theirlithium | (no subject)

[ Thor's hands gripping in the soft fabric of his brother's blazer as he ran, lungs pumping hard and legs sore from the weeks of running, fighting, climbing and walking through the harsh elements and brush of the environment. Still, with the fires blazing at their backs, moving ever closer, roaring as they engulf trees and topple them, he runs.

A log falls in front of the two, blocking the path and Thor jumps at the last second to clear it rather than trip, releasing Loki's jacket in the process when he attempts to catch his balance on the other side. Peering over his shoulder, his eyes dart to find Loki behind him. The two might have been at either ends of war in their world before here, but regardless of what Loki would be willing or unwilling to do here in the arena, Thor would be damned if he would let foreign abductors take his brother for the sake of entertainment. ]

Loki?! [ His head whips around for a moment, halting in the smoke thick forest when he doesn't stop him immediately, before a fit of coughing takes him. He rasps a yell through it. ] Loki, we can't pause here - the fire comes this way! Brother!

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Fire. [ He snorts, but he doesn't seem keen to stop moving either-- simply note the irony of the situation. Their myths had wrote, so long ago, that Loki had brought fire to the people, at least so it was said, though this was a thing attributed to a dozen or so gods and titans-- Loki just found it worthy of note that both he and Thor were running from such a futile thing. At any other time he could have froze it in place, smothered it, Thor himself able to bring about rain or winds to quell a blaze. Neither are offered such salvation, and instead they run. ]

Keep moving, Thor, you're slow. [ As it stood neither of them were particularly slow, but far more than the usual. Hunger was setting in-- so far from Idunn's apples and the things that provided true substance to the Gods they had had to hunt, scavenge-- do a dozen of things he had not done since they were children. ] I have always been faster. [ Another jibe, another moment to keep him moving because he can see the difference in his gait, even if there is no admittance to it. For now it was better to have the assistance of him than of none; though Loki promised no loyalties and Thor had not asked for them-- perhaps knowing doing so would only encourage Loki to bring about trouble. In the end it did not matter as his first concern was the fire, the burn of his lungs and the heat lapping behind them. A sharp turn is needed but he complies easily. ]

It seems to be bordering us on one side. [ He observed, with the direct sense of being herded even if that seemed illogical. Last he had been to Midgard the humans had no control over fire, all the same the sensation was there. ]

[ The moment Loki's voice comes to him, Thor's running again, heavy feet falling against the grass and dirt, spraying up mud in places that nearly cause him to slip. Falling now isn't an option, and he's fairly certain Loki wouldn't be waiting for him if he did. He wouldn't want him to regardless. While Thor would brave whatever hideousness the arena has to offer them, he knows the alliance between then is weak and circumstantial. Loki would consider it valid until it stopped being useful, and running back for a fallen brother is not on that list of what is useful. ]

Now is no time for jest, brother. [ He pants, coming up to his side just as another of the fireballs shot that had started the fire came sailing towards them. ] Take cover!

[ Grabbing his arm, he tugs the both of them forward and behind a tree, before back up an instant after the flaming sphere had passed and crashed behind them. He considers what's said, mind racing, as his eyes dart toward the flames licking at the trees to their side - Loki's right. It's along one side, pushing them ... ] We're being herded.

You think I jest? I have-- [ Which is as far as words slip past his lips before he's jerked to the side and away from the fire that laps so dangerously close to them. He hates running from something so simple, something that he once had stood in and felt no fear. He does not take time to dwell again because he does not expect Thor to save him once more from his own distractions-- as irritable as he is about being saved at all. ]

Then we must move along lest they continue this childish barrage. [ The emphasis was less for Thor and more for those he had been told would watch them. Teeth grit for a moment he peers around the edge of the tree before giving the faintest warning yank to his brother-- waiting till the gap seemed just right he took back to quick footed steps in an attempt to follow the lead of the blaze and get them from it. Exhaustion was no parting friend, staying with him especially while trying to scurry through such tasking terrain. ]

Sometimes the path of least resistance is best.

What part of this onslaught seem to you childish? [ Shouted over the flames. It's not the first time they've had to run from almost certain death - and there is almost a fondness in the memory of the attack on Jotunheim so long ago, as that was the last his brother was simply his brother, with nothing more attached or missing. But they have never done so powerless, never so weak and frail over something so simple as fire. One of the mortals' most base of weapons. ]

Your perception is superior to mine. [ He speaks through a huff as he runs along side him, rasped and aching in his protesting throat. ] Lead, brother, and I will follow.

Edited 2012-07-02 06:41 (UTC)

The fact that they cannot entertain themselves for a moment and force us to do it for them, like children. [ Is the answer he gives while ducking another bit of fire; his lungs already beginning to ache. He had hoped they would come across a winter or a field of cold which would give him an advantage naturally, but not fire, not this. Still he leads them as asked, over trees through holes, ducking about trees and fire as if the things were living and cloying, attempting to scratch or burn. He follows the path made-- as much as he hates it, as it is not in line with the chaos he favors at all-- till they break the line between fire and the rest of the field.

He curls his fist around Thor's shoulder to stop him once they've made perhaps thirty feet of distance and tries to still him completely, ] Silence. [ It's a snap as he lowers his weight a bit, moving less like the regal man and more like the predator he could be. ] They would not move us this way if it was not toward conflict. [ He elaborates as he pushes a step closer to Thor once more. ]

Keep an eye out, and try not to be your usual loud self.