[Duel] Recovering (Nuria & Ruber)

[mouselet]

He was beginning to think that he'd gotten off lightly. Some...mostly discreet inquiries about Morag had revealed a frightening amount of information about the big black lioness. And the fact that he'd gotten no broken bones was likely due to the fact that he was a fellow pridemember, no more and no less.

In fact, Ruber had been sitting for a few days now, thinking about how just about every lioness he'd met in the Motoujamii-Simo was as physically capable as he was, and many were far more skilled.

Maybe, just maybe!, the lionesses of the Firekin were not at all the inferior creatures he'd previously encountered as a rogue.  

[Excited Apathy]

It was good to be home, however temporarily. Nuria had missed the feel of the shifting sand under her feet, even if it seemed a little harder to keep her footing on than she remembered. There were more new faces than she remembered, too. One of them she had just spotted was swathed in bandages--he must have had a rough time with his entry duel. She altered her course to approach him.

"Have trouble getting in, or did you get in a fight with a cactus?" she asked, attempting to suppress a smirk...and failing.  

[mouselet]

Ruber glared up at the red and black lioness standing above him. Her build made it fairly clear she'd been born to this pride, and his lip curled. His last run-in with a lioness native to this desert had been, well, less than pleasing.

His first reaction was to sneer and insult her. But even having injuries, some bandaged, might not help him if she was much like Morag. Reluctatntly, the red lion swallowed his words.

"I have been here for more than a moon," he replied. Any injuries sustained in that duel were long gone. These were, as evidenced, far more recent. He just wasn't interested in relating his defeat to anyone else.  

[Excited Apathy]

"So, a cactus then," Nuria drawled, stringing the syllables out in a casual fashion. The measurement in her eyes was obvious as she looked him up and down, but the result of that examination was far less clear. Her voice pulled back together into something more normal as she continued, "Unless you've got another reason for wrapping yourself up like that." The smirk was unavoidable, now. "Duelist get the better of you?"  

[mouselet]

Purple eyes narrowed. Gods, she was being as offensive as...as...as he normally was! Which was...something of a revelation. A new light lit Ruber's eyes as he thought of a better way to handle this.

"It wasn't a duelist," the red lion replied with dignity. "It was Morag." Since he'd learned that the Spymaster and her skill were fairly well known, it seemed a safe response and perhaps even a mildly impressive one. After all, he wasn't THAT badly injured, right?  

[Excited Apathy]

All amusement faded from Nuria's expression in an instant. "Morag," she repeated flatly. "You challenged Morag. A survivor of a Nergui ambush, and the Spymaster. What in Finar-Si's name were you, a fresh recruit, thinking?" ...s**t, she hadn't meant to say the Goddess' name out loud. Most gods were not looked on with much favor these days, and belief in Finar-Si was kept quiet if one knew what was good for them. Well, at least she could hope this newbie wouldn't know enough to think her slip was odd, let alone something to remark to anyone else on.  

[mouselet]

Ruber looked away, disgruntled. Well, that hadn't totally backfired, but it certainly hadn't helped as much as he'd hoped. Now she thought he was a total idiot instead of just an unlucky duelist. Great.

"She's the one who challenged me," he muttered, glaring at the ground. The red lion didn't even notice the mention of Finar-Si. He wasn't accustomed to noting small details like that, though he wouldn't have objected if he'd caught it and understood the reference. Gods weren't unknown in the rogue lands, and while neither Ruber nor anyone he knew had met a god, only a fool doubted their existence.  

[Excited Apathy]

"Uh huh." Her expression unchanged, every line of the look Nuria gave him said exactly how much she believed that. "Assume I take you at your word, and she challenged you. How did you provoke her?" There were some Firekin that would fight you for a mere look, but the Spymaster was not one of them. She'd been a Huntress before the ambush, after all.  

[mouselet]

Ruber gave the lioness standing over him a sardonic look. "Like I'm going to tell you?" If he did, no doubt it would be all over the pride within days! It was best to admit that the fight had happened, and no more than that.

He looked the red lioness up and down and glared some more. "Why do you want to know? Want to make something of it?" Not that he really felt up to a duel right now. But he certainly didn't want to be taken for a weakling.  

[Excited Apathy]

She lifted one paw and examined her claws, followed by a hard look, meeting his glare. "A newbie wrapped up like a sun-shy outsider, who claims he got it from the Spymaster challenging him. Makes a lion wonder if he's stupid or a liar." She wouldn't put it past a former rogue to make up some stories to make himself look better. "Maybe both."  

[mouselet]

The lion snarled. And this was precisely why he'd spent so long looking down on lionesses - they were inveterate gossips always looking for a chance to bring a lion down. Now he was stuck. Tell the truth or let her spread this falsehood!

"She was annoyed with something I said," he answered at last. "Found it offensive. Should I show you?" he asked sardonically.

He had no problems with insulting a lioness in front of him, but he had been thinking that it might be in his best interests to change his ways. Ruber simply had no objections to backsliding when provoked.  

[Excited Apathy]

"You could, but I bet it wouldn't be good for your health." The 'smile' she gave him showed an inordinately large amount of gleaming teeth. "Morag's not the only Firekin lioness who knows how to fight. And if she was a Huntress before she was Spymaster, how do you think you'd hold up against a lioness who was a Soldier before she began touring with Legate Moto'seide?"

She padded close, far too close. Close enough to be well within his personal space. "I've been training to fight since I was old enough to apprentice. So has damn near any other Firekin-born lioness who's in the military." There was that strange fanged 'smile' again. "You might want to watch who you offend."  

[mouselet]

The male growled wordlessly. He was beginning to have very few doubts about the prowess of those born into the Firekin, particularly those who followed the path of the soldier. Which was...annoying, to say the least. How could a male assert his inborn superiority when the lionesses insisted on beating the pulp out of him? Or at least insisted on threatening to do so?

"And yet I haven't said anything to you yet," he remarked angrily. "But I'm getting threatened even so."  

[Excited Apathy]

"And now you won't be tempted to do so." Nuria stayed exactly where she was. What was he going to do about it, limp away? Strike her and get his nice bandages torn up when she handed his a** to him? "You could anyways, of course, but that would just prove you were bloody stupid."  

[mouselet]

Ruber surged to his feet. He'd suffered no debilitating injuries, mostly scrapes, scratches and bruises, as well as some pulled muscles. But no broken bones, no serious injuries that would take moons to heal. And he had no objection to adding more wounds to his current collection if that was the price of getting this obnoxious red lioness to stop prying into his business.

"I'm getting more tempted by the moment," he snarled, head on an even plane with the lioness'. She was big for a female, but he wasn't that small either. He could and would fight through the irritating pain of his bandaged wounds if it became necessary.