[SRP] The Huntmasters (Odd & Kazul)

[Princess_Feylin]

Kazul

Something was going on. It was big and important, whatever it was, and it had everyone upset and excited, and no one would talk to Kazul about it. The little dragon girl was frustrated by that, and after a few days of unbearable tension between her parents she had set off to find out what was going on from some other source. Her other source informed her that her da had gotten another lioness pregnant who wasn't her ma while he was out raiding, and then taken one of the cubs from that litter back with him - she guessed that meant Calder - which prompted the mother to follow with the rest of the litter. It was the mother's showing up which was unusual, and probably which caused the tension in the den. Kazul couldn't imagine that her ma would be too thrilled with another lioness around the pride who had her mate's cubs, and wondered if her da was going to take the other lioness as his saltwife and acknowledge the other cubs. She'd only met one of them so far, Calder, who she hadn't realized was her half-brother, and she didn't know how she felt about the whole thing, or about them. She had plans to investigate

Odd

Spirits! Everything was so different here in this new place. There were so many other lions around, it was more than a little unsettling for Odd. He had never seen so many people all in one place before, and he could not seem to keep any of their names straight in his head. At least Calder was back with the family, and their mother hadn't chosen to live in the midst of all those lions. Calder knew some of their names, and he probably could have introduced Odd to a few of them, but Odd wasn't quite sure he was ready to go through the introduction process. It seemed to him that soon enough people would come to investigate on their own, and he would surely meet them then. It might even be easier to remember them if he saw them individually, rather than as part of the sort of sensory overload he was sure he would experience from the mere activity of exploring the area around their new den, which he had been doing slowly, following what he called "spirit paths" short distances from the den to learn the lay of the land.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Kazul

It didn't take long for Kazul to figure out where her da's "other family" lived. There had been a good deal of gossip going around about that, too, and if she just stayed still and listened she tended to learn a lot, she'd found. Of course, first she had to let people see her and let them think she'd left. If she let them see her, they tended to be reminded of her da, which wasn't a bad thing, and also of his other cubs, which was what she wanted to learn about. Once she'd learned what she needed to know, namely whereabouts she might find her half-siblings, Kazul set out downhill toward the forest, taking care to be stealthy, since she was relatively certain that it was not a place she was supposed to go for any reason, but particularly not merely to satisfy her own curiosity. Though what danger there could be escaped her. She was the Warlord's daughter, his trueborn daughter, and his other cubs' mother had agreed to live by the pride's rules, so no real harm could come to her, even if the lioness was holding a grudge, which Kazul wasn't sure about. It could be very exciting either way, though, and that only strengthened her resolve.

Odd

Odd knew he couldn't hide out in the den forever, no matter how much he wanted to, and so he set off cautiously on one of the spirit paths he had already found, determined to go a little bit farther that day than he had the day before. It wasn't that he was afraid of his new surroundings. As long as he stayed in the woods it wasn't so unfamiliar, after all. It was more that he didn't like the way everyone seemed to look at him. He didn't know what was behind their looks, but it made him uncomfortable to be so regarded. Maybe it was because he, Calder, and Herryk looked so much alike. Perhaps this place and its people were not used to seeing lions who looked like near-replicas of each other. Well, it didn't matter now, and wouldn't matter unless he were to run into someone along this path, and he didn't think that terribly likely. He was looking through spiderwebs to determine the path, and that tended to mean that people had not passed by this way in some time. It was one of the reasons he'd chosen to follow this path. He wasn't sure he was ready for encountering people.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Kazul

The forest loomed before Kazul, larger and darker and more expansive than she had imagined it would be. She had never really been to the forest before, though she knew where it was, of course, and when she'd tried to imagine it she had somehow never thought it would be quite so dark on the inside. She could only see in a very little bit, and that was strange for her, since she was used to a different kind of limited visibility. Nevertheless, the dragon girl continued boldly into the woods, though now boldly would have to be re-defined to mean "with great care and caution, but absolutely no fear." She was even making an attempt to be stealthy, though it wasn't hugely successful, given her general lack of woodlore and the fact that everything she saw was more interesting than the fairly dull process of watching where she placed her paws and making certain she hadn't brushed up against anything. It was actually turning out to be quite the excellent adventure, she decided, though it would have been nice if Calder's ma could have maybe made her home not so deep in the woods. Kazul couldn't help feeling like she was being watched, and that maybe whatever was watching her wasn't all that interested in her health.

Odd

Odd peered through a cobweb, using the converging threads to help him pinpoint where he would go next. Through the center focal point of the web Odd saw a pair of glowing gold eyes and a small feline body that would have blended into the foliage were it not for the noise its owner made as she went through the forest. Odd sighed. He had not expected to meet anyone, but he couldn't go against the path that had been set out for him to follow after committing himself to it. He ducked under the cobweb and set out to encounter the green lion cub. He used all the woodlore he knew to make his approach undetectable, but he could tell that she was aware of being watched, if not by whom, and so it might not be possible for him to sneak up on her. However, he couldn't help wanting to make an entrance, so he maneuvered things so that when she first saw him, he would be directly in front of her. It would be funny to see how she reacted to that. Thoughts about what a cub was doing alone in the forest didn't cross his mind. He was a cub alone, wasn't he?

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Kazul

Kazul didn't want to look stupid by asking if anyone was there, or look even stupider by saying she knew someone was there when she wasn't one hundred percent sure that someone was. She cared a great deal about these things. Her father was the Warlord and her mother was the Head Priestess. She couldn't afford to look stupid. It would look bad for them, and she would have rather died than be a disgrace to either of her parents. Hers was a proud lineage, if rather short, and she would live up to it or die trying. Her ears twitched as she heard what she was sure was a sound she hadn't made. She went very still, trying to determine where the sound had come from, but she couldn't. And then, all of a sudden, there was another cub right there in front of her. For a moment she thought she was looking at Calder and favored him with her most fierce scowl for scaring her like that, but then she realized that he had streaks of orange in the tuft of fur which would one day be a mane. Unable to think of something more clever to say, she fell back on pride traditions: "Someday I will kill you."

Odd

Odd's ears flattened and he almost sank back into the brush and beat a retreat at the first words out of the other cub's mouth. He had been prepared for many reactions ranging from flight, screaming, and even an outright attack, but this calmly-delivered threat of eventual murder had never occurred to him and it unnerved him a great deal more than he would have admitted willingly. The only thing to be done was to bluff and try to make it seem as if he wasn't convinced he was now standing face-to-face with a homicidal crazy person. He hadn't even known cubs could be homicidal crazy people until this moment. It was not a happy revelation, and he wondered why Calder hadn't warned him about the possibility of encountering someone like that. He lifted his chin and met her eyes before responding with a fairly nonchalant-sounding, "Is that so? I don't see what I've done to deserve it though."

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Kazul

The response the other cub gave her wasn't what Kazul had expected to hear either, though it did give her a few extra seconds to come to the conclusion that it definitely was not Calder, but it was undeniably one of his siblings, which meant he was also one of her siblings, by way of their father. She had accomplished her mission! A grin spread across her face and she said, "I don't think I'll really kill you. It's just a way we greet people among the Stormborn. Didn't Calder tell you?" It didn't seem very nice of Calder to leave his siblings in the dark like that, since he ought to have known these things, but maybe it hadn't occurred to him that their greetings might be misinterpreted. Kazul had never had a problem with it before, but she knew that people who were new to the pride sometimes found the traditional words a little bit unusual until the learned to appreciate the way they were spoken. It wasn't a threat or a promise. It was just...something else which was hard to describe and define.

Odd

Her smile was not comforting at first until she spoke to explain herself, and then Odd found himself smiling along with her. If it was just a greeting, that was something he could handle perfectly well, though he wondered that he had not heard it before. Perhaps she was having him on. Or, more likely, no one had really greeted him yet, so he had not had any occasion to hear it used. The words had sort of a ritualistic feel to them, once he thought about it, so maybe there was another set of words he was supposed to say in response. "I didn't know that," he admitted. "Should I have said something else to reply?" If this was to be his home, Odd did want to fit in. He got the feeling there would be enough of a challenge for him fitting in just because of the situation surrounding his birth, which still confused him, really. "Obviously, Calder didn't tell me. But you know how he is. At least, maybe you do?" He didn't know how well she knew his brother, but from looking at her he began to wonder if she was part of that other family he'd heard mentioned.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Kazul

"You would usually say 'not today,'" she told him. Then Kazul shrugged with one shoulder and quirked her tail briefly into something vaguely resembling a question mark. It was meant to be an amused expression. As she got older she would abandon the shrug and indicate that mood and many others purely through the serpentine shape of her tail, but right now she was still experimenting, and frequently mimicking her parents' expressions and those of the Reavers and Captains she idolized. "I know him a little. He stayed with my family for a while before your ma showed up with all of you and took him back. He and I don't really get along. He's stupid and bossy." Kazul raised her chin and challenged him with her direct gaze and stubborn stance to make an issue of her obvious animosity toward his brother, who looked so much like him. She wasn't just trying to start a fight though. The dragon girl wanted to know how much like his brother this lion was, and whether it was worth her time to try to get to know any of the rest of the litter, which was apparently larger than the one she'd been born into.

Odd

"I'll remember that," Odd said seriously. He could appreciate the importance of ritualistic greetings. They were like the words one spoke when addressing the spirits, and important to observe. The fox-colored cub with his father's facial markings and his mother's eyes was not sure what to make of his half-sister's assertion regarding their brother. It was true that Calder was headstrong and knew well his own mind, but Odd would not have said that he was stupid or bossy. On the other hand, Odd also was not a confrontational lion, and not often inclined to disagree with his brother. Perhaps his half-sister and his full-brother had found themselves at odds. "It's too bad you don't get along. He's actually a lot of fun. I missed him while he was here with you and your family, though he says he was not ill-treated. I'm glad for that." It had been a concern for everyone in the family, though no one had really spoken of it. It had sort of felt like speaking about Calder's cubnapping would cause bad things to happen to him.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Kazul

He had not immediately torn into her for insulting his brother. That was interesting, Kazul decided. She gathered from the fact that he claimed to have missed Calder while they were separated from each other that theirs was a close relationship, and so she was mystified. If anyone had said something like that about any of her siblings, the ones she knew anyway, she would have thumped them roundly. Even if they'd said something mean about Calder she would have let them know that he was her family, too, and give them a chance to reconsider what they'd said. Perhaps he just didn't want to fight. It was still sort of cowardly of him, but she could almost understand why he didn't make an issue of it. They were family, too, after all, and it would probably be better not to fight amongst themselves. Indeed, that seemed to be what most of the pride expected, and maybe the pride should be disappointed in that. "Da didn't say he was his son at first," she said. "But it wasn't hard to figure out. Especially after your ma showed up with you lot and people started talking." Her tail quirked once more into her amused question mark. "I'm Kazul, in case Calder didn't tell you that either."

Odd

Odd hadn't really asked Calder too much about what had happened while they were apart. He had been curious - very curious - but he figured his brother would have told him if he had wanted to talk about it. It took an amazing amount of will power and self-denial for him not to ask, but he'd managed it and he was proud of himself for it. But maybe he could ask his half-sister, since she didn't seem to mind talking about it. That wouldn't quite be the same as asking Calder, now would it? Maybe it was cheating a little, but he hadn't made any promises either way. "He didn't tell me very much," he admitted. "I'm glad to meet you, Kazul. I'm Odd Haleifr." He gave her his full name rather than a shortened form because despite his cautious nature regarding giving his real name to strangers. If they were spirits, there were dangers in giving them his name. It was a sign of the trust he wanted to put in Kazul that he gave her his name. She would probably never know that. "We can be friends, right? We don't have to be enemies because of the way our families are, do we?"

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Kazul

"You're Odd Haleifr?" she asked. "Do people call you Odd?" The thought made her grin, though maybe it was rude to be amused by his name. She didn't know much about his mother or the family she came from. Maybe Odd was a name in her upbringing, and not...well...odd. If that was the case, Kazul wouldn't mind meeting his mother and asking her about where she'd grown up. It couldn't be as good as the Stormborn, but now she lived among the Stormborn anyway, so she must know that. "Anyway, I don't see why we should have to be enemies just because of our families. Besides, my mother doesn't seem like she's going to start any sort of feud with yours. She understands things happen when lions are out viking." Not that Kazul knew exactly what that meant, but that was what her mother had said one night and she clung to that. She didn't want her parents to fight and hate each other over what had happened. Other lions had cubs by lionesses who weren't their wives. If her da would just make Odd's ma his saltwife, that would clear things up, she thought. But maybe her ma didn't want that. Adults were confusing.

Odd

Odd smiled, relieved that he would not have an enemy in his half-sister. "Odd is what they call me, yes. And I know what it means. I think my mum enjoys the joke of it. She says Odd also refers to the point of something sharp in some other language." He wasn't really sure why his mother had named him something like that. Maybe because she hoped he'd turn out to be sharp-witted. She valued cleverness and wit, after all. He liked to think he could live up to that hope. "Well, if we're to be friends I'm glad. I think there's going to be enough people around here who don't know what to make of my siblings and I, and probably some who won't like us for our mum. I kind of expected that you would be one of them, actually. What with our dad being mated to your mum."

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Kazul

"All right. I'll call you Odd, too. I don't know if my name means anything. I think it's the name of a monster from a story." Which didn't make a whole lot of sense. There was no reason at all why her ma would have named her for a monster. Maybe she'd mistaken what she heard, since she'd also heard that Kazul was a king, though that was somewhat confusing too. The Stormborn didn't have a king, but she knew king was a male title. All in all, her name seemed very strange when she thought about it, but she knew her mother must have had a reason and she had faith in her mother. She was able to tell what would happen and read signs. "Anyway, since you're kind of new, would you like me to show you around the pride a bit. Everyone will have to be nice to you if you're with me."

Odd

Odd laughed. "Your mother named you after a monster? That's pretty strange, too." He liked Kazul, he thought, with her monster name and her unusual way of talking and most especially the way she was willing to give him a chance. He still didn't really see what was wrong about the way things had worked out with his family, but maybe Kazul could explain that to him. Calder had tried, but he hadn't really succeeded in making himself understood to his siblings, who had all grown up in near-perfect freedom so far. "I would be glad if you would," Odd said. "Whether or not they have to be nice to me, it would be excellent to know my way around a bit better. I really only know where things are, and who everyone is. So...that would be really excellent, like I said."