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Hopefolly rolled 5 4-sided dice:
2, 2, 1, 3, 2
Total: 10 (5-20)
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 Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 1:05 pm
One day.
It had only been one day since her last confrontation, and in some ways, her first. Time dragged by at the pace of a snail. Correction, a dead snail. An hour felt like a week and a week felt like a month! The whining sense of entitlement she felt was almost to be anticipated from someone plagued by grotesque, aching wounds. Had that been why she was so prone to bemoaning her condition, it would have made sense.
But it wasn't.
Zilly didn't relish the pain - she wasn't that crazy, thank you very much - but nor did she find it so vexatious she couldn't go on. What really, really bothered her... what really, really tore at her was something else entirely.
She couldn't stop thinking about it.
Brawls her family had were over when they were over; Zilly shrugged off the matter and carried on, careless and free, until the next time. This one didn't provide her the luxury of just ignoring it, and that was oh-so-troublesome for someone like her. Those eyes and that one-track mind got fixated on one thing and let it consume every other aspect of her life. Xi had been the subject of admiration until recently. Now it was--
"GUNNAR!" Zilly screamed his name without spite or hesitation. Part of what made this so perplexing was she wasn't actually mad at him, just...
Annoyed? Maybe annoyed.
"GUNNAR! HEY! WHERE DID YOU GO?"
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troll toll rolled 5 4-sided dice:
3, 4, 4, 3, 3
Total: 17 (5-20)
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 1:07 pm
Although Gunnar's victory over the obnoxious lioness had been quite satisfying, her parting words had been a little unnerving. She was in love with him? The blond lion shuddered slightly just thinking of it. If he ever did take a wife, it certainly wouldn't be someone like that crazed lioness. Perhaps she was infatuated with his obvious superiority. He shook his head. Whatever her issue was, he just hoped she stayed away. If she did come back for a challenge, hopefully she would be met by one of the other reavers and develop an insane infatuation for him instead.
Gunnar was just starting to cheer up, thinking of her being pummeled by one of his friends, when he heard his name being bellowed. He sighed. He should have known he wouldn't be so lucky. The reaver turned and headed towards the source of the caterwauling, frowning.
"Are you mad?" Gunnar roared back, sighting the bedraggled lioness. She had truly taken a good beating, and she looked in no shape to challenge him once more. Gunnar himself was a bit stiff and sore (and achy, where her claws and teeth had seared him), but he was in better shape than her. In this state she would surely be beaten again. Maybe he truly had knocked her brains loose the last time they fought. He was a bit irritated at being challenged by such a loopy lioness. At least she could have come back at full fighting strength!
"Do you want to get beaten again, so soon?" The blond lion snapped, glaring at the irritating lioness. He could hardly believe that she would be so foolish, but he braced himself nevertheless, ready for an attack.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 1:39 pm
Second encounters were not a commonplace happening in Zilly's life, blood relatives aside. She tended to meet, greet and either leave the other individual in question or eat them in the case of meerkats. Her flighty nature had made her nothing more than a vague memory in the mind of most, and not enough time was spent in her company to comprehend for all the reasons they could call her 'crazed'... 'surprising' was, overall, a more fitting word.
She had an ego the size of an ocean, but it was of an atypical variety. Not the kind that would prompt someone to respond to even the most degrading of taunts, but rather the sort that allowed that heckling to bounce off. Her unrecognized superiority complex was almost like an innate trait given to her at birth versus some foul personality flaw. Things had always been how they had been. It was hard, nearly impossible, for her to see them any other way.
She didn't understand it or the engraved sense of duty that drove her back to this place. Reasoning out her feelings was not a strong point of hers, not by any means. So, Zilly could only be directed back to him without bothering to question why because, in her opinion, she knew why.
"I'm not mad," the lioness declared truthfully. "I'm back because I'm in love with you."
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 1:45 pm
Yet again she was babbling about being in love with him. And she wasn't attacking. She was just standing there, confessing her love. It seemed she wasn't here to challenge him after all. It was making Gunnar feel rather awkward.
Gunnar hated feeling awkward, especially if it was some wretched foreign lioness putting him off-guard. He curled his lip in mingled disgust and displeasure. "I am not in love with you," Gunnar said, almost spitting the words. Good grief, now he had some crazy lioness moping around out here mooning after him? If she was hoping he would adopt her into the pride as a - Gods forbid - wife, she was going to be out of luck.
With only a roar for warning, Gunnar leapt at the lioness, claws and teeth bared. If she didn't want to fight, hopefully he would scare her off for good this time. And if she did, well ... he could just beat her again and hope that would be the last of it.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 1:56 pm
"I am not in love with you."
That's what he said, but his lunge for her suggested otherwise. Zilly was confused by his contradictory behavior, but she also found a fiendish source of merriment in it. If he wasn't in love with her - as he so claimed, the silly boy - he'd have just left. Zilly left her siblings and spared no nostalgia for them, after all.
She concluded her mere presence was enough to drive him into a temper tantrum. That little fit would only be made placid by defeat or victory; either way, he had to have one, and this only further supported her theory he was in love with her.
Madly in love with her, so to speak.
There was distinct 'thud' that could only be the sound of a body hitting the ground. Zilly was ready this time, though, and using her well-toned hind legs she kicked him off her and over her head. Mind you, not without receiving a fresh batch of claw and bite marks in the process.
And, some of her wounds had reopened from yesterday. Possibly. She wasn't sure she could tell the new apart from the old, to be honest.
"I think you're really in love with me," she told him arrogantly, just before rushing forward to tackle him.
What she'd do after that... she hadn't really figured that out yet.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:51 pm
"Faugh!" Gunnar sputtered out a roar of rage and disgust. No, he was most certainly not in love with this lioness! In fact, he was growing more and more certain that this lioness was insane. Why oh WHY couldn't Taraxa have found her instead? The other reaver had some kind of sick fascination with uppity females, he would surely love this ... this beast ... in return.
Despite her wounds, the lioness's attack was much stronger than he had expected. Much stronger than it had been yesterday. She was learning quickly.
Gunnar's breath left him in a rush when the lioness slammed into him. If she'd been at full strength, he imagined she might have knocked him down. He staggered aside, snarling, and returned the tackle with his full weight behind it. Maybe he could knock her down himself, and hold her down until she gained some sense.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:03 pm
The God-given lioness was no lightweight (should anyone imply she was fat she'd make her father's domain proud), but that didn't seem to matter. Gunnar may have had more muscle; the ground might have been slippery. Whatever the reason, Zilly crumbled like sand in a loose hold.
"Ow, ow!"
Not exactly the most dignified of complaints, but to be fair, this tussle had reopened every wound without bias. Tack on the new ones and she'd have had to be all sorts of crazy to not feel it. And of course she wasn't crazy. Who would dare say such a thing?
Zilly kicked and squirmed and tried to knock him off again. "You're so heavy!"
Pot, meet kettle.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:22 pm
The lioness's claws raked at Gunnar, driving him back with a snarl of pain. She had some fight left in her, it appeared. But she was hardly fighting in a manner befitting a Stormborn! In all of his years, Gunnar had never heard a duelist complaining. When he and his comrades fought, it was peppered with boasts and oaths, threats and brave shouts.
Not whining!
"Stop your sniveling!" Gunnar roared, glaring at the 'challenger'. With every minute he knew the obnoxious lioness, he disliked her more. "If you wish to become a Stormborn, act like one!"
He swung his heavy paws at her, claws unsheathed, on the principle that a solid blow to the head would either knock some sense into her or shut her up.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:31 pm
Zilly had a bad habit of getting distracted when something unexpected happen, and once it did, redirecting her attention was a trying effort.
"If you wish to become a Stormborn, act like one!"
Wait... What?
Fortunately, giving her a good knock to the head was more than enough to call back her wandering mind. Sort of. It was kind of hard to focus after that, even though she wanted to.
All four legs curled under her and then sprang out, giving their all to the effort of knocking him away again. And, with her claws extended same as his, she didn't seem mindful of if she scratched the hell out of him or not.
"What are you talking about?"
Probably not a good time to be asking questions, but, well...
What was he talking about?
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:37 pm
Gunnar was irritated enough to be distracted. Not a good thing. He should have easily avoided the lioness's charge, but in his annoyance he didn't step away in time. Those claws raked him again, reopening old wounds and adding fresh ones. The sting was abominable. Gunnar leapt backwards, getting out of range of her claws as quickly as possible.
Could it be that she really was this dense? Why had she returned if not to challenge him? He supposed it could be because of her 'love' for him, but the possibility was too horrible to contemplate in depth.
"Aren't you here to challenge me?" Gunnar snarled. "If you beat me, you'll win a place among the Stormborn, foolish female." He grinned at her rather nastily. "I very much doubt you will beat me." To drive his point home, he lunged at her again, jaws snapping.
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Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:55 pm
Her far paws slid back like someone bound to move, but her reaction hadn't been quick enough. After just two of her quickened heart beats, she was rolling against the ground, being bitten and possibly clawed again. Her senses were going haywire; there was just too much to think about at once. Things were confusing and noisy.
Zilly had never been given a vision before. Her misconception about them being a controlled power was put to shame. The violent convulsions were a side-effect she hadn't been braced for. Her eyes were shuddering like a cold cub would shiver sitting in the snow - they stared, but didn't see him or anything around her.
Her mother is what she saw, and she looked so pleased with her Zilly's heart would have melted if it wasn't already preoccupied feeling as though it were about to explode.
She saw herself - and that was strange indeed - bowed before the other lioness, covered in scars but looking like she'd achieved a greatness that made each and every one worth it.
"Amazing as expected, D'mzil," Xi praised.
The supernatural slide-show felt like it dragged on for an eternity. To the outside world, it was seconds.
Zilly's psyche snapped away from the forced prediction and she greedily took in air her lungs had denied her until then. Still dazed from the incident - and the knock on the head - she felt pain and instinctively swung at his face, snarling.
That sound was vicious - that of a killer, no doubt. Not one she would have aimed at her sisters or even Gunnar had she been in her right mind. (Of course, her right mind was wrong in many ways.)
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 9:59 am
All of a sudden the female's thrashing beneath him became something more. Gunnar had never seen anyone convulse before, but it was obvious that something was seriously wrong. That glassy stare in her eyes was alarming as well. He backed off, hurriedly.
As tempting as it was, he hadn't wanted to kill the female. He found her simply appalling, but he had to admire her courage and persistence. Had he snapped her neck somehow? The blond lion leaned over her, wondering what he should do - and then all of a sudden she was herself again, snarling and swinging at him.
Had her fit been a ruse to draw him in? No, he couldn't believe that. She had truly been under the grip of some serious hurt.
The lioness had seriously hurt him now, though. The blow to the face was stunning. The claws tearing at his muzzle were no picnic either. Gunnar leapt back, getting out of her range. He shook his head quickly, forcing back the pain, and then jumped at the lioness, seeking to crush her to the ground once more and force her to submit. It was time to end this. He didn't want to kill this brave lioness, no matter how distasteful he found her, and if they kept fighting he surely would. Hadn't he already scrambled her brains somehow?
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:52 pm
She hadn't been pretending; however, that kind of sleazy tactic was right up Zilly's alley if someone thought to suggest it to her. She had never been taught a sense of what was 'wrong' and what was 'right' in combat. The word 'honor' had no meaning to her - literally. If she did have some semblance of it's definition, no doubt it would be as flawed as her explanation for 'love'.
Still, she wouldn't have schemed a deceitful move like that on her own. The way she analyzed things now was too forward, too direct; her mother was the conniving mastermind and so much better at it.
The one notably underhanded technique Zilly had ever sewn was telling Xi of the fairy tale from her "vision". And, well, that hadn't worked out so well, had it? She'd had to leave because of it, all in the name of going out to find something that might not even exist. It was so heart-wrenching to think a thing that could make her mother proud didn't even dwell in reality.
The excruciating headache, the seizure-like backlash, the loss of present-day sight... All those things, and so many other things, she would have suffered through for that foresight. For that real vision.
"Hey..." There was something seriously disturbing about how a lioness who was in this much pain and being crushed beneath him could speak in such a conversational tone. She didn't struggle or squirm, just asked, "What does that pride of yours actually do?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:16 pm
At last the lioness had stopped struggling. Her rage seemed to have departed. Gunnar was relieved, but he didn't trust her enough to let her up. No, she was going to stay right where she was until he was sure she wasn't going to leap up and keep trying to attack him. It wouldn't be honorable of him to seriously maim or kill a challenger in this bad of shape, and with this much spirit.
Besides, he was hurting himself. The wounds from yesterday had been reopened, and the new slashes she had given him throbbed and stung. The wounds where her claws had raked across his muzzle were leaking, staining his face red. Having suffered this beast of a lioness's attacks two days in a row, Gunnar was not feeling his best.
It was difficult to believe that the lioness had returned without knowing anything at all about the Stormborn, but Gunnar knew without a doubt that she was a peculiar one. He supposed it might be possible. "We are the Stormborn," he replied darkly. "Warriors. Vikings. Children of the Gods." A note of smug superiority crept into his tone. Her question was a bit perplexing. What did they do? They made war. They were the Stormborn. It was all the same in his mind. "We live for battle," he said finally, scowling down at the female.
"Will you submit? I've beaten you enough for one day."
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:34 pm
Live for battle...
Getting a good look at him from such an awkward, forced angle was a hassle. She still tried, but the result was dizzying and worthless. This kind of headache made it hazardous to glance in any direction that wasn't forward. Staring straight ahead didn't alleviate the pounding against her skull entirely, but it eased the pain. A little.
Zilly pinned her ears back and grumbled, "Yeah, fine. Stop crushing me."
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