[IC] Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha shrugged. "However we raise it is how it will grow. Maybe we can raise the strongest hunter Tamriel has seen, or the best mage or toughest warrior? Maybe we'll raise the smartest scholar...or maybe we'll be terrible parents and get a lazy kitten who is good at pretty much nothing. It's all on us, really. No pressure, right? She commented.

Once she applied the finishing touches to the details, she stood back a few steps and compared the image to its model. She was of course dissatisfied with her work, but she was never satisfied with something she drew. It looked good for something she made, so now was just the matter of adding color. "Alright, you can stop holding that pose. All I need now is to look at your skin so I can get all the colors right."

"Okay, we can put it next to my bedroll. Hopefully it stays asleep while we make it." Kaleeth answered before walking with Janius back to the village. She did notice that the wamasu hatchling turned some heads as they walked through the village, as it was certainly not a common sight. She worried that she would not be able to keep it for too long in the village, especially once it grew large enough to hurt someone. Nevertheless, once they made it to the common hut, Kaleeth started work on the little creature's bed. She had never made a nest before herself, but she remembered watching her mother make one when she was a young hatchling. Her mother was expecting to lay an egg soon, which would eventually become her egg-brother. Kaleeth tried to recreate the nest from memory; it wasn't perfect, but it was functional.

Standing back to her feet, Kaleeth looked to Janius excitedly. "There we go, let's see how Jumps likes it."

[Muttonhawk]

"Right," Fendros repeated with a grin. Once Ahnasha was done, he let his arms fall against his sides and stood up properly. He walked over behind Ahnasha again, shaking the stiffness from his muscles and looking over the picture again. "You know, you're getting really good at this, Ahna."

Leaps had slept soundly for most of the time, but woke up to look around on a couple of occasions while Kaleeth assembled the nest. It seemed simple to make, but looked comfortable enough. Carefully, Janius knelt down and leaned forward, placing Leap-On-Elves in the middle of the small bed. The wamasu wriggled a little in protest when being held in the air, but settled once it was put down. It sniffed around a bit, before facing Kaleeth and Janius to chirp at them curiously.

"This is where you'll sleep, little one," Janius said to it with a smile, extending his hand to give it a rub under the chin. "Do you like it?" Leaps opened and closed its mouth, then bit lightly on Janius' finger. It didn't really hurt, it was playful more than anything. "Come on now, relax." Janius said, removing his finger from its mouth and stroking it on the back. Deciding to succumb to its sleepiness again, Leaps curled up in the nest and slowly shut its eyes. Janius looked up at Kaleeth and smiled, "I think it'll do just fine."

[EliteCommander]

"Good compared to someone who has never tried before, maybe." Ahnasha retorted as she started to mix her paint together for a decent grey. "Still, I'll concede the point that I have improved. It's not really hard to improve on terrible, though." She paused, then put her arm around Fendros and pulled him close. She leaned her head in close to him for a few moments, but instead of a hug or kiss, she quickly grabbed a sample of her paint and held it close to his skin.

"No, still too dark." She said with a sigh before quickly letting him go and returning to the paint.

Kaleeth had always wondered what it would be like to have a pet, some sort of companion she could take care of, and that could take care of her. She had heard of people keeping creatures before, and some of them were even trained to help hunt, but it was hard to come across a creature young enough to be trained that would even be useful to have as a pet, at least in the marsh. The fact that she had managed to find a wamasu egg that was about to hatch was sheer luck. Still, she had to stop herself from getting too excited. In all likelyhood, Jumps wouldn't be with her for too long. Instead, she put her arm around Janius and looked at him with a smile. Even if they parted soon, there was still the hope she could find him later.

[Muttonhawk]

"I'm serious, it's good. You discount yourself too much." Fendros said to Ahnasha, before shuffling forward to be seated next to her. "Even if you don't think so..." he put one arm around her and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, "as long as you're having fun, that's the important part."

Janius checked once more on the wamasu to double check that it was settled, then turned to face Kaleeth, putting both his arms around her and looking into her eyes. He stood silently and became absorbed in her smile, mimicking her expression. "Now, what was that you mentioned before?" He asked rhetorically, before giving her a deep kiss. They would have to find more potions if they really wanted to lay with each other again, but that was no excuse to not mess around for a few moments.

[EliteCommander]

"Agreed. You have to take the moments when you can, I suppose. After we leave this village, I do not expect many more until after the birth. We are going to have to keep up a good pace to make it to Stormhold, and by then, it is going to be pretty close to time. After that, we'll have the cub to take care of, and I can't imagine that will take any less time, so...we should definitely make good use of time like this." Ahnasha responded. She finally got the paint mixed to an acceptable hue, but decided to take a break for a moment. She moved her supplies to the side and took a seat on the rock next to Fendros, letting out a sigh as she relaxed her muscles.

Kaleeth gladly accepted the kiss, but she could not for the life of her figure out what Janius was talking about. She thought back on it, but couldn't really figure out what he was referencing, and she didn't just want to make guesses. She worried about offending him if he thought she didn't pay attention to what they talked about, so she quickly decided to see if she could get him to tell her. With her arms still around his neck, she pulled away from the kiss with a grin. "I...not know, why don't you tell me?" She asked.

[Muttonhawk]

Wondering about something, Fendros ran his hand slowly over Ahnasha's bulging middle. He had done so plenty of times before to check, but this time he felt he might have better luck. He remembered an older member of the Cheydinhal Fighter's Guild mentioning about his wife's child shifting around in the womb under his hand, and he wondered whether he could experience that too. He stilled his hand and waited for several moments. Nothing. Well, if the child had been moving, perhaps Fendros was just unlucky to miss it doing so.

It was then that Fendros decided to try something that he was surprised he hadn't thought of before. With a curious expression, he leaned down and placed the side of his head on Ahnasha's stomach. He started to smile very widely, and laughed so quietly it was almost inaudible. Much like the sound he was listening to. "Its heart. It's beating so fast. I can hear it."

Janius let out a small chuckle. He angled his head forward placed the bridge of his nose against her snout, enjoying the closeness. "I believe it was something to do with laying with me," he said, his tone being sarcastically unsure and believing that Kaleeth was merely teasing, "Still feel like doing that? We would have to find more potions first."

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha wasn't quite sure what Fendros was doing at first, but she let him regardless. He said he could hear their child's hearbeat, upon which she gave a smile. "I...can't bend that far. I will have to take your word on that. Still, I have felt it kicking from time to time; it is a...strange sensation. It is sort of surreal, really, to know that you have something else alive inside of you. In every other situation, that feeling would be beyond frightening, but because it is our child, something that is supposed to be there, every time I feel it move it brightens my mood a bit."

"Why would I need potio...oh.!" Kaleeth began before she suddenly realized what Janius intended. She wasn't really sure how he got the idea that she wanted to mate from what she said, but she was not against the idea. Her gaze went from being confused, to more...suggestive. "Okay, I can do that. I can't take them from my parent's hut this time, but I think I know where I can get them. We will need somewhere quiet. Just...go to the place we usually swim. I can meet you there, then take you someplace quieter. Okay?"

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros kept his hand on Ahnasha's stomach, but lifted his head from it. "So it has been kicking. Hm, I wonder if it will want to say hello right now." Fendros leaned his head on Ahnasha's shoulder and waited silently. Thinking on Ahnasha's words caused Fendros to grin a bit himself, "I hadn't really thought about it that way, but it makes sense that having something alive growing inside you would be strange, come to think of it." He glanced up at her, and took on a dramatic, if joking, tone, "Just imagine if it wasn't meant to be there. That you were actually chosen by the queen of spiders to bear her eggs," his other hand wandered to her side to tickle her, "and soon they will hatch and eat you alive!"

Fendros doubted he would get out of this without some sort of payback, but he was in a good mood, he didn't mind.

The tone of Kaleeth's voice in her realisation made Janius wonder if she had indeed forgotten, or that perhaps she said something that she didn't realise was outwardly forward. Either way, it didn't seem like she was against it. "Okay," Janius replied, placing a kiss on her nose, "I'll be waiting."

With that, they separated, Janius' hand running down Kaleeth's arm as she walked away, holding her gaze for as long as he could. Once she had left, Janius looked down at Leaps-On-Elves in the new basket nest. It was quite peacefully sleeping now. Pointing a finger to it, Janius mumbled, "You behave yourself now," to the oblivious creature, before walking out to the riverside, seating himself down on the shore.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha was not actually very amused by Fendros' joke this time, so she showed little reaction, that is, until he started to tickle her, at which point she exploded in laughter. She struggled against him in vain for a while until she slid off the rock onto her back on the ground. "Ah...stop it..I'll make you...pay for this!" She shouted between fits of laughter.

It was about half an hour before Kaleeth came within view of Janius by the river. She completely avoided her parents and instead searched elsewhere for the right potions. She would have preferred not to speak to anyone, but after looking around for a while, she decided to approach the village's alchemist. The village shared all of its resources with all of its members, so since she had not asked for anything recently, she did not even have to explain why she wanted the potions.

Kaleeth said nothing as she approach and simply smiled as she grabbed Janius' hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come, follow me." She said simply before walking off deeper into the marsh. She kept glancing back at him with a grin, and even made her walk particularly seductive. They did not have to walk long before they reached the spot she was looking for. It was quiet, secluded, and far enough from water not to be too muddy. The very moment she reached it, she pulled the strings on her loincloth, causing it to drop to the ground, then immediately drank the resistance potion. Clearly, she was wasting no time.

[Muttonhawk]

The walk away from the village into Kaleeth's intended spot in the marsh was one with more anticipation this time. Janius followed along unquestioningly, returning her looks when she glanced back. He didn't know exactly where they were going, but they had arrived before Janius knew it. He shared Kaleeth's enthusiasm and took her lightly by the waist, kissing her lips, then moving his lips across to her neck and encouraging her to the ground. His worries about Zharanthixil, Sabine, the pack's welfare in the village, all of it melted away. Hopefully they wouldn't be interrupted this time.

[EliteCommander]

The next few days proceeded surprisingly smoothly for the pack. Sabine's injuries healed quickly, so they set the next attempt at the trial to take place in the morning, two days after the previous one. For the most part, Zharanthixil actually ended up staying in his hut and leaving the group alone, upon the order of the other two leaders. While he likely still hated the pack, he at least seemed to be respecting the authority of the others, unless he was making other plans they did not know about. The only time any of them saw him was when he sought out Kaleeth to speak to her, as she was his daughter. She did not speak much on how they were getting along, since she really did not know. He was worryingly silent about the whole situation with Janius when he spoke to her, and she was too nervous to bring it up to him. Kaleeth spent quite a lot of time with Janius, drawing them even closer than before, and making her dread their separation even more greatly. For now, though, the only difficulty she was having was justifying the potions she was taking.

As the pack awoke in the common hut on the day of Sabine's trial, Meesei took it upon herself to collect Sabine's breakfast for her. She wanted her to be as well-rested as possible for her trial, even if it was going to be much easier than the last attempt. Thoranthilth had already assured her that he has selected a fair opponent himself, and that Zharanthixil would be nowhere nearby during the trial. She sat down by her bedroll, placed the cuts of meat beside her, then started on her own breakfast. The smell of freshly cooked meat would wake her, and probably everyone else, soon.

[Muttonhawk]

As soon as she was allowed, Sabine began to formulate new potions for her next shot at the trial. With the extra time, she was able to be more careful and they turned out as she had intended. She still held the stamina potion from the last time, but she also brewed another of the potions to enhance her weapon skills, successfully this time. Additionally, while the strength potion she had made the first time was useful, strength was something she had in abundance. She modified the mixture of her potion this time to cover a different base; that of speed. Where she could, she also sought more instruction from Lorag. In doing so, they attracted the attention of the same younger Argonian child that talked to him on the day they arrived. Finding a stick for himself, the child joined in the lessons as far as Lorag's patience would allow.

In other moments, Tunxeek sought Sabine out not just for help with enchanting, but also for the company. Sabine was typically quiet with him most of the time, but whether it was socialising with someone closer to her age and personality, or simply the fact that her trials had required her to talk more, she was far more responsive and social than usual. She seemed show her good moods more of the time, to the point where the pack noticed.

In turn, Tunxeek also found a kindred spirit in Sabine. He couldn't remember the last time he had made a friend that was of this plane. He was all too happy to exchange help and conversation with her. He talked about his studies and growing up in the village, about his father and various interesting events. Sabine, on the other hand, only mentioned snippets of things, like what she remembered about the coven, and also mentioning about Ariel in Thorn. Nothing about lycanthropy though. She didn't want to take that risk. In the time that Tunxeek wasn't around Sabine or Thorantilth, he sometimes stole moments to ask around to various hunters, probing about Zharanthixil. He didn't really know what he would accomplish by finding out what had caused the Master-Hunter's sudden behaviour, given that his origins were well known in the village, but Tunxeek was curious nonetheless.

Keeping with the rest of the pack, Janius took each day as it rolled around, waiting for Sabine's trial and ritual. Most of the time he spent with Kaleeth, which made every moment worthwhile. Even if it was just keeping an eye on Leaps with her, Janius enjoyed the feeling of being in love. Unfortunately, he shared her dread about leaving, especially in the few moments where Kaleeth wasn't near, but he knew there wasn't much to do about it. Having Kaleeth in his arms was, ironically, the perfect remedy for such a worry. At least it was for him.

Once the painting of him was coloured, Fendros didn't quite know what to make of it. It was impressive, he had nothing but praise for how far Ahnasha's skill had gone, but he couldn't help but feel a little self conscious at having himself rendered permanently in such a silly pose. If there was to be a next time, he thought, he was just going to let Ahnasha draw him when he was sitting still, like she had tried to do before. None of this pose fluff.

This morning, the pack in its entirety had slept in the common hut. Before Sabine was awoken, Janius stirred in a manner that he was only just getting used to: A wamasu hatchling draped over his head. The first time, he was startled and could have thrown Leaps-On-Elves across the room had he not realised. Now though, it just seemed to be an amusing attempt to elicit the same response. "Okay Leaps, I'm up, I'm up..." Janius said as he lifted the hatching off him and sat up. Leaps chirped hungrily and Janius instantly smelled why.

Sabine's eyes slowly opened halfway to see Meesei and the food she had brought. Today was the day. Sabine sat up and stretched, feeling rested more than the last morning of a trial. She immediately began to feel nervous, just like last time, but the preparation and the prior experience with the trial meant that she wasn't overwhelmed so much. Gratefully, she took a cut of the meat that Meesei had prepared for her and began to eat. After she swallowed the first mouthful, Sabine even decided to speak first, "Thank you, Meesei." Sabine spoke quietly, but sincerely.

[EliteCommander]

"It is no problem, Sabine." Meesei responded to her. She was confident that Sabine would succeed today, but she wanted to make sure she had every advantage she could. Thorantilth had told her some about her new opponent. Since she did have some measure of combat training, the new opponent was also a hunter initiate, but a less experienced one. With the effects of the poison taken into account, it would be a much fairer fight than last time.

"Your potions succeeded this time, didn't they?" Meesei questioned between bites of her breakfast. "From what the Treeminder told me, your new opponent is a boy your age, a new hunter initiate. Thorantilth did have the chance to watch you fight last time, so he was able to judge your fighting skill. I do not believe it will be nearly as one-sided. We have a few hours before it is time, so is there anything else you wish to do to prepare, or do you just want to rest and wait?"

A few of the others woke up around the same time as well. Kaleeth had awoken shortly after Meesei, so she returned with breakfast for herself, Janius, and Leaps. She sat down next to him and gave both of them their breakfast. Of course, Leaps ended up ignoring his food and jumping straight on Janius'. Meanwhile, Ahnasha had a serving about half again as large as anyone else's. She was not even ashamed of how much she was eating anymore, though she did feel a bit guilty about how much of the village's food she was taking. She wished she could go out on a hunt to help replace it, but she knew she was in no shape for that.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine nodded when asked about her potions. As for what she wanted to do before the trial started, she looked to one side in thought. If it were up to her, she would have just liked to get to the trial straight after breakfast. The longer she had to wait only made her anxiety worse in these situations, no matter who her opponent was. Sabine couldn't think of anything to do in the meantime, but she still wanted a distraction. Finally, she shook her head slowly and answered, "I don't know."

"Oh, thank you Kaleeth," Janius was pleasantly surprised to have his breakfast brought to him. He had to take Leaps in both hands before the creature ate his portion, causing him to laugh quietly, but once he held his food safely out of its reach, he was able to thank Kaleeth properly with a small kiss. "How are you this morning?" Janius asked..

[EliteCommander]

"Well, if you had no plans, perhaps we could go to where your trial is being held and wait there. The Treeminder will probably be there to speak to, and likely your friend Tunxeek as well. If we are fortunate, your opponent may be there as well, so you could get a chance to meet him before it is time for the fight. It is possible you might be able to get a sense of what kind of person he is by speaking to him. I doubt it would matter much for the fight, but you never know what will be useful." Meesei suggested as she finished off her breakfast.

Kaleeth returned the kiss even more deeply, then started on her breakfast while watching Leaps. "Well, I am with you, and since you are the sun on my scales, I feel warm. I was going to ask you if you wanted to go on a hunt today, but I think it is going to rain. All the scents and tracks will go away. I am sure we can find other things to do, though." Kaleeth answered.

[Muttonhawk]

Again, Sabine nodded. She liked that idea. Getting a look at her opponent beforehand might help her discern if he was anything like the last opponent, if she should try and beat him quickly, or risk laying traps and taking more time for the poison to set in. It was something that had been on her mind for the last day or so. Reflecting on the last fight helped her to learn a lot.

Janius traced Kaleeth's eyes over at Leaps as well, watching the lizard rip into its breakfast with enthusiasm. They had since worked out how small they needed to cut the meat in order for it to be edible, so Leaps had no trouble gobbling everything up. "I was actually thinking of doing something else. A surprise." Janius replied, glancing at Kaleeth in the corner of his eyes for a moment, "It won't exactly be a hunt, or anything else we've done, but... seeing as our time is running out, I thought I might..." Janius squinted his eyes, trying to find the right wording, "... give you a glimpse into my life. You have shown me yours, after all." Janius smiled, intentionally staying vague, "After breakfast of course."

Not too long after, Sabine had finished her breakfast. She ate carefully, so as to avoid feeling sick, but felt energetic as she walked to the trial area with Meesei.

[EliteCommander]

As Meesei and Sabine arrived at the trail area, they saw a few people gathered. Thorantilth was not present, but his son was, as well as the healer that was resent for the last attempt, even if it was not quite necessary with Meesei being present. Certainly, she appreciated the effort that went into ensuring the safety of the participants. Just as Meesei had hoped, the opponent Sabine would be fighting was also present. He was a bit taller than Sabine, but she by far had more muscle mass, even if it was only due to her lycanthropy. Instead of a club, he had a blunted spear and a training bow. Unlike Wutanxeex, he looked at Sabine with more interest than contempt.

"Greetings, We thought we would wait here for the trial to begin." Meesei said in Jel as they approached. Her opponent nodded in response and continued to look at her curiously. He did not say anything, though that was likely just because he had no knowledge of Cyrodilic.

Kaleeth was very interested in what Janius was saying. She had no idea what he meant, but it sounded exciting. He was being vague on purpose, which only made her want to know more. Unconsciously, she started to eat more quickly to rush him along, as she hoped he would start whatever he was planning after they ate. "Oh, a surprise? What is it? Or, well, you can't tell me if it is a surprise, I guess. But...still, I very excited. Can you tell me anything about it? Will we be going somewhere, into the marsh maybe? Will I need to bring anything? Will I need potions?" She asked, almost forgetting to actually leave him time to answer.

[Muttonhawk]

As soon as he spotted Sabine, Tunxeek smiled and waved in greeting. Glad to see him, Sabine raised her hand as well. The boy Sabine supposed she was set to fight was there as well. For some reason he had a bow, which Sabine found strange. Perhaps he was practicing his archery for hunting before they arrived. When they approached, Sabine's opponent looked over her as curiously as she was looking over him. He nodded, presumably in greeting or in response to something Meesei said. Sabine nodded back. Tunxeek looked at each of their faces, then spoke in Cyrodilic, then Jel, "Good morning Sabine. I can interpret between you if you would like to speak with your opponent." He looked over to the boy, "This is Sabine, she will be fighting you. I can translate if you would like to say anything to her."

The first thing Janius did was put his hand on Kaleeth's arm to slow her eating and to slow her torrent of questions. "You won't want to eat too quickly, I insist." He said through a chuckle, "You'll see soon, it'll be fun. You don't have to bring anything if you don't want to." Janius took another mouthful of breakfast and left Kaleeth in suspense. The rain may or may not be a problem, depending on a few things. "In the meantime, I was wondering, have you talked to anyone about Leaps-On-Elves yet? Are you allowed to keep it?"

[EliteCommander]

Sabine's opponent was not exactly expecting to see her before the fight, so he did not have any questions immediately in his mind when Tunxeek offered to translate between them. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, trying to think if he had anything particularly important to say. "Uhh....hello. My name is Okun-Jei." He finally said to introduce himself.

"I...did not, actually. I was too nervous to ask anyone about it. No one has said anything to me yet though. Maybe it is just because you are here and they are busy. The Treeminder has been working a lot on the trial recently, and Reanaseer does not usually leave her home. She is very old and does not have much energy. Usually, people have to go to her for advice. She only leaves her hut when we move the village to a new place, or something important happens. For my father...I have not spoken to him much. I would rather talk to the Treeminder about it." Kaleeth answered. Despite Janius' suggestions, she could not help but to eat quickly in anticipation of whatever it was he had in store for her.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine glanced at Tunxeek while he translated. It was strange, this boy appeared more nervous than she was. Sabine greeted him back with a "Hello," and maintained her curious stare. Her eyes wandered to the bow in Okun-Jei's hand and she felt the need to ask about it. "Will you use your bow in the fight?" Tunxeek obliged to relay the question in Jel.

"I suppose that is understandable. There has been a lot going on." Janius said, the corner of his mouth rising in a half-smile at Kaleeth's eating pace despite his warning, "I do wonder whether Leaps is a boy or a girl, however. It's been strange referring to it as 'it' this entire time." Janius was almost finished with his breakfast, but there was time for one more question. "On the note of your father, I've noticed he's tried to talk to you some more. Is he still angry?" Janius turned his head to Kaleeth properly with a sympathetic expression.