Sabine's nervousness built up as she approached Meesei's quarters. She was not sure what she would say when she saw her. The relative quiet of the pack's quarters was concerning, however. And Meesei's room more so. Sabine stood stunned with her mouth ajar.

"No," Sabine answered Yerig gently. She shook her head as her face tensed up. "She would not act like this."

Rushing out into the hallway, Sabine called out. "Meesei?"

There was no response. "Meesei?" She tried again. After a moment, she strode to another room. "Fendros? Ahnasha?" And another. "Lorag? Kaleeth?" They were all empty. "Janius?"

Sabine swallowed down her panic. After a pause, she called out again. "Rhazii? Kaj-Julan!?" Her voice lowered. "Where are they?"

Without an immediate response, Sabine hung her head. "We should go to the council chambers. There might be someone there that knows." She started walking again. "Come with me."

Before Sabine could so much as turn around back towards the stairs, they heard the easily recognizable, and rather alarming sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard. Sabine's shouting had masked the footsteps coming up the stairs, but it was no stranger who had drawn the blade. Rather, it was Ri'vashi, who was currently staring down Do'rhajul with a look of pure, unrestricted hatred. She growled threateningly, though a particularly attentive eye might notice that her hands were shaking.

Ri'vashi spoke only a single word: "You." She did not yell, but even so, it was almost frightening how much anger she could contain within a single, simple word. Ri'vashi had obviously seen Sabine, but it was clear that her attention was solely fixated upon Do'rhajul as she stood with her blade in both hands, pointed towards him. She was not in her armor, but Ri'vashi was never without her weapon.

Even when he heard the sound of the blade being drawn, Do'rhajul did not make any sudden movements. He turned around to face her, but did not make any hint of a motion towards his own sword. As much as he wanted to speak, Sabine had already requested that they allow her to talk for them.

Sabine gasped in fright at the sight of Ri'vashi. Her ears burned, recognising exactly why Ri'vashi was before them. Sabine place a hand on Do'rhajul's arm to step in between him and Ri'vashi, keeping her fearful eyes fixed on the sword now pointing at her.

"Ri'vashi," Sabine said, her voice shivering. "Put away your sword. Rhajul is under my protection."

Any small movement from Ri'vashi made Sabine's hand twitch. She did not think she could convince Ri'vashi to back down so easily. At the same time, Ri'vashi was a friend to the pack. They had known one another for a long time. Sabine dreaded the thought of using magic against her. But she was prepared to.

While there was no way that Ri'vashi could not have noticed Sabine, she still reacted as if she was seeing her for the first time. Her eyes widened, and she pulled her sword back somewhat when Sabine stepped between them. "'Under your protection'? What madness is this? Why are you with this murderer?"

There was a pause from Ri'vashi. She did not put away her sword as Sabine had requested, but she did lower it. She seemed unwilling to raise it against a friend like Sabine. Even so, the unhindered rage in her expression did not subside; her confusion simply joined it. "We heard the report from the Daggerfall clan that you had returned, and with prisoners. Then you just left right after. The Champion did not believe it, and I thought it made no sense. Ri'vashi does not understand any of this, what is going on, Sabine?"

There was at least some relief in Sabine when Ri'vashi was no longer pointing a sword at her. Still, she found herself hesitating to answer. Desperate, her eyes went to the axe over her shoulder. She gently lowered its head to the floor to display it.

"I...had to get the axe." Sabine knew that it did not make much more sense with just that. "This is it. This is the Rueful Axe. Rhajul and Yerig helped me obtain it." That was not good enough either. "They saved my life, Ri'vashi."

Ri'vashi had not paid close attention to the axe until Sabine called attention to it. She cast her eyes to the weapon curiously for a few moments before she recognized it for herself and, for quite a few seconds, was left speechless at the realization that the axe was actually in her possession. "That's...the Rueful Axe? How? Ri'vashi did not think the enemy had the axe; the Champion said that we would likely have to deal with a dragon to claim it. We were going to bring a veritable legion of our warriors, gather ships, siege equipment...how did you claim it by yourself?"

For a few seconds, Ri'vashi was distracted by her astonishment, but allowing her eyes to focus back on Do'rhajul was all it took to bring her attention back to him. "But...no, that's not what is important. Even if that monster saved you, he is too dangerous! It might be a ruse, he might be using you! He cannot be allowed to walk around our home freely, and armed at that. We need to detain and interrogate him right away!"

Sabine tensed up again. "No! I will not let..." She caught herself. "You can have their weapons if you want. But I need to keep them with me. This is not what you think it is. Please." Sabine lowered her eyes as some emotion welled up. "Some things...happened. I just want to see Meesei. Please tell me where she is."

"Your pack is in High Rock, looking for you, Sabine. A messenger came through the propylon chamber this morning and told us of your arrival there. Your pack went to investigate. They might still be there, but knowing the...mood that Meesei is in right now, Ri'vashi does not think that she is going to stop looking until she sees you with her own eyes. Your pack will likely end up back here tonight." Ri'vashi explained. However, despite becoming less outwardly aggressive, she was not taking her eyes off of Do'rhajul.

The tone with which Ri'vashi continued started to show less in the way of rage, and almost started to sound pleading. "But, Sabine...you have to reconsider your demands. You want Ri'vashi to just ignore this murderer. He is responsible for killing Ri'vashi's family, her friends, everyone she cared about for most of her life. He destroyed her father's entire legacy. How can you ask this of Ri'vashi?"

Do'rhajul remained completely silent, but his head lowered as Ri'vashi revealed more about herself, and the reason for her anger. His expression showed a similar sort of depression that he had been displaying any time he was left alone with his thoughts for too long. Seeing the face of someone he had harmed directly made the weight of his guilt heavier on his shoulders.

Sabine could not see Do'rhajul's face. She answered with a sudden passion. "I can ask it because you are not a monster, Ri'vashi!"

For a moment, Sabine stopped to keep the tears in her eyes. She looked momentarily surprised at how loudly she spoke. Nevertheless, she continued. "But I am afraid you will become one if I leave Rhajul to you. I am sorry. I cannot bring them back. Rhajul cannot take back what he did." Sabine bared her teeth. "But he lost all the things you did, Ri'vashi. He lost everyone he loved and everything he built. And what he did to try and get them back was out of the same rage that you are feeling. So I want it all to stop. No more killing because of the pain. That is how I can ask this of you, Ri'vashi. I do not want you to become him."

Sabine let the words sink in. Her attempt to keep her anger and sadness hidden failed on her face, as hard as she tried.

There was yet more silence from Ri'vashi. For what seemed like an eternity, the only sounds were their breathing, and the faint sounds of Dwemer mechanisms which could always be heard in the city. She maintained her intense gaze at Do'rhajul, so it was difficult to tell how she had taken Sabine's impassioned argument. The only hints that her body language gave was that the internal debate within her thoughts was every bit as intense. "Justice is not monstrous. Crimes must have their punishments."

Ri'vashi took in a deep breath, and with her eyes closed, she finally lowered her sword entirely. "But Ri'vashi is not going to raise her blade against you, Sabine. Not even for this. When we collect the Champion and the rest of the council together, we will all discuss this. Just make sure he is watched at all times, and under no circumstances should he leave the city. You, murderer, give Ri'vashi your weapon." She demanded.

Since Sabine had already offered for him and Yerig to disarm, Do'rhajul did not hesitate in removing his scabbard from his belt and handing it over to Ri'vashi. Yerig also took the sword off of his back to give to her, though it was seemingly an afterthought for her to take his blade. It was clearly not Yerig that held all of Ri'vashi's ire. At the very least, it did not seem that there would be too much resistance in accepting his help. Ri'vashi would undoubtedly be the source of most of their opposition.

"Now, the axe...we have it now. We have the Rueful axe. That is the last piece. Based on all the reports from the other clans, that is the last item we need to carry out our plan. Once it is prepared. Ri'vashi supposes that Darahil should examine it. We also need to know what happened to you, how this...confusing mess transpired. Would you rather wait until your pack returns, to tell all of us at once?" Ri'vashi asked.

Ri'vashi's response was not as much giving up on her pursuit as Sabine would have preferred. However, something told her that Ri'vashi's rage had been tempered to the point of compromise. It was the best they were likely to get until the council assembled.

Sabine half-breathed in, but the words caught in her throat. She nodded her head to opt to explain later before her emotions could get the better of her.

"You had best the axe with you," Sabine added. She extended her arm to pass one half of the axe's haft to Ri'vashi. "I will stay in the city with them."

With Ri'vashi on her way with several weapons under her arm, Sabine deflated and found her way into her own chambers, gesturing for Yerig and Do'rhajul to follow. For a while, she simply sat on the edge of her bed wondering what to do next. When Yerig asked as much after he and Do'rhajul stood around awkwardly for half a minute, Sabine decided to find others to let them know she was safe.

She started by heading to the scholar's loft. A number of mages and alchemists came with concerns and questions, but she spoke to none until she found Karl. They embraced so tightly and for so long that neither could very well breathe for the entire time. They both softly wept. Yet even with all that had happened, Sabine did not speak more than a heavily abstracted version of events, particularly skipping over her torture entirely. She told him she might tell him more once she had spoken to her pack and the council.

Rhazii, Julan, and Leaps were easily found as well, to a similar scene as with Karl. When Sabine asked about the mess in Meesei's room, they did not know much more than the sounds that were made.

Sabine mentioned to no one who the old Nord and Cathay-Raht following her were. She said they were just guests that had helped her.

Afterwards, Sabine asked Rhazii and Julan to pick up some food to take to her room. She took Yerig and Do'rhajul back there to rest, recuperate, and wait. Sabine was terse with the information she gave about the clanhome, more to appease Ri'vashi than out of suspicion. She spent almost her entire time at her personal alchemy lab making things that were not even necessary -- just something to distract her.

Curiously enough, Sabine did not so much as let go of the Staff of Magnus for more than a moment during the entire remainder of the afternoon. And the more potions she made, the more tense she appeared.

The wait through the afternoon seemed even longer than it was for Do'rhajul and Yerig. There was little with which they could occupy themselves. The Thu'um not withstanding, neither were magically or alchemically inclined, and doing anything at all among the rest of the clan was simply out of the question for the moment. The pair spent much of their time simply talking to one another. At first, it was about their impressions of the clan, but their conversations soon moved to reminiscing on their past. They referenced events that would make no sense to Sabine without knowledge of their history, but it was clear that they had once been very close friends. Yerig had helped Do'rhajul recover and gain back some confidence after being inflicted with lycanthropy but they lost contact with one another after Do'rhajul joined with Vile. It was only recently that Do'rhajul sought Yerig out for his help.

Eventually, Yerig ended up meditating in his corner of the room, and Do'rhajul similarly ended up, at minimum, thinking quietly to himself. They could hear footsteps approaching from down the hall, but as it was getting late, others who also lived in the hall had been going to their rooms occasionally for the last hour or so. However, this time, the steps started to draw closer to their room quite quickly.

Suddenly, the door opened without so much as a knock or a word from the person opening it. It was Meesei. For a brief moment, she ended up standing in the doorway, staring at Sabine almost in shock. She was short of breath after having sprinted up the stairs towards their chambers, but that did not stop her from running across the room to embrace Sabine. She may not have even noticed Do'rhajul and Yerig, and if she had, she clearly did not care about them more than she did finally reuniting with Sabine.

Meesei practically fell onto Sabine with her hug, squeezing her more tightly than she perhaps ever had before. "Sabine..." Meesei began, but any attempt at words was already too choked-up from Meesei's sobbing to be intelligible. At least for a while, until she managed to speak a few more short words. "You're okay. Y-you're...okay." Meesei's hands were shaking, and her hearth pounding. She could hardly even remember to breathe. Despite all of the horrors that had been playing out in her mind since Sabine's capture, she could now feel the immense relief of being able to hold her daughter in her arms.

The others in the pack were just behind Meesei, but she had been the quickest to sprint up to her room after they had learned she had returned.

The sprinting footsteps drew Sabine's attention up from her alchemy lab. In her sunken-eyed fatigue, who it could have been was not obvious. The possibility of the sprinter being Meesei made her hold her staff tightly with anxiety.

And then Meesei burst through the door. Sabine breathed quickly and almost looked scared before she was embraced. Then she froze.

Like a collapsing building, Sabine's composure crumbled. She cried into Meesei's shoulder and cried loudly, even muffled as it was. Her arms and staff were trapped against Meesei's front but she managed to pull out one arm to wrap tightly around Meesei in return. Everything she had been holding in poured out. Any attempts to talk were futile for now.

The next to make it to the door was Fendros. He arrived catching his breath and not as single-minded as Meesei. His eyes darted in a flash of anger and confusion at the other two occupants of the room. In a flash, his family sword was out and pointing at them from across the room. "What is the meaning of this!?" He demanded.

Janius was a few moments behind, giving time for a few words. Sabine remained loudly bawling on Meesei's shoulder.

Thusfar, Sabine had not told Do'rhajul or Yerig to begin speaking to anyone else, but given the state that Sabine currently seemed to be in, it was doubtful that she was going to be giving Fendros any kind of response as soon as either of them would like. The two of them exchanged glances across the room, and Yerig stood up from where he was sitting. Between the two of them, Yerig was the much better choice to speak to anyone in the clan.

"You convinced us." Yerig replied. Since Sabine had told him that her pack's original mission had been to convince him, and anyone else in their team, to turn on Vile, Yerig figured that it would be a good place to start to calm him down. "I read almost all of that book you gave me. Showed it to Rhajul, and he recognized the handwriting. I'd like to be able to say that we rescued Sabine, but she freed herself, and we decided to help."

Meesei, meanwhile, was no more composed than Sabine. All of her worry and fear that had been building up within her since Sabine's capture was now suddenly erased. Meesei certainly had plenty of questions to ask, but none of them were on her mind for as long as she held onto Sabine. "I've never been...so worried, Sabine. I have hardly even been able to think, or sleep. We searched everywhere we could, then I heard you returned and...left again. I was so confused, but...you are here now. I am so sorry, Sabine. I should have protected you."

Janius reached the door midway through Yerig's answer. He was just as confused, though Fendros was lowering his sword.

"You're jesting," Fendros said. His brow turned up with worry. "Divines above. Oh Divines." He fell against the nearest wall back-first and leaned, staring into the space in front of him. He looked to be in shock.

"Sabine..." Janius was similarly shocked, but for a different reason.

At this point, Sabine started talking into Meesei's shoulder. "I am sorry, Meesei," she whined. The muffled speech made through the weeping was hard to understand. "I made a mess of the plan. I did wrong. I am sorry."

Janius pointed a gauntleted finger. "Sabine, is that Arinette's staff?"

"No, Sabine, it is not...you could not have done anything." Meesei replied. "Ahnasha explained everything. It was bad luck, they wandered too close. I...I should have been faster to save you. I should have sprinted ahead of the others; I could have got there sooner. I did not want to separate from the main force, but...I could have done more. I know I could have done more. It was my fault, not yours. I am sorry, Sabine. Just...please do not blame yourself." Of course, regardless of Meesei's words, it was doubtful that she, or anyone else would have been able to get to Sabine before Arinette captured her.

Meesei had hardly even noticed their former enemy General sitting in the corner of the room when she ran into the room, so of course, she did not notice Sabine's staff either until Janius called attention to it. "You have...the Staff of Magnus?" Meesei questioned, seemingly bewildered. Although, after some thought, it would of course make sense that Sabine would have claimed their more valuable items after capturing most of Arinette's team.

The others stepped into the room more calmly, one after another. Although, there was not a single member of the pack who was not at least suspicious of Do'rhajul, and to a lesser extent, Yerig. Kaleeth stood in the doorway, looking warily at Yerig. On the one hand, he had been the one to attack Janius, but he had also been responsible for saving her own life. She lifted up the faceplate of her own helmet and gave a worried look to Janius just in front of her.

Sabine lifted her tear-strewn face from Meesei's shoulder and nodded slowly. "I..." She lost her breath to a sob and tried again. "It kept me alive..." She broke down again and held the staff closely to her chest.

"Never mind that," Fendros said. He pushed off the wall and walked up to join Meesei and Sabine's hug. "You're safe. That's all that matters. You're back with us."

Janius returned Kaleeth's look. After another silent moment, Fendros relented and Janius took a moment to hug Sabine and Meesei as well. "I think..." he said, gently while pulling away and holding a hand to Sabine's back. "I think we should have a sit down and talk about what happened. Not the mission, specifically, but what came after. What did they do with you, Sabine? And how did..." He peered to Do'rhajul and Yerig. He trailed off without any way to initially describe their situation. "...how did all this happen? Not long ago, these men were trying to kill us."

"I just wanted them to help," Sabine said weakly. "I did not want to bring them here just so they could be killed. It's not fair."

Meesei kept her arms tightly around Sabine. She finally noticed Do'rhajul, but she did not feel like she even the energy to get up and threaten him, as would have been her natural reaction. She just wanted to be with her daughter right then and there. She did have many questions as well, but was content to simply continue sitting beside her on the floor in front of her alchemy station, comforting her.

Do'rhajul still felt it was wise for him to stay quiet, but Yerig saw the state that Sabine was in and did want to help her get through the more painful memories. He just had to be careful not to step over any bounds that the pack might have for him. "When I brought the book to Rhajul, it was out in the open, in front of Arinette and all the others. I think it was a good enough distraction that Sabine was able to escape her binds and grab the staff. Once she had that, well, the rest of the team combined wasn't enough to stop her. Do'rhajul did try to help Sabine deal with them, but she disabled them all pretty quick, I'm told. Arinette nearly shocked me to death before Sabine escaped, but Sabine healed me after it was over. Saved my life."

Ahnasha cautiously stepped somewhat closer to Do'rhajul, still eyeing him suspiciously. Even though he was apparently unarmed, she still had her hand hovering over her dagger. "So you just...trust him now?" Ahnasha asked. "Even after everything he did?"

"He won't be forgiven, Ahnasha," Sabine said somewhat more confidently. "And he won't forgive himself. He is only alive because I told him to be. And he has not broken my trust."

Janius was not so easily convinced. "How do you know he isn't just using some kind of ploy?"

Sabine pulled away from Meesei and stood up. Her voice remained choked by tears. "Because Vile sent him to hunt us so he would be killed! All of them would be killed." She lowered her voice, realising herself but still upset. "He is just a loose end. Vile does not care about the war anymore. He has the souls he needs. He was never going to give Rhajul's life back. That was the entire reason Rhajul did everything; to get his family and his life back. And it was horrible. And he knows what he deserves. But I don't care!"

She looked over at Do'rhajul. "After giving the rest of his team to be imprisoned after they turned on Rhajul and Yerig, we went to the island to collect the Rueful Axe. With their help we killed the dragon. Its name was Faasnuhenvokaal. And we found Cyrus' body in a pile. And the axe. I thought..." She lowered her eyes. "...if we got it, you would believe me about Rhajul and Yerig. I want them to help us so they do not have to die having only done awful things."

Fendros and Janius were both stunned to silence.

The fact that Sabine was speaking out in defense of Do'rhajul was surprising, to say the least, for most members of the pack. Yerig was easier to accept, but Do'rhajul had caused a great deal of suffering for them over the years. However, what Sabine had to say afterwards was even more surprising. The pack had rushed up to reunite with Sabine as soon as they had been told about her, so they had not yet been informed about the recovery of the axe.

Ahnasha looked to be startled by the news. "Wait, you...recovered the Rueful Axe?"

"And killed a Dragon?" Kaleeth added, equally surprised.

Meesei looked to be almost speechless at the news for a few seconds. She still had tears clouding her vision, which certainly did not match the strong persona that Do'rhajul might have expected from her. "Sabine, you...could have been hurt. I...you did all of that...for him?" She said, looking back at Do'rhajul.

With most of the room's attention on Do'rhajul, he looked around in silence for several seconds. Despite Sabine's advice to stay quiet earlier in the day, he could read the situation well enough to say that it might have been time for him to speak. "After I learned the truth, I swore myself to Sabine's service. I shall accept any fate you have for me without resistance, but for as long as I am alive and able, I do not intend to give up the fight against the liar Clavicus Vile."