It was only then that Sabine realised what Peiter did not know. "Right, I never told you. One of the reasons that we went to Black Marsh was because Meesei wanted me to talk to the Hist so I wouldn't be afraid and nervous all of the time. There was also a number of trials and a ritual, but I spoke to them. Or, not 'spoke'. More...thought with them? There are not words to describe it." Sabine shrugged, "I do not know if it would work for Tzirret or not. It worked for me because there were memories in my life that made me scared all the time. Tzirret might have bad memories of his own."

Janius didn't realise that he was holding his breath until he sighed with relief. "Very good. Thank you, Colours," Janius said genuinely. Janius gave Kaleeth a glance and considered apologising to her for bringing her here, but he believed that she needed to see the influence of skooma first hand to be truly trusted with moon sugar. Janius hoped the sight impacted her similarly to the first time he saw the inside of a skooma den in Bravil. For now, he waited quietly for the woman to return. If Kaleeth didn't want the sugar either, they could pass it off to Ahnasha or, as mentioned before, throw it into the dock water.

Peiter scratched his head, obviously confused. "I'm...not really sure how you go about talking to a tree. Or thinking with them. I'll just have to trust you on that one. At least you were able to get what you needed out of it. Lycans so often have problems with their memories, I wish we could give that solution to them all. Tzirret, I know he doesn't really like to talk about it. He doesn't like to talk about a lot of things, but I think it relates to his turning. He always skirts around that topic in conversation. If I had to guess, his caravan was attacked by werewolves. The same thing happened to me and, well, seemingly half the others in the clan. Tzirret was a lot younger than me when it happened, though. We just have to support him however we can."

Once the Argonian woman exchanged the bottle for a pouch of moon sugar, she returned quickly. Kaleeth just wanted to get out of the place quickly, so she had counted out the correct amount of coin during the wait. The two made the exchange, then the woman motioned towards the door to the back room. "Would you all still like a private room?" She asked.

Kaleeth shook her head. "Oh, no. I...don't think that privacy will be needed for just moon sugar. We will probably just go." She answered.

The Argonian nodded, thankfully believing the excuse. "Of course, that is fine. But, if you ever find yourself with the coin, you know where you can find us."

The three started to leave, though Colors could not help but to turn back and give his own farewell. "I certainly regret that I could not engage in your services today, my dear, but I promise you will be the first person I talk to next time I return."

Kaleeth left immediately with Janius, allowing Colors to catch up once they were out of the building. She clutched the bag of moon sugar tightly, and overall seemed unsettled. Once they were out of earshot of the guard, she finally spoke up. "Did you know it was going to be like that, Janius?"

Sabine grinned at Peiter's confusion. She shouldn't have expected him to understand. She hummed in agreement with the idea of supporting Tzirret, but paused such that the topic seemed to fade away.

Only half an effort was made by Sabine to then come up with something else to say. She kept getting distracted by just looking at Peiter. For lack of anything better, she asked a simple question, "What is your favourite food?"

Even though Janius did not display as much haste to leave as Kaleeth, he was just as glad to be out of the building as she was. He responded to her calmly, "Yes, I did. There are such places in Bravil that I had seen before."

Peiter quickly started to laugh. "Run out of ideas, have you?" He joked as he brought up his hand to her cheek. "Don't worry, you don't need to force a conversation anymore. I could lay here in your arms forever, were it an option. I just wonder what the others will think? If they're anything like Tzirret, they'll probably be expecting it."

After a short delay, Peiter added another comment. "Oh, and it's mammoth. Hard to find in the south, but rather good."

There was a delay before Kaleeth could find the words to respond. She looked away, contemplating as she looked into the bag of moon sugar in her hands. She was not happy about being brought to this place, that much she was sure of, but she did not know what to think about Janius. He had not been the one to bring her there, but if he knew about it, then surely he could have stopped her before they took the time to visit such a foul place. When she looked back to him, her expression showed her frustration. She locked eyes with him, and every so slightly bared her teeth. "If you knew, then why would you let Colors take us there? You couldn't have thought I would actually like that place?"

Sabine didn't follow up her opinion on what the others would think about her and Peiter being together. She didn't care. "I do not know if there is a name for my favourite food, it is meats and spices in a flatbread that Redguards make." Before Peiter could say anything more, Sabine stopped the conversation by bringing her head forward and kissing him deeply. Not forcing the chat was a good idea to her.

"Of course not," Janius said, remaining on a level tone, "But now you know the truth about skooma and moon sugar addiction. No words I could have said would tell you as much. I apologise if it was distressing," Janius certainly didn't sound very apologetic. He tried hard to not show his growing regrets in taking Kaleeth to the den, as it sounded like she would be staying cross for a while.

Kaleeth stopped where she was and stared Janius squarely in the eye. The glare she gave told that she did not find his explanation to be particularly acceptable. "Why? Why did I have to see that? Why couldn't you just explain it? Do you not think that I trust you...or do you not trust me? I can understand things if you explain them to me, I don't have to be shown an example. I'm not some naive child anymore, not like when you met me. I'm starting to think that you still want me to act like that."

A moment later, Colors managed to catch back up, after having been caught in a brief conversation back in the skooma den. "There you are, I..." He began, but once he noticed Kaleeth's angered expression, he put it together with her reaction back in the den and realized rather quickly what was going on. "...think I'll be going back to the ship. Yeah, um, we'll talk later." He said as he slinked away from the pair.

Janius did not stop Colours from leaving. He didn't even acknowledge him. Colours had taken the hint.

At this point, Janius was almost losing his patience with Kaleeth. The claims she was making were ridiculous. "I've lost friends to skooma, Kaleeth. Do you think I wouldn't try everything in my power to keep you away from it, even if it was patronising?!" Janius hissed through his teeth and gestured randomly, frustrated, "Colours made it sound like so much fun, the way he talks of it so casually!"

This was the first time Janius had raised his voice in a long while. It was not in his nature to get as riled up as this, unlike Fendros. Although, it probably wouldn't do well in placating Kaleeth.

Kaleeth crossed her arms in her frustration. To her, Janius was being stubborn, and almost condescending. She did not like to fight, but she was a more confident person than she had been in the past. This whole situation made her feel like she wasn't trusted. "Do you really think that I'd trust that scoundrel over you: my mate?"

As Janius had returned her anger with his own, Kaleeth was now fully baring her teeth at him. "I could understand if I had argued with you or something. If I had already agreed to do something like that without knowing what it would do to me, I'd understand...or even expect you to do something like that. I'd be grateful. But you didn't even give me a chance. You didn't even try to explain it; you just assumed that I'd be too stupid to understand and made me come all the way to that wretched place. I need you to actually trust me."

Nearly growling, but settling for clenching his jaw, Janius brought his hands up and quickly ran them through his hair, looking away. When his hands fell to his sides, he brought them up against his hips and faced Kaleeth again still cross. "Alright, you know what? What are you going to do with that moon sugar, then?" Janius wasn't shouting, but he still sounded angry. Janius has trusted his past friends too.

"Alright what? You agree with me, or you just don't want to argue about it?" Kaleeth huffed. Opening up the bag, she looked inside and took in its scent. The wine the previous day had been wonderful, thanks to the sugar in it. She did not feel too great for a while after it had worn off, but she felt perfectly normal at the moment. She just wanted to have more of it, but thanks to the situation with the skooma, she was having doubts about all of it.

"I don't know, that depends. What can it do to me? Can you at least tell me that?" Kaleeth asked.

Janius curled his lip, glancing away for a moment. He supposed he could spell it out for Kaleeth, even after showing her the end result. He opened his mouth with a tsk and breathed in. "Much the same as yesterday. A few hours of euphoria, then a period of coming down that can make you feel ill or irritable, and then..." Janius shook his head, "...then you get the desire to do it again, the process repeats. However, if you have enough, the regular amount doesn't work quite as well, so you take more at a time. The euphoria increases, you feel more ill, the desire to have more afterwards increases. Before long, you are taking up more and more time for moon sugar." Janius turned to one side, taking a step and moving one hand in a circular motion. "You have more, your desire increases, you spend more gold, you spend more time, you get more ill, but it still does less and less, so what happens?" Janius turned to Kaleeth again, his calm tone fading again. He gesticulated with each line, conducting his explanation with fervor, "You can't take more moon sugar at once, so you search for something more powerful. That's when your dealer gives you skooma. At this point, you cannot escape, even if you were a responsible person before, because your addiction is so powerful. You crave more, you need more. You find yourself having to maintain the euphoria for as long as possible because coming down from it makes you feel so ill and violent that you have to escape. You wake up, you take more, you take more until you fall asleep the night after! All of your time is spent in a den like this one. You have to steal or hurt others to get gold because you cannot be trusted to work. Eventually you don't even eat because you're so addicted. You die in the most drawn out, tragic way imaginable because you give up everything else, one by one. That is what those people inside were; addicts. They could all have been the most level, kind hearted, trustworthy people beforehand. They are husks now."

Janius realised his emotional investment at this point and lowered his eyes and his hands. He calmed himself enough to lower his voice, "Perhaps I panicked when I heard you talking of the wine so enthusiastically." He sighed deeply, "I trust you, Kaleeth, but I trusted the friends who I lost as well."

"Then all you had to do was tell me, Janius." Kaleeth responded. She now understood more clearly his reasons for taking her to that place, and for being so defensive about it now. But, that still did not mean she did not feel offended from the lack of trust he had shown her. She just had to try and find a way not to be angry about it. This was obviously an emotional topic for him, and she couldn't just yell at him and expect anything to change.

"I just wanted a chance. I trust your judgment, and you should trust mine. Even if your other friends didn't live up to it. If this moon sugar can really do all of that, then I guess I'll give it to Ahnasha. It never seemed to bother her all the times she used it. I just want to get back to the ship; I feel...stressed, and my beast spirit is feeding on that. I wish we had something like the training room back in Bruma." She said quietly. Even though she now had perfectly adequate control of her beast spirit, werecrocodiles tended to be more restless than werewolves. The lack of social behaviors for crocodiles meant that they were not as good at inhibiting themselves from acting on frustration. She had often used the training room as a place to vent those frustrations over the past few years.

Now with Kaleeth's understanding, Janius nodded and followed her back to the ship. About halfway there, he started to feel bad for not trusting Kaleeth's judgement. However stubborn he was acting, she was right, she should have heard his words before seeing the den. Regardless, it was comforting that she would be taking moon sugar more seriously in the end.

He took a deep breath as they walked. "I got too worked up back there, I'm sorry. I'll trust you with these things in the future, just...I sometimes forget to."

"Let's just...try to forget about it." Kaleeth answered as they started walking along once more. It would still be a few hours before they were going to set sail, but in lieu of a training area, she was probably going to end up just laying down to relax and try to be rid of her stress.

Everyone in the group had returned to the ship at least half an hour in advance of their scheduled time of departure. While other captains they had sailed with had made the statement that they would depart without them if they were late, this particular captain was one that might actually follow through with that threat.

Although few among the group were particularly excited to be back aboard a ship, they at least had the comfort of knowing that it would not take all that long for them to reach their destination. They would just be traveling along Elsweyr's southern coast, so it would only be a few days before they were dropped off and on land once more. The supplies they already had would last that long, but with the number of people they had to support, they would need to hunt for food not too long after arrival.

For the first day, many in the packs stayed away from the crew and interacted with them only minimally. They were a much rougher group than any they had sailed with before. They were at least mostly professional when on duty, but certainly not when they had time to themselves. The games they gambled on were sometimes painful, dangerous, or even lewd. They used skooma freely, though they were at least rather protective of it, so Colors could not tempt any members of the pack with a taste. They were largely indifferent towards their passengers, at least on the first day. It remained to be seen if there were going to be any conflicts over the duration of the journey. These people were not a patient group, so a severe enough slight could turn to violence.

By noon on the second day, Kaleeth could no longer stand being contained below deck. She, Janius, and Fendros headed up above deck, while Ahnasha was caring for the children. One thing that had not changed about Kaleeth over the years was her distaste for the dresses she had to wear in the cities. As such, she had stopped wearing them by this point, and instead of cutting holes in Janius' clothes, she decided to borrow some from Colors. He was a bit taller than her, with a larger waistline, but she could fit in them well enough as long as she tightened the belt.

What the three noticed almost immediately was a circle of the sailors gathered near the bow of the ship, with Colors among them. In the middle, two of them seemed to be in a fistfight, but as they watched, it became clear that it wasn't an argument they were fighting over. The sailors, it seemed, were betting on fights. Kaleeth ignored it at first, instead walking over to the railing and looking out over the ocean. However, she could not help but to glance back at him. While she had gotten rid of her own frustration from the argument she and Janius had before they left Senchal, her beast spirit had remained tense. Being confined within the ship the first day had only made matters worse, and she wanted a way to relieve that tension. "That fight is...sort of like training, don't you think?"

The boredom of a ship was played down a little by two things that the group had. First of all, there was still socialising to do with the pride. While Sabine was deprived of private moments with Peiter, she actually got the opportunity to meet them and get to know them. As well, the regular pastimes that Peiter still had on their journey to Senchal would tide them over. The second major thing that alleviated the boredom was not as positive, as it revolved around a distrust of the sailors themselves. They avoided contact either way most of the time, but there was an underlying worry that they would try something nefarious, such as steal something or provoke violence.

As for Sabine and Peiter specifically, Sabine had no qualms about being open about her new relationship. She stayed near Peiter most of the time, in some kind of contact, often holding hands or talking amongst themselves. They even shared a hammock, despite the fact that they did not have the privacy to pursue further intimacy. Sabine wanted to wait on that anyway.

Time was in abundance, and the younger members of the group gathered to play a card game while Fendros, Janius, and Kaleeth went above deck. Sabine held a napping Leaps on her lap while Tzirret dealt out a new round. At this point, Ciinriel hadn't joined them in their games, but Sabine was curious to get to know her better, so she waved her over. "Ciinriel, would you like to play with us?"

Out in the sun, Janius was leaning back against the rail with Kaleeth and Fendros either side of him. His eye caught the boxing as well. "I guess you could call it that," Janius responded, "I think they're more interested in gambling than getting better, though."

Fendros chuckled, "What makes you say that? If they get better, they'll win more gold, no?"

Ciinriel had been laying in her hammock nearby when Sabine called her name. She sat up and looked over to them nervously, for a brief moment. She had been rather distant since they met her, but right now, she had pretty much nothing else to do. Letting out a deep breath, she stood up and walked over to them. She looked at the cards they were holding with some confusion. Although she had played games with cards before, she did not recognize whatever game it was that they were playing.

"I...guess I can, but I don't know this game, I don't think. Do you know any other games? Not that you have to change if you don't want to, I just...don't want to hold you up trying to learn." Ciinriel explained.

Kaleeth smiled, still looking out over the ocean. "That is true. It might be, how would I say it...a business investment for them. Still, fighting like that would make them better whether they want it or not."

Turning herself around, Kaleeth observed the ongoing fight from a distance. They might not be trained soldiers, but the way the two were fighting did not suggest they were inexperienced. They would make for a good challenge if she were to fight them. "Looks like Colors is enjoying it too. I wonder where he got the coin to gamble? I doubt he actually entered a fight himself. Though...I wonder if they'll let anyone join in?" She questioned.

"It is no matter," Sabine said with an encouraging smile, "We can play any game, really. We could teach you what we are playing now, or if you know a new game, we could play that. We have played the same games for a long time, anything new helps on this ship."

Tzirret gave a smile as well. He had just finished dealing, but he didn't mind gathering up the cards or giving a new hand to Ciinriel.

If Meesei could hear Kaleeth-Rei, she would probably disapprove for the sake of protecting their identities, but the thought actually caused Janius to laugh slightly. "If there's coin in it, I doubt they would have too much of an objection," Janius answered, "Unless of course that 'any one' beat them to a pulp because she's the probably strongest person on the ship."

Ciinriel sat down cross-legged in the circle as she looted to Tzirret, who currently had the cards. She scratched her head in thought, and briefly wondered if she should just watch them instead. However, she knew that was probably not what they wanted. "Well, it would probably take me longer to teach all of you a game than to just teach me what you're playing. What kind of things do you play for?"

Kaleeth shrugged her shoulders. "Well, that 'anyone' could just try to fight the women in the group, if that would be more 'believable'. Maybe try not to use her full strength? Though, if they saw the muscles I have under this shirt, they might honestly believe that kind of strength. Come on, I don't like being trapped down there in the ship doing nothing. Or, well, the...other part of me really doesn't like it. It has been very tense for the past day; it's one reason that I train so much. If I joined them, then you could even make some coin off of it. So, do you think it's safe enough?" She asked.

"Okay," Sabine nodded to Tzirret, who began dealing out the cards that he had just collected up. "Do you mean play for as in bet? We do not have much to gamble with. We do not get the chance to gamble most of the time. We tried playing for drinks recently, that was fun."

"They made this one drink the most," Tzirret said while still dealing.

Sabine giggled, "It is something we want to try again. We would need drink, though."

Tzirret, after spending time conversing with the pride yesterday, was a bit more comfortable with Ciinriel than he would normally be with new people. He was the one to initiate proper conversation, "So, how are you feeling today? Everyone in the pride has been looking better with each day."

"Hmm, well..." Janius rubbed his chin. Especially after their conversation yesterday, Janius didn't want to go around discouraging all her ideas. Regardless, he believed Kaleeth could be trusted here. She may be tense, but she wasn't one to kill people without good reason. "I would be more inclined to let Colours to the betting on you. I would feel like it was stealing if I did it." Janius leaned closer and lowered his voice, "And...perhaps go easy on them, at least at first."

"Are you two sure about this?" Fendros said dubiously.

Janius turned to Fendros and dismissed him with a smile, "Ah, what's the worst that could happen?"

Fendros went back to leaning on the railing to watch, frowning and raising his brow in an expression that didn't give confidence.

Ciinriel looked down, pulling back her sleeve slightly to look at the remnants of one of the scars on her arm. "My body has been healing. Your healer does good work. And it has been nice to be able to eat again; our captors barely fed us enough to survive while they held us, and it was usually old or rotten. If we weren't immune to disease, we probably would not all have made it."

Closing her eyes, Ciinriel let out a long, uncomfortable sigh. She decided to move to another topic quickly. "I don't think we have any drinks left. I think the crew of this ship has plenty, but you would need to find a way to get it from them."

Kaleeth approached the bow of the ship eagerly, but with some uncertainty. She was not entirely sure how to actually get involved in one of these fights, but fortunately, the current fight seemed to be nearing its end. The two bruised, bloody Khajiit in the center had nearly beaten each other senseless. After another minute, one of them managed to grapple the other and force him to the ground. He started to twist his arm until the one on the ground shouted out end the fight.

There was a mix of cheering and groans from the crowd in the aftermath of the fight, after which Kaleeth noticed that most of them headed over to a specific brown-striped Khajiit sitting on a crate nearby. He seemed to be the one managing their bets, and the one who Kaleeth guessed she would talk to about actually joining in a fight herself. She walked up to him at about the time Colors was receiving his payout from the last bet. He had won, but evidently, he had not bet that much since the payout was not all that large.

The Khajiit looked up to Kaleeth briefly as she approached, then waved his hand to shoo her away. "Ya' didn't bet on this fight, lizard. Wait 'till the next round to put down your coins."

"Actually, I don't want to bet. I want to join in a fight myself." Kaleeth answered, which was met with a laugh from the Khajiit.

"Ha, you want to fight? This one saw all've ya fancy Cyrodilic clothes and all that. This isn't some sparring match between nobles. This is a fight, with real gold, and real blood." He answered, but before he could go on, another voice sounded out nearby.

"If the lizard wants to fight, let her. I'll kick her tail myself." An Altmer woman taunted. She was tall, even for one of her race, and certainly had the build of a fighter. She had a collection of nicks and scars along her arms and face. She wore a pair of rough, sack cloth pants with thick cloth tied tightly around her chest. She had a few bruises suggesting she had already fought today, but since she was still mostly unharmed, that fight had likely gone well for her.

The Khajiit gave another laugh. "Alright, looks like we've got our next fight. Bettin's opening now."

Colors eagerly put in his next bet, then turned around when he noticed Janius and Fendros watching. "I'm surprised you let her fight. You two getting in on this? It's basically free money."