Tryggr emerged from the den he shared with his siblings and his mother, tail curling up over his back as he surveyed the land before him. He took a deep breath of the fresh air, letting it wake up his body from his nice little nap. The den was otherwise empty, so he knew his siblings were out and about. Setting off, he trotted over to a large pile of rocks that they all liked to frequent and climb on. Sure enough, he spotted one of his sisters at the very top. He peered up at her, squinting against the sun, before noticing the red cape marking on her back. Fastný, then.
"Hey! How long have you been up there?" he called up to the second eldest of the litter. Fast glanced down as she heard her brother call out to her and she grinned down at him, puffing out her chest. It was always a game to see who could stay at the top of the pile the longest, withstanding playful swipes and shoves from the other cubs.
"As long as you've been napping, sleepy butt," she called down to Tryggr, who rolled his eyes.
"I doubt that," the male called back up to her as he started to climb the rocks, an eager look on his face. Even if she hadn't been up there that long, she was definitely 'queen of the hill' for more than enough time. He was going to dethrone her!
Aslaug had never been as intent on the king-of-the-rocks game as her siblings. They were, almsot to a one, fighters. Always tussling and trying to win dominance over the others. That wasn't for her, but neither did she stay entirely out of it. She was still Stormborn, after all. Her 'reigns' were usually short, begun in quiet ane relinquished without as much roughousing as the others'.
More often than not she didn't see a point in trying to outfight the otehrs just because she would not need fighting. But...it was fun to WATCH. Usually she'd pick a side to root for too - "You can take him, Fast! Long live the king!" Queen, rather. Whatever. The ruddy cub winked at her brother regardless. She loved them both in the end!
Fast laughed as Tryggr stumbled a bit, but not maliciously. She was just a cub, after all, and seeing her brother trip and fall was amusing. She looked down to the bottom of the rocks and grinned at Aslaug, waving down to her sister. "Thanks, Aslaugh!" she called out over the impudent 'hey!' from Tryggr as he got his paw from between the rocks where it had wedged itself.
"Yeah, yeah, you know you love me more," he teased, flicking his tail in his sister's direction, grinning down at her. "Where've you been? Mom was looking for you," he added as he pounced up to the next rock. This time he didn't waver. "Of course, she was looking for everyone else, too."
The little cub beamed up at both her siblings - of course she didn't prefer one to the other. Maybe in the heat of the moment she'd like one more, but in the scheme of things, no. They were both her family and they knew she loved them.
"Oh, uh. I went to see where the crafters work. Where the reavers trade spoils for things?" It was a bit FAR, sure, and she'd gone alone...but she'd been totally safe. That was okay, right? She didn't want her mother to worry, but nor did she want to do anything 'bad'. She hadn't thought wandering was bad though, even if it was alone. Maybe.
"I made a friend," Her tone was an attempt at cheerful. Vidar counted as a friend, right? Not really - he'd been a bit mean at the end, but still. Better than nothing. "He told me about wanting to be a reaver. That's what took so long...he talked a lot."
"Ooh, that sounds fun," Fast said as she laid down on the top of the rock pile, staring down at her sister, not at all concerned with Tryggr who was taking a while to maneuver around a rather loose rock. "Was it cool?"
"What kind of question is that?" Tryggr asked, claws digging in to a bit of moss on one of the rocks to pull himself up. "There were crafters and reavers, I bet it was awesome!" Finding a steady spot, he lifted himself up onto his hind legs and gave Fast's rear end a swift shove. She yelped in surprise and tried to hang on, but she rolled off the top rock with a soft thud. Victorious, Tryggr climbed to the top, striking a kingly pose.
"A friend?" he asked, looking down at Aslaug again. "What's his name? I wanna meet him too!"
"Talked a lot?" Fast asked, wrinkling her nose. "That sounds kinda boring. What did he talk about?"
The cub chortled when her brother sent her sister toppling - a new king! Huzzah! "It was pretty neat. I never knew there were so many THINGS," She explained. "Trinkets and blankets and stuff that I didn't even know what it was. Lots the reavers brought, and other things I guess people had their thralls make. There were thralls too, of course." Some for exchange, freshly 'recruited' and others helping the various lions with this or that. They were fascinating, but a little scary to Aslaug.
"His name was Vidar. He's got brown fur, mostly. Some blue, here?" She sat up and lifted a front let, pointedly looking over her flank. "Like clouds or mist, but sky-colored, not white. And...and green eyes." She nodded, thinking back. "He was big. Older than us I think." He'd be smaller than them once they all grew, actually, but she didn't know that.
"He talked about reaving. He said he wants to be a captain I think," Subtly she drooped a bit. "He had a rock he watched people from, but he said he didn't want me around it after I talked about our dad. But I mean, we're still friends, of course. I think maybe he ate something yucky...or something." She was too innocent to think he'd been mad at HER. Not really.
Tryggr frowned just a bit, tilting his head. "Vidar?" he asked, licking his lips as if tasting the name. He shook his head after that. "Nope, never heard of him. Or seen him," he said, swatting at Fast as she reached up to try to take back the seat.
"The market sounds really fun, though," he added, eyes sparkling at the description. "I want to go sometime. You'll have to take me-aah!'
He was sent head over tail down the pile of rocks bumping and scraping his way with his claws, trying to arrest his movement. Fast snickered as she reclaimed her spot after making sure Tryggr made it to the bottom without any serious injury. She looked down at Aslaug, though, with a frown.
"Wait, he wouldn't let you on his rock? Because of dad?" She puffed up her chest a bit, narrowing her eyes. "That's not very nice. I mean, we fight over this rock but it's all in good fun."
Aslaug was up on her paws to better see Tryggr go toppling - that had bee na very short reign! - and make sure he was alright. Of course he was; they were all tough little balls of fur. In a moment he was at it again, trying to fight his way up to take back his seat.
She shrugged again at the insinuation that Vidar'd not been nice. True, he hadn't, but she wasn't about to toss away the first person she'd met! "I think he was...I don't know," She sighed as she pulled herself up onto a lower ledge of stone on the pile. Not the top, of course, just a nearer seat.
"Maybe jealous? He was nice until I mentioned what father was." They'd never been told to hide waht they were, after all, so it'd not occured to her that others might not like godlings. "Maybe he thought that I was gonna try to be captain instead because maybe the gods would like me better? I don't know." Another shrug as she regarded Fast up upon her perch. "He left after that, so I don't know. Then I came home."
Now Tryggr was paying attention and he frowned just a bit as Aslaug spoke. He didn't like the sound of how this Vidar had treated his sister. Neither did Fast, from the look on her face.
"Huh," she muttered, her claws scraping the stones under her paws. "Maybe. But he shouldn't be throwing fits just because dad's a god. He should be saying 'wow that's cool my dad's not a god but he's still awesome'."
"Yeah!" Tryggr said, abandoning his climb to move over to Aslaug. "And he should have let you on his rock. Even if it was a small one," he added as Fast hopped down to join her siblings.
"I think we should go teach him some manners," she said, sniffing just a bit. "He should be nice to other Stormborn. We're all in the same pride, even if we have different parents. We're gonna all be big some day and work together, so being rude now isn't good."
Aslaug leaned towards her siblings as they joined her - they gave her comfort and reassurance just being near. They might be rough and tumble, but to her that meant protection. She didn't fight, wouldn't fight...but they would, on her behalf. If she asked them to. She COULD ask them. Have them take Vidar's rock for her own...
"That's okay. I still want to be his friend," She determined after a moment, blinking owlishly at them. "I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding...but...I could still show you guys the markets." That might be a good distraction. She was sure she could handle the other male on her own.
"If you think mom won't mind. Oooor if you think we can sneak off before she comes back looking for us again!" Without waiting she leapt off the rock and gamboled a short distance away from the den's 'yard' of sorts. "And if you can keep up of course!"
The two lighter lions glanced at one another as their sister insisted it was just a misunderstanding, fast raising a brow and Tryggr rolling his eyes. Aslaug was a kind soul and very forgiving, but they knew that sometimes she didn't understand when other cubs were being mean.
"Yeah, let's go see the market," Fast said, hoping to distract them all for the time being. "Mom won't be back for a while, I bet."
"Mm. She'll be looking for the other three for a while," Tryggr agreed, getting excited to see the market. "Lead the- hey!"
Aslaug was already off, and he laughed as he took off after her. Their caped sibling shook her head in amusement before running off after them, calling for them to wait up.
