EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once Rhazii awoke, Ahnasha started to try and quiet herself down so as to at least not wake the others. Neither she nor Fendros had been spared from the scars of their experiences. There was no real way to know if the nightmares were going to cease, and if she could stop herself from having flashbacks to it while she was awake. She had to admit, what Fendros suggested was appealing. They knew now that there was no way for them to guarantee Rhazii's safety, especially with the danger they were going to be stepping into, but still, Ahnasha could not bring herself to abandon her obligations to Hircine and the pack. She still had enough willpower that no amount of nightmares could make her abandon them.

"You know there is no time for that, Fendros." Ahnasha whispered. "We have to get to Bruma. Who knows what Clavicus Vile's followers might do the pack they are seeking. Even if we haven't met them, they are our brothers and sisters. We can't just delay...or do nothing. We have to stay strong. It might still get better." She said, looking down with tear-filled eyes. "I hope it gets better."

Ahnasha leaned herself against Fendros and looked down to Rhazii in his arms. He was still awake, but Fendros had managed to calm his whimpers. In all honesty, she was not even convinced by her own words, but there was nothing she could think of that would make this easy. All she could hope to do was endure.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth shook her head. "No. I always heard it is like an endless lake, but really salty. I think my father mentioned it so that I would not try to drink the water if we ever ended up there. I think it will be interesting to see a lake that never ends, but still...leaving Black Marsh. I never thought that would ever happen to me." She commented. No doubt, it would take her quite a while to get used to the idea of leaving her homeland, but she did have time.

For Ahnasha, taking the book and glancing through its pages did not produce a smile. It was not that she was not glad to have it, but that she was having a hard time bringing herself to be happy with all that was on her mind. Still, the book would be a good distraction, a way to keep herself occupied whenever she was doing nothing, and her thoughts could wander.

---

Pain. It was all Ahnasha could feel. She was lying on her back on what felt like a cold stone slab, with sharp points stabbing into her flesh. She could not move, though she had no bindings.Standing over her was the faceless, shadowy figure with the cruel, jagged knife in his hands. He cut her open, discarding the flesh like damaged hide. She was filled with familiar pain and horror, blood poured from the wound, but the pain never diminished and she remained perfectly awake. Everything else around her was in shadow, except for a table next to her which was illuminated by a single candle. On the table laid Rhazii, bound by leather straps and screaming at the top of his lungs, with fur that was wet and shining as if covered in oil.

"You deserve this, you know." The figure above her said as it reached into her chest cavity and pulled on one of her ribs hard enough that it cracked, then broke off in his hand. The pain was unbearable, but still she lived. "You are a worthless cat; a worthless mother." He continued, breaking off another rib. "You are a curse on him, and would be better off dead." He taunted. After breaking enough ribs, he cut out her lung, then severed the artery just above the heart, yet she still lived. He reached in with his other hand and ripped the heart from her chest, yet she still lived. His expressionless face seemed to stare down the heart in his hands until it erupted in flames. No matter how much she screamed, no matter how much she bled, she could not die.

The faceless figure tossed the burning heart onto the table with Rhazii, igniting the oil and setting him ablaze. His screams filled the air, inflicting upon Ahnasha a pain far greater than anything she could physically feel.

"You are a failure!" The figure shouted as he brought down his knife on her tail and severed it from her body. He then stabbed the knife into her chest, then grabbed the severed tail in both hands and wrapped it around her neck. He pulled it tightly enough to choke her and held her down long enough for the lack of air to do what his blade could not.

Ahnasha shot up from her bedroll, gasping for breath. Although it wasn't every day, most of her nights had been punctuated by these terrors. It had only been just over a week since they left the xanmeer, but it was clear the experiences she had suffered through were not going to abandon her any time soon. She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her head in her hands as she started to sob, not caring who she awoke in the process. No matter how much she wanted to, she could not longer pretend that everything was fine.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Should I do a timeskip now? Not to thorn, but to a place in the middle.

Star Wars - Shadow of Rebellion

For two days after the Rebel attack, Xan, for the most part, did nothing of value. Quite understandably, the attack delayed his meeting with the governor, as she now had quite a bit more to deal with than when she initially requested his presence. His docking fees were being paid for him for as long as he was on there on official Imperial business, however, so he was not going to complain. Instead, he simply used his freetime to figure out what Greymass had to offer...which was not much, admitedly. There were a few cantinas which he visited to get a feel for the locals, but Belona was by and large a mining planet and therefore was not all that interesting, at least on the surface.

As far as setllements went, Greymass was not the least tolerable place Xan had ever been. His heated vest allowed him to tolerate the cold, and given the sheer number of Imperial soldiers patrolling the streets, the city's criminals had to stay out of public view. Of course, the stormtroopers were the party that was more likely to give him trouble than the criminals, given that he was a non-human openly carrying a blaster at his side in the street. The first time he left his ship's docking bay, he was stopped repeatedly by Imperial soldiers. Regardless, it did not seem to bother Xan all too greatly. In fact, he always seemed to have a satisfied grin on his face whenever he was able to wave the governor's seal in their faces. Being that Tiss'shar were not exactly common on Belona, it was not long before the soldiers in the area stopped harassing him.

On the second day, Xan ended up in one of the cantinas. He had a few drinks and chatted with a few locals, but since it was clear that it was going to be a while before the governor could get to him, he decided that he could do something else in the meantime. As with most cantinas, there was a bounty board from which he could find a job for himself. It did not seem that there were too many at the moment, but a few of the ones he saw were certainly interesting.

"Hmm, this one pays nothing....I wouldn't mind taking out this guy...and this one...well, that's certainly a decent reward." Xan mumbled as he reached the bounty for the Rodian, Jakolir Enwoori. "One hundred thousand credits to take him alive? More for accomplices? And that is an impressive list of crimes. I think he is someone I'd like to know a bit more about." He said to himself, saving the details of the bounty to his datapad. From the information given on the bounty, the Ice Caps cantina, which was not far away, would be a good place to begin. Obviously, if he was aware that he was being hunted, he would not stay in any of the places listed, but the patrons of the cantina might not be so willing to keep his secrets, especially given the right motivation.

Star Wars - Shadow of Rebellion

I might as well post Xan starting on his first bounty. Where exactly would the bounty boards be, Sep?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once Orskan had his gems and dagger, he took a step back with an uncomfortable expression. "I...am sure she would, but I am sure we both have much to do. Just...give her my regards." He said as he backed away, then finally left entirely. Despite his kindness in handing over the book, it seemed as if he was not quite comfortable enough with the pack for such a friendly exchange.

With the gems dealt with, there was nothing more bringing the pack to stay, and for all of them, they were more than happy to leave. Meesei was fortunate enough to have brought her map with her during the battle the previous day, so it had been recovered. Once they had planned out their path, the pack moved to the exit and climbed out of the xanmeer for the last time. Although they now had a deal with this cult, Meesei hoped to never see them again. The next few weeks of travel between their current location and Thorn would hopefully be less eventful than the past few days, but it would not be easy, if only for the fact that they would need to work to find anything of value they could. Whether it was a tough creature's hide or some rare alchemical ingredient, most of what they collected would need to be sold in order to pay for passage to the Imperial City.

Kaleeth was just as happy as any of the others about getting away from the cult, but there was one thing which was making her silent. It was something that she had assumed for quite a while was going to happen eventually, but now she knew for sure it was going to happen. As they stepped down from the xanmeer and into the swamp, she slowly gave Janius a nervous look. "So...we are leaving Black Marsh?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei smiled to Sabine. "As long as she is in the city when we pass through, we will. We may not be able to stay for too long, but it will give you a chance to catch up." She commented. They had a plan, so there was not much left to do other than to wait for Orskan's response. Fortunately, he had left the room right as Neesa had arrived, so it was only a few minutes before he returned. Ahnasha was trying to quiet down Rhazii, so he walked up to Fendros, notably with a book under his arm.

"Whatever you do, you better not tell Vinaremo about this, or I will never hear the end of it. Just give me back the dagger and gems, then its yours. One of you can read Daedric script, correct? That is what the tome is written it. I should also note that this will not grant you a quick and easy path to eternal life. There is a lot of work and dedication required. Likely, you will require more knowledge than what is contained within this tome, but it will take you through the first steps on the path." He explained. .

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I don't know if I'll be able to post much tonight, as I am terribly exhausted. Perhaps one.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmm, well you are not wrong, I suppose." Orskan began, scratching his chin in thought. "You did not fill the gems, and I will still have to make a request to acquire the souls, but you did make them available to me." As he heard a door open near the back of the throne room, he glanced back quickly, then returned his gaze to Fendros. "I will need to think on this and will give you an answer before you depart. For now, our Lady has arrived."

Once Hal-Neesa took her seat in her throne, the rest of the pack rose from the tables and stood at the base of the throne just as they had before. It would still likely be only Meesei speaking to her, but they did not want to start appearing rude after all they had gone through. The pack was spared any kind of formal greeting or procedure, as Neesa simply began immediately. "I am afraid that my husband will not be joining us for this meeting, as there are still duties he must attend to, but we have spoken and have come to our decision. In completing your task, you proved that you lycans are willing to be obedient servants to us in exchange for what you want, and without the same kind of deception I expect from a follower of Clavicus Vile. It is for that reason that we have decided to accept your deal. Our efforts, and the efforts of all other covens of Molag Bal over which we have influence, will restrict any...harmful action we take from targeting Hircine's followers. In return, we will expect the occasional service of one of Hircine's packs."

"Thank you, Lady Neesa." Meesei said, bowing her head respectfully. "I will inform our Lord of the agreement as soon as I can."

Neesa waved her hand dismissively. "You need not concern yourself with that. I will deal with the Lord of the Hunt personally. There is, however, one more matter, a gift to signify our new...relationship. A gift of information. You were not the first to come to us seeking an agreement. Agents of Clavicus Vile came to us about a month ago seeking your very same request. As is to be expected with Vile's servants, however, they attempted to deceive us. We allowed most of them to leave, but exacted payment for their deception in the form of one of their members. Before killing her, we extracted some most interesting information from her. The next destination of her group may be most interesting to you. In her words, they seek the most influential of Hircine's hounds within the Imperial province. At first, I assumed they were searching for Hircine's champion, but since the bearer of his ring is standing in front of me and certainly not in Cyrodiil, I can only assume she was referring to someone else. Do you happen to know of what she was referring to?"

"I do." Meesei gave a nod, as she understood well what Vile's follower meant, though it was not encouraging.

"Well, then I suppose I will leave it to you to act upon that information. With that, I believe our business together is concluded. For the moment, at least. You may take your leave of our home." Neesa announced before getting up to return to her other duties. It appeared there was going to be no ceremonious farewell, but for that, Meesei certainly was not going to complain. The sooner they could leave this place, the better. Plus, the information Neesa shared with her gave them something rather pressing to contend with. The others in the pack did not likely know what Neesa meant by the most influential pack in Cyrodiil, as Meesei had not mentioned it before. It was not a secret per ce, it simply had never been important to them.

As they returned to the large dining table to gather their supplies, Lorag was the first to speak up. "So, uh, Alpha. You going to share what on Nirn it was you two were talking about? I thought we were the most "influential" pack?"

"We are, but what I think Neesa's prisoner was referring to was a pack specific to Cyrodiil. For most of you, I found you myself, through visions from Hircine, but I do not believe that is the case for most lycan. As you know, lycans, even those who serve our Lord, are not an organized force. We are all largely independent and may never even see another pack, but in each region, there are some who are an exception. They directly serve Hircine with the primary purpose of finding isolated lycans and helping to bring them into a pack of their own. They are often the largest and most influential of Hircine's packs, and I believe I know where the one in Cyrodiil is. It could have changed since the last I heard of them, but I believe they make their home near Bruma." Meesei explained.

"Hmph, so Vile's goin' after Hircine's recruiters, then? Makes sense I guess. I guess we'll need to stop them, but according to her, they have a month's head start on us. How are we going to catch up?" Lorag questioned.

"That is a good question." Meesei began as she finished grabbing the last of her equipment. "We need to get to Bruma as quickly as possible, but any land route would be too slow. The fastest route would likely be to take a ship straight to the Imperial City, then move north from there. We will have to do a lot of gathering, scavenging, and hunting to get the coin necessary for the trip on the way to the port, but I still believe it will be the fastest route. We can head into the marsh and hunt for a time, then head east and get on a ship at Thorn. From there, we can head to the Imperial City."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Nice. Any more you have to take?