The Art of the Tattoo- Marvel Soulmate story

Chapter 27

ELIZABETH WAS SMILING BRIGHTLY AS THE three of them rode out to Hogun's secret hideout. She was wearing shorts and the knee high boots. She was wearing a simple camisole top and the flannel shirt on top of that. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and then twisted into a loose bun.

Hogun was leading, with her and Loki flanking him on either side while the three of them talked to each other in easy chatter. Hogun was wearing his normal Asgard attire of blue clothing and silver amor. He had his sword tucked into his belt and a bow on his back.

Loki did not have any visible weapons on him, and he was wearing the very familiar green and black and gold robes that she had come to associate him with.

She had Loki's knives in her boots, Loki's sword at her hip, and a bow that Hogun had gifted her across her back. It was apparently necessary to have weapons on her as they traveled far out to the country, as there were still dangerous creatures that roamed the forests. And sometimes, dangerous people.

They met no dangers on their trip however and soon came to a beautiful lake. It was large, stretching further than Elizabeth could actually see. Like Hogun had explained, there were several people around. There was a town nearby apparently, though it was far from the castle and main city.

They dismounted the horses, leaving them with the stableman and then decided to make a loop around the lake before Hogun brought them to his secret spot.

Elizabeth walked between the two Asgardians, of both which neither were actually Asgardian. She could feel a sort of chemical bond forming between the three of them, and she wondered what it was exactly.

After they made a circuit around the lake, Hogun led them to a part of the lake that they'd already been to before. It was free of people and quiet. There were large waterfalls here and Hogun showed them a difficult path across the rocks before they were on a small ledge and then disappeared through one of the waterfalls.

Elizabeth hesitated and Loki rubbed her shoulder encouragingly and she leapt through the waterfall. Hogun caught her on the other side. She shivered just slightly, but found that her clothes and body were completely dry.

Loki stepped through next, a green misty aurora surrounding his body and he too was dry, leaving Hogun to be the only one who had gotten slightly damp.

"This way." Hogun said brightly. Elizabeth slipped her hand into his once more and the three of them walked.

It didn't take long before the dark cave turned light again. The light came in through my small spots in the ceiling that streamed bright sunlight down into the cave. On the cave walls were torch brackets with unlit torches, though Hogun now let go of her hand and went to light them.

The rest of the cave was sparse, though home like in a way. There were cushions and blankets, mostly up against the wall and stacks of books. There was also several weapons in here, caches of food, and even a small space where Hogun clearly practiced archery.

"This is impressive." Loki admitted, looking around. "Were you going for a bunker sort of theme?"

"When Ragnarök failed, I realized that there needed to be somewhere to keep people safe." Hogun said. "Heimdall managed to do it for a short amount of time, but still. Not a soul knows about its location. Except the two of you." Hogun replied.

Elizabeth leaned over and kissed Hogun on the cheek. "Well I love it."

There were a thousand questions bubbling on her lips. The most prominent was: Why was Loki with them?

But she didn't ask, feeling that it would be rude. There were a thousand reasons of why Loki might have come with them. After all, he and Hogun were friends now. And had been friends for a while. Although it then stemmed the question about why he'd never shown Volstagg or Fandral this spot.