[JRP/Viking] Promotion - Bruten, Isskinn, Tallskog, Penina

[bipolar bee]

Quote:

She felt as if she'd been traveling forever. In all honesty, Penina did not mind. There were times she quite enjoyed being by herself; when she wasn't desperately missing her sister and the rest of her family, being alone wasn't such an awful thing. She was a skilled enough huntress, and found it easy to capture prey. If she wanted to be completely honest with herself, she was getting rather tired of fish, which seemed to be the only thing she was decent at catching.

Completely unaware that she was being watched, Penina was currently resting near a small watering hole. Her visions had told her that a rain would soon come; she'd been blessed with being shown inclement weather. Rain, snow, drought, storms. The visions were often easy to handle, and she'd gotten rather decent at calling them forth when she wanted to see them as opposed to having them forced upon her.

Humming softly, Penina sank her toes into the muddy earth that surrounded the watering hole. It was a far cry from the grit of the sandy ocean shores of her birth land, but even still there was something soothing about the cool mud against her pawpads.

Quote:

Their viking had proven unfruitful as of yet, and Bruten found himself mildly disgusted with their Captain. They had been looking for land to pillage for days now with no luck, and talk of returning home had begun to circulate through the small band of Reavers.

Bruten would not return empty handed. He refused to be considered a failure or a disgrace, and so he'd taken it upon himself to embark on a small foray of his own.

Well, and two comrades.

The scent of water was thick on the air, accompanied by something much sweeter-smelling. Bruten followed his nose.

"There."

His voice was soft, and he kept his body low to the ground. A female, pretty and green. Bruten's blood raced through his veins, and an ugly smile contorted his features into something formidable.

"We'll not go home with nothing to show, after all."

Princess_Feylin

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Isskinn

Iss still wasn't sure how he felt about this viking. He was glad to have had the chance to become a real reaver, rather than simply being a priestess's freeborn son, but his companions on this viking were...not what he was used to. There was Bruten, the warlord's son, who Iss found, well, brutish. There was also Tallskog, who was just a deeply unpleasant lion, both sly and a bully.

"Well spotted," Iss murmured to Bruten. "Captain should be lucky you're in his band."

He had more or less filled a sycophant's role on this viking, and while he was not proud of that, it was better than being picked on or victimized. He had never worried about that before, but here he was out of his depth. Big and scary looking, sort of, but not nearly mean enough to hold his own with the other lions his age.

Tallskog

Tall glanced at Bruten, completely ignoring the white lion's basically useless contribution to the conversation. That was what came of being raised without a father. Tall had mentioned that a few times, actually, to needle the big priestess's son. It was fun to do that.

"Since she's at the water already, we could trap her there. It's not like she can walk on water," he observed in an insouciant undertone. "But there's enough of us we could run her down in a relay. Or something else."

It wasn't that he was indifferent to how they caught the female, but from the look on Bruten's face he could tell who would be keeping her, providing the captain allowed it. Probably he would. Bruten was Njal's son, after all. Tall's father was respected and feared, but he was not the warlord.

 

[bipolar bee]

Quote:

Growing more enthusiastic with her humming, Penina worked her paws deeper into the mud. It was cool and a little refreshing as it squished between her toes, and she broke from her humming to giggle quietly to herself. She had little doubt her mother would be aghast. A daughter, playing in the mud!

The thought had her laughing softly to herself.

Lifting her face to the sky, Penina took a moment to enjoy the light on her face. The heat set into her fur, and she very nearly dozed.

Quote:

Bruten glanced at Iss impassively before taking note of Tall's suggestions. He weighed their options before turning his odd eyes back to the female. She looked strong; more than that, she looked kind, and the thought caused the dark lion to flex his claws.

"We'll all three charge at once. Trap her. Isskinn will take the lead, in the middle. Tallskog to the left, and I'll take the right."

He sent a measuring look in Isskinn's direction, a slow and ugly smile settling across his features.

"If she fights us, you'll be the one to beat her into submission, Isskinn."

Bruten did not wait for confirmation from either lion before he began creeping forward at a quick pace; as he drew into position, he moved faster without breaking cover. Surprise was key, and Bruten did not want to give up their position.

Quote:

A strange scent caught her attention; startled, Penina quickly rose to her muddied feet. She flared her nostrils in order to better ascertain where, exactly, the scent was coming from.

Panic began to set in, and Penina let out a distressed whimper.

Princess_Feylin

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Isskinn

Iss's reservations about leaving the main body of reavers diminished somewhat when he listened to Tallskog and Bruten talk. The two of them sounded like they knew what they were doing, which made it seem like their independent venture would be a success. Surely they wouldn't get in trouble if they were successful would they? Who punished success?

He did note somewhat smugly that Tallskog deferred to Bruten's judgment, despite offering suggestions. Iss would have offered suggestions, too, but by the time he came up with anything worthwhile Bruten had already decided that they would charge her and...he would take the lead. Excellent! The idea of beating her into submission was less appealing, but he could do it if she fought. It would be self-defense then, and his mother would understand.

"No problem," he replied with as much bravado as he could muster. "Just make sure you can keep up."

Of course, his remark was completely unnecessary since neither Bruten nor Tallskog had stuck around to hear it, both of them falling into position around him and beginning to move toward their quarry. Iss began to advance as well, taking up his place in the center and fore.

Tallskog

Tall acknowledged Bruten's decision with a quick nod and moved to Isskinn's right. He kept pace with Bruten as he crept forward, moving briskly and remaining hidden for as long as he could, but he would probably end up breaking cover first if Isskinn didn't move his big, white butt. He hissed a short imprecation that produced the desired burst of speed from Isskinn and kept moving.

"Go faster," he muttered when he heard the lioness utter a distressed noise.

If the lioness bolted it would be a pain in the a** to run her down. Their formation was ideal for cornering and trapping, but they were too far away still for her to be effectively trapped. To his right he could see Isskinn moving faster, which meant he abandoned all attempts at stealth and put everything into speed. That was fine with Tall. He could keep up.

 

[bipolar bee]

Quote:

Bruten was not keen on breaking cover first, not when Iss was center stage. Doing so might cause their quarry to run prematurely, and so the large lion picked up speed. He saw Isskinn and Tallskog doing much the same, and when the grassline gave way to open savannah, he would not be far behind Iss.

Quote:

Penina knew that she was being watched, but she did not know how many were out there. Males, by the scent of them, and at least two. She knew she would be overpowered if she stayed where she was, and without waiting a moment longer, Penina broke into a run. She skirted to the left, keeping as close to the small watering hole as she could.

Quote:

"Gods damn it," Bruten snarled under his breath as the lioness moved towards Tallskog. ******** Isskinn's slow a** had caused them an easy capture, and now they'd have to give chase - unless, of course, Tallskog managed to run her down.

Bruten darted after the female, breaking cover so that he could run quickly after her.

"Bring her down, Isskinn! Tallskog!"

Quote:

She heard the roar behind her, and the sound of it drove Penina into a frantic run. She did not look back; doing so would undoubtedly slow her down, but at least she knew how many chased her. There were three, and if they caught her, Penina was certain she would not enjoy what came next.

She ran as fast as she could, and hoped that it would be fast enough.

Princess_Feylin

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Isskinn

"Balls!" Isskinn growled as he surged forward, angling himself toward the green lioness and noting unconsciously that Tall and Bruten were doing the same on either side of him.

He pounded forward, trying not to worry about his companions. Suddenly he saw Tallskog's blond mane passing him and he feared that he had unthinkingly slowed his pace. He had to bring the lioness down. If he screwed this up, it would be horrible, and he couldn't bear to think about the abuse he would earn. It would be deserved, too. He could not fail in this. Even if it meant hurting her, though he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Tallskog

Tall surged forward, passing Isskinn as the lioness veered in his direction and began to flee. Somehow, he was certain, this was Isskinn's fault. He had made too much noise, or simply stood out too much with his stupidly white coat. Stormborn had no color bias, but that didn't mean that some colors were not hindrances in the open. White was definitely one of them. At least it wasn't night. Then Isskinn would probably glow.

"Hey," he called to the lioness. "You could make this easier on yourself."

He doubted that she would make the smart choice here, but he thought it only fair to warn her. Bruten would have no qualms about hurting her, and Tall himself didn't much care except that he didn't want to have the band's overall pace slowed because she was too injured to keep up a decent pace. And he suspected there would be trouble from Isskinn if they really hurt her. The white lion didn't have it in him. Lack of a father no doubt.

 

[bipolar bee]

Quote:

Penina did not intend to stop running, despite the voice that urged her to do so. She did hazard a glance behind her; the lions were large and gaining on her. In her haste, Penina's foot caught a small divot in the ground which caused her to stumble. Her heart was racing, her breath coming in harsh gasps. She was not used to strenuous activity, but she was not keen on simply giving up.

Regrouping after the slight falter, Penina continued running.

She could hear them, their breath, their feet hitting the ground. They were close, and moving ever-closer.

Quote:

The stumble was enough. Bruten was not going to let this female slip past him, and a quick sideways glance was enough to let him know that Tall and Iss were not far away. While Bruten was not usually fond of causing damage to thralls (he did not want to be compared to Kjar), the thrill of the chase was enough to send his blood thrumming hot through his veins.

He wanted this one to bleed. He wanted this one to break, to beg for mercy.

He wanted this one to hurt.

When he was close enough, Bruten lashed out with unsheathed claws. His paw caught her neatly across her rump, and it was enough to send the lioness thudding to the ground near Isskin.

Princess_Feylin

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Isskinn

Iss watched with admiration as Bruten slapped the lioness off her stride. He was probably strong enough to do it, but he knew he could not have managed it so effortlessly. Bruten hadn't even broken his stride with the blow. It had been amazing.

"Oh, shiiiiiiit!" Isskinn roared as he took a flying leap to avoid crashing into the lioness. He had been so distracted admiring Bruten's form that he had completely failed to notice that the lioness had been thrust into his path. Midair he realized that he probably should have plowed into her, but his instinct was not to collide with solid objects while running at full speed.

He landed with easy grace, despite his confused takeoff, and whirled. He hoped to turn his error into something positive even now. He hadn't squashed the lioness, fine. But he could stop her from fleeing in his direction. It would fall to Tallskog or Bruten to bring her down. He was secretly relieved about that. It would be their fault if something went wrong now.

"Get her!" he shouted encouragingly.

Tallskog

Unlike Isskinn, Tallskog was more or less prepared to react when Bruten took that swipe at the lioness. He ducked when Isskinn opted to jump over her rather than make sure she stayed down by trampling her or at least flopping onto her, the better to keep his head from being knocked off by the white lion's bulk, and in the process lunged forward to sink his foreclaws into the closest bit of flesh he could reach.

"Don't try to run," he advised her in a menacing growl. Even if his claws couldn't hold her, she was surrounded and it would be easy to bring her down again. "Surrender."

Shivers ran down his spine. Despite himself, he was excited. He had brought down a thrall. Well, he had brought down a thrall with Bruten and Isskinn. But they had done it on their first viking. That was a thing to be proud of, and Tall was proud.

 

[bipolar bee]

Quote:

Penina had to fight the urge to rise and run again. Only self-preservation kept her where she was, on the ground looking up at the trio of lions that had effectively brought her down. Her flesh stung where the claws had bitten into her skin, and still burned thanks to the claws that had chewed into her the second time.

"I won't run, please," Penina did not have any fight left in her. There was no place left for her to go. No way would she be able to escape them. She was good and trapped, and could only hope that her promise was enough for her to remain relatively unscathed.

"I won't run," she repeated earnestly, looking at each lion in turn. Her gaze lingered on the pale one; he seemed a little less deadly than the other too, a little more approachable. "I promise."

Quote:

Bruten was panting softly, and he lifted his gaze from the lioness to peer at Isskinn. The look he gave the other lion was awful, horrible, and disgusting.

"A gift," Bruten snarled cordially. "From the warlord's son to his fellow Reaver. For you, Isskinn."

Bruten's teeth flashed, wicked and ugly in the bright light of the midday sun.

"Take her."

Adrenaline pumped through his veins, excitement sparking and snapping in ripples across his skin.

"She ran from us. Break her."

It was very clear what Bruten meant. There was no way that his words could be misconstrued, misunderstood, or mistaken.

Princess_Feylin

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Isskinn

"Oh, gods. We did it!" Isskinn exclaimed, thrilled by the lioness's submission. This hadn't been so difficult after all, and she hadn't gotten too badly hurt, either. All in all, a very successful...

"Bruten?" He didn't quite whimper, but there was a part of him that wanted to. It was impossible to mistake his meaning, but Isskinn hoped that he had. He quickly cast his eyes to Tall, hoping that the blond lion would contradict the warlord's son, but Tall gave no sign that he would do so. How would Iss ever explain this to his mother?

"All right. But, um, could I have a little, er, privacy. I can't, you know, with people watching." Actually, he'd never you know in his life, but he didn't fancy the idea of doing it with an audience. Gods, his mother would kill him. She would never forgive him. Not ever.

Tallskog

Tall let his claws slip back into their sheathes, paying no mind to the blood. He would clean them later. In the mean time, the lioness had surrendered and the hunt was over. He wasn't quite as exuberant as Isskinn was, but he was pleased. Moments later, he realized that his internal celebrations had been premature, but if Tall was surprised by Bruten's decision, he didn't show it.

Actually, he smirked as if this had been part of an agreed-upon plan between the two of them, because he hated to look like he'd been caught unawares. "Perkele. You are such a flower-blooded woman, Iss."

He redirected his gaze to Bruten and his smirk became vicious. "Let's give him his privacy. It surely won't take more than a moment. Probably it's his first time."

 

[bipolar bee]

Quote:

Having never been faced with the uglier parts of traveling alone, Penina was not so certain she was correctly digesting the conversation playing out before her. Her brows came together in a frown as her pale eyes darted between the three lions.

Quote:

Bruten let out a loud, ugly laugh, those odd eyes of his locked on Isskinn's.

"Fine. Since you are too womanly to perform under our watchful eyes," Bruten nudged Tall a little roughly as he moved past the other male, "we will give you a little privacy, Isskinn. Enjoy your gift."

Moving a fair distance away, Bruten turned his back and took a seat. He had every intention of listening, if only to be sure that Isskinn performed like a Stormborn should.

Quote:

"I don't understand," Penina whispered, mostly to herself as she watched one of the dark lions stalk away. She wanted to rise to her feet, check her wounds, tend to them if she could; she wanted to run and run and run and never look back. To do so would be foolish, and the lioness recognized that.

And so she remained where she was, on the ground, a look of blatant confusion etched on her features.

Princess_Feylin

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Isskinn

"Hold still and don't try to fight," Iss growled as he stepped toward her. "They're probably not wrong in saying it will be over quickly."

It crossed his mind that he could try to fake this, but he wasn't sure how. If he'd had any experience, maybe he could have done it, but he only knew what it should sound like based on hearsay, and he didn't believe he could fake it convincingly.

Besides, there was this part of him, steeped in the Stormborn upbringing, that knew this was his right. Even so, when he was where he needed to be he murmured, "For what it's worth, I really am sorry, and my mother will probably kill me if she ever finds out about this."

He should probably stop talking about his mother. That was not going to help him perform. The unpleasant snicker he heard from Tallskog's direction didn't do anything to help him either. He sighed and backed away, keeping his eyes on their prey.

"Sorry guys. Performance anxiety or something. Let's just bring her back to the others."

Tallskog

Tall groaned, unsurprised by Isskinn's failure. Of course he couldn't do this. Being raised by his mother had practically turned him into a girl. He turned around with a disgusted expression and knocked Isskinn aside before sinking his claws into the lioness's green pelt and jerking her to her feet. He released her and shoved her roughly toward Bruten.

"I'm done here. The two of you can do what you like, but I'm going back to tell the others that they were outdone by a trio of first-time reavers." He looked over at Bruten before continuing. "You are a disgrace of epic proportions, Iss. This viking may make you a reaver in name, but I don't think anything can make you a reaver in truth."

He turned away and started walking without looking back. He meant what he said. The others could do what they liked. Isskinn's flowery behavior had thoroughly killed his enjoyment of this excursion.