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Too far, too high. Spells won't work. I've failed again just like before in that other place . . . Balder-Chaos . . . Fenris was suddenly snagged out of her plummet by a hand. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Balder or a red-haired youth before her, but instead, "Loki!?" She voiced her surprise, looking into his brilliant green eyes in amazement . . . Where did he come from? For a fleeting moment she saw an intense look of something on his face. Determination? Why did he save me? Good thing I wear gauntlets, his grip is awfully strong. She didn't feel the need to tighten her fingers around his hand, not that she could at the moment. Loki, she lost track of time as stared in shock and amazement staring at her savior. They remained like that for a few moments, with eyes locked together. "What are you staring at?" he finally asked softly, "We have no time to waste, hurry." This pulled her out of her reverie, she hoisted herself onto the beam with his help. As they made their way back to the deck, the ship gave a violent shudder and started to fall.
----
When she came to, Fenris had to blink a few times to clear her vision. "Oooooh... My head..." She sat up slowly as the pain ebbed away. "Ungh, praise be to Frigg and the fates I'm alive though.." She touched her hand to her head, big mistake. She yelped out as the pain flared underneath her fingers. At least it keeps me from feeling the pain elsewhere . . . Balder-Chaos!!! Fenris forgot about the pain when she saw the spiky red hair of Chaos peeking out from underneath the rubble. She ran over to him and began clearing it away. Please let him be all right, I don't know what I'd do without you Balder. She turned him over carefully. Nothing appeared to be seriously wrong with him. She studied his face for a moment till she said aloud quietly, "You really have changed... everything is completely different on the outside, even the color of your eyes." Fenris hovered her fingers over his handsome face, wondering if she dared touch it. Tentatively, she placed a finger on his jaw and traced the countour of his face. "Balder...Balder..Chaos...It's time to wake up...Chaos c'mon. We have to go find Loki and Iris," she shook his shoulder gently. A slight groan escaped his lips. "Thank the gods!" she exclaimed as his body stirred his body stirred.
"Unnngh.. Not so loud will you?" He opened one eye, "It hurts ya know? Oh my head..." She sat back and smiled, pulling out a small flask. "I don't know how much is left, but this should help some..."
"Thanks," he said and he took a small sip. "Ungh!" He made retching noises, "What's in this?! Well whatever it is it's working already..." Indeed, he could already feel the pounding in his skull die away. Fenris smiled and gave a slight chuckle, taking a small sip herself. She shrugged,
"I don't know, I've always thought it tasted okay." Chaos stared at her. Clearly the woman was insane, or she had hit her head extremely hard in the fall. He sat up and shook his head.
"Anyways we've got to find Iris and Loki," he said standing up. Loki...Fenris thought. She thought about him for a moment, mulling over the moment in which he snagged her out of the air from certain death. Loki..I owe him my life.. Don't I? Chaos broke into her thoughts,
"Anything wrong Fenris?" She looked up at him, a bit startled.
"What? Oh no sorry I was just thinking. You're right we should get going...." She stood up and they started their search.
----
They did not meet up with the others until later in the day in Geffen, city of magic. Each party wandered through the crowds when by chance..
"Fenris!"
"Iris!?" Looking behind the cleric she saw two familiar faces. Her eyes rested on the blonde haired woman for a moment. Then the name clicked into place, "Loki!? And Lidia too?" She thought she saw something flicker behind the pale assassin's eyes. I must thank him later, she thought. Iris was already off on a wild story between herself and Lidia. Then the young cleric noticed a certain spiked head in the crowd--"Chaos!"
Whump!
Two seconds later he was on the ground practically being assailed by Iris. Fenris watched them curiously for a moment."You have a grip like a troll watch that!" Chaos complained, rubbing his sore ribs. Iris giggled,
"Silly, you wouldn't want some helpless pathetic girlfriend would you?" Girlfriend!? Fenris thought both panickedly and embarrassedly. The pictures in her mind again.
"Urgh stop saying that!"
...Chaos holding Iris' cheek....
"What? What? Did I say something wrong?"....Iris sleeping against him in the jail at Pontera...The way Iris ran to him after the fight with Bijou...Fenris bit her lip as a twinge of pain went through her chest. I must not fool myself, I mustn't give into false hope... She hardly noticed as the Viceroy's palanquin was stopped in front of them until,
"I know those weapons! Levatein rod of destruction! And Chernryongd, blade of the blue sacred dragons!" Fenris was surprised, but then joined the conversation. Apparently Geffen had a large library. It also turned out that it had lore dating back to the war of the gods, and when Geffen was a greater part of Alfheim (the realm of the elves). It also turned out that Iris had volunteered Fenris to compete in the upcoming tournament of magic without her knowledge.
"Iris how could you! What were you thinking!?" The warlock exclaimed to the girl.
"Relax, you'll do just fine!" Fenris put her head in her palm and sighed. Only Loki noted the stranger following them.
------
Loki had been tense. Ever since he had felt that presence in the woods he'd been on edge. He wasn't far off on his intuition as he felt it the rest of the way into Geffen and again in the crowds. He had seen a strange woman amidst the mass amount of people. Not that that meant much in Geffen, but the presence was coming from her. No doubt about it. He flicked his eyes to Fenris again, who was calmly, patiently explaining something to Iris. He often observed her, though she didn't know it. Her new hairstyle was much more becoming, she had a lot more hair that one would expect. He preferred her new attire as well. He had a great deal of respect towards Fenris. She was wise, highly skilled in battle, and she had a soothing influence. This greatly helped the dynamics of the group, especially when Lidia was around. He also felt that there was more there than respect when he looked at her. Loki couldn't quite name it, nor express it, but it was there. Something there that made him concerned about her, despite all her competence. Something that was felt soft and warm. He had never felt this way before. He had felt concern for his fellow assasains yes, but not like this, not to this degree. Not even for Taulin.
Later in their hotel room, Lidia and Iris were in the middle of another cat-fight. Fenris interrupted them. "Excuse me, you can continue fighting later, but may I ask why I must participate in the tournament?" Loki's feeling of unease grew ever larger. Iris jumped up and started to explain happily,
"Well you see one of the prizes is..."
"Is what?" Fenris asked. Loki could bear it no longer. He addressed the tracker outside,
"Why don't you come and join us?" The others stopped and stared at Loki. "After all you've been following us all afternoon." A voice came from behind the door, deep, commanding, yet most assuredly a woman's voice.
"Leave this land mortals! Alfheim is not for those such as you!" Chaos turned from his vantage point at the window,
"Huh? What was that? What did you say? I think you'd better come in and explain!" Power seemed to radiate behind the door, then arrows streamed through, traveling through the door as if it were not even there, making it look like large termites had taken to feast upon it. Loki engaged his armor and created a large, pod-shaped shield which deflected the arrows. Chaos grabbed his sword, drawing it. He leaped over Loki's shield when the arrows stopped and the archer crashed through what was left of the door.
"Heed my warning mortals..."
"Just who are you!?" Chaos shouted. Leaves swirled around the strangely clad warrior, then they flew at Chaos.
"Fool mortals...." Chaos was taken by surprise as the leaves drew blood, cutting him like small, keen knives as they whipped past. Another flurry of leaves and the woman disappeared, leaving nothing but a leaf and a crevasse in the wall and floor. Loki stepped foreword picking up the small piece of foliage,
"Curious..nothing but an ordinary leaf.." Fenris took in a breath,
"I..I believe that was an elf..." Loki glanced sharply at her, Iris was summoning rune spirits to heal Chaos' wounds. Fenris continued her explanation, "The arrows Loki deflected. they came in such great numbers, and cut through the door as if through air. This is the work of an Elven archer. She summoned the Silphs, the ancient wind spirits, long-time allies of the elves to turn the leaves into weapons..." Chaos interjected angrily,
"But why would an elf attack us?"
"As she said she wants us to leave," Fenris shrugged. Iris furrowed her brows,
"But we've done nothing to her! Why would she come to a human city, a place she despises just to tell us to leave?" Lidia looked up, as though shocked, and ran over to her pouch. She pulled out her father's treasure hunting bible and flipped through some pages. Her eyes widened and she had a sudden air of triumph about her. The pages told her that Geffen was not only part of the greater realm of the elves, it was the capital. Iris smiled sweetly and said with too much honey in her voice, "Just so you know Lidia, any treasure you 'find' we all split." She giggled some. Sensing an argument Fenris cleared her throat,
"I suggest we do something to clean all this up, and offer to repay for the damage any way we can."
------
It was the night before the tournament. Fenris could hardly sleep. She sat up on her mattress and surveyed the room. She smiled fondly at Chaos and Iris sleeping next to her. She reached over and brushed Iris' hair to one side gently. Iris murmured something unintelligible in her sleep. The cleric rolled over and Fenris smiled fondly. She then turned her eyes to Lidia and her cat on the other side of the room, no doubt having treasure filled dreams. She looked at Chaos again and sighed. A voice softly drifted through the darkness, she gasped as it said,
"You should get some sleep." she breathed a sigh of relief,
"Oh, Loki," she turned towards the dark corner he was standing in, his pale green eyes gleaming from out the shadows. "I didn't realize you were awake too," she whispered. His head moved a fraction in what might have been a nod. "Don't you ever sleep though?" She asked and he shrugged slightly,
"When I feel like it." His voice was still cold, but it was oddly different. As if it were somehow touched with a slight bit of softness. Her eyes flicked down to the floor, she could feel his eyes on her without even looking at him. She bit her lip pondering. "Is something wrong Fenris?" He asked quietly. She shook her head,
"No, not really. I was just wondering..." She lapsed into silence.
"Yes?"
"I was just wondering why...why you decided to save me that's all," she murmured looking up at him. He looked away from her for a moment, most of his face in shadow, his expression unfathomable. He was silent for a moment then turned back to her,
"Because I chose to," he held her in his eyes, gently regarding her with a tender, human gaze. Fenris didn't understand fully what was behind his eyes, but she could tell he was saying unspoken things there. Her cheeks flushed and she couldn't tear herself away from his beautiful, terrible gaze. She swallowed and licked her lips, suddenly nervous. He says so much with his eyes, perhaps we don't know how to listen... she thought. Loki turned his entrancing gaze past Fenris, "You should sleep now Fenris," he muttered gently, "You will need all your strength tomorrow.." She nodded and, almost reluctantly, turned away from him. She whispered back,
"Don't stay up too late, you need your rest as well." She rearranged herself on the futon and closed her eyes. The moment where Loki caught her hand flashed through her mind. He always looks so cold, but he looked like an angel then. She was surprised at herself, where on earth had that thought come from? The moment passed and Fenris drifted into a deep slumber. Only after a long time did Loki dare stir. He silently moved forward and touched her soft cheek lightly with his fingers.
"Sleep well Fenris."