The Wheel Turns, The Sun Rises

[pirateangelbaby]

[OOC: Follows this prose. Posted early for ease of slowtags, but takes place in the spring. If you can't tag into this for a few weeks but still want to, feel free to tag late, I don't mind. <3 ]


Winter is slow to leave the shores of Norway, but here in the Nexus, the turning of the season is far more apparent. Snow has given way to mud and damp, squishy grass, bright green buds blossom on trees and bushes, and birds sing in the trees.

A less melodious pair of voices squawk from the crook of Thor's elbow. The god of thunder is seated on one of the park benches that overlooks a running path, the sunlight shining off his loosely braided hair, gathered at the nape of his neck. He is still dressed against a chill in a soft woolen sweater, but his attention is less on the cloudless weather than he is on the little creatures he holds. Anyone who comes close enough might be able to catch a glimpse of baby birds just beginning to grow their first plumage, ugly and wide-mouthed as they beg for bits of food.

As eager as they are to gobble up the smallest scraps of meat he's feeding them, Thor is rather glad that his prosthetic fingers do not feel any pain of those little sharp beaks jabbing at him. There's a fondness in his eye as he gazes down at them, but he's troubled also, a quiet thoughtfulness that doesn't leave when he looks up. "How important do you think names are? What power do they actually hold?"

Comments

[pirateangelbaby]

"It's important," he agrees easily, looking down at the little birds. Strange to see them so small, nearly featherless, helpless. But it won't be long before they're grown again, and beyond that, who knows? Odin had had his ravens for as long as Thor can remember. Whatever names they bear, they'll bear for thousands of years, at least.

Caw-caw comes the answering call, squeakier than it'll be when they're grown, and those open mouths jerk in her direction, hoping they're delivering food.

"I think they must be bottomless pits," Thor says, a little more lightly. "They don't seem to stay full for long unless they're sleeping."

[welcomingembrace]

Death doesn't have any food for them today. But she smiles all the same at them.

"Hollow bones. Have to fill their body with something."

[pirateangelbaby]

"I suppose." Thor is pretty sure that's not actually how it works, but with magical ravens, perhaps you never know.

She's given him some good counsel, and here he hasn't even given his own name, though she may already know it if she knew of Ragnarok. "I'm Thor." Not Odin, despite the greater physical resemblance he now bears.

[welcomingembrace]

"Nice to meet you."

It comes to the time when she will be honest with introducing herself. It is not her name. It is who she is. Entirely.

"I am Death."

[pirateangelbaby]

Any smile that had been on Thor's face drops immediately, suddenly alert and watching her more closely. If she'd meant him harm, she could've done it already, or kept her identity hidden from him. And there doesn't seem to be a threat from her, not like there had been with Hela, menacing and smooth from the moment she had strode out of the portal from Niflheim and demanded he kneel before her.

And yet he can't quite help the fear that strikes him deep at realizing he may very well be speaking to another goddess of death, or perhaps a personification of the force itself. He'd sought death's embrace for half a year, or at least waited for it to come to him, and he's sent countless thousands to the realms beyond the worlds himself.

And then there are the trillions upon trillions who had set foot on the other side, only to return.

He's frozen with indecision, knowing that Stormbreaker is only a thought away, yet knowing also that it might make little difference. All he does is hold onto the baby ravens a little closer, one of the chicks cawing in protest. "Death, huh?"

Very kingly. Good job.

[welcomingembrace]

"Mmmm-hmmmmm." She acknowledges with another smile. She recognizes the fact that fear might have been one of the very first emotions he would feel, now she has identified herself.

"I am. The end of every life. The new beginning too." She smiles at the ravens in particular.

"I wait for old friends to take my hand and walk with me."

[pirateangelbaby]

The end and the beginning, the Wheel turning 'round and round. It's a familiar concept to Thor, but this particular part of the cycle hasn't sat well with him for a long time now. Necessary, inevitable, and something he's seen far too much of.

"I hope you're the patient type," he says instead, as steadily as he can manage. If she's come for Huginn and Muninn, taken early from her grasp, he has little intention of turning them over to her.

[welcomingembrace]

"Always am. Those old friends are worth waiting for." Death is not here to claim anyone today. She wanted to only welcome the souls born fresh into a world. And looks forward to seeing what they are taught. And what they will teach others.

[pirateangelbaby]

"Good." His answer might be a little blunt, but death is something Thor does not like to think much of these days. Not after the decimation of his people and the universe thereafter. He can't help it sometimes, of course.

The baby birds begin calling out again for food, drawing his attention. They care not who looms over them, only that they be fed and warm. Simple creatures, helpless and dependent, and Thor wonders what they may someday think of her in turn.

[welcomingembrace]

Death gives a slight bow to the baby birds, before turning on her way. There is not much more to discuss today. And besides... they are both busy people.