Tollak was frowning, again, as was slowly becoming his usual expression.
He really, really didn't want to be out here.
Issuing a sigh the gray male heaved his shoulders up and down with an inhale and exhale of a breath. He was walking, but his pace was sluggish and his demeanor suggested that he wasn't pleased to be where he was at all.
Wasn't his fault Aaja was easy to insult. Wasn't his fault some dude was clearly hitting on her and she was enjoying the attention. Certainly wasn't his fault that his sour mood ruined her decent one, and all in all he still failed to see why it was so important he make it up to her. She had been rude to him that one time, but he couldn't be rude to her? Seemed like something a reaver stuck in the old ways of the pride would think.
"Aaja is a forgiving person, I don't need to catch her a thrall or apologize." He voiced to his companion. As soon as he had exited Aajamaak's den Tordenskall had come chasing after him, and practically dragged Tollak by his ear out to the roguelands again.
He liked the roguelands, but he didn't like being forced to raid in them. The freedom of choosing when to raid was almost as great as the freedom that came with being able to raid itself.
"Skall?" He asked, the yellow lion had remained silent for a few minutes too long. He feared what next the overly flowery-spoken lion would say.
The orange lion that some said resembled the very lightning that struck their home walked fast and with purpose. His braided mane lightly bashed against his head as he walked and the hair in his face seemed not to both the lion as he pushed onward. He wore battle scars with pride and the necklace of teeth he had collected during his challenges were clicking together as he marched.
As he walked he listened. To everything, not just Tollak's useless words. His footsteps as they thumped against the ground, the rustling of leaves and bushes.
His goal was to catch a thrall, have Tollak apologize to Aaja by presenting it to her, and thus ensuring that they hadn't pissed the healer off. Before he had thought it was simply because he valued having connections to healers above all else, now he felt it was simply a way to distract him.
Having a goal in mind left little room for thoughts that usually plagued the reaver. Thoughts of his aggressiveness leading to disaster and thoughts of his brother whom he found himself worrying over as the fellow had not shown for a challenge yet.
A distraction was necessary from all that stress, and fetching Aaja a thrall was a pretty good distraction all on its own.
"You will apologize to that healer Tollak, and I am not voicing this as a request. I will not have a fellow raider of mine insulting those who tend his wounds."
Before Tollak could begin an argument once again Skall stopped, and this caught the other lion's attention.
There was something coming there way. From the looks of it, it was two somethings...
Senka looked to Neha uncertainly. According to what they hyena had told her, she had received direction from a Chimera to travel to the lands known to hold storm blooded warriors. Rumors were held they were related to the gods and this was something that Chimera in question was curious over.
To be honest they all were curious. A land of warriors claiming to be as strong as the monsters? Ghasia could not overlook this as simply a false rumor and carry on with their lives. It would have to hold some level of truth, and the truth was something that required investigation.
Senka was not part of the Ghasia however, she was 'mortal' according to the hyena who walked alongside her, and this was something the hyena made sound like a crime. She didn't mind though, Neha seemed to respect that Senka's duties as a grave guardian were a priority even 'monsters' should respect.
Bones were her life and bones were her job. She was around death so frequently, burying those of who were slaughtered by the "stormborn" that Senka found it rare to be around anything else. Moving next to a living creature filled her with a strange emotion. Glee maybe?
"Others coming." She said aloud to the hyena companion. Others that smelt like death, and death was usually "stormborn" as she recalled. "They are death-scented, we should be wary."
Neha was humming to herself. She didn't care if the travelers coming their way smelt like gods, they were strangers and strangers were to be handled with caution anyways. The hyena almost felt the need to inform Senka of this fact, but her attention was drawn away as the appoarches became more clear in her sights.
Lions, a pair of them. Big, fierce looking ones.
"I think they're those storm-blood we're searching for." She told her partner. Neha had met Senka only a few moons ago but they were getting along swell so far, and that was a good thing given Senka was considered mortal.
Actually, Neha was considered mortal too. As far as the Chimera she served under felt she was turning into a Ghadhabu with each passing hour, but Neha was using it all as a ruse. She was still a mortal. Half the pride 'mistook' her for one until she corrected them though, and that was something that she was trying hard to change.
She was mortal still, but they didn't need to know that. She needed them to believe she was more than the Kaless they thought she was, she needed them to believe she was a Ghadhabu. If they didn't her plan would fail and it was back to square one as far as her plot to succession was concerned. Which was why she was in it for the long haul, she'd make friends and take slaves and make them believe she could be trusted. Then, she'd turn on those idiots the soonest chance she got.
Senka was her 'slave' for the time being. Or at least if they encountered any other monsters out here that would be what Neha would tell them. Fact was the hyena was using Senka as a travel companion, and potential bait to fulfill her mission she had been given.
'Observe the storm-blood, when you are certain if they are a threat or they are not, return and share with us what you have seen. They could be allies, they could be enemies, either way, these are claimed Hanma-descendant mortals...'
A grin curved on Neha's maw, "Hello travelers!" She shouted across the narrowing gap between the two sets of wanderers. "How do you do?"
Tollak turned to look at Skall. "Hyena, lioness." He said, watching the elder reaver's face carefully for a reaction. When Skall merely huffed out a puff of air the gray lion turned back to face the strangers with a scowl.
"Fine, be rude then. Smelly old reaver."
Raising his voice to be heard more clearly Tollak coughed once to clear his throat and then put on the cheesiest, fake, happiest smile he could muster. "Hello yourself! We're looking for a watering hole, you two ladies wouldn't happen to know where one is, would you?" He had borrowed that script from Ragnvard, his primary captain of whom he was learning much under.
From the little experience Tollak had with catching thralls, it was best to trick them into a false sense of security before attacking. Also getting as close as possible to them was a benefit to the situation as well.
Though what wasn't a benefit currently was that it was just the two of them here, no other reavers in the group were around so the two potential thralls would have to be super tricked, and no doubt one of them would likely escape anyways...
Skall had to admit, he was a bit surprised that Tollak hadn't rushed into battle yet. The young reaver often complained of how frequently he wanted to capture a thrall for himself that Skall often worried he'd pee himself with joy when the opportunity finally rose.
Thankfully though, or rather, somewhat impressively Tollak was as the youngsters put it, "playing this cool". He wasn't smashing his face against the soon-to-be-thralls yet and this was a good sign as far as Skall was concerned.
It meant he was actually learning something useful and had a brain under all that fur. Skall mirrored Tollak's happy attitude, "Good day ladies." He spoke with a nod.
Glancing to Tollak, they exchanged a look, and Skall began to move ever-so-slightly further to his right, the side the lioness was on.
Yes, they reeked of it. The smell of death, the smell of rotting flesh and decay. It was faint, and for all Senka knew they had eaten a kill lately, but the smell was there just the same. It made her uneasy, and her stomach tightened into a knot. These were death-bringers. She had no proof, but she felt it and the feeling that they were death-scented made her tense and unable to put on an act.
Then again, if the "stormborn" death-bringers were approaching her so friendly-like than maybe they knew not of what their comrades had done. She shook that thought away though almost as quickly as it had come.
They were likely playing a trick. Tricks worked on the unwary and if they thought they would be successful in playing a trick Senka wasn't going to tolerate that. Her claws came out and scratched the ground lightly and she used every fiber of her energy to resist the urge to growl.
She never liked or trusted the death-scented.
Neha could feel Senka's displeasure with the current situation and watched with near-horror as the lioness stared daggers in the eyes of the strangers. She lightly nudged the lioness, earning her attention Neha whispered quietly "be nice."
"I'm afraid there aren't any watering holes nearby. It's quite a travel to reach one, but I did spot a lake a few miles that way." Neha threw her head backwards as opposed to actually pointing towards it. They'd get the basic idea.
The braids were a feature that Neha was unfamiliar with. They came from the same group, so maybe Senka had something to worry over after all...
"Are you gentleman lost?" She decided to remain playing nice. Her job was to observe after all, she needed a good insight into what the "stormborn" were like to do that.
Or at least, her plan was to observe and act friendly. That was until the big lion with the gray mane suddenly pounced in her direction.
He maybe should have waited a little longer, but Tollak couldn't resist any longer. His ambition to catch a thrall overtook his reason and well, he figured he was close enough.
As soon as he was close enough to the hyena he pounced, catching her delightfully by surprise and pinning the creature underneath his sheer body weight.
"I'm afraid not love. We know exactly where were going actually."
"Tollak...." Skall snarled. It would have been a more efficient plan to get closer, or at least allow Skall the opportunity to deal with the more docile of the two beasts.
The lioness glared at him angrily, and instead of pouncing on Tollak who was attacking her friend she surged towards him instead.
Skall felt the air in his lungs escape all in one breath as the lioness pounced and pinned him to the ground. She was tinier than him though, and Skall had no troubles sinking his claws into her shoulders, causing the female to cry in pain. She seemed intent on biting his neck however, and while snapping at him mercilessly Skall cried "Tollak!"
She wiggled and squirmed the best she could, but despite all her efforts the gray lion was suffocating. Her paws were digging against the dig as she attempted to wiggle her way out from under the male, squeaking with surprise as he suddenly lifted up. Before she could look, or have a chance to react Neha turned her body and around and slashed her paw at the male's face, causing it to turn to the side with the mere force of her dainty slap.
She grinned, and forced herself to both sit up and pounce all rolled into one motion, snapping at his neck as the lion turned away for a brief moment.
Senka knew that the gray lion had Neha trapped, but that Neha was a fighter in spirit and wouldn't give up.
Which was why when the gray lion tackled her friend, instead of rushing to the rescue Senka mustered all her anger towards the yellow-male.
He seemed shocked but was holding her off well, pressing one of his paws against her neck to prevent her from reaching his. She didn't care though, and continued attempting to bite at it. When he scratched her face she recoiled in pain- Senka was a bit ashamed to admit she had never been hit before.
With anger she attempted to tackle him again, but by then the lion had gotten up and was was ready for her attack. He got close enough to sink his teeth into her arm as Senka reversed in preparation to run away. "Gah!" She screamed.
"CURSED DEATH-BRINGER!" She slashed at his face, a far more powerful attack than Neha's, and enough to cause Skall to let go.
"Tollak!" He heard his name, and instinct told him to look towards who had said it, a mistake as the hyena he had pinned wiggled free and jumped towards his neck.
Which was her mistake, as Tollak's brown mane was protection from her feeble attack. He headbutted her and watched with satisfaction as they hyena took a step back in surprise, and then he slashed as her face, knocking her to the ground in one big satisfying blow.
He even heard and felt the jaw snap out of place as he smacked her into the dirt. It was then that he placed his paw on her throat, watching as she struggled to breath, with glee in his lightning eyes. "I wonder who will miss you when your gone?" He pondered with a sick grin on his features.
When he heard the thumping and image of a lioness turning away Tollak turned his attention away from his prey, and reluctantly let her go as he began to chase after his foe.
Skall could handle the hyena, he wanted the lion for himself. He wanted to be the one to capture that pretty thrall and not a soul was going to stand in his way of that.
He huffed out in exhaustion as the purple lioness began to bolt, and watched in satisfaction as Tollak began pursuit.
The hyena got up as well, slowly however, and began to flee, though at a slower pace than which the lioness had. He took his time standing, his eyes trained on the butterfly pattern of the creature he would soon to follow.
"So this is what it's like to be a reaver?" He asked no one in particular. He had scratches and blood pouring down his face, he was out of breath and the thrall he was suppose to be catching was escaping.
Yet Skall could only stand there and question, "What have I gotten myself into?"