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 Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:11 pm
 Pur'Jed had taken to venturing into the rogue lands more and more frequently. It wasn't that she had much of a desire to run into rogues. In truth, she was a little bit horrified and terrified by the possibility, but going into the rogue lands did guarantee that she would find privacy. The den was emptying as her sisters made their ill-conceived matches with members of the pride whose blood was common, or with outsiders.
Nyota had found a piebald lion with blue and white and brown markings that she'd fallen head over tail in love with apparently, and defied their parents to be with him. She had heard second-hand that her rebellious sister had gotten pregnant by the lion and would be bearing him cubs. Because Nyota had left the den rather than deal with their mother's censure, Pur did not know what had become of her sister and her illicit affair.
Like their mother, Pur disapproved of her sister's romance and pregnancy, but she did hope things turned out well for Nyota and her paramour even so. If anything, Pur might have been a little jealous of Nyota, for although the mate she'd chosen for herself was unacceptable in every way, at least she had one, and she knew he loved her. It was hard not to envy that sort of assurance of affection, but Pur tried. After all, Nyota was Pur's sister, and sisters didn't wish ill on each other except in plays.
Life, Pur was coming to find, was very little like a play. That fact disappointed and sometimes dismayed her, because if life had been like a play she would already have been betrothed at her birth to the king's legitimate son. Perhaps not his oldest son, but to one of them, and then exciting things would have happened, perhaps where she was captured by marauders or something and he rescued her from their clutches and then they would realize that they were deeply in love and live happily ever after. So far that had yet to happen, and Pur wasn't holding her breath that it ever would.
Thinking about it, she sighed softly and gazed up at the stars. She had wandered quite far afield this evening.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:28 pm
 It was a fine night to be out, Aesir thought to himself. All was quiet but for the usual sounds of night, which meant that very little was quiet in fact. But it was familiar noise. That was what he meant when he thought that the night was quiet. There was nothing disturbing or unnerving about it. Although he was a Stormborn warrior and feared next to nothing, Aesir preferred his nights like this one most of the time. Though he was always fine with a change in plans.
And a change in plans seemed to have presented itself quite conveniently, the Warlord observed as he heard a soft sigh. He'd smelled a young lioness nearby and followed the scent without even being aware that he'd done so. His occasional meetings in the forest with Räven had become something of a curse, for she was as addicting as a drug, and on those nights when he left the pride at night with the vague hope of coming across her he was sometimes disappointed not to find her.
It was obvious that the female he was coming up on was not Räven. He didn't think the fox furred lioness had ever uttered a sigh like that in her life. It was the sound of a soft creature with flowers in her blood. Aesir's blood burned for a lioness with iron in her blood this evening, which was why he'd taken this walk. It was not Räven he hoped to find this night, but rather an escape from Morrigan, who had once more rebuffed his advances. He wanted her so badly it was physically painful.
He drew nearer, silencing his steps to a stalk so that he could actually catch a glimpse of the lioness he'd been unconsciously trailing. He could see her figure silhouetted. She was young and nubile, and in his present state that was enough. Once he got even closer, he could see her thick purple fur and her snowy white throat, and especially her eyes like green jewels. Perhaps what he really needed was a lioness who wouldn't fight him, one with flowers in her blood.
In any event, that was what he would have.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:38 pm
The wind changed direction and brought to Pur's nose the scent of another lion. She was not much of a huntress. She never had been. As far as Pur was concerned, hunting was an activity for commoners. A nobly born lion had only to hunt if it pleased her, and it rarely pleased Pur to hunt except socially. With so few lions and lionesses her own age in the pride, there wasn't a great deal of social hunting going on. Thus, her skills when it came to detecting things from a scent weren't well-developed. She could tell, however, that the lion she smelled was close and that he was definitely male.
The realization sent a shiver down her spine, and she wondered how close he was. She had not heard anyone coming her direction, but she had also been quite lost in her thoughts, so the fact that she had not heard anything might not mean so much, really. She did not dwell on how it was that someone had managed to sneak up on her. Her mind was occupied with thoughts of who the lion might be, for his scent was unfamiliar to her.
"Who's there?" she called, feeling a little afraid and a little vulnerable.
There was a part of her, the part of her which recalled plays seen since she was but a newly born cub, was firmly convinced that it was the princely lion she had fantasized about so very recently. There was another part of her, however, which was more sensible and recalled what her mother and aunt had warned her about regarding the dangers of the rogue lands. Her mother had been more adamant impressing upon her daughter the dangers of rogue lions than had been her aunt, but both of them had easily convinced Pur that she didn't really want to meet a rogue lion.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:00 pm
"Who's there?" the little purple lioness asked with a shiver.
In speaking those words and shivering the green-eyed girl looked and sounded so young and so vulnerable every predatory instinct Aesir had - and there were a lot of them - went on high alert and marked her as prey. Before he had thought to maybe release some of his pent-up frustrations by relieving himself with her, but by her own words she had doomed herself. Now he would not only have her, but he would have the thrill of hunting her, chasing after her and running her down before claiming her as his rightful spoils. He wanted to get started right away.
He, too, shivered. In him, however, it was not the reaction of a fearful lion, but an anticipatory shudder as he imagined how much he would enjoy the coming minutes. It didn't seem likely that the flower lioness would put up too much of a fight or provide too much of a challenge in a chase, but that was all right. Sometimes it was a pleasure to very clearly be the dominant one, and to have the woman just submit.
He debated simply growling in answer to her question, indifferent to how long he let the silence stretch before responding. The prolonged silence would only make her more anxious. Fear scent could be an aphrodisiac intoxicant, too, he knew from experience. In the end he decided that it would be more effective to show himself with a growl and just say he was coming for her. He didn't want to have to answer questions about who he was and why he was doing this.
No sooner had he come to the decision than his body was putting thought into action. He strode into the clearing, radiating intimidation and growling low in his throat.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:07 pm
Pur heard the growl before she saw the figure emerge from the darkness. At first the enormous lion had seemed like a nightmare figure from a play, so large and dark was he with eyes glowing like embers, but unlike the actors in plays this lion was not playing a part. Her nose told her that he was a fighter, used to being feared and obeyed and more than willing to take what he wanted or use pain and intimidation to get his way. The pride's actors could never capture such a lion so perfectly. Pur'Jed was literally paralyzed with shock and fear for a moment.
"Oh, gods," she breathed as he stepped closer and the spell of terror which had been holding her still was broken.
Every fibre of her being told her to flee, for this was a predator such as she had never encountered and if she was fortunate enough to survive this encounter she would likely never meet another such as him again. At least if she was very, very lucky. She didn't spare any more thought for who he was or what he wanted or why he was there. She just backed up a few steps before screwing her courage to the sticking point and leaping backward, twisting in the air so that she came down running in the opposite direction from whence he had appeared.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:22 pm
Her reaction was everything Aesir could have hoped for. It was almost as if she had been trained in looking terrified and then instructed to await him in this clearing. His blood sang with eagerness to pursue her, and his delight in her only grew with her exclamation, spoken so breathily. He wondered if her voice was always that high, or if it was fearfully-tightened vocal chords which made her sound so. Either way, Aesir's hunting instinct was aroused. So were other instincts, but sating those would come later.
"They can't help you," he growled. It was cliched and unoriginal, but Aesir had little doubt that there was a reason such lines were cliched, and that the reason was because they were effective.
By this time he was speaking to her retreating figure, however, and there was nothing more to be said. She had given him the final invitation by turning tail and running. Had she continued to do no more than back away from him, keeping her eyes trained on his, he would only have continued advancing. Now that she had actually begun to flee, Aesir could do naught but give chase.
In a way the pursuit was reminiscent of the first time he had met Räven, but that encounter had been different, in spite of its superficial similarities. He had been frustrated then, too, but the lioness he'd met had known exactly what she was getting into, and she had welcomed him. Aesir knew he would receive no such welcome from the white-throated adolescent running ahead of him, and he was all right with that. Right now, he didn't want a partner who would fight him.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:34 pm
Pur knew she had wandered too far from her home. It had been one of the last thoughts to cross her mind before she became aware of the unholy terror currently pursuing her. Having gone so far, she no longer had any idea of where she was or where she was going. She was running blindly.
The fact that she had no idea where she was going, or even where she was, did not worry Pur particularly. Similarly, she was not much bothered by the stones and roots underfoot, nor by the leaves and branches which whipped her chest, legs and flanks as she ran. These stinging pains she could shake off for she had no doubt that greater pain awaited her if she allowed the lion to catch up with her. That was also why being lost failed to bother her. It was comparatively a minor thing.
Through the swirling haze of panic in her mind, Pur'Jed knew with a frightening clarity that there was no way she could outrun the demon chasing after her. She was not large, she had no stamina to speak of, and she was lost. He was enormous, apparently tireless, and for all she knew had grown up hunting these lands and had intimate knowledge of each tree, rock, and stream. Not that these defeatist thoughts occurred to her consciously. It was just something she knew beneath her panic that there was no way she was going to escape.
She pushed herself harder so that her breath caught in her chest painfully and her muscles ached from being exercised harder than she'd ever worked them before. The pads on her paws were torn up from the rough treatment they were receiving and leaving bloody partial paw prints. It was only a matter of time before something failed, though she had no idea what it was. All she knew was that she stumbled, and in trying to recover she faltered in her pace, and then she knew for a certainty that he would leap and it would all be over.
She was going to die.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 2:00 pm
Aesir was nowhere near the end of his stamina when he noticed his quarry's pace alter. He'd noticed that she'd cut her paw pads as she ran and been a little impressed by the fact that she'd continued running even so. She had struck him as being too soft to easily endure discomfort of that sort. But then, maybe he shouldn't be too impressed. Perhaps she was simply too distracted by her own fear to notice that she was bleeding.
And there could be no doubt she was afraid. He could smell the fear rolling off her in waves. Probably she felt almost sick and blinded by it at this point. Aesir had never been afraid like that, and if he had ever encountered anything which induced that kind of fear in him, he wouldn't have run. He would have turned and faced it, and either destroyed it or died in the attempt. That was the difference between having iron in the blood and having flowers in the blood.
There would be no point in capturing this frightened female as a Thrall. She would never make a Stormborn, and even if a Stormborn of old blood got cubs on her, the cubs might be tainted by their mother's weakness if they were allowed to spend too much time with her. But then, at least she was doing something. He'd had lionesses who couldn't even bring themselves to run. They'd just let him do as he liked, holding still and not reacting. He found no pleasure in such a passionless joining.
But Aesir's mind was on his current prey, and her steps had faltered. She would not go much farther, he judged, and he didn't want to run her into the ground. Then she would put up as little protest as that other sort, though for different reasons. Aesir would prefer her struggling if he could arrange for it. Thus he didn't wait for her to tire any further, and instead increased his pace until he could spring and take her down.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 2:15 pm
It was like something from a nightmare, turning to look over her shoulder and then seeing that giant shape leaping toward her, and knowing she had nothing left. Her stores of energy had long since been depleted, and even the adrenaline coursing through her veins could not give her that extra burst she would need to evade his pounce. With a sort of desperate futility Pur'Jed turned all the way around, more than a little amazed that she had time to do so before he struck her.
The force of the blow knocked her backward and off her feet, sending both of them into a roll. For a moment Pur hoped that she might end up on top of the pile, but that was a futile hope, for the lion knew what he was doing and was able to bear her easily to the ground with his superior strength and size. There could be no doubt of what he wanted from her now, and she was determined to fight him for as long as she could.
The trouble was that the weight of him pressing against her was crushing, too, but she knew instinctively that she was in a better position on her back than on her stomach. From this position she could use her hind claws to tear at his underbelly. At least in theory. In practice she couldn't get her hind legs into place to do that. She could barely breathe, let alone move, and there was a treacherous part of her subconscious which scented his arousal as it mingled with the scent of her fear and hoped he would act to culminate the two powerful emotions.
"Please," she gasped, struggling against him. In all her fantasies and imaginings, things had never gone this way. This was worse than a nightmare. It was possible, but not likely, that if she appealed to him, it might turn out that he had a better nature like villains in plays sometimes did and he might let her go. "Don't do this."
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 3:04 pm
Her pleas were music to Aesir's ears, and her struggles beneath his body only made him burn. He wanted her now, and he would have her no matter how she struggled and begged, though she was welcome to continue doing both. It would only make the conquest that much more enjoyable for him.
It was an annoyance, though, that she had somehow managed to twist herself as they tumbled so that she wasn't ideally positioned. He wasn't sure if that was luck or planning on her part, but he wasn't amused or impressed by it. He wanted to feel her flesh between his teeth and her pelvis against his. He lowered his muzzle to her throat and let her feel the points of his canines against the white fur there. A part of him wanted just to bite her and see the white stained red, but he resisted that. It was bloodlust, and he could resist it if he chose.
"Leave her alone!"
The sound of another male voice caught Aesir by surprised. He hadn't expected to be interrupted, and had his victim been in a more convenient position he might have finished his business with her before tearing her would-be rescuer to ribbons, but she wasn't and he hadn't started anything in that way as yet. That fact was a sufficient irritant that he jerked away from the purple lioness beneath him and turned to face whatever fool had interrupted him.
A lion with a mercurial temper, Aesir's primary focus was now on fighting and killing. Sex could come later. Blood lust had been very close to the surface of his mind, and he could sate that easily enough by taking down this idiot of a lion who had stumbled across his sport. That might even prove sufficient to quell all his urges for the night.
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 3:21 pm
The feel of the larger lion's hot breath on her throat brought up conflicting emotions. On one hand, she practically wet herself with fear that he wasn't going to rape her after all, but instead was simply going to murder and eat her. The other emotion, which shamed her to the depth of her being, was that of physical desire, as if this was some incredibly rough form of love play. She began to weep helplessly, not knowing which end would be hers, and dreading both.
"Leave her alone!"
It was going to be all right, was Pur'Jed's first thought. She wasn't going to die or be raped. If only the lion on top of her would get up to see who had come by, she could use the time to escape. She was still terrified and winded, but she would push on now until she dropped, knowing for certain what was in store for her if she gave in or failed to get home. And it would be that much worse for her if he did catch her. She had to make a thorough getaway.
It was like a miracle when the dark lion pulled back from her abruptly, whirling around, presumably to destroy the other male. Pur knew she ought to be concerned for the male who had stepped in to rescue her, but that was a secondary need ranked so far below her need to feel safe that she didn't even consider it until she was halfway home. Somehow her feet carried her there despite the pain in every part of her body and the complete lack of input from her brain.
At home she slunk into the den and curled up tightly in a ball and didn't sleep.
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