Lorag shrugged his shoulders after Llarasa's story about the pair of Orcs who recently died. It definitely could have been his parents, as they were old and it sounded like what they would do, but it also sounded like what most Orcs would do. There were no shortage of Orcs in Cheydinhal, and no shortage of warriors among Orcs. Contrary to what most people would want, Lorag hoped that they were his parents, as it meant they would have received good deaths. 

Each of the pack said their goodbyes, and while it was not too directly emotional for most of the pack, Fendros was of course the one most heavily affected. As they waved goodbye and started off across the bridge, Ahnasha took Fendros' hand lightly in hers, not speaking, but giving him her sympathy just the same. 

As they had already paid, there was no issue in boarding their carriage. It was fairly large and pulled by several horses. The caravan driver was an Imperial man who, by his account, had been carrying people and cargo across Cyrodiil, and occasionally Hammerfell, for fifteen years. Considering the size of the pack, they were actually the only passengers on this trip. There was some other cargo, but there was still enough room for all of the pack to fit in the back at the same time. According to the caravan driver, the journey would take roughly a week, which was considerably faster than they could cover the same distance on foot. 

---

The journey proceeded pretty much exactly as expected. They north, then east along the Ring Road until they reached the Silver Road to Bruma. The pack was watchful for danger, but the only people they met on the roads were fellow travelers and Legion patrols. Bandits were a possible threat, but the Legion seemed to at least be doing a decent job of keeping the roads secure. Otherwise, the only deviation from the pack's normal traveling routine was that they were not free to hunt as openly as usual. However, with how long it had been since any of them had turned, all but Meesei's beast spirit had started to grow restless. Fortunately, it was an issue they were able to solve. Instead of hunting all at once, they waited until they made camp, then had one or two people go out at a time to satisfy their need to hunt, each on separate nights. Meesei explained it by saying that they were avid hunters, which was at least a partial truth. On each hunt, Meesei instructed the others to bring back some meat if they were successful, as well as whatever part of the hide did not show damage from claws or teeth. It took several nights, but eventually, all of the pack were able to satisfy their beast spirits. 

Roughly the first two thirds of the journey was through fairly pleasant, temperate forests of Cyrodiil that most of the pack was accustomed to. However, as they started heading up into higher elevations, the temperature started to drop until they were close enough to the Jeralls that snow coated the land around them. It was worse for some than others. Meesei was not happy with the cold, but as she had experienced it before, she at least knew what to expect. Lorag was moderately uncomfortable, but as he had been to Skyrim before, he had experienced far worse, which he was not hesitant to boast about. Ahnasha, with her fur, was perhaps the most comfortable. It took longer for her to require the same furs that the others were wearing. As could be expected, Kaleeth was almost miserable. She was in awe of the beauty of the snow-covered land, but she absolutely hated the way the cold bit into her scales. While she normally disliked wearing excessive clothing, she was more than happy to pile on layers of fur now. Often, she would wear one of the fur cloaks that Meesei had made sure to buy while holding tightly onto Janius, as she learned quickly about the advantages of sharing body heat. Of course, if Janius was not with her at the moment, she had no qualms about latching onto someone else. 

Just as scheduled, the carriage was nearing Bruma about a week after they departed. It was snowing, adding more to the thick white blanket around them. According to the the carriage driver, they were less than half an hour from the city, which brought with it hope for some relief from the cold. Like Kaleeth, Ahnasha was leaned up against Fendros with Rhazii wrapped in a blanket between them. It was difficult to tell behind her fur hood, but her face showed that there was something upsetting her. The encounter with Fendros' family had planted thoughts in her mind which had now sprouted into a mixture of doubt and regret. "Fendros." She said in a near-whisper in his ear to get his attention. "There's something I've been thinking on, about your family...and mine."