EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For a while, Peiter simply lay with Sabine, resting. He found himself not thinking about much of anything, and while he was certainly relaxed enough to transform back, he remained in his beast form for the moment. With Sabine's head resting on his chest, he occasionally looked down and licked the top of her head and snout.

Eventually, enough time had passed that Peiter felt rested from the exertion. It would be easy to transform, but the sensation of holding her so close in this form felt different than usual. They were both large and powerful beings, and yet her fur made her feel soft. He let out a low, rumbling sound, almost like a growl. Although, it had no anger behind it. "How, do you feel?" He finally spoke up.

Ma'tanza was not close to the highest ranking member of her pride, so she was accustomed to allowing others to eat first. In fact, when Tzirret approached, her first reaction was to tear off a large chunk for herself and drag it a short distance away, leaving the rest for Tzirret. Even though Tzirret was not a member of her pride, she was used to most of the others she hunted with outranking her. The leader of her particular pride tended to enforce clan structure and rank rather strongly, though Ma'tanza did not always like it.

Once she had finished the meat she had torn away, Ma'tanza started creeping up to what remained of the sow to hazard tearing off another piece for herself, while carefully keeping her eyes on Tzirret the entire time.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Though he might have been able to simply overpower them, Ssarak, as per usual, decided to take the cautious approach. When the first ridge hound leaped up onto the wall, Ssarak jumped back. Although, the ridge hounds would not necessarily perceive it, as in his place he had left a doppelganger. Though they did not have eyes to see it, their other senses could still perceive it.

With the ridge hounds focused on the illusion, Ssarak retaliated immediately, focusing first on the one that had attempted to pounce on his head. If these beasts were at all capable of recognizing the deception, that would be the hound which would notice it first, since it had passed straight through the doppelganger. Fortunately, killing a single ridge hound was not a difficult matter. A simple thrust with his sword through the confused beast's chest was enough to end it.

It was at that point where Ssarak heard Tyrael shouting about something down the hall, prompting him to focus on collecting thoughts from that direction. Most of them were the bestial intentions and perceptions of the ridge hounds, but there was something else mixed among them, something more coherent. They were beings with sight and rational thought, and they were currently engaged in a fight. He could have attempted to filter out the ridge hounds to listen in greater detail, but it would require more concentration to gain knowledge that would be unnecessary at the moment. With his cursory scan of the tunnel, he already knew there were people ahead fighting for their lives. "There are ridge hounds and...people!" He answered quickly.

Seeing as there were people ahead who could use their help, Ssarak went on the offensive. The hound attempting to flank his doppelganger was his next target. Again, he thrust his blade into the beast, this time from behind towards where he assumed the heart would be. Though, he quickly pulled the blade from its body to keep up his momentum. Two of the beasts had just "tackled" the doppelganger, and subsequently fallen through it, so Ssarak brought down a diagonal overhead strike at the nearest one, intent on using the momentum to proceed into his next swing towards the other. If he was able to kill them, he would turn to aid Tyrael if he had not yet killed those threatening him.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While the instincts of Peiter's beast spirit had essentially taken over beforehand, Peiter had much more solid control after it was over. This time, he had collected a few small scrapes and bruises from the resistance Sabine had put up. Although, he doubted she could control that resistance, just as he could not control his own beast spirit's insistence to fight back. Nevertheless, it had been satisfying from his perspective. Now that he was back in control, he walked around in front of her and licked her snout, then nuzzled his head up against hers.

In contrast to Tzirret, Ma'tanza was quite used to hunting with werewolves, and as a werelion, she had absolutely no issue in keeping up with him. What she lacked in strength, she made up for in speed and agility. In fact, she could have easily overtaken him at any point, but she was following his lead. The only thing that was endangering her of being left behind was that she was continually distracted by the wealth of new sights, sounds, and scents around her. Even the songs of the birds above them were different from what she was accustomed to. They felt lighter, almost. But, as she could not hunt birds, her beast spirit eventually demanded that she refocus on the hunt.

It took a while of running before they caught the scent of viable prey, and this time, it was something that was also familiar to Ma'tanza. Swine were common enough in Elsweyr, so as soon as she recognized that it was nearby, she bolted off after the sow. Her speed easily outpaced Tzirret's, allowing her to get ahead of him. Their prey took off running as soon as it heard the rustling leaves and heavy footsteps rapidly approaching. But, a werelion was not one of the creature's usual predators, and her agility allowed her to maneuver between the trees and foliage seemingly effortlessly. It was only seconds before she was upon the sow, tackling it with her entire body and tearing into it with her claws and teeth. She was too distracted by it to pay attention to Tzirret, nor to his beast's reaction to her taking its kill.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It is probably time for me to get to bed, goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter walked with Sabine far enough from camp to feel secure in their privacy, though was careful not to travel too far. After one last kiss, he quite eagerly transformed himself into his lycan form. On the way out of the camp, he had actually been worried about how his beast spirit would react to his intentions once it was released. He usually only transformed for the purpose of hunting, and any time he used it for something simple like traveling or climbing, it was to the irritation of his beast spirit. He had worried that he would have to fight his beast spirit through this entire event. However, as he quickly discovered upon shifting, his beast had adopted the frame of mind he had before the transformation, and was also quite eager to go through with his intentions.

Ma'tanza could not say how she felt about the climate. She felt more comfortable, true, but it was not what she was accustomed to. It was not so much that the cooler air was uncomfortable as much as it was just strange. Nevertheless, she followed along and began her transformation alongside Tzirret. While he was small for a werewolf, she was also around his age, and thus, the same relative stature for a werelion. As such, the size difference between them was obvious. In her werelion form, she was larger and stronger than her normal Suthay-raht form, but not to the extent of a werewolf. Her fur was short, and she lacked the mane of her male counterparts.

Once transformed, Ma'tanza's beast spirit was almost at a loss for what to do in the new surroundings. They were not too greatly different in appearance, but virtually all of the scents around her, apart from Tzirret himself, were unfamiliar. It was curious to investigate all of these new scents, but she reigned it in to focus on the matter at hand. She walked up beside Tzirret, waiting for him to take the lead on their hunt.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmph, well you certainly know how to raise my spirits." Peiter grumbled sarcastically, though he decided to take it as a joke. He watched her walk over to their tent, and was not ashamed to stare as she leaned forward into it. Once she had drank her potion, he stood up to his feet and stretched out his muscles before taking her hand. With a grin, he gave her a quick kiss before they started to walk hand-in-hand towards the edge of camp.

On the way out of camp, the pair happened to pass by the spot where Meesei had set up her tent. She was sitting on her bedroll, and looked as if she were about to start meditating. Regardless, she opened her eyes and looked at the pair as they passed. "Ah, hello. Are you heading out for a hunt, or a swim?" She asked casually. "Just be careful not to head straight south. Colors says there may be Dominion patrols in that direction."

Ma'tanza was not fortunate enough to have any of the clothing they had on hand, so she was simply able to follow Tzirret as soon as he was ready. They were farther away from her home than she had ever been, so she naturally had a certain curiosity about the area. The forest was far different from the jungle of southern Pelletine, so the creatures, plants, and even the air itself was all new to her. Once they walked out of the camp, her eyes scanned the whole landscape around her, to the point that she nearly tripped on one of the roots of a tree they passed.

"This place is...nothing like home. It's a forest, but it's so different. The air is just so cool, and the forest isn't nearly as thick. It doesn't even look like you could make a building in these little trees." Ma'tanza observed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter was a bit disappointed that Sabine gave no real reaction to his jokes, even if just to roll her eyes at it. Regardless, he stayed in good spirits as he answered her. "Well, I only mention it because my beast spirit has been a bit restless and I feel I need to let it out. Our beast spirits are instinct-driven, and mating is pretty...instinctual. We are mates, so your beast spirit would probably just do what comes naturally." He reasoned.

Peiter made no comment on the fact that Sabine had watched her packmates in an intimate moment. She did not specify for how long she had watched them, so he simply assumed that she had saw them only briefly before leaving.

Ma'tanza turned around to ask the others, but before she could even say a word, M'ibasa was already taking off running, quite literally, through the camp. He may not have heard what they were talking about, or, had heard them and decided to get away before she could ask him. Shrugging her shoulders, she asked the others who were still present. "Say, would any of you want to join us for a hunt?" She asked.

Qa'habi had just finished stringing his bow when Ma'tanza posed the question. "Qa'habi was planning on hunting, but he really wants to use his bow. It sounds like you want to hunt with your beast spirits. This one would probably just get in the way."

Bheja had his attention occupied with S'nishi while Ma'tanza and Tzirret had been speaking. He had his arms wrapped around her neck and had just given her a kiss on the snout when Ma'tanza questioned him directly. "Huh? Oh, no, not right now. I think I'm going to spend some...quality time with my little kitten here."

Ma'tanza looked back to Tzirret, not acknowledging the irony of Bheja's nickname for her sister. "Hmm, looks like it will be just us."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter started to snicker as his smile grew wider. "Oh, you want another sword lesson?" He said, putting extra emphasis on the euphemism. "Well, it has been a while, and I do really enjoy them. In fact, I think it would be fun to head out into the forest and have another lesson right now. What do you think?"

Keeping his arm around Sabine, Peiter turned onto his side as well to face her. "You know, something I was thinking about on the ship, I wonder if it would be possible to do in beast form..."

Ma'tanza readily moved over slightly to give Tzirret room to sit. Overall, she was in a cheerful move now that they were off of the ship, so she smiled warmly at his suggestion. "A hunt does sound good. Ma'tanza has nothing else to do, really, so she can come. Honestly, she has been wanting to find an excuse to stretch her legs for a while. Ma'tanza is not used to being unable to run, or swim, or do much of anything else for so long. This one does not know how sailors stand it. Though, she supposes they do have to deal with their duties on the ship. Well, anyway, Ma'tanza would love to hunt. When do you want to leave? This one is ready at any time. Did you want to invite the others?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I was caught up in a discussion, getting to a post now.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sorry for the delay, I was in a game.

Also, they are releasing this skin for Kukulkan in the next patch. It is the single best thing since this skin.