EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Dar-tzesa closed her eyes and started simply shaking her head, letting out muffled, quiet sobs. Even before she answered, it was obvious that she did not believe Gallus. That, or was too hopeless overall to believe that anything could help her situation. Regardless, she did eventually give him an answer. "You can't help him. I can't help him. It's just...over. He's...by the root, he didn't deserve this. All I had to do was help him kill monsters. All I had to do was live up to my end of the deal, but I couldn't even do that for him. I'm a failure; my son won't have his cure, and it's my fault."

Despite Dar-tzesa's answer, Meesei stood nearby, leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, showing almost no reaction. Her expression seemed almost completely devoid of emotion. Instead, her gaze was deathly serious, and was scrutinizing Gallus' every movement. Her attention was firmly on him, and every word he said. There was no way to say for certain if she approved or disapproved of his current actions, but from her stare, it would not be difficult to assume that she could easily turn her ire towards him if he did something wrong.

Star Wars: Coruscant Underworld [Always accepting!]

Nice, something I can respond to. I should be able to get Tir out of her house now. I'm not absolutely certain if I'll be able to post tomorrow, as it is a very long day for me, but I will try.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi shook her head. "No, this one does not think so. As disappointing as it might be to you, she just goes after anyone she finds too 'boring.' It just happens to be that Ri'vashi is the most 'high-profile' of those people. This one thinks that she would consider it to be some kind of achievement if she convinced Ri'vashi to embrace her...lifestyle, even for a short time."

After finally managing to finish her meal, Ri'vashi gave a sigh as she glanced towards the dining chamber's exit. "Anyway, Ri'vashi would love to remain, but she does have more duties to attend to. But, we should speak again soon. It is...relaxing."

Nearby, Peiter gave a grimace while looking across the chamber, towards Gallus. "I do want to speak to him, but...he looks like he's with the clan leader. I wouldn't want to interrupt him. Actually, now that I think about it, we should really make sure to plan out our argument first. It's not often that I try to counter Gallus on something, and if we don't convince him the first time, I'm afraid we won't convince him at all. Let's make sure we're ready before talking to him; this is too important to take chances."

---

In order to ensure her proper healing, Dar-tzesa was allowed to remain sleeping for the majority of the night. Meesei, Ri'vashi, and Gallus retired early for the night, since they were required to wake early the next morning. Ri'vashi had informed the required guards of their plan, and had made sure only they would be along the path Gallus would be taking to the stronghold's secondary exit. Everything was in place; all that was left was to claim Dar-tzesa's head and use it to deceive Hiritus.

Meesei and Gallus were already in the room with Dar-tzesa. It was early in the morning, several hours before the majority of the clan would awaken. Ri'vashi was performing the last sweep of Gallus' planned path to make sure everything was ready for the ruse, and once she returned, it would be time to begin.

Dar-tzesa had, of course, not been informed of what was going to happen to her, but with the attention being given to her, she had gathered something was about to happen. She was laying on her back on the same table that was used in her operation, with her legs and arm firmly bound. The magic that had rendered her unconscious before had worn off, so she was mostly in her right mind. Although, there were noticeable tears in her eyes as she looked up to Gallus. "It's...over. It's all over. No one...no one will be there for him."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think I may have Peiter suggest having that discussion a bit later. Do you think we should move on to the plan to fool the prisoner soon?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi leaned her head onto her hand and started shaking her head as she gave a few silent laughs. "By Hircine, this one does not want to think about it. Two women like that meeting each other...we would probably never see them again outside their room. We should do our utmost to make sure they never meet...or actually, perhaps we should just lock them into a room together. At least then, La'tahne might be too distracted to continue bothering Ri'vashi."

Straightening up her posture once more, Ri'vashi gave a quick huff. "Though, knowing this one's luck, they would just turn it into a competition. Ri'vashi has a hard enough time dealing with one of them; two would just be a nightmare."

---

While Peiter did agree that the situation was not quite simple, his opinion on the matter still did not change. If anything, Sabine had mentioned a point that made him a bit more resolute. "I hope nothing happens to any of his friends, but if it did...well, someone like Najirra could help him heal mentally. But, if he gets distracted in the fight and gets himself killed...he'll never get a chance to heal, or train, or improve his skills. It will just be over. He seems to be so much more confident than when we first left Bruma; he has really broken out of the shell he has always been living in since I've known him. He's a member of my pack, and I care about him like a brother; I don't want all of the good that has happened to him to have been for nothing. I still think I should try to convince Gallus to keep him out of the fight. I'd rather him hate me forever than for him to die in this fight."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'll likely be getting to bed sometime soon. I may get one more, though I'm not sure.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Once more, Ri'vashi smiled, and started to chuckle. "Oh Gallus...yes, Ri'vashi thinks she is. She thinks La'tahne is attracted to you as well, and Meesei, and everyone in both the Orcrest and Senchal clans. If you told Ri'vashi that La'tahne was attracted to that strange lizard the Champion's pack brought with them, she would believe you without hesitation. La'tahne earned her name more than most who bear it. She will, and has, mate with any kind of person, any race or gender. She is such a strange person, in Ri'vashi's opinion. She treats mating like it's a way of life. This one doubts there is anyone else like her in Elsweyr."

---

"I don't know." Peiter began, but as Sabine spoke, his eyes widened briefly with a flash of inspiration in his mind. "But you just gave me an idea. Ma'tanza, the one who he is infatuated with, she might be able to help. If Gallus agrees to let him sit out of the attack, then she might convince him to stay out of it willingly. I doubt she wants him to get hurt, so she will probably want him to stay out of danger. Depending on what the enemy fortress is like, I doubt it will be hard to convince her to help. We just have to convince both Gallus and her that Tzirret isn't in a good enough state of mind to be a part of the fight."

There was some hesitation from Peiter as he slowly looked over towards Sabine with a hint of doubt. "You...do think I'm right, right? That Tzirret shouldn't be in the battle? I don't want to doubt him too much, but...this just seems like too much for someone so inexperienced."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With an amused laugh, Ri'vashi leaned forward onto the table. She shook her head and took a few more bites before finally giving a response. "That is a good try, if you're wanting to find something to laugh about. Ri'vashi might be sharing a lot about herself, but don't think she's going to share everything. She would have to be much more intoxicated for that, which, as we discussed, probably isn't happening. That, or you would have to offer an equivalent exchange."

Ri'vashi did not expect that Gallus would be accepting her offer, so she moved on. "Do you question everyone like this, or did La'tahne put you up to questioning Ri'vashi. That woman has tried to do everything within her power to make this one's life more interesting, or 'somewhat less drab than Vvardenfell in an ashstorm', in her words."

---

"Not...really, no. He's been angry before, definitely, but he's never really been this bold. I just never would have expected him to actually want to put himself at risk like this." Peiter answered. He brought his hand up to his head and rested it lightly on two of his fingers as he stared down Tzirret from a distance.

Peiter continued quietly enough to keep Tzirret from hearing him. "Well...want might not be the word. He's acting like he needs to be in the fight. I can definitely understand wanting to keep his friends safe; I've had a few nightmares about that before, but he acts like one of us getting hurt would be inevitable if he isn't there. That...makes me afraid, honestly. He doesn't have as much training as us to begin with, but if he's distracted by this during the battle, I'm really worried he'll get himself hurt. I...think I will talk to Gallus about it. Whether he wants it or not, Tzirret shouldn't be in this attack. He might hate me for it, but I'm going to ask Gallus to keep him out of the fight; I'm not going to let him get himself killed."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi gave a shrug and curled her lips briefly in thought. "Well...that depends on the person. Our clan does not have to be as conservative with water as many other places in the desert, so dehydrating yourself with alcohol is not a great issue. If anyone is willing to spend their own coin, they can have one of our supply runners purchase anything they want from Orcrest. We don't stockpile alcohol, so you'll need to find someone willing to share if you want a drink. Well, we do have a small supply of it in reserve if there is ever cause for a feast, but we do have to be conservative with our food supplies, so that probably won't be used until the end of this war."

Ri'vashi took a few moments to eat some of her meal, which she had been neglecting with their conversation. She was actually surprised with how distracted she was becoming. "Ri'vashi honestly cannot say what the most popular local brews are. As she said, she does not really drink. Something sweet, she guesses. In Elsweyr, it is always something sweet."

---

Peiter was both frustrated and surprised with Tzirret's apparent stubbornness. The Tzirret he knew would be too nervous to willingly head into a battle of the scale they were discussing, but now, he was fighting to stay in it. If there was one thing Peiter was certain about, it was that Tzirret had changed drastically in the few months since they left Bruma. Given that they had not spent much time together recently, it was a change that Peiter was now experiencing all at once.

"Tzirret...I know you want to be there for your friends. That is admirable, actually, very admirable. But...you have to trust us Tzirret. You don't yet have the training you'll need for this kind of a fight. You need to keep yourself safe now so you can help us later on. What if we end up needing your help sometime in the future, but you ended up getting hurt in this fight? We can't know what is going to happen in this attack, or any other battle; all we can do is plan things out to the best of that ability. Sometimes that means being brave; sometimes it means knowing when to back down, and keep yourself alive to help your friends when they really do need it." Peiter explained, trying to sound as encouraging as possible.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi quickly started to chuckle as Gallus was speaking about his father. "Now, are you entirely certain you were not describing Ri'vashi's father? Other than being Nord, that sounds just like Ennond. The legacy, the fighting expertise. Granted, Ri'vashi embraced those ideals a bit more whole-heartedly. With how dull this one's personal life is, there is probably nothing anyone could find to stain her image. Ri'vashi did have a glass of wine once and told a bad joke about an Altmer, but in her defense, he deserved it."

By this point, Ri'vashi was noticeably more relaxed than when they had started talking. Given that she maintained a mostly serious disposition the majority of the time, it could be assumed that relaxing was not something she did often. "Ri'vashi does not drink often. For a Cathay at least, it does not take much to bring her mind too far out of sorts for her liking."

---

Peiter greeted Sabine with a quick kiss on the cheek before returning his attention to Tzirret. "Yes, I'm worried about the whole attack, of course, but I'm really worried about you. You're getting a lot better, Tzirret; don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But...this attack will be a major event. Vile will certainly have a large force marshaled at his stronghold."

Letting out a sigh, Peiter looked down at his food and hesitated with his uncertainty before continuing. "I'm sure there is some way you can be helpful on the march, but...are you sure you don't want to try to avoid the fighting? If you want to talk to Gallus and ask him to keep you out of it, I'll support you completely."