Following Our Own Script

Chapter Three

"Grab it?" Loki rushed to Heimdall's side, the two desperately clinging onto the sail. "We can't get this back up."

It was a sheer miracle the whole mast hadn't uprooted yet. The lower half remained, their tether still attached. But Like was right; the rest was a lost cause. Even with his foresight, they couldn't have done anything against the lightning.

"We're losing the boat!" Heimdall howled over the wind. Giving up on the sail, he reached for his sword. One swift slash later and the tether to the mast dropped. Loki opened his mouth to question as Heimdall grabbed him by the shoulder, shoving him across the boat. Where the boy once stood, a massive wave clawed into the boat, dragging anything in its path back into the sea.

Heimdall's grip didn't loosen. "The deer thing. Now or never."

Loki shouted a spell, a pale blue deer shimming out of his tattoos. The stag struggled to keep its footing in the boat but was doing a hell of a lot better than the two of them. Loki mounted the beast first, Heimdall a shadow behind him.
Heimdall's eyes widened as he glimpsed their fate. "Now. Now dammit!"

The stag jumped off the boat as lightning blasted the remainder of the mast. The hole it left behind swallowed the remainder of the ship.

The stag's speed left it hop from one wave to the next, weaving its head through the rain. Loki laughed in surprise, but Heimdall wasn't as optimistic. The agility keeping them on top of the water wouldn't last more than a minute.

"Can this thing become a Kelpie?"

"You mean the thing the Norns have?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Great."
The deer began to falter. The sea slashed against its hoovers, slicing its ankles.

"It wasn't because I was bored," Heimdall shouted.

"What?"

"I didn't mention the mutt because I was bored. I brought it up because I despise you, you talentless, mindless, half-baked excuse of a living being who deserves to only feel like shit."

In the last words of his insult, the stag had hit its limit. It let out a cry before evaporating back into Loki.

They didn't fall into the ocean. The waves lifted, swallowing them as conjured creature vanished.

Despite already being soaked, nothing could have prepared him for the freezing temperature of the waters. Heimdall had never been to Helheim without the All-Father's magic. If it had been anything like this, then he was forever grateful for his father's protection.

Submerged, up became down. Heimdall's senses were stomped out by the scream of rushing water, the sting of sea assaulting his nose. The God considered himself a strong swimmer, but being completely disoriented to which way the surface was gave him quite the setback.

His head broke through the surface, gasping for air. Driftwood. He needed to find driftwood. Grab hold of anything that would float. He turned, splashing frantically in the water. Breath, he reminded himself.

Just as he started taking in his surroundings, his body was pulled back into the water. Something heavy had his midsection. The tether.

Heimdall made the mistake of opening his eyes while submerged. He squeezed them shut, shouting bubbles from the pain. They ripple up his face. He was sinking.

Heimdall grabbed the rope, trying to pull it towards him, but it was unmoving. Loki had to have been stuck to something. Debris. Maybe caught up in the sail itself. He reached for his sword to cut the tie and stopped.