When the Wolf Howls - Chapter Four
"I Have Always Found That Plans Are Useless, But Planning is Indespensible."
𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 -> James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Nonbinary Character(s). Secondary Pairings; James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton/Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 -> The small gang gets closer to their goal, but an unexpected interaction pauses their progress.
𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 -> (M) Snowstorm, risk, unknown (general adventure type stuff), unknown assailant.
𝐀/𝐍 -> Check it out below, or on AO3 here!
- ‘Free Space’ – @buckybarnesbingo (B049);
- ‘If You Believe’ – @fandom-free-bingo (Frosty Edition);
- ‘Annoying Sibling’ – Fandom-Free Bingo (Gingerbread Edition);
- ‘“Don’t Look at Me, This Wasn’t My Idea”’ – @fourormore Bingo (2024);
- ‘Fighting Back or Fighting Back… Unsuccessfully’ – @julybreakbingo (Flash);
- ‘Caught in an Explosion or Caught in a Storm’ – July Break Bingo (6x6).
We proceeded without too much difficulty, though I watched Sleipnir intently. While my own senses were sharp, the horse had a mystical sense for danger and an understanding one wouldn’t have expected, and I found myself growing quite fond of the creature. Intermittently, however, I would be reminded of his lineage, and had to swallow the urge to pull my partner from his back. The steed would eye me, as if sensing my doubt, and the anthropomorphising part of my brain couldn’t help but think he looked almost apologetic, informing me that he was no happier about his lineage than I.
I wondered if he had any sense of who his father – mother? – was. I wondered if he was aware that he was dead. I wondered if he’d care either way, if he did understand the concept.
I wondered if he felt the same darkness in his heart, and fought every day to be better than those that came before. Or maybe he tried, but secretly thought he could never outrun that darkness.
I blinked, shifting my eyes away from his.
I think I’m overthinking this a little too much.
My mind turned instead to the other child of Loki that dwelled in my thoughts. If Sleipnir was the good that had come from the trickster god, then Fenris was surely considered to be the evil – just as dark and torturous as his father, but with far more capacity for ending the world than the son of Odin had ever shown. Loki himself had proven largely content with extracting a more personal apocalyptic pain – good for the world, admittedly, though not so much so for my own bubble of it.
I turned my eyes to my partner, chewing worriedly on my lip. I’d thought Loki was the last of his kind we would ever have to face – and yet here I was. He and his bloodline seemed determined to haunt me to my last.
We passed into the mountains without issue, the peaks less intimidating than those surrounding Asgard. Nevertheless, the shadows cast over us made me shiver, fingers clenching around the reins. Bug glanced back at me with concern, and I forced a tight-lipped smile, my nod letting them know I was okay.
But I couldn’t help the way my eyes skimmed every crag and recess, half-expecting to see the mangled body of the Spiders that had haunted my dreams after my frantic search.
We could see the border in the distance when Thor stiffened, raising his hand to still us once more. His head was cocked, looking off to his left, but I was focused on the land before us.
The divide between Nornheim and Varinheim was clear – from long views of soft meadows and rough rock to the all-encompassing, blinding white of snow and ice, glimpsed in short bursts between mist so thick it looked as though one could choke. Instinctively, I coughed, clearing more clinging debris from ash-coated oesophagus, and Thor shot me a look of fury, eyes narrowed. With a jolt, I recalled the warnings he’d given as he explained the map to us.
‘The Domain of the Dark Man. Not somewhere you want to go.’
He’d seem nervous at the thought, eager to avoid whatever creature haunted this corner of a distant realm – except now neither realm nor creature were quite so distant, and his nerves were returning. With an apologetic wince, I ducked my head, fighting the immediate need to cough that arose as he slowly guided us forward once more.
I was almost relieved when the sound of horseshoes on rock became the softer thump of metal on snow, though each crack and growl and roar and howl of the ice had my heart stuttering.
And then the almighty cold wreathed itself around me and I gasped at the pain of it, air coming like knives in my lungs. Before me, Mars curled in on themselves, trembling violently. Even the great god leading our party ducked his head and hissed audibly, the wind whipping his hair around his face.
“Thor!” I called, voice hoarse from the dry, frigid air. He looked back – with some difficulty, owing to the cape flapping into his vision – and I gestured. “We can’t see a thing. We need to wait out this storm!”
He nodded once, glancing around himself, and then beckoned Sleipnir closer, leaning down to mutter indecipherably into the horse’s ear. Slip leant out a soft nicker, the sound carrying on the wind, and broke into a brisk trot, leading our eclectic party along a path only he could perceive between towering blocks of ice and wind-whipped chasms.
It wasn’t long, however, until we were led into the shelter of a colossal slab of rock, the ground around us protected from the ever-falling snow. A cavern yawned ahead of us, a dark hole in the ragged surface, and I hesitated as the horse didn’t slow.
“We’re… Going in there?” I clarified quietly, the shelter allowing for a lower tone, the rock echoing my own voice back at me.
“I would trust Sleipnir with my life – and, more importantly, that of the pair of you,” Thor added, glancing back at us. With a stiff nod, I loosened my grip on the reins, giving Glaðr her head and letting her follow Sleipnir into the darkness.
