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

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine and Janius observed the duel with tension backed up with hope. It didn't appear at first like either were going to fall. The power radiating in the room rose in a very narrow crescendo for a while. Janius didn't know what to think. The atmosphere spoke of an underlying malign motive, but they were talking casually with each other as if this was a recreational exercise.

It only took the smallest flaw in Meesei's ward for everything to change instantly. There was a thunderous sound. In a surge of power that seemed to bend reality beyond anything they had seen, Hal-Neesa's lightning glowed quickly brighter and shattered Meesei's ward like thin glass. As if that wasn't enough of a demonstration of power, Meesei was lifted and thrown against a wall by Neesa's telekinesis.

Janius cursed in astonishment, and he and Sabine rushed to Meesei's side. "Meesei, are you alright?" Janius asked quickly. They both helped her up and motioned to lead her out of the door and back to their rooms. This woman had unnatural power, and now she knew their limits. That she would wait for the authority of her husband meant that either he was simply the chosen leader, being manipulated, or he was more powerful than Hal-Neesa in the first place. For Sabine and Janius, to choose between favouring one possibility over the other was difficult.

[EliteCommander]

"I am fine." Meesei answered quickly as the others helped her up, though she said nothing more while in the training room. The group walked back to their rooms silently, doing nothing to attract the attention of any of the cultists they passed. The last thing they needed was another confrontation.

The duel with Neesa certainly shed some light on the vampire's abilities, but Meesei felt that Neesa likely gained more useful information than she did. There was quite a lot to speculate about, but what she knew for sure was that Neesa's power far outstripped her own. Her abilities matched those of wizards from tales thousands of years old. Either she had found a way to learn those ancient forms of magic, or she was simply a remnant of those times. Regardless, the pack's situation had never been more dire; they needed to tread carefully if they were going to survive.

Once back at their rooms, Meesei finally spoke up. "We should not entertain the notion that we can kill these cultists. This cult outnumbers us, and though the majority of them may not necessarily overpower us, their leader does by a large margin, and that isn't even considering her husband. The techniques she used are thousands of years old; I would not even begin to know how to counter them. We have no choice but to appease them...no matter what horrid task they place us on."

[Muttonhawk]

Meesei's conclusion was met with silence. None of them wanted to be tools for followers of Molag Bal, especially when the cultists now knew that they had the ability to kill or bind them all if they so wished. Some wondered how they would have any hope at all, but if there was any diplomacy between Hircine and Molag Bal, it was probably manifesting in their lives continuing where they stood.

Sabine began to wander to one side of the room and check on the state of her alchemical supplies. Nothing was broken or lost, thankfully. In her regular manner, she started to lay out what she had and assess if she had anything to help. She could make a few potions to resist certain things, or help the pack's abilities, but she was at a loss for how to deal with the vampires of this place. Being powerful enough mages, they could probably cure most poisons that Sabine could make, but not only that, poisons affected undead differently. Sabine did not have the privilege to test anything on vampires before. "If they have such power, what could we do that would be useful to them?" Sabine asked, her thoughts cutting through the fear as it turned to something more resembling hopelessness.

"With their talk of souls and experiments and the like, I shudder to think of what's in the future. I have a feeling that if they wanted us dead right away, they would have gotten it over with by now," Janius commented from one side of the room, "But I hate waiting for this elusive husband of Hal-Neesa's. It's like we're on borrowed time." Janius crossed his arms and looked at Meesei. "Is there anything we can do right now except wait?"

[EliteCommander]

Meesei had to think about what this cult, specifically Hal-Neesa, wanted with them. Janius was correct in that the cult could have had them killed at any point. The fact that they hadn't attempted it meant Neesa had some plan for them. She could only guess at what it was, but there was one detail about their duel that gave Meesei somewhat of a hint.

"It is...hard to say what she might want with us, but there is one possibility that comes to mind. Do you recall that, during our duel, Neesa mentioned that there were few in this cult that could overpower Vinaremo? He was powerful, certainly, but not like Hal-Neesa; he did not overpower me. I would wager that there is a large gap in skill between the leadership of this cult and the rest of its members. Certainly, Neesa and her husband can likely handle most opposition they face personally, but that is not why they have a coven of servants like this. I doubt they dedicate their time to anything but research, and their own amusements. It is their followers that do the work for them. The reason she wants to put us to a task is likely to compare our strength to that of her followers; we need only prove ourselves stronger than them in order to be useful to her. I cannot say for certain, but that is likely her motivation, and likely our only way out." Meesei reasoned. He very much disliked operating on speculation, but for now, that was really all they had. "For now, all we can really do is learn more about this place and its layout. If the worst happens and they turn on us, the rest of you will need to be able to escape quickly."

[Muttonhawk]

Janius decided for now to pretend he didn't hear the implication that Meesei would not be escaping if they needed to fight their way out. The pack would never leave her behind. For now, the hope that they could make themselves useful was what they had to hold on to.

For a few more moments, Janius stood and considered exploring the xanmeer more thoroughly himself. But while they were gathered it would be a good time to discuss other matters. If they were staying for a few days, other problems could be presented, one of which made Janius look sideways to Kaleeth-Rei. "Kaleeth, how is your beast spirit? How long do you think you have before you next need to turn?"

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth had been near-completely silent since they arrived, and even now, she seemed reluctant to speak, even to Janius. "Oh, uh, well...it has not been too long since I changed last. A few days...maybe? It is getting a little easier...I think." She seemed, quite understandably, nervous and frightened at the situation. For the moment, she just wanted to find a way to get away from it all. "I...I think I want to go rest."

Without awaiting a response, Kaleeth left to return to the room she had selected. It made sense that she would be afraid, but her behavior overall, even before being captured, concerned Meesei. She was not adapting near as well to the pack as Fendros had. Granted, she was facing far worse circumstances, but she was also quite young and inexperienced with the world outside her village. Meesei worried that the stresses she was enduring would place her in a similar mental state as Sabine formerly had.

Meesei gave Janius a genuinely concerned expression. "I worry for Kaleeth. We have been forced to drag her along from one tragedy to the next. I fear what it might be doing to her. Watching her for the past few weeks...it feels like all of the joy has been drained from her spirit. She was not prepared for the hardships she would have to face, and I fear we have not been able to give her the help she needs. It cannot continue like this forever, but there is no easy solution. I know it is a lot to ask in this situation, but I believe you should try to do something to take her out of this depression. You are one of the few who can reach her."

[Muttonhawk]

Janius took his eyes away from the door, and looked at the floor in front of Meesei. "You're right. I've seen it too." Janius' tone was more sullen now, "I thought she would eventually accept this life, that she would start to adapt, but...maybe I'm not helping the way I should be. She doesn't deserve to be here in a place like this." Janius took a deep breath and tried to hold back his emotions where he recognised his own failures in this regard. He couldn't give up, though. He still loved Kaleeth, and if there was still a way to help her embrace the world again, Janius would find it. Janius looked up at Meesei once more, unfolded his arms and walked out of the room. "I'll see what I can do."

Once Janius left, Sabine spoke from her set up. "Do you think, if Kaleeth learns to manage her beast spirit, she could return to her village? She is unhappy with us." Sabine didn't speak hatefully, but as Kaleeth had stayed with them, she couldn't help but wonder if she would ever emerge from her melancholy. Sabine knew that she had emerged from a similar place, but that was with the assistance of a supernatural being. "Maybe she should speak to the Hist," Sabine suggested.

With quiet steps, Janius leaned into Kaleeth's room with a concerned frown. Once he caught her attention, he raised a small smile and spoke, "Hi there." Janius strolled across the room and sat down on the bed, "What are you thinking right now?"

[EliteCommander]

"That is not an easy question to answer." Meesei responded to Sabine. "Certainly, with enough control, lycans can live in even the largest of cities, provided they have some opportunities to leave the city from time to time. If she gains that level of control, it wouldn't be difficult at all for her to live in her village, the real question would be if they would accept her? There is no way she could keep it a secret, so she would have to be entirely open with them. They might not agree to allow a lycan, even one from their own village, to live among them."

When Janius entered, Kaleeth was curled up on the bed, and even him speaking to her did not cause her to shift positions. Thusfar, she had been distant from the others, but she was at least a bit more willing to be open with Janius, not that her words were going to give him any real comfort. "We are not all going to survive, are we?" She said, her tone depressed, but honest.

[Muttonhawk]

For just enough time to protest, Sabine forgot her knowledge of an uninformed populace and its general reactions to werecreatures. It may have been her anxieties being not as strong as they were, or Sabine's impression of Kaleeth's village that fueled her reaction. "But she could live there without hurting anyone, and her father is the Master-Hunter. The Treeminder, Thorantilth, he is wise enough to understand. Even the wise woman must have already known what she was, otherwise she would not have..." Sabine cut herself off, "...or maybe she was scared too." Sabine's expression lowered to.deep disappointment with her realisation. They couldn't know for sure whether Reanaseer knew that werecreatures could control themselves well enough to live amongst people, or whether her reaction was purely from fear, but having Kaleeth reintegrate seemed a lot more difficult now that Sabine said it out loud

Next door, Janius had to stop and wonder for a moment whether he should be completely honest to Kaleeth about their situation. Most of his delay came from his own uncertainty rather than Kaleeth's. However, he had been in situations before where the outcome was uncertain, and this one hadn't removed all hope yet.

"...To speak the truth, Kaleeth, I can't tell you for sure," Janius said, looking to one side at the bedsheets for a moment, "I can't guarantee that any or all of us will survive. This is a very dangerous scenario we've got ourselves into, one with less control or certainty than we would like." Janius looked to Kaleeth again and rubbed his hand over her upper arm comfortingly, "That's not to say that any of us are definitely going to die here, though. There's still possibility that manifests reasonable hope. We could all survive."

Janius reached out to Kaleeth's hands and gently encouraged her upwards out of her curled up and withdrawn position. "Come, sit up, let me see you." Janius put his arms around Kaleeth and kissed her on the forehead. "When you went on your trial, the one that earned you your tattoos, was there any point where you thought you might not survive? Any point where you felt as if you didn't have control over your fate?"

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth sat up, though not at all on her own. She wasn't motivated to do anything herself, but rather was just going along with Janius. She sniffed and kept her head low, not making eye contact during the lengthy pause after Janius' question. "Yes, the entire time, mostly. I had nothing to help me survive, nothing to help me get back home. Father had taught me how to stay alive and how to find my way back, and I tried to do what he said, but...I was always afraid. It felt hopeless; I made so many mistakes. I got turned around, I had a hard time finding food because my spears kept breaking, and it is hard to find plants you can eat in the swamp, at least in some places. After a few days, I felt hungry all the time. I did find my way home, but I hated the entire trial. I felt like just giving up after getting lost a few times, but I did have at least a bit of hope of finding the village again. Now, though...now I am always afraid, always unhappy, and I have no hope of seeing home again."

Meesei sat down on her bed in a meditative stance, breathing in and out slowly. Certainly, she agreed that Kaleeth would be happier in her village, and it wasn't a complete impossibility, but it was unlikely enough that she had to temper her expectations. "I would like to be able to return her to her village, but if that is even possible, it will take a long time to happen. For now, we need to worry about our current troubles. Provided we receive a task from Neesa, it could be something we find objectionable. We cannot afford to refuse, however, so if it comes to that, I will perform whatever acts are necessary, if at all possible. Hopefully, you will not have to do anything you find wrong."

[Muttonhawk]

"Oh Kaleeth, I know it is difficult, but you have to know that there is still hope," Janius kept his eyes on Kaleeth's even if she didn't return his gaze. "You know, I don't think you hear this enough, but between your trial, your skills, your bravery to slay a fully grown wamasu, not to mention your progress controlling your beast spirit so far, you have amazed me. I honestly couldn't say I would have done what you have done in your shoes. You are a great individual. You could accomplish anything you set your mind to. Now, I know that not knowing what life has in store outside of the village is frightening, especially when you have a beast spirit accompanying you down your path, but hear me out. What keeps many of us going is having something to work towards. After this mission, the world is open again. You could become the greatest hunter there ever was, you could explore the furthest reaches of Tamriel, you could even find your village again, whether it be for a visit, or..." Janius hesitated, both not knowing whether it was wise to encourage Kaleeth to trust in the reactions of her villagers, as well as the underlying feeling of not wanting to separate from her. In his desperation he decided to try anyway. "Or to gain enough control to live in the village once more. If you speak frankly with the elders, maybe they would understand. I saw them to be wise enough. Anyway, there's surely something. I need you to tell me what you would like to do, regardless of whether, right now, you think you can do it or not."

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth was quiet as she listened to Janius. His words were kind and compassionate, but for the longest time, even after he finished speaking, she did not raise her gaze off of the floor. Almost a minute passed before she looked up at him with tears in her eyes...and baring her teeth. "No!" She shouted, pulling away from Janius and standing up to face him.

"You keep saying that. You keep saying I am so strong, and brave, and everything else. But it's not true! I'm not brave; I'm not strong. I'm not good enough, Janius. You know it is true. I was never a really skilled hunter, or a skilled fighter, and I'm definitely not a skilled lycan. I got through training as a hunter because my egg-brother helped me, I survived my trial because I was lucky, I killed the wamasu because you were there to hold it down. I couldn't do any of that on my own. Maybe one day I can be strong, but I am not strong now. I can't fight in your war; if I do, I will die. Janius...I don't want someone to tell me lies about how great I am, I want someone who cares enough to be honest, who will tell me how many mistakes I am making. That's how father was. He never let any of my mistakes go; he always told me where I was doing wrong, so I wouldn't do it again. I would have died without him. I just wish you cared enough to do the same. If I don't die in this place, you and Meesei can keep teaching me control, then...I don't know." She said before abruptly stopping and walking over to the other side of the bed. She laid down, facing away from Janius, and said nothing more. She was done talking.

[Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth's outburst came as a surprise to Janius. He could only sit and watch while she shouted, but her words informed enough to Janius to realise that he was going about this the wrong way. Kaleeth felt that she would be deluding herself by believing that there was hope for her. Once she lay back down, Janius stayed seated for a while, thinking. It took several minutes before he realised that he needed some space to process this.

Janius slowly got up, filled his lungs with air, then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Once the latch shut, he shut his eyes and sighed, whispering to himself, "You have no idea how much I care, Kaleeth."

From then on, Janius spent time pondering on this problem. He spent time walking around the Xanmeer and doing his own training routines, and kept on thinking in a chair in one of the separate rooms. His demeanour seemed distracted and distant for the rest of the day.

[EliteCommander]

Although the situation certainly created an uneasy rest, the pack nonetheless went undisturbed for the rest of the night. It seemed that there were few in the cult who had reason to pass by the guest accommodations, as there was little activity immediately outside their rooms other than themselves. Several of the pack were somewhat at a loss for what to do once they awoke and had their breakfast (which they immediately returned to their rooms to eat). Other than just walking around, there was little they could do without risking a confrontation with one of the cultists. Many of them seemed indifferent, but some, like Vinaremo, just wanted to make trouble. Nevertheless, Ahnasha's restlessness was getting to her, After being denied much activity for so long, she found it hard to just sit and do nothing, even now. After feeding herself and Rhazii, she sat down beside Fendros, who was finishing his meal.

"I don't think I can just sit here doing nothing all day. Even if I can't do anything that matters, I would like to at least head to that training room Meesei mentioned, if only to keep my skills sharp. Will you join me? I can ask Sabine or Meesei or someone to watch Rhazii. We can work on archery, but I would more like to work on some close quarters techniques at the moment." Ahnasha suggested. Meanwhile, the others had their own ways of passing time. Meesei meditated on magic, Lorag put himself to work sharpening every blade the pack owned, while Kaleeth stayed in her room trying to think up some way to make her death a little less likely.

[Muttonhawk]

The next day had nothing to look forward to except more waiting for the pack. Morale was low.

Sabine had spent most of her time, and continued to spend most of her time making potions to resist or reflect magical effects, as the cult seemed to be mostly made up of mages. The potions took a while to make each, but mercifully, this meant that she wasn't running through her supplies too quickly and she had something to spend her time on that wasn't constantly worrying.

Having no other particular plans, Fendros was receptive to Ahnasha's desire to train. He nodded as he swallowed his mouthful, then responded, "That would be good. I'm not sure I want to do nothing today, either." Once Fendros had finished his breakfast, now with more enthusiasm, they left Rhazii in the care of Sabine and Meesei, then proceeded to the training room. Rhazii cried when they left, but Sabine was now a little more familiar with how to calm him.

In a separate room to everyone else, Janius had fallen asleep in one of the comfortable chairs and awoke with a twinge in his neck. Once he got his wits back, he realised what had brought him to solitude in the first place and immediately got up. Speaking to no one, he borrowed two wooden swords from the training room and brought them back to the guest rooms. Unceremoniously and loudly, he swung Kaleeth's door open and strode in with an impatient step. Once he was at the foot of her bed, he commanded with a stern voice and expression, "Get up." To engage Kaleeth's attention more, he tossed one of the swords underarm onto the bed beside her. "It's time to train."

Janius hadn't taught Kaleeth anything about fighting with a sword before. In fact he doubted Kaleeth had even held one before. However, he needed a new exercise to get her energy released. If she had enough in her to be angry with Janius, moping all day was only going to make things worse.

[EliteCommander]

Being that their argument the previous day was still fresh on her mind, Kaleeth could tell what Janius was trying to do. Her reaction was not particularly positive or negative, she simply grabbed the sword he tossed at her and started to follow him. She had never really used a sword before; the closest she had ever come were bone daggers, so it felt foreign in her hand. She wondered how close the wooden version was to an actual metal sword, as the one she had felt strange to carry. They at least knew where the training room was in relation to their bedrooms, so it did not take too long for them to arrive.

Ahnasha and Fendros were already present when they stepped into the room, though Janius seemed more concerned with getting started on their own training routine. They found an empty space to practice, though Kaleeth had not yet adopted any kind of fighting stance. She really wasn't sure what that would be for a sword. "Are you sure we should practice with these? I am better with a spear." Kaleeth asked.

Meanwhile, Ahnasha and Fendros had their own spot in the corner. Some of the cultists were already in the room training, but most of those were sticking with the magic-focused exercises. Ahnasha had brought Fendros' bow, but set it aside for the moment. Given that the catacombs they were staying in were tight quarters, she thought it would be better to be practiced with melee combat. "How about we start out unarmed? Just a classic sparring match. I've been getting back into practice with it, but I still think I need more time working on it."

[Muttonhawk]

When Janius led Kaleeth into a section of the room with enough space, he turned around, held his free arm behind his back and his sword out in front of him, standing in a defensive posture. He didn't acknowledge Kaleeth's question, rather, he began his exercise in a quick, but patient voice. "I need you to see me as everything that threatens death upon you, and all that you fear. Now defend yourself." Without any further warning, Janius sprung forward and attacked Kaleeth with a combo of three swings, one to the top of her head, one to her left side, and one to her right shoulder. The swings were placed to be easy to defend just by blocking, but still fierce enough to keep Kaleeth on her back foot. Once done, Janius jumped back out of Kaleeth's reach and stood defensively again.

Janius and Kaleeth caught Fendros' attention, but without the context of their recent interactions, their behaviour just seemed to be a curiosity. Why did they pick swords this time? Fendros' attention was drawn back to Ahnasha, however, as they were about to begin their first exercise. "Unarmed? Very well..." Fendros twisted his head to one side, jokingly unenthused by the prospect of unarmed combat with Ahnasha again. It wasn't the fact that Fendros' strong suit did not lie with hand to hand fighting, but more that Ahnasha's claws always made the experience a lot more memorable. Fendros took a spot standing opposite Ahnasha, positioned his legs, and raised his fists. "Anything for you, Ahna," he smiled.

[EliteCommander]

The first two of Janius' blows weren't very difficult to block, but she wasn't used to handling the sword and missed when she had to shift it over to the other side. She recoiled back a few steps. "Ah, how am I supposed to use this thing?" She hissed, barring her teeth. Regardless, she moved on, noticing that Janius was standing defensively. She retaliated with a swing straight for his torso, clumsily, but with considerable force. As Janius knew well by this point, there were few people she could not directly overpower as a werecroc.

Conversely, Ahnasha was well-aware she could not overpower Fendros, but she had more practice in hand-to-hand combat than he did, though she was out of practice. She approached him and started to slowly circle, watching for weaknesses. Though they did not generally focus on unarmed fighting when they trained, she and Fendros had sparred before, so he was familiar with her fighting style. As a result, she had to keep varying her tactics and trying new things if she wanted to stay ahead of him. At first, she feigned two attacks, then struck with her fist on the third, though it was easily enough blocked. In each attack, she was quick to jump back and get out of his reach, but on the fourth, she rapidly punched towards his head to make him block and followed through quickly by attempting to sweep his legs.

[Muttonhawk]

With how telegraphed Kaleeth's swing was, avoiding it was as simple as raising his guard high, stepping back and allowing the sword to swing harmlessly in front of his body, before stepping forward again and running his sword in a cutting motion against Kaleeth's exposed arm. With a real sword it would have left a nasty gash, but the wooden sword would only give her a small bruise.

"Again. This time, observe and adapt," Janius said, before stepping forward with the same combination of strikes. It might take a few tries for Kaleeth to notice, but there was an opening in Janius' moves. Janius intended to allow Kaleeth to find it on her own. Before she could land such a strike properly, though, she might have to mimic some of the basics of handling a sword by how Janius used it.

Fendros' eyes locked with Ahnasha's body in anticipation of her movements. She had an affinity for her opening feints, followed by surprises. At first, the feints had a pattern to them that Fendros could predict, but both the last time they sparred like this and today, the feints did not conform. Fendros tried to discourage Ahnasha away with his own jabs, but she was always already out of reach. The surprise that followed this time was what Fendros thought to be an over-committed strike to his head, to which he could only halfway retaliate before her body dipped down and his world went sideways. Fendros processed the move just quickly enough to partially break his fall, but hitting the ground was jarring as ever. Recovering, he rolled back and sprung to his feet, then began stalking forward.

After planning his next moves, Fendros jumped forward with a left strike to try and swat away Ahnasha's guard, then brought his right hand forward to grab one of her wrists and keep it out of the way. If all went to plan, he could quickly jab at her stomach.

[EliteCommander]

"Adapt? I feel like I am swinging a stick. How are you so agile with these things?" Kaleeth responded with frustration. From the few people in her village that actually used swords, she knew that it took a lot of training to use one with any grace, so she didn't understand how he wanted her to learn. She didn't think to watch how he was swinging, as her mindset caused her to give up quickly. Since it felt like a stick, she decided she would just use it like one. Instead of parrying or blocking when Janius first struck, she swung at his blade at full force just to try and knock it out of his hand, which very well could happen if he didn't brace enough.

To his credit, Fendros got up after Ahnasha knocked him down rather quickly. When they first started out training, he wasn't near as quick. When it came time for his strike, he did manage to swat away her guard, but she had just enough time to react to his next move. In the instant she had, she saw his other hand was going to grab her, and she could counter in the usual way, but she had been trying to fight differently, and now she was going for something really different. In general, Ahnasha did not put herself in positions where they would start grappling, as Fendros would have the advantage, but this time she decided to try. It could go horribly, but it would definitely be unpredictable. She let him grab her wrist, but before he could follow through with a strike, she spun around into him so that her back was facing him and the hand he grabbed was crossed across her front. Instead of jabbing into her sensitive stomach, his strike hit a tougher spot on her back. She then threw all of her weight backwards, bringing him down to the ground with her on top of him. She hoped the impact would be enough to cause him to lose his grip; otherwise, he would be in a position where he could use his strength to his advantage.