(Originally written for a prompt at the Norse meme on LJ)

In the Land of the Frost Giants

You are my son

Liar!

The child was running along the thinniest branches of Yggdrasil, passing by whole universes in a handful of tiny steps, tripping over his feet and resuming his rush across paths hidden to most of deities.

Liar!His voice thundered into his own ears, the word he had cried at his father haunting him, hurting like the truth he had discovered. Lies, everybody had lied to him. For his whole life.

Blinded by tears, Loki ran and ran, as fast as he could, away from home.

"I have found him."

Odin and his wife Frigga turned to the all-seeing Heimdall. His golden eyes were gazing at the distance without betraying any emotion. There was no need for other words.

"So he is where we feared," said Odin, sternly.

"Is he well?" asked Frigga.

"Yes. No one has noticed his presence yet. It is a matter of time, though."

"Then we will not wait. Open the Bifrost" Odin ordered. As Heimdall impassively placed his sword in the bridge core, Odin exchanged a look with his wife. "I will go alone. Bringing warriors with me would only endanger the peace, we can not risk that." Frigga nodded, without hiding her concern. She would have gladly accompanied her husband, but her duty called for her to stay in Asgard. If things escalated out of their control, Odin would have needed her help from there. "Bring our son back," she said, reaching to caress his cheek. Odin gave her a small nod, then he turned to the Bifrost gate and walked through it.

As pure energy ran through the Rainbow Bridge, for a single, fleeting moment Heimdall had to focus only on the link to its destination. No longer than a blink.
In that moment, a loud crash made Frigga turn, her eyes widening at the sight of a horse, one of the winged-horse of Odin's stable, crashing into the hall through the fleetingly open passage, wings flapping wildly, somebody clinging to her mane and screaming their heart out. Quick, the Goddess moved forward to grab the reins, steeding the mare. She found herself staring at a quite wide-eyed Sif.

"What in the name of the All-Father is this madness?" demanded Frigga. The little girl started stuttering some kind of explanation.

Beside them, Heimdall closed the Bifrost. He said nothing of the small shape that had dashed while Sif distracted Frigga, throwing itself through the bridge a fraction of second before it was shut, at risk of being killed by it. The god resumed his position at guard of the bridge. Observing.

No more than ten steps from where Odin had put his feet on Jotunheim's frozen ground and immediately set off towards Laufey's stone palace, a heap of snow shook, then crumbled as Thor stood up from where he hadunceremoniously landed. The kid ruffled some snow away from his hair and clothes, then he turned his head left and right to take in the icy desolation of the place. Not intimidated at all, he strolled towards a different direction from the one his father had taken, a determined expression on his face.
His brother was there, somewhere, and he was going to find him so they could go back home together.

They were just playing. Hide and seek bored Thor, who would have much preferred to play at war, but that was only because Lokialwaysmanaged to sneak on him and win. The dark haired boy knew all the best places to hide, all the secret passages around Asgard. This time he had went down to the Weapons Room, making sure to leave some trace for Thor to follow. He was planning on leaving his brother there to look for him for a while. Probably he would have grown annoyed and started calling him, daring him to come out. And if the guards heard him... well, Thor would have been the one to get caught, not Loki. Already giggling at the prank, Loki had started searching for a good hideout among the relics, when something had caught his attention.

He had already saw the Casket of Ancient Winters, of course, he knew its story by heart. This time, though, it looked different. It glowed in an enticing way, under the kid's eyes, and the incisions on it seemed to slowly move, uncoiling like snakes.

It was calling for him.

Loki walked to it, mesmerized, and without pausing to wonder if that was wise he reached out and brushed its surface with his fingertips, just a quick touch, to feel it. Contrary to what he was expecting, it didn't feel cold. Loki followed one of the coils with his finger, then he pulled back his hand and looked at it. And felt his throat close in sudden fear.

His skin was turning a dark, bluish shade. Frightened and unable to move, he felt like his own blood was freezing inside his veins. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't find the voice.

"There you are! This time I've found you!"

The ringing voice of his brother made Loki bolt, spinning on himself to face Thor. He saw the other kid's smile fade, his eyes filling with horror at what he was seeing. Loki could feel the cold touching his cheeks from the inside, his eyes were burning. He staggered, then he fell on his knees, his mind closing on itself. The last sound he heard was his brother feet stomping as he ran away from him.

Loki pushed his arms into the snow up to the elbows, he took handfuls of it and threw it against his face, into his shirt. A freezing wind was blowing unmercifully over the cliff where the child was crouching.

It was useless. He wasn't cold.

Or better. He was. He was cold like the ice he had trailed on to reach that place, yet he didn't feelcold. He couldn't. Because he was...

Loki had always had an analytical mind. Even as a very little child, he had always tried to solve the problems he faced, to search a way around them, not giving up till he found it. Now the only answers he had where truths he wanted to escape from, he had cried all the tears he had and now he could only stay there, looking around at the ice surrouding him, disconsolate and helpless like he had never felt before.

When he had woken up only hours before, into his bed, his father was sitting near him. Loki had asked what had happened and Odin had sighed and tried to explain. He had said this was something Loki should have known only in due time, when he was older, which to Loki's ears sounded like "something he should have never known". He had listened, calmly, till the end. Only when Odin had lied to him again he couldn't hold back anymore. He had shouted at his father, something he would have never imagined himself capable of, told him he was a liar, and dashed away from the room, going straight for all the hidden passages he knew till he reached those bringing out of Asgard, the paths he had only started exploring, and he didn't stop till he got there.

Jotunheim. The place a Frost Giant like he was should have started to call home...?

Thor was trying to think like Loki.

It wasn't working very well.

He was standing on top of a snowy hill, rubbing his arms in an attempt to fight the cold. When he heard his parents mentioning the place they thought Loki had went to he had taken his warmest cape for the trip, and that was the farther he had arrived in regards to planning. Which wasn't much in line with how Loki would have thought, if he had been into his shoes. Though maybe even Loki wouldn't have been really careful, by that point...

Thor thought about what had happened in the Weapons Room. He had seen Loki... change, the Casket must have done something to him, that was what he told their father when he found him, after running as fast as he could looking for help. Odin had immediately went and taken Loki into his room, and Thor had waited out of there, anxious. Then, when he was almost falling asleep, the door had bolted open and Loki had run away before he could stop him. He managed to catch some exchange between his parents that made him realize how serious was the situation. When he saw his father going to Heimdall, he quickly resolved to follow, and went asking Sif for help. He didn't stop even for a moment wondering if that was the right thing to do. Odin had taught his sons to look after each other, and that was what Thor was going to do.

Anyway, he now needed to find Loki, which meant he had to go where Loki would have. The boy tried to reason. Loki would have stayed away of immediate trouble, so he would have avoided the bastions of rocks on the mountains, and he would probably have looked for a good place to hide, and...

Giving up, Thor just started walking quickly in the snow, looking around for any sign of his brother. When there weren't any, he simply started calling for him.

"LOKI!"

The kid's head shot up at the sound. Loki looked around, momentarily confused. He must have dozed off, sitting with his back leaning against a rock. The wind had subdued a bit, but the snow was falling thicker, and he was half-covered by it. He shook it off and stood up, blinking, trying to understand where the voice came from. Then he noticed a dark shape moving on the plain ground under the cliff. He leaned, and gasped as he recognized his brother, shouting with all his might in the middle of the enemy's land.

Thor was preparing himself for another loud cry, when he spotted somebody desperately waving with both arms, on top of the cliff in front of him. He ran towards its base, "There you are!" he shouted, looking up.

"What are you doing here?" Loki tried to keep his voice low.

"I've come to get you! Father is here too, somewhere!"

"...is he?"

"Yes! Mother is so worried too, we all are." Thor looked for a way to climb up. His fingers were getting numb with cold, and he was starting to feel annoyed. He just wanted Loki to go back with him quickly. "Can't you just come down here?"

"Why? Didn't they told you?"

"Told me what?"

"They didn't." Lies. Always lies. And Thor too was scared of him, Loki remembered all too well the expression on his face, in the Weapons Room. It made him almost feel like crying again. He pulled back from the edge of the cliff.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Thor took on climbing as best as he could, forcing his numb hands and feet to find holds in the ice.

"You should go back to Father." Loki almost bit his tongue. Thor's father. Not his. "Back home"

"Weshould go back home!" Thor now was feeling really exasperated. "Come on, Loki, stop being a bother, let's just go back."

"That's not my home." He started walking away.

"What? Loki, you-"

There was no sound, nothing warning the boy. The spike of ice he was putting his weight onto as he looked for a place to put his foot suddenly gave up, and Thor found himself falling back, without nothing to grab on. He didn't have the time to shout, the fall was brief enough, but he hit the ground hard with his back. The boy gaped wordlessly, breath abruptly cut off from him.

Then a creak resonated against the back of his head.

"...Thor?" Loki stopped. Brother?

He walked back, quickly, and looked down the cliff, just in time to see Thor's panicked eyes as the frozen ground, actually the iced surface of a lake, opened to swallow him.

Thor slowly came back to his senses to the sound of something chattering madly. He realized it was his own teeth. He was laying somewhere in the dark. He tried to speak, but found he wasn't able to control his mouth, much like the rest of his body. Every limb of his was shaking. He thought he should have been afraid, but he was feeling strangely calm, sleepy. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

"You're awake!" Feeling something against his forehead, no warmer than the air surrounding him, the boy forced his heavy eyes to open. He could see the outline of a familiar shape in front of him.

"...o... k-ki..." he managed.

"I'm here. I'm... I'll think of something. Just stay awake, will you?"

Thor made a movement that could have been a nod, or just another involuntary spasm. Loki tried to accomodate him more comfortably against the wall of the small cave where he had found shelter from the wind and the snow. Then he looked around, as he could find some advice in the rocks surrounding them.

He had thrown himself after Thor immediately, and managed to grab his arm before he disappeared in the depth of the lake, the temperature so low Thor had passed away from the shock almost right away. He had dragged the bigger boy out and found a shelter, but now he had no idea of what to do. All he knew was Thor was going to freeze if he didn't do something, and he couldn't let that happen.

Both their clothes were soaked and almost frozen already. Fire, he needed fire! Loki tried to ignore his shaking brother and focus, recalling the magic he had learnt. He had only started, but he was quick to learn, almost all by himself, from the books... surely he could conjure at least a small fire to warm Thor...

A small ember appeared in the air in front of him. Loki put all of himself in it, trying to poke it, make it stronger... it became brighter, almost a flame... then the wind outside blew louder, filling up the child's ears, and the fire dileguated. Loki tried again, more and more desperate, till he gave up with a cry of frustration.

Of coure he couldn't. Of course! The cold was running into every drop of his blood. Because he was...

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I can't..."

"...what...?"

Loki looked up to meet Thor's glazed eyes, and realized he was crying again, the tears freezing on his cheeks.

"I can't do anything..."

"...'course you c-can... you always... think of something..." Thor's eyes were closing again, and he wasn't shaking as much anymore. That wasn't a good thing. Feeling panic raising into his throat Loki moved closer and hugged his brother. But it was useless. In that place, without external heat, his own skin wasn't warmer than the crusty snow falling out the cave.

Think!

Cold. It was so cold. And it didn't hurt him, but it would have killed his brother.

Think! Something! Anything!

But what he could do, he was made of cold, he could notgive warmth...

THINK!

Then maybe he could take the cold away.

A sudden calm washed over him, as the realization dawned. The child closed his eyes, and embraced the cold he was feeling, both inside and outside him, and the cold into his arms. There was a light blue glow in the air, and even with his eyes closed he could see the cold, like claws and daggers of ice cutting, and he could pick them apart. He reached with his mind and pulled back the frozen blades clawing at his brother, all of them, he absorbed it back into his own body icy drop by drop.

He didn't know how long did it take. It might have been minutes or hours. But in the end he felt Thor shift, his breathing normal. The children opened their eyes together and looked at each other.

"...why are you blue?" Thor asked.

They walked back to where Bifrost had left its mark in the snow. Now that Loki's magic was still keeping the cold away from him Thor was all too happy to kick every block of ice on the way, shouting energically (which annoyed Loki greatly).

There they found Odin, together with Laufey and some more angry-looking Frost Giants. Loki stopped when he saw them, but Thor confidently took his hand and dragged him towards their father. When Odin looked at him Loki was suddenly caught by a completely different kind of fear and shame, remembering how he had called him a liar, for saying he was his father even when it was clear that wasn't true. But Odin just leaned down and gave him a crushing hug, telling him that he was sorry. Loki clinged to his father like it was for his life's sake, while Thor watched them with all the pride of someone who knew he had done his duty, alternating that to glaring daggers to the Giants, just in case they were thinking about keeping Loki there. Not after all the effort he made to get him back!

There was some more talking, and Loki had to answer questions. He stood in front of Laufey, determined not to let himself been intimidated. He was the son of Odin, after all. And... something else. But he would have time to come to terms with that.

"We will need to talk, you, me and your mother" said Odin, as finally the three of them stood waiting for Bifrost to open. Loki glanced back to where Laufey was looking at him one last time before turning to his iced castle.

"There's more I need to know?" he asked.

"I still don't know half the story," exclaimed Thor.

"We will tell you both everything. This whole matter might have brought good to our family. No more secrets, at least not between us."

"But we will have to keep this a secret from the others back home, for some more time, right?" asked Loki.

"Why?" Thor looked at his brother and father confused. Odin sighed.

"Many of our people still see the Frost Giants only as monsters. You too only asked to fight them, till yesterday, Thor."

"Well, that was before I knew Loki was one! It means they aren't all so bad. Just annoying, sometimes..."

"Hey!"

"...and if anybody tries saying something bad about my brother I'm going to beat them! I promise!"

Loki wanted to tell his brother that he definitely didn't need his help to defend himself. Instead, he found himself just grinning.

"We'll have to tell Sif" added Thor, thoughtfully. "Or she will try beat me if I don't explain her all the story..."

"Good, so I can tell her how I saved your life."

"Hey, if it wasn't for me you would still be there in the snow... you would have become an ice block!"

"I thought that was you..."

Between more banter and laughs, the Rainbow Bridge brought the children back home and into the arms of their mother, who hugged them tight and long as they told her their adventures.