Janius laughed along with Nirasi, then gave an encouraging light push to Kaleeth to get her moving as the rest of the pack began to disembark. "That there is, and this is just the harbour. Stay close, it's easy to get separated and lost in these crowds, even with a good nose." The pack waved their final goodbyes and gave thanks to the crew and the captain as they left the ship. Despite the pleasantries, they didn't think they would be eager to see a ship any time soon. At this point especially, their beast spirits were all agitated from the inactivity of the past few weeks and it was giving everyone an edge to their emotions. Sabine had to reel in her own excitement swiftly after they reached the crowds as the noise became close to overwhelming. She decided to hang on to the hand of the nearest pack member in order to not get lost. In this case it was Lorag. Everyone stuck together similarly while they waded through. As had been discussed earlier, Fendros was in the lead, taking the pack to the inn that he had stayed in the last time he was in the city. It was a reasonably priced inn for it's quality, and located close to the things they might need in the market district. Because they only needed to stay to recuperate and purchase some supplies, they would likely only be staying a night before moving out to the wilderness around Weye to hunt. Upon the concerns raised as to the innkeeper recognising Fendros, he mentioned that it had been a few years and the inn was often busy. Nevertheless, Fendros agreed to attempt to grow some facial hair to help mask his identity. He had been meaning to for a while to see if Ahnasha would like it but never committed due to habit, as well as worry about its appearance. So far, it was patchy and thin, but present enough to serve its purpose. It just so happened that the market district was on the other side of the city to the harbour, so the long walk to the inn would take them through the Temple District and Green Emperor Way, right past the tower. As the pack approached the large gate to the Temple District, the Temple of the One loomed out to either sides of their vision. The streets were cleaner here, and the city's iconic double-story houses lined up either side. The cobblestone streets made for an uncomfortable walking surface, one where they had to watch to not roll their ankles. The crowds thinned somewhat as they approached, giving Fendros some space to mention a bit about temple itself. "This is the Temple of the One. This is where the emperors are coronated. It's also where the Septim line ended, when Emperor Martin turned into the avatar of Akatosh to stop the oblivion crisis. Supposedly the massive dragon statue inside is what he turned into after he banished Mehrunes Dagon. That's what my friends used to say anyway." Fendros' tone was a little sceptical, but the temple was no less impressive with its massive domed roof and columns wider than most trees. They might have time to take a look at the statue if everyone felt up to it.

Looking at Lorag, it would be hard to determine if he was as impressed with the sights around him. He had not been to the Imperial City before, but his expression was fairly neutral, even slightly annoyed when they had to push through thicker sections of the crowd by the docks. Then again, it wasn't as if anyone expected Lorag to walk around smiling, and it could have been that he was simply hiding that he was impressed. He kept a firm grip on Sabine's hand, as it would not be easy to find someone if they got lost in such a large and crowded place. Lorag started paying a bit more attention once the pack reached the Temple of the One. There were few who grew up in the Empire that did not know of the monument, or statue, or whatever it really was. Other than the White Gold Tower itself, it was probably the most impressive structure in the entire city, which was sufficient for Lorag to speak up. "Hmph, now that's something I'd like to have seen. Dagon shows up, starts knocking down buildings, stepping on soldiers, with an army of Daedra at his feet. Then all of the sudden, a giant dragon appears out of nowhere and starts goin' toe-to-toe with him. _That_ would be a fight to see. Two giants clawing each other to death for the fate of the world...that's how every war should end." Naturally, Kaleeth was overwhelmed with curiosity in general, but this massive temple in front of them seemed particularly interesting. She had heard of some of the beings and events Fendros described, such as Mehrunes Dagon and the Oblivion Crisis, but most of it was new to her. There was no way for her to ask all of the questions she wanted, or satisfy all of her curiosity, so she simply asked whatever came to mind. "What is a dragon?" She asked curiously.

Looking to Kaleeth, Fendros smiled and gestured for the pack to proceed through the open doors of the temple. The inside was surprisingly cavernous and echoing. A few people milled about, but not for many other reasons except to see the statue. And what a statue it was. Made of stone, the great dragon stood near the far edge of the temple, curling upright as if to be reeling, its wings spread either side of itself, but not extended as that would exceed the breadth of the temple. Fendros estimated it to be at least ten or fifteen times taller than him. Where the wings were level with the walls, it was clear that the building materials were different. It seemed that the roof had been broken at some point and was rebuilt to encase the statue, perhaps higher from the ground than they had been originally. Around the statue were bollards that held up a chain ringing the statue, so the pack couldn't get right up close, but its majesty was present for all to see. "If that were alive, Kaleeth-Rei, that would be a dragon," Fendros explained, pointing to the statue as if jokingly assuming that it was not clear, "I don't know much else about them, except that Akatosh is one, and that they breathe fire." Now it was Sabine's turn to stand agape. She had never even heard of the events that transpired in the temple, much less seen a dragon before. It was the largest statue she had ever seen. Janius stood in silent reverence, but it was not the first he had seen of the avatar of Akatosh's statue.

By this point, awe had become Kaleeth's default expression. Were she not with friends, she likely would have been frightened at the sheer unfamiliarity of her surroundings. She had seen statues before in Ayleid and Argonian ruins, as well as some smaller ones in the cities they had visited, but this monument was far beyond any of those. Even with the brief explanation of what it was, she still had little understanding of the statue's history, but that did not prevent her from admiring it. She could not see too clearly from this distance, but it looked like it was highly detailed, even with individual scales. She supposed that would make sense if this Martin had become the statue, but she could not pretend to understand how that was possible. "I though Black Marsh had big creatures." Kaleeth commented, her general amazement not subsiding. "Something like this would be...scary. You said this is _a_ dragon, does that mean there are more of them somewhere?" She wondered. Meesei nodded. "Yes, there are. I am afraid I do not know a great deal about them though. They returned to Tamriel not too long ago, but they tend to live in the norther parts of Tamriel, like Skyrim. Last time we were in Cyrodiil, I did hear some rumors of dragons flying farther south, but I do not know if they were true. I do know that they are intelligent and ancient beings, and most interestingly, they have their own form of magic called shouting. I...do not remember the name for it in the dragon language. Unfortunately, shouting is not something one can just learn through casual study, so I cannot say much more about it." "Hmm, you said they returned to Tamriel recently? Where were they before?" Kaleeth questioned. "I...do not know that story, unfortunately. All of what I know of them comes from a book I read through a few years ago, and I was mostly focused on the shouting portion." Meesei answered.

"I heard some things about dragons second hand. There were a few people in Bravil who were veterans of the civil war in Skyrim, so they regaled us with stories of dragons." Janius added, not taking his eyes off the statue, "I don't really remember the stories well, but they were terrifying to say the least. Most of what they talked about was the Dragonborn, or whoever. The warrior who hunted these creatures. A hero by all accounts. I'm sure there are books written about it all." As impressive at the statue was, a few moments passed before the pack began to edge onwards. They headed out of and around the temple to Green Emperor way and passed through another large set of double doors. What beheld them there was the base of the tower, the seat of the council and the emperor. From here, the scale of the tower clicked in Sabine's mind when it was compared to the comparatively minuscule guards patrolling around it. Here, they passed the tombs of many old families of the Imperial city, but did not stop to take a look inside the tower itself. Fendros and Janius knew that not much of it was open to the public anyway, so they moved on. The gate to the market district showed the crowds of people becoming dense again. Here, the streets were similar to the temple district, if a little filthier and without the temple in the centre. There were many stalls standing selling almost everything. Behind and around them were shops and warehouses made in the same style as every other building in the city, most with a sign jutting out from the top of the door with a name and a picture of some wares. Fendros was single minded in getting them to an inn, so they didn't stop as they passed through the roiling crowds. Eventually, Fendros found a side street which gave relief from the claustrophobia, and lead the pack through a door to an inn. The sign above it read: *the Emperor's Carafe.* As trying to find a concealed campsite outside of Weye or around the city walls would take too long, they would just have to get up early the next day from the city to start towards Bruma. The interior had a few chatting people by the bar, but was compact compared to most inns. A hearty fire warmed the room from one side, while what space was left was occupied by a few tables and chairs. After Meesei purchased rooms for the night, the pack proceeded upstairs and deposited their less necessary luggage. The rooms could not be described as extravagant, but they were functional. Now all that was left was to plan the rest of the day. Everyone gathered around a table on the ground floor for discussion, and Fendros was the first to speak up. He was to the point with his desires, "While we're here, I'd like for Sabine to get the opportunity to find ingredients to make more of Ariel's remedy. I know of some places in the market district we can try. Would that be alright with you, Sabine?" Though her initial excitement was dampened by the crowd's noise, Sabine nodded enthusiastically. "I'll come too, I might know of some places." Janius said, "Afterwards, if we have time, we might take a walk through the districts and see the sites, seeing as we've booked the rooms already. What are everybody else's thoughts?"

Now that they had finally settled into the inn, the pack had a moment to stop, rest, and plan out what to do next. It was early, but if there were any carriages leaving for Bruma, it was unlikely they would be able to secure spots for the entire pack on such short notice. As such, they would be staying for the night. Meesei would need to find and pay for passage on a carriage at some point before the end of the day, but she had some time to complete that task. For now, she was glad to have the freedom to walk around a place that was not confined to a few rooms. "After being trapped on that ship for the past month, I would love to see the city. Just keep in mind, we'll need to be conservative. I asked the innkeeper about average prices for carriages when I paid for our rooms. There is some variation, but not much. All of the coin we have will barely cover it. To give a safe margin, I would say we will likely have only ten coins leftover total. And in this city...well, you might be able to afford a small amount of the ingredients you need, I hope. Unfortunately, you may need to go without for a while, but we may receive some support once we reach...our destination. I wish there was more I could do." Meesei said regretfully. She had seen the pain that Ahnasha and Fendros were forced to suffer through, and she hated that they might be forced through it again soon.

Fendros frowned and looked down, the corner of his mouth tightening for a moment. "We'll just have to hope that we get lucky with the prices, then." "It only needs two more things," Sabine spoke up, drawing everyone's looks, "If we talk to them, like you and Ahnasha do, to make the price lower..." "Haggle?" Fendros completed for her. "...Yes. We might have enough." Janius seemed a little more optimistic, "Well, it's a good thing that we have all day to shop around." Janius leaned forward, eager to show the city to everyone, "How about everyone else?" Janius looked to Kaleeth, Lorag, and Ahnasha in turn.

"I'll do what I can. Having such a large market might help. More vendors means more competition, and better chances of getting lower prices. Just don't expect a miracle or anything." Ahnasha said. She never liked to make any promises with her haggling ability, as there were always some shopkeepers who were very stubborn with pricing, but she felt like she stood a decent chance of getting what they needed. Kaleeth had no idea where to even begin when it came to saying what she wanted to do in the city, but after they finished buying whatever it was Fendros and Ahnasha needed, she knew she wanted to explore the city further. "I would love to come with you all. I don't know exactly what we can do, but I'm sure it will be exciting. I also know I want to get that ship's...stench out of these clothes. I don't like that we've had to be away from the water for so long." "Clothes? It's in my _fur_. I'd say you all are lucky on that." Ahnasha added with a chuckle. Lorag shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, why not? It's not like I'd be doin' anything here. I doubt we'll be doin' much of anything in the city either without coin, but you never know."

"Then it's settled. Let's see if we can't find these ingredients." Janius stood up from his seat and everyone soon followed. Opening the door caused the sound of the crowds to come forth again. After adjusting, the pack filed out in search of the nearest apothecary. they came upon one that Fendros knew of which was only a couple of lanes down. Inside was a Breton man who greeted them with a smile, "Hello there, friends, how can I help you today?" Gathered around the man were many display cases filled with various premade potions with finely printed labels. Compared to Ariel's shop, this one was far more full and well established. It took some looking around before they spotted a cabinet with some ingredients in them. "Hello there," Fendros approached in earnest, seeing as he was the one who had been going without the full dosage of the remedy for a while. However, he stopped himself and turned to Sabine. "Sabine, can you point out which ingredients you'll need?" Sabine stepped up to the cabinet and took a few moments to search. Eventually, she pointed to a red fungus, and turned to Fendros and Ahnasha. "There is another ingredient needed, but it's not here." The Breton shopkeeper stepped out from behind his counter and looked to the fungus that Sabine had pointed out. "Cinnabar Polypore Yellowcap, fresh from the West Weald. I have a few of those, 8 gold a piece." Sabine looked to Ahnasha pleadingly. That price was heavily inflated. If they could not lower it, they could likely find another for a better price elsewhere. However, this Breton seemed eager to sell them something, perhaps he could be plied a little. While the others did business, Janius decided to give some background to Kaleeth on the area. "Here in the Market District, it's said that you can buy anything in the world. It's probably the most crowded place in the city, but only one section out of several."

Ahnasha looked around at the various ingredients on display while Sabine looked around for the ingredient she was searching for. Ahnasha had little idea what most of them were or what effects they had, but that did not stop her from acting like she did. She looked at the plants and fungi closely, as if examining them for rot or other imperfections. After Sabine identified one of the ingredients and the Breton named his price, Ahnasha looked up at him. "Cinnabar Polypore Yellowcap, you say?" She said, shifting her gaze to Sabine. "That's a local fungus, so it's not hard to obtain. We should be able to find a smaller stand outside selling it fairly easily. I wouldn't pay more than four coins for one. Come on, let's go." She said without uncertainty, and with complete confidence in her tone. She was, of course, bluffing in several ways, and guessing in others. She actually knew nothing about the mushroom apart from what the Breton had just said, but the fact that he said it was from the West Weald _did_ mean that it could be found in Cyrodiil. There were also certainly plenty of other alchemists in the market district, so what she said was definitely believable, and perhaps even true. Now, it was just up to the Breton's response to see how badly he wanted to make a sale. With her utter lack of any mercantile knowledge, Kaleeth simply stayed out of the way of the others as she passed the time speaking with Janius. Now that they had some time, she could perhaps gain a bit more understanding of the city around her. "So...they buy things from other places, then bring them here to sell them, right? It is hard for me to get used to the buying and selling thing. I guess it is easier to carry around those coins than to carry things to trade, though. And if _everyone_ will take the coins in trade, I could be comfortable...selling something for the coins. I would just be worried that I would need something, but the person who has it wouldn't want my coins. With all these people here, though, I guess it works just fine. What are the other sections of the city like? Do they sell things there too?"

"Hold on, please!" The Breton put up a hand. He was taken off guard at first, probably having assumed that the varied group were made up of tourists. It seemed he would not get his full price so easily. "I can see you know your way around ingredients such as these. I'll sell it for six gold." His friendly smile returned, "It's fresh and of premium quality. Not all stalls will have this size for such a price." Sabine's eyes skipped between Ahnasha's and the Breton's as they talked in turn. She didn't know why merchants would put their prices higher than people were willing to buy for, but at least her sister Ahnasha knew how to drive them down to honesty with words. Sabine could hardly understand how. Kaleeth made a good point with mentioning out things that weren't for sale, but Janius believed that fear would pass once they had a walk through the market district further and saw the true extent of the wares on sale. It was just a shame that they wouldn't have money to purchase anything. At a volume that wouldn't disturb the negotiations, Janius answered Kaleeth's question. "Some do, but not as much as in the market. A few are just where people live, along with a few inns or specialist shops; one is a great garden; one holds an arena for watching fighting for sport; there's also a mages university, though not much of it is open to the public; you've seen the harbour, the temple, and the tower... I think it's just that and the prison. We'll do a circuit and see most of the other sections after Sabine finds what she needs."

Ahnasha maintained her confident demeanor, but spoke in a polite tone in her response. "I appreciate the compromise, but it is still more than I can do. The size of the mushroom isn't of great concern to us, but rather that we also get the complimentary ingredient we need. It is indeed a fine specimen, but at that price, it is not what we need. The smaller one over there, however, we would be happy to buy for four septims." Ahnasha said, motioning to another one of the mushrooms. It was noticeably smaller than the one he was trying to sell them, but Sabine would end up running out of another ingredient first anyway, so its size was not actually important. Janius' description of the different sections of the city emphasized to Kaleeth exactly how unfamiliar with the world outside her homeland she still was. Many of the words he used she did not really understand. She had heard most of them, but could not precisely connect them to their meaning. "Garden" was a word she vaguely remembered relating somehow to plants, but her village had fields and crops, not gardens. He said the arena was for watching fights, but she had no kind of reference for what an arena actually was. She could infer what harbor and temple meant from what she had already seen, but prison and university were entirely unfamiliar. "Okay, that sounds fun, but what is a garden, and an arena...and a university...and a prison?" She asked, becoming slightly embarrassed at her lack of knowledge.

The Breton stood looking at the smaller piece for a few moments. He took a slow breath in as he considered. Ahnasha had surely backed him into a corner with this, but he might be able to fight for a greater price. On the other hand, it was not often that people willingly bought the smaller samples, and this customer was a fine haggler. "Done," he concluded, snapping his eyes back to Ahnasha. In the moments that followed, the Breton took a pair of tongs and placed the fungus in some rough fabric, tying it in twine. The coins were exchanged and the pack had its ingredient. As they walked out of the store, Sabine held the wrapped ingredient in both hands and smiled to Ahnsaha. "Thank you, sister. You are great at making prices lower." Janius raised an eyebrow and a smile, but was understanding of Kaleeth's ignorance by this point. It was fair, of course. The Imperial City was probably one of the furthest things from Kaleeth's village on this plane. Between the transaction and moving out of the store, Janius did his best to answer all of Kaleeth's queries. He sighed before starting, thinking of a good beginning, "Okay, well, a garden is like an area of plants that has been arranged by people to be a beautiful and relaxing space. The Arboretum is the official name of the district with the great garden. An arena is like a clear circle on the floor for people to fight in, with seats ringed around it for others to watch. It's an impressive building. A university is a large place for people to learn, teach, or research. The Arcane University almost exclusively revolves around the field of magic." Janius squinted one eye, trying to recollect, "What was the last one...? Ah, right, a prison. A prison is a secure building where people are detained if they are criminals. We'll not be going there, it's closed to the public, out of the way...and not particularly pleasant." It wasn't long before Fendros slowed down and turned to Janius. "Do you know any close apothecaries? The nearest one I know is on the other side of the district." "Yes, I know a closer one. A few stalls sell ingredients that we might find, but if we have no luck, there's one a few blocks north-west." Janius promptly took the lead as they continued. Passing by the stalls had the pack amongst the crowds again, but they were sticking together fairly effectively. They passed by the area where vegetable vendors congregated, then craft vendors, then meat vendors. It was here that Fendros suddenly came across something which gave him some trouble. A Bosmeri merchant had something of a grisly display for his stall; he was selling offal, in its various forms, from a wooden box shaped like a smiling pig on its back. The offal was roughly placed in the box's hollow belly in positions that they might have been if one had similarly opened a real pig. The scene triggered a flash to an image of Ahnasha on the torture chamber in Fendros' mind. It was then that he was taken by sudden nausea, followed by a quick breathing and panic. He put a hand on Ahnasha's shoulder and tried not to look at the box, but was looking down and seemed incredibly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, can we stop for a moment?" The pack slowed to a stop, but they were obstructing nearby shoppers. Fendros was beginning to pale, his eyes looked up to a nearby alleyway. "Let's...let's just get out the crowd for a bit. I need to breathe."

Kaleeth was at least familiar with the concept of crime. As much as her village worked together, the people within were not perfect. They had their own forms of laws, and when someone broke one of those laws, they did face punishment. They did not have prisons like Janius described, but she understood the concept. With all of the people in the city, even if only a few of them were criminals, she could imagine that even the prison would be crowded. Although she was curious, the other parts of the city seemed far more appealing. "So this garden, the... Arboretum, it is a place made just to be beautiful? That sounds wonderful. With how big and impressive this city is, I can only imagine that their garden would be just as amazing. We should make sure to go there. And that University sounds like a place Meesei should go, with how much she loves magic. The arena...well, I don't think I want to go there. You said it is there just for people to fight in it? Why would anyone want to do that? It sounds awful." Kaleeth said as they were walking along after Janius gave Fendros directions to another apothecary. However, it was not long before something seemed to go wrong with Fendros, causing the group to duck out of the crowd into a nearby alleyway. Ahnasha did not have to guess at what was wrong. The things that gave her issues were different from what bothered him, but the effects were the same. She had been killing and skinning creatures for far longer than Fendros, so their experiences did not cause that to trigger her memories. However, they had not killed and eaten a person since their ordeal, and she was not quite certain how she would handle that. However, for the moment, she just wanted to help keep him calm. She said nothing, but instead shifted Rhazii to carry him on her hip, then wrapped her other arm around him once they were out of sight of most of the crowd. She remained silent as she stared into his eyes sympathetically, doing her best to remain calm in the hopes that he adopted her mood.

In the alleyway, Fendros could hardly think. He felt as much like screaming and running as he felt as though he was going to throw up. Even in the clearer air and space, he could hardly breathe. He stood fairly still with Ahnasha's arm around him, his eyes wide and looking at one of the grey walls either side of them. Ahnasha's eyes caught his gaze, though, and he took a minute to slow his breathing and his heart rate. For all the times that Fendros had attempted to calm Ahnasha after one of her nightmares, she was still capable of doing the same for him. For a moment he smiled gratefully at Ahnasha, despite some of the nausea remaining. The rest of the pack were waiting patiently and some were looking sympathetically as well, but now that he had his wits back, Fendros felt rather humiliated. It was just a painted box with some liver, tripe, and intestines in it. It was nothing he hadn't seen before. Why was it something so harmless that made him panic? Was it because he had not been taking the remedy as recommended? He frowned and began to feel suddenly very tired and frustrated with himself. "Alright, I think I'm okay now. I apologise." Fendros said, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. He turned to the rest of the pack, "I actually think I need to go and lie down. I'll head back to the inn. Janius knows his way around." Even though Fendros was well aware that no one would believe him to be unwell physically, he hoped they would be understanding enough to know what was going through his mind. Janius angled his head, "Well, okay. Are you sure you don't want to have a look around the rest of the city with us? You might feel better once we get out of the crowds." "I'm quite sure, thank you, Janius." Fendros put up a hand reassuringly. "Very well. The apothecary is nearby, I think the next destination in our tour will be the arena district. We don't have to go and see a fight, but the building is still impressive. Shall we move on?"

Ahnasha did not move away from Fendros, as she was not intent on going with the others. Instead, she grabbed his hand in hers and looked at him with some concern. "I'll come with you. I wouldn't mind relaxing, and it's not as if the city is too exciting without coin to spend. I'm sure the others will be able to get the last ingredient with the coins I saved on the last one." She said. It was hard to say if Fendros wanted to be alone or not, but she hoped he would not mind her joining him. If he insisted, she could go with the others to help bargain, but she felt like she wanted to spend some time alone with him, something that had been nearly impossible aboard the ship. Meesei gave an understanding nod to Fendros. She looked forward to the day that they would be able to dedicate the time they needed to finding a way to help both him and Ahnasha, but until then, these temporary measures like the potion would have to suffice. However, she did not know how easy it would be to get the other ingredient with the coins they had, as she had little knowledge on the specifics of mercantile. As such, she turned to Sabine questioningly once Ahnasha indicated that she wanted to join Fendros. "How rare is the other ingredient we will need? Do you think it will be more expensive than the mushroom?"

Given that Fendros' original intention was to find a quiet space to calm down, he actually preferred the notion of Ahnasha coming with him. However, he knew that without either of them, the pack wouldn't have the best hagglers on hand, so he waited for Sabine's answer before indicating either way. "They aren't rare. It's just dried sheep brain." Sabine said with a shake of her head, "We don't need much." Fendros managed a smile at that. "In that case," he turned to Ahnasha, "that would be very nice." Fendros ran the thumb of his held hand against Ahnasha's and began to walk. "We'll see you in a few hours," Janius mentioned before the pair separated from the rest of the pack. On their way back, Fendros was mostly quiet. He kept trying to take his mind off the incident, but it was still fresh in his mind. When they were climbing the stairs of the inn to reach their room, he finally spoke. "It was just a stupid pig box. Why did it set me off like that?" He said, not quiet shouting, but clearly frustrated. The others made quick work of finding the last ingredient. The very next apothecary they came across was actually overstocked on sheep brain, so no haggling at all was required to get a price of three gold. They made their way to the next district promptly afterwards. The open gates revealed a large circular building with many flags atop its roof. The building wasn't quite as tall as the Temple of the One, but it was nearly twice as wide. The area surrounding it was mostly lawns, paths and the road. As the pack walked forth, there was a cheer of a crowd from inside the building. "Sounds like there's a fight going on right now," Janius remarked.

Ahnasha was not entirely sure how to approach Fendros' question. She knew that she couldn't handle talking about their experience in-depth, but it wasn't as if she could avoid it entirely. Obviously, it was the memory of seeing her in a mutilated state that upset him, but why the pig organs brought it back up in his mind was not something she could answer for sure. She had a guess, but really no way of knowing if she was right. "If you're wondering why it bothered you and not me...I can't say I know for sure. Maybe it's because I've been hunting for a lot longer than you. I've been skinning animals since I could hold a bow, so it's just something that is natural to me. It's routine, like maintaining hygiene. You picked up the skill a lot more recently. I have more trouble if something reminds me of, well, _me_ being in that state. Maybe there is a way to...work through it or something? You've skinned and cut up animals since our...ordeal, so maybe if you keep doing it enough, you won't have this problem again?" Ahnasha reasoned. After they reached their room, she closed the door behind them and took a seat on the bed. "I just wonder what is going to happen the next time we cut up a person." The reaction to seeing the arena was mixed among the pack. While the structure itsel was impressive, Meesei had little interest in it. She was aware of the different kinds of bloodsport that was reputed to take place inside, and while she did not have a particular problem with it, she was not greatly interested. Lorag seemed to look at its walls with more interest, but without gold to bet, there really was no point in watching a fight. Kaleeth, however, looked confused at the cheering coming from inside. In her village, fighting was not something done for entertainment, but rather training, so cheering for one seemed peculiar. "Why are they cheering like that? It's almost like they're happy."

Fendros sighed slowly as he sat down beside Ahnasha. He looked at the ground while he responded, "I guess that might help. I know I didn't have any trouble before, but the thought of cutting up a person doesn't sound...like something I would be able to do anymore. At least, not now." Fendros sucked in a breath through his teeth, "People other than Khajiits, maybe, but every time I see something like that, I see you and it..." Fendros stopped himself escalating any further. He closed his eyes and bowed his head forward for a few moments, before looking up and leaning back onto the bed with his hands on his front. "This is hard, but it is embarrassing as well." "Well, sometimes the fights can be exciting to watch," Janius answered simply, "The fights in the arena can be bloody and brutal, but the combatants are really there to put on an entertaining show. There's also the gambling." Janius quickly realised that Kaleeth might not know the concept and explained before she could ask. "Sometimes people put money into a pot and declare that they believe that one combatant will triumph over another in a future arena fight. If that person is right, he gets to take out more money than he put in. If he's wrong, he gets no money. That's gambling. It can be fun in and of itself, but some people take it too far and lose a lot of money." The pack's interests were clearly unanimously elsewhere at this point, so Janius decided to skip past the arena's entrance and move on to the Arboretum. Before they reached the gate, they passed two statues on either side of the arena. One was of a pointing man with undone manacles in his other hand, and the other was of a stoic woman in an armoured dress. Janius pointed each of them out as Morihaus and Saint Alessia. "Those two have a lot of history in Cyrodiil."

Ahnasha laid down beside Fendros, holding Rhazii between them. Even if it was a serious matter, she wanted to avoid turning the conversation to the same kind of depressed, and even painful tone that they always ended up with whenever they talked about it. She wanted to keep at least some kind of good spirit in her response. "You think it's embarrassing for you? Try being me in all of this. It's hard to maintain the image of a strong and independent hunter when you're cowering in fear at your own thoughts." After a few moments, Ahnasha let out a sigh and turned her head to face him. She placed a hand on his cheek, turned his head toward her, then pressed her forehead against his. "Look, once we get to the pack in Bruma...maybe we will find someone there who can. It had plenty of members from all over, and we might just get lucky. Until then, we'll just take the remedy when we can, and comfort each other for the rest of the time." "Well...I guess that makes sense." Kaleeth answered, somewhat unconvinced. "I mean, fighting is a serious and dangerous thing. I don't see how someone could watch it for entertainment, but...I guess they are different from me." She concluded. As the others were starting to walk off, she looked up at the arena one more time. "For all those people, they must have a really big pot for all that gold." She remarked before following. As they approached the statues, only Lorag and Janius actually recognized who they depicted, though Lorag was not exactly interested in a history lesson. Kaleeth of course did not recognize them, but that was to be expected. Meesei knew of the people the statues represented, but she could not actually identify them just by sight. Given her interest in history, Meesei was actually spoke up before Kaleeth could. "Who are they? I have read some Cyrodilic history, but I would not know what most of its important figures look like. Mostly, I can only recognize its Emperors, like Tiber Septim."