Frostbitten

The Orchard

The young girl picked the ripest red apple she could find and bit into it, savoring its sweet taste. In that moment, she realized just how much she loved the orchard and its peacefulness. Finally, a place she could go without the others constantly taunting her. Moving a small blonde strand of hair away from her face, the little girl continued to walk along the endless rows of trees that offered her an escape from the outside world.

"Sif?" A quiet voice said from above the girl's head. She looked up to see the boy she had met only a few days earlier, perched on a low hanging branch, reading. He alone had been kind when the others were not, so she smiled up at him.

"Hello, Loki. What is it you're doing here?" she asked.

Loki set down his book and jumped from where he sat. "I always come here. It's quiet and no one ever seems to bother me."

"Then, my apologies for disturbing you, your Highness." Sif said and began to head back to the castle.

"Wait!" Loki called hastily. Sif turned to face the dark haired prince, who looked at her hopefully. "If you wish to stay, please do. A little company is nice once in a while, and if you want to practice your fighting, I won't say a word. I know the others can be a bit rude, but to be honest, I think it's actually quite cool that you would rather choose the path of a warrior."

Sif grinned, "Thank you Loki! Why do you treat me so kindly?"

Loki looked taken aback. "It is not that I treat you with kindness, Lady Sif, but I only treat you as an equal. Just because you are a woman, that does not put me in the position to treat you any differently." It was Sif's turn to be taken aback, for no one had ever said such a thing to her. Loki's words seemed to click in her mind as she realized that was exactly what she desired. Sif did not want to be seen as higher or lower, only the same.

"You will most certainly make a fine king one day Loki."

From that day forward, the two Asgardian children spent nearly every day together in the orchards. Both improved greatly from the help of the other. Day by day, Sif was growing into an extraordinary warrior and Loki, a skilled sorcerer. While on most days, the two practiced mostly on their own, some days were spent with joint training and on others the two would simply lie on the hill or in a tree and talk for hours at a time. As their friendship grew stronger, Sif began to wonder why the others would ignore Loki. Just because he could be quiet, Loki was kind and funny. She often caught him playing tricks on the other children, always leaving them astonished and sometimes annoyed with his trickery, but to Sif, it was all entertaining, she loved the looks on their faces when they discovered it was Loki all along.

Although, things didn't always go so well. In particular, the time Loki tried to get back at Tyr, one of the fiercest warriors in training, for making fun of him. At first, his trick started out smoothly. Loki had managed to cast a spell that made Tyr's prized sword change into a different object each time it was touched. First, it changed into a melon, which at the time, just confused Tyr. When he touched it the second time, the melon transformed into a goose that began to run rampant inside the training arena. That is when things got ugly.

Knowing Loki was one of the only sorcerers in Asgard, Tyr immediately tracked the young prince down. His uncontrollable laughter was soon cut short when Tyr snatched Loki up and began to beat the child. As hard as he tried to fight back, Loki was unsuccessful due to his lack of battle training. He immediately began to regret all the times he skipped practice. Loki finally decided to just accept his fate. He could feel the bruises begin to form and the warm blood trickle down his face.

"Stop!" Loki heard someone shout, although he couldn't identify who had said it. He was on the ground now, his vision blurred from his swollen face, when the attacks stopped. Loki sat up, while holding his stomach to see his rescuer, yet he was still unable. A soft hand wiped away some of the blood on the prince's face and the outline of Sif appeared in his line of vision, slowly becoming more in focus the closer she came. She looked genuinely concerned and as Loki looked around, he saw Tyr unconscious on the ground."Did you-," Loki didn't get the opportunity to finish as Sif gently put a finger to his lips to silence him. Sif picked him up. Loki was going to protest, but found he was far too exhausted to even say another word except, "Thank you." Then, he fell asleep.

Loki awoke in the healer's quarters covered in bandages. Luckily, the pain was subsiding, though from his reflection in the mirror, he wasn't looking his best. He had cuts and bruises all over his face, including a black eye and swollen cheek.

"Nice job, idiot." Loki whipped his head to the side to see Sif sitting in a chair beside his bed. She looked tired, yet relieved. He wondered what she was doing there, but then he remembered how she had saved him from Tyr's wrath. Loki smiled, "Why did you help me?"

Sif tilted her head, "You looked like you could use a hand. For a guy as smart as you, messing with Tyr was not the wisest plan." She stood and looked at him for a moment, before kissing him on the cheek, "Feel better Loki." Then she left, leaving Loki in awe.

Author's Note: I haven't posted in a while and I'm so sorry! I've had complete writer's block this past week, but I'm on spring break, so I hope to post as often as I can. By the way, Tyr, who is also a God of War, is another son of Odin. He isn't his son in the story, of course, but I was in no mood to search for Norse names, plus I was really excited to include another known Nordic god.

Also, I'm going to see the Winter Soldier today and I'm so excited. Lastly, to the side is a picture of young Loki, AKA how he looked in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed!!