captained her. She was fast and she was expected to make a few stops beforehand, but the Fen'chi Galaxy was laid in on the chart-books this time around.
Loki, offering his services, was reluctantly accepted (with a caveat or two, such as the fact that he would have to bunk in the hold) and before long, after two weeks rest, the Kyl'la returned to the skies with little to no incident thanks to the tyrannical rule of its Captain, Nalor. As warned, the Kyl'la stopped by an agricultural farm world, emptying its hold of its merchandise – fish and other seafood and fauna and medicines from Kolm and metals from some other mining planets. What will the next cargo be? Loki had wondered as the ship ascended and darted off on its hyper-drive engines to it's next destination.
When he gazed out of the view screen from his guard position by the left stern windows, Loki had a feeling he knew.
The world before him was falling apart. Just watching the jets of steam and ash and atmosphere vent outward to space, drifting away and then spiralling toward a circle of nothingness, the grand blackness of a Muthr'a'Ginnung, Loki twitched. Images of Jotunheim, the remnants of his nightmares and the evidence of his own handiwork which he had seen firsthand rose in his mind. Several small pods were drifting toward the Kyl'la and attaching one by one to its side-hatches. We are taking on refugees, Loki thought. Refugees of such a world would pay anything for a ride to salvation, to safety.
After his off-duty shift, which was spent mostly sleeping and eating, Loki took his next job, that of patrolling the lower decks where the new passengers were being kept in the same manner as he. The newest crew member of the Kylla was to keep an eye on them and ensure that they were taken care of. Loki had nodded, swivelled about and marched off on his new assignment. However, once faced with the folk within the hold, Loki felt a wave of uncertainty sweep over him.
The hold which had once been silent, a perfect spot for him to bunk down was now occupied by a sweaty, foul-mouthed uncouth lot of beings. Barely sentient if one goes by their education and culture. Judging by the haphazard fashions, the colourful dialects (and the variety thereof), the stories being swapped between the two other guards and the passengers, and the various suspect packages and bags, Loki realized that he was more or less faced with the criminal element most often found in the corners of Realms and galaxies.
Desperate folk, he reminded himself, desperate measures to survive. You are one to judge, Loki.
Still, it left him uneasy. With thoughts of revolt dancing about in his head, Loki rescued his things from a particularly light-fingered Half-Breed, kept careful watch of his bedding and sleeping area, bandied easy words with those who shouted out to him and ensured that any malcontents were swiftly seen to. Much of the night was spent in a fitful sleep with the sick feeling that he was being watched for any sign of weakness. It was unnerving and exhausting to say the least. Loki hoped that the journey would be brief.
It was.
It ended on his fourth watch, yet again amongst the raucous passengers. It ended with a short ascent to an unnamed world. A brief stop, the Captain reassured them. They would not even land.
Everyone had complained a little, but then attentions shifted back to the various gambling games currently in progress and conversations and rumour-mongering among more politically savvy individuals who had interest in the movements of the Skrull and the Kree. An alarming recurrence of the Chitauri cropped up in the conversations as well. The Kyl'la bucked as it hit the atmosphere and the turbulence. More grumbling rose and then the ship stabilized as its grav generators shifted to make compensation for the new tilt of the ship.
Then there was silence.
A brief stop, the Captain had reassured them. They would not even land.
The captain kept his promise. Without even touching down, the bottom flooring of hold gave way, releasing its cargo of passengers, including Loki onto a swathe of green grass and loamy muddy soil. Bruised and aching and winded from the short yet sudden fall, Loki and the now angry beings about him struggled to their feet cursing and yelling and attempting to jump and latch onto the slowly closing doors of the hold. Loki stood unmoved in the midst of them, gazing upward, with a mind filled with all of the curse words he had learned through the long years of servitude.
Cold and unmoving, the Kyl'la moved onward and upward inevitably. Unstoppable. Standing there, heads all raised in shock and disbelief, the entire group stared upward watching as the dark black and green hull of the ship disappeared behind lowering grey clouds. Shock gave way to anger and shouts, curses and clenched fists and hoarse voices rose to the skies with no response. After a short while, fatigue set in and their shouts abated. They waited for a few minutes more and when it became readily apparent that this was in fact no joke, everyone looked about numbly, sizing each other up and then slowly shuffling to the belongings now scattered about amongst them on the wet ground.
Loki recovered his three grey blanket-bed roll, his small black foam pillow and his pack and then looked about, realizing that none of them had far to go, for the hillock upon which they had fallen was, at the base, surrounded by an impossibly high black fence, laced about with ominous looking wiring. Judging by the hum and crackle in the air, the entire fence was electrified.
"A prison," he finally managed to get out.
"Yuh think?" spat a particularly angry-looking Centaurion, its blue fists quivering with barely controlled anger. "The oma'auzha left us on an auzha prison planet. Probably got a nice bonus for bringing us all in."
"But... I did not do anything-"
"Hey. Folks will pay for anything," a Skrull sighed. "The jailors get a commission dependent on how many heads they got. Such kind of a system works well enough on some worlds with smaller prisons, but for prison planets – with such resources for large amounts of folk... who cares if one or two aren't really there for the right reasons. Am I right – or am I right?"
"This is a mistake," Loki repeated in shock and rising anger. "I cannot be-"
"They are coming," someone else said, started forward and, approaching a phalanx of Stone People, began to harangue the guards angrily.
Loki caught something about laws and rights, but the tirade was ended with a swift shock from the electro-stave of the commanding officer. Or who Loki thought was the commanding officer, judging by the neater clothing and glinting, shining badge. In the face of such a callous response on the part of the guards, everyone fell silent, hanging back warily and eyeing their captors with renewed respect. At a sharp shout, the riff-raff shuffled sullenly into a line, the slower or recalcitrant ones brutally shoved, jabbed or electrified into submission.
Mouth shut in a hard line, Loki followed the orders, red eyes glinting, and more than ever prepared to speak on his defence if such a moment was allowed him. No such opportunity arose as each of them were slowly let into a door, one by one. Loki, on his turn, found himself led down a long grey passageway carved out of heavy rock and then to a small room where he was forced to strip before three heavily armed guards who stared down at him, unmoved by his complaints and demands. When the metal tip of the electrostave rose to his chin and forced it upward in silent threat, Loki fell silent again and with jerky movement removed his clothing and his few weapons and watched as all of his belongings were packed away into a non-descript metal container which was billeted and scanned with a card now bearing his name and face.
With more grunts and short curses, Loki was lead into another room where two Troaxian scientists waited, mechanical devices trailing thin wires in hand. A databank was accessed and data input swiftly as a yellow beam of light trailed up and down his body, cataloguing, no doubt, his size, height and other important information. There, his ear lobe was clipped and forced down unceremoniously onto a cold metal table another tracking device (he supposed) was injected into his right buttock. Biting back a yelp, Loki dug his dark fingernails into his blue palm and cursed his captors' ancestors and Captain Nalor. Pulled upward and jerked to his feet, he was forced forward without further comment. As he left the room, he caught sight of the prisoner detail form now filled out with only a number attached for identification. No one, apparently, wished to know his name.
The anonymity of the petty criminal, he supposed.
The electrostave then, once again, poked him at the base of his spine, nudging him forward through the far door and down yet another long undecorated passage. Along his back, up and down his spine and about his neck, tension, born of anger and humiliation, coiled. Gritting his teeth and willing himself fiercely to keep his chin up, his eyes straightforward, Loki endured a brief stop in an incredibly uncomfortable decontamination chamber before moving onward to yet another blank, spartan jail-like room filled with benches, pale-faced, bored-looking Half-Breed who handed him another container within which he found a white undershirt which fit him fairly well, although the accompanying full-body orange and sky-blue prisoner's suit did not. It fit him a little too loosely for his liking and pulled at the ankles a little. He looked down at his new attire distastefully, but said nothing, knowing all too well that prudence was the better part of valour.
Inside the container given him as another pack, which he was given no time to look through. Instead, he was once again shoved forward through another door, another hallway and then outside to the edge of what looked like a thick forest the like of which Loki had never seen before except in a few books on Asgard and Vanaheim. A kind of jungle, an endless wilderness, he thought with a shiver.
Loki looked about. He was at the final stop, apparently. The metallic gate opened and he stepped through. It clanged shut behind him with finality. He sighed and looked about. A few of the others lurked about the edges of the forest. Obviously waiting for some friend to join them, Loki mused. For a few seconds, he contemplated following suit but then, remembering the choices he had within that group, Loki decided to move onward.
Surely, he thought, there are others on the planet such as I. Or at the very least, smarter folk who could figure out some way to escape. Somewhere, somewhere. Surely...
With that thought, Loki quickly checked the survival kit pack had given him (liquified plaster, a high-tech superfine metalloid rope, a hand-held beacon-lamp, a few bottles of some sort of spray, a blanket, a small rolled hammock, a spare set of clothing, another smaller metal lighter, an intricate looking multifunction tool and several ration bars) and then made his way down the path and disappeared into the forest. He did not look back.
-0-0-0-
The jungle was a dim, muffled place. After a short space of time, the bright sunlight at the edges of the thick jungle-forest faded and eventually disappeared, dowsed by the thick foliage overhead, creating a dim underworld lit only by occasional shafts of light which filtered down thinly and weakly from far above. The only clue the sun still sailed through the sky. What night-time would bring, Loki could only imagine, but he kept his feet going, hoping to put some distance between his unwelcome compatriots and himself.
At some point, he thought, gazing up at the branch-less giants of trees rising above his head, I will have to make for myself a camp, properly safe so I may gain some kind of rest. Loki swatted at a buzzing black and orange insect which looked rather similar to an Asgardian fly. It buzzed irritatingly about his head and neck as he made his way further down the slowly disappearing trail into the brush. Looking out for any branches he could reach with the small coil of superfine metallic rope, Loki continued through the undergrowth, eyes trained upward. A tickling on his neck distracted him. He clapped his hand absently against his neck and, drawing his away his fingers, glanced down to see the body of the orange-speckled black fly smeared on his hand. With a short curse, he wiped his hand off on the thigh pocket of his suit and continued onward.
Eventually, the lone traveller reached the edge of a ridge. By that time, he was not only tired and hungry, but also very aware of the setting sun. Standing on the edge of a rocky escarpment and looking down across a seemingly endless expanse of dense jungle-forest, Loki felt only weariness and hopelessness.
Where to start? What to do? There was a thundering, constant rumble drifting from the east and a hint of freshness and water spray. At the thought of fresh water and some relief from the heat, Loki made his way along the edge with the sun on his back. He trudged forward until tiny rivulets and streams began to trickle past his boots, making his path even more treacherously slippery than before. Keeping well to firmer ground, Loki forced his way past until he reached a small river running with clear, sparkling water over the edge of the escarpment and down in a thin spray of waterfall. Bending forward, Loki slipped off the pack's straps and, cupping the water in his hands, took a careful sip. It was fresh and cold and before he knew it, he was dowsing himself in the water, letting the refreshing flow drift over his hands, his arms up to the elbows and his face.
After a few moments of drinking, revelling in the cold and washing away the sweat and dirt which had no doubt accumulated on his face, hands and neck, Loki sat back on his heels and considered his options. A few younger pollen trees grew on the edge of the escarpment, but even if he did manage to climb one, the branches which lifted upwards to the sky on flimsy looking stalks did not seem strong enough to bear his weight. Other trees hung with thick fruit and did not look any safer.
The third kind of tree grew relatively lower to the ground, spreading three or four main boughs outward before curling gently upward into a variety of other branches. More accessible, Loki thought, following the river inward a little until he rediscovered another of the black and purple trees in question. It had five boughs, two set together quite nicely for him to rig his hammock securely. Placing his kit and pack underneath his head and wrapping his blanket about him, Loki ate half of one of the nutritional ration bar and then fell into uneasy sleep.
In his dreams, he was running through the forest. Branches and brambles reached out and snagged against his arms and legs and face, seemingly attempting to restrain him in his headlong rush into the dark. Yet, he could not stop running. He could never stop running. He could hear them. He could hear them behind him - the howl of the wolves. The wolves, he chastised himself, are your friends. They are your family. When he came to a shuddering stop before a slowly widening Eybjarg, the dark side of him sneered.
They were your friends, Loki.
They were.
-0-0-0-
Morning dawned only a little cool yet still dewy, promising the heat and humidity Loki had been forced to endure the day previous. After finishing the rest of the nutrient bar he had started the night before, Loki repacked his meagre, yet precious possessions and contemplated his options. After a moments thought, Loki decided to continue with his first course of action – finding a river and following it to a fair site where he would make a base and dig in until he was retrieved or released. This meant carefully climbing down the escarpment, easier thought of than done.
Walking along the edge carefully, Loki eyed the rough crags and the sharp edges with misgivings. Eventually, he reached a deep crevice, wide enough for a man to sit in, more or less, and travelling straight down the face of the cliff. An old waterfall now diverted, he wondered. Or the rock here became weak, being more liable to disintegrate due to its sedimentary nature... Peering down into its murky depths, Loki considered his options and then, after giving a half huff of annoyance, he slipped in, feet first. Planting the black prison boots given to him against the far wall, Loki forced his legs to straighten which allowed him to prop himself up quite nicely against the opposite cliff face. Shifting his left foot downward experimentally and then his right, Loki paused before also allowing his back to squirm slowly down the rough cliff. It was slow going with his pack clasped before him, but eventually, the bright sunlight disappeared once again into a soft green light before slowly sinking into the darker green and finally very dim light more common on the forest floors of jungles.
Watching the slick surfaces of the pollen trees continue past him and the boughs of the other jewel-fruit bearing giant grass-like trees, Loki kept a weather eye out for the ground. When the lowest understory gave way to the warm darkness of the underbrush, Loki heaved a sigh. He could see the familiar bunches of shrubbery, mosses, flowers and the bark-covered trees in the distance. There too was also the familiar swarm of insects and slithering things and scaly reptiles and other shy creatures which darted about in the brush and overhead in the boughs of the trees.
Finally, the exiled Prince found solid ground and straightening his now stiff back with a groan, Loki stretched, slung his pack onto his back and made his way down a gentle slope populated with tall slender trees (of the jewel-fruit variety) and over toward the sound of the rumble of the waterfalls. Once he located the white foam and light mist spray of the falls, Loki sighed with relief, set his pack carefully in a covered place, folded his uniform, boots and underclothing on top of his pack and then made his way over to the rocks and slipped into the cool water.
Sighing with relief from the heat oppressive to his native body temperature, Loki allowed the clear river's waters to flow over his head as he dove down deep, red eyes wide open at the sight of the busy world underneath the foaming white waves. About him, a cloud of fish parted, darting away from the foreign blue form making its way long the bottom. As Loki rose for air, he relaxed at the sensation of the water running through his long black hair, slicking it back and trickling off his shoulders and back. He was, for the moment, a creature of the sea.
Below the glittering surface, against his legs, the fish brushed unaware of his more predatory interests. Fish for breakfast, he thought, remembering Elska and Hluti. Raw fish for breakfast. The first time in a long time...
With those memories welling up within him, Loki dove underwater again allowing the sadness and regret to roll off of him like water off a duck's back. That is the past, he clenched his teeth and focused his attention on the fish before him. This is the now. There is only the now.
After the half-breakfast, half-luncheon of fish, Loki caught two more, gutted them and laid them on top of a small fire he built, the better to roast them. While waiting for the cooking to finish, after getting dressed again, this time with his suit only pulled on half-way, leaving the torso and arms wrapped and knotted about his waist, Loki whittled out a primitive spear out of a spare bit of wood which he had pulled off a sapling tree. The multifunctional tool which had a short knife on it was a useful tool – but the greenness of the wood did not inspire Loki with much confidence as to the viability of his spear. However, hardening the wood carefully in the embers of his fire did appear to work.
Later, he thought, I will make a sharp hatchet and get some older wood and furnish myself with better weapons. Perhaps, he grinned to himself, I will even manage some throwing knives – or a bow and arrow. That would be more useful for hunting or self-defence.
Once his spear was finished, looking rather unfinished and unrefined, the fish well-cooked, his pack re-organized and everything readied, Loki followed the river which spilled out of the small lake by the waterfall's bottom. Making his way along, the exiled Prince thought of what he would need for another safe night's rest. Despite the fact that he had managed to refresh himself and find a steady source of food, Loki found it difficult to remain optimistic, faced as he was with a grim future of life on a largely uncivilized, undeveloped prison planet.
How will I escape? How long will I be detained here? What will they have written up about me? What lies have they invented? Who would stand for my case even I did demand legal action? Do Fa- Does Odin and Mother know? Can Heimdall see me? If he were to see me, would he even tell Odin, thinking I am nothing but a lowly Jotun now? Would he tell the Court and the Academy the truth?
As the sky overhead clouded and deepened into a smudgy purple-grey, so did Loki's mood sour. Fat drops of rain began to fall and instinctively Loki moved into the relatively dry coverage further into the forest. His mood began to sour further as he found himself getting more damp and sticky, his white undershirt clinging to his back like a second skin. When a leaf from above shuddered without warning and released a bucketful of water upon him and his pack, Loki swore long and fluently into the silent forest, scaring away the small creatures hunting and foraging in the greenery.
Carefully looking inside, Loki discovered that most of his possessions had remained dry thanks to the waterproofed nature of the rucksack. However, this did not entirely change the discomfort he felt, now more or less soaked from head to toe. With a sigh, he sank back down onto the great roots of a tree, wedged his pack carefully into a lower nook and sat in despondency as he contemplated his options.
He slumped there, head resting upon his now soil-stained blue forearms crossed over equally the equally muddy knees of his space suit. Above him, a leaf shifted and quivered, releasing its small burden of rainwater as it tipped downward, splashing and sprinkling down on the lower plant-life – and Loki's unresponsive head. Hunching forward further, the Jotunn attempted to ignore the deluge. It was difficult.
He needed to think. He needed to think like he had never done before.
Loki asked himself how it had come to this, how he had ended up on such a Norn-forsaken planet. What paths have led me here? Why am I here? How could I have ended up here?
Casting his mind back to a seemingly long-forgotten time of comfort and peace within the courts of Asgard, Loki considered all of the trials and tribulations he had endured. This is not as terrible as Jotunheim, he reminded himself. Cold comfort, Loki, but comfort none the less. To think that the life within Asgard had seemed so difficult...
Loki smiled sadly at the memories of his first days upon arriving Asgard. The heat, the sun, the discomfort, the differentness of life. He had found happiness of a kind and as he gathered experience and power within the realm of the Mage's Academy, Loki had thought himself home. My adoption seemed like the height of what any being could want, what any unwanted creature would dream of... yet, Loki mused, in the end, there were other heights to conquer, it seemed. As if my heart is ever hungry, ever wanting...
So hungry, whispered that dark side of him. You will never find happiness anywhere, because you know the truth and you hide it and you hide from it and you never wish to face it. The fact... the truth...
No, no, Loki shook his head and gripped his forearms harder, almost to the point of drawing blood.
You cannot have unthinking acceptance, Loki. You crave more than that, you crave admiration and respect. You fear the loss of what little you have and in the fear of it, what happened then?
"I lost it all," Loki's admission, a broken whisper, hung in the thick air of the jungle.
I lost it all.
-0-0-0-
How long he sat there, Loki was not certain, but when the air cooled and the rain eventually lessened to a light patter, the exiled Prince stirred a little, lifting his head as a faint, odd sound drifted through the trees. An unfamiliar echo which he had not expected to hear so soon – the sound of two beings tramping through the jungle and conversing loudly. Quickly grabbing his pack, Loki ducked into the midst of a large stand of frond-like shrubbery and, peering past the feathery leaves, he watched as two Half-Breeds lounged past, stopped and looked about as though looking for a mark in the trail. They too appeared to be coming from the direction of the waterfall.
"I swear I saw a footprint back there-"
"You see footprints everywhere," snorted the shorter Half-Breed. "I swear, Fo-Fo, you could imagine food out of-"
"I am not imagining things!"
"Yeah-huh, and what about that time two years past when we were going down the Lorast River and you thought there was wild cat stalking us? The Boss tickled your ear and-"
"My ears are sensitive!" snapped the taller Half-Breed, brushing a hand anxiously along his tufted, cat-like ears.
"You screamed. Admit it. Like a-" laughed the other.
"Listen. That was the one time, Toza!"
"Fo-Fo. You know you won't live it down – now... I think we're still in the same region..."
"The marker is there-" Fo-Fo pointed upward.
"Ah... why would he put it up that high?" sighed the shorter Toza.
"It is not my fault you can only get to the height of a chil- Oof!"
Toza apparently had hit the idiotic Fo-Fo in the mid-section.
"At any rate, if we hurry, we can get there by nightfall."
"Hurry?" whined Fo-Fo. "Let's take it easy, hey?"
"Take it easy? Sleep on the ground again?" asked Toza, voice rising. "Think of it. A nice cozy bed in a dry cave. With good food and better company than wild cats and pesky insects."
"I suppose," Fo-Fo sighed. "But then we'll have to tell the boss the bad news."
"Whatever. It's not our fault."
"You know what he's like... Been a while since anyone's passed by. Been a while since we've turned out someone. Traffic has been slow."
"Well," Toza shrugged. "If Samon isn't lying to us, noobs might be passing by... that'll cheer him up."
"Let's hope so..." Fo-Fo shook his head and then sighed again. "I pity them."
"You always do. That's why you do what I say - shoot first and sack them later."
"If Samon and the others find out..." Fo-Fo continued dismally. "Then where will you be? Huh?"
"I think you worry too much, Fo-Fo," Toza snorted and turned away, pushing a path through some bracken. "You'll see. We'll be taken off this planet by the recruiters in no time flat."
Good food. A dry cave. Samon. Recruiters. The mysterious words weighed heavily on Loki's mind. Slipping his pack on more securely, Loki followed the two creatures further down the river, taking care to keep downwind. Toza and Fo-Fo, from the continuing conversation, appeared to be two criminals of a very simple nature – thieves or con artists perhaps, now unfortunately landed on a rather rough planet. However, the "Boss" apparently provided them protection and they went on scrounging missions for him, one from which they were just returning. Judging by their talk and insinuations, Loki gathered the group was entirely made up of rather desperate characters not above killing to gain their goals.
The mage-warrior shivered. He could approach them in peace, but without his magick and without any companions, he would be an easy target for the predatory "Boss". As for attempting an assault on their den... Facing them in a frontal assault would be suicide, Loki mused, but perhaps a night-time targeted attack would work. Slipping in and slaying them as they rested. It would depend upon the strategy of their guards...
Carefully keeping his distance, Loki followed undetected. The jungle floor, he noticed began to rise and fall in small hills and mounds and the soil beneath his feet thinned a little as grey rock began to poke through. Meanwhile, the river, always to his right, widened. Small mounds of rock broke the trees canopy a little, allowing for light and forcing the Jotun to keep to the darker shadows as he followed the bright conversation of Fo-Fo and Toza. Hanging back, he watched as they began to climb past larger monoliths, mounting a peculiar grouped pile of rock which joined together into what appeared to be the lower slopes of a small bit of mountain. He had seen the small mountain range from his perch on the escarpment easily enough, but had not thought that others would also be drawn it. As he moved closer to the river, Loki could see why, for it split in two, allowing for greater passage through the wide valley.
What I had been aiming for, Loki's heart sank. And it has already been claimed.
Or not, a soft voice suggested. It could be yours for the taking if your heart has the courage and your will remains strong.
Wha- Loki backed away, uncertain as to where that thought had come from. Looking about and feeling more in tune with Fo-Fo's suspicions, Loki wondered if someone had spoken. Perhaps not. I am merely jumping at shadows. It is the fatigue.
For the second time that day, Loki found a large root system not far away which he could hide under, leaning against his pack and contemplating his options. Time and time again, the mage-warrior found himself returning to the obvious conclusion. Either he gave up and moved onward or he stood his ground here and took control of the cave.
It will result in death, Loki thought, flicking the blade of his multifunction tool open and shut in a steady rhythm. It comforted him, the click-click of the blade.
Flick-click. Flick-click.
It spoke of something like trust. It was the only thing upon which he could depend in this forest.
Flick-click. Flick-click.
His blade and himself. His abilities, his strengths and his weaknesses. That was all he could depend on for the foreseeable future.
Flick-click. Flick-click.
Loki sighed.
It is the only way.
-0-0-0-
By the time the two moons rose in the smothering darkness, lighting the forest in ghostly shadows and shifting slivers of grey and silver, Loki's tension had risen tenfold faced as he was with the prospect of what lay before him.
They killed others, Loki reminded himself. They are predators who should be brought to justice...
...and you are no better, another part of him whispered, lowering yourself to their level – and with such little chance for success. You are entering a place of which you have no knowledge to attack numbers of opponents which you as yet do not know. This entire attempt has had little forethought and reeks of the reckless impulses you denounced in Thor.
I have no choice. I have no choice. There is only one way, but forward, Loki's breath came in hard and fast as desperation mounted within him. There is only one way.
With that last thought, Loki crept about, found the first of the two guards standing out by the trees, smoking what looked like a hand-rolled tube of dried grass. Loki blinked at the sight of it, recalling the billows of smoke which had emanated from pipes and other arcane devices on Sharda'aa. Even here, he smirked, addictions drive those reliant on its strengths to find a cure.
The guard was a tall, hefty Skrull, yet Loki had the element of surprise, as well as the native strength gifted to his kind and the experienced born of the battle house and the variety of missions which he had accomplished over the years at the side of Thor or on his own.
The lit end of the dried grass tube blazed bright for an instant and a sweet scent drifted away on the wind. Some kind of drug, no doubt. A drug, Loki discovered, which appeared to have slowed the guard's reflexes. That or the lizard-man was fatigued. Yanking his head to the left with his left arm, Loki drew his knife expertly along the guard's throat, slitting it quickly and silently. A gargling rose, stifled by Loki's left hand now clenched bruisingly over the lizard's face. Somewhere the dried grass roll fell among the damp grass, flickered and then died out. Lying the body slowly back down on the ground and rolling it quickly into the underbrush, Loki kept a sharp eye out for anyone else coming before swiftly stripping the corpse of its long knife. Rolling the long haft in his palm, eyeing lovingly wrapped thin leather strips, Loki nodded appreciatively. It is well-made. Sheathing it in his cloth belt, Loki pushed past the bracken.
Moving onward, barely shifting the blades of grass as he passed, Loki crept around the edge of the small clearing back to the rocks which met the strong river where he saw a shadow shift within the shadows. Letting his eyes accustom to the new level of light, Loki realized he was looking at a slender silhouette sitting on a rock, lounging back and contemplating the glimmer of moonlight on the dark rough waters.
The long, pale, sloping skull turned, revealing a calm face with large dark eyes which glittered in their deep sockets. A thin, angular yet rounded kind of face, alien in the extreme thanks to the bronze-gold colour and the lack of nose. Aedian, Loki realized. An Aedian or at least a Half-Breed one. No Aedian would usually end up in such a place as this. For a moment, the two looked at each other and then the half-breed stranger, sighed and turned back to look at the water.
"I heard you back there."
Pause. Loki tensed as he realized that the guard was speaking to him. For a moment, his mouth worked, yet no sound could come out. Then, the light voice repeated the incomprehensible, inconceivable words.
"I heard you back there."
"What?" Loki finally managed inarticulately, voice tight.
"I heard you first at the waterfall. Your voice..." A pause. Then the Aedian turned and smiled enigmatically. "It cried out. Loud and clear as the songs of stars." He added with a whisper. "Can you hear it?"
Loki did not know what to say in response, but his gaze involuntarily drifted upward, to where the clouds rolled past a vision of a night sky which seemed to cold and foreign to him. A world, a Realm with which he was not, never would be, perhaps, familiar.
"I could not help but listen... You seemed to hear me as well." The half-breed Aedian tilted his head and added, voice hushed, "You did hear me, did you not?"
"You were-"
"Perhaps you thought I was just another voice in your head... A common problem for you, I gather."
"You read my thoughts, my mind."
"You do not seem surprised."
"I have heard of some who are gifted with such abilities. The Aedians and others use such mind magicks naturally, while others may learn through study."
"You have not?"
"Not as yet," Loki admitted reluctantly, shifting a little as he realized that the half-breed guard was not in any hurry to attack him. "Although I am able to charm or influence those of weaker minds."
"Ah. Yes."
"Yet, you are Aedian, if I am not mistaken. Or at least, your ancestry held some such blood."
"Indeed."
"As such, you hold this ability – and you could hear me, even from afar off." Loki glanced down at his feet and then away into the forest. "I suppose you must think me pitiful."
"Pitiful? No. Indeed, we all have doubts. Doubts are given voices. Those are natural enough. Yet..." Then the stranger shifted about to give Loki an unreadable look. "Yet, I heard echoes within you of something entirely different. Yes, echoes of a darker shadow, for there are other things which call from the deep."
"The Voice of the Void," Loki said flatly, fists clenching as he once again revisited the dreams of his childhood and the ever haunting sense that something was looming. Something, perhaps, inside.
"It is not something inside you, traveller," the Aedian broke into Loki's thoughts suddenly, his quiet intonation brought Loki to the relative safety of the present. "Fear not. There are other things which prey upon those gifted, those sensitive to the shifts of power. There are other things which prey on the broken heart and the weary mind."
"I am not-"
"Are you not?" The half-breed rose then to look down at Loki, uncommonly tall and lanky and with the natural grace of a scholar, not a fighter. "I heard your battle, even as you raised your hand against one of my tribe. Fear and anger ride all who roam Jela and you are no different, I think. Did you not just kill So'sha? Did you not just come to kill me?"
"I – I – It – It is not something that I wish," Loki hissed. "It is something that I must do. Perhaps if I remove your leader, I can-"
"That is a plan bound to fail," the half-breed smiled then, "and yet unexpectedly, perhaps, your doom is not yet at hand."
"What?"
"So'sha, who I just mentioned, is our leader."
"He – He was?" Loki shifted about, dazedly staring off into the dark, mind squirrelling with confusion.
"He takes the first watch, the better to have a longer, uninterrupted night's sleep – and you killed him."
"Oh. Oh... I see."
Loki felt an incomprehensible rush of relief and courage. It is possible. The den is securable. I continue the plan- The half-breed guard stepped forward, catching Loki's attention and he bowed his head, hand on his heart, spear held out flat before him.
"Excepting for me," the Aedian went on, head bent and voice hushed and words rapid, "there remain only three, now sleeping. A lazy, cowardly lot, I am afraid. I rue the day I cast my lot with them and have until this night have feared that I would forever remain with reckless fools and selfish marauders. For the many years I have been unjustly trapped upon this planet, I have looked forward to one who would lead a band with cunning and foresight, justice and mercy. One with a heart such as you."
"Divided as it is?" Loki asked softly, shifting his newest dagger to his right hand and clasping his shorter knife in his left. "How do you know that I will be any different?"
The Half-Aedian raised his head, hefted his spear and even white fanged teeth flashed within the pale moonlight.
"I heard you – back at the waterfall – and I knew."
-0-0-0-
Thus, the band of Loki was begun. Thus, his adventures on the prison planet, Jela, commenced. Thus, he gained a name for himself as being both fair yet fierce, disarming yet cunning, and charming yet severe. Thus, he gathered to himself those capable and disciplined who, upon entering his service, worked to keep their domain free of the more dangerous creatures who roamed the planet as well as unwanted inmates.
Across that hemisphere of Jela, Loki's band became known for its efficiency and diplomacy, taking care to neither cross the borders which it maintained nor to over-reach itself by attempting domination of those willing to live within its vicinity. Whether hunting, scouting, fighting would-be encroachers or accomplishing day to day tasks, the group maintained a high level of care and self-respect with standards far above the regular ill-kept, haggard and ever hungry bands of criminals which roamed the large continent.
Containing Aeto, the Half-Breed Aedian, L'oh, the Half-Breed Cat-Humanoid, Skrann, the Skrull, J'zai, the Spartoi, and Ag'to, the Ergon, the Band of the Eastern Rocks, as they came to be known, remained as always a small group, weeded from various passers-by whom Loki tested before making a final decision as to keep them or no. He chose with care and the resulting band brought a sense of vitality and flexibility upon which Loki felt confident to depend.
In such a manner, time went on and Loki eked out some kind of a living on Jela. A good half of a year passed, the days trickling by slowly, one after another, as though a drying up river, until even Loki began to forget to look upward to the hope of the stars.
[...counted by the stars...]
[...silent sentinels of time...]
Stars and pulsars and black holes and the multitudinous, uncountable celestial bodies of the Realms have watched time pass onward in the endless dance, the endless game between Life and Death. Time and memory held within the single rays of stars reach forward and backward through time, reminding any who would gaze upward and know the truth of such matters that although one eventually fades away, in the end, no one is entirely lost to Time's grip. Memory and Time work hand in hand, held in hope in the quiet rays of the celestial spheres – and some who may tap into such magicks, gaze far and deep and in the gazing, know the Truth.
Heimdall, Gatekeeper of the Bifrost and of Asgard and its Realm, looked outward from the edge of the as yet unfinished Bifrost bridge. No sooner had the damage been done than Odin ordered repair commence immediately. The Court and the Mage's Academy, cowed by Odin's wrath and sobered by the realization what their bickering had cost the Realm, agreed instantly and all those citizens gifted in the arts of magicks and construction were enlisted for the reconstruction. The Mages, Agaeti and Flarathir in particular, took lead on the project, allowing the others to focus on more pressing problems – the war with the Jotun (which although momentarily stalled seemed to be continuing on more or less unabated) and the now rather hampered protection of allied Realms.
Standing on the edge of the broken Bridge, watching the stars and the galaxies and the worlds and the scenes revolve before his golden eyes, Heimdall stood stolidly, waiting for the bi-weekly visit from his King. Soon enough, the sharp-eared and sharp-eyed Heimdall could hear the distant beat of Odin's horse's hooves followed by the distant clatter of the King dismounting and the the steady stride as Odin reached his side.
As usual, the two stared out into the Abyss, into the Realms, together in silence. Then, Odin stirred.
"Thor is doing well."
"Indeed," Heimdall agreed.
"He is learning to be patient, to be still, to think. Something I hoped he would learn from Loki... and at first I thought I could see some change, yet it was not as quick as I had planned. However, Thor's exile upon Midgard seems achieve this just as well."
"Hm."
"A satisfactory conclusion to a very difficult problem," Odin continued on, his voice softening as his thoughts wandered. "Yes, indeed. I had thought that perhaps Thor's pride and his vanity had gotten away with him, yet it is so difficult to see the difference between the natural cockiness of youth and the reckless pride of a man."
"Midgard is the perfect place for him, then," Heimdall agreed. "His care towards the mortals speaks, as ever, of a good heart."
"His care, yes. Thor always had a leaning toward aiding the helpless." Odin shook his head. "Something from his mother, I should imagine."
"The Crown Prince also appears to cherish one particular mortal-" Heimdall added carefully, keeping his golden eyes trained on a far point in space, refusing to meet the sharp glance sent his way.
"Eh? Ah. The silly mortal girl. He will be done with her soon enough and return home. They are as the gnats that swarm, short-lived and short-sighted, seeing only what their small lives have placed before their limited visions and dreams. Thor is my son, a son of Asgard. He knows his place."
"Hmmm..." Heimdall then cocked his head, switching the subject diplomatically. "You have seen Loki's path as well, my Lord?"
"Agaeti helped me with some scrying, for he has fallen far, far into Midgard's Realm. A shadowed place from which emanates whispers of an ancient evil."
"Then you saw as well-"
"Saw?" Odin raised an eyebrow.
"The colour of his skin. His true nature." Heimdall looked down at the King. "You knew?"
"Hm. Yes."
"Who else knows?"
"His mother," Odin said stiffly. "Myself, of course. High-Mage Agaeti. The three of us swore an oath to secrecy. I should have guessed you would have noticed. I had hoped that many would think he merely shape-shifted as is his wont, but you, of course, have noticed the difference."
"Indeed. When Laufey cast him from Jotunheim, I would have thought he would have shifted back to his natural form as Asgardian, yet he has maintained the blue skin and red eyes. I could only surmise that he was, in fact, Jotun." Heimdall frowned and turned to Odin, golden eyes glinting with worry and suspicion. "My King, to hold such a creature so close to one's bosom-"
"Loki," Odin finally said with a sigh. "His name is Loki and he is a Prince of the Realm and the True Heir of another. That is his name, Heimdall, a link to an ancient past and to his prestigious sire, Laufey."
"I see," Heimdall replied simply.
Odin said nothing more, knowing that Heimdall would of course, as he so shortly put it, "see". Loki was my attempt to influence my son for the better with the hopes that one day, he would work within my court as ambassador and King's Advisor, much as Mage Agaeti would. Thanks to his careful diplomacy and charm, Loki already has gained the respect of a few Realms.
Odin remembered the day he watched, helpless, as his second son was cast from the brink of Jotunheim's chasm into the Void. Frigga had wept inconsolably for days. Although, he had no luck with Laufey. No doubt Loki has been up to mischief of his own in that land and paid for it – dearly. The aged King sighed. Even if I were to release his punishment, there is little for me to do, captive as I am thanks to the damaged Bifrost. Jotunheim also seems intent on war. Sending him there again would be... unforgivable.
"I had hoped so much for them both," Odin finally broke the silence again. "I often wonder what went wrong, what could I have done differently."
"They were young, not yet men in truth," Heimdall said. "They will learn. In time."
"Time," Odin said darkly, "that is something which we do not have much of. Jotunheim has fallen silent again, but it is only a matter of time for them to rally against the destruction of their land. The Marauders, according to a few traders, have begun to take advantage of our absence, doing as they please, even going so far as to raid and loot in Vanaheim and Alfheim."
"Aided, no doubt, by the Svartalfheim Dark Elves," Heimdall shook his head with sadness. "That race has ever wished ill on those whom they perceived to be more blessed than they."
"A travesty. Malekith is no doubt interfering again with the Dark Elf courts again. No doubt the tribes are up in arms as we speak, to say nothing of the Skrull and the Kree."
"Or the Chitauri," Heimdall frowned then. "They gather their forces and they spread outward as an infestation grows within a man. With many ships and improved technology, their grip of the lower Realms has become much tighter, driven it seems by an insatiable hunger for power."
"A shadow lies on Midgard's Realm," agreed Odin. Straightening his shoulders, the white-haired King clapped Heimdall on the shoulder before turning away. "Look out for my sons and send me word if any new development arises. I worry for them – the both of them and would have them at my side, yet..." Odin paused and nodded slowly, "Perhaps... Frigga is right. Perhaps, Midgard has greater need of them than I."
With that, Odin returned to his horse, mounted and departed, back to the stars, home ahead.
[...counted by the stars...]
[...silent sentinels of time...]
[...such light reminds those who would look...]
[...we are not...]
[...we are not alone...]
So, there we go. Next up is the last (?) Thor chapter. Sigh. And then we can focus on Loki and other fun stuffs. I hope this chapter made sense for you guys and answers some questions for those who were wondering about a few things from the last chapter. Also, I would like to apologize for the wait for this chappie. It's been long and I hope that I can shorten the times a bit this summer. (crosses fingers)
ON THE OTHER HAND... 10,000 WORDS!
Right. Now we are on the terrible cusp of the nasty slippery slope into angst. Let's see what a good part of a year does to Loki's psyche and how does he get off planet... HMMMM... (chuckles madly at the next few chapters now planned)
Author's Note: Why did bullets bounce off Loki – and Captain America's shield? It's because his body is made of a higher density (we see the same in Thor's fight against Skurge) and cannot be harmed so easily. Thor was able to receive IV treatment and got tranq-ed in Thor the Movie only because he was 'human'. So, in this fic, Loki can't be bitten by mosquitos. He's not lost his humanity as Thor has. This is the reason why folks who write Loki as being a god but getting caught by SHIELD and injected with poison get a raised eyebrow from me. I can suspend my disbelief, but it's definitely not canon, I think.
Let me know what you guys thought!
-KI
Alien Glossary:
'auzha – fucker
bollen - boulders/monoliths
chi'iano – a radioactive piece of rock similar to uranium
cho'ai - lover
Dou'ma – idiot
Eno'Keshi'ko – the system of Eno, a type of magical level measurements
Fen'chi Galaxy – Andromeda Galaxy
gan'ga'war – steel balls
gan'ko – ganka'jya chon, a steel beetle
iz'kyr – a kind of frozen stone powder which is used as a narcotic for some species
Janah – similar to dammit
Ka'autha'ndarna - Reality
kalo – a kind of purple-red fruit, similar to a pomegranate or dragonfruit
Kholathan – Safety Belt/Protected Zone
kol-sava'atha – a titanium-rich ore
kon'bi – short for konji'bifu, space bat
lasu – space rat
l'gon – storyteller
Morning-star - a mace
myech'myena - shape-shifting
Mye'hyoi Peyt – Milky Way
n'ch'nka – a kind of cow
Nord-Stjarna – north star
Nyr'Fjor - Jotunn's original name for V'slozh'noi
oma'auzha – mother-effer
oto'oa - big sister
pu'lotni – plutonium
pye'nee - a kind of bird
Ra'ska'yeh o Phyllo'xia – Tales of Phylloxia
roobyn – a red stone
r'senk'ne – a kind of deer/cow hybrid
Shen'grid – the Protected Zone, the zone in which habitable planets orbit around a sun
Shi'nuwu – Reality/Yggdrasil
sigan – short for yan'sigan, rock-worm
So'shah – Earth/Midgard
syem'fyerma – family/community farm
Tai'shu – The Void
tro'watal – perseverance
udji'oo – a drug, like opium
whota – wheat