"I'll come with you," Sabine said. She padded on all fours to catch up before striding on her hind legs behind Meesei's imposing form. She wanted to know how it felt to simply stroll around in this controlled form.

Transformed lycans were nothing uncommon in the Silent City. What drew eyes to the pair was Meesei herself. Still, Sabine couldn't help but feel that it was foreign to walk around in this form without the normal purposes; either hunting, training, or just heading out of the city complex. Her self-consciousness was at least somewhat offset by the freedom her mind had to sense through her werewolf eyes, ears, and nose. She was no longer constantly distracted or limited in cognition. Everything smelled and sounded nicer.

The stroll ended back in Meesei's chambers. Sabine had not requested anything particularly complex to cook. Merely a flat cut of goat meat rubbed with a mix of spices and seasoning.

Sabine ground the spices with a mortar and pestle, but not without some difficulty. Meesei was right that her hands did not move with quite the precision of human hands. Conversely, she was also correct about how precisely Sabine could smell the mix. Sabine was able to balance the spice mix down to the last peppercorn before lathering it on the uncooked goat meat. She then roasted the meat over the flames. It would not take nearly as long as normal, as they could consume it undercooked. Indeed, they both preferred it.

Wiping her beastly hands on a rag, Sabine sat down next to Meesei and watched the flames lick at their meal. She licked her nose and up her jaw in anticipation.

"It could be nice to be transformed for a longer time than usual," Sabine thought out loud. "If it were not for the magic and the coordination." She turned her face to Meesei. "Has any champion ever stayed transformed without turning back?"

[hr]
Even if Rhazii couldn't see it, Fendros nodded along with Ahnasha's offers.

Rhazii's voice levelled. "Thanks mother," he said, still with a blocked nose. The encouragement gave him some more confidence in his voice, at least. "It's just...hard, okay? It's hard not to think about all of you fighting Do'rhajul." He tried sniffing and only partially succeeded.

"We know," Fendros responded. "And that's okay. It just means you care about your family, and we are proud to have brought up a boy who is so caring." He tilted his head. "If it helps, remember that have been doing this for a long time. Longer than you have been alive. We've gotten good at taking care of each other, your mother and I, and the rest of the pack. While we had a close call today, we still all made it out alive because of all the things we've learned over the years. And that ambush was most likely the worst they could have thrown at us. You can rest assured, Rhazii, we'll be okay."

A moment passed. Rhazii lowered one hand, rubbed his fingers across his forehead with the other, and opened his teary, red-iris eyes. "Alright," he reluctantly accepted with a frown on his face. "So you'll make sure you and the others won't get killed? You won't take big risks if you don't have to?"