Panting with rage, seething until she boiled over, her claws had found some purchase and she'd managed to draw the smallest amount of blood, her pride soared for a month though she didn't vocalize it, she'd been fighting her siblings her entire life, trying to prove herself. The little girl glared at him, panting as she hung infront of him, she didn't want to be weak, she didn't want to learn her place, she wanted to prove she was more than just a girl.

Astarte had been faithfully teaching her the ways of a woman, minus the adult things, but also training her to be a warrior, and her cousins helped implant the seen that women could be something more. Not just under men. And her friends she made 2hen she snuck out of the Mire, they too seeded that she wasn't just a Rike soldier, she didn't have to die for a family that didn't respect her.

CODE | LINEART | BG

Finally, he batted her away, shoving her from his face until she was within reach of his claws but he was not in reach of hers. "You must learn," he demanded in common. "Fight, bring honor to zee Rike. Do not vhimper and vish for better. Make it better." He growled the last bit; a challenge to the little girl. A Rike woman's fate was not sealed. Had not Sunniva risen from slave to the wife of the Jarl? And Erna had cemented a strong alliance before taking on - and being killed - by the Sigrun Jarl.

"Learn how to fight," he commanded her. "Do not cower. Vee hide only because vee are small. One day vee vill be strong, and there vill be no more hiding. Vee vill fight, vee vill destroy. Und you vill be a part of that."

@Rusalka

code | image | image

Rusalka panted from her outburst, as her father batted her away she hissed but stayed where she was at, she glared up at him, but listened to his words, she would listen to him. She would become stronger and better at what she did, she wouldn't be a whimpering little girl, she would become a strong, battle worn woman.

"" Ich werde ein besserer Vater sein' She addresses him, meeting his gaze, this time she did not sniffle or cower, she held her head up, claws dug into the earth. She was angry, angry for being born a Rike, for her mother not leaving and hiding them away, for not fighting better, for being the only girl, she hated it, but she didn't voice those feelings. She watched @Adalwolf with a fiery gaze, a new raging inferno had been lit inside the young cubs heart.

CODE | LINEART | BG

He glowered down at her, no pride in his eyes but a small hint of approval that she was standing up to him, no longer whimpering. "Verdiene dir deinen Platz," he told her firmly. The women of the Rike had their uses and could rise above their station, but it took work and ferocity that he was not yet convinced that she had.

"You vill stay in zee Mire," he told her, switching back to common again. "If zomeone learned your name you vould die," he warned her, putting emphasis on the final word. "Zat is vhy vee stay in secret here. Vhen you are old enough to fight for yourself you may leaffe. Until zen, you stay here." His word was final, the rules put in place to protect her and keep her alive. She would do well to listen.

@Rusalka

code | image | image

She had no friends in the Mire, she had no want to be here day in and day out, her ears flattened as he gave no room for her to wiggle her way out of, she grumbled and protested softly, "" But father! I haven't spoken my name to anyone! My friends are outside of the the Mire!' She didn't expect her father to understand friends, he was a cruel beast who didn't much care for friends, sometimes she wondered if he even cared for their mother, though Astarte never complained about her husband, so Rusalka didn't quite know.

But she couldn't go weeks, months without seeing @Imber or @Beñat, that would just be quite unfair, but if she could play along and be the dutiful daughter, then maybe @Adalwolf would back off enough that she could sneak back out. She would then have to be extra careful not to alert her father of her missing self.

CODE | LINEART | BG

The girl tested his patience. At her insistence a snarl tore from his jaws and he bared his teeth in anger at her. "Genügend!" he demanded, taking a step closer to @Rusalka. "Vhen you are und adult you can make your own choices," he growled, glaring down at her with his burning orange eyes. "Until zen you do as I say."

He pushed forward, he teeth aimed for the child's scruff, and attempted to lift her in his jaws. He was done with this test of his patience and he would escort her back into the Mire proper where he would keep an eye on her carefully for quite a while. He would not have disobedient daughters running rampant around the countryside, threatening their secrets.

/Exit with Rusalka?

code | image | image

The little girl was not silent about her protesting as her father's patience wore thin, he bared his teeth and she followed suit, meeting his fierce gaze with her fiery one. She was too much like him, and would grow to be much more like him, he aimed for her scruff and she could do very little to fight the clasped teeth off.

His words rang in her ears and she huffed, glaring at the ground below her, she hated the stinky muddy Mire, but it was the only thing distracting her little mind. She hated how he thought she couldn't hold her tongue, like how dare he? She grew up with the same teachings as her brothers. The little lioness would sulk about her forced departure, falling asleep once they nearest the den.

/Exits

CODE | LINEART | BG