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

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros chuckled again through his nose, he was really starting to look forward to a celebration now, even if this life wasn't something he had fully come to terms with yet. They both strode through the woods until they reached a break in the treeline. A short distance from the end of the forest, which they didn't cross, was a wooden fence and a large paddock containing rows and rows of wooden frames, suspending grape vines over regular intervals. "There, one of the Avarul vineyards," Fendros spoke, stopping to try and get his bearings. They proceeded along the edge of the treeline until a small cliff emerged from the edge of the corner of the paddock. Underneath the cliff was a space large enough to crawl in. Fendros checked that the coast was clear, then darted under the cliff, keeping his head low. His arms emerged holding a wooden crate that tonked with the sound of packed bottles, he poked his head out and gestured for Ahnasha to take one of the crates. He then ducked his head under once more and emerged with another crate, and again with a small chest. Before leaving with his haul, Fendros pulled the arrow with his letter rolled around it from his quiver and placed it in the hiding place. It would only take his brother one trip out to deposit extra drinks, which he did roughly once a week, to spot the letter. Without a word, Fendros placed the small chest on the crate and lifted it up to carry behind the treeline again.

Once they were hidden, Fendros put down his loot and spoke, "One moment. This chest... I had completely forgotten that I had put this in here, I can't exactly remember what it-" Fendros carefully lifted the list from the chest and fell silent, "...oh." The chest contained a single bottle of red-brown transparent liquor, which Fendros lifted out to get a better look at. "Now I remember... this is... you know what? You smell this and tell me if you think it would affect Meesei." Fendros removed the cork from the bottle and passed it to Ahnasha. The liquid was a particularly strong alcoholic Cyrodiilic brandy that Fendros had bought off a shady khajiit caravaneer after being dared by said dealer to 'see if he had a real liver'. Indeed, Fendros wouldn't have been surprised if merely smelling the drink would cause Ahnasha to become tipsy. It almost didn't seem like any brandy that Cyrodiil would produce. Fendros had intended to test out his liver with his brother, but it might just be the last piece of the puzzle for tonight's celebration.

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha followed quietly behind Fendros to his hiding place for the alcohol. As he was taking out the crates, Ahnasha kept a sharp lookout for anything or anyone that might approach them. If a stranger spotted them, they might assume them to be thieves (which they kind of were), or if a member of Fendros' family showed up, they might try to persuade him to return to his former home. Neither of those options would be a good thing. She gladly grabbed the crate when Fendros gave it to her, then looked on with interest as he opened the chest. It contained a single bottle of brandy, which the Dunmer seemed to think was particularly strong. Ahnasha was doubtful at first, but when she caught a whiff of its contents, she immediately recoiled back slightly from the strength of the smell. "Maybe so, hopefully so. I don't pretend to be an expert on Argonian poison resistance, but this might just do the trick. Come on, pack it away and let's go, we need to get out of here quickly."

Once Fendros had packed away the bottle and grabbed his half of the alcohol, the pair left just quietly as they arrived, save for the faint sounds of the bottles shifting in the crates. After they were over the hill and far enough away from the vineyard, Ahnasha slowed to a more leisurely pace and took a peak inside her crate. "Hmm, it looks like there is enough in these crates to last a while, as long as we hide it from Lorag afterwards. Maybe I can tie the bottles to the top of a tall tree where he cannot reach them. Though, knowing him, he would probably just cut down the tree and try to lick the alcohol off of the ground with his tongue." She said with a chuckle. "I have quite a few stories I could tell you about that Orc, though...he would try to tell you some stories about me when I was drunk. Don't listen to him, I assure you they are all either exaggerated, or completely false."

[Muttonhawk]

As they walked, Fendros looked behind himself through the trees and silently bade farewell to his home one last time. It was as if this whole affair had been a long dream. Maybe he was just in a coma somewhere. He would eventually wake up in bed. It was a nice fantasy to have, for as long as it lasted.

"Hah! Perish the thought," Fendros replied to Ahnasha, secretly wondering just whether Lorag would have a tale about an intoxicated Ahnasha to outdo that example. "So, what is a good drunken Lorag story, anyway? I've been told what to anticipate, but what has he done before?" Fendros asked with a half-smile, "I expect no less than exaggeration and lies, mind."

[EliteCommander]

"Have you ever seen an Orc act out the play, 'Horror of Castle Xyr...by himself, playing all parts? Because I have. His rendition of Anara the maid was particularly great, but sadly, the delivery on many of Ulis' lines were lacking." Ahnasha chuckled, eager to share her stories. "There was another time when he ended up stealing a goat from a nearby farm, insisting that he had 'adopted' it. Named it and everything. Well, his pride being what it is, when he sobered up the next morning, he refused to admit that he made a drunken mistake and insisted that he actually wanted to keep it. That was an annoying few weeks. Having goat milk was a nice change of pace, but those things will eat anything Things kept 'mysteriously' going missing around camp for as long as we had it.. We finally got rid of it when it decided to eat Meesei's loincloth one night. Used its hide to make her another one. Lorag didn't complain too much. Oh, and another time we found some ale, he got it in his head he could beat me in an archery challenge. Lorag isn't that great with a bow to begin with, and being as drunk as he was, well...I didn't think it was possible to miss by as much as he did. The arrow almost grazed Meesei."

Ahnasha scratched her chin, pondering for a moment. "Come to think of it, Meesei ends up being the victim somehow in a lot of these drunken tales. Maybe she's cursed by Sanguine or something."

[Muttonhawk]

"It sounds like it," Fendros agreed, his grin wide as he visualised the recounts. He tried to think of the kinds of things his brother and he would get up to when drinking, but bringing up those memories renewed pangs of grief, and he discontinued the thought. Tonight was as much about becoming more familiar with the pack as it was about letting go of his previous life. This was what it meant to survive now, he may as well make the most of it.

As his thought processes went back to the direction of lycanthropy, Fendros walked quietly for a while before a question came into his mind that he put to Ahnasha. "Ahnasha, has anyone in the pack transformed after drinks? The beast doesn't seem to me to have any inhibitions to make ineffective with wine, but... I'm just curious."

[EliteCommander]

"Yeah, Lorag has a few times, and he claims I have before, but I wouldn't worry about it. Since you took on your beast form earlier today, you most likely will not be able to again until tomorrow, even if you wanted to. Not even the most experienced of us can transform more than once a day; our beast spirits need time to rest, after all. As long as you keep on training every day, you will not have to worry about transforming against your will...well, other than when the moons are full, of course. On nights where Masser and Secunda are both full in the sky, you will transform, no matter what. Even if you have transformed earlier that day, your beast spirit will get a boost of energy, essentially. It is more difficult to maintain control in that case, though it is possible with experience." Ahnasha explained.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros nodded. There was a degree of concern whether alcohol would exacerbate the lycanthropy, but knowing that he probably wouldn't transform again today was a comfort. There wasn't much else that Fendros was curious about on the way back to camp, so he remained fairly quiet. He would have to keep note of the detail of the moons, he wasn't sure whether that was true until then.

Returning to camp, they were greeted by Sabine staring at them from a tree branch. He heavily suspected that Lorag was no more than a fraction of a second from ambushing them.

[EliteCommander]

As the pair returned to camp, Lorag, quite predictably, welcomed them both with open arms. Likely the only thing stopping him from hugging Fendros around the neck was the worry that he might drop some of the bottles. "Ahh, there you are. Took your sweet time, didn't you? Eh, what does it matter, you're here now, so we can get this thing started. Come on, pass a drink around to everyone. We prepared the ogre meat while you were away; Janius even cooked yours."

The Orc took a seat by the fire, eagerly awaiting his drink. He glanced over to Meesei for a moment before speaking. "You want a drink too, Alpha? So you at least don't feel like you're bein' left out?" He asked.

"Don't worry, it's just as amusing to watch all of you slowly lose your minds as it is to drink myself. But sure, I'll take a drink." Meesei responded.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros waited to approach the campfire before putting down his crate. He tried his best to dodge Lorag on his way so as not to drop everything. The smell of cooked food was a welcome one to come back to, even though its origins were rather... unconventional to him. When he placed his crate on the ground, lifted the small chest onto the ground next to it and opened up his crate. He immediately pulled out a bottle of wine, removed the cork, and hovered the neck under his nose. He could definitely tell why they were discards, its scent was that of an undesirable type. Too wooden, perhaps too much like a berry jam. I doubt Lorag would mind, Fendros assured himself, passing the bottle off to Lorag's waiting hands.

At Meesei's acceptance of a drink offer, Fendros spied the small chest and removed the strong brandy. He handed it to Meesei with an amused twitch at the corner of his mouth, "You might want to pace yourself with that one, Meesei."

Other drinks were passed around until they took turns sipping (or in the case of some, gulping) Avarul wine.

Sabine even got as far as smelling one of the drinks as she was offered, but simply waved it off. Fendros, feeling that Runt was leaving herself out, tried to encourage her "Are you sure you don't want to try it?"

"That's discarded wine," Sabine said finally, taking Fendros aback at how she was able to tell without the wine experience that Fendros had. Fendros just shook his head and decided not to worry about it, always more mysteries about that child. "I'll take that if she doesn't want it," Janius said next to Fendros, reaching his hand to the bottle and taking it from his hands. Fendros didn't offer resistance, he turned around and sat by the campfire with everyone else. "Did you run into any trouble?" Janius asked, looking Fendros up and down.

"No. It was all there, just as I had left it. We came close to one of the vine yards, but there was no one around," Fendros recounted.

"Then why are you caked in soil?" Janius said.

"Heheh, you stink again," Lorag pointed at Fendros with the index finger of his bottle-holding hand, his head was likely going to be swimming any moment now.

Fendros was puzzled until he realised that Janius was referring to the streak of dirt on the side of his body where Fendros had been tackled to the ground by Ahnasha. "Oh, this... well..." Fendros nervously brushed some of the dirt off as he tried to think of a way to word it that wouldn't make him sound like a child, "Ahnasha... challenged me to a running contest and... tripped me up."

[EliteCommander]

Meesei gladly took the bottle, not expecting much when she opened it, despite Fendros' warning. As soon as she uncorked it, she was overwhelmed by the strength of its aroma. Certainly, there was something a bit different about this bottle. A grin came across her face; perhaps this night would be a bit more interesting than she thought. "Hmm, I think I underestimated you." She commented as she took her first drink.

When Fendros gave his explanation for how he had been roughed up, Ahnasha couldn't help but to add her own, slightly more accurate version. "In other words, we had a game of tag and he lost." She said, taking a drink from her bottle. She felt the wine tasted just fine, and likely wouldn't have known it was "discarded" had Runt not brought it up.

"Ha! Try to outrun our little catdog did you? Even I wouldn't try that. I'll just be content with besting her in a fight;" Lorag commented.

"Oh really, like you 'bested' me in that archery challenge? You're lucky you didn't take off Meesei's head with that arrow. I will give you the victory in acting though, no one can do a one-man play quite like you." Ahnasha responded, laughing the entire time.

Lorag looked at Ahnasha, his expression unfazed. "Ah, so it's story time is it? Well, I happen to recall last time you got drunk enough to give out your own challenges.That time you decided your claws would let you beat me in a sparring match? I had you pinned to the ground for a solid half-hour before you ran out of pride and gave up. Or that time you thought you could forge an iron dagger with only a campfire, only to end up somehow burning the fur off the top of your head. Let me tell you, a bald Khajiit is about one of the funniest sights you'll ever see. Oh, and then there was that time you wanted to mate with everyone in sight..."

Ahnasha crossed her arms and hissed slightly. "Psst, that's not true. I'll give you the sparring match, but most of that didn't happen. I have no memory of any of this."

Lorag let out a deep, bellowing laugh. "I wouldn't expect you to with how drunk you were."

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros had to chuckle at the various points of 'story time'. I think this is going to be an interesting evening, Fendros pondered, sipping at the wine as it came around, let's see, when was the last time I went drinking with strangers? A particular thought came up involving Fendros' brother courting some imperial girls from Cheydinhal and finding out that they were the daughters of the visiting count Bravil was something that ended with an interesting night. That might have been the last time, Fendros couldn't clearly remember on the spot.

"Oh, even I was around for your mating season, Ahnasha," Janius chimed in before Fendros could complete his recollection, "I thought you had finally fallen for my Imperial charms, until Meesei quite literally grabbed you by the scruff of your neck and pulled you to your bedroll." Lorag's laughter continued, "I didn't even know that Khajiits had neck scruffs until then."

Ahnasha gave an extra hiss and a glare to Janius, "Oh, shut your mouth, sleaze."

"I hear that something similar happened with a goat?" Fendros asked, looking to Lorag as the balance shifted against him again in this little game of stories.

Janius' grin grew wide, "I don't think he got as far as to court it. But I think it was nearly the most adorable thing I've seen him do."

[EliteCommander]

Lorag grunted. "Hey, I still think that thing could have been useful."

"Oh, I think it was perfectly useful. Its hide gave me a new loincloth, its meat fed us for a day or two, and its horns made for great water vessels." Meesei added. She had finished almost a quarter of her brandy by this point, and while she was still in her right mind and speaking clearly, her senses were beginning to dull.

Lorag raised his bottle in the air as if he was giving a toast. "Rest in peace, Bessie."

Meesei took another drink of her brandy and glanced over to Ahnasha. "You just be careful. I might not be there to interrupt this time. Any drunken mistakes are yours to bear." She said, staring at the bottle in her hands.

"Ah, don't worry about me; look out for your own safety. With our track record, I would be surprised if we got through tonight without putting your life in danger at least twice." Ahnasha commented, partly out of concern, partly because she wanted to shift the conversation away from herself.

[Muttonhawk]

At the indication that the conversation had petered out for the moment, Fendros remembered the other aspect of his celebration proposition. "Right, well, I mentioned drinking games before, I suppose we can start one. Let's see..." Fendros leaned the fingers of one hand on his forehead, "I think I know one that won't put anyone in any immediate danger. It's a simple game, you might have played it before." Fendros put his hands on his knees, "Do you know the game, Questions?"

Janius nodded while rearing his bottle of wine into his mouth.

"The rules are, one person says another person's name, then asks them a yes or no question. The one who was asked must answer yes or no immediately, then ask another yes or no question immediately. If you laugh, you must take a drink. If you hesitate at any point when asking or answering, you must take a drink. Clear? Let's practice, Meesei, do you like your drink?"

[EliteCommander]

Meesei listened to Fendros explain the rules of his game, which she didn't entirely understand the point of at first. Being raised in a rural village, she had never even heard of a game of that nature. If their intentions were to drink, then why would drinking be a punishment for making a mistake? Regardless, she did not have time to think, as Fendros' first example was directed at her.

"Yes." She answered quickly, as the question was a rather easy one. Since she was suddenly being put on the spot, however, she had a bit harder of a time coming up with a question."Oh, Fendros, do you...uhh, do you like...meat?" She asked awkwardly, failing to come up with something witty or interesting with so little time to think. "That...counted as hesitating, didn't it? Ah, well, I won't complain. Like I said, I rather like this drink." She added before taking a swig.

[Muttonhawk]

"Yes," Fendros said, without a second moment, "Lorag, are you drunk yet?"

The game normally started off awkward, but the fun would really begin once people got into a rhythm that could be suddenly broken.

[EliteCommander]

"No." Lorag responded immediately, truly believing his statement. After all, his version of drunk was much different from most people's. "Catdog, do you like your new name?"

"No you...ah, wait." Ahnasha said, taking a drink when she realized her hesitation, which at least gave her time to think of a question. "Lorag, do you wish you still had Bessie?"

"Yes. Ahnasha, am I the greatest Orc to ever play the role of Anara the maid?" Lorag asked without missing a beat.

Ahnasha couldn't help but to let out a chuckle, which immediately caused her to nearly curse herself as she took another drink. "Ah you manipulative...No!" She said loudly before returning a question. "Lorag, are you allergic to cheese, milk, and butter?" She asked, knowing that the answer was not something he liked to admit, as he saw it as a weakness.

"Yes." Lorag said immediately, but begrudgingly before shooting back with another question of his own. "Ahnasha, can you sing as well as a bard?"

"Yes." She answered quickly and proudly, but in the excitement of finally answering correctly, she realized she couldn't come up with another question quickly enough and hesitated. She let out a groan and took yet another drink. "Fendros, are you an evil s'wit for coming up with this game?" She asked, not even caring if she admitted defeat by breaking the back and forth between her and Lorag. She was already feeling the effects of her wine, and was starting to see the purpose of this game.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros tried to resist, but he had to laugh when he realised that it was inevitable that Lorag and Ahnasha would try to find a way to outdo one another somehow, even in a less than competitive game such as this. As per the rules, he took another swig of wine.

"Nope." Fendros said immediately. After all, he didn't technically come up with the game, he didn't know who had invented it. With the extra time that Ahnasha and Lorag had taken up, Fendros was able to come up with another question in reserve, "Janius, do you play the lute?"

"No." The nonchalance of Janius' answer was unnerving, but not enough of advance warning for his apparent experience with the game. "Fendros, do you like lutes?"

"Yes," Fendros replied without an assured tone. "Janius, do you like rabbits?"

Almost before Fendros finished his question, Janius said his "yes," again, fast and almost too relaxed. With his question, Janius squinted at Fendros, "Fendros, is that a spider in your hair?"

"What?" Fendros padded his hands against his head frantically, then processed the ruse. "Hey, that's not fair," Fendros protested.

Janius just looked away and raised his bottle to his lips, speaking before drinking, "rules are rules, newbie. Drink up."

Fendros smiled, shook his head and made a noise that was a cross between a groan and a sigh, before drinking as he was obliged. As he raised his drink, Fendros noticed his limbs being liberal with the previous control that he had over them. "Right," Fendros continued, "Ahnasha..." Fendros blinked a couple of times, resigned to taking another drink as his brain tried to formulate a question, and eventually came up with something, "Ahnasha, is your fur striped?"

[EliteCommander]

"No...wait, yes?" Ahnasha responded, her judgement lapsing for a moment as she tried to determine if the patterns across her body counted as striped. She fell back and laid down on the ground, looking up at the sky and letting out a groan. "I'm terrible at this. I should just give up now." She said, finishing off her drink and tossing the empty bottle aside. After a few moments, she sat back up and grabbed another bottle from one of the crates. "Alpha, do you like the taste of elves more than humans?" She asked, a question she had thought of during the exchange between Fendros and Janius.

"Yes." Meesei said, looking Fendros in the eye with a mischievous smirk. Of course, her tone combined with her expression showed that it was a sarcastic answer. Humans obviously tasted better. "Fendros, do you know how to create tattoos?"

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros couldn't help but feel a chill up the back of his neck to whatever subtext he could immediately interpret from Meesei's answer. "Uhh-no!" Fendros just managed to say before it counted as hesitation. Despite the tipsy tunnel vision having set in fully, Fendros was able to employ the tactic of creating another question out of the one asked, "Lorag, do you have any tattoos?"

[EliteCommander]

"No." Lorag responded, looking to Meesei curiously. "Alpha, do you want tattoos?"

"Yes, I've - oh." She began, momentarily forgetting she couldn't explain herself without having to take a drink. Since she had already hesitated, she took a drink before beginning to ask her question. "Ahnasha, do you -"

Before Meesei even had a chance to finish the question, Ahnasha already took a drink, giving up on the concept of actually answering one of these questions correctly. The Khajiit was not a particularly heavy drinker, and she was clearly already under its effects. She stared Fendros in the eyes, a smile creeping up on her face. She leaned in closer to him, still maintaining eye contact. "Fendros, have you ever...mated with anyone?"