Fashaq narrowed his eyes. The reaver rarely spoke during vikings, let alone questioned his captain, but…

"And you're sure he's okay."

"Yes, yes," the greying captain said with a dismissive wave of the paw. He continued forward, leading the band of reavers through the rocky terrain. "He says he saw the traders up ahead not two days ago. If they end up not being worth the trouble or if he's lying, we just take him as a thrall. Win win, ya?"

The navy reaver turned his head over his shoulder, eyeing the dark grey rogue with more than a hint of suspicion. The stranger was large, even by Stormborn standards, and had impeccably well-kept fur for being a rogue. On top of that, he hadn't even been remotely surprised when the band of reavers came across him. He just kept this unnerving smile on his face, like he was already five steps ahead of them. And he seemed keen on talking to the captain…

"What did you say your name was?" Fashaq asked as he slowed his step and allowed the group to move past him until he was walking side by side with the stranger.

Sigrun had been minding her own business as per usual. Her last outing with this band had been successful enough—they hadn't found the prey herds that they were looking for, but bringing in a thrall was a decent enough achievement. As long as she didn't have to spend more time than she wanted conversing with the more undesirable lions in the little gang, she didn't really care. It got her out of the pride. It got her doing something productive. That's all that really mattered.

The lioness had been walking near the read of the procession, a couple paces behind the stranger, when Fashaq had slowed his gait enough to fall into line nearby. Her ears perked as he spoke. She had known from the last outing that he didn't speak much, certainly not idle chit-chat. She was curious about the captain's insistence on trusting this stranger that claimed he could lead them towards bounty so, naturally, as the other reaver began to question him her ears swiveled towards the conversation.

"I didn't," the burly lion responded, his voice silky and smooth and making Fashaq trust him even less. "But, it's Caligula." The god looked the navy lion up and down. Attractive markings, Caligula thought, and he walk and spoke with a stride of confidence. Promise, but nothing he could take advantage of right now. His voice carried no weight here. Not like…

His dark red eyes flicked forwards, resting on the form of the captain as he led the group with the pointed determination of a lion with a goal. With a prize at the end of the road.

Caligula had considered himself lucky to have stumbled across the band of Stormborn reavers. Their social structure and their propensity for taking created the perfect atmosphere for him to take advantage of. Oh, the possibilities…

"Alright!" The captain ahead called, the stopping of his steps causing a cascade to ripple down until the entire band stood around him. "A good spot to rest for the evening, I think. The rest of the travel can be made tomorrow. No point in catching up and having everyone tired." The lion waved a paw, motioning to some of the lions. "You, find a good place to rest. You," he motioned towards Fasha, Sigrun, and the dark lion that stood between them. "Go see if there's water nearby. I need some time to think."

Caligula gave the two a toothy grin and a sideways look. "Guess we have our own little mission, huh?"

Fashaq snorted and, wordlessly, turned and began to walk away.

---

"So," Caligula started, his voice frustratingly casual as he broke the silence that had settled between them over the last handful of minutes. "This merry little band of yours. Of the Stormborn, correct?" The god made his steps long and relaxed,

Fashaq didn't slow his steps except to pause and sniff at the air. Water. That was his little mission, here. He wasn't going to let this untrustworthy lion rile him up. When he seemed to refuse to speak, Sigrun filled in the gap.

"We are," she started, the first words of conversation that she had had with the stranger. "What is it to you?"

"Oh, it's nothing really," Caligula continued, considering them both. Not huge lions, either of them, but he imagined that they had some experienced fights under their belts. Nothing that Caligula really wanted to bother himself with. Besides, he had bigger fish to fry. There was more fun to be had here than just messing with some underlings that were quite frankly beneath him.

Sigrun scowled. She was not, by any means, a trusting lioness. The reaver didn't appreciate getting lip from her own pridemates, let alone some stranger her captain trusted just for the sake of some hypothetical prize.

"Look," Sigrun started, having changed her trajectory just enough to where she stopped in front of the disguised god. She scowled, her lip curled and her claws digging into the dirt. "I don't know who the hell you think you are or what the captain wants to do with you, but I don't appreciate being <******** with." Ahead of her, Fashaq had stopped and turned a head, watching and listening to the interaction though it seemed as though he would make no move to stop his fellow reaver. Fashaq, it seemed, was equally done dealing with the stranger.

Sigrun continued to sneer, seemingly unaffected by the grey lion's larger frame. "If you keep pulling our tails I'd be happy to end you, I don't give a rat's a** what the Captain wants from you," she spat, "As far as I'm concerned, you're not worth the trouble you're giving." Her glare lingered a few moments before she continued forward, walking past Fashaq and continuing on towards their quest for water. You'd make a s**t thrall, anyway. Useless and lippy."

Fashaq snorted as Sigrun walked by, glad that someone had a shorter rope than he did and had said something before he himself snapped. He watched the lioness walk by before turning his attention back towards the rogue. Caligula simply looked at him, the smallest of coy smiles still bright on the lion's dark face. The reaver didn't trust him, but orders were orders. He had more patience than Sigrun did, but only marginally so. If the captain wanted this untrustworthy stranger alive and with them then so be it. Fashaq would follow along. Until things got dire.

(WC: 1107)