EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As Sabine went to grab the swords, Peiter went over to a spot that seemed clear enough for their purposes, just on the other side of Tzirret. "Oh, we picked up some swords back in Senchal. The both of us decided it would be interesting to teach each other some tricks. I've been trying my best to learn how to use magic from her. Unsuccessfully so far, but I'm trying. Swordplay is a bit easier to grasp starting out, so Sabine has been a bit better off in sparring."

Once Sabine returned, Peiter took his wooden sword and took his position, turning back to Tzirret as he allowed Sabine to get ready. "Teaching someone techniques like this can sometimes be boring, I'll warn you, but we will at least start off with a good duel. Maybe you can pick up some pointers as well, if you pay attention."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With Sabine's kiss, Peiter could not bring himself to even act upset in any seriously convincing manner. Instead, he took her hand and stood up to his feet. "Well...that's actually a tough question. On the one hand, you're making this magic stuff look really tempting. But, on the other, I feel like I'll be able to get a lot more payback sooner in a sword duel." He said, smiling. He looked over and motioned his other hand towards Tzirret.

"Plus, Tzirret here would probably find a lot more interest in watching a duel. That is, if you were intent on doing it right now?" Peiter added. They had not been doing much all day, other than anticipating when they would finally be ashore. As such, Peiter had quite a bit of energy he needed to expend.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It's...a movie.

Dun dun dun.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I went to see Star Wars. Just got back an hour or so ago.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ra'kalesh smiled. "This one will help anyone who wants to learn. Again, do not expect miracles, but Khajiit may have some advice for you both. Speak to me tomorrow, once we have returned to camp. Right now, Ra'kalesh would like some dinner." He chuckled before heading over to their bags to find their stores of meat.

Kaleeth got out of her wet city clothes, then sat herself down on her bedroll, next to Newt's. The camp was situated in a circle as usual, though no one had even thought about building a fire. Some in the packs preferred to eat a cooked meal from time to time, just for variety, but at the moment, no one wanted any extra heat in the camp.

Peiter was looking at Tzirret just before Sabine laid her hand on his stomach. "Well, the ocean's nearby, but I don't think..." He began, interrupting himself when he felt Sabine's hand on his stomach. It only took a brief moment of seeing the fire for him to panic. "What are you doing, what are you doing?!" He shouted in a frenzy as he tried to swat her hand away and stand to his feet. Once he was up, he patted his own stomach down frantically, but felt, and saw no burns. And, once he had time to actually think, he recognized that he felt no heat. He let out a sigh, then knelt down in front of her. "Very...funny. I said I felt like I was on fire, not that I wanted to be on fire."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Looking over to Ra'kalesh, Kaleeth saw that they were packing up their maps. Their meeting was evidently over, so she would be able to speak to him soon. Slowly, she handed off Newt to Janius and smiled. "Thank you. I hope he can help me. It would be terrible if something like that happened to me in anything other than training. I just hope we will have time, since we're going to be searching for their clan. Who knows, maybe you can learn something too?"

After the alphas finished their meeting, headed back towards the center of camp. As Ra'kalesh passed by, Kaleeth stopped him somewhat nervously. "Ra'kalesh, I...have a question for you. Do you remember when we fought back on the ship? You fought so well...I was wondering if you could help teach me?" She asked.

Ra'kalesh smiled. "This one was wondering if you would ask. Unfortunately, he will not be able to teach to you fight like he does. Ra'kalesh is a practitioner of the Whispering Fang style, and spent years as a monk studying it. Khajiit's techniques would not work for you without that level of dedication. But, Ra'kalesh can still give you lessons. He may still be able to teach you principles that could help in your own fighting style. We can start tomorrow, after we all return to camp."

Kaleeth nodded, returning his smile. "Thank you, I'll do my best." She responded before glancing over to Janius. "Will you join us too, if you can?"

Peiter gave a slight huff at Tzirret. "You're getting used to it? I don't see how, considering your full-body fur coat. I guess Khajiit are desert cats, though. You must have a lot of tolerance to the heat. Honestly, I wouldn't mind a desert right now; it's the humidity that's getting to me." Peiter explained. He walked over to his bags and undressed himself, then laid down on top of his bedroll nearby, looking up at the sky with his hands resting behind his head.

When Sabine brought up the idea of making a potion, Peiter chuckled. "Hmm, and you're sure we're not actually on fire right now? If you told me that, I honestly think I would believe it. Ah, I'm sure we'll manage, though. Hopefully, we'll be able to find the clan soon, so we won't have to be searching through this jungle for so long. Hopefully, they're still in this area, and haven't been found by Vile."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmm, this voyage was cutting it close to the full moons. Within the next week, I believe." Meesei answered. "We will need to approach that night with caution; perhaps travel in larger groups. But, you are right that it could help us find them. On that night, we might try simply spreading out over a wider area, without any especially detailed searching. That would give us the best chance to encounter any of them, and we can always cover ground we missed in the next night." She suggested.

Since they were not going to be beginning their search that night, the rest of the group started setting up their camp. They were likely going to be moving their camp frequently, so they only took out the essentials from their bags. Kaleeth took up a tired Newt in her arms and allowed him to rest while Janius set up his bedroll. Although, she found herself glancing periodically over to Ra'kalesh with the other alphas. Despite the fact that she had been able to satisfy herself with fights aboard the ship, her mind always seemed to go back to their fight on the first day. She had not even been able to touch him during their bout, and she could not help but to wonder how that was possible. She wondered if he would be willing to give her any training, since they were on a mission.

Meanwhile, Peiter let out a sigh as he took a seat on the ground near the center of camp. Naturally, he was near Sabine and Tzirret. Although, Ciinriel had been joining them more frequently for the past day or two. She was not normally as outgoing as when she was intoxicated, but she was starting to open up to them. Peiter stared out into the forest and let out a sigh. "Back into the heat of this jungle, I suppose. Sea travel may be boring, but at least the air was a bit cooler." He shifted somewhat uncomfortably. At first, wading through the water had been refreshing, but now, he just felt wet. The humidity of the jungle made sweating largely ineffective.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"No, that is not a bad plan." Meesei commented as she looked over the map carefully. "I do not want to take the risk of eliminating any areas entirely, but we may be able to prioritize based on where the most likely spot could be. Since Vile's forces have the suppression gas, I would have selected a location that would allow for an easy escape, were I the clan leader. However, he could have established their new camp anywhere. Perhaps in a cavern, or even in the trees. Ra'kalesh, would they have had time to build another set of structures in the trees? I am not certain of the details of how they are constructed."

Ra'kalesh scratched under his chin for a moment as he thought. "No...this one does not think so. But, we do have hidden supply outposts, as you know. Khajiit does not know if there was one in this area. Certainly, it would not have been large enough to accommodate all of the survivors, but if they already had an outpost to start with, they could have added a few more structures."

Meesei nodded. "It is a possibility, then. All teams will need to stay alert for anywhere they might be. If they are underground, then we will not be able to catch their scents. However, the basic plan is a good one. We will split up into teams of three, then cover a predetermined area each day. Once that area is covered, we will all returned to camp, then move our camp to a different location the next morning. Although, even with the nineteen of us, it still may take a week or two to cover such a large area. Hopefully, we will find the clan long before then. It is getting late today, so we should make camp here and start in the morning. Are there any objections, or suggestions?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once everyone had finally made it to shore, Meesei directed them to continue on a short distance into the forest, since the beach was a very open area. There had been no evidence that anyone was following them throughout their entire voyage, but just in case, Meesei felt it would be best if they were not plainly visible from the ocean.

After a few minutes of walking, the group was deep enough into the forest that Meesei felt it was safe enough for them to stop. As everyone was finding a place to set down their bags, Meesei found a fallen log on which to spread out their maps. She called over Gallus, Ra'kalesh, and anyone else who wanted to give advice so that they could finalize their plans for their next move. She uncorked an inkwell and gave a quill to Ra'kalesh, as he was the one with the most knowledge of the area.

"Ra'kalesh, what is roughly the area we are going to need to search?" Meesei asked.

Ra'kalesh dipped the quill, then drew a thin line in a circle around their current area. Compared to the whole of Elsweyr, it was a small circle, but it was still a very large area for them to search without any real direction. "It will not be easy, unfortunately. Ra'kalesh knows this is where they planned to go, but he has no more specifics than this. We will need to devise a search pattern.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Agreed." Ahnasha responded. The two children did not seem to have a care in the world at the moment, other than their own amusements. Ahnasha almost felt envious of them, for that fact. "Now, we just have to figure out how to keep ourselves from going insane for the rest of this trip."

---

Compared to their previous voyage, the packs' current trip was mercifully short. As they were only sailing along Elsweyr's coast, they were able to reach the approximate area where Ra'kalesh knew his clan had gone within just four days. It was short enough that life aboard the ship had only just become stale by the time they arrived. Thanks to her lycan regeneration, Kaleeth was able to heal quickly and return for a few more fights with the crew several times during their journey, along with Lorag once he learned about them. Fortunately, they accepted the explanation of magic as her source of rapid healing. Although, she refrained from joining in any fights on the day before their arrival to ensure she would be in good physical condition.

For Meesei, she had no trouble passing the time during their journey. When she was not spending time in conversation with her packs or the pride, she was meditating and otherwise practicing her magic. It was something she had always done whenever there was nothing else to do, though since the war began, she had been even more rigorous in her pursuit of magical insight. For as long as any in her pack had known her, Meesei had been a powerful mage, but over the past few years, her magical abilities had grown even stronger. Since high-level magic was more difficult to study, the change was not as drastic as others in her pack like Ahnasha and Sabine, but she had steady improvement.

It was later in the afternoon that the ship finally cast its anchor just off of the shore to allow their passengers to disembark. Obviously, there was no dock for them to use, and the captain did not seem intent allowing them the use of one of their rowboats. From speaking with her, it seemed she wanted to get out of the area as fast as possible. Fortunately, the shores were not rocky, so the ship was able to get close enough to shore that they would only have to wade a short distance to dry land. While the crew were letting down the ropes, the captain gave the group one final "farewell."

"Alright, this is your stop. Once you're off this ship, you're off. Make sure you've got all your stuff with you now, else it's gonna be mine. Now, it's been a pleasure doing business and all that nonsense. If anyone asks, we've never met." The captain said before walking back towards her cabin.