This was Brynhildr’s second viking, but her first without her brother. It felt a little bit weird, but it was not bad? This was a band of females out on a viking, several of them on their first, Bryn one of the few veterans, though she wasn’t very experienced herself. She could fake it, though, she supposed. Her last viking had not been ideal. He had captured a thrall and kept her for himself. Bryn had weird, negative feelings about having thralls. Her mother and grandmother had been captured by force and taken into the pride and kept as thralls until her aunt, Pur’Coeur claimed them as family and let them rise to the rank of freeborn. So they had also disapproved of Hroovitnir and his actions. Bryn wrinkled her nose just thinking about it.
Sure, now Hroovitnir and his thrall, Ukombozi, were in love and trying to have cubs, but Ukombozi was still technically his thrall. It just was not right. Brynhildr would never have a thrall. Well, not a lion one at least. She could imagine herself with a bird companion, but no equal of hers would ever be subjected to that. She hoped that on this viking they would just bring back pelts and trinkets and meat and no thralls, but she had even less control on this viking because she was not related to any of the others. The white lioness tried to put it out of her mind, though, and just enjoy herself. Hopefully it would not come up to where she would have to go against her pride’s traditions and discourage taking thralls.
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 5:47 pm
Delphi was on her first viking. The black lioness had been dying to go for a while now, and she did not want to wait around for her father to go on one, and she had no interest in going with her light coated sister, Megaera. Delphi would never see Megaera as an equal. It was all a part of her raising in the Demon pride she had been born in and lived in until her early adulthood, until the pride disbanded. Slavery was a tradition that translated between the pride of her origin and the one she lived in now, too, though in the past it was more dictated by pelt coat. She warily eyed the white coated reaver, Brynihldr, who was on the viking with them. But Brynhildr had been raised in the Storm born and grew up with their ways. It would not be right or fair to think less of her for her coat when she was just as competent as the darker coated members of the pride, right? It did not seem right, but there was nothing Delphi could do about it. Nor would others understand if Delphi tried to insist that Megaera should be a slave because of her lighter coat. The only thing that saved her from slavery in the Aikanaro’hini was the status of their father. Maybe Delphi would find a white lion on their viking and capture it as a thrall, just to remind Megaera of her place.
Her dark eyes peered out of the skull that she wore, scanning the horizon for any wandering lions. If they saw any non-Storm born out here, they would be hers for the taking and thrall making.
Shireen was also on her first viking, though she was a little bit older than Brynhildr, who had been on one before. She was younger than the black lioness Delphi, though that was not saying a ton, considering Delphi had not been in the pride for a very long time. But she was still getting out there and it did not really matter when, so long as she did, right? The brown maned lioness padded alongside the other lionesses quietly. Bryn was out to find trinkets, Delphi was seeking a thrall, but Shireen was out for the experience, she guessed. She would go along with the other reavers, maybe she would find what she was looking for by watching them. She was getting too old to not have a passion. She had no children, she was just a freeborn, and she knew she could do better. She picked up the pace a little bit, her stone patterned leg carrying her faster. Her light colored eyes squinted in the bright sunlight, but she thought she saw a couple of bodies on the horizon. The other lionesses saw them, too, she knew. The whole band slowed and began to fan out without a word. All of them had been hunting at some time or another, either individually, alone, or in some combination of this band, so they were accustomed to coming upon strangers. Were they prey? Were they other Storm born out viking? Or were they non-pride members?
The females crept up on the pair slowly. It looked like a pair of lions, siblings, probably, based on their equally flamboyant coats. Not from their pride, either. Well, Shireen mused, things did not look good for these two.
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 6:59 pm
Bhaya was uncertain about all of this. She had never been away from her family. Well, never away from this much of it. She had was one of a litter of 15. It was some kind of weird miracle. Or a curse, as her mother sometimes thought. In fact, that was inspired her to name Bhaya, as it meant “dread.” Her brother, Dhikkara, did not fare better, getting a name that meant “curse.” They were supposed to go on their pilgrimage and find their new, true names, but the pride they came from in the mountains that had come from the swamp, dissolved and fell apart before they got the chance. Now she and her brother did not know what to do. Should they still try to find their new names? Would they ever see their family again? Would they stay in the mountains where they could find them? Bhaya was filled with doubt and fear, but she was ready to become her own lioness and not have the one dimensional identity of ‘cub from the super litter.’ No, she would become her own lioness. Maybe she would settle down and find a mate of her own, have a family. Not one as big as the one she came from, if she could help it. It kind of scared her. Was that genetic? Hopefully not.
The orange lioness was caught up in her own thoughts, not paying much mind to what was going on. She was sort of just following Dhikkara while she zoned out. They did not have much purpose at the moment anyway, so what was the point? She would focus if there was something important going on. But it was a nice day and there was not a thing on the horizon to worry about.
Dhikkara glanced over at his orange sister. It was strange, just the two of them. He had left his twin behind, besides the rest of their family. Two from seventeen? Quite the change, he mused. He and Bhaya had matching back markings, he always liked that about her. He was glad that they came out here together. If he had come with more siblings, it might have been too much like home, lost in a sea of similar looking faces. But with just one sibling, he did not feel too alone or isolated or lost. Like maybe he would see the rest of his family again someday. Or if he did not ever see them again, he assumed it was meant to be that way by the gods. But who knew, really. He took everything one day at a time. His sister had hopes and dreams about settling down someday. Maybe they would come upon a pride some where and she would want to stay, find a nice male and have a litter with him and grandkids after that and great grandkids after that. And maybe he would move on and leave her there. He thought they should just do whatever was best for them individually, but he could not help but feel a little bit sad thinking of being completely on his own one day. And he did not picture himself as the kind to join a pride and have a mate and cubs. He was too young to really think about that.
He was getting lost in thought as Bhaya followed him. Neither of them caught the scent of the viking lionesses beginning to surround them on the wind. Nor did they hear them or catch sight of the two black pelts or the white one. They were ripe for the picking.
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 7:30 pm
Delphi was the first to launch an attack. She sprinted and launched herself at the white one, the male. She hated him already. Too bright and white and small. Weak. He would be her first thrall of many. She tore into him as he yowled. She head butted him with her skull and horns. He got tangled up in her dark purple scarf. There was nothing he could do. His orange sister reeled and tried to run. Delphi had her paws full with this one, but trusted that the other one would not get away from her viking sisters. She felt the lion begin to weaken as he shouted his surrender. The black lioness laid on him, panting heavily and refusing to get off of him. He would learn his place now as beneath her. She growled at him while he begged for mercy. Apparently her demon habits died hard. She relished the fear in his eyes from her un-lion like behavior.
She already began to fantasize about what she would do. Would she rename him? To steal his identity and brainwash him as her own? Her father had never done that with any of his thralls. While that was fine for the jackal, Midas, she thought it was a mistake to not rename the lioness Aneesia. It made her susceptible to think of herself as an equal. Phlegyas had even been talking about making her his wife in the new pride. Disgusting. While she hated to question her father and looked up to him entirely, he could be wrong sometimes.
Shireen was a little startled by how Delphi just took off without saying anything to anyone or getting a consensus from the viking band before she decided to take these two lions as thralls. But the black lionesses followed suit and raced towards the other lion, the orange female. The rogue lioness was confused, balking at the demon-like, skull clad lioness who had her brother. She was distracted and distraught, unable to process what was taking place quickly enough. Shireen leapt at the orange lioness, and bowled her over, the two of them tumbling over and over one another.
The rogue lioness did not struggle much. Was she just still confused or was she that weak? Or was Shireen that strong? She was panting, but unscathed and… proud? She had never imagined herself as the kind of lioness to take a thrall. She probably would not keep the female as her own. But, this was what she was supposed to do, right? Be a powerful Stormborn, spread fear and terror in the rogue lands of her ill repute. The idea made her smile a little bit, even with the squirmy body of the stranger underneath her. She looked over her shoulder at Brynhildr, the only one who hadn’t taken any action. She tilted her head at her white companion. Was she stumped because there had only been two lions to jump? Or was it something else?
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2016 3:46 pm
Dhikkara had been completely blindsided. He only got a couple of seconds of seeing the charging form before it struck him. Had he seen the reanimated corpse of a wildebeest? It had the skull of one. And the billowing purple fabric? What was that? His heart nearly burst from his chest. The face of a dead prey beast, but beneath it seemed to be a lion. Or a lioness? It was so large. His vision went black, but he could not tell if it was from the beast’s pelt or a loss of sight. Even as he was being roughed up and howling and yowling, he was still worried for his sister.
“BHAYA, RUN!”
He could not see what was happening to her, as he was squished and pinned beneath his attacker, now captor. He was in too much shock to be able to assess his wounds. The white lion wriggled and writhed. He had been a hunter (of sorts) in his old pride (he had not gone on and completed his pilgrimage so his participation in hunts did not mean he was, by rank, a hunter) and was not prepared for this. Maybe if he had been a guard, but he was not thinking about that now. He was trying to hear if his sister was able to get away while he could not. He would rather she survive even if he could not. He would not drag her down with him. But he heard her screaming and more snarling and more sounds of bodies hitting one another. Not sounds of her getting away, he was afraid.
Bhaya, being the second of the pair of siblings to be rushed, had had just enough time to watch what happened to her brother. The demon-like lion charged her orange brother and took him down, yeowling and fighting and scrapping the entire way. He yelled her name, and for her to run, but she was too caught off guard. All she could think of was could she really abandon him to these otherworldly, evil creatures? She took a couple of hesitant steps away from the brawl, but her indecision cost her greatly.
Another black lioness, this one without any garb and with a brown mane, bounded towards her and leapt, bowling her over and pinning her to the ground. Another lioness, a white one with orange and yellow markings, walked up behind her, too. Having watched the display of her brother being captured, she did not fight. She knew she was not strong enough to escape one lion, and definitely not three of them who were all working together. She bowed her head meekly and stared up into the pale, ghostly eyes of the white lioness. Her surrender to her captors was clear. Hopefully they would be merciful. If they killed them, may they make it swift.
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2016 1:00 pm
Brynhildr watched in disappointment, and even disgust when she watched Delphi charge towards the white and colorful male. She sucked in a gasp as she watched the black lioness ambush and launch herself at the unsuspecting male. She also hesitated and hung back as Shireen followed suit and bowled over the orange lioness of the pair. Well, that would make her in the minority, wouldn't it? Two out of three of the reavers had (although, with out discussing it, she made sure to mentally take note of) come to the consensus of taking thralls. She had to bite her tongue. The white male was causing quite the scrap with Delphi, so she chose to make her way over to Shireen and the orange female that she had taken captive. Slowly, she padded over, and sat down in front of the lioness who was not putting up any sort of fight at all.
"I am Brynhildr, that is Shireen," she nodded towards the reaver sitting on the top of the female, "and over there, with whom I assume is your brother? Is Delphi. We are all reavers, out on a viking, from the pride called the Mrysky Stynyt. Maybe you have heard of it, maybe you have not." Her demeanor was cold and indifferent, but she dreaded what was in store for these two, considering Delphi.
"You will come back with us as our Thralls, or slaves. It would be in your best interest to comply."
Bryn word count: 514 Delphi word count: 544 Shireen word count: 521 Bhaya word count: 505 Dhikkara word count: 572
