Chapter Text
Sylvie hoped that the thick lushness of the trees would be enough to conceal her. But at the same time, it made it a bit difficult to catch the glint of the ship in the sky, which, just her luck, had become invisible due to some concealment spell, and could only be caught moving at just the right moment against the sun. But because of its concealment, it seemed to move at a casual pace, and she at least caught the direction it was moving in. At least… if it kept its path straight.
Though she kept herself stoic and calm, even though she was the only one wandering the woods, her mind was plagued with doubt. Who she was dealing with, she didn’t know. And what they were going to do with Loki, she knew even less.
But this journey, she was guilty to admit, was quite refreshing. It was wonderfully quiet, the only sounds around her were the wind’s brush against the tree’s leaves, the fast-paced twitters of swallows, the guttural crows of ravens, and her own steps against dry leaves and soft grass. It would almost be a completely relaxing scene if she wasn’t tracking a ship that had kidnapped Loki.
However, the silence was broken when the startling snap of a twig sounded from behind the trees. At first, she thought it could have been an animal; a deer running into the denseness of the forest or a fox feasting on a berry bush. But no. This sounded like a boot against a dry, fallen twig.
She kept her hand on the hilt of her sword, but she didn’t stop walking, as her footsteps ceasing against the forest floor could draw suspicion to whoever was following her. She only slowed her pace to remain vigilant, looking around for whoever was in the woods with her. It was when she glanced to her right she caught a figure disappearing behind a thick trunk.
“Hey!” She darted towards the tree, removing her sword from its scabbard and firmly grasping the hilt. But once she reached the other side of the trunk, there was no sight of anyone. Not even the sound of someone running away. For a moment she figured the silence of the woods was messing with her mind, and was about to resheath her sword. But above her, she heard a branch shake from force. And by the time she looked up, it was too late.
An armored woman with long, dark, braided hair leapt upon her. With a painful impact, Sylvie was pinned to the ground. But she didn’t allow herself to remain that way, as she grabbed hold of the woman’s shoulders and pulled her down with her. Now, she had her pinned underneath her knee, but the woman quickly struck her in the face with a free hand. As Sylvie stumbled back and recovered from the blow, she saw the woman coming at her with a silver sword, which she parried with her own blade.
Their swords clashed as they scuffled in the center of a wall of trees, until the woman had grabbed Sylvie’s wrist, twisted her arm, and held her blade to her neck.
“Where is that ship headed?” she demanded.
“What?” Sylvie said, confused. “You mean the invisible one?”
“Yes, that one!” the woman said. “Where is it headed?”
“Well, don’t ask me,” Sylvie rebuked. “I’m wondering the same thing!”
The blade of the sword was slowly lowered from her neck.
“Are you telling the truth?” the woman asked.
“I would hope so because you were ready to slice my head off.”
The woman lowered her weapon, allowing Sylvie to turn and face her. The woman’s eyes darted towards the forest floor, both confused and embarrassed.
“So, why are you after it then?”
“Whoever’s driving that ship, they took my boyfriend.” This felt strange coming out of Sylvie’s mouth. She cared about Loki, more than she had cared for anyone in a long time. But she had never officially referred to him as her ‘boyfriend.’
“Huh…” the woman scoffed. “They took my friend.”
“What made you think I was on their side?” Sylvie asked.
“Well, first of all, you intended to attack me.” the woman said.
“I discovered I was being stalked by a stranger in the woods, and I was armed!” Sylvie said. “What would you have done?”
The woman chuckled and nodded. “Alright, that’s fair.” she resheathed her sword. “What’s your name then?”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“I put my weapon away, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, that doesn’t automatically mean I can trust you.” Sylvie scorned.
The woman raised her eyebrows. “You’re fun, aren’t you?”
Sylvie sighed, ready to walk away. But the woman continued.
“Well, I guess I’ll go first,” she said. “My name is Brunnhilde, but you can just call me Valkyrie. It sounds cooler, more badass.”
Sylvie hesitated to speak, anxiously crossing her arms. “You’re um… You’re a Valkyrie?”
“Was a Valkyrie. I’m one of the last, actually.”
Sylvie nodded, glancing toward the ground.
“I used to pretend to be a Valkyrie when I was a child. But then I…” She didn’t continue as the next set of words were too hard to explain and too painful to relive. Instead, she drew a deep breath and glanced up at the woman in front of her. She paused a moment before carefully speaking.
“My name is Sylvie.”
“Oh! Cute!” Valkyrie said.
Sylvie furrowed her brows at her. “Cute?!”
“Yeah, it’s a cute name,” Valkyrie said. “ Sylvie . It’s very light sounding.”
“It’s not supposed to be cute !” Sylvie said. “It means ‘strength.’ That’s why I chose it.”
“Hey, no need to get angry,” Valkyrie said. “I never said it was a bad name. What’s wrong with having a cute sounding name? It rolls off the tongue much better than Brunnhilde .”
Sylvie glanced back at the ground. “Yeah, I guess… sorry.”
“So, how are we going to do this?” Valkyrie said. “We’re both after the same ship. So are we going to follow it together, or go our separate ways?”
“I’ve done things by myself for a long time, so I think I’ll be okay,” Sylvie said.
“You sure?” said Valkyrie. “Because I could use some help too.”
Sylvie closed her eyes and sighed. “Well… you do seem… competent in a fight.”
“So do you,” Valkyrie said.
The two of them looked up towards the sky.
“I think we lost it,” Sylvie said.
“Could be,” Valkyrie said. “The good news is it didn’t seem to use the Bïfrost. That means it must be headed further towards the outskirts of Asgard.”
“That could mean a million different places,” Sylvie said.
“Here’s my thought,” Valkyrie said. “If I had the balls to kidnap two princes, I would have taken them to the ruined tower near the mountains.”
Sylvie began to think that maybe it was a good idea to keep Valkyrie around. As far as she could see, she obviously knew her way around Asgard more than Sylvie did. That of course wasn’t her fault, but in a desperate time like this, that was an instinct she needed by her side.
“How far is that?” Sylvie said. “Can we get there on foot?”
“We could,” Valkyrie said. “But it would take a few days.”
“I’m afraid that’s time we can’t afford to lose,” Sylvie said. “Who knows what will happen by then?”
“That’s why I brought a ride,” Valkyrie said. “Have you ever ridden a horse before?”
“I’ve driven lots of things,” Sylvie said. “But a horse is a first.”
“Okay, then quick warning,” Valkyrie said. “Riding an ordinary horse is one thing, but winged ones take a bit more getting used to.”
“A winged horse!”
Valkyrie smiled and shrugged. “I told you, I was a Valkyrie.”
A shadow of an impressed smile formed on Sylvie’s face. But she couldn’t get too giddy, as she still didn’t know how well she could trust this woman. Beyond that, she had to remain focused, because Loki’s welfare, or worse his life, was at stake.