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 Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:36 am
 The brown lioness paced confidently as the band moved through the rogue lands. She knew herself to be capable of anything she was asked to do, she knew where she should be and what she should do. A couple moons of dedicated training under Captain Hroarr himself tended to help with that. It had also helped shape Asmar into a competent Reaver, and one who'd stayed behind when Ru's band continued on to the rest of the Myrsky Syntynyt. The striped lioness had chosen to remain behind. It wasn't that she was afraid of strangers, or densely populated areas, or cubs, or anything else like that. But after what she'd already been through, the young lioness would rather stick with the known quantity. She knew Hroarr now, and the rest of his band. She trusted them, and they her. If she'd gone with Ru, she'd have to start from scratch. Again. Not to mention that if she did leave, she wouldn't be able to train with Hroarr. The Captain was a good instructor, and she'd learned a great deal from him. But as he was still an exile from the pride, he couldn't return. She didn't actually know a great deal about what had happened, but was willing to take his word for it. Just like she'd never told anyone the full story of where she'd come from and what her life had been like. No one had pried, and Asmar didn't feel compelled to share. Her head snapped around and her train of thought broke off at the sudden, unexpected noise. Someone, or something, was out there!
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 1:00 pm
Koyu was... well, still wandering. It was quite aimless and generally boring, but that suited him just fine. Ambling along, he occasionally would notice things, like a group of butterflies doing their thing... or a particularly colorful sunrise. But generally, he plodded along without a care, without a thought, without any fuss at all. Today that was doomed to change forever. Even had he known, Koyu would have likely merely shrugged and walked on to meet his fate. That is, if he'd been forewarned of coming change. His life had been so bland thus far, aside from his pride disbanding, that he simply could not conceive of anything being too much of an upheaval for him to weather patiently. (Needless to say, he was a lion of little imagination.) So when he spotted a group of lions in the distance, he didn't alter his course, he didn't slink and hide, nor did he call out a greeting. He simply kept plodding on his random course, showing zero interest in the other felines nearby.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 5:21 pm
Pink eyes scanned the horizon, seeking the source of the sudden noise, then narrowed in satisfaction as she picked out the unmistakable form of a lion. His fur was dark, his mane not too many shades lighter, and if she had been less alert, Asmar might not have spotted him at all. Well, even with those lighter markings.
Swiftly and silently, she signaled the rest of the raiding party. Not only to indicate what she'd found and where, but that she wanted first crack at him. She knew the band would back her up if she was overwhelmed, but she wanted them to hold back unless if it became necessary. A fierce smile touched her lips. This was, after all, what she'd trained for.
Stealthily, the striped lioness crept closer to the unsuspecting lion. She couldn't yet make out what color his eyes were, and she wouldn't attack until she was that close.
As she crept nearer, the lioness was struck by an odd feeling of familiarity. There was something about those markings, and colors, that made her think...of the Ukuucha'wafalme? Pink eyes narrowed and she considered the lion before her - a young male - in more depth. Then she realized this was a stupid waste of time and if she crouched here much longer, he'd notice her. There would be time enough to figure out who he was later.
With a slight intake of breath, Asmar launched herself at the dark lion, just as Hroarr had taught her.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 6:38 pm
Had he been a more observant and watchful lion, he might have noticed that the group he'd noticed had gone silent and/or disappeared. In fact, he might have heard the sibilant sounds of being stalked. Koyu was neither observant nor watchful. He'd had no reason to be. This, of course, led to his downfall.
He didn't even notice her movement out of the corner of his eye. First he was moseying along like normal, next thing he knew, he was tumbling in the grip of something large and fierce. Well, maybe large was pushing it, but it sure was heavy! His first sound was a grunt as he hit the ground beneath his attacker. His second sound was a yowl of belated surprise. He raised one paw and batted ineffectually at the other's head, only slowly realizing that that head did not bear a mane.
"Ow ow ow, what'd I do?" he yowled, now using his other forepaw to swat at the lioness. "Stop that!" His demand lacked any weight at all. In fact, if anything, he sounded rather like a whining juve. Completely unimpressive, to say the very least.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 6:45 pm
Asmar ignored the ineffective swats contemptously as she stood on top of the lion. There was no strength behind them, and certainly no thought as to where they should land. He was flailing much like a cub who'd fallen down and couldn't figure out how to get back up. Well, her standing quite literally on top of him wasn't helping much there, but she didn't really care.
Making a fist out of one forepaw, the brown lioness aimed a vicious blow at his head.
"You stop," she retorted, amusement flavoring her voice. She was barely breathing hard, and her words were calm.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 6:53 pm
Her blow did little to his thick skin or his thick skull, but it did help snap him out of his flailing and panicked reaction. He quit slapping at her, narrowed his eyes, and growled low in his chest. "I'm not doing anything, and I haven't done anything. Let me up!" He gave the lioness' chest a sharp shove with both front paws, though he still failed to extend his claws. He just wasn't the violent type. Perhaps some of the Pads back in U'W had been that kind of rough with their females, but he had never really thought about acting that way towards any lionesses. If any he'd chosen had been that difficult, he'd just have given them away to someone else.
He glared up at her, his brow slowly creasing with a molasses thought. It was so slow in coming that he shoved it aside in favor of protesting once more. "Go pick on someone else. I haven't got anything for you to take." There, that ought to fix her! All that work for no gain whatsoever. Koyu wasn't the kind to gather possessions, so all he had with him was... himself! No gain there for her at all. Or so he thought.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 6:58 pm
The shove was only partially expected and the lioness wobbled on her unsteady perch for a few moments before regaining her balance once more. Glaring at the lion beneath her, she aimed another couple blows at his forelegs. These were heavier, intended to come just short of breaking bones. If he was going to continue to put up a fight (which was, for the most part, just fine with Asmar) then she would, of course, take steps to neutralize him.
No one had ever said that capturing Thralls was easy or painless, after all.
"No," she responded to his demand that she let him up and to his request that she pick on someone else. "I want you," the lioness informed her victim with a toothy grin that only highlighted the fact that her pink eyes were cold as ice. Not to mention that there was absolutely nothing sexual about her demand. It was, as the lion had already observed, a matter of a possession.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:15 pm
He blinked stupidly at her. Well, maybe not entirely stupidly, but dumbly for certain. His brain simply had too much to process. She wanted him? Some small part of him preened at this news, regardless of its significant lack of sentiment. No one in his life had ever really wanted him, other than perhaps his mother. It seemed like even his father was bored with him after the first week. And here was some strange lioness... or was she?... saying she wanted him. The ego he didn't even know he had swelled just a mite.
But this was counterbalanced by the fact that she was standing on him! A female! Standing on him! Bullying him! That self-same unknown ego raged against such a thing. His up-bringing told him that this situation was completely unacceptable, compliment or not. And oooooow, those blows to his legs hurt! He bared his fangs at her and hissed, but still failed to extend his claws. He ran through several retorts while his mind kept niggling him, something about the female. Something... familiar? "Well you can't have me," he huffed finally, making another attempt at shoving her off and rolling to the side to get up.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:20 pm
She was not at all unprepared for his next pathetic attempt to remove her from him. Just as it hadn't escaped her notice that he wasn't using his claws. Asmar had no idea if he was a pacifist or if he just thought a mere female wasn't worth the effort, but regardless it was a damnfool choice of his. Not that she was going to argue.
She did, however, cooperate this time, desiring the unmoving stability of raw earth beneath her paws. Except, however, for one.
Delicately, gracefully, the brown lioness set one paw, claws outstretched, upon the male's head. One clawtip was dangerously close to a red eye.
"Oh, I rather think I can," she remarked offhandedly.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:30 pm
It was a relief to scramble to his paws, though the female made it before he did. However, her next move startled him completely. He froze in place, going cross-eyed to try and look at the paw she had placed on his forehead. What... in... the... world?! He held utterly still and refocused his eyes on her, brows drawn in. "What did I ever do to you, woman?" he demanded quietly. "Or is it me at all? Perhaps you just hate all males?" For that sort of cold fury was in her eyes, and he, for once in his life, was observant enough to hit the nail on the head.
Hating males... vague familiarity... it finally gelled. His eyes grew large and round, despite the impending threat of her claw. "I remember you," he rumbled in astonishment. "You left!" He'd been pretty young at the time, but the tale of the escaped sisters had circulated as a warning to pesars and a threat to banus. No one had wanted a repeat episode. Of course the kajira had been severely punished, but it didn't seem like terribly long after that when things began to go wrong in the pride. But this... this was one of those adolescent banus that had escaped! However, his slow brain had yet to inform him of the shame of being pinned down by a former banu who really deserved kajira status. But when it kicked in... oh boy, was he in for a bad time.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:43 pm
She frankly, wasn't much interested in answering him. No, Asmar didn't hate all males, but she did hate what they did to lionesses, forcing them to live as second-rate citizens who only existed to bear and raise children, preferably male ones. But it wasn't worth explaining to some random lion.
The words that came next startled the lioness out of her musings and brought her back to the present with an almost physical jolt. He remembered her from the Ukuucha'wafalme! No wonder his markings and colors were familiar, with his age, he had to be one of Parvana and Obadias' kids!
Anger, long suppressed, surged to the forefront and with a savage snarl, Asmar pushed her claws as far as they would go into the lion's head. She could feel the one claw piercing his red eye and bared her own fangs in satisfaction. Withdrawing her claws from the bloody holes, she swiped them across her victim's face once - twice - and thrice for good measure.
"Yes," the striped female hissed, bringing her mouth close enough to bite the male's ear. "I left. But you...you'll be stuck here for the rest of your miserable life." The words held the weight of promise.
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