3 Sif

Shouting, Thor swung his axe down and watched as it cut through the air before slicing completely through the wooden dummy positioned in front of him. His daily lessons with his personal tutor on the history of Asgard had finished a little over an hour ago and Thor had instantly rushed to the courtyard to train his body.

Today, was one of the few days in which his combat tutors had allotted as 'his' days off, but Thor knew that really, it was their day off. It was not due to being lazy, but more about them wanting to party without having to worry about training the prince the next day. He had heard a few complaints about having to cut celebrations short in order to not suffer a hangover the next day. After all, when an Asgardian celebrated they did not hold back, or so he had heard.

And amongst Asgardians, parties and celebrations were a common staple of their society so he did not blame or begrudge them in the slightest. He just wished to never stop, nothing he did seemed to intrigue his father, Thor was determined to make sure that soon he did.

Releasing a breath, Thor wiped the sweat off his brow and turned to look at the wooden dummy in front of him, studying it closely. One half – the top – had clattered uselessly to the ground after being cut in two and so he ran a finger over the top of the still-standing half, the very area in which he had sliced cleanly through it.

It was jagged and not smooth as a result of him having to hack away at it a few times to fully cut it in half. But still, unlike when he had first started training it had only taken three swings of his axe to cut through the dummy, a marked improvement.

"Still not good enough." He muttered and raised his free hand up before closing his eyes. Taking a few moments to remember his mother's words about magic, he tentatively attempted to lift the dummy off the ground. He could feel his magic extend like a tendril from his body and slowly wrap around both halves of the dummy. Then, he tried lifting the mental images of the tendrils higher and instantly felt a strain upon his core.

Despite being more than capable of lifting it himself, he had learned that the best way to get more proficient at magic was to practise, just like when it came to combat. And so, he had made it a routine to move objects like the practise dummies when he was finished with them with purely magic.

It was hard.

Magic was not a simple art to master, it required immense mental fortitude as well as the flexibility of the mind to pull off. A practitioner had to be able to ignore and abandon all preconceived understanding of the cosmos and just become one with themselves and their surroundings. A simple thing for an experienced or gifted practitioner, but Thor did not possess either aspect.

His talents lay in combat and he imagined they always would, but Thor was determined to do everything he could to earn his father's attention.

His muscles strained and he scrunched his eyes up in concentration as he imagined the sight of the dummies being lifted off the ground. Eventually, he opened his eyes to see that he had in fact done what he had attempted to do and saw the dummies floating a few inches off the ground. Nothing impressive he knew, but far more than he had been able to accomplish before.

With a laugh, he raised his hands into the air resulting in his concentration being broken and sending the two pieces of wood clattering to the ground once more. Groaning, Thor hung his head and made a move to pick them both up and carry them manually. Simply lifting them into the air was a great achievement for him seeing as though his skills did not exactly lie in Magic. That did not mean he would not continue practising, magic was just another tool and weapon he would use to protect Asgard.

He was getting much better at using magic to lift objects off the ground than before, much easier though it was always the initial stage that was difficult. Even then, lifting two heavy pieces of wood as he had just done had been something he had failed to do before this day. Lifting one piece was easier and something he could do easily, but more than one piece was harder. It was the act of his splitting his focus onto more than one object that challenged him, unlike his brother who could lift a dozen objects with almost contemptous ease.

Not to mention, that he could do nothing more than simply lift the pieces off the ground let alone move them around the courtyard with just his magic. No, his brother Loki was far more gifted than him in the Mystic Arts. Perhaps at one point in time, he would have stopped pursuing magic, finding it useless and not fun and sometimes he did feel that way. But like always, he would feel this urge to improve himself, to be better and to continue striving for more.

Slow clapping broke out of his little funk, he turned to see his brother Loki walking towards him. "Well done, brother, well done." Shaking his head at his brother's usual sarcastic words, Thor ignored Loki and continued to move the pieces to where he had deposited the rest of the broken dummies.

As always, Loki was constantly sarcastic and always one to bluntly point out people's flaws and faults. It was one reason why Thor knew people to dislike his brother, he often spoke without thinking, or seemed not to care what people thought of his words.

However, unlike most people, Thor knew that Loki just didn't care.

Thor could overlook these things most of the time, Loki could be difficult, but if one spent time to know him, there were few he could trust like him. Loki was his brother and despite his flaws, Thor could count on Loki to have his back, just like Thor would have his back.

Though at times like these, when he was trying his hardest to improve and finding himself making little progress, Loki could be irritating even to him. "What do you want, brother?" Thor asked, more annoyed at his own failures than with what Loki was saying.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing." Thor walked towards the next pile where the number dummies were left intact and picked one up with ease. "Honestly I don't get your obsession with getting stronger like this, nothing you do seems to make Odin pleased with you. To me what you're doing is just an exercise in failure."

Placing the dummy on the floor, Thor sighed, not really knowing what to say. "Is it wrong to try and get strong?" Thor wondered.

"I suppose not," Loki replied, following his brother across the courtyard towards the weapon rack. "It just seems pointless to me that you spend so much time trying to prove something to a person that doesn't seem to care how much effort you put in. I mean, how long are you going to spend trying to gain his attention and failing to do so before you realise the truth?"

"It's just..." Thor began, though trailed off, not really knowing what to say to follow it up with. "Ignore me."

Picking a dagger off the rack, Thor himself placing the axe back and picking up a sword. "I always do, brother," Loki said amusedly, Thor smiling slightly. "After all, at least one of us has to be the smart one and we both know that's not you."

"Why have you come all this way then, unless you've come to lord your intelligence over me as usual?" Thor wondered.

"Is it wrong if I do that?"

"Only when it comes becomes boring and predictable," Thor replied.

"Oh well," Loki muttered, taking aim and throwing his dagger across the room, hitting one of the targets just slightly off the centre. Clicking his teeth in annoyance, Loki used his magic to pull the dagger free after a little effort to get it free, then pulling it towards him. "I guess I'll have to try to find new ways to make fun of you."

"I'm sure you will." Gripping his sword in both hands, Thor took his stance and narrowed his eyes in concentration. Then with a shout, swung his blade around and buried it deeply into the wooden dummy. It was a deep cut, but in Thor's eyes, not deep enough, he had seen Volstagg cut clean through these dummies in the past and he wanted to be able to do the same.

"And how exactly are you improving then? Just swinging a sword constantly and struggling with basic magic, hardly seems progressive to me?" Loki murmured.

"Not everyone progresses quickly," Thor replied, not for the first time slightly envious of Loki's prodigious talents with magic. He progressed through his studies quickly and seemingly easily, whereas he struggled just to do the basics. "Besides, not all progress is overt." As Thor said that, sparks burst to life around Thor's fingers.

It was nothing special and he knew that one day he would be capable of far more, but for now, it was he could do and Thor was perfectly fine with that. Progress was progress, no matter how small it may appear because eventually, a break would come that would see massive growth and Thor eagerly looked forward to that moment. When it did, Thor knew that he would be capable of great things, it wasn't arrogance, but confidence in himself that allowed him to believe such a thing.

His brothers, Vidar and Tyr had both accomplished immense achievements, both his father and grandfather had done the same. There was no way Thor could and would allow himself to accomplish anything less than any of them.

"Impressive, you've made some lovely little sparks." Loki snarked, and while Thor may have been jealous of Loki's prodigious talents with magic, the same could be said for Loki when it came to the divine power Thor was blessed with. That power was ancient and powerful, for someone gifted in the mystic arts, it was easy to sense what dwelled within Thor.

After a few moments of watching Thor steady his breathing and once again return to his stance. Then Thor once again went back to striking out at the dummy with quick and precise strikes, blade singing as it cut through the air, a dull thunk ringing across the courtyard as he cut into its wooden surface.

It was a deadly display.

"Are you going to simply watch me train?" Thor wondered, never once breaking his rhythm.

Loki shrugged though Thor did not notice. "Perhaps, but I was just curious to see if you were going to do anything different with your time, other than training. I was proven wrong, truly I should stop expecting a simpleton like you to do something other than what you've been doing for the past few months."

As the top half of the dummy clattered to the floor, Thor took in a deep breath. "Then that seems like your problem, not mine."

"True," Loki admitted easily. "Tell me, what would you do if you were King?"

Thor paused, looking at him curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

Thor went quiet, thinking upon what he could say, what he wanted to do if he was chosen by Odin to become King. Though from how he was treated dismissively by Odin, that was unlikely. Even so, the thought of what he could do if he was King had come to him on more than one occasion.

"I'd do what King Odin and King Bor had done, lead Asgard upon a great crusade that would establish Asgard as a military power not to be challenged," Thor stated simply. "Every King of Asgard has done so, I will do the same and it shall be a crusade far grander and far larger than any that came before it and any that will follow. When I am done, when people speak of the greatest Kings of Asgard, they will speak of me, Thor Odinson."

Loki nodded his head. "I suppose that's the answer I should expect from you." He said, then smiled. "So I guess you better train harder at your magic. No King of Asgard should be as bad as you are at it."

It was as Loki said that, that he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Slowly, as to make sure that whoever it was didn't know they had been caught, he carefully turned to look in that direction.

It was a young girl, no older than he or his brother and she was spying on them. Well, from the way her eyes were fixated upon his brother, it was more likely she was spying on his brother. But nonetheless, it was impressive that she had gotten this far. Clearly, she had heard Thor's declaration, but Loki couldn't quite make out what she thought of such words. Though as an Asgardian, she more than likely would be fully on board with such an action. Asgard's history was rooted in war and conquest, Loki was not blind that their race at its core was a warrior one and one of the greatest in existence.

Either way, this young girl was either a very good thief/spy or she was the child of someone of great renown amongst Asgard and therefore had been invited into the palace along with whoever she was related to. Loki would wager much more on the latter than the former, he and his pranks were the cause for much change in the guard's activity within the palace. Security had been heightened resulting in the capture of many spies and familiars within the first month of Loki's pranking streak.

The chances of a spy this young and quite clearly, inexperienced to get this far into the palace and this close to two of the Princes was slim to none. So it was more than likely that she had come accompanying one of Asgard's many gifted warriors, or noblemen.

"Brother," Loki called out making Thor groan loudly as the blonde prince turned to look at his brother with a mixture of annoyance and confusion. The two halves of the dummy he had been lifting off the ground, dropping back onto the stone surface with a ringing thud, Thor's concentration broken.

"What?" He asked irritatedly, never liking it when someone interrupted him when he was immersing himself in practising. "If it is another one of your little games, Loki I will not be happy."

Loki despite the glare he was on the receiving end simply smiled before turning to look straight at the girl who was doing a poor job at hiding behind the pillar. "We have a guest." Thor himself looked and caught the sight of the girl trying to hide further behind the pillar, but it was too late, she had already been seen.

"You can come out, we've already seen you," Thor called out and after a few moments the girl revealed herself. She was young, the same age as them with short golden blonde hair and blue eyes. From what both boys could see from the short sword strapped to her waist the little pieces of armour she wore that she was definitely a future Asgardian Warrior. "Who are you?"

The young girl looked between the two princes and bowed. "My name is Sif, my Prince."