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 Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:31 pm
 "E-BUM-N-YA-MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!" A plaintive cry/yell crossed the plains, grasses waving in the empty wind, no one there to return her cry but the rustling of the stalks. Where was her great-aunt older sister figure?? The dark blue lion paced around restlessly, checking behind every tree and mound and in every shallow cave, behind every rock, and then checking there again and again. She could not for the life of her, find Ebumnyami. But... she needed to stay calm. Okay, Xanthippe. Everything is just fine. Surely there was something normal holding her up, something that she did not need to worry about. Of course. Everything was fine.... "EEEE-BUMMM-N-YAAAAAA-MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!" Xanthippe began mewling in self-pity and fear for Ebumnyami, when she suddenly caught a scent on the breeze. A stranger... A male. "Ebumnyami, you dog, you!" She felt a small flood of relief. Maybe Ebumnyami was just having a little fun with the male visitor to her territory. Hopefully. But she could not rest yet. Xanthippe decided to track the scent, following it through grass and dirt until- Her head shot up suddenly, at the sight of blood. "EEEE-BUMMM-N-YAAAAAA-MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!" She started to run, hoping to find Ebumnyami before it was too late.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 4:43 pm
 Well, her brother Eikthyrnir had made his intentions clear. He was bound and determined to capture himself a thrall and take it back to the Myrsky Syntynyt from their first viking as a trophy, a sign of his triumph. The lioness rolled her eyes and blew a puff of air at her forelock to get it out of her grey-red eyes. He was a fool. He knew how their mother and grandmother felt about having thralls- being former thralls themselves. Adelheid and Eikthyrnir had been born some time after their aunt, Pur'coeur, had claimed them as family and raised them from thralls (Brynhildr and Hróõvitnir's litter had been far closer to the time they had been made freeborn and narrowly managed to be born freeborns themselves). But Eikthyrnir was stubborn. He resented their mother, Chayah, for depriving them of the knowledge of who their father was, not allowing them to try to contact and to meet him. Chayah bitterly said that he would not care to meet them or else he would have already, but Adelheid and her brother sensed she was covering something up deliberately. Maybe Chayah could have summoned their father with a flick of her tail. Maybe not. But it had driven them to become reavers, definitely. The chance to scour the lands outside the pride was the only hope they had at finding him. Whoever he was. And maybe, for the sake of trying to force answers, they should put a little pressure on Chayah. Adelheid resolved herself. She too would capture a thrall (cause she could always free it later, right?).
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 5:24 pm
The further Xanthippe charged through the territory in search of Ebumnyami, the more frantic she became. The blood was Ebumnaymi's, with a few splotches of red unwillingly donated from the male, as well, mingling in the dirt that Xanthippe trampled over in her frenzy. She was panting and felt a pit in her stomach. Things were looking bleaker and bleaker with each additional drop of blood that she found.
"Ebumnyami," she meweled pitifully, still no one to answer her cries.
Or so she thought.
Xanthippe saw a lioness who looked just as equally surprised to see her. Had Xanthippe snuck up on her? Oh well, it did not matter. Surely she was just a passer-by like the countless others who came and went through Ebumnyami's territory each passing of the moon.
"You! Hello! Yes, you! Please, won't you help me?!" Xanthippe ran towards her, her legs shaky with fear and exhaustion.
"I-I can not find my friend, she lives here. Well, she is my great-aunt but she is more like a sister or a friend. Well, I guess that is not very important for you to know in this situation, but she means so much to me. And she is missing. And I have found blood. Uhm, hers..." Xanthippe rushed to where the trail was, "and a strange male's. I have never smelled him before. I am afraid he has hurt her..." or worse...
"Please, can you help me?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 6:42 pm
Perhaps it was meant to be. A gift or a sign from her father?
Adelheid, who had been quite rather surprised when the vividly blue and pink female rushed over to her, was struggling to keep up with her frantic babbling. Her eyes, wide, she slowly nodded, but more as a filler for the one-sided conversation.
The black lioness breathed in the air deeply. She did not recognize one of the lions whose blood lay splattered on the ground. But the other was just faintly, vaguely familiar enough...
And as this beautiful dark blue lioness rambled on, an idea formed in Adelheid's mind. And because she just kept going on and on, the idea seeded. Then it sprouted. Then it blossomed. Then it bore fruit.
(Xanthippe could really go on and on.)
"I have a brother, I can't imagine how I would feel if he went missing and I came across some of his blood." Adelheid nodded earnestly, as convincingly as she could. At least that part was true.
"Please, let me help you." That was a lie.
"I have my brother and some friends with me today, they are better trackers than I am, and I know they would be eager to help." Her smile was so fake that it hurt, but the other lioness did not seem to notice or care.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:31 pm
Xanthippe heaved a heavy sigh of relief and visibly relaxed, like she had been supporting some huge weight and Adelheid's offer had suddenly lifted it from her shoulders to share. Her eyes began to sting with tears of gratitude.
"Thank you thank you thank you! Thank the gods!" she could have just thrown her paws around the lioness's neck and given her a huge hug and a kiss, but she decided to restrain herself, lest she drive her helper away.
"My name is Xanthippe. I do not know how I will ever repay you. Please, lead the way!"
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 7:43 pm
Was this... too easy? Adelheid was taken aback, but only for a moment. The reaver steeled her resolve and nodded faux-empathetically. "My name is Adelheid. Don't worry, Xanthippe. We will find your Ebumnyami. Please, right this way." She gestured with a sweeping paw, and that was that. Adelheid had captured her first thrall. the end.
Xanthippe: 536 words
Adelheid: 542 words
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