EliteCommander

The Depths of Deception

The team rushed to get clear of the explosive as soon as Bit gave the word. The rebels were closer than twenty seconds behind, but all it took was some suppressing fire from the team to keep them at bay long enough for the detonation. True to Bit's mode of operation, the explosion was strong enough to shake the hallway, and collapse both parts of the ceiling and floor beneath. With parts of the floor above crashing in to fill the gap, the hallway behind them was now impassable, at least in any decent amount of time. Unfortunately, they did not have time to stop and rest, as they were very nearly at the data center.

The ran forward as fast as their legs could carry them until they reached the correct door on the right side of the hall. The door was locked down, but once again, Bit's talents got them through rather readily. There were only two armed guards, both of which were cut down quickly by a torrent of plasma. The other four in the room were unarmed, and behaving rather differently from one another. Two were in one corner and had their hands up immediately as soon as the team stepped into the room, while the other two had been closer to the guards, and only surrendered once the team's weapons were trained on them. Rareth regarded the four suspiciously, but she was not about to execute unarmed prisoners. It could be that they were hostages, like the mechanic from before.

"Get them secured, I'll work on the the terminal." Rareth ordered as she rushed over to the computer.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Not too much out of the ordinary." Rukeewei answered. "I did hear about the guard breaking up some small criminal group recently, but they were skooma smugglers and, in this case, not much of a violent element. With the amount of gold the city dedicates to the guard, I would be surprised if anything larger than that formed in the first place. Or, if they have, they are very well hidden. Thorn claims to be the safest city in Black Marsh. Whether that is true or not I do not know, but I have always felt safe here."

Rukeewei paused a moment and started to look at Janius with a bit of curiosity. "I hear a lot about the Imperial City from visitors to the city. From the way they tell it, it is an extravagant place with plenty of wealth, and, overall, the safest place in all of Tamriel. I also hear a lot of boasting and tall tales from visitors as well. I recall being told that you are from the Empire's capital; is that description of it accurate? It seems like such an ancient and interesting place. If I am ever able to travel, I was wondering if it would be a good destination?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Aw, but I like the wine!" Kaleeth said to Janius with a brief, disappointed look. As soon as the next person spoke up, however, she returned to a perfectly happy state as she listened on.

"Neer has been doing quite well, actually." Rukeewei answered shortly after finishing his meal. "Her business has grown quite a lot over the past few years. Her designs have actually won several competitions. Honestly, her store makes enough that my brother could probably stop working altogether. He hasn't, though, and I don't think he ever will. He might not show it, but he has just as much pride in this place as I do. More excitingly, though, is the fact that they are going to be parents soon enough. Neercana's egg is already in the hatching pools."

"They have an egg? That's great!" Kaleeth said with a sudden smile and enthusiasm. She did not know his brother or Neercana, but that did not diminish her unbreakably good mood. "I want to have an egg too, but Janius thinks we should wait. I was sad at first, but I don't mind now. It gives me more time to think of names...and everything." Her present state gave her no issues with giving away such personal information. She did not think that Janius might not want her to share such details of their relationship, but at least, with how drunk she currently was, it was very likely that she was being entirely honest at the moment, if he had any doubts as to her true opinion.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think I need to go to bed now. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth did not say anything at first and instead placed her hands on both of his cheeks before leaning in and giving him a kiss. "I...feel great." She said, letting go of him just as quickly as she grabbed him. As if nothing had happened, she then immediately went back to frowning at her empty cup and occasionally glancing at Janius'.

"So...roughly how strong is this wine?" Meesei asked in a casual tone. Kaleeth's intoxication was apparent, but at least this time, both she and Janius were in an adequate state of mind to look after her. She did not expect to see any surprise Argonian eggs in their future. Since there was no more wine for her to have, her state could not worsen, which was comforting.

"It's moderately strong, at most. I promise. But...I take it she hasn't had alcohol before?" Rukeewei asked.

"No, no she hasn't." Meesei chuckled. Presently, Kaleeth was making an attempt at slowly reaching over towards Janius' cup, not knowing that everyone was watching her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Yes, Rhazii is a Cathay." Ahnasha answered, deciding to do Ariel the favor of staying off of the prior topic. "It is not the largest form of Khajiit, but they are a fair amount larger than Suthay-raht like myself. He has already sort of started taking that form, actually. You might have noticed that he is a bit larger than many infants his age. He is going to grow faster than most children, and not stop until he can barely fit through doorways anymore. His size might come with its problems, but I am sure you can imagine it will have its advantages too. Who knows, maybe he will be able to take Leaps as his own personal mount?" She suggested with a chuckle.

Kaleeth was not sure of what was causing Ariel to act so strangely, though in all honesty, she was not sure of much of anything at the moment. Her cup was empty once again, and this time, she had nothing to replace it. She swayed back and forth lightly in her chair, looking across at the others who had been far more involved in the conversation. Janius was only about halfway through his cup, so she placed her hand on his and stared at him with a glazed look over her eyes. "Are you...going to drink all of that?" She asked, pointing vaguely at his cup.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"She did?" Rukeewei questioned with a bit of surprise, though any answer Sabine might have given was interrupted. He stopped listening quite as closely as he seemed to turn to his own thoughts. What exactly he was thinking was not clear, though it was obvious he was thinking quite hard. After a short time, Janius snapped him back into reality with his own questions.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, I don't really know what you are talking about. Mara, that is...an Imperial god, right? I do not know what these amulets are for in your ceremonies, so I can't say how they compare. In Black Marsh, it is customary to give a gold ring, set with three amethysts, to a potential mate. Then, there is a ceremony to bind the couple by the root. The Hist, that is." Rukeewei explained surprisingly clearly, even if his heart was inwardly racing.

Kaleeth was just over half of the way finished with her dinner, but for the entire time the others were talking, she listened while drinking at a steady pace. That pace, however, ended with her emptying her cup once more without even realizing it. After trying to take a drink of an empty cup, she gave it a confused look for a moment before pouring the remainder of the bottle's contents into it. Although it did not concern her too greatly for whatever reason, Kaleeth noticed she was starting to feel quite strange.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth nodded along with Janius' suggestion and poured her cup full after her first drink. All of the little customs she had to follow seemed strange to her, but approaching them one at at time, she could keep up, at least for the moment. The more intoxicated she became, the less certain any of her actions would be.

Upon Sabine's sudden question, Rukeewei's reaction was almost identical to Ariel's. He tried laughing it off, or speaking up almost in sequence with her. Eventually, after Ariel finished her nervous response, Rukeewei stopped stammering long enough to say something intelligible. "Oh, well, um, I...I agree. You do ask some strange questions. Why, uh, why do you ask?"

Meesei was tempted to speak up, but she found the current course of the conversation quite entertaining. Sabine's blunt curiosity was something that she probably did need to speak to her about in regards to interacting with people outside the pack, but among friends, she saw no harm in it. Observing Ariel and Rukeewei's reactions, she could see why they were together, as they shared more than a few qualities, it seemed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright. I have no idea what I'm doing next week.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Rukeewei rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head lightly. "Um, well, no. Unless you count knowing the perfect way to cook one of their eggs? I suppose you have quite a bit of time to figure it all out, though.

Ahnasha had to pause her meal when she noticed Rhazii beginning to fall asleep in her arms. Even with the noise around him, it appeared he could find his way to drift to sleep. Unfortunately, she needed somewhere to put him, or he would likely awaken if she had to move around too much. They did not have their own room, but she did notice that a few of the inn's rooms looked empty.

"Rukeewei, would you mind if I laid Rhazii down in one of the empty rooms? Just for the length of our dinner?" She requested.

"Oh, of course." Rukeewei answered after swallowing a bite of crocodile tail. "I believe the room behind you is vacant."

Ahnasha smiled and thanked Rukeewei as she carefully stood up to bring Rhazii into the room. As long as she moved the blankets so that he could not roll off the side, he would be fine on his own. After all, she could not watch him every minute of every day. Meanwhile, Meesei thought about the issue with Leaps. It was something that crossed her mind before, but her worries had been elsewhere. "I agree, we do have time to decide. It could be well over ten years before Leaps is at a size that we cannot manage, and there is no way to know where we will be in that time. We should simply keep our options open." She suggested, pausing to take a drink of her wine. "Anyway, I am grateful for this evening. Your time and generosity mean quite a lot to me." She commented, looking towards Ariel and Rukeewei. "And I must say, I rather like your wine."

"I agree...completely." Kaleeth suddenly added in. Like Sabine, she found it more strange at first than anything, but the flavor grew on her...quickly. In fact, she had already finished her entire cup. "You...don't happen to have any more, do you?"

"Well, I cannot really afford to open up any more, but the last one I opened does have more in it. I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to give that to you. I'll go get it." Rukeewei answered. Kaleeth smiled and thanked him as he stood up, though she was not quite aware of the effects the alcohol would have. It was true that the wine would not have quite the effect on her as it would on most of the others, but as it was an Argonian wine, it was designed to bypass much of her resistances. Since she had never had alcohol before that day, her tolerance was comparatively low. Rukeewei returned at the same time as Ahnasha and handed off the bottle to Kaleeth. He assumed she would pour it into her cup, but given her lack of knowledge on proper manners, she had no issue drinking straight from the bottle.