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 Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:03 pm
To gain his attention, after all, in a pride of such fierce fighters, would mean that Eirik was indeed something special.
Between rounds of fighting with the few friends he had gained and his siblings, and observing the more skilled fighters in their pride, his wanderlust led him to toeing the line between Myrsky Syntynt and the rogue lands.
Looking at it, it wasn't all that terrifying. But he knew stepping out there for the first time would be exhilirating. And the waiting was killing him.
Finding a rock to slump on, the not-quite-cub climbed up and flopped down on it, hissing a little at the warmth on his belly. He laid his head down, and stared out at the rogue lands, watching the wind blow leaves to and fro on trees. It was so quiet out there...
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:46 pm
Tazira wasn't sure how it would feel to come back home. She wasn't completely certain why she'd wanted to even come back. It had been fun to just wander where she'd wanted, gathering stories and coming up with song. It'd been entertaining to meet new faces and make friends. But even while she'd been gone, she'd always thought of her homeland. She wondered if Taraxa was still alive or if he'd been killed in some pointless battle. He was all she had. Part of her hoped that he'd died while she was gone so that she wouldn't have to LOSE him, but that was silly. Tazira and Taraxa had never really gotten along, but she did have sisterly love for the big lug and she knew that he cared about her too even though it was hard for him to show it.
Exhaling loudly, Tazira knew she was close to the pridelands. The wind carried a scent to her, one that was almost recognizable, and with narrowed eyes she peered around expectantly.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:51 pm
While Eirik was still young and, for the most part, easily distracted by something out of the blue, his attentive eyes locked on to what appeared to be a lion in the distance. Excitement coursed through him as he jumped up, sitting on top of the rock and leaning forward to try and get a closer look. WAS THAT A CHALLENGER?
No freaking way.
Sure, he probably couldn't take on the challenge, he'd have to get a bigger lion, but maybe he could still watch the pair duel! There was nothing more exciting than a little bloodshed in the morning, right? As he watched, however, his eyes picked up on what looked, from a distance, like a familiar coat. But that didn't make sense, right?
Frowning and quite displeased with this, the young lion hopped down from his rock and started to walk towards the figure, keeping in mind the imaginary border line that made up the Myrsky Syntynt. He wouldn't cross it, but he'd get as close as he could to figure out who was out there.
Because now it'd just bug him until he did.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:29 pm
Tazira drew up to the male, still a few feet away from him. She stared for a long, long, long moment before blinking slowly. Very slowly. After the blink had come and gone, a very sudden burst of laughter ripped from her throat. Tazira laughed, and laughed. Her knees were weak with laughter and she fell to the side, small wispy plumes of dust billowing up around her. She laughed until she wheezed and gagged with the effort to breathe.
With eyes full of laughter-tears, Tazira tried not to look the kid right in the face. Doing so made her want to laugh even harder, and she was sure that he probably thought she was crazy enough already.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:34 pm
Eirik stopped in his steps when they were close enough, and he eyed the lion with a curious frown. She looked familiar, but not enough for Eirik to make the connection. Although, she smelled familiar, too, and that was just weird. Most lions didn't do that, right? Right. So what was the story? Her first peal of laughter actually made Eirik jerk out of his thoughts, and the poor cub just stared at her like she had four heads as she fell to the side and gagged for air.
"Uh..."
Was it okay to greet a lioness who was so very obviously insane? He wasn't too sure about the etiquette when it came to crazy Rogue Landers. Huh.
"Hi?" He offered, giving the lioness a crooked, if not wary, grin. "I'm Eirik." Yeah, that worked. He stepped back half a step, though, in case the crazy lioness suddenly went into a rampage and tried attacking him. He could totally take her! He just...didn't want to hurt an old person. Yeah.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:59 pm
"Sorry kid," she wheezed, coughing softly as she regained her composure. So it was obvious that Taraxa was still alive and somehow he'd conned some poor female into providing him with cubs. That was just rich. She must've been a pretty little thing, though, because the youth she was looking at was a handsome little thing. Well, maybe little was the wrong phrase. It was obvious the kid had his papa's size (not the fat size, though).
"Hey, kid," she had to return his grin. Yeah, this was her nephew. He looked like Taraxa, had the same smile. Taraxa was a nice enough lion until he spoke, and then all of the charm just went straight out of the picture.
"You live here? You a Stormborn?" He was probably some blood-crazed little brat like his dad, but that was fine. She hoped Taraxa had given her at least one artistic little niece or nephew, though.
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 11:51 am
Eirik blinked when she mentioned the Stormborn, and grinned. It was a challenger! Sure, she was nuts, and she looked awfully familiar, and maybe kindasorta smelled like his dad, but she couldn't be a Stormborn. He'd have met her, right? So, logically, a challenger! A challenger similar to his dad, but a challenger none the less! "I've got more iron in my blood than the War Lord." He boasted, bearing his teeth in a wide grin. It was an over-exaggerated statement and Gods above help him if the War Lord was around, but really, how else could he be expected to answer?
"Are you a Challenger?" He asked, glancing back. "'Cause if you are, I have to find a guard." He snorted a little. He wasn't big enough to take on challengers. Which was fine, but it didn't mean he had to like it, right? "There's one around here somewhere, but..." Not conveniently right here, of course not. Nope. Which meant he'd have to walk the crazy lioness around until he found one.
Just how he wanted to spend his day, oh yeah.
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 1:22 pm
Tazira guffawed robustly, shaking her head as mirthful tears once more pooled in her eyes. Yeah, he was his father's son. Cute little thing, though, and he seemed pretty smart. She was really excited to be home now. She'd never thought she'd return to the pride and find out that she was now an auntie. Tazira wondered how many brats her dearest brother had spawned.
"I'm not a challenger," she snorted with a hoarse little laugh. He was killing her, this kid was. Her sides ached!
"What's your name, then I'll tell you mine, and then what say we go find your pops, or even yer brothers and sisters. How many brothers and sisters you got, anyways?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 2:36 pm
Wait. Wait. She knew his Dad?
Did that mean--
NUH UH.
"Wait." He blinked at her, frowning. "You're not a Challenger." Which meant she was either a crazy lioness or somehow related and, really, that last one made more sense. Although for all he knew maybe Taraxa was out there hanging out with crazy lionesses. Was THAT what one did on a Viking? He really hoped not...
Oh, she asked him a question. "Eirik." He answered, blinking at her. "I've got... Six brothers and sisters. But one isn't here." He snorted a little. "She stayed with my Mother. There's me, Loki, Tryggr, Lennart, Morath, and Ulrika." He grinned a little at her, shrugging. "So what's your name?" SrslynowhewantedtoknowandSHEWANTEDTOSEEHISDAD.
She wasn't related, right? He wasn't too sure he wanted a crazy lioness for a cousin or something.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:09 am
Tazira rocked back on her haunches and spread her paws wide, giving Eirik a cheesy grin before bellowing, "Say hello to Aunti Tazira, kid!" Taraxa had started a little family, that was just adorable. This one didn't seem to be off his rocker nor did he have poor manners. Taraxa had done something right, she supposed.
Dropping down to all fours, Tazira grinned at Eirik. "I'm your dad's younger sister. His only sister, actually. I left a while back and well... I'm home now. For a long time this wasn't the place for me. I needed to get out and explore without plundering and fighting. I wanted to learn stories and songs and poems." Tazira shrugged, silent for a moment before she turned bright green eyes onto Eirik again.
"Hey, kid. How about you introduce me to your brothers and sisters and then we can find your pops. I don't think he's going to be real happy to see me."
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:58 am
Eirik stared at her for a minute, blinking slowly. Sister? Aunt? What the heck?
Why hadn't their Dad mentioned a sister? Although, since she'd gone away, maybe he thought her dead? Questions were racing in young Eirik's mind as Tazira spoke, and he just nodded dumbly, getting up. "Uh... My sisters're probably with their priestesses." He said, shaking his head.
"But my brothers are likely about somewhere. Lennart, training, and Loki... Probably tricking some poor lion into one of his traps." He grimaced at the mention of Loki's traps; a reminder of his brother's tormenting ways. He grinned a little. "But I know where Dad is."
This was going to be such a good family reunion, wasn't it? He turned around, starting to walk back to the living area with a grin. "C'mon." He said over his shoulder, excitement making his voice higher than it usually was.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:17 am
It was good to be home, Tazira decided. Taraxa might not be so appreciative of her return, but then again they'd always had a sort of rocky relationship. It would be interesting to see how he'd turned out. Was he still the same cocky b*****d he'd always been? Tazira would bet that he was. She only hoped that his age had mellowed him, but time would tell. Tazira really had missed the big lug. She'd been a little lost after the deaths of their parents, suffocated. It had played a big part in her decision to leave the pride.
"Can't wait to see your pops again, kid," Tazira muttered softly, excitement lacing those bright green eyes of hers. "I hope he's as excited to see me."
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