orb ; rebirth 19

[sorcerous]

[ The orb rises and follows as Loki leaps from one tree to another, lighting on a strong branch and bracing himself with a palm against the bark.

There's quite a din of whinnying and hoofbeats in the background.

His voice is utterly calm: ]

Gretel -- sorceress. It seems my day is somewhat preoccupied. I won't be able to meet with you after all.

[ A smash of splintering wood; Loki flinches. More of a twitch, really.

He raises his eyes heavenward, in exasperation, and reaches out for the orb.

It avoids his fingers. ]

Oh, in the name of --

[ Visible, now, is a horse just a few feet below him, a brown one, enraged. Possibly familiar to some as the horse that rampaged through town earlier. And she has a little, ridiculous hat braced between her ears. ]



ooc; responses may be from Loki, and they may be from rampaging horse!Sif. Or both.

Comments

[ladysarmour]

[ she doesn't know it's you sif she thinks she's actually talking to a horse ]

There - you're alright, see? The wizard will not hurt you. [ she hopes. ]

[sorcerous]

That's it: the wizard won't hurt you.

[ladysarmour]

[ a hopeful smile? ]

She seems to be calming down.

[brosif]

[Her gaze turns to Loki, unusually sharp for a horse.

Stop acting for the girl, liar.]

[sorcerous]

Look? You're breaking your instincts already.

[ He crouches, on the branch. Closer to her. ]

I don't believe you'd truly hurt me.

[brosif]

[A snort -- he can believe what he likes, but he's the one who put the curse back on her.

She seems to think it over for a moment, and half turns towards an exit in the clearing. If she can leave the woods while she still has her mind...]

[sorcerous]

This is the only way to learn to control your instincts, Sif. The only way. Would you rather eternal fear? Would you rather dread this curse for all of your days? You said it yourself: I had a knife. The next will not be so kind.

[consultmybooks]

[...it hadn't been terribly hard to get news about a rampaging horse. What had been the hard part was narrowing down which rampaging horse. Now it was going about the town that there were five of the damn things.

But Giles had given a description as best as he could and been directed into the woods. From there? Well, from there it had gotten much easier, broken branches and kicked up dirt and hoof marks. And then, after a while, a voice he recognizes.

Giles takes care to fade out of view before he approaches closer enough to the scene that Loki and Sif actually come into his line of sight.]

[brosif]

She can picture it, too. A hunter that draws her in with sweet words and kind hands. An iron knife, plunged into her throat while the fool horse is too distracted by oats to offer any resistance. The Lady Sif, killed by an old man's curse in a distant land.

She stops.

When Giles comes upon the scene, he will find Sif more receptive than in the orb. Loki has made his point well enough, though it does little to ease her anger.

[sorcerous]

He drops down next to her, with cautious, slow movements.

"I would not have done this at all," he tells her, "except that I don't want you to be afraid. The Lady Sif is not one as should be cowed." He strokes down her neck, presses his palm on the muscle at her shoulder.

Under ordinary circumstances, he would have noticed the ghost. He is one keenly aware of his surroundings, and attuned to magic. But, now that he has retrieved the orb, his focus is entirely on her. There is a strange vulnerability in that: he does not try to hide it, now.

[consultmybooks]

No, the Lady Sif isn't one who should be afraid, especially not afraid of a cursed derby hat.

Giles recalls that, ironically, in this form she's actually more than a bit afraid of him. At least, if her behavior the last time they met was any indication. He eases around Loki to get a better look at Sif. It really is eery, to him, just how much she's settled down. It seems much too much like settling in.

Of course, it's also a fascinating conversation that he's just walked in on, and Giles wonders just what else he might have missed and just how much that might come back to bite him in a few minutes.

Even so, he's going to attempt to get nearer to Sif without attracting Loki's attention. The second she seems aware of him? Giles will attempt to spook her again, rather like last time.

[brosif]

She cranes her neck over and hits Loki somewhat lightly with her nose. The same way she might push him in the shoulder, in lieu of accepting a non-apology.

The tranquility of the moment, if it can be called that, is thrown directly off balance once Giles gets close enough for Sif to register his presence. In her human mind, he's registered as something akin to an ally. The horse does not share her feelings on dead things and reels back with a cry.

Eye wide, now, and far less in control. The mare wants nothing more than to run.

[sorcerous]

"No, Sif--!" Just a glimpse of the ghost, and he knows what has happened.

There is no time for recriminations.

Loki moves quick, and the only way he can think to calm her and to stay with her. He takes a handful of her mane, vaults onto her back, and leans down against her neck.

"Sif," he snaps, "control yourself! Remember what you are: Aesir. Aesir, not beast!"

Oh, how he would like to wring that ghost's neck... How dare he question Loki's judgment? How dare he interfere with the affairs of gods?

[consultmybooks]

The ghost in question is mostly banking on the fact that Loki can't ring his neck. He's well aware that this might very soon prove to be an erroneous assumption.

But Giles has killed a god before, and he tries to focus on that small victory for some courage. Even though said god had already been beaten into hamburger by Buffy. This? This is so very different.

Besides, too late to back out now. He was hoping for another few seconds, but that was a few seconds ago. So Giles, keeping an eye on the hat, continues trying to spook Sif into shaking it off. He'll even, with a wince, phase straight through her if that's what it takes He only darts a glance up at Loki to see if Loki can actually look directly back. Giles is still invisible to most eyes, after all.

[brosif]

I am Aesir. Run. Pledged to War. Run fast. Daughter of -- the dead things will catch you.

Two different thought processes, but the longer that the dead man is around, the more they sound the same in her mind. At her back, Loki is a comfort. At her back, the rider is a horror.

She doesn't run, but she darts around quickly. Trying to shake the ghost.

[sorcerous]

Loki has not been thrown from a horse in four hundred years, and he is not about to tarnish that record.

"Sif!" An anguished sound. He does not want to lose her. Who knows -- if she is lost within the horse's mind once, who is to say she could return? Whole, and herself?

Loki leans forward and knocks the hat from her head. May that ghost be damned.

[consultmybooks]

As far as Giles is concerned, he already is.

Still. It's what he came here for. Probably best to be away before he has one and, hell, possibly two angry Aesir after him. Giles is going to, quite simply, turn and run.

The fact that a ghost even has to turn and run is an unfairness not lost on him.

((ooc: And, um, I guess continue amongst yourselves from here? Thank you for letting me interject! I hope I didn't hold things up or mess things up too badly!))

[brosif]

[ooc: heeee, thank you for throwing Giles in! It was very fun.]

When the change comes, Sif is again unsteady on new legs. She falls against Loki, her back to his chest. Her fingers grip his arms tightly, trying to discern the world around her from the impulses left imprinted in her mind.

For once, she is very small. Small and pale.

"Again. Put it back on."

[sorcerous]

[ \o/ So noted! ]

He snarls. "Not on your life." He pushes her away. Cross, now, in the mood to be vicious.

[brosif]

She stumbles, but purpose holds her up. She rounds in on him, features contorted.

“For once, I’m agreeing with you. It is a weakness. I will overcome it.”

[sorcerous]

"If it summons that ghost's interference, no. I will not fight him and you both." Flat, utter refusal.

[brosif]

“I refuse to wear the hat and you affix it to my head. Now, I see merit in the points you made and you fall back in fear. Do you work at being this maddening?”

She turns from hin, walking carefully towards where the hat has fallen. If he will not help her, she will manage the transformation herself.

[sorcerous]

His jaw grits.

"I will train you," he says. "I will teach you how to retain yourself. Unless there is more interference by those who would consider you an ally."

[brosif]

“The only other ally that knows about this is the Stone girl. And I dare say she’s too taken by you to question your methods.”

He’d certainly put on enough of a show for her.

She picks up the cap. There is a brief hesitation – a stilling of her wrist. But she swallows it and puts the hat back on.