Did Cassiora ever get into a physical fight with Irkana to protect Besteel -and possibly Redimus too- from her invasive attempts, even defend his honor as well?
Oh, yeah. After the incident with the wild moon berries, Cassiora was pissed. She went looking for Irkana and gave her the beating of a lifetime, in front of the entire Kai'vren tribe. No one intervened—not even Gormak, who figured it was time his spoiled sister finally faced actual consequences for her actions.
When their father arrived from hunting and tried breaking them up, Cassiora struck him in the face, telling him to keep his spoiled brat away from her man.
After Irkana’s betrayal was exposed, Redimus wasn’t only heartbroken; he was utterly devastated to learn the woman he loved had only used him to get close to his brother, seemingly confirming his worst fears: that he wasn’t worthy of being loved. And with Thalyss gone, he felt he had no one to talk to.
With his feelings of worthlessness at a peak, Redimus reached his absolute lowest point and came close to killing himself; he held his mother’s hunting knife to his throat and came really close to slitting it, but Besteel and Cassiora found him just in time. Besteel didn’t judge him, nor did he give him a sermon or a scolding; he simply hugged his little brother, begging him to stay in this life because he (Besteel) needed and loved him.
Besteel and Cassiora (and baby Fayluna still inside her mother’s pouch) moved in with Redimus in Solas for a few months and spent a lot of time with him. They didn’t want to leave him alone in fear he may try to kill himself again.
I've had this one stored for a while now. This one takes place a few weeks after Besteel left the forest with Fayluna, and he's still adapting to this new life.
Ps. Can't wait for season 3!! But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this.
—*—
Solas was bigger and more crowded than Tergaron. He could deal with the crowds of non-Dorceans steering clear of his way and talking behind his back—but the noise! Damn it, how does Redimus put up with it?
Something landed on his tail. Besteel smirked playfully and looked down, finding Fayluna ‘wrestling’ with it and trying to nibble it. She was growing at a steady pace for a soon-to-be three-year-old.
“Be careful with your teeth, love.”
With the distraction, Besteel paused his culling of the latest diredeer carcass and glanced at the tree line on the other side of Lake Concors. He reminisced about the smell and sounds of nature, so different from the constant buzzing of ships… As unbelievable as it sounds, he even missed Father.
Fayluna cried out in pain. She was rubbing her head with quiet whimpers when he looked at her. Besteel sighed and went to pick her up.
“You should be more careful, Fay. You might end up running into worse things than a wall.” He chided gently.
“Dada!” said Fayluna, reaching out to his snout.
Besteel chuckled and tenderly nuzzled her head. Fayluna purred contentedly, tail wagging. That’s his little girl.
He was about to go back to work when he felt a familiar, disgusting scent. Besteel warily sniffed the air, hoping to be wrong, but he wasn’t.
His hackles bristled, his muscles tensing as soon as he saw the creamy-furred Dorcean with lavender eyes approaching. Granted, her creamy fur had lost its characteristic shine, making it look an ugly pale yellow, and on the left side of her chest was the Poacher’s Mark permanently seared into her flesh, branded by her own father. From entitled golden daughter to reviled poacher. How the mighty have fallen indeed.
The newcomer smiled. “Hi, Besteel. How nice to see you!”
“Dada!”
Fayluna, innocently unaware of the sudden tension, pulled on her father’s chest fur to get him to play again, until the low growl that escaped his throat made her realize something was wrong, and she curled up in his hands.
“What are you doing here, Irkana?” growled Besteel.
“I just wanted to see if the rumors were true. I couldn’t believe Vipanther’s Bane had quit hunting and left the forest.” Uttered Irkana, feigning disappointment, but he didn’t miss the mocking edge in her voice. “But here you are.”
Besteel narrowed his eyes. “What I do is none of your business.”
“I also wanted to offer you my… condolences. It must have been hard to lose Cassiora that way…”
If looks could kill, Irkana would have dropped dead under Besteel’s seething glare. “Don’t you dare speak her name.”
“What’s the matter? Cassiora was my sister.”
“Who needs enemies with sisters like you?”
Fayluna briefly uncurled to take a peek, only to squeak in fright and snuggle into her father’s chest when Irkana looked at her.
“Is that my niece?” crooned Irkana. “She certainly is Cassiora’s spitting image!”
“My daughter is nothing of yours.” growled Besteel, hiding his frightened cub from view with his hand.
Thump!
They turned to the doorway. Redimus stood there, a heavy-looking sack at his feet, staring at Irkana in shock, his long hackles bristling. Besteel tensed up, eyes darting between his brother and his sister-in-law.
Irkana casually waved her fingers. “Hi, Reddie!”
Besteel growled. The nerve of this woman!
Redimus clenched his four fists, his expression going dark, but he didn’t lash out. “…What are you doing here?” he asked in a whisper.
“Redimus, could you take Fayluna inside for me?” Besteel said hurriedly.
“…Are you going to maul her to death? I wouldn’t want to miss it.”
“It’s a tempting idea, but not this time.”
Redimus didn’t dignify Irkana with any more attention, instead focusing on his niece. Fayluna growled and hissed in protest as Besteel handed her over, going as far as to try clinging to his claws.
“Dada!”
“It’s okay, my little beastie. I’ll be inside soon.”
“Aww, she’s got your eyes!” Irkana pointed out as Redimus took Fayluna inside the house.
Besteel’s attention snapped back to his sister-in-law, his gaze cold. “What do you want, Irkana?”
“I wanted to offer you my condolences… and my support.”
“Out of the kindness of your hearts? Yeah, right.”
“Why not? It must be hard raising a cub by yourself. You even had to give up hunting.” Irkana stepped closer. “And what about my niece? Don’t you think she’ll need a mother?”
Besteel stepped back, eyes narrowed. “Fayluna already has a mother.”
Irkana smirked. “I just wanted to meet her, Besty.”
Anger and pain flashed in Besteel’s eyes as he clenched his fists. Only Cassiora can call him that.
“I bet your bed has been sooo cold without her.” Purred Irkana, taking a few tentative steps closer and running a lower hand down Besteel’s chest. “I can make you feel things shenever did–”
Besteel grabbed Irkana’s wrists before she could touch his face.
“Get your filthy hands off me.” He hissed, pushing her away with utter disgust. “I’d rather have Broken Tooth in my bed than you. Save your pathetic flirting for someone desperate.” Besteel glanced at the Poacher’s Mark in Irkana’s chest. “Though even the most desperate males wouldn’t spare a poacher like you a glance.”
Satisfied, he turned and walked toward the house with the faintest twinge of satisfaction at Irkana’s stunned face.
“I could give you a whole living litter, unlike my useless sister–!”
In later years, Besteel would look back at this moment and feel ashamed for letting the woman get on his nerves and stooping down to her level. At that moment, however, he got carried away by the knee-jerk reaction that followed.
Besteel attacked Irkana.
How dare she disrespect Cassiora’s memory? How dare she rub their stillborn cubs in his face?
Redimus, having heard Irkana’s screams and Besteel’s roars, practically struggled to pull his brother away, having to use his four arms to restrain him. Irkana crawled away with claw and teeth marks all over, her creamy gold fur stained with her violet blood. Despite the stinging pain in her wounds, she tried to put as much distance between herself and Besteel as he fought against Redimus’ grip.
“LET GO OF ME!” roared Besteel, clawing in Irkana’s direction.
“Besteel, stop! She’s not worth it!”
“Dada!”
Fayluna’s little voice cut through Besteel’s feral fury. The cub was stumbling through the grass on all six, eventually reaching him to hug his leg, her little tail wagging.
Forgetting all about Irkana, Besteel knelt to pick Fayluna up while Redimus glared at the cream-furred Dorcean.
“Leave. Now.”
“Why?”
“For starters, this is my lawn, and you’re not welcome here. Go back to whatever hole you came out of before he finishes what he started.” Said Redimus.
Irkana’s eyes widened. “Y-You wouldn’t let him…!”
“Don’t mistake my decency for mercy, Irkana.” Redimus pointed a claw away from the house. “Leave. Now.”
Irkana’s fur bristled in fright when Besteel shot her another glare, realizing the berserk fury was still there. Slowly, she rose to her feet, trembling. Why can’t Besteel look at me the same way as her? The same way he saw Cassiora?
“F-Fine!” She murmured, somehow running away on all six despite her wounds.
Redimus exhaled. “What was it you said? ‘It’s a tempting idea, but no’?”
“I wasn’t planning to, but…” Besteel sighed. “When she brought up my stillborn cubs… I couldn’t help myself.”
“That was a low blow, even for Irkana. It seems that being banished has taught her nothing.… I’m surprised you didn’t snap her neck.”
“Oh, believe me, I was tempted. But like you said, she wasn’t worth it. And…” Besteel cradled his daughter against his chest. “I don’t want Fayluna to see me like that ever again.”
His gaze softened as his baby girl began nibbling on his claws with playful growls and croons.
One of the many plants Dorceans brought over from their homeworld is a bush whose ripe berries, colored a strong magenta-lavender, have potent aphrodisiac effects. They call it Wild Moon Fruit. In strong doses, it can make primal instinct overcome rational thoughts for over twelve hours. The Brih’nar tribe keeps these bushes under particular zeal.
Irkana once stole some berries and tried using them on Besteel, wanting to get pregnant by him, but it backfired because she wasn’t the woman he desired. Instead, Besteel dumped her and went back home to Cassiora, who could tell something was wrong when her mate suddenly tried to have sex with her. Thankfully, Fayluna’s startled cries inside her pouch made Besteel somewhat snap out of the frenzy, long enough for Cassiora to fetch the healer.
Besteel had to submerge his body in cold water until the effects wore off.
Her fur is light cream with a gold hue, and her eyes are lavender. She’s beautiful by Dorcean standards. However, despite having many suitors, her eyes were set on ‘the greatest hunter in Orbona.’
She’s a master manipulator. So far, Cassiora, Besteel, and her own mother, Gala, are the few people she’s been unable to fool.
She believes that because her father told her she’s better than all the other females in the tribe, that automatically means she’s the only one worthy of marrying Besteel, the best hunter of their generation.
Due to her father’s influence, she grew up seeing her ’tribeless’ sister as inferior. The idea of Cassiora being favored over her in any way sets her off. She had a breakdown when Besteel outright chose Cassiora over her. She felt sadistic delight to hear four of her sister's cubs were stillborn but was angry that one survived.
She’s not really into hunting. She failed her First Hunt, so she’s not considered a fully-fledged huntress. She only became interested in it again because she thought it’d get her Besteel’s attention.
Rather than hunt her own prey, however, she resorted to stealing the most impressive catches from traps and passing them as her own, a severe violation of the Hunter’s Code. Somehow, she managed to cover her tracks well.
Cassiora was the reason Irkana failed her First Hunt. Irkana wanted to hunt a waterbear, the easiest animal to kill, but Cassiora protected the herd that raised her with claws and teeth. To everyone’s surprise, Cassiora defeated Irkana. This started their bitter feud—though Cassiora didn’t know then that Irkana was her sister.
Despite not being an adept huntress, she does know the basics of making traps and tanning. With her spoiled and lazy attitude, however, she’d rather have other people do it.
Irkana’s the youngest of her littermates, with Cassiora as the oldest and their brother Gormak as the middle child.
She was so used to getting everything she wanted that she was genuinely surprised when her father didn’t immediately acquiesce to her demand to have her betrothed to Besteel, as he’d already picked Cassiora as his mate.
She started a relationship with Redimus, who had a crush on her for a while. She hoped to be close to Besteel and win his affection, but it didn’t end well.
After failing to steal her sister’s mate, her reputation was already in shambles, but the final nail in the coffin came when her theft of other hunters’ catches came to light. Even her indulging father was pissed at her for dishonoring their family in such a way.
Irkana was banished from her tribe, and once word spread, she was not welcome among the other forest tribes. She’s been barely fending for herself ever since.
She still has not given up in taking Besteel for herself.
The chieftain is in charge of the tribe, though they may rule along with their spouse. Their duties involve organizing hunting parties, managing the tribe’s resources, and managing relations with other tribes and non-Dorcean peoples.
Allied tribes often engage in arranged marriages between the chieftains’ children to better relations.
A chieftain may be female or male.
If someone is banished from a tribe for breaking the Hunter’s Code, the rest of the tribes will shut their doors to the banished.
The term “tribeless” refers to Dorceans who live in the wilderness by themselves, either by their own choice or otherwise. Cassiora was considered tribeless before her marriage to Besteel, automatically making her a member of his tribe. Irkana would become a tribeless following her banishment.
A chieftain chooses their successor based on skill and merit, not blood relations. Their children may be passed over as successors if the chieftain feels they’re not apt for the position.
The chieftain’s successor must not only demonstrate immense skill in combat and hunting but also the character to make hard decisions for the good of the tribe. Besteel met these criteria, as not only was he willing to give up hunting and start over for the sake of Fayluna, but he did questionable things to secure her and Redimus’s release without breaking the Hunter’s Code.
Depending on the tribe, the chieftain must die physically or symbolically for their chosen successor to take their place.
Should the chieftain die without choosing a successor, the tribe’s elders discuss potential candidates and vote.
It’s possible to challenge the chieftain to usurp the position—the challenge can be refused, but the chieftain risks losing the tribe’s respect. The fight lasts until one of the contenders cannot go on. Whoever loses the match must leave the tribe.
Dorcean littermates have unbreakable bonds, regardless of their relationship to one another.
Besteel and Redimus are prime examples of this. They argue frequently; they don’t see eye to eye most of the time, and they will pick on one another occasionally, but in the end, they’d kill and die for each other.
The reason Besteel never accepted Irkana wasn’t only because of her entitled, spoiled-rotten personality; it was also because Redimus had a crush on her. Even if he and Cassiora didn't become mates, Besteel still would have never spared Irkana a glance because he cares about his little brother's feelings.
