The sun had barely peeked over the horizon, but with winter fast approaching that was happening later and later in the day. Soon the sun would barely rise before drooping back beneath the horizon again, too tired and weary with winter to remain for long, and the long dark winter would begin in the north. The darkness would not greatly bother wolves, who could see in the dark nearly as well as in the day, but the tedium of spending one's days in darkness could prove too much for those not used to it. It had long been her peoples' habit to combat the dreary winter with stories, both entertaining them and teaching them. No doubt the pack's youngest member was finding the lengthening nights to be frustrating and boring, so he would likely welcome the traditional lessons-disguised-as-stories. With that in mind Katja sent out a questing howl, summoning the young Finnvi boy to her side.

It was dark. It was always dark. Stori flopped over, grabbing a chewing stick. This was a new stick, the bark was still peely and green underneath. The pup set to making sure that bark wouldn't get a chance to dry over his smooth, pretty stick. Small teeth worked their way between the wood, tugging up the dark, flakey tree-skin. After a while, slobber covered the majority of the stick, but most of the bark was still on. Maybe the bark was already drying out! Stori set to work with more force, his teeth stabbing into the wood. He would have finished the stick, but a call rang out for him. Katja? Stori scrambled to his feet, stick hanging unevenly from his maw. His ears perked. Did she really call him? After a second, he took off, his large paws hammering away at the ground until he came to see the woman, "Kafa!" he called around his stick, careful not to drop it. He padded up to her and dipped his head to drop the stick gingerly on the ground, "Is something happening?"

Stori, Laufey's eldest and only child, came forth with eagerness and a stick firmly in his grip. "Come, sit with me," she invited him, though in her cool voice it gave the impression of being half command. She herself seated herself. As was her long habit, she seemed less to be sitting and more to be perched upon the earth like a bird, ready to spring up at a moment's notice and yet... utterly still. "I would speak with you awhile." Laufey's own education was lacking, gaping holes in it that only time spent among his people could fill; he would not yet be ready to impart the necessary knowledge to his son. Yet was that not the purpose behind this pack? The extended family, prepared to step in and do what was necessary as families do? She ruminated a moment with her silver eyes, closed, turned up to the sky, before she opened them once more to focus on the child. "I would tell you a story of the mighty god Thor, and of the trickster Loki. Would you care to hear of it?"

Katja told him to come and sit with her in her soft but still commanding voice. Stori was used to it, though he would still obey, picking up his stick before settling near the steely woman. She said she would like to speak to him for a while and, stick in maw, Stori nodded to her enthusiastically. Katja asked if he would like to hear about Loki and Thor and Stori nodded again. Of course he would! Putting his stick down once again and equally as gentle as the first time, Stori spoke up, "Tell me about them! I wanna hear it!" True to his name, Stori loved stories.

The boy displayed an admirable eagerness for the story, and Katja would wait a moment before obliging him - not because she needed to get the story in her head, because she had known it since she was a child, but rather to immerse herself in the memory of how she had been told the story by her father. "Long ago, Thor and Loki set out to visit the pack Utgard, a pack of the giants of Jotunheim. Along the way they sought the hospitality of a family of rogues. The rogues had a son called Thialfi, the swiftest hunter of all the rogues they knew, but even he could not hunt enough food to feed the mighty god. Now, Thor travels the world on a chariot pulled by a pair of goats, so he offered the meat of the goats as the meal, provided none of the wolves to partake of the feast broke any of the bones. But the loners had gone hungry often, and as you know the marrow in the center of the bones is a tasty treat. Can you guess what happened, Stori?" She paused, cocking her head to the side in a clear invitation for him to guess.

Stori clung onto every word of Katja's. The atmosphere of the story surrounded the young boy. She told him of Thor and Loki. Stori had heard of Thor before. It was his favorite as of yet, though he only knew a handful at this point. His lessons with Katja had been and would teach him more; the culture, the language, what it meant to be a Yfir wolf. Today, however, he would listen, his mind would follow the story. The gods on earth decided to help out in the lands. The rouges were in need of food and Thor offered his goats as long as they didn't break the bones. Thor was so nice! Stori could see where this was going, though. Katja asked him if he knew what happened next and Stori swallowed, nodding slowly, "They broke the bones, didn't they?" he answered, wondering what Thor and Loki would do to the hungry band.

Stori answered quickly, and Katja nodded solemnly. "When they woke the next morning the goats had been magically restored to their form... but one goat limped terribly. Thor was enraged, and confronted the rogues, accusing them of having broken the bones to suck out the marrow. The rogues were terrified that Thor would kill them in his fury, but the young son Thialfi was brave despite his terror, and stepped forward to confess that it was he who had broken Thor's command." She paused to build Stori's suspense over Thialfi's fate. "Thor was impressed by the lad's honesty, but the hunter's foolish mistake could not go unpunished. Thor and Loki consulted for a moment, and a decision was reached. Thialfi would not be killed for his transgression, but he would be taken as a servant bound into Thor's service. Thialfi's parents agreed with great relief, for what else could they do? They had been frightened that Thor would kill them all, and they could not refuse the god's will. When Thor and Loki continued on their way once again, Thialfi went with them - to Utgard, the pack of giants."