Asgardian Teacher (Ria and Love)

[lovekeeper01]

Astrid nodded at the god and took off her cloak. 'The king god seemed strong enough and passionate enough, so the Trickster must be telling the truth about not wanting to harm me. But with the other god, the Thunder god, He seems to find me being trained by his brother almost humorous, but why? I understand mortals should not be in the heavens, but what is so funny?'

Astrid tore her eyes away from the Thunder god and back to the Trickster. He stood there, his sleeves pushed up. 'He may not have it in his intention to hurt me, but I do not think he would be ashamed if he did. But no matter, this is what I have to do to be strong and so I will do it. However, I am curious...'

"My lord, you said that I qould learn magic as well as the physical ability to protect myself. Is that possible for a mortal like myself to learn that ability?" She asked, careful to let no emotion to show in her voice.  

[Ria_The_Wolf12]

Loki, who'd had his hands up preparing to cast, dropped them. "Alright, that's enough 'my Lord's. From now on, it is only required while in public" He said, running a hand through his jet-black hair. "During lessons, you will call me Húsbóndi. Outside of that, Loki, respectfully, will suffice. Understood?" He said, re-rolling his sleeves. "And yes. You will not be as powerful as a God, but you've an advantage over the barbarous witches who use sacrifice and animal pieces to work their spells and curses."

"Didn't someone try to appease you with such methods?" Thor asked, lounging on the ground. Loki sighed. "Yes, and it was a ridiculous mess. I prefer much more when people make me food. All the same, as I said, prepare yourself." Loki said, lifting his hands. "Do your best to block this with nothing other than your mind." He said, twisted his hands, and huge chunks of ice rained down upon her.

lovekeeper01

 

[lovekeeper01]

"What-?" Astrid said as the chunks of ice hurtled towards her. 'How am I supposed to stop them with my mind?' By then it was far to late and the chunks began to pelt her. Her legs, arms, torso, and head, all were opened for the beating. 'Nothing but my mind. Does that count avoiding them? Or magic?'

She didn't take a second thought but started to jump out of the way as the chunks of ice rained upon her. Right, left, forward, back, or sliding under. She tried her hardest to avoid being hit.

After what seemed like hours, the ice ceased to exist and Astrid was left bloody and bruised. 'I have no magical power, but I know that is what he wanted.' She fell to her knees and looked down at her hands.

'I have failed him. I have failed them all.' She thought to herself, but she refused to shed a single tear.  

[Ria_The_Wolf12]

Loki "tsk"ed, shaking his head. "I do believe I said with your mind only." He chastised. When she fell to the ground, his brows furrowed. "What are you doing?" He asked, his tone harsher. "You can't do one thing, so you fall to the ground like a helpless child? No wonder your father wanted you here! Were this a true fight, I would have slit your throat and not bothered with a second thought about it by now!" He growled, walking to her and hoisting her up by her shoulder. "You are to treat these lessons as though your life is truly at stake, understand?" He said, and left her standing there bleeding to go back to where he'd been standing. "So you've no natural prowess in defending yourself agaianst physical mahic. Now we'll see how you may fair against mental. In short, try to keep me from entering your mind, seeing your deepest secrets, destroying it, and controlling you like a puppet. In 3...2...1." He said, and attacked her mind without even a slight movement on his part.

lovekeeper01

 

[lovekeeper01]

'How am I supposed to fight him from entering my mind?' But Astrid refused to wait long to figure it out but did the only thing she could think of. Focusing on one thing, one very important thing. Her father.

She saw his face again, his smile. She could almost smell him again. He was in his viking helmet and garb, sitting by the fire cooking. Telling one of his favorite stories, how he single handedly defeated a giant bear.

"He was huge, bigger then our house. He was coming to our village, wanting to kill the lot of us. Of course I couldn't allow that, now could I? So I jumped on his back and with my giant ax I cut through his skull and brought him down. Of course, I was unlucky enough to get hit on my face by his claws. But, scars are a man's greatest pride, Astrid, remember that. A man with scars is a man worth having."

Astrid went over that memory over and over, hoping that it might just help her.  

[Ria_The_Wolf12]

L.i nodded in approval. "Better, but not perfect. It is the proper technique, but I still got in." He spoke, directly into her head. "And therefore, as incentive to further this skill-" He touched on the girls pain receptors so that, while she had no physical harm, they percieved that she'd been stabbed through the chest and thus gave her enough pain to bring her to her knees in agony. This only lasted a few moments however, before he withdrew from her mind.

"You see, mental attacks are powerful, moreso than any weapon. Underdtand how to do them properly while shielding yourself from rebuttal, and you need never lift a weapon again." Loki said, walking towards her. "That is a lie!" Thor chimed from where he'd been sitting quietly. "To bring down your enemy with a weapon is far more honorable than to do so with something they cannot defend themselves from! Loki, I belived you valued that!" He spoke. Loki looked to his brother. "I do. However, she is a woman. She does not get the luxury pf leaving a home to train all day. So tell me which you would prefer, her beclming powerful enough to destroy a man with nothing but her psyche, or being raped and captured or murdered by an opposing clan?" Thor stared at his brother for a moment, before begrudgingly agreeing that he was correct.

Loki nodded before turning his gaze skyward. The sun was beginnong to set, making the labdscape gorgeous. "That should be enough for today." He said, holding out his hand. His coat came to him at once. "Besides, they will be serving dinner soon." He added, walking on towards the palace.

lovekeeper01

 

[lovekeeper01]

Astrid stood up as soon as she got her breath back. 'He's right, if I can learn to attack the minds of my enemies, I'll be able to defend myself better than attacking with a sword.' She smiled, 'The Trickster god may come off scary, but he seems to be serious about training me. For his desire, or mine, I have to trust him. He's the only one who I can trust.'

Astri brushed herself off an grabbed her cloak. 'This will happen every day until I learn to defend myself. The pain an scars, I can live with. Failure, I cannot.'

Astrid smiled softly and then hurried to catch up to the Trickster god and his brother. "Húsbóndi? Will I be able to eat the food of the gods'? It almost seems unreal that such a thing would be possible."  

[Ria_The_Wolf12]

"Oh, I don't see why not. We can eat Midgardian food." Loki said thoughtfully. "As a matter of fact, I believe it would be beneficial to you." He looked at her then. "Of course, you can't come to dinner looking like that." He added. As things were, the girl was covered in sweat and blood. Loki grinned. "If you do, Thor will get jealous that you look like more of a battle-hardened warrior than him." The Trickster smirked at his brother. "Though, thats not hard." Thor looked mockingly indignant. "Oh, you wound me!" He said. "Though of course, those are heavy words coming from someone who looks like a magic fishbone."

This banter went on until they actually arrived. It was obvious that dinner in the house of Odin was not purely a family affair, as a large amount of Gods and Goddesses had arrived in fine clothing. It was through them the trio walled, and hushed whispers followed as they beheld Loki's ward. By the time they made it through, the whole crowd had quieted. "This will happen often. You will learn to accept it." He said quietly before turning to them all. "Good news, she shows promise." He announced. There was quiet until one of the Gods they'd been dining with that morning, a robust god with long red hair, raised a fist. "Well then! Strength to you, maiden!" He said jovially, and the silence broke. Loki led her on then, calling a servant. "She will need to be fitted for dinner this evening." He said, and the girl nodded with a curtsey before offering Astrid her hand. "This way, ma'am."

lovekeeper01

 

[lovekeeper01]

Astrid followed the servant girl to a wash room. It was a simple stone room with a bath.

"If you please, ma'am, you can undress over there and I shall bring new clothes for you."

Astrid nodded and undressed herself, then walked into the bath. The water stung her cuts and she winced as the stinging spread across her whole body. Eventually the stinging settled down to a numbness and she could relax in the water. 'My whole body aches. I feel like I got hit by a bear.' Astrid sighed and laid her head back. 'I could stay in here forever.' She smiled softly, grateful that she could finally relax. But Loki was waiting for her, all the gods were. So after a few more minuets of soaking, she cleansed herself as best she could, and climbed out of the bath.

It was freezing when she climbed out, so she hurried to dry herself off and get dressed in a simple but elegant blue dress. 'It is beautiful,' She thought and smiled again. 'I almost feel like some kind of royalty.' She giggled softly at that thought then walked out of the room to find the maid waiting outside for her.

"Follow me, ma'am." She said with a smile and walked away. Astrid, doing as she was told, followed the maid to wherever she was supposed to go.  

[Ria_The_Wolf12]

The maid led the girl back into the wing, but all the way to the back where a large door stood. It was on this she knocked. "Drottinn minn, gestur þinn heiður er tilbúin." She said, and Loki stepped out, finishing up the buttons on his suit. "Heiðursgestur? Hvað áttu við?" The Trickster answered, his brow furrowed. "Um, er Alföðr hefur talið deild þinn heiðursgestur vegna þess að hún er fyrsta lifandi manna að borða í húsi Óðni." She replied, somewhat timidly. "Skít!" Loki said harshly, making the girl jump. He ran a hand through his hair. "Thank you, you are dismissed." He said, sending the maid off. He looked at Astrid. "You're in blue. What's with the blue?" He said, more to himself than to her. He shook his head then and linked his arm with hers. "No matter, my father has apparently deemed you a guest of honor." He said, exasperated. "I don't doubt he's done so thanks to this morning and he believes you will be unprepared. Probably thinks it a lesson in humility." Again, Loki shook his head. "I wondered why the dress code tonight seemed to be nice clothing rather than armor."

lovekeeper01

 

[lovekeeper01]

"Unprepared? Unprepared for what, Lord Loki?" Astrid asked, looking at him through the corner of her eye. 'He looks a little less threatening in his suit over his armor. Not that he isn't threatening anyway.'

Astrid walked alongside Loki with her back straight, determined not to show any fear or confusion. 'If I have to ask, I will ask Loki when it seems appropriate, otherwise, I will have to bide my tongue.' Astrid grimaced slightly. 'If the time is appropriate, he might not have the patience to answer questions tonight.'

"My Lord? What did you say to the servant girl, if I may ask. She seemed scared of you." Asrid asked, turning her head a little bit more to be able to see his face. 'And what did she say to him?'  

[Ria_The_Wolf12]

"For the attention. You will be receiving a great deal of it." He said. "And, well... She was simply delivering the news. No one enjoys delivering potentially bad news to someone of power, that's all." He said, leading her on. They came to the dining hall doors and Loki took a breath. "Smile and wave politely." He said, before the doors opened and they were greeted by an uproar.

Loki only smiled and walked, keeping his arm linked with hers, until he got to the head of the table where Thor sat. Unsurprisingly, Odin wasn't present. Loki sat her down in the chair next to his before sitting himself. "Was any of this your doing or idea?" He asked quietly, his gaze shifted towards Thor. "No, I only just found out about it myself." Thor answered. Loki sighed. "Yes, that was probably the plan, otherwise you would have told me. No matter, what father doesn't realize is that I would have wanted her to make a striking impression all the same." He said as the Gods went back to talking. Suddenly a quite handsome, blonde God took her chin in his hand and tipped her face up. "Well, she is cute." He said, grinning at her. Loki did not intervene, but he kept his eye on the God, prepared to jump in if he needed to. Honestly, he wanted to see how she'd handle the advances of one of Asgard's most persistent Gods.

lovekeeper01

 

[lovekeeper01]

Astrid wasn't sure how to react when the male god came up to her. She was not used to this kind of attention and was simply following what Loki told her to do, smile and wave. But this, this was different. She felt uncomfortable, like there was something that she didn't understand. 'He said to smile and wave.' Astrid forced a smile on her face, "Why thank you for the compliment, sir."

The male god smiled, winked, and walked away. Astrid sat as tall as she could, trying to not show how bothered she was by the god coming and grabbing her chin. She watched the god from the corner of her eye. 'I hope he stays away.' She sighed quietly to herself and waited for dinner.

Ria_The_Wolf12

 

[Ria_The_Wolf12]

Loki relaxed as Fandral left. "Hm. I'm surprised he left so easily." Loki said, picking up a goblet that filled itself with something resembling wine, though it smelled sweeter than usual, and taking a drink of it. "But you did well in not insulting him, it would only encourage him to chase you. Of course, I can't guarantee that won't happen anyways." He said. "Thor, you are the one in line for the crown and they are expecting a formal announcement. Shall you, or shall I?" He asked patiently.

Thor took a breath. "Well, she is your ward." He said thoughtfully. "But you are right..." He added and stood. "Ladies, Gentlemen, Friends!" He said, his voice booming. "Tonight, and for no doubt many nights to come, we've a special guest! For our feast, we are joined by not only a Midgardian, but an aspiring young lady!" He spoke, gesturing to her. "This is...um..."
"Astrid Steinadottir." Loki said quietly. "Right! Astrid Steinadottir! And due to a wish granted to her father, a brave warrior, as he lay dying, she is now under the care of my dearest brother, Loki." Thor announced.

"Is that truly a good idea?" A Goddess chimed. "Loki's enough trouble as it is! Do we really need two of him running around?" The Goddess' tone was playful and Loki smiled, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. "What can you say? I am, after all, the life of the party. Who doesn't dream of having a double life?" He said clearly, and the hall roared with jovial laughter and conversation. Well, mostly. There were a few Asgardians who looked less than pleased to see a human sitting near the head of the table, but they stayed quiet and kept their thoughts to themselves. One of these was Sif, one of Thor's great friends. Loki locked eyes with her, and she looked away. "Anyway, you will all treat her well, as of now, she is a member of the House of Odin!" Thor said, and sat. With that, the table filled with food from seemingly nowhere.

lovekeeper01

 

[lovekeeper01]

Ria_The_Wolf12

Astrid giggled softly at Loki's comeback to the goddess's comment. 'I cannot tell if she was serious or joking, same with Loki, but either way, it seemed like harmless banter.' Astrid looked around and saw the less then happy gods as well. 'Is it something that I did?' Astrid mentally shook her head and then looked at the once empty table.

"How did all this food get here?" She whispered to herself in fascination. There were all kinds of fish, meats, breads, and fruit. 'All of this food could feed my people for months.'

Astrid looked around, unsure if she should start to eat or if she was supposed to wait. 'I have no idea what I can and cannot do in this place, one wrong step and I could insult a god.' Astrid glanced at Loki in hopes for some kind of sign.