EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

When the others returned, Ciinriel was still laying on the floor on her back. She had her eyes closed, but was still perfectly awake. Lightly, she shook her head in response. "No, no, everything is fine...here. How are you?"

Peiter smiled and tightened his grip on Sabine, allowing his head to rest against hers. "Fine too. Actually, better than fine. Great." He answered as he slowly brought himself down to sit with his back to the wall along with Sabine. Standing had been taking far too much conscious effort from him, so he could relax more completely once seated.

"Hmm, so how long have you to been all...loving to each other and everything. Together, how long've you been together?" Ciinriel asked.

Kaleeth paused. It took some effort for her to think of how to describe how she was feeling; it was more complicated than just excitement at being victorious. "Well, it's...hard for me to put into words. You know the, uh..." She began, glancing around at the others on the relatively crowded deck. "...other part of me likes combat. It's excited by it much more than just training. But, I don't like to kill people if I don't have to. It's not something I would do if I didn't have to. But training and sparring isn't as serious as a real fight. There aren't as many injuries, not as much...energy. This was something in between. They weren't fighting for their lives, but they were fighting for their money. It made them try harder, which made me try harder. The other part of me really liked that. But, there is a bit more, from me. Back in the village, I never really won anything. There was always someone better than me at everything. Or a lot of people better than me. I know a lot of people are better at fighting than me, but being better than all of them was different for me."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After the bottle was finally empty, Tzirret left up the stairs, and quickly. Sabine started after him, and naturally, Peiter got up to follow. He fell back down once and nearly dragged Sabine with him, but both of them managed to walk up to the deck above them without falling back down the stairs, not that he didn't have a few close calls. Even though the waters were rather calm at the moment, the constant swaying of the ship served to exacerbate his balance issues. Nevertheless, both he and Sabine managed to catch up to Tzirret. Meanwhile, Ciinriel stayed back on bottom deck, once again laying on her back. She intended to join up with them shortly, but needed a few moments to try and collect herself.

Peiter was confused at first regarding what he should do about Tzirret. At the very least, he did manage to keep himself from laughing. Sabine was grabbing his shirt to keep him from falling out, so Peiter reasoned he could help with that. Although, he wasn't as close as Sabine was, so he ended up grabbing onto his tail instead. "I don't think it was too strong...really. It just...took a lot less to be way too much."

Kaleeth enthusiastically returned Janius' hug. It was obvious that she was excited and prideful in her victory, as these were a different kind of fight from what she was used to. With sparring and other kinds of training, the focus was always on learning. They did not tend to fight as hard as this, when gold was on the line. Even though Kaleeth didn't care about the reward, the fact that her opponent did meant that he was fighting as hard as he could. The intensity of it excited her beast spirit much like actual combat, but was not nearly as distasteful as killing another person. It was a mix between training and fighting that she had not known she would enjoy.

Ra'kalesh spoke up once Kaleeth and Janius separated. "You do seem to be doing well. Perhaps, if they allow it, you would want to fight this one? Ra'kalesh is adept in unarmed fighting." He requested.

Kaleeth had to think only for a moment before nodding to him. Even with the wounds she had sustained so far, she was willing to keep going. "Oh, sure. I just need a moment to rest; I went through two fights one after another. Maybe after this next fight?" Kaleeth answered. Two of the crew were already getting ready to fight one another, so they could watch the fight while Kaleeth was resting.

Kaleeth sat herself down along the side of the ship and leaned herself up against the railing, motioning for Janius to join her. "Have you ever fought like this before? It's different from what I expected."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

No problem, I'll be able to relax my mind. I'm going to try to install those PC parts I bought this weekend. I would have tried before, but my desktop was the only computer I had that could run some applications I needed for my classes.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I took another test today. Exhausted again, but at least it was the last one.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter nearly fell over trying to give Sabine another kiss once she started to pull away. Regardless, he went back to dealing the cards, albeit while smiling widely at Sabine. Ciinriel groaned as she brought herself back up into a sitting position to actually look at her own cards. She chuckled at Tzirret while she tried to remember if she actually had a hand. "You won't see the stars...it's daytime...probably."

The four continued to play, and continued to drink. At first, there had been a clear trend of who was winning more games, but by this point, they were all so intoxicated that the winner essentially came down to random chance. As the bottle grew lighter and lighter, Peiter was taking less interest in the game, and more in conversation with his friends, as incoherent as it was. Eventually, there was only enough remaining for each of them to have one good swig. It was Peiter's turn to deal, but instead, he put down the cards, picked up the bottle, and raised it up as he moved over and put one arm around Sabine's shoulder. "Not much...left now. How 'bout one last drink...for us all." He suggested, giving a laugh for no particular reason. He took his drink, then offered it to Sabine.

Kaleeth was back on the Khajiit, this time holding him face down. She locked her arm around his throat and started to squeeze. He had to be careful not to constrict his neck to tightly to avoid any permanent damage, but he could not draw breath while she had him in her grasp. His hands were free, so he started to reach back and hit her as hard as he could in the side. Unfortunately for him, she could stand that pain for longer than he could go without air. Eventually, he stopped resisting and started slamming his hand down on the deck to signify his surrender. Kaleeth released him and allowed him to gasp for air as she brought herself triumphantly back up to her feet. She now had a few more bruises, but nevertheless felt invigorated by the fight.

Much of the crowd had placed their bets on the Khajiit, as they could not imagine her being able to overpower him. However, there were some who had enough confidence in the Argonian challenger to place a bet on her, so the split was not as drastic as last time. Nevertheless, Janius, Fendro, and particularly Colors all made a good profit. In all of this, Ra'kalesh seemed curious. He had no interest in gambling, but he could hear a few whispers among the crowd wondering at how she could accomplish such feats. It was the kind of question that it was best they not have, and he had an idea of how to distract from that issue. "Do you think that, perhaps, Kaleeth would be interested in a fight with Ra'kalesh?" He asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter ran his hand down the side of his face as he returned back to his spot. "Oh, yeah, right...I fold too." He said in embarrassment. It left only Ciinriel and Tzirret to play the hand to completion, of which Tzirret ended up being the winner. Ciinriel took her drink with much less reluctance than before, and only a slight cough. By this point, most of them were becoming at least somewhat used to the taste.

In response to Sabine, Ciinriel laughed. "Yeah, but it didn't do me much good. Lady luck is...not my friend." After setting down the bottle, Ciinriel laid herself down on her back and looked up to the ceiling. "I won't even be able to stand soon."

Peiter laughed. "Ah, who needs to stand? I'll be happy just sitting here with all you." He commented. Although his words seemed to be directed towards everyone, he did not hide the fact that he was staring at Sabine, smiling.

True to Fendros' advice, Kaleeth rushed to tackle her opponent as he was trying to stand to his feet. So far in the fight, he had demonstrated an apparent advantage in a grapple, so the last thing he expected was for her to initiate another one. She forced him down to the deck once more, so naturally, his first reaction was to attempt to overpower her. He locked his arm around hers and tried to force her out of the way, but much to his surprise, she did not budge. Not only that, but the arm he was using to grab her, she grabbed as well and started to twist it, much like her previous opponent. Now, there was some panic in his eyes. He did not know how it was possible, but she was outmatching him in the area in which he should have been superior. His plan had revolved around defeating her in a grapple. Still, he was not without the ability to retaliate. Before Kaleeth could grab his free arm, he managed to deliver a blow to the side of her head strong enough to daze her and allow him to scramble out from underneath her. As he was trying to get back to a standing position, however, Kaleeth managed to kick his feet out from underneath him, causing him to fall flat on his face. She then jumped on his back, eager to get herself into such an advantageous position.

Outside the fight, a few of the others from the packs and the pride had come up onto the deck for fresh air. Among them was Ra'kalesh, who noticed the fight near the bow. He was concerned at first, but as he drew closer, he recognized what was going on. It was no surprise to see Colors among the crowd, but what he did not expect, however, was that one among the Champion's pack would be fighting. He approached Janius, Fendros, and Colors curiously as he observed the bout in front of them. "So, what is happening here? Attempting to earn back some of our fare, this one is guessing?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It's rather late and I need to get to bed, so I just gave a quick response for Peiter and Ciinriel. I'll get to Kaleeth tomorrow. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ciinriel was now less hesitant with her drinks, though she still nearly gagged trying to down the liquid. She blinked rapidly and let out a few breaths as she put down the bottle. "Maybe that's it. Don't know why they wouldn't put them back on after though."

Peiter's laugh was not quite as exuberant as Sabine's but it was still much more than he normally would have given. Afterwards, he stared at Tzirret for an awkwardly long time, seemingly deep in thought as he scratched his chin. Slowly, he held out his hand and pointed at the Khajiit. "I'm not sure if it's funny or...just insulting. Probably both. Anyway, don't think you don't have a smell you...furball. Your fur gets all wet, and it makes you like a wet dog. Even if you're a cat."

Suddenly, and without warning, Peiter leaned over towards Tzirret, who was to his left, and gave him a quick hug. "Don't worry though, we're still friends." He said. At that angle, however, he had the perfect opportunity to look at Tzirret's cards. Of course, Peiter had not actually had the presence of mind to notice that he had left his own cards face up on the floor.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter had lost a few rounds already, and the next drink Tzirret picked him for certainly did not help his already-clouded mind. The drink was far stronger than any he was used to, and honestly, not something he actually liked the taste of. But, he could ignore that for the sake of their game. Once he finished his turn with the bottle, Peiter picked up the deck and started to deal. "Yeah, yeah, cloudy-cat. Don't think you'll be sspared for too long."

As they started to play the next round, Ciinriel answered Sabine. "Oh, it's not too hard. I mean, she can't actually talk, but she can write. She's good with...body language. Father does a lot of talking for her. He cares a lot about us both. He teaches me about how to use magic. It's...hard, but useful."

With the end of the hand, Peiter had ended up winning. Although, he did not actually get to select who would drink. Both Tzirret and Ciinriel had folded, so Sabine was to drink by default.

After the hand, Ciinriel actually started to smile. "I like this, it's fun. Better than Colors' card game. He told me about a game he used to play before he turned where they'd play for each other's clothing. Not sure what the point of that would be."

While the betting was taking place, Kaleeth took a moment to prepare for the next fight. She was going to have to display more of her strength than the crowd would be expecting. There would be no avoiding it if she wanted to win, but she could at least try to make it believable. Nearby in an open crate was some of the cloth that the Altmer had tied around her chest, so Kaleeth decided to do the same. She gave her shirt to Janius, then took some of the cloth for herself. She never actually asked anyone for it, but no one actually bothered her about it. Now, her rather exceptionally muscular build was easier for the crowd to notice, and hopefully, her strength easier to accept. As long as she did not overdo it.

The Suthay-raht was actually briefly surprised to see the build of his opponent, but he maintained a level head. Once they were both ready, and the bets were placed, the word to start was given. However, unlike the last match, Kaleeth's opponent did not immediately charge her. Instead, he waited and stepped forward cautiously. Kaleeth mirrored his movements until they were both within one step of being able to hit each other. Suddenly, Kaleeth struck, trying to catch him in the stomach. He was able to block, but similarly to the Altmer, Kaleeth tried to follow through with a strike at his head. Unfortunately, Kaleeth was not quite so quick, so he was able to swat away her arm before the his could connect, then deliver his own punch to her stomach. Then, while she was off-balance, he rushed forward and grabbed her, trying to force her to the ground. She could have resisted, but being that she was already off balance from his strike, she did not want to show too much of her capabilities. As such, she allowed herself to be thrown to the deck and instead tried to retaliate once he jumped onto her. She landed a good, solid strike to his jaw, but he was able to respond in kind with a punch to the side of her head. He could hit much harder than the Altmer, so she was actually dazed for a moment after the strike. She tried to bring up her arms to defend, but he was able to land another hit before she could finally protect herself.

Kaleeth was not in a good position, so she had no choice but to force her opponent away. With a single shove and a kick, she was able to throw him, rather violently, onto his back, then scramble up to her feet. It was a greater show of strength than she had intended to give, but to win this fight, she could not go easy on him.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once they had their drink, the four headed back down to the bottom deck, where they had previously been playing their game. Peiter was not sure how he felt about trading that much gold for only one bottle, though it was a rather large one. He just hoped it ended up being worth it. They all sat back down in a circle as they had before.

"I have no idea what this is, but I hope it is something good. I guess we should teach Ciinriel the rules, then get started." Peiter commented. While Tzirret was reshuffling the cards, Peiter uncorked the bottle and sniffed of its contents. Immediately, his eyes widened and his head recoiled back. It was definitely stronger than ale. "Well, I think our game just became higher stakes."

Colors laughed. "All of it, my friend. Well, all of my winnings. It wasn't all that much, really, but with how many people bet against Kaleeth? That payout was great."

At that point, the betting on the next round was called to start, and when Colors turned around, he saw that Kaleeth was stepping into the circle once again. "Ah, another fight. How much coin am I going to end up making today?" He commented, though when he got a look at Kaleeth's opponent, it did temper his enthusiasm somewhat. He did not have a complete idea of exactly how strong a werecrocodile was, even out of lycan form. His perspective was that of a werelion, who were not the strongest of lycanthropes.

"Eh, maybe I'll go in with half." Colors said before he put in his bet on Kaleeth. Walking back to the others, he put a hand on Janius' shoulder. "You confident enough in her to put some gold down this time?"