EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Not quite. Just had the time, and it's close enough to drive in a day.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I went to the Georgia Aquarium today. Largest one on this half of the planet. It's one of the two places that have managed to successfully keep whale sharks. It is really hard to get a sense of scale on one of those things without seeing it in person. They are positively enormous fish. I am fairly tired right now, though.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha shook her head. "Not a chaurus. Actually, you killed a chaurus. Not exactly cleanly, but you did well for a beginner. No, you were hit by a frost spell from a wispmother. It is a type of undead; a specter. You spotted some wisps and became curious, so you split from the pack and chased them for a few moments. They led you to their wispmother and attacked. We were able to kill it afterwards."

Throughout her explanation, Ahnasha maintained a neutral tone, presenting more as a statement of events. She wanted to see how readily Rhazii would identify and accept that he had done something wrong.

Kaleeth sighed briefly. She was already frustrating herself with the fact that she could not think of the exact right words to describe what she was feeling, but she had to try regardless. "I know that I'm in the pack. Everyone has always made me feel welcome, and I do definitely feel like family to the others, but...it's still hard not to feel that I'm not meant to be in the pack, if that makes sense?" She ansered. "I mean, it took a lot of trying for everyone to make me feel welcome. Everyone has to give me space when we hunt so that I don't risk hurting anyone. The others are always having to warn other lycans about me to keep them from accidentally agitating me. I just don't have the right instincts for a pack. The only thing that lets me be in the pack is my normal, um...rational mind. I always have to fight against my beast spirit. Part of me wonders if it's fair for me to make everyone else go through all this effort for me?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha nodded. "We both should've. I'm used to him being obedient on hunts, but I guess his beast spirit complicated things. It is a fair point, though, that he might not remember what happened. If that's the case, then there isn't much we can say to him right now. Wouldn't do much good to scold him for something he can't remember. At any rate, he's going to need a lot of practice and training. That should probably be what we tell him; that we're going to be getting him in his beast form for training every day. And probably teach him that he can't eat ghosts." She said with a chuckle for at least a brief moment of levity.

Stepping forward, Ahnasha knelt down next to Rhazii and placed her hand on his shoulder, then shook him gently, so as not to startle him awake.

It took a few moments after Janius sat down for Kaleeth to straighten up her posture enough for her to move closer to Janius. She wrapped her tail around his waist, then leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder. Though, she did not actually look at him. Instead, she was still staring out towards the others in the pack, seemingly distracted. It was another good ten seconds of silence before she spoke, albeit without much energy in her voice. "Sometimes, I just...don't feel like a real member of the pack."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha was not quite as positive as Fendros. She did acknowledge that he had done well enough with the chaurus. He struck quickly, and was able to find its weak points before getting hurt himself. They had taught him how to hunt, and the instincts of his beast spirit likely played a strong role in letting him act quickly. With more practice, he would be able to strike with greater speed and certainty. She was not too concerned about that; rather, she was worried about his judgment during the tracking phase of their hunt.

"I think we can wait a minute or two. Maybe try and figure out exactly what to say with him. I agree he was fine once we found the chaurus, but he got you and some of the others hurt by playing around with those wisps. He separated from the pack and didn't follow instructions. It was his first time as a werewolf, so it's not unexpected, but I think we do need to talk to him about it before too much time passes. Can't afford to let him make those kinds of mistakes." Ahnasha suggested.

By this point, Kaleeth had reverted back to her normal form, then gently moved herself away from Julan so that she did not wake him up. Although, she appeared to be rather uncertain of what she actually wanted to do in the moment. At first, she glanced at Janius, then turned her attention to the rest of the pack. She just stared for them a while, at Ahnasha and Fendros, at Lorag, who was still in his werewolf form. After a few moments, she closed her eyes, let out a sigh, and leaned herself back against one of the glowing mushroom trees. It was obvious from the look on her face that something was bothering her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After a while with no response from Rhazii, despite his clear intention of trying, Julan gave a huff. "Hmph, too much like a big dog I'd say."

Julan cocked his head to the side and started to look Rhazii over both curiously and critically. Naturally, he had been taught about all aspects of lycanthropy for as long as he could remember. He understood that there was another being inside of them; a Daedric "vestige," as his Aunt Meesei described it. He understood that, when it first started to wake up, as it had in Rhazii, it could be hard to control. Particularly during full moons. He had been told that Rhazii might not be entirely himself tonight, though he did have a difficult time really understanding how different he was or was not. Regardless, it was clear they were not going to be having any conversations for a while. "Well...can you still play or something?" He asked.

---

Normally, it was not too long after a kill and subsequent meal that the pack was able to bring themselves to revert forms, but even for experienced lycans, the full moons delayed them. They waited by the water for a time, resting after their hunt. Kaleeth eventually emerged from the water and curled up on the riverbank, and after a while, Julan laid himself down, leaning against her to rest after he exhausted himself playing in the river. Among the pack, only he and Janius were truly comfortable spending any extended time in such close proximity to Kaleeth during the moons. With the exception of her mate and her child, she had complained in the past that her beast grew agitated whenever it felt like it was being crowded. It was highly unlikely that her beast spirit would be able to compel her to do anything violent towards anyone else in the pack, but they gave her space regardless, at the very least for her own comfort.

Ahnasha had been able to transform back before Rhazii, so she was simply waiting for him to be able to follow suit. She would give him some time to recover and regain his normal state of mind, but she would need to speak to him about the hunt.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Altogether, the pack had collected a fair amount of meat for them. Chaurus were not as fast as werewolves, and the insects had been outnumbered, so there was not much of a chance for them to escape. The pack could certainly eat more than what they had, but it would be enough for everyone to have something. Certainly, it would satisfy their beasts enough to allow them to rest and transform back after a while. All apart from Kaleeth collected their kills together on land, while Kaleeth herself was nowhere to be seen. Most likely, she was under the surface of the water with her kill.

Despite the massive size difference between them at the moment, and the insect blood currently coating Rhazii's fur, Julan had no inhibitions about approaching Rhazii. Whan Rhazii started to sniff at his face, he laughed and reached up to scratch him behind his ears. "Heh, you are a big cat-dog." He grinned. "You pulled that thing open! What did it taste like? Did it get its pincers on you? How hard is it to keep running around like that after that ghost lady hit you?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While it was not the cleanest of kills, Rhazii had the natural instincts of how to attack the creature. Something like a deer would have been easier for him, since it had a less well-protected neck, but it was dead regardless. The rest of the attack was going as well as expected for the remainder of the pack. Some of the chaurus had fought back, while others had fled into the water, but the result was the same in both cases.

For the sake of Rhazii, Ahnasha was able to forego the usual order for eating their kills. Chaurus, with their hard shells, could be more difficult to eat than normal prey. Not to mention, Rhazii would need to avoid the venom gland. He had spoke about it before, but it was a different matter to be able to act on those rational thoughts during a full moon. Fortunately, his beast spirit would also naturally want to avoid any questionable meat, and the venom gland was particularly acidic. Once Rhazii had been eating on it for a while, Ahnasha did intend to join in as well. She did not expect him to put up any protest, given that his beast spirit was likely well-aware of its place in the pack, but she had to make sure that he was not prone to fighting against higher ranked members of the pack. In particular, she did not want him trying to steal any of Kaleeth's meals.

Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath

~|Nar Shaddaa, Veenra|~

~|Day 3, 6th Hour|~

---

Fa remained just as calm as she had been at any point in their conversation thusfar. Though, perhaps contrary to what Zora might have been expecting, she also became seemingly even more relaxed through Zora’s answer. Fa needed the information she had, so she had to adopt a strategy that Zora might respect, and would likely not expect from a Jedi.

“I think you may be pleasantly surprised by what I have to offer.” Fa responded. She did not hesitate for a moment in her response, and through at least her body language, showed confidence in her words. “One of the reasons you Sith are fighting the Republic is because you view it as weak, with politicians that work for their own gain through subterfuge and corruption instead of merit. I disagree with that sentiment, in general, but certainly you must admit that there are politicians or military commanders that would be more than willing to pardon a lowly Sith Apprentice in order to claim a prize as tempting as Darth Nyiss herself. Indeed, as a Jedi Battlemaster, I personally have the authority to grant you amnesty, though my motive is not political advantage. It may harm your pride to admit it, but I think you can recognize that Nyiss is far more important, politically and militarily, than yourself. I personally have hope that you can come to see the light after your second chance, but I also see the harm that can be prevented by stopping that menace.”

Fa gave a brief shrug, intent on making herself appear relaxed. In reality, if Zora did anything violent, Fa was ready to respond with what would likely be the most powerful burst of telekinetic energy that Zora would have ever witnessed in person. ‘And it is not as if I am suggesting to bring you to Coruscant in bindings. In fact, you do not have to come to Coruscant. I can offer to give you transport to a planet in Republic space with far less Republic influence. Or you could just stay here if you really wanted to, after you share the information you have. I imagine you want to stop living like a rat in this refuse pile of a moon, but I truly do not care where you go. I just want Nyiss.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Despite the experience the pack had in their beast forms, the moons enhanced the strength their beast spirits had in their minds. They could still follow their plan, but the anticipation of the kill was even more intense the closer they approached. They weaved between the glowing mushrooms to get in position as close as they could, though the mere fact that they were glowing meant that they would have to start their charge from further back than usual, since they were more visible in the mushrooms' light. Fortunately, they had the numbers to close in around their prey from all directions.

The others were handling some of the larger chaurus, so Ahnasha focused on guiding Rhazii. She motioned for him to stay close beside him, then led him on a path through the mushrooms that would maximize their chances of remaining unseen for as long as possible. The light was making them more visible, but as long as there was enough of the fungus between them and the chaurus, they could remain hidden. She also made sure to demonstrate the best practices for how to approach prey. She stepped in just the right ways to remain silent, and kept her eyes firmly on the prey ahead of them.

Lorag started their charge the moment one of the chaurus spotted them. All at once, the pack bolted ahead, weaving between the mushroom trees to close in from all sides. Naturally, Ahnasha was much faster than Rhazii, so she could reach the chaurus she had pointed out to Rhazii first, but fortunately, her maternal instinct to teach her child allowed her to avoid the temptation of attacking herself. Instead, she was going to circle around it and try to make sure it did not flee into the water. She would be close to keep Rhazii from being hurt, but she wanted him to make the kill.