"There is just one thing," Gallus pointed his finger to the sky while looking at the map, then slowly looked up to both alphas, "When are Masser and Secunda next full? If we cannot find them before then, we might take that opportunity to cover as much ground as we can in beast form. Whomever we encounter might be territorial and aggressive, but the clan will be out in force. They will be much easier to find." Gallus' finger curled down and he instead offered an upturned palm, "Of course, it would all depend on what we find in the meantime." Gallus stood up from the maps, "Otherwise, no more objections from me."

"Hmm, this voyage was cutting it close to the full moons. Within the next week, I believe." Meesei answered. "We will need to approach that night with caution; perhaps travel in larger groups. But, you are right that it could help us find them. On that night, we might try simply spreading out over a wider area, without any especially detailed searching. That would give us the best chance to encounter any of them, and we can always cover ground we missed in the next night." She suggested.

Since they were not going to be beginning their search that night, the rest of the group started setting up their camp. They were likely going to be moving their camp frequently, so they only took out the essentials from their bags. Kaleeth took up a tired Newt in her arms and allowed him to rest while Janius set up his bedroll. Although, she found herself glancing periodically over to Ra'kalesh with the other alphas. Despite the fact that she had been able to satisfy herself with fights aboard the ship, her mind always seemed to go back to their fight on the first day. She had not even been able to touch him during their bout, and she could not help but to wonder how that was possible. She wondered if he would be willing to give her any training, since they were on a mission.

Meanwhile, Peiter let out a sigh as he took a seat on the ground near the center of camp. Naturally, he was near Sabine and Tzirret. Although, Ciinriel had been joining them more frequently for the past day or two. She was not normally as outgoing as when she was intoxicated, but she was starting to open up to them. Peiter stared out into the forest and let out a sigh. "Back into the heat of this jungle, I suppose. Sea travel may be boring, but at least the air was a bit cooler." He shifted somewhat uncomfortably. At first, wading through the water had been refreshing, but now, he just felt wet. The humidity of the jungle made sweating largely ineffective.

It didn't take too long to get set up, so Janius was quick to notice where Kaleeth's eyes were pointing. "Have you asked Ra'kalesh about whether he'll teach you yet?" Janius stood up and stepped closer to Kaleeth, "It looks like they're wrapping up their little meeting. I can settle little Newt in if you like."

"This one thinks he might be getting used to it," Tzirret responded to Peiter first as he laid down across the ground. "It may not be easy to sleep, but I do not feel as uncomfortable."

Sabine was sweating as much as the rest of them, but she was sitting cross-legged with her chin supported by one hand. She seemed more like she was concentrating than ready to complain.

"What is it you are thinking, Sabine? You look like this one accidentally spoke a riddle," Tzirret asked curiously.

"Mm," Sabine made a sound. It was another second before she looked at Tzirret and spoke, "I was trying to think of a potion to keep cool. All I can think of right now is something that would be so cold that it would hurt...or something that would only work if you were on fire."

Looking over to Ra'kalesh, Kaleeth saw that they were packing up their maps. Their meeting was evidently over, so she would be able to speak to him soon. Slowly, she handed off Newt to Janius and smiled. "Thank you. I hope he can help me. It would be terrible if something like that happened to me in anything other than training. I just hope we will have time, since we're going to be searching for their clan. Who knows, maybe you can learn something too?"

After the alphas finished their meeting, headed back towards the center of camp. As Ra'kalesh passed by, Kaleeth stopped him somewhat nervously. "Ra'kalesh, I...have a question for you. Do you remember when we fought back on the ship? You fought so well...I was wondering if you could help teach me?" She asked.

Ra'kalesh smiled. "This one was wondering if you would ask. Unfortunately, he will not be able to teach to you fight like he does. Ra'kalesh is a practitioner of the Whispering Fang style, and spent years as a monk studying it. Khajiit's techniques would not work for you without that level of dedication. But, Ra'kalesh can still give you lessons. He may still be able to teach you principles that could help in your own fighting style. We can start tomorrow, after we all return to camp."

Kaleeth nodded, returning his smile. "Thank you, I'll do my best." She responded before glancing over to Janius. "Will you join us too, if you can?"

Peiter gave a slight huff at Tzirret. "You're getting used to it? I don't see how, considering your full-body fur coat. I guess Khajiit are desert cats, though. You must have a lot of tolerance to the heat. Honestly, I wouldn't mind a desert right now; it's the humidity that's getting to me." Peiter explained. He walked over to his bags and undressed himself, then laid down on top of his bedroll nearby, looking up at the sky with his hands resting behind his head.

When Sabine brought up the idea of making a potion, Peiter chuckled. "Hmm, and you're sure we're not actually on fire right now? If you told me that, I honestly think I would believe it. Ah, I'm sure we'll manage, though. Hopefully, we'll be able to find the clan soon, so we won't have to be searching through this jungle for so long. Hopefully, they're still in this area, and haven't been found by Vile."

Janius had tucked Newt in under a thin blanket at this point. If the hatchling wasn't asleep yet, he would be in a moment. When Kaleeth asked if Janius would join in the training, Janius looked up with curious eyes and shrugged. "I don't see why not," he replied, "The way you moved was uncanny, Ra'kalesh. Even if I could get a hint of it, I'd give it a shot."

The comment Peiter made about the temperature made Sabine smile, but her smile widened as she got another idea. While Peiter was going on about the searching, Sabine placed a hand over his belly button and weaved together an illusory spell for his eyes only: The perception that she was charging a bright orange fire spell in her hand instead of the green magic that made up the illusion. It was easy to deliver while touching him. The fire would be harmless, but Sabine wanted to test his sarcasm for truth. She needed to practice her illusion magic anyway.

Tzirret had the time to make a comment in return, "Hopefully they have a bathing chamber, like home."

Ra'kalesh smiled. "This one will help anyone who wants to learn. Again, do not expect miracles, but Khajiit may have some advice for you both. Speak to me tomorrow, once we have returned to camp. Right now, Ra'kalesh would like some dinner." He chuckled before heading over to their bags to find their stores of meat.

Kaleeth got out of her wet city clothes, then sat herself down on her bedroll, next to Newt's. The camp was situated in a circle as usual, though no one had even thought about building a fire. Some in the packs preferred to eat a cooked meal from time to time, just for variety, but at the moment, no one wanted any extra heat in the camp.

Peiter was looking at Tzirret just before Sabine laid her hand on his stomach. "Well, the ocean's nearby, but I don't think..." He began, interrupting himself when he felt Sabine's hand on his stomach. It only took a brief moment of seeing the fire for him to panic. "What are you doing, what are you doing?!" He shouted in a frenzy as he tried to swat her hand away and stand to his feet. Once he was up, he patted his own stomach down frantically, but felt, and saw no burns. And, once he had time to actually think, he recognized that he felt no heat. He let out a sigh, then knelt down in front of her. "Very...funny. I said I felt like I was on fire, not that I wanted to be on fire."

"Thanks!" Janius said happily, "Tomorrow, then." Janius walked up to Kaleeth and sat down by her, "I think dinner sounds like a good idea."

Tzirret sat up suddenly at Peiter's reaction, expecting danger. Sabine was grinning like an idiot, but only gave a small giggle. There was some laughing from others around them that noticed Peiter's sudden panic as well, but Tzirret wasn't sure whether he should be laughing or not. "What was that spell?" Tzirret asked slowly.

"I was just practising illusions," Sabine responded innocently.

Tzirret let out a snort and smiled with his head angled forward and his brow lifted, facing Peiter. "Now you know how this one feels when you two play pranks on me."

In her way of apology, Sabine brought herself up to her knees and took Peiter's cheeks in her hands, before leaning forward and pecking a quick kiss on his lips. She was still smiling. "You can get me back for that when you learn how." Sabine glanced to one side, "Or we could practice with swords, if you like."

With Sabine's kiss, Peiter could not bring himself to even act upset in any seriously convincing manner. Instead, he took her hand and stood up to his feet. "Well...that's actually a tough question. On the one hand, you're making this magic stuff look really tempting. But, on the other, I feel like I'll be able to get a lot more payback sooner in a sword duel." He said, smiling. He looked over and motioned his other hand towards Tzirret.

"Plus, Tzirret here would probably find a lot more interest in watching a duel. That is, if you were intent on doing it right now?" Peiter added. They had not been doing much all day, other than anticipating when they would finally be ashore. As such, Peiter had quite a bit of energy he needed to expend.

"Okay," Sabine answered without any protest. She turned, still holding onto Peiter's hand, and went to retrieve the practice swords.

Tzirret leaned back on his hands and watched on curiously, tail swinging from side to side behind him. He had not seen Peiter and Sabine spar before. In fact, he didn't know that Sabine did any sparring at all. "I didn't know you did sword fighting, Sabine. Since when did you two start sparring?"

As Sabine went to grab the swords, Peiter went over to a spot that seemed clear enough for their purposes, just on the other side of Tzirret. "Oh, we picked up some swords back in Senchal. The both of us decided it would be interesting to teach each other some tricks. I've been trying my best to learn how to use magic from her. Unsuccessfully so far, but I'm trying. Swordplay is a bit easier to grasp starting out, so Sabine has been a bit better off in sparring."

Once Sabine returned, Peiter took his wooden sword and took his position, turning back to Tzirret as he allowed Sabine to get ready. "Teaching someone techniques like this can sometimes be boring, I'll warn you, but we will at least start off with a good duel. Maybe you can pick up some pointers as well, if you pay attention."

"I have only had one lesson. I am not very good," Sabine added as she passed one of the wooden swords to Peiter.

Tzirret started to stand up. "This one will get something to eat and then watch."

The bout between Sabine and Peiter started off a little awkwardly for Sabine. With only one lesson and several days to forget what she had learned, the first few clashes were made up of recalling technique, sometimes painfully. After a while, they reached a point where Sabine was actually putting up a fight, although she was still less skilled than Peiter by a clear margin.

Apart from chuckling at some of the more clumsy or clever manoeuvres on the part of the combatants, Tzirret remained quiet while chewing some raw tripe and cuts from a boar. He had to take a seat further back after a few minutes as sweat started to get flung in his direction from Sabine's hair. He was soon joined by Fendros, who sat down with Rhazii on his lap to watch the training. Rhazii wasn't ready for sleep yet as Newt was, but as he watched the fight from Fendros' arms, his eyes began to droop. Fendros held a small smile and resisted the urge to give both Sabine and Peiter tips on their fencing. He may have been a young elf, but he had trained with a sword for longer than both Peiter and Sabine combined.

The sparring ended after a Sabine took yet another hit on her knuckles after an overcommitted thrust. She had managed to inflict some bruises herself, but not more than she had sustained. From then on it was drills and instruction. Fendros decided to stay around to watch while Rhazii slept in his arms and even struck up a short conversation with Tzirret, but nothing much was discussed beyond small talk. Eventually, Fendros went off to put Rhazii to bed and join the others. Tzirret followed along after another few minutes out of boredom.

The clacking and whooshing of swords was a prevailing sound until the sun dipped to the horizon and painted the jungle a speckled orange. It would be dark soon, and Peiter and Sabine had worn each other out. This time, Sabine didn't stop out of frustration, but she knew she wasn't getting any better than she had over the past hour or so. Her improvement was limited, but perceptible.

Out of breath from a repeated drill, Sabine sat herself down and laid her wooden sword to her side. Her hair had apparently shrunk with the sweat drenching it and holding the strands together. "I think I am getting better," Sabine commented while catching her breath. She leaned back to support her upper body with her arms and tried looking up at Peiter, but ended up having to blink away sweat and hair seeping into her eyes. "How long did it take to get as good as you are?"

Between their bouts and the more formal instruction that Peiter gave Sabine, their training had certainly allowed Peiter to expend some of his energy. He breathed heavily as he walked up to Sabine, dropped his sword, and sat down beside her. "Well, I had some before your pack arrived, but most of my training has been under Lorag for the past three years. I'm not a master or anything, obviously, but that is more formal training than most new soldiers get."

Peiter put his arm around Sabine's shoulder and allowed his head to rest against hers. "You're making good progress, for the fact that you're just starting out. I know sword practice is a lot...rougher than magic, but I enjoy it. We can try magic again next time. What about you? How long did it take you to first be able to manipulate magic?"

Sabine still didn't mind that both she and Peiter were probably both physically uncomfortable being so close due to the heat, but she kept her arms to herself rather than wrap one or both around him. She found her breathing steadying in short order as she closed her eyes and kept her head against his.

"I started when I was six," Sabine recounted in a murmur, "My instructor was strict. I had to learn a lot before I was even allowed to try channelling a spell." Sabine brought her hands in front of herself and cast a small light spell, like she had been teaching Peiter to do, but effortlessly. "It took a week to make a light like this, but I was taught every day without any free time. I was lucky, though. Some girls took over a month to get it right." Sabine let the light wink out of existence and her hands lowered. "You are lucky, too. I will not hit your fingers with a stick every time you make a mistake."

It was hard to tell by her reminiscent tone, but Sabine intended humour with her last comment. Her smile was out of Peiter's sight.

"Lorag probably does worse things teaching you, but he knows that he is helping. Stinging fingers do not help with magic," Sabine added, flexing her own sore fingers.

"Hmm, six years old. I guess you can learn quicker when you're a child, but still. Your instructors don't sound like ones I would want to have." Peiter responded. "I'm glad you were able to get away from all of that, and not just because I wouldn't have met you otherwise. You are just such a beautiful person, in mind and body, and you deserve a lot better than to be treated like that."

As Sabine was flexing her fingers, Peiter raised up his hand and intertwines his own fingers with hers. "Lorag, he trained us as soldiers. I recognized a lot of it from watching the guards back in Chorrol, actually. He was definitely strict, and kept a lot of discipline with us, but I wouldn't call him abusive per ce. We were punished for doing things wrong, but that came more in the form of extra physical conditioning. Like, more running, or lifting more weight. Painful punishment still, but...in a different way. Everything he made us do pretty much served some sort of purpose. Speaking of, maybe we should start doing some of that physical conditioning. Like, running and such. You're probably going to be stronger than most of your opponents just by being a lycan." With his other arm, Peiter ran his hand down Sabine's arm and lightly squeezed her bicep. "But, it might help to build some endurance. I know you have magic that can energize you, but you never know when you'll be without it."

Sabine flushed and exhaled a laugh at Peiter's compliment. She wasn't sure how much she liked being gushed upon about beauty, but she took the comment for what it was.

The description of Lorag's instruction style sounded about right. As for building endurance, Sabine was not so easily charmed. "If we must," she groaned, "I had to do that with the rest of my pack before I started learning magic. Then I did not have to, or not as much." Sabine turned her head and opened her eyes to look at Peiter, "Not now, though. I am too tired." After closing her eyes again, Sabine took Peiter's hand in both of hers and brought it up to her collarbone. After tightening her shoulders for a few seconds in a sort of stretch, she leaned into Peiter more heavily and let out a long sigh.

"Peiter?" Sabine asked, similarly to how she had in these situations before, "Can I know more about you? Are you afraid of anything?"

Peiter raised his brow at Sabine. "Am I afraid of anything? Well, of course. All the normal things that one would be afraid of. Being seriously hurt or killed, or having someone I care about being harmed. Or...well there is one other thing, I guess. Undead. Ever since I was a young child, I've had this really strong fear of the undead. Ghosts, spirits, zombies, skeletons, anything that shouldn't be alive. They...show up pretty often in my nightmares."

Thinking back, Peiter recalled some rather unpleasant memories, though they were not strong enough to cause any sort of irrational panic within him. As such, he did not mind sharing the details. The event he was recalling was more just frightening than traumatic. "I remember one day, outside the walls of the city not far from our farm, I was playing in the forest. I can't remember exactly how old I was; maybe ten or so? Anyway, I remember hearing this...groaning behind me. Like someone who was very, very sick. I turned around and saw the bushes in front of me start to shake. I was curious and stupid, so of course I just had to walk closer. After a few seconds this...thing emerged in front of me. Some undead monstrosity of rotting flesh and bone. I wouldn't call it the stuff of nightmares as much as it was the stuff that creates nightmares. I panicked, froze up, and probably would have died if that thing had actually cared in the slightest about my presence. It just shambled past me without so much as looking at me. I remember seeing its putrid, rotting flesh, some of it cut away to reveal bone underneath. There were holes in its skin from where the maggots were eating through it and...well it was a lot more than I needed to see. I have no clue why that thing was there to begin with. It was the middle of the day, right outside the city walls, and this bonewalker just walks right past me. Maybe it was the property of some nearby necromancer and was just concerned with getting back to its master. No matter what it was, it did not make me fond of the undead."

"That is strange," Sabine said, not trying to be mean, but genuinely confused, "I grew up around armoured skeletons, they were never scary. They were just really clumsy," Sabine even started to chuckle just remembering the sentinels at the coven. "Well, they are more dangerous than spiders, I suppose. Back at the clan, Rikki told me she was afraid of spiders. I do not know why she would be." Sabine gave Peiter another smile and looked at him again, "I'll protect you from undead."

Taking in another deep breath and returning to her previous position again, Sabine considered sharing her own thoughts on fear. "I used to be afraid of a lot of things. Even talking to and touching people. I thought that was all gone after the ritual, but there were still a few things. What you said, apart from the undead, mostly. But, in my nightmares, there is mostly...helplessness. I am either in a cage or chained up. I struggle but I cannot escape. If I try, it hurts. Then strangers make me swallow things that burn, or hurt, or..." Sabine paused. She knew exactly why she had those nightmares, but she didn't feel like sharing it just yet. She drew her knees up habitually, but ended up leaning the sides of them against Peiter rather than leaning onto them herself. "I do not like cages."

"Well then, I'll just have to make sure you're not caged." Peiter responded, wrapping his arms around Sabine to give her a hug. "I'll be honest, I have no idea how you could ever stand to be around those un-living nightmares, but I guess we will just have to do our best to protect each other. I know we're probably going to start searching the area first thing tomorrow, and I think I heard that we'll be splitting up into groups. Can I assume that we'll be wandering the jungle together looking for this clan?" He asked

Peiter was of course rather fatigued from their training, so he would likely be going to sleep soon, perhaps after a quick dinner, but he could and would keep himself awake for as long as Sabine wanted to talk.

Sabine curled up so that her head was underneathe Peiter's chin. She felt safe and relaxed enough that she could have fallen asleep herself if not for the heat. She responded to Peiter all the same, "I don't know if we will get to choose." She shrugged, "I would not mind searching with you, though."

After a moment, there was a groan from Sabine's stomach. She realised after all the physical activity that she was quite hungry and opened her eyes. "Would you like to have some dinner?"

Peiter nodded. "Sure, let's go get something."

As it was getting late, some in the camp had already laid down for the night, though there were still a few of the others still awake near the center of their camp. Tzirret, La'khay, Do'ajee, and Ciinriel were all present. Peiter opened one of their bags of supplies and picked out the leg of a boar for himself, then took a seat on the ground near the others while Sabine picked out the cut she preferred.

"Do'ajee sees you have finished your training for the evening. It is good you are trying to improve yourselves. We will need all the strength we can get to challenge Vile." She commented as Peiter sat down.

La'khay started to chuckle. "Yes, that's important, though La'khay just thinks it's good you are spending time together. This one finds you two to be such a cute couple."

"Well, Do'ajee would say that our mission is more important than personal feelings." She retorted.

"Hmph, you would say that." La'khay responded.