EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Upon being instructed to do so, Julan managed to collect himself enough to get dressed in the rest of his clothes. He was glad that they were not going to just take Aurana back to her home immediately, since it meant that she had a better chance of being able to ask his father whatever questions she wanted. Julan just hoped that he would be willing to answer.

Once everyone was ready, they started to head up the embankment, then towards the castle. Julan needed to answer Janius along the way, though his neutral tone was almost making him more nervous than if he had been just outright angry. Julan was not sure what kind of reaction to expect from his father. "Well...like I said, I told her that you're with the Penitus Oculatus, which is why you had to leave all that time ago. She knows you're her brother, I'm your son, and my mother is Kaleeth. Um...I mentioned that we visit a lot of places, but I've never really been to Black Marsh except when I was real young. I don't think there's anything else important. We haven't really been talking that long."

After a moment, Julan's expression turned somewhat more pleading as he looked up to his father. "She just wants to talk to you and learn more about you and everything. She says her parents won't let her do many things. She can't learn magic, she can't leave the house very much, and she can't be on her own until her parents pick someone for her to marry. I was going to try to teach her to swim, since she doesn't know how., but there wasn't time. Please talk to her, I want to help her do some of the things she wants to do."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan was just about to start getting dressed when Janius asked him to give Aurana her cloak. It has been surprisingly easy for Julan to avoid laughing when Aurana had fallen into the water, as the presence of his parents made any of the natural comedy of the situation seem much less important. He was also nervous about what Aurana had said so far. It was not the story that Julan had wanted to tell, but there was no going back at this point. He offered his cloak to Aurana, then just ended up standing around somewhat awkwardly and nervously. He was cold as well, but since his scales were waterproof, he was not as cold as any of the others. Rhazii would certainly need to start trying to dry off, since his fur would hold in the water.

"Yes, um, she really wants to meet you and talk to you. She never gets to do anything since her parents don't let her. I've already told her how you're here in Bravil with the Penitus Oculatus, and how you ended up with them all that time ago after the cave with the spiders." Julan explained as a not-so-subtle way of informing him of the cover story he had made up for why he had not come back home. He hoped his father would be happy of the fact that he had come up with a good story for him.

Kaleeth had some concern in her eyes as she looked at Aurana, which made her somewhat conflicted as to what she wanted to do next. "It seemed like that Khajiit woman wanted to bring back Aurana without anyone noticing she was gone, but now she's soaked. Maybe we should try to dry her off first? Does anyone have any magic that could help?" She suggested.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha crossed her arms. "Depending on what they did, we might have to do more than that, but I guess we'll just have to see. Let's just go down there and get them."

Julan had been sufficiently perplexed by Aurana's description of her life so far that he was not as surprised as he could have been when she said her parents were going to choose who she married. Her life seemed to be just so different from his own, and not in a way that he thought he would like. Regardless, he wanted to do something for her now, if he could. "Embarrassed of what?' Julan asked, equally as clueless as Rhazii. "You don't need to be embarrassed that you can't swim, I don't think."

The trio did not have much time to continue their conversation before their parents started to descend down the embankment towards the edge of the canal. They caught their scent in the air before they heard their footsteps, so there was little question as to who was approaching.

Kaleeth did not begin with an angry tone, but she was certainly not pleased with the trouble their children had put them through so far, particularly Janius. "Kaj-Julan, what is going on here?" She asked firmly.

Fortunately for Julan, he had already been thinking about what he would say when their parents found them, so he did not hesitate too much. "Oh...I didn't think it had been too long. We came out to take a bath. We couldn't find any water in the castle that we could use." He began, looking to Aurana before motioning towards his parents. "These are my parents, Kaleeth and Janius."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Oh, I thought you were older." Julan commented, though it did not completely rid him of his confusion about how Aurana's parents treated her. It seemed like they did not allow her to do anything, as if she was always being punished for something.

Julan cocked his head to the side as he looked up at Aurana. "How are you going to marry anyone if you don't know anyone? Do they want you to marry Jatinha? It doesn't make sense." Julan repositioned himself to be upright, then swam up closer to the dock she was sitting on. "I'd hate to be stuck inside a house all the time. That's what our parents make us do when they punish us. You should be able to go out and do more things. What kind of things do you want to do? Maybe...we could try to teach you to swim?" He suggested.

---

As Rhazii and Julan were not experienced enough to hide their trail, or had not attempted to do so at all, the group had little trouble following their scent through the city. Fortunately, Janius' fear that the boys had crossed the canal into the rest of the city did not end up becoming reality, but that did not mean there was not still cause for some concern.

The group had come out of an alleyway to a spot overlooking the canal, and had been moving quietly enough so as not to be easily detected. They no longer needed to follow any scents, as there was a weak candlelight spell illuminating part of the canal just upstream, which made it quite easy to see the boys swimming in the water near a girl about their age who they did not recognize. Ahnasha stepped forward slightly, with footsteps that were barely audible even at close range. She peered around the corner of a building to get a good look down into the canal, then looked back and whispered to the others.

"It's them. It looks like they're swimming in the water, but there's also someone else with them. A girl; she matches the description of the girl the Khajiit woman mentioned. How do you think we should approach this? I doubt she'll recognize you, Janius, since she's never met you." Ahnasha reasoned.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan shrugged his shoulders. His long term plans for his life was not something he often thought about, nor had he come up with a lie about his plans to tell his grandparents if they had asked. "I don't know, really, I guess so. Most of the things I'm being taught would be for that kind of thing, I guess."

Julan leaned back to float on the surface of the water, his arms outstretched and his tail keeping him from floating away. "We do a lot of exciting things. Our parents can't always bring us along, but when they do, we travel all over. I've been to, let's see...Cyrodiil, Skyrim, Elsweyr, High Rock, uh...oh, we visited Valenwood last month. I'd like to be able to go to Black Marsh. I think it would be weird to have so many Argonians like me around. Though, I did see that there are more Argonians around here in Bravil than where we come from."

Turning his head towards Aurana, Julan showed some curiosity about her. "What do you want to do when, well...I guess you are already kind of grown up. You are grown up, aren't you? You look like you're older than us, I think. It's sometimes hard to tell with Humans. Can't you just do the things you want to do now?"

---

Kaleeth stood with her arms crossed, staring off in the direction that the Khajiit had walked. "You did say earlier that your parents might want another heir." She commented to Janius. "If you don't recognize the name, then they might have had another child. Or, well, I guess it could also be a cousin. Did you have any aunts or uncles?" Kaleeth asked, though ultimately, she did not want to keep pressing her questions for too long. She could already tell that Janius was uncomfortable talking about his family.

Ahnasha gave a sigh, then spoke somewhat softly on the off-chance that anyone might have been listening to their conversation. "So, our children sneak out of the castle on the same night that someone from your family just happens to also sneak out? Something tells me that may not be a coincidence. Do you think that the boys could have encountered Aurana at some point during your tour of the city earlier, without you knowing?" Ahnasha asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan smiled at Aurana's enthusiasm, though he could not give her a direct answer. "Um, I haven't really been there before. Well, I have, but I was too young to really remember anything. I just know what my parents have told me about it. And my aunt Meesei. From what they told me, my mother used to live in a small village way out in the swamp. She was probably around your age, or a bit older, when my father visited her village." He guessed, not entirely knowing how old Aurana actually was. "They fell in love, so she joined him when he left. She was going to be a hunter in her village; she has all these really nice-looking red tattoos all over her body that look like vines. She says she got them in her village, but now she, um, works with my father."

"My father is a strong warrior and mage. He's taught me a lot, but I know it will be years before I can do what he can do. Your father became important in the Legion, right? I'd guess he'd be proud of my father for doing basically the same thing, just not in the Legion." Julan added.

---

Kaleeth showed some brief surprise when the Khajiit woman approached the group with her question. "Aetius? That's..." She started quietly, but she quickly cut herself off and tried to straighten up her expression. If this Khajiit was a part of the household of Janius' parents, she did not want to let on as to his identity. "No, I'm sorry, but we haven't seen her." Kaleeth answered, more loudly and clearly. "We haven't been out in the street all that long tonight."

Ahnasha too was caught off guard by the name the Khajiit gave for the person she was trying to find. Even without being a part of the conversation that Janius and Kaleeth had earlier with the children, Ahnasha could guess that Janius would not want to reveal who he was. Even if he did, it would be his choice as to how and when to do that. Ahnasha retained her composure and quickly thought of a polite response to give to the woman. "I'm sorry we can't be of that much help, but if we do happen to see her, we can come and tell you, or just send her to you. Where could we find you?" She asked. However, there was one detail that Ahnasha was not considering, not at all related to her question itself. Ahnasha bore a strong familial resemblance to her son, and since the woman was Khajiit, she could potentially recognize it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

My response may be somewhat delayed tonight, as I need to prepare for a presentation tomorrow.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan followed suit with Rhazii, undressing and jumping in after him. As long as they were in the water when their parents inevitably found them, their story could still make sense, he reasoned. In the meantime, he would have a chance to get to know his aunt. He surfaced from underneath the water and swam up next to the dock that Aurana was sitting on.

"You don't know what the Penitus Oculatus is? I thought everyone in the Empire did? They're, um, well they're very important." Julan began. He had assumed that people in the city would be familiar with the Penitus Oculatus, since the guards in the castle seemed to defer to Marod almost completely, as if he were in charge of them. Julan himself did not actually know much about who they were or what they did. "I know Imperial soldiers listen to them. I don't know everything, but...I think they do a lot for the Empire. They're all pretty secret about everything. But, um, he hasn't been in Bravil, no. This is the first time he's been back in a very long time, I think. My mother's name is Kaleeth. He met her in Black Marsh. They, um, work together now."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan was equally as perplexed at Rhazii that Aurana, as old as she was, could not have learned to swim. He understood that anyone who was not Argonian would have to learn instead of knowing by instinct, but the notion of never learning seemed bizarre. Regardless, it was not the first strange thing about city dwellers that he had learned, so he just accepted it for now. "Okay...yeah, I'm sure we can make it work."

The trio continued on down the alley, then made their way carefully down to the edge of the canal. While the water did have something of a foul odor overall, the farther upstream they went, the cleaner it became. Once they reached the city wall, where the water flowed into the city, it seemed just about as clean as any other body of water. At the very least, it did not have any noticeable odor.

It was well after nightfall, and while Julan's lycanthropy gave him enhanced night vision, he still had a hard time seeing into the water from above. Rhazii could probably see more clearly, but he wanted to get a better look for himself. Julan held his hands just slightly apart in front of him and closed his eyes, concentrating. Julan was at the age where he was beginning several types of training, from hunting to basic combat. His father and all of his aunts were skilled with magic, so naturally, he had taken an interest as well. Granted, he was also quite new to the practice, but dedicated, just like with anything in which he could be competitive with Rhazii.

After a few moments, a small light flickered to life between Julan's hands, which he sent out over the water. While it was not the brightest of lights, it did give a good enough view as to the depth of the water. "It, um, looks like the water is kind of deep out in the middle of the canal, but you could probably just stand in the water over near the sides. You don't need to swim to do that. Does that sound good?" Julan asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan looked down at the ground, obviously feeling bad for Aurana. She essentially just wanted the same thing that he did. She asked him if he could just describe his father to her, but he wanted her to be able to meet him too. Not to mention, if she was right and her parents were lying to him about going to the courtyard the next day, then Julan would not have had much time at all to spend with them. He wanted to take the time to speak with Aurana too, but it did not seem like that was going to happen the next day. If he was going to talk to her, it would need to be right then and there.

"Um, well maybe..." Julan began, rubbing the back of his neck. "I want you to be able to meet him too. I just know father would love to meet you. He just, um...well he didn't want anyone here to know he's alive. Since he's with the Penitus Occulatus. I just don't want to get in too much trouble. Like I said, we were going to go act like we were swimming in the canal. Maybe...do you think we could say we found you already there? We could say we went out to swim and you were just already there swimming too. I know I saw people swimming earlier today, so there has to be some place clean. Do people swim at night here? I always love swimming at night; it makes the water feel warmer."

Julan started to look a bit more excited as, at least in his head, his plan was seeming to make some sense. "Maybe we don't even have to say that we knew you were my aunt? If we wait long enough, father will come looking for me eventually. I know it. He won't go to sleep with us gone. We could just wait in the canal for him to find us, then you can meet him there. If you introduce yourself, he'll know you're his sister. Maybe that could work?"