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 Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 11:25 am
Gaved hadn't really wanted to go on the viking. Oh, he loved getting out and about, slaughtering lions and terrorizing their lionesses and raiding their stores. And then to be greeted as a hero upon his return, just for doing what he loved? It was wonderful.
But Gaved's father hadn't been home in years, and Gaved didn't want to take off just after Thorgrim arrived. He didn't want Thorgrim to listen to his puling brother whine for weeks on end. Although his rational mind doubted that Gunnar would ever become Thorgrim's favored son, subconsciously, the possibility of Gunnar gaining favor in his absence was galling. Horrifying. No. Gaved would not risk it. He would not go out viking again until he was sure that Gunnar had been well and truly beaten (and preferably humiliated and crippled as well) before Thorgrim's eyes.
Mulling over just how he was going to destroy Gunnar in front of their father, Gaved's paws took him on a roundabout route past Thorgrim's den. If Gunnar happened to be seeking out their father, Gaved would beat him into submission right then and there.
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 11:44 am
Thorgrim  He knew that Lena wasn't entirely happy with the decision he'd made to give the stupid Thrall Stygg to his favored son; if Thorgrim could find Gaved a good wife with the right bloodlines, he would have. In fact, there was nothing that Thorgrim wanted more. It was just a shame that so many of the females around were worthless, fat or lazy -- or even worse, Reavers and Captains. Perhaps he simply hadn't been looking hard enough - in truth, a fine Reaver like Gaved deserved a fine wife of a fine rank. A Priestess or a Lawspeaker would be idea. Deep in thought, Thorgrim did not see his son approach until he was almost upon him. "Gaved! My son, how fortunate that you have stopped by. I was just thinking of you." Stygg  Stygg had been forced to remain close to the den these past few days; not by Lena's choice, but because Thorgrim had ordered it so. Lena had already discussed with Stygg how her life was going to change, and quite plainly, Stygg was terrified. She knew Gaved's reputation - Lena had not been harsh in speaking of him but Stygg could tell that Lena did not thing very highly of the lion. Stygg was a wreck. She'd worked herself up into such a tizzy over the entire situation that when she heard Thorgrim call out Gaved's name, Stygg promptly burst into tears.
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 11:55 am
"Hello, father. I thought I should stop by and see you and auntie Lena," Gaved said, unable to stop himself from grinning. Of course Thorgrim was thinking of him. Thinking of how superior he was, no doubt, and how much Thorgrim wished that loser Gunnar didn't even exist. Feeling quite smug, Gaved peered over Thorgrim's shoulder. His 'auntie' Lena wasn't at home, which was good. Gaved had no issue with the lioness, who had tried to treat him like one of her own sons when he was young, but he didn't know why Thorgrim wanted her when he had Runa.
That bawling lioness was new. Gaved thought he might have seen her (at the feast, maybe?) but he wasn't sure. He rarely paid attention to females in general unless he was looking for fun, and she wasn't one of the slutty ladyreavers he had been hounding lately.
"Who is that?" Gaved asked bluntly, staring at the lioness. She was boohooing like one of the gentle lionesses Lena liked to pal around with, but he could not fathom why one of Lena's friends would be in here blubbering to Thorgrim. He supposed she could be Thorgrim's new saltwife, but she didn't look pretty enough.
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 12:05 pm
Thorgrim "Lena is not in," Thorgrim grunted, rising to his feet before he shook the dust from his coat. He narrowed blue eyes at his oldest son - there was so much of Runa in him, so much fire. It reminded Thorgrim briefly of the lioness he'd once been wed to. Gaved's question promptly brought him out of his thoughtful daze. "It is a gift for you, son," Thorgrim smiled broadly before he turned over his shoulder to glare in Stygg's direction. "Come, Thrall. Now." The words were bitter and harsh, spoken a moment before Thorgrim turned back to smile at his son once more. "She is a fool, but she is sturdy. I believe her to be barren - and she does not speak often. She will stay here during the day, and you will find her in your den during the evening hours. You may.. do with her as you wish, Gaved, just.. do not mark her, hmm? It would upset Lena." He rolled his eyes in a ' the foolish things I tolerate' gesture. Stygg Stygg didn't want to move, she didn't want to move please, she was fine where she was, she would do anything to make it all better just please don't -- When Thorgrim called out to her, she rose to her feet sluggishly. Her breath was coming in short, pained gasps as she shuffled foward; she could see Gaved - he looked meaner than Thorgrim did, if that was even possible. With a great, honking sob, Stygg kept her head lowered and her eyes on the ground. She would not be caught being insolent, not between two volatile lions. Why her? She'd been such a loyal Thrall, both to Lena and to Thorgrim. Why did she deserve this? It just wasn't fair, it really wasn't fair. Where was Lena, why wasn't Lena here to save her?
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 2:22 pm
A thrall? Gaved took another look at the dark female, more interested now. Thralls made good sport now and then. He hadn't entertained himself with a thrall in a good while. The pride seemed to have a shortage of thralls lately, what with all their offspring being promoted to Freeborn. Their owners tended to get a bit tetchy and mouthy if you hurt them. Gaved had captured one or two, but he had never had the patience to look after one for long. If Lena looked after this one during the day, he would love the use of her at night. "Thank you, father. I could use a good Thrall."
Gaved reached out to the female to lift her head with one rough paw, peering at her teary face intently. "She looks healthy enough," Gaved said finally, after studying the wheezing, bawling wreck of a lioness for a moment. He couldn't rightfully say that she was pretty. She didn't look like any Stormborn female he had ever met, and they were his standards of beauty. She also looked, well, pathetic. "Are you sure she's barren? I wouldn't want to get her with cubs. Thrall cubs," he said, sneering slightly. Like Gunnar's brats, he thought, but failed to add.
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 8:00 pm
Thorgrim Thorgrim laughed loudly, a proud smile on his muzzle. Gaved was such the perfect son - he made his father proud. "Suffice it to say, son, that when we happened upon her she'd been thoroughly brutalized by a roving band of outlaws. She'd come too close to another pride's boundaries, and I myself - along with a small group of my trusted Reavers - ended their days as worthless, honorless fools. Lena brought her back to health - though there was no saving the shreds of her tongue they left behind. Because of this, I am absolutely certain that this Thrall is barren, and will not trouble you with b*****d sons." Thorgrim turned his attention then to Stygg, narrowing his blue eyes at the Thrall. "As I've said, do not be… overly harsh of paw. Lena has a fondness for this idiot, though her reasons are beyond me." Stygg Stygg was going to hyperventilate. Thorgrim's words were bringing back a surge of memories she'd been hard-pressed to tamp down. She had been so young when all of the aforementioned brutality had happened, and it had been a long road to recovery - but Lena had promised that she would look after her. Up until this moment the kindly lioness had done just that. And yet despite all of Lena's gentleness, here she was, panting as she listened to Thorgrim and Gaved speak of her as if she wasn't standing between them, eyes glued to the ground. Everything would be fine. She'd heard Thorgrim tell his son not to be too rough - she could handle the verbal abuse. She would be fine.
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 10:16 am
The tale of the thrall's injury at the paws of rogues was rather tragic. At least it would have been tragic if Gaved were a gentle, soft-hearted female like Lena. The reaver regarded the grey female with little sympathy. If he and a band of his own friends had come across her wandering around the rogue lands, they might have done just the same to her.
It was possible -- unlikely, but possible -- that Gaved would have treated his new thrall rather kindly. He intended to make use of her just as Thorgrim suggested, but as long as she kept quiet and compliant he probably wouldn't have beaten her. Thorgrim's urgings not to let Lena see marks irritated him, though. It would have been foolish to insult his father's wife, but the fact was Lena was soft. Feeling sympathy for thralls was pathetic. This one wasn't even pretty!
"I won't scar her, but I'll keep her in line if auntie Lena won't," Gaved said, frowning at the sniveling lioness. He would try not to leave marks on her, but he wasn't going to cosset her for Lena's benefit. It would do Lena good to see her thrall broken in. Maybe it would help her harden her heart and find some kind of backbone. He smiled suddenly. There was another family member he might help as well. "I should let Gunnar have use of her once in a while. He needs a female or two. I didn't see him with a female the entire time you were gone." His tone was innocent, so innocent. Hehehe.
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 10:29 am
Thorgrim Thorgrim gave a loud grunt. "This is acceptable, Gaved. You'll have to keep a close eye on this one - the only problem I've had with her? She's quite stealthy. There one minute, gone the next." Thorgrim sighed, the sound pained. "Stop your whimpering, Thrall." He shook his head, perking at mention of Gunnar. "Gunnar needs a wife, as well. I've had thoughts of pairing him off with Dalla. Though she's Freeborn, she's old blood and quite loyal. Of course, Gaved, if you'd prefer her, it only stands to reason that as my oldest boy, you would have first choice. Though Taraxa is foolish, he has a few daughters I would not mind seeing you wed, or Gunnar." He shrugged a shoulder, frowning once more at Stygg. "I said silence." Stygg Stygg was trying to stop crying, she really was. With a few loud sniffles, Stygg quietly whispered, "Yeth thir," before hunching down even further. Maybe they'd forget she was here. Maybe, if she tried real hard, she could vanish into thin air. Maybe she could fly away and never look back, find a nice place in the forest or the mountains to call home. Maybe not. Despite how she wished herself away from this place, each time she opened her eyes she was still here. Still being forced to cater to Gaved's needs so as not to beget any b*****d whelp. Still forced to clean the den of a lion she borderline despised while quietly chatting with his poor, sweet, gentle wife. Even the bright side seemed dim. If she kept her mouth shut, did as she was told and did not cry, perhaps this would not be so bad. Perhaps Gaved simply did not want to turn down a gift from his father. She dared glance up at Gaved with a hopeful expression on her face.
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 4:26 am
It seemed as though Thorgrim hadn't taken the bait about Gunnar. Gaved directed his scowl of disappointment at the thrall, favoring her with a particularly nasty look while he tried to think of something else to say. As much as Gaved hated his brother, Thorgrim would put him in his place if he tried to turn the old lion against Gunnar without some kind of proof of ... something. Anything. Oh, what he would give to catch Gunnar doing something weak and foolish! "I think one of Gunnar's bastards is sniffing around after Taraxa's pretty daughter," Gaved said. He had noticed the lioness with the white markings, but he wasn't about to sully himself feuding with his own nephew if the fat lumpen reaver that had spawned the pretty lioness was going to give her to an untested brat. Gaved considered Dalla briefly. If Gunnar had shown any sign of desiring the lioness, Gaved would have immediately announced that he wanted her. Unfortunately Gunnar kept his desires quite hidden (or at least didn't share them with Gaved), and Gaved didn't know how to ruin his brother's chances at happiness. It was frustrating. "I'll keep Dalla in mind, but I think Gunnar needs help finding a wife more than I do." He sighed. "He doesn't seem interested in females at all." That might be a little heavy-pawed, but Gaved couldn't stand to let go of a chance to smear his brother's name. Gaved shrugged. "He's never told me about his love life, but I think he must have let a female break his heart once. That's all I can think of to explain it." And he would leave it at that, with the desperate hope that Thorgrim would go and thump Gunnar over the head for being a failure with women. Then Gaved noticed the stupid thrall staring at him. He knew that he couldn't flat out tell his father lies about Gunnar, but he was still irritated that Thorgrim hadn't taken the bait earlier. And now the thrall was staring at him -- Lena's thrall, the thrall of his weak stupid brother's weak stupid mother. "Did I tell you to look at me?" Gaved snarled, lashing out suddenly, seeking to give the thrall a cuff to the side of the head.
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 9:59 am
Quote: Thorgrim gave Gaved a stony look. Honestly, if Gunnar hadn't whelped a litter on an outlander female, Thorgrim might've had his doubts about the ah... iron-bloodedness of his own son. Thankfully Gunnar had had a fine litter, for the most part, and so Thorgrim was satisfied. For now. He narrowed his eyes at Gaved. "It would be a good match," Thorgrim mused quietly. Perhaps he would have to find a way to hurry that along. Merging Taraxa's bloodline with that of his own was distasteful at best, but when old blood was quickly becoming outnumbered by outlanders, beggars couldn't exactly be choosers. "Though that whole line isn't ...ideal, well. Taraxa's first litter was whelped out of an Amazon, was it not?" A rhetorical question. "Perhaps the female's strength has tempered all of the more distasteful traits." Thorgrim fell silent again. This conversation was on a topic he was passionate about - rebuilding the old blood in the pride, keeping things pure. "Perhaps I will speak to Gunnar about Dalla, then. If he is not interested in her - and there is no reason he should not be, Dalla is a fine lioness though not as lovely as the sister that was given to Uhtred - I will not be happy." The older lion watched his son cuff Stygg, a small, mild smile toying with his muzzle. "She will learn, Gaved. She will learn." Quote: Stygg hadn't been expecting the sudden strike, and she curled away from the lion with a sharp cry of pain. Well, that shot the only theory she had straight to hell. Living with Gaved, servicing him, tending to his needs? It was going to be a horrible nightmare. She'd been a fool to think otherwise. Maybe this was all a dream, and she'd wake up in a field of pretty, fragrant flowers. Stygg knew it wasn't true. She knew this was the hand the Gods had dealt her, and she was trying to deal with it as best she could, she truly was. "I'm sthorry," she stammered, cringing back lest he strike her for speaking. She instantly regretted the words that had come out - just one more thing that would anger him.
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 10:20 am
Gaved, utterly unimpressed by the strength of females, shrugged at Thorgrim's suggestion about Taraxa's part-Amazon litter. "If any bloodline could be improved by the strength of a female, it's that one," he said. He curled his lip slightly at the thought of the family. Once it had been a proud family (or at least, so he had heard) but now? "Taraxa's sister has even taken to being a..." his words trailed off as he struggled to come up with the proper term for Tazira and his brain rebelled. "... a slut. A well-known slut."
A good enough insult for any female that irritated Gaved, whether deserving of the label or not.
Gaved didn't want Dalla for himself, but neither did he want Gunnar to have her. Not if it would please Thorgrim. There was nothing he could do to convince his brother to reject Dalla--Gunnar would likely accept the offer out of sheer spite if he spoke up about it--but Gaved resolved to do something to make his brother look bad if Gunnar dared agree with their father. "I'm sure Gunnar would love Dalla," Gaved said mildly.
It was frustrating to know that Gunnar had a slight chance of redeeming himself in Thorgrim's eyes, and Gaved was tempted to strike the lisping thrall again for the fun of it. Take his mind off things. But he was still in Thorgrim's den, and Lena coming home to bawl about him hurting the thrall would ruin his fun. Thankfully there was an easy solution to that little problem. Gaved smiled at the thrall, rather unpleasantly. "It can't even speak properly. What's its name? I think I'm going to take it back to my den and break it in."
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Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 10:39 am
Quote: Thorgrim couldn't halt the bark of laughter that wrenched its way from him at Gaved's remark. "Ahh, son. My favored boy, you do bring me pride in your way of thinking." He shook his head, slipping back into thoughts of pairing off more of his bloodline - Brynja, even Erling. His brother deserved a kind, gentle lioness to take to wife. Perhaps he would give Morrigan to Erling when Aesir was gone. That thought brought a brilliant smile to Thorgrim's face, one that only grew in wattage when Gaved spoke of taking Stygg back to his den. "It is called Stygg." Thorgrim rose to his feet slowly; his bones ached, but he was glad to have gotten this out of the way. "Take it home, son. If she does not suit your tastes, I hear that Ru is going viking; perhaps there will be someone more suited to your tastes in the captives they take?" That being said, Thorgrim dipped his head in farewell and moved deeper into this den, calling over his shoulder, "And remember, no marks, Gaved." Quote: Stygg's breath was coming in short, painful gasps. Since she'd been found by Thorgrim and Lena, she'd not had to cater to the whims of males. Lena had always kept them at bay, but where was Lena now? Stygg couldn't wrap her head around the reasons that Lena had given in to Thorgrim's commands - why was Lena letting this happen? Had Stygg done wrong by her? She didn't think so, but sometimes it was hard to remember. When Gaved moved towards his own den, Stygg followed instantly. Just abide by his orders, listen to his commands. It would not be so bad as long as she listened, right? She could ... she could look forward to returning home to Lena. It would not be so bad. Right?
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