EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei had been absorbed in her despair to the extent that she had not noticed her pack approach. Even their voices were little more than noise in her mind. It was only once Sabine was right next to her that she actually realized she was not alone. She recoiled slightly away from Sabine's voice, leaning herself ever closer to the cliff's edge.

"Sabine? No...no you should not be here. You should leave; away from me. I am unworthy of you. Wholly and completely unworthy. I have been blind. I have failed in every single way that I could have failed. I tried so...terribly hard. I tried to make everything better for us, but I have just made everything so much worse. How much have I squandered? How much time is gone?" Even as she spoke, Meesei could not stop sobbing. She had no composure, and not everything she said made complete sense. It was difficult to say how much of her behavior came from remorse and conscious acknowledgment of her situation, and how much stemmed from her sleep deprivation. There was little question that this was the lowest point of Meesei's life to date. Her body and mind were broken, making her like a shell of the woman her pack had known. And all of it stemmed from the book Fendros was holding.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

At the gate, Lorag stopped to speak to the nearest guard on-duty. He was a Nord man and, like many of the guards in the city, someone that Lorag at least knew the name of. "Hronmond, did the Champion pass through here, did she leave the city?"

"Aye, sir. She came through about half an hour ago. Didn't say a word beyond ordering me to open the gate. She was...well forgive me for saying this sir, but she was strange. Seemed very distracted and looked...unwell. She wasn't even dressed, and I didn't think Argonians were fond of the cool air out of the city. She looked like she was in a hurry, but I have no idea where she could be heading. Seemed like she was making her way towards the river." He explained.

Just as the guard had said, the pack was easily able to find Meesei's scent by the river. At first, Lorag worried that she might have started to swim to keep herself from being tracked, but to his surprise, it seemed like she had just been walking alongside the river. Or more accurately based on the tracks, running. He still could not begin to guess what she was doing, but it was clear that she was making no real effort to hide her trail. She either did not care if she was being followed, or simply was not thinking about it.

Even at a quickened pace, the pack would have to follow the river for about half an hour before they found what they were looking for. The trail would lead straight to Meesei herself, though that was not necessarily as encouraging as it could have been. Meesei had followed the river downstream all the way to the point where it reached a waterfall. It was one of many in Blackreach, and like most of them, it was tall and steep. Meesei herself was sitting on her knees precariously close to the cliff near to the river facing the drop, with her head buried in her hands and sobbing almost uncontrollably.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag crossed his arms as he looked down towards Sabine's bag. He could sense the scent of soot emanating faintly from it. "She threw around all her stuff? Sounds like she was real mad. It doesn't really sound like anything Meesei would do, but neither does anything else that's been happening."

The majority of the pack was conflicted or confused in their expressions, but Kaleeth was willing to show some hope. "But, you said you found the book in the fire? Even if it can't burn...it does sound like she tried to burn it. That's a good thing, right? Maybe...what happened between her and Sabine did something to her? Maybe we can still talk to her?"

Lorag nodded, but spoke quickly and seriously. "Maybe, but if we want to do anything with her, we've got to actually find her first. It's been hours since Sabine talked to her; she could be anywhere right now. But, unless she can just magic herself out of reality, which is honestly a possibility with her, then she must've left a scent somewhere around here. Let's go to her door and see if we can pick up a trail. Might be hard to follow it all the way through the city, but unless she was invisible, which again, a possibility, then some of the night guards might've seen her."

Meesei's scent could indeed be found at her door, and there was a definite, fresh trail for them to follow. Between her scent and the night guards, she had a trail that the pack would be able to follow all the way down to the front entrance of the Silent City.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha was with Sabine, though the rest of the pack, apart from the children, were also close by. Fortunately, the rooms for everyone in the Champion's pack were close by to Meesei's room, so it was far from unusual for them all to be in the area. Each of them were waiting and listening for any hint of something going wrong. Also, no one had too much of an idea of what they would actually do if Sabine was discovered. None of them wanted to have to fight their Champion, their friend, but no one was certain on how easy it would be to reason with Meesei either.

Ahnasha leaned in close to Sabine, whispering to her. "Okay, I'll wait here. Meesei does usually lock her door, at least when sleeping. I know you can magically unlock doors, but if she has any protections against that, then I might be able to get it open manually with a lockpick for you. Just try to be quick; the less time you are in there, the better."

However, once Sabine did make her way over to the door, she would find it, strangely, entirely unlocked. And once inside, she would find that Meesei was not present at all, despite the fact that it was well into the night at a time that Meesei would normally be fast asleep. Her room would also be a mess, with her belongings scattered around the room as if thrown about in a fit of anger. And, in the fireplace on the opposite wall from the entrance, Sabine would see Mora's Black book in the middle of the flames. Though, being a Daedric artifact, it was entirely unharmed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Don't worry. Even if you have to be alone for a while, we can probably get someone to you under Meesei's nose eventually. Some of us might be able to visit under the guise of missions. You won't be isolated forever. And hopefully, Meesei will come to her senses sooner rather than later." Ahnasha said reassuringly. "Come on, we should get you some potions, enchanted items, or anything else you need to get the book. We should all come too and wait down the hall, just in case something goes wrong. We might be able to help. After that...I guess we'll be ready to go through with this."

Lorag gave a nod. "You all do that. I'm gonna go talk to Saras and make sure everything is ready for when you need to go. We're going to need to get you out of here quick once you have that book."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag looked uncertain at Janius' suggestion. "I don't know, that could be risky. Alpha ain't exactly thinking reasonably right now. Might end up casting blame no matter how little sense it makes. She'll probably get a clearer head once she's away from that book, but that hinges on her not finding Sabine quickly. And telling anyone else about this plan could be a bad idea."

"Take your time to decide, Sabine. Don't rush into it." Ahnasha said to Sabine. "We do need to act soon, but we can spare some minutes. Hours even. Even if we can't find anyone to accompany you right now, Saras might be able to send someone later to keep you company. Someone you know. I'm ready to plan the theft whenever you are."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag nodded. "We can offer to help her search when she learns about it. Might not be perfect, but it could help. I spoke to Saras as I was getting you all back here. He knows about this, and he agrees that something needs to be done about the Champion. He's had a hard time keeping people from questioning things with her in this state. Once you have the book, you'll be going to the Summerset Isles, Sabine. Saras can't guarantee that all of the propylon guards will stay quiet, so you'll teleport to Valenwood, then he'll have someone take you by boat the rest of the ways. You'll be pretty isolated for a while, so, you know, be prepared for that. I guess no one's also gonna really force you to go where Saras wants you to, but he's pretty good at these sorts of things, so I trust him."

Kaleeth was obviously quite sympathetic to Sabine. "Are you sure you want to go alone, Sabine? Maybe some of us could come with you, help keep you from having to be alone for so long? We could just say some of us worked with you, instead of all of us. It might be easier to get through this together."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Only if you think you're able." Ahnasha responded, unable to ignore Sabine's overall despondent demeanor. "If you still want to be the one taking the blame for stealing the book, we will need to replace the book with a note that you have written. I am confident that I can sneak in and steal it, but if I am the one to do it, then there is a chance that Meesei will catch my scent on the letter as well as yours. If that happens and she discovers it, then she may turn her blame to myself, and even the rest of the pack as well."

Ahnasha was not thrilled about the prospect of asking Sabine to do anything as delicate as sneaking into Meesei's room, but that would likely be less risky than trying to remove all traces of Ahnasha's scent from the letter. "If you are able to sneak in and steal the book yourself, then only your scent will be on the letter. Do you think you would be able to accomplish that without being detected?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag nodded. "Yeah, just rest. I'll get everybody back here." He answered before standing up and heading out of the room. He was almost as relieved that Sabine had calmed down as he was worried about Meesei.

It did not take long for Lorag to find the rest of the pack, as they had not strayed anywhere that he would not be able to find them after their last meeting. He gave each of them a brief explanation of what had happened with Sabine, with a few less details on the extent of how distraught she had been. He figured he did not want to embarrass her, though it did not take much for the others to see her despair as they came to Lorag's room. She had improved somewhat from when Lorag left, but there was no mistaking that she had been in tears.

As the last of the pack arrived, Ahnasha was sitting beside Sabine on the bed, lightly rubbing her back in an attempt to help console her. She had come to the conclusion that it would likely be best for Sabine to steal the book herself if she felt she was able in order to preserve consistency in the scent on her letter. However, if she was too emotionally compromised, then they could have to risk stealing it another way.

Lorag decided to speak up before the silence grew too awkward. "Guess we've got no choice but to steal that book. With all it's done to Alpha, I don't guess that any of this is gonna be easy. But it's the only chance Meesei's got. Ahnasha, you think you can take it out of her room?"

For the moment, Ahnasha delayed giving a direct answer. Instead, she focused on Sabine. "Maybe, but...Sabine, are you alright? Do you think you can help me with this?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag knelt down on one knee in front of Sabine. He started to reach out to touch her, but hesitated. He had no idea what would be the best way to comfort someone so distraught that she had unintentionally transformed. Part of him worried about losing a hand, while another part of him worried about somehow making it worse.

"Look, uh, whatever happened in there with Alpha, it don't sound like it was really her. Like it was really Meesei. That Daedra, Mora or whatever, he's done something to her. Poisoned her mind. Tempted her with fancy spells and the like. We just need to get her away from him. Just try not to think of the person who hit you as your, uh, mother." Lorag said in a voice hinting at some nervousness of his own. Though, his anxiety was at the fact that he was being forced into a position to try to calm a distraught packmate.