"And how do you know I won't just kill you?" He asked.
"Because you need me. Without my survival skills and knowledge, you won't last a week in the Alaskan Bush. Once summer rolls around we can retrieve your precious stone and I'll let you leave, a...
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In the few weeks that passed, Loki's inner turmoil seemed to be getting more intense.
The only way I could describe it was that he was going through a blue-eye-personality withdraw. I know that sounds weird, but let me explain.
Loki had his green eyes more often than not now, but it seemed his blue personality was fighting back. I think whatever had a hold of Loki's mind didn't want to let go. Throughout the day he would have random 'episodes' where he would stop whatever he was doing, squeeze his eyes shut, and clench his fists until whatever came on him had passed. It was as if he came down with an intense, sudden migraine that left as quickly as it came.
His most recent incident was yesterday. We were a mile or so inland from my cabin, tracking a deer. I was teaching him how to analyze animal tracks when it happened.
"So if the prints are iced over and hard, it's been there for several hours. If it's still soft and powdery like these are, the animal is still close by." I whispered. We were on the slope of a hill. The deer tracks continued up and over, and I was willing to bet we would find the deer on the other side.
Loki nodded. "What do you propose?" He must've been thinking the same thing as me.
"I'm thinking I'm gonna take the shot, and when I do, you make the illusion of a barrier around the area, so he doesn't run off right away." He nodded again, telling me he understood, and we crawled upwards.
When we got to the top of the hill, we saw that, sure enough, the small doe was there, nibbling on a low hanging branch. I had a clear shot, as long as she didn't notice me. I switched the safety lever off and put the scope to my eye, trying to find my target in my now, much smaller vision field.
Eventually I found her. She had no idea what was about to happen. I put my finger on the trigger...and hesitated. I always did, but I reminded myself that I had to eat, and focused again. I placed the cross-hairs directly over the animal's heart, and squeezed the trigger.
'BANG!'
As soon as the deafening sound bellowed from my barrel, Loki took action...or...he was supposed to. I waited for a barrier of some sort to appear as the deer took off, but none came.
I almost turned my attention to Loki to see what was up, but I knew never to let my eyes stray from your prey. Thankfully, it was an easy shot, and the deer went down pretty quick, and as soon as it dropped, I turned my attention to Loki.
"Hey, what hap-" I didn't finish my sentence however, because I saw he was fighting an internal battle. He wore a grimace on his face and his eyes were closed. His hands were on either side of his head, his fingers gripping his hair as if he were going to pull it out in frustration. His ragged breath flowed through his teeth in vapor as he clenched them together.
"Loki," I started, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, snap out of it dude."
Only a moment later his body visibly relaxed and he opened his green eyes again. He sighed in relief and said "My apologies. Could you still manage in your own?"
