"You do have a plan, don't you?" Lawsonia had swept in behind the Captain as he'd gathered up his Reavers and promptly left. They hadn't been offered much of an explanation, but several had expressed their discontent at the disturbance. In the last few months Tethys had failed to deliver anything after all, and just as he claimed Ushindi was filled with bluster, they were inclined to say the same thing about him.
...Yet the manner in which he had stared each of them down, his expression cold and gaze hard, had made it very clear that he was passed the point of diplomacy. The novelty of bedding the young and pretty females had passed, the assumption that alliances were more powerful than a single well-trained strike team was gone. All in all, Tethys seemed to have adopted a more forceful approach and this did give them confidence.
It may all have been bluster in the end, but for the time being he had their loyalty and if he were to fail them again, they could always re-evaluate. After all, someone could usurp him if he was truly incompetent and they could set themselves on the right path. It was for that reason that the majority had taken up arms once more and followed him away from their home - they would return, but they would expect to return with more than just stories of anomalies.
They wanted blood, furs, a prize.
"I know where to start looking," Tethys stated darkly as he continued on his way out towards their destination. They were moving further and further away from the coastline and he seemed to be aiming for regions they had yet to explore. The Maestros had given them insight into the peculiar rituals of their targets, the Bahari'mtoto had shown them elements of their strategic ambush techniques; but at each step of the way these things had never truly exposed them to the source.
"You are aware that you said this the last time, right?" Lawsonia knew he needed to step carefully, Tethys could normally contain his temper, but he was in an unusually irritated mood today. It seemed the new Warlord had rubbed him up the wrong way and while Lawsonia had thought better of prying, he was a touch curious about what was so controversial about the warlord.
Was it that Zjarr had been unseated or something else?
Lawsonia doubted it had to do with unseating her, Tethys had been quite vocal in how useless he found her. In fact, Lawsonia could probably recount every time the Captain had indicated she was an utter disappointment until he was blue in the face and still had room for more - he'd have been breathless by the end of it.
Ah, but perhaps it was the fact that females had failed him every step of the way and rather than do something about it, Ushindi had simply lessened their 'importance' in the heirarchy. It was a token move, even Lawsonia could see that, though he wasn't quite as invested or bitter in regards to the fairer species as his Captain was.
"I am more than aware," Tethys paused and glanced over his shoulder towards Lawsonia, his lips pursed into a thin line. "The difference is that I now have a sufficient number of leads," he snorted. "We are no longer chasing a shadow, we are going to its source," he stated. Unbeknownst to his own warband, his encounter with both his youngest siblings and his mother had allowed him to discover where the Scourge lived, albeit it vaguely. Fact of the matter is that there was little point in having squirmishes in the roguelands, if they wanted to get a real prize then they were going to have to take the fight to them. After all, if you cut something off at the source it often stopped completely, right?
Tethys was unaware that the scourge was more than just a nation, it was an affliction upon the Al-Siq region due to their own cultural norms. Nevertheless this was entirely irrelevant to a Viking, the only thing that mattered was that his band achieved vengeance. It was their entire reason for pursuing this entity, if it hadn't been, they could have made a much easier existence pursuing the standard prizes the Stormborn seemed to cherish.
...Quite frankly there were easier targets to chase than 'shadows'.
Nevertheless, no matter the state of the Al-Siq, once his band acquired what they came for they would return to their normal duties. At least this was the plan, Tethys would ensure their success and once they were finished they would pursue other targets, seek out treasure and glory beyond the Stormborn shores and come back to accolades and acknowledgement that they were more useful than the majority of those who called themselves 'Reavers'.
If there was one thing they were all clear on though, there would be no cubs coming home with them on this trip. Not unless those younglings were to be subject to servitude; all were in agreement that the time for play was over.
"You know where they are?" Lawsonia narrowed his eyes, if Tethys had been withholding this information then...
"I do now," Tethys growled warningly. He knew what a controversy it would have been to have known beforehand, fortunately he'd been in the dark alongside them until Thrymr had been more forthcoming with information. It seemed that his sibling had the same desires as him, he wanted them destroyed, if only because it had ruined his childhood. Thus, when he had heard of Tethys's overall aims he had been more than happy to provide him with the small amount of knowledge he had on his Al-Siq homeland.
...What they were looking for was in a wasteland, ravaged and destroyed by war, but nonetheless thriving beneath the surface. All they needed to do was get in, get to the wastelands, and then dig out their targets. The only obstacles that may lie in wait were the guards by the gates of the Al-Siq lands (and easy thing to bypass when one could point out who their father was) and then the restricted access to these wastelands...again something that Tethys fully intended to use his father's position to abuse.
They would be getting inside, nothing would prevent that.
"We will end this," Tethys waved his paw dismissively. "And then we will be fulfilled in our original aims; after that, the world is ours for the taking," he pointed out.
Lawsonia raised a brow.
"Might I ask where we're going at least?"
"Far beyond our sights," he lifted his paw once more to point towards the north east. It would be a significant amount of time before they reached it, but they would get there. "Into a war ravaged wasteland," he added and shook his head. "It will take us more than a few months to reach it but once we're there..."
"We'll be in the home straight?"
"Precisely," Tethys confirmed and then he started to walk again. "The only difference is that this will not be a forced march," he smirked. "We'll savour the experience, this is our fight and ours alone..." he murmured and lapsed into silence.
Lawsonia was left to consider his words as he fell back in behind him and glanced towards one of the other males in the warband. They were conversing, but he knew a number had at least paused to listen to the Captain's remarks. It came as a surprise to him to discover that something about Tethys's demeanour and his words had lightened the mood.
It was strange how some things worked out in the end.
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