I do wander everywhere/Swifter than the Moon's sphere ((for handsofwinter))

[coldsong]

Well, that was damned exhausting.

Not that the affair was unsuccessful, at least from Loki's perspective. Some of the conversations were friendly, very few were openly hostile, and in the end he not only got a solid answer, but the answer he hoped for. Some might accuse him of manipulating the conversations--and maybe he did, a little bit--but he was genuinely braced for a worse outcome. Loki never expected the Nexus to openly declare war on the Eliksni, but he wouldn't have been shocked if no agreement had been reached and he'd had to go back to Pelsor and lie to save Ghost.

He also rather expected, as the messenger, to be shot at more.

All in all, he's glad it's over, and he'd extricate himself from the position he's in, except now he needs, really needs to be in the middle of this and monitor the potential for hostilities. Because the last children of Asgard are now in the Nexus, and if something happens to them, he will have to burn down the universe himself.

He approaches the Eliksni camp invisible until he reaches the edge, at which point he unveils himself to the nearest guard and politely requests to see the Baroness. As promised, he is conducted to her with no threat of violence, although he fancies he is once again getting a lot of funny looks. (The Guardians thought he was an Awoken, did they not? He has no idea what that means, but if it's something they could mistake him for, perhaps the Fallen might, as well. He'll ask someone, sooner or later.)

He is alert once more when he enters the throne room, less afraid of attack, but half hoping to see Ghost in his miniature prison, somewhere. Either way, he gives Pelsor a graceful bow. "It was a strange conversation," he tells her, "but the short version is no one especially wants to fight any longer, everyone wants Blaze back, and they don't trust you but they do accept your terms. Also, I have gifts for you."

Comments

[coldsong]

Close to safety is exactly where Loki would expect something bad to happen. That's just the way the universe works. Still, even he was not expecting the sudden unfurling of claws from the shadows, the abrupt appearance of a creature he neither saw nor sensed. His reaction is swift; a flick of his arms to the sides and suddenly there is a bright little blade in either hand. That, coupled with the fact that he's still an oversized and looming figure may give the attacker pause, but if not, he is not afraid to meet its attack with pointy objects.

And just in case the body posture and knives aren't enough, he utters an eerie sound, a rattling, sibilant hiss, like sleet pouring down a mountainside.

"What is that?" he asks Ghost in the momentary lull, under the assumption that if it's that focused on the robot he ought to recognize its species.

[rekindledtitan]

"I don't know," comes the whisper behind his ear. "We've never seen it before." Ghost is peeping out at the thing, wary but not so intimidated as to hide completely. He's seen worse things, even if usually he has his own protector to fight for him. This creature, wrong and unsettling as it is, doesn't even come up to Loki's chest.

It doesn't carry any powerful dark energy, from what Ghost can tell: no wonder he didn't see it coming. Loki might be able to further discern that such life force as it has is entwined and blended with the remnant of the tree. It's swaying in place unsteadily, not-face turned toward Loki, before it retracts jerkily back toward the hulk of the dead tree behind it. It's not tangling with this much larger prey. As it retreats it wraps itself back around and into the opposite side of the decaying trunk, blending in seamlessly as if hoping this will be enough defense.

"There was nothing wrong with that tree last time..."

[coldsong]

"And yet it chose you as prey?" Loki isn't sure whether Ghost is capable of lying or not, but he doubts he has much reason to, under these circumstances.

He moves a couple steps from the tree, keeping between it and Ghost. His blades are still out, but if the creature chose to retreat so easily, it probably isn't a danger to them. Not unless there are a great many more like it around. "It's treebound," he says softly after a moment. "Like a blighted dryad."

And now he sounds a little sad about that, although the question is whether the creature is an element of rot that killed the tree, or an element of the tree that is struggling to exist in spite of rot.

"Can you speak?" He asks, lowering his voice to something as close to gentle as he can get it. "I will not harm you if you speak to me."

He's probably not going to harm it anyway, honestly, but some incentive never hurt anyone.

To Ghost, he adds, "Last time what? Last time you passed it, or is this a tree with some significant history?"

[rekindledtitan]

"I'm a lot smaller than you." Ghost doesn't sound as if he finds it strange. In his experience, plenty of things see Ghosts as potential prey, whether or not they know what one is.

He waits with Loki, equally curious to see if there's a reply. The blight creature doesn't answer, at least not directly. After a moment there's a sound like a rough exhale, and a noxious stench blooms outward from the tree. It's the nauseating stink of musty decay and sickly rot, potent and fearful.

"We pass this way on patrol. This area's usually stable enough to make a good reference point."

[coldsong]

"Mmm. Fair point. With a delicious crunchy outer shell." Loki. Loki, don't.

The smell emerging is as good as a verbal response as far as Loki's concerned. He feels fortunate that Jotun are so poison-resistant. "That is very much a refusal to converse, whether it's capable or not," he says, backing up and nudging Ghost along with him. Can you get any readings on that tree? I can come back later, but I don't have your capability to scan and analyze."

And if there are more of these, or if this one is a blight that will spread, it could be important later.

"I haven't seen the like of that creature before. If it's come in since the last time you were here...well, that could be something that occurred during the Winter, or just a coincidence."

[rekindledtitan]

He can't see the little close-pointed Look Ghost gives him, but no doubt he can imagine it very well.

"I need to get closer for that." Which he's not willing to do unprotected, while his Guardian is down. If Loki's willing to give him cover, the little bot will happily zip in and run a scan. "But unless it's urgent, I can bring Blaze back..."

[coldsong]

He can imagine it, and he knows he deserves it, and if Ghost thinks that kind of thing doesn't delight him, he doesn't know Loki well yet.

He hesitates a moment, because he's not afraid of the creature. It retreated rather than challenge him, and it's clearly scared of him. But if there are more, or if they have it so agitated it blights the area around it to scare them off, that may be a counterproductive use of their time.

Besides, Ghost needs to get back to Blaze sooner rather than later. "Do that." He says. "It's better we get back to safety soon. If I don't bring you home, I believe there will be at least three or four people who'll be coming after me with extreme prejudice. Let's go."

Maybe he'll regret this later, maybe not. He'll remember the spot himself, though, and keep an eye on it.

[rekindledtitan]

Ghost gives an eager little chirp of acknowledgment, all too ready to slip around Loki and keep going. He's going to be a bit more cautious from here, however, as they make it out of the last stretch of trees and pass through some of the meadows that have burst into life now the snows are gone. Despite his escort, he flits from one side of the path to the other, glancing at everything along the way. It might be unrestrained curiosity, or the pleasure of being released from his tiny prison, but it does make it look like he's dancing on the end of his imagined tether, eager to go and reunite with his partner.

His patience holds out until they reach the edge of the buildings, at least. They're relatively close to Steve's home when Ghost halts. Looks around.

"I know the way...!" And he's off, heedless of making it easy for Loki to keep up, zipping past the small landmarks on the way as he homes in on the house.

[coldsong]

Safety or not, Loki swears to himself as Ghost zips on ahead without him. In this oversized form, especially, he's hard-pressed to keep up at a run. His agility doesn't suffer in Jotun form, but the streets are narrower and things are lower down by comparison, and he doesn't want to run into things. He also doesn't want to terrify some poor random Nexusgoer by barreling past them like a big blue bus on stilts. Instead, he takes a couple seconds to shift, dwindle, and ride the wind behind Ghost.

He lands again after his arrival at the house, and he'll only linger for a moment. Just long enough to see him enter safely.

After that, he's done his part. It's all on the rest of them from there.