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 Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 7:27 pm
For a while, it seemed like all Sigrun could hear was the sound of her heartbeat pumping in her ears. The white and green lioness stood snarled and hunched over the form of an adolescent lion, his face wet and blubbering with snot and tears. The fight hadn't been short but certainly not evenly matched, either. Yellow eyes looked over the scene around her. There were few from the band of merchants remaining. They weren't fighters and those who had any sense of self-preservation had turned tail once blood started being spilt. Just two remained, this adolescent and a lioness that seemed to be his mother. The packs remained, though, and that had been the goal here.
---
Fashaq stalked the perimeter of the battle-ridden grounds, a resting area near a river that had been intended as a campground for the traveling merchants, now spotted with blood and broken packs from those that had fled. Purple eyes looked to the pelts that had been laid out to rest on, then to the adornments and other goods that peeked out of leather satchels no doubt ready to be traded. Then, his eyes paused on what seemed to be the merchants' food stores and the reaver once again remembered the gnawing hunger that ran through to all of their bones. Victory.
---
Victory indeed.
"Did I not say I'd lead you to find some glory, Stormborn?" Caligula's voice was like a croon. He hadn't soiled his hands in something as trivial as battle, but had conveniently reappeared when it was clear the fight had been one. The grey lion had made his way in a direct line to the captain's eyes, where he could see the glimmer of glory behind his eyes.
The captain soaked the scene in. Victory. Glory. It was all because of him. It was his. A toothy smirk grew on his face. A smirk that turned into a grin. Then into a laugh. One that turned Sigrun and Fashaq's heads. It was a sound that unsettled their stomachs. One they hadn't heard from the captain before…
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 7:43 pm
Mkhai had been out of the famine-infested lands of the Stormborn for only a short while. After all, he still had plenty of work to do to build up his reputation as a reaver. He could not rely on the cozy status of his godhood if he wanted to mingle with the mortals properly. The god's work would only be impeded by the curiosities and attention of mortals. His work had to be discreet to be effective, and so he held onto his mortal illusion tightly and never cast it away.
He was an impossibly large lion, bordering on the realm of disbelief. If he claimed to be the son of the god, none would contest it.
He had chased away many of the merchants, and was disgusted by their weak wills. They deserved to have all they owned taken from them, and those that had remained to fight deserved a glorious death. It was better to die fighting than to turn tail and run like a coward. Mkhai's green eyes lifted to the rest of the group, falling over to their little 'informant'. Something was not right about him, but Mkhai could not quite place why he felt that way.
The captain of the viking suddenly burst into laughter, and Mkhai's head turned his way, a frown playing on his maw. "We should wrap up here and press on," Mkhai spoke up, his tone serious and unforgiving. He had no time for games, no need for a reprieve.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 8:00 pm
The captain's laughter cut off abruptly at the large lion's words. "We should-" He repeated, then cut himself off as if rendered aghast by the statement. "I'm sorry, where those orders? To your captain?" The older lion bristled, seemingly unaffected by the larger reaver's size.
Fashaq's nose wrinkled. This was unlike the captain. Sure, the old man was arrogant and made questionable and rash decisions sometime, but this… this was different. The navy lion turned in from the outskirts of the group, making his way towards where the cluster of reavers stood. He gave the stranger a sideways look as he neared, then looked back towards Mkhai and the captain.
"Captain," he started, his voice rough like the sound of claws scraping through gravel. "Mkhai is right. We should gather our goods and-"
"Our goods?" The captain cut Fashaq off abruptly, leaving the reaver slack jawed. "Know your place, reaver. I am the captain here and if the 'goods' are anyone's they are mine." His voice was venomous, full of contempt and greed. "I won't see my band trying to undermine me during my victory." His eyes went from Mkhai, to Fashaq, and then back. "Is that what this is, then? My reavers turning against me now that I have brought them victory?"
Sigrun's eyes narrowed. A paw weighted against the adolescent she had pinned down, but she spoke sideways to where Mkhai stood, the lion closest to her. "Not like him to let things get to his head," she muttered, careful to make her words soft enough to escape the captain's ears.
Behind the captain, Caligula took a couple of steps back but not far enough to lose his front-row seat. His expression was blank, save from the smallest of smiles. The immense lion worried him—god-blooded, assuredly, and he'd make a mental reminder to stay away from him when the real show started.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 8:22 pm
Mkhai did have a slight attitude problem, but that could be afforded to his godhood alone. He was not used to taking orders from anyone else, and he had been awfully compliant through most of the viking. The captain had made sound, just decisions before. Now, something seemed crack his facade, revealing a lion that Mkhai was not familiar with. He was not supposed to cause problems, supposed to lay low and slowly make a name for himself.
But, really.
A mortal, talking to HIM with that attitude? Mkhai snorted, his gaze locking onto the Captain's own. No, the fight was not worth it. It was not justified yet. "A suggestion, Captain," he answered curtly. He did not have to, nor did he want to, be nice about it.
What had gotten into the lion? Mkhai had thought him to be so sensible before. The large lion bristled, but tried to remain calm despite the captain's infuriating actions. "Those goods are not your's - they are our Warlord's first and foremost," Mkhai corrected impatiently. It didn't really help that he slept with the current Warlord. He was attracted to strong females, and she had been proven the strongest of all.
His gaze momentarily shifted to Fashaq, as if to say 'what the ******** is up'? Perhaps the other lion had more experience with this Captain and could fill in the blanks. "You turn on yourself. Let us pack up the bounty and leave." It was a final peace offering, a chance to allow things to simmer down. Mkhai turned his back to the captain, confident that if the belligerent lion attempted anything Mkhai would still be sharp enough to counter him.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 8:52 pm
Fashaq caught Mkhai's look and gave a bewildered 'I have no idea' shrug in return. He honestly didn't have a clue. Had the captain been drunk? There had been the occasion a couple of times when the captain had been lax about bringing intoxicated lions a'viking, and some where the navy lion had seen his elder with a satchel of mint. But he had seemed fully in control of his words. His movements during the battle that had ended only minutes ago seemed just fine.
The navy lion watched as the captain, with a look that seemed like his eyes were going to pop out of his head with fury, moved towards Mkhai. "I will NOT," he started, his voice having grown in volume exponentially from the annoyed spitting of before, "be spoken to like this by my band of ungrateful usurpers!"
Almost without thinking Fashaq moved to his captain's side, more concerned about whether or not something was wrong than concerned with the idea that something might happen. He reached out a paw to lay on his captain's shoulders, more a show of concern than anything, but was met only with the turned focus of the lion's rage.
"Usurpers?" Sigrun questioned, her eyes narrowing. She opened her mouth to speak again, to question what exactly her captain had meant, when a blur of motion snapped her jaw back shut. As Fashaq reached out to touch the captain, the elder lion's form spun and leapt and before any words could escape either the white lioness or the navy lion. "The <******** adolescent lion she had pinned wriggled and bolted as the female reaver moved from her post towards where the captain now had a bewildered Fashaq pinned. His paws were at the navy lion's throat with his full weight behind them.
"I would sooner die," the captain started, a frenzied craze lingering in his eyes, "before letting my band, my glory, fall into the grip of some ungrateful reavers who try to take me down behind my back."
On instinct Sigrin leapt at the fray, her weight enough to knock the Captain to the side. As Fashaq regained his breath, eyes full of confusion, the captain changed targets. Claws dug into Sigrun's side as he moved at her. "My whole band, then? Turned against me?"
"My my," Caligula started, sitting unmoving and proper aside from a raising of the head to get a good look at the action. "He doesn't seem quite right in the head, does he?" A tongue click. "Shame."
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:25 pm
"Do not let delusion claim you," Mkhai warned the captain, his patience growing thin. There had been a few times where his resolve was tested to this degree, and almost every time he managed to keep himself reigned in. Mkhai remaining in perfect self-control was invaluable to his success within the Myrsky Syntynyt. The large camo-colored lion turned then to face the captain. If he wanted to pick a fight with the disguised god, then so be it. Mkhai would put an end to the argument quickly.
It seemed, however, that Fashaq wanted to put forth one final attempt to diffuse the situation. Mkhai, at least, would afford him that much. This was the mortal world he was in now, best to let the mortals decide the course of it. He watched as the navy lion attempted to place a paw on the captain's shoulder, and he saw the madness unfold piece by piece. Mkhai knew even before Fashaq's paw touched the captain's shoulder that this would not go well, but there was no time to warn him.
The captain had his reaver pinned, and another female reaver leaped into action. Her reflexes were admirably quick, though her judgment perhaps less so. Oddly, Mkhai remained on the fringes for a few seconds, unsure of what to do in such a situation. He could meddle with it completely, or let the mortals handle it. The captain was outnumbered, and surely he would fall.
But then he would have none of the glory, and that was something Mkhai could not live with.
He felt the illusion weaken, could feel the invisible wings at his back dying and aching to stretch. Mkhai wanted to fight at full potential, but held himself back for the sake of his disguise. He lowered his body to the ground, emerald eyes intense as they focused on the Captain. He had a good grip on the female reaver, but it was nothing that Mkhai could not forcibly break.
He roared, a sound large enough that it seemed to make the air vibrate around him. It was an attempt to startle the Captain, or at least catch his attention for a moment. "Enough!" Then he charged, all muscle and dark intent aimed straight for the Captain's back.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:41 pm
Fashaq coughed as breath returned to his lungs but went quickly back to his feet. He was still trying to piece together the fragments of what was happening here, but it was going too fast for him to just sit down and think about it. The captain had already changed targets, though it seemed Mkhai's blow was well met and loosened to mad captain from his position atop Sigrun. "You alright?" He spoke briefly as he moved towards her, eyes not moving from the captain's form as he turned his attention now towards Mkhai.
The old captain's eyes were wide and wild, twitching from being focused on each little movement of the lions around him. "Traitors, all of you," his voice had dropped in volume now, as though he were just narrating the situation to himself. "My own band turning against me. After all I have done for them. Attacking me when I try to defend myself from their traitorous attempts to steal what is mine."
Sigrun only grunted in reply to Fashaq, eyes also pressed to the captain. She was taken aback at how wildly inaccurate the captain's words were. At how the old lion seemed to be spinning a narrative to himself that revolved around some skewed perception of events that had been so clear. As if he had been attacked first. As if they had turned upon him. Yellow eyes flicked towards the stranger, sitting unmoving and almost smug. "You," she called, moving towards him. "What do you know of this?"
"Me?" Caligula replied, eyebrows raising and a paw placed over his heart. "Why would you think I had anything to do with this? Clearly he's gone mad."
As if on cue by Caligula's words, the captain leapt forward, this time at Mkhai. Fashaq was close behind, trying to pull off the captain though the other lion's movements were wild and flailing.
"I won't have it!" The captain called, a growling roar now. "I won't see such mutiny go unpunished! I'd sooner die than see the glory stolen by treacherous nothings!" Mkhai's warning was too late. Clearly, delusion had taken root.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:09 am
Mkhai had to wonder if words could even reach the lion now. Good sense had seemed to abandon the Captain, chased away by doubt and paranoia. Even if he attempted to knock some sense into him, there was no guarantee that in a couple of days the lion would not attempt some sort of vengeance. This was not a good situation, but Mkhai could not allow the other reavers to have all of the glory. If this was the way it had to be, Mkhai wanted in. "You have betrayed yourself. Stop." Words likely fell on deaf ears. It needed to be clear that Mkhai had no other choice but to fight him, in case things went further south.
He had gotten the Captain at least off of the other reavers, if only for a few moments. Mkhai saw the look in the old lion's eyes and knew that he was likely too far gone. The god of warriors had been around longer than most mortals, even if he was relatively young within the lifespan of a god. He had plenty of opportunity to witness something similar in other gods, but had yet to come across a mortal with such afflictions.
His gaze flickered to Caligula, a quick, momentary assessment of the dark lion. "We can question him later," he told Sigrun. That was a promise. Right now, they had more important things to deal with.
The Captain leaped towards him, and Mkhai sprang forward to meet the blow, their bodies colliding in the air with a wild assault. Fashaq soon joined the fray, and Mkhai made attempts to subdue the Captain - but there seemed to be no calming him, no pinning him without a ferocious attempt to strike back.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:52 pm
Sigrun had been nearing the dark lion when Mkhai's voice made her ears perk. He was right. The captain had become a more pressing threat. Still, she gave Caligula a suspicious sneer. "Stay. There," she snapped before turning back towards the action. The three lions were already closely engaced and Sigrun, hackles raised and muscles tensed, circled the group. It might not have been advantageous for her to just jump into the fray but she watched their movements, keeping ready to jump in when it might have become necessary.
Fashaq, meanwhile, was doing his best to subdue the crazed captain. He had been a part of this captain's band for longer than the other lions present. He knew that though he had his moments he could be reasoned with. At least, in other circumstances. Mkhai had been trying to hold the captain down and the reaver's enormous size was doing a fine job. For the most part. The elder lion was writhing and flailing, a mess of incoherent yells and strong claws. A front paw clipped the side of his face. Half of his eyesight became bloodied, his flesh stung, and a sense of dread and clarity watched over him.
The captain was lost. He'd sooner kill them than listen to their reason.
"There is no reasoning here," Fashaq snapped to Mkhai and Sigrun, hoping his intentions were clear and understood. They had to end this.
The white lioness caught the words and her stomach turned. No reasoning. She knew it was true. She had seen the look in the captain's eye. And in truth, it was the captain that was treasonous, here. He had claimed the bounty for himself, turned against his band and, in effect, his warlord.
Finding an opening she leapt into the fray, pinning the limbs that had struck out at Fashaq while the navy lion had moved towards the captain's head, fangs puncturing skin as he pinned the head back and leaving his throat exposed for a killing blow while his legs tried to subdue the lion's body.
Hmmh.
Caligula watched the events unfold before him. He had been pleased at how the Stormborn captain had taken to corruption so easily. The lion had been predisposed to greed and aggression and pride. He had easily been taken down, but Tyranny supposed such was the nature of these things. This had been the god's first introduction to the pride. If there were other lions with such predisposition, the opportunities could be endless…
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:24 pm
The Captain would not be subdued, and though madness had taken root Mkhai's thoughts leaned towards impression. Being so far out of his mind, the lion still was determined to fight to the bitter end. Mkhai could not even call his actions foolish when it was likely the Captain no longer knew the term. Cowardice and compassion had been tossed away in favor of insanity, making him a far better fighter in these final moments than likely ever in his life before.
...Final moments.
There was no other option, and when Fashaq spoke Mkhai understood him immediately. It was time to end the Captain and his brief reign of tyranny. Mkhai himself would have never suggested such a course of action. He was just a player in this game, an interloper in the mortal world. While he strove to be like a mortal, he very clearly was not. This was Fashaq's call to make.
Sigrun re-joined the fray, helping to pin the Captain into place. Against three lions, he never stood a chance. Even Fashaq and Sigrun alone likely had enough strength to end him. The Captain's throat was exposed, and Mkhai's jaws clamped around it through the male's coarse mane. Blood spilled against his maw, rich against his tongue. He held fast to the Captain as he struggled and kicked against them, held fast as the energy and life drained from the male.
Then there was nothing left, and Mkhai released the throat from his grip, turning his gaze immediately to Fashaq. "It is done." Mkhai phrased his words in a way that made it clear that the responsibility was Fashaq's and not his own. He was not afraid of the consequences, after all the Warlord knew what he truly was. This decision, however, had not been made by him and so he would not claim the glory of taking down a maddened lion.
"We will have to explain this. Does he have family?" Then as he rose his head, he noticed the strange dark lion still lingering as if he were watching a show. Mkhai turned away from the fresh corpse and instead began to stalk towards their interloper.
"I guess now is the time to deal with you, stranger."
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:10 pm
"Find glory in the halls of the Stormlords, captain, for you did not die in bed." Sigrun spoke the words, her voice low. She hadn't seen what the others had in the maddened captain's eyes. Hadn't truly known if this was the right course of action, but she wasn't the one that was to make the calls. Fashaq had been a part of the band longer. The lioness would back his call.
"He does," Fashaq said simply and grimly, eyes resting on the fallen captain's face. He knew that this decision had rested on him and, as such, he would bear the responsibility to bringing the news to his next of kin. "Just one. A daughter, who I will bring the news to." As he spoke his purple eyes moved towards the dark lion, almost as though placing blame.
"Then my vote to take the captain's place is with you," Sigrun said as she turned towards Fashaq, then following Mkhai's gaze towards the dark lion. "And we can bring him in to answer for what's happened."
"Me?" Caligula called back to Sigrun and Mkhai as he took a step away from the lions and towards the brush, the movement like one of a prey animal that had been caught in a predator's crosshairs. "For what? I brought you to your bounty. It's not my fault if he went mad with greed." He snorted and took a step back. At this point, both Fashaq and Sigrun's attention had joined Mkhai's. The white lioness's steps were in stride with the large lion while the navy reaver was a few steps back.
Caligula reflected on how he should have taken advantage of the excitement to disappear. He had gotten too distracted by the end game. While the three lions were still stalking in their movements, the god took the opportunity to quicken his backpedal. God though he might be, Tyranny knew when there was a fight he didn't want to face and had no shame in turning tail. Which is exactly what he did, moving into the nearby underbrush before the lions could close the distance.
If his pursuers entered the brush they would find nothing but a seemingly startled raven taking flight.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:44 pm
"Agreed," Mkhai spoke up shortly during his approach towards Caligula. Nothing else needed to be said from the camo patterned male. For a lion so full of an ambition, it was almost strange that he passed over the opportunity to claim the Captaincy himself. But, he had not earned it and this band would not listen to him. Fashaq had been with it the longest, and in the end it was his call that had ended the Captain's live. The responsibility was Fashaq's burden now - Mkhai could make his own claim to power elsewhere. Rising through the ranks would be a trivial feat for the god who already believed himself to be at the top of the world.
"What a coincidence, then, that this bounty you led us to drove one mad." There was no kindness in Mkhai's voice. He did not dance around or mince words - he was straight to the point. He did not trust this dark lion, and he did not think he was in the wrong to do so. Something just did not seem to add up, and Mkhai was no stranger to unfamiliar things within the world. There was so much that the mortals did not understand or ever understand.
The dark lion retreated back towards some thick brush. Realizing his intent to leave, Mkhai pursued him swiftly into the brush... but it was too late. The lion was gone, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a raven take flight.
His gaze narrowed as thoughts whirled through his head. Mkhai turned back towards the other reavers, inclining his head towards them. "He is gone. We should go as well." It was time to collect their spoils and return back to the Myrsky Syntynyt. They had plenty of explaining to do regarding their sudden change in Captain.
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