Licking the long bone of her latest treat, Chrysanthemum rested with her upper body outside and the remainder of herself inside of the den. The sun signaled high noon, but the temperature had been slow to rise and furthermore the general ambiance was one of placidity. It was an unspectacular day to say the least, but as her new toy was cast aside a peculiar feeling came over the puppy. Tilting her head as she imagined deep into the distance, it was with a hungry flick of the tongue that Chrysanthemum suddenly rose to her feet. The curiosity of her youth had finally found her again...
Woofing once as her tail churned, Chrys damned the temptations that attempted to lure her. It was safe here, and all things considered she wanted to remain that way. Dancing around the space that made up her front yard, the puppy sniffed and bothered at its ornaments. Perhaps if she could hold out only a little while longer Nerian would return and provide her proper escort through the unknown terrain.
| Ragnar had waited for Nerian’s call, yet, it did not come. It was only because he remembered the pitiful, and likely near death state that the girl had been in when Ragnar had came across her close but outside of Stavanger Bay’s borders that the scarred Scandinavian had resisted from storming the Priestess’ den in what would have been a déjà vu to how he had captured her. A week had passed and still no summons. There were only two possibilities in which Ragnar could conjure: either the girl was better and Nerian was trying to keep him at bay from her because he had not decided on whether she would stay or not, or the girl was still very unwell in which case she would probably not be recovering and prolonging her life would only cause further suffering. He could not be sure which was the answer but did not give thought nor could he see any other viable possibility. It was with this knowledge in his mind that he set off towards the Priestess’ den determined to find out what was going on so he could make a decision and get on with his life.
Ragnar could not let an ill girl stay in the pack whom showed no signs of recovery. She would only burn through Thistle and Nerian’s stores and through their food if she was of any ability to eat. It was a hard choice to make, if it were to come to that, but Ragnar was the Jarl and it was his job to make the hard choices. That was what separated Ragnar from his moral and righteous brethren. He could do what few others felt comfortable with and think nothing of it. He could and would make the hard decisions that might few others were willing to make.
Ragnar’s approach slowed as he neared Nerian’s den, dissecting the scents of the Priestess, though hers was less prominent than the girls which meant that for whatever reason Nerian was away. Ears splayed to lay atop his skull at half mast for a brief moment before they pushed forward, alert, black, leathery nostrils flared as he shrugged through the brambles of bushes, branches and tree trunks. Eyes of Caribbean ice saw the girl soon enough, part of her body hanging out the mouth of the den and the other half hidden in the shadow of it. A bone was held betwixt her paws and the girl was contented to lick it. Silently, the Viking observed her for a few moments in the shadows of the high noon sun, though his platinum silver fur did little in the effort of hiding him despite that he had no intentions of hiding. "You seem better," Ragnar broke his silence, heavily accented but soft voice carrying towards her where he lingered, not moving closer but having no sign of retreating. This meeting would happen. Here and Now. Even better without the interference of Nerian. The girl was her own individual, she did not need others to speak for her and Ragnar, feeling this way, would accept no one’s word but her own. |
So content was she, that it slipped her mind that others could and inevitably would intrude upon their space eventually. Thus, it came as a total surprise when the next wolf to emerge was one other than the medicine woman. Taking a few steps back as her attitude cooled, Chrysanthemum looked at her paws as silence came between them. She and Nerian had discussed Ragnar previously, so she was at least aware of him, but that didn't change her feelings towards being caught off guard.
[size=large]"Yes sir much...,"[/size] swaying her tail behind her very slowly, Chrys suddenly thought to compliment the wolf responsible for her health. [size=large]"Nerian has been treating me very well, and she's brilliant at what she does."[/size] Lifting her head then, the puppy thought it better to get the ogling out of the way now. Surely, Ragnar was most curious to see what had become of her eye. Well there wasn't exactly much to it, just a semi large area of irritation that would eventually become a snarling mass of knotted pink flesh. For now though it was mostly covered by sap and herbs -for which Chrys was grateful. [size=large]"...She says it will heal fine. That I'll learn to live without it..."[/size]
| Ragnar watched as the girl took a few steps back, obviously startled by his appearance, and though her startling only lasted but the stretch of a few seconds it reminded him of when he had first came across her and how she had whimpered a name at him in fear. He could not remember the name, strange sounding and as foreign as it had been to the Scandinavian but he remembered the fear she had displayed despite being half conscious and likely, half alive. Ears cupped forth as she spoke, answering his inquiry stating that she felt much better. As Ragnar’s gaze swept over what he could see of her the scarred Northman was inclined to believe her. She looked healthier and was lucid. Ragnar’s silence stretched though his attention did not waver from her as she went on to compliment Nerian. Ragnar did not tell her that his wife, Thistle, would have done a good job as well at healing the girl because it was unnecessary. Nerian had came to the scene that day, not Thistle, Nerian had argued with him, infuriatingly enough, not Thistle. And while that alone should have probably gotten Nerian demoted down a rank the fact that she had and was nursing this girl back to health, demonstrating her skills as a healer was more than enough to offset it.
It was hard for Ragnar to take Nerian’s arguing with him personal given that he had flat out rejected her not once but twice and once in the apex of her heat season which had been about the hardest thing he had ever had to do in his life. Even now, the fading scent of her heat season taunted him where it clung and lingered over the rocks her fur and skin had touched.
"Nerian is a good woman," He had once called her a good Christian but hadn’t thought of her as such in quite some time. He only continued to call her his ‘Priestess’ as an endearment. She had been a Priestess when he had found her and it was hard to break himself out of the habit of calling her it. "I did not have any doubts that she would take good care of you." Ragnar admitted honestly to the girl. He had doubted that Nerian would be able to heal the girl to this magnitude because she had been bad at the borders but Ragnar was pleasantly surprised to find that he had been wrong. His brow furrowing for a second before the velveteen fur between his muzzle smoothed into something more stoic. More …manageable. "You will and it will not be bad," Ragnar told her confidently reinforcing what Nerian had told her just in case the girl had any doubts. "The King of my Gods, Odinn has only one eye and he is better for it." Of course Ragnar hadn’t told her the whole story…of how Odinn sacrificed it to Yggdrasil and hung himself from one of it’s branches to acquire knowledge. It wasn’t necessary to tell her, he felt and he had been trying to reassure her that it would not slow her down any if she had ever worried about such a thing. "What is your name?" He inquired, wanting something to call her, and offered as an incentive, "I am Ragnar the Jarl or Alpha of this Bay." He much preferred being called Jarl over Alpha but that was his own preference. "There are some things we need to talk about," He told her softly drawing a breath during his pause before letting it out slowly. "Now that you are better I need to know if you’d like to stay in Stavanger Bay, and if you do I need to know what skills you can offer us. I expect all of my wolves, young or old, to contribute whatever they can. And I expect fealty and allegiance to me and to the pack out of every wolf who seeks a home here." Ragnar would do anything for his wolves and sometimes his mood suffered for it when he did not get enough sleep but still they were the lifeblood of his pack and he owed it to them to give them everything he had. He thought it was fair that he ask they contribute to the well being of the pack in return. |
Although bothered by the limited potential of her appearance in healing, Chrys was definitely dedicated to her cause. So she would stay, and with any hope -flourish. Turning her head to the side so that she might look at her Jarl more successfully, Chrys focused on his strong chin while delivering her answer. [size=large]"I would like to remain here... Jarl Ragnar -in Stavanger Bay,"[/size] it would take some time for Chrysanthemum to acclimate to the local lingo. After a minute pause though, she figured in an important small detail to her contract, [size=large]"-with Nerian as my permanent custodian... if that's ok."[/size] It was disheartening to say so considering what it suggested about her likelihood of ever going home, but there would be time for grief later...
Of course the last thing that she wanted to do in the meantime was reminiscence, but a related question had been posed. [size=large]"In my mom and dad's pack I was training to be a Lifeguard, but if you don't have anything like that i could be apprentice to Nerian until I'm sure of something else."[/size] She could only hope that her words sounded more like an admirably honest promise than the confused admissions of a child.
| Ragnar understood that for some time her injury would hinder her and he did not expect her to go out and become a world class Gamekeeper in the span of a week or anything. She was still healing and besides that obviously needed to become accustomed to operating with only one eye. As his gaze of Caribbean ice swept over her face once more, lingering a few seconds longer on her eye and knowing that the mutilation had been intentional if only because Ragnar was well acquainted with intentional mutilation and that it was unlikely the girl had done that accidentally; he almost felt bad for his own selfishness. To know that he would willingly give his eye and much more to acquire knowledge just as Odinn had. But he couldn’t bring himself to feel the full force of his own selfishness because if he would do it one day it would be his choice, whereas the girl hadn’t, likely, been given any sort of choice.
Pondering over it brought the desire to inquire about the name she had called him, to ask her how it had happened in guise of: would he come looking for her here but realizing that asking her it now, so soon, might be insensitive. Of course, she might never be able to talk about it without horrid memories rising to the forefront of her mind, Ragnar reasoned, but stilled his tongue for the moment.
The velveteen fur between his brow furrowed once more at the girl, whose name he still didn’t know, when she stated her condition. His first instinct was to flat out tell her ‘no’ if only because she was in no place to make any conditions with him. He hesitated, confused as to why she’d want a guardian because, technically, she didn’t need one. At six months of age wolves ceased to need their parents, or any type of guardian because they could, essentially, take care of themselves. "Nerian is a slave, child," In reality, that had nothing to do with anything as far as he could tell; and Ragnar had been meaning to give her, her freedom but had held back from doing so on the premise that she might take it badly. Slaves could still have children and Nerian had known that. But this girl wasn’t her child and unlike Junior wasn’t too young to fend for herself. "Why do you want a guardian? You are old enough not to need one." Ragnar asked her softly, for the moment looking to simply sate his curiosity before he gave any kind of final answer on the subject matter. It seemed ridiculous to him, to bog down Nerian with the further responsibility when the girl was old enough to not need a guardian but if the girl persisted and as long as Nerian didn’t mind and it wouldn’t distract her from her duties then Ragnar supposed he was left with only one option. "If healing is an interest of yours I would also recommend seeking out Thistle, my wife. She is our head Healer," Ragnar wasn’t saying that either woman’s knowledge surpassed the other’s, but if she took an interest in it, he could not see how gleaming knowledge from the both of them wouldn’t be helpful. He had found when it came to training and apprenticing it was good to learn different methods and take as much knowledge from all presented resources as possible, and in that way it would not be limited. "We do not offer anything like a …Lifeguard," As it was he wasn’t too terribly sure what a ‘lifeguard’ was other than taking the two separate components and assuming it meant someone that guarded a life. He doubted that was entirely accurate, however, so simply let his broad and scarred shoulders roll. "But we have other Trades." One of them he found to be utterly useless, beyond the premise of how it insulted him but he tried not to list it if he could get away with it. Nerian pursued it against his protestation of it because she did not believe in his Gods and Ragnar let her because he respected her and her choice to believe in who and what she wanted even if he didn’t agree. |
Chrysanthemum very quickly decided that conversing with Ragnar was... different. Whereas she and Nerian spoke primarily for entertainment value, it was obvious that the Jarl had an agenda. It wasn't necessarily a 'bad' or even off putting thing, it just made Chrys feel older and somewhat more responsible for herself.
Yet for an instant Chrysanthemum forgot herself when the Jarl mentioned Nerian's place within the pack. Poet Vale had had absolutely no use for slavery, so while the puppy was familiar with the word she still found the concept difficult to accept. "To who," she blurted only seconds before her common sense chimed in with the answer. "Oh...," she whispered in spoken confirmation. Withdrawing into herself for a moment of thought, Chrysanthemum felt something personal burn within her. What was the big difference between slavery and what had happened to her? What had she done to deserve it - what had Nerian? "Why," in all honesty Chrys wasn't trying to be contrary in asking, she was just unfortunately curious. Besides there was obviously no inquiring Bughuul as to his motives so the Jarl was the next best thing. However, in that instant her heart grew ten times for herbalist and she privately vowed to stick close to her regardless as to Ragnar's judgment.
"...But I want one. I miss belonging to my parents just as much as I missed belonging to a pack." Discussing her feelings was an unsavory experience, but now Chrys felt the need to defend what she had with Nerian. Suddenly, she couldn't bare to be wretched from the woman -from something/someone else in her life.
It would likely be a long while before Chrysanthemum had the capacity to truly focus on a trade, but since she felt that the topic was of great interest to him she elaborated further anyhow. "Perhaps Gamekeeper... eventually. But in the meantime I could help Nerian to ensure her stores are filled" It was with direct intent that Chrysanthemum neglected to mention his wife. Surely she had a slave of her own to care to her caches -if that individual wasn't already sweet Nerian.
In truth, the fact that Nerian was still his slave was inherently irrelevant anymore. He valued her and always had even when the lines between 'master' and 'Slave' hadn't been blurred as they were now. It wasn't as if Ragnar mistreated her, his rejection of her advances aside; then again she have rejected his early advances shortly after he had brought her back to the Cove. It was sort of like revenge. Sort of, but not really, because if Ragnar knew Thistle would not have had a problem with him entering a polygamy relationship with the two women Ragnar would have. It was a bad thought: the imagery and realization that by now Nerian would have been starting to grow round with his children if he would've broken and taken her offer. He had wanted to...still in some deep place wanted to. Beyond that, Nerian had been given many chances to escape him, but each time had returned to him instead. Whatever she had initially felt of her title as slave Ragnar had began to suspect that she no longer hated it. The girl's curiosity was understood by the Jarl who sought knowledge and to sate his own curiosity with the same ferocity Odinn did. Simply not to the All-Father's extremes, yet.
"Because I had wanted her," Never before had Ragnar been asked with quite so much simplicity as to 'why' he took slaves. Because it had been the way of his people and they were useful; but they weren't speaking of slaves in general, they were speaking only of Nerian. "Because it was the only way to protect her from my brother." He admitted softly, knowing that he probably sounded like he was trying to take what most thought as a 'bad thing' and make it sound heroic. He wasn't because that wasn't Ragnar's style. He was only telling her the truth. Of course, when Odinn had taken him away from the Cove and he had left Nerian behind Ragnar had never imagined that Váli would harm Nerian, or that his absence would forfeit his protection on her. Perhaps that was another excuse as to why he had not freed her yet. Ragnar felt that by keeping her his slave he could better keep her safe. No other man could touch her. It was selfish but Ragnar never claimed to be anything less.
Ragnar's scarred ear twitched when she reason that she wanted one and he took a second decision. "If she does not mind then fine. But you're not a small child; You are responsible for yourself." He warned her wanting it to be clear that if she stepped out of line Nerian would not be able to intervene. She was old enough to know better and Ragnar intended on treating her like the juvenile she was. Her actions, and according consequences were hers alone. "When you are well enough to pursue a trade and I will direct you to the wolves you should train under," Each of them had trades they were good at and if it was Gamekeeper she wanted as a first apprenticeship he could easily direct her to either Verrine or Julooke. "Are you going to give me your name or should I keep calling you child?" Ragnar asked in what was likely a random fashion. A trademark coy smirk tugged at the edges of his lips as he awaited her response.
By now most of her tension had decompressed and she shared Ragnar's company in a neutral state. Of course she was still careful to be utterly respectful, but no longer did she regard him with any sense of fear. It was a good thing considering the severity of his next warning too, because otherwise Chrysanthemum might've taken it with a grain of salt. Swinging her ears back reverently as she gave a nod of acknowledgement, the young wolf made a humble promise to restrain herself when it was called for. All the same though, a part of her mind lingered on the deal, would she really be able to honor its terms considering...?
Yet unlike the previous topic, Chrysanthemum knew better than to even approach that one while she was with Ragnar, and thusly shoved it to the back of her brain. That was most certainly a topic best reserved for the darkness of her room.
"I will do my best to earn my place here Ragnar," and it wasn't a lie. Chrysanthemum was forever indebted to Nerian for her survival -and by default the whole of Stavanger Bay. "For starters I will give you my name in return for all of your kindness thus far. It's Chrysanthemum." Bowing her head a bit as she finished, Chrys considered this to be their official greeting as well as her somewhat ceremonious induction into the pack once and for all.
Ragnar gave a lofty shrug of his shoulders, accepting her 'I suppose so' which had not sounded very convincing to his ears. While he ha answered her inquiry with honesty, the truth of the matter remained that he didn't need to explain himself to her and she could think of him however he wanted. Worse case scenario as far as Ragnar could see was she ended up hating him or thinking him as a monster and left. There was no one forcing her to stay. As far as Nerian went Ragnar had never really treated her as a slave but it was the titles they had went with and so it was the titles that had stuck. He intended to free her from the title soon, as soon as he figured out a discreet way to do so and that was all that mattered. Alas, the girl was willing to let the subject drop and Ragnar let it fall between them having no desire to pick it up again.
"Good," Ragnar spoke breaking the silent he had adopted when she made her vow to earn her place within Stavanger Bay and nodded when she have him her name. It was a long name, and one that would, no doubt, cause him to likely mispronounce it. Knowing this, until she have him a shortened version to use in it's stead he would likely stick to calling her 'child' because in hindsight it was a much easier word for him to get out. "If you have any questions Nerian can not answer you can call for me anytime." He didn't care if it as in the middle of the night. He would make the time for his subordinates. "I should he back to my patrols by when Nerian returns would you tell her I would like to speak with her?" Ragnar asked of the girl hesitating at the edge of the clearing Nerian's den was in, waiting for her response before he would dissapearing into the shadow of the trees, his destination the borders.
Standing when Ragnar seemed ready to go, she escorted him to the would be exit door of their modest area. Chuffing a simple farewell, she wagged her tail before squinting at the sun in turning back to her toy and the peaceable activity of waiting for her benevolent maid.