[PRP] Can't let the terrorists win (Truls, Snorre)

[Annchen]

Snorre had taken his sweet time catching the eye of a captain and was only now out on his first raid. His brother Vali was already a reaver, but this wasn't a contest. For him it had always been a question of "when" and not "if". Of course he'd become a reaver like his father! No question there. But there was no need to hurry, right? He knew his parents loved them all and that it didn't matter if they stayed freeborn or decided to go for something else.


No one was going to be able to convince Truls that this wasn't a competition. It was, and he was way behind his stupid brother Tall. He needed to somehow make Captain as soon as possible, then they'd be closer to even. He had caught a thrall, but it was a pretty useless one AND Tall had been there to bring her in too. He needed something to even out the game. He couldn't even hassle him about getting married anymore since the betrothal had been cancelled.

Nothing was coming up "Truls" ******** this," he said between gritted teeth.  

[Annchen]

"Hmm?" Snorre asked when the other male growled something. Truls seemed on edge, but then again they were in potentially hostile territory. They'd both been sent out to sweep the area and he was looking to the more experienced reaver to figure out how to behave. So far Truls had stared blankly towards the horizon and cursed a lot, but that was probably part of some strategy he couldn't quite understand yet. There could be other reasons, of course, but for now Snorre mostly just observed and did as he was told. Well, in theory, since Truls hadn't showed much leadership yet.

---

It was pretty obvious that the Captain had sent the two of them out since they were the least experienced and thus lowest ranking reavers out on this viking. Annoying However, being the more experienced of the two Truls was in charge now. Not as annoying. Perhaps he should do something about it before Snorre tried to take the lead.

"Nothing," Truls said, and then actually scanned the horizon. "We should check that out."

A single baobab stood proud in the distance. Any vegetation out of the ordinary was worth checking out. Trees and even bushes offered shelter and food for a ariety of creatures and some of them could be worth raiding. He didn't wait for Snorre to answer.  

[Annchen]

Check out tree... Right. Snorre trotted after the other male while still keeping an eye on their surroundings. The tree grew in the distance, but they still had a long way to go.

"Is that?" Snorre said and stopped with one paw still lifted, "Is that an elephant standing under it?"

He wasn't sure if he fancied meeting an elephant up close. Two lions were no match to an animal of that size and he didn't like the prospect of eyeing a pair of tusks up close.

---

Truls heard the younger lion stop behind him, and was just about to tell him to get a move on when Snorre pointed out the elephant. It looked small next to the baobab, but Truls had seen those trees up close and it could very well be a full grown elephant. It annoyed him a little that he hadn't spotted it first. He wasn't prepared to admit that, however.

"Yes it is," he said, "Come on."

He had similar feelings as Snorre about tusks and close contact with elephants, but he was in charge damnit. They'd stop when he said so.

"That's enough," he said when they'd stalked a bit closer. The elephant knew they were there and was facing them, ears flapping slowly.  

[Annchen]

Snorre reluctantly kept moving, ears twitching nervously. When they finally stopped he could see the wrinkles in the skin of the beast. He glanced at Truls, wondering what the plan was. He had never heard aout Stormborn hunting elephants, and he didn't fancy being the first. The techniques their captain had made them practice over and over again were better suited for combat with one or two opponents the same size or smaller than them.

He watched the elephant, trying to understand its body language. It was watching them right back but as far as he could tell it wasn't about to attack. But what did he know? The ear flapping was unsettling, and he didn't know what it meant.

---

Truls stayed for what he hoped was a reasonable amount of time to scout out an elephant and a tree, before motioning to Snorre that they should move on again. They circled away from the elephant to be able to keep an eye on it. The large animal turned to keep an eye on them, but lost interest when they kept moving away from it.

"Right," Truls said, "We'll keep moving in an arch that way and then run all the way around our camp before going back. Keep an eye out for tracks and scents!"

Hopefully they'd find something more of interest. The elephant was something, but it wasn't a very helpful something.  

[Annchen]

It was a relief when the elephant lost interest in them. He'd happily run at full speed around the entire camp twice if it meant he didn't have to stare down an elephant again. He settled into a comfortable trot that the two lions could keep up for hours if needed. He kept his nose working and tried to pick up anything of interest. When he thought he had something he motioned to Truls, or gave him a shout if what he'd found didn't seem like a flight risk.

Snorre actually had fun. This felt more like what he had expected of a patrol, and Truls mood seemed to have improved a bit after the elephant sighting.

---

When they had finally worked their way around the way Truls had decided they ought to take, they actually had some useful information for the rest of the band. The elephant, of course, but also a flock of zebras north of them. They had seen fresh dung and trampled vegetation but only went close enough to scent the animals. They had found a place they could drink, and possibly ambush a stupid thrall or two, and Snorre had picked up the ghostly shedded skin of a snake. The papery shell made Truls skin crawl, but the younger male seemed happy about it. Whatever.

Hopefully the Captain would be satisfied with their grunt work. If not, he'd had to find a way to make it Snorres fault...

-the end-