[JRP] Thrall baiting (Truls, Snorre, Joya)

[Annchen]

Some kind of outrage had occured, but Truls could not quite put his paw on what or how. What he was sure about was that he had clearly been wronged and violated, and that it was unfair. After coming back from a reasonably satisfying Viking the rookie had asked "So, what do you generally do after a viking?". It was decided that the band would do something, but then people started excusing themselves and all of a sudden he was stuck with the rookie. And now he had to figure out some kind of entertainment. Great. Truls walked aimlessly for a while, but then figured that they could always find a thrall and order it to dote on them or something. That one for example.

"Hey! You!"


Snorre wasn't stupid, he knew Truls wasn't exactly thrilled about his company. But as long as Truls didn't tell him to buzz off he was content to follow the older reaver around. Who knew, something interesting might happen? So far he hadn't seen much of any after-viking partying, but then most of the participants had left. Suddenly Truls stopped and yelled at a female thrall. Snorre sat down and observed, head slightly tilted.

Princess_Feylin

Snorre kind of followed him... Ha ha

 

[Princess_Feylin]

"Hey! You!"

Joya's brilliantly red eyes narrowed and her ears flattened at the sound of a Viking shouting. Without even looking, she knew that he was shouting at her, even though he had not been specific and it was entirely possible he could have been addressing someone else.

"Shove it up yer arse," she yelled back, refusing to turn around and look at the Viking.

In the seasons she had spent in the pride, Joya had never once responded meekly to a Viking's order. Sometimes her rudeness was met with violence, but she had been surprised to learn that most Vikings were rarely willing to expend more effort than it took to cuff her and snarl at her for her insolence, sometimes adding a pirate-themed epithet if they knew how she had come to the pride.

Annchen

Hi Snorre!

 

[Annchen]

Truls ears tilted back dangerously and he stared at the insolent b***h. Some thralls started appologising after being stared down, but he doubted this one would crack so easily. He almost hoped she'd dare talk back again.

"What did you say?" he asked calmly as he stalked closer. She was messing with the wrong lion today, becaouse Truls had been in a terrible mood for weeks and hadn't found anything satisfying to take it out on.

---

Now, this was more like it. Snorre was amused, but was careful not to let it show too much. He couldn't hide the amusement in his eyes, but he was ready to try to fake a stone faced look if Truls should turn his head. For now the other male was completely focused on the red-pelted thrall. Neither male nor female seemed to have heard the expression that one caught more flies with honey than with vinegar. A very stupid expression come to think about it, since everyone knew that in order to catch real flies you needed s**t or spoiled meat. His tail tip waved back and forth as he anticipated foul things flying very soon.

Princess_Feylin

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Since she was deliberately not looking in his direction, most of the effect of Truls staring was lost on Joya, but she could recognize the sort of pregnant pause that often occurred when she spoke back to a so-called freeborn.

"Pretty sure ye heard me. Unless the s**t in yer skull that yer calling brains has overflowed 'n clogged yer ears," she replied in a lower voice, almost a mutter, but a mutter pitched to carry. A stage mutter, as it were.

"Want me to use shorter words?" she called back, louder.

When she was younger, she hadn't been this foul-mouthed. She'd been able to exert her will over others through right of birth and enforce it through unchecked malevolence, but among the Vikings Joya had been forced to learn other ways of coping and remaining true to her innately imperial nature.

It was a curst pity the wind was blowing the wrong way. It would've been useful to Joya to know some more about the lion she was pissing off, other than the fact he was male. Oh, sure, she could turn around and look at him, but that would be giving in, and Joya never did that without a fight.

Annchen

I love Snorre.

 

[Annchen]

Oh, she wasn't even looking his way. Somehow she managed to make the normally submissive act of not looking directly at another lion into something aggressive. Truls quivered with rage even before her not-quite-whisper. Some might find it 'cute' when thralls talked back, but he wasn't one of them. In his opinion thralls should know their place. His mother didn't get to her current position by talking back to others! No, he couldn't just let this slide, and after her last 'question' he was too furious not to. He didn't answer, at least not with words.

Truls lifted aimed a powerful whack at her hindquarters, claws slightly out. He didn't want to maim her too badly, but he was angry enough not to care if he accidentally injured something. Normally he tried to be careful around other peoples property, but he didn't want to tip her off by starting to ask who owned her. He'd just have to go out and get a replacement if whoever owned this b***h started a fuss about it.

---

Snorre nodded slowly as he watched the exchange, the Thrall made some very good points. He made mental notes since this thrall cursed better than some reavers he knew. Perhaps he could try it out on old Eskil later. However, it didn't look as if Truls was going to let her get away with her colorful language. It wasn't proper to let it slide, but it had been fun if Truls had talked back instead... Oh, well.

His own parents had always treated thralls kindly, but he recognised the need to correct unwanted behaviour. So it wasn't surprising when the older male lashed out.

Princess_Feylin

You decide if/what he hits of course smile

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Here was where it would've been to Joya's benefit to actually look at the lion she was antagonizing, because then she might've seen the blow coming. Unfortunately, her game left her horribly vulnerable, and when the lion's strike landed on her hindquarters, his claws tore into her skin and the force behind the completely provoked attack sent her stumbling around in a semi-circle.

When Joya regained her footing, she scowled up at the larger lion, barely noticing the presence of his companion at first, until the movement of his nod registered in her peripheral vision. At that point she turned her red-eyed glare on him, even though he had not contributed to this encounter in any meaningful way.

"Aren't ye the big scary Viking?" she sneered. "But no matter how many times ye hit me, yer still gonna be better off thinking with yer arse than that useless bit o' sludge ye call a brain."

She was too angry right now to care much that by antagonizing the lions further, she was almost certainly going to get really hurt. She hated this pride. It didn't matter how long she'd been here. She hated it, and she hated every single ******** lion here. A part of her was seriously weighing her chances of actually succeeding in murdering one or both of these lions before they tore her apart.

Annchen

Oh, she totally deserves what she gets here.

 

[Annchen]

There was a certain satisfaction in drawing blood, and Truls allowed himself a small smirk. He was still angry, but the mindless rage had been replaced by a cold fury. The thrall needed to be taught a lesson, but after his initial attack he didn't mind waiting for this situation to unfold. She seemed a bit shaken, but the insults didn't stop. The loss of control on her part made him feel more in control, so he broke eye contact and turned to his companion.

"Filthy little thing," he commented to Snorre, "Sounds almost as bad as she looks.

---

Snorre shook out his mane and slowly padded over to the other two. Most thralls wouldn't have insulted a freeborn lion to his face, and even fewer would start raging against a reaver. Of the tiny fraction of thralls willing to do that, most would back down after being corrected. This one wasn't like most thralls at all. She was picking a fight with not one, but two reavers. One and a half reavers? Well, he would hopefully be known as a reaver as soon as their Captain talked to the lawspeakers about it at least.

He sucked in air through his teeth in a wierd noise that meant 'yes' to some of those born in the pride. Truls would understand the response, and it wasn't really important if the thrall understood or not.

Judging by the feral look on Truls face he was looking forward to some more thrall spanking. Snorre didn't have any strong feelings one way or the other, but he was game if the thrall decided to escalate this. A) He had to back up a fellow reaver, and B) You didn't just let thralls get away with bad behaviour. It wasn't kind in the long run. Better to n** it in the bud, even if this toxic specimen could have done with some nipping at an earlier stage.

Princess_Feylin

 

[Princess_Feylin]

Joya narrowed her eyes suspiciously when her insult was not immediately met with another blow. She was ready to fight, but the tiny part of her brain concerned with self-preservation wasn't going to allow her to simply leap forward and attack one of the reavers unless she was first attacked. She became more suspicious when the one who hadn't said much up until now suddenly made a weird noise through his teeth.

She shifted her weight backward on her haunches slightly, ready to spring into action should it become necessary and watching both reavers. It was thoughtful of the second one to move closer, so that she could more easily survey both of them at once, rather than having to turn her eyes from one to the other. Less chance of being surprised.

"What."

It was a statement, rather than a question. A challenge. What were they going to do about her? She knew she was behaving appallingly, and at this point they could hardly call themselves men, let alone reavers, if they let her behavior go unpunished, but they didn't know her owner either, and it was generally considered bad manners to damage someone else's property, even in this heathen pride. Joya had gotten out of trouble that way before, but she didn't plan to exercise that option right now.

Instead she waited, tail lashing.

Annchen

 

[Annchen]

Truls tail tip moved thoughtfully as he eyed the thrall. After some mental calculations he decided he could afford to pay for damages if it came to that. Her pelt pattern was somewhat unusual, but she was also unusually foul mouthed and he was sure that lowered the worth considerably. Snorre backed him up and the other lion had heard the insults too. Hel, anyone within shouting distance had heard...

"I'll take full responsibility," he said, "Let's do this."

---

Snorre shrugged and followed Truls lead. Their captain was fond of coming up with elaborate ear signals to communicate tactics to band members. Luckily Truls had picked one Snorre remembered so he moved accordingly. They circled her, one clockwise and the other counterclockise. The thrall looked as if she was going to put up a fight, but she didn't have much of a chance. Oh, well. Might be more fun if she tried.

Princess_Feylin

((If you want to we could fade to black when the fight starts, and you decide any damage to Joya. I don't think I'll stop being a slow RPer anytime soon unfortunately. Heh...))

 

[Princess_Feylin]

There was a flash, an instant where Joya saw the determination set in the larger lions' eyes and she panicked, wondering if it was too late to take back what she'd said. The moment passed though, as she realized that it was almost certainly too late, and that she would probably also have to apologize, which she would not do. Not to these viking arses.

It was uncanny, though, the way their movements were synchronized, like they'd been choreographed, and Joya was not pleased to find herself in the center of a reaver circle. Not intimidated. Just not pleased. As soon as one of the bastards passed close enough, she planned to bite his face off. It wasn't as if they could get much uglier, after all. Might even be an improvement. She was about to say as much when she saw her moment.

Joya lunged toward the grey lion, claws splayed and mouth open wide to perform a bit of impromptu facial reconstruction surgery.

Annchen

Fade to black would be fantastic. I'm so bad at RPing fights it's not even funny. I should've made a fluffy bunnies pride instead of a warrior lion pride.

 

[Annchen]

Snorre grinned as the thrall attacked. If they were going to do this it might as well get interesting. It looked as if she aimed to try to do some damage too. He had the advantage of a damage absorbing mane, but she sure was feisty.

Later, if someone asked about the few scars she'd managed to give him, he'd just shrug and answer "You should see the other guy."

Princess_Feylin

And done!