Prompt Post 3
Welcome to norsekink .
Keep up the awesome, folks.
Announcement: All new and continuing fills for Round 3 should be posted in the Overflow Post.
THIS ROUND IS CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS.
( Rules )
Keep up the awesome, folks.
Announcement: All new and continuing fills for Round 3 should be posted in the Overflow Post.
THIS ROUND IS CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS.
( Rules )
“I expect this of your brother, but not from you, Odinson.” His voice boomed loud and echoing in the vast hall of the throne room. “I have put off the Odinsleep, but you are derelict in your duties as my heir and future king. You should have been here.”
Thor had always thought that he would be the one that father chose to be king, but he admitted that a part of that was simple conceit. This was the first time father had chosen to articulate it outloud. “So I am to be king, then?”
Odin snarled. “You are here, at least. Your brother is given a simple task and then wanders off afterwards.”
Except, Thor is sure that it was not a simple task and that the weight of it is why Loki has not returned. He grew more sure of that fact by the day when he and the horse were riding across the plain.
“Were you not just accusing me of wandering off?”
“You were absent, but your quest had a good intention behind it - to chase down your lost brother. It was not a kingly intention, for a king knows where he is needed and when to delegate such menial tasks. You still have much to learn, my son. I admit that perhaps I have been too kind and allowed you to indulge in the follies of youth for too long. But now it is time for you to come into your inheritance. I see that now. The sleep is upon me and you shall attend to the matters of court in my stead - with your mother’s help, of course. And your brother’s, should he deign to return.”
Thor sighed. This had been what he’d wanted all along, wasn’t it? He had waited with bated breath for the day when his father would choose which of them would be king and he’d hoped, as long as he could remember, that he would be the one chosen. Then why did this seeming victory taste of ashes? Why would he rather be riding along a mountain ridge without a care in the world?
He followed his father down the wide golden halls of the palace. His skin tingled and itched with confinement and claustrophobia. He had never felt this way in the palace before - he’d grown up here. It was his home.
Mother waited for them in Odin’s chambers where he would sleep. She stood immediately and hugged Thor to her the way she did after every quest and every battle. “Oh my son, I have been so worried.”
She looked behind him, expectantly.
“I did not find him, mother,” Thor replied. He did not regret not bringing Loki home, but he regretted putting that resigned, disappointed look on his mother’s face.
“Thor, you should not have made your mother worry so,” she scolded, but she had not yet released her grip on Thor’s arm. She was a formidable woman in her own right - a queen who ruled justly in her husband’s stead when the Odinsleep came upon him. But to Thor, she would always be his mother and a soft treasure to be protected.
She hugged Odin to her, kissing him deeply before she helped him to lay down on the bed. Thor clasped one of his father’s hands and his mother the other as the gold field of magic drew itself around him and he slept.
Thor released his father's hand and sat down next to his mother, wrapping an arm around her. They stayed that way until the sun had set and the moon rose in the sky. And then, once he’d convinced his mother to sleep, Thor snuck out of the palace gates to the stables.
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Thor did not hesitate in climbing onto her back. They did not ride far, only into one of the fields at the edge of the Capital where a great oak tree grew. As children, Loki and Thor had pretended that it was Yggdracil itself and swung from its branches pretending that they were traveling to different worlds through the bifrost, when it was still new and wonderful to them.
The horse drank from the nearby stream and then settled down under the branches of the tree, letting Thor lean on her flank.
“My father means to make me into a king.”
Thor realized that he must be mad, consulting with a horse and not his friends, but Loki had always been Thor’s most trusted council and Thor’s warrior friends more a chaotic representation of his own psyche than clever of their own right.
The horse snorted.
“Yes, I know that it has been obvious for more than a century. But he said it for the first time. Loki’s disappearance has affected us all deeply this time. I think it is the end of father’s willingness to indulge him.”
The horse gave a pained whinny.
“It is unfortunate, considering that it was Loki who solved the most recent royal problem, at great cost to himself, I fear.”
The horse nuzzled at Thor’s neck and he petted her gently. There was something soothing about her, perhaps the moonlight that seemed embedded in her skin. It could be that he missed his brother deeply, but Thor had come to love the horse and all that she represented. Maybe, when Loki returned, they could ride out together. She was big enough that even two grown men could ride on her back.
“I miss him,” Thor whispered, a single tear flowing down his cheek and into the horse’s thick mane.
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After the council, there was lunch, with audiences following. His mother would handle the audiences today while Thor observed, but tomorrow she said that he would be making the decisions. Thor fidgeted nervously, barely touching his lunch. Luckily, Volstagg had come to court today and was happy to eat what Thor couldn’t finish.
“You’re coming with us on the hunt next week, are you not?” Volstagg asked, an arm casually thrown over Thor’s shoulders. Thor and Loki almost always accompanied the warriors on the seasonal hunt. It was a bonding experience for the troops when they were not at war and for the past few hundred years, Odin had remained in the palace and sent his sons in his stead. Thor still remember how, as boys, their father had taught them how to uses a bow and arrow and a net trap and how he would send them out each day with different units of the men so that all of the warriors would be charmed by the young princes and by the trust the Allfather placed in them to mentor his sons for a day. He remembered returning to the great bonfire that marked the center of their huge camp and curling up with Loki while the men drank and told wild tales of valor and victory. Thor had hung on every word of glories past, while Loki had struggled to read by firelight. Thor had always shivered and crowded next to his brother, but despite his tiny frame, Loki seemed not to feel the cold, stroking Thor’s hair absently and ignoring the drunken boisterousness of the men.
For the first time, Thor was unsure if he should go. He had duties of the throne now, as Odin had. But Odin had also gone on the hunt with his men before his princlings were old enough to do so by themselves and without Loki here, Thor knew the men would be disappointed that no Odinson accompanied them.
What troubled him most, however, was that he did not know if the horse would enjoy a hunt. She seemed more the type for an aimless ride than the plodding pace of moving through the forest with an army of men. But, Thor was hardly going to tell Volstagg that he needed to consult his horse before he went on a hunt with him. “I want to go,” he replied, “but it’s best to make sure I’m not needed here before I agree.”
Volstagg nodded. “It is difficult without your brother here.” Not all of Thor’s warrior friends got along with Loki. Sif, in particular, merely tolerated him because he was a prince and Thor’s brother. But Volstagg genuinely liked Loki and the two often went hunting together without the rest. Of course it didn’t hurt that Loki was probably one of the best hunters in the realm and Volstagg had one of the greatest appetites. “You might have a chance of catching the most this year. Though Hogun will not make it easy.”
Thor laughed along with his friend. Hunting took patience and an understanding of the subtle workings of nature that Thor just did not possess. He was never sure if Loki actually used magic to aid his traps or if the skills he’d learned from magic just made him more aware of the natural world. Thor only managed to up his scores by catching beast-like animals that needed to be subdued by strength. He would catch four or five bears and a handful of smaller animals in a week-long hunt, while Loki would snare hundreds and only subdue a bear if he felt like it.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” Volstagg asked. He seemed worried.
“I’m sure he will.” Thor decided not to tell Volstagg how Loki’s spirit had been ever-present on his journey. He did not need to be teased by Sif and Fandral when they found out.
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“That is a huge horse,” Fandral said when Thor met them at the bifrost.
“She’s beautiful,” Sif said, touching the horse with a reverent awe that reminded them all suddenly that Sif was a girl. Fandral blushed and Thor laughed.
“She is a beauty.”
“Where did you get her?” Hogun asked. “I would like a horse such as this.”
“I’m sorry, my friend, but I found her while wandering the wood in search of my brother.”
Hogun looked disappointed, but mounted his chestnut steed without complaint. Heimdall had already transported most of the men over and the royal party was all that remained.
Thor patted the horse as if to brace her for the chaos they were sure to encounter on the other side.
Sure enough, the revelry had already begun when they arrived and Thor had to slam Mjolnir to the ground in order to gain the men’s attention.
“I know things have been quiet in realm these past years. With no wars pressing the kingdom, you have grown restless. But, my father says that a great king does not seek out war, only patiently prepares for it should it come.”
The men nodded their heads, knowing full well that along with glory, war also brought bloodshed and tears and great losses.
“I know that the absence of Prince Loki, infuriating trickster that he is, also makes the kingdom uneasy. I, for one, am happy not to wake up with my hair colored green of to have to check my wine glass to make sure that the wine has not transformed into snakes, but such pranks have kept me distracted from restlessness.”
The horse shifted agitatedly under Thor, but he did not dismount. “So, for this hunt, I ask only that you enjoy yourselves and that you enjoy this peace that we have been gifted. Feel the calm as you stalk these woods and rejoice in the messages you can hear from the universe in its silence.”
The men clapped uncertainty. They were not used to hearing such sentiments from Thor, who usually spoke of war and glory. Yes, he could be sentimental, even maudlin, at times, but Thor’s energy was usually boisterous, not contemplative, like the majority of the men he commanded.
“What I mean to say, brothers,” Thor added in his usual enthusiastic shout, “is let this be a great hunt! And let the best man win!” He thrust his hammer into the sky for a celebratory spark of lightning and then they were off with a battle cry.
Once the great mass of riders reached the huge meadow in which they intended to make camp, they dropped their tents and other overnight gear before splitting into the small groups they normally used for fighting. One member from each small unit stayed behind to set up the camp. This year, it was Sif’s turn. Thor did not envy her the task of organizing the entire camp and setting up the scoreboard.
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Thor reminded himself that she was not any horse, but a magical horse, probably a gift from his brother.
After traps had been laid in several areas that the horse led them too, they went off in search of bigger game. Thor and Sif, who was the team’s best tracker after Loki, would normally split off right away in search of a beast, but this time, Thor let the horse lead him to the mouth of a cave where undoubtedly one of the huge beasts known to this world dwelled. There were bones scattered outside of it and the air crackled with a strange energy.
“What kind of game is on this planet again?” Fandral asked.
Volstagg rolled his eyes. “You really are useless, aren’t you?”
Thor kept his mouth shut. Normally Loki would research the game of the particular world chosen for the hunt and would relay the information to Thor. This time Thor hadn’t bothered.
“It’s Thor’s favorite,” Volstagg joked, elbowing Thor in the ribs.
Thor had no idea what that meant. He didn’t have a favorite game animal. Maybe a bear? He let Volstagg shove him towards the cave mouth.
“But what’s in there?” Fandral whined.
Thor saw a flash of green scales flying towards him before he heard Hogun respond. “A serpent.”
Of course, Thor’s “favorite” as in the animals Thor despised above all others. There was something equally mesmerizing and terrifying about snakes, especially giant ones that lived in caves. Thor smashed the serpent with his hammer, hard enough that he should have flattened its midsection, but its skin just shimmered, its powerful muscles contracting to repel the blow.
“Oh, these are tricky!” Volstagg laughed, launching himself at another snake that had slithered out of the cave. Of course they would live in nests. Thor was having that kind of day.
The serpent hissed angrily, coiling itself swiftly around Thor’s waist. He could feel the plates of his armor grinding together, squeezing his internal organs uncomfortably. But more hits with the hammer did nothing to dissuade the huge snake. It only squeezed harder.
Thor was a god and not in particular danger of dying from this particular discomfort. But it did beg the question of how he was actually going to get the serpent off.
The horse whinnied, kicking up off its hind legs. Thor was afraid that it would run, but instead it knocked Thor and the serpent over and stepped on the snake’s head with a sickening crunch. Though the snake’s body went limp around him, it still took Thor a while to unravel himself. Luckily, the warriors three had observed the horse’s maneuver and were easily dispensing their snakes at their weak points. In fact, Fandral, with his sword, had been much more effective at fighting the beast.
“They tense their muscles,” Hogun observed, “making heavy blows ineffective.” And the head was the only part that didn’t have the thick ring of muscle.
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“I heard they taste like chicken,” Volstagg remarked. They would have to return to camp straight away because even with horses used only for transport, they would have trouble carrying so much meat back. Thor tried not to think of how Loki would have just magicked it all into a pocket of space-time, letting them ride back casually.
But when Thor tried to load up the horse with their spoils, it tossed its head and moved away. He frowned, but the horse was light on its feet, staying just a step ahead of him.
“Fine,” Thor grumbled. “I’ll carry it myself.”
“What, so not you take orders from a horse?” Volstagg teased.
“It’s not just any horse.”
“What, is it a magic horse?” Fandral asked. “You’re starting to sound like Loki.”
“Sometimes Loki is right.” In fact, Loki was more often right than Thor and Fandral combined. As much time as they spent fighting each other, Thor knew that it would probably be wise to follow Loki, at least when he was being serious. The problem with Loki was that he was so skilled at lying that it was near impossible to tell when he was being serious and when his ultimate goal was mere mischief.
“Let’s head back,” Hogun urged. “It is going to take us a long time on foot.”
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They were the only group that had found and killed snakes, which according to Sif, were a luxury food and difficult to kill, thus giving them a huge lead on the hunt tally. Thor ordered that their kill be shared, even though many of the men had already eaten and they stayed up late drinking mead and telling stories around the great bonfire.
It all made Thor miss his brother more. Loki would always embellish the stories with little shows of magic - either casting images of the battle into the smoke of the fire or adding pyrotechnics and sound effects to them. He would also always have a good prank for the first night of the camp. One hunt he had magicked all of the men’s beards into a giant throw rug that he put in the opulent, magically expanded tent that he would only share with Thor. Another year, he had changed everyone’s hunting gear to look like Sif’s and she got to smile at how they struggled to hold a bow and arrow with a protruding breastplate in the way.
Once Thor was good and drunk and on his way to maudlin, he excused himself from the party, the warriors three swiftly rising with him.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“We are going to spar to see who sleeps with you in the tent,” Volstagg explained.
In their state of inebriation, Thor wondered how such a thing would turn out.
“You three take it.” Thor had spent the last months sleeping under the stars with the horse, after all, and he found the idea more comfortable than squishing in with two of his drunken, smelly warriors.
“Won’t you be cold?” Fandral asked.
Surprisingly, Thor had never once been cold on his journey, even when they camped on snowy mountain peaks. Maybe it was the horse’s body heat or maybe some of the elemental magic it seemed to wheeled.
“I’ll be fine. Enjoy yourselves, for tomorrow we hunt again.”
They all smiled, patting each other on the back when saying good night. Thor smiled too, but there was something cloying about their presence - as though in those brief months he had so wed himself to solitude that now he felt like a traitor abandonning it.
The horse was waiting for him just outside the firelight. Sne hadn’t followed the other horses into the nearby field of sweetgrass to pasture for the night. Thor patted the familiar neck and fed her an apple he had carried here just for her.
“Thank you for today,” he said. “Without my brother, I would have been lost about what to do. And thank you for saving me from the snake.”
The horse snorted, but nuzzled Thor nonetheless. He pulled himself onto her back and they walked away from the light of the fire towards a small copse of trees where they lay down for the night.
“This is my first hunt without him,” Thor replied. If they missed hunts it had always been together. Loki had never wandered off alone for this long before.
The horse seemed to understand, because she nibbled a little at his hair affectionately. Thor wrapped an arm around her, feeling his brother’s presence close.
The next morning, Thor couldn’t help but grin when they returned to camp. A horde of small annoying birds had descended upon them at dawn, picking at everything with their sharp beaks and defecating everywhere. Sif looked particularly harassed, with her hair a tangled mess from where the birds had tried to nest. Eventually they had figured that loud noises scared the birds away and thus a few of the men had taken to banging pots and pans in a deafening cacophony.
Thor grinned. This was exactly a prank, for it could have been of nature, but it was the familiar chaos of the second day of the hunt after Loki had been making mischief.
“Good thing we slept apart,” Thor told the horse, swearing that he saw a twinkle in her eye.
TBC
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Cant wait for more~
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