EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I suppose that we can pick up again with their parents whenever you would like to have them find them.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan was appreciative to Rhazii's sympathy, but he did not have much time to respond before they were interrupted by Aurana. Julan was confused at first, but once she drew close enough for him to recognize her face, he relaxed. She was older than either of them, so she was not a child, but Julan still doubted that her parents would be happy that she had followed them. In the short time Julan had been around them, he had the impression that they were...strict.

"Yeah, I'm Kaj-Julan. This is my brother, Rhazii. If you're my father's sister, then...that makes you my aunt. I'm glad to meet you too. I was really hoping to be able to meet my grandparents and the rest of my family. I guess I kinda have, at least for my father's family. My mother's family is still all in Black Marsh, and we don't go there very often." Julan said, though he quickly realized he had gone off on a tangent.

"Anyways, um...you said you want to meet my father? Janius? I, well, I guess you would want to meet your brother, just like I want to meet my grandparents." Julan reasoned, but after thinking about it for a few moments, he became worried. "Will you, um, be going to the courtyard with your parents tomorrow? That was where I was going to try and get my father to go, so he could meet his family again. He really didn't want to come visit you all earlier; I think he's afraid to, since it's been so long. He would be really mad at me if he knew we came and saw you all, and I, uh, don't want to get in too much trouble. And I don't want my brother's parents to get mad at him either. I want to take you to see him right now, but if we did that, then wouldn't he know that we went to your house? We were just about to go to the canal to see if we could find a clean place to swim so we could act like we went for a bath. Our parents probably wouldn't be as mad at that. If they know we left by now, then they'll probably even come to look for us."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha was already starting to move closer to the door to wait for the others to start following. She wanted to find the boys as quickly as possible. "Everything on this side of the canal is just housing for wealthy nobles, right? i can't imagine it would be that interesting for anything except the fact that you grew up there."

Kaleeth quickly started to share Janius' look of concern. "Julan had a lot of questions about your parents before. He really wanted to meet them. You don't think...he'd do anything rash, do you?"

---

Julan gave a sigh. "Okay." He conceded, standing up with Rhazii and proceeded to follow Harald back to the front door. His mind was thoroughly occupied with any and every excuse he could possibly conceive of as for why they had left the castle. If they were lucky, their parents would not yet know they had left, but it had been long enough that he was not hopeful.

As he did have some practice coming up with small lies and excuses, his thought process started in a logical place with the dinner they were supposed to have been eating. His note had claimed that they had gone to the kitchen, so that would have to be a part of their story. But, how could going to the kitchen lead to leaving the entire castle? That was not something that would normally happen, so their story would have to contain something that did not normally happen to motivate them to leave. As he and Rhazii stepped out of the house, it was a faint, constant sound in the air that gave him inspiration. The canal was close by.

"Okay, so...we need to make it make sense that we left. They're going to be upset no matter what, unless someone forced us to leave. But...I don't think we could make them believe that. But maybe we can make it seem...less bad? Maybe we could get in the canal, for a bath? There isn't any water we could use in the castle, so that's the only place we could do it. We could say we got dirty somehow, maybe when we were eating? Maybe something got in your fur? I know the canal smelled pretty bad before, but I still think I saw some people in it when we were walking over the bridge. I think they were up at the part near the wall where it comes into the city. Maybe it's cleaner there? I don't think they'd get nearly as mad about a bath. Should we try it?" Julan asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth's expression rather quickly went from being concerned, to visibly upset. She crossed her arms and started to just slightly show her teeth. "Left the castle? I know we did not give them permission for that. We need to go get them."

Ahnasha was also upset, but her expression was also mixed with some confusion. "I could expect them to want to explore the castle, but leaving it? Usually when Rhazii gets himself into trouble, he at least tries to give himself some room to make excuses. What would make them want to go into the city?"

---

Julan began to appear while openly glad when Remus started to show himself as being more accepting, but he quickly became afraid when he mentioned meeting Janius the next day. He was hesitant to leave. "Um...are you sure you don't want to see him tonight? I...my father is going to be mad if he figures out we came here. We left a note saying we went to get food from the kitchen, but...we've been gone for a while. I asked him before when he was showing us the city if we could visit you, but he said no, and he got mad when I kept asking about it. If we go back and he knows we left, he'll punish us. I think he's afraid to see you. I just know he'll change his mind if he meets you, though. Anyone would be glad to see their parents again after so long."

Facing the prospect of having to go back to the castle without his grandparents, Julan was starting to get a hint of regret. "Do you think I...did the right thing? We could go back and try to get him to the courtyard tomorrow morning, but...I don't know how to explain why we left." He asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With no arguments, Ahnasha and Kaleeth joined Fendros and Janius in heading to the kitchen in search of their children. It was around the time of night that the guard was changing so those that were ending their shifts were heading to the kitchen for their own meals as well. It was somewhat unusual for guests to the castle to take food or drink from the same place as the guards, but any association with the Penitus Occulatus meant that they went unquestioned, apart from a few curious looks. They of course did not find the boys at the kitchen, but that was not immediately alarming, as they could have gone to one of the dining rooms. It would not be until the group had gotten their drinks and started to search around that they would have cause to be worried.

---

Julan, still undeterred by Remus' skepticism, held up his hands as he answered back. "No, I promise I'm telling the truth! My father didn't die all that time ago in the spider cave. He lived, he just couldn't come back here. I'm sure he would have wanted to if he could. I...can describe him for you!"

Julan proceeded to give Remus and Aeramina the same kind of description of his father as he had to Harold, though in a bit more detail this time. He even told whatever he could recall about small physical features, like the shape of his ears and the rough size of his nose. He also demonstrated that he knew that Janius went into the cave as a part of a Fighter's Guild contract, and he repeated everything that his father had told him about his own childhood and what their family had been like at that time. Although, he did not include the parts about Janius' parents that Julan thought sounded a bit insulting. At the very least, it could not be denied that Julan knew quite a bit about someone who had supposedly died years before he was even born. In particular, he knew exactly how old Janius would be down to the day, since his mother was keen on celebrating Janius' birthday every year. That had not always been true, since birthdays had not been celebrated in Kaleeth's village, but she had been doing so ever since she learned about the custom.

After he finished giving his description of his father, Julan struggled for a moment to attempt to find more ways to convince his grandparents that he was telling the truth. "Other than that, um...well it wouldn't really be that hard to prove for sure. My father is right here in the city's castle, with the, um...sorry, I always have trouble saying it. Pen-it-us Occu-latus." He said, slowly and deliberately. "I could take you right to him."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose we can go look for them. I really don't want them to end up breaking something by accident. That could cause some frustration; there are a lot of fragile-looking sculptures and other decorative artwork just laying around. I don't know if the boys really understand how expensive those things can be."

After a moment, Ahnasha chuckled. "Besides, I wouldn't mind a glass of wine myself."

---

Julan was somewhat confused about Jatinha's noticeable sheepishness. He did not quite understand why she would be so hesitant to talk about his father. He had assumed that his grandparents, and everyone else in the house, would be happy to hear that Janius was still alive. Although, he also supposed that Jatinha had never known him, since she was apparently the new maid. He was already feeling a little sad that someone who was important to his father had died. If the maid, Wanda, had helped to raise him, then Julan would have wanted to meet her too.

Regardless, Julan and Rhazii did not have to wait all that long before Herald returned with who Julan immediately identified as his grandparents. They both looked like older versions of the people in the painting, so there was no one else they could be. The man seemed a bit more...abrasive than Julan had been expecting, but he did not read too much into it at the moment. Julan reasoned that he was probably confused, or surprised.

Despite the shouting they had heard before, Julan's face lit up once he realized that he was finally meeting his grandparents. Wide-eyed and with a bright smile, he answered the man enthusiastically. "Oh, there's no tricks Mister Remus, I promise! I'm Kaj-Julan, and Janius is my father. I'm your grandson! I've really wanted to meet you, and I hope my father gets to meet you again too. He's here in the city, over in the castle, but I think he's...afraid to come here."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Upon returning to their room, Kaleeth had naturally noticed that Julan and Rhazii were not in their beds, as they were supposed to be. But, the prominently placed note that Julan had left behind quickly drew her attention. The words on the page were certainly in his handwriting, so she did not have any reason to question them.

Kaleeth spoke in a casual tone to Janius. "Did we say the children could leave the room for anything? They went to the kitchen for some dinner and I don't quite remember if we said they could to that."

---

Julan rubbed the back of his neck, not feeling the need to be as quiet as Rhazii as he answered. "Yeah, he was raised by the maid, and the butler, and the house governor. I don't really know what all of those are. But...that would've had to have been a very long time ago, I think."

Julan smiled as he reached for a cup of the tea that Jatinha had offered them. Back home, there was not always much variety in what they could have for food or drink. They had more than enough food in the clan, but that meant a lot of meals with chaurus meat and mushrooms. For drinks, they mostly had only water, and alcohol that he was told he was not allowed to have yet. Tea was more of a treat. He remembered fondly a pair of Khajiit women that made wonderful tea when they were giving him advice on how to handle some of the changes in his personality that his beast spirit had started to cause.

"Hi, do you know anything about my father? He is the young person in that painting, Janius." Julan said to Jatinha, pointing to the painting on the wall. "I want to know how he grew up here. He doesn't really talk about it much, or say much about it when he does. He told me some about it today, but not too much."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha sighed. "Well...I approve of it more than the alternatives, definitely. I know Lorag is right, so he couldn't keep the title. Sabine...I do think she could do it, but if I am being honest, I do think you would be a better leader. Trust me, if I really disapproved, I would have spoke up in the meeting. Loudly. You won't have to worry about anything from me. If I decide that I don't want to be near the center of attention, or if Rhazii wants the same, then we can just stay away from the politics. You need to just be sure that you're up for this. I know it's not what you want, but you might just be what we need, long term."

After a few more seconds, Ahnasha tried to put on a smile. "But, who knows? Maybe Meesei will figure out how to become our immortal Argonian leader for all time. With all that strange magic she learned, you never know what is possible."

---

Julan spent some time looking around the room after he took a seat beside Rhazii. He had never quite seen a building like it. At least, not the interior of one. Back home in the Silent City, there were many Dwarven buildings that were even larger than this one, but they had an entirely different feel to them. They were not so clean, and almost all of them were crowded, public spaces. It seemed bizarre to him to have so much space for just one family. He was starting to feel distinctly out of his element.

Since Julan was distracted, Rhazii was the first to notice the painting, and the first to see the image of his father in it. Julan had seen paintings before, but never one depicting someone he knew. With how young his father appeared in the picture, it took a few seconds after Rhazii mentioned it for him to even be able to recognize him. His first instinct had been to look at the older man in the painting, but then, Julan supposed that would be his grandfather. "That's...wait, that is him! Woah..." Julan repeated after Rhazii, though for different reasons.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius' words were of some consolation to Ahnasha. With as long as the war had been going on, it was hard to think of anything they did as being less than permanent. But, as Lorag was clearly showing with this announcement, these titles were not something that necessarily had to be taken by force. She and Fendros would live long lives. Even if he did eventually become the Champion, they always had the choice to just walk away when the time felt right.

Ahnasha nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. I wish Lorag could just keep the title, but I hate to admit that he is probably right. If even half of what that Altmer said is true, the clans are going to need some stability. At least the Morrowind clans will be happy to learn that you're getting a promotion, Fendros. Honestly though, I think this has been a lot for us all to take in, and we probably all deserve some rest right here and now. We should get back."

---

"Um, well, he doesn't like to talk about back then, brother..." Julan began, glaring briefly at Rhazii. "But, um, he did tell me some things. He said his parents became important with the Legion and got a bunch of land for it where they could raise horses and things. His father was the leader of the, um, Fighter's Guild here, so he had father, um...my father, join it too. That was how he got trapped with all the spiders. He said that his parents weren't around so much, so he ended up getting raised a lot by his maid, butler, and...house governor, I think? Oh, and I know what he looks like. He's Imperial. Obviously. Like his parents. And, um, has light hair. Blonde hair, with kind of thick hair on his face. His eyes are brown, and he's really tough and strong. And I think he's..." He said, concentrating on the last detail that came to mind "...thirty...seven years old."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

What exactly does Janius look like now?