|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:35 am
 Erling felt a little disgruntled after losing the pretty thrall. He knew he would catch it sooner or later - it would make a wonderful gift for his daughter - but it was still an annoyance. In better days Erling would have gone to Dagrun to cheer himself up, but now Dagrun was gone and Brynja was about her duties. Visiting one of his friends would do just as well. Erling had seen Vol standing guard earlier, and headed towards the spot. Erling grinned. They might disagree on women, but in every other way Vol's company was far superior to the fresh crop of reaver brats that had sprung up overnight. "Vol!" Erling shouted. "Someday I will kill you." His irritation over the escaped thrall forgotten, Erling was full of good humor now.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:41 am
 "Not today, Erl," Vol answered called back, absolutely unconcerned by the Captain's threat of violence. It was only a greeting after all, and there had been no immediate movement to follow through. Besides, Erl was an old friend.
"Join me, please. This has to be one of the most boring watches I've stood in at least seven seasons."
The large, dark lion shifted to make room for his friend. Two Stormborn lions, warriors both, could take up a great deal of space very easily. Particularly if they both preferred to take up space by sprawling comfortably to talk. Vol probably shouldn't have been doing the comfortable sprawl thing sine he was ostensibly on guard duty, but it wasn't likely anyone would come upon him so quickly he couldn't be a bristling, growling fury in a second.
"Where have you been lately?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:51 am
Erling sat next to his friend, copying Vol's sprawl exactly. He wasn't much concerned about outsiders, either. The lion that would try to take on the two of them wouldn't be bright enough to be much of a threat.
Vol was one of his oldest friends, but Erling wasn't about to admit failure to him. He shrugged, nonchalant. "I went out thrall-hunting, but didn't see any good ones. Just some scrawny dogs." Okay, so Erling had face-planted trying to catch a starry hyena to be Brynja's pet. No one had seen it happen, therefore, it hadn't happened.
"Is that black lion boy your new thrall?" Erling asked innocently.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:00 am
Vol's nose wrinkled in aversion to canines. He didn't like them. They smelled gods-awful and they made the worst ruckus and they didn't even bury their s**t. Why anyone would want to keep them as pets escaped him. And yet he knew of some people who did. He thought they were idiots, though Vol didn't believe in pet-keeping at all. If it was going to be fed and protected, it ought to pull its own weight, or at least have the potential to do so when it was older, like cubs. Not that he liked cubs either, but they were better than pets.
"Glad to hear you at least have some taste in Thralls, if not necessarily in women." Of course Dagrun was excluded from Vol's pronouncement. That went without saying. A lion didn't insult another lion's mate - especially their dead mate - if he wanted to avoid being beaten into a pulp.
It took Vol a few seconds to work out who Erl meant when he mentioned a black lion boy being his Thrall. Vol had never really kept any personal Thralls, finding that generally they were too much trouble - a lion who kept Thralls was also responsible for their care, feeding, and behavior. He had seen that go very badly for others, and no Thrall was worth that much trouble.
"Ru? No. He's outlander Freeborn. Why?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:11 am
Erling ignored the jibe about his taste in women, not offended at all. Vol just didn't know how to pick women. As far as Erling knew, Vol had never had a woman for any length of time.
Lately, Vol had been spending his time with this 'Ru'. Erling shrugged again. "I thought you'd given up chasing women. When did you gain such an interest in outlander boys?" He grinned. Vol was overdue for some ribbing. The young reavers Vol had been hanging around were much too green to give Vol a hard time. By now his ego was surely over-inflated.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:27 am
"Watch yourself there, friend," Vol warned, more of a growl creeping into his speech than the usual Stormborn accent.
Yes, he knew Erl was joking, but this was a serious matter! Erl was joking that Vol had developed a taste for boys. There was only one way to answer this implication, should Erl not take the warning Vol had so thoughtfully given him - painful death!
"Ru was raised by some prissyfoot mother who didn't teach him s**t about anything useful except how to tell stories, and I swear I don't know how he beat Lucivar. He's got potential as a Reaver, but gods does he need trained. You could help if you wanted. His hide's far too pretty for a proper Stormborn."
He wasn't going to rip Erl's face off just yet. If Erl let it go and carried on a normal conversation without further insinuations, there would be no evisceration. Otherwise...Vol had very sharp claws, and Erl was right in his supposition that he hadn't had much to challenge him of late. He would enjoy tearing his friend's tail off.
All in good fun, of course.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:14 am
Erling laughed, amused by Vol's immediate reaction. Of course, if Vol had teased Erling about liking boys, Erling would have been snarling instantly as well. He had no use for any foolish new notions!
A good fight was always entertaining, but the sun felt awfully nice soaking into him. Erling decided against drawing it into a battle ... unless Vol truly had some kind of unnatural affection for Ru, which was a possibility so absurd that Erling didn't even consider it.
"Telling stories, eh?" Erling shook his head dismissively. "Barding is a job for women and thralls." Erling instinctively distrusted male lions that wanted to sit around singing all day. The only acceptable Freeborn position was Lawspeaker. It was still a bit sissified, but at least Lawspeakers were concerned with upholding justice and tradition.
"I'll spar with the boy if I see him. I should be sparring with my nephew's sons." Erling frowned. "Bit embarrassing that Lucivar let a storyteller beat him."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:50 pm
Vol watched as Erl decided not to make a fight out of it and was privately relieved. He would defend his reputation against slights using teeth and claws as necessary, but doing so in this case was more likely to lend credence to the idiotic suggestion than make it go away. If someone other than Erl had made the suggestion, Vol would have been in a pickle, for to let it go would have been a cowardly act, but to take up his own defense would be similar to admitting guilt.
"I don't argue that," Vol said. "But he does spin a good tale. Has a good ear for the elements, even if he can't tell a story the same way twice. Can't remember details, and gets names all botched up."
He chuckled when Erl reminded him that Lucivar was one of his nephew's sons. It was a little jarring to think that his friend and near-agemate was a great uncle. Or something like that. Vol had never been quite clear on the distinctions between second cousins, cousins removed, great uncles, and all that nonsense. He knew who was related to who and he knew the lines, but that didn't mean he could put an actual label on relationships all the time.
"I suppose it would be. Aren't you glad he's not your son, that he let himself get beaten by an outlander his own age?" For Lucivar to have been beaten by an adult would have been one thing, but Ru had been an adolescent, and a young one at that, when he fought his askorun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 2:06 pm
Erling let out a theatrical groan at Vol's comment. "If my own son was beaten by an outlander cub, I'd have to beat him again myself. Twice!" He shook his head. Since Gunnar's father had taken himself off to an outpost, Erling had tried to keep an eye on the boy and his cubs. It was distressing enough watching them make fools of themselves. Sometimes Erling regretting having only a daughter, but at least Brynja never shamed him.
The lion stretched, flexing his claws idly. "You should get yourself a son, Vol. It's good to have cubs you can be proud of. Brynja, now, she may be female but she's an honorable Priestess. Not one of these female Reavers." He frowned slightly at the thought. Obviously they couldn't deny a skilled female a place amongst the Reavers, but there was just something unnatural about a female running about getting herself in trouble far from the pride.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 5:29 pm
"Instead, the cub's taken out viking." Vol shook his head. The state of the world was deteriorating. Yes, there was definitely something to be said for learning through first-hand experience, but taking a lion viking who hadn't proven his abilities within the stronghold didn't meet with Vol's approval.
"Well, we'll see how that turns out." He didn't expect too much from Gunnar's very blond son, to be honest, but perhaps he would be surprised and the youth would turn out to be some sort of prodigy once he was out raiding. It wasn't as though skills like leadership and planning were tested too often within the stronghold, and so very often it was only when a lion went out that they were discovered at all.
As for the idea of getting himself a son, well, Vol wasn't too sure about that. He didn't object to what the Warlord had done in acknowledging his bastards. Certainly it would have been difficult to deny them. However, Vol knew he didn't want to have a bunch of b*****d cubs running around the stronghold vying for his attention and causing trouble for any trueborn cubs he might sire. And he wasn't likely to sire any trueborn cubs in the near future, being unmated and all.
"Why would I want a son? I can always adopt Ru if he turns out to be good for anything besides a scratching post. That way he can have a proper father and I can have a son who looks a little like me without any of the hassle of actually raising him. Or finding a mate."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 6:43 pm
Erling had never thought of adopting an outsider. It seemed ... well, odd. He mulled over the idea for a moment. He supposed it was honorable. It was a sad thing for an outsider to join so young and have no real ties to the pride. An older lion could take a wife, but a little maneless scrap like Ru could hardly woo a Freeborn girl.
He grinned at Vol. "Not a bad idea, old friend. Not the same as a son of your own blood - but who knows? He may be yours in truth." He laughed, amused by the possibility. Erling tended to assume that any outsider that challenged his way in had Stormborn blood somewhere in his heritage.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 12:33 pm
Vol considered the possibility. He was certain he had sired a number of by-blows during his long career viking, but none among them had ever made enough of an impression on him for him to bother returning to see if their union had produced any offspring. And none of the females had ever sought him out as that Raven cat had come after Aesir. An interesting thing, that.
"But it may be he's someone's cub. Someone small." He laughed along with his friend. That lion would never reach the size of a proper Stormborn, but there was still hope for him. "I don't think it's likely he's mine. He's too small and pretty."
Pretty was not a compliment when Vol said it. Unless he was talking about a lioness, and even then it was not a very high compliment. There were better adjectives to describe an attractive lioness, and few of them were as namby-pamby as "pretty." And, yes, any lion Vol described as pretty, it also went without saying that he considered him feminine and/or namby-pamby.
"You should meet the cub sometime. Let me know what you think of him."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 2:08 pm
Erling laughed along with Vol when he mentioned Ru's diminutive size. The boy was the right color, but Vol was right - he was far too small to be Vol's son. Erling couldn't imagine any of Vol's ladyloves throwing little lions.
He had heard Vol use the term 'pretty' before. Erling nodded. He didn't mind 'pretty' Stormborn females ... but he felt there was something lacking in them. A proper Stormborn girl should have a bit of fire in her belly just as the males did. And as for the males, well. They certainly should not be pretty!
"I'll take a look at the cub," Erling said. "I should get to know some of the younger Reavers. They've been popping up like mushrooms on dung." And he hoped for Lucivar's sake that Ru wasn't as feminine as Vol seemed to think. What a disgrace! "At least you haven't taken any of these Reaver-girls under your wing." He shook his head. Erling had been a stick in the mud even in his youth, and as he had grown older he had only gotten more inflexible. Reaver-girls! It was bizarre. "They seem to be everywhere."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 2:27 pm
Vol rolled onto his side and stretched, relaxed enough in Erl's presence that he felt it safe to expose his stomach for the duration of a much-needed stretch. He wasn't old, but that didn't mean he liked to hold one position for ever and ever. That would be uncomfortable for a lion of any age, not just an older grouch like Vol.
"If I take any Reaver-girls under me, it won't be my wing they're under," Vol assured his friend with a salacious wink. "But given how many of them seem to be related to the Warlord, I think I'd better exercise a bit of caution there. I don't really care to explain to him why they're good enough to bed, but not good enough to wed."
As Erl had pointed out, the bastards all looked a great deal like their father, and so did the green trueborn girl. The one who took after the High Priestess was her own kind of creepy, and apparently got visions. Casting runes and making foretellings with entrails was one thing, but to have actual visions of the future...that was just strange and uncomfortable. And so for those and several other reasons Vol wasn't seriously interested in Aesir's girls.
On the other hand, the mother of Aesir's bastards was a fine-looking lioness, but he'd heard she was even stranger than her cubs, and those were some very odd little cubs by all reports. Vol wasn't looking for unusual or dramatic in his women. He would content himself with attractive and enthusiastic, and although there had been exceptions on both counts in the past, those had been situational.
"I don't know why there're so many of them lately," Vol grumbled. "But it's going to be a sad day when there's no one to raise the cubs up properly because all the lionesses are out viking. Aesir should look to the future before going about saying 'come along viking' to every lioness who thinks she can fight."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:18 pm
Erling laughed at his friend's joke. Unlike many Stormborn (particularly the fighting males), Erling had always been loyal to his mate. Even with her long seasons gone he didn't have much of an eye for young lionesses, but if he hadn't been able to see the humor in the lewd jokes of other Stormborn he wouldn't have lasted long as a Captain.
He couldn't help a frown when Vol complained about the increasing number of female Reavers. He agreed with Vol wholeheartedly on the subject. Erling respected females, but he had a hard time accepting females that chose to abandon their own important duties to try to act, well, male. The idea of them fighting with strange warriors was unnerving, especially with the possibility that they might be captured. The idea of a Stormborn female falling into the paws of an enemy was outrageous. Erling had never been interested in wenching, but he was well aware of what some of the more violent Stormborn did on raids. The same might happen to a Reaver-girl if captured. His frown turned into a grimace at the thought.
"Maybe it's our fault, filling their heads with tales of battle and glory. We should tell the bards to sing of cookery and cub-making." He smiled at Vol, making an effort to banish his dark thoughts. He was joking - a bit - with his talk of cookery, but Erling was actually quite serious. He privately tried to praise non-warriors whenever possible. Reaving was all Erling knew, but having only a single daughter-cub had opened his eyes to the important roles of the Stormborn who stayed home.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Erling felt a little disgruntled after losing the pretty thrall. He knew he would catch it sooner or later - it would make a wonderful gift for his daughter - but it was still an annoyance. 
