Although the two drivers had a head-start, Meesei could run faster, and for longer. As well, it seemed that the pair had not counted on a lycan’s tracking ability, because they had stopped to catch their breath a few minutes after getting out of sight. Meesei was silent as she approached, so by the time they spotted her, she was too close for them to be able to run away effectively. 

The Nord woman stood between Meesei and her son protectively, though her only weapon was a small dagger. “You…you’re all werewolves, aren’t you? I saw those beasts on the shore; I recognize them from the stories. Just…get away from us, you monster!” She shouted, waving her dagger at Meesei. 

“We have no desire to harm you; either of you. There has been ample opportunity throughout our journey for us to kill you, but we have not. We just want to get to…” Meesei began, but she was cut off when the Nord began to shout once more.

“No! I’m not believing your lies! The tales say you can turn us into one of those monsters; I’m not trusting you for a second. The Legion will slay all of you beasts!” She yelled defiantly. 

Meesei had seen such stubbornness before. Particularly among Nords, tradition was important, so all of those stories she had heard about lycans would be far more important to her than anything Meesei could say. She would not be dissuaded, and more importantly, it seemed like she intended to alert the Legion. 

Adopting a more firm, threatening stance, Meesei glared at the Nord. “So you intend to alert the Imperial City guard about what we are?”

The Nord stepped back, suddenly realizing the mistake she had just made. “No, no, I’m not…I won’t…I just want you all to get away from us. We won’t tell the Legion…”

“No.” Meesei interrupted. “I do not believe you. You see myself and my family as monsters for just being what we are. I believe that, the moment you are away from us, you will tell the guard everything. You know who we are, where we are going, and where we came from. You are going to attempt to hurt my family, and I will [i]not[/i] let that happen.”

---

Pieter, again, had a hard time finding the right words. He was just as shaken as Sabine by the whole affair, though he did not have as strong of a connection to Leaps as she did. The wamasu was a rather large and tough creature; surely with Irenya's healing, he would be able to recover? Since the arrow had not been immediately lethal, it did give him hope that was the case. It meant that Irenya would have ample opportunity to mend the damaged flesh. 

Seeing Sabine in such a state, and the thoughts of what might have happened, brought a few tears to Pieter's eyes as well, though he tried to hold them back. Letting out a deep breath, he hugged Sabine. "It was...too close. Leaps will be fine, I know it. Irenya is the best healer I know."

Newt had not seen everything as clearly as Rhazii, so he was more confused than frightened. For Ahnasha, however, she was trying to do what she could to calm Rhazii. She held him close to try and allow him to be comforted by his mother's embrace. Although, at his age, calming his fears was not as simple as it used to be. "Only the bad people were burned, and the fire is gone now. If you want, we can go back in the water; no fire will ever get you there."

After some time of silence, the bandit leader just started shaking her head. "it was not supposed to be a fight. We were just meant to get in, get some things, and get out. There was an opportunity; we had to take it. No one was supposed to die."