Intertwine

106 - "Shut Up." "Never."

ROARA

The scream made my skin turn to ice. It was pure, deep, terror. It was the type of thing that forces itself out of you, that you have no control over, that you can't stop even if you tried.

Loki turned to face me as the scream continued. "Who?"

"I don't know." I drew my sword. "But I'd like to find out."

Together we raced down the darkened underground streets, crisscrossing left and right, not considering which way anymore. The sound seemed to echo around us, taunting us.

"If it's really portals we'll never get to them." Loki panted. "They'll just put another portal in front of us as soon as we get close that we'll step through without knowing and we'll be back to square one."

"I know." I grunted. "Doesn't stop us from trying though."

"Why did you have to challenge him?"

"Because I'm stupid." I glanced behind me. "I can still sort of feel him, you know. In the back of my head."

"He's not going to let you go that easily Roara."

I nodded. "But if he stays much longer-"

"The more you fight it, the weaker he gets. The longer he holds onto you, the closer you are to death. Neither of you are letting go." He sounded almost angry, like he was trying to feign calmness on top of rage. "You're going round in circles."

"Either one of us lets go, or we both die, I get it. But I'm not quitting." We skidded around a corner. "There has to be a way to defeat him."

"Roara, he's not quitting either. The stronger you get the tighter he's trying to hold onto you, can't you see?" He shook his head, his dark locks flying over his eyes. "I don't know what to do. I may have lived a long time but I don't know everything."

"Wait can you say that again? I just want to record you saying 'I don't know everything' so I can play it back whenever you get cocky."

He shot me a look. "I hate you."

"You love me."

"I..." He began but trailed off before he could finish his sentence. The screaming had stopped. We looked around at our surroundings.

It looked.... different.

"There." I pointed to the ground a few feet in front of us. That was what was different. It was only a small difference, but we'd become so accustomed to the alleys that even the tiniest change made everything feel off.

Loki knelt down and examined the liquid that was split across the stones. He sniffed it.

"It's human." He announced. I did not want to know how he could tell that by smelling it.

I took a step closer. "Well they're certainly not dead. Look." The blood continued in a trail down the street.

Loki went to examine the splatters of blood, stooping down at regular intervals to get a better look.

"Hey, Loki." I bent down to the floor and swiped a finger across the imprint left on the ground. I rubbed the substance between my fingers. It was mud. There was no mud anywhere we'd been. This came from somewhere else entirely. My senses told me it wasn't even from this planet.

"What?" He asked without turning around.

"Come look at this." I moved sideways liked a crab, keeping my body low, and ensuring not to disturb what was on the floor. "Seriously."

I felt his presence beside me. "On Asgard above, is that...?"

"A giant paw print?" I gritted my teeth. "Sure looks like it." I held out my fingers so he could see them. "It's mud."