EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

If you don't feel like RPing the training, we could switch over to explain what Ahnasha and Fendros are doing, or just stick with only Janius and Kaleeth for a while. Or we could do the training if you think it would be interesting.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth turned to the corpse of the wamasu and approached it. By this point, she had simply accepted in her mind that Janius was probably using some kind of shapeshifting magic to take on his current form, though she did not know why he had not yet changed back. As she had no previous knowledge of werewolves, she had absolutely no preconceived notions about them, so she thought no less of Janius now as she did a few minutes ago. If anything, she now found him more interesting, due to the apparent power he held.

As strange as it seemed, Kaleeth looked to be more interested in the wamasu than Janius at the moment. She ran her hands gently across the surface of its scales and just stared for a few moments before saying anything. "I killed a wamasu." She said in a soft voice, with a tone that was more of a question than a statement. Slowly, the reality of what just happened dawned on her. Now that their lives were not in danger, she could appreciate the benefits of what this would mean for her. Once she made a set of armor from its hide, she would, by all rights, be a hunter. Her expression quickly turned to a smile as she turned to Janius with an extraordinarily excited expression. "I killed a wamasu!"

Without a moment of hesitation, Kaleeth walked over to Janius and wrapped her arms around his furry neck and hugged him tightly. Perhaps if she knew the details of what a werewolf actually was, especially in regards to the beast spirit, she would have been more hesitant, but since she knew it was Janius now, she no longer felt intimidated by him in the slightest. After a few moments, she pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes. "You helped me kill wamasu. You have done so much for me. You helped me become a full hunter, you are just...you are..." She began, but after she could not find the right word to express what she was saying, she simply planted a kiss right on his snout.

---

Lorag pretty much expected Runt's nonverbal answer. She rarely spoke, at she hadn't gone through that trial yet, so why would she start now? He groaned and stretched his muscles, then stood up and grabbed the weapons beside his bedroll. "Alright, it's better than sittin' here doing nothing I guess. Just get whatever weapons you want to use and meet me outside. I think there is an empty spot near where we first entered the village that we could use. Just don't expect any miracles here. It takes months of training to become decent at fighting. Even longer to get good."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth took the potion hesitantly, but as she did not yet know what it was, she did not drink it. She was still frightened of the beast before her, but after a few moments passed, the stress and chaos of the fight diminished and she started to think more logically. She had saw Janius transform into the beast. This...thing was Janius, though she had no idea exactly what he was. Any stories she may have heard about werewolves were lost in childhood memories.

After taking a few, deep breaths, Kaleeth started to calm herself. Janius' new form was intimidating, but...it was still Janius, right? He was still her friend, no matter what kind of exotic shapeshifting magic he was using. Uncorking the bottle he had given her, she took a few sniffs of the contents, at which point she recognized that it was a healing potion. Kaleeth downed the contents quickly, then cautiously stood to her feet and took a few steps toward the strange beast. He was now much larger than her, with a long snout and powerful-looking muscles. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. "You...Janius?" She asked, with more curiosity in her voice than fear.

---

Lorag had been relaxing in the common hut, helping himself to some of the food and drink the locals offered him. Since he couldn't really talk to them, he didn't know if anything they had was alcoholic, but if there was, he hadn't yet found it. The last person he expected to interrupt him was Runt, even more so with the question she asked. He sat up and looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Yeah, I can do it, but...why you wanting to learn how to fight all the sudden? These Argonians makin' you fight someone in these trial things, or something?"

Shadows in the Moonlight

Once they were packed, Sam and Stevie locked up their apartment, then got into Sam's car and headed off to the nearest supermarket for some last minute food and other supplies. They packed as much into the car as they could, just to make sure they didn't run out during the week. They had way more than they would actually need, but there was no telling how much they might lose to accidents with their beast forms.

Under normal circumstances, and week long camping trip into the wilderness would be something Sam would find fun, but with the stress they had to deal with due to their lycanthropy, he had a feeling it would be more work than anything. Hopefully, they would be able to find time to just relax and enjoy themselves. He was driving them to a very secluded part of the forest a few hours from the city. It was unlikely that they would be disturbed way out there. As they were driving along, Sam decided to make a bit of conversation. "Since you almost turned this morning, I don't you'll be able to turn again for a while, so we probably won't be able to practice with our werewolf forms for at least a few hours after we get there. Maybe tomorrow. I suppose we need to take the time to get everything set up and get familiar with the area anyway. We are going to be there all week, so we need to make sure we have a good spot."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

At first, Kaleeth nodded to Janius in understanding. She did not know what he was going to do, but she could jump in whenever she saw the opportunity. When he began his transformation, however, fear filled her once more. She might have been told stories of werebeasts when she was a hatchling, but it had been so long that she couldn't even remember the tales at the moment. She had no idea what was going on. One moment, he was Janius, an Imperial, and her friend. The next, he was a large, hairy creature that she had never seen nor heard of before. In her confused and frightened state, she would have ran if she could, but there was nowhere for her to go. Even as the beast started to wrestle the wamasu to the ground, she was momentarily paralyzed by fear. Her mind could not form a rational thought, but...she was not meant to think rationally, not now. She just needed to act. One thought came to her mind, a thought that she could focus on, something to latch on to. She had been told to strike as soon as she could, and when she looked down, she saw that the beast had managed to stop the wamasu's head from thrashing around just long enough for her to do that.

Without even a thought, Kaleeth lunged forward towards the wamasu's head. Reaching into its mouth and grabbing a hold of the remainder of the spear and pushing on it with all her might. The weapon cut deeper into its flesh and pressed against the bottom of its skull. Normally, no normal person could strike with enough force to break a wamasu's skull but that was when they attacked from the top. The bottom of the skull did not need to be nearly as strong, so when she pressed hard enough, the spearhead broke through and plunged into its brain. In an instant, the wamasu went from struggling fiercely, to completely dead. Its tail and legs twitched for a few moments afterwards, but its body was essentially limp, and lifeless. Kaleeth cut up her arm moderately on the wamasu's teeth, but that did not matter to her at the moment, as she was still deathly afraid. She tried to pull away from the wamasu to run away, but ended up tripping in her haste and falling on her back. As she sat up, she tried to back away, only to put herself in a corner, trembling in fear at the sight of Janius' werewolf form before her. With the rush of emotion and adrenaline from the fight, she was not thinking logically at the moment. In her mind, she had just traded being eaten by a wamasu with being eaten by some other unknown beast. In her current state, she did not even identify the beast as being Janius.

---

Thorantilth could see that Sabine was less than thrilled to hear about the next trial, but that was understandable. The Trial of Body was the toughest of the three, and not one he particularly liked himself. From just describing it, the trial sounded extremely difficult, especially considering the poison. Still, it was not meant to be impossible. The opponent selected for her was not meant to be equal to her level, but rather an appropriate amount below it, to account for the poison. Out of all of the trials, it was the one that was failed the most often, but unlike the trial of heart, she could attempt it multiple times if needed. "The weapons will all be practice weapons, but they may be of any style you are comfortable with. Both you and your opponent will be able to use what you are best at using. As for potions, I spoke with Meesei about this. The trial is meant to test all of your skills, and from what Meesei has described, alchemy is one of your defining skills. You may use alchemical concoctions, but with some restrictions. Firstly, every potion must be brewed solely by you. Secondly, you cannot create anything that will negate the effects of the poison. Lastly, we will need to examine anything you make that is meant to be used offensively, to ensure it is not too dangerous for the trial. The safety of both you and your opponent are a priority for me."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth thought death was upon her when the wamasu unleashed its storm of lightning, but much to her surprise, and relief, Janius' ward saved both of their lives. Still, she wanted to scream out in terror once more, but looking at Janius beside her, she realized how useless she was. He had stayed calm and reacted quickly to save their lives, but what was she doing? Screaming, crying? Janius was being brave while she was being a coward. She knew she was better than that; she was a hunter, she had to be better than that. She did not have magic like Janius, and probably not as much experience, but she had to do something, anything to stop the monster. Even if she got herself killed in the process, it would be better than doing nothing and letting both of them get eaten by the creature.

While Janius was still blocking the lightning storm, Kaleeth grabbed her spear, which was slung over her shoulder with a leather strap attached to two points on the haft, and held onto it tightly. She wasn't strong enough, nor was her spear durable enough, to break through the wamasu's armored scales, but...there was one idea she had that might at least hurt it. It was probably a stupid idea and would likely get her killed, but at least if she did it, she would have done something to try and kill the beast before the end. As soon as the wamasu's storm let up, and Janius launched his fireball, Kaleeth decided to make her move. She was more afraid than she had ever been and her hands were shaking profusely, but pure adrenaline and dedication kept her going. She bolted out from their hiding spot and scrambled to her feet as quickly as possible as she thrust her spear forward. All of the spell light had temporarily blinded her, and probably the wamasu as well, in the dark cave, but she had a rough idea of where the beast's mouth was. As the fire was clearing, Kaleeth's spear rushed forward and embedded itself into the roof of the wamasu's gaping maw. The wamasu immediately began to thrash its head around, causing Kaleeth to lose her grim instantly, but the spear was still stabbed into its mouth. On reflex, the wamasu bit down to try and destroy the foreign object, but only made its situation worse in the process. While it did manage to bite the spear's haft in half, it ended up forcing the rest of the spear deeper into its head and pressing the spearhead up against the bottom of its skull.

The wamasu was now hurt, but it was certainly not dead, and since she had dropped her bow before hiding, Kaleeth was now standing directly in front of the enraged beast with only her bone dagger to protect herself. Still, she had hurt the wamasu more than she could have expected. Unfortunately, the spear didn't look like it was going to be enough to kill it. It was bleeding pretty badly, and the spearhead was close to hitting a lethal spot, but it wasn't going to die in its current state. Still...the beast was hurt, and definitely distracted. It couldn't even close its mouth properly. Surely there was something more they could do to it?

---

"In the Trial of Body, you must show that your body, like your soul and mind, is strong enough for the ritual. This is going to be a trial of combat, hence why it is the most dangerous trial. Now, it is certainly not a fight to the death. The fight will be monitored closely, only practice weapons will be allowed, and we will have healers watching, just in case of accidents. While you were gone, I asked Meesei about your combat training and abilities, so we will be sure to select an appropriate opponent for your trial. For the most challenging aspect of this trial, you will need to demonstrate that you are capable even when you are not physically at your best. To that end, before the trial, you will need to drink a specific poison. I can assure you, it is not a deadly poison, and it has no capability of killing Argonians or non-Argonians. Nor will it cause any lasting harm. It will, however, weaken you for the fight. It will blur your vision, slightly weaken your muscles, and make you fatigue more quickly. You must overcome these challenges and defeat your opponent in order to complete your final trial." Thorantilth explained.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright, I'll attempt to complete it in a timely manner.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I edited on a response for Meesei, if you would like to respond.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Finished it. This should get interesting. Wamasu are indeed very tough, but not invincible. I could imagine it going a few ways.

At any rate, goodnight.