EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Going to watch that movie now, so I may or may not have a post up by the time you get on. If not, it shouldn't be too long afterwards.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It's about time for me to go to bed. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

If there was anything Ahnasha needed to hear, it was laughter from Rhazii. With all the pain that had stricken the pack in the last day, it was comforting to know that he could still bring himself to smile, even if it was only because he was too young to understand. Sabine's words soured her mood immediately, however. Back in the dungeon, she had been too distracted to notice when Fendros yelled at Sabine, but she could understand why. She wasn't nearly as emotionally charged now as they had been then, so she wasn't about to yell at Sabine, but she became obviously uncomfortable. She looked down and traced over her scar with her free hand.

"It's...nothing. Don't worry about it." She answered unconvincingly.

Meesei's expression became one of concern. Although the topic killed an otherwise good mood, she was at least partially glad that Sabine brought it up. It was better to talk about it now than when she had something more to be depressed or angered at. "Ahnasha, when I look at a scar like that, I don't see it as being nothing."

After a few moments, Ahnasha finally looked back up at Meesei and Sabine. "I know, it's just...look, I admit it. The noble hurt me, and he hurt me badly. He cut me open and...I saw things I never should have saw, felt things that I never should have felt. But it is over now. He had healers that brought me back to perfect health, and he is now a rotting corpse in that dungeon. The pain is gone; I haven't had even a hint of soreness or anything else that would suggest I haven't been healed fully."

"It's not your body that I'm worried about." Meesei responded simply.

Ahnasha turned her head away from the others. She did not want to believe that they were right to such an extent that she was starting to convince herself that they were actually wrong. Despite the fact that she couldn't stop herself from replaying those horrors in her mind from time to time, She could not accept that those injuries could extend anywhere beyond her body. After all, the essence of what happened was that he made some cuts in her flesh, then put it all back together. Why would it be any more complicated than that?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

We can skip to the meeting whenever you like, once this scene is through. I'll let you decide what the other group is able to recover from the battlefield.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Instead of waking Sabine, Meesei carefully moved her to the empty cot once the others left for breakfast. Rhazii was fine for the moment, and she could handle it if his pain returned, so she decided it would be best to simply allow her to rest. The only time Meesei left the room was to go to go grab breakfast for them all, something that they were all anxious to have given how long it had been since they had eaten. Meesei and Ahnasha traded off holding Rhazii as they ate, while Sabine awoke an hour or so later and had her meal. Rhazii seemed to be at the point where potions alone could keep him comfortable, so all that was left for them to do was to keep Rhazii, and each other, entertained while they waited for the others to return. They talked with each other, and sometimes the healers that stopped in periodically to tend to the other wounded in the room, who were slowly becoming a bit less uncomfortable with their nudity. Mostly, they spoke about Rhazii, and at least tried to keep the conversation away from his burns.

The thought which kept returning to Meesei's mind every time she looked at Ahnasha was the scar running down the center of her torso. She, and everyone else in the pack had noticed it, and Ahnasha was no doubt aware of that fact. Its implications were clear, but Meesei was conflicted on how to bring it up. She did not want to cause Ahnasha any more distress than she had already experienced, but if what Meesei feared was true, there would be no real way to avoid that.

As Meesei was considering what to say, something happened to break the silence. Another cultist, this time an Imperial woman, marched into the room. In her hands, which were held at arm's length away from her body, she held Leaps, who was squirming to break free of her grasp after smelling the familiar scents of the pack. She seemed to be either frightened or disgusted by the wamasu, an idea that her words did nothing to dispel. "We found this...thing in the kitchen helping itself to a guar steak. I was going to cook it myself, but I was told it was yours. Take it, just...keep it away from me." She commented as she set it down, then quickly marched out of the room as if it was going to chase her down. Of course, Leaps had little interest in her. Instead, he enthusiastically ran up to Meesei's feet and chirped at her.

As Meesei picked Leaps up into her arms, Rhazii, who was in Ahnasha's arms, caught sight of him and giggled as he held out his arms trying to grab him from across the table. It had not been until recently that Rhazii's senses were developed enough to perceive the world around him in any meaningful way, so pretty much everything except his parents was unfamiliar to him. Leaps' curiosity about Rhazii had been satisfied weeks ago, but nevertheless, the tiny cub flailing his arms to reach him caught his interest. Meesei decided to hold Leaps just close enough that Rhazii could touch him. Leaps had never shown any form of aggression towards Rhazii, or anyone in the pack, but just in case, she was sure to hold him in such a way that he could not bite him if he tried.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ah, forgot about Leaps again. With all the characters to write for, it is easy to lose track of him. Really need to start making use of him more often, it's just that the situations we've been in have pushed him to the side. The fires probably would have scared him away, but I know how to bring him back.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth awoke shortly after Orskan left, so she did not hear what he had to say, but she did hear the others talking about going to find their belongings. She sat up on the cot and stretched her muscles, then spoke up as she was reaching to grab her armor from under the bed. "I can come help you. I think I remember seeing some of our things when I was leaving with the cultists, but I was too weak to carry them." She commented. Lorag had found a different room to sleep in the previous night, but once he woke up and was filled in on the plan, he was likely to join them in recovering their belongings as well.

Meesei gave a nod. "Alright. You may not be able to find all of our things, but I would focus on actual armor and weapons. Anything else useful you can find that the cultists haven't already taken will be helpful, of course, but those are the most valuable and hardest to replace items." Meesei recommended. "I will stay here with Rhazii to help care for him should he need it."

"So will I. I just...I need to stay with Rhazii." Ahnasha added simply, not really intent on elaborating further. "I almost forgot about the gems as well, though it would still be nice to get that book. Maybe the cult will let us take the souls of a few of those prisoners we help captured." She suggested with a surprising lack of emotion. Meesei was honestly shocked at the callous statement. To Meesei, taking the soul of a defenseless prisoner was something Ahnasha would never do, but at the moment, to Ahnasha, it couldn't make more sense. In her mind, she felt no sympathy for the mercenaries, or even their families. They might not have personally tortured her, but they worked for and enabled that scum of a noble who employed them, and the families supported them, or at least did nothing to stop them. Simply put, she placed some of the blame for her suffering onto them, she hated them, and she felt they deserved whatever happened to them.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After Kaleeth removed and set aside her armor for the night, she laid down with Janius. With everything that happened, she had almost forgotten about her feeding in the battle, but she supposed she wasn't as disturbed with it as before. It wasn't so much because she no longer felt that it was wrong as it was that she had accepted the "monster" she had become, but it was a form of progress, at least. She smiled and gave him a kiss before exhaustion took hold of her completely and she fell asleep.

---

Meesei did not know at what time she fell asleep in the night, but given the fact that she awoke slumped slumped over in a chair indicated that it had not been a conscious decision. Sabine, and indeed most of the others were still asleep, apart from Ahnasha and Fendros. Rhazii was in Ahnasha's arms nursing, not crying in pain as Meesei feared he would once she and Sabine became too tired to stay up with him.

"Are Rhazii's burns already healed?" Meesei asked once she had woken herself up enough to sit up straight.

"Not quite, at least I don't think so." Ahnasha responded. "I woke up earlier when I started to hear him whining. I don't know how long that has been. Anyway, I used some potions Sabine had set out on him and they seemed to help. His scars don't look as bad as before, but..." She began, hanging her head low as shame returned to her expression once again. "How are we ever going to explain this to him, Meesei? We failed to keep him safe. I wasn't strong enough to..."

Ahnasha was interrupted when one of the cultists, Orskan suddenly came in through the open door. "Good morning, our Lady sent me to...oookaaay." He said, stopping himself in surprise. It seemed like most of the cultists apart from Neesa herself were not accustomed to their sense of modesty, as his eyes were widened and darted back and forth between the members of the pack, particularly Meesei and Kaleeth. "You're all...well I guess that makes...sense. Anyway, well, Lady Neesa sent me to, uh, tell you that your audience regarding your...deal, will be held later this evening. She has duties to attend to because of the attack, so you can deal with your...injuries or whatever else, like going to get your belongings from the battlefield...well, if you want, of course. We're not forcing you to if you're too exhausted. I don't mind...or, I mean, I can get past the fact that...you are...I'm going to go now." Orskan said, stumbling over his words before he finally rushed out of the room with a hint of embarrassment in his expression.

Orskan's awkward embarrassment produced a few chuckles, even from Ahnasha, who was quick to drop the topic she had started on before. Even so, it was not something she could ever forget. To her, it was her fault that she had not endured the torture to save Rhazii. Sure, it was Fendros that actually gave up the information, but she could have signaled to him to stay silent. Instead, she had done nothing, and her son paid the price.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Nevermind, it is far too late for a movie.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I am going to watch a movie, I'll respond later.