[PRP] Not According to Plan (Gever, Tomor, Orenda + jackals)

[Kimaria]

The hyena lay draped like a queen upon her rock, reclining with all the cool calm of one who had nothing to fear - even amongst lions such as the Nergui. Beside her, sitting sentry amongst the rocks were two jackals; father and son. Their eyes were piercing in the gloom and cold as shards of ice.

At the sound of approaching paws, the hyena growled and lifted her ears and head in a sure sign of dominance. Her scarred pelt told tales of her victories and as vicious as some of those old wounds looked, the fact that she had survived them said much. Orenda did not like being here. Did not like being kept against her will. And one could say she was biding her time for the perfect escape - a bloody one, most likely.

Her growl deepened as the steel-blue lion appeared. All sleek and charming smiles, his bright eyes gleaming in that smug face of his. Beside her, the grey and black jackal raised himself up onto his paws and gave a vicious snarl, laying bare his teeth. The younger, smaller male seemed content to lie in wait and watch.

"There is no need for that." The Shuko quipped in a perfect southern accent. "I've come to talk. That's all."

"We know what you mean to say, lion. We are not interested in joining your pack. Best leave now before we decide to bite off your head."  

[Hopefolly]

Not just any lion would happen across this situation and congratulate themselves for being in the right place at the right time as Gever did. Here you had the lion Mchawi herself (supposedly) sent on a mission and a froward, ornery hyena with two scrawny minions. He slowed his stride not to hesitate, but to listen.

"I'd be more concerned with your male anatomy than your face," Gever said in jest. He liked to practice the common tongue when he could and had been making good use of his time in that regard. "Those hyena females are more in control than ours -- and, look, she has two followers all to herself."

Should his fellow Shuko turn and cast his eyes upon Gever, he would find a lion that donned a mildly amused look, as if one of his cubs had just relayed a story not quite funny enough to prompt laughter. (That would be assuming he had cubs, of course.)  

[Kimaria]

The Shuko's shoulders stiffened a little before he turned to look in the direction of the voice. The bright coloured lion was not a welcome sight, though his scowl was quickly smoothed out. This whole situation was frustrating enough as it was without someone else interfering. He had only one month to convince this hyena that she wanted to be a part of them.

If not...

The scratch on his cheek seemed to burn at the remembrance of his 'conversation' with Rapha Oma and it was an event he did not want to see repeated. He rather liked living. "Gever." He greeted, doing his best to school his tone into one of indifference. "Yes, the hyena and her two pets. Fearsome indeed."

Both jackals looked riled at the insult and even the pink-marked one started to rise to his paws - halted only by the hyena; beating him to it. Drawing herself up as tall as she could on her stout legs, she eyed both male lions angrily. "You filthy lions. I will serve no one. Not this day. Not any day. My 'pets' have killed more foes than both of you put together." With her help, of course... "Perhaps you'd like to witness first hand the talents they have in a fight?" And her eyes snapped from Tomorbaatar and across to Gever.  

[Hopefolly]

Wasn't this one just all gung-ho? Loyalty to her own cause, to defending the honor of her minions. Nothing wrong with that, though the result of being threatened by such tiny things was predictably risible. "Now, now," Gever chortled. "I didn't say pets, I said followers. You'll spare my manhood, won't you?"

He grinned, winked, and carried on without further intermission: "I'm sure just one of them has killed more than I have." Not really, but he sure sounded convinced of it. This was a game to him; however, it should be noted Gever took his participation in games with utmost seriousness. With or without a death threat looming overhead. "I believe my friend here has misrepresented us. What might your name be, my lovely lady?"  

[Kimaria]

She narrowed her eyes and though she said nothing in response, she sat carefully back on her haunches and watched him. The jackals, however, seemed roused and were pacing up and down the rocks, their dainty paws able to move with a surprising grace. Truth be told, if the jackals ever lost their lives she would not mourn them. They were minions. Creatures to use. But they were still hers and she would not allow anyone else to insult them. Only she could do that.

The distrust in her eyes was very clear, however, and when she gave no response to Gever's comments or questions, it was the lion who responded.

"Her name is Orenda and she was seen in a vision." He responded. The jackals had not been, however, and he rather wished that she had left the wretched things behind. Still, they were brave for coming here. Brave...or stupid. "That is why I brought her here."

Still, he didn't like Gever's angle and he didn't like the fact that this male seemed to be shouldering in on the job the Xakaav had given to him. What would she think if she learned someone else had done the job. "I don't know how many she has fought or killed but there has been at least one." He had seen that himself as he had tracked her across rogue lands. "She is valuable to Graos Oma but she is blind to his wishes."

"What has your leader done that deserves my respect?" She spat, curling a lip in disgust.  

[Hopefolly]

Orenda. That was a respectable enough name. And she was seen in a vision, he said? My, my. This was turning out to be more important than Gever had thought. He was oblivious to any life-or-death struggles Tomo faced in swaying this hyena (or failing to do so). Had he known, he'd have told his "friend" he could keep his credit if he wanted it -- or needed it, as the case may be.

Gever allowed the two to banter without interfering for a time. The more they said, the more invested he was in this. He had the contemplative expression to prove it.

"Graos Oma is worthy of many things," Gever replied. "But I notice we seem to only discuss what you can do for us... Has it been mentioned what an opportunity this could be for you? And your followers?"  

[Kimaria]

"Opportunity?" She snarled, her hackles lifting. "There are no opportunities here. Not in this place." Truth be told, if she had not had the heart of a wanderer beating in her chest, this place might have been perfect for her. The chance for battle and glory. But she'd done the pack thing before and it had not ended well. She couldn't imagine she'd get away with her life if she messed up as she had done in the past.

And she still had so much she wanted to do in her life.

"But it doesn't matter what I say. You're going to tell me anyway."

The pink-marked jackal gave a bark of laughter and relaxed his posture a little more, content to watch how the conversation played out.

"Do you think we all follow Graos Oma because there was nothing else we could do? Everyone here has come to find their place." By choice or by force. In the end, it did not matter whether one had to be blackmailed into joining or did so willingly. They all served eventually. "Perhaps you should here my friend out."

Orenda fell silent again, but her body was still tense.  

[Hopefolly]

"The important parts have been spoken already," Gever said. The only thing that could have made him seem more dismissive was if he were to lift his paw and give a little wave.

So he did.

He sat down, lifted his right front leg, and waved his paw. All the while he rambled noncommittally, "That's exactly it. Finding your place." His paw hit the ground and Gever looked the hyena in the eyes. "Soon, there will only be two places: There will be with us and there will be not. The former will live good lives, meaningful ones. The latter, well... Not to mention I've heard tale how the world treats it's hyenas.

"Like mangy animals with too many fleas and not enough brains. You're better than that, I can tell. What do you think is out there we can't give you? Nothing. Not a thing. If you ask me, the hyena around here get treated with more respect than I do."  

[Kimaria]

The hyena met his gaze, her snarl deepening to reveal the tips of her yellowing fangs. Her body quivered as if holding herself back from attacking him and yet somehow she restrained herself. No doubt the jackals would be surprised. Orenda had always been the type to lunge first and think later. Then again, she'd never been in such a predicament before. The odds were severely against her.

"Some could say the same about lions." She snarled. "You think to threaten me now? You think I fear you or your 'ominous' warnings? If I was so weak I would have turned belly-up and submitted the moment he crossed my path." And her head snapped around to stare at Tomorbaatar, spittle gathering on her fangs. Still, despite what she was saying, she did fear death. In fact, it was possibly one of the only things she truly did fear.

"I've heard enough." She snapped. "I'll leave you to your deluded lives and you leave me to mine." And so it would always be with Orenda: the harder you pushed the harder she pushed back.

"Even if we go now, we'll come back, you know." Tomor replied. Or he would, at least. He still had his month and this was just the beginning. "You'll break. They all do, eventually."

And the hyena lunged at him, her teeth clipping the air just in front of his snout. The lion jerked back, snarling; angry that she'd managed to startle him.

The jackals burst into mutual laughter.

Orenda lifted her head higher. She was a fool. A proud fool. But a fool nonetheless.  

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

Gever kept any visible reactions to the hyena's outburst to a minimum. His sturdiness would have been more impressive if it were him she was lunging at, of course. A twitch of his right ear, something often done when things were beginning to annoy him, was the only reaction she stirred.

Perhaps she could be so very proud of herself his internal world was not as serene.

Orenda didn't understand the game was not about bringing her in. That would be done with or without her consent. Gever's challenge had been to oversee a peaceful transition. Truly a shame, but you can't win 'em all.

"Should I kill the jackals?" he asked Tomor. There was nothing to suggest he was joking. And since he wasn't, Gever kept his eyes on the trio before them, prepared for the inevitable attack.
 

[Kimaria]

Tomorbaatar gave a dismissive sort of shrug. Anything that wasn't a lion or hyena of the Nergui were fair game as far as he was concerned. Killing the jackals would be no different to killing a hare or an antelope. Such tiny carnivores had no place here among the top predators and their status of pets made them worthless.

Pets they might have appeared, but these ones had teeth and were not afraid to use them.

Desolas's pink ears lifted, the amused spark extinguished in an instant. His father, however, seemed to draw himself up to give himself a bigger appearance - though he was still very much dwarfed by the hyena and lions around him. They should have been afraid but if they were, they hid it well. No doubt they fancied that if they got into trouble, their paws were fleet enough to carry them out of harm's way. Being small had its advantages and the rocks were pocked with hollows small enough for them to take shelter in and await their pursuers to take to boredom and depart.

And the words 'kill them' were barely out of Tomorbaatar's mouth when Saren took off - streaking past the steel-blue lion's right side as if to make for safety. The lion turned to bring a paw down on him and, in doing so, had played right into the deception.

Orenda's teeth closed around his neck.

Hopefolly

 

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

Uh oh! This wasn't good.

Gever didn't exactly have a lot of time to cope with this chaos, but a decision had to be made. If Tomor was just any lion, perhaps the Nergui could spare him. But he wasn't: he was important, for better or worse, to someone more important. Did Gever want to deal with being the one witness to his death? No, thanks.

He lunged for the nearest jackal. If he could get his paws on one, perhaps they could have a good ol' fashion hostage stand-off...  

[Kimaria]

The lion in Orenda's jaws froze, pink eyes flaring with surprise before the rage hit him. He had been tricked by those filthy little animals and the jaws pressing at his neck were powerful and dangerous. One wrong move and he could be facing a rather humiliating death.

Thankfully for Tomor, Gever seemed to have his back.

The lion's lunge was successful and a second later, the pink-marked Desolas was trapped beneath his paws. The little canine growled, spittle-covered teeth snapping at the air.

"Let me go." He hissed.  

[Hopefolly]

Kimaria

Had anyone in the history of the world ever obeyed an order like that? Gever had heard it before, most often from other lions. It was bothersome to be bossed around by a jackal, so to silence him, Gever carefully placed a paw on the side of his head and dug his muzzle sidewards into the dirt.

"Now, I'm not going to be wordy about this." The composure with which he spoke to Orenda was commendable. Took a lot of nerve, given he was one snap of her jaws away from the Kaar Oma making what would be left of his life very unpleasant.

"I'm only going to count to three," he continued, "and if you haven't decided to keep your jaws to yourself, I'm going to crush his skull.

"One..."  

[Kimaria]

Hopefolly

Desolas: stuck.

Saren: gone.

Orenda's teeth tightened only momentarily, her eyes rolling back to focus on the lion and the pinned jackal. For a long moment indecision flickered there and it was possible she was even considering sacrificing her little minion in order to see out her rage on the lion she held fast in her grip.

Tomor remained quite still, trying to look nonplussed as his life hung in the balance.

And then, very slowly, the hyena loosened her grip and backed away.

"Fine," she snapped, jaws slathering, "you win."

And the cold fury in her voice was clear.

The steel-coloured lion shifted out of range and glowered. "That's better, nohoi."