EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter shrugged his shoulders, which were now thankfully being soothed by Sabine. "I'm not sure. I guess we try to get used to everything being normal again. We'll have been away for so long at that point, I can't help but to wonder how much things will have changed. There will be a lot of new faces, I bet."

Once his arms were clear of burns, Peiter stretched them out in front of him. "I'm also guessing we're going to be repeating the same stories a lot. So much has happened already: Vile's agents tricking us on arrival, rescuing Ra'kalesh's pride, taking over the slave ship with the clan. And the most exciting story is yet to come. I just...hope everything turns out alright." He said, looking off to the side nervously.

Kaleeth's initial defense started out strong, with each strike being parried away. Although, Fendros was fast enough that she did not have the opportunity to counter-attack until after his third slash. She still was not the fastest of fighters, so she tried to account for that by attacking the closest part of his body to her weapon, which, after her last parry, was his sword-arm. She quickly thrust the tip of her weapon towards his hand, hoping to get past his crossguard. Given Fendros' skill level, however, it was not especially likely.

Once she was able, Kaleeth responded. "That's not completely true...or completely wrong. He let Colors take me to a skooma den to show me what it was like. He knew I would hate it, but he wanted to show me that skooma was dangerous. I've never really had any experience with it before. Still, I would have rather he just told me; I was almost ready to throttle him after he said he knew what it was going to be like before we went in. I guess it got the point across, though."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter felt the sting of Sabine’s touch for only a brief moment before her magic started to numb the area. He sat up, supporting his upper body with his arms, tilting his head back, and letting out a long sigh. “Yeah, I’d like to avoid that. Luckily, a cactus is a lot more obvious of a thing than a thornbush. As much as I’m sure you love to practice your healing on me, the pain really isn’t worth it.” He commented.

As Sabine moved higher up his legs, Peiter was able to lean forward and plant a kiss on the side of her head. “I definitely appreciate it, though. There are some parts of me that are really, really painful to have burned. And all the walking along with it…we can’t get out of this desert fast enough.”

Kaleeth chuckled. “If Janius tried that, I’d probably be rubbing him down with the balm within a day. It gets cold in this desert at night, and I’m not going to have him laying on the other side of the tent afraid to touch me. He’s probably more afraid of upsetting me than the actual pain.”

There was no shortage of empty, open areas in and around camp, so they were quick to find a good place to spar. Kaleeth took the practice sword in a two-handed grip and stood in a ready-position. “I think we can just go ahead and spar. I might get exhausted after a few drills.”

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak was startled when the wall just ahead of the group came crashing down. His first thought was that an enraged Tyrael had found them. He braced himself for whatever might come next, but to his surprise, it was the guardsman, Grey who came walking through the opening.

”Grey?” Ssarak began in surprise before looking briefly to the Naga. ”Hold! He is an ally.” He shouted, immediately striking back against the ridge hounds that had tried to get past his shield. One jumped off of the back of one of its fallen allies in an attempt to leap on Ssarak’s head, but was met only by the cold steel of a bash from his shield.

”Naga survivors…from Mesa Gaan. The Matriarch herself….and even Mar’s brother is here.” Ssarak explained between swings and thrusts of his sword. He had not yet explained to the Naga who he was, or even the fact that he recognized Lyamis, so there would likely be some surprise from them on how he recognized them.

Similarly to one of the first hounds Ssarak had fought with Tyrael, another of the beasts jumped off of the wall and successfully onto his back. However, it was cut down quickly by the spear of a Naga behind him. ”Ridge hounds made it…to the catacombs. But they are not the real danger. Tyrael, it is as if he has gone mad.” He said, stopping for a moment to shift his shield in front of a hound attempting to flank him. ”He became enraged the moment he saw the Naga. Ordered me to murder them, and threated to kill me when I refused. I think his demon is overtaking his mind. We need to get back to the College and get help before he hurts anyone.”

Around that point, the last of the immediate wave of hounds in front of them was finished off. Although, the sounds of fighting ahead of them told that there were many more remaining. ”There are more students ahead, we need to help them.” Ssarak said as he began to advance once more. It was difficult to determine exactly at that distance, but he thought he saw Colette ahead of them.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ma'tanza laughed. "Yeah, though it wouldn't be as much of a pain as Bheja." She joked. If nothing else, she was glad for the distraction, so she did her best to keep up the conversation as they continued along.

---

After another hour, the clan finally stopped to make camp for the night. By this point, the area they were traversing was covered in sandy dunes, punctuated by a few scattered rocky outcroppings. They picked one of the more rocky areas to set up the camp, in order to take advantage of the more solid ground they provided. Tents were set up quickly, particularly by those who wanted to get out of the sun. Although, it would not be long before it set over the horizon.

Peiter was particularly enthusiastic about sitting down under his and Sabine's tent once they finally set it up. He laid down on top of his bedroll, cringing as his skin pressed against the leather. "Ahhh, well, better than walking at least. Maybe you should set up all your alchemy equipment in the tent, or right at the entrance, if you want to keep out of the sun. But first...you think I could get some healing?" He asked Sabine.

Elsewhere in camp, Kaleeth was surprisingly quick to grab the practice swords and seek out Fendros. As soon as the tent was set up for Janius, she had grabbed the weapons and headed off to meet up with him. Ahnasha, Leaps, and Rhazii were all in their tent, resting and drinking the rest of the water rationed to them for the day. Kaleeth had elected not to drink until after her sparring match. "You ready, Fendros?" She asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha lowered her head with a regretful expression. "I'm sorry, Rhazii. It hasn't been that long since you last had your water, and you don't want to run out just yet. Trust me, it will be worth the wait. Just try to rest."

Ma'tanza laughed briefly with Sabine. "Unfortunately, S'nishi has orders just to carry children and the elderly. Trust this one, she already asked. The orders came down from the Champion herself, and, well, none of us can do anything about that. Now, if there was anyone here who could get that order changed, it would be you."

At about that time, Ma'tanza heard Tzirret's frantic protests to whatever it was that Bheja had said to him. She rolled her eyes and sighed as she turned her head towards them. "Bheja, what did Ma'tanza say about tormenting Tzirret."

Bheja held up his hands in front of him. "Hey, I'm not tormenting him. Just giving some friendly advice."

"Right. And does that 'advice' involve any part of Ma'tanza's body." She asked.

"Hmm, maaaybe." Bheja snickered. "Hey, what I told him this time would actually work."

Ma'tanza smiled as she shook her head, then gave Tzirret a curious look. "What did he try to trick you with this time?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha turned her head just enough so that she could see Rhazii in the periphery of her vision. "I'm sorry, little one, not quite yet. Once we get to camp, you can have the rest of your water for the day. It will just be an hour or two; try to get back to sleep in the meantime." She answered. She hated to deny him water, but she had to make sure he spaced out his water appropriately, and did not go through all of it at once.

Kaleeth shrugged her shoulders. "Hmm, well I don't really know either. At least you don't have to suffer like the others, though. Since you seem to be able to move around just fine, maybe we can spar when we get to camp? No one I usually train with has wanted to since we got to the desert, since they're hurting enough even without being slapped by a wooden sword."

Once the ointment had been applied, Ma'tanza took the bottle and nodded to Tzirret. "It takes a minute or two, but it should be soon, yes. Thank you."

Turning back to Sabine, Ma'tanza returned the bottle. "And thank you. Ma'tanza would be glad to help you with the balm. You will just need to teach her the process to make it. Maybe she can bring M'ibasa to watch as well? He has been so bored since this journey started, he would be glad to have anything new to do. Personally, Ma'tanza thinks he should just feel lucky to be able to nap up on S'nishi's back."

On the other side of Tzirret, Bheja nudged Tzirret's side. He snickered, then leaned in to whisper into Tzirret's ear. "Hmph, nice. Maybe at this point, you should offer to just follow around behind her so you can reach around and hold up her breasts with your hands. I'm sure that would solve her problem just fine." He teased.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth huffed. "Unless there is someone who can make gold from sand, there is nothing of value here. We should just let Vile's forces suffer in this desert. Take everything else and leave them here."

Leaning forward slightly, Kaleeth looked to her right, towards Ahnasha and Fendros. Compared to most of the others, she had noticed that Fendros was surprisingly calm, and perhaps even comfortable, in the desert. Neither the sun nor dryness seemed to bother him. "Compared to Janius, you don't look any different from normal, Fendros. The sun is beating down on your skin just as much as his; what are you doing to get through it?"

Ma'tanza gratefully accepted the bottle and opened it up, carefully applying a small amount to her hand. "Thank you, Sabine. Hopefully, it will get Ma'tanza through the last few hours until we make camp. If there is anything this one can do for you, let her know." She offered. Ma'tanza corked the ceramic bottle once more, then started to apply the ointment to her chest.

With Tzirret's question, Ma'tanza looked over to him briefly, then offered him the bottle. "Oh, thanks. You can help with that while Ma'tanza is doing this. Just don't use too much; this one does not want to be wasteful."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For Kaleeth, the desert was far more uncomfortable than she was expecting. She knew about the heat beforehand, but heat had never been an issue for her. Indeed, the heat of the desert was not what was bothering her, but rather its overwhelming dryness. The feeling of having almost no water in the air, and being only able to drink so much in a day was awful for an Argonian. "I don't feel great. This place is so dry it causes my scales to itch. They're not burned like Janius' skin, but this is not a place I want to be. I'd give anything just to be able to jump in the water for a few minutes. I just can't fathom why anyone would want to live here. Why on Nirn is there a city in the middle of this desert? It seems insane."

Ma'tanza raised up her hands and shook her head at Sabine. "Oh, no, there's no need to make any more. Not if it needs the aloe leaves. Ma'tanza is sore, but it seems like the Humans and Elves are going through a lot worse than this one. She wouldn't want you to use anything on her that could be used to help them. But...if you have any of the ointment already made, Ma'tanza would be grateful to have it." She answered.

Peiter chuckled. "Well, right now, fire is a good approximation. Usually, though, it's just a lot smoother than fur. I'm guessing that I feel the breeze more strongly, and things like that. It's not bad, most of the time. It's just awful being sunburned. I don't think it's really the heat that does it, it's the light itself. You don't get sunburn from just being in a hot place. It isn't as bad up north, where the sun is less intense, and there's more shade. Sure, I've gotten sunburn back in Cyrodiil a few times, but nothing like this." He explained.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Can you find waldo?

@EthTenshi

I'm afraid I can't even find the picture.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Grey could be of immense help in the Catacombs, if what I have in mind is something that works. Your last post gives me plenty of ideas.