EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

La'khay laughed, putting her arm over Gallus' shoulder. "Don't worry, we can share." She answered, her tone leaving a good deal of uncertainty on whether or not she was joking.

Meesei nodded in agreement as well and smiled approvingly at Colors. "Indeed. I believe even you would admit that you are not the most likely hero among the clan, but even so, you did more to ensure its survival than any other. You took the risk to warn us of Vile's treachery in Senchal, you took us to your pride, and helped find your clan. When it came time to move your clan across Elsweyr, you provided to us the ships we needed to get everyone here safely. Without your help, it is entirely possible that we would not have found your clan. Or, if we had, we could have lost many more people in reaching this place. It is fair to say that both us, and your clan, owe you a great deal."

With the praise he was receiving, Colors almost looked to be genuinely embarrassed. He looked around wide-eyed, with his mouth slightly agape. "I, uh, oh...usually when I'm the center of attention, it's not so...positive. I, uh...I don't know what to say." He began. After a few seconds of speechlessness, his eyes nervously wandered beyond the group until they settled on something behind them, which caused an idea to flash into his mind. "Say, um, Champion...do you think you could say that again, next to her?" He asked as he pointed to a Redguard woman talking to one of the soldiers nearby. Meesei ran her hand down her forehead and collectively let out a sigh with a few of the others.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak’s blow landed full-force against the knight’s shield. It protected his head and other vital areas from the impact, though the shield did not stop the force from throwing him back, or apparently, hurting his arm. The fight would not end immediately, as Ssarak had wanted, but it might at least go in their favor. Ssarak could see that the knight showed some signs of being weakened. The way he stood, the dents in his armor, it was all evidence that Meirin had been wearing him down, and now, he was outnumbered. Ssarak too was fatigued from the exertion of fighting the ridge hounds in the catacombs, but a mere glance at Meirin gave him all the motivation he needed to keep pressing on.

As the knight was standing to his feet, Ssarak landed a moderate distance away from him, placing the knight between himself and Meirin. With a few more mental commands, Ssarak’s blade continued shifting its form. The blade lost its edge entirely and was circularizing into the form of a shaft, while the hilt was growing to form the head of a mace.

Through the knight’s rant, Ssarak growled at him. These “foul creations of Aarem”, to Ssarak’s knowledge, could only reasonably refer to one thing: vampires. Unless he was terrible at identifying vampires, that did not explain why he was fighting Meirin, but it did at least explain his zeal. ”Vampires? You seek to slaughter the victims of Aarem? Whether righteous or misguided, your intent is of no matter. All I see of you is that you are attacking the innocent, and I will personally see that you receive justice for your crime. You hold no advantage over me, so leave now…” Ssarak began, drawing his shield from his back and pointing his now fully-formed mace at the knight. ”You shall not have another chance.”

While he was attempting to hold the knight’s attention, Ssarak was allowing Meirin to get into position. He was better equipped to fight the armored knight head-on, so when and if the fight resumed, he would charge straight in. Meirin, being much more agile than himself, would hopefully be able to capitalize on any opportunities he could create to either land the fatal blow herself, or disable the knight long enough to allow Ssarak to do the same. In either case, he and Meirin had trained together for fights such as these on many occasions, and now, they would have a chance to see if they could apply that training in a real fight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Newt did not have much of a response to his father, other than to look down and rub his hands together nervously. He was afraid, and it was not likely that words alone would ease that fear. Kaleeth only hoped that time with Jo'rashaad and S'ajira would help to at least keep him comfortable while he waited for them to return. She approached him after Janius and took him in her arms to hold him one last time before they departed.

La'khay chuckled, and waved a hand at Gallus. "Well, he was the one to ask for it...after La'khay suggested it...and his mate agreed with her. Anyway, he did agree to it at some point along the way. Both of your boys are strong, passionate men, and this one is glad to have them helping to protect us. You just keep them safe, along with yourself too. It would be a shame if something were to happen to your handsome face." She said, reaching out and placing her hand gently on his jaw. "Maybe once you get back, La'khay can give you a shave as well...a very close and thorough one."

Once there was a break in the conversation between the group, Colors decided to speak up, albeit somewhat awkwardly. "So, um, I'm not usually an...emotional person, and I'm not really good at these kinds of things, but I really do want to thank you all. You saved me, you helped save my pride, the rest of my clan, and now you're going to try to save us even more completely. You've done so much for me, that I sometimes have a hard time believing you all can even exist. Really, you're the best of us."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Annabeth Annabeth did Annabeth did Annabeth did see Alaira anywhere.

@Lucius Cypher

@Lucius Cypher, I feel I should point out this sentence in your post.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Now that she was standing on sand, S'ajira could articulate a more specific response to Fendros by writing out her response at his feet. S'ajira promises, we will give he and Newt every bit of care that we gave to our own daughter. As long as they are with us, they are family.

Ahnasha was having just as much, if not a harder time coming to terms with the fact that she would be separating from her son. She had, of course, been thinking about it near constantly since the moment they decided on it, but until this point, it had been something she would have to worry about later. Now, however, she had no choice but to face that reality. She had to hold back her own tears as she knelt down and drew in Rhazii for a hug, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "We'll be back before you know it, son. Just...show Newt how to be brave for us, okay?"

Newt, meanwhile, was being more quiet than Rhazii. He was not crying outwardly, but his whole demeanor showed no shortage of sadness. Almost as if he was mirroring Janius, he at first tried not to think about being left with the clan. "I feel...hot." He answered, looking up towards the sun. But, it was not long before he lowered his head and continued. "...and scared."

Ra'kalesh, Do'ajee, La'khay, and Colors were not far behind in joining the group. La'khay's fur was uncharacteristically unkempt and ragged, suggesting she had rushed to join them. Colors stood uncomfortably in the dry heat, but even he appeared more uniform than La'khay.

"Ra'kalesh wishes he could have the company of his finest mage and Pahmar warrior on this march, but he can assure you that your children will be in safe hands." Ra'kalesh commented reassuringly.

Do'ajee gave a huff that might have been considered at least partially a chuckle. "Yes, there will be nothing that will bring them harm, as long as they can protect the children from these two." She said, motioning to Colors and La'khay.

Colors raised up his hands. "Oh, don't fear. I'm keen on keeping all my teeth when you get back, so I'll keep my distance from them."

Given all they had been through together, Meesei too wanted to give her farewells to the members of Ra'kalesh's pride who would be staying behind. She did not interrupt the conversation, but did smile in amusement, looking at Colors as she approached.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Peiter followed suit with Sabine and gave his farewells to the Khajiit pair. He personally had not spent as much time around La'khay as Sabine, but he would still miss her, and many of the others they had met from the Senchal clan, during the march. La'khay was an unconventional person in about every sense, but she was still caring in her own way, and at the very least, amusing to be around. Their separation was becoming sentimental enough that Peiter almost forgot about La'khay's immediate plans, until he saw La'tahne tackle her to the bed on the way out of the door.

---

Most of the final preparations for the march were made hours in advance of the actual departure. The warband had a fair number of carts at their disposal which would somewhat lighten the load for the soldiers along the march. They would primarily be pulled by camels purchased from Orcrest, though some of the Senche could also take on the burden when it came time to allow their pack animals some rest. The warband had ample supplies of food, and as long as they kept along their planned path, would be able to resupply their water reserved along the way. As an improvement from their last trek through the desert, the sand and sun would not be as much of a problem, since they were all now properly clothed for the journey. The most popular garb among the Orcrest clan for walking in the desert were cloaks made of linen: a fabric that could breathe enough to allow them to stay reasonably cool, while still fully protecting their bodies.

As soon as the sun was directly overhead, the soldiers, along with most of both clans, filed out onto the flat sands outside the stronghold. Ri'vashi had sent out multiple teams of scouts hours in advance to scour the area within line of sight of the stronghold to ensure that there would be no witnesses to the warband's departure. Given that a single outsider had never wandered close to the stronghold in all of its years of existence by accident, it was perhaps not a necessary measure, but she wanted to remain cautious all the same. All of the carts were packed, and they were ready to depart as soon as Meesei and Ri'vashi felt that enough time had passed for final goodbyes.

Among the many friends and family members seeing off the soldiers was all of Ra'kalesh's pride. Newt was in Jo'rashaad's arms, while Rhazii was standing alongside S'ajira. Even Leaps was present, though Ciinriel had to keep a hold of him to keep him from running up to Janius and Kaleeth.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

We can probably skip to the point where the warband is setting off. After that, we can probably skip most of the traveling, up to the point where they are nearing the stronghold. I think we've done plenty of traveling on the course of this mission.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

<Snipped quote by EliteCommander>

@Rtron

So he's a human guy in armor? I'm assuming he has a sword or something as well, since a crossbow and shield is not a super useful combo.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

So this knight, what does he look like? I know he is armored and has a shield, but I can't recall other details of his description.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

You should definitely have an Esyire.