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 Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:43 pm
 Anwar led her band out into the roguelands with pride. Not simply because she was leading this Viking, but because it was her band. She, and no one else, was Captain here. Victory had tasted sweet when Ragnvard conceded, but it was so much sweeter now than it had been during the Breytast Vindar. "It's a beautiful day to shed some blood, Hoenir," she told the brother who'd joined her on this trip. The lioness had no idea why her sibling hadn't gone for Reaver earlier (even if not quite as early as she had), but it wasn't something she really needed to know. It was good that he'd opted to come with her - not everyone was willing to take orders from one of their littermates. "I like to shed blood," came a soft voice from behind the Captain. The lion who paced there looked around eagerly, orange eyes scanning all around for something to use his claws upon. Snidjen had been...discouraged...from becoming a Reaver by his parents, who were less than fond of how he played with his food. Still, it was time and past that he made his way beyond the pride's lands. Joining Anwar's band seemed as good a way as any to go. It truly rankled to be here at long last, finally going to earn his status as a Reaver, and yet be under the command of his half-sister. First of all, his father had waaaaay too many children in the pride. Second of all, she was barely older than him, and yet she was a full Captain! Oh sure, she'd challenged for the rank during the Breytast Vindar, but everyone knew she'd be one sooner or later. She was just that good. Feh. What a crock of s**t. All he had to do was endure being under her command long enough to get what he wanted out of the Viking. Then he'd see what was next.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:59 pm
"That it is," the lion answered. He had already given his congratulations to his sister for the rank she had earned, and quickly agreed to join her on a viking when the opportunity was provided. Hoenir gave his sister the slightest of toothy smiles before directing their attention before them. He had no qualms about following the orders of a sibling. He was not so blindly proud as to turn away a good opportunity just for feeling lower than his sister. If anything this was evidenced by the fact that he hadn't been reaving before. He had heard stories and met individuals who went too headstrong into their first viking. Anwar had done it and fared well for herself, but Hoenir wanted to be fully sure he was ready and that he was able to do a good job. If he ever wanted to make the ranks he couldn't do anything foolish, after all.
If the presence of his half-sibling bugged him, he didn't show it. If anything, he didn't seem to pay the other lions much mind at all. "Do you have a destination in mind, Sister?"
Tabari was silent and moved with purpose. He respected Anwar, but didn't know how he felt about these other lions. Tabari was an experienced fighter, and had a body full of scars to prove it. These others, though? Aside from Anwar, whom he had dueled and gained respect for, he had no evidence of the worth of these other three. But they were here to do a job, and damned if he wasn't going to do it right.
So Tabari didn't speak as he moved, only kept fully alert and ready to move when he was commanded to do so.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:07 pm
"There's an area where we've caught several Thralls not too far from here at this pace," the young Captain answered her brother. "And even if we find none to capture this day, we can be assured of finding meat at least." It was a good location, where Anwar had helped some idiots capture that pink lioness.
Hmm, she wondered how the other female was faring. She certainly hadn't challenged to become Freeborn during the Breytast Vindar, or Anwar would have heard. She hoped the lioness wasn't dead already.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snidjen examined the older lion as they walked. The male had scars crossing his brown and white hide that were worth noting, especially in the Myrsky Syntynyt. But there was something about his build that screamed of rogue birth. Not necessarily a bad thing, per se, but certainly not an advantage.
"You're very quiet," he remarked in his own whispery voice to the stranger.
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Thralls, eh? Hylinn wondered if they'd capture some this trip. That would be a great boost to his status, not only coming back a Reaver, but with a Thrall of his own. The hope didn't last long though. The navy lion knew that any booty taken would go first and foremost to the Captain. Then she'd probably share with her brother. Her full-blooded brother, not Hylinn. And then, well, there had to be some reason the older lion was with them. He'd probably come third.
Leaving Hylinn and the orange male to fight it out for the scraps. Ugh.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:14 pm
Hoenir gave a small nod in response to his sister, finally glancing back to look over the others that had joined them. He didn't know what to think of Hylinn. His half-sibling, but one born from Bruten and his wife (or whatever Yakuti was to his father), as opposed to... well. Whatever abomination of fusing bloodlines he and Anwar were. Njal's blood mixing with Aesir blood. Both he and his sister bore the tell-tale markings that made their heritage undeniable. They both had the face-markings that obviously came from the Aesir family line. Anwar's feet held the markings of Njal's wife, while he himself had the ex-warlord's stony forelimb. Still, it wasn't as bad as their sibling who had as much of a conglomeration of the markings as was possible.
The lion shook the thought from his mind, looking over the other two. A lion born in the pride, and a new one that had joined (he had dueled and lost to his sister, Hoenir had learned). Well, he supposed this day he would learn their worth.
---
"There is little to be said," Tabari responded, his eyes steadied before them. There was a moment before he spoke again. "In my old home, we would not speak when we went into battle. The desert is a quiet and unforgiving place. The smallest of sounds would give you away to the enemy," he continued, giving a glance to the orange lion who was speaking him. He supposed that chatter, for now, would be harmless. Especially if their destination was known, and not nearby. For now they were in transit, not ready for a fight. That was different than it was in the Burkuteshti, where one had to be alert for an ambush at all times.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:23 pm
"Considering that we'll be traveling at least a quarter of the day, there won't be any problem with talking among ourselves," Anwar answered Tabari's protest without turning her head. She wasn't about to let things get away from her by not paying attention to the lions with her, that rather defeated the purpose.
"Besides, I'll tell you all to shut up if I get annoyed," the lioness pointed out reasonably. So far none of the boys had done so, but she did reserve the right to forcibly quiet them.
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Snidjen glanced up at the Captain leading the way as she commented. She didn't look anything other than pleased and content, so he assumed the implied threat was for the future, and not related to anything at this moment. Most excellent.
"The desert?" he asked, hissing the word slightly as he returned to his conversation with the stranger. "Have you traveled far then?"
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And if she did tell them to shut up, she'd probably do so while clamping Hylinn's muzzle shut. Sure, he had no proof that he'd be his half-sister's chosen demonstration, but he had no proof that she wouldn't pick him. Hmph. Not to mention the two of them were b*****d-born as well. Proof of their mutual father's virility, bah.
Hylinn continued to fume in silence as the group progressed. A quarter-day's walking indeed! He privately doubted that their destination was truly so close.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:32 pm
I'll tell you all to shut up if I get annoyed. Hoenir couldn't help but let a grin grow on his face at the captain's words. Yes, he had a great amount of respect for his sister. Similarly, he had a familial care for her, and was entertained by her personality. "Oh, I have no doubt about that," he responded, glancing towards Anwar as he spoke with an amused smile on his maw. A quarter's day walk, hm? That wasn't so bad. Some vikings took weeks. whole moons, even. A quarter's day walk was hardly something to protest.
--
"I have." Tabari responded, nodding to his captain in understanding but not saying anything to her verbally. Instead, he glanced back to the orange lion. "My pride was at war. There was a plague. Two-leggers invaded our lands and took over the one good food source. We dispersed. There are at least two others that have joined the Stormborn." His tail flicked as he thought about it. Sure, he missed his old home. The sands of the Stormborn felt different and wrong underneath his paws. It was a relief to learn that others of the Burkuteshti had found the same new home.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:39 pm
Anwar grinned at her brother, hearing his response. Yes, she knew he didn't doubt a word she said, and that she was likely to back it up with paw and claw as needed. She was very pleased he'd come with. The lioness honestly hadn't been certain he'd accept her invitation - he'd gone so long without becoming a Reaver that she'd begun to think he might not be interested. So it was rather gratifying that he'd been willing.
She listened while they walked to the conversation going on at the back of the group. Tabari certainly sounded like he had experience, she wondered that he too hadn't gone on a Viking sooner.
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Snidjen was all ears as he listened to the older lion. War was good. A plague was good. Two-leggers...not so much. But not much any lion could do about them from what he'd heard. Interesting that other Stormborn had once been in whatever pride the lion came from.
"What ssort of plague?" the orange male asked, fastening on the most intriguing information dropped by his companion. He had the sudden urge to unsheathe his claws, but walking with them out in the dirt would only dull them more quickly.
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Two-leggers? That close? This was more evidence of sheer bad luck, as far as Hylinn was concerned. Hopefully the stranger lion wouldn't bring his bad luck to the Myrsky Syntynyt. Otherwise, they'd all be in trouble. Like the time a band of Reavers brought home fleas or whatnot. That had been a nightmare, or so he'd been told. It was a long time ago.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:47 pm
Hoenir also turned an ear towards the conversation happening behind him. This was his first reaving, so the only information he knew about the world outside the pride came from stories. Desert wars? Plagues and invasion? It sounded like a pretty interesting place. He only listened for a little while longer before he looked back to his sister. "This destination, is it a normal area for vikings? It seems pretty near, what's the furthest you've gone?" He'd shown some interest in his sister's doings in the past and had asked her questions, but not to a huge amount.
--
"A plague that came through our food source." Tabari seemed interested in talking about his old home. It all seemed such a distant history, now. "In the desert there were a few oases. There was one we called the Baj-jer. It was the main contesting point in the war, and was the grounds of a huge amount of huge seals that were frequently hunted. They became diseased, and it wiped a good number of us out. Then two-leggers came to hunt our prey. Not much else we could have done. It's a shame," he continued, a wry smile on his face, "We were well on our way to extinguishing our enemies." The thought of battle got his blood boiling. Thinking of his fights in the war, his tail twitched and his claws raked through the ground with each step.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 2:53 pm
"It's normal enough for the first day," Anwar replied absently, listening to the retelling Tabari was doing. She hadn't asked much about his past, but perhaps that was an oversight. Clearly he had seen a great deal more than most of the lions present. And even if she'd seen as much, it was under very different circumstances.
"We'll be out for several days, but there's no need to head as far as we can possibly go on the first day," she explained to Hoenir as they continued.
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"So you were going to paint the ground with their blood," Snidjen replied in satisfaction to this evidence. It was a shame the stranger's pride hadn't been able to secure a complete and total victory, thanks to the two-leggers, but it was good that they had been so strong. Perhaps he could learn a bit from the scarred lion as well as from the Captain. Maybe even more.
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Hylinn merely snorted to himself. Obviously the stranger was trying to divert attention away from his pride's failure to vanquish their opponents. The two-leggers were merely the excuse. Oh sure, he didn't down that they'd come as Tabari had said, but he did doubt that the pride had been so close to victory. After all, who here could gainsay his words? They were all Stormborn by birth, and therefore couldn't have any knowledge of this other pride but what they were told.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:01 pm
"Makes sense," Hoenir responded, looking around the area that they walked. A few days, huh? Not so bad at all. And it would make sense to pace themselves. See? He was learning.
The lion fell silent, listening to the story behind him as well as listening out for any indication of others in the area. It seemed that the viking band was alone, though. Hopefully the later parts of this venture would be more exciting than just walking and chatter...
--
The lion let loose a single, dry laugh. This orange lion. He thought bloody. Tabari liked that. "We were going to color the sands red," he responded, giving him a glance with his lavender eyes. "I could get into the specifics of how it all worked--the battles and tactics of the generations-long war seems different than the sort of battle that is done here. There are territories that we try to strategically gain, trying to push back the enemy to a single stronghold before putting forth the final attack. But it's all very long and probably boring." The lion shrugged.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 3:05 pm
Anwar nodded to her brother, still listening to Tabari, when she smelled something. Stopping immediately, the lioness breathed deeply, trying to identify the scent. A few heartbeats later she opened her eyes and bared her teeth in a sharp smile. Dinner was about to be served. Or it would be, except...
"Hush!" the Captain turned her head to hiss behind her, ensure that everyone heard the word clearly and distinctly. Then, once she was certain of the males' attention, she cocked her head in the direction of the would-be food. Following their nods, she led them onward.
This was going to be a very good Viking.
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