((Ra'Shajirr WC: 1063
Kaede WC: 933
Total WC: 1996))
Kaede WC: 933
Total WC: 1996))
It had been some time since Shaji had gone on a viking, and that was utterly disappointing. He did not fear if he would get rusty or anything of the sort, but that he would become, dare he think, bored. The Stormborn territory was great, it suited him well. He enjoyed all of the mint and the dreary days. He could handle his own under the savannah sun, don't get him wrong. However, he much preferred not needing to. The cooler windier temperatures were preferable, and the grey sky suited his pelt.
Though it was indeed pleasant here at home, he could feel a tension in his muscles, like a coiled spring held in place too long. Disgruntled he rolled over and grabbed a leaf of mint off the ground and shoved it into his mouth. He had chosen his spot for that reason, the proximity of mint leaves. From his side he surveyed the area, and could see nobody nearby or approaching, so there certainly was no news for today.
He heaved a sigh and rolled over to his other side, where he spotted a female trotting towards him… Bright orange, loud, against their craggier backdrop. He thought he had seen her around, but wasn't sure… He supposed she would probably come to bother him, or at least, that's how it looked.
Kaede had been scared and trapped for her first few days here. First she was tricked by Dagny and Inari. She was following them to som food, she had thought, but instead was being taken into her enslavement. She had done all she could, but was horrorstruck to have been defeated. She really hadn't stood a sliver of a chance of escaping from the mother-daughter duo, each of them was significantly stronger than she was on their own! And she was so silly to be caught by them- she should have realized when there was no scent of food!
Then she was taken to a strange lion, and he gave her back to Dagny. Though Dagny didn't really seem so bad, she hated it here, truth be told. Kaede was surrounded by thuggish rough lions and lionesses, all of whom seemed to have more hapless lions and wild dogs and cheetahs all caught as, what were they calling her again? Oh yes, a "thrall." She had never heard the word until she came here.
Plus it was cold and rainy most of the time. From what she'd heard from other Thralls though, she was pretty lucky! Dagny didn't treat her like an equal, and she had to do all of the chores, but at least she wasn't beaten and was given nice living quarters! She had perhaps forgotten what the main portion of the pride was like, being with her captor so much in recent days, because when she saw a stony spotted figure lying on his side, she made a beeline straight to him. She needed someone to talk to and nobody else was around!
Oh great, Shaji thought as the orange one did indeed come closer, and appear to intend to speak with him. Perhaps she was here to deliver to him a message, perhaps that it's time to go on a viking? That his crew was heading out soon, and they were gathering everyone? While he hoped for it, he didn't expect this as the purpose for her visit. Shaji shifted up on his shoulders in a relaxed position, staring at her through amber eyes as she approached.
The lioness was small in every sense of the word. She looked weak and underfed, even kind of scraggly. He flicked a fuzzy ear in irritation at her arrival, definitely a thrall, so not even someone interesting who might have tales to tell. His face hardened, eased by the mint leaf, to one that clearly didn't want to talk to her, but she approached anyway. As her bright paws came to rest before him, he looked her unashamedly up and down. He spat out his leaf at her feet. "What exactly are you after little thrall? Lost?" He asked blandly. He was beginning to remember seeing her enter the pride's lands in the raiding party, a pair of lionesses brought this one in, he seemed to remember…
The lioness stood before the reaver, his rank unbeknownst to her, and waited while he clearly looked her over. She was kind of surprised by that. Normally, she would never have approached a male in the wild, but she had supposed she had better get over her fears. And Dagny told her to get over that fear, as she deals with a fair number of males. Actually, she supposed to herself, that was the main reason. She actually didn't really want to talk to him, so she just smiled as pleasantly- and nervously- as she could. She didn't like him spitting the leaf at her paws, and just looked at it for a moment while he spoke, having picked up the paw it was closest to and holding it in the air.
"Ah, yes! Well, um…" This didn't seem to be going very well. "I guess I'm kind of new here and I'm trying to learn who everyone is, or at least some lions around here. I guess it's pretty big so there's no way I could learn who everyone is!" she said with a sheepish laugh. "Anyway, my name is Kaede, what's your name? Do you like this weather? And hey, how do you get one of those fluffs, I'd really like one!" she said, extending a claw towards the lion's cape around his neck. Dagny's mother, Inari, had one similar, and so many other lions seemed to have one. But when she thought about it, she didn't remember any thralls having any… Well, this guy was big, so he definitely wasn't a thrall!
Shaji sat and listened to her, his face growing harder. This thrall had no manners? Well, she wasn't "bucking the tide" and trying to fight her fate as his thrall was, but she certainly didn't understand respect nor her place in the pride. She shouldn't be speaking to reavers unless she's owned by one, sent to deal with one by her owner, or spoken to by one. He, in fact, had better things to be doing than entertaining someone else's new thrall, despite the fact that mere moments ago he was silently lamenting the fact that he was in between vikings and was bored.
A frown creased his muzzle as he listened to her talk on and on. Worse still, not only was she speaking to him out of the blue, but she was speaking to him like an equal. His tail tip flicked unpleasantly. "No, perhaps you couldn't learn who everyone is here," he said flatly, ears back to her first statement. Kaede, he kept the name in his mind so he could try to track down who she belonged to.
Her next statements and questions were the last straw of her insolence. She wanted a nice fluffy cape such as his, she would need to work for one to get it! But thralls are not given such opportunities, as well they should not be, unless they can win their way out of thralldom in a breytast vindar. This little thing clearly would be incompetent of such a feat. He rose to his feet and towered over her. "You would be right to remember your place, little thrall," he snarled. Normally, he would not care to teach a thrall that was not his own a lesson. Sometimes reavers and freeborns wanted to custom-train theirs. But this one had crossed lines, he was convinced, and needed to be taught. The fact that Ildü had not yet learned respect was the reason she was confined to his den, lest she get a beating. "I am a Reaver, my name does not concern you." He took a step closer to her, too close for her comfort. "As for my 'fluff,' you can forget the idea of you getting one. You typically have to barter for them or earn them yourself. And in your position, as a thrall, you aren't afforded the chance at either method to get it. Understood?" He asked harshly.
She had really stepped in it now, and didn't really understand what she had done wrong. Except that she had tried to conquer her fears and speak with a male- she had had many poor experiences in her past with male lions. Ohhh, if Dagny had only not needed her to confront these fears, she wouldn't have pushed herself to be in this position in the first place! As it was, she could only plaster an apologetic grin on her face, hoping to placate him.
It wasn't enough, apparently. He rose to tower over her, and Kaede shrunk. She didn't really know she did it, but she took a few small shuffles back and tucked her ears flat to her head. She wanted to run away but had a feeling that would only make things worse. She'd never outrun this lion, and she'd certainly never beat him in a fight. Where he had looked less menacing laying down, now he looked like she had picked a fight with a mountain ready to have an avalanche. She shrunk as close to the ground as she could and listened to his words, unsure of where to look. "Yes sir, I understand now," she said quietly as he finished his sentence. "I'm very sorry for disturbing you."
He was deeply pleased with her malleability, hopefully she would learn from this experience. He remained where he stood but softened his stance, feeling a hint of pity for the lioness. Only a hint. Perhaps he had been too harsh, but sometimes a much-needed lesson needs to be driven home with overwhelming force. Though he hadn't used any on her, really, just intimidation. He supposed, though, that how you treat a lion depended on the lion itself, his stance was probably equal to what would require a blow for Ildü.
He sighed. "You need to be more cautious as a thrall. You need to learn your place, and you especially need to know that other reavers might well have given you a well-placed blow to the head. Some freeborn might even do that. Keep that in mind, little thrall," he said, not using her name. "Now be on your way." She was clearly dismissed, and as Shaji watched her go, he felt a need to work off the small irritation she had left him with. He turned to head towards the sparring grounds, looking to pick a fight. And after? He'd do more training with his own little thrall, if only she was as easy to teach. However, he had always preferred the challenge to an easy win, maybe she wasn't so bad after all.
Kaede's posture eased just a little too as she listened to his words, though not as much as his had. The reaver had entirely relaxed, but she only eased the tension in her muscles, ready to run if she had needed to. She listened to what he had to say and nodded quietly to each point. As he finished, she responded softly, "Yes sir." Would others have really hit her? Was this a lucky day, that she had run into this beast instead of another?
When dismissed she darted to the left of him and trotted away back towards her den. She looked back over her shoulder to see him watching her and she picked up her pace. What should she do? Should she tell anyone what had happened? Was he really right, or had she just run into a grumpy reaver? Did she even want to know the answer to these questions, for fear of the worst case? She had a lot of thinking to do, and she was newly stressed for her new living situation…