EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The wispmother was able to be harmed by physical means, though it was more difficult than killing it with magic. Still, Fendros' attacks displaced enough of its form and disrupted enough of its energy to harm it. Unfortunately, it was not so easy to hold down a ghost. The wispmother disappeared briefly from Fendros' grasp, then re-appeared in the mist, along with three other shades of itself. Three copies that possessed all of the same magic, though they could be killed much easier than the original. They would all disappear as soon as the original wispmother was killed, but determining which was the original would not be so easy.

Fortunately for Fendros, he was not alone. Meesei and Kaleeth stepped up alongside Fendros. Ahnasha was not far behind, and the others were circling around to get into better positions. They had all placed themselves between the wispmother and Rhazii, who seemed virtually frozen in place. One of the shades to the left launched a wave of frost towards Fendros, though he would have a few moments to react. Meanwhile, Kaleeth lunged forward at the shade, which dissipated into nothing upon a single slash of her claws.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Being that they were in the back, both Meesei and Kaleeth noticed Rhazii as he crept up on the wisp. Unfortunately, he had already pounced by the time Meesei could take any action. "Rhazii, back!" Meesei said, though the damage had already been done. Meesei had to set down Julan before closing in, and Kaleeth was not too quick in general, so they could not help immediately.

The wisps had led Rhazii only a short distance before the temperature of the air around him dropped to near-freezing. He would be able to see his breath in the air. The ethereal energy of the wispmother swirled in the air around him and she let out a shrill scream as her body took its physical form. Her appearance was like that of the ghost of a Human woman surrounded in mist, but her temperament was that of a wraith. Almost immediately, she let out a wave of frost magic towards Rhazii.

The scream was naturally enough to grab the attention of the rest of the pack, and both Meesei and Kaleeth were nearby, but for a few brief moments, Rhazii would have to act on his own.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei had transformed after Rhazii, once she was sure that he had proceeded through his first transformation cleanly. Varying emotions could cause newly transformed lycans to behave unpredictably, and sometimes violently. Fortunately, being a natural-born lycan, Rhazii had stronger pack instincts than most. Kaj-Julan was likely to be the difficult one.

Meesei herself was as large as she had ever been in her lycan form, though her muscles were still not quite as pronounced as the pack might have remembered. Lorag was unquestionably the strongest werewolf among them, physically. Meesei allowed Julan up onto her shoulders as they set out so that he could stay with them, then stayed closer to the back of the pack along with Kaleeth so that he would be better able to observe the hunt. It was meant to be a learning experience for him.

After some time searching, Lorag did eventually catch onto a scent. It was somewhat old, but just new enough that it would be worth trying to follow. Granted, they might have to follow it for a while to find its source, but chaurus had quite distinctive scents that tended to be easy for them to track.

The trail led them through the forest of glowing mushrooms, far from the ancient Dwemer roads. The terrain was uneven, requiring plenty of climbing and maneuvering around large boulders and short, but jagged cliffs. They lost the scent briefly once it crossed a river, but Kaleeth was able to quickly swim up and down the riverbank a fair distance until she picked it up once again. The scents were growing stronger the longer they tracked their prey. However, they had not yet reached the chaurus when they spotted movement in a clearing that the trail crossed. Three bright glowing orbs seemed to dance back and forth among one another as they grew steadily closer to the pack. They were no normal creatures, but rather wisps. They were specters; ethereal beings that, in themselves, were mostly harmless, but carried a more sinister purpose. They tended to lead people and creatures to their wispmother, which was a far, far more dangerous kind of specter. Meesei was wise to the potential deception, but she did not think about the fact that Rhazii may not be.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei sighed. "I hope so. These duels are nasty business. Risky, in more ways than one. She's a talented battlemage from the Daggerfall clan. She leads their warriors, and has the capacity to train both their soldiers and mages alike. I am going to do all that I can to avoid killing her tomorrow. From what I have heard, she has been a wonderful asset to her clan and I would hate to lose her. These duels, they put the best of us in grave peril, but they are central to our identity as worshipers of Hircine. I just wish they were not necessary. We cannot afford to lose such good people."

Once everyone was ready, the majority of the pack began their transformations ahead of time, as even with how experienced they were, it was somewhat more unpleasant to be forced into a transformation. At least by a small margin. Apart from Meesei, who was going to remain in her Argonian form until after Rhazii had completed his transformation, Ahnasha was the last to hold off from transforming. Walking up to Rhazii, she grabbed one of his hands in hers. "Don't worry, there's nothing that can go wrong. Not once has a tranformation done any real harm to a lycan. You're about to feel what it is like to be one of the most powerful hunters in Tamriel. The descriptions you've heard really don't do it justice. Don't be afraid, be excited.

Soon enough, Ahnasha had to leg to of Rhazii's hands to begin her own transformation, as above ground, the moons had finally crested over the horizon. All across Skyrim, and every part of Tamriel to the south of it, every lycan would feel their pull. Ahnasha started her transformation on her own, but it would only be seconds later that Rhazii would feel his beast spirit pulling on him like never before.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan stood with his arms crossed, and a bit of a grin. "Hmm, biting a gland doesn't sound fun. It must be real scary to have to worry about poison like that." He commented, with no small measure of smugness in his tone.

Kaleeth too adopted a similar stance as Julan, though her satisfaction was coming from the fact that she was going to be knocking down his pride a peg or two. After all, she did not want her son being too boastful. She did not see it as a good trait. "Chaurus venom burns as well as poisons, remember Julan? It would hurt you almost as much as it would Rhazii."

"I can heal anyone that may get burned, but that will not stop it from hurting, so you would be wise to be cautious." Meesei added. Briefly, she looked up, though there was no sky for her to see. Even so, she, and the rest of the pack, could feel that the moons were getting close to the horizon. Even as far underground as they were, the influence of the moons could be felt as clear as if they were on the surface. They had some minutes yet, but it would not be too long before their transformations were upon them.

"I hope we are able to find prey in good time. I likely should be rested for tomorrow." Meesei continued, though her expression certainly soured with her last comment. It was clear that she was referring to her impending duel with her challenger. It was an event that she had made clear to her pack she did not enjoy. They did not necessarily have to end in death, but they were dangerous regardless.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan smiled and nodded to Rhazii. "Mamma says that werecrocodiles are the strongest of them all, but apparently we don't get along too well with others. I don't really understand it that much, but she says that only Miss Ri'vashi is as strong as her. But she's a giant cat, and also a bear. But, anyways, you think you'll kill anything hunting?"

"For a hunt like this, at least, it's been that long." Ahnasha chimed in. "There has always either been something for us to do, or Meesei needed to watch the children."

Meesei put on a light grin. "Well, I am certainly looking forward to it. It has been long enough that I worry I might have lost my touch. I will likely need to stay back somewhat with Julan, so I will have the pleasure of seeing how you have been hunting without me. Just based on some of the trails I caught on the way over here, there may be some wild chaurus in the area. Do you believe Rhazii will be okay trying to kill one?" Meesei asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hey, mangy-giant." Julan responded. It was not the first time that he had been present for one of their hunts, but this would be the first time that Julan had been present for a hunt during the full moons. He was not yet old enough to transform himself, but he had always known that there was something different about the full moons. For young lycans, they almost always caused nightmares until the point where they could transform. "You think you're going to transform tonight? It won't be too long before I transform too. Mamma says I'm going to be a big crocodile like her; then I'll finally be bigger and stronger than you, since you're just a werewolf. You'll be a big, uh, cat-dog."

On the other side of the hunting camp, Lorag gave a brief, amused grunt.

Meesei nodded to Fendros. "Yes, I shall be joining you. Kaleeth and Janius want Julan to see a full moon hunt himself before his first transformation. It could be more difficult for him to adjust, being that he is not a pack animal, so they wish to be prepared. I can keep a better eye on him to make sure he stays out of trouble. And, it has been quite a long time since I have hunted myself."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha placed a hand on Rhazii's shoulder. Despite only being around thirteen, Rhazii was about at Ahnasha's height. He had not yet outgrown Fendros, but being Cathay, it would not be all that long until he did. "You'll forget any pain in a matter of minutes. I will be honest, you might have a hard time remembering some of what happens tonight. I don't have any memory at all of my first transformation, but I was infected later in life. Since you were born a werewolf, it will be a bit easier for you. You might keep some memory of it. Your beast spirit has always been with you, just...tucked away inside. It is certainly going to be enthusiastic to finally be let out, but from what I understand, I think you'll find that you're already familiar with it. You just don't know it yet."

Walking along the path from the direction of the city was the rest of the pack heading towards Fendros and Ahnasha's camp, Meesei included. Even on full moons, Meesei had no need to hunt due to her Ring, but she had elected to join this time. It had quite literally been years since she had gone on a proper hunt, since her duties had kept her busy most of the time, apart from when she had been absorbed into the book. The clan spread out in hunting parties in nearly all directions around the city, and they tended to need to move somewhat far from the city to actually find something suitable to kill. It had been easy at first, but over time, the Falmer had gained a sense for when the clan would be hunting and hid in response. There were other creatures to kill in the caverns, but the Falmer were some of the more numerous targets. Granted, they could also be dangerous, so some of the less experienced hunters made their way to the surface to hunt.

Meesei was in far better health than she had been months prior. She had put on some weight, and built up more of her former muscle. She still was not as physically fit as she had been in her prime, and it would take quite a while longer to get back close to that level, but she at least looked healthy again on the outside. She did not feel self-conscious about being seen by the clan, but in private, she confided in her pack that her bones were still brittle, she felt tired often, and she had to force herself to eat since she still had little appetite. The effects of her malnutrition were not necessarily permanent, but it would be almost a year before she was truly recovered, in all likelihood. But, her responsibilities would not wait. She had been challenged for her position again. The moons had caused some delay but she would have to fight in the duel the very next day.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think it would be fine to move on now. That makes up the last of the things I had in mind before starting the final act. Though, I suppose it could be beneficial to do a skip of a month or something for Rhazii's first transformation, and maybe to show Meesei recovering. Could be a short scene, or we could just move on past it entirely if you don't think it would be too important. Your choice.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei lightly shook her head. "Its only meaning to me was one of pain and loss. I do not even want to so much as think about it again."

Leaning against Sabine for support, Meesei took a few moments to breathe and calm herself. "I feel like I wish to return home. To have some...food and rest. I ceased using my magic on myself when I came out here and, well, I simply feel like I am on edge of death. My body aches, I can hardly stand, and it is difficult to keep myself awake. I...am worried about what I have done to myself. I am not completely certain if I can wholly recover. But, at least I can begin to try. Does anyone have any clothing or a blanket for me? The air out of the city feels so much colder than I remember." She requested.