A Burden of Thoughts

Chapter 2

Thor was the first to be awoken by a sudden strange feeling lingering in the air. He felt something off about the location they had landed, pretty much about the forest.

He looked over at Loki, who was still in a peaceful sleep despite the circumstances. Thor didn't wish to disturb him, so he stood up wearily, rubbing his tired eyes as he glanced around the barely visible forest.

It was extremely early, so early that it was still pitch black, the sun hasn't even shown a hint that it was rising.

He supposed he wouldn't go far, he just needed to check out the weird feeling he was having...

Thor spun around at the sound of a twig snapping somewhere nearby. He picked up his hammer and looked toward the direction the sound was emitted from. He then heard the same sound, this time in a different direction. It caused him to turn toward it in caution, he couldn't afford to think it was just some silly prank his brother had put together before falling asleep.

He was breathing heavily now, clearly stressed. The hallucination made his mind wander off. It made him doubt himself more often, though he tried not to show it.

Thor used his hammer to throw himself into the air when he noticed a figure fly toward where he was just standing. He landed after flying a few feet away, or he thought he only flew a few feet. The tree where his brother and he once slept wasn't visible, and he saw the figure leaning against a tree.

Thunder boomed above them as he summoned lightning that struck just where the figure was standing. When it vanished, the figure was still there.

Thor was a bit surprised at most. It was particularly impossible for the figure to have not moved at all.

He blinked, but when he did, the figure had disappeared when he focused again. "Huh?"

Thor sighed, deciding to return to his brother, who, if he was up, would probably be worried. Though there was 1 problem; he didn't know where Loki even was.

He flew back up in the air, but even then, he didn't see anything familiar, which was understandable because everything looks the same.

Landing back on the firm terrain, he just decided to walk in some random direction.

The trees looked the same, they almost all had vines on them, and he was pretty sure there was no special mark or anything to let him know he was walking in the correct direction.

Though, he did feel a sudden wave of pain wash through his body. He yelled in pain as he turned his head to see the same cloaked figure stab a sword through his back. It went deep, but not all the way through his body luckily.

He summoned his hammer, and with the strength he had left, he turned and swung, watching as the figure went flying into a tree.

Thor chuckled slightly before he himself fell to the ground as well.

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Loki woke up with a yawn, looking up toward the leaves to see the morning sun shine through the tiny cracks between them.

He turned to wake up Thor, only to find he wasn't where he was, neither was he in the area.

Loki stood up, swiftly glancing around the area to ensure his brother wasn't there before walking into the forest where he had heard thunder late in the night hours prior. God, he hoped Thor hadn't gotten himself into trouble...

As he walked, everything looked the same. He could understand Thor getting lost. It's not like thunder and lightning or his hammer would help in that situation. Before he had fallen asleep, he had taken note of some weird figure standing far away, but close enough so that Loki could take notice of him, but apparently Thor may have not noticed.

The hallucination could have driven him to go walking on his own, in the dark. He probably got lost, Loki definitely could see his brother doing that.

He chuckled to himself as these thoughts ran through his head, it was a bit funny to him to think that.

Though, he instantly stopped in his tracks, his slight smile turning into a frown when he heard groaning from somewhere nearby. It sounded awfully familiar...

He spun turned it, briskly walking through the damp grass until he froze, his eyes widening.

There was his brother, laying on the ground with his back covered in blood.

Loki stood there, frozen, most likely completely surprised.

He seemed to stand there for ages before gathering the strength to rush to Thor's aid.

Thor coughed, his hammer Mjölnir surprisingly far from him.

Loki hadn't noticed the figure watching them.

He knelt down next to his injured brother, examining the wound. It was deep, but it didn't go fully through luckily.

Thor groaned, rolling onto his back only to flip back onto his side, probably from the menacing pain.

Loki placed his hand on his brother's side. "Easy, brother."

Loki placed his hand underneath his brother's neck, and one on his back, easy to avoid the sensitive area.

Thor flipped himself over with the help of his younger brother, turning his head to look at him.

"Loki..your actually here, right?" Thor asked, causing Loki to chuckle slightly.

"Of course I'm here, idiot," Loki replied affectionately.

Thor, despite his current state, snorted.

Loki rolled his eyes as he placed his older brother back on his side, placing his hand on Thor's back and muttering a few inaudible words before the wound began to seal up.

"There, your welcome," Loki said, helping his brother into a sitting position.

Loki saw Thor roll his eyes, but decided to ignore the fact he did that. 

"Now, explanation. What happened?" Loki inquired.

Thor spotted the figure, turning and pointing to it, his eyes wide.

Loki did the same, following his brother's gaze until it landed upon a dark shadow creeping towards them in a crouch.

"What is THAT?" Loki asked, his eyes wide as well. 

Thor turned his head and both brothers made eye contact. "That thing attacked me..or whatever or whoever it is."

"...LOKI!" Thor suddenly yelled as Loki turned his attention to the shadow, who had lunged toward him with a dagger quite like his.

Before the young brother had time to react, he felt pain shoot through his chest, and his brother yell out his name.

The figure stalked back into the shadows.