The Bridge Between Us - Loki X Reader

12 - "What, so you're blaming me?"

Thunder rumbled as Y/N wandered through the forest, the sound marking the imminent arrival of a spring-time Asgardian storm. Fortunately, the trees were starting to thin out which made her field of vision much larger. There was only so much she could take of not being able to see five feet in any direction. Not to mention that she was still exhausted from the Bilgesnipe encounter that she, Varin, and the princes had narrowly survived. It was a wonder she had made it this far, but Y/N knew a lot of that was to be accredited to Frigga who had an uncanny ability to instill strength and stamina into those around her. Whatever it was, it definitely didn't last forever and Y/N's endurance was being seriously tested.

Y/N was walking at a more casual pace now; she had long since given up running after it became apparent to her that she was not going to be able to match the speed at which Loki was moving. How was he so damn fast even with that chest wound? She would have guessed that by now the worst of the damage would have been healed, or at least hoped it so. Y/N had only caught sight of Loki once after she left Frigga at the clearing with the sleeping beast, and even then it had only been the tails of his cape.

Since then, the Tjener had been following the snaps of branches and any other movement she thought was him. Needless to say, this form of tracking wasn't efficient in the slightest, but the prince was giving her no other options. He never seemed to leave footprints or scuffles in the ground which was not only odd but really, really annoying as well. It only made Y/N's job at finding him that much harder. She had originally gone after him with the idea that she would catch up and be able to convince him to come back in maybe fifteen minutes, not an hour. It had become obvious rather quickly that Loki was not wanting to be found.

There hadn't been a guaranteed lead in a while now. For the most part, Y/N had been following a small branch of a stream, hoping that it might be of some use. It wasn't really, but to her, it felt better to be near it as a fail-safe directional backtracker should she need it. Admittedly, the lack of clues as to where Loki might be was a bit disheartening. For all she knew, she could've been following a stag or some other wild animal that happened to be traipsing around in her area. Morale was low, and Y/N was ready to give up.

So...why haven't I already?

Her aching body had been advocating to stop since she had tripped over a half-buried stone hidden in the grass and later assaulted by some unsuspecting low-hanging branches, but she had still continued. She was more frustrated than anything else; why was she taking responsibility like this? Knowing him, Loki was probably just hiding somewhere and moping around like he usually did when something went wrong. Y/N had seen the prince do it hundreds of times; it took him a few hours, but he always came around. It was temporary.

But...even thinking that she knew that it wasn't the truth. The look on Loki's face when he had met eyes with the Queen was probably the truest expression of emotion that Y/N had seen from him. Y/N wanted to justify herself in going back home and leaving him to deal with his problems himself, but this time...it was different than all the others and something inside her kept her from abandoning her mission.

Y/N knew that Loki was impulsive and she worried that after a confrontation like that, he would do something stupid. She didn't want to go back and then later know she could have done something if he did. Frigga had obviously trusted her enough to let her go after her son, and it would no doubt be a disappointment to the Queen when she heard that her maidservant had given up.

Yes, that was it. Y/N was only here to make sure he wasn't dead...or something along those lines.

Y/N bridged the top of the hill she had been walking up, giving her a rather nice and clear view of her location and surroundings. The sky had grown noticeably darker since she had started out, though it hadn't gotten to the point where it was hard to see. The light of the suns creeping towards the horizon cast a beautiful spectrum of colors across the world's ceiling, the blue slowly being overtaken by contrasting streams of violet, rich pinks, and stunningly bright oranges.