[PRP] Fire in the soul (Brisingr x Ruzski )

[Princess_Feylin]

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It wasn't that Ruzski didn't know how to be a father. Aarre was still his darling daughter, and he was so very proud of her choice to become a reaver, but she really seemed to be the only one of his cubs with whom he had succeeded in bonding, despite his best efforts with his most recent litter. Of course, things could be a little rocky between him and his youngest cubs' mother, but he and Kazul were in a pretty good place, all things considered. There was no reason why Peril should be mad at him all the time.

Well, except for the fact that Peril was a teenager and that's what teenagers did. Ruzski could certainly remember his constant anger at everything and everyone when he had been a teenager. That was probably the problem, the former warlord decided as he ambled through the pride.

Because he had been thinking about his cubs, he was maybe a little more aware of the youths of the pride than usual, and so a dark cub with markings like a grin of molten stone caught his eye. He watched with suddenly sharpened awareness as the girl went about her business, not making any effort to be surreptitious in his observation of the black-furred cub. He wanted to see what she would do.

AstoriaFallen

Thank you for starting this. I'm sorry it took me so long to get to it. Work got stupid.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Well, he'd been spotted. Since he'd made no attempt to be subtle, Ru supposed he shouldn't be bothered that his regard had been noted. Mostly, he was a little miffed that he didn't appear to have spooked the cub even a little. He had once been very good at unsettling people with just his eyes. But it had been some time since he'd had to do that, or even felt much inclined toward it.

"I might," he allowed with a grin that was definitely wicked. He did like to tell stories.

Clearly the cub had no idea that she was speaking to a former warlord who had once completed a quest that was supposed to be impossible in order to clear his name of an offense he had not actually committed. He saw no reason to fill her in on all the details of his significance to the pride's recent history. She'd probably been born after he lost his warlordship, and thus had no reason to recognize him.

Ru wondered absently if this cub wanted to grow up to be like Warlord Svana. There was definitely a fearlessness to her that spoke of a proper Stormborn upbringing.

"All old lions like me have brave feats though. Why don't you tell me about some of yours?"

AstoriaFallen

No worries. I dropped off the planet anyway. I'm trying to fix that.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Ru knew the beginnings of a tall tale when he heard one. He could almost remember being a cub and hearing the tales his mother used to tell, which were convoluted and full of mistaken identities and betrayals and magic and wickedness. The Stormborn told such tales, too. It was a respected talent in this pride.

"So if you couldn't look at the scale-faced foe without its sharp claws and fangs cutting you with just the look of them, how did you defeat it?" he asked, choosing the story more likely to grant him plausible deniability in case any of the pride's priestesses came up with a complaint about things missing. He assumed "enchantress" translated to "priestess" and he preferred not to get on their bad sides.

There was also the fact that he could probably counter the cub's tale with the actually-true story of how he led a band and made a deal with the god of fish to win a tooth from a sea monster. It had led to him swearing never to eat fish again after that point, which was easier said than done in a pride like the Stormborn, but not a terrible sacrifice. Ru preferred land game anyway.

AstoriaFallen

I've got to turn in for the night, but I'll do my best to keep replying tomorrow.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Ru obediently moved in closer, dropping into a sphinx-like crouch so that his ears and face were about as close to the cub as they could get. He was definitely listening to her story with nearly full attention. Some of his attention he spared for his surroundings because that was just common sense, but that was mostly unconscious awareness rather than actual attention. For all intents and purposes, Ru was riveted on the cub's tale.

"Good strategy," he agreed upon hearing her trick with the dust.

And, in truth, he was not unimpressed by what she had to say for herself. Her strategy for fighting something she couldn't look at was a sound one, none too different from what a good reaver ought to do should they find themselves in a similar scenario, although it seemed unlikely to Ru that most reavers would find themselves facing an opponent they couldn't look at. Couldn't see maybe, but that was something different.

"So how did you defeat it once you'd protected yourself from seeing it?" he prompted.

AstoriaFallen

Since this RP's for purge purposes, we should probably shoot for a quick wrap-up so that I can spend whatever time remains after we finish putting together the required yearly meta. Hurray for breytast vindar.

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Had Ru been human, his reaction to the cub's assertion that they were standing near a ravine would have been raised eyebrows. Lacking that facility, he was restricted to a tail twitch of astonishment. While there were numerous sheer drops to be found around the Stronghold, none of them really qualified as ravines in Ru's opinion. Of course, a cub might have different ideas about what a ravine was. He was actually pretty impressed she'd known the word at all.

"That's a good win," Ru congratulated her. "Your family should be proud to have such a shrewd iron-blooded fighter."

It didn't occur to him to wonder how much of the story was based in truth. He assumed it was entirely fabricated. Had he known about the presence of a komodo dragon in or around the pride, he would have taken care of it in an equally lethal way. A bite from one of those buggers could kill a full-grown lion. They weren't safe to have around the pride where cubs might encounter them.

"I should be going, but tell me your name. When you're older, if you decide you want to go a-viking, come looking for Captain Ruzski. I'll take you on in my band." It was fairly safe to assume the cub wouldn't remember his offer, but if she did, Ru was willing to stand by it. He'd not been properly viking in a long time, it seemed.

AstoriaFallen

Omigosh thank you for powering through this RP with me.