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

[Muttonhawk]

Lunise inhaled and paused, as if a positive thought was interrupted in her head. "It happens that a number of my assignments lately have been to do with lycan clans located in the Dominion. Unfortunately, they are more local incidents than grand diplomatic ventures. It mostly revolves around if there is evidence of lycan attacks in an area. I then liaise with the local clan to resolve the issue. That was my capacity in Valenwood, as you might imagine." She looked down and up and tightened her lips. "Being that they are active issues that I submit regular reports on, I would be shirking my responsibilities if I were to spend an extra several months out in the field. A more opportune moment would be required." She hummed with a hint of amusement. "If said dragon was assailing Dominion waters, ask me again."

With Meesei prompting to move on, Lunise stood up and stretched her arms. "I never thought I would miss the cold of Skyrim, as beautiful as this place is. Yes, let us bathe before we all begin to smell something less pleasant than these flowers."

Sabine and Karl's attention was caught by Lunise's voice becoming clearer. They both had brows shining with sweat already, but had not separated their sides. They both got the message, exchanged a smile, and stood up in turn.

"Would you like help with the portal again?" Sabine asked.

---

"That is the kind of truth I've been waiting to hear all day." Fendros bent down and took Ahnasha's arm, pulling her upright. "Perhaps another bottle will make your dancing as amusing as mine," he said with a grin.

Fendros offered his bent elbow for Ahnasha to hold before they walked. "Shall we?"

[EliteCommander]

Meesei stepped into an open spot and extended a magically charged hand in front of herself. "Yes, thank you." She responded to Sabine as she started on the portal.

Upon completing the portal, and the group stepping through to their last destination of the evening, they were met first with a wave of cool air. At least, it was cool in comparison to the sweltering heat of the swamp. The location that Meesei had selected was essentially a small island of land in the middle of several hot springs. It was one of the many places that the pack had happened upon in their travels over the years, and a favorite of several of them. They could feel the heat radiating off of the springs around them, which in turn made the normally-chilly night air of Skyrim much more comfortable. There were a few clouds in the sky, but for the most part, it was a clear night. A quick look around the area suggested that they were alone, apart from the lights of some torchbugs, so Meesei felt comfortable to relax.

---

Ahnasha locked her arm with Fendros', grinning back at him. "We shall." She answered. The pair was sure to stop for more drinks before continuing with their plans for the evening, and Ahnasha was sure to pick out a variety. It was mostly local favorites like alto wine and mead, but Ahnasha managed to find a bottle of Cyrodilic brandy as well. Although it was difficult for Ahnasha to escape her fears for her coming task, she was ready to just lose herself in Fendros' company for the night. She had never actually been to one of these dances that Fendros described, so she allowed him to lead the way.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine stepped up to help Meesei. She spoke back to Karl with a soft smile. "You will love the hot springs, Karl. It is much better than any hot bath."

Before long, the group stepped into Eastmarch; their final venue for the evening. The smell of flowers was replaced with frigid cold with a hint of brimstone. Much of the moonlight around them was obscured by mist, so Sabine cast a few magelights upon the ground help them see. She then immediately started untying the cords of her clothing.

"We will leave our clothes here, Karl. Go on," Sabine encouraged.

"Sorry, Sabine," Karl responded. "This place is just different. I was wondering if we had entered Skyrim at all." He placed his stick down and peeled off his coat. "Which direction is the water?"

Sabine laughed. "All around us. We are on a rise. Do not worry, I will lead you in."

Lunise swallowed and lifted her chin. Meesei could tell she was hiding nerves. "Meesei?" She put two fingers on Meesei's shoulder and spoke surreptitiously. "If you do not mind, I shall disrobe just over there and then join you all in the water." She gestured a short distance across the little island. "I wouldn't want to leave a scar on our evening," she added pointedly.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei put an arm around Lunise and hugged her, mostly so that she could get close enough to speak softly into her ear. "Okay, you can take your time. I can occupy Karl. And you need not worry about being embarrassed, if you can help it. I promise, they will not think twice about your scars. There are people back in our clan with much more unsightly wounds. Once we have been in the water a few minutes, I guarantee those worries will have left your mind."

Meesei capped off her words of encouragement with a brief kiss, then released her hold on Lunise. Sabine had already started to lead Karl into the water, so Meesei quickly undressed and found somewhere clean and dry to secure her belongings. She followed soon after, though she was slow to settle into the spring. The water was hot enough that she needed to take her time to allow her body to acclimate bit by bit. Eventually, she got her head under the water, though she made an effort to avoid breathing any of it in. While she likely could breathe the water, having hot water in her gills could be uncomfortable.

Once she felt she was sufficiently acclimated to the temperature, Meesei found a place to sit and lean back near to Sabine and Karl. "Quite a treat this place is, would you agree?" Meesei commented to them. "I have had the thought that we might be able to accomplish something like this back home using the Dwemer steam system. I do wish we could spare the resources to try."

[Muttonhawk]

Lunise frowned. "I was more concerned about passing as a lycan with such old wounds," she murmured. Something in her voice suggested she did not appreciate Meesei being quite so explicit in her wording. However, Karl seemed more occupied with stepping into the water with Sabine when Lunise wandered away.

Karl sucked in a breath through his teeth as he took his first step in the steaming waters. "Are you sure this is safe, Sabine?"

"Yes, we have done this many times before," Sabine responded. Leading Karl by the hand, she stepped ahead and gave him a smile. "It is good. I promise. You will not want to leave. Just try not to submerge your head."

Soon enough, they reached a waist deep spot to seat themselves. Both Sabine and Karl sighed as the water relaxed every muscle in their bodies.

Karl slowly opened his eyes and suddenly realised that Meesei was talking to him. "Oh, this? In the city?" He blinked a few times and tried to think. "Um...well, bath water is not something I know any existing mechanisms were made for. There would have to be some refitting. Not as much as from scratch -- the main engines of the Dwemer heat water to make pressure. It would still take some time and effort, however."

"Hot springs in the cavern would be wonderful. I would go every day I could." Sabine sat back in bliss, closing her eyes. "There are minerals in the water here that are good for skin. Everyone would be nice and smooth in the clan."

Karl breathed a short laugh. He then had another realisation. "I heard that Darahil once enabled some Ayleid magic in the previous clanhome that filled a large warm pool for everyone to use. It sounds nicer than the chilly streams running through Blackreach. Maybe, if he still had the right artefacts, he could install it again?"

[EliteCommander]

Meesei nodded. "Indeed, the enchantments in the Bruma clanhome warmed the water to make it comfortable. The source it flowed from would have been almost freezing cold otherwise. But, it merely warmed it. The pools were nothing like this hot spring."

Laying back, Meesei carefully rested her horns on a few rocks under the water so that most of her head stayed just out of the water. She stretched out her arms and legs as she felt the heat seep into her muscles. Though she could not sweat, it was certainly soothing regardless. "I suppose the enchantments could be tuned to be stronger, but they would have to be tested thoroughly, given how hot we want the water to be. Too much more heat would be dangerous. It simply has not been a priority, I suppose. The water delivered to the city itself by the pipes is already warm enough for most people. Still, it would be a good project, if we can ever find the time. Perhaps, Sabine, once we are finished with our current task, and if we end up spending enough time in our clanhome, we might work on it together? I personally would love to work on a project which does not have lives depending on it."

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine hummed with amusement. "I would, too." She opened her eyes to Karl. "You should join in as well. We could use your knowledge."

"Really?" Karl shot an interested look.

"Mhm," Sabine said. "You understand the city pipe structures better than us. Also..." The water sloshed as Sabine lifted her hand out and ran her palm over Karl's shoulder. "I want to work with you more."

Karl's face softened into a gentle smile. He shuffled closer to Sabine. "I'd like that," he said.

After Sabine and Karl exchanged their affectionate look, Karl looked to Meesei. "I didn't think I would be invited to a project the Champion was heading up. I probably didn't hide my nerves especially well at the beginning of the evening...and I certainly would not have been calm if I had been called upon for such a project before tonight. But, apart from all the..." Karl turned his hand just under the water's surface. "You know, arcane power, you are far less intimidating than the stories made you out to be, Meesei. Not to mean any offence, of course."

[EliteCommander]

Meesei responded with a lighthearted chuckle. "Well, it is not as if we have done much to...dispel such rumors. It can be useful to have both allies and enemies alike to think of myself and my pack as being much larger-than-life figures. Of course, we did not create the rumors ourselves. They are based in the experiences of those who have witnessed our accomplishments out in Tamriel. I do possess knowledge of ancient and forgotten forms of magic, but...perhaps I do not single-handedly call down powerful storms from the heavens." Meesei said with a grin. "No, I would require some assistance for that feat."

"At any rate, there is no absolute guarantee that we will be able to work on such a project. Naturally, it is not a priority, so there is much that could pull us away from it, but I would like to at least try." Meesei paused, breathing in deeply and taking another moment to appreciate the feeling of the spring water. "But I am sure it would be wonderful for morale to have something like this in our clan."

[Muttonhawk]

"I don't know," Karl said with a grin. "Everyone might just spend all their time in a hot spring rather than do their work. It's so relaxing."

Sabine giggled, bowed her head and leaned her head on Karl's shoulder. "Just now you were afraid that this was not safe."

"I wasn't afraid. I was simply being careful," Karl said quietly, still grinning. He put an arm around Sabine's shoulders.

A gentle wave in the water preceded Lunise wading up to them all, neck deep in the water. Her blonde hair drifted behind her just on the surface. She looked to be struggling and hunched as she walked along the bed of the pool in a squat. When she sat down beside Meesei, she exhaled in relief and closed her eyes. Just like for everyone else, the murkiness of the water obscured Lunise's body. Her claw-etched scars were out of sight and mind.

"Were you okay, Lunise?" Sabine asked.

"Yes, yes," Lunise responded airily. She took a deep, slow, and utterly relaxed breath. "I took my time settling into the water. That is all." Meesei felt Lunise's arm curl around her waist.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei returned Lunise's embrace enthusiastically. She sat up enough that she could comfortably wrap both her arms and tail around her, then allowed a few moments to just settle in.

Allowing time for Lunise to get comfortable in their bath, both mentally and physically, Meesei continued her conversation with Sabine and Karl. "So, Karl, I have a sense of your work and what you do now, but where are you from? Which clan, I mean? Were you a part of the original Bruma clan, or did you come to Blackreach from elsewhere after we established ourselves there. Our clan's numbers have swelled so much over the years that I simply cannot keep track of everyone, and as I mentioned before, I have not had too much of a chance to speak with Sabine in detail about you."

A grin came across Meesei's face. "And for that matter, how much has Sabine told you about her own past? Has she told you all of the embarrassing stories of her childhood, or shall I have that pleasure?"

[Muttonhawk]

Karl breathed in to speak between Meesei's questions. When Sabine's past was queried, Sabine lifted her head from Karl's shoulder and looked at him sideways.

"Well," Karl said. He lifted his eyes to recollect. "Only one or two stories. Nothing especially mortifying. I suppose the pleasure will indeed be yours." He gestured forward out of the water.

Sabine's hand sprung out of the water to grab Karl's wrist. "Ah! Hey," Sabine said. She glanced to Meesei and Karl, open-mouthed. "Not fair. You first, Karl."

Karl laughed. "You're so jumpy, Sabine," he said teasingly.

Sabine jolted and quietly yelped in place before reaching under the water. The pair grinned and struggled for a moment before Sabine pulled Karl's dripping arm out from under the murky surface in both her hands. She triumphantly wrapped Karl's arm around her neck and softly bit her grin into the side of his hand.

"Alright, you win," Karl laughed and relaxed his arm. He closed his mouth and addressed Meesei. "I grew up in Wayrest. My parents were both wereboars in a sounder that lived in the city, in secret. We knew of the lycan clan that lived near the city, but both my mother and father had their lives rooted in Wayrest city itself when they were turned. So they preferred to stay." Karl's smile lowered as he continued. "I decided to leave for Blackreach when the call went out for lycan scholars of the Dwemer in Skyrim. I was an alchemist by trade, but Dwemer artefacts and history had been a collection hobby of mine for quite some time. I never could have imagined what I was travelling to." He tiled and shook his head. "Just to think, I was so upset to leave the majority of my collection behind. Only to live within possibly the largest Dwemer ruin in the entirety of Tamriel."

[EliteCommander]

"It is rare for lycans to choose to remain within large cities, particularly with a child. It presents challenges that we do not normally face. Your parents must have been talented teachers in order to instruct you to maintain your control in such a challenging environment. I have been to the Wayrest clan before, but not the city of Wayrest. It is one of High Rock's greatest kingdoms, and a true rival to Daggerfall, if I remember correctly." Meesei replied

Underneath the water, Meesei started to massage Lunise's back and abdomen, though she continued on the conversation as normal. "I myself was not hatched a lycan. I only accepted the gift of beast blood after I started to serve Hircine. I was raised in my village to replace my father as Treeminder. It is a role that you might think of as a shaman within my old village. It came with the responsibility of leadership, of caring for the Hist trees and performing important rituals, and of course, significant magical knowledge. It was difficult for me to leave my village, but I knew my replacement was a competent and devoted man, and my true calling was elsewhere. It may not be as interesting as some of the rumors about my upbringing, but it is true. I know that I have heard some of the rumors about Sabine being a dangerous witch raised among a coven of wild women...and they would be right." Meesei said with a grin.

[Muttonhawk]

"Hm, I remember you mentioning you were adopted into a witches coven," Karl said to Sabine. "But...wild women? I thought you said it was in an old fort?"

Sabine finally released Karl's hand from her teeth, but she remained holding his arm around her. She turned her eyes to him. "It was. Meesei probably means herself and Ahnasha. But the coven I grew up in was still traditional in many ways. You could call them wild women."

"What made you leave?" Karl asked.

Suddenly, Sabine looked into the water. She took a moment, maintaining her smile, to think. She glanced up at Lunise. Lunise was looking curiously back. Sabine's smile faded.

"I was turned by some bad Hircine worshippers when I was very young." Sabine spoke quickly. "My sister Ariel tried to help me. When she realised she was hurting me trying to cure me, she smuggled me out. She let me go into the wild because my beast spirit was not trained. Then I wandered and I found Meesei, Lorag, and Ahnasha."

Sabine took a slow, shivering breath in and out.

Karl had a look of concern. "She tried to cure you?" He looked down and up. "Sabine, your heart is racing. Are you okay?"

She stiffly nodded. "Yes. It took much to be at peace with it. It is still unpleasant to remember but I want to be able to be able to talk about it."

Under the water, Lunise's free hand squeezed Meesei's wrist. "I am sorry that happened to you, Sabine." Lunise was more sincere than anyone present had heard, excepting Meesei. "It must have been awful."

"It was a long time ago," Sabine said. Her brow pinched. "There is much more to the story. It is not a story for a night like tonight. And Meesei helped me to heal in ways only a treeminder could, so it is not such a large problem anymore." Sabine's smile returned as she looked at Meesei.

[EliteCommander]

Meesei's mood hardly diminished. Most of the more unpleasant parts of their past were old, well-healed wounds, and they had plenty more interesting or amusing tales to tell. "Oh, we have enough stories to fill months' worth of nights like these. We have had our share of pain, but our years together have been nothing short of an adventure."

"If you ever get the chance, and since you are with Sabine, I am sure you will, I highly encourage you to travel, Karl." Meesei advised. "There is nothing quite like experiencing the world. If one is locked only into one place, seeing only what is around the limited scope of their home, then they will miss out on so much. The world is immense, and there is a great deal of knowledge to gain that cannot be found in just one place. I can hardly even imagine what my life would be like had I never left Black Marsh. What I would be like. Traveling can cure one of a great deal of misinformation as well. Had I stayed in my village, there is so much I would not have learned. I would not have known that Dunmer are not all violent savages obsessed with enslaving the innocent, and one of my closest friends would not be a Dunmer. Had I not traveled the Dominion extensively, I would not have learned that the people there can be just as...warm and beautiful as anywhere in the Empire."

With her last statement, Meesei leaned more closely onto Lunise and rested her head against her shoulder, which was as just the perfect level for her due to the height difference between them. At the same time, she continued to massage Lunise's skin, this time on her thigh. In the distance, the group may have been able to hear a sound telling of a rare sight: the faint roar of a dragon, off in the direction of the Throat of the World. Dragon attacks had dropped off sharply in the years since the dragon crisis, but they could still be spotted in the skies from time to time. Many of the more violent dragons had been killed off over the years, so most of those that remained usually just ended up flying on overhead without incident. Meesei had certainly been in Skyrim long enough to know not to be worried about it.

[Muttonhawk]

Meesei felt Lunise reciprocating Meesei's hidden approaches, only for her to tense up from the dragon roar. She sighed. "I do not think I could ever get used to those creatures."

"I would love to go travelling," Karl said. He wrapped his arms down around Sabine's middle to pull her to his front at an angle. From here, with Sabine looking up, he could see her face clearly. "My eyes have always made travel difficult. I have only been to a few cities. But with a companion, I could go further." He gave Sabine a smile. "Where would you want to go?"

Sabine grinned brightly. "Vvardenfell, Thorn, the Imperial City, Leyawiin, the Tenmar Forest, the Graht Oaks, the Summerset Isles...then just keep going."

"Keep going? It sounds like we'd never stop."

"We would stop eventually," Sabine said.

Karl smiled and looked to Lunise. "Mention of the Isles reminds me. I was going to ask your background, Lunise. If you don't mind me asking. All of us have shared."

Lunise was relaxed enough that she was leaning her head on Meesei's. She opened her eyes and calmly responded. "Not as interesting, I am afraid. I was..." Meesei's hands crossed a border that elicited a look from Lunise. "Excuse me a moment."

Lunise leaned over and scooped up Meesei's legs and lower back to lift her onto her lap. She was now entrapped in Lunise's arms and suffering retributive ministrations.

Nevertheless, Lunise continued to answer calmly. "There, better. As I was saying, I was infected on a beach by a werewolf during something of a mission for the Dominion. I was part of their judiciary, you see. I was forced to resign and move out into the countryside when I realised that it was not something I could control on my own, and I have since taken my talents to various clans within the Dominion. Meesei and myself met on a similar mission, as it happened. Though it is all rather boring."

Karl nodded. "I shan't be asking for details if you don't want to share them."

"No, it is merely a matter of interest. As well as professional confidentiality." Lunise turned her attention to Meesei with a narrow-eyed smile that could only be described as malignant. "Now, Meesei, I believe you owe us an embarrassing story about your lovely Sabine."

[EliteCommander]

Meesei let out a rare, high-pitched sound of surprise when Lunise lifted her up onto her lap, though she did not allow the subject to linger upon it. Lunise's lie seemed to be well-thought-out, but then again, Meesei expected nothing less from a professional. It answered Karl's question sufficiently while limiting the chance of follow-up questions.

Meesei's grin towards Sabine may have been somewhat frightening to her, depending upon what stories she feared that she might share. She kept her eyes on Sabine to observe her expression as she answered. "Oh, there are quite a few of those stories as well. The biggest question is which one I should share? I do recall an incident shortly after Sabine found her first boyfriend..." She chuckled, letting the words linger in the air for a few moments before continuing. "But I believe I have shared that story before, at least with Lunise."

With the hand that was not currently rubbing Lunise's lower back, Meesei placed a claw on her own chin. "Hmm, there is one story I can recall, before my pack was complete. Before we found Fendros and Kaleeth. It was not too long after we found Sabine; she was a timid girl back then, as you can probably understand with what she just explained. It was her first time going into a city, or a town, rather, with us, so I was trying to keep a close eye on her. To give some context, Sabine was raised among a coven and, correct me if I am wrong on any of this Sabine, but they greatly valued personal responsibility, so to speak. The idea of personal property did indeed exist among them, but most of what they had was allotted to the members and shared. Theft was heavily punished, but it was only considered theft if they took something that was placed properly among a person's belongings. So, if someone just left something laying around, then anyone could use it. If they left it laying around and did not intend to, then it was simply their loss. So, you can imagine my surprise when I turned my back on her for a few moments, only to have her grab a piece of fruit off of a merchant's table, take a bite, and walk away with it. I am assuming he was having a bad day already, because he did not even attempt to force us to pay. He simply called the guards on us immediately. That was also the first day that my pack was chased out of a town by guards, though not for our lycanthropy, fortunately."

Meesei was expecting that Sabine would not doubt retaliate with a story of her own, but she was looking forward to it. If nothing else, Sabine might share a story that Meesei had told her of her own years as a hatchling.

[Muttonhawk]

Sabine scrunched her eyes shut and went red in Karl's arms. She even mouthed denial through a pained grin. Her normal complexion returned and her shoulders lowered when Meesei did not follow through. The earlier story that was told, however, did make her hold her head back and laugh.

"So that was why they called them 'wild women,'" Lunise said with a small smile.

"Meesei was more wild than me at times," Sabine claimed. She righted herself and shot a grin at Meesei. "When we went to Thorn for the first time, we were in a clothing shop. Do you remember? You picked something out and then walked into a changing room with Janius still using it. I was distracted at the time but Ariel told me about it. You made the shopkeeper and Ariel think that you and Janius were mates." Sabine struggled not to laugh, even though she knew less about changing rooms at the time than Meesei did. "You did not know how they worked, did you?"

Lunise, though her smiling lips were pursed shut, allowed a silent laugh through her nose. Meesei was in enough contact with her to notice her navel pulsing in whatever laughter she was hiding.

"I hope you were not thrown out of town for that," Karl said.

Sabine shook her head. "We were not. It was fortunate."

[EliteCommander]

There was a hint of bashfulness in Meesei's reaction, however short-lived, as it was quickly replaced with her usual confidence in her reply. "Well, I did not claim to be an...expert on the habits of city-dwellers."

Focusing back on Sabine, Meesei still had her sly grin. "But that cannot be the best you have to offer, can it? I also happen to recall a time when we were on a ship; you were young, and starting to find yourself curious about some things. You were maturing, and started asking me some questions about some changes your body was going through. Perfectly normal questions, nothing to be ashamed about at all. Except...you were asking them within arm's length of a few of the crewmen. One woman loudly exclaimed her relief when you had finished your questions, if I remember. It can be easy to forget that non-lycans tend not to be nearly as comfortable with their bodies as us."

"I have plenty of ways to turn your face that cute shade of red, Sabine. Perhaps I should shift the topic to grandchildren..." Meesei added, interrupting herself with a laugh.

[Muttonhawk]

"By the Eight, Sabine, that's adorable," Karl said through a light laugh. "Awkward, I'll admit, but adorable."

Sabine still chuckled along, even if she was embarrassed. "I did not know it was awkward back then!" She proclaimed. "I thought I was wounded. I needed to know."

Meesei's next topic had Sabine throw her head back and go limp with a forced sigh. Her arms and the tips of her toes floated to the surface of the water and her head slid down until only Karl was holding her up. "When will you relent?" She groaned.

Karl lifted an eyebrow. "Grandchildren? What kind of story is this?"

"Meesei told me, Sabine," Lunise added. "Have you spoken to Karl about it yet?"

Sabine shook her head gently.

"About what?" Karl peered down at Sabine.

[EliteCommander]

"Oh, it is not so much of a story. Do not worry, I am just joking with her." Meesei responded to Karl, deciding to be merciful to Sabine.

With a smirk, Meesei's massage continued down Lunise's back, then beyond. Though, her expression returned to normal quickly as she finally decided to shift the conversation away from Sabine. "I wish I could tell some of my beautiful Lunise's tales, in the interest of fairness. Sadly, you have me at something of a disadvantage compared to Sabine. I did not know you during your awkward, formative years, so all of your embarrassing tales are locked securely in your mind. I do not have any magic to root through your memories; although, now that I am thinking about it, that could be a useful rumor to spread among the enemy."