The tears ran down Fendros' smiling face so fast that he only now thought to wipe them off with his forearm. That was when he remembered to put away his weapon. The entire situation had him feeling clumsy. Not a desired impression he wished to give as the new champion. But Meesei remained a friend and packmate. He gave up and sat down mext to her, holding up his knees with his elbows.

"I won't pretend it'll be any easier," Fendros responded. "I won't let you shirk the credit you are due, however. You saved us. You saved all our lives. Over and again." He looked at the grass in front of him. "And those you saved, I'll be relying on their help. We shall do our best."

Fendros glanced out of the corner of his eye. "How much do you know about what happened after you...well, after you cast your final spell in the battle?"

“Hmm, I think it is a bit generous to call what I did a ‘spell’. No mortal could possibly control that amount of power. The best I could do was to give it a bit of shape as I released it. I know that the magic I released from that staff would destroy any living thing in its path. I imagine it did just that.” Meesei answered.

Meesei turned her head to face Fendros. “I know that Clavicus Vile was defeated by the hands of the Godhunter, Fendros Avarul. I know that my pack…your pack still lives. Between those two alone, I know I will be able to rest easy as I await the day you join me again. Do not worry, though, I can wait. I can just imagine the smiles on Rhazii and Julan’s faces when they saw you all return safely. I have to wonder what your plans are, now that it is over? Not for the clans, not as the Champion, but for you and your family.”

"Oh, Rhazii and Julan had smiles once the tears of relief had abated," Fendros recalled. "I can understand, though before then I had not put in my mind that they were scared for the worst."

He exhaled and cast his eyes down.

"But the future...yes, well, Ahna and I had spoken hopefully of it during the war. Now we shall see how much of it comes true." He smiled. "We will be seeing firstly to Rhazii's future. We'll keep teaching him, though he will need a tutor. Not just because of General Ri'vashi's sacrifice. The opportunities for a warrior in the next decade...I would rather not those be the only opportunities my son has."

He clasped his hands together.

"As for Ahna and I. We have many years together now. I do not intend to waste them." He looked at Meesei. "I will be busy, but we shall have more time together to spend peacefully. I want to build a home with Ahnasha. I want to experience passions with her, the activities that fascinate us. I want to hunt with her and travel with her and...all we can." He chuckled. "And perhaps open a hunting supply store in Skyrim to throw off her wonderful family, we'll see. I hope my family can get closer to her and Rhazii as well."

Finally, Fendros looked up into the canopy.

"The rest of the pack remains my family too. Even Sabine, after her independence. They are my best friends. If we can live a life we can be proud of, if we can provide for our children, I would call that a good future."

Meesei laughed for a few seconds. “Oh, I will have to watch you as close as I can to see how that plan goes. I can only imagine Ahnasha settling down in some small town in Skyrim. If only I had someone to wager with on how long that would last. I think we both know that Ahnasha is not the type to be content with…routines for too long. War or not, you are still going to have your hands full trying to keep up with her, I think. Good luck. I hope you are able to fill all that time with some worthy adventures.”

As her thoughts shifted to the others, there was a bit of silence from Meesei. She had been handling such a bittersweet conversation quite well so far, but at this point she had to reach up to wipe a tear from her eye. “If there is one thing I can still be really, truly happy for, though, it is that Sabine will have all the time she needs now. She already lost so much of it to the war, but she can be done with it now. It’s all I ever wanted for her. My little girl…in every way that matters. She is the only legacy I ever needed in this world. Even if no one else ever speaks my name again, that she has lived to make the life she deserves is all I need to be a restful soul.”

Fendros laughed too at the thought of Ahnasha setting roots. He conceded the point with a tilt of his head.

The turn to Sabine made Fendros smile somberly. "It's still somehow hard to think of her as anything but the quiet little alchemist following along our tracks. But, I can say she's already an amazing woman, thanks in no small part to your love, Meesei. I hope Ahna and I can be as successful a guardian as you were."

He craned his head forward. "I cannot remember if she said as much or if I simply am guessing, but her and Karl may be planning on having a child now that peace is here. That child will grow up hearing stories about you."

“Hmm, perhaps I will still keep an eye on them.” Meesei mused. She stared off into the forest around them, absorbed in thought for a few moments. “Do not worry, you do not need to give any messages to her, or any of the others. I will speak to them myself.”

Eventually, Meesei’s mood became lighter, and she started to smile. “For my future, there is still surprisingly a great deal that is a mystery to me. Granted, I am a…special case. After all my years of service, my accomplishments in the war, I earned a boon from lord Hircine. I could have had many forms of his favor, but with eternity ahead of me, there was one choice that seemed to stand out above the rest. To be…unbound. He will no longer hold on so jealously to my soul. The Hunting Grounds may still be my home, but I can move of my own accord to other worlds, to explore outer planes. And before you ask, no, that does not mean I can return to Mundus on my own. Though they have been weakening, the barriers protecting Mundus are still too strong to cross freely. Especially for someone infused with Daedric essence, like me.”

Fendros blew a breath out through his lips. "I am sure it was a generous boon to receive, though you will forgive my being overwhelmed at the idea of it. There are so many unknowns out there." He smiled. "But, I am sure if anyone can explore the expanse of existence carefully, it would be you. Just don't get eaten by a strange monster out there, will you?"

He cast his eyes down. He falsely started to speak, and then tried again. "I was going to ask if you had any messages, actually. I am glad you will be able to speak to everyone personally."

At a loss, Fendros tilted his head forward and ran his hand back over his hair. "Tomorrow begins a busy day. I am surprised I was able to sleep at all. Don't take this the wrong way, Meesei, but you left me some rather large shoes to fill."

For a moment, Meesei laughed. “Maybe it is true that I ruled during a time of war between gods, but that does not mean you will not grow to greater heights. My fight, my struggle, was to ensure we could survive. Your fight will be to make sure we can thrive. Do not underestimate the importance of that task. Stories of war make better songs for bards to share around a fire, but if you can succeed in your trials, you will do more good for more people than I did.”

Her attitude was very much composed and encouraging for most of what she said, but she did eventually pause, glancing away. This time, it was her who struggled to find the words momentarily. “I can, well…I can speak to most of the others myself, but it is because of your innate connection to Hircine that I can do this. There is one person close to me without that connection. If you could tell Lunise I…” With another pause, she glanced away briefly. “…I am sorry that I could not keep my promise.”

The memory of Lunise when they had returned in victory flashed through Fendros' mind like the end of a melancholy dream. Even without his heart pierced with his own overwhelming sympathies towards her, the way Lunise normally carried herself made her breakdown a shock to Fendros.

He nodded. "Of course." He swallowed down his emotions. "I don't think I need to tell you her current state. We are looking after her as well as we can." He scrunched his eyes shut as an unwelcome thought crossed his mind. "She will not overly resent our being able to meet with you, will she? No...nevermind. You know her better than I."

“I trust in her, just as I trust in you. I know the strength of her spirit. There is no doubt in my mind on how she will persevere.” Meesei answered.

There was another, brief moment of hesitation from Meesei. She knew there was some unpleasantness to what she had to say next, but there would ultimately be no ignoring it. “There is…one other thing I wanted to tell you about. Warn you about, really. I imagine that in the coming months or years, after the effects of the war have started to fade, some of the more devout of Hircine will come to warn you away from the path our people are on now. They will tell you that it defies the purpose that Hircine has for his lycanthropes.”

Meesei sighed. “And they will be right. Lycans represent both halves of Hircine’s sphere: Hunter and hunted. When his power flows through our veins, hunting under the moonlight, there is no predator more fearsome. But the people of Tamriel are powerful in their own right, and when we are hated and feared by them, we must always struggle to survive. But with the deals and alliances we have struck, the notion of living in peace is an actual possibility. It may take decades, but Hircine would not tolerate that forever. To be his hounds, we must be hunted as well as hunter. I do not know what form it will take; he could leave those deals in place and find some other means to test us, but one way or another, lycans will be challenged again. You should be prepared for that day.”

Fendros nodded firmly. "I understand. I had considered that I would tell those unwilling to follow our new agreements to leave the clans and roam independently, as our pack used to." He sighed. "I had not considered the daedric opinion."

For a short moment, Fendros clasped his hands and held his breath as if about to continue, but his thoughts ran dry. "I will meditate on this more. I cannot see myself doing nothing to ready ourselves for a conflict or whatever form this might take. I should like to include you in discussing the situation as it develops."

Meesei lightly shook her head. “I may have earned Hircine’s favor, but his generosity is not limitless. It is through his power, and your connection to him, that I can speak to you now. I won’t be able to do so at will. I don’t think we will be…speaking again, for the foreseeable future.”

After a moment, Meesei brought a hand up to Fendros’ shoulder. “I know you have every reason to worry, but you should know that I do not. I know my people are being left in good hands, and I have no doubts about what you will accomplish. I imagine it will be quite a while before you have to concern yourself with Hircine’s desire to challenge us. You will make us strong; I know you will.”

At that point, Meesei did not hesitate to tightly embrace Fendros in a hug. “I know how long Elves live, my friend, but we will see each other again one day, in some realm or another. You may take your time, though. I can be patient.”

Fendros' eyes drifted ahead. Beyond the creeping grief, the realisation of Meesei's coming departure made Fendros feel a fool for talking in such a detached manner. The hug that followed helped him move on to more important things.

He returned the hug just as tightly. As much as he pressed his lips together and closed his eyes, he couldn't stop himself from starting to cry once more.

"Thank you, Meesei," he said after a slow breath. "Thank you for everything you were to me and the pack. Pass my regards to Ri'vashi, and tell Do'rhajul Sabine was right about him. And...if this is to be goodbye...good hunting."

There were a good few seconds of silence from Meesei, though in their hug, Fendros could not see her expression. “I will do that.” She finally replied. She pulled back away from him somewhat, keeping her hands on his shoulders. “Don’t spend too much time worrying about us, though. I can tell you that I for one will be looking forward to seeing what kind of story you write for yourself. I won’t tell you not to mourn, but I do want you all looking ahead more than you are looking behind. You are Champion now, so everything I had in life is now yours to do with as you please. No need to be sentimental about any of it. Well, actually, the books in my study I would like to go to Sabine. I think she would find some of them useful. Except for one…there is just one in there that I would like you to have. I think you’ll know which one it is.”

Fendros would be able to feel her grip tighten just slightly on his shoulders. For just a moment, there was a part of her that struggled to let go. As her body relaxed, though, she began to smile. “Good hunting, my friend.”

---

It was still the middle of the night when Fendros awoke. The room was only dimly lit by the covered artificial lights of the Dwarven ruin, but a lycan’s eyes could still see easily in the dark. There had been no noise, nor anything else that might have disturbed them, yet as he would be able to see from a quick glance around, both he and Ahnasha had both awoken in the same moment.

Fendros awoke with the same tightness in his chest and eyes that he had saying goodbye. He sat up and wiped his eyes, realising he had been weeping in his sleep. When his eyes found Ahnasha, he swallowed, tried and failed to bury his grief, and then embraced her.

A time passed. He did not track how long it was. He let the fact of Meesei's departure run through and turn his emotions roiling.

When he finally had the temper back to ask, he murmured to Ahnasha. "It was Meesei in my dream. What was yours?"

“Yours too?” Ahnasha answered softly. She kept her arms around him, breathing softly as she slowly lifted her head up from his shoulder to meet his gaze. With the bit of illumination in the room from the Dwarven lighting, her eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. “I guess it’s finally set in for me, then. It’s over…and she’s gone. At least I got to say goodbye.”

Ahnasha looked off to the side, with some noticeable hesitation in her voice. “She…she seemed worried about me. I don’t understand why; maybe she was just being protective, but she kept giving me warnings. Did she do the same for you?” She asked. Others might not have noticed, but Fendros would be able to see that she was holding something back.

"We talked about a number of things," Fendros said. "Warnings were among them, but not particular worry." Fendros turned his head slightly away from Ahnasha, looking at her eyes. "What did she warn you about? You look as if it might be more than just overprotectiveness."

Again, Ahnasha hesitated for a short while in her answer. “I…doubt it’s anything to worry about, really. She warned me against working with Hal-Neesa. It could actually just be overprotectiveness; Meesei has always looked out for us.”

With a sigh, Ahnasha laid her head back on her pillow. “I don’t think Neesa is a threat, though. She’s always kept her word with every deal she’s made with us. That has been a constant. I’ve already learned a lot from her, and I still think there is plenty I could learn. Surely that’s worth the effort?”

Fendros looked ahead, leaning his elbows on his legs. A flush went over him as he pulled back his frustrations over Ahnasha's continued delving into dangerous magic. He levelled his tone carefully, but in doing so partially gave away his overall misgivings: "It's different now. She may have kept her word when Molag Bal himself expressed interest. But now, if she decides to betray us, she may not have to answer to her master."

He turned to look at Ahnasha. He almost pleaded more reasons, but caught himself short. "We can talk about it more, but...Meesei isn't speaking out of nothing." He sighed and ran his hand over his ear. "Besides, there is something I need to check in Meesei's study."

Ahnasha was silent for a short while. It was hard to imagine that just a few words would get through to Ahnasha once she had made up her mind, though she was at least not arguing with him about it. She glanced away for a moment in thought. “Her study? Well, I suppose we are going to need to go through her things. With you taking over as Champion, I there might be some things in there relevant to you. I wonder if she still has any of those books in there she took from Apocrypha?” Her voice trailed off somewhat as the thought came to her mind.

Eventually, Ahnasha laid back on the bed next to Fendros. “Can it wait until morning, though? I’d like to at least try to get a good night’s sleep.”