Disclaimer: I do not own any of the main characters. I only own the plot and my own OCs. Reviews would be most appreciated as long as they hold constructive criticism! Please enjoy!
"Of course, you are!" Vidar laughed and clapped his daughter on the shoulder. He then turned and looked down the corridor leading to the foyer from Nanna's room. "I have already backed up your items for the journey!" the grin on his face was almost contagious, but his daughter's lips only twitched at the sight of it. Vidar frowned mentally as he saw the hurt that had lived in her eyes for near a month now.
"Father!" Nanna whined, though she walked towards the foyer, "How could you?" the girl's voice held a small chuckle. Vidar gave a sigh upon hearing the laughter, and felt that Odin's idea would, perhaps, be victorious.
Soon enough, the father and daughter were riding to the spot in which every man departed when he left for his first hunt upon the end of his ceremony. Nanna looked up to the sky and grinned slightly upon seeing the beautiful blue; it had been gone for most of the month and had prolonged Loki's first hunt. When they made it to the spot, there was no other person in the clearing in front of the forest. Nanna scanned the trees before them looking for any beast that may be lurking; upon seeing nothing, the redhead climbed down from the horse and spotted something that made her eyes light up.
Once Vidar dismounted, he looked around for Nanna and laughed when he saw the young teen climbing up an apple tree. The thing was full of ripe apples and the girl was already stuffing a bag full of the fruit. He walked towards her spot and looked up to her, he then called, "Might you come down for a moment when you are done stuffing you bag and face?"
"Mmf?" she looked down at him with an apple hanging from her mouth and her hands working to stuff a few more apples into the already full bag. Nanna then rolled her eyes and tied the bag before she hopped own from her perch; quickly jogging over to her horse, the young noble attached it to her saddle. "Warm-up training?"
"Warm-up training." Vidar confirmed with a smirk. He then turned and walked to his horse and grabbed his favorite weapon; Nanna looked upon it with admiration. The minute her father motioned for Nanna to take the weapon, the teen looked up at him in disbelief and shakily moved her hand forward to grasp it.
Not too far from the spot, Loki and his party were making their way to the clearing. Thor was there and speaking cheerily, loudly, with his friends while Loki rode his horse quietly, looking down at the back of the horse's neck. Odin rode beside the boy and watched with a somewhat concerned frown that was hidden by his thick beard.
"Are you well, son?" the Allfather questioned quietly. Once the deep voice met with Loki's ears, the raven haired teen looked up in a small shock and turned to face his father.
"I am well, Father." Loki murmured; it was a half-truth. Ever since the ceremony, he had repeatedly heard Nanna's parting words. Her broken tone had haunted him, and know he was tormented with the thought that his closest friend would not be here with him.
Odin watched his youngest son's face contort into faintly agonized face and knew what it was the boy was thinking of. With a sigh, Odin murmured to his boy again, "What occurred between you and Nanna? Before that night, you two were inseparable…"
"I know…" Loki whispered dejectedly; the young prince's hand gripped the reins harshly. He had reviewed the events in his mind many a time since that night, and he could still find nothing that would have been able to upset the young woman but the other noble that had attempted to court her. "I know not what I could have been responsible for to upset her, but I will be working to compensate for her pain."
Odin nodded as he thought proudly that Loki, did indeed, seem to hold Nanna dearer to his heart than just as a childhood friend. The Allfather hoped dearly that this plan of his worked and would actually bring the duo back together.
"Father!" Thor's voice called loudly. Odin looked up quickly, suddenly afraid of what might have happened to his friend in the wait. Upon viewing the clearing, though, Odin saw that there were many, young trees that lay about the ground. Scanning the clearing and straining his ears, Odin chuckled when he heard Vidar's voice echo excitedly.
"Listen closely, now, boy." The Allfather advised as he clicked his tongue to urge the horse to move a bit faster. When the royal group turned the corner, they saw Nanna standing there with a silver poleax in hand and Vidar speaking to her with a proud undertone in his voice.
"Now then," the seasoned warrior began as he crouched down and went to his daughter's level. "Swing again and put your whole being behind it. And once you return form the hunt, you and I will work on defending yourself and better maneuvering with Ragna, understood?"
"Yes, Father." Nanna nodded quickly as she readied herself for the task. Her golden gaze locked onto the tree before her, the redhead shifted her feet into battle-ready stance. With a battle cry, the young noble swung the weapon with her whole being and the blade ran straight through the tree before her in a smooth motion.
Once the tension of the blade breaking through the bark was gone, Nanna stopped the movement of the ax. Her whole body froze and she turned her gaze to her father, looking for criticism or praise—whichever left his lips first. The teen jumped in shock when she heard another voice boom through the clearing.
"My, what strength you have gained, Child." Odin praised as he looked at the downed tree and to the barely panting girl who looked back at him with wide eyes. Nanna straightened herself and bowed to him, thanking him for his words. When she righted herself, the redhead looked to her father and smiled at him excitedly; never before had anyone, other than her father, praised her for taking interest in battle and fighting.
"Good to see you, Highness." Vidar greeted as he clasped hands with Odin, both men smiled knowingly at one another. While the adults conspired with one another, Nanna looked to Thor and Loki with a concealed glance and flinched when she heard Thor begin to mock her. Gritting her teeth, the redhead only walked to her horse and reached into the apple bag to grab one; once she had obtained a rather large apple, she threw it lightly in the air—testing the weight and how hard it smacked her hand upon impact.
"Have you had any fruits yet today, Prince?" Nanna inquired with an airy voice. Thor stopped his laughter and sat in confusion, his face away from the girl; as he thought of his answer, Nanna turned to face him. She took aim and sent the apple flying towards the blond oaf. Laughter raked her body when the fruit made contact with his head and literally exploded upon the impact.
Thor turned to the lower noble with a furious expression painted across his features. He moved quickly to go at the female, but he was swiftly stopped by Sif. Thor looked at her incredulously, "What do you think you are doing?"
"Why lower yourself to her standards, Thor?" the black haired woman inquired with a diplomatic voice. Nanna snorted in a most unladylike manner and crossed her arms while leaning on the poleax that was nearly twice her size.
"What standards? His are already lower than mine when he feels the need to throw his title around to gain whatever he wishes to possess." The redhead jeered. She then turned her attention away from the couple and looked passed Loki to Voltstagg, "You have second breakfast, yet?"
The young man looked to the fuming prince and glaring lady warrior before he answered hesitantly, "Actually, I have not." When he saw Nanna reach back into the sack she had pulled the apple from, Voltstagg readied himself and caught the fruit she had thrown his way. Looking at it, he smiled; the apple was near perfectly ripe and beautifully red. "I thank you."
"Think nothing of it, friend." The girl murmured as she mounted her horse once again and whistled for it to move to the tree line. Looking back to the group, the young noble sneered, "Are the higher classed beings ready to get a little dirt on their finery?"
"Entering without us, are you?" Vidar called as he appeared on his horse, Odin following behind him. His daughter looked to him and stated that she had assumed that they would not be traveling with the group of teens. Both men looked to one another then to her, Nanna had assumed correctly.
Upon hearing the news, Thor threw a fit and had to be forcibly calmed down by Odin. The rest of the group was shocked, but made no move to argue the decision made by the Allfather. Nanna patted her mare's neck as they both waited for the party to get ready to enter the forest; with a loud sigh, Nanna turned and looked a—still arguing—Thor in the eyes and snapped, "If we do not move quickly…by the time we enter the forest, the most dangerous of the beast will be out and hunting. If we wish to leave today, it needs to be done now."
The blonde shut his mouth with a nearly audible click and looked to his brother who was sitting on his stallion with a most uninterested expression painted along his features. But within his mind, Loki was watching Nanna closely; he noticed that the girl was sharper with his brother than usual and regarding most everyone with only the most standard respect and emotion. In his stomach, though, a flame burned lightly as he made mental note of how abnormally friendly Nanna was with Voltstagg.
Loki blinked in surprise when he saw Nanna trot over to her father and reach into one of his saddle bags; the man watched his daughter with a smile and chortled once he saw what she retreated with. The redhead then put on the harness that seemed a bit too big for her current stature, but Nanna obviously did not care and fastened everything to where it needed to be. Once all was set and good, the young noble placed the poleax into its spot on her back.
Attraction was an undeniable feeling that flooded through Loki as he stared upon Nanna; she had always been attractive when she was readying herself for a fight. Nanna seemed to exude a feeling of strength and gameness for whatever she was about to face. Her golden gaze zoned in on him, and Loki felt his body stiffen slightly and was promptly filled with an emptiness when he realized that she was not looking upon him like she once did, like he was a friend—at the moment, she looked at him as if he was like the other noble boys. Like he was one of the other noble boys that Nanna spoke and worked with, and Loki could not understand why it brought such pain to his heart.
"Are we leaving now?" Nanna grumbled as she mounted her horse once again, looking back to the others. Voltstagg clicked his tongue and nudged his heels into his steed's sides to urge the creature forward. Fandral and Hogun followed their comrade, leaving the two princes and Sif to sit for a moment before they, too, began to move and follow the young girl acting as the expedition leader.
For the first several hours, Thor and Sif rode towards the back of the group and grumbled to one another; they were both rather insulted that Nanna had taken the lead from them, along with being able to boss them into doing what needed to be done. Sadly, by this time, Thor was beginning to grow bored with riding silently and having nothing to kill or claim victory over. When the prince began to complain aloud about that feeling, Nanna turned to look at him from over her shoulder and snorted at his impatience; the redhead then looked around at their environment and called that they would be able to make a small stop soon enough.
"Why can we not stop now?" Thor voiced haughtily, Fandral and Sif chiming up behind him. Nanna looked at the three with a critical eye and sneered.
"Oh, absolutely!" She crooned, clasping her hands together and placing them over her heart as she stared at them with mock affection, "Let us stop. Let's just leave the horses to go without drink…along with ourselves as there is no river or stream near us! Royalty is tired and must be obeyed at all times!" Nanna spat on the ground directly after the last word left her mouth, the foul taste of her sarcasm and disgust for Thor's attitude still upon her taste buds.
Wild was the only way to describe the way Nanna looked at the moment as she scowled petulantly at the Crowned Prince. If possible, her wild locks seemed to raise like the hackles of a wolf, though they only flowed over her shoulders marginally after having grown out slightly since Loki's ceremony. Nanna then snapped her head forward and ushered her mare to begin walking again; with concern in his eyes, Voltstagg hurried up to ride alongside the young noble.
Loki watched on with a burning in his stomach as he thought about how it should be him riding beside Nanna and not one of Thor's lackeys! The boy's lips tightened and his eyes narrowed, but he made no move to go near either of them—that was, before Sif and Thor began to speak to the boy.
"Loki," Sif hummed as she saddled up beside the younger prince; the raven haired boy looked to her with a well hidden blush and widened eyes. She grinned at him in a flirtatious fashion, "Why don't you punish her a bit? She's been so disrespectful all day, you know?"
"Well, that was mostly to Thor," Loki replied, his voice holding an inkling of confusion, "Why should that bother me? Half the time, he deserves what she says to him." Unbeknownst to Loki, when those words left his mouth, Sif glared at the boy with the flames of Hell burning in her eyes. Sif absolutely hated when anyone attempted to bad mouth Thor!
"B-but when she disrespects your brother," the black haired maiden began shakily, trying to think of any reasoning that Loki could possibly believe. "Does that not mean that she is disrespecting you in the long run?" Sif knew she was failing when Loki looked at her with an air of indifference. The girl raked her mind for any form of a plan to get the trickster to turn on his only friend when the plot hit her. With a voice that she absolutely hated using towards Loki, the voice of someone in love, Sif murmured heartbrokenly, "Don't you see what she's doing to us, Loki?"
"What?" Loki's expression immediately turned to shock when he heard what his crush was saying to him, and the boy began to stammer questioningly to the slightly older female. Triumph coursed through Sif's veins when she realized she had Loki in her clutches to use as she wished; with a hidden, nasty smile, Sif leaned towards Loki's ear and whispered her plan to him. Loki looked at her with a hint of uncertainty until Sif batted her eyelashes.
Loki then turned to face Nanna's back, his emerald eyes seemed to glow as he began to murmur a spell under his breath. The boy's hands moved slightly along with his incantation, and his facial features along with his body language was tight, uncomfortable. In the back of his mind, Loki did not want to do what he was currently working on. His concentration was broken when he heard a shriek from in front of him.
Nanna's mare had reared up as two wild cat-like creatures stalked towards the redhead's steed. The young noble was bucked from her spot and sent to the ground harshly; she landed on her right arm awkwardly. Loki flinched the he had been hit when he heard the pained breath that Nanna sucked in through clenched teeth; his emerald orbs locked in on her form as she stared down the best he had summoned.
In Nanna's mind, she was panicking. These creatures could easily try and go for the horses and then the others in the group. The young warrior was raking her mind for something that she would be able to do to keep the others save. Nanna groaned quietly when she put weight onto her right arm to push herself up into a crouch slowly, drawing the creatures' attention to her being. Behind her, the others were concerned—all but Thor and Sif, who were both watching with a mixture of amusement and confusion.
"Why is she not crying and screaming for help?" Thor hissed to Sif as she sat beside him, and the young female warrior could only give an uncertain shrug in answer. The blond looked to see that Nanna made to grab a dagger from her belt and as she moved, the redhead made hissing noise at the best, as if she was keeping their focus on her. It was as that thought swam through his consciousness that Thor realized that that was exactly what Nanna was attempting to do.
Nanna then quickly swiped at the beast closest to her, which caused it to lunge at her with deadly intentions. The young noble quickly blocked the beast with her right arm, she tried to muffle her cry of pain as its fangs sunk into her flesh and moved her left hand to stab the monster through the skull. When it fell limply onto her, Nanna shuffled out from beneath it and glared at the other beast with determined, golden orbs. The brute left alive stared her down in return before it began to pace left to right and back; Nanna kept eye contact and shifted weight from one foot to the other all the while keeping a firm grip on the bloody blade in her hand.
Loki watched in horror, he had not meant for the beasts to become real! They were meant to be no more than illusions to scare Nanna, but that had gone terribly wrong when his concentration was broken. The raven haired boy sat there, frozen on his stallion, at the sight of Nanna's blood. Yes, he had seen her bleed before, but never so profusely and never because of him. Emerald orbs flittered around as he attempted to think of something to do before Nanna was injured far worse than she was at the moment. Just as he was about to begin another small chant, an arrow came rushing by his ear and buried itself in the last beast's eye. When it cried out in pain and was momentarily distracted, Nanna made her move and stabbed the thing in the neck.
Once all was done, Nanna stood there panting, blatantly ignoring the pain shooting through her arm, and she then began to look around the area carefully. She had no idea if there were any more creatures out there and she needed to make sure that she kept Loki and the others safe. Looking back behind the group, Nanna saw one of her training companions standing by a tree; his bow was held loosely in his hands and he stared at Nanna with concern as he quickly made hi way over to the young noble.
"Are you alright, Nan?" the boy asked, and Loki felt something in him twitch unattractively when the girl smiled at the boy like he was the greatest thing in her life.
"I am as well as can be expected, Tore." Nanna murmured before she looked at her arm and experimentally touched certain spots. She flinched and bit down harshly on her lip when a horrid shock of pain raked through her body. Frowning deeply, Nanna looked to Tore and inquired softly, "Do you think you could watch my party for a while? I must leave to tend to this wound, I have not the supplies needed to deal with it and I would rather not end the young Lord's hunting trip earlier than need be for something as trivial as myself."
Upon hearing Nanna speak about herself as such, Loki ground his teeth in frustration and anger. Never had he thought of Nanna as such, and his attention was ripped from the bleeding redhead to the murmurings of Sif and Thor. His temper flared when he heard his brother congratulate Sif on the success of her plan, and further more when the girl gave a shaky thanks and then went on to say, "I must admit, though, that this was much easier than acting like I had gotten him that gift."
Loki could swear that at that moment, his heart turned to ice. He finally understood why the girl was so upset with him and at his Ceremony. The young prince berated himself mentally as he watched the redhead mount her mare with difficulty. Going unnoticed by his brother and his former fancy, Loki clicked his tongue softly and guided his steed towards Nanna. Once he was beside her, the raven haired boy gulped; Loki had never been one for apologies.
"Can I help you?" she murmured to him, giving the prince a side glance. Her lips were pulled into a tight line, but Loki was sure that was only due to the redhead feeling the need to hide her pain. His emerald orbs locked onto the offending appendage and he flinched as if he had been struck; Loki felt like a rock had taken homage in his stomach and was anchoring it down.
Loki looked up to the bloody arm and murmured incoherently to the limb. Nanna looked at the boy in slight confusion, not really being able to understand what he had said; when the young noble stated this, Loki looked up at her with a pained expression that she had not seen him bare since their childhood.
"I am sorry…" he mumbled louder, his voice breaking slightly. Tears were clouding his vision as he was sure that he had broken Nanna, she was never going to want him again because he had been such an idiot! Emerald orbs gazed beseechingly at the redhead as he inquired brokenly, "Can you ever forgive me for the wrongs I have done you?"