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 Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 11:50 pm
 Icarus was forgettable. Icarus was clumsy. Icarus was short-tempered and stubborn. Icarus was…different.
The cub was just one in a large litter born to an unknown father that had vanished shortly after his encounter with his lady of the night. The mother had given her cubs all that she could provide but of all things, the mother hadn’t provided them with a father. It was something that, early on, went largely unnoticed. Cubs had very few things on their minds aside from when they’d eat next, where they’d sleep, and whether or not the things skittering on the floor of their dens were eatable. As they grew, however, and experienced the world outside their caves they were met with all the typical questions of a youngster seeing the world for the first time. One question presented itself early on-
What on earth were those big things with hair around their faces!?
They’d never seen a male until they’d emerged and after that, the brawny beasts with thick manes and deep, booming voices were an enigma. They were different than the mother, they were stronger, rougher, and…something else they couldn’t really define. They were also something that most of the other cubs had. The question of ‘why’ hadn’t settled over the youngsters just yet but it was one that was beginning to work its way into the backs of their minds.
Icarus, one in many, was a handful enough for his mother. He stumbled over himself, he was always at the bottom of the piles of paws, claws, and teeth, and worst of all- he had a love of height but no grip in his claws to keep him anchored. He was well-known for falling and found his name a few weeks following his birth. Icarus was a familiar face to gravity and the hard ground below, but he was just as frequent of a visitor to the higher rocks around his den. His curious behavior cost him early on. An unfortunately placed rock, a good distance up, and a slip of the paw cost him most of his sight in his light eye. His depth perception had been shot to hell and he found himself frequently blindsided by a playful sibling.
That afternoon he was daring the heights once more. His claws- now chipped and cracked in places -clung to the face of the inclined rocks a good way from his den. There was a small nook he was certain he could get to and sit on to get a good lay of the land but it was nearly twice as far from the ground as a grown lion was tall. Still- that made things more interesting.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:30 am
 Vol was making his way back to the pride after taking some morning refreshment at the ice melts. He had always preferred the frigid, newly melted ice water to the slightly brackish water to be found elsewhere in the pride. He licked his damp muzzle, touching the tip of his pink tongue to his cold and damp nose, and smiled very quickly. He was pleased with the news he'd received about his young protege Ruzanski's promotion to captain, but it wouldn't do to let anyone in the pride think that he was capable of being pleased at all.
Just in case anyone had seen the uncharacteristic smile change his expression, Voldemaras looked around for someone to grouch at. In this case, a young cub with a very dark coat seemed to be a likely candidate. The little idiot was climbing rocks, which was a perfectly normal Stormborn occupation, but not safe. Someone's mother or thrall was being inattentive. Future reavers should at least be kept track of, though never coddled.
"Get down from there," he grumbled. "What do you think you're doing anyway?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 10:28 am
He wasn’t doing well either. Over-sized paws tipping long, branchy limbs far too thin to give him the strength he needed for such a task were scrambling weakly to gain a new foothold. He slid a few inches before propping himself against a small ledge. The result was a gangly black thing sprawled like a starfish over the face of the rock.
And someone saw him.
A chill ran down his back and, perhaps against his better judgment, he turned to shoot a nasty glare to the source of the reprimand. To his surprise- it was a male. Big, gruff, and covered in scars. A perfect contrast to his mother. “I’m obviously doing a river dance! What’s it look like I’m doing?!”
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 4:38 am
"You look like you're making a fool out of yourself," Vol replied.
It wasn't quite clear whether or not the older lion was aware he was being sassed. Most people didn't take that tone with him, and so it was at least hypothetically possible that he had lost the ability to recognize sarcasm when it was directed toward him.
"You could at least make yourself useful if you're going to climb things. Keep an eye out for threats or something," Vol grumbled. "Or things that want to be threats, anyway. Can't say there're many things that properly qualify as threats to the pride anymore. Not like when I was a cub."
He would have said more, but instead he closed his mouth with an audible snap of his teeth. He was not going to be one of those lions who talked about how different everything was in the old days. As a youth he had never had time for such lions and had automatically considered them old, even if they weren't. As Vol did not yet consider himself old, he was unwilling to indulge in "old" behaviors.
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Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:30 am
Keeping an eye out for threats? That was a laugh. Icarus's nose creased up into a hard sneer as he slowly shifted a look over his shoulder. The adult had no way of knowing his depth perception was off, not from his position on the ground at least, but in the mind of a cub that logic was over-looked in the face of insult. His dead eye stared blindly ahead while the other narrowed.
"We got scouts don't we? I wanna be a reaver, I wanna get strong so that's what I'm doing." Besides, what would he do if he spotted a threat? The territory was large enough that his voice would likely be lost to the wind and the nearby water, and he was clumsy enough that climbing down would only take more time. By then whatever threat he spotted would be long gone.
"What's it to you anyway?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 3:49 pm
When the cub looked over his shoulder Vol was startled to see that one of his eyes was, to all appearances, blind. That sort of injury wasn't so unusual within a warlike pride like the Stormborn, but even Vol was taken aback when he saw it on a cub. He didn't keep track of the pride's cubs most of the time, but now he wondered if he should alter his stance on that issue. It seemed the pride's cubs were more violent than they had been in his youth.
Good for them.
The smart aleckery from the cub was almost mitigated by his expressed determination to be a reaver. Not quite though, and so without even a warning growl Vol took a swipe at the smaller figure, aiming to knock him down from his elevated spot. His claws were sheathed though and should he succeed in knocking the cub down, Vol was mostly prepared to keep him from bashing his head in.
"Reavers are fighters," Vol reminded the cub. "Looks like you might do better practicing that skill, rather than climbing rocks."
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:17 am
His grip wasn't a sure one and his stringy, branchy body wasn't exactly a sturdy one so it was with ease that he was dislodged and sent back to the ground in a pile of ebony fur and long, awkward limbs. Icarus swore under his breath and shook out his head. Where THAT had come from was anyone's guess. Insult and resentment painted his features as he scowled up at his elder. Respect, it seemed, and fear was something that hadn't ingrained itself in the cub's mind.
"You gotta be strong to fight right? You're strong. Well I'm not." He held out one of his limbs. "See? I gotta be strong to climb too. So I'll get strong first, fight second. Be a reaver third."
Wrinkling his nose up he turned and began finding his footholds once more. "Now watch me. I'm gonna climb this!"
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 11:40 am
The fact that he was listening to a cub swearing didn't even register with Vol. Being foul-mouthed wasn't something he considered detrimental, even in females. Well. Maybe a little in females, but it wasn't a deal-breaker. He was more likely to take issue with a female who was too perky than one who cursed. If nothing else, there was something kind of funny about the incongruous image of a female - especially a very young one - using foul language. He didn't know why it amused him. It just did.
"You don't have to be strong to fight," Vol corrected. "It helps, but you can get by on speed and intelligence if you're not against an opponent who is too much larger than you are."
For instance, Vol did not expect that the black cub would be able to do him any serious damage no matter how quickly he was able to move. He might, conceivably, trap him in such a way that Vol would be injured by that, but Vol wasn't stupid enough to be easily led into such a trap. And that was assuming the kid was even that smart. He was smart enough to recognize his own failings and come up with a plan to remedy them, but that didn't mean a whole heck of a lot.
"That's one way to go about it," he allowed as the cub returned to the rock face. "But what makes you think I have nothing better to do than stand here and watch you climb?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:11 am
The cub froze at the base of the rock. His brow creased and his ears flattened. He didn't have to be strong to fight? But... he hadn't known that. The reavers he had seen were large, brutish males covered in scars. They were strong. He'd not yet seen, or even heard of, a reaver that had won on smarts. His paw slowly pulled away from the rock face and raised up for him to inspect. His claws had been chipped and cracked from his many attempts and the soft pads were raw and sore from the rough surface of the rock. Maybe he could be the first to win on smarts and speed...
He slowly looked up. "...can you teach me how to be fast? And...intelligent?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:17 am
Vol watched as realization dawned on the cub. With his eye like that, Vol had his doubts that the cub would ever make much of a fighter, but perhaps he was looking at things the wrong way. (Looking. Haha.) The cub had the entire time he was growing up to learn to fight with a handicap others would underestimate him for. That, in and of itself could be a slight advantage, though it was a rare Stormborn who encouraged others to underestimate him.
"Fast you can learn," Vol said. "That's a matter of practice. As for intelligence...you either have it or you haven't."
But that didn't mean that he couldn't learn to fight intelligently, and Vol knew that was what the cub was really asking him. He had to think about it for a second, considering what the cub would have to learn, and how it could be taught. The fact that he was even thinking about it simultaneously irritated and amused him.
"But perhaps you're not beyond help. We'll see."
With a smirk which wasn't quite enigmatic Vol shrugged his mane into place over his shoulders and began walking away. He had, as he'd said before, better things to do. Perhaps he would see the cub again, perhaps not. But he might keep an eye out for him now and then. If he didn't have anything else to do.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:52 am
It was enough to silence the little upstart. Icarus' ears drooped and his shoulders hunched. He either had it or he didn't... how did he know if he had it? Climbing rocks certainly didn't seem like a -smart- thing to do, at least not when he was sent tumbling down as often as he did...but maybe that was just because he wasn't strong. If he was smart, he wouldn't need to be....too strong perhaps. It would certainly re-direct his focus for a time.
He reached a paw up and rubbed at the side of his face.
"H-hey." He called after the adult, rising up to all four and perking his ears again. "I'm Icarus. Ah...what's your name? And can you show me...maybe tomorrow? H-how...to see if I 'got it'?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:57 pm
Vol didn't know why he stopped. He must be getting soft. That's all there was to it. He never would have stopped before.
"Figure out who I am and come tell me tomorrow, and then we'll both know if you've got it," he told the cub without turning around to look.
That ought to keep the kid busy for a while, Vol thought. He shook his head as he resumed his departing stroll. Didn't even know Vol's name. What was the pride coming to when cubs didn't know the reavers' names?
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