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 Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:26 pm
The rematch had been as close as her first challenge, and once again Iseq found herself seeking the relative solace of the forest near the pride's lands. There she knew where to find the helpful herd to staving off infection and cutting pain and another for speeding in healing. The cooler air felt wonderful against her heated skin and the stones helped that soothing cool permeate right through her. The foxy lioness had applied the herb where needed and had settled to lay out along a stone shelf where a portion of the rock face had fallen away leaving a decent niche behind, dappled by the pale sunlight filtering through the trees. Her wounds and scratches weren't so bad that a little nap and a little time for the plants to start working their magic.
So, in spite of the aches and occasional twinge she felt here and there when she shifted or rolled over, she knew that she would be fine. The claw marks would heal. The bruises she felt would fade. She had no broken bones and, from what she could tell, there was no noticeable internal injuries. All good things which would come about with patience. For now, resting was in order. It wouldn't be too long before she would be able to just march into that place and find her family.
A soft sigh escaped her as she shifter her head to rest upon her one of her front legs while the other was curled closer to her chest. Her eyes may have been closed and she may have, for all intents and purposes, looked asleep, but, in fact, she had awaken and was merely laying there relaxing and listening, her ears occasionally turning back or off to the side before returning to face forward. While close to the territory she was so intent upon gaining admittance, she didn't really fear getting found. She was above the viewing range of those standing with all four paws upon the ground and she didn't stand out all that much, save for where the light that caught her dusky orange. Sure, there was the wind to carry her scent here and there, but if any were so set on attempting to find her, they would have to climb some to do so. Either that or get her to come down of her own volition.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 6:54 pm
Odd knew he wasn't really supposed to be leaving the pride's lands, but with the lands being pretty much unoccupied in the area immediately surrounding the invisible boundary between Stormborn lands and rogue lands, he didn't really feel he was in much danger in crossing some arbitrary line. Besides, he really sort of wanted to get away from the pride right now.
The desire to get away from the pride came from an uncharacteristic, but typically adolescent fit of sullenness and sulkiness. In other words, Odd was feeling rejected and out of sorts because his half-sister didn't seem to have much time to spend just with him lately, and when they were together with other people, she didn't pay him much attention. Sometimes she even turned her sharp tongue on him when he said something out of keeping with the Stormborn way of life. She'd never done that before, and it hurt more than he had expected it to.
So he was stalking through the forest, which he really considered more the territory of his family than of the pride anyway. Few Stormborn came deep into the forest, even the part of it they considered "theirs," and that suited him just fine. He thought he might bite the next lion to say "jah" or "Stormlords' balls" or anything along the lines of traditional Stormborn expressions. Even if it came from someone he liked, like Kazul or Ru, because he didn't really like them either right now.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:43 pm
Footfalls? This far out from the pride proper? From what she could glean from the scents around where she was, coming into this part of the woods was something few other lions did, much less the Vikings just some small ways off. Shifting herself to lay on her opposite arm, Iseq slowly creaked open her eyes to gaze down across the area below her perch. The wind was still, so there was very little by way of breeze to carry scents to and fro, for the time being anyway.
It took only a moment for her to fix her gaze upon the one who was walking within earshot. It wasn't hard considering the oh-so familiar vivid orange coat and striped mane that was looking decidedly more full and abundant than the last time she laid eyes upon her Odd-child. A vaguely sedate smile crept across her features and she arched her brows. Well, they, or rather at least Odd, were alive and well, having done some growing up since their last encounter if what she was seeing was true and not some rogue side effect from the herbs she ate to dull the stinging and itching of her healing wounds. Seeing as she had never had a hallucination from her tending to her own injuries before, she trusted what she saw as the truth.
"How now, Odd-child, whither wander you?" She asked loud enough for her voice to carry to him but not loud enough to shout for him. "You're looking like your carrying around a troublesome spirit. Why the long face? Couldn't be that you missed me that much, or perhaps...Girl trouble?" The lioness asked with a faint tease as she pushed herself up to her feet and began to hop down the small series of rocks she used to get up to her hiding spot in the first place. Stifling a slight wince upon landing on the ground, Iseq again smiled as she moved to meet him.
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:56 pm
Odd almost winced when someone called his name. It would have been a wince of self-directed disgust for not having detected the person addressing him before they noticed him. Spending as much time as he did among the Stormborn, Odd was clearly losing some of his woodlore. He used to be able to move so quietly that none but his family would be aware of his passage, and sometimes he could even sneak past them if he worked at it. That was another complaint he could lodge against the Stormborn: their dull senses were giving him bad habits.
It took him a moment to shake the irritation he felt at both himself and his pridemates to realize that very few people called him Odd-child, particularly now that he had grown into adolescence. His mother did sometimes, but the only other lioness who did was one he had not seen in ages, it seemed. At the thought of this particular family member a grin curved his mouth despite his otherwise foul mood.
"Iseq!" he exclaimed, trotting toward her with more care to the sound of his footfalls.
Unlike most Stormborn, Odd did not have to sacrifice speed for stealth when he moved, a fact he was absurdly proud of, particularly lately with so many of his agemates obsessing over going out viking and honing the skills they would need for that. He did not share their enthusiasm, and usually found himself in the position of instructing them in woodlore. He didn't mind teaching most of the time, but lately it rankled a bit.
"The only troublesome spirit I carry is my own," he admitted. "And the only trouble I have with girls is trouble with one of my half-sisters. But I have missed you. Forgive me for saying so, but you have looked better."
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:45 pm
Ah, there was a smile that she had missed, and it was even better that it came about in spite of her nephew's foul mood. Her smile for him warmed and gave him a gentle affectionate nudge like she had done when he was but a cub. The lioness so hoped that she hadn't missed too much of their lives. With how much he had grown, she worried some about it.
Iseq listened to his admission, humming thoughtfully at his trouble before giving a bit of a laugh at his pointing out her own state. Nodding and giving herself a little looking over, she spoke. "I suppose I have. Although, I'll gladly accept whatever scars these wounds of mine leave since I've been fighting so that I may join you. They will be well worth it. I missed the feel of everyone back in our home wood so came to be near you again." Stretching a back leg out tentatively, she briefly narrowed her eyes at the pull of healing and closing wounds. "I have been tending to them though, so I don't believe I have any chance of becoming wound-sick." Returning herself to her four paws, she shook her head and waved a forepaw dismissively. She would heal after all. "It does me good to know that I've been missed, but, tell me, what troubles you so and what of this half-sister of yours? How has this place treated you? I trust you haven't changed so much to adjust to this environment. I hear that these Stormborn are quite the brawlers."
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 8:08 am
Odd closed his eyes and briefly enjoyed the contact with is aunt. She had never really been a permanent fixture in his life, even when his family still dwelt outside of the pride, living wild and free in the forest. She was even more of a wanderer than his mother, he had always thought, and couldn't bear to be in one place for too long or else it would bore her. That might not have actually been the case, but it was what Odd believed.
When she mentioned them, Odd glanced once more at the cuts her body bore. She had been fighting to join him - well, probably the whole family. That could only mean that she had been trying to challenge her way into the Stormborn. He looked carefully at what claw marks he could make out, wondering if he could match the span to a specific cat, and if he could do something awful to them for having the temerity to mark his aunt. Actually, he didn't wonder if he could do it. He was wondering what he would do when he figured out who it was.
"I'm pleased to hear you won't be wound-sick," he said. "And even more pleased to learn that you wish to make our family whole again, but...why fight your way in?"
There was something niggling at the back of his mind, something Kazul had shared with him once, about how it was okay for him and his family to be in the pride even though his mother had fought no askorun. Well, it would come to him. If Iseq asked what he meant before it did, he would try to explain what he could remember and then see what could be done about the details. It wasn't as if he couldn't seek out a Lawspeaker, if all else failed.
"Oh, I'm a regular Stormborn Reaver now," he said with a perfectly straight face. "Just this morning I woke up, saw someone make a funny face, and tore their ear off. Now their face looks really funny."
He turned his head so that he could gauge Iseq's reaction from the corner of his eyes. It was easier not to burst out laughing if he did it that way. She had put him in a better mood, and he didn't want to spoil it by talking about Kazul and everything else. Not just yet.
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 2:34 pm
Iseq was enjoying the proximity of her nephew. It really had been quite some time since the last time they were able to be so close and to talk. The lioness' stance was relaxed, even if an occasion shift caused her to tense briefly from a twinging complaint from some healing wound or another. Her expression had been pleasant before changing to a somewhat more neutral face. "Why fight? Well, from what I had gathered, fighting in is the only method available to those who aren't born into or of the Vikings. Seeing as I am neither, it seemed to be the thing to do, my boy." Giving herself a bit of a shake to help smooth her coat, the lioness smiled once again.
Odd's statement caused the lioness to tip her head back at a slight angle to regard the younger lion more fully. After a moment of silence, her smile twisted into more of a quirked grin. A laugh rolled easily from her as she let her head back further to laugh to the sky. "My, my, a testy brute indeed! I pity those who cross you, my Odd-child. Wickedly smart, fiery tempered, and with a sense of humor!" She again crossed to him and nuzzled the boy's jaw, taking advantage of his head being turned. A single brow was arched as she took a small step back to look at him pointedly with her grin remaining. "A scourge to those who cross you, huh? Now, what have you been really be doing? Mauling the faces of the those already having unfortunate countenances seems to be a development of fantastical proportions."
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:00 pm
"There's another way," Odd mused. "I can't remember the specifics, but I know there's another way."
He frowned, trying to grasp the particulars, or even the generals of the situation. The last time he knew of it happening was when he and his siblings and their mother had been taken into the pride. He just wished he could remember what had been said. He'd been so young at the time, it was just kind of a blank spot in his memory, even though he was able to remember things that happened before that. Like he remembered Iseq coming to visit shortly after Calder was taken, that sort of thing. Memory was funny that way.
Fortunately Odd didn't have to come up with it right away. His aunt was giving him a reprieve and an opportunity to let his mind drift and find things in its own time and its own way, even if she didn't realize it. He was content to sit and joke with her a little bit while he worked out how to get her into the pride without having to fight. It bothered him to see evidence of violence on any member of his family.
"You flatter me," Odd said. "Except for that part about the fiery temper. I don't really have that. Mostly I do what I please. No one stops me or tells me to do anything else. If I don't choose to learn to fight, no one forces it on me. Most of the time people seem content to view me as something of a, well, an oddity."
His way with the spirits made him interesting and entertaining to the Stormborn. Like a performing monkey, almost. Except Kazul had never really treated him like that. Not until recently.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:13 pm
"I trust that it'll come to you, one way or another, sooner or later. You always were a smart boy and such smarts aren't the sort to be robbed from being around more, ah, physical company." She drew out, speaking of the warriors and brawlers of the pride. They did a lot of that from what she understood. Raiding and the like. Not much her scene, but so long as she had a forest to visit or dwell in she would be a happy camper. "Even if you can't remember, I'm sure there is someone who could be sought out for the answer. This doesn't seem like the sort of question that doesn't have an answer to go with it."
Iseq listened to her nephew describe his way of life here. It didn't seem a bad one. If she had heard that there were those trying to impose anything on her kin, she'd do well to give them a lesson they won't soon forget, but, seeing as that was not the case, she was content to let the idea drop from her mind. "Nothing wrong with being something out of the norm. Normal is boring anyway. Oddities are far more interesting. Although, sometimes it can be a difficult thing to be. Most are content to pay those who are different than themselves little mind, but others can give oddities a hard time just for being what they are." She gave a contemplative hum, looking at Odd but at the same time either through or beyond him.
"You've been living well." She said, implying half stating and half inquiring. "Tell me some of the things you've learned. I appear to have missed much." She said, lifting a paw to about as high as his head had been when she last saw her nieces and nephews. "Since you were about this big. You've practically gone and grown up on me." She said, returning her paw to the earth and nudging him gently with her shoulder.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:29 pm
There was that, Odd admitted. Even if it didn't come to him, there were people who would know what he wanted to describe. Any Lawspeaker, for instance, or if he didn't feel like seeking any of those out there was always Kazul. She had been trained since cubhood by one of the pride's Lawspeakers to know the Stormborn's history and ways and laws. If she had felt like it, she probably could have gone into training to become a Lawspeaker, but apparently the thought had not occurred to her, or else it had but it had not interested her. For much of her youth she had wanted to be a warrior like their father, after all.
"Kazul would probably know," he said finally, and dismissed the matter from his thoughts for the time being. Maybe it would come to him if he wasn't trying to force it.
He rolled his shoulders and stretched one of his forelimbs before responding to his aunt's prompting. He suspected the look and contemplative hum to go with it had something to do with a concern on her part that he was being bullied for being different, but that wasn't exactly the case and he wasn't going to say anything about that. Even if it was the case, he was enough his father's son that he wouldn't go crying to a female about it. He would deal with it in his own way. And that would probably involve spirits and tricks. He did not doubt that he was cleverer than most Stormborn, after all.
"Oh, I've learned all sorts of things. Lots from Mum, of course, about the spirits, though I'm not likely to rival either of you for connection to them. And I've learned how to swim." That was Kazul's idea. She liked swimming.
He studied his paws for a moment while he thought of other things he had learned that he might tell Iseq that might actually be of interest to her, and while he was doing that she nudged him and startled a smile out of him. He should not have discounted his mother's family while he went around with Kazul. Not when it was all anyone else seemed to see when they looked at him. It was good to be with someone whose mind worked like his.
"You should see Calder. He's gotten really big. He wants to be a Reaver when he grows up, I think. When he isn't too busy resenting Aesir for...whatever he resents him for." Odd didn't quite understand that, actually, since Aesir had taken Calder, of all that litter, to raise as his own before the others had followed with Raven.
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Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:13 am
Knowing that the answer would come to him sooner or later either by his own recollection or after consulting someone who does know, the lioness simply dipped her head in a small nod. While she was looking forward to being able to carry on with her family as she once had, Iseq was healing and surrounded by the forest. She was quite content to lay low and recuperate from her second defeat in the joining arena. Her opponent had be civil after the fact, so there was no bitterness on her part. So far, there proved to be plenty of places to hide, climb on, and explore. If an unfamiliar soul came around, she had options that wouldn't risk splitting open her healing wound or leave her at the mercy of some ornery viking or ballsy passing rogue.
It pleased the lioness to hear that her nephew was still learning of the wilder way from her sister in spite of being a part of this pride whose ways were so different than their own. Adaptation was a way of the world, but holding on to one's roots could offer insight and act as a point of balance in a world that could so quickly become caught up in the winds of change. Iseq tittered softly. "Give yourself time, Odd-child. Practice and patience are two fine tutors. And swimming! That's new." She lifted her head, inhaling a slow, deep breath. Though it was some ways off, the wind that filtered through the trees, under the scents of earth, wood, and stone, carried a ghost of the salty sea air. Returning her gaze to Odd, she smiled. "We'll have to swim in the sea sometime. I've never actually been in one. Seen from afar, yes. Heard tell of them, indeed so, but never leaped paws first into the surf. Could be fun, eh?" She said with a little wink.
"Has he now? Well, when I find myself in better condition, I shall have to see about finding him and seeing how much he's sprouted up on me." A brow arched finely, not at the fact that Calder wanted to be a Reaver, but that he harbored resentment towards Aesir for some reason. "Hm. Perhaps not having been given choice in the matter of his being the one taken is the cause? Having been removed from the family he knew by a part of it that he wasn't familiar with? I am not sure if he was meant to be a trophy or proof of Aesir's conquest." She shook her head. "Nor do I know how he was treated and raised after he was brought here and before the arrival of my sister, and you and your siblings, if that is the cause. Perhaps I may glean some hint what is the source of this resentment with a visit. I may not. If it's decided that the source isn't for me to know, then I shall just remain open to what may come to me, if anything. Mm. A matter for another time."
Some words were to be had with that boy. Carrying around resentment, if not addressed, could just burn one up and eat away the best of them. But that was for when she got a chance to catch up with Calder. For now Iseq was greatly enjoying catching up with her Odd-child. "What of your other siblings and your mother? How fare they? Busy all? I can only imagine what you've all been up to."
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:04 pm
"Oh, swimming is fun," Odd agreed. "But it takes forever for my mane to dry down to the skin. Not really likely to be a problem for you, I suppose. But you will probably come out of it smelling like dinner."
Perhaps it was something of a conceit to refer to the ruff growing in over his neck, chest, and shoulders as a mane just yet, but Odd knew that would be what it eventually grew into. He already knew that of the three males in their litter, his would not be the most impressive mane. That distinction would have to go to Herryk, who had inherited their father's dark mane. However, Herryk looked a bit silly in the mean time while his dark mane grew in against his orange coat. Odd and Calder didn't have that difficulty.
"He's gotten bit," Odd said. "But then, I've always been the small brother, so maybe he just seems big compared to me. He's about average for a Stormborn."
In a way Odd had envied Calder a bit for being the one their father chose to take away. He would have been sorry to lose the training and education he received living with their mother, but he would have relished the extra time with Kazul and her siblings. Well. Things had worked out well enough, but for all his usual empathy, Odd could never understand Calder's resentment.
"Broni is training to be a priestess with the pride and I think Ember is considering the same path. Mother remains as she always has been. I'm a little amazed she's chosen to remain here rather than return to our old home. Everyone's busy though. The days and nights fill themselves up..."
"Family!" he interrupted himself. "I'm embarrassed not to have remembered it before, but I have only to name you family for you to be accepted as a freeborn lion of the pride. Any of us could do it, actually. We do need to find a lawspeaker or priestess though so that the pride's gods, or at least their keepers of lore, are officially made aware of the relation."
He grinned, pleased with himself for remembering.
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:00 pm
Iseq laughed in an open, easy sort of way before speaking. "A good point, dearest. I'll have to make a point not to look to appetizing before getting cleaned up and dried off. I wouldn't mind just feeling the waves washing over my paws. At least then you wouldn't have to worry about waiting forever for that mane of yours to dry. I can dance with the sea on my own time. Mm." She hummed a brief pause. "After some of these wounds heal up a little bit more, anyway."
She knew that he was growing still, and gave him his calling his still filling out mane a true mane. Manes were a sometime source of pride and vanity for males, young or old. She had seen some awkward looking teenagers before, their manes coming in much darker or much lighter than their base coat, sticking out in all directions in unruly patches. No, while Odd's was still growing, it was growing in well. He was a good looking kid. Chock that up to good genes and a good spirit.
"Heh. Busy, busy, but that isn't a bad thing." The fey began.
Odd's exclamation caused Iseq to blink in mild surprise at her nephew, but offered a bit of a smile at his recollection. "There you go. I knew you'd remember for me." She said with a nudge of her shoulder against his own. Knowing that she wouldn't have to enter the challenging ring again was a relief, and while her challenger had been decent and civil to her after the fact, she wasn't particularly in a rush to see him again. "Let's go find us a lawspeaker or priestess or whomever we need to speak with, but not in too much of a rush. Catching up is nice and some of these wounds of mine are more tender than others. Come, Odd-child. Show me around this home of ours."
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