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Katria had been waiting for the circumstances in her life to fall out in the right way to finally let her go viking. There had always seemed to be something going on, or the Captain calling for volunteers wasn't the sort she'd have been comfortable following. It had finally happened, however, that the bones all fell in the right pattern. She had been able, free, and eager when hearing that Bousvor was needing some for a small viking trip. He had a good reputation, seemed a fair leader, and was someone she could respect and obey.

He wasn't one of those who frowned on females becoming reavers, thank goodness, since she was amused to find out the other volunteer was not only another Freeborn, but an adolescent besides! Even though she herself was an adult, she felt the fire of youth in her veins. Inwardly, she hardly considered herself much older than Kestaa, despite how much older she should feel. She joked with her companion and capered a bit as they left the pride's borders, then bounded to catch up to their leader. "So... an escaped thrall? What do we know about him or her?" She settled into an easy pace beside him and began scanning the area intently.




Nothing, absolutely nothing was going to hold Kestaa back from becoming a reaver. She only just, in the last few days, had been deemed of age for going viking, but that was enough time to have chafed at her. No one had sought any volunteers for a viking until now. She had jumped at the chance, showing up promptly and eagerly at the appointed time. She hadn't much cared about who was leading it, nor what the job really was about. She only knew... this was the life for her!

She hadn't intended to feel quite so excited and celebratory about it, but when the other female had shown up, somehow their mutual excitement had risen to an almost fever pitch, resulting in some slightly embarrassing cubbish displays. Still, it let some steam off and helped her settle her over-stimulated nerves. This was it! Time to shine, time to prove to herself and everyone else that she would excel at being a reaver! Still... best to watch and listen and learn. She stayed silent, but moved up on the Captain's other side when Katria asked her question. She turned to frown out at the landscape. If she was a fleeing thrall, where would she go?

Katria listened attentively, then bobbed her head in a firm nod. "Right, then I'll range off on this side," she replied almost immediately. Her mother being a reaver helped her to understand the concept of working together and of shouldering one's part in the responsibility. She wasn't the sort to dawdle along or shirk her job. She had volunteered to a request, so she was needed. Though this wasn't a raid or anything, she refused to take the task lightly. "I'll call out if I find her." She paused before heading off, frowning faintly before adding, "If what her friend said is true, she might be in some trouble, or be hurt. I hope not."

With that, she loped off away from their gathering, though she kept heading the direction the Captain had been traveling. She went far enough that she would have to shout to be heard, but could still easily see the others. She then began to parallel their path, searching the ground for any sign of their missing thrall. However, being new, she forgot to keep a watch out, and soon came nose-to-rump with what first looked like a lumpy clump of dirt, but turned out to be a ratel curled up for a nap.

"Hey! What it, missy!" he snapped, glaring up at her. "What do you think you are doing, shoving that nose of yours where it doesn't belong?!" Katria was so startled and thrown off kilter that she skittered sideways at the aggressive words and stance of the smaller animal.

"Uh... sorry!" she managed in an almost squeak. Goodness, who would have thought that would be the first thing she'd find?! She circled around him, hoping to not stir him up any more than she had. Ratels could be quite combatative, despite their small size, when they wanted to be. To her half-amusement, half-dismay, she thought she heard him grumbling and following her. Hopefully they wouldn't run afoul of him again, but who knew what might happen next?



Kestaa listened, then watched as Katria determined her own course of action and took off to do it. She considered mutely for a time what she might do. She was insanely eager to get to proving herself, but wanted to do it intelligently. Finally she turned to the Captain and asked, "Sir, should I do the same this direction?" After all, this was his group, and he was the one in charge. She was the youngest and least experienced. He knew what he wanted to do in regards to her duties better than she could guess.

However, just at that moment, a flutter of bright color caught her eye. She turned and trotted towards it, reasonably certain it wasn't their missing thrall, but interested nonetheless. As it turns out, it was a long, ragged bit of cloth, dyed a brilliant red. A greedy smile crept across her face, and she snatched it up, wrapping it about her neck twice and tucking the tails under so it would remain there. Her first trophy! Satisfied, she returned to Bousvor's side to recieve her orders.

Katria closed her mind to the minimal sounds behind her of the ratel that might or might not be following her. She had no time for cranky creatures, and no desire to have such as a thrall. He'd have been completely, totally useless to her. What could he do? Probably make more trouble than he was useful. Make a mess of her den. Haunt her night and day with accusations. Make her a laughing stock, that's what he'd do! No, better to dismiss him from her mind and resume examining the landscape for any signs of their quarry.

She ran across several open patches of ground that might have held a pawmark, and there were a few scuff marks that might have been something, but there simply wasn't enough left to determine if it was a lioness, much less how long ago it had been made nor what direction it should have pointed. She growled a little under her breath and strove to stay alert, not just to the ground before her, but to her surroundings as well.



Kestaa willingly bounded out roughly as far as the older female had gone, glancing back towards the other two to gauge the distance. Yup, this seemed about right. Now, how to go about this? For a time she paced forward, but didn't notice anything at all. The land was barren of any indications of a thrall. Maybe she was hiding? The deep purple youngster mulled on this, and came up with two thoughts. First, she was the smallest of the three of them, and might be able to hide herself in the brush, so as not to frighten the errant thrall away. Second, depending on the size of the thrall, she could be hiding under something, like the brush and low trees.

With this in mind, she began slinking closer to the ground, lowering her profile and stalking more than walking. She had a very different perspective down here, too. She couldn't see as far, but the shadows were less dark, and she could easily peer under and through the wild growth. The only difficulty was that now she couldn't see (or be seen by) her warband. She popped her head up in sudden chagrin, and was alarmed to realize she couldn't see anyone. Had she turned away from them? With a thudding heart, she spun in place, almost losing track of which direction she'd been headed. But then she spotted Katria's head as she rose into view from what must have been a wash. Bousvor's head also rose from something he'd been doing, though he was further back than she'd expected. With a mental reminder to herself to make sure to keep track of them better, she again went to slinking around underneath the bushes.

"Nothing here," she responded to the Captain without a trace of her exasperation. However, it was a good thing Katria had reminded herself that there was more around her than just tracks in the dirt. She caught the low drone of... oh my, yes it was! A wasp nest just ahead and to her right, in a crevice of a cluster of rocks. For a bare moment, she had a thought flash through her mind to find a way to lure that cranky ratel into the clutches of those spiteful insects, but that wasn't really in Katria's nature. She just shook her head and moved away from it, moving carefully and quietly so as not to attract the attention of the hovering stingers. She didn't scent anything close to them, so it was unlikely their quarry had fallen prey to the dangers of getting too close to a large hive. She had no idea if this was a big one or not, and had no intentions of finding out!


She called a negative to Bousvor regretfully. Just then, a flash had caught Kestaa's attention. What was that? She perked up, raising herself to get a better look around herself again. There... there it was again! She moved away from the other two, bobbing and weaving her head to try and catch the flash of light so she could trace it. What she found was... not what she was expecting. It was a skeleton, sprawled and scattered in the brush, clearly quite old. The bones were delicate and long, the skull clearly of feline origin. Likely a cheetah? The glitter she'd seen from afar was a simple band of metal that looked like it had once been around the wrist of the slender feline. It was already too small to fit over her own adolescent paw, which was a shame. Still, it could be of value, so she dug it out of the dirt that still partially encased it, then turned to bound back towards the Captain to present this bit of treasure. She'd already claimed the cloth, it wasn't proper for her to also lay claim to this as well.

Katria was pleased to be offered the glinting ring, and pondered it a moment before gracefully accepting the offer, thanking both the Captain and her fellow Reaver. For after all, with the ending of their day, they both now were Reavers! It felt exhilarating, and opened up so many opportunities for adventure and excitement. She nodded to their leader at his question. "You can count on me, at least until we find her," she replied stoutly. She was the sort to finish what she started, and wanted to prove herself worthy of being accepted into a band by her determination and devotion. Prove herself now, and she could pick what band she wanted to join!

Kestaa held her head high, knowing she'd accomplished what she had set out to do. She was a Reaver, with all the rights and responsibilities that involved, and she was proud of that. Granted, it hadn't been much in the way of fighting or cunning... and these were things she wanted very desperately to prove herself capable of. Still, she had growing left to do, and might benefit from further training as well as more field experience. Hunting a lost thrall wasn't exactly along that line, however. "I think I will train instead, Captain," she replied respectfully, not wanting him to think her a slacker. "I still have much to learn. Thank you for the chance to go viking, though," she added, bowing her head. No, she wanted more action! For now, though, she was content with her prize and the new position conferred by the day's effort.