Story of Seasons: Fire and Ice

Invitation

It was the dead of winter. The frigid temperatures of Asgard somehow seemed to grow even colder as the days dragged on, much to Loki's irritation. With the chilly nights came loads of excitement as the Yuletide festival was nearly upon them. The Winter Solstice, and its celebration. With preparations nearly complete, the three gods were in the forest gathering some last-minute items.

Five pairs of feet hiked through the woods, moving at a brisk pace. At the rear was Balder, dragging a large tree behind him in an alarming display of physical strength. Beside him was Loki, prodding and poking fun. Up ahead was Thor, hammer in hand, eyeing their tracker with curiosity. And leading at the front of their hunting party was the most surprising member of all, Runa herself. Her paws padded gently over the snow as she trotted along, following the scent trail of their quarry.

Despite their rocky meeting, the winter goddess had slowly become accustomed to the other gods' presence. Once truly establishing that Thor had no intention of clobbering her for a second time, Runa didn't mind having him around, as his strength was quite a boon to their coalition. Balder, however, was a different story. While she no longer held the same aversion to him as she had previously, the two still had a rather tense relationship as the wolf remained wary. Her uncertainty around him stung a little, but the god of light respected her space.

Loki was by far the luckiest of them all, with their furry friend actively seeking out and enjoying the fire god's company. The pair had become companions of a sort, often found lounging around together, even outside of hunting days. For him, she provided companionship, staving off loneliness when his friends were away. For her, Loki provided the same, a nice person to have around who respected and didn't ridicule her. They had formed an unlikely friendship of animal and god.

"Runaaa, how much farther?" Loki whined, growing impatient from their seemingly endless trek. They had been outside far longer than he cared to tolerate and at this point, he was beginning to suspect that she was leading them in circles just to spite him.

Runa ignored him, huffing a quiet puff of air as she continued traveling forward. In truth, she was spiting him. Just a little. Getting under his skin had become a pastime of hers over the past few weeks, often in retaliation to the fire god's jests. Loki was incredibly easy to agitate at times, and the playful goddess simply couldn't resist the urge to mess with him.

"Ruuunaaa. I know you hear me," Loki crooned, hoping to aggravate her into a response.

Again, the wolf disregarded him, flicking her tail at him in a particularly snide manner. Loki frowned, taking note of her dismissive gesture. She was blowing him off! That simply wouldn't do. If there was one thing the god of fire hated more than anything, it was being ignored. He was going to get her back for this. She could count on it.

Increasing her pace, Runa started forward. She could hear the sound of footsteps following behind her, Thor's strides growing to match her speed. The wolf lowered her body, signaling to her followers that they were nearly in range. They would need to be quiet from here on out. Balder and Loki slowed, their large tree staying behind with them as the other two moved swiftly through the forest. This had become a common battle strategy among the group.

While Runa was more than capable of taking down any adversary she chose, it was undeniable that Thor outmatched her easily in terms of size and physical power. It was far less effort to lead her quarry toward him, leaving the thunder god to end the creature with a mighty blow of his hammer. She didn't need to exert much energy, nor did she need to call upon her power. Plus, the activity itself was incredibly fun.

In her pack, she had often been the one to deal finishing blows with a well-placed clamp of her mighty jaws. Now, she got to herd her prey, chasing them around the area and manipulating their movements to her will. A practice that she was, once again, about to demonstrate.