On instinct, the centaurs raised their respective weapons at the ready. Two loaded arrows were aimed at the Asgardian goddess and a whip was ready to be cracked. Thrúd quickly jumped in front of them with her arms spread out. "It's ok! It's alright! She's my mom."
Tentatively, the two bows were lowered, and the whip was coiled back to its owner's side, accepting that the new visitor was no threat. Behind her, Thrúd noticed that the footsteps stopped. Her mom probably wasn't expecting an audience of Vanaheim's natives to be with her. And she was more than likely definitely not expecting them to do as she said.
Thrúd looked to Reyna. "It's ok. She just wants to talk. Like she said."
The young goddess was assuming that, despite her assistance in ridding the realm of the Einherjar, Reyna and the others still are not the biggest fans of the newcomers. That suspicion was all but confirmed when she noticed that Markus and Vixus were eyeing Lady Sif through narrow eyelids, waiting for her to make any sort of motion to give the impression that she was there with ulterior motives.
Reyna, however, alternated her gaze between the mother and the daughter, her expression curious and open. Finally, the centaur gave Thrúd a resolute nod.
"Come," she told the other two who flinched in surprise at the command. "This doesn't concern us."
At this, Markus scoffed. "They're on our land though. Anything that happens on our land should concern us."
"Shut up, Markus."
With that, the three of them disappeared into the trees, leaving Thrúd alone with the one person she wanted to stay as far away from in all the realms.
Well . . . second most. Grámtrist topped that list after she considered it for a moment. Though it was a surprisingly close call.
Taking in a deep, steadying breath, Thrúd turned around to face her mother. Her nostrils were flared, and her lips were pressed in a firm line. On her shoulder, Thrúd found Hugin. If ravens had the capacity to appear guilty, he was doing just that by avoiding her gaze as if he felt bad for selling his friend out.
And maybe he did.
She also noticed the rapid rate he was breathing at. Poor bird was probably exhausted from moving the centaurs all over the battlefield like a real-life game of chess. She hadn't taken into consideration the amount of effort that would have been needed on such a small body.
Thrúd made a mental note to find a way to make it up to him.
But that was a problem for another day. Right now, she had to do the one thing she has been hoping to avoid since the ending of Ragnarok.
Talk to her mother about her feelings.
She raised a hand in greeting. "Hi mom," she said lamely.
Lady Sif didn't return the greeting. Hugin flapped his wings and flew away. He didn't say anything inside Thrúd's head, but she imagined he was thinking something along the lines of 'this is your fight. I'm outta here!'
"So," her mom began, her voice already laced with sarcasm. "how's your training been going, Thrúd? Must not be going that great if it brought you over to Vanaheim like you said it wouldn't."
Thrúd winced. Guess we're just diving right into this.
"Yeah . . ." she scratched the back of her neck. "Listen, I didn't plan on this to happen that way."
"I know. You made that abundantly clear when you told me you didn't want to come with to Vanaheim."
Thrúd blinked. "I never said that! I said that I couldn't go with you yet because of everything that's been going on. And that's actually still true. It's just, well, it turned out that I needed to come to Vanaheim for something. Then I got caught up in this whole . . ." she wasn't sure how to explain her most recent adventure sufficiently. "Anyway, I'm sorry about the ceiling. And the wall. And that bed I landed on. When I get the chance, I'll-"
"The wall?" Sif asked incredulously. "The ceiling? Thrúd, I don't care about any of those things! Walls and ceilings can get fixed. We have plenty of talented woodworkers who would honestly be thankful for the work."
"Ok," Thrúd shrugged. "Good for them, then. Maybe when I get back, I'll carve 'Thrúd was here' into the roof."
Sif nodded, clearly unimpressed. "Oh. So, you'll be able to squeeze in a visit inside your rigorous training regimen again? Thanks, Thrúd. I'm touched."
It took all of Thrúd's strength to not slap her hand on her forehead. "Mom, you're not listening! It's not that I don't want to come visit! Hel, it's not even that I don't want to come live here with you. I do. Really, I do." Sif's hardened expression began to soften. "That first time I passed by the village, I couldn't believe how well it all turned out! Of course I-"
"The first time?" Sif interrupted. "What do you mean the first time?"
Thrúd's argument died in her throat. Her mother's softened features promptly made way to hurt.
"You saw the village and . . . you couldn't find the time to even stop and see me?"
Thrúd held up her hands. "Mom, it's not like that. I was in a rush and- well, actually, I'm still in a rush. I would have loved to stop and see you, but-"
"Oh. Well, if I'm still that much of an inconvenience, then let me get out of your way." She turned her back to her daughter and began walking to the trees. "Just let me know when you're not too busy for your family again."
This time, Thrúd wasn't able to contain the irritated yell that escaped her throat. She sprinted up to her mom and jumped in front of her, blocking her path. "Enough with the guilt, mom! Everything going through your head about all of this is wrong. You just don't understand what's going on."
"Then help me understand," Sif pleaded. "If I'm not understanding something, then just tell me what you need to say."
Thrúd hated that her mom said 'just tell me' as if it were the easiest thing in the world. But what she hated even more than that was the fact that she had a point. Looking back, Thrúd found countless times when she could have laid this all out to her mother and have her understand what was going on. Each time though, she found it much easier to hide behind her pride and avoid the topic altogether, leading them to this moment.
Every intent she had on clearing the air with her mother, however, vanished at the sight of her mom's hypocrisy.
Thrúd scoffed and looked to the side to avoid Sif's eyes. "So now you want to hear what I have to say?"
Sif looked even more offended. "Yes, Thrúd! Why wouldn't I? How many times have I told you that you can talk to me about anything?"
"And how many times have I come up to you wanting to talk but you were too busy for me?"
Sif blinked in surprise. "Thrúd?" She couldn't find anything else to say.
"How can you be so offended that I have been avoiding you when you have been doing the same thing since Ragnarok?"
"Avoiding you? Thrúd, I-"
"Hel, even before then! Was being a boring bureaucrat really that much easier than being my mom? You sure made it look like it."
"Now that's not fair, young lady!" Sif's own fire reignited. "You know damn well that your father and I were only-"
"And stop bringing up dad, will you?! You keep bringing him up soooo casually like he wasn't killed in cold blood by Odin."
Sif closed her eyes as if to avoid seeing that very scene unfolding in front of her. "Don't," she demanded, taking in a shaky breath through her nose. "Of course I know what happened. But what does any of this have to do with why you can't talk to me, Thrúd? Just please tell me!"
"Because you were so quick to throw yourself into this relocation job of yours that you never bothered to ask how I was!"
Any argument that Sif had lined up was immediately forgotten. Fully opening her eyes, she looked at her daughter for what felt like the first time since the aftermath of Ragnarok.
"You just had to get Ragnarok and dad off your mind so fast that you completely left me alone! Don't you know how badly I wanted to talk to you about it? How much it hurt?"
With each word Thrúd got out, she found her composure weakening, her knees wobbling underneath her.
"I was there, mom! I was the one who saw dad stand up to Odin. I was the one who saw him get stabbed! I was the one who was right fucking there and just stood and did nothing! If I had been even a second faster, dad would still be here, and we wouldn't have to go through this! But I was too slow and now dad's gone because of it. So, I'm sorry if I was a little distant and afraid to open up for a while, but as soon as I was ready to, you weren't there!"
Her mother's eyes couldn't meet her own. Instead, they were scanning the ground beneath them like it would tell her the correct thing to say next.
"Wasn't I, Thrúd? Was I not there?" She was genuinely asking, Thrúd could tell. Her mom was clearly horrified at the idea of the possibility that she abandoned her child in a time of need.
At this, Thrúd's shoulders relaxed. She couldn't go on with the argument while knowingly giving off the wrong impression.
"No, you were, mom," she conceded while also taking interest in the foliage beneath them. "At least, right after, you were there. Right when Gunnr brought me through that tear you were there. But you have to understand," she looked back up. "It had just happened, mom. I was still processing what I saw, what I went through. I wasn't ready to just let it all out. I needed time. It's just . . . you gave me too much of it."
Thrúd was feeling quite the opposite of dignified or brave, two of the core ideas that had been drilled into her head since birth. But she took solace in seeing that her mother was struggling to hold herself together too.
"But then, all of a sudden, you just weren't there. At all. After Ragnarok, you threw yourself into a world that made sense to you . . . But so did I. We weren't there for each other." Her eyes went wide. "I never even considered what you went through. I didn't just lose a dad." She took a step closer. "You lost your husband."
Thrúd felt shame pile on top of her like a stack of concrete blocks. All of the pieces began falling into place, and she had never even noticed that some of them were missing from the very beginning.
She wasn't the only one suffering from Ragnarok.
The thought of her mom potentially losing her only remaining family had never even crossed her mind.
"Ever since you were a child," her mom began, her composure being rebuilt little by little, "you've wanted to be a Valkyrie. That's been your goal since you were able to even think. And I never had any doubt that you'd be able to make that dream a reality. You had- Hel, you still have everything it takes to become one. You're so strong, and smart, and giving, and courageous, and Thrúd, those are to just name a few."
Lady Sif also dared a step closer to her daughter. "You already have everything it takes to be the best Valkyrie in history. You're so strong that I thought you already had come to peace with everything on your own. I thought I was in your way, so I stood aside. I'm so sorry I wasn't there, Thrúdie."
Suddenly, the distance between them became nonexistent as Thrúd lurched forward and wrapped her arms around her mother, burying her face into the familiar silk. For just a short while, Thrúd allowed herself to be a small child once again, coming to her mom to make everything better after having hurt herself in some creative way, taking comfort in the usual scents of her fine clothing and perfumes. Thrúd couldn't help but laugh once she realized that she recognized the scent of her mom's favorite lavender scent and how odd it was to smell it in Vanaheim of all places.
"I'm sorry too, mom," Thrúd said. "I never meant to hurt your feelings." She pulled away so she could look her mom in the eyes again. "I would love to come live here. I want to, I really do." Thrúd looked down at the hammer at her hip. "But I can't yet. Mjolnir is in danger, and I have to do something."
"What is it, Thrúd?" Lady Sif asked with her familiar 'I'm here to help' tone. "What's wrong?"
Thrúd told her mother everything; how and where she found the hammer. Hugin being a pain in the ass but somehow helpful at the same time. How Lúnda has numerously gone out of her way to help and how much she had to twist Sindri's arm. And most importantly, she told her about Grámtrist and his obsession with Mjolnir, sending her on this mission to reinforce its strength.
Lady Sif's expression never once faltered throughout the story with her lips pursed and eyebrows slightly scrunched up as she soaked in the new information. Once Thrúd was finished, she said, "Is there anything I can do?"
"I don't think so," Thrúd admitted. "Not unless dad ever shared any secrets about this stupid thing with you that might be useful?"
"Honestly," Sif started with a dry laugh, "anytime he spoke about that thing I just tuned him out." She held out her fist in front of her, wielding an imaginary Mjolnir while deepening her voice. "My love," she did her best impression of her late husband, earning a snort from her daughter, "the Einherjar themselves trembled before the might of Mjolnir as it slew my enemies." She smiled. "Your father was many things, Thrúd, but a poet was not one of them."
Thrúd giggled some more. "No shit."
A thought passed through Sif's mind. "And speaking of, what were the Einherjar doing? How did you get wrapped up in it?"
Thrúd gestured her arm outward in a broad stroke, referring to not just Vanaheim, but the realms in general. "Some of the remaining Einherjar are having a panic attack without a leader. The ones here banded together and came up with a harebrained scheme to start another civil war between the Vanir and Aesir by framing the Vanir with an attack."
Lady Sif visibly staggered backward in surprise, the expression on her face almost insulted.
"They thought I would think that Hildisvíni would jeopardize all that we built after everything we've been through now?" She wondered as if she was just asked what color the sky was.
In response, Thrúd only offered a helpless shrug. "Hey, they may be loyal, but they never were that bright."
Another laugh was shared between the two of them, followed by a comfortable silence. Thrúd's fingers brushed the top of Mjolnir, reminding her of what she was meant to do.
"Like I said, mom. I really do want to come stay here with you and be that family we want to be. But for now," she held up Mjolnir. "I've gotta get going. There's something here that I need to find and Hugin knows where it is."
Lady Sif nodded. "I understand. Just promise me you'll be safe? And that you'll come by when you're ready?"
"I promise." Another hug. "Want Hugin to bring you back?"
"If that's alright with him. It's a bit of a hike back to the settlement and I am not wearing the shoes needed for it right now."
With a whistle, Thrúd called Hugin back to her. She angled out her shoulder for him to land on. "Think you can bring her back?" A few chirps and squawks were her response. "Yes, I'm sure it was just awful taking that extra two seconds to teleport her over here," she snapped back sarcastically. "Just bring her back and meet me here when you're done, please?"
With another squawk, Hugin took to the air.
"You two seem to get along," Lady Sif observed.
"About as can be expected, I guess." Thrúd said. "Love you, mom."
Her mother nodded again. "I love you too, Thrúdie."
With that, the swarm of ravens appeared and whisked her away as quickly as they dropped her off, leaving Thrúd alone in the forest a few moments before she was joined once again by her new friends.
Vixus, Reyna and Markus stepped into the clearing once again, approaching Thrúd. The young goddess met them halfway.
"Welp," Thrúd began awkwardly, clasping her hands. "Unless you've got another insurrection you need help dealing with," she half joked, unsure what she should be expecting anymore, "I need to get back to my business."
In response, Vixus placed her fist upon her chest and offered a bow. "I meant what I said before. You are a friend to Vanaheim. It was with your help that our ecosystem can begin to repair itself. And I will trust your word that your mother and the others mean us no harm."
Markus grunted his reluctant agreement.
"Trust me, they don't. I'm just glad I could help."
A caw overhead stole her attention skyward. Hugin was circling the clearing they stood in, growing evermore impatient to get a move on.
"Alright, alright! I'm ready." She sighed and shook her head. "Be well, you three. I hope to see you again soon. Under better circumstances."
Hugin allowed a wave to be exchanged between the four of them before swarming the goddess with his crew of space-defying ravens, taking her from one spot to another.
"Alright, where is this thing?" She asked the ever-shifting blotches of black birds.
"Well if someone hadn't taken their sweet sweet time schmoozing it up with the locals, we would be there by now!"
"Easy with the sass," Thrúd warned. "I know I owe you one for back there. Let's just get the coal and get back to Sindri."
On que, the birds dispersed.
At her feet was a circle of charred earth as wide as three grandugrs. At the dead center of the circle was a small pile of black coal. The air above the pile shimmered as heat escaped from their openings.
Thrúd was but a second away from proudly declaring 'I told you so' to the bird, but her breath caught in her throat as soon as she looked up.
She was back in the drylands from before. The same area from her battle with the Einherjar. She stood on a smaller island than the one before, and about half a mile to the south was the frozen lightning bolt from before, standing tall and stubbornly as ever.
Mjolnir pulsed at her side once again, almost drawn to the frozen piece of history before them.
Stepping forward, Thrúd bent down and scooped up several pieces of coal, tossing them inside the magic sack Sindri gave her.
Thrúd rubbed her hands together in satisfaction.
"Alright," she said to the bird. "Let's get back to Sindri's."
