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 Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:25 pm
 Aprio grinned with satisfaction at the slain deer that lay upon the forest floor. She'd done it. She'd brought down a deer all on her own. She'd served the royal family well...
Ithnan had been sent to hunt... Aprio had seen him slinking away, but had said nothing. He no doubt had his reasons for disobeying the king... If it were anyone else she would have ratted them out at once, but Ithnan... Ithnan was normally such a good servant, and he was so loyal to Syoto... The truth was, Aprio was crushing on him. A lot. And so, she said nothing.
Later, when Ithnan had been gone for quite a long time... Syoto had gotten very hungry... And cranky... and in short, he had sent Aprio to hunt instead, though she was technically his daughter's servant, not his. Aprio hadn't minded...
And now she had brought down a deer. This was good.
She frowned. Now how would she get it back the royal cave?
Best to go get Syoto and bring him back to it himself. It would probably taste better without being dragged through the dirt, anyway.
She left to go get her king, leaving the deer carcass unprotected, alone, and inviting...
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:36 pm
 Reiterei strode through the forest in pursuit of some sort of meal. Usually she was quite eager to catch her own prey. She loved the thrill that she got whenever she pounced on a deer or snatched a bird out of the air. But today she felt tired, and she didn't know why.
She continued searching, but it seemed like today the forest was in a famine of prey or something. Then it hit her- straight in the nose. She could smell its enticing scent from where she was, and without thinking, she followed that scent.
As her feet carried her towards it, she thought about what it could be. It was definatly food. Freshly killed meat. Then she finally found the source. All alone on the ground was a deer carcas. Reiterei looked around, but couldn't see anyone else near this area. "Hello?," she called, "anyone here?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:33 pm
Aprio smiled softly as she headed back towards the cave that Syoto had declared his 'palace'. She was rather proud of herself for bringing down a whole deer on her own... If only Ithnan had seen it...
The King of Dragons sat grumpily in front of the cave, stomach growling. Why did his servants always take so long to come back with food? This was the second time that Ithnan had delayed the Syoto's nourishment, and now this new servant, Aprio, that Salano had found, seemed to be lingering in the forest as well... Why did it take so much effort to get people to go hunting for him these days?!
In truth, Syoto had had no part in finding Aprio for his daughter. After one of her little ventures, exploring the kingdom, she'd come back to the cave proudly leading the pink and purple-ey female, who already had a large blue splotch and stars on her, marking her as a servant of the royal family. Syoto wasn't sure where Salano had found her... But he couldn't very well just send her off; that mark had turned out to be permanent, and if a female wandered around the forest with his mark on her shoulder, people would say that he didn't take care of his servants! And he couldn't have that, now, could he?
So, the mysterious Aprio remained, loyally serving his daughter... Sometimes it seemed like she was even more loyal than Ithnan, who had been a bit sore as of late since the whole thing with Naiosalas...
These thoughts were making Syoto rather sore himself, and so when he saw Aprio approaching the cave empty-handed, with himself still empty-bellied, he snapped at her.
"Where is my food?!" he growled.
((Ooooooh... There's room for Aprio to have a rather mysterious past. whee ))
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:42 pm
Reiterei continued to look around, but could spot no one. At first it confused her-- why would anyone leave a perfectly good meal lying around in the forest? But then again, she had never been to this area of the woods. Maybe this was their custom here? Or maybe it has died of natural causes. She doubted that one, as there was a few wounds in it.
After a while of contemplation, Reiterei finally found a solution that made sense to her: Perhaps someone had the full intention of eating this deer and started attacking it. But then it had escaped, but not without several wounds. Finally, after wandering the forest, its injuries were to much to bear and it died.
Reiterei was glad that the solution was as easy as that- and that the deer didn't belong to anyone. She hesitantly walked up to it, and prodded its stomach with her nose. It smelled fine, and probably tasted fine. She opened her maroon jaws and grabbed its lower belly flesh with her teeth.
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:00 pm
((I'm going to assume she kept eating. whee ))
Aprio gaped at her king. He seemed angry...
"Why haven't you hunted any food for your king?! Where have you been all this time?!" he snapped at her. Oh! He thought she hadn't managed to catch anything, or had but then had eaten it herself without leaving any for him.
"I'm sorry, your majesty," she said, bowing her head, "I managed to bring down a glorious deer, suitable for your feasting... But it was so large I couldn't bring it back here without dragging it in the dirt and dulling its exquisite flavors. So I thought I'd just have you come back with me and you could eat it there-."
"Well, WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT?!" Syoto roared angrily, "I'm HUNGRY! I don't want to WALK all the way to my MEAL! I need NOURISHMENT if I'm going to be going about walking!" He frowned at the maid, who cowered before him, looking a bit frightened. "WELL, TAKE ME TO MY MEAL!"
Aprio obeyed, leading him through the forest to where she had left the kill. She didn't blame him for being this way; usually he was very nice... maybe a bit innocent... naive... At least a half-way decent person, if not a little misguided. But today... Well, today he was just cranky because he hadn't eaten yet.
In the short time Aprio had been serving the royal family, she had learned one thing: Do not keep Syoto waiting for his food.
But, he was her king, and so she had to forgive him. After all, it had been her fault, leaving the carcass on the ground instead of bringing it to him... She should have slung it over her back so that it wouldn't drag in the dirt. That would've been the thing to do. Why couldn't she have thought of that earlier?
She froze as she got to the place where she had left the deer. Someone was there. With bright red fur and a white pattern on her coat that was almost hard to look at... She was eating the king's meal. Aprio cringed in expectation of what was to come. She wasn't disappointed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY MEAT?!" roared the grumpy king.
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:10 pm
Reiterei enjoyed the savory flavors of the deer. She rarely had meat this good where she usually hunted. She made a mental note to herself to stick around here.
The loud voice behind her started her, nearly causing her to choke on the meat that was half-way down her throat. She wheeled around to look at the source of the noise. There was a large blue male and a smaller pink female. She noticed that the female had the same marking on her shoulder, and immediately thought that they must be related- perhaps siblings. She also guessed by the look on his face that it was to male who had yelled.
"Your meat?" she asked him "I found this meat when I was hunting. Someone had attacked this deer, but he escaped. Unfortunately he later died of natural causes and then I stumbled upon him." She looked down at the half-eaten carcass once more, and then back at the blue one.
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:24 pm
Aprio stepped a bit forward as Syoto fumed and addressed the female softly.
"Do you know that for sure?" she asked quietly. She showed the female her paw, which was still stained with the blood of the deer. "I caught the deer for my liege, but could not bring it back to his home... so... I went to get him... You must have stumbled onto my kill while I was gone." She spoke in the same meek tone during the whole speech, not accusing, just... informing. Accusing was Syoto's job.
Syoto steamed as he approached the kill. He nearly let out a sob. The red eye-sore of a female must have been hungry; there was almost nothing left of the deer that was salvagable. And even if there had been, Syoto wasn't going to share a kill with a commoner! It was bad enough that he had to share food with his loyal servants...
His servants... There was a thought.
"You have consumed food meant for the king," he said, straightening up, head held high as he made a royal decree, "thus, thou shalt be in service to the king for..." He paused. How long? Life? No, that would be cruel... URGH. He was SOOOOOOOOOOO hungry though... "Years. The specific amount to be decided at a later date."
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:44 pm
Reiterei blushed when the pink dragon told her story. "Oh..." she replied, "that could be why it was here..." But the fact that she was hunting for this dragon confused her. Why would her brother force her to hunt for him? But Syoto's words shocked her even more.
"Your... a K-k-..." she gasped. She had never heard of a King of Dragons, but it made sense. Someone had to be at the top, so why not him. She felt a rush of remorse. She had eaten the king's meal! Her mind filled with possible punishments. He could exile her! Force her to live in the cold mountains alone. Or he could kill her! She lowered her head towards the ground, "I'm so sorry, your majesty. If I had only known."
She felt some relief at his next words though. "Service? What kind of service?" she asked.
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:51 pm
Syoto waved his paw, dismissing the question carelessly.
"Cooking, hunting, in general just serving me and my family... You can start by GETTING ME FOOD." He growled.
Aprio bent toward the female.
"Best do as he says," she told the red dragon, "trust me, he's not usually like this, he's just hungry... Get some food into him and he'll be more lenient."
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:42 pm
Reiterei looked up, "Thank you, my gracious king." She hoped that she was flattering enough. She had never met a real king before.
"I will do as you say until I can pay off my debt." Listening to Aprio's suggestion, she agreed that it was a good idea to find the King some food. "I will go and find out another meal fit for a king right away," she announced.
"My name is Reiterei, by the way, your royal highness."
She leaped off into the deeper woods. A deer couldn't be too hard to find around here. But she couldn't be sure if any deer was good enough for the charming king.
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 6:08 pm
"Return when you find some meat!" Syoto barked, "So that I can EAT!" He glanced at Aprio, who was giving him an odd look... "Oh! Yes! And so that I can officially induct you into the Monarchy!"
((Shall we time jump? whee ))
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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:04 pm
((Later that day.... or not so much later, just long enough for Reiterei to catch something....))
Reiterei traced her steps back to the spot where she had meet the King and his.... (well, she still wasn't sure if it was his sister, but they both did have the blue and stars) She had a deer large enough to feed at least one dragon, she hoped, halfway across her back; its hind legs were still dragging on the ground. She stopped for a minute to catch her breath, then continue onwards.
Finally, she reached the sight of his Royal Highness. Dropping the deer on the ground next to him, she asked, "Is this good enough, your Majesty?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:36 pm
Syoto grunted an affirmative reply, salivating at the sight of his favorite thing in the world (currently). Right now, he loved it even more than his kingdom.
MEAT.
Aprio gestured to a long stick on the ground at His Royal Highness's feet.
"While you were off getting food for His Majesty, I went back to the Royal Cave and retrieved the Ceremonial Stick... It's for inducting people into the pack... We'll begin the ceremony..." she glanced at Syoto, who gave her a warning look, "right after the King finishes his meal."
Syoto abruptly dug into his meal, savoring the exquisite flavor as his long-awaited feast made its pilgramage down to his stomach. He grunted with pleasure as his Royal Appetite was satiated.
"In the meantime," Aprio glanced curiously at Reiterei, "is there anything you'd like to know about the Monarchy?"
((GAH!!! I Missed the perfect opportunity to say, "Meat! Meat! My Kingdom for some Meat!" gonk ))
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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:08 pm
Reiterei though for a moment, then replied, "I know that their is a King," she motioned to the blue one with her tail, "but is there a Queen, and Princes! Princesses, Knights?" She was confident of the first three, but hoped that there were knights. Maybe she could find her knight in shining armor here.
The stick, however, worried Reiterei, "I don't have to get hit with that, do I?" The whole 'inducting' process frightened her.
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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:34 pm
"Yes, there are others," Aprio nodded, "Queen Aquamarine, Princess Salano, and Princes Siddhartha - the first-born - and Naiosalas." The pink dragon paused for a moment. "I don't believe there are any official knights, to my knowledge... Only servants. Myself and Ithnan." She was pleased to find that she didn't even pause upon saying his name. She thought she was hiding her admiration of him rather well...
She didn't bother thinking about why it was that she wanted to hide it.
"Just a very light tap, once on each shoulder," Aprio replied softly with a smile, "you're entering the service of the king, not becoming a living pinata."
Syoto straightened suddenly.
"Your majesty, are you ready?" she asked cautiously.
He grunted 'yes'.
"Are you ready?" Aprio asked Reiterei curiously.
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