EliteCommander

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

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While Ssarak would have accepted a plant-only diet for the duration of their visit to the monastery, he would have been lying if he had said he was not relieved that he would likely get at least some meat. By Meirin's description, it did seem like they were respectful and accommodating towards the customs of outsiders. Hopefully that assessment was correct, because Meirin's family were the last group of people in all of Tiien that Ssarak would want to upset.

Shortly afterwards, Meirin spotted Lyn among the crowd, evidently enjoying the festivities. She suggested going to talk to her, and naturally, Ssarak agreed to follow. He grabbed his disaster of a pumpkin, then stood up to follow. It did not late long following her to see that Lyn was not with her parents, or Alaira, but instead Professor Tyrael. Ssarak was aware that Tyrael had some sort of friendly relationship with Mar, as he had seen them together before. In fact, one of the first times Ssarak saw Mar, she was returning from a hunt with Tyrael. However, he knew nothing beyond that fact. And, indeed, he knew nothing else about Tyrael that was not common knowledge around the college. Being Fallen, he was essentially a demon himself, and fittingly, the demonmancy professor. If his first demonstration was any indication, he was a violent individual, so it was quite perplexing to see him being so gentle, and seemingly compassionate, with Lyn. Trust was something that Ssarak was not keen to have for a demon, but Mar obviously did. And, if Mar judged Tyrael to be a suitable caretaker for her child, then it was not his place to argue until he had a specific reason to do otherwise.

After Meirin's friendly greeting, Ssarak smiled and gave a slight wave to the little girl. Even not being Esyire, it did not take much effort to see that she was happy just by the look in her eyes. Evidently, Tyrael was doing something correctly. "Greetings Lyn. Professor." He said with a polite nod.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As Tzirret began to step back, Pieter stared at him, matching Sabine's grin. With every inch the Khajiit moved back, Pieter also moved forward to maintain the distance. The air was silent and almost tense for what seemed like minutes before Pieter proceeded to...do absolutely nothing. After a while of thinking, his mind came up with nothing unique they could do. Glancing to Sabine, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Okay, I'm going to be entirely honest, I was hoping you would have something. I've...got nothing."

Pieter splashed some water harmlessly in Tzirret's direction, then swam casually over to him. He lightly patted the Khajiit's shoulder and gave a smile. It could be fun to tease him, but he did legitimately have an issue with being too nervous. "Don't worry, Tzirret, it's all in good fun. I promise that I will never actually hurt you on purpose. Trust me." He said, patting his back once more. "The most I would do is challenge you to a quick bout of wrestling, perhaps pull you into the water. Though, we all know that wouldn't be a fair fight. I doubt both of you together could take me." Pieter said, crossing his arms and raising his chin in an exaggerated show of pride. It was intentional, and joking, but he might not have realized how much it sounded like a challenge as opposed to bragging.

Irenya, who was content relaxing in the water while observing the others, glanced to Janius as he approached. Her expression seemed to be more neutral than relaxed, although; to be fair, that was the norm for her even when she seemed to be enjoying herself. In most cases, she seemed to have an air of maturity about her, even to the point of seeming forced at times. "Indeed. I would not say he is abused, but the cat does make himself into a target. When I first met him, I thought he was simply overwhelmed by the shock of turning and being forced into a new life. Such is common among us, I am sure you know. But it has been years; I believe he is simply a nervous soul. I think some of the others want to...toughen him up, so to speak. He is often the target of their pranks." Irenya commented, though she gave a slight, almost unnoticeable grin upon hearing Pieter's last, brash statement. "Perhaps, with motivation, he will fight back."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Pieter could not stop himself from bursting out laughing, but luckily, most of the laughter came while Tzirret was distracted flying through the air or underwater. By the time he surfaced, it had dissipated to a low chuckle. After taking a moment to dive in and acclimate himself to the water, he swam up to join Sabine and Tzirret. The Khajiit had actually improved over the years when it came to general socialization, but of course, he was still all-around nervous. It was tempting to use it as an excuse to call him a "scardy cat," but Pieter never actually teased him in that way, mostly because it would be terribly unoriginal.

"Yes, and now that we have you in the water, we can...carry out our nefarious plans. Right Sabine?" Pieter teased.

Irenya entered the water with far less fanfare than most of the others, as she simply walked in as a leisurely pace until she was submerged. Interestingly, she chose to swim in a spot that made her the farthest person from Fendros and Rhazii, though whether or not that was coincidence was hard to say. She watched Kaleeth and Newt with some curiosity. Newt's ability to swim, despite his young age, was an obvious surprise to her. She considered briefly asking about it, but even now, she was still more comfortable approaching those in her own pack. Glancing between Pieter and Sabine, she shook her head lightly. "One day, you are going to scare that poor cat to death."

Kaleeth, meanwhile, was keeping a close eye on Newt. At his age, he did indeed have a hard time keeping himself above water, but for him, it did not matter. Now that he had acclimated to the water, he was perfectly content floating under the surface, or even crawling along at the bottom of the lake. So, to keep watch over him, Kaleeth mostly had to stay under the surface as well. As such, Janius could mostly only join them for a few seconds at a time.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth reached up and placed her hand on Janius'. "Don't worry, love. In Black Marsh, I helped watch over hatchlings swimming in rivers with crocodiles and voriplasms. Those slaughterfish are like...minnows. But, I'll make sure he stays safe."

"Indeed." Irenya added, turning her gaze to Tzirret. "They will not get close to us. If they do, it takes but a small amount of lightning to ward them away."

It did not take long to reach the edge of the water at a spot that was sandy enough to be considered a beach. Although, the rocks nearby made an excellent spot for placing down their belongings, in order to avoid covering them in sand. Kaleeth undressed herself and Newt, then headed to the water. She held his hand up to the point where the water was washing over his ankles.

"Now, be careful Newt. The water here is cooler than back at home. Get in slowly; let yourself get used to it." Kaleeth warned.

Newt, at first, seemed to take her advice. He took one step, then another. At this spot on the lake, the water grew slowly in depth, so the water was only halfway to his knees before he decided it was taking too long. Newt ran and jumped forward, submerging himself completely all at once. He of course let out a brief scream at the sudden rush of cool water, but the discomfort would last only a moment, and Kaleeth could not help but to laugh.

Pieter undressed and placed his halberd carefully next to a rock. He carried it everywhere he could out of habit, though given the size of the weapon, there were of course places it could not go, and obviously, he was not going to carry it around in the water. Tzirret, as expected, was reluctant to get into the water, so he walked up along his right side and placed a hand on the Khajiit's back. "Come on, Tzirret, let's jump in. It'll be fun. Don't worry, me and Sabine will protect you from the big fishes." He said, motioning to Sabine to give him some help in case Tzirret gave him any trouble.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Okay, done. For real this time.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ah, sorry, just remembered something else. Just one quick edit.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright, done.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ah, one moment, forgot to add a detail.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"No horses, sorry to say." A Nord voice sounded out nearby. The caravan driver and her son, who appeared to be about twenty years of age, approached the group near the stables, having just managed to hear the young Khajiit's question. "Well, no extra horses. But, we have two carriages, which should hold all of you, even the..." She began, pausing as her gaze turned to Leaps. Her eyes widened, and she looked to Meesei with obvious uncertainty. "Oh...that is a wamasu. Um, well, just...keep it under control, okay? We'll, uh, get the carriages ready. It should take no more than ten or twenty minutes."

As the Nord and her son went about preparing their horses and carriages, Meesei answered the others with a smile. "Well, I hardly think it appropriate for me to manage every aspect of our journey. We are all going to be together for some time for this task, so I believe I will let you all decide on that."

Just as the Nord had said, the carriages were ready in a little over ten minutes, so the pack began loading and distributing the supplies evenly between the two. For most trips, the carriages would likely be spacious, but they had quite a few people, along with their supplies and equipment, to transport. Nevertheless, while cramped, they were able to load up and set off for the Imperial City in under half an hour.

---

The journey from Bruma to the Imperial City, while direct, would take some time. Walking, it could be a month to reach the city, but their carriages could cut that time in half. It only took a day or two of travel to move beyond the cold of the Jerrals, much to the apparent relief of Leaps. In the more temperate central Cyrodilic climate, he no longer had to be wrapped in furs and was generally more active and lively. As could be expected, Meesei, Kaleeth, and Newt were all particularly glad to be out of the cold as well. They were able to get out of the thick furs they had been wearing, though due to the presence of the caravan drivers, they did stick to either armor or city clothes.

Given the long and often dull nature of travel, Meesei's and Gallus' packs had plenty of time to talk. There was not much formality between them to begin with, but it did not take long for any that remained to be dropped. Most of the members of each pack seemed to get along reasonably well. It was still too early to tell if there were going to be any major problems down the road, but there were no conflicts to start. The only one who gave any hint of an issue was the Dunmer, Irenya. She was not necessarily rude towards anyone, and she certainly could be sociable, but if one paid attention, they would note that she was distant with Ahnasha, Fendros, and Meesei in particular.

After almost two weeks, the packs were close to the Imperial City. Just on the other side of Lake Rumare, in fact. On the island in its center, they could see the magnificent city and the tower that dominated it. Unfortunately, it was going to be night shortly, and it would take a few more hours to reach Weye. As such, they decided to make camp for the night just off of the road.

It was dusk, and the sun would set within the hour, but given the irregular sleep schedules of the children, Newt was wide awake. He had been staring out over the lake wide-eyed for the entire time it had been in view, longing for the water. Newt, being Argonian, learned to swim just at the same time as he could walk. To them, the two were hardly any different. Back with the clan, he loved to swim in the warm waters of the pool, but the massive expanse of this lake was entirely new to him. He had never seen so much water in one place. There was a suitable beach nearby, though it was just out of sight of the camp. Much of the shore was covered in large rocks, and the camp was on top of a hill with a short, but steep incline leading down to the shore, which the carriages could not traverse.

"Mommy, daddy, can we swim? I want to see the...big pool!" Newt shouted excitedly, tugging on Janius' leg.

Kaleeth looked to Janius and gave a slight shrug. "I think a swim sounds nice. Does anyone else want to join?"

Ahnasha, who was already holding Rhazii's hand, looked down to her son. "What do you think, Rhazii? Want to get in the water with Newt?" She said before glancing to Fendros. "Could you take him? I don't think I ate enough of a lunch. I'll join you soon."

Pieter, after finishing unpacking his bedroll, stood up and joined the others. "I guess I could go for a swim. You coming Sabine? Tzirret?"

Meesei needed only to look at the water for a moment before knowing her answer. "And I certainly will be joining."

"Actually, uh...Alpha. Could I talk to you for a second, alone?" Lorag asked, motioning his head towards a spot a short distance from the camp.

Meesei nodded. "Very well, I will join the rest of you shortly."

Irenya was hesitant at first, but eventually stood up as well. "I...think I will come too." Leaps, while he normally seemed to like swimming with the others, seemed to be content being curled up next to the fire.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'm steadily working on projects, hoping to not have to rush on any of them. I have things to do tomorrow, but at the very least, I'm free for the night.