Tournament of Thieves

5

"Don't shoot, Skadi!" Loki yelped, leaning back in a futile attempt to get away from her weapon. "I'm here with Odin's approval."

Skadi, a frost giantess whose father Loki had kind of been responsible for killing, even though that had really been the rest of the Aesir, scowled and didn't lower her bow. But she didn't shoot, either, so that was a bonus.

"I know," she growled. "Odin informed me."

Loki wrinkled his brow. "You know?" Anger filled him. "And you still shot me?"

Skadi shrugged. "Consider it payback."

"I thought the snake was payback," Loki grumbled, easing himself carefully to his feet. Skadi snorted derisively.

"Thor killed the snake," Skadi retorted back. "That arrow will ensure I don't need to physically hurt you for a while."

"Like a thousand years of snake poison wasn't enough," Loki muttered, baring his teeth when he examined his arm again. Skadi glanced at it, frowned absently, then handed him a patch of thick cloth.

"Wrap up that wound," she instructed. "Before you bleed to death and ruin everything."

Loki frowned. "In case you forgot, you're the one who shot me. And why would you care if I die?"

Skadi rolled her eyes. "Look, I'll explain after I fix that wound."

Loki was astonished. Although never exactly enemies, he and Skadi had never had more than a casual relationship, considering she lived in Jotunheim and the trickster in Asgard, and also allotting for the fact that she still blamed him for her father's death. But her offering to mend his wound, the one that she had caused in the first place, was completely out of character for her. But he accepted her offer of aid, suspicions rising inside him.

As the giantess led Loki to her base camp, it appeared she had been waiting with the sole purpose of shooting him down. She had a fire crackling with a small pot of snow melting. A pile of clean, old cloths had been prepared beside two large, flat rocks. And there was a cauldron of stew also on the fire.

Loki sniffed appreciatively, and eyed the stew greedily. Skadi slapped the back of his head and gestured to the rocks. "Take a seat. The food doesn't cook until we discuss business."

Glowering, Loki took his seat. He knew what Skadi said was true. She could prevent the food from cooking, the same way her father had, the first time he had met the Aesir. That hadn't been a good day.

Skadi wet one of the cloths in the melted snow and began to bathe the wound rather briskly. Loki's murmured complaints she just ignored as she finished washing the wound and began to thread the needle to stitch the aperture closed.

Loki eyed the needle warily as she rested his arm on her knee to steady it. She noticed his expression and laughed. "Look, I'm not sewing your mouth shut. Just your arm. Now relax."

Loki scowled. He wasn't able to relax, so he just stared into the fire as the needle poked through his skin. His jaw worked as he tried to keep his mind on the leaping flames before him.

Seeing the flames and the cauldron of stew, along with Skadi's presence, reminded Loki of the whole incident that had led to her being so angry with him in the first place.

Loki, Odin, and Honir had been out for a walk, trekking along the borderline of the Elivagar River. When they had stopped for dinner, setting the elk that Loki had killed up over the fire, it had taken them about an hour to realize that their food just wasn't cooking. And when the trickster had angrily asked, no one in particular, about the reason for the slowness of the cooking, an eagle had showed up.

"I'm the reason your food isn't cooking," the eagle had rasped, staring at the Aesir with a calculating look on his face.

"Why?" Honir had asked quizzically.

"Promise to give me the first pickings, and I'll let it cook," the eagle had told them. "I just want a meal."

"Deal," Loki had agreed irritably. He just wanted some hot food after walking all day.

The food had then finished cooking rapidly, and Odin had taken the spit off the fire. Loki had begun to salivate, but then he remembered the eagle got first choice and sat back, arms crossed and eyes gleaming in anticipation of his coming meal.

The eagle had then eaten practically everything.

As soon as Loki had realized that the eagle didn't plan on leaving them much of anything, he had grabbed his walking stick and struck the bird with it, fully intending on beating it to death. With a screech, the eagle had spread its wings and taken off. The staff was frozen to its back, and Loki was frozen to the staff.

That had not been a comfortable ride.

The eagle, whose name was Thiazi, had forced Loki to promise to bring him the goddess Idun and her immortality apples in order to release him. Since it was either that, or be grated to bits against the rough rocks of the Jotunheim mountains, Loki had promised.

Thiazi had morphed from eagle into frost giant, told Loki to make sure he minded his promise, and had trooped off, laughing hoarsely.

Loki had slowly wound his way back to the Aesir's camp. The fire had burned out, and bones were scattered around beside the ashes. There was no sign of Odin and Honir, and more importantly, no sign of the food.

When Loki had given Thiazi – Skadi's father – his promise of Idun and the apples, he had been intending to disregard it the second the frost giant had left his sight. Loki was used to breaking oaths all the time. He had even broken some of Odin's oaths for him. But when he saw the abandoned campsite, all of his plans rushed out of him as rage filled him.

Odin couldn't even wait for him. He had seen that eagle fly off with Loki and hadn't even tried to help his sworn brother. Instead, he had eaten what food remained from the meal Loki had provided them with, and left!

Loki resolved to keep his promise then and there.

Skadi's voice shook him out of his thoughts. "There," she said in satisfaction. "Both sides are stitched up, right and good. Now, we can get down to business."

"What business?" Loki asked bitterly.

Skadi leaned forward, eyes intent on his face. "The business of where you're going."