|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:04 pm
With all of his cubs grown and finding their place in the pride Aesir was able to devote himself a little more to pleasures he had mostly given up to spend time with his cubs and to reassure his mate that there would be no more b*****d cubs showing up unexpectedly. The pleasure he had been doing without for the most part had been going viking. Oh, sure he had gone out with his cubs once or twice, but he had been scrupulous about not chasing tail. He hadn't even brought in any thralls, just to be sure Morrigan wouldn't wonder about what he'd done with them before getting them back to the pride.
It occurred to him as he slipped through the tall grass that what he was doing at present wasn't quite a viking. He was on his own, which was probably irresponsible of him as a warlord, and he didn't really have any goal except to get out of the stronghold and enjoy himself. Maybe get into a few fights with someone too stupid to realize that they were going to be embarrassed when they fought him and were soundly beaten.
Perhaps he should bring something back for Morri. Or maybe Kazul. His daughter had been so melancholy for the latter part of her adolescence, and although there'd come a break it had been brief. It was all that idiot Ru's fault, he knew. He had wondered if it was a good idea to promote him, but he thought it would make her happy. And it had for a while, creating that brief break. But now that the young captain was gone again she was pining. Oh, she was trying to look like she wasn't, but she was, and none of his suggestions like "go spend time with Odd" were met with anything resembling enthusiasm.
It would please Aesir to see her happy for a change. So yes. He would bring Kazul a companion. Breaking in and training a thrall would at least keep her busy, and maybe she wouldn't miss the stupid boy quite so much.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 5:26 pm
Manqo was not really a very stealthy creature by nature, but sometimes it was better to run, hide, and regroup than to be beaten and eaten. Following this line of reasoning, the grey hyena had turned tail and beaten a trail away from the lion who was coming close to the watering hole she had recently swindled a family of maned wolves out of.
Actually, Manqo was very proud of that particular feat. She had found two of their pups playing a short distance away and strode up to them as confidently as anything. Then she'd nipped the nearest one's paw sharply and told the little girl pup to run off and tell their parents that if they didn't move a full day's journey to the south she would eat the pup she'd already tasted, and until they reached their decision she'd be keeping him with her.
It hadn't taken long at all for two enraged parents to show up and demand the return of their son, who had spent the entire time wailing. By the time they arrived Manqo had been tempted to bite him somewhere where the damage would be more permanent, just to teach him a lesson, but his parents' timely arrival had spared him. His whimpering had served its purpose though. They agreed to her terms and cleared out, carrying their whiny pup like he was a newborn.
And from that day forth, the watering hole had been hers. But Manqo was willing to let this very large lion borrow it for the time being. She didn't think he seemed like the type to set up housekeeping, though she'd know more about that when the wind shifted.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:57 am
A shining, shimmering stretch of sparkly on the ground ahead alerted Aesir to his growing proximity to a body of water. From his time viking in these lands as a reaver and a captain the warlord remembered that there had been a watering hole in approximately this area. He had stopped here several times in the past with viking bands, but never stayed longer than a day or two. It was not particularly commodious for a creature of his size on account of the profusion of rocks for a good distance out.
The last time he had passed this way the place had smelled like a pair of wild dogs had made their home in it, and their scent still lingered, but more powerful was the musk of a female hyena. Not really the most pleasant of smells, but not unbearable. And while the females might be more aggressive and authoritative than the males, at least they weren't generally as, well, insane as the males either. All things told, Aesir would rather deal with a female.
Or...He had just been thinking about finding a thrall to take home to Kazul as a distraction. A female hyena might make her a fine companion.
It also occurred to him that there was a young male hyena running wild around the pride that a crazy pair of lionesses referred to as their son. Perhaps he might be tamed and subdued somewhat if he brought back a female hyena who could take him in hand. That would be good, too. So now all he had to do was find the hyena and take her in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 11:39 am
Unaware of the thoughts going through the lion's head, Manqo had to base her knowledge of him on what scents the wind carried to her nose. She could tell from those that he was male, he had a mate, he lived in a pride with salty air, and they were fighters. Definitely it was in her best interest to stay away from the lion.
It did not seem that he was interested in staying away from her though. His path had veered from the straight walk toward the water. Now and again he would pause and breathe in deeply before adjusting his course. He was following her. That made Manqo anxious. Lions did not follow hyenas for good reasons usually.
He would catch up with her eventually. There wouldn't be any avoiding him, and if she made his life difficult in the process he would probably make her life more difficult. A lone hyena stood no chance against a lion like the one she smelled. Not unless she used her wits anyway. This was Manqo's territory and she was sure she knew it better than he.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:35 pm
As the hyena had surmised, Aesir was following her scent. It wasn't something a lot of people guessed about the Stormborn if they knew anything about the pride, but the best reavers were also the best trackers. Aesir had been an excellent reaver when he was one, and he'd always had good instincts which had made him a pretty superb captain, too. That was his not-so-humble opinion, anyway.
Following the scent of a hyena wasn't always wise. They were pack animals and they were tricky, if not actually intelligent. Aesir was wary of being led into a trap, since it seemed obvious to him that the hyena would try to do something like that. He hoped that his prior knowledge of the area, somewhat outdated though it might be, would serve him well in avoiding anything like that. He already knew there would be no ambush because his sense of smell told him there was but a single, solitary hyena living here now.
Aesir had expected that he would be trailing this hyena for an hour or more, but fortune smiled on him and out of the blue he saw for just a moment an arched back retreating at that trotting gait so distinctive in hyenas. Grey fur, from what he could see, which meant he had to bring this chase to an end before twilight or he'd be hunting solely by sound and scent. Not his favorite way to do things.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:48 pm
That glimpse Aesir caught? That had been on purpose. At least that was what Manqo was going to claim if anyone ever brought it up. Really, she'd just forgotten that the grass got drastically shorter at one point and so failed to adjust her trot to a slink for that portion of ground. After a few paces she had realized her mistake, but by then it was probably too late.
The only thing to do now was to run. It completely threw off her plans to lay a trap and have the lion at her mercy, but plans had to be fluid and a hyena had to be flexible. That was the only way to live in this world. Not true. It was the only way to live well in this world. There was no sense in wishing for things one didn't have. That was how Manqo felt about it anyway. Still, it certainly would have been convenient to have a pack at her beck and call.
Running now, Manqo zigged and zagged through the grasses, hoping that simply being erratic and unpredictable would work to her advantage until the lion tired. They weren't supposed to have a lot of stamina, were they? Or maybe that was cheetahs. Dammit!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 1:18 pm
And now she was running. Great! Aesir's legs were longer and his bounds covered significantly more ground than she could cover just skittering on four paws. Aesir grinned as he picked up his pace, all the while remaining mindful of the likelihood of a trap. Increased speed from a thinking beast (or something like a thinking beast) might be a ploy to make him careless, and Aesir wasn't going to fall for that.
Luckily for Aesir and unluckily for his quarry, any traps she planned to spring on him either weren't sprung or he evaded them unwittingly, because in very short order Aesir was close enough to overtake the hyena with a jump. But he wasn't interested in overtaking her. He wanted to bring her to the ground and subdue her, then drag her home to his daughter. Overtaking her wouldn't help him too much in accomplishing any of those goals.
For good measure Aesir roared as he pounced. Put a bit of fear into the hyena if she wasn't already feeling some. This was fun. Aesir had almost forgotten how much he enjoyed taking thralls. Of course, in the past he'd also enjoyed the thralls he took in a more carnal sense, but that wasn't going to happen this time around. For one thing, Morrigan would be pissed. For another, well, gods. This was a hyena. That would be beyond disgusting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 5:23 am
Manqo could run pretty quickly when she needed to, and she knew she had more stamina than any cat, but she did not have enough of a head start and she could not leap as the lion pursuing her could. Every time his paws left the ground she knew she would hear him thump down closer to her than he had been before. The last time she heard a cease in his running cadence the relative silence was replaced by a hair-raising roar.
The sound was not only hair-raising, making her hackles stand on end and all that, but it somehow seemed to paralyze Manqo. Perhaps it was the suddenness of it, or maybe the loudness, or the implications behind it. Either way, Manqo wasn't moving when she knew she really ought to be. If she got killed at this point, she knew it was all her fault for standing stock still instead of darting to one side or the other before the massive weight of the lion could smash her into the ground.
Even expecting what was to come, Manqo was unprepared for just how enormous the lion was and how much he would weigh when he landed on her. He knocked the wind out of her and while he was forcing her to the ground she felt herself strain a muscle trying to oppose him. At the time she didn't notice that he was using neither teeth nor claws, and he could have done. If she had noticed, she might have been more worried, because it obviously meant he had something in mind for her other than death and possible consumption.
"Yeeargh!" she exclaimed, her cry trailing of into a whimper as the muscles in her legs and shoulders strained, pulled, and failed to accomplish anything. "Don't kill me! The watering hole is yours."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 5:44 am
"Of course the watering hole is mine," Aesir growled, bringing his teeth close to the hyena's ear. "But I'm amused that you think it's what I'm after."
He didn't have to do this. Intimidate and terrify and all. He just felt like it. A lot of being the warlord had to do with making sure no one doubted that he was the biggest badass around, but he also had to be clever and subtle and fair. It was like being a captain who was always out viking, but there was less plunder. That didn't have to be the case, but Aesir had never bothered to exercise his right to look over other captains' findings from vikings because he preferred to acquire things for himself.
"I could do horrible things to you. I could easily tear you into pieces, or skin you starting right here." He nipped her ear hard enough to draw blood and he felt her trying to shift beneath him and escape. Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen. Aesir was a large lion, and even if he didn't have lots of practice in pinning unwilling victims to the ground, his sheer body mass should have been sufficient to keep a hyena in place.
"But I'm not going to do that because I have another purpose for you, and I don't wish to waste time waiting for you to heal. So you are going to come with me without fighting or trying to escape, or I am going to hunt you down and you aren't going to like what happens next. Do you understand me?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:01 am
Oh, gods. That didn't sound good. Manqo hadn't been thrilled about the idea of ceding her watering hole home to the gigantic black lion, but it had seemed like an excellent trade for her life. If he didn't want the watering hole, what did he want? Through her terror she wondered what else she could offer him other than her life. Dying was an unacceptable outcome. Somehow she would have to talk her way out of this. And she would start as soon as she could draw enough breath to speak.
His low voice growling threats into her ear sent her into an unconscious flurry of useless activity as she tried to squirm away from him before he could do more than bite her ear. Manqo had never been a hyena who liked bad boys, and even if she had been, this would not have been the way for such a person to win her over. She didn't like pain. One of the reasons she'd left her mother's company was because their fights were escalating from verbal to physical and her mother outweighed her.
"Please," she whispered with what breath she had the next time he gave her an opportunity to speak. "I don't want to die."
The scent of her own blood in the air was making her uneasy. It was only a small amount right now, but the possibility of more being shed was definitely still there if she didn't go along with whatever this lion wanted. He said he didn't want her injured to the point where she'd need time to heal, but that didn't tell her much about what he did want her for.
"What happens when I go with you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:08 am
Seeming to ignore the hyena's pleading and question, at least for the time being, Aesir shifted rapidly so that his teeth closed around a significant portion of her neck. From this grip he jerked her out from under him and flung her a short distance away, only to pounce on her once more, this time trapping her on her side, where he could more easily reach the soft spots on her body.
"I asked you if you understand what I'm saying. You didn't answer me," the warlord said by way of explanation for his sudden outburst of violence.
He held her head down with one paw and used a portion of his superior body weight to anchor the rest of her body to the rock strewn ground. She would be badly bruised by the time this was over, but he had so far drawn a minimum of blood. Aesir wanted her to look pretty when he presented her to Kazul.
"What happens next is up to me, not you. I am your master until I say otherwise, and you will obey me without hesitation or question. Say that you understand."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:21 am
Manqo yelped as the lion's maw closed around her neck and she was suddenly certain that her last question had been ill-advised. Her cry was short-lived, however, as the sensation of being brutally dragged across stony ground and then flung through the air quite stole the rest of her breath until she hit the ground a short distance away, when the absolute last of her air escaped her lungs in something like a cough.
She wasn't surprised when moments later she was once again beneath the lion's paws, gasping for air. The violence was becoming expected. Not that she could guess what he was going to do next, but she assumed it would be something violent and painful, and so when he nearly crushed her again there were no surprises there. She did wonder though if he knew that his weight was preventing her from drawing a full breath, and if he did it on purpose to keep her feeling faint and lightheaded.
His explanation for why he had attacked her once more almost made sense. It reminded her of the way her mother had been once she hit adolescence. He was asserting dominance, and while it galled Manqo to cede dominance to another person, especially a male one, she could see that there was a clear way to effect a cessation in further acts of violence against her person. All she had to do was let him know that he was in charge. Simple enough, though she hated to do it.
"I understand...master."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:30 am
A grin curled Aesir's lips, showing many sharp teeth. Good hyena. She wasn't too stupid to learn. Perhaps it had been an innate rejection of masculine authority because of the a**-backward way her species worked that had made her slow on the uptake before. He would allow her that one slip-up, but all future mistakes in that vein would be treated with equal harshness. He would instruct Kazul that this was not a perfectly broken thrall, and she would have to assert her authority for herself.
"What happens next, since you wanted to know, is that I'm going to allow you to stand up. And then you are going to walk two steps behind my right shoulder for as long as I walk, and you are not going to move more than five paces away from me at any point unless I tell you to do so."
He fixed her with his amber eyes and said, "Say that you understand, and that you will do this."
Aesir preferred to have thralls acknowledge his orders and always had. Not everyone in the Stormborn felt the same about it, particularly those who had grown up in the pride and had lived their entire lives accustomed to being obeyed by thralls, but Aesir was not one of those lions. Also, he was a bully deep down, although as a warlord he'd suppressed that somewhat, and he just liked hearing confirmation that he had successfully browbeaten someone into submission.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:37 am
The weight pressing her body into the stones beneath her - or pressing the stones beneath her into her body, depending on how one looked at it - eased and Manqo spent a moment simply taking a deep breath. She immediately expelled it though and used the air to speak the words her leonine captor wished to hear:
"I understand, master. I will do as you tell me."
She didn't know where he would take her, and that made her anxious. Was he taking her back to his pride? Would this be her lot in the pride, too? Manqo mentally shook her head and reminded herself of the most important fact: he was offering her a way to survive this encounter, and even though she didn't like it, Manqo had best take it without questioning him. At least not aloud. She could speculate internally to her heart's content.
When he accepted her words and allowed her to stand Manqo was unsteady getting to her feet. She'd hurt her right front shoulder trying to throw him off her initially, she was bruised from being thrown and crushed against rock-packed ground, and relief at being alive through all this was making her light-headed. Nevertheless, she did her best to move to the position he had told her to take up, hoping that he'd been measuring in hyena-steps and not lion-steps.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:50 am
Aesir did not nod or give her any sign that he approved of her actions except that he didn't strike her or berate her. That was all the reward she could hope to earn as a thrall in the Stormborn, and she had best get used to it now, because that would be her life from now until the day she died. Which reminded him...
"There is one other thing. Your name is now..." He paused to think of a suitably thrallish name in the hereditary language that gave native Stormborn their especially growly accent. "Grovarbetare. You will answer to it henceforth, and when asked for your name, you will answer with this one."
The name he had chosen made him smile. It meant "unskilled laborer." He might have left out the "unskilled" part, but why bother sparing a thrall's feelings? Their feelings became particularly unimportant when the thrall wasn't even a lion.
"Come, Grovarbetare," he said firmly as he began walking back to the pride.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
