Isle of Berk, 789 AD

      Berk is an... Interesting place. That's the first thought Loki has as he and his brother and mother stroll through the small village. Eyes follow them as they make their way up to the mess hall. Thor seems to be beaming with pride over all the attention. He's always like this and Loki absolutely hates it. The brute thinks he's so special because he is air to Asgards throne.

      Though he'll never admit it, Loki is jealous of his brother. His mother is the only one that truly loves him. Everyone else seems to treat him as a foreign beast. That's why Loki loves visiting Berk. No one treats him like an outsider. They treat him like a god.

      "Chin up, Loki, dear." Frigga gently scolds. Loki adjusts his stance and nods. "Yes Mother." The doors to the mess hall are pulled open by an unseen force. Frigga's magic. Loki can't help but smile. He loves magic.

      "Stoick, my old friend." Frigga greets the Hooligan chief with open arms. The red haired viking smiles through his long beard and hugs Frigga tightly. "Frigga." He greets gruffly. Stoick's eyes find the two young princes of Asgard and Loki doesn't miss the sneer he receives from the chief. Thor instantly steps forward to greet Stoick and Loki looks down, embarrassed.

      Something in the corner of the mess hall catches Loki's eye and he looks over to see a table filled with young Berkians. Five of them to be exact. Wait, no... Loki narrows his eyes and sees another figure behind them hidden by the shadows. A girl whose green eyes rival his own. Loki doesn't even notice that he begins walking in her direction.

      The teens at the table stiffen up. "Oh my gods! He's coming over here!" The large one says excitedly. But Loki doesn't stop to speak to them and the girl with blonde hair scoffs as Loki walks right up to the girl in the shadows and sits at her side. She doesn't seem to notice him there as she draws in her journal.

      Loki peers over her shoulder to see into the pages, but her hand is blocking his view. "What are you drawing?" The girl yelps, gaining the attention of half of the mess hall. Her charcoal pencil clatters across the floor, stopping by the teen's table. Loki chuckles at her reaction and she sneers at him. "It's not funny!" She complains as she looks for her pencil.

     "Hey, noodle arms!" The snotty teen shouts from the table. The girl looks up just in time to see the pencil flying in her direction and braces for impact, but it never comes. She opens her eyes to see Loki standing in front of her and watches as he throws the pencil across the room, nailing Thor in the back of the head. "Get down!" Loki whispers and pulls the girl down and out of sight.

      They watch Thor spin around, rubbing the back of his head and seeing the snotty teen standing up, looking absolutely fearful. Loki chuckles darkly as he sees Thor race across the room and tackles the teen to the floor. An uproar arises in the mess hall as the twin teens begin chanting for Thor and Frigga yells for her son to stop beating on the poor kid.

      Loki looks to his right and sees the girl trying her best to stifle her laughter. Without a second thought, he grabs her hand, completely missing the red in her cheeks and pulls her towards the room's back entrance. "C'mon!" He tells her.

      Once the two are far into the woods, they both fall to the ground, laughs echoing through the trees. Finally, they begin to calm down, both electing to remain on the cool ground. They both remain quiet as they stare up at the sky, neither caring about the blazing heat of the sun.

      The girl sighs, content and Loki twists his body around so he is laying on his stomach. The girl looks up at him. "I never got your name." He tells her, his voice full of mischief and fun. The girl cringes. "Hiccup." She says with clear disdain. Loki raises an eyebrow and smirks. Hiccup rolls her eyes. Yes, she knows her name is ridiculous, but she didn't choose it.

      "Well, Hiccup," Hiccup twists her body so she is sitting upright. "May I ask why you were hiding from the crowd back there?" Hiccup slightly tilts her head. She's surprised someone noticed her, let alone a god. She sighs and shrugs. "My father is ashamed of me so I just hide myself away."

      Hiccup picks up a small stick and begins drawing in the dirt. "It is a bit pathetic, being this small and my father being, well," She makes a face. "My father." Loki smirks as she imitates the chief's large muscles, then looks into the loose soil thoughtfully. "I know how you feel." He admits. Hiccup looks up at him in surprise. For a moment all they do is stare into each other's eyes.

      "Loki!" Frigga calls. Loki looks in the direction of her voice. "Loki!" She calls again. Hiccup looks at him and smiles. "Looks like you're needed." Loki sighs and stands. He was enjoying his short time with Hiccup. "Till next time Skjønnhet." Loki says with a smirk then runs off leaving Hiccup behind, red as a tomato.

ᛟ

      "Loki!" Steve calls again. Loki looks away from the window, his reminiscent smile fading away. "Finally." Tony mutters in annoyance. "He's been daydreaming since we got here." Loki rolls his eyes. The doors to the meeting room burst open as Nick Fury storms into the room dramatically. "We have a problem." He says as he stands at the head of the table.

       "Don't we all." Clint mutters as he looks directly at Loki. The green god simply ignores him. "Quiet Barton. We have bigger things to deal with than your bruised ego." Fury barks. Clint's jaw drops and the Avengers all laugh. Even Loki lets out a chuckle.

       "What is it?" Steve asks, being the only one acting like an adult. Fury glances at him then turns to the frail intern behind him. Jefferies nods vigorously and presses a button on a remote. The screen behind Fury turns on, revealing a map of the north Atlantic sea between Greenland and Norway. Tony narrows his eyes and leans forward as he sees something out of the ordinary. He taps the table in front of him and the same image appears before him.

      "What is that?" Tony asks. "We don't know." Fury admits as the screen is zoomed in on a cloudy mass just off the coast of Svalbard. "It showed up on our satellites a year and a half ago." Natasha raises an eyebrow. "Why are we discussing it now?" Fury nods and steps out of the way of the screen. A security feed appears on the screen and they all watch.

      A dark armoured figure lands outside of a facility, jumping down from an unseen platform. They walk in, easily kicking in the metal bolted doors. The video follows them through the facility as they take out heavily armed guards as they go. Finally the video cuts out right before the figure takes something from a large dark cage.

      Loki narrows his eyes and glances at Fury. It's clear he doesn't want to know what they took. "Whatever it is, stole the only specimens we collected from the pit." Tony snorts at Fury's words. "The pit? Are we talking about hell?" Fury sends a glare in Tony's direction, then nods at Jefferies. The intern presses another button and a new video begins. In this video a drone approaches a strange thick mist.

      For a moment, the screen is completely white, then the fog lets up, revealing a sight so beautiful it doesn't look like it belongs on Earth. A large opening in the sea creates a circular waterfall, flowing downward into a seemingly endless pit. Tony whistles, impresses and elbows Bruce next to him. The scientist just stares in disbelief.

      Steve shakes his head. "I don't understand. Why is this so-" Steve snaps his mouth shut as a deafening screen can be heard through the speakers. Loki looks up at the noise, eyes scanning every inch of the screen for something unseen. Thor too seems to recognise the sound. The others notice their reactions, but say nothing.

       Suddenly, something black and large zoom past the camera, then not a second later the feed is cut.

      The room remains silent, then Fury speaks up. "Whatever broke into our facility took our specimens back to the entrance." A new photo appears on the screen. A red dot pings just outside the white mark on the satellite photo. Tony leans back in his seat. "So, what, you want us to check it out? Bring back your stolen toys?"

      Fury raises an eyebrow at the billionaire and points at the screen. "Do you want to be the one who finds out whatever did this to one of our drones?" A new photo appears. It's the drone. Or, at least what's left of it. Tony pales seeing it. He designed those drones. Used vigranium for the lining. The drone is literally melted and disfigured. "Nope." Tony squeeks out. Natasha smirks.

      Fury turns to Loki and Thor. "You two seem to be familiar with whatever this is." Thor shares a look with Loki and sits forward. "It is not possible to be what we think it could be." Bruce creases his brows. "Why not?" Loki looks down and Thor sighs sadly. "Just trust our words. The beasts we speak of disappeared over 1,000 years ago. If they had returned..." Thor glances at Loki. "You'd know."

~author's notes~

Here is young Thor and young Loki's face claims