EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha was just as quick to support Fendros. "We may or may not be able to do anything for Aurana, but that would not be a good idea. Just focus on whatever time you have now, okay?"

Julan gave a brief, somewhat sad nod to Fendros and Ahnasha. "Okay." He answered simply after returning Aurana's hug. She seemed to be such a nice person, so he was almost desperately hoping his father decided to try and do something for her. She deserved the help. "I guess...you can enjoy some free time now, at least. Is there anything you have been wanting to do, maybe?"

---

Kaleeth leaned up against both Janius and the wall and lightly took his hand in hers. She was just as sympathetic as he likely expected and, unfortunately, still just as uncertain as she had feared she would be. Nothing about the situation they were in seemed to have an easy answer. "I know, this has all been just so much to deal with. I almost wish that Altmer had picked somewhere else to cross the border, like Leyawiin. Ahnasha's family probably would have invited us all for dinner. It would have been so much easier than all this."

Giving a sigh, Ahnasha tried to think back to her own village. She was somewhat surprised that Janius seemed to be entertaining the idea of confronting his family, but she did not disapprove. She felt for the girl's plight. "I don't know how much help his methods would be, unfortunately. I wasn't around when he convinced my mother. I...went to a friends after the argument started. When I left, they were yelling at each other. When I came back, father was holding her in his arms and they were both in tears. I do know how he persuaded other families, though, when they would go through similar problems. He usually appealed to our traditions, the sense of duty to the village. Argonians return to the Hist on death, usually, so dying to protect the village was very...honorable, I guess. Does the Empire have anything like that? Any kind of culture your father might be going against?"

---

"Thank you." Meesei said as she stepped inside the room, gently closing the door behind her. "Do not worry, it would take much more to offend me. I...well, I suppose it would be pointless to attempt to convince you of any other pretense for my presence here. You know why I am visiting. And I know that I do not need to ask if you are alright. I know you are not; I would not be. All that has happened, everything Areldril said, everything you read in those documents, you do not deserve this. Even though I have never been a part of the Dominion, I know what it is to be loyal to your people. To have your very being, your identity, tied to them. I cannot imagine being lied to in that way. I know this may sound like an obvious question, but...how are you feeling about all of this?'

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak did not need much time to react. The moment someone confirmed that their gift for the Baron had been taken, Ssarak started to sprint a short distance, then kicked off the ground to take to the sky. ”Leith, stay and protect Lyn!” He shouted telepathically. Fortunately, the group had only just arrived in the city, so Ssarak was still armed and armored for traveling, and therefore, fighting. If he was able to catch their thief, then he would be in a good position to deal with him.

Though Ssarak knew not what was in the box, Lucilia had made it clear that it was important. It was important enough that Ssarak felt it was not a coincidence that a thief had just happened to grab it. It seemed more like they had been targeted specifically, which put Ssarak on guard. From the air, Ssarak had a distinct advantage in the chase. Apart from stationary buildings, there was nothing in his way, so he could move more efficiently than a ground runner. He would be able to keep track of the thief as long as he remained outside, and searching for overhead cover would limit the thief’s escape options. He also focused on the thief’s mind to determine if there were any wards to break through. If not, he could try to use his magic to alter the thief’s perceptions and trick them into tripping.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I also created another, story relevant conversation, since the events in Bravil are taking a bit longer than I had guessed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I don't know why he wouldn't want to help his family." Julan responded. "The reason he's always doing dangerous things is because he is trying to make things better for us. I just want things to get better for you too."

Letting out a sigh, Julan knew that whatever decision his parents made was probably out of his hands now. They had left to talk among themselves, and he had never been able to change their minds afterwards once they made a decision together. "If they don't help...what do you think you'll do? How much time do you think you have tonight to talk?"

---

Even before they stepped out of the room, Kaleeth's expression was gloomy at best. She was obviously sympathetic for the girl, but she also had more of an understanding of the realities of the situation. Regardless of her own thoughts on what she would want to do, she also did not want to try to force Janius to do something that he really wanted to avoid.

"I feel sorry for the girl. I remember how my mother felt when my brother died. I think she wanted to do the same kind of thing that your parents seem to be doing with Aurana, but my father eventually talked her out of it." Kaleeth began. Although, she was not entirely sure what kind of a point she wanted to make with her story. "What do you think about all of this? Do you think they're telling the truth about it?"

---

Meesei had not yet gone to sleep. As she so often did, she had been focusing on her responsibilities in lieu of rest. She had decided to go to Areldril for a long conversation about some of the details of the revaluations he had given them. But, even after that conversation, she was not yet finished. There was another conversation that Meesei felt needed to happen, and one she did not want to delay.

If Meesei had to guess, she would say that Lunise was most likely going through something of an existential crisis. What Lunise had read in those stolen documents was potentially world-shattering for someone who had been such a loyal servant of the Thalmor. It shed a whole new light on the narrative she had been given, and in all honesty, Meesei was not certain how it would affect her. Certainly for Meesei, she knew that she would not be able to give any long-term support for the Thalmor if she intended to keep the world intact. For Lunise, Meesei wanted to determine how this news would affect her, and, if possible, help her make that decision. Approaching the door to the room that Lunise had appropriated, Meesei gave a few brief, but loud knocks.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After all the emotion that Julan had poured into his argument, he felt despondent not to get the response he had been hoping for from his father. He looked away from Janius, tears still swelling in his eyes. "So you don't even want to try? You don't really know if he's going to say no. I mean...you said that you were a lot different kind of person way back then than you are now. How do you know your father isn't any different? Why can't he change too? It has to be worth trying, isn't it? You could make Aurana's life so much better, just like you do for all of us."

"Please..." Julan started, finally bringing his gaze back up to his father. "I really want to help Aurana. You always told me to take care of my family and do the right thing for them. Isn't trying to help Aurana the right thing to do, even if it probably won't work?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan was surprised to hear how Janius was speaking about his family. He had, of course, heard his father describe before how his parents were often absent from his life, but his words then had not carried the tone of resentment that he had now. Although, having met his grandparents, and hearing how they treated Aurana, Julan was not terribly upset about that. He had never thought that there would be people like that in his own family, but he supposed he could handle that. What was really starting to upset Julan was the fact that his father was refusing to do anything to help Aurana. He had only known her for a short time, but everything that he had seen of his aunt so far just showed that she was a nice person who was being treated much worse than she deserved to be. The fact that his father did not want to help her frustrated Julan enough that he clenched his fist in anger and started to show something in his expression that was a bit rare for him: defiance.

"That's...that not fair! It's...not right." Julan shouted. He could not bring himself to make eye contact with his father as he spoke, mostly out of fear. "You help people all the time; it's what you do. All the work that aunt Meesei and the rest of you do, it's to help, um, our people. That's what you always say. That you are always trying to make sure we have happy and safe lives." Pausing a moment, Julan tried to think of how to say what was on his mind in vague enough terms so as not to make Aurana suspicious. Although, with how sheltered she was, there was no guarantee that she had even heard of a lycanthrope before. "You've said that we're not, um, treated fairly by most people in the world, so you have to do dangerous things to keep us free and safe. You fight people that want to hurt us, so you can help your family. I know you don't talk about it much, but...I'm not stupid! I know what fighting is and I know what can happen. I know you could leave to fight one day and...never come back."

Julan's gaze was on the floor, but even at that angle, Janius would be able to see tears in his eyes at the mere thought of losing his parents. "You could die doing all the things you do to make our lives better, but...Auarana is your family too! It's not even dangerous to help her. All you have to do to help her is talk to someone you don't like!"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan started to grow mildly upset as Aurana described the reasoning of her parents for why she was kept so restricted. Or at least, her perception of their reasoning. If there was one trait that he had taken from his mother, it was empathy. He felt his emotions strongly, often feeling for others just as much as himself. And, as a child, he did not tend to keep those emotions contained. "That doesn't sound fair. You didn't do anything do deserve that, right? You should be able to go out and play, and...have friends and everything. Father said he could do those kinds of things when he was young, so I don't see why you can't. I know this city is supposed to be dangerous, but it can't be that bad. If it was, then you could just learn magic or something, but they won't even let you do that."

Julan frowned, or at least gave the equivalent for an Argonian. "Can I help you? Are there any things you want to do?"

While Kaleeth's reaction was more tempered than Julan's, she too felt for the girl. She would certainly have liked to do something to help her, but unfortunately, she did not know if that would be possible. It was sounding more and more that they were being overprotective of her because of what happened to Janius. If that was the case, then the only thing that would even have a chance of changing her parents' attitudes would be talking to Janius himself. She knew well that he would not want that. "I...have seen this kind of thing happen before. It's how some families deal with loss; to protect what they have left, that is. For what it's worth, it does seem that they really do love you to want to protect you like that."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan was not about to try to argue with his father over punishment. He knew things could be much worse, an as far as he was concerned, anything that could get them off the topic of their actions that night was a good thing. He simply nodded in agreement and hoped that it would put a rest to the topic.

Kaleeth had no objections to the punishment. For the most part, she was inwardly preoccupied with her own thoughts about Aurana. Being the compassionate soul that she was, Kaleeth was surprised about how Aurana described her own life. It had been mentioned a few times, by both Aurana and Julan, that she was hardly allowed to leave her house. Provided that was true, it seemed that, on the surface, Aurana's parents were fiercely overprotective of her. Kaleeth could hardly imagine what it would be like to be confined in such a manner, and it made her understand why she would risk sneaking out of her house against her parents' wishes. Otherwise, Kaleeth would have felt it responsible to inform her parents that their child had misbehaved.

As sympathetic as Kaleeth was, what concerned her the most were the possible reasons for how restricted Auruana's life was. During her childhood in her village, she had lost friends to the dangers of the marsh, particularly as an initiate hunter. She had even lost her own brother. As the master hunter, her father had resisted the urge to become too protective of her, but she remembered times when grieving parents of other initiates had lost a child, then tried to shelter their surviving children from any danger. She wondered if the same was happening now with Aurana.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan had precious little time to get his own story completely straight in his mind. He had no choice but to change it at least slightly from what he originally intended. He had heard Aurana tell his father that she had come after them, so saying that they happened upon each other by chance would be an obvious lie. And since Aurana was not allowed to leave the house, there would have had to have been a reason to make her leave it. They would have at least had to have passed near the house for her to have seen them. He just hoped there was not something else he was not thinking about. If so, he would have to think on his feet.

"We did go down to the canal to have a bath, yeah. Aurana was the one that came to us, like she said earlier. I didn't ask why; I guess she saw us out the window or something when we were near the house? But it was easy to tell we were related, since her name is Aurana Aetius. That's your family." He explained.

Julan desperately wanted to get them onto a different topic. He was interested in hearing what Aurana had to say about her family, and how they felt about the past. Janius' parents did seem to care quite a bit more about him than he thought they did. Even the opinions of Julan's grandfather were not as nice as he was expecting, he still definitely cared. But, Janius also did not seem to be enthusiastic to talk about the past, and Aurana was probably as just as curious about them. "I know she probably has a lot of questions about you, and all of us. I'm curious about her too. Why is it that your parents won't let you do anything, Aurana?" He asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha took only a few moments to think as she looked Jatinha over. She had no reason to believe that the Khajiit had any other motivations aside from what she had been told. It was not as if they were going to be discussing any dangerous topics, and it did not seem as if Jatinha would argue if Aurana and Janius wanted to speak privately, so Ahnasha did not see any risk in allowing it. "It would be easier for Jatinha to escort Aurana back home quickly if she is already with us, I suppose. I see no harm in it." She answered to Rhazii, before turning to Janius and Kaleeth for confirmation. Kaleeth nodded in agreement, and with no arguments otherwise, the group continued on to the castle.

Since Aurana rarely left her home, it was unlikely that any of the castle guards would recognize her, but they still made an effort not to bring any attention to Aurana or Jatinha. If they were going to attempt to get Aurana back without her parents knowing she was gone, then it would be best if no one remembered seeing her. Although, they still decided not to bring her directly to their room in the barracks, since Lorag, Sabine, or Meesei could be asleep, and even if they were not, they were not likely sleeping in a state that would adhere to Aurana or Jatinha's sense of modesty. Instead, they wandered for a few minutes until they found a dining room that would be suitable for them to use to sit and talk. It was more than late enough at night that no one was using it, and it would not be used until early next morning. There was also a fireplace that they could use to help Aurana warm back up and dry off.

They pulled up a few chairs next to the fireplace while Ahnasha gathered up some firewood, though Julan was not sure if he should be sitting down, or doing anything else. He was not yet sure if he was in trouble, as his father had been mostly silent for most of the walk to the castle. It made him nervous, but at the same time, he really wanted to stay and talk with his aunt, after having been denied the chance to have any kind of long conversation with his grandparents.

Julan clasped one hand nervously over the other and spoke up in a hesitant, somewhat awkward tone. "So, um, you said your parents haven't told you much about father? What did they tell you about him?" Julan asked Aurana.