Aslaug was, as ever, in awe of her pride. All around her lions went bustling to and fro - the occasionally other creature slipping past but mostly overlooked. It was not her first excursion out of the den she and her siblings called home; their mother had been blatant and simple about her desire for them to take to the world on their own four feet. She'd shown them about, explained the basics of where they were allowed to roam, and now it was up to them to choose to roam or sit still.
Of course there was no danger in the heart of the Myrsky lands to any cub. The whole of the pride may not exactly cherish their young, but there was no danger here. Any invading force would have had to fight through dense lines of guards and reavers, and would long have been brought up short before coming to where the ruddy cub now sat. Today, she thought, maybe she'd make some friends! They'd seen other cubs, but never interacted out from under their parents' eyes...
Aslang wasn't the only one that was exploring the pride. The mighty captain to be was on the prowl for something to entertain him, and so far he was coming up short. Vidar gave a little huff as he scanned the area he was in, tail flicking back and forth as he lounged on the rock he had come to call his own. From here he could see all the simple peons that he would one day protect and bask in their praise, for surely they had never seen nor would they ever see a captain quite like him.
Of course, the young male had a way to go. He was just starting to grow his mane and he was getting a bit bigger every day. The urge to leave the pride lands was growing, but he knew he wasn't allowed to leave just quite yet. Still, he was ready to go Viking in his heart if not in physical stature. He was ready for adventure!
Finally some movement caught his green eyes and he turned his head sharply. A little female cub was walking along not too far from his rock. He gave a little snort of amusement: finally, something to do! He waited until she got closer before leaping down in front of her, standing up tall to tower over her. Well...tower as much as he could. She was smaller than he, but not by much.
"Halt! Gotta give the password before you can pass, little girl," he said with a sneer.
So distracted by the comings and goings of her pridemates was the youngling that she nearly didn't see the other cub before he'd leapt out at her. She pulled up short, blinking innocently up at him. Not terribly far up - for all he was at least a month her senior, she and her siblings were quite oversized - but up regardless.
She couldn't quite pick out what his expression was meant to be. She'd never seen a mean face before, not even on her slightly rougher siblings. What should she do? She blinked owlishly, then gave the start of a small smile. That's what you were supposed to do when meeting someone new, after all.
"Password?" Her voice was a quiet chirp, ill-fitting against his demanding one. "Mother didn't tell us about any passwords," She stretched to peek over and past his shoulder where the adults bustled on without notice for the children, then turned, doe-eyed, back to him. "I suppose then I shouldn't try to go over there," She surmised. Surely if it was a place she was allowed to go she'd have been told the words.
Vidar was mildly annoyed when the cub didn't cower in fear before him. Surely he was intimidating. He'd been practicing his snarl at his reflection and had scared quite a few fish that way. His roar was even starting to get a bit deeper and more intimidating!
"Puh...your mother wouldn't have told you about a password," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Because it's /my/ password. See this rock? It's mine," he said, reaching out to pat the boulder with a paw affectionately. "And to go by it, you gotta say the password."
He glanced over his shoulder as well, a tiny smirk on his muzzle. "When I'm not here you don't need a password, so it's okay to go over there." He turned to look at the girl again, raising a brow. "So you can give me a password or you can fight me. If you win you can go without one."
How very strange, she thought to herself. This...boycub claimed that the rock was his (who wanted to own a rock?) and that the password was his as well. "So it's...not a password to go over there...just to go by your rock?" She asked with a bit of hesitance. Her orange eyes flicked between him and the large stone, then back past him once more.
Password or fight? She didn't know any passwords at all, and had no interest in battle. She was not the soft type to worry her fur would muss, nor was she afraid of him (he was not so much larger, not yet!) but her heart simply took no joy at the prospect of a tussle with the first cub she'd met outside her family. Of course she could just go around and get to the clearing from another direction. Then she'd no password at all...but again, he was the first cub she'd met...
An idea came to her and she cleared her throat, smile renewing in his direction. Oh this would work just perfectly she was sure! She DID know a password after all, and was always sure to use it. How silly, she hadn't thought of it before! Beaming with a sort of fond expectancy, she flicker her tail, and said, "Please?"
Vidar smirked again as the cub stood still, looking between him, his rock, and the land beyond him. Oh ho, he had her confused now. His tail flicked back and forth in delight as she mulled over his words, and he nodded at the question.
"Just to go by my rock," he repeated. Again he waited, and when she seemed to come up with an idea, he listened closely. Her answer, however, surprised him so much that he laughed.
"Please?!" he howled, almost falling over with how hard he was laughing. "Oh...oh gods...what...what do you think....oh gods..." He wiped his eyes with his paws to rid them of the tears that were gathering before shaking his head, a grin on his face.
"No, dummy. It's not please. That's a weakling word."
Asla, young and innocent, did not understand that his laughter was meant to hurt her. Her smile grew, and she joined the occasional chuckle with his howling, tail flicking up with pleasure at his seeming good reception. She wasn't sure what he meant by calling on the gods though. What did they have to do with manners? She'd have to ask her mother later if the gods cared about manners. She HAD always said her father had been very polite. Well. Something like that. Chiv...chival...something.
And then her smile faltered. Dummy? Weakling? That didn't sound very nice. She might not know what a dummy was, but she knew weak wasn't something she or any other Myrsky cub was meant to be. But then...having manners wasn't weak! It was good. He was the one being a...a dummy! Her tail dropped to the dirt with a puff of dust, and her tiny brows furrowed.
"My name isn't dummy. It's Aslaug. And I just want to go watch the others..." Maybe she should have gone the other way around. It unsettled her a bit that the first potential friend she'd stumbled over apparently was on the rude side. "And please isn't a weak word either. It's a nice word." She shook her head, stuffing down the little bubble of irritation that'd started to grow. "I thought you might be nice," She grumbled, then flicked her tail and started to skirt around him. "If you're going to be rude I'll go the other way," She proclaimed.
Vidar grinned maliciously as his words finally got to the cub. Ha! There, that was better. The silly little girl was finally getting it.
"It is too a weak word. Only losers say 'please', especially when they're...losing," he said with a snort. "In a fight, if you're getting beat up, you say 'please stop, please!' unless you're tough, like me. Then you just take it. But I'm waaay too tough to lose so I don't have to take anything."
When Aslaug tried to go around him he moved with her, blocking her path. "No no, the rules are you need the password to get by," he said with a smirk. "I'll give you a hint since I'm feeling extra nice today. It rhymes with 'mock'. Do you know what rhymes with means, or are you really a dummy?"
She looked back at him in askance. This was, if you asked her, entirely unnecessary. He'd chosen to go picking on her for some reason she couldn't fathom, and now he was pressing her to submit to his silly demands. Well, she had had just about enough of that.
"Plenty of people say please. And thank you, for that matter," she advised him. "Sometimes you don't even have to fight if you remember your manners, after all. A little bit of politeness can go a long way." And boy did he have a ways to go. Still, she supposed she could go along with this a bit longer. She really was interested in being friends. If only he wasn't so aggressive.
She briefly mulled over his clue. 'Mock'...Oh. Well, that was just the easiest password she'd ever known. Also the only one she'd known, since apparently 'please' didn't count. "Rock? But I said that earlier." She HAD said it too, when she'd been asking him questions. That didn't seem terribly fair. Still, if she was right then maybe he'd lay off being so forward. And she could get on with her exploring. If he'd stop being so pushy,, maybe he could even show her around. Hmm...
"I don't know what kind of loser lions you hang around with that say please and thank you," Vidar said with a mean grin on his face. "But I bet I could kick all their butts. "
Aslaug got the password right on the first try and the male's cocky expression faltered just a bit. Huh...maybe he should change it. The past few lions had gotten it right after the first hint, and some of them even on the first try.
"You said it out of context earlier...but that is right," he admitted, claws digging into the dirt below him. "I guess you can pass. If you want." Or she could stay here and let him continue to use her as a verbal punching bag.
"I'm Vidar," he added. Since she'd guessed his password he supposed he could give her that awesome bit of information. "And I'm gonna be the best captain this pride has ever seen when I'm older."
The little female brightened noticeably when he admitted she'd gotten it right. Of course, being told her family were losers made a corner of her lip quirk in mild exasperation. Did he really have to be so crass? He didn't know her, or her family. He couldn't pass judgement on them. She supposed that was a good enough reason to let his insult slide. He didn't know them, really.
"Thank you," She intoned, and if he was very sharp and very good at reading tone, he might catch the barest fleck of sarcasm under an otherwise genuine comment. "Vidar. I see. A captain? That's someone who's above the reavers, right?" Some of her siblings had wanted to be reavers, she was pretty sure. Not her though.
"I'm going to be a priestess," She informed him as she stepped easily past him now that he'd not bar her way. "Perhaps high priestess, if that is what the gods want." She tipped her chin at him. "If you're not going to insist on any more passwords, I suppose I could do worse for a guide." A beat. "It's the first I've come this way alone, you see."
"Yes, above the reavers. Reavers would look to me to lead them in Vikings," he said proudly, tail standing erect in delight. "They'd all do what I told them and they'd all think I was the best thing ever and I'd make sure to protect them all, and every other group of reavers and captains would look at us and go wow, they're so cool!"
He almost didn't hear what Aslaug said, but when the word priestess hit his brain, he stopped to stare at her in disbelief. "Really? You don't want to fight?" The realization shocked him so much that he didn't even remember to be rude or mean. "Uh...a guide?" Him? He stared at her for a moment before his senses came back and he scoffed softly.
"Of course you'd want me for a guide! I know this area like the back of my paw."
Well. That'd been easier than she'd hoped. He was boastful. Loud. A bit rude. but he'd agreed to join her, and that was a start. "Wonderful. I don't, obviously." She waited patiently for him to join her, only occasionally glancing with obvious earnestly towards the mingling adults, some swapping pelts, others working on making decorations or items.
"And no. I don't want to fight. There are plenty here who can fight, and it is not in me to do so." She smiled serenely at the idea of her future. "Mother says it was father's fault, but I already know, for certain, that I will be a priestess." Well, maybe not for certain. "Or...maybe a lawspeaker. But I think a priestess." She shrugged. "If the gods allow it. Maybe I will ask mother to ask father."
She trotted along at his side easily enough, obviously looking with interest at all the activity around them. "So, my dear guide, guide me? What is this area for? And where else is there that we're allowed to go to?"
Vidar scrunched up his nose a bit as Aslaug continued to speak of her father. "Who is your father then, huh? That you keep talkin' about him all the time." Surely he must be someone important in the pride, but he had never seen her markings before.
He glanced around as they continued to walk, spotting some of the crafters. "It's a trading spot," he said with a little shrug. "Lions come back from Vikings with loot and prizes, and they can trade them for other things they might want. I'm going to bring back so much stuff when I'm a Reaver, so that when I'm a Captain I can let my Reavers keep all the treasure for themselves because I'll already have loads!"
"That's rather nice of you, I think." Of course, she didn't yet know just where reavers got said spoils from, but for now it sounded like he wanted to share. Sharing was good. "So you go viking, bring things back, and trade them for food or other things. I suppose you could trade several things for a thrall, or find one of your own. If they went hunting for you then you wouldn't need to trade for that at least."
She watched in interest as the towering adults swapped wares and news and gossip. That seemed fun. Of course, if she did become a priestess then she wouldn't have prizes to trade. Then again, she wouldn't need to. The pride as a whole provided for the lionesses that interceded with the gods for them; she might never be rich, but she would be comfortable. And if she one day had a reaver mate...
She snorted, finding the idea a bit beyond comprehension. Her mother had made do without, and she did not like the idea of one day splitting her time and energy between a male and her gods.
"Oh, my father is not from this place. Mother called him Talfrid."
"I'll be bringing home a Thrall on my first Viking," Vidar said confidently. "Well. As long as it's one to a pride. Sometimes there's others off into the rouge lands so. The first Viking that Thralls are able to be captured."
The name wasn't really ringing any bells. He moved towards the adults, wanting to see what spoils they had collected, trying to think of anyone with that name here. "Maybe he's a rouge. Rouges shouldn't be poking their noses in here," he added with a frown. "Sounds kinda like a scrawny guy to me. Only losers try to sneak in here."
He paused by the adults, watching as shiny things were passed between paws. His green eyes lit up as he watched it move, disappearing into a little pouch. Shiny things were his favorite.
Asla nodded understandingly. Thralls were...a conflict in her heart. She would not want to be one, and did not understand why anyone would. But they were intrinsic to the pride, and served many useful purposes. Some, she had been told, did not want to be thralls. When she'd asked why they didn't become something else then, she had been explain that they had to prove themselves. That made some sense. As thralls they provided. As something else they might need providing for.
She knew though that any thralls she kept would be treated as well as she could. The pride relied on them, and it seemed cruel to make their lives any harder than they must already be. She considered boldly asking the boycub if he would bring her a thrall as well...but there were ample already in the pride. She could simply pick one when the time came. No need to bring in more.
"Oh, he wasn't a rogue. He was a god," She deadpanned, more interested now in how an elderly lioness was weaving bits of grass with practiced ease into something like a basket that could hold odds and ends. "Mother said she met him once and asked him for cubs, because there were no males she wanted." Her innocence made her blunt, and she grinned at the boy. "What other places can we go see?"
Vidar sat down to watch the trading, daydreaming about the heaps and heaps of treasure and thralls he'd win out on his Vikings. He'd need to get thralls just to carry all his loot back for him! Ha!
"Wait...a god? Your father is a god?" he asked, spluttering in surprise. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the girl, sticking out his chest a bit to appear larger. "You're lying."
She blinked and regarded him with some confusion. "Why would I lie?" She wondered aloud. "Mother said he was Chivalry. And other than the once I don't think they ever met." He'd completely disregarded her other questions. Rude again. Maybe it would have been better to find someone else...but she hadn't seen anyone else to ask!
"You can ask mother about it if you want, she'll tell you the same." She rolled a shoulder in a half shrug. "I don't think it's a big deal though." The gods had given her mother a gift, and she wanted to pay it back. That was about as much as she realized having a god for a parent would guide her life. "And are you going to answer me, or just accuse me, hmm?"
Vidar continued to glare at the cub, not liking what he was hearing. God cubs were plentiful in the stormborn, or so he was told. They were usually bigger, stronger, and had vision that made them special. Pah...he didn't need any of that stupid stuff to be special! He was awesome all on his own.
"I don't know who your mother is so I couldn't even if I wanted to," he said with a little growl. He thought back to her question before tossing his head up in the air. "No where else, I want to go back to my rock. This is boring." It wasn't, really. He just didn't want to be seen leading around the cub of a god. He didn't want the other lions to think this female had a thrall that was him!
She wilted a little at his sudden determination to return to his rock. Still, she'd gotten to see the little trading area like she'd wanted. She'd hoped to make a friend too but...she could not mistake the look in his eyes now. He was angry about something. Something she'd said or done. Her little ears folded down and back, but she did not cringe away from him or look down.
"Okay. Well...thank you for showing me, Vidar. Maybe I'll see you again some time?" She was hopeful at that. He hadn't been completely awful, just a little bit. She could forgive him, she knew. "I won't forget the password either, for next time." If she came back. Or maybe she'd find someone else to explore with instead. Someone less insulting, even if he had answered her eventually.
"Yeah, maybe," he muttered quietly, flicking his tail in her face as he turned to go, not at all bothered by her sad expression. "I'll probably change it though, so losers who say please and thank you can't guess it." He'd make it WAY harder...like...Dumb Asla and her dumb god father. That would be super hard to guess.
He trotted off back to his rock and curled up on it, green eyes glaring at the little lion cub intently. Puh. He'd show her how awesome he was. Priestess...he'd bring back all sorts of things to rub in her face when they were older. That would show her he could be just as awesome - no, more awesome! - even though his parents weren't gods.
