Re: [In between: Sif and Hel]
This clearing and the land beyond it, it was both her place and not. It was something more than simply a dream, because she didn't yet have a place to dream from. It was a pause, even though she had been here a very long time. It had been more than an age since she'd felt the call toward a more awake and aware sort of life. And usually, she was alone in the place or accompanied by the shades of those who had passed. It was not Hel and it was not Valhalla, and neither was it a final resting place. But it was a stop along the way, for however long it was needed. What was most important about it was the bounty she could provide and the rustic hearth of stones laid around the fire.
Since it was her place, she was well aware of when someone approached her fire, and she straightened to cast a glance over her shoulder. The woman approaching was familiar - one of Loki's children - and though there was history between her and the Trickster, his daughter earned a welcoming smile. "Far from it. You caught it in a lull." The response came easily in the same language, her voice carrying through the clearing. She set down the spoon she'd been using to stir a large pot of stew, and gestured toward one of the many empty seats around the fire. "You're welcome to rest, Hel. Something to eat?"
And much like Hel in her current incarnation, this place was what Sif had chosen for herself for the very long time she'd lingered. She knew that her husband lived with the soil of Midgard beneath his feet, finding joy and love where he could. It was an existence she'd never wanted for herself, and so she'd kept to this forest to offer moments of respite to those who needed it when she could. But there was something changing now - her husband's current love and wishes made... It had begun to prod at her and draw her away from her own sort of rest and back toward a place that could once again be filled with love.
But still, for the moment, a bowl in her hand and looking at Hel with the offer of hospitality for the other woman.