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Thor stumbled over another root and braced himself against a nearby tree to keep from falling. The sun was still beating down on his neck and blinded him when he turned around towards his little brother.
Loki was a few metres behind, black hair clinging to his sweaty forehead, looking too smal in his green wardrobe.
They were alone in the woods surrounding Asgard's golden city. There were lost in the woods surrounding Asgard.
The trees were too tall to see even the palace from the ground.
"Thor, at least let me try climbing to see if I can spot the palace!", Loki insisted again. Thor shook his head. He'd already tried that a good hour ago. His back still hurt from where he had landed in the cushions of the leaves and soft earth.
"Let me try, Thor, please!", Loki stomped his foot down hard to demand his big brother's attention.
Thor clenched his jaw, trying to work his brain for any other solution to their problem. There wasn't one.
"Fine," he grumbled and Loki gave a satisfied grin. His head whipped around, searching for the best climbable tree while Thor crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Loki nodded absentmindedly and walked right past Thor towards a thick tree with good, low hanging branches.
He patted against the bark before planting his feet solidly and reaching up, climbing slowly but steadily higher.
Loki breathed in through his nose and slowly out through his mouth. Sweat was running down his face and down his neck under his tunics. His hands were already being rubbed raw and his muscles were burning from exertion.
Training with a sword and daggers worked well to train the body for prolonged action but climbing a tree was still different. Especially after already wandering around the woods for hours before.
He just wanted to go home.
A bird chirped nearby but Loki kept his gaze trained upwards.
Do not look down, he kept repeating to himself. It wasn't that he was scared of heights exactly, he just didn't like being suspended mid-air without any kind of safety for a longer-than-necessary amount of time.
Something swished through his vision. Too close, way too close. And Loki let go, flinching back on instinct and instinct alone.
Distantly, he heard Thor yell something.
Everything was a blur of colours, sounds and wind until Loki hit the floor.
"Are you sure you do not want to take someone with you? It is dangerous to go alone into the woods."
"Not to worry, father! We got us!"
"If you say so."
"And no Heimdall-watching-us-action! We will do this alone! We are not small children anymore!"
"If you are not back by nightfall, I will send him to look for you, not a minute earlier. I love you my sons, take care of each other."
"Loki!"
Loki's head was splitting apart. At least it felt like it.
"Loki!"
"Stop," he whispered, trying to turn away from the sound. Where was he? He was lying on his back, that he knew. It was somewhat soft but he hurt all over. A messed up sparring match with Thor? No... it didn't come to him.
"Loki, can you hear me?", there was too much urgency in Thor's voice.
"Yes, you buffoon, I can hear you very well," Loki grit through his teeth. He didn't like insulting Thor but he was so loud.
There was a sigh of relief from somewhere around him.
"Can you open your eyes?"
What a ridiculous question. As if Loki lacked the ability to control his own body just because... what exactly happened again?
When he did crack his eyes open just a tad, the light was blinding, stabbing needles into his eyes and through them right into his brain.
He slammed his eyes back shut.
"Too bright," he moaned, turning his head sideways. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see his mother. He wanted her to make him stop hurting.
"Come on, little brother. I need you to open your eyes and talk to me," Thor insisted and a warm hand settled against Loki's always cold face.
Loki drew in a large breath and steeled himself for the pain before slowly forcing his eyes to open.
"There you are," Thor sighed. He was nothing but a darker blob against a too bright backdrop.
"Where're we?", Loki asked, stunned at the way his words slurred together without his permission.
"The woods, do you not remember?", Thor asked and Loki could hear the frown.
He did remember. Sort of. He remembered a promised adventure, he remembered excitement and he remembered fear when Thor had declared that he had no idea where they were anymore. He remembered searching for landmarks and only finding ever the same trees in every direction.
"We're lost," Loki mumbled and the Thor-shaped blob nodded.
"We need to get home," Loki decided blearily and tried to push himself into a sitting position.
"Whoah whoah! Easy now, brother," Thor immediately reacted and placed one hand on Loki's chest, the other bracing against his back.
It hurt distantly. Moving. Like something was demanding his attention but was stopped by the layer of fog that clouded Loki's mind still.
If it didn't hurt immediately then it wasn't important immediately.
The sun was still in the sky, lowering steadily but too slow.
They needed to hold on until nightfall.
"Need to keep moving," Loki said.
"I do not think you should do that," Thor countered. It was then that Loki felt the way his hair stuck to the back of his head. The way something warmer than water and thicker than sweat beaded down his neck.
He gingerly lifted a hand to the aching spot and felt the slick wetness of blood.
His fingers were painted a deep red when he brought them in front of his face.
"Maybe not," he mumbled distantly, staring at the blood running down his fingers to the palm of his hand.
"Everything will be alright," Thor assured immediately and pushed down Loki's bloodied hand so that he wouldn't look at it anymore.
Loki nodded though his thoughts were somewhere else.
Maybe their father had been right. Maybe they shouldn't have left alone. Why had Thor insisted on not being watched by Heimdall until nightfall?
This was all a big, stupid mess. He should have never agreed to this in the first place. He should have stayed home curled up in his bed with a book. Thor was the one with the need to prove himself on idiotic adventures, not Loki. Not him, never him. Just this once.
He'd never do this again. He'd never go with Thor on a stupid adventure again. He wanted to go home. His head hurt and he was bleeding and breathing hurt too.
"I wanna go home," Loki cried out and sniffled.
"You will be fine, we just need to hold on a few hours," Thor tried to comfort him and rubbed Loki's back slowly.
His head was already hurting enough and the tears stinging in Loki's eyes did so not help with the pain at all.
"Thor, I wanna go home," he repeated, voice giving a tiny crack midway.
"I know, Loki, I know," Thor's voice wasn't its normal booming self either.
"My princes"
Loki's and Thor's heads whipped around, the former immediately wincing in pain at the motion.
Heimdall stood a few metres behind them, hands rested on his holy sword.
"Heimdall!", Thor and Loki cheered in unison. The sound made Loki cradle his aching head in his hands with a whimper.
"My princes, you father worried about you, so he sent me to look for you. Are you ready to go home?", Heimdall stated, as if it was even a question.
"Yes," Thor answered straight away, "Please, Heimdall!"
Loki blinked sluggishly and gave tiny nod.
"Alright"
Thor walked behind Loki and Heimdall the whole time. The guardian was carrying his little brother in his arms with Thor's small cape around his body to keep him warm.
The first few steps, Loki had whimpered in pain until he had fallen silent. Thor didn't know if he was asleep or had lost consciousness. But if Heimdall was still walking so slowly, then he had to be fine.
They would be fine.
Though Thor wasn't sure if he were ever to take Loki into the woods ever again.