EliteCommander

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

For a moment, Ssarak was silent. He took in a deep breath, released it, then repeated. His heart rate slowed back to normal levels and his heightened blood flow calmed down. He had not needed to exert himself too particularly hard, but nevertheless, relaxing outside in the fresh air was soothing, more times than not. He had just finished a sparring session with Alaira, who he had been helping recover over the past few months. Given the state her body was still in, she was considerably more exhausted than himself, but she was improving every day. Alaira had sacrificed quite a lot to save the lives of Mar, Althalus, and their child, Lyn, so he felt it only right that he help her recover. After all, he had quite a bit of experience in combat training, and had dealt with physical therapy for injured warriors. When it came to building up health and physical fitness, one might even consider him an expert.

With all that had happened over the past few months, Ssarak had been quite busy, and unbelievably stressed. The situation with Dirssi had brought up more pain, more bad memories than he had ever hoped to feel again. It reminded him of his own weaknesses and failures. Were it not for those closest to him, he would undoubtedly be dead by now. Even through it all, though, he still managed to keep up with most of his responsibilities. It was fortunate that the college allowed him to keep up with his classes while they considered Dirssi's claims, and he even managed to attend his private lessons with Satori on a mostly regular schedule. All of that combined with the physical therapy sessions with Alaira meant he had been used to having little free time. That was only now starting to change, though with the implications of the attack a few months beforehand, he doubted the reprieve would be permanent.

Turning his attention back to reality, Ssarak stood up and stretched out his muscles. He approached Alaira, observing her carefully to see what kind of state she was in. No one, of course, wanted their body to be damaged to the point that it lost functionality, but he felt that it was particularly bad for Alaira. Fighting was a large part of who she was; it was almost a defining trait of her personality. While she did not have the same wartime experience as himself, she poured a lot of effort into improving her fighting abilities. To be injured as she was, to have her body unable to perform in quite the same way as it did before, was no doubt torturous to her and her pride. Even if he disagreed with everything she believed in regards to war and fighting, he still respected how selflessly she could act when the situation demanded it. For that reason, he would see her recovery through to the end.

"The rate of your improvement seems to be increasing. That is good, but as always, I feel I need to remind you not to over-exert yourself. In a recovery stage like this, your health is still fragile. You could still regress if you push yourself too hard. Be sure to get some rest. Our schedule's permitting, we can have another session tomorrow. Perhaps not sparring again, though. It has been a while since we worked on your legs, and it can be unwise to skip those exercises." Ssarak suggested.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

I'm writing something now. What month (and specifically season) is it?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Zharanthixil showed little reaction to Janius' outburst, other than with a glare. When he and Fendros went back into the common hut, Zharanthixil stepped forward and focused his attention on Meesei. "Come with me." He said in a demanding tone as he walked into the common hut behind the other two. Meesei was not one who would respect orders from one like Zharanthixil, but she sure was not going to let him talk to Janius right now without her being present.

Meesei entered the hut to see Zharanthixil standing over Janius with his arms crossed and a resentful glare. It was clear he blamed Janius for his daughter going missing, but at least he was not being violent at the moment. After a few moments to allow Janius to notice him, he finally spoke up with a contempt-filled tone. "While you wallow in your own self-loathing, my daughter is out there missing, or dead. Although, I would say you deserve the hatred you are giving yourself. It is because of you that she is in this situation. It was not enough that I had to lose my own son, but not months later, you had to come along and take my daughter as well. She is a sweet, innocent, albeit naive, soul that you had to come along and take away. You have caused me more pain than I believed I could ever feel. You deserve far worse pain than what you feel, but now...you are going to help set it right. I have not been sitting on my tail doing nothing the past few days. I intend to find my daughter, but unlike you, I am not a fool who would storm out into the marsh with no trace of where to go. No, I have a plan, and if you ever want to hope of having a shred of a chance to redeem yourself of what you've done, I demand you help to follow it through."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Hmm, where might one spar that is not the gymnasium?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I need to go to bed now, goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Janius, stop." Meesei echoed in a firm voice, moving herself just behind Fendros and into his path. "In Black Marsh, it is commonly accepted that the longest time, in good conditions, that a trail, either of scent or tracks, is a day. In the rain, it is erased almost immediately. It has been four days and has rained twice. The best hunters could not track Kaleeth now. The only way to search for her would be to randomly wander the marsh, and the hunters have already been doing that. They have covered more ground in the past few days on their hunts than you could ever hope to alone, and they have still found nothing. Black Marsh is a dangerous place; I know that better than anyone. I cannot have you going off into the marsh in your current state, not when there is no possible way for you to track her. More than likely, you would end up lost, just as she might be. I know it is frustrating, but all we can do now is wait and hope that the Hist guides her home."

As Meesei was speaking, another individual approached slowly, with a mix of anger, fear, and desperation in his eyes. Zharanthixil stood nearby unarmed, but fully armored in his wamasu-scale light armor. If Janius was disturbed by Kaleeth's absence, then Zharanthixil had been shaken to the very core of his being. If it was not enough that he had lost his son in recent memory, now his daughter was missing and growing more likely to be dead by the hour. His hunters had covered a wide area, but had found nothing. He was well aware that going into the marsh was Kaleeth's own choice, but with all of the stress he had been under, logic was taking a backseat to emotion in his mind. He needed something to blame, and naturally, Janius was at the forefront of his mind. "You. This is your fault." He growled, clenching his hands into a fist as he stared down Janius from a distance.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei was not surprised when Fendros explained what Janius was doing. He had already wanted to go out and search before, but it would be just as much of a fruitless labor now as it would have been then. Any attempt to search for her after the second day would be nearly impossible, considering how quickly the marsh changed, and the sporadic rainstorms over the past few days would only have made it worse. She could not let him go out and search, as there was no way to track her, and it would only put him in unnecessary danger. He was not thinking clearly, which, to be fair, was perfectly understandable. Meesei could only imagine how much pain he was in.

Letting out a deep sigh, Meesei stood up and faced Fendros. "Let's wait here and talk to him once he steps out of the hut. Perhaps the fresh air will help him think clearly. It is unfortunate, but searching for Kaleeth at this point would be pointless. Any tracks she left behind would have been washed away in the marsh after only a short time. The only hope now is to hold out and see if she returns. I can think of...one possibility where she would still be alive that would explain why she is not yet here. It is not a particularly pleasant possibility, but it is something. Although, I am not certain we can remain much longer. We need to get to Stormhold for Ahnasha." She answered. Taking the few moments she had, Meesei thought about what state Janius' mind must be in, and what she could say to him as she watched the common hut and waited for him to exit.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ok, I'll do so tomorrow after class.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Hey Free, were you still wanting to collab that thing we talked about? If not, I can just make a post on my own.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I was going to suggest the same thing, actually." Meesei commented as she was finishing her breakfast. "We have been helping ourselves to their resources, after all. It would only be right that we give something back." When Sabine said she would join, Meesei gave a satisfied grin. Sabine had of course been hunting many times, but it was good to hear her offering voluntarily. Ahnasha had both started and finished her meal before anyone and had laid back down on her bedroll, though she was still awake enough to give her comment.

"I would like to help, but, well, you know. I'll just stay here and keep Janius company. Maybe I can even help with some of those odd jobs, as long as they don't involve running, heavy lifting, walking, standing...or any movement at all, really." Ahnasha added with a chuckle.

Lorag gave a slight grunt. "You say you're lookin' forward to getting that whole pregnancy thing over with, catdog? I don't believe it for a second. I think you've been lovin' all the attention, everyone waiting on you hand and foot. You've become an Imperial noble."

"You can't prove that." Ahnasha retorted dismissively.

While the others spoke, Meesei approached Janius and rested her hand on his shoulder as she looked down on him. "You can stay and wait as long as you need. Whatever she chooses, I will support it, and I believe you when you say that it is the same for you."

---

Meesei, Sabine, Fendros, and Lorag proceeded on their hunt as planned. They had been in the marsh long enough that most of them were more used to how to track in such a challenging environment, not quite to the extent of Meesei or the village's hunters, but enough that they stood a good chance of finding something. It did take quite a while, but they were able to track down and kill an alit, then drag it back to the village. Most of the kill they gave to the village's hunters, which thankfully did not require speaking to Zharanthixil. They returned later in the afternoon, but to Meesei's surprise, they found that Kaleeth had still not returned. It could be believed that she was not successful in her hunt. After all, even the best hunters could find nothing after even days of work, but what was strange was that she had not given up and returned home. From Meesei's understanding, Kaleeth had not fully expected to be able to commune with Hircine anyway. If she failed in that pursuit, she would just return home having only communed with the Hist. The fact that she was not yet back was troubling. Meesei could think of several possibilities on what was happening, several of which were none too pleasant. As much as they needed to leave for Stormhold, Meesei agreed to stay longer, in the hope that Kaleeth had simply been delayed.

There was some hope that Kaleeth would have returned by morning, but when they awoke and her bedroll was once again empty, and she was nowhere to be seen in the village, everyone grew even more concerned. Meesei spoke with Thorantilth on the matter, did her best to comfort Janius, and made sure to stay as far away from Zharanthixil as possible. For Janius' sake, she decided that the pack would stay a bit longer, but that day quickly turned into another, then yet another after it. Four days after Kaleeth had initially left, she still had not returned. Meesei left the common hut shortly after breakfast to get some fresh air and to think. She stood beneath the Hist tree, looking up at its bulbous trunk and branches. She knew the Hist did not like to interfere in every aspect of life, but for this once, she wished they could just enter her mind and give her the knowledge of Kaleeth's fate. Or, better yet, guide her home. It was getting more and more difficult for her to justify remaining in the village.