Ragnvard stalked along the path, fury rising off his tense frame like heat off the desert at noon, so potent it was almost visible. How could she!? How had she managed to escape? And how in the hell had she managed to stay hidden?! He had searched high and low for her, turning over every rock and terrorizing every thrall he had been able to get his paws on, seeking her. It was utterly maddening, and raised his ire to such an extreme that he had been forced to remove himself from the pride entirely until his temper cooled a little, otherwise he feared he may do something even the violent tempered members of his pride would find abhorrent. Like skinning each and every thrall he met until they gave her up.
A roar split the night air, a scream of fury and frustration and wounded pride as Ragnvard voiced his ire into the darkness.
Some time later, Ragnvard found himself in the middle of the roguelands with no idea how he had reached it. His maddened frustration had cooled somewhat to a simmering anger that was a little more controllable. Yet every stray thought of her made him growl a thunderous warning. How could a thrall, his thrall, thwart him as she had? What madness allowed for her to defy him in such a manner? What gods had decreed her suitable for their favours? It was infuriating that she, a simple, stupid, useless female slave, had managed to out wit him. Tail lashing he forced himself to slow his steps and calm his breathing. Thinking about it would only fan the flames of his outrage back to unmanageable levels and he no longer had Aoife as an outlet for it.
Closing his eyes he struggled to rein in his temper, only for a distinct scent to reach him on the sudden breeze that sprung up. Leopard. Grinning slyly, a dark and dangerous expression, Ragnvard turned his head to track the scent, eye still closed. If his thrall was unavailable to be his play thing, he would simply take his rage out on a rogue. And what better than a single leopard male, tough enough to present some kind of challenge, but not enough to require any real effort on Ragnvard’s behalf. Perfect.
Turning he slowly tracked the scent he had caught, following it for quite some distance until, rounding the crest of a small hill, he spotted the leopard that was his target. It seemed to have had a successful hunt and was eating down near a blasted out tree. Leopards usually climbed with their kill, but the tree was obviously not stable enough to support the weight, judging from the way several of the big limbs hung at strange angels, half-broken away from the main trunk. There were no other trees or even much scrub bush for miles. Smirking, Ragnvard lowered his head and moved forwards, slowly closing the distance between himself and the rogue.
It was some time later when the Captain came into view though Ryuu had known he was being stalked for the past while. The hair along his spine had prickled when he had spotted a lion on a distant hill, but then he had lost sight of it after it had descended, thanks to the undulating nature of the plains all around. Now, the creature was spying on him from behind an abandoned anthill, and the stare was full of hatred and hunger. Pinning his ears to the back of his skull he hissed an annoyed warning, tail lashing against the ground with a series of heavy thuds. Hunting had been good, his belly was full, but he still hated the idea of leaving his hard work to some other predator. Standing, shoulder blades slicing upwards from his stripped fur like twin knives, head low and lips drawn back in a menacing snarl he hissed again. “Stay away.” He growled as the rust red lion stood upright and moved forwards, his own lips lifting from gleaming ivory fangs. There was a madness in his eyes that made Ryuu narrow his own. This one, was he rabid? He certainly looked it. Releasing another low rumbling growl of warning Ryu lashed his tail again, moving to stand over his meal defensively. In truth it wasn’t worth getting into a fight over, the good meat had gone into his belly hours ago, it was sheer stubborn pride that made him growl again, fangs glinting, lips peeled completely back to expose the dagger-like ivory.
Yet it seemed the lion wasn’t going to take his warning seriously as it kept advancing. Weirdly, it didn’t even glance at the meat, but kept its gleaming golden eyes on him. Braids and scars adorned the red cat, seeming vaguely familiar to Ryuu. After a moment he realised why. Viking. This mad beast was one of those strange raiders to the north, a creature of blood lust and violence. Lacking any sane thought. Ryuu had spoken to one before, an unusual specimen of his kind for he had been sane and actually quite pleasant as far as company went. But the rest, they never seemed to want anything but blood and pain. He had heard tales of them stealing away cheetahs, leopards and other lions, anyone weaker than themselves, forced into servitude beyond the pride’s boundary. Ryuu could only imagine what depravities went on within that forested mountain fortress. And he had no desire to find out. With one last hiss of annoyance he sprang away from his meal and the approaching mad thing with its gleaming eyes and white fangs of unnatural hunger. Careful to keep himself faced towards the lion, he slowly backed away, hissing and thumping the ground with his tail, back high and fur stood on end. He wasn’t afraid of the lion, for all its madness, he knew he was faster, more agile and likely a better fighter, he was sane after all. But it simply wasn’t worth it. The loss of his kill would only wound his ego and he didn’t want to risk an actual injury which could a real problem for him tomorrow.
With one last growl he turned and raced away, his speed impressive but only a fraction of what he was truly capable. Yet the lion clearly knew it was pointless to chase him as it gave a loud and savage roar of fury at being denied its bloodlust. Shaking his head Ryu settled into a ground-eating lope. Time to get away from this area, he had no interest in meeting another of those mad raiders tonight.
(Word count: 1,105)
