Loki / Reader (5) - Part 3
It was cold and dark when you gained consciousness again. Your body felt numb but at the same time all your limbs ached when you tried to push yourself up. You were laying on your stomach, your cheek pressed against the snow-covered ground, right next to a sharp rock at the foot of the mountain. The snow had turned slightly red from the blood that had dripped out from a cut on your forehead. Fortunately you had not hit your head that badly, but badly enough to give you a nasty cut and make you spend many hours unconscious. You screamed as you forced yourself to lay on your back, although there wasn't that much sound coming out from your mouth due to a sore throat that you had gotten from exposing yourself to freezing air of late autumn. It was obvious that if you had been a mere mortal, you would have died from the hypothermia already, especially because your cloak had been partially torn apart and provided you very little shelter anymore.
You stared into the darkness, at the trees that hid the sky from you; thick spruces and pines, a couple of birches that had been stripped bare by the approaching winter. Despite your best efforts to keep yourself together, you suddenly burst into tears and since there was no stopping, you let them pour out from your eyes and roll down across your cheeks into your hair that was all messed up around your face, framing it like it had been a sad painting. You were tired and staying awake was a constant struggle. The fact that nothing hurt when you stayed completely still did not really help because the blissful numbness was luring you all the time to fall asleep but you were afraid that if you gave in and closed your eyes, you would never open them again. Sure you were immortal, kind of, but unlike Thor and Loki, you were not a god of anything and therefore your life was fragile compared to them.
You had no idea how long you had been unconscious; it could have been minutes... most likely longer because the cut on your forehead had stopped bleeding and the blood had frozen into your hair... it could have been hours... maybe even a day. It had been dark when you had stepped through the portal and it was dark again, so there were only two plausible options, hours or much longer. You tried to sit up but your body felt like you had not been using it for days. However you managed to push yourself up to sit and after getting used to the pain and making sure that you had not broken any bones, you crawled to the nearest tree trunk and pulled yourself on your feet. You screamed without making a sound as you fell to the ground a couple of times but eventually your body started to warm up and obey your will.
"Maybe I could climb up" you thought but after trying a couple of times you had no other choice than to admit that the hill was too steep to climb and you most likely would just end up hurting yourself even worse if you defied your luck. Yes, you were lucky to be alive and therefore you did not want to push it. The next thing you heard was a sound of wolves howling nearby. It was a blood-stopping realization that it was possible that you had ended up on their territory and there were no towns... villages... or random cottages anywhere around. You kept yourself supported against a tree trunk as you scanned the forest in the darkness that was disturbed by a pale moonlight that penetrated through the tree tops when the trees swayed in the wind. You noticed a fallen branch just five meters further away and decided to get it for protection.
Then you saw them; two glowing eyes in the darkness accompanied by an ominous growling. You abandoned the tree and ran across the distance, threw yourself to the branch and managed to get it just in time to defend yourself with it. You swung the branch from side to side and stared into the eyes of the wolf. It waited, growled with its nasty, sharp teeth exposed... and followed your every move. Suddenly it jumped at you and managed to sink its teeth into your wrist because you tried to hit it with your pathetic weapon but you missed. The wolf kept biting and the pain made you feel dizzy but instead of passing out your survival instinct kicked in and gave you a clear idea of what you had to do. You kicked the wolf as hard as you could and when it wailed, you managed to pull your hand away, grab the branch from the ground where you had dropped it just few seconds ago and hit the wolf with everything you had. The wolf wailed and ran away immediately with its tail between its legs.
You had won the battle but you knew that it would come back... most likely with backup and then you wouldn't stand a chance. You pulled a piece of fabric from your cloak and tied it firmly around your wrist. Your veins were pumping adrenaline and it made you feel strong as well as invincible but you knew that most likely you would crash down sooner or later. Therefore you took the weapon with you and started to walk away from the mountain. You heard the wolves howling again but the sounds were getting more distant and it gave you some peace of mind. After an hour the night started to turn into a new morning and the howling stopped completely. You cursed how slow you moved because you could feel that you were running on fumes and soon you had no other choice than to sit down to rest for a moment.
Footsteps! You saw footsteps! What a relief! You started to follow the footsteps hoping that they would lead you to a cottage or a camp... however your feet were too tired to carry you anymore and therefore you gave yourself a permission to rest for a moment. You found a spot that was a bit safer and not so windy as the rest of the surrounding forest and sat down. You wrapped the broken cloak around you shoulder and held your arms against your chest to keep yourself a bit warmer and then you drifted away. You slept a couple of hours and when you woke up, you felt slightly better... extremely hungry but at least less exhausted. You got up and located the footsteps again. Slowly you started following them, sometimes falling over and getting confused about the direction... but one thing was for certain; the more you walked in the forest, the more footsteps you found... which meant only one thing.
There had to be people nearby! You quickened your pace even though it meant that you fell down more often but it didn't matter! It was quite common actually since the people who had walked in the forest before had fallen down as well. You followed the trails for hours without getting anywhere but you kept yourself hopeful. However when it started to get dark again you realized that you had seen this place before... the sheltered spot where you had slept in the morning... the place where you had fallen down and almost broken your nose... Even the place where you had fought against the wolf... yes... there were tiny red spots on snow...
- It cannot be! you sighed when you realized that the footsteps you had been following the entire day had been the footsteps of your own. There were no other people, you were just running in circles and actually getting nowhere!
It was a paralyzing thought and for a moment you were unable to do anything but to stare at your shoes. Then you started to laugh, first just a little but then your laughter grew and turned into some sort of mania. You laughed hysterically and fell on your knees to laugh some more until the manic-moment passed and your laughter turned into exhausted sobbing. It was going to be completely dark tonight in few short hours and you had to get away from the spot where you had defended your life during last night. The forest was beautiful; it was silent and undisturbed, there were few snowflakes floating peacefully down from the skies to the ground. You raised your head and noticed that the sky was covered by gray thick clouds which meant that it was going to snow the entire night.
You found your way to the place where you had rested earlier and camped there. However you decide that you wouldn't fall asleep because then the wolves would surprise you for sure. You sat down, got into a tight ball and squeezed the branch as tightly as you could while you stared into the darkness that was fading away behind a curtain of snowfall. The hours passed and suddenly you opened your eyes. The sun was shining and it was a new day again. You scolded yourself for falling asleep as you wiped the snow off your eyelashes and hair, forced yourself to stand again and continued walking forward... but where? All the tracks had been covered with fresh snow that sparkled in the sunlight... and you had no idea which direction to choose.
- Well, of course. you scoffed and decided to just pick a direction and keep walking... just to keep your body somewhat warm. You walked forward and suddenly you realized that there was no forest in front of you. No, not at all. You were staring at a lake that was surrounded by tall mountains with steep mountain walls, very much like the one that you had rolled down. There was no ice on the lake and when you turned your head to see how far the lake reached, you noticed that there was a town in the end of the lake. The lake was quite narrow but long and it resembled a river... that just ended. "A fjord" you sighed half aloud. You had heard stories about a place that was a maze of mountains and lakes that looked like rivers... and that formation had a name... a fjord. You squatted down to drink a little and cupped some water with your hands. However when you brought your hands to your mouth and filled your mouth with the water, you instantly spat it out because it was salty. "This is not a lake... it is a sea" you mumbled.
You however had to shake yourself out from the fascination because you had to get to the town before nightfall. You knew that you were balancing on the edge of your strength and if you spent one more night out in the cold, you would surely freeze to death. You could feel the temperatures dropping for sure... and then there were the wolves. It was basically a miracle that they had not attacked last night while you had been sleeping. You started to walk on the shore towards the town and by the sunset you had reached it. It was a small town that clearly supported itself by fishing, or that was what you assumed since there were plenty of boats with fishing nets and the town seemed to be very secluded from the surrounding world. You disregarded the cloak because it made you look like a beggar and after tying your messy hair up to appear neater, you perfected your posture and walked into a building that had a sign advertising beds.
It was a tavern or an inn of some sort. You had seen those in Asgard as well so it did not really matter that you did not understand the language; a bed was a bed, and that's it. You were greeted by the innkeeper but it got very apparent instantly that you did not understand each other. You however took your precious necklace off and gave it to the man, he inspected the gem quickly and showed you that it would be enough for seven nights with meals. You sighed and nodded. It was your favorite necklace but you had nothing else to pay with and there was no way you would be able to walk back to the portal... not as long as you were all bruised and exhausted. Besides, did you even want to go back?
Yes, that was a big question. You had been publicly humiliated and the man whom you loved apparently hated you. You had been made very clear that you caused nothing but shame to your family and Loki did not want to have anything to do with you. "I would have banished you already if your parent were not important people". Loki's words echoed in your mind over and over again, on an endless loop. The thing was that you had been so caught up with surviving that you had not wasted your energy on thinking about anything but ways to stay alive, but now you were safe... you had a roof over your head and a warm cup of tea in front of you... now you had all the time in the world to reflect everything that had been said and done during your entire life.
You ate some soup and then got into the room that you had rented for a week. You were pleasantly surprised to find a warm bath and some clean, warm clothes waiting for you. You got undressed slowly because your body still ached and then stepped into water that felt burning hot against your skin at first. You hugged your legs against your chest and buried your face into your knees. After two hours of just staying like that, silently sobbing, you noticed that the water had turned cool and you still had to wash yourself with it. You scrubbed your hair without mercy and cleaned the bruises as well as the cuts before getting out from the bath and putting on a dressing robe that had been provided to you by the inn. You walked to the bed, lay down and fell asleep immediately.
The following days you just pretty much ate and slept. You took a couple of short walks in the town but it was obvious that you were an unwanted guest there; the people of the town did not like strangers and they definitely did not like strangers that did not speak their language. Some of them tried to ask you where you had come from, or so you assumed, but you did not really want to tell them anything about yourself... not that you even could have, hence the language barrier. Then those seven days were up and you were supposed to leave. You had no other jewelry to buy any extra time and the thought of being thrown out to the street terrified you profoundly. Even your bruises had not healed completely and your mind was still a mess.
The innkeeper knocked the door and entered the room. He saw you crying while staring at the gorgeous view from the window. You wiped the tears off your cheeks and nodded as a sign that you were ready to leave but the man, deeply moved by the sight, gestured you not to worry and handed you a broom. You felt the wooden stick with your fingertips and wrapped your hand around it firmly as the feeling of deep relief washed over you. You knew that this was not a permanent solution but at least this gave you some additional time to figure everything out.
You had never done any chores... you had been privileged that way and it amused the servants of the house very much. You however were a fast learner and as the days passed, you learned to work for your upkeep. Then one day, on the first day of the third week since you had walked through the portal, you saw a familiar figure walking on the street with assertive steps. You recognized the person immediately; it was Loki. You stopped walking when you noticed Loki wearing his long leather coat, black hair framing his handsome face... that was a sight that you admired so deeply... But...
You realized that you were wearing servant's clothes and carrying a basket of fresh fish that the innkeeper had asked you to get from the sailors. You froze completely when you noticed Loki turning his head and seeing you. As an involuntary and entirely automated reaction you stepped behind a building and continued walking forward on the narrow alley until you found a place to hide for a moment. You stepped into the shed and stayed in the shadows completely still, careful not to even breathe loudly while you listened to the familiar footsteps getting closer and further away. When you had made sure that Loki was not in the alley anymore, you got out from the shed and sneaked back to the inn. You took the basket of fresh fish into the kitchen and tried to ask if anyone had come to look for you but the kitchen maid only shook her head. She either did not understand you or there had not been anyone. You smiled politely and signed that you were going to retire early. When you were walking upstairs where your room was, the maid ran after you and said something. You however couldn't understand her so you just nodded and opened the door to your chamber that was illuminated with a candle. You shifted your gaze from the candle to the figure of a tall man, standing by the window and turning to look at you when he heard the door opening.
It was Loki.