EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter followed suit and stepped into the room just behind Sabine. He still was not exactly sure what to say, but luckily, Sabine started the conversation off for him. It did not produce much of a response from Tzirret, but it did at least give him a few more seconds to figure out how to approach him. He tried to think of anything he might do that could accidentally come across as trying to "parent" Tzirret, as if he were a child. He sat down in the same chair Gallus had, across from his bed.

"I...know you can handle this, Tzirret. Ma'tanza doesn't seem too upset; I think at the heart of it, she was mostly concerned. Still, you haven't been with anyone before like this, so if you want any advice, maybe we could help?" Peiter offered.

---

Elsewhere in the stronghold, Meesei was getting ready for the meeting. Herself, Ri'vashi, Ri'nakhad, all of their lieutenants, the leader of the scouting team, and some of Meesei's companions were all going to be in attendance. In this meeting, they were going to review the scouts' report, and make the final decision on what forces they were going to commit to the attack, and when. Meesei had a rather thick stack of maps, notes, and other documents in her bag, and she had ordered copies made of some of the more important documents. She went ahead and made her way to the meeting chamber, which was going to be rather full as soon as everyone arrived.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Normally, Peiter would have offered to help Tzirret without hesitation, but listening to the prior conversation, he wondered if that was a good idea. The whole issue that Tzirret had been attempting to address with his actions was that he wanted to stop himself from being seen as a coward that was entirely dependent on others. The last thing Peiter wanted to do at the moment was to accidentally treat him like a child. "I...don't know." Peiter whispered to Sabine. "The reason this happened was because Tzirret wanted to show that he isn't a child; that he can take care of himself. If I go in there trying to comfort him, what if he just sees it as an example of how we don't think he can take care of himself? I want to make sure he knows that I think he can handle this situation himself."

Despite his reasoning, Peiter ran his hands down his face in his uncertainty. "But, on the other hand, everyone needs the support of their friends and family at least occasionally. There's nothing abnormal, or coward-like about leaning on your friends for support when you need it. But will Tzirret know that? I just...don't want to make anything worse." He explained.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

That's fine. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ma'tanza pressed her fingers against her temple, lowering her head and closing her eyes as she thought. "Okay...good. This one just wants you to keep yourself safe. You should be honest with Ma'tanza. She has always been used to boys trying to lie to her and manipulate her. Always trying to find the definite way to impress her. You have always been honest with Ma'tanza, until now. Just...this one needs to get back to her work. She still has more potions to make for the day. This one...will talk to you later."

While they had not exactly "made up", Ma'tanza was not nearly as emotionally charged as she was when she first stepped into the room. She had not specifically accepted his apology, but she did not do anything to suggest she would not forgive him. She gave a brief nod to Peiter and Sabine as she walked out of the room, though Peiter was not quite certain what she meant by it. She could have been thanking them, or perhaps just acknowledging that she was done. In any case, there was an awkward silence between the remaining three, as Peiter certainly did not know what he could say.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Well, I used to think Tzirret was a few years older. I placed her in the 17-18 range

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ma'tanza let out a sigh and started shaking her head. She still bore quite a bit of frustration, but her disappointment was starting to show even stronger. "That isn't an excuse to get yourself killed, Tzirret. What does getting shot by a stray arrow, or an errant spell prove? This one knows you are a few years younger than her, but she thought you were more mature than that. You know you don't have as much training as the others. Ma'tanza doesn't want you getting hurt, especially for no reason. She is surprised you would lie to her just to try to prove something like that. You have never needed to 'act brave' around Ma'tanza before, why start now? This agreed to be with you because you were kind and considerate, not brave."

Giving another pause, Ma'tanza ran her hand down the side of her head. "So what are you going to do now? Are you still going to try to get yourself on the frontlines?"

Watching the argument from the sidelines, Peiter became increasingly uncomfortable, for a few reasons. Tzirret, at least, recognized that he had made a mistake, but only time would tell how it would affect him. Peiter did not expect that Tzirret would make any attempt to join the fight again, but only time would tell how this would affect him. Looking over to Sabine beside him, he grabbed her hand and moved himself a bit closer to her. They had not really had an argument like this before, so he was not sure what to say when Tzirret would inevitably ask about it later.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As one might expect, Tzirret's mostly directionless stammering did little to dissuade Ma'tanza from her opinions. He was not combative, and did not try to justify his words, but neither did he give any real explanation. As such, her expression remained quite cross. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, and a persistant sneer.

"You are sorry? That is easy to say, because you don't have to put any meaning behind it. Were you going to tell Ma'tanza this, or were you going to walk into that fight without giving her the same chance to talk that she gave to you? It's not even the fact that you want to join the fight; Ma'tanza might have accepted that. It's that you didn't tell her that you could possibly get out of it. You say it wasn't 'like that'; then what was it like? What made you want to lie to Ma'tanza?" She asked in a tone that was shifting more towards disappointment than anger.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Evidently, Ma'tanza did not seem to mind Sabine and Peiter watching the conversation, as she started quickly after Gallus left the room. "Yes...what are you doing Tzirret? This one hates to insult you, but you're being such a...hypocrite! When we talked before, Ma'tanza told you that she was afraid for her sister. She told you that she was afraid of the battle, afraid of what could happen to her friends and family. She told you that she was thinking about joining in to help keep them safe. You knew that, and you had to know how much it was weighing on her mind, how agonizing it would be if something happens to them because she isn't there to help them. You knew all of that, but you still convinced her to stay behind. Ma'tanza asked you to help her decide what to do, and you told her to stay in safety with the wounded. Even though it means her friends and family might be in more danger."

Now that she had started, Ma'tanza's speech was gradually growing even more emotionally charged. She walked closer to him so that she towered even higher over him while he sat on the bed in front of her. "And now, Ma'tanza hears that you have decided to join the fight. Not that it was required of you, but that you outright refused to let your friends help you to get out of it. Ma'tanza should stay away from the fight instead of helping her sister, but apparently it is okay for you to throw yourself into the middle of danger for the exact same reason?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Unlike Sabine, Ma'tanza was not paying close attention as they approached the door to Tzirret's room, so she did not notice that he was currently in a conversation with Gallus. As such, she marched straight up to the door and flung it open. She first looked to Tzirret, but noticed Gallus moments afterwards. His presence gave her pause briefly, and caused her to open up with a bit more caution that she was planning.

"Oh...Ma'tanza apologizes. You are Tzirret's alpha, yes? This one did not know you were here..." She explained. Shifting her gaze back to Tzirret, Ma'tanza's eyes narrowed, and her anger started to show through her initial surprise. "Ma'tanza just wanted to...talk to Tzirret about something he said." She explained in an increasingly harsh tone.

Peiter continued his silence, and leaned himself against the door frame. Good or bad, he expected some sort of resolution would come out of this conversation. He expected this would be something of a private conversation, but there was a possibility he might be able to say something to help, so he decided to stay for the moment.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ma'tanza was reluctant to agree, and indeed, did not actually give any verbal answer. But, after Sabine started heating the alembic, Ma'tanza let out a sigh and prepared the mixture she had been making. It was a potion of magicka resistance which, at its current stage, would not take more than ten minutes to finish.

Peiter was without much to say or do during the wait, so he simply tried to appear interested in what they were making. All the while, he kept an eye on Ma'tanza expression to see if it would actually change. The intensity of her anger did seem to lighten at least somewhat, but she still remained obviously irritated, even as they were getting close to finishing the potion. Peiter had a few ideas about what specific aspect of the situation could be making her so angry; however, he could not be sure without directly asking, and he was certainly too nervous to attempt that. At this point, he was becoming increasingly frightened that they were making a mistake. He was not sure how Tzirret would handle an argument, and the last thing he wanted was to inadvertently cause the pair to split up.

Once the potion was finally finished, Ma'tanza quickly corked up the bottle and hastily labeled it, not even bothering to sort it with the rest of the potions. "Okay, now let's go find Tzirret. Where do you think he would be?" She asked impatiently.