"Maybe we can buy from them?" Tzirret suggested unsurely, then looked down, "But, I do not know if they would sell them."

"We might try anyway," Sabine said, before turning to Ciinriel while they played, "What do you normally play for?"

Janius kept his eyes on Kaleeth and her opponent, giving Colours a lazy gesture with one hand. "I don't want to be too unfair. There's a fine line between gambling and stealing-"

"I'll put in five gold," Fendros interrupted, already frantically fishing out some of his few coins with a series of clinks. He pushed off the railing and walked up to the apparent book keeper and placed his bet on Kaleeth-Rei without hesitation.

"Well, I guess the line is different for everyone," Janius commented. It was then, scrutinising the challenger, that he faced Colours and leaned to ask him more quietly, "What's this Altmer like? Have you seen her fight?"

Ciinriel shrugged. "Just, whatever we have that is valuable. Gold, usually. But, I don't have any gold right now, and there really wouldn't be much of a point in betting something we all share anyway. Playing for drinks does sound like it could be fun, if it is what I think you mean. We could try to see if we can buy something from their messdeck, if you want?"

The Khajiit huffed at Fendros after he placed his bet. "Five gold? Not much of a fan of risk, are ya?" He said as he made a note of Fendros' wager on a parchment.

Colors leaned in and spoke quietly to Janius as he sized up the Altmer. "Well, I only saw her fight once. She won, obviously. Pretty tough, very confident, and rather beautiful. From the way she acts, she must be one of the best, at least among the women here. She fights a lot with strikes, and I think a lot of the men can outgrapple her, but that's to be expected. She won't expect Kaleeth, though."

Kaleeth stepped into the circle, opposite of the Altmer while she waited for the betting to finish. The Altmer had a strong air of confidence about her in general, and passed a few threatening glances at Kaleeth. She was obviously expecting an easy victory, and certainly didn't expect to be as heavily physically outclassed as she was. Of course, Kaleeth didn't expect to be better at everything than her. She had received unarmed combat training from Lorag, and a few other instructors in the clan, but she still wasn't especially agile. The Altmer could well be faster, but if that became a problem, she could just run in and grab her. Once the Altmer was in Kaleeth's grasp, there would be no escape. However, as that would possibly demonstrate too much of her strength, she would try to just use strikes at first.

After a few minutes, the Khajiit managing the fights closed the bets. "Alright. Only rule is that you not maim your opponent...intentionally. Fight ends when one of you either gives up, or can't keep goin'. Now, begin!"

The moment they started, the Altmer rushed forward swinging. She was an aggressive fighter who barely gave Kaleeth time to raise her arms in defense before she was upon her. As expected, she went straight for Kaleeth's head, though her strikes only ended up hitting Kaleeth's arms. It was better than being struck in the head, but Kaleeth would probably have some bruised arms by the time the fight was over. The Altmer continued her flurry of blows in the hopes that one would connect with something sensitive. Kaleeth, remembering her training, instead waited for an opening, which she found when the Altmer stepped a bit too far forward in one of her strikes. Kaleeth delivered a startlingly heavy punch straight to the Atlmer's chest, which staggered her back and knocked the breath out of her briefly.

The Altmer was surprised and confused at the sudden, forceful attack, but was far from deterred from the fight. It was just going to motivate her to fight harder. With impressive speed, the Altmer struck three times, first to Kaleeth's shoulder, then her head, then her stomach. The first was easily blocked, and her arms were already in position to defend against the second, but the third was quick, and far out of the way. Her fist hit Kaleeth's stomach cleanly, causing her to curl forward on reflex. Following up quickly, the Altmer then managed to land a punch across her snout, then an uppercut to her lower jaw.

This time, it was Kaleeth that was staggered back with a sore jaw and a bleeding nose. Just like the Altmer, however, she was not deterred. Instead, she just became angry. She wanted her paypack, end did not mind using some of her strength to get it.

There was no protest to Ciinriel's suggestion. Sabine gave a nod, but didn't speak to volunteer herself to ask. The one they would have to talk to was the quartermaster; a grumpy, impatient, and imposing brown Cathay who had heard every trick and excuse imaginable. Tzirret and Sabine's eyes both went to Peiter, staring expectantly.

Fendros didn't bet any more despite the book keeper's comment. The real reason that he didn't bet more was because he didn't actually have much more coin on hand. He shook his head and walked off with a "We'll see," before turning to rejoin Colours and Janius to watch the fight.

The beginning of the fight marked the end of Janius' relaxed demeanour, but not entirely out of concern. He kept whispering under his breath in a similar manner to the sailors around the ring, giving encouragement and tips as if Kaleeth could see. Fendros ended up getting invested as well, given that he had made a bet.

The Altmer was indeed very skilled, and likely would be frightening to fight if not a lycanthrope, but Kaleeth was holding her own. Janius pumped his fist and grinned when Kaleeth landed a blow on her opponent's stomach, then swiftly winced as Kaleeth took a similar reprisal and then some. "Come on, get in there!" Janius transitioned from a whisper to a speaking volume. He could see the determination on Kaleeth's face.

Fendros was no longer leaning on the railing. He had his fists raised and was actually bobbing and weaving slightly as if he was the one fighting. In reality, he was just enjoying the suspense.

Peiter rolled his eyes once everyone started to look at him. "Oh fine, fine. I'll talk to him. Let's pool our coin and I'll head up there." Once they had collected together the coin they had on them, Peiter stood up and started up the stairs. Ciinriel, after looking around nervously for a moment, decided to follow. She did not particularly want to talk to the Cathay, but she did want to watch to make sure everything went alright.

On the next deck up, Peiter headed towards the stern of the ship. He passed a few of the crew on the way back, but it seemed to be much less crowded than usual in the ship. He supposed that a large portion of the crew must have been above decks. As he approached the Cathay quartermaster, he decided to be simple and direct. With the Cathay's personality, he supposed that approach would be one he would appreciate, or at least not be annoyed by. "Hello, I'd like to buy something from you. Wine, specifically. Or any alcohol, really."

Whether from the encouragement of her friends, or just her own determination, Kaleeth let out a scream as she charged forward at the Altmer. She kept her arms raised to protect her head, which did allow the Altmer to land a solid blow on her ribs, but Kaleeth did not care. Since the Altmer had gone for a strike instead of dodging, Kaleeth was able to tackle her to the deck. The force from her charge was, again, more than the woman had been expecting, so she did not react quickly enough to Kaleeth's next move.

Once on the ground, Kaleeth brought herself up to her knees on top of the Altmer and delivered a swift punch to her jaw. It was not as hard as she could have struck, but it was certainly enough to leave a mark. The woman tried to shove her off, but Kaleeth was able to hold her down with surprising ease. After Kaleeth delivered another blow to her stomach, the Altmer started to hit back once more. Even while in this less-than-advantageous position, she was still quick enough to give another solid blow to Kaleeth's snout before she could raise her guard.

Not intent on just trading blows, Kaleeth grabbed a hold of both of her opponent's arms. One she simply held down against the deck, but the other she started to twist backwards. The Altmer struggled in every way she could, but she simply didn't have the strength to resist her. Kaleeth did not twist her arm far enough to break it, but she kept it at a constantly painful point, until the woman realized her struggles were in vain. "Ahhrg, fine, you win!"

Sabine and Tzirret went along with Peiter as well. It wasn't as if there was anything to do while they waited.

The quartermaster himself was writing notes on a table in the kitchen with a comically small quill for his hands. He peered up at Peiter and the group with an unimpressed look. "Drink is for crew. Dartan gives none to passengers." He waved his quill hand to shoo them, "How little Breton say in Cyrodilic? Bugger off."

Before saying any words, Sabine upended her purse into her hands. She had about twelve gold. Tzirret did the same and added another fifteen. This caused the quartermaster to squint and crane his neck forward in interest. One of his ears angled upwards slightly. He asked slowly, "How much coin little people carry?"

Sabine looked up suddenly. It might be that they would need to bribe the quartermaster more than simply purchase from him. Sabine looked to Ciinriel and Peiter, "How much do both you have?"

Fendros and Janius both darted and leaned to one side to get a better look as Kaleeth brought the Altmer to the ground. The last few moments were brutal, but it was clear that Kaleeth was the stronger fighter. When the Altmer yielded, Janius pumped both fists this time, letting out a triumphant "Yes!" Fendros was more enthusiastic, breaking out into a big laugh and clapping his hands together. There were only a few among the crew who had a similar reaction, the rest were shocked speechless.

As Fendros and Colours went to collect their winnings, Janius approached Kaleeth and gave her a pat on the back. "Feeling better now?" he asked with a grin.

Peiter looked back at the gold in Sabine and Tzirret's hands. It was more than the value of two bottles of wine, or twice the number of bottles of cheap ale. And, for what they wanted to do, having more alcohol was preferred. Of course, they would need to leave some margin as a bribe for the quartermaster. He did not want to spend more gold than was necessary, so while he could add more gold to the pile, he decided just to add a bit and offer an even number.

"I think we have enough to purchase three bottles of ale, with a good 'donation' for our most gracious quartermaster. Thirty gold is how much we have, all for you." Peiter offered. Considering that amount would purchase five or so bottles normally, he supposed the extra coin would make for a good bribe.

The outcome of the fight created quite a bit of surprise and disappointment among the crowd. Almost everyone present had placed their bets on the Altmer, with only Fendros, Colors, and a single crew member putting their money on Kaleeth. As such, their payout was quite high. In absolute terms, Fendros did not receive that much gold, but he did quadruple his money. Colors, meanwhile, received a bag of gold. Kaleeth, being the winner, even received a cut of the total bets. She had not even really wanted the gold, but it was a nice bonus.

When Janius approached, Kaleeth smiled and gave him a quick kiss after wiping the blood from her snout. "It was satisfying. My arms and...face are going to be sore, but I think I needed that."

As they were talking, another of the crew approached, this time a Suthay-raht male. He stood with his arms crossed, though his expression was not necessarily angry. He was more intrigued by the surprisingly tough Argonian. "A good fight, and a bit upset for many. It lost this one a good amount of gold, and he would like the chance to win some of it back. How would you like to fight a more worthy foe? This one challenges you to a match, Argonian." He stated. He appeared to be just as much of a fighter as the Altmer. While not spectacularly muscular or anything, he had the build of a soldier, and would obviously be much stronger than the Altmer. Of course, that would not matter against a werecrocodile, but the rest of the crew would be expecting him to be able to overpower her. Despite this, the thrill of the first fight was still coursing through Kaleeth's body, and from her expression, it seemed like she wanted to accept this challenge.

"Ale?" The quartermaster's lips curled up into a grin, and then he threw his head back in a hearty laugh. It was strange coming from a man who seemed so serious previously. "Ale is cheap! Ale is for surviving when water goes bad. No, Dartan thinks you want to drink!" Putting down his quill, the quartermaster beckoned towards him with both hands. "Let Khajiit see coins. Put on table."

Sabine and Tzirret poured the thirty gold onto the wood of the table next to the notes. Dartan immediately began counting them with surprising speed and dexterity. Before their eyes, he had sorted the coins into neat piles in seconds, before sliding them into his own purse. "Wait for Dartan," he said, becoming serious again and standing up.

Dartan the quartermaster did not have to go very far, he just had to walk a few paces to a locked door behind the kitchen and fish out the right key. He barely took two steps into the dark pantry that he opened before he stepped out with a glass bottle. It was proportional in his hands, but it was rather large, one and a quarter litres perhaps. The glass was a deep green, so it was hard to see what was in it in the dim light. After locking the door behind him and pocketing the keys, Dartan pushed the bottle into Peiter's hands. "This is yours. You brought it onto ship with you at the dock and did not even talk to Dartan." Dartan's suspiciously helpful demeanour suddenly turned as he shooed them similarly to before, "Now, bugger off."

A mix of curiosity at the drink and a lack of desire to stay in the quartermaster's presence urged Sabine to begin turning to leave.

Fendros wore a satisfied smile as he counted out his twenty gold. He wondered if lycans grifted fighting pits more often. He was amazed at the bulbous sack of coins that Colours now had, though. "By Azura, how much did you put on her?" he asked with astonishment.

The suthay-raht that approached Kaleeth and Janius seemed to be a little more level-headed than the Altmer. To Janius, that meant that he was probably more practiced in fighting. Indeed, he was just as imposing as the Altmer, if a little shorter. Kaleeth wouldn't have the element of surprise this time, but she would probably still have strength on her side. As well, she was just fighting for fun and stress relief anyway. Janius gave her an encouraging smile. "Go on," he said.

Once they had their drink, the four headed back down to the bottom deck, where they had previously been playing their game. Peiter was not sure how he felt about trading that much gold for only one bottle, though it was a rather large one. He just hoped it ended up being worth it. They all sat back down in a circle as they had before.

"I have no idea what this is, but I hope it is something good. I guess we should teach Ciinriel the rules, then get started." Peiter commented. While Tzirret was reshuffling the cards, Peiter uncorked the bottle and sniffed of its contents. Immediately, his eyes widened and his head recoiled back. It was definitely stronger than ale. "Well, I think our game just became higher stakes."

Colors laughed. "All of it, my friend. Well, all of my winnings. It wasn't all that much, really, but with how many people bet against Kaleeth? That payout was great."

At that point, the betting on the next round was called to start, and when Colors turned around, he saw that Kaleeth was stepping into the circle once again. "Ah, another fight. How much coin am I going to end up making today?" He commented, though when he got a look at Kaleeth's opponent, it did temper his enthusiasm somewhat. He did not have a complete idea of exactly how strong a werecrocodile was, even out of lycan form. His perspective was that of a werelion, who were not the strongest of lycanthropes.

"Eh, maybe I'll go in with half." Colors said before he put in his bet on Kaleeth. Walking back to the others, he put a hand on Janius' shoulder. "You confident enough in her to put some gold down this time?"

"Can I?" Sabine reached for the bottle in Peiter's hands. Once she had it, she brought it to her nose and took a smell. It was strong, incredibly strong, but there was something else to it as well. She curiously took a sip and actually shuddered after swallowing it. It was so strong that it burned down her throat, but it was fruity at the same time.

"What is it?" Tzirret asked, amazed that a taste actually got a sour reaction out of Sabine for once.

Sabine's voice was weakened as she responded, "I do not know. It tastes like fire...and oranges." She placed the bottle carefully in the middle of their circle.

Tzirret pulled a confused face. "Does it have moon sugar in it?"

"No," Sabine shook her head, clearing her throat. "I do not think so. I do not think this is from Elsweyr."

The next few minutes were spent playing some practice rounds to get Ciinriel familiar with the game. Before long, they were starting to force drinks upon one another. The punishment of having others drink was a bit more immediate this time, given the strength of the spirit they had been given, but it also meant that it was affecting them much more quickly. It was barely a few rounds in and Sabine was getting red on the face. Tzirret was doing better this time, winning more rounds, but even he was tipsy.

Idle conversation and laughter started between them while they played. Sabine turned to Ciinriel during the latter half of a round. "Ciinriel, what are Jo'rashaad and S'ajira like as parents? Is it hard to speak with S'ajira?"

Tzirret's next turn had him pick up a card that made him smile victoriously. "Aha!" he put down his cards to reveal a winning hand and pointed to Peiter, grinning widely, "I win, you drink!"

"Right, heh, why should I have expected any less?" Fendros commented to Colours.

When Colours approached Janius about the next fight, he put on a faux defensive face. "Hey, it wasn't about confidence, it was about fairness. Although..." Janius angled his head to the side and took another look at the challenger, "...That one got to see what Kaleeth is capable of, I suppose a friendly bet would be sporting enough."

Janius approached the book keeper with a bet of fifteen gold, as did Fendros with the same amount. The payout would probably not be as big as before, but Janius was in it for fun, just as Kaleeth was.

Peiter had lost a few rounds already, and the next drink Tzirret picked him for certainly did not help his already-clouded mind. The drink was far stronger than any he was used to, and honestly, not something he actually liked the taste of. But, he could ignore that for the sake of their game. Once he finished his turn with the bottle, Peiter picked up the deck and started to deal. "Yeah, yeah, cloudy-cat. Don't think you'll be sspared for too long."

As they started to play the next round, Ciinriel answered Sabine. "Oh, it's not too hard. I mean, she can't actually talk, but she can write. She's good with...body language. Father does a lot of talking for her. He cares a lot about us both. He teaches me about how to use magic. It's...hard, but useful."

With the end of the hand, Peiter had ended up winning. Although, he did not actually get to select who would drink. Both Tzirret and Ciinriel had folded, so Sabine was to drink by default.

After the hand, Ciinriel actually started to smile. "I like this, it's fun. Better than Colors' card game. He told me about a game he used to play before he turned where they'd play for each other's clothing. Not sure what the point of that would be."

While the betting was taking place, Kaleeth took a moment to prepare for the next fight. She was going to have to display more of her strength than the crowd would be expecting. There would be no avoiding it if she wanted to win, but she could at least try to make it believable. Nearby in an open crate was some of the cloth that the Altmer had tied around her chest, so Kaleeth decided to do the same. She gave her shirt to Janius, then took some of the cloth for herself. She never actually asked anyone for it, but no one actually bothered her about it. Now, her rather exceptionally muscular build was easier for the crowd to notice, and hopefully, her strength easier to accept. As long as she did not overdo it.

The Suthay-raht was actually briefly surprised to see the build of his opponent, but he maintained a level head. Once they were both ready, and the bets were placed, the word to start was given. However, unlike the last match, Kaleeth's opponent did not immediately charge her. Instead, he waited and stepped forward cautiously. Kaleeth mirrored his movements until they were both within one step of being able to hit each other. Suddenly, Kaleeth struck, trying to catch him in the stomach. He was able to block, but similarly to the Altmer, Kaleeth tried to follow through with a strike at his head. Unfortunately, Kaleeth was not quite so quick, so he was able to swat away her arm before the his could connect, then deliver his own punch to her stomach. Then, while she was off-balance, he rushed forward and grabbed her, trying to force her to the ground. She could have resisted, but being that she was already off balance from his strike, she did not want to show too much of her capabilities. As such, she allowed herself to be thrown to the deck and instead tried to retaliate once he jumped onto her. She landed a good, solid strike to his jaw, but he was able to respond in kind with a punch to the side of her head. He could hit much harder than the Altmer, so she was actually dazed for a moment after the strike. She tried to bring up her arms to defend, but he was able to land another hit before she could finally protect herself.

Kaleeth was not in a good position, so she had no choice but to force her opponent away. With a single shove and a kick, she was able to throw him, rather violently, onto his back, then scramble up to her feet. It was a greater show of strength than she had intended to give, but to win this fight, she could not go easy on him.

"Meesei teaches me magic as well. It is hard, but I think it is interesting." Sabine responded before Peiter won the hand. When the round ended, she sighed as if frustrated, but had a good natured smile. She took another sip and actually found the drink to be not quite as bad as before. It was probably the alcohol dulling her senses. Once she put the bottle down, she ran a hand down Peiter's arm and let out a giggle, "You're mean!"

Tzirret responded to Ciinriel's comment. "Maybe they just..." He stopped to hiccup, making his shoulders jolt, "...maybe they had reeeally nice clothes. Tzirret would play games for nice clothes. Khajiit hears silk is good in this weather." He gave a small laugh for no discernible reason, probably some vague joke he came up with in his drunken mind. His language was, again, regressing in the process.

The next round wrapped up with Sabine winning. "Hmm..." She narrowed her eyes at everyone, almost settling on Peiter, before turning around to Ciinriel, "Your drink!"

"I should give you a stupid name, Peiter," Tzirret slurred as he leaned to one side and pointed to Peiter, his other fist on his knee, "As Tzirret is cloudy-cat, Peiter will be..." Tzirret's finger curled closed slowly as a look of intense thought dominated his face. His ears perked and his eyes widened when he came up with something, "...stinky-pig!"

Sabine ended up bursting into such laughter that she leaned forward and struggled to keep her cards hidden. It was such a silly, childish name, but Peiter was right when he said a drunken Tzirret was hilarious. It also helped that Sabine had drunk enough that she was liable to laugh at almost anything.

"What? Your skin is pink, and you stink with sweat in this place!" Tzirret wasn't sure whether everyone's reaction was from his own humour succeeding or failing.

As Janius had thought, the Khajiit was indeed more skilled. His moves were smarter and more thought out, not like the wild strikes of the Altmer. Janius and Fendros still called out encouragement to Kaleeth, but he showed some concern as she was outmanoeuvred and pinned to the ground. It seemed like she would lose the fight, but just as it looked like there was no recovery, she brought out more of her strength. The Khajiit was thrown with what could be considered superhuman force by Kaleeth. Janius wasn't sure whether it was a good idea, but he cheered anyway, caught in the moment.

Fendros didn't show any sign of regret. He cupped his hands around his mouth to shout encouragement, "Go! Keep him on the floor!"

Ciinriel was now less hesitant with her drinks, though she still nearly gagged trying to down the liquid. She blinked rapidly and let out a few breaths as she put down the bottle. "Maybe that's it. Don't know why they wouldn't put them back on after though."

Peiter's laugh was not quite as exuberant as Sabine's but it was still much more than he normally would have given. Afterwards, he stared at Tzirret for an awkwardly long time, seemingly deep in thought as he scratched his chin. Slowly, he held out his hand and pointed at the Khajiit. "I'm not sure if it's funny or...just insulting. Probably both. Anyway, don't think you don't have a smell you...furball. Your fur gets all wet, and it makes you like a wet dog. Even if you're a cat."

Suddenly, and without warning, Peiter leaned over towards Tzirret, who was to his left, and gave him a quick hug. "Don't worry though, we're still friends." He said. At that angle, however, he had the perfect opportunity to look at Tzirret's cards. Of course, Peiter had not actually had the presence of mind to notice that he had left his own cards face up on the floor.

Tzirret looked more confused than insulted by the notion that he would smell like a dog, but he didn't have time to respond before being hugged. The gesture caused him to half-shriek and laugh in surprise. Given how his arms were now constrained, the best he could do to return it was to pat Peiter on the arm with one hand. "Ahaha, I love you too, brother...Oooh, you have pair of queens?" Tzirret's eyes lit up at seeing Peiter's hand. He did not have the mental restraint left to keep Peiter's mistake a secret.

"I fold," Sabine said abruptly with a wide smile, failing to stifle a snort and a laugh. She had spotted Peiter's subterfuge as well, and commented to Ciinriel, "Looks like you are the only one left in this round who can keep your hand secret."

Peiter ran his hand down the side of his face as he returned back to his spot. "Oh, yeah, right...I fold too." He said in embarrassment. It left only Ciinriel and Tzirret to play the hand to completion, of which Tzirret ended up being the winner. Ciinriel took her drink with much less reluctance than before, and only a slight cough. By this point, most of them were becoming at least somewhat used to the taste.

In response to Sabine, Ciinriel laughed. "Yeah, but it didn't do me much good. Lady luck is...not my friend." After setting down the bottle, Ciinriel laid herself down on her back and looked up to the ceiling. "I won't even be able to stand soon."

Peiter laughed. "Ah, who needs to stand? I'll be happy just sitting here with all you." He commented. Although his words seemed to be directed towards everyone, he did not hide the fact that he was staring at Sabine, smiling.

True to Fendros' advice, Kaleeth rushed to tackle her opponent as he was trying to stand to his feet. So far in the fight, he had demonstrated an apparent advantage in a grapple, so the last thing he expected was for her to initiate another one. She forced him down to the deck once more, so naturally, his first reaction was to attempt to overpower her. He locked his arm around hers and tried to force her out of the way, but much to his surprise, she did not budge. Not only that, but the arm he was using to grab her, she grabbed as well and started to twist it, much like her previous opponent. Now, there was some panic in his eyes. He did not know how it was possible, but she was outmatching him in the area in which he should have been superior. His plan had revolved around defeating her in a grapple. Still, he was not without the ability to retaliate. Before Kaleeth could grab his free arm, he managed to deliver a blow to the side of her head strong enough to daze her and allow him to scramble out from underneath her. As he was trying to get back to a standing position, however, Kaleeth managed to kick his feet out from underneath him, causing him to fall flat on his face. She then jumped on his back, eager to get herself into such an advantageous position.

Outside the fight, a few of the others from the packs and the pride had come up onto the deck for fresh air. Among them was Ra'kalesh, who noticed the fight near the bow. He was concerned at first, but as he drew closer, he recognized what was going on. It was no surprise to see Colors among the crowd, but what he did not expect, however, was that one among the Champion's pack would be fighting. He approached Janius, Fendros, and Colors curiously as he observed the bout in front of them. "So, what is happening here? Attempting to earn back some of our fare, this one is guessing?"

Even though it was Peiter's turn to deal, Sabine returned his smile and clumsily threw herself towards him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Sitting is boring. I like hugging more," Sabine murmured, giving Peiter a kiss on the cheek in spite of everyone watching.

They had barely gone through two thirds of the bottle and everyone was starting to fall over in their seats. It probably wouldn't be long before they either felt too sick or too drunk to play the game at all. Nevertheless, Peiter dealt the hand.

Tzirret looked up at the ceiling with his mouth open, curious at what Ciinriel might be looking at. "Eh, Tzirret wishes he could look up to see stars again. This wooden ship is too dark."

"Careful, careful!" Janius called out, "Oh!" He winced when Kaleeth was hit across the face, allowing her opponent to briefly escape her pin. "Wait- Yes!" Kaleeth managed to get back on top of her opponent.

Janius and Fendros both had their eyes so locked on the fight that they didn't notice Ra'kalesh until he spoke. "Hm?" Janius turned to Ra'kalesh, "Well, Kaleeth is just in it for the stress relief, but we're participating in a few small bets, yes." Janius glanced over to Colours briefly, "Well...Fendros and I are, Colours is a little more invested."

Peiter nearly fell over trying to give Sabine another kiss once she started to pull away. Regardless, he went back to dealing the cards, albeit while smiling widely at Sabine. Ciinriel groaned as she brought herself back up into a sitting position to actually look at her own cards. She chuckled at Tzirret while she tried to remember if she actually had a hand. "You won't see the stars...it's daytime...probably."

The four continued to play, and continued to drink. At first, there had been a clear trend of who was winning more games, but by this point, they were all so intoxicated that the winner essentially came down to random chance. As the bottle grew lighter and lighter, Peiter was taking less interest in the game, and more in conversation with his friends, as incoherent as it was. Eventually, there was only enough remaining for each of them to have one good swig. It was Peiter's turn to deal, but instead, he put down the cards, picked up the bottle, and raised it up as he moved over and put one arm around Sabine's shoulder. "Not much...left now. How 'bout one last drink...for us all." He suggested, giving a laugh for no particular reason. He took his drink, then offered it to Sabine.

Kaleeth was back on the Khajiit, this time holding him face down. She locked her arm around his throat and started to squeeze. He had to be careful not to constrict his neck to tightly to avoid any permanent damage, but he could not draw breath while she had him in her grasp. His hands were free, so he started to reach back and hit her as hard as he could in the side. Unfortunately for him, she could stand that pain for longer than he could go without air. Eventually, he stopped resisting and started slamming his hand down on the deck to signify his surrender. Kaleeth released him and allowed him to gasp for air as she brought herself triumphantly back up to her feet. She now had a few more bruises, but nevertheless felt invigorated by the fight.

Much of the crowd had placed their bets on the Khajiit, as they could not imagine her being able to overpower him. However, there were some who had enough confidence in the Argonian challenger to place a bet on her, so the split was not as drastic as last time. Nevertheless, Janius, Fendro, and particularly Colors all made a good profit. In all of this, Ra'kalesh seemed curious. He had no interest in gambling, but he could hear a few whispers among the crowd wondering at how she could accomplish such feats. It was the kind of question that it was best they not have, and he had an idea of how to distract from that issue. "Do you think that, perhaps, Kaleeth would be interested in a fight with Ra'kalesh?" He asked.

"Oh, of course," Tzirret started to chuckle along with Ciinriel, and then began to laugh harder and harder. It eventually died down after he rolled on the floor for a moment.

Sabine accepted the bottle and took her last portion of the drink, now so desensitised that she didn't react to it at all. She placed the bottle by Ciinriel, and then leaned into Peiter. Her eyes closed and she let out a satisfied sigh, her forehead against his neck. "That was a good game."

By the time the bottle got to Tzirret after Ciinriel, he could hardly keep himself from swaying side to side. He managed to get down the rest of the bottle, but once he put it down, he sat very still. His eyes widened and he tried to breathe carefully. A few seconds later, he stumbled up to his feet and frantically sprinted for the stairs, clambering up them with hands and feet. He retched and a few yellow drops spilt from his mouth at the top of the stairs. The sound made Sabine open her eyes and look concerned. Tzirret disappeared from sight, but there was the distant sound of him emptying the contents of his stomach somewhere on the deck above them.

"We should help him," Sabine said, reluctantly separating from Peiter and trying carefully to get up, holding onto Peiter's hand. The ended up keeping her balance half way, but stumbled and fell hands first against a support. Trying to get up the stairs was a hands and feet affair for her as well. She found Tzirret with half of his body sticking out of a porthole, as she suspected, regularly tensing with his gagging and retching. It was not a pretty sight, but Sabine went up and rubbed his back while he purged, ready to hold onto his shirt if he overbalanced, not that he had the space to. "I think that drink might have been a bit too strong," Sabine commented. Tzirret only groaned in return.

Janius and Fendros continued to call out conflicting advice and sustained encouragement as Kaleeth approached the end of the round. She knew what she was doing and victory could be seen. Her opponent eventually submitted and the winners of the bets cheered.

As the bets were handed out again, Fendros did notice the suspicion of the crew rising. Before he could address it, Ra'kalesh gave his own suggestion.

Janius didn't give a clear answer, he just shrugged and motioned towards Kaleeth. "You'd have to ask her. Come." Janius walked up to Kaleeth and gave her another hug, "Well done, love!" Janius pulled away so he could talk to her bruised face with a smile. "You're earning Colours a lot of money," he laughed, before looking to Ra'kalesh and allowing him to speak.

After the bottle was finally empty, Tzirret left up the stairs, and quickly. Sabine started after him, and naturally, Peiter got up to follow. He fell back down once and nearly dragged Sabine with him, but both of them managed to walk up to the deck above them without falling back down the stairs, not that he didn't have a few close calls. Even though the waters were rather calm at the moment, the constant swaying of the ship served to exacerbate his balance issues. Nevertheless, both he and Sabine managed to catch up to Tzirret. Meanwhile, Ciinriel stayed back on bottom deck, once again laying on her back. She intended to join up with them shortly, but needed a few moments to try and collect herself.

Peiter was confused at first regarding what he should do about Tzirret. At the very least, he did manage to keep himself from laughing. Sabine was grabbing his shirt to keep him from falling out, so Peiter reasoned he could help with that. Although, he wasn't as close as Sabine was, so he ended up grabbing onto his tail instead. "I don't think it was too strong...really. It just...took a lot less to be way too much."

Kaleeth enthusiastically returned Janius' hug. It was obvious that she was excited and prideful in her victory, as these were a different kind of fight from what she was used to. With sparring and other kinds of training, the focus was always on learning. They did not tend to fight as hard as this, when gold was on the line. Even though Kaleeth didn't care about the reward, the fact that her opponent did meant that he was fighting as hard as he could. The intensity of it excited her beast spirit much like actual combat, but was not nearly as distasteful as killing another person. It was a mix between training and fighting that she had not known she would enjoy.

Ra'kalesh spoke up once Kaleeth and Janius separated. "You do seem to be doing well. Perhaps, if they allow it, you would want to fight this one? Ra'kalesh is adept in unarmed fighting." He requested.

Kaleeth had to think only for a moment before nodding to him. Even with the wounds she had sustained so far, she was willing to keep going. "Oh, sure. I just need a moment to rest; I went through two fights one after another. Maybe after this next fight?" Kaleeth answered. Two of the crew were already getting ready to fight one another, so they could watch the fight while Kaleeth was resting.

Kaleeth sat herself down along the side of the ship and leaned herself up against the railing, motioning for Janius to join her. "Have you ever fought like this before? It's different from what I expected."

Between heavy breathing over the edge, Tzirret spoke roughly, "This one should not have had that last drink..." Tzirret then flailed behind himself with one hand to try and swat away whatever was holding onto his tail, but he was not even close to reaching Peiter. Without any coordination, he kicked with one leg and ended up pushing Peiter away and himself nearly over the edge. Sabine caught Tzirret's shirt, but not before the slack on his tail tightened and sent a shock up his spine. He yelped and scrambled back onto the deck properly, turning and revealing a tear-strewn, exhausted face with some remaining flecks of vomit clinging around his mouth and under his nose. He started to slide his back down against a crate onto the floor, but Sabine caught him under the shoulder.

"Let's take you to your hammock, Tzirret," Sabine said, still slurring with her drunkenness, but sounding matronly enough for Tzirret to comply. With Peiter's help, Sabine and Tzirret helped each other for support so they wouldn't fall down the stairs, and they raised Tzirret into his hammock where he promptly fell asleep, snoring loudly. With that done, Sabine put her arm around Peiter and turned around to Ciinriel. "How are you? Do you need to vomit?" Sabine was too drunk to be subtle.

Now a little more interested in the fights, Fendros stayed with Colours to watch the next one. Janius sat down next to Kaleeth, still smiling from the show she put on. "In an arena?" He asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow, "They had little competitions like this in the fighters guild, but that had different rules - no, more rules, rather. We fought with practice weapons as well as bare knuckle." Janius laughed through his nose quietly, his mood was lifted by Kaleeth's smiles, "It seems like you're enjoying yourself. How is it different to what you expected?"

When the others returned, Ciinriel was still laying on the floor on her back. She had her eyes closed, but was still perfectly awake. Lightly, she shook her head in response. "No, no, everything is fine...here. How are you?"

Peiter smiled and tightened his grip on Sabine, allowing his head to rest against hers. "Fine too. Actually, better than fine. Great." He answered as he slowly brought himself down to sit with his back to the wall along with Sabine. Standing had been taking far too much conscious effort from him, so he could relax more completely once seated.

"Hmm, so how long have you to been all...loving to each other and everything. Together, how long've you been together?" Ciinriel asked.

Kaleeth paused. It took some effort for her to think of how to describe how she was feeling; it was more complicated than just excitement at being victorious. "Well, it's...hard for me to put into words. You know the, uh..." She began, glancing around at the others on the relatively crowded deck. "...other part of me likes combat. It's excited by it much more than just training. But, I don't like to kill people if I don't have to. It's not something I would do if I didn't have to. But training and sparring isn't as serious as a real fight. There aren't as many injuries, not as much...energy. This was something in between. They weren't fighting for their lives, but they were fighting for their money. It made them try harder, which made me try harder. The other part of me really liked that. But, there is a bit more, from me. Back in the village, I never really won anything. There was always someone better than me at everything. Or a lot of people better than me. I know a lot of people are better at fighting than me, but being better than all of them was different for me."