Of feathers and horns

I. Feathers

"Messengers came to father," Loki said one day with that particular flat tone that only meant he was most intrigued by whatever tidings were brought. Thor already knew him that much.

He squinted at him with a half-hearted scowl as Loki lay reclined on his elbows, legs kicked out in front of him, head thrown back as he bathed in the morning sun. Sometimes he was not unlike Freyja's cats, stretching lazily on the warm stones of the balustrades. This secluded patio was his favorite place with its lush bushes and the warmth that would get dense and heavy within its walls over the day.

"You were eavesdropping again?"

"That is of no relevance now," Loki said bluntly, and managed such a sharp gaze as if it was Thor who had trespassed again. "They talk about a thunderbird in the Cold Mountains."

"A thunderbird?" Thor mumbled lamely. He shrugged and kicked a pebble at Loki's feet just to spite him. "I thought they existed only in fables."

"Just because you have never seen one doesn't mean they don't exist," Loki huffed. A sigh bubbled from his lips. "I wish I could lay my hands on it. They are rare ingredients to some of the most interesting potions."

"We are not yet allowed to go on such quests alone, brother."

Sneaky green eyes cracked open again as Loki implied, "You will soon come of age."

"Yes, soon. So if I could wait so long, I certainly can wait a little longer."

"But then where will be the excitement in sneaking out?" Loki grinned.

Thor had to chuckle because Loki was right. It was not that they had never left the territory of the palace on secret missions that usually saw them end up in trouble, but they had never gone further than one day travel on foot.

Loki stretched his limbs and sat upright. Since when was Thor so particularly thick-headed and needed so much convincing? Not that his dear brother stood any chance when Loki set his mind on something.

He let out a fake wistful sigh. "But you are right. Soon you can go on your lone quests wherever you want."

"Lone?"

"You forgot I won't come to age before two more summers?"

It seemed Thor indeed forgot as his face stretched into a comical expression of disappointment. "Oh!"

"Too bad the thunderbird won't wait," Loki kicked the pebble back at Thor before his head tilted to the side with an expression caught between pitiful and cunning. "Anyway, a thunderbird is not a creature anyone can just fell. I heard father will send out the mightiest of them all. It is really an enormous task, only for real warriors, not children like us."

Thor frowned at him. "But we don't even have weapons."

"But we can get some," Loki smirked and he knew he just won.

Eagerly, Thor's gaze brightened. "We break into the Weapon Vault? There is that old sword there—"

"No, Thor, not to the Weapon Vault. Father is guarding it with the Destroyer." Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. When Thor would finally set to move, he was like a landslide, he wanted things in enormous scale, never the stealthy, sensible way. "We can get something from the armory at the training yard, though."

"Those are dull weapons, Loki. We might as well arm ourselves with sticks and pitchforks," Thor snorted. "I wish I could lift Mjölnir."

"But you cannot," Loki jumped up with sudden vigor and clapped Thor on the shoulder. "Come on, get ready, we leave in an hour. I get some food from the kitchen, you take the weapons."

And with that, Loki was off while Thor was left there to wonder how exactly he had fallen again in his brother's trap.

o.o.o

The afternoon sun already saw them on the plains to the North from Valaskjálf. They took the horses they usually rode from the stables, and Loki led them down a passageway Thor had not even known about. It twisted around in a confusing circle within the territory they were allowed to roam before it disappeared in the foliage, winding through a wooden area with branches leaning so low they were forced to get off the horses and lead them on leash. When next time Thor could look around to find out where they were, the citadel with its golden towers was only a bunch of glistening needles in the distance.

"We go this way. Follow my trail and do not stray anywhere," Loki commanded as he cut in line before Thor. When Thor failed to acknowledge his words, he stopped his skewbald stallion and twisted around in his saddle to look at him. "Thor, I am serious. Do not stray."

Thor lifted his head and sniffed at the air. His nose crunched up as he glared at Loki incredulously. "You are leading us across a moor?"

Loki only smirked. "Yes I am. It will take us quicker to the mountains then going around on the boring dirt roads."

"How would you even know these paths, brother? You have ventured this far? You are not even allowed to," Thor wondered aloud, but Loki was only smiling secretly as he turned back to watch their steps.

Thor couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes they weren't so unlike as it seemed more and more often recently.

"They say there is an old city under the bogs. An ancient culture maybe only father remembers. One day it sank into the water and disappeared forever," Loki told him as they went deeper, their hooves trampling on green patches of grass and bogs. "When the moor draws back during the hottest days of summer, one can see the top of old towers piercing the surface of the water, now coppery brown where once has been pure silver and bronze."

Thor smiled. He loved when Loki told him old tales, no matter if they were true or only the result of Loki's wild imagination.

"There are winding stairwells and wide terraces lined with stone statues of kings no one remembers anymore. Their vaults are burdened with treasures not even the best goldsmiths in Nidavellir could ever recreate. They are lying there, in a deep slumber. If you rise high above the bog, you might see them sparkling in the depth like stars fallen in the water at the beginning of time."

Loki twined his words with little effort, telling stories that might never have been. Thor was silent behind him, and Loki didn't have to turn to know that his brother was following him with a rapt look on his face, leaning forward in the saddle to hear him better. Loki sang songs only few remembered across the realms and some that he versified on the spot. As long as he could capture Thor's attention, his brother would follow him without thinking of being adventurous and disregard his warnings.

Before the night descended upon them, they had left the moor and its forgotten city behind.

o.o.o

"Does father really send people to hunt down this bird?" Thor asked when they settled beside the campfire. "Or this was only your means to lure me on this quest?"

Loki looked at him from the corner of his eyes with a small smirk. Thor was slow but sometimes he unexpectedly unraveled the net of playful lies Loki had the habit of knitting around him. This time, though, there were no lies.

"They really are hunting for it."

Thor turned on his side and pulled his cape tighter around his body. "Tell me more about them."

"Thunderbirds are dangerous creatures. With one slap of their wings they blast winds so strong that can level mountains and bury villages underneath. They create storms and call forth heavy clouds burdened with rain and thunders. They say with one look they can strike anyone with a bolt of lightning. People are scared of them and the damage they are capable of doing."

Thor only hummed with a pensive look.

"Usually they don't come near inhabited areas. Their nests are on high summits no man can reach."

"And how can they be killed?" Thor asked after a beat of silence.

Loki gave him an askew smirk that was rather apologetic. "There are no records of that."

Thor gaped at him. "So you don't know?"

"Not yet! But I am sure I will figure out something by the time we arrive there."

o.o.o

Eventually, he did not.

But perhaps it would have been disregarded anyway. As it happened, when they reached the peak where the thunderbird was said to be nesting, events transpired too quickly to follow through any carefully prepared plans.

They arrived at the root of the peak that towered above them like a fortress made of rock, higher than the tallest barbican of the citadel at home. They tied their horses there, leaving their luggage with them. They took only a coil of rope and their dull weapons that Thor didn't stop complaining about.

After climbing up to the summit with great effort, they pulled each other into the safety of the landing in the end. They lay there for a second to catch their breaths. Around them stretched the vast plain of a mesa, surrounded by abyss and crude juts and spurs in the wall of the mountain, leading down like makeshift rungs of a gigantic ladder. There was no slope down from the landing, only almost upright walls similar to the one they had just climbed. On the other end, the landing was separated from the farther span of plateau by a great fissure in the rock. There were a few scrawny trees, bushes and thin grass, silence and nothing else.

"Are you sure—" Thor started when something stirred ahead of them. A scrubby bush moved and opened, and there it was, the most enormous bird they had ever seen.

For a second they stared at each other, the bird and the two princes, in equal surprise before Thor shook himself out of reverie. He pulled forth his sword and charged at the bird before Loki could utter a single word of warning or advice.

The bird opened its beak, shrieked once so loudly that is resonated in their ears like a not so distant crack of lightning, and spread its vast wings. It was a magnificent, impressive view, Loki had to admit, the white-red-blue stripes along its pinions and the yellow eyes that stung like a million sharp pinpricks.

To his credit, neither the haughty display nor the ear-splitting creak fazed Thor as he gave a battle cry of his own and pointed the sword at the angrily squawking creature.

It had to be just as surprising for the thunderbird as well because it suddenly turned around and galloped towards the edge of the landing, sweeping its wings in the air with a vehemence that resulted in a draft which almost knocked Loki off his feet.

"No, Thor, don't!" he screamed when he realized what his brother was planning to do.

As the bird pushed its body into the air, diving sharply to float on a current, Thor jumped after it without missing a beat and disappeared over the edge.

"No, please—" Loki yowled as his numb legs brought him to the edge, and he mustered all his strength to look down in search for Thor. "Oh, you senseless, arrogant, foolish, ggrh—"

His curse dissolved in the throat-clenching sensation of relief as he spotted Thor – of all places: on the back of the thunderbird.

Loki watched horrified as the creature, sensing the extra weight on its back, took up a slant in its course, and Thor had to drop his sword so he could cling onto the bird with both hands, tightening his hold around the thick neck. If he fell, the height was so great the ground would pulverize him when he landed. Loki didn't want to think of it. Loki didn't want to think of anything at the moment. He had the strange notion that if his concentration on Thor slipped, his brother would fall.

The bird dove towards the ground before cutting its plunge sharply and raising its body toward the sky again, clearly in hope of shaking its passenger off but Thor clutched at it viciously. The bird screeched and flapped its wings twice.

There was a loud snap, the rumbling whoosh of sudden winds. The earth quaked beneath Loki's feet as the pulse hit the rock all around and shattered it like it was no more than a delicate glass figure.

A thunder boomed, and Loki looked up to see clouds gathering above them, black and thick. The lightning that cut through them was a shocking contrast against their dark mass. Loki crouched to the ground as rain started to beat against his skin. The bird down below twisted into desperate circles, trying to crane its neck to pitch Thor but it gave up after a few vain attempts. In its flight, it ruined the towering walls of the mountains around with thunders that still echoed among the crevasses and rocks long after they cracked.

Loki had no idea what exactly Thor was hoping to achieve with this plan but he had the sinking feeling Thor did not know either. Loki watched him cruise across the skies on the beast's back and he was sure he aged a century in the span of a few minutes. Unexpectedly an old tale came to his mind he had read somewhere, of a boy on fabricated wings, made of feathers and wax. He watched Thor as the bird flew with him up and higher, and with clenching stomach he thought of the boy who fell because he rose too close to the sun and it melted his wings.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of lightning, and through the narrow slits of his eyes Loki watched in petrifying horror as the bolt zigzagged across the air and struck Thor in the back. He wished the world would cease existing, and for the moment of deafening silence everything seemed to still.

Then Thor stirred.

Instead of slipping off the bird's back, he rose to his knees in an awkward crouch. Loki didn't want to believe his eyes. Thor looked to be glowing somehow. There was a distant sound he could not identify for a second before realizing it was Thor's battle cry again, ten times louder than ever before.

"If you don't die today, I will kill you myself," Loki mumbled through the mad thuds of his heart.

o.o.o

On the thunderbird's back, Thor bathed in a strange sensation. He hadn't felt this wonderful for a long time, if ever. He felt invincible and almighty as if the lightning that had prickled along his body, raising the hair on his arms, had multiplied his strength instead of striking him to death. He had no idea why he was still alive but at the moment he did not feel like complaining. With one hand he let go of the slick feathers at the nape of the thick neck and gripped one of the enormous wings at its junction to the body, and pulled it up.

The bird shrieked, its wing angling in an awkward direction, forcing it on a new course downwards. They were falling like a giant feathered ball, and Thor realized there was no way to make the bird land without killing both of them. He let go of the wing and pulled instead the short feathers at the side of the crowing beak. The thunderbird regained its control over their flight but the random course it took up made Thor cry out in terror.

Ahead of them there was the narrow split in the wall of the body of the mountain, right where their landing was (the landing and Loki, he thought for a clear second amidst his panic), a dark crack as if someone had sliced into it with a gigantic sword. He didn't see where it ended either downwards or forward. From the look of it, it was barely wider than the span of the wings, if wider at all.

"No, don't go there, you dull chicken!" he hollered at the bird, frantically tearing at the feathers but it was too late: the creature lunged into the opening. Thor could catch a glimpse of his brother's pale face, peaking over the edge of the crack above him, before he disappeared in the rift.

It turned out it was just wide enough to accommodate them, leaving a not too convenient distance between the wings and the rock before the bird tipped to one side.

The issue was not the width. It was the thunders and winds the thunderbird created with each slap of its wings, and before Thor realized it would be their undoing, the mountain came tumbling down.

o.o.o

It was pure instinct that made Loki jump back from the crevasse before the ground he had just crouched on disappeared in an avalanche.

He stood there dumbfounded for a second, unable to process what had just happened. He wasn't sure he would ever be able to. In an ironic part of his mind he thought sourly that there was only so many times one could lose someone within this short span of time and maintain a semblance of sanity.

He crawled to the edge again, peeking over it and trying to make anything out in the depth. The fissure was now twice as wide as before, the walls of it no more straight and smooth but ridged with odd rocks jutting out everywhere like half-carved bricks for a giant fortress. He saw no movement bar from the small pebbles he caused to fall as he clutched at the edge desperately.

"I should have fallen, too," he squeaked miserably as he pulled back, watching the storm clouds slowly disappear. It wasn't raining anymore. He was on the verge of tears. "It is all my fault."

What would he do without Thor?

He squeezed his eyes shut, and the thought swimming into his mind was like a hammer in his chest. What am I without you?

He had no idea how long he was lying there, wallowing in self-pity and frightened shock when he heard the distant echo of rocks falling on rocks. He sat up, thinking the ground started to quake again when suddenly with a loud huff of air Thor hefted himself over the edge and on the landing.

They stared at each other for a moment, Loki sitting in a rain puddle, Thor on all fours before Thor lifted his hand and waved at him with a handful of red-blue feathers.

"I brought you its pinions. For your magic."

Loki flew at him like a bloodthirsty wolf, pounding his chest with his fists as he cried, "Thor! You foolish oaf. The teeth within its beak are magical."

"Oh," Thor muttered as Loki clawed his fingers into the meat of his shoulders, and tore at his robe, at his hair, scratched his back like he was no more than a thunderbird himself. "I'm sorry, I did not know."

Thor didn't fight him, he only sat there like a big gargoyle. Only after a moment did he realize that Loki was actually hugging him, his arms like an iron cage around his body. He wound his arms around his brother, rocking him back and forth, smoothing the damp tunic on his back.

"Don't worry, Loki, it takes more than a bird to kill me."

Loki's snort was muffled against his shoulder but no less ironic.

"I'm only upset because there can be no good enough lie that would save me from father's wrath if I got home alone. And we missed the curfew, too."

Thor laughed happily, pulling Loki closer still. His brother's heart beat with the same frantic intensity as his, as if Loki had fallen with him into the abyss.

Loki wriggled free, grimacing as he mumbled, "Just don't ever do this again." And Thor nodded with a smile.

But he would. Both of them would over the course of the centuries.

o.o.o

Their ride back was eventless. This time Loki led them down on the dirt roads instead of the moor, and Thor did not object. He reckoned they had enough adventure for a while.

Loki entertained himself with sticking the feathers of the thunderbird behind Thor's ears and laughing at him, calling him his Pegasus. Thor thought this was the least he should endure after the shock he caused to Loki.

He did not know yet what twisted idea this would sprout in the mischievous mind of his trickster brother.

o.o.o

"We shall think of a way to make tribute to this brave act," Odin announced as his two sons were kneeling before him. He looked at the long feathers sitting on his firstborn's palms as Thor presented them to him as a proof that he had felled the thunderbird.

Odin had started his lecture by scolding them for leaving without permission and causing much worry to their parents. Only after that he asked about their adventure. He knew his sons did not tell him the entire truth of how exactly it happened but he chose to ignore it for now. He would surely hear it after the several times recited story would arrive back to his ears after its cruise around Asgard.

"Thank you, father," Thor said with a proud smile, and at Odin's nod he rose and turned to leave.

Loki lagged behind, though, and Odin looked at his younger son with a silent question in his eye. Loki stole a stealthy look over his shoulder at Thor, making sure his brother was out of earshot before leaning closer in a conspiratorial manner.

"Father, I have an idea of how you could commemorate this act," he whispered with a smirk.

o.o.o

"Thor Odinson, I gift you the masterwork of the most excellent blacksmiths of Nidavellir, wearing the symbol of your first great act in a row of many to come, I am sure," Odin announced, and on the round plate the servants brought in, there sat the silver globe of a winged helmet.

Thor thought it was fortunate he had his back against the crowd so they wouldn't see how he flushed with embarrassment. He had never been good in masking his emotions, and at the moment he wasn't sure what to think of the helmet. He bowed his head and accepted the gift, though, thanking his father as proudly as it was possible.

He didn't see Loki standing off the dais, his face no less flushed in the attempt to hold back a laughter at Thor's baffled expression.

o.o.o

"I have a hard time to believe they really want me to wear this," Thor groaned, twirling the helmet in his hands.

Thankfully, the feast was over and he could finally take it off. To be honest, though, after a few pints of mead it didn't look that terrible anymore. At least when it was on his head, he didn't have to look at it.

Loki, who had followed him to his chambers, snorted behind his back. Thor could hear the smirk in his voice even without looking at him.

"You don't like it? What a pity. I took great care in its design!"

Thor whirled around, gaping at him. "You?! Of course you! I should have known, you little fiend!"

That night Thor wasn't the only one who was forced to wear the helmet.

II. Horns

Thor kept fidgeting in his seat. He was too simple a being for any form of guile so Loki could easily tell something occupied his brother's mind even without witnessing him piling rolled sausage together with the sweet balls of Ástarpungar on his plate. And indeed, halfway in eating his way through a dubious mixture of meat and powdered sugar, Thor cleared his throat.

"Father, is it true what the reports say of a bilgesnipe running wild in Asgard?"

Loki rolled his eyes. Oh of course, hunting. Ever since Thor came of age, and more importantly discovered he could lift Mjölnir, he thought of nothing else but quests to see how his precious thing served him in fight.

Odin hummed around the pate in his mouth. "Yes. It causes much damage in the Southern region. The villagers fear it would destroy the plants before harvest."

"Let me go and seek out the beast," Thor blurted.

Loki smirked to himself and stole a piece of cheese off Thor's plate while he wasn't watching, shoving it into his mouth unceremoniously.

"You came of age," said Odin slowly. "If you wish to go, I cannot tell you otherwise but know that I'm not letting you go with a light heart. Bilgesnipes are vicious things."

"I know, father, I will be cautious," Thor shot a sharp look at Loki as his brother snorted into his cup. "I need someone to accompany me, though."

"I will remember to order Algrim to assign an Einherjar for the task."

Hesitantly, Thor remarked, "I already have chosen someone."

"Oh, you did?"

Loki had no time to ponder over the sour sensation crawling up his throat that his brother found a suitable company he trusted and valued enough (quests without each other were still a foreign concept for both of them) when he discovered the stealthy glance Thor stole at him over the table.

"I want to take Loki, father," Thor claimed solemnly, and Loki's heart leapt with contentment.

Frigga looked up from her plate with a mild frown while Odin put down his fork.

"No, your brother is not yet of age."

"It is but a half year and he would be."

"He keeps skipping the training sessions, he is not as prepared for such fights as you are," Odin said, and Loki frowned at how they were discussing about him as if he wasn't even present.

"Loki is not at all a hopeless fighter. You should see him with his daggers," Thor smiled at him, and Loki felt a rush of sentimental affection roll around in his stomach at Thor's words. Thor pulled an expression on his face he had learnt to be working as a child, and sometimes he was still using it unconsciously. It looked ridiculous on someone as tall and strong as him but Loki never told him because it was a funny sight he enjoyed. "Father, please. I will go with him or not at all!"

Frigga hid her smile behind the rim of her cup as she studied her firstborn's expression and squinted at Loki as if they shared an inside joke. Odin simply shook his head, and Loki knew they were very close to the target.

"Maybe I should go to make sure Thor doesn't rush into his own demise," he smirked, earning a kick from Thor under the table, but Odin finally sighed in defeat.

"Oh, my sons. Very well then."

"Wonderful!" Thor grinned at his brother. Loki only pursed his lips with poorly concealed amusement. "Where is my cheese?"

"You ate it."

"Hm." Thor watched him for a second, considering if he should believe him. Loki only grinned at him. "Never mind. Let's go, brother, we need to prepare for the trip!"

Thor pushed his chair back, pulling Loki up by his arm. Loki's arm shot out to grab a cluster of grapes off his plate.

"But this might be my last breakfast, Thor! You know that's my favorite meal."

Thor only laughed at him. When the door to the dining chamber closed behind them, he clapped Loki in the back with a merry cheer.

"We are going together!"

"Into our very violent death. Yes, thank you for insisting on me to join," Loki muttered but he could already see Thor knew him better than to believe him as he caught the twitch in the corner of his lips.

o.o.o

"Are you sure you don't take another weapon? I have seen your aim, Thor," Loki remarked, eying Mjölnir mistrustfully as it dangled on Thor's belt.

"I'm getting better."

Loki snorted, poking the still purple skin on Thor's elbow with a pointed look. Over the past weeks, ever since Thor found out he could lift the hammer, he was practicing with her but usually each training session ended with him nursing a strained joint in his arm and the hammer ravaging their mother's precious flowerbeds. He could not yet reign the power Mjölnir held.

"There is a weak point right behind the skull of a bilgesnipe," Loki slapped Thor playfully in the back of his head to indicate the area. "You need to hit that, but for it, the beast has to have its back to you. Are you sure you could hit it right there with Mjölnir?"

"Oh yes, little brother. You just watch."

"Oh, sweet Nornir, have mercy on me… Before we leave, maybe we should order two boats for our funeral, no?" he quipped sarcastically but Thor only snickered in his good mood.

o.o.o

They were riding for three days and three nights to the Southern region of Asgard. The landscape here was flat, spotted with vast cultivated parcels and lush forests. When they stopped to rest, Loki set fire by weaving spells that sparkled first with green then erupted in orange, lively flames.

It was still a foreign concept for Thor that his brother practiced seiðr, though Loki kept showing him tricks he learnt at the time. He was honestly impressed at how gracefully Loki could call forth forces Thor had trouble to understand yet Thor still valued physical fight over anything.

"Did you bring any weapons, brother?" Thor could not keep the suspicion out of his voice.

"Of course," Loki nodded way too innocently, and Thor's stomach flipped upside down.

"You do not mean those teeny daggers you usually carry around, yes?" When Loki only hummed, Thor cried out in exasperation. "Loki, damn you! What are you planning to do with those? Peeling its scales off one by one?"

"You are the one who wants to hunt. I don't wish to take this pleasure away from you."

Thor chose to ignore him for the next hour until they reached the outskirt of their destination.

"We have no inkling where the beast is," Thor pointed it out as they galloped into the first village they had received reports from. Bilgesnipes didn't nest or settle down, making it harder to locate them as they didn't stay at the same place for a longer period. It left them with the only way to track them: by following the traces of destruction.

"I believe we should go to the best place for rumors and news then," Loki smiled, steering his stallion toward a building down the street.

"Oh, and what is that?" Thor asked sourly.

"A tavern," Loki winked at him. "I'm starving anyway, after three days of eating naught but salted meat and half-burnt potatoes, thanks to your excellent cooking skills."

Thor let out a throaty laughter. "Admit you already know where the beast is, you only want to eat."

"Don't act like you don't."

It turned out Loki did not lie about his hunger. Eventually, he alone ate half a turkey, the crispy roasted leg of a lamb, a pair of salted herrings and an apple pie, accompanying them with two pints of ale. Thor was afraid he would never stop.

By the time they cleared their plates, words of the bilgesnipe had already started to fly around the tavern. It was just that easy to join in.

"Where was the beast seen the last time?" Loki threw the question in the general direction of the counter where several locals were discussing the topic over ale and mead. His words were casual enough to grant him a really eager answer.

"It hides in the Old Forest to the North from Skógurbær. My brother lives there and he told me how the monster trampled across the tract and attacked his livestock just yesterday. It gorged two of his fattest goats."

"You are not planning to hunt it down, right?" an old man was eying them, looking them up and down as if measuring if they stood any chance against a bilgesnipe. He apparently considered they did not because he added with a frown: "You are too young to go after such a beast, sons."

Loki squinted at Thor, elbowing him in the side. "I told you we should have ordered those boats."

"It is good we did not," Thor remarked as Loki paid for their meal. "After a feast like this, you would most certainly need one size larger."

o.o.o

It was easy to find the bilgesnipe after they obtained the directions. They had to simply follow its trace from Skógurbær back to the Old Forest, and on a wide clearing there it was: the reclined form of a bilgesnipe.

They watched it for a few seconds from behind a tree, peaking through the bushes.

It was huge as a landslide, covered with dirty brown scales. It was lying on its stomach, its thick tail curled up to its side, fork-like antlers rising high from its forehead. It looked to be napping but Loki held up his finger in warning because the sight could be deceiving.

"We should charge at it while it's still resting," Thor countered, unbuckling Mjölnir from his belt.

"Hold on!" Loki put his hand on Thor's arm as the beast stirred and lifted its angular head. "I have an idea. You just wait here for my signal. Don't forget the weak spot at the back of its skull. Prepare Mjölnir," he added with a sour expression, sending a doubtful glance at the hammer before he crawled to the side and disappeared in the foliage.

"And what will be the signal?" Thor mumbled to himself, easing his hold around the shaft.

He kept an eye on the fidgeting, sniffing beast for what felt like an hour without any sign of Loki. He began to consider the idea that his brother had simply sneaked back to Skógurbær to have an extensive dinner while Thor was crouching behind the bush like a frightened rabbit. Frankly, it would not be alien to Loki to pull such a prank.

He seriously started to contemplate disregarding Loki's orders when the beast suddenly raised its head and looked toward the other end of the clearing, turning its back to Thor.

Readjusting his grip on Mjölnir, Thor regarded the event as his cue and jumped out of the bush, twirling the hammer by its strap. The bilgesnipe rose to its feet and started to bounce toward the farther end, making Thor quickly approach it from behind when he caught sight of it…

His brother was standing there, waiting motionlessly for the beast to slaughter him.

"Loki!" Thor cried out, momentarily forgetting how he was supposed to puncture a hole into the thick skull of the beast. But there was no way he could do it, not with Loki's life at stake, not with his own frankly horrible aim. Suddenly uncertain, he was not sure he would end up hitting the beast or accidentally smashing Loki instead, and as if sensing the thought, Mjölnir flew from his fingers and landed with a thud harmlessly at the feet of the nearby trees.

The move earned him nothing but one shocking moment after the other.

First the bilgesnipe pounced at Loki and ran through him like he was but a ghost, and when the realization at the sight of the trick hit Thor how foolish he had been, the confused beast already turned around and charged at him instead.

o.o.o

Hiding in the foliage nearby, Loki cursed under his breath. Thor had seen the trick not once, how could he not know that Loki wasn't so rash to risk his life so carelessly?

He sent one of his daggers flying across the air as he jumped out of his hiding place and rushed after the bilgesnipe. The dagger hit the beast in its flank but as expected, it did not do much to slow it on its approach toward Thor who only stood there like an idiot, weighing if he should call for Mjölnir or run instead. With a desperate move, Loki lunged after the beast, using its tail as a leverage to spring higher, and he landed on its brawny back. He would have cursed Thor into the Tenth Realm, had he not needed all his strength to find purchase on the scaly slopes of the beast.

Loki clutched the left antler and pulled it with all his might to divert the bilgesnipe from its current course. The beast roared but thankfully turned before it could reach Thor, flinging its tail in a wide circle to the side and sweeping him off his feet. Loki wanted to laugh at him but the next moment they were among trees and he had to plaster himself against the stinking cold skin to avoid an unfortunate impalement on the branches.

He had no idea where they were running off to but it felt like riding an avalanche as the beast tried to shake him off its back. Loki gripped its horns with two hands, holding onto them for dear life when the realization hit him: he was sitting exactly on the right spot.

Too bad he had only two hands.

o.o.o

Thor thought he might have had one too many pints of ale back at the tavern as the top of the trees refused to stop dancing in circles above his head. For a second he was lying there like an outspread pelt before panic struck him. Loki. After dragging himself to his feet, he held out his hand and called for Mjölnir. As it flew to him, it almost broke his middle finger but he had already gotten used to it and a few new injuries weren't exactly his most urgent issues at the moment. Frantically he dove into the woods, following the lines of broken trees and the flattened foliage the beast had trodden across.

He didn't want to think what the beast could do to Loki. It was all his fault, dragging Loki here, falling for the trick he pulled on the bilgesnipe. He wasn't any smarter than the dumb monster, it seemed. How could he be so foolish and careless? If Loki—

It saved him from further dwelling when he suddenly spotted the scaly hulk in a dent.

He caught sight of one of Loki's silver daggers sticking out of its skull, and it sparked the hope within Thor's chest. He stared at the beast for a second, studying it for any sign of movement before setting to search for Loki.

His brother was lying in a crumpled mess among the roots of an oak, and he didn't seem particularly pleased. Or healthy.

"Loki!" Thor rushed over to his side, running frantic hands over his brother's arms and legs, trying to map the damage. "Did you break anything, brother?"

"Yes," Loki whined mournfully as he reached behind his back to pull out something. "The antler…"

Thor groaned with relief. "Is it needed again for some potion?"

Deadpan, Loki said, "No. It just hurt."

"Ah, of course." Thor took it from his hand to hold it against Loki's forehead with a smirk. "Maybe because it was yours, my little unicorn!"

Loki snatched it from him with a growl and smacked Thor with it over the head. "Oaf."

They jumped as the bilgesnipe gurgled once, and Thor sprang to his feet and smashed it good with his hammer.

"It still counts as mine," Loki remarked drily as he struggled to his feet, and Thor hugged his shoulders to keep him upright.

"Of course, it does."

o.o.o

"It was your idea, right?" Loki narrowed his eyes at his brother right after a feast very similar to a particular one just the previous year. Among his slender fingers he held a golden helmet, the torchlights glinting off its two curved horns.

"No" Thor claimed indignantly. "Mine was only one horn in the middle."

"Gah!" Loki slapped his chest, and he thought it might be just fair after all.

III. Jests

It was an important ceremony, or so their father had said. The golden throne room was decorated with colorful banners and the tables were set with delicious meals, the mead would flow like river that evening.

So the two princes were expected to appear as courtly as possible.

"We look like two peacocks, Loki," Thor grumbled as they waited outside the throne room. He lifted the winged helmet in his hand with a grimace. "I don't want to wear this."

Loki was already wearing his own helmet, and Thor tried to look at him with a straight face. It was an impressive image yet funny in its strange design.

Loki's eyes sparkled. "No wonder. How would they take that you killed a poor nightingale?"

"Very funny. At least I didn't attack a domestic animal, you cow."

"It seems you wouldn't even recognize one, Thor. Since when do cows grow such horns?"

Thor chuckled at him and put on his helmet with a resigned pout. "Father is cruel."

"No, Thor. You should listen to his words more carefully," Loki said, placing a hand on Thor's shoulder. His voice was serious, and it made Thor to look at him. "It may look funny now in your eyes but this helmet will see many great acts and will be the symbol of them, your symbol, just like Mjölnir is. It will be an honor, and after a while they will look upon it with naught but respect."

Thor mirrored his brother's movement and squeezed Loki's shoulder with a grateful smile.

"Thank you, brother. You are right, as always." He self-consciously adjusted the helmet, and smirked: "But for now, let them laugh."