Winds of Winter ｡ Loki Laufeyson

9 - LET IT GO

Loki, Thor and Sif made camp when night had fallen, the bitter temperatures bringing them to crave the warmth of a fire. While Thor made himself comfortable, stretching out his limbs by the crackling fire and tossing his hammer around, Sif gathered up extra firewood for the night while Loki busied himself in fixing up the rations they brought along, as they weren't sure how long it would take them to locate the runaway winter goddess.

He tried to close his eyes and rest, but Loki found himself unable to. The thought of Skadi somewhere out there, terrified and alone, brought him pain. His heart yearned to see her, to touch her, to hear her voice. To tell her it's okay, and that she did no harm. That it was an accident. He hoped that she was okay, but somehow he knew in his heart that she wasn't. Loki knew Skadi better than anyone, so he knew she felt guilty and scared and ashamed of herself. She felt as though she had failed her mother's legacy. That her father would now disown her out of disappoint and the shame she had brought to their family.

But if only she knew how mistaken she was.

Ullr held no disappointment toward his daughter. In fact, Ullr loved his daughter more than ever, for Skadi was all the man had left in his life. He feared losing her, of being alone. The man wanted to help find his daughter, but Loki had assured him he would bring Skadi back or he should never return until he had. Before they had departed, Loki made eye contact with Skadi's father and there hadn't been an ounce of disappoint in his brown eyes, only fear and love and concern for the well-being of his only child.

By dawn, Loki still had not slept. He busied his mind by helping clean up their encampment before they began their search once more. A blanket of snow had fallen during the night, the fresh white powder covering the tracks they had been following. Loki knew that Skadi had caused the fresh snowfall, most likely to cover her tracks from the Asgardian soldiers she knew had to be following her on orders from their Allfather. Which only worried Loki more. He began to wonder if they would ever find her if she kept covering up her tracks as she did. Sif made it her duty to keep assuring the obsidian-haired prince when Thor wasn't listening that they would find Skadi.

"Blast this weather!" Thor grumbled from near as he kicked around the white powder in frustration. "The prints have vanished."

"It's likely Skadi covered her tracks," Sif said as they walked up an incline, treading over twigs and rocks. She almost slipped on a rock her boot caught yet her eye could not detect from the amount of white powder.

Thor huffed and started pacing the grounds, mumbling under his breath before pointing west. "This way."

To the west, they knew was a lake, but why Skadi go there? Loki shook his head and pointed ahead of them. "Brother, that is unlikely. What reason would Skadi have to go to a frozen lake? She would have gone this way." He pointed ahead of them. "There are caverns ahead. Perhaps she found refuge within one of them."

Sif nodded and wrapped her fur cloak around her arms. "Loki's right. Skadi is wise. She wouldn't risk putting herself out in the open when a cavern could keep her hidden from search parties."

Thor exhaled out through his nostrils. If Sif believed that Skadi was in the caverns, then so be it. The caverns they would go. But he would only go to prove them wrong, for he knew Skadi was at the lake. She needed food and water, and it was a perfect source of water. Though the lake frozen over, she was the winter goddess and could melt it upon at command.

"Very well," Thor replied.

Loki lead the way up the incline as Sif and Thor conversed behind him. When they came near the top, the obsidian-haired prince could not believe his eyes. Not only had he proved his brother wrong, but there she was. Skadi. She was alive and well and right before his very eyes. Standing at a boysenberry bush, she stared at them with an expression of surprise. His eyes scanned her body for any trace of injury, but he hadn't enough time. Before he knew it, Skadi threw the berries to the ground, turned and ran away from them ─ and suddenly he could breathe again.