Hel hadn't made any effort to track down Astrid. After he'd returned to the cave to find it empty, he knew not only was she the one to take the cubs, but she also had help in doing it. He could only assume she ran to his mother for help, but then why hadn't she come to accuse him of violence? Had Astrid not said anything? He smirked. Curiosity was getting the better of him.
It had been a while since the incident, and the pride was abuzz with it. They didn't know a damn thing, but everyone was well aware Freyja had been due to bear cubs and was the type to show them off when she had them, so where was she? When Hel was asked, he could only shrug and show false concern, after all he'd been her favorite. He also made it very, very clear that she'd had her cubs before she'd gone missing. He wanted all eyes looking for those cubs in his favor, although he knew the minute he spotted Astrid he would get his answer one way or another anyway.
He glanced up when a familiar lioness was swarmed for questions, and he frowned and made his way through the crowd. "She doesn't know any more than the rest of you, so scram."
Of course, he glared at the lot of them, the lesser of the lionesses shaking their heads but he'd managed to score a few giggles. He rolled his eyes at those ones.
Astrid was livid. It had taken too long, surely Hel had noticed her absence by now, and yet she hadn't spotted him yet, which she assumed to be her own luck. Freya had parted from her at the border to see if anyone had seen anything, since Astrid herself had remained tight-lipped on the entire thing. Freya still gave her a weird look, almost as if she were trying to get something out of her, but Astrid had kept her mouth shut. She figured trying to explain how she knew her mother was dead, and by her own son, had been too much. As she flitted through the crowd, being badgered by question, the deep voice of the adult Hel froze her in place. Of all times to run into him, now would most likely be one of the worst. She barely heard the titter of the lionesses that departed before Hel looked her in the eye, a soft smirk on his face but the gaze that fell on her was dark.
She stared at him right back for a brief moment before looking around, curious to who might be watching the situation. Deciding on her path, she took a deep breath, "I know you're going to ask me where they are."
Hel blinked, cocking his head to one side, though his expression was anything but confused, "Of course I would want to know the whereabouts of my family, isn't that only natural?" He turned away from her and started walking, intent on asking someone else, "Maybe Mother will have a few more answers for me than you. You did take her with you, after all, on your little journey..."
Astrid glared at his turned back and quickly ran up in front if him, "You can't! She doesn't know anything more than I do!"
Hel raised a brow, quickly brushing past her and looking around to find the signature marked pelt of his mother. With little to no warning, he found himself thrown into an empty den, his back hitting the ground hard. He quickly stood and stared down his attacker, shock registering for only a moment as he stared her down, before he smirked, "Really, Astrid, is that any way to treat your... nephew?"
Astrid growled low, pacing in front of him, "I was never your aunt, was I? You called me it when it suited you, but you are just like your grandmother." She stopped, looking at the ground at the entrance to the den. "You can't tell your mother anything... neither could I. It's bad enough we had to-" She clamped her mouth shut when a shadow blocked her line a view, and she looked up at the massive body of Hel in the doorway to the den.
"Astrid, I was never mean to you, was I?" He purred, taking a step towards her, watching with delight as she held her ground. It was satisfying to see her have some backbone for once. "If anything, I liked you all the more because you took the time to pay attention to me..." She dodged to the left and he lept in the way, blocking her escape, and he saw the true terror in her eyes. He frowned, a shame really, that she should be afraid too. He hated that look.
"Since you seem to be so unwilling to share information, maybe I should add to that long list of lies." He smiled, the foreign look on his face something that seemed to bring Astrid close to tears. "You should smile more often, Astrid. I could just kill you and get it over with, but let's be honest... Where's the actual fun in any of that?"
Astrid could only stare in horror as he cornered her and spoke, the words whizzing right over her head as she made no effort to understand his reasoning. Helvegr was.. insane, there was no other word for it. And as he made his stealthy approach, blocking her every escape, she knew exactly where this was going to lead, and she held her head high. If he thought he was going to win, he was dead wrong. She could only have the faintest of hopes that someone might come along and put an end to this before he really did end up killing her, or someone else.
She closed her eyes and looked away from him, chanting a mantra in her head.
'At least the cubs are safe, and he will never get to them.'
[Word Count: 1,003]