EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"T-tomorrow?" Kaleeth questioned, her expression becoming even more distressed. "You mean after tomorrow I...won't be able to come back here again? I'll have to tell my parents, I'll need to talk to my friends, the Treeminder, the Elder...are you sure we have to leave tomorrow? It is so soon; I won't have time to say goodbye to anyone. I'm just not ready yet."

Meesei shook her head lightly. "I am sorry, Kaleeth, but we have stayed as long as we possibly can. I already expect it to be difficult to reach Stormhold in time. If we do not leave tomorrow morning, we may end up causing undue harm to Ahnasha and her child. I can give you some time tomorrow morning to say your goodbyes, but little beyond that." Meesei said apologetically. Unfortunately, there was no way she could justify staying any longer.

"O-okay. I guess I will be able to say my goodbyes and..." Kaleeth began, her voice trailing off as tears formed in her eyes. She thought about her parents, her friends, and the rest of her family that was the village. She thought about every sacrifice that her father had made in raising her, all the love and care her mother provided no matter what the circumstance. She thought about all the history lessons and stories Thorantilth had given her. No matter how busy he was, he always found time for the hatchlings. She thought about how all of that was going to be lost to her in under a day's time, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After getting something to eat and washing up, Kaleeth spent most of the rest of the day asleep. In fact, it wasn't until after nightfall that she finally awoke. She wished she would have awoken to her father telling her that it was all a nightmare, that the last few months were just a dream, that her brother was still alive and she was still just a regular Argonian. Alas, she knew that was not the case. She had not yet told her parents she was leaving, and until she had spoken to Janius and his friends, she didn't plan on it. She still did not know what they planned on doing with her since she wasn't a werewolf like them.

As quietly as she could Kaleeth slipped out of her parents' hut and walked over to the common hut. Most of the people inside were already asleep, including most of the pack, but both Janius and Meesei were still awake. Kaleeth approached nervously, not exactly sure how to begin. Meesei easily saw how nervous she was, so without a word, she stood up from her bedroll and motioned for the other two to follow her outside. Before leaving the hut, Kaleeth, glanced at Janius with fear in her eyes. She was stressed to the point that she could hardly think straight, so she hoped Janius would be able to help her through the conversation.

The Depths of Deception

"Like I said, there isn't really much to it. My parents trained me well and gave me good tutors, so I had the prerequisite skills at a young age. Actually, I joined at the absolute youngest age the agency would allow. From there, well, then my real training began. Most who are accepted end up being discharged before completing their training due to the difficulty of it all. The Rahn'Masser are the best among us for a reason," Rareth answered. "As for my reason for joining, well, I suppose it wasn't that much different from any other applicants. The Rahn'Masser are the best and last line of defense we have against any threat. It is a great honor and privilege to be able to serve in that capacity. Not to mention the pay is quite...substantial. As I'm sure you know, hazard pay in our culture tends to be significant. Of course, the people who try to join for just the pay tend to be the same people who leave during training. The work we do is not for the selfish, or frightful."

Rareth continued to speak with the others for an hour or so until they all started to split off to claim their own rooms. Just as she said, Rareth went to the suite next door and claimed one of the rooms next to Shiva's. As soon as she was inside, she turned the temperature up to a level that would give a Masulu heat stroke and allowed her body to bask in the warmth for a few hours while she watched television from the comfort of her bed.

The next two days were uneventful, and honestly rather boring, which Rareth supposed was a good and bad thing. At least no major arguments had sprung up in the group while they were sharing living space. Depending on the size of ship their team was assigned to, they could potentially be stuck in close proximity to one another for weeks at a time, with no way out. While on Pax, they were free to leave the building at any point to relax and get away, but that would not be the case while on a ship in FTL. Nevertheless, just as planned, on the second day, Rareth awoke to the annoying buzzing sound of a priority alert on her room's computer. She dragged herself out of bed to check it, even if she already knew what it was about. It was an official message sent to each of theirs rooms, ordering them to report to a meeting room all the way down on the 32nd floor in an hour and a half. Rareth turned the heat up in her room to help wake her up, then slowly got dressed in a different formal suit, this time a blue one with red markings on the shoulders and thighs.

As she required time to warm up in the morning, Rareth was unsurprisingly not the first one awake in her suite. Shiva was awake in the living room, so Rareth decided to start off the day with a friendly greeting. "Good morning, Shiva. Have you already had breakfast, or should I make something?" She offered.

The Depths of Deception

Since everyone seemed ready to move yesterday, I'll move us along now.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei couldn't say she was pleased to hear the news Janius brought. If the situation wasn't complicated enough already, now this was happening. There was no way she could see this ending pleasantly. "It is difficult to say at present what will come of this. I do not know what will happen in the end with her, but it is clear she cannot remain here. I could not in good conscious leave her alone, so she can join us, at least for now. I have some knowledge on werecrocodiles. They are very strong and durable, if a bit clumsy. Behavior wise, they are more independent than we are, but of course, Kaleeth's own mind would also influence her behavior. I believe it would be more difficult for her to...integrate with us than normal."

Ahnasha found herself strangely nervous at the prospect of bringing Kaleeth along. She didn't have anything against her personally, but a feral werecrocodile was not something to underestimate. Without pack instincts, she could go berserk and attack. Normally, she wouldn't feel too nervous about going head-to-head with an untrained lycan, but in her current state, she was vulnerable. Kaleeth could easily injure, or even kill her by accident. "I...am not sure I like this. It seems like it will be dangerous to have someone nearby who could lose control at any moment and have no instincts preventing her from trying to kill us. I don't know if I would be able to protect myself."

"Very true, we will need to keep a close eye on her. Since she did not attack you, Janius, I assume her mind is at least strong enough for her to be around you safely. That means you will be in charge of training her, at least at first. We will also need to leave very soon. We have already been here longer than I planned, and we need to get to Stormhold as soon as we can. The rainy season is coming up, if it isn't here already. That might cause some delays on our journey to the city; floods could be a real issue. Any ground we can make now will help if we end up getting held up along the way. Kaleeth can rest for today, but we need to leave tomorrow morning. I...cannot imagine her parents will be pleased to hear that."

The Depths of Deception

Alright, I'll give him a chance to respond.

The Depths of Deception

I'll probably make a post moving us on once the posting dies down for the night. Everyone seems to be enjoying doing what they're doing. Don't want to interrupt. Besides, mutton should be getting back on in a few hours.

The Depths of Deception

Hailfire said
Ooooo.... Magic. I hadn't thought of that (which is silly considering my character literally uses magic to manipulate tech). I can definitely see that having potential although (as I am sure Coins thesis surmised) it would be difficult to achieve the magic side of things through technology considering (if I am right in my thinking) magic tends to be although is not exclusively sourced from people. I'm actually really looking forwards to perhaps having some in character multi-character build projects going on between missions. P.S. I don't see doors being a problem between Bit and Ashley. If its techy she can open it, if it is mechanical he can blow it up.

Heh, doors. With Rareth, it doesn't matter what it is. She'll leave it closed, then get through anyway.

The Depths of Deception

That does make sense (not quite sure what prompted it, but it makes sense). The rounds human weapons use do not need to be as large as today due to the speed at which they travel, so they could be shaped in a way to make them at least a bit quieter. Energy weapons like those the sovereignty and Rothians use tend to be much quieter than ballistic weapons. Although, since the bullets are not made of glowing balls of energy, they are much more difficult to track back to their source visually. Overall, it would be easier to tell if someone is firing a human weapon in the area, but an energy weapon can more easily give away your exact location.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth did not say anything aloud for fear of her father hearing; he was already scowling at Janius for hugging her. Instead, she simply nodded, then let go of him. She found herself both excited and reluctant at the same time to follow her father to his hut, but nevertheless, she walked home alongside him. If Janius was right, she wouldn't have to worry about the beast for a while, but that did not stop her from being afraid of herself. Her mother embraced her as soon as she stepped foot into their hut, which brought up emotions that brought Kaleeth to tears. Her parents assumed it was because she was seeing them again after her ordeal, but the real cause of her pain was the fact that she would not be able to see them again. Looking at her mother and knowing this was going to be one of the last times she saw her face was one of the most painful experiences she had ever been through, and even worse, she would have to tell them about her "decision" soon enough. For the moment, however, all she wanted was to eat, get herself cleaned up, and above all, rest.

One by one, the hunting parties returned over the course of the next few hours. Meesei and Sabine's group was among the last. When they stepped into the common hut, Meesei's first thought was that no one had managed to locate Kaleeth, as Janius' mood was not what she would have expected if he had succeeded. She approached the group and sat down near her bedroll. "I am afraid we were not able to find her. I do not suppose anyone else had more success?"