EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With the group gathered around the fire, Jo'rashaad was the one watching over their food as it cooked. Occasionally, he would keep the fire stoked with a small, quick burst of magic. Ciinriel was seated next to her mother, who was laying down against her side affectionately. Meanwhile, Kaleeth was sitting somewhat back from the fire with Rhazii on her lap, so that he could be a bit more comfortable. One detail that she noticed about Rhazii was how much heavier Rhazii was than Newt. The fact that he was a Cathay was becoming more and more apparent by the day.

Jo'rashaad looked up from the fire at Janius. As per usual, he had to answer on behalf of S'ajira when she could not write her answers. "This one thinks things are finally settled down. At first, with the impostor, and all the problems that came with trying to settle so many people at once, there was this...tension in the air. The Orcrest clan was very welcoming, but that stress was still there. Now, though Jo'rashaad thinks everyone is getting comfortable. The Khajiit of Anequina have some strange customs, but we are getting along well. This one knows our daughter has made a few friends. It is a shame this attack has to separate so many of us, but it will be worth it."

With the mention of the attack, S'ajira shifted noticeably in place. A subtle motion, but one that Jo'rashaad picked up on immediately. He gave her a quick nod before continuing. "We debated for quite a while on what we were going to do about the march. Both of us are trained to fight, and neither of us like the idea of leaving our brothers and sisters to head into danger alone, but..." He said, giving a quick glance to Ciinriel. "We have our responsibilities here. As dangerous as the attack may be, this clan will still need people able to defend it. Some of our warriors will have to stay behind, and, well, we want to make sure this clanhome is well-protected. We know very well the kind of tactics our enemy uses, so if the worst comes to pass and there is an attack, we hope to be able to help."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'll probably be heading to bed soon. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

We can skip ahead. I know there was that one get together before the march. Perhaps do that the morning of the march?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think at this point, Lorag would be pretty distant and unwilling to talk in depth about Do'rhajul. It would take time for him to come to terms with it and be more open about it. Perhaps during the march.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi closed her eyes and took in a deep breath for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh, though this time it did not contain near as much frustration. "Yes, we should probably get back to our duties. This one does not think we will be able to spare much time over the next few days. Though, the Orc, Lorag, he did not seem too keen to speak back in the meeting. Perhaps that will be different when he can speak in confidence, but...Ri'vashi does think the whole situation is almost difficult to believe. The notion that the second to Hircine's Champion could have a personal history with the General of Vile's forces simply could not be a coincidence. Ri'vashi does not know what mechanisms could cause such a situation to occur, though. Does Vile actually have the capabilities to learn the history of the Champion's pack in such detail? Or did Hircine know of this Do'rhajul even before Lorag joined the Champion's pack? We cannot know right now, Ri'vashi supposes. For now, we need only find where they went."

---

Peiter returned Sabine's smile and rubbed his hand down her leg as far as he could without bending over. "Well, I think I can say the same about you. It looks as smooth as you feel. I trust that you'll come to my defense when Gallus catches sight of me, right?" He said. He was making an intentional effort to keep his mood lighthearted, and avoid showing any signs of embarrassment. By ignoring Tzirret's muffled laughter and speaking with some confidence, he hoped to discourage him from poking too much fun at him. He could try to hide it, but he could not deny that he was self-conscious about his new appearance.

Ma'tanza, meanwhile, simply appeared confused as she looked over Peiter and Sabine. She did admire the painting, but she did not understand their justifications for shaving their bodies in such a way. "This one does not think it makes any sense. If you wanted your bodies to feel better, wouldn't you want to have more hair?" She asked, obviously thinking about the situation from a distinctly Khajiit perspective.

La'khay chuckled. "They are Human; their hair isn't soft and smooth like Khajitt fur, except sometimes on their heads. No, their hair is course, and irritating. Though personally, La'khay doesn't mind it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi shook her head. "No, Ri'vashi thinks that is all she needed. Victory or no...she needed the challenge." She answered. She started to turn around to head back to her belongings, but stopped before taking a step. Turning back to face Gallus, she glanced between him and the ground nervously. "Ri'vashi...knows that she must be insufferable right now. Arguing, doubting herself, falling to tears...that is not how a clan leader should be. She is sorry for all the trouble. She knows you have other places to be, and you're just staying here to try and help ease this one's mind. She thanks you for it; many others probably would have just agreed with her decision to resign. You are a friend."

With only a brief moment of hesitation, Ri'vashi reached out and pulled Gallus into a hug. "Thank you." She said with a voice both emotional and friendly.

---

While La'khay was smiling at all of the praise, Peiter looked down at his own body and immediately remembered all of the grooming La'khay had done to him. He felt like covering himself, though it was already far too late for that. For a few seconds, he froze up and looked away nervously, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "Umm, well yes, but...okay, in my defense, it was La'khay's idea, and Sabine said she would like it."

Peiter turned his head to Sabine as he was rubbing his hand down her back. "You do like it, don't you? The way it looks and feels?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With Gallus’ attempt to break the stalemate, he did something that even Ri’vashi did not find likely. It was obvious to both of them that Gallus could not outmatch Ri’vashi in terms of raw strength. But, with his momentum and the force he could use to grab her shield, he did delay her, if only briefly. Had she the use of her other hand, she would have had more options, but that was not the situation she had to deal with. She reacted just as quickly as ever and attempted to bash the rim of her shield against his blade. She did indeed overpower Gallus’ grip and successfully hit the blade, but Gallus’ delaying tactic gave him just enough time. While the blade did not hit exactly where Gallus had aimed it, it did slash across her side, just above her hip. It was difficult to say what kind of damage it would have done in a real fight, but it was enough to end the duel.

“Ah!” Ri’vashi exclaimed, standing up straight and lowering her guard. “Well done. You got through unscathed…well, mostly.”

---

The moment they were given the word, Peiter and Sabine stood up together. Peiter groaned as his joints popped and his muscles were finally allowed to stretch. He quickly noticed how sore he had become, though it would just take a few minutes of walking around to recover. Naturally, he was just as curious as Tzirret, perhaps even moreso, about the progress that La’khay had made on the painting. He was not even sure how much time he and Sabine had spent modeling for it, but he certainly wanted to see the results of all of the effort they had put in to it. He walked around to the other side of the easel, and to his surprise, actually found himself smiling at what he saw. In his upbringing in Chorrol, he had only limited exposure to actual artwork. Like most of the residents, he was used to seeing the statue just inside the city gates, and the stained-glass windows of the city’s chapel, but paintings were more rare. They could, of course, be found in the city’s keep and the homes of its upper class residents, but he had never once set foot in either of those. Some merchants had paintings hanging on their walls, but they did not commission portraits of themselves. To see his own image painted onto a canvas was not something he had ever thought he would see.

When Sabine came close, Peiter put his arm around her waist. “I think it’s looking pretty good.” He commented. For the moment, he was distracted enough that he had forgotten about his current lack of body hair and was not attempting to hide it from Tzirret.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think after the bout between Ri'vashi and Gallus is over, we should skip to the point where the warband is about to leave. I feel we should start moving on the story towards the attack. As for now, I think I'm heading to bed. I'm rather tired right now. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With the mix of advantages and disadvantages that both of them held, Ri'vashi and Gallus were reaching a stalemate. Each strike Gallus made, Ri'vashi could predict, but she lacked the ability to effectively retaliate. The shield made it easy to block or parry a blow, but it was also the only weapon she had available. Indeed, she did attempt to deliver a few strong bashes, and may have bruised Gallus' hands and arms in the process, but he could threaten her enough with his sword to keep her from doing anything that might end the bout.

At the current rate, there was a possibility of the fight simply ending when one of them became too tired to continue, but there was one advantage Gallus did have over Ri'vashi in the form of his free hand. He could not overpower her, and as of yet had not been able to do much with it, but it still presented him with options. Disrupting her defense, even for a brief moment, would be enough to allow him to land a solid strike against a more important part of her than a hand.

---

La'tahne gave a smile and a nod before opening the door fully to allow the pair inside. While what they were doing was more innocent than Tzirret had been worrying, seeing Peiter and Sabine modeling for a painting was still quite unusual. Although, Ma'tanza was not entirely surprised. As a well-known, and somewhat infamous, member of the Senchal clan, La'khay's affinity for artistic works was at least known to Ma'tanza.

Peiter was becoming just becoming just as uncomfortable physically as Sabine from sitting for such an extended time. He was not sure how long they had been posing for La'khay, but he had a feeling they would be stopping for the day sometime soon. As for Tzirret and Ma'tanza, he was not particularly embarrassed about being seen in such a position. Intimate embraces between himself and Sabine were nothing new, even if they did try to refrain from doing anything too personal in public.

When the pair entered the room, it was enough to prematurely end La'khay's story as she greeted them. "Ah, good evening you two. It is nice to have some of the cutest pairs in the clan all together in one place. This one hopes you did not come for a painting, though. She is afraid she cannot take on another right now."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As soon as she had wrestled the shield from Gallus' hand, Ri'vashi's first reaction was to disengage and back away from his retaliation. Still, even with her quick reactions, she only scarcely managed to evade his swing towards her hip. Still gripping it by its edge, she swung the shield towards Gallus' blade to prevent him from following through, then took a few more steps back to get distance between them. With the brief pause in the fight, she glanced to her off-hand with a disappointed expression. Her attempt at a parry had not wholly succeeded, so she pulled the hand behind her back, indicating that it was disabled. With a quick, deft movement, she moved her grip on the shield from its edge, to its center grip.

The shield was small for Gallus, and comparatively even smaller for her, like a buckler, but she now had a tool with which to parry his strikes. Unfortunately. she was now essentially restricted to one hand. As skilled as she was, to win the fight in her current situation was not something even she expected.

---

Ma'tanza shook her head. "No, it is fine. Ma'tanza is not angry, but she still needs some time to get past this. Let's just do something else to get our minds off of it. If we can get more people together, maybe we can come up with something new." She suggested.

As Peiter and Sabine's room was near to the dining hall, it did not take long for the pair to reach it. Ma'tanza did not see anything out of ordinary at the door, so after glancing briefly to Tzirret for confirmation, she gave the door a few knocks. "Hello? It's Ma'tanza, and Tzirret. Are you there, can we come in?"

Inside, the knocks at the door caught everyone's attention, though it did not phase La'khay in her work. She continued painting without interruption, and instead simply looked briefly back towards La'tahne. "Oh, hello. Could you let them in, La'tahne?" She requested. Evidently, she did not consider visitors to be much of a disruption, and since they were close friends, she assumed Peiter and Sabine would want them to come in. Their arrival only briefly interrupted the story she was telling. She had said before she started the painting that she would tell Sabine and Peiter the story of her first time mating, and whether they asked about it or not, she had followed through on that promise. Presently, she was explaining the the embarrassing parts of the act itself, and was not sparing any details.