[IC] Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

[Muttonhawk]

Unlike Peiter, Sabine still took their encounter with the Cathay-raht rather seriously. She at least had the good nature to give an uneasy smile. "He almost killed you," she said, about to follow up when Peiter put his hand on hers. The words were just about forgotten as her face went red again. To make it complete, she repositioned her hand so that it was properly within Peiter's grasp and then looked up at his face. Just as she caught herself staring, Sabine turned away to look at the Pride. "Ha-...have you met any of the rescued pride? I have not spoken to any of them yet," Sabine's tone spoke of her being the nervous one this time.

"If we have a lead for finding more of the clan, I can get behind that," Gallus have a sad smile, "I would sooner see them out of suffering or hiding." Gallus straightened up from the map and gestured to it with a sweeping hand, "What is our heading?"

[EliteCommander]

Peiter took a deep breath. When he actually managed to look past his own fears, he could see that Sabine was nervous as well. He needed to have the courage to speak to her, to say what he wanted to say. It was difficult, but he at least could keep back the fear enough to try to keep the conversation on the right track. "No, I haven't, but I think I can wait. I...think I'd much rather talk to you right now. We've, um, we've been spending a lot of time together...over the past few days, haven't we?"

Ra'kalesh took a look over the map, trying to recall the features of the area that had been described to him. His focus was on southern Elsweyr, near the coast. The area seemed to have little in the way of settlements or other distinguishing features that one might find on a map, so Meesei supposed that wherever they had gone was likely remote. "Again, this one can give no guarantees, but...to the west, a little over halfway to Torval along the coast. If they followed their plans, that is where they would have gone. It is far from the cities, so they would be more safe to recover. But, this one does not know an exact location. We will have to search the area to track them down; they are more than likely still in hiding. Ra'kalesh may know what to look for, but he can say no more for certain until we are there. It is not as far as the fortress near Corinthe, but we will still need to travel for a week or two to reach it. Perhaps longer, with the state of my pride. We would be off of the roads for part of the journey, so the forest may slow us down."

[Muttonhawk]

It took another few seconds for Sabine to form a response. Her eyes above her blank face were flicking to and from Peiter's face as if she was trying to keep her eyes on an illusion that was evading her. "We have," was all she could manage right then. Her mouth twitched into a smile that only lasted the blink of an eye and she looked to the ground in front of Peiter. "I still need to teach you magic," she said, even less audibly.

Gallus nodded and started at the map. "I see no reason not to try. One thing has come to my mind, however." Gallus looked up to the others without lifting his head, "That prisoner mentioned that their leader is a werewolf. That means that he would have the ability to track a large group of lycans just about anywhere. As much as it pains me to say, we cannot go forth assuming that the enemy will not have already found them." Gallus gave a nod to one side, "Granted, that is a worst case, but we will need to be wary. On that same note, word will probably reach him within the week that the champion has arrived. If I were him, I would do everything in my power to find her, including tracking us by scent. We will be on a deadline unless we either move fast or find a way to cover our tracks." Gallus raised his brow, "Is there some kind of magic that can help us?"

[EliteCommander]

Peiter's heart was pounding, to the point where Sabine might even feel the pulse in his hand if she were to grip it tightly enough. He tried to remain calm on the outside, but even he did not know if he was succeeding. The mention of training caused him to think back to the day before, to their swordsmanship training. He did not know what to expect from magical training, but it would require that they take even more time together. "Yes, I suppose you do. I certainly would not mind spending...more time with you. Perhaps we can try it now?"

"It may be that you are correct." Meesei commented. "We still do not know much about the enemy in this area. We will need to be cautious when searching for them, in case the enemy is able to turn this into a trap."

"Ra'kalesh does not think the remnants of his clan have yet been discovered." He responded. "One of the questions they kept asking us when they tortured us was where to find the rest of our clan. This one told only lies, and he never told the rest of his pride that he knew where our clan could have gone. There is magic one can use to hide a trail, and this one believes our clan leader would have made sure to use it. He wanted to make sure our clan remained as hidden as possible if we had to evacuate. It is still possible they could have been found, but Ra'kalesh thinks there is a good chance they haven't."

Meesei continued looking over the map in thought as she answered. "That is good to know, but we should still be cautious all the same. Gallus is right that they will attempt to track us. I have no doubt that they would attempt to track any lycans, but the pack of the Champion is an especially alluring target. I can attempt to use magic to keep our trail hidden, but that may be difficult for me to accomplish alone for such a large group."

"Ra'kalesh knows that Jo'rashaad can help, but there is another option, if we can get the gold. We could hire one of the ships in Senchal to take us to area along the coast where we might find them. It is not a long journey by ship, so the expense may not be too great. We cannot be tracked by scent over the ocean, and it is unlikely that the enemy would already have a ship waiting to follow us. It is worth noting that not every captain would be willing to transport passengers, in secret, to an unmarked location along the coast, so we would likely have to deal with smugglers, pirates, or others of the sort." He suggested.

Although the plan did come with costs, Meesei did believe it could work. They were unlikely to be followed by ship, so it would allow them to reach their destination undisturbed. "We were able to save on costs during the first leg of our journey to Elsweyr, so I believe we may have the coin to make such a voyage. Although between paying for supplies and passage for our packs and your pride, we may not be left with much more afterwards. Regardless, it would keep us from being tracked, and allow us to finally be able to engage Vile on our terms."

[Muttonhawk]

The proposal to try out magic now put a broad smile on Sabine's face. "Okay," she said, regaining her confidence. She stood up quickly, sliding her hand out from underneath Peiter's, and peeked over at where Meesei, Gallus, and the Pride leader where talking. "I do not know if we are going to travel today. We could still begin with basics. Follow," Sabine beckoned Peiter with one hand and walked a short distance to a quiet spot within sight of the camp. She sat down on with crossed legs and motioned for Peiter to do the same.

Sabine was grinning with excitement to begin the lesson, even though she knew that it was going to require a bit of background theory before any magic was to be done. Still, she wanted to keep it simple and narrow so that Peiter could have the best chance of making progress. "Before starting, how much about magic do you know?" Sabine asked. She knew that Peiter likely wouldn't know anything at all, but if there were a few scant details to start with, it might help.

"Saving coin shouldn't stop us from doing this properly," Gallus said, shaking his head slightly, "I like the idea of taking a ship. They can't track us through a city easily and they, of course, cannot track us along the ocean. We'll be safe and so will the remnants that we may find." Gallus looked briefly to the camp, "I don't think we'll be enthused to board a ship again, but it's no real matter. Still, I suggest we have a pack hunt with those that didn't feed yesterday, just to make things easy. What's the game like in this area, Ra'kalesh?"

[EliteCommander]

Peiter followed Sabine excitedly, although not particularly for the magic lesson itself. They stayed close to area and found a clear enough area to sit down. He was not certain what this lesson would entail, or how they would even go about beginning, but he was sure Sabine knew what she was doing. She did have quite a good teacher, after all. Her first question was quite simple, and he should have expected it, but he still found himself scratching his head as he tried to think of something useful to say.

"Um, well, I know it uses magicka to work, which comes from the stars...or something? I don't know how to use it or anything. I've never even really...felt magicka before. I don't really know what it is like, or how I would begin to feel it. I know, being Breton, it shouldn't be too hard, but I've never seriously tried before." He answered.

Ra'kalesh had to think for a moment, not about the game in the area, which he was intimately familiar with, but how it would compare to what Gallus was accustomed to. "The Tenmar forest shares much prey with the Blackwood forest of Cyrodiil, this one believes. Bears, boar, wolves, deer, dreugh, the occasional troll. But, there are more, of course. The durzog is not unique to Elsweyr, but it can be found here. The same is true of the lamia, and goblins. We might find tigers, minotaurs, or crocodiles if we go into the water. Spriggans can also be found here, but this one doubts you want a feast of tree bark. Ra'kalesh's pride...may be able to hunt, but perhaps we may wish to wait a few hours, or another night to allow us to rest and heal more completely. Your healer has done great work so far, but there are quite a few of us. You could use the time to head to Senchal and broker a deal with one of the ship captains." He suggested.

[Muttonhawk]

"That's okay," Sabine said, "Magicka comes from Magnus. Magnus is not a star, but...it does not matter. Everyone has magicka. You do not feel it because you have had it since you were born." Sabine tapped Peiter on the forearm, "It is like feeling your blood." Sabine reached for Peiter's wrists and lifted them slightly, turning them to face each other. "I want you to try something. Still yourself, slow your breathing, and feel your heartbeat. Feel how it spreads blood out from your chest in pulses. Feel that energy. Now breathe in deeply. Hold it." Sabine was looking at the spot between Peiter's palms, but she glanced up at him occasionally, "When you breathe out, try to will that energy to here, between your hands. Push it out. Concentrate. Make that space part of yourself. Make it shine like a light. This might require a few attempts."

What Sabine was trying was what she remembered the witches teaching her about channelling magic. It was not an intuitive thing in the first place, but describing it with earthly terms was almost impossible without knowing the experience first hand. They would have to keep trying until Peiter made a simple light spell.

Gallus offered a shrug, "I don't mind, as long as we aren't in one spot too long." Gallus looked to Meesei, "Meesei, as long as I have someone to translate Ta'agra for me, I could head out and get us a ship. Or someone else, it does not bother me. What's our timetable?"

[EliteCommander]

Peiter attempted to follow Sabine's instructions to the letter, but his lack of experience made that much more difficult than it sounded. He was trying to feel this energy, but had no concept of what it was even like. Even if he did feel it, he was not sure how to go about willing it into his hands; would it just be as simple as thinking about it happening? He breathed deeply and tried to focus on each breath, but all he could recognize within his body was his heartbeat pulsing in the background. He was sure the magicka was there, as it was supposedly in everyone, but a description was not enough for him to understand, at least not easily.

"I...I don't know. If I focus, I feel a lot of things: my breaths, my pulse, a light breeze around us, random sensations. I just don't know what to feel. I feel like a blind man trying to understand color. Is there some way you can sort of...show me what to feel? Can you do anything to make it easier to sense?" He asked.

Ra'kalesh turned his head briefly to look over his pride. With the aid of a healer, they could be ready to hunt reasonably soon, and they would not want to delay much longer after that. "To allow this one's pride time to heal, we will likely hunt tomorrow. So, if you can find a captain willing to leave tomorrow evening, or the next day, it would be ideal."

Meesei nodded in agreement before commenting. "I would expect that most people in Senchal can speak Cyrodilic, but just in case, I can send Ahnasha with you. And, perhaps a few others for defense. Though it is a city, it would be unwise to go in alone, given the situation. I would recommend taking someone who is skilled in matters of trade and bartering. I know both Fendros and Ahnasha possess that ability."

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine urged Peiter to try and channel a few times, but his comments were valid. If he didn't know what he was looking for, expecting him to find it was unrealistic. Sabine thought to herself with a long, level hum. She searched her mind for a way for Peiter to feel the magicka moving in his body.

She frowned for a few seconds longer, and then looked up to him. "I will try something," Sabine said, rising to her feet and moving behind Peiter. She knelt down and pressed her chest up against his back, lining her arms up with his, putting her head over his shoulder, and holding onto his wrists again. This time, Sabine tried to channel a spell to monitor Peiter's body, much like Meesei had taught her with restoration, but not paying attention to the physical. It took some improvisation, but with some practice, she was able to influence the way magicka flowed through Peiter to a very limited degree, like an oar paddling a stream. "Try again," Sabine said almost at a whisper, closing her eyes and paddling at Peiter's magicka to help it flow. It was unlikely to allow him to master a light spell, but at least he might feel the magicka moving.

Gallus nodded once, "As you wish." With that, Gallus bent back to stretch a little and took a deep breath, "Is there anything else we need to consider? Anything else we need from the city?"

[EliteCommander]

Feeling Sabine's embrace once more was certainly enough to pique Peiter's attention by itself, but he tried to focus on the matter at hand. She was doing something to him, though he did not know what. He still did not know what to look for, but now, with whatever Sabine was trying, he knew that something would probably be different. If he could feel whatever it was within him that wasn't normal, then he might actually be able to feel the magicka. He took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly much as he had before. At first, everything felt normal. He felt his breath, his heartbeat, the warmth of Sabine's body behind him, but as he focused harder, he had a sense of something more...chaotic. It was strange and out of place from what he was accustomed to.

"I think...I don't know. There is something, it's...unusual. I feel warm, almost." He explained.

Meesei shook her head. "No, just that you avoid drawing attention to yourselves. Senchal is a large city, in which it would be easy to remain hidden, but you should be cautious all the same. I will remain here and aid Irenya in helping the pride to recover...as well as myself. I will go speak to Fendros and Ahnasha. If there is anyone else you would like to go with you, I would go speak to them now." Meesei recommended before taking her leave. Ra'kalesh headed back to the center of camp to join the rest of his pride, who seemed to be conversing with several members of both Meesei's and Gallus' packs.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine kept her eyes closed, concentrating on her spell, but she smiled. She continued to instruct him in a murmur, "Try again. This time, push it out through your hands."

This wasn't exactly how Sabine was instructed, as magic came more naturally to her, but it appeared to be working for Peiter. It actually occurred to her that she didn't need to be in such close physical contact with Peiter now that she knew what she was doing with her spell. Peiter didn't need to know that.

"I think three will do well enough. Any more and we'll stand out further." Gallus stood up, picking up the map and rolling it up. "I may as well accompany you to the business people. No point in tarrying, after all." Gallus then followed Meesei to Fendros and Ahnasha.

Just a little while earlier, when Janius and Kaleeth were taking their breakfast, Janius' curiosity about the Pride was piqued properly. Beforehand, they were all exhausted and recovering from a horrid experience. They were probably still going through that, but outwardly, they were joyful and more approachable this morning. Janius looked to Kaleeth with a curious smile, "How about we say hello to our new friends? I've been meaning to for a while."

Whether Kaleeth wanted to or not, Janius took his breakfast and Newt over to the gathered pride and approached with a friendly demeanour. "Greetings, do you mind if we join you?" he asked no one of them in particular.

Uthri was already amongst them, having struck up a one-sided conversation with the Pahmar, S'ajira, by the food supplies and being invited to the circle. "Ah! Here is the one I was telling you about. Janius, of the undergarment mask! If there is one bad thing about him being a father, it is that I cannot experience him and Colours competing over a curvy barmaid." Uthri chuckled heartily.

Tzirret away from them all, looking alone, but glancing over at the pride with a sense of anxiety. He wasn't sure how to approach them all.

[EliteCommander]

"Okay, I'll try." Peiter answered. He strained, focusing as much as he could on the strange, chaotic energy he felt. She said to push it through his hands, which sounded simple, but he did not have much of an idea how to actually move this energy he had never felt before. He went through considerable effort and concentration just trying different methods, hoping to find some way of interacting with it. He attempted just thinking about the energy moving through his hands to create a light, but it was, of course, not that simple. He tried to imagine the sensation of the energy collecting in his hands, and while it did make him feel even stranger, it did not bring him completely to his goal. To Peiter, each attempt seemed to bring nothing but failure, but to Sabine, whose perceptions were much more well-attuned, she would know that his magicka was actually being charged through his hands. He just had no idea how to give it form.

Colors laughed heartily before pulling what appeared to be a bottle of wine from his bag. It was a local wine, complete with moon sugar, so he had likely grabbed it from the enemy's outpost the night before. "Oh come now, we all know that wouldn't happen." He said as he popped the cork off of the bottle and looked to Janius. "It wouldn't even come close to being a competition." He said pridefully.

As Colors pulled out the bottle, S'ajira got up, then slowly walked around the outside of the circle and sat down beside Colors. Even without words, it was clear to the pride what she wanted. Jo'rashaad leaned in as he turned his gaze to Colors. "This one hopes you're ready to share, Colors. It has been too long since my wife, or any of us for that matter, have had a good drink."

"Yes, and perhaps we should give a drink to the Suthay-raht boy over there while we're at it." La'khay commented, motioning outside of the circle towards Tzirret. "He's been staring at us for a good five minutes; it looks like he could stand to calm his nerves."

Kaleeth took her seat in the group next to Janius and eyed the wine curiously. Seeing as she was not aware of its contents, she did feel that it would be nice to have a drink. Although, with the number of people present, she doubted she would be able to. "I don't think that one bottle would be enough for us all."

"Yes, yes, it's unfortunate, but there's not enough for all of us. Even so, I have no problem sharing this bottle." Colors added quickly, but as he was speaking, S'ajira investigated the bag beside him. By the time Colors noticed her rummaging through the bag with her snout, she had already pulled out a second bottle of the wine with her teeth. Colors gave the Pahmare a glare, while several of the others laughed.

[Muttonhawk]

As soon as Sabine felt the magicka moving without her help, she opened her eyes. "You're channelling!" she whispered with excitement. So as not to over-exert his underdeveloped reservoir of magicka, Sabine stopped channelling her own spell and wrapped her arms properly around Peiter's middle. She squeezed him playfully as she murmured into his ear, "You can stop now. Very good! You were making your magicka move. Did you notice?" Though Peiter couldn't see Sabine's face from where he was, she was grinning ear to ear.

Janius settled down and held Newt on his lap. He leaned towards Colours with one fist on his knee and one eyebrow raised. He was about to defend his pride, but the conversation went elsewhere. He settled to join in on the laughter.

While S'ajira was nosing through Colours' bag, Uthri craned her neck upwards and peered over to Tzirret. He averted his gaze once he caught Uthri's eye, his tail arcing side to side idly. Uthri propped herself up a little from her seat and called out, "Hey, Tzirret! You look miserable on your own like that! Come say hello, I'm more likely to bite you than anyone else here!"

Tzirret looked up at Uthri again and his ears perked, but his face still looked anxious. He glanced to one side, lowered his shoulders in what might be construed as defeat, and then wordlessly stood up to walk over to the group.

"He's just a shy one, always has been," Uthri said, looking to Tzirret as he sat down, "Isn't that right, cloudy-cat?"

Tzirret groaned and gave Uthri an uncomfortable look. He earned that nickname after the colour of his fur reflecting his behaviour around new situations. It didn't often get brought out. "This one wishes you would not say such things," Tzirret complained.

"Ah, loosen up, child. I mean nothing by it," Uthri said with a good natured smile. Her head turned back to Colours, "So, where were we, O bringer of drink?"

"Where did you find that, exactly?" Janius asked, intentionally trying not to sound accusatory, "I thought we only got essentials from the outpost. What is it anyway, wine?"

[EliteCommander]

"I did?" Peiter questioned. He felt like he had done nothing at all, so he was surprised to hear that he had any measure of success. "I didn't create the light like you wanted, but you said I was...channeling, right? I mean, that is something. More than I've ever done before, definitely."

As Peiter stopped focusing on his magicka, he started to smile. Technically, he had not actually cast any magic yet and still wouldn't consider himself to be close to even being a novice, but for the first time, he had felt a small taste of a force that had always seemed so strange to him. It was satisfying. In his cheerful mood, he turned himself around and hugged Sabine tightly. He said nothing, and did not seem to want to let her go.

Colors glanced back and forth between Janius and his drink. "Well...I for one think that wine is an essential." He said as he took a drink. "I mean, my pride has been through a lot. It is imperative that we be able to keep our morale as high as possible, so naturally, I thought to grab it for their benefit. Besides, there was extra space in my bag after we finished going through everything else that was useful, so there was no harm in taking it. I mean, wine is a valuable item, so if nothing else, we could sell it." Evidently, Colors could not settle on a single excuse, because he seemed to be giving them all at once.

"Colors, just close your mouth, and pass the bottle." La'khay interrupted. S'ajira trotted over and gave the bottle she had taken to her to open. La'khay uncorked the bottle and allowed the Pahmar to drink a portion before taking a large swig herself. "We have it now, so there's no point in worrying about how or why it got here. Just enjoy yourselves."

Leaning over towards Tzirret, La'khay offered the bottle to him. "That includes you, 'cloudy-cat.' Just relax. Tell us about yourself, what is it, Tzirret, right? Where are you from?"

[Muttonhawk]

Being so close to Peiter meant that his embrace was less of a shock than it would have been otherwise. Sabine closed her eyes and let herself lean into him and let out a slow breath. She could have stayed in his arms for a lot longer, but it was barely a moment before she opened her eyes and tried to pull away. She raised her arms to put her hands on his shoulders, still smiling. "Do not get too excited. I still have to teach you how to cast a spell."

Sabine sat down opposite Peiter again, motioning him to do the same. The first that she looked at him in the eyes made her lose her words altogether as the situation made its impact. She was reduced to another blush and a spontaneous chuckle. She took a deep breath to banish the fluttering of her stomach and reached for Peiter's wrists again. "Making a spell is like imagining that...you have another limb...almost," Sabine was having trouble staying coherent, but she was doing her best, "Once you channel, like you did before, there is magicka here," Sabine gestured to the space between his hands, "You can shape that however you like by imagining that it is a part of your body. You manipulate it. When you move your fingers, you are doing the same thing, but without magic. Think the same way about your magicka. Hmmh..." Sabine knew that she wasn't making much sense, so she straightened and let go of Peiter's wrists. "Imagine," Sabine put up one hand to Peiter and looked at him more seriously, "...that your hand can glow. It can't glow, but if it could, how would you will it to glow? Don't try it with your hand, but try it with the magicka." Sabine held his wrists again and smiled. "Let's try once more."

Again, Sabine knew that it would not be intuitive and it may take them many attempts. She was there to help Peiter channel if he needed it. Still, they had made some progress, and the continued guidance she gave offered the chance to focus and calm down. The hug had put her on the back foot.

Everyone insisting to Tzirret that he relax was not doing much for his anxieties, but he at least took a sip of wine after hesitating for a moment. The taste actually made his eyes light up and his ears rise; he had not been expecting moon sugar in the wine. It made it taste good. He passed the bottle on and actually seemed to lighten up a little as he responded to La'khay, "Well, Tzirret is not from a town, specifically. He was a caravan Khajiit. This one travelled with his family, mostly in central Cyrodiil, sometimes in the northernmost places in Elsweyr." Tzirret was still quiet in his reservedness, but he seemed to darken a little, skipping over his turning, "After turning, there was wandering in the cold for a day, and then being found by a hunting pack from the Bruma clan. That is home, now." Tzirret managed a smile as he glanced to Uthri, "And this is new family. Gallus taught this one to live."

"Tzirret, you've not referred to yourself directly at all. Are you starting to be absorbed by your ancestral homeland in your Cyrodilic now?" Uthri joked.

Tzirret looked at Uthri as if he had missed something important. "Oh," Tzirret laughed uneasily and shrugged, "I don't know." Now not quite so scared of the pride, Tzirret looked about with a little more openness. "Apologies, Khajiit does not remember the names of everyone. What is it that you all do in the pride?"

[EliteCommander]

Peiter was reluctant to let go, but Sabine was excited enough to teach him that he did not have much of a choice but to continue with the lesson. Upon her instruction, he started to channel his magicka once more. Now that he had done it once, he just had to replicate what he had done on the first attempt. Now, with focus, he could actually somewhat feel what he was doing. It was far weaker than what Sabine could do without even trying, but he was manipulating his magicka nonetheless. As for actually casting a spell, however, he was having much more difficulty. Her analogies seemed to make sense, but trying to 'move' magicka in the way she was describing did not come easily to him. He tried imagining that his hand was glowing, but the most he could seem to do was to make the magicka within him flutter.

"I'm...trying, but it's just not happening. I know you said it's like moving a muscle, but it's like trying to move a muscle I never knew I had. Maybe..." Peiter began as he looked up into Sabine's eyes. He clasped his hands around Sabine's and held them close to his chest. "Maybe you can show me? I can try to feel your magicka, to see how you are doing it."

Tzirret had not gone into detail on his turning, but traumatic turnings were common enough among lycans that the pride made their assumptions on what might have happened. Regardless, such stories were ones that many of them shared, and they knew it best not to dwell on those details. Ra'kalesh was the first to answer Tzirret.

"This one is Ra'kalesh, the leader of this pride. In his life before turning, he was a monk. This one lived in a monestary, and was a student of the Whispering Fang. You may know it best for the style of martial arts we practiced, but we did have a life and beliefs beyond it. Ra'kalesh was turned when out hunting with one of his brothers. This one was taken into a smaller pride for a while before we found the clan. It was difficult adjusting to such a life at first, as this one is sure you can relate, but he has found more meaning in this life than his last."

Once he was finished speaking, Ra'kalesh nodded to the next of his pride beside him, Do'ajee. "This one's life has not been so exceptional. She is Do'ajee, a warrior by trade." She said. Notably, her Cyrodilic was much more heavily accented than most of the others in her pride. "This one is of one of the nomadic tribes who wander the deserts to the north. We had wandered close to the Tenmar forest when this one was turned. She was swimming: a rare opportunity for one who wanders the desert. Fortunately, this one was alone, and did not return to her tribe. Finding the clan took time, and Do'ajee admits she did not want to join them at first. She blamed them for the rogue lycan's actions, but Ra'kalesh convinced this one to give them a chance."

Since they seemed to be going in a circle, La'khay gave her introduction next. "This one is La'khay. She is not a fighter like most of the others, except Colors of course. This one is actually from Senchal. Her parents were paupers who worked odd jobs around the city, just as this one has done most of her life. Before her turning, La'khay was a prostitute working at a brothel near the docks. It was a nice place; you should visit it if you get the chance. It was probably one of this one's clients who turned her, considering that one day, she was suddenly a werelion. Luckily, Colors happened to be nearby when this one was close to turning and took her out of the city." She explained. Despite the nature of her history, La'khay did not seem to show a hint of shame in describing it.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine's arms extended as Peiter pulled her hands towards him. She wasn't sure how he thought bringing her hands to his chest would help him feel how she manipulated magicka, so she was confused at first, her eyes moving between his hands and his eyes. "Okay...I can do that," Sabine said, slowly pulling her hands to the space between them both. "Hold onto my hands. I will cast as slowly as I can." Sabine brought her hands up between them, facing her palms to one another. "It might help to close your eyes. You won't be distracted by how it looks."

Concentrating as hard as she could to move her magicka slowly, Sabine gathered power between her hands like she had done thousands of times before. Magicka trickled forth and spiralled as if an extension of Sabine's body into a single point. It disappeared from measurable reality as it flowed, taking unseen paths. The paths led to places that held concepts of Mundus itself and began to influence it, reflecting Sabine's will by primal signals of her mind. A small ball of light gathered and grew like a bubble between her palms in response. It stopped growing as it reached the size of an average magelight. She held it for as long as Peiter needed to see it; it was weak enough that she probably could have held it for hours.

While he listened attentively to each of the pride's stories, Tzirret's ears seemed to cringe down to indicate some embarrassment as La'khay gave a recommendation to visit her old brothel. Or at least, that was how Tzirret interpreted it. Not quite having the mind to rule it out, he tried asking to clarify. "Uhm, d-do you mean that the brothel was a nice place? We have been to Senchal." Tzirret put up his hands defensively and widened his eyes, "N-not that Tzirret has set paws in any brothel!"

Janius brought his head back in a laugh. "Tzirret, I don't think we would allow you to purchase services in a brothel, even if you wanted to, for the precise causes of La'khay's turning." Janius said, pointing to La'khay with his little finger while he held the wine bottle that was being passed around. He took a swig as Tzirret retreated further into humiliation. "So," Janius said, passing the wine to Kaleeth, "What of the rest of you?"

[EliteCommander]

Peiter was able to feel what Sabine was doing, but it was not nearly as easy to understand as he had hoped it would be. The magicka almost seemed to disappear before the light was formed, and he could not make sense of why or how the spell even worked. Nevertheless, he tried to mimic it. He focused on manipulating the magicka in the same way as Sabine, but no light was being formed. He got to the point where the magicka disappeared, but did not know what to do from there. There was a part of spellcasting he was missing, and he knew it.

"I feel like I'm missing something...fundamental to all of this. I can manipulate the magicka, I can charge it now, but I just can't make the light. I'm close though, I can feel it. Maybe with some more practice, it might start to make sense. But maybe we should rest for now, though. This is surprisingly exhausting for me. Not physically, but...I guess magically. But, thank you. Really, this means a lot to me." He said.

La'khay smiled and reached over to place her hand on Tzirret's shoulder. "Of course, there's no way you're going to a brothel. That would just be silly...since La'khay can just give you the same service herself." She said with a chuckle. Of course, she was merely teasing him, but he did not need to know that yet.

Colors laughed and decided to continue before Tzirret had a chance to respond. "You all already know me, but as for my history? Well, I've been called many things in my life. A good-looking rogue, a dashing scoundrel, but in reality, I was but a humble handsome trader. I worked on the seas, even had my own ship. It was just a schooner, but it was mine. My work involved, uh, finding goods that were in need in one place and hard to acquire, finding them in another place, then trading between the two."

"He was a smuggler." Do'ajee interrupted bluntly.

"Ah, such a harsh term. I was an...extralegal entrepreneur." Colors retorted.

Thinking back to the previous night, Kaleeth commented on a detail she noticed. "A smuggler, you say? I thought you said yesterday that you couldn't fight?" She asked as she took a drink. It was much sweeter than she had anticipated, but she supposed that was her fault for not expecting such from a Khajiit drink.

"Yes, but you see, the best smuggler is one who doesn't have to fight." Colors explained. "Sadly, I lost my ship when I turned. One of my crew must've been turned at some point on land, because she transformed during the full moons and nearly killed all of us. Only myself and my first mate survived, at first. He died later from his wounds, and the ship crashed against an outcropping of rocks during the fight."

[Muttonhawk]

Peiter was right about being so very close to successfully casting a proper spell. With how far they had gone, Sabine was inwardly disappointed that he wanted to pause where they were. However, she could understand Peiter's exhaustion. She would periodically feel the same way at the end of Meesei's lessons.

"You did well." Sabine gave Peiter a wide smile, but it didn't last long. A turn of expression crept over her, causing her to look at the ground and lower her lips to a small frown. She squeezed Peiter's hands for a moment, then looked up to him, trying to regain her previous smile. Instead, her smile became mischievous, "Keep practising. If you cast a spell, I might let you kiss me." She began to stand up with the intent of walking off to join the conversations with the pride.

Tzirret's neck burned as if all its muscles had clenched at once. He stared at La'khay, terrified, "Ah...Tzirret...Khajiit has no desire...-I mean, not that I wouldn't...n-n-no...no gold, Khajiit has no gold-b-b-but this one does not want you to think..."

Everyone enjoyed a laugh at Tzirret's expense, not least of which Uthri. Though, it was Uthri that spoke out in her pack mate's defence. "You push the boy too far, La'khay," she said through her own remaining laughter, "Let's play nice. Tzirret?" She turned to the stammering Khajiit, "Do not take us all too seriously."

Janius commented sympathetically to Colours after he finished, "How harrowing. We had to get a system going whenever we travelled aboard ships. We took one on the way here from the Imperial City via Leyawiin. We have to line it up so that the full moons won't show during the entire voyage. Then on, if anyone has to turn, they do so in the sturdiest cabin with a sack of meat. It's an ordeal, watching over them and making sure the crew doesn't notice. They always assume a land dreugh climbed aboard when they see the scratch marks and beast spirits hate confined spaces. Most of it is about trying to make sure it doesn't come to that in the first place."

"Janius," Tzirret spoke, confused, "This one was told that dreugh do not climb onto ships."

"They don't, Tzirret, not normally," Janius flashed a grin, "That's not to say it's unheard of."

[EliteCommander]

Peiter's heart pounded, and though only a few seconds passed, his mind raced with thought as she stood up. As nervous as he was about the whole thing, he knew what he felt. And, unless she was crafting an elaborate lie, he thought he had an idea of what Sabine felt as well. When she stood up, he did not let go of her hand. Instead, he quickly stood up as well, and decided to take one more terrifying step.

"Wait." Peiter began. His eyes darted back and forth nervously for a moment before he finally forced himself to make eye contact. "I do rather like that...interesting offer, but..." He began, clasping his hands around hers and standing within inches of her. "Are you sure you don't want to just...skip straight to it?" He tried to stay confident in his tone, but the sweat on his brow told another story.

Colors gave a laugh. "Oh yes, the dreugh rarely target ships. A decent-sized vessel is big enough to just scare them away on sight. No, the creatures you have to worry about on the open sea are much larger than a dreugh."

Continuing the introductions, Jo'rashaad spoke up next. "This one's wife is S'ajira. She was born into the clan, and has been a part of it her entire life. She is a respected defender of our clan. Were she able to speak for herself, she would likely be in a leadership position by now." He said. As he spoke, S'ajira sat down beside him and lightly rubbed her head against his shoulder.

"As for Jo'rashaad himself, he is from Torval. The capital is home to a few organizations of magical learning, formed from the remnants of the old Mages' Guild, one of which this one was a member. Of course, there is much political trouble between them, but not to the extent of the Synod and College of Whispers. We engaged in actual magical research. Jo'rashaad was on the way to an excavation of an Ayleid ruin near the border to Cyrodiil when he was turned. This one was...disappointed to leave behind a life of magical learning, but the magical nature of lycans themselves is something of interest." Jo'rashaad explained.