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Ahnasha had just finished tightening the last straps on her dress when Fendros answered the knock at their door. She would have wondered why Sabine had returned with a stranger, but the reactions of both Fendros and the Dunmer woman put on hold any questions about what might have happened to Sabine. She stood up once the woman ran and peered out the door, watching her slam it in Fendros' face. "Your...sister? That...that is...that should be impossible. This is such a big place, with so many people. Why would she even be out of Cheydinhal? It's always so much easier if family just thinks you're gone; it's why I wouldn't leave she ship back in Leyawiin, but...it's too late. She knows." Ahnasha stammered, trying to make sense of the situation. Unfortunately, she was almost at as much of a loss as Fendros. This was something that none of them had planned for. Sure, Ariel had found Sabine, but those circumstances were quite bit different from these. Ahnasha stared at Fendros, worried and uncertain for him. "How do you want to handle this? The rest of the pack returned to the Market district at Janius' lead. Meesei was of course the most outwardly worried, but they were all carrying some measure of anxiety. Even Lorag was showing some poorly-hidden uncertainty in his expression. The city guards were now searching for her, though, so Meesei had to hold out hope that they could find her. Serving the public was part of their job, but even so, Meesei felt that the guard they had spoke to was genuinely concerned. Perhaps she was merely projecting her own feelings onto him, but it did serve to make her somewhat more comfortable. After they made it to the inn, Meesei and the others headed upstairs after stopping briefly to look around the main room for Sabine. It still was not close to dark, but if Sabine had not returned, could stand to lay down and meditate regardless. As they made it up the stairwell and into the hallway, however, all of Meesei's fears immediately vanished, being replaced with immense relief. Sabine was right there in the hallway, along with Ahnasha, Fendros, and Rhazii. The moment she saw her, Meesei quite literally ran forward and hugged Sabine tightly. "Sabine!" She shouted, a smile coming to her face even as tears came to her eyes. So distracted was Meesei that she did not even register the looks of worry on both Ahnasha and Fendros.
As much as Meesei tried to remain calm, there was no hiding what, by this point, was her fear. She wanted to find Sabine _immediately_, and she could not understand why they had not been able to already. "I just don't know where she could be." Meesei said, as if she had not even heard Janius' suggestion. "It's not like she would have left the city, and we checked every exit of the district. We didn't find her scent at any of them, and with how long we scoured this district, it looks like either we would have found her, or one of the gate guards would have saw her trying to leave. Although...I suppose it could have been possible that she could have left back through Green Emperor Way before Lorag had a chance to talk to the guard. I...think you're right. There are guards everywhere. If they get her description, they'll probably find her quickly. Who knows, if one of the guards saw her wandering around looking lost, they might have already found her. Who do we talk to about this?"
After they split into two, Meesei further split with Lorag to make sure she covered all of the angles. According to Janius, there were four exits to the district, one on each side. If Sabine came to the exit of the city, she would certainly turn around, so that meant the only way she would leave would be through the other three. There were Imperial guards at each exit, but they would likely not remember seeing a Breton girl among the sea of faces. However, while Sabine's scent could be easily lost in the crowd, they would definitely be able to pick it up again at the gate if she had passed through. If she had not left the district, they could give the gate guards Sabine's description and allow them to keep an eye out for her. Meesei had instructed Janius and Kaleeth to start out by checking the north gate, Lorag to talk to the guards at the gate they had entered through, while she checked the south gate. As long as they could ensure Sabine remained in the Talos district, she would be much easier to find. Once she reached the gate, she started looking around and sniffing the air for any sign of her scent. "But...she's strong, right? I mean, no one could really hurt her. I've seen her kill grown warriors before, back in the fight at that village. I mean, she's probably scared right now. I would be, but...she really isn't in danger, right?" Kaleeth asked. Sabine was only a fifteen year old girl, but Kaleeth knew how strong being a lycan made her, both physically, and in how the rest of the pack had trained her to live. The only thing that made Kaleeth uncertain was the fact that they were in a city, and she was not sure if there were dangers she did not know about.
Meesei was almost running by this point, much to the ire of some of the people she pushed past. Her focus was singular and absolute. She started to feel hopeful as Sabine's trail led them past the White-Gold Tower, but when it turned unexpectedly into a place Janius called the Talos district, her pace became even more rushed. "Unless she ran here, we cannot be far behind." She commented as she rushed through the open gate. True to Janius' word, the Talos district was crowded, as it seemed to be the main entrance to the entire city. There was a mass of people in front of them, and while Meesei usually did not like to draw attention to herself or the pack, she could not care less about that at the moment. Instead, she decided to hopefully take advantage of lycanthropy's enhanced hearing. "Sabine!" Meesei shouted, hoping her familiar voice could carry over the constant rumble of the crowd.
"Agreed, who knows what we might find? This place is just...gigantic. Even having been here before, there are certainly things you don't even know about. We might end up finding something new to even you." Ahnasha supposed as she scrubbed down Rhazii's fur. For a cub that still couldn't walk, he ended up getting a surprising amount of dirt and other things caked into his fur. Even on the ship, he had found ways to become filthy. With Ahnasha's vigorous scrubbing, however, it did not take long before he was as clean as she could make him. Ahnasha lifted Rhazii up out of the now-dirty water. "There we go, that's...good enough. His fur just loved holding in the filth. Now, I'm going to see if I can get him to sleep. Be back soon." She said with a smirk. Although relieved to find Sabine's trail, Meesei's anxiety did not cease, and would not until she could see Sabine safely before her. She disregarded Janius' concerned question and simply looked ahead intently at the entrance to the Temple district. "I think you might be right. Let us hurry after her. If she is lost, then I doubt she will be moving quickly." Meesei responded, taking the lead through the gates to the Temple district. Her eyes scanned the area like a hawk, searching every detail in the direction of Sabine's scent for any sign of her.
Ahnasha responded with a slight chuckle. "Yeah, who knows how long it will be before everything lines up to bring us back here. Rhazii might be walking and talking by the time we get the time _and_ gold to make the trip worthwhile. Still, we should at least find the time to look around. Even if we can't buy anything, we might get some ideas for later. You mentioned wine brokers? We might be able to get some recommendations for the future. Or at the very least, we can get some fresh air." Once Rhazii had his fill and the water was at a suitable temperature, Ahnasha put him slowly and carefully into the water. He whined at first, but once he became acclimated to the temperature, he was more than happy to splash around in his bath while Ahnasha worked on cleaning his fur. Luckily, they had the forethought to put a cloth blanket underneath his bath to handle the inevitable spills. "Could you wash his loincloth while I'm doing this, since we already have the water here?" Ahnasha requested. Meesei looked up at the top of the Arcane University's tower. By the architecture alone, it was easy to see that it was a prestigious organization. It would likely seem even more impressive were it not for the presence of the White-Gold Tower at the city center. If she were forced to live inside a city, a place like this would likely be her first choice. There were, of course, people around, but it was not nearly as crowded as the rest of the city. Meesei preferred carrying out her own research to having someone attempt to teach her, but with the sheer amount of resources available at an institute of magical learning such as this, she could only imagine what she could discover. However, her thoughts were interrupted in an instant when Janius mentioned Sabine's name. As soon as Meesei turned to see that she was gone, she cursed her own inattention. "Sabine? Xhuth, I should have paid more attention!" Meesei said with a rare outburst of worry and emotion. "You said you saw her in the Arboretum? Ah, she might have found interest in one of the plants, or something like that. Come, let's get back there. Even if she's not there, her scent will be." She said, though her tone was more akin to an order. In this situation, she was very quick to take charge once more.
Ahnasha sat up as well with Rhazii. Since she knew little about the inn, she decided to let Fendros go find something with which to bathe Rhazii. He did not need anything full-sized, and they could find something for themselves after he was asleep. In order to make it easier to get him to sleep, Ahnasha decided to start feeding him while Fendros was away. It had been long enough that he was hungry, anyway. She was still feeding him by the time Fendros returned, but it would take a few minutes to prepare the bath, anyway. "You know, I do wish we could come back to the city with some time and gold. I get the feeling it has a lot more to offer than we'll be able to see." Kaleeth's response was uncertain at best. She understood Janius' meaning, and while she was not angry, it was clearly something she had not thought about before. She was unaware of some of the finer details of Janius' past. She was going to say more, but Janius was quick to move on with a question directed at Meesei. Meesei elected not to become involved with the issue, as it was something that would probably best be dealt with between the two. As for the Arcane University, it was certainly something that captured her attention, but she was wary about being disappointed. "I have to admit, the university is probably the most interesting part of the city to me. I would guess that it contains the greatest concentration of magical knowledge in the Empire, at the very least. I have heard of its great library, but I hesitate to get my hopes up about it. Even if it is open to the public, I would guess that the more interesting texts would be kept locked away. I would not mind seeing it, but if most of us want to move on to something else, I would not mind at all if we skipped it."
I'm in a game at the moment, I'll post shortly
To Ahnasha, Fendros' suggestion certainly felt tempting. Hygiene had not been much of a possibility aboard the ship for most of them. For Rhazii, at least, they had been able to clean him more often due to his small size, but he was due for another bath. Ahnasha smiled. 'I think I like that idea. Maybe we could give Rhazii a quick bath, then I could try to put him to sleep so we can...have one of our own?" She said, her tone becoming more suggestive. Kaleeth was not as familiar with Cyrodilic euphemisms as those in Jel, but she knew Janius well-enough to know he was nervous. Once her suspicion formed, she cocked her head to the side with a gaze that was both still curious, but also slightly suspicious. "So you brought women here to enjoy the beauty of the garden...then what?" Her tone was not angry, but it was not quite as innocent as many of the other awkward questions she had asked since joining the pack.
Even with the pain Alaira was in, Ssarak could not help but to feel anger towards her. This entire situation was her doing, and now the unnecessary fight was unavoidable. Even so, Ssarak needed to keep a calm head, as rash action could only lead to more harm. It was almost assured that they were _going_ to fight, so now, he needed to focus on pushing the odds as far in their favor as possible. Currently, he, Meirin, and Darius formed a barrier between the guards and the cart, Lyn, and a crippled Alaira. Meirin had shifted to intimidation tactics, something with which Ssarak believed he could help. "Enough!" Ssarak shouted, stomping one foot onto the stone road and clutching his weapon tightly. He took on a much more aggressive stance, and as well, created a subtle illusion to make himself seem even more imposing than he already was. The robed man would have to be a fool to not recognize that he was harming Alaira, so there was no point in trying to keep it secret. He was trying to harm Alaira, and with the outrageous demands he had given, Ssarak suspected that it was wealth on his mind. "Get out of her mind! Her first attack was unprovoked, but you have pushed this too far. That attack was _your_ doing." Ssarak said, looking specifically at the psychomancer. "You are trying to force your men into a fight which will be their end, all for your own gain." Ssarak hoped that, if there was any pre-existing ill-will between any of the guards, he might be able to play off of it to shake their resolve, but just to be safe, he decided to drive in one more point. "I do not want to fight, but do not think for a second that I cannot. I have spent my life as a soldier. I have faced armies of men, Esyire, and demons alike. I was raised on the battlefield. Do not think for a second that a small group of under-equipped, malnourished guardsmen are beyond my capabilities. You have your toll, now let us pass, or make the last mistake of your lives." Ssarak growled, his outward anger masking his inward composure. As well, he started to put pressure on the psychomancer's wards in the hopes of distracting him from Alaira.
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