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It is a sign of wealth to keep a pet. Every Æsir who is of a noble family or a highly decorated warrior, keeps at least one companion that shows off his power and importance. Choosing the perfect pet is somewhat of an art form. Most start out as younglings with a Mortal from Miðgarðr. They are Mortal and since their life rushes by, they are perfect as the first pet, to learn about responsibility and proper treatment of an companion. Humans might be short lived but they are fertile and as such they are easy to breed.
Thor’s first companion had been a male Mortal from Miðgarðr he had called Atonní. It had been intelligent, energetic and a good companion.When it had been injured in an accident and had to be put down, he had missed the lively presence following him around, tinkering with weapons and machines, very much. His mother had told him back then that a good master would always mourn the loss of a pet. In order to keep a memento of his first companion, Thor had asked one of the court seiðrmadr to compress Atonní’s molecules into a gem. It is a glowing blue orb that he keeps on a golden chain. Sometimes he likes to wear it and remember the time spent with the Mortal companion.
After that Thor had not taken on a new pet for some time. Fighting in Muspellsheimr against revolting fire demons and hunting expeditions to Vanaheimr and Álfheimr, had kept him occupied. It was only a couple of years ago, that he had decided to take on a new companion. Since he had quite liked the time had spent with Atonní he had thought it a good idea to once again pick a pet of Miðgarðr. This might not really reflect his station as crown prince of Ásgarðr, but he prefered to choose a companion based on compatibility rather than based on his social rank.
Jaen had been a slender petite female from Miðgarðr and her soft voice and graceful movement had enchanted him when he saw her. Just like Atonní she had been intelligent but her demeanour had been much calmer than the male Mortal he had owned before. She had been rather attached to one of her litter mates, and Thor arranged the occasional play dates for the two females.
But luck was not with Thor, for only years later Jaen had unfortunately touched one of his father’s souvenirs from one of his expeditions to Svartálfaheimr and a power source that had been contained inside the stone had taken possession of her body. Odin had in no uncertain terms ordered for it to be extracted and the arduous procedure had proven too much for the Mortal body of Jaen, resulting in her death.
A carved bust of his second companion sits on a side table in Thor’s rooms. After the latest loss of his pet Thor had wondered if perhaps a sturdier pet would be better suited for him, but so far he hasn’t been able to decide on what kind of companion he wants. The dwarves of Niðavellir are sturdy and good for any warrior that likes to take his pet on hunts and battles. But Thor is not overly fond of their rough looks.
The elves are very fey but their twittering language and flittery behaviour are not to his liking either. None of the pets he has seen so far had been all that appealing and so Thor returns from every breeder without the companion he set out to purchase.
It is Baldr who comes up with the idea for looking elsewhere. He has decided that he wants to get a playmate for his female Vanir Iðunn and so he proposes going to the shelter and look there for a new addition to the royal menagerie. At first Thor bristles at the thought of getting some throwaway pet that nobody else wanted, but after his brother keeps on and on about wanting to go, he agrees to come with him.
The Ásgarðr shelter is an extensive building that is located at the perimeter of the city centre. When they enter Thor can hear the faint sound of different creatures emanating from the back. There is a reception area where a woman first greets them and then excitedly informs them about facts on the shelter, adoption procedure and other things that do not interest him and so he doesn’t really pay all that much attention.
“Well, since you said that you are looking for playmates for your Vanir companion, why don’t we look at the Vanir section first?” She leads them to a heavy metal door down the corridor and when she pushes them open, the smell of disinfectant and medicinal herbs wafts outside. “Now, in this part of the shelter we have Vanir, Elves and Mortals. There are cages for dwarves and dark elves to the right and we have fire demons on the left. In the back we have rock and ice giants.”
Thor follows behind Balder who wanders around, looking into cages and commenting on some of the pets he sees. There are only few Mortals from Miðgarðr, the majority being vanir and elves. When his brother starts to discuss a blonde Vanir pair, Thor wanders on. He barely glimpses at the dwarves and dark elves and spends more time on the fire demons. Their burning skin and glowing eyes make them an impressive sight to behold.
He shortly ponders getting one for himself but then he decides he doesn’t want to get a companion that might set his belongings on fire. Better leave them to a seiðmaðr. He reaches a door at the back and when he pushes through he steps into a part of the shelter that is dark like the inside of a cave, only few torches shedding sparse light on the corridor that leads to the back. There are rock giants in the cages. Eyeless and tall with skin as rough and thick as actual stone. The further back he walks the colder it gets.
The lighting changes from golden to bluish and the temperature falls so low that the chill has Thor rub his arms. Jǫtnar, ice giants are kept back here. The towering blue beings with their patterned scars covering their body and face watch him pass by with their light reflecting red eyes.
A commotion at the very end of the corridor captures his attention. He sees three Æsir, two of them with catchpoles, grouped around the opening to one of the cages. They are trying to capture something that seems to evade their attempts time and time again. Slowly he gets closer until he can see what kind of fierce giant has them fight so much. What he finds comes as a surprise.
In the very back corner of the cage cowers a smallish jǫtunn. His teeth are bared and he hisses threateningly at the Æsir staff of the shelter. His black hair is matted and dirty and there are a couple of bare patches on one side of his skull. Dirt cakes him and there are bruises on his face. One eye is swollen shut, some kind of discharge dripping from the corner. When one of the men with a catchpole accidentally stabs with the pole against one of its legs, the creature howls loudly, swiping out with long claws. Thor notices a deep gash on the leg, allowing to actually see bone.
“What is the matter with this one?” The only man without a catchpole bows to the prince at the question.
“My lord, this jǫtunn mongrel is a feral that was injured when Tyr and his men went on a hunt. It got maimed by a bilgesnipe. He’s really lucky that he didn’t get killed.” The mongrel seemed to think different judging by the hissing and growling.
“Careful!” A woman joins them and judging from her clothes and the seiðr swirling her fingers she is a healer. “Keep him as still as possible so I can sedate him with a spell.”
The men keep the jǫtunn occupied and fixed in the corner and with some whispered words a spell tangles the creature and soon has him lying on the floor with heavy eyes and only soft mewling spilling from his lips. Thor’s eyes raked of the barely conscious form and watched its chest heave with the weak pants it took. Now that it kept still and wasn’t hunched, the small jǫtunn mongrel was a pitiful sight. Starved, with its bones sticking out, chipped horns and bruises on every part of its body.
“It might be kinder to just put it down.” The healer mutters as she entered the cage and crouches down next to sedated ice giant. Thor watches as diagnosing spells trace over every inch of the little jǫtunn, making him flinch and shudder even though he is barely conscious.
“Will you be able to heal him?” The question comes as a surprise not only to the healer but Thor himself. The jǫtunn is a mess and not even a purebred pet at that. Somehow, the pathetic look of the hurt pet has him want to protect it though.
“Well, there is a lot of treatment needed and some things will take time to heal, but it should be possible to completely heal him.” She repeats her diagnostic spells but this time they appear to be much more thorough than before.
“Very well, heal him and then have him brought to me.” The healer nods at his order and Thor watches mutely for some more time as scrapes and shallow scratches are healed. The bigger injuries are closely examined and orders are snapped at the men watching, to take note of the findings.
When Thor leaves to make the purchase of his new pet he feels a lightness in his steps and he finds himself full of anticipation for his new companion.