The meeting that night was a long and fatigued one, but the number of immediate issues that needed to be addressed and prioritised demanded such. Everyone left with a list of responsibilities that they had to deal with, starting from the very next day. In light of Meesei's desire to try and find Harriet, Oswall opted to take responsibility for guarding her prisoner for the foreseeable future. One of the more important points, one that took much of the discussion, was picking new lieutenants.

In his physically weakened state, Darahil had taken it upon himself to assess the competence of various promising alphas in the clan. His short-list was mercifully few, but Darahil was nothing if not thorough in his analysis. By the end of it all, any political agenda Darahil might have had was completely rebuked by his well-rounded and scathing criticism of those he deemed worthy. Discussion went on and on, eliminating one or two contenders before calling the remainder into the meeting room to ask questions of them. The final two were eventually selected after more private discussion amongst the council. The general consensus was that the best would be the ones to cover the weaknesses left by the loss of Jerrick and Harriet, while at the same time bringing their own passion, creativity, and aptitude to the table.

The first was a stout Breton woman named Pierrette Mousara, an alpha with skills and experience primarily in farming and logistics. She had a keen foresight, especially where supplies and treasury were concerned. The second was an Imperial-raised Nord warrior, Tola Corvus, who had been instructing martial arts alongside Harriet for years now. She had a knack for establishing rapport with others and would be a fine negotiator as well as a skilled fighter.

Almost immediately, the new lieutenants were put to work. Ceremony was not something that the clan made a habit of with regards to leadership. Even if they did, it would not be the most appropriate time to do so.

The next day, Meesei was able to treat enough people in the infirmary that she would organise her hunting party the next day with no concerns. Fendros and Kaleeth's wounds were serious enough that they were in no shape to track anything down by that time, but Lorag and Ahnasha were well enough. Meesei was able to find some hunters to pad her numbers easily. Janius opted to stay behind until he was sure that Kaleeth would not transform, but that was more for the sake of Kaleeth's sense of safety than it was for the possibility that she would lose control. Sabine, of course, was left out again, though this time it was because she was virtually depended upon by the alchemists to help brew healing potions and medicines for the infirmary. Rather than complain, Sabine seemed to be comparatively thriving with the routine of it all.

The hunt itself was a gruelling few days. They tracked at a fast pace back down the many tracks of the warband as it had poured back to the clan home. There were no tracks from Harriet that seemed to stand out, at least none that deviated from the original path. The day brought them back to the hurriedly hidden cache of weapons and armour that the warband had left behind, and they found it disturbed. There was a dusting of snow that covered Harriet's movements, but it was clear that she had stolen some warm clothing, weapons and supplies, and then left in a rush. What was left was pocked with the beginnings of rust, but the clan would send some teams to pick it all up before it perished.

Searching around found a faint trail that headed south, then drifted slightly to the east. That trail continued down the hill country for two more days, drifting further east until it appeared that Harriet was aiming for the north-east end of the Lake Rumare if she kept her course. On the end of the fourth day, the decision was made to head back. They were already out of clan territory and the distance they were gaining on Harriet was not worth the effort. It was a bitter defeat, but Harriet would not be a threat to the clan as she was.

Meesei came back to a freshly fortified clan home. The laquering on the new gate and hoardings were being laid on as they approached. It was certainly more formidable looking. Oswall's proud explanation of the improvements confirmed that sentiment.

By that point, much of the crisis driven activity had been resolved, so Meesei's pack found time to relax, train, and integrate themselves properly into life with the clan. Unfortunately for Meesei, her work as an honorary lieutenant was almost endless. Between juggling attempts at altering the clan structure to reduce factionalism and organising envoys to other packs in the region and other clans further out, her days were as full as all in the leadership.

One thing that had to be settled quickly was the Nord prisoner Meesei had taken from the mercenaries. According to the guards, she had been heard crying during the night when no one was looking. She was a resistant prisoner, never trusting any of her captors. By the time Meesei reached her, she was thin, bleary-eyed, and reeked of sweat and body odour. Her name was Arnora, and she was forthcoming with all she knew; she was a mercenary in one of the bands hired to clear out the clan home. Their band was trained by a werewolf hunter and were given silver weapons, preparing for an entire month to attack. Their employer was the regally dressed man who was killed during the counter attack, but there were no leads on his person as to any higher-level orders. The attackers weren't meant to be flanked like they were. They were meant to flush out a hideout of savage shape shifters who wouldn't be prepared for them. That fell to pieces halfway through. She had heard rumours about an informant within the hideout, but was never privy to that information. She was just a soldier. Far from being okay with her situation now, she refused to trust Meesei. The reason she cited was the cannibalism that she had witnessed.

Once all the useful information had been gained from Arnora, the council agreed to release her, but Vera insisted on bathing and provisioning her first. It was a sentiment of forgiveness that was not unanimous amongst the council, given that Arnora was part of the attack against them, but she was the leader and her word was law. Arnora was last seen being escorted to Bruma with fresh clothes, some food and drink, and enough coins to go somewhere. She didn't share with anyone what her plans were exactly, but she did insist that she was done with mercenary work. She waited until the last moment to reluctantly thank Meesei and Vera for their mercy.

Fendros was able to walk again after a week, but he required a crutch. His training was largely restricted to less physical activity for the time being. Kaleeth was not as deeply wounded, so she was able to step out of bed a few days after Meesei's hunting party returned. Her wounds did make her sore for a while, but her recovery was all but complete. Janius had spent the time focussing on meditative and calming techniques. Such things were not useful in a combat situation, but Janius had often turned to them to help with more general anxieties and tried to keep Kaleeth levelled. There had been no word from Najirra to any of the pack as of yet, but further inquiry revealed that many who had lost family in the attack were walking in and out of his chambers. He was probably helping people all day.

Sabine was perhaps the most active of the pack for a change. As soon as another pack was due to rotate into Bruma, she had prepared a letter to send to Ariel with the help of her pack-mates to write it. Working with other alchemists some of the day and making friends closer to her age in the rest of the day had awoken something new in her. She was becoming more confident with her speech, she was picking up pieces of slang that the other teenagers used, and less time was committed to practising the magic that Meesei had taught her. When questioned about her floundering commitment to her training, Sabine became surprisingly defensive. She didn't look Meesei in the eye, complained about wanting to be on her own and always needing to do this, that, or keeping an eye on Rhazii. On one occasion even ended up storming off in a huff. At the time, Janius was training Leaps-On-Elves across the same chamber and remarked with a laugh out of Sabine's earshot that it was about time she was a teenager. Meesei was able to reel her in after that, but her rebellious spirit was not getting any weaker.

[hr]
A full two and a half weeks had passed since the attack. The pack was gathered for lunch in the dining hall. The able-bodied of the pack had been scheduled to some menial labour during that morning, but they were free for the rest of the day. Sabine was a special case as she did so much for the alchemists that she was unofficially giving her full contribution through them, so she had spent that morning with some of her friends. Most of the rest of the pack were chatting amongst themselves or with other packs, but Fendros noticed that Sabine was looking more deflated than usual. She was eating slowly and had her legs drawn up in front of her like she usually did when she was anxious. She hadn't done that for a while.

"Hoy, Sabine, what has got you in such a mood today?" Fendros asked while bouncing Rhazii in his arms to make the cub open his mouth in joy.

Sabine hummed flat a note to herself quietly. She considered her response as she slowly chewed on a slice of goat leg.

"Did something happen with you're friends today?"

Sabine turned her head slightly towards Fendros, but stopped short of looking at him directly. "How do you tell if..." Sabine stopped herself and shook her head. She took another bite from her meal and tried to dismiss the issue.

Fendros thought for only a moment before smiling knowingly and leaning over to Ahnasha. "A boy," he said as if it were boring routine.

Sabine's face scrunched in anger and she cringed further to try and hide. A red flush was creeping up her face.

"Leave her alone, Fendros, I'm sure she has it all worked out," Janius remarked from across the fire they were gathered around.