275/To Catch a Cumulus Cloud

To Catch a Cumulus Cloud
Date of Scene:	04 March 2020
Location:	Skies of Asgard, Asgard
Synopsis:	Sif and Heidi take to the skies on their Pegasi and enjoy the freedom of open air and conversation.
Cast of Characters:	Sif, Heidi Ingerdottir

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Sif has posed:
Midgard had been fun -- and always remains fun -- but sometimes, all an Aesir wants to do is find some peace and quiet even beyond the reaches of the palace garden or the woodlands beyond the city's walls. Typhon had been itching to stretch his wings as it stands. Sif found herself wandering to the stables and then up, up, and up...

...yes, into the wild blue yonder above the gleaming city of Asgard. The weather is kind today, if cool in the heights, and the only sounds that can be heard for the moment is the whistle of wind along her ears to weave through her hair and the rustling flap of the pegasus's wings. It allows Sif to think in a near-meditative silence.

For the moment.

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
The disturbance isn't intentional.

While she has not quite yet earned the title of Valkyrie, when she is not practicing her weapons it is Heidi's task to ensure the care and training of the pegasi the Valkyrie ride on. This often means taking them on flights and putting them through their paces, which means a lot of time in the saddle and in the air. Yet, somehow, she never gets tired of it.

There's a rush of wind, some kind of updraft from below and bursting through the clouds comes Heidi, arms in the air with the laugh of someone enjoying themselves. She only then notices Sif.

"AH! Uh, Lady Sif! Fine day we're having, is it not?"

Sif has posed:
Heidi's laugh brings Sif up straight in the saddle of her winged mount like an ice cube down her spine. Eyes wide, she turns to see Heidi and the young Asgardian's own pegasus appear fully from the fluffy, scattered layering of clouds. It's impossible to be mad. The sheer exuberance on display for a second before propriety kicks into place makes Sif do something rare: grin from ear to ear.

"Exceedingly fine, Lady Heidi! Well met," she calls back. Typhon keeps on his straight, unhurried pace, traveling more akin to a condor than any stooping eagle or quick-flitting wren. His ears flick back and his head turns slightly to see his fellow pegasus, but he behaves himself. Sif asks little of him in the end when neither are present on a battlefield. "Whom are you exercising at the moment?"

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
Seeing as her exuberance was not taken badly, it comes bounding back as a broad grin the second Heidi sees things were taken well. "This one here's Eira, I've been working on her a bit so she's less skittish around some of the more unusual sights and sounds of Midgard. That way, should she be needed there she won't be so distracted." After all, a distracted steed could mean a distracted rider and no on needs that in battle.

"The ride's for me as much as it is for her. Never get tired of it." She nods in Sif's direction. "I see you're hiding up in the clouds. Nothing's troubling you too much is it, Lady Sif?" It's a gentle question, nothing prying. It's simply a touch of concern.

Sif has posed:
Sif's eyes fall to the other pegasus and linger with yet another rare facet of her personality: open fondness. "Well met, Eira," she calls more quietly to the other pegasus. "Though 'hiding', Lady Heidi? You malign my good name." By the sharp smirk, the Valkyrie is still amused and she isn't taking the comment with introspective totality. Still, Heidi's question merits an answer that isn't immediately forthcoming.

"I am...thinking." A gentle tug on Typhon's reins signals him to drop back slightly, all the better to fly nearer to the other Asgardian without infringing on Eira's wind-stream. "Midgard has been quiet for some number of years in my estimation and suddenly, it seems that someone has dropped a honeyjar in an ant hill. It teems with activity and turmoil alike. I know that Prince Thor wishes peace, but I do not know that his wishes will become more than those." She gives Heidi a glance, ice-blue eyes somehow still shuttered.

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
"My apologies, Lady Sif, I only mean hiding in the sense that you are removing yourself from the eye of those who want your attention rather than removing yourself because you cannot face what you must," Heidi grins. "There is certainly a bit of a difference and I would not dare accuse you of the latter of the two." She's in good spirits, as always, though her focus turns more serious as the conversation does.

"It sounds as if there is turmoil afoot. I am sure Prince Thor wishes peace, but how exactly does he plan to achieve that? Or is perhaps the problem that he only wishes for peace and does not act? You know him. Do you think he can bring peace or is this ant hill too much?" She pauses. "Do his allies not help in bringing this peace as well?"

Sif has posed:
The grey shadows of the pegasi flash over the clouds in flickerings and then fall into the open space beneath them. Far below, the Asgardian countryside rolls in hillocks and smattering of verdant trees, laced by silvery ribbons of streams and wider swathes of rivers.

Sif smiles almost to herself as her eyes cut away from Heidi and to the vastness of the sky before them. "It is not that he does not act. He acts from his heart and...I think sometimes, despite his wishes, it is counter to bringing forth peace. Do not misconstrue my words, he has no part in this ant hill," the Goddess of War stresses with a firm and brief look over at Heidi. "And I firmly believe he will be able to aid in soothing the turmoil. He has many allies, it is that..."

Tucking her chin briefly, Heidi then gets an oblique look not necessarily coy, but good parts wondering. "Were you present for the All-Father's edict involving Prince Loki?"

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
"Not present myself, but word travels quickly enough. I have indeed heard about it," Heidi pats the side of Eira's neck as she glances down below them for a brief moment before raising her head back up. "Is it then perhaps that Prince Thor finds himself distracted by Prince Loki?" It's only a suggestion. She herself knows very little of how the relations between them are and also what Midgard has been up to. It's a stab in the dark, but Heidi takes it without a thought.

"I admit, it doesn't seem like someone would stir up the pot without having a plan for the ingredients..." The last bit is more of an aside about the plight of Midgard in the meanwhile.

Sif has posed:
"Whomever has stirred the pot of Midgard has done so without thought." Sif looks on ahead between Typhon's ears for a good number of moments, until it might seem that she were inclined to silence rather than further thought. A shift in the saddle proves otherwise after she reaches to fuss at a loose strand of hair caught overtop her ear.

"I do not pity whomever stirred it. The Midgardian people are stronger than most of Asgard assumes. We have seen it many a time and I have been personally privy to it. I cannot claim to know if Prince Thor is distracted by his brother's plight, but it is unfortunate." By her frown and the way her lips scrunch into a rosebud of irritation, there's more she could say, but like as not, wisdom and diplomacy is providing a filter for her thoughts.

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
"If it has been done without a thought, it must be something large indeed," Heidi doesn't sound like she enjoys that particular thought. The silence that falls isn't disturbed by her as she lets the conversation settle, simmer. When it bubbles again, she looks back over. "I have seen the strength of some of them firsthand and I am impressed. I would enjoy seeing more in the future and I believe there is potential there."

There's a long pause, then Heidi brightens. "It is certainly good that they have you."

Sif has posed:
Heidi is given another one of those half-smiles, kind if still reserved in a way. "Thank you, Lady Heidi, you are too kind. I like to think that I have enough wisdom to share with the Princes that they might benefit from it. I still must visit further my friends upon Midgard to see how they fare admist their troubles." Reaching up, she slides fingers through Typhon's fluttering mane and combs through it idly. "You could join me if you felt so inclined? They would welcome meeting another member of the court, I believe."

A sigh unheard with the brisk rush of the wind. Her pale-blue eyes shift back to Heidi again. "I do not think this cause of trouble upon Midgard has been done without thought, and that makes the malice at its base all the worst -- all the more disturbing. I would welcome your aid should I come upon the means to stop or slow its advance, for the sake of Midgard and my friends there."

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
"I have a lot of respect for you, Lady Sif, and I believe most wholeheartedly that they both benefit from your wisdom," Heidi offers honestly. "But if you wish it, I would be honored to join you." She laughs. "Friends are certainly good in any shape or form."

She pauses. "Lady Sif, I hope you will understand that while my duty is to Asgard, I would be honored to stand at your side in whatever cause you feel is worth your weapon."

Sif has posed:
"I do understand, Lady Heidi, and I do not ask you to choose in this moment. There are stirrings and wisps of smoke, but no fire to address, to use a phrase of Midgard. When the time comes, and I require your aid, I will accept it wholeheartedly." Sif then reaches out towards the younger Asgardian with an open palm in the intent to share a warrior's formal grasp of hand to forearm, that shared with long-honored respect in the Einherjar and beyond into the Valkyriad.

"Do you require any further training in the arts of battle? I do have time between running the Einherjar ragged in their sets," the Valkyrie notes with more of a smile now that wrinkles her nose the slightest.

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
"Even if the need you have is minor, I will certainly be there," Heidi offers, a genuine smile on her face as she reaches over to clasp Sif's arm. "I am enjoying seeing more of Midgard. It is amusing and there are very many... exuberant people there." It's a kind word for weird. "So perhaps I'll be around."

The talk of training gets a /wide/ grin. "Lady Sif, I am /always/ in need of further training. The moment you think you are above training is the moment you're asking for a blade at your throat." She chuckles. "I would be honored for your time."

Sif has posed:
Firmly clasping Heidi's forearm, the raven-haired Goddess smiles back enough to prove this particular display truthfully. "I look forward to meeting you upon the training grounds then, Lady Heidi. Perhaps at a time later this week, in the evenings after the Einherjar have been dismissed. I have no interest in an audience. They are a distraction we will add at a later date."

How foreboding!

The Pegasi continue on in their steady flight, eddying upon the air currents with a skill rarely matched and intuitive to their bones. Typhon flaps once to keep his bearing in a flush of pearly feathers. Sif gives his shoulder a few firm pats before she looks over at the other Asgardian, expression slipped more solemn now. "We will begin with blades, since you are correct. Ceasing to learn offers an enemy an opening that cannot be allowed."

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
Forboding... or /exciting/!

Whatever plans are there, Heidi doesn't seem intimidated by it. "I shall certainly look forward to training, Lady Sif. I will check in with you later, once things have cleared out." Does she look... excited? Hard to tell, that seems to be her default.

"I could do with some blades. I am strong, but not strong enough. My archery skills are impressive, but I know I can always do more with a blade. Anything that you can teach me I am sure I can put to good use."

Sif has posed:
"Lady Heidi: you are strong." Sif gives her a level look. "Never let anyone speak otherwise to you. Or, if they refuse to close their flubbering mouths, then ignore their idiocy. You are but shy of joining the Valkyriad. There are Einherjar who would surrender their sword to be in your position." A firm nod accents her point.

"If someone has told you that only strength is necessary in the art of swordsmanship, they are misinformed. It takes a dexterity and grace unmatched in all but few of us. You might speak with Prince Loki on the art of daggers, for example. His is a great wealth of knowledge," she notes. "And I might seek your wisdom in archery in return. There is always some new trick to learn."

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
Heidi actually looks slightly flustered by the compliment. "I... am deeply honored you think so, Lady Sif. To join the Valkyriad has been a dream of mine for many years, and I have not wavered in my training towards that goal. I knew that it would be possible for me to achieve it, as long as I remained focused." She nods slowly.
"I may have the dexterity required, if not as much strength as others might have." She looks /very/ thoughtful for a moment. "You think Prince Loki would consider sharing his knowledge with me?" She sounds slightly skeptical. "I would enjoy sharing what I know with you as well. We should always seek to learn, I think."

Sif has posed:
"It cannot hurt you to ask?" Graceful, Sif's shrug beneath her silvery armor and red leather padding. "If the Prince says no, then I shall tutor you. If you do intend to ask him, perhaps...appeal to his pride and skill." There's a knowing little smile that skirts the Valkyrie's lips -- a flash of the coy courtly wiles she uses far more subtly than not. "He might find it a worthy use of his time. After all, he is currently on a prolonged sojourn to Midgard and he is finding it less to his liking."

Here, in the clouds, Sif allows herself to show a touch of pity for the mage. This, she can't show before Loki himself; it might prickle bruised pride.

"I am due to speak with him as it stands. Would you rather I asked him instead?"

Heidi Ingerdottir has posed:
"Perhaps his boredom can be relieved a bit by lecturing an unlearned one on the skills he is so proficient in," Heidi exaggerates a bit, grinning. "I know not if he would be interested, but for you to intercede on my behalf would certainly be a boon. I doubt that he would be terribly impressed with me, but a word from you might persuade him."

She does seem thoughtful. "It is unfortunate he is so unamused. Midgard seems plenty full of activites and things to see... but I suppose he may have seen and done them all by now."

Sif has posed:
"Prince Loki is perpetually amused with the going-ons of Midgard. It is more that..." Sif measures her words while she tries not to let her lips twitch into another curling. Her gaze falls to Typhon's mane and there, it slips: what an absolutely fond, daresay even smitten little dimple at the corner of her mouth.

"He shares his brother's stubborn streak," the Valkyrie decides tactfully, " -- and it is not appreciated everywhere it is shown, much to his dismay." She makes no note about the Trickster God's sense of humor, which sometimes also leaves much to be desired from its targets. "I shall speak with him, you have my word. For now, let us return to the stables. There will be wind-knots to comb from their manes and that will give us all the more time to discuss lessons further."

Or other less martial thing, but the Goddess of War is aptly titled. As a practiced unit, the two Pegasi bank in a lazy turn to head back in the direction of the golden city of Asgard. Below, the cloud cover is blanketed in golds and pinks with the setting of the sun. It was an exceedingly fine flight to be had all in all.