EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ah, just finished my post. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ra'kalesh continued with his meal as he listened to Tzirret. To him, the boy had a strange mix of nervousness and curiosity, but he was more than glad to speak to him, even with the state his body was in. It had been months since he had been able to have a conversation that wasn't of some dire nature. "Well, we look like...lions. It is not too much different from your werewolf transformations. You can see a hint of the creature we are based upon, but we are much larger and more powerful. Of course, we do not have quite the size or strength of a werewolf, but we have greater agility. Colors always says that it makes no sense, given how much larger and more fearsome a lion is than a wolf, but Ra'kalesh thinks he understands Hircine's intent. When acting as a pride, we can strike like lightning. Otherwise, I suppose the only difference with werelions is that there is a bit more of a difference between men and women. Male werelions tend to possess a large mane, while females do not. This is no different from the Khajiit themselves, but it is true no matter the race which becomes the werelion. Colors hates the fur."

Colors' head perked up when he heard his name. He did not mind talking about his pride, especially not that he knew they were all alive. They had endured terrible things, but at least they still had the chance to live. "Ciinriel is Jo'rashaad and S'ajira's daughter. Adopted, of course, but they are as close of a family as any can be. Ciinriel was turned when she was a young child, about ten years ago. At her age, ten years makes a lot of a difference, even for a Bosmer. She couldn't take care of herself then, but as I heard, those two didn't hesitate to take care of her. She is what brought them together. I can't imagine what it was like for them to see their daughter tortured like that; I can understand why Jo'rashaad was willing to beat that scum to death.

"That's not all it's about." A voice sounded out nearby. One of Colors' pride, La'khay, joined in the conversation. "Their girl was abused in ways much worse than any of us. That prisoner you have tied up to that tree over there, he took a 'liking' to Ciinriel. He liked Bosmer, thought they were pretty, and, well, you can guess where this one is going with that. It was sickening. Poor girl, La'khay hopes she can pull through. This one has seen other girls who went through the same thing at the place she worked in Senchal, so she knows what it can do to their minds."

For a moment, Colors was speechless, instead glaring over at the prisoner and snarling. "I hope we kill him slowly."

Meesei was fatigued, but the prospect of being able to finally interrogate a prisoner of the enemy was something she did not want to delay. And Gallus, it seemed, was of the same mind. Meesei was still under the effects of a healing potion, so she could walk around with no issue, as long as she did not attempt to do anything too strenuous. She spoke quietly to Gallus as she observed their bound prisoner. "Yes. The fact that he surrendered instead of taking his own life means he is not a zealot, so while he is likely not high-ranking, he may be more-easily persuaded to divulge information. We can ask him about the enemy's plans, it is entirely likely he may not even know anything beyond his direct orders. The most valuable information I reason we can get out of him is the strength of the enemy forces, and perhaps some locations. Now come, we should deal with him as soon as possible."

Stepping in front of the bound prisoner, Meesei stood with a strong posture. Although it would heal entirely in time, the scar on her stomach was still visible. At this stage, it looked like an old wound, which could perhaps even be somewhat intimidating. She spoke up with a firm, authoritative voice. "Remove his blindfold; I want him to see me."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright, done with my work for the night. And it's actually before midnight this time.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It may be a while before I can respond. I have one final effort to make on this project.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once everyone made it to camp, Lorag awoke Meesei to inform her of their success, and the prisoner they had captured. He would need to be dealt with soon, but first, they had to allow Ra'katesh's pride to settle in. Meesei immediately gave them access to their stock of spare clothing, food, water, and medical supplies, which all of them were glad to take advantage of. They were able to have their first good meal in months, along with potions to help them mitigate the constant soreness they all felt. Irenya, during the walk to camp, had manage to heal Ciinriel's most recent wounds to the best of her abilities, so she would not longer be in pain once feeling returned to her body. Although, she was still entirely silent as she ate her meal.

Ra'katesh was not sure on how to answer Tzirret's question. He tried to think back, but while in the cell, time all seemed to roll together. Rarely had he even known when it was day or night. After a few seconds, he still could not produce any definite answer, and instead gave a shrug. "Ra'katesh is unsure. It feels like it has been an eternity. Months, perhaps? None of us have seen outside of that room since we first arrived until today. All we heard of the outside is what they told us, and we did not trust anything they said. This one recalls they said the Champion had been killed, so most of what they said were likely lies."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'm going to need to go to bed soon. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lorag cast his gaze over to Irenya, and the Bosmer in her arms, Ciinriel. He agreed with Gallus in that it was not a good idea to remain in the outpost for long, he just wanted to make sure that everyone was ready to move first. "Irenya, the girl. You can carry her back to camp, right?"

Irenya responded with a nod, prompting Lorag to look to the rest of the pride. "Is everyone else able to move? It will be about an hour's walk, probably."

Jo'rashaad gave a look of frustration to Gallus, but with a sigh of resignation, he knew he would have to agree. "Fine." He said to Gallus before turning his attention to Lorag. "Most of us can move, but I think my wife has a broken paw. It may need to be healed first." He explained, pointing to the Pahmar, S'ajira.

"Alright, Irenya, take a look at S'ajira as soon as you can. Everyone else, search this place for anything useful, and stay on guard." Lorag ordered.

After Lorag's order was given, Ra'katesh approached Colors with a curious expression. "Colors, did he mention something about the Champion?"

Colors nodded. "Yes, Hircine's Champion herself has come to aid us." He explained.

Ra'katesh looked out of the hole in the wall, into the forest beyond. "Well, it seems the Great Hunter has not abandoned us after all. Perhaps we do have some hope yet."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

In his weakened state, Jo'rashaad could be easily contained. His fury was obvious, but he stopped resisting once he knew it was pointless. "That monster doesn't deserve to live, for what he did to Ciinriel." He shouted, but nevertheless, he let out a sigh and dropped the plank. Turning his head to Gallus, he spoke quietly. "Jo'rashaad will not leave here until he is dead."

Once Jo'rashaad was released, he kicked the prisoner in the side, which caused him to curl up and groan, then returned to one of the chairs in the room. Colors looked around awkwardly, wondering if he should start with the introductions. However, the black-furred Khajiit male started before he could speak.

"This one is Ra'katesh, the leader of this pride. He is Jo'rashaad, and has a...very good reason to be enraged with that monster." Ra'katesh explained before moving on, motioning to the spotted Khajiit woman. "She is Do'ajee, and Jo'rashaad's sister." He then pointed to the tan, black striped woman. "Her name is La'khay, and the Pahmar is S'ajira. This one supposes we should hurry in interrogating our...prisoner." He recommended.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The pride was not quick to move anywhere, but they all agreed that they wanted to get out of this dungeon. Slowly, everyone started to file upstairs with varying degrees of aches and pain in their muscles. The Pahmar walked with a limp on her front right leg, which would likely need to be looked at before they left.

Once upstairs, everyone started to gather up chairs for the pride, though Colors decided to stay standing. He was about to start giving introductions when the spotted Khajiit male, Jo'rashaad, noticed the prisoner they had tied up against a wall. He locked eyes with the prisoner as expression became furious.

"YOU!" Jo'rashaad shouted, his voice booming with unbelievable rage. He snarled and clenched his fists together until eventually, he rushed forward. His weakened muscles did not seem to stop him from pushing past anyone in his way, grabbing up one of the broken planks from the wall as he ran past, and smashing it into the prisoner's head. As the prisoner was knocked to the floor, he started to take another swing, evidently intent on beating him to death.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Colors headed downstairs just as Kaleeth was finishing up freeing the rest of his pride. They walked, slowly and weakly out of their cells over to the other side of the room, to give Irenya and Janius the space they needed to tend to the Bosmer. All of them would need healing eventually, but they were not in the same kind of agony as her. As Colors looked at all of them, particularly the Bosmer, his eyes lowered, and his heart sank. "By Hircine..." He mumbled.

The dark-furred Khajiit was the first to speak up. "Colors, it is...good to see you survived, and that you are not still in the enemy's hands. Khajiit feared for your life if we were ever rescued."

Another of the pride, a spotted Khajiit woman with a similar fur color as Ahnasha, glared at him more with anger. "Yes, it is good the cowardly lizard returned nice and safe, while we were being tortured here."

The other Suthay-raht male, who had light fur and similar spots to the angry Khajiit, stepped forward between the two. "Be calm, sister. Colors did not choose to put himself in that position. He is a coward, but he is our coward." He commented as he put his arm over Colors' shoulders.

"T-thank you, Jo'rashaad." Colors responded weakly. Regardless of what any of them said, he still felt guilty about the pain they had all endured.

Eventually, Janius managed to remove the last of the hooks, so they were able to untie her from the rack. She nearly collapsed to the ground, only to be caught by Irenya. By this point, she had numbed the girl's body entirely, so her cries of pain had stopped. Her muscles were too weakened by the rack to stand, so Irenya scooped her up in her arms and walked back towards the group. "She needs healing, but I have no doubt she will be fine, physically at least. There are no silver wounds across her body that I can sense. I think we should head upstairs and get out of this...room. You can all have a seat and rest."