Meesei could not claim to have all of the answers to her packs concerns, or even a few of them, but she did have some thoughts on how to approach the issue. "I believe we will just need to appeal to their sense of self-interest. If we can make them believe that focusing on Clavicus Vile will benefit them the most, then that is what they will do." She commented. As they lacked any real information on the specific cult they were after, they could not really make any more specific plans until they reached the cult's lair. 

The rainy season was nearing its end, so the journey to Gideon was not quite as difficult as the one to Stormhold. They moved much more quickly, but even so, it took several weeks of travel before they started to get close to the city. In that time, Rhazii grew rapidly, moreso than one would expect for a child of another race. Of course, he started out smaller than a human or elven child as well, but now he was just slightly larger than a human child of the same age. It was clear he was becoming a Cathay. Additionally, the patterns in his fur were just starting to form. Like Ahnasha, they consisted of black lines and spots, but they were still too faint for them to tell what they would look like. The only thing Ahnasha was sure of was that Rhazii was difficult to take care of. The books were helpful on giving them techniques to calm him down and keep him happy, but being in the marsh, he was more uncomfortable at all times than the authors of those books expected. The heat and humidity caused him no small measure of discomfort, which passed on Ahnasha. Even so, she was bearing through it. Fendros was of immense help whenever he could be, so she had some time to relax...not that she actually used it for relaxing. Whenever she wasn't taking care of Rhazii, Ahnasha was training. Her bow, acrobatics, magic, swordplay, anything she had been neglecting during her pregnancy, she doubled her efforts on now. With the danger they were going to be stepping into, she would need to be ready. 

Similarly, Janius and Meesei had to spend quite a lot of time helping Kaleeth learn to control her beast spirit. A few days after leaving Stormhold, she was once again feeling the urge to turn, as well as some aggression towards other members of the pack. She tried to become closer to the others to lessen her beast spirit's tendency to see them as competitors, but it was difficult to get past her beast spirit's lack of pack instincts. She made sure to transform regularly to mitigate her aggression, but she always felt it creeping up again after a few days. Still, she couldn't deny that she was improving. With luck, and a lot of practice, she would one day be able to gain the same level of control as the others. 

As usual, the pack made its camp in the driest place they could find. It would be a few days before they would reach Gideon, but they were drawing near to their destination, or at least they assumed so. Meesei only planned to take them into the city for a few hours so she could ask around about the locations of Xanmeer in the area. Whichever one was most directly east would be their first target. For now, they were all finding some way to pass the time. For Meesei and Janius, they were about to take Kaleeth out for another transformation and training session. As usual, Kaleeth packed away her belongings and walked to the edge of camp with Janius while Meesei readied herself. "What do you plan on trying this time?" She asked. "I'm sorry for biting you last time...but at least I stopped myself from biting too hard. At least I am getting better. Meesei got rid of the scar, right?"

Meanwhile, Ahnasha walked a short distance from the camp to the nearest source of water with Rhazii and Fendros and sat down by the riverbank. She let her feet soak in the water while she nursed Rhazii. She had been given plenty of opportunities to bond with him, but as much as possible, she wanted to give Fendros those chances as well. They were already to the point that he could usually calm him down if he was crying, as long as he wasn't hungry. "So...we're getting close, aren't we. How do you think this is going to go, with this cult I mean. Rhazii obviously can't go anywhere near that cult, but with how dangerous it will be, Meesei can't just afford to leave good fighters behind. That could end up getting someone killed."