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Asper grunted, quite loudly at that, and nodded his head at Vol's query.

"Aye, outlander born. My brother is a fool - a Thrall - and followed a female here fancying himself in love with her. The girl's father sought to regain honor in the name of his daughter and brought my brother back here. Well. My brother followed him back here, I suppose." Asper snorted.

"And so my brother remains a Thrall, my cousin Tim is freeborn after following his brother here, and my cousin Galning is quite the.. ah, special addition to the family." He shrugged.

"We found this place only by passing by, though once we beat the fool Taraxa into submission, we've found that this is a strong pride full of strong lions. A good home in which to raise unexpected sons."

Galning's tirade was interrupted by the arrival of a jiggly pink lioness who still haunted his nightmares even a season after their last encounter. One eye twitched into a squint and the other twitched wide open. There was a monster loose among the Stormborn!

"Run!" he shouted, shrieking as he ran toward his stupid cousin and Vol. He may resent them and envy them this viking, but he didn't want to see them eaten by that carnivorous hippopotamus who had just waddled in.

"It's the great pink whale! She'll finish the wildebeest and move on to the rest of us! You've got to get away!"

Oh, the effects of 'n**. Galning had absolutely no inhibitions and was firmly convinced that he was doing everyone a favor by alerting them to the danger presented by Bilijo. He knew for a certainty that there would be carnage if people weren't apprised of the risk.

"Drive her back with fire!"
_____

Vol had been irritated by Bilijo's intrusion, but that was nothing compared to the conflicting emotions of ire and amusement that now warred within him. Galning's outburst and subsequent charge had knocked Vol's supply of mint away and ground it into the dust. He was Not Amused, and his utter lack of amusement drew forth a snarl directed at no one in particular. That hadn't just been the mint that was laid out by thralls earlier that day. That had been mint from Vol's own, personal stash.

"You!" he snarled, turning to Bilijo, who seemed slightly more likely to react like a normal creature than Galning. "Get your fat a** away from me."

"And you!" He turned to Asper and began issuing commands without thinking. "Take your cousin in hand."

Asper gave a heavy sigh, moving into action when Vol gave the order. If all went according to plan, Galning would find himself on the ground after making contact with Asper's outthrust paw. Throughout all of the hubbub, Asper kept a wary eye on the pink lioness. How bad could she be? She was a lovely female, with pretty markings - and despite the way she was going to town on the wildebeest flesh, Asper could find no fault in the lioness.

There was little doubt that he would soon find the error of his ways.

"Galning, calm yourself! You embarrass not only yourself, but your family as well!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Ath," Galning snarled, suddenly turning on his cousin. "You're not the boss of me. I'm my own lion. I'm a reaver!"

He was speaking at a volume that made it easy for anyone present to hear him, and that was how he meant for it. "And if you want to talk about shaming the family you're looking in the wrong place. I should be eating part of the sacrifice, too. I've been here as long as you, but I've been on far more vikings already. You're the one shaming the family."

Nope. He wasn't making much sense at all. On the bright side, his eyes also weren't twitching. This wasn't Galning berserk. This was Galning drunk and resentful. Not much fun to be around either way, really.

"What'd you have to do to get picked instead of me, Ath? There's no reason Ru should've picked you over me, unless you did something. I train with him. He knows me." By now he'd gone from shouting to nearly shrieking.

"I bet you begged him pretty please and gave him unfettered access to your Ath-hole," he snarled. And then he abruptly sat down and started giggling. "Hah. Ath-hole."


"I look forward to it," he said truthfully.

Whether or not Lesedi succeeded in training to the point where he could actually beat Ru, he would still serve as a relatively unfamiliar opponent and Ru had learned that it was vitally important to practice fighting against opponents who were not too well-known or predictable. It was one of the reasons he continued to spar against Galning, even though he usually won those bouts. When the spotted lion went berserk, Ru had to contend with a completely unpredictable opponent.

"Excuse me," Ru said, moving away from Lesedi and toward Galning. Drunken outbursts against lionesses Ru didn't like were one thing, but Ru had been more or less accused of buggery by Galning in front of everyone, and that was something he had to deal with immediately. Possibly violently.

Zsaria found herself collapsing into a fit of giggles at the scene before her, though she tried her best to cover it with a paw. True Stormborn blood they lacked, that much was obvious, though she could not speak for their fighting skills. Fights were not uncommon in the heats of minted stupor, nor other flights of passion, but it would do no good to beat each other up before the reaving even began. She lifted her head as Freyja approached and nodded in agreement, "Aye, we'll have plenty of outsiders to tear into, don't forget who's your true kin here. Blood brothers aside everyone's kin when there's reaving to be done." She wasn't sure how much all that meant to outlanders, but her honor pushed her to stand, "Now where's our entertainment then?"

"Be silent, you detestable sow," Vol said absentmindedly to Bilijo. It was easy for him to dismiss her in the face of the excitement Galning had introduced to the party.

Vol was not surprised to see that Ruzanski had heard the idiot Galning as he made an utter fool of himself. The spotted lion had been raving, after all, and it would have been more of a surprise to Vol if Ru had not heard and come over to deal with the matter.

Judging by the glint of green in the newly made captain's eyes, Ru was not just going to deal with the matter. He was going to deal with it in a way that would be memorable and probably make him infamous. Infamy was not such a horrible thing among the Stormborn, but it was generally considered an ill omen if somebody was actually killed at a sending off. Particularly if the victim was killed by a member of the crew.

Voldemaras was not superstitious in that way, and he certainly believed that Galning needed to learn a lesson about guarding his tongue even when under the influence of mint, but he did not think that he actually deserved to die. Not for this first offense, even though it was truly offensive. Others present apparently agreed, given how there were now females flocking around Galning and trying to calm him as Asper had failed to do.

"Ru," he said in an undertone. "He's drunk."
_____

Galning couldn't stop giggling even though he could see Ru coming toward him with something very closely resembling murder glinting in his eyes. The mint was definitely getting to him. It was a good thing that Yolla was not around to see his father in this state. Already Galning knew he was not setting a very good example, and that he would not be proud of his actions come morning. He just could not seem to stop himself from doing all these regrettable things.

"I don't know you," he told Gaved before turning to the lioness he did know. "Hey, Freyja. I didn't start early, they've just got some good s**t here. This mint, I mean. It's good."

Why could he not shut his mouth? Ru was getting very close, and he still looked as though he was more than willing to kill him. Galning did not want to be killed, but that seemed to be an increasingly likely possibility if he could not get himself under control. At this point he felt like he was a spectator watching himself behaving like a fool.

"Ru," he whimpered. "Captain. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. But why didn't you ask me to come viking with you?"
_____

"I know," Ru answered Voldemaras in an undertone to match the one used by the older lion. "But I still can not allow him to say that sort of thing without some sort of reaction and punishment. It would show weakness on my part. You taught me that."

He kept moving toward Galning, his approach slow and inexorable, almost like the purposeful saunter of a hero in a movie. Not that Ru had any idea what a movie was and he would have laughed at anyone who called him a hero. But the effect was somewhat similar in spite of Ru's ignorance.

Even before Vol's reminder about Galning's altered state of mind Ru had already known that he would not kill the fool. Ru liked Galning and found him useful besides. Furthermore, he doubted that anyone would take the reaver's accusations seriously. Ru had never demonstrated any such tendencies; he had no homosexual inclinations.

Nevertheless, when he was near enough Ru reached out with one paw and caught Galning along the side of his face, claws extended, and used the grip he had to pull him close.

"I didn't ask you because you are unpredictable and unreliable, as you've just demonstrated beautifully. Go home and sleep this off. Next time you show this sort of stupidity, I'll make sure you regret it beyond the duration of tomorrow's hangover."

Brynja, up until this point, had been enjoying the celebration. They had always been something to look forward to, and while fights amongst the lions in the pride were not completely unheard of, well.. she'd always felt a little wary of Galning. Ru was right; the dark lion was rather unpredictable. It truly was shameful, the way he was acting, and Brynja cast him an annoyed glance. She had yet to decide if Ru was one that could be considered on the proper side - she was wary of the fact he'd climbed rank so quickly, but her uncle seemed to appreciate a lion with such aspirations.



"What is the meaning of this?"

Thorgrim's voice rang out, loud and brusque over the din of the bitchfighting that was currently taking place. His eyes were icy shards focused directly on Ru; there was a brief flash of approval in the older Captain's chilling gaze. He gave a small bark of laughter as he moved forward towards Ru, teeth bared in a tight smile as he turned to glare down at Galning.

"I see you have this under control, Ru. Of course, I am not surprised." Ru was a capable lion; how else would he have been given the rank of Captain? Thorgrim turned his attention back to Galning.

"You heard the Captain, fool. Go home."



Asper had watched the whole scene play out; he had to admit, watching Ru in action was rather impressive. Watching his cousin grovel was rather pathetic. He shook his head and fought the urge to aid his kin. Doing so would likely be considered weak. Asper did not want to show weakness, and it was highly likely too that Galning would only resent him further.

Asper merely stood where he was, blatantly ignoring his disgraceful cousin. Simpering and whining and begging were not traits of a true Stormborn. It was shameful.

"Go home, Galning. You are a father now - this is no way to act as a role model to him."



Dalla had been skirting the celebrations - she froze when she caught sight of Brynja. Sidling up to the Priestess, the freeborn lioness gave a low purr of approval when Thorgrim showed his face. It was important that he make his presence known in times like this - soon, so soon, things would change. Brynja had seen a turning tide in her visions, and Dalla could not wait to make the naysayers pay dearly. Pay for the hurt they'd caused her beloved sister, pay for the traditions that had crumbled at their collective feet.

"Your uncle is in his element here," Dalla trilled softly to Brynja, who gave Dalla a nod.



Hinoko, heavily partaking in mint and fermented berries, was depressed and in an ill mood. Perhaps he would seek out his Thrall after this ridiculous sending-off had concluded. Jezebeth always had a way of curing his ills; he shrank back when he caught sight of his wife across the way. She seemed to be watching him with brooding eyes.

Hinoko knew that this did not bode well for him, but part of him - the sick part - could not fight the thrill that bubbled in his gut. Daring, rash, Hinoko bared his teeth at the huge, dark shape of his wife. She would not come to him now; such a show of anger would not do well for her in public - but tonight, Melinoe would punish him for that small show of defiance.



He would pay for that.

Melinoe watched Hinoko with heavy-lidded eyes. He would pay for that little daring show of insolence. She'd been amusing herself by watching Galning and his foolish antics until she'd caught sight of Hinoko. He was watching her with those glassy golden eyes of his; no doubt he was thinking of her sister.

The thought enraged her, but Melinoe remained silent, gnawing half-heartedly on a shredded flankpiece of preymeat.



Skada would be sure that each and every little thing that happened here went down right and proper in the annals of Stormborn history.

Foolish males. Galning did not realize how lucky he was that he was of able body - it was a pity that he was drugged out of his gourd. Shaking her head, Skada would have loved to walk away here and now.

Foolish, stupid males.