• Vanessa sat by the rivers edge with her clothes held close to her chest, while the other girls bathed or messed around in the river she just sat there, until one of the girls came out from the river, "your sour mood is ruining the fun", she says, placing her hands on her hips, "and, your point is?", Vanessa says as she turns her head from the girl who cared not that she was naked, "would you please put some clothes on... uhg...", the girl grins before reaching down and grabbing Vanessa's arms, "ah! What are you doing?!", the girl rolled her eyes, "why are you so shy, we are of the same sex, are we not?", she pulls her along, "yeah, but back on Earth public nudity is a crime~!", before she knew it she was in the river, the rush of cold water embraced her body in an instant, until she let her head come above water, "my names Syn", she responds, "uh... my names Vanessa", she responds back.

    "The boys are coming~!", a girl blurts out, soon the remaining girls near the rivers edge hop into the river, Vanessa scans the area until she spots four of them coming from the forest, "what a fine day to take a dip", one the boys say, the girls just giggle as he makes his way over that is until a red X cut the side of his face causing the boy to stumble back in shock, "that was a warning, if you know whats good for you you'll step off", Vanessa tells all four of them. He placed his hand on the side of his cheek once blood oozed from the cut, "you damn wench!", his face scrunched up as rage took over, "you're going to pay for--?!!", the cold metal blade of Baldr's sword placed itself near his neck, "I'd heed her warning Eric", then came Alif, "that would be the smart choice, right Eric?", he said before smiling. Eric's gaze met Vanessa's as he spoke, "I'll get you three back for this!", although he said the three of them she could tell that it was directed solely at her. Eric pushes the blade from his neck before retreating along with his gang of three, "it hasn't been well over a week and yet you've already made enemies", Alif says with a grin, "like we need them", Baldr says while heading back into the woods, Vanessa frowns, "I didn't need your help!"

    - - - - -

    Syn waved good-bye as she ventured off to her own group and so did she. Alif turned around just in time to see Vanessa coming, "ah, you've made it just in time, lady Sif's about to make an announcement", an announcement, Vanessa took a deep breath, she just hoped that this time it wasn't another one of Sifs 'training exercises', "today each group will head into Jotunheim", it was already silent from the start but it got even quieter, "your goal is to retrieve five golden rings", she crossed her arms, "any questions?", Vanessa sighed seeing as no one had any, "how big are the rings, and where the hell is Jotunheim?", everyone looked at Vanessa, "one inch", Sif grins, "and to your second question... you'll just have to find out", Alif placed a hand on her shoulder, "Jotunheim's, how you say... very cold", Baldr turns his head away from the two, "not only that but Frost Giants, Storm Giants, and Mountain Giants live there", Alif smiles, "don't mind him, he's just excited! It's been well over two years since we traveled there", Vanessa looks over at Baldr a small smile forming, "now, shall we get going? We don't want to get left behind", she and Baldr nod their heads and head forward.

    "And what do we have here?", Heimdall stood tall facing... space, "I still can't comprehend 'how' we're all breathing right now", Vanessa says, a bit freaked out, Heimdall chuckled lightly, "I would tell you but it explaining it would take up too much time", he turns around to look at everyone, "Heimdall, we're going to Jotunheim", Sif explains, "for a training exercise", he took a deep breath before speaking, "does Odin know about this?", he questioned, "of course, if you believe me of lying then you can ask Odin himself", Heimdall and Sif stair at each other until he turned back around, "well then, Jotunheim it is", Alif and Baldr drew close to Vanessa causing her to get nervous, "what's about to happen??", the two didn't say anything as Heimdall stood straight and then sent his sword down.

    Vanessa wrapped the black cloak around her, it was freezing.... no it was beyond freezing, she couldn't put it into words, "this is as far as I go, the wrest is up to you all", all teams split up including them, "here take this", Baldr hands her his cloak, "but--?", he looks at her, "stop and think, you're a mortal you cannot withstand conditions such as this", he hands it to her, "he's right Vanessa, you'll need as much warmth as possible", Alif begins to say a spell, his hands place themselves on her shoulders and a soft yellow light engulfs her, "how do you feel?", Alif asked her, Vanessa smiled a bit, "warm... thanks", he smiles softly before heading forward along with Vanessa. The three tread into dangerous territory but aware of the danger lurking, "wait, I hear something", Alif turns in the direction of the noise and as he does he is tackled down, hitting the ice covered ground hard, "Alif!!", Vanessa ran over to him but before she could reach him a long metal chain wrapped itself around her and yanked her back, causing her to fall onto the ground and then dragged, "didn't I tell you I'd get you back!!", it was Eric, Alif and Baldr new that voice, how could they not. Alif tossed the boy off himself, "that wasn't what I was planning for but now..." he dusts himself off, "I just might have to take this seriously", Baldr unsheathes his blade and Alif takes his small bow and a strand of his own white hair, his magic surging through it, "if I were you I would let her go", Alif says, Eric shows himself with a chained Vanessa, "or else what, are you going to attack me with that meager bow and arrow?", Eric laughed, his grip on her loosened giving her a good advantage, "you talk too much!", Vanessa says as she used all her body weight and pushed him hard, making him fall, along with her, "damn you!", Vanessa frees herself from the chains, Baldr runs over towards her, grabbing her before Eric could do anything stupid, then came a hard thud, then another, "I do hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but, trouble is approaching", Alif states, Eric got to his feet, "please! we've faced giants before, what makes you think we can't do it again and triumph?!", as the large stumping got closer not one but three of them appeared, "because last time I've checked Eric, we only faced one", Balder responds back.

    Vanessa's eyes widen, back on Earth she had never faced anything like this, "intruders!", Vanessa covered her ears, just the sound alone made her body shake, "move out of the way!!", Baldr yelled out as one of the frost giants sent their hammers down, the three and Erics team jump back avoiding the attack just in time, "haha! Glorious!", Eric shouts out, "simply glorious!!", Alif and Baldr get in front of Vanessa, "what? we have to get out of here! Alif, Baldr?!", the two don't respond, she took a step back but that was all she could go... they had no way out, they were right near a cliff and the only way out was down... they were trapped,

    Eric and his gang stand their ground as the frost giants advanced, well if she was going to go out she would rather go out in style. Vanessa unsheathed her katana and stood near Baldr who glanced at her for a second then back at the giants, "seems as though we're in trouble", Alif says with a grin, "yeah, but the only way out", Baldr smirks, "is to fight our way through", Vanessa finished. Vanessa creates five red X's and all five shot directly at the face of the first first giant, it clutched its face in pain, "kill them all!!", it growled, the two frost giants in the back walk forward and aim their weapons at them, Alif, Vanessa, and Baldr jump out of way then run forward, Alif jumping on the giants mallet and running forward until he reached its arm where he shot off his arrows, each one hitting its mark with extreme accuracy, Vanessa and Baldr go after it's legs, cutting deep with each time their blades made contact, and soon it fell down, "yeah!!", Vanessa threw her fist into the air but their excitement soon came to a close when they saw Eric along with his team... dead.

    A wave of dread came over her as she saw their mangled bodies, "oh god", that's when she saw movement, it was Eric, "I'm... I'm not dead yet", Vanessa's eyes widen, "you idiot stay down!!", she ran for him, "Vanessa!!", Baldr and Alif say in unison. As the frost giant was about to strike Eric, this time to kill him for good Vanessa slid onto the ice right near Eric and before creating a large X above them and as the giants hammer made contact the ice under them crumbled, "uhg!", a massive shock of pain surged through her body, "VANESSA!", but she couldn't hear them, Eric stared at her in disbelief, disbelief because of what she was doing, and disbelief because she was saving someone like him, "you, fool", he tells her, "you're a damn fool", blood begins to come from her nose and mouth, "I... uhg!", she closed her eyes, she could hear Alif and Baldr fighting to save her and Eric, "if saving you means I'm a fool... then I'll gladly take that", another hit caused the X to crack, she felt tears forming, obscuring her vision, "I'm so sorry", she whispers, she felt her arms giving and as the hammer struck again the X shattered but nothing happened, Vanessa looks over to see, "Loki?", she stands up slowly, grabbing Eric as well, Loki turns around his facial expression told everything, "you would risk your own life for a boy near death?!", as he was closing in on her Baldr and Alif place their weapons on him, "I've been waiting for a chance like this", Baldr says, he held a rage that Vanessa couldn't even fathom, "Loki, you saved us," she never thought he of all people would care especially for her, "if you mean yourself then yes, I did, you're not my protege for not", he looks to his left and to his right, "well it seems that I'm not welcomed here", he placed his hands up but in one swift move her dispatched both Alifs, and Baldrs weapons with ease, and pulled out his own weapons... throwing knives, "Loki, don't... please", he turns his head, "give me one reason why I shouldn't, and maybe I'll let them live", Vanessa set Eric down before speaking, "because their my team, and if you hurt them I'll... I'll tell Odin", Vanessa crossed her arms, "oh please I- -!!!", Vanessa pushed him aside as the large mallet came at them, hitting Vanessa on the side, "kuh!", she flew to the side, tumbling to the ground like a rag doll until she came to a complete stop. All four of them were silent, Baldr went into a sprint along with Alif, Loki sat there, dumbfounded.

    Alif picked her up, carrying her, "HEIMDALL!!!", Baldr shouts, "shouting isn't going to get you back any sooner," Loki approached them, "I'll create a portal", he begins to speak words of some kind until a portal appeared, "hurry up! she does not have time on her side if you have failed to notice", Alif hurries in along with Baldr and Eric, and soon Loki.

    - - - - -

    Alif and Baldr wait near the bed for hours on end hoping to see her eyes open, "she's not going to get better all at once, it takes time", Loki walks into the room, "Odin placed her in my care, the least I can do is help heal her", Alif and Baldr don't look at him, they just focus on Vanessa, "she's stronger than you know", Loki says before exiting the room, "yeah... we know that", Baldr says under his breath, "just hold on."