Today was a day that Mýlaugr would never forget. He was asked by a captain to join a raiding band. Eventually he knew someone would ask him, but he did not realize just how good it would make him feel. It wasn’t that long ago when he was going up to every captain he met and tried to prove his worth. Now he had a place to belong. The first thing he was going to do was brag to one of his litter mates.
Mýlaugr was the smallest of the cubs from Mikayla’s litter, a fact that he was often teased about. His whole family was made up of giant lions, but his size made him stand out, that and his loud personality.
As he walked to his mother’s den he spotted the sibling he was most looking forward to bragging to. Merĸúnguaĸ. She was one of three winged siblings. Unlike him she was graceful, elegant and quick thinking. He enjoyed dueling her, ever since they were cubs, but so far she had beaten him more then lost. Today though would be a victory for him. He had a captain and would be going raiding soon and she would be stuck with their mother doing some boring task.
Merĸúnguaĸ was hard at working training. She had spent part of the early parts of the day training with her grandfather Timeus. He had taken a special interest in her and her litter mates. He wanted them all to be strong fighters and to make their family known among the stormborn. When he could he took her and her siblings and personally trained them.
She wasn’t happy with just training with him though. Merĸúnguaĸ took it upon herself not to just be a strong warrior, but to become one of the best and to be the best you cannot just learn from one lion. It is more important to learn from as many as possible. If she wanted to live up to Timeus’ expectation she needed to become stronger.
As she practiced her swipes, dodges and pouncing, she spotted one of her litter mates heading her direction. Her eyes narrowed as he approached. She did not stop her training, hoping he would just leave her be.
“Hey Sis!” Mýlaugr said with an eager grin. He watched her ignore him and continue to train. “If you want to get some serious practice in you should duel me. Though when you lose you will be in a fowl mood. Especially after you hear my good news.”
Merĸúnguaĸ rolled her eyes. “Let me guess you finally were able to hunt by yourself and you actually caught something.” Her brother was always trying to pick a fight with her. She had learned from a young age it was better to ignore him. Sometimes though it was hard to keep comments to herself, especially moments like now. He might have been an okay fighter, but he was never going to be as good as her.
Her comment did not affect Mýlaugr’s mood. He just simply stuck his tongue out at her. Though truthfully he was no hunter, but she did not have to rub it in. “I was asked to go on a raid. It is going to be fun and full of adventure.” He said, making sure to speak loudly in case any of his other litter mates were around. He might not have been the first one to go out on a raid, but he would make sure he took full advantage of the situation.
To his surprise though, Merĸúnguaĸ did not react how he thought she would. Certainly she would, at the very least, give him a nasty look. He was even prepared to get hit by her paw. But all she did was stop her training long enough to raise her eye brow and smirk at him.
“What’s so funny?” He demanded.
“When were you asked?” She asked.
He frowned at her question. This was not how he wanted this conversation to go. At this rate he would have to resort to action and start the fight. “I was asked me this morning.”
Merĸúnguaĸ nodded her head then resumed training. It was probably Kjall who asked him, she thought, as she did a posed strike against the air. He had asked her a couple days ago if she would like to join and she happily agreed. She should have known that Kjall would consider asking one of her siblings to join his band. Though it was a surprise that it was Mýlaugr. Her brother’s short temper and even shorter attention span made her think he was an ill fit for Kjall’s group. “If Kjall was the one who asked you, then it seems that you and I will be going on a raid together.”
Mýlaugr eyes widened. That cannot be right, he thought. He was supposed to be the special one who got the attention of Captain Kjall. His sister was supposed to sulk alone wishing she was out raiding and adventuring like him.
He stepped in front of her, inches away from her face. With all his might, he tried to look intimidating at her, which only brought a smile to her face. “You are lying to me. There is no way Kjall would accept you. You must have heard that he asked me and decided to make up the lie!”
Merĸúnguaĸ cocked her head to the side and looked down at her brother. “I do not need to lie to make myself feel better. I have the talent and skills to prove that I am better. If you do not believe me then go ask Kjall himself.” She said, her voice filled with annoyance. “Before we go on the raid, I suggest that you get participate in a couple more duels. We are going with experienced Vikings and I rather not have you embarrass our family while we are out there.”
He stepped back from his sister, feeling the pain of defeat. She did not even have to lay a claw on him in order to make him feel bad. “Well maybe I do not need to improve my skills. You are the one out here practicing alone. If anyone is going to embarrass the family it is going to be you.” He retorted, feeling more and more like a cub. “I will prove I am stronger then you. Tomorrow you and I are going to duel. AND the loser has to stay home while the winner goes raiding.”
Merĸúnguaĸ stopped training again, giving Mýlaugr her full, undivided attention. “Interest... That is something I can get behind. You have a deal. We can duel when the sun is at its highest.” It would be a good chance to show everyone, especially Kjall how well she could fight.
“See you then. And you better not wuss out!” He said, before turning away. She ignored him and went back to training.
WC: 1,158