Middle-Earth Meets Loki

Isle prep

Haldir could feel the tension in the air once Aragorn realized the situation. He was among the dwarf and two of the hobbits. It was no surprise that once he figured out what was going on that he would relay the information. The feeling of tension was thick along the river. The small, almost inaudible voices were no longer able to be heard above the rushing of the water. The death silence of worry and anxiety was palpable. Loki just rolled his eyes and settled himself further into the bow of the raft that they were in at the moment. 

"Are you not worried?" Legolas asked, blue eyes staring at Loki with worry. Loki sighed heavily, but shook his head softly. 

"No, Your Highness, I am not." He said gently, his voice calming.  He breathed carefully, opening his eyes to the sky, staring upwards, as though he had little to nothing to worry about . Who knew, perhaps he did not really need to worry about anything. His magic had been quite impressive, if what had been spoken to this point on it was actually correct. They may be safe, but for some reason, Haldir had reason to doubt. There was...something in the way Loki was leaning that caught his eyes. 

The other was exhausted. The time sleeping, and the rest he had obtained in LothLorien had not fixed that. Though he may have been recovered enough to wake, it was obvious that he had done quite drastic feats of magic, and those had drained him, physically and likely mentally as well. He had recovered, enough, but he had not fully managed to regain himself. He was tired. Haldir bit his tongue back, not wanting to antagonise him, and yet still finding himself inexplicably worried for the...creature before them. It made little sense to him, but then again, there was not much that he was able to do without speaking further and pressing for details. He did not want to anger the person before them. 

Loki was dangerous, by quite a large amount, even though he was currently not in his top form. From what Haldir had managed to gather, he had not been in top form for quite a bit, and yet he still managed to crumble a mountain into nothing more than a mere hill. He was definitely someone to be wary of, tired or not. The Prince was just so....sentimental. 

He knew that Loki was damaged and traumatized, but he was still dangerous, if not more so than usual considering. Haldir could not help but feel sorry for him, and yet incredibly wary of him at the same time with the way the Prince instantly moved closer towards him, causing the other to sit a bit straighter, watching him carefully. He could not help but tense slightly, and therefore almost missed how Loki imperceptibly smiled and gently pushed the young elf to the side, and avoided the physical contact with him. 

This made Halidr...no less joyful however. He should be, he knew. Yet, something about it...caused him a bit of anxiety. He could not quite decide whether the idea that Loki did not want Legolas to touch him comforted him, or made him more anxious. He shook his head, cursing himself in his mind. He could not keep going back and forth like this. It was ridiculous. He could not have it both ways. Either he was glad that Loki was staying away from the Prince of his own will, or he was not. He could admit, that he was wary. Anyone would, and the Prince was very young, but it was with a start that he realized that he did not know how old Loki was either. 

He knew that Loki seemed as though he had gone through much within his life, that much was...well it would be obvious to anyone who could pay attention, he had assumed he was likely around Boromir, or perhaps Aragorn depending on the species he was, considering his bouts of maturity. Yet, there was the possibility, horrific as it may be, that perhaps his ability of maturity was not based of ages lived. He could be quite young for his kind. 

He did not even know what his kind was! Unfortunately such a question was not something Haldir could just...ask. Such a question would not bode well. It was possible he came over the seas as well, which increased the possibilities of what his kind was. Haldir knew it was useless to try and figure it out. 

Staring at Loki, watching him, he was a curiosity. A flurry of endless contradictions. It was frustrating, and at the same time fascinating. He wanted to protect the Prince from him, but also protect him. It was horribly confusing, not that Haldir allowed such inner thoughts to show. that would be quite beyond what he was supposed to do. The Prince also would likely not take well to his inner thoughts. He knew that he felt some sort of kinship with the strange mortal. 

"We have to be careful." Loki muttered softly. "As long as we are, there should not be too much to go remiss. You said your...Aragorn, has experience in this area, I am sure that he will know what to do." Loki tried to calm the young Prince, though for some reason he had high doubts that he really needed calming. There was a steady look in his eyes that had Loki believing that he was trying to convince Loki to convince himself. 

Sly devil. 

However, it was all for naught. Loki was not nervous. Not precisely. He had not fully recovered, but he had enough magic at his fingers to be able to keep them safe...for the most part at least. He would be fine, and he knew that he would protect all he could, however, if they did something stupid, there was nothing more that he could do. Unfortunately for Legolas, should his attempt be to actively try and calm him, it would not work. He did not trust this Aragorn's skills, and he felt Gandalf daft and somewhat stupid. He took a deep breath in and held it. 

He would need to keep his eyes about him, that was for sure. He could not afford to falter, even slightly. They were ahead of the orcs, or whatever it was that they call them. They would enter whatever Isle that they boarded at within a few hours, however, and Loki was not too sure he liked those odds. 

As it were, they did shore up on an Isle. At the very least it had decent coverage. Compared to some of the other ones that he had seen on their trek down the river. He would give Aragorn props for that. He stumbled slightly out of the boat, not obvious enough that others noticed, which was a good thing. Loki did not need their fussing. There were other things to dwell on, and his slight inability to balance was not one of them. 

He separated himself from the rest, leaping up into one of the trees, grabbing onto a branch above his head and pulling his body up, leaning against the truck, and pulling his feet up onto the branch he was letting hold his weight. He let the others ramble about, clammering, getting a small camp ready. A frown tugged at his lips. He remembered doing things like this before, although, he was...the one...doing everything. Unlike then, everyone did their part. The hobbits helped pull the boats under the brush together, Aragorn went to track game, along with Boromir, Legolas and Haldir worked on fortifying the area, to ensure that when the Orcs did come, they were able to act. It was...surprising, to see such cooperation and so little fighting. 

He wished that he could have had that with Thor, it was something he had wanted, desperately so, but he was not that lucky. There was many things he had wished. Yet, he was not an Asgardian, it was folly to assume he would have had those things, now, at least he knew why the others did not like him so much. He had known that they had disliked him, but despite when he tried to act the part, they still showed disdain. Now, at least there was a reason as to why. 

He sighed, shaking his head as he stretched his fingers outward. He may as well put up some wards, it could not hurt and it was not too draining.