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

[EliteCommander]

Meesei was glad to recover what they had, even if it was only a portion of what they started with. Their material belongings could be replaced, but their lives could not. She packed away the city clothes and put on what was left of her normal clothes. They were torn and damaged, especially on the upper half, but it wouldn't take too much hide or leather to repair it. Once they had collected enough hide to make the rest of the bedrolls they needed, she could fix it. For now, they needed to focus on their upcoming meeting, which would not be long, though that didn't stop Lorag from taking the opportunity to scrape some of the rust from his armor.

Ahnasha gave a genuine smile at the sight of the pendant. Before, she had gotten so used to wearing it that she almost forgot about it...until it was gone, of course. As she grabbed it and hung it once more around her neck, Rhazii's mouth opened wide as if she had taken his most prized possession. He looked as if he was going to cry until she held him close enough to her that he could start playing with it once more. As long as he did not try to eat the pendant, it would be fine...so it probably would not be fine.

"I'm okay, don't worry about me. And yes, Rhazii is as happy as he has ever been. He isn't old enough to understand, though. I do not look forward to having to explain this to him when he gets older." Ahnasha answered.

Once she had gathered the remains of her belongings, along with her fair share of their supplies, Meesei stood by the door and looked over the others. "I think it is about time we leave for this meeting. Take some time to gather your things and catch your breath; we will leave in about ten minutes and wait in the throne room for our...hosts."

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros looked upon Rhazii as his eyes curiously followed some insignificant sound nearby. As he often did with such things, he put a portion of Ahnasha's pendant in his mouth. At least it was on a tether so he couldn't really swallow it easily, but it was still worth keeping an eye on him. "I don't think we'll need to lie to him. By the time he asks, I think he'll appreciate the truth more than anything. He might not understand now, or even when we first tell him, but he will eventually. I'm sure of it."

With nothing much else to do except scrape the rust off his equipment, Janius help pack the equipment up and used the last few minutes to do some scraping. Or, at least he tried to but ended up responding to Leaps' requests for attention. The time melted away before it was time to head to the great hall. Everyone in the pack was looking forward to winding up their business with Molag Bal and hopefully finding some semblance of normality after being virtually imprisoned for so long. The excitement to leave brought about a mild anxiety in Janius and Fendros, who both kept vigilant for any further betrayal, not that they had any more of a chance against their captors than before.

[EliteCommander]

The pack was hoping to be able to depart after their meeting, and since they had no real place to store their belongings anyway, they carried everything with them to the throne room. Since all of them had been either confined within a single room in the infirmary, or out of the xanmeer for most of the day, they had not seen how active the cult had been throughout the day working on repairs. Or, more accurately, how active their thralls had been. Based on the number of undead they passed in the halls, it seemed like the cult was using the reanimated corpses of the mercenaries for almost all of the labor needed for repairs. Though unsettling to the pack, from the cult's point of view, it was a sensible course of action.

Once they arrived in the throne room, they found it mostly devoid of people, save for the skeletons and a few member of the cult, including Orskan, who notified them that Neesa would arrive to meet with them in about half an hour. The pack set down their supplies and took their seats at the long dining tables at the sides of the rooms while they waited. For Ahnasha, seeing Orskan brought to mind the deal they had made for his tome. They had already filled one of the gems, and it would only take a few more to fulfill their side of the bargain. Since they were not likely to be sticking around after they were free to leave, however, they had only a short time to fill them, or return them empty. Ahnasha nudged Fendros and motioned to his bag. "Hey, you were able to recover those gems, right? Maybe we should head over to wherever they keep their prisoners and see if we can take a few souls for ourselves." She suggested completely seriously. At this point, she had completely dehumanized the mercenaries in her mind.

[Muttonhawk]

Janius was on the verge of feeling sick at witnessing the fresh thralls go about their business, their rot filling the air immediately around them. Fleshless bones in suits of armour was one thing, but seeing the bodies that were taken from the near-empty town they had just searched as they shambled with morbid, puppet-like movements was quite another. He just kept his eyes to the table and fiddled with a splintering chip of wood in his fingers, trying to ignore them.

Fendros turned his head to Ahnasha upon being nudged, but her words along with their remorseless tone made his eyes shift about uneasily. "That's..." Fendros cut himself off. Initially, he wanted to ask Ahnasha how she could think to take their souls when they were now essentially defenceless, but his thoughts veered him away from emotional reaction to the reality of the situation. He had been thinking about the deal as well. Those prisoners belonged to the cult. Trying to sneak in and kill them without permission might be misconstrued. Still, they needed those souls to get Orskan's tome. Fendros began to get up, deciding to try a more transparent approach. "I'm going to talk to Orskan about this," he declared.

Without any apprehension this time, Fendros walked up to Orskan and addressed him. "Orskan, about the deal we had. I would like to have a word." After turning and moving to speak more privately, Fendros produced the bag of soul gems and the dagger he had borrowed. His words were still tired and stressed, despite being diplomatic. He wanted to wrap up their dealings with the least amount of bother to everyone involved. "We only managed to get one soul before we were captured. I apologise. However, given how the many people the cult captured alive when taking the settlement, I imagine there is now an abundance of souls available to you. I don't assume to insult you by asking for the tome you had promised without fulfilling our side of the bargain exactly as we agreed, but I would beseech that capturing those prisoners would not have been possible had the pack not tracked us to them. I should think the convenience for taking the souls has been provided with this, so I ask, with your agenda fulfilled, might you reciprocate and help ours? The experience we had yesterday was something I would sooner forget," Fendros started to trip over his words as more of his mind became occupied with blocking the images out, "I would rather not have it be for nought."

[EliteCommander]

"Hmm, well you are not wrong, I suppose." Orskan began, scratching his chin in thought. "You did not fill the gems, and I will still have to make a request to acquire the souls, but you did make them available to me." As he heard a door open near the back of the throne room, he glanced back quickly, then returned his gaze to Fendros. "I will need to think on this and will give you an answer before you depart. For now, our Lady has arrived."

Once Hal-Neesa took her seat in her throne, the rest of the pack rose from the tables and stood at the base of the throne just as they had before. It would still likely be only Meesei speaking to her, but they did not want to start appearing rude after all they had gone through. The pack was spared any kind of formal greeting or procedure, as Neesa simply began immediately. "I am afraid that my husband will not be joining us for this meeting, as there are still duties he must attend to, but we have spoken and have come to our decision. In completing your task, you proved that you lycans are willing to be obedient servants to us in exchange for what you want, and without the same kind of deception I expect from a follower of Clavicus Vile. It is for that reason that we have decided to accept your deal. Our efforts, and the efforts of all other covens of Molag Bal over which we have influence, will restrict any...harmful action we take from targeting Hircine's followers. In return, we will expect the occasional service of one of Hircine's packs."

"Thank you, Lady Neesa." Meesei said, bowing her head respectfully. "I will inform our Lord of the agreement as soon as I can."

Neesa waved her hand dismissively. "You need not concern yourself with that. I will deal with the Lord of the Hunt personally. There is, however, one more matter, a gift to signify our new...relationship. A gift of information. You were not the first to come to us seeking an agreement. Agents of Clavicus Vile came to us about a month ago seeking your very same request. As is to be expected with Vile's servants, however, they attempted to deceive us. We allowed most of them to leave, but exacted payment for their deception in the form of one of their members. Before killing her, we extracted some most interesting information from her. The next destination of her group may be most interesting to you. In her words, they seek the most influential of Hircine's hounds within the Imperial province. At first, I assumed they were searching for Hircine's champion, but since the bearer of his ring is standing in front of me and certainly not in Cyrodiil, I can only assume she was referring to someone else. Do you happen to know of what she was referring to?"

"I do." Meesei gave a nod, as she understood well what Vile's follower meant, though it was not encouraging.

"Well, then I suppose I will leave it to you to act upon that information. With that, I believe our business together is concluded. For the moment, at least. You may take your leave of our home." Neesa announced before getting up to return to her other duties. It appeared there was going to be no ceremonious farewell, but for that, Meesei certainly was not going to complain. The sooner they could leave this place, the better. Plus, the information Neesa shared with her gave them something rather pressing to contend with. The others in the pack did not likely know what Neesa meant by the most influential pack in Cyrodiil, as Meesei had not mentioned it before. It was not a secret per ce, it simply had never been important to them.

As they returned to the large dining table to gather their supplies, Lorag was the first to speak up. "So, uh, Alpha. You going to share what on Nirn it was you two were talking about? I thought we were the most "influential" pack?"

"We are, but what I think Neesa's prisoner was referring to was a pack specific to Cyrodiil. For most of you, I found you myself, through visions from Hircine, but I do not believe that is the case for most lycan. As you know, lycans, even those who serve our Lord, are not an organized force. We are all largely independent and may never even see another pack, but in each region, there are some who are an exception. They directly serve Hircine with the primary purpose of finding isolated lycans and helping to bring them into a pack of their own. They are often the largest and most influential of Hircine's packs, and I believe I know where the one in Cyrodiil is. It could have changed since the last I heard of them, but I believe they make their home near Bruma." Meesei explained.

"Hmph, so Vile's goin' after Hircine's recruiters, then? Makes sense I guess. I guess we'll need to stop them, but according to her, they have a month's head start on us. How are we going to catch up?" Lorag questioned.

"That is a good question." Meesei began as she finished grabbing the last of her equipment. "We need to get to Bruma as quickly as possible, but any land route would be too slow. The fastest route would likely be to take a ship straight to the Imperial City, then move north from there. We will have to do a lot of gathering, scavenging, and hunting to get the coin necessary for the trip on the way to the port, but I still believe it will be the fastest route. We can head into the marsh and hunt for a time, then head east and get on a ship at Thorn. From there, we can head to the Imperial City."

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros nodded understandingly to Orskan and joined the rest of the pack when Neesa arrived. The air was slightly tense before she spoke, but her answer turned out to be all the pack had set out to do. Fendros had not expected the followers of Molag-Bal to have the honour to live up to their agreement, but he was proven wrong.

When Neesa walked away, Sabine was the only one to speak up and say "Goodbye." No one else seemed to feel the need.

The information about the movements of Vile's servants was interesting, however. Mostly because it involved the possibility of meeting another pack. As far as Fendros knew, the pack had never done such a thing. He wondered whether they would be similar to the other pack, and under what terms they would be meeting each other. Hopefully it would be amiable.

"The Imperial city, eh? It's been a long time since I've laid eyes on the white-gold tower." Janius commented. Fendros nodded in concurrence.

Sabine's face was lit up for different reasons. "Thorn? Does that mean we will see Ariel again?" Sabine's voice was particularly excited at this prospect.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei smiled to Sabine. "As long as she is in the city when we pass through, we will. We may not be able to stay for too long, but it will give you a chance to catch up." She commented. They had a plan, so there was not much left to do other than to wait for Orskan's response. Fortunately, he had left the room right as Neesa had arrived, so it was only a few minutes before he returned. Ahnasha was trying to quiet down Rhazii, so he walked up to Fendros, notably with a book under his arm.

"Whatever you do, you better not tell Vinaremo about this, or I will never hear the end of it. Just give me back the dagger and gems, then its yours. One of you can read Daedric script, correct? That is what the tome is written it. I should also note that this will not grant you a quick and easy path to eternal life. There is a lot of work and dedication required. Likely, you will require more knowledge than what is contained within this tome, but it will take you through the first steps on the path." He explained. .

[Muttonhawk]

"Of course, of course," Fendros nodded attentively to Orskan's words as he handed the dagger and the satchel back to him. Once Fendros had the tome in his hands, he opened it up to a page near the middle and confirmed for himself the language. It would be no problem for him, at least. Dunmeris was written in daedric script after all. Fendros closed the book and looked up to Orskan, taking a breath in through his mouth and nodding one last time. "Orskan, for all the experiments that go on in this place, all the reputation Molag Bal has, you've truly done us a kindness." Fendros put a hand on his shoulder and held onto him gratefully, "I cannot thank you enough, and I wish you all the best." Fendros lips formed a pursed smile, and he patted the cultist on the back, "Come, I'm sure Ahnasha would like to express her gratitude as well before we leave."

[EliteCommander]

Once Orskan had his gems and dagger, he took a step back with an uncomfortable expression. "I...am sure she would, but I am sure we both have much to do. Just...give her my regards." He said as he backed away, then finally left entirely. Despite his kindness in handing over the book, it seemed as if he was not quite comfortable enough with the pack for such a friendly exchange.

With the gems dealt with, there was nothing more bringing the pack to stay, and for all of them, they were more than happy to leave. Meesei was fortunate enough to have brought her map with her during the battle the previous day, so it had been recovered. Once they had planned out their path, the pack moved to the exit and climbed out of the xanmeer for the last time. Although they now had a deal with this cult, Meesei hoped to never see them again. The next few weeks of travel between their current location and Thorn would hopefully be less eventful than the past few days, but it would not be easy, if only for the fact that they would need to work to find anything of value they could. Whether it was a tough creature's hide or some rare alchemical ingredient, most of what they collected would need to be sold in order to pay for passage to the Imperial City.

Kaleeth was just as happy as any of the others about getting away from the cult, but there was one thing which was making her silent. It was something that she had assumed for quite a while was going to happen eventually, but now she knew for sure it was going to happen. As they stepped down from the xanmeer and into the swamp, she slowly gave Janius a nervous look. "So...we are leaving Black Marsh?"

[Muttonhawk]

There was little Fendros could do to convince Orskan otherwise, it seemed. After wishing him farewell, the pack left the xanmeer. None of them really had a desire to ever see it again.

Once on solid ground after climbing down the xanmeer's steps, Fendros presented the tome to Ahnasha. He didn't think he would he would leave this place with a smile on his face, but in the end, their stint with the cult of Molag Bal had not been a complete loss. "Orskan mentioned that it would be a long path, but now at least we have a path now," Fendros said, "For now, we can go back to taking care of ourselves."

Nearby, Janius responded to Kaleeth with a half-smile. "That's right. We'll be heading to Cyrodiil eventually, but not before heading to Thorn and sailing over the ocean. Thorn is a very beautiful city, at least when we were there. That was during a festival, though." Janius hadn't realised it before, but with Kaleeth's life up to the point where they met, she had probably never even been near the edge of the marsh. Janius looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Say, have you ever seen the ocean before?"

[EliteCommander]

Kaleeth shook her head. "No. I always heard it is like an endless lake, but really salty. I think my father mentioned it so that I would not try to drink the water if we ever ended up there. I think it will be interesting to see a lake that never ends, but still...leaving Black Marsh. I never thought that would ever happen to me." She commented. No doubt, it would take her quite a while to get used to the idea of leaving her homeland, but she did have time.

For Ahnasha, taking the book and glancing through its pages did not produce a smile. It was not that she was not glad to have it, but that she was having a hard time bringing herself to be happy with all that was on her mind. Still, the book would be a good distraction, a way to keep herself occupied whenever she was doing nothing, and her thoughts could wander.

---

Pain. It was all Ahnasha could feel. She was lying on her back on what felt like a cold stone slab, with sharp points stabbing into her flesh. She could not move, though she had no bindings.Standing over her was the faceless, shadowy figure with the cruel, jagged knife in his hands. He cut her open, discarding the flesh like damaged hide. She was filled with familiar pain and horror, blood poured from the wound, but the pain never diminished and she remained perfectly awake. Everything else around her was in shadow, except for a table next to her which was illuminated by a single candle. On the table laid Rhazii, bound by leather straps and screaming at the top of his lungs, with fur that was wet and shining as if covered in oil.

"You deserve this, you know." The figure above her said as it reached into her chest cavity and pulled on one of her ribs hard enough that it cracked, then broke off in his hand. The pain was unbearable, but still she lived. "You are a worthless cat; a worthless mother." He continued, breaking off another rib. "You are a curse on him, and would be better off dead." He taunted. After breaking enough ribs, he cut out her lung, then severed the artery just above the heart, yet she still lived. He reached in with his other hand and ripped the heart from her chest, yet she still lived. His expressionless face seemed to stare down the heart in his hands until it erupted in flames. No matter how much she screamed, no matter how much she bled, she could not die.

The faceless figure tossed the burning heart onto the table with Rhazii, igniting the oil and setting him ablaze. His screams filled the air, inflicting upon Ahnasha a pain far greater than anything she could physically feel.

"You are a failure!" The figure shouted as he brought down his knife on her tail and severed it from her body. He then stabbed the knife into her chest, then grabbed the severed tail in both hands and wrapped it around her neck. He pulled it tightly enough to choke her and held her down long enough for the lack of air to do what his blade could not.

Ahnasha shot up from her bedroll, gasping for breath. Although it wasn't every day, most of her nights had been punctuated by these terrors. It had only been just over a week since they left the xanmeer, but it was clear the experiences she had suffered through were not going to abandon her any time soon. She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her hands as she started to sob, not caring who she awoke in the process. No matter how much she wanted to, she could not longer pretend that everything was fine.

[Muttonhawk]

"Ahna? It's okay, it's okay, I'm here," Fendros' tired, but concerned voice spoke up before he sat up and wrapped his arms around her. Just like it was every time, she was drenched with sweat and had a pounding heart. Fendros rocked her in his arms, trying to comfort her. "Another nightmare?" Fendros asked rhetorically, "It was the torture again, wasn't it?"

Ahnasha's scar didn't seem like it was going to fade any further in the week since they had left the xanmeer, but other symptoms of the trauma seemed to only get worse for both of them. Whenever Ahnasha's dreams didn't wake Fendros up, Fendros would have flashbacks of his own, mostly recounting the torture as it happened. However, even if Fendros said he would talk, he either didn't seem to stop the Argonian noble cutting Ahnasha open, or more terrifyingly, his throat closed up completely and he couldn't so much as scream. In those occasions, their roles would be reversed and it would be Fendros weeping in Ahnasha's arms. Ahnasha's recounts of her nightmares seemed to be just as, if not more horrific, and no doubt they were only getting worse. Up until this point Fendros had naively believed that the dreams and the anxiety they were displaying in their day-to-day life would eventually go away, now they were at the point where the scars opened nearly every night.

"Ahna, I don't know what to do, but this can't go on." Fendros stated, as Rhazii began to squirm and make noises in the swaddle next to them both. Fendros released Ahnasha and picked Rhazii up, trying to shush him back to sleep before the disturbance caused him to cry. Fendros whispered from then on, "I can't keep doing this, Ahna. It still hurts. We have to do something. Whether it's finding a safe place to raise Rhazii, away from all this danger, or to talk to the Hist like Sabine did, I don't care, but we have to do something."

Up to that point, Fendros had been even less forthcoming with the events of the torture. He thought that he could eventually forget if he didn't talk about it, but that was wishful thinking as well. The pack had noticed his strange behaviour too, although they were probably asleep right then.

[EliteCommander]

Once Rhazii awoke, Ahnasha started to try and quiet herself down so as to at least not wake the others. Neither she nor Fendros had been spared from the scars of their experiences. There was no real way to know if the nightmares were going to cease, and if she could stop herself from having flashbacks to it while she was awake. She had to admit, what Fendros suggested was appealing. They knew now that there was no way for them to guarantee Rhazii's safety, especially with the danger they were going to be stepping into, but still, Ahnasha could not bring herself to abandon her obligations to Hircine and the pack. She still had enough willpower that no amount of nightmares could make her abandon them.

"You know there is no time for that, Fendros." Ahnasha whispered. "We have to get to Bruma. Who knows what Clavicus Vile's followers might do the pack they are seeking. Even if we haven't met them, they are our brothers and sisters. We can't just delay...or do nothing. We have to stay strong. It might still get better." She said, looking down with tear-filled eyes. "I hope it gets better."

Ahnasha leaned herself against Fendros and looked down to Rhazii in his arms. He was still awake, but Fendros had managed to calm his whimpers. In all honesty, she was not even convinced by her own words, but there was nothing she could think of that would make this easy. All she could hope to do was endure.

[Muttonhawk]

Fendros shut his eyes and bowed his head. This was also something that happened every time. A short discussion, then a reassurance to let the issue work itself out. Fendros wasn't sure that he could keep telling himself that, but what else was there to do? Ahnasha was right. Getting to Bruma and finding the other pack before Vile did was more important right now. Fendros decided not to press the issue any further tonight, but he was nearing the edge of his patience. His frustration with his own ineffective inaction and lack of other options would eventually get to him.

"We can be strong, Ahna, I know that much. Against this, though, I don't know how to fight." Fendros looked to Ahnasha and put an arm around her, "We'll keep going until we deal with Bruma, but after that, we have to find a way to deal with this properly. Let's promise that much, at least."

In all honesty, Fendros didn't know whether he would last that long. He remained awake to lull Rhazii back to sleep before he put the cub back and drifted to sleep himself. Hopefully he wouldn't get any dreams either.

Nearby, Sabine lay awake, facing away from Fendros and Ahnasha with her eyes open. She was a light sleeper as-is, but their own behaviour had been especially concerning to her. She went to sleep after it seemed that there was nothing more to eavesdrop on.

[EliteCommander]

Thankfully, Ahnasha was able to get a few more hours of sleep before it was time to awaken. By this point, they were in some of the deeper parts of the marsh, so good places to set up camp were becoming more difficult to find. Fortunately, they had managed to find a relatively dry location atop a hill, so Meesei had decided that they would remain there for a few days so that they could search the area for prey, or anything else of value. They had already spent one day hunting, and they did manage to kill a few creatures, but they were all fairly mundane. Meesei did notice that the part of the marsh they were in had plants which were entirely unique to the area. Although she did not know which specific plants were valuable, Sabine could test them for any alchemical uses, even without a full set of proper alchemical equipment. She intended to go with Sabine to search for ingredients, but more than that, there was a matter that had been on her mind for some time which she felt she needed to discuss with her.

After their breakfast, Meesei gathered up as many empty pouches as she could, then approached Sabine by the fire. "Are you ready to search for ingredients, Sabine?"

In the time since her nightmare, Ahnasha had been thinking, and not about the torture this time. Instead, her thoughts were on events that happened months ago. It was a slow process, but she noticed that something had changed over the past few months, and she wondered if doing something about that might help their current problems. After eating her breakfast and feeding Rhazii, she walked back to Fendros and sat down beside him. "Fendros...can you do me a favor? Can you go on a walk with me, alone? I have been thinking about something, and I want to talk to you. I think Meesei and Sabine are going ingredient hunting, the others can take care of Rhazii. I just...I really want to talk to you."

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine nodded affirmatively. These parts of the marshes had actually got her excited to go out and explore. It was unfortunate that she did not have the glassware to properly test all these new plants, insects, and no doubt unique animal products, but what she could do was still enough to look forward to. She got up from beside the fire immediately to leave with Meesei.

There was a short pause where Fendros tried to pinpoint whether what Ahnasha wanted to talk about was the bad dreams or something else, but it was short lived. "Sure, let's let the others know," Fendros agreed without any objection. After leaving Rhazii in the hands of Janius, Kaleeth, and Lorag, they set off in a direction that was easy to backtrack along. Neither of them seemed to be in a particularly energetic mood after many nights of interrupted sleep. Once out of earshot of the camp, Fendros spoke up first. "What did you want to talk about?"

[EliteCommander]

"I don't know. I mean...I do, but..." Ahnasha began, trying to figure out where she should begin. Given how deep in the swamp they were, it did not take long for them long for them to reach a wide body of water, somewhere between a river and a lake, so she started walking along its edge, looking out over the water absentmindedly. "Do you remember when we first met? That day, after you were introduced to the pack and we decided to go find your stash of wine. Do you remember what we did? We played a game of tag. Do you remember back in Morrowind when we spent an entire day together just...enjoying ourselves? What has changed? It has only been a few months, and yet I could hardly imagine us doing the same things now. Even before the...torture. I just...do you think it will be possible for us to be like that again?"

Once they left camp, Meesei started to keep an eye out for plants she did not recognize, as well as the few she knew were valuable. In the deeper parts of the marsh, many of the more interesting plants and other things that could be used for alchemy actually grew in the waters themselves. Some grew out of the riverbeds like reeds, while others floated on top of the water. In any case, collecting them meant wading out into the water, which is precisely what they had to do. After a few minutes, they came across a large body of standing water with plenty of life growing on its surface. Its deepest point only seemed to reach up to Meesei's waist, but the murky waters were still annoying for even Meesei to wade through, given how muddy the bottom was. Of course, she did have another reason for wanting to speak with Sabine, though she wished it was not necessary.

"Sabine, there is something I would like to speak to you about." Meesei began as she started examining a spiky reed near the base of a tree. "Recent events have caused me to start thinking about the pack's safety. As lycans, we have always been stronger, and faster than most threats, but we are not perfect. We can make mistakes. This war we are going into, it is going to bring us into danger much more often than we are used to, and against stronger foes. That is why...I think it is time to start your training for more...direct forms of combat. Do not mistake me, you were very helpful in the battle in the village, but you may not always be able to stay on the sidelines, or take on your lycan form. There may be times where you are forced to fight head on, and in close range. I would feel much safer if you were trained for it."

[Muttonhawk]

It was with a smile that Fendros reminisced the fond memories he and Ahnasha shared, but at the same time it took a short while for Fendros to think on her question. "As much as I would like to do that again, you're right, it's hard to imagine. Between caring for Rhazii and this war with Vile...everything just seems to be piling up." Fendros held an expression that was deep in thought and had a hint of worry. He turned his head to look at Ahnasha and continued, "Maybe we haven't been making use of the rest of the pack as often as we could to care for Rhazii. I mean, with the environment of the marsh, there might be less opportunities, but when we get back to Cyrodiil, perhaps we could...you know, every so often...take the day for ourselves." Fendros kept his head facing Ahnasha but his eyes went to the ground in front of him. "To be honest, I miss those times where we could just be together and not have to worry. I just haven't been thinking about them so much. There are so many distractions these days."

Sabine was picking leeches of her skin and placing them in one of the satchels when Meesei called her attention. It wasn't a task for the squeamish, but leeches had been something she was used to since wading in marsh waters like this. Meesei's proposition gave Sabine pause for thought, however. She looked to one side and pondered on what to say. Sabine frankly didn't enjoy fighting in most capacities, least of which in melee combat. The enthusiasm she showed for her ritual trials was more anticipating the ritual itself than the fighting. That much was made clear the first time she fought, and was beaten to the ground. Sabine quietly resumed storing the leeches and meekly responded, "I don't like fighting, but I'll try if I must. What will I have to do?"

[EliteCommander]

Ahnasha stopped and sat down by the edge of the water, then let out a sigh. "There is just so much we have to do, isn't there? I do not think that is going to change, but...maybe taking the opportunities when we can will help with out current...problems. Or maybe it won't. I don't know, there is so much that isn't certain. We may never get a chance to be by ourselves, but we have to have hope, I suppose."

Ahnasha laid down on her back and looked up at the small patches of sky she could make out between the leaves of the tree canopy. She felt that she was starting to get used to the marsh, even its heat. Not that she would miss it when they were gone, of course. "I don't suppose there is anything particularly interesting you can think to do in a swamp, is there?" She questioned.

Meesei's scales were thick enough to help fend of many kinds of parasites in the marsh. She was not immune to them, but it wasn't anything a brief charge of lightning could not solve once she was out of the water. In the meantime, she carefully picked a few of the spiky reeds, then collected a sample of a strange red algae she had never seen before. It was impossible to tell just from looking what might hold an alchemical effect, so her solution for the moment was to collect everything she could.

"I am not too fond of fighting either, but it is something we must do. You can pursue any form of combat you feel would be best. You may only be a fourteen year old girl, but your beast blood gives you the strength to hold your own in a direct fight if you need to. I would recommend you get some training in the use of a blade from one of the others, perhaps Janius, but you do not need to focus on it if you would rather concentrate on another form of defense. I myself am not greatly talented in swordsmanship. Magic is my defense, and it is another route you could take. I would be more than happy to teach you how to effectively harness the magicka within you. Your upbringing in the coven may give you an advantage in learning about the arcane arts." Meesei explained.

[Muttonhawk]

Sitting down beside Ahnasha and supporting his forearms on his knees, Fendros breathed in the humid air, then responded. "Well, let's see..." He looked at the water. It was murky and almost stagnant in comparison to the rivers and lakes he grew up to know, "There's swimming, we haven't put aside time to do much of that lately. The heat certainly hasn't changed." Fendros thought on other options. His mind came across fishing while looking to the water, but they didn't really have the tools, or probably the motivation to do that. "There's also hunting, we haven't been on a hunt with just the two of us for a while. Or even together, one of us normally stays behind with Rhazii." He looked up at the trees, he entertained the idea of actually playing tag again. It still seemed so childish, but still tempting, even now. Looking around, though, there wasn't much room for running. Perhaps his mind was making excuses, perhaps he just felt tired, but needed to get moving to really motivate himself. "How much time do you think we have right now? Maybe we should do something now."

Suddenly finding a clearer voice, Sabine looked up at Meesei and spoke. "Fifteen. I'm fifteen now." Sabine picked the last leech she could see, then tied the satchel shut, "I forgot about my birthday before we went to Gideon. I saw a date on a notice board. I forgot to tell you." Sabine didn't sound too disappointed about the matter. A similar thing had happened with her fourteenth birthday. "I think learning more magic would be better. Fighting with a staff or a sword...I don't like the bruising and the pushing and...I don't enjoy the training. Could you teach me how to fight with magic, Meesei?"