EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmm, I don't think you quite need to become a battlemage." Kaleeth said to Aurana with a slight laugh. "I think you might be focusing too much on that part. Like I said, you don't really want to be fighting anyone; it's just the responsible thing to do to be able to defend yourself. It helps keep you safe. What you really want to learn is how to talk to people, how to, uh, be a part of society." There had been shouting and anger between Aurana and her parents, but Kaleeth wanted to try and keep everything as civil as it had been. And Kaleeth was sure that Aurana's mother would appreciate less of a focus on risky behavior.

"There is a lot you can do in the world. Plenty of places to go, people to meet, things to see. It seems you'll have a chance to do that now, but it might get overwhelming. It might help to have a goal in mind. Maybe...if you had to say one thing you would want to do for a living, what do you think it would be?" Kaleeth asked.

---

It did not seem to take long for Lunise to relax among the placid expanse of the ocean around them. Meesei turned her head to observe the creatures they could see, as well as the water itself. Aside from some of the sand that was still floating around, the water was quite clear, so they could see the rays from the sun piercing through the water from above. Meesei had seen similar sights before, but it seemed that it was a less common experience for Lunise.

Meesei gave a light chuckle. "I am surprised we did not frighten off all of the fish. Perhaps they are as curious as us? You know, after having met your father, I think he would enjoy walking along the bottom of the ocean like this, observing the creatures in their natural environment. Perhaps you can try it with him if you ever have the time."

Slowly and deliberately, Meesei sat down on the sand, then laid down on her side so she could stretch out comfortably, reshaping the bubble as she went to accommodate herself. She rested her elbow in the sand, then propped her head up on her hand. She looked up at Lunise, waiting to see if she would want to take a seat as well. In the brief silence, Meesei had a chance to take a better look at Lunise. It was even stranger seeing her like this than it was to see her in her nightgown the previous night. She had on only simple underwear, and the water had erased any effort she had put into styling her hair. In contrast, Meesei's waterproof scales and feathers just made her look shinier than usual. And of course, there was that scar. Meesei was sure there would be a story behind it. Hopefully it would be one that Lunise would have no trouble sharing.

"I find Tamriel's waters to be some of the most beautiful places on Nirn. Perhaps I am biased, but I think I could spend days in a place like this. I am glad you enjoy it as well. After yesterday, I thought you deserved a good day today." Meesei commented.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Alright, goodnight.

Since IRL things caused some delays, I'm going to summarize their return to Blackreach after all these scenes conclude (though, no rush on them), then move on directly to the hunt for the Rueful Axe. That should make up for lost time.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"She will be okay. She may pick up some scrapes and bruises along the way, but she will be better off in the end." Kaleeth answered, attempting to be reassuring. "Aurana will learn how to understand and deal with danger, which will let her make herself safe."

Kaleeth focused more directly on Aurana. "Just...try not to make yourself too excited about it, okay? It's not like you're going to be going out trying to find fights. The best thing to do is to try to avoid having to fight anyone; you just want to know how so you don't get hurt if something ever goes very wrong. Fighting is...well it's not like storybooks you might read. It's terrible, painful. You want to be peaceful whenever you can, okay?"

---

Meesei was unfazed by Lunise's persistent and seemingly unending pride. No matter what Lunise said openly, she could not truly lie to herself about Meesei's capabilities. "If there is ever more time in the future, I certainly would not mind more challenges. It likely does not surprise you for me to say that lycans enjoy challenges. We always challenge each other to be our best, and I suppose I am no different. I suppose we could learn much from each others' techniques, and I would not be ashamed if you were the one who managed to finally defeat me in a magical duel."

After a moment, Meesei gave another chuckle. "Well, I suppose I cannot say that I have never lost a magical duel. I of course lost to my father during my initial training, and after that, I did end up losing a duel to an ancient vampire lord from the second era. Fortunately, it was only a practice duel. Also fortunately, she did not end up being an enemy to us."

Although she was also having to maintain their air bubble, Meesei was able to dedicate some of her magic to trying to push away the sand they had kicked up in their duel. No doubt there would be a wonderful view around them once it all settled down.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Now that he knew what Janius intended to get out of his questioning, Julan tried to think of a more helpful answer. "Well...it would have been boring to spend all that time there without anyone to talk to. There were some people who seemed to already have friends there, but there were also people who didn't have anyone to talk to. So...I talked to them. The next day, one of them taught me how to make a slingshot with a certain piece of a chaurus shell. I chased Rhazii around with it later." He said, smiling.

---

Meesei ceased her spell at the same time as Lunise. In contrast to Lunise's scowling, Meesei seemed to be in a good mood. Since Lunise did not look to be going anywhere, Meesei looked up towards the surface and raised up her hand. Although, instead of moving anywhere herself, Meesei charged yet another telekinesis spell. This time, Meesei was pulling apart the water from the surface to form a bubble, then pulling that bubble of air down below towards them, then to the sand beneath them. Meesei swam down to the bottom and stepped into the air bubble, then moved it closer to Lunise.

It took only a slight telekinetic tug to pull Lunise down to the bottom as well, though it was probably obvious what Meesei intended by this point. If Lunise did not step into the bubble herself, then Meesei would bring the bubble to her. It was large enough to hold both of them, though they would need to stand somewhat close to both be within it.

"Quite an impressive showing, Lunise. It has been quite a while since I have had this kind of competition. I will admit, you surprised me. You Justiciars really are as adaptable as you say. Or perhaps it is your individual determination?" Meesei commented once they were both within the bubble.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan rubbed his head, seemingly confused. "Um. yeah...I'm pretty sure I remember. Missus Vera started to teach us about, well, everything. Everything except fighting and hunting and those things. We started out with words and writing and those kinds of things. I could already write when I started, since mother had been teaching me all about Jel. But Vera wanted us to write in Cyrodilic letters. She also started telling us about counting and numbers, then...history. Things that happened in the past, what cities used to be like, and what they're like now. And, um, laws in cities." He explained, avoiding the details about the fact that a portion of what they learned focused on how to properly behave when visiting cities, instead of lycan clans.

"But, um, what does that have to do with the Fighter's Guild and Aurana?" Julan asked.

---

Meesei had to admire Lunise's quick thinking. Even though she had pridefully charged straight into a challenge out of her element, she was showing herself to be adaptable, and of course, capable with magic. Unlike many, she could actually backup her arrogance with action, and even when faced with a powerful foe, she was determined not to allow herself to be defeated. It was a kind of confidence that seemed a bit familiar to Meesei.

When Lunise charged straight at Meesei with a surge of water ahead of her, Meesei decided to change up her approach as well. Instead of precise manipulation of currents, she decided to make it a contest of raw telekinetic power. Meesei charged an equivalent amount of magicka into a telekinesis spell that pushed the water back against the underwater wave Lunise had created. The two walls of water met between them, pushing out water on either side of them. She maintained her spell at the same strength as Lunise's, intending to maintain it until one of them faltered.

Meesei wondered for how long Lunise would attempt to best her in a competition of raw magical power, particularly since Lunise had witnessed the depth of Meesei's magicka reserves firsthand when she had created the portal earlier.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I see. I think that could work." Kaleeth commented. "I suggested magic because it could be quicker for someone without the, um, physique for other kinds of defense. Though, I guess you could afford to give her some magical enchantments if you want to make her a bit safer."

Kaleeth saw Aurana's reaction to Remus' offer to bring her to the Imperial City, which she supposed was a good sign. If she was reacting this way now, then Kaleeth supposed that she had probably never even left Bravil before, even under supervision. "Do you think that's all a good idea, Janius?" Kaleeth asked.

---

Meesei smiled, seeing that Lunise seemed to be getting clever. Though, if Lunise wanted to take their "battle" underwater, then she would be more than happy to oblige. She had likely cast waterbreathing on herself before she jumped into the water, and perhaps something else along with it, based on what Meesei had observed.

Instead of trying to resist the geyser of water, Meesei dove along with it underwater while dispelling her own water walking, using its momentum to carry her deeper. Meesei could swim with exceptional agility underwater, though even she could not match the speed that Lunise seemed to be demonstrating. Swift swim, most likely; an application of alteration magic. Meesei could use restoration to enhance her own speed on land, but that had very limited effectiveness underwater. She had never had any need to practice any magic that would improve her abilities underwater, since she could naturally outclass any other race of mortals. Regardless, Meesei still had the edge in terms of experience underwater, and she intended to leverage that experience. With an even greater display of telekinetic ability than before, Meesey began to swirl the water around her into a whirlpool around her, with currents that moved up and down seemingly at random. She would see if Lunise knew how to deal with unpredictable currents without becoming disoriented.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth was pleased that Remus seemed willing to admit his mistakes, so now the challenge seemed to be to get both him and Aurana to an agreement that would make both of them happy. Indeed, Kaleeth doubted that giving Aurana everything she wanted would be good for her. She had no real experience in the world, and without that experience, Remus would be right to be worried about her getting hurt. Kaleeth could recall what it was like leaving Black Marsh all those years ago, knowing nothing about the world outside her homeland. She made many mistakes in her dealings with other people, but she had both her pack and the physical prowess of a werecrocodile to protect her. Aurana had neither.

"The world is an amazing place to see, Aurana, but it is also dangerous. Your father did not lie about that. The problem is that you are going to have to face the world one day, but you never learned how. I had that problem myself when I left my homeland. My father didn't know anything about the rest of Tamriel, and my mother never expected me to leave so soon. The people outside Black Marsh behaved so strangely to me. I didn't really understand them, and there were a lot of them that could have taken advantage of me if I didn't have Janius to help me. I think, if I was going to suggest something, I would say to show Aurana the world a little bit at a time. Teach her about this city first, let her talk to and meet with people on her own, while you're still around to protect her. Maybe let her learn some magic for self-defense. I, um, use magic to make myself really, really strong." Kaleeth said, figuring that magical enchantments would be a suitable explanation for her unnatural strength. Lorag had added strength enchantments to his armor about a year ago, so she knew it was possible.

---

Meesei remained standing with her arms outstretched to give Lunise a free hit against her, which seemed to be fair. The water hit a fair bit harder than Meesei's initial strike, but it still hardly stung. Once more, Meesei laughed. "A good hit. Though, I would like to point out now that you have accepted the challenge of an Argonian in the water. Let us see if you can best me in my own element."

Lunise would be able to feel Meesei charging an even stronger telekinetic spell. This time, instead of a ball of water, she lifted up the water near the shoreline into a small wave that would thoroughly soak Lunise. Afterwards, Meesei cast a spell of water walking on her self and jumped up to bring herself above the surface of the water. Using telekinesis on the water under her feet, in combination with her own movements, she turned around and started to move quickly away from the shore. She used fluid, graceful movements, as if she were skating on ice, until she was sufficiently far away from Lunise for her to stop.

Turning back around, Meesei resumed launching balls of water in Lunise's direction. They were well-aimed, but at her current distance, they moved slowly enough to be easily dodged or blocked. Of course, the same was true in the opposite direction. If Lunise wanted to effectively retaliate, she would have to go out into the water as well.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Goodnight.

I'll be interested to see if Meesei can get Lunise out of her shell. The "challenging her pride" approach seems solid.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

By this point, Julan had all but given up on correcting Aeramina. Each time they had, she found a new way to mispronounce his name. "I, um, really liked the salmon. I've had salmon before, but I didn't know it could taste like that." He answered. Unsurprisingly, he favored the part of the meal involving meat. He usually preferred his meat raw, but the chefs had prepared it in a way that did genuinely make it taste better than usual. Indeed, the same was true for most of the rest of the meal. Inwardly, Kaleeth hoped that this did not make Julan more picky in the future. For Kaleeth, she wondered if all of Janius' meals as a child had been like this one. It felt like a feast that she would have had in her village only on special occasions. She supposed that reuniting with their son would count as a special occasion for his parents, but that also meant that they had all of the food on hand to make this kind of a meal whenever they desired. It was a luxury that Kaleeth would have loved to have as a hatchling, and she wondered what other kinds of luxuries Janius had given up to live with the pack.

Regardless of Julan's opinion on the meal, Kaleeth was more concerned about Aurana. She had given her word that they would have that conversation before leaving, so she wanted to make sure that Remus did not try to get out of having it. She gave a glance to Aurana, then to Janius. Ultimately, he would know better how to appropriately guide the conversation to Aurana.

---

Meesei maintained her grin. "Would I not?" She remarked. She brought the ball of water in front of her hand, then, much like a fireball, she launched it straight towards Lunise. Since she had not bothered to put up a defense, the ball of water splashed across the front of her uniform. It was a simple ball of water thrown without too much force, so the only thing in danger of being harmed was pride.

By this point, Meesei was laughing loudly. Once she could keep her eyes open, Meesei stood with her arms outstretched, inviting Lunise to retaliate. "You are not going to allow that to go unanswered, are you Lunise? It was a good throw, if I do say so myself. I would expect that a Justiciar would have even better aim." She said playfully.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth was not entirely sure how Janius wanted them to deal with his mother. Her behavior was much different from his father's. In a way, his father was easier for her to understand. He was an angry man by nature, and they needed to argue with him to make him understand why he was wrong. His mother, however, seemed so...disconnected from the events around her. It was like she was blissfully unaware of the anger and tension that had filled the air only a short time ago. Kaleeth would have to follow Janius' lead when dealing with her.

Kaleeth did not argue with Remus on the topic of Aurana, but she did make sure to give Aurana an answer of her own as well. "Don't worry, Aurana, we're not going to be leaving before that conversation. I promise."

---

After Lunise's stubborn and proud argument, Meesei could not help but to begin to chuckle. "Is that so? Do you fear the fish might report back to the Altmer in the city? Or do you have a bit more in common with the Imperials than you are letting on?" Meesei said teasingly. "Do not worry, I am only joking. But you need not be shy. Besides which, I think you have had me beat in terms of 'appropriate attire' for this entire excursion. I was the one to wear that dress into an Altmer college. It clashes so much with my feathers."

Meesei ran her fingertips along the water, disturbing its surface. "If we are going to make this into a...cultural learning opportunity, then perhaps I can show you how Argonians have fun?" She said, charging telekinetic energy through her hand to lift up a small ball of water out of the ocean. Across her face, a subtle, mischievous smile started to form.