"Alpha's not here?" Lorag responded immediately, looking around the camp as he ate his breakfast. "Huh, guess she isn't." He said, not answering Fendros' question in the slightest. 

Janius swallowed the bite he was chewing and answered a bit more helpfully. "I've never known her to be away for more than two hours. I have been up for an hour, so she has been away for at least that long." 

"Hmm, I guess she will be back any minute then." Ahnasha said in a reassuring tone between bites. It seemed like Meesei's errand run was on the long side, but she hadn't been gone long enough for it to be strange yet. She was sure she had nothing to worry about. 

Minutes went by and at first, Ahnasha was still calm. She finished her breakfast, then ended up going back and forth a few times with Lorag making fun of each other, mostly so he wouldn't be going after Fendros instead. After half an hour passed, her heart rate started to shoot up, and she kept looking out over the forest to see if she could spot their Alpha approaching. She asked Runt if she could mix a potion to help her, and while such a potion could be created, she did not have the appropriate ingredients to make one. Eventually, an hour had passed with no sign of Meesei, so Ahnasha decided that something must be done. 

The Khajiit walked up to Fendros, glancing toward the forest and speaking in a worried tone. "So, um, Fendros. I think it might be time to consider looking for Meesei. I don't know where she could have gone, but she may be lost...or worse. I, uh, I don't want to alarm you or anything, and the chances of it happening even without Meesei doing anything are, uh, slim. But...there is a [i]small[/i] possibility...one we probably don't have to worry about....that, uh, I could become...pregnant. It's a small chance, of course, I mean, you are Dunmer. I just...we shouldn't take any chances. We should see if we can get the others to help find her." 

---

Meesei had made another, rather annoying discovery as she was walking along the river. The thing that was causing her to smell was some kind of sticky substance coating most of her body, a substance that attracted flies and all other types of insects. She was constantly swatting them away in vain. She had attempted to wash it off in the river, but whatever it was simply would not come off. The scent was evidently strong enough to attract scavengers, as she could see what looked like vultures flying overhead. 

It was taking a strangely long time for her nose to adapt to the scent, so she did not notice when one of the vultures started to fly lower. After a few minutes it swooped down from behind, seemingly attacking her. Flaring up with magical energy, she telekinetically tossed the large bird away while cursing aloud from the surprise. "Ah, what? I thought you were only supposed to eat dead things?" She said angrily, looking at the bird as it regained its footing and flew away. [i]What is it about this scent that is making these creatures behave so strangely?[/i] She thought to herself. Whatever was covering her was certainly nothing normal. She continued on along the river, though she was unaware of the few dozen feathers that had stuck to her back.