A Jaunt in Joutenhiem

 

By Rhea-samma

Hehehe.. What would Fenris and Loki do if they got caught out in the cold and the snow? ::grins madly:: We shall see!

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Joutenhiem. The realm of ice.

It was a vast and barren desert of snow and wind, shaped by glaciers, and inhabited by giants.

And it was cold.

An odd quartet of four warriors went their way, bow headed through waist-deep snow. Iris was at the front, occasionally blasting away at a particularly large snowdrift, but the wind quickly started to cover up what had been cleared away. In a few moments the snow would already be ankle deep, making her attempts futile.

It was like the land was activley resisting their efforts.

At least they had not encountered any frost giants. Things could've turned far worse of one of them decided to show up. Though all the dangers of freezing to death, or being crushed by a giant were all very likley, the most unbearable part was the silence. There was nothing at all, except the wind and one's own labored breathing to shatter the stiff and acrid stillness.

That's it. Thought Fenris, as she trudged forward. Not only am I going to freeze to death, but I am also going to go completley out of my mind! She shivered and crossed her arms, rubbings some circulation back into her extremities. We only have the word of this sage Kadmon to go by that a shard of Ymir's heart is here...What if he's an agent of Freya!? What if this leads to us all getting killed anyway even if he isn't!? She sighed, and the cloud of white mist that issued from her lips was swept away by the wind. Really though, she was starting to get quite frustrated. The scenery never seemed to change much, just cragginess and snow as far as they eye could see, and reading the back of Chaos' jacket ("Rain"), was getting really boring. Suddenly her foot snagged on a nearly invisible ice chuck and she fell foreward. She cursed, but before she even started to get up, she felt a pair of strong hands grab her shoulder and elbow and help her up.

Loki.

She turned back and nodded in thanks. She tried to smile, but her face muscles felt frozen into place. His mouth moved, but she could barley hear his question over the wind. She cupped a hand to her ear and half-shouted, "What!?" He raised his voice, repeating himself,
"Are you becoming overtired Fenris?" She shook her head shouting back, even though they were barley a foot or so apart,
"No! I'm fine thanks!" He nodded, and gestured for her to continue.

Loki fell back into place behind her, straining his ears to hear anything over the infernal wind. Occasionally he would detect something, not a sound but more a feeling. Like something almost palpable on the tounge. He puzzled over it as he sifted through the snow, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Of course he was also distracted by the blazing, bitter cold, though he was determined not to show it.

Though after the first hour or so he relented to his body's signals and started to breathe on his hands for warmth and such.

Besides Lidia and being wet, there were few things Loki disliked more than the cold. He shuddered at the thought of having the theif along. She would've complained non-stop the entire time for certain. Though to be fair, he expected that of Iris, but so far she hadn't said a thing.

Not even the wind of Joutenhiem could overpower the voice of Iris Irine when she was upset.

Gradually the sky began to dim, and it became even colder. Night was falling. The heros hugged a cliff wall, in hopes of finding a cave or a hollow of some sort to take shelter in. Finally they found one. A large one. When they went inside there were remmenants of what seemed to be unfortunate giant victims. Fortunatley, the area seemed neglected, so the giants probaby moved on to a different dwelling ages ago. Retreating back to the farthest, darkest corner of the giant-made cave, the four of them sat and shivered around a conjured fire.

Chaos was the first to speak. "This sucks!" He exclaimed standing up. "This totally and unequivocably sucks!" Iris admonished him,
"Chaos keep your voice down! You don't wanna attract any attention do you? We don't know for sure if the giants have left..." The boy sighed and sat down again,
"Yeah, yeah, whatever.."

And as he sat, the fire went out.

Darkness preveiled and so did confusion. The four of them stood, Chaos, Iris, and Fenris all chattering at once, sounding more like forty with the ehoes of the caverns. Loki wished ferently for their silence, so he could hear what intruder might be lurking.
"Ouch! Chaos that was my foot!"
"Sorry Iris, what happened to the fire?"
"Is someone there!?"
"Helloooooo!" Loki finally shut them up with a quiet snap,
"Silence."

And there was. For several long moments they all held their breaths, but nothing could be heard. Then Loki recognized that faint, bitter aftertaste he'd detected so much earlier, and had nearly forgotten. "Magic..." He said quietly. The others gave him invisible looks of puzzlement.
What do you mean Loki?" Asked Chaos.
"I sensed it earlier..that storm was not natural, even for Joutenhiem. Someone very skilled conjured those winds..or rather encourged them to blow so eagerly. They must be very far away for so little residue to remain. Perhaps even beyond the borders of this land." Silence greeted this statement, then Fenris timidly said,
"Iris..see if you can conjure a light..And don't we have a conventional lantern?" Chaos nodded, and started rustling blindly through the packs. His ands finally closed on the object and he set it on the floor in front of him, searching his pockets for tinder and flint. Iris managed a pale glow with one of her rune cards, but it was faint, and erratic. Like a dying firefly.
"Someone wishes to make our journey unpleasant," said Loki unnessisarily. Fenris nodded,
"Indeed.. no doubt this is the work of Freya or one of her minions.." Chaos finaly got a spark going, and touched it to the lamp's wick. The flame, little as it was, was almost umbearably bright. The rune knight sighed,
"Well I guess this is what we have.." He shivered as a gust of wind swept through the cavern. "Can't have a real fire, the smoke would start to build up after awhile.. if we even had anything to burn. A t least it's not too cold.. I mean, our water isn't frozen so.." He yawned, and glanced at Iris, who was curled up on the floor, flickering rune card still clutched in her hand. He smiled at her fondly, and shrugged off his outer coat. He rolled it up into a bundle and slid it gently under her head. He only became aware of the other two staring at him when he brushed aside her hair. Grinning sheepishly he shrugged and leaned against a rock close to the girl, and closed his eyes.

Fenris decided to pretend she was blind.

Though on second thought, it actually, and truly didn't hurt as much as it used to. After all she'd had months to accustom herself to the sight of those two together. And slowly, she observed things about Chaos she found irritating, almost to the point of intolerability. It wasn't that she didn't love Balder, or didn't want to be Chaos' friend. It was just that she was coming to realize that he was a different person, and it would've been unfair of her to try and make him be someone that he wasn't.

Loki stood up and grunted, "Gaurd duty." And he marched off to the cavern enterance, leaving Fenris very much alone. She hugged her knees and rocked back and forth, gazing intently at the flame. Hours passed. The wind howled outside, and even though she was weary, sleep would not come to the warlock. Iris had long abandoned Chaos' jacket, waking up at one point, she crawled sleeply foreward into his lap, then fell asleep again with his arms around her.

Fenris stood up at length, deciding to see if Loki hadn't died yet of the cold.

Of course he hadn't. The assasin was standing near the lip of the enterence, sheltered from most of the wind. Fenris spoke as she approached him, "I hardly think anything is going to attack us." She could just make out his figure shrug. The wind whistled outside and he said,
"I assumed you would be alseep by now. What is it that keeps you awake?" Unwittingly she looked back at the pinprick of light where the two lovers slept.
"Well...The cold I guess.." It is cold. She thought. The warlock moved up next to him. He nodded slowly,
"I dislike the cold." There was a pause. "My fingers have gone numb, as have my legs." Fenris looked at him surprised. It realy shouldn't have been. After all he'd been standing there ages, and he still was a human being...or at least it seemed that way. Shaking her head she took his hands in hers, and started massaging them.
"You know you really ought to take better care of yourself Loki," she admonished. "Why didn't you just come back and sit with the rest of us?"
"I did not want to leave you unprotected." She stopped for a moment, then continued,
"Us? I don't know what you mean..." Loki shook his head, and placed a hand on hers to stop her for a moment,
"No, you Fenris. I didn't want to leave you unprotected." She blinked, and stared at him, the darkness cloaking his features into near unreadbleness.
"...Wha-why?" She finally asked.
"I do not know." Was his simple answer. She turned away from him and thought for many moments. She changed the subject,
"Can I tell you a secret?" She didn't wait for the assasin's answer, "There are days I hate him. Chaos I mean. There are things that he does that I just despise, but I can't change them. That's who he is now. But whenever he does something..that he would do if he was...I feel so guilty for hating him. Perhaps it's just.. jealousy or frustration, but there are times when it's so much I.." Her eyes stung as tears trickled down her face. She felt a finger lightly brushing away her tears. Blinking, she realized Loki was standing in front of her now. The muted light from outside fell upon his face and she could read his emotions clearly now. They weren't hidden, as some like to believe. Not really. They were all there in his glass green eyes. She whispered softly, "I-m cold."

And they were in each other's arms, huddled against the stone walls. Fenris curled up, leaning against him almost like a child. She closed her eyes, and listened to his heartbeat. Loki stroked her hair and held her firmly, enjoying the sense of warmth and peace she offered him. They found security there, side by side, the both of them finally feeling complete. For Fenris, she found the touch of a loved one. For Loki he found the salvation of his humanity. And slowly their breaths became as one, as they fell into a silent slumber.