It turned out that the wedding ceremony had taken longer than the pack ha realised, most likely because of the time spent in conversation. That left relatively little time before they set out for the Avarul family's favourite tavern.

The tavern itself was a cleaner place than most taverns had repute for. Calia strode in and swiftly acquired a table large enough for them all. While the meal was pleasant and the conversation as nice as it was after the ceremony, the event was still marred by the absence of Fendros' father, Rossarm. Calia mentioned that she had tried to convince Rossarm anyway, but he 'remained unreasonably stubborn in his silence of Fendros.'

Just as promised, Calia paid for everyone's meals, even if they over-ordered, but the amount of drink that Lorag consumed had Meesei handing the bartender the pack's coin on a secret tab.

Given how early the pack was to leave in the morning, they decided to give their farewells to Fendros' family that night. Addresses were exchanged for letters as promised. However, Fendros decided that he would also write to Llarasa under the alias of 'Dranas' for matters that would not be revealed in letters written and read by the whole family. It would be easier to keep track of more negative family affairs that way.

While Calia and Monderyn remained stoic with their goodbyes, Calia instead offering her small smiles, Llarasa ended up bursting into tears. She quietly mentioned to Fendros and Ahansha while hugging them that their letters had helped her through rough spots on a number of occasions with the family. They all promised to see one another again soon enough.

That night had Janius approach Fendros and Ahnasha to offer to watch the children for the night with a knowing look. Fendros and Ahnasha then took time together away from camp for the most part, embracing their first night as a wedded couple.

Travel began bare minutes after sunrise on the next day. They ate on the road to save time on their way south. Attempts to reach out to Lorag were largely unsuccessful from most members of the pack, though all could tell that seeing Harriet and Narsi had affected him. Sabine soon overcame her bout of sadness from the wedding and instead expressed a growing excitement with every day that they neared closer to Ariel. Janius and Kaleeth kept their routine regular; watching the children and Leaps, contact sparring until Kaleeth's beast spirit was appeased, and other general tasks assigned to them. The wedding had kept Janius' mind distracted with thoughts of how to find Kaleeth's tribe again and they weren't fading away with any rush. Finally, Fendros and Ahnasha continued to look as if they had fallen in love all over again. They were physically closer than usual, holding hands more often and sitting closely. It was only beginning to show signs of tapering to how things were after at least a month of travel, but the pet-name status of 'husband' and 'wife' was not losing novelty nearly as fast.

It seemed that the only pack member that had not changed at all since they left Skyrim was Gallus. He kept spending his idle time preening the red feather that he carried around and did not seem as talkative as he normally was. Whenever asked about his wellbeing, he merely responded that he was feeling 'determined.'

The time eventually came for the groups' paths to diverge. Gallus and Cuts-Canes-Faster gave their goodbyes near to the south-eastern corner of Cyrodiil. It was a straight-shot to Gideon over land and marsh, with travel being slower than the firmer Cyrodilic soil by a long margin. Even though he might have been confident of his chances beforehand, Gallus quickly came to appreciate Cuts' expertise of Black Marsh. Without the Argonian guide, Gallus would have been lost for upwards of a week just trying to navigate.

By the time Gallus came to Gideon, his clothing was suitably muddy and his brow drenched from the humid heat. The town's mix of Imperial, Argonian, and ancient architecture made him gaze with amazement for a while. Cuts eventually snapped him out of it. They went to an inn to book a room, if only to clean up somewhat, and emerged feeling fresher. At least, insofar as smell and look. The dark rings under Gallus' eyes told of fatigue that he was otherwise not showing.

"I'm not sure what I expected, Cuts, but it was different to this city," Gallus remarked out the front of the inn. "Come, I'll need your help to translate. We have a child to find."

Gallus then proceeded to trying asking around taverns and markets for anyone named 'Yizan-Lei' or any family and friends of 'Dar-Tzesa.' With Cuts' cultural guidance, Gallus again found himself saving much time. Regardless, he didn't expect the search to be easy.

[hr]
Meanwhile, Meesei's pack had continued on south until they found a ferry to Leyawiin. Travel would be fastest to Thorn by boat than by travelling across the breadth of Black Marsh. They made sure to take time to have a satisfying hunt as a pack in the nearby wilds before boarding the ship to travel around the marsh.

Even though it was just as boring as their other voyages by ship, all except for the children, Kaleeth, and perhaps even Meesei found the ship to be preferable to the conditions of Black Marsh. No incidents came up during the voyage beyond some cabin fever.

When the pack landed, Sabine was so excited that it was hard to tell whether the tension she held was good or bad. She was the first down the gangplank, even jumping ahead of some docking crew. She waited for the rest of the pack to disembark after rolling the balls of her feet on the ground for every second that passed.

"What should our movements be?" Janius asked with his shoulders laden by some of the pack's baggage. "Did you and Sabine want to go to Ariel on your own while we find a place to camp or should we all come with you?"