"I suppose there is no harm in asking, but I doubt she knows anything about Khajiit." Ahnasha responded. When she saw Meesei and Ariel head below decks, she looked around at the crew for a moment, then back to Fendros." Come on, we should probably get below decks."
Meesei gave Janius a light grin as she passed him. "Thank you, Janius." She said sincerely. When she saw Lorag in a hammock nearby with alcohol in hand, she looked back to Janius with a chuckle. "Don't worry about the gift. How about this, you take over keeping Lorag in line for the night, and that will cover you for my next three hatching days."
After settling down into their bunks, Meesei gave Ariel the first of what would become a series of lessons on Jel. As they had little else to do on the ship, she also gave her an introduction to Argonian history before they reached the mainland. After selling some of the silver weapons in the small port town and replacing them with purchased supplies, they set off to the south, beginning a long journey across Morrowind. Like Vvardenfell, much of the land to the south just across the channel from the island was volcanic, but once they made it past that region, they reached Morrowind's rolling plains and forests. Since they were in no particular hurry, and they had to stop and hunt frequently, progress was slow, but no one truly seemed to mind. Their leisurely pace kept stress to a minimum, and allowed them to experience the regions they passed through. From meadows and fields, to forests of trees mixed with mushrooms, to the occasional mountain range, much of mainland Morrowind was quite pleasant, and easy to survive in for experienced hunters. They did of course run into dangers, such as highwaymen in one case, but it was nothing the pack could not handle.
Throughout the journey, Meesei honored her promise and gave Ariel lessons in Jel. Surprisingly, Fendros seemed interested as well, and joined in many of the sessions. At first, Meesei simply made her memorize some essential phrases, but then, they moved on to more in-depth learning. It was not an easy task, as there were more differences between Cyrodilic and Jel than she could count.Jel required adopting a style of thought that Ariel was not really accustomed to, as even concepts she viewed as basic were not the same. When Meesei was learning Cyrodilic, one of the most difficult concepts for her to grasp had been how much emphasis Imperials seemed to put on time, and when things happen. In Argonian culture, and by extension their language, the time that something happened was not important. Past, present, and future were all as one to the Hist. For Ariel, trying to 'unlearn' the importance of time proved to be a challenge in learning Jel. Still, she made progress. She wasn't to the point where Meesei would say she could 'speak' the language, but it wasn't a goal that was out of reach.
In addition to language, Meesei also taught Ariel some of Argonian history after many of their sessions. She started in the very beginning, with the mythology of the Hist's beginnings, of how they were the first to live on Nirn after the twelve worlds collided, shattered, and combined to form Nirn. She told the stories of how the Hist formed the Argonians, as well as explaining some of the more salient points of the Dawn Era, such as how the Hist refused to join in the War of Ehlnofey, even as it destroyed their lands, with the only surviving part being modern day Black Marsh. She gave a description of the Argonians' first great civilization that arose after their creation and spanned Black Marsh, the ruins of which still exist, buried in the swamp. She told of their contributions to the All Flags Navy, the largest naval force in history that consisted of ships from every nation in Tamriel, that sailed against the Sload in retribution for the Thrassian Plague. She explained how their first civilization fell due to external pressures, specifically the war against the Second Empire, in which they were incorporated as a province. From there, she moved into the hardships they faced, such as slavery operations from the Dunmer to their north, a practice which continued until the signing of the Ebonheart Pact. After the war between the three alliances, however, the practice resumed and continued, essentially until the Red Year. Moving into more modern history, she explained how Black Marsh fared under the Septim Empire, and how they were able to protect themselves from the Daedra of Oblivion, even when the Empire could not. She described to the best of her ability how the current Argonian civilization came to be under the leadership of the An-Xileel, and how it was attacked early on by the flying city Umbriel that cut a wide and bloody swath across Black Marsh, Morrowind, Skyrim, and eventually Cyrodiil. Once most of the major events were out of the way, she did her best to give details on how Black Marsh had changed since gaining its independence over two hundreds years ago.
For Ahnasha, the months of travel brought on considerable change to her own body, It was not long before her pregnancy was visibly obvious, but she stopped caring about that immediately once the other symptoms set in. In addition to her appetite, which was still quite voracious, she found herself craving the strangest of foods, most of which she could not acquire at the moment she wanted them. Mood swings also became an issue. There were several instances where she snapped at Fendros or the others over something that upset her, only to apologize profusely hours later. The extra weight she was putting on also contributed to aches in her back and joints, which made her particularly glad that Ariel and Sabine were with them. Despite it all, the negative symptoms were not constant, and Ahnasha relaxed and enjoyed herself as best as she could. About the only real work she needed to do anymore was to give Fendros archery training. She could feel that her beast spirit was becoming more restless from the lack of hunting, but one of the advantages of the hormones running through her body was that they affected the beast spirit's mind as well, in much the same way as it would a pregnant wolf. As a result, she did not feel she was in danger of losing control at any given moment.
After about two and a half months, the pack had either crossed into Black Marsh, or were coming very close. The far south of Morrowind was just as much a swamp as the far north of Black Marsh, so it was difficult to tell exactly when they passed the boundary. The weather was hot and humid, leading to some level of discomfort for all except Meesei, but it was nothing that wasn't manageable. Rivers, lakes, and other forms of standing water were now ubiquitous, which made it difficult to walk far without having to wade through at least knee high water. They had sold almost all of the silver weapons by this point, so supplies were no longer much of an issue. Even so, they still had to stop and hunt from time to time. The creatures inhabiting this area were a mix of Morrowind and Black Marsh creatures, the latter of which seemed much more foreign to the rest of the pack. Of particular annoyance were the fleshflies: small insects that fed on whatever exposed flesh they could find. Argonian scales were too tough to penetrate, but for the rest of the group, they could create a patchwork of sores on one's skin if given the time. Fortunately, for once in her life, Meesei knew of an alchemical concoction that Sabine did not: a repellant for the bothersome insects. For obvious reasons, they kept a surplus of ingredients on hand for the repellant.
The pack set up camp on a relatively dry hill surrounded by a river which split in half around it. They were nearing Thorn and would likely arrive within a few days, but for the moment, Meesei was more concentrated on a sight she had not seen in years: a
Hist sapling at the edge of their camp. It was small for a Hist tree, but still a significant sight to her. In the back of her mind, she still wondered exactly how the Hist would respond to her reverence for Hircine. She never lost respect for the Hist; she merely found a being she would rather devote herself to. From her own experience with the Hist, she did not believe they would care about her devotion to the lord of the Hunt, and indeed would help her all the same, as little sense as that would make from a mortal perspective. The mind of the Hist was far beyond what she was capable of understanding. For the moment, she simply stood at the base of the tree, looking up at its leaves and gently touching its trunk.
Ahnasha, on the other hand, was feeling quite uncomfortable at the moment. She was laying on her back, groaning as she looked up at the tree canopy above. Her hands were on her stomach, which extended noticeably beyond what it did months before. Unfortunately, a few of her more annoying symptoms were hitting her at the same time, and the potions she had taken had not yet taken effect. She wasn't vomiting at the moment, but she felt nauseous, and her lower back and legs were aching terribly from a long day's walk. Glancing down at her stomach, she rubbed it for a moment. "You better be worth all of this." She muttered.
