EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Well, the core belief in following HIrcine is to become the greatest of predators." Meesei responded before her tone became notably more serious. "But, I will admit that I much prefer my prey to be a strong, but simple creature. The war has made thinking, feeling prey much more...common. Sometimes lycans as well. The man who nearly killed me most recently, their General, is a werewolf."

Meesei moved herself closer to Lunise and started to slowly massage her back. "I can see this topic is getting close to you, though. As I said, you need not re-visit any of your pain."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei chuckled. "Durability, tenacity, and some strong healing spells." She answered. "Or do you mean the fight itself? I think the same answer applies, honestly. At the start of the fight, I could still give a magical edge to my pack, as could Ahnasha and Janius. We used that to protect ourselves as we closed in. Up close, we could still overpower them, weapons or no weapons. As you can...very plainly tell looking at me, lycanthropy provides certain advantages in terms of strength. I remember Lorag being particularly fearsome. Never underestimate that man up close. His skill and experience is even more impressive than his physical prowess. Even most Elves do not serve in active combat for as long as he has in his life. That is a career that is usually short-lived, whether by choice, injury, or death. He has been second-in-line to be Champion for as long as I have held the title, until now."

Meesei huffed briefly. "Of course, all of that did not stop that Orc zealot from running me through and breaking Lorag's arm. He was a respectable foe, to be sure. Skilled enough to kill Hircine's former Champion, He likely would be commanding Vile's zealot's today, had he not been killed. To tell the truth, many of the details of the fight blur together in my mind. By the time the Orc was killed, I had lost quite a bit of blood. I would not have succeeded without my pack, which is why a Champion's pack is as important as the Champion herself. The kill was our achievement, and I would not attempt to claim credit on my own."

Lunise was still laying on her stomach, possibly to hide her scar. Meesei had the feeling that, despite the assurances that Meesei had given her, she was ashamed of it. Meesei elected to counter that by staring at her in a way that made it quite obvious she was admiring Lunise's body.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei laid herself across Lunise's back, bringing her hands up to rub her shoulders as she brought her snout up close to Lunise's ear. "Do you not remember what I said about scars being attractive?" Meesei whispered. "If it is not a story you wish to tell, then you need not tell it. I know well that heroic war stories are not the only ones that leave scars." She reassured Lunise.

Meesei rolled over onto her side beside Lunise, posing as if to put her body on display. "I would not mind sharing some of my stories, though. As I alluded to before, I am no stranger to injury. I hardly even remember them all. Argonians have naturally enhanced regenerative capabilities compared to other races, and lycans also, of course, have greatly improved regeneration. Healers are also quite adept at restoring their bodies to their natural state. I am a combination of all three, so my scars do not tend to be permanent." She began as she pointed to her stomach. "I believe this is where Clavicus Vile's Orcish zealot ran a spear through me. The Orc, I believe, had killed Hircine's previous Champion and taken the Ring of Hircine as a trophy. Hircine himself issued a challenge to many of his promising pack alphas to kill the Orc and claim the title of Champion. My pack was one of several that accepted. There was not even really a war at that time; I do not even recall if I knew the Orc was a servant of Vile beforehand. He was just a lycan hunter, and my prey. I was not as powerful then, and it took my entire pack to kill him. That was the day we found out about the suppression gas, which was the precursor to the soul-tearing gas. He collapsed the tunnel in his cave leading to him, so we used our lycan forms to clear away the rubble. Then, he sprung the gas on us and forced us all out of our lycan forms. So we ended up naked and unarmed, in the middle of an open chamber, surrounded by him and his bodyguards armed with silver weapons. If that is not a test of worth, nothing is."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei grinned. "Hmm, I will have to remember that. I sometimes forget how easily clothing, or lack thereof, can...excite many non-lycans. In fact..." Her voice trailed off as she grabbed a hold of some of the straps on Lunise's uniform. She had seen Lunise remove it herself the previous day by the ocean, so Meesei knew how to remove it right away. Although, it took Meesei much longer to undress Lunise than it had herself, mostly because she had a tendency to interrupt herself by pulling Lunise into a kiss, or other intimate embrace.

By the time Meesei had finished moving the articles of Lunise's clothing off of the bed, intentionally gently, they had moved to the middle of the bed. They were pressed closed together, and Meesei ran her hand down her side, eventually running it over the thigh that held Lunise's prominent scar. Even with as many other thoughts as were going through Meesei's mind at the moment, she could not help but to pay attention to the curious, inquisitive part of her mind. "You know, one does not gain a scar like that without a story to go with it. Is it one that you would mind telling?" Meesei asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I defer to your judgment on this matter, of course, It is just, if there was one gift that I would want to give you, that would be it. I know you said yourself that I gave you many gifts yesterday, but that cannot be all I ever do for you. Being able to reunite your family, if only briefly, would be wonderful. Perhaps, merely by making the attempt of creating a portal, your mother might decide to grant you a brief reunion? I do not know; I am merely speculating at this point. You, of course, know her better than I how she would respond. If you ever decide you want to try, I will be more than willing to make the attempt. It certainly need not be any time soon." Meesei offered.

Since it was getting late, and Meesei did not intend to leave Lunise's room for the rest of the evening, she untied some of the straps on her dress, then started to slip it off, sliding it down her body, then using one of her feet that was hanging over the edge to kick it roughly under the bed after it hit the ground. As usual, Meesei was not wearing anything underneath her dress, though she did not particularly act like she was trying to seduce Lunise at the moment. Both her tone and body language remained casual. "Besides, when we do have time to be together, there are innumerable places we can go. Between the two of us, I am sure we have memories across all of Tamriel. I would love to show you the sheer beauty of the city of Thorn in Black Marsh, or a brief visit to the peaks of some of Skyrim's tallest mountains. We made a stop in in Stros M'kai somewhat recently and found a little corner of the marketplace that had some of the best food I have tried in years; I would also love to take you there. Or even better, take our food with us and eat it in some hot springs I found during my last visit to Morrowind."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I know you have not seen Artaeum in your own memory, but...your father has." Meesei remarked. "I understand your apprehension. I share it, in some ways. I have never attempted to create a portal between two planes of existence, though there is nothing to my knowledge preventing me from doing so. Artaeum is not in Oblivion, so those barriers to not exist between them. And I know that the Psijics are famously reclusive, but...I had a thought on that matter. The Psijics, despite being apart from the world, still watch over it in some capacity. They accomplish that through their scrying methods; their ability to magically see across both distance and time. They can see into possible futures and, on very rare occasions, use that ability to judge when it is necessary to intervene."

Finally bringing herself to release her grip on Lunise, Meesei stood up from the stool and sat down on the edge of Lunise's bed. She leaned back comfortably, supporting herself with her arms. "My question to you would be: your mother, having access to that kind of ability...would she use it to keep an eye on you and your father? If she was looking into your futures and knew that you were going to visit a particular spot in Artaeum, at a particular time, what do you think she would do?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei let out a slow, deep breath as she held tightly to Lunise. She felt genuine comfort for more than one reason; Lunise's words were kind, and the fact that she was saying them in the first place was even more comforting. If any of her pack were to speak to the same Lunise that Meesei was currently embracing, they would likely think she was an entirely different person. Nothing about the cold, intimidating image that Lunise liked to project was present now that they were alone together. Meesei had the pleasure of knowing the kind of person she was beneath the Justiciar title. Inwardly, Meesei hoped that, one day, Lunise would have the chance to be herself at all times.

"Thank you, I...I am just glad to be able to look ahead. My pack, I trust them wholly and completely, with my life. They are family in every way that matters. I hope you come to trust them too; if they could know you in the same way that I do, then I know you would get along well." Meesei explained, her tone hopeful.

After a few moments, any pain that had surfaced from Meesei's memories had vanished. She had a warm smile, and was tenderly rubbing Lunise's back, though she did pull her head back so she could look her in the eye. "Indeed, I would not be one to follow all the tenets of the Psijic order; particularly those of non-intervention into world events. They prefer to wait until a crisis is almost upon the world before acting. Still, it does not diminish the elegance of their views on magic. They are powerful beyond any doubt." Meesei responding, pausing a few moments before posing her next question. "Would you want to visit your mother?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"The cruel irony of it is that it did not." Meesei commented, somewhat despondently. "I was never able to find the knowledge I needed to combat the gas in Mora's realm. I found tomes of knowledge on a multitude of other topics, but no matter how close I felt that I was getting, I did not find the answer to the gas. Sabine's sister was the one who was able to create the potion we use to resist it, and of course, you and Marod have helped us secure the means to produce it. Even if the knowledge I desired existed, I doubt Mora would have let me find it. That knowledge was what was keeping me in his realm, obsessed with searching through the endless mountains of tomes."

Meesei squeezed Lunise's hand lightly, fully embracing any comfort she was willing to give. "The book itself was just a sort of portal. It kept me between this world and Apocrypha. I spent so much time there that my body started to wither, as I was so...obsessed with finding the cure we needed that I could not focus on anything else. My pack managed to convince me that my efforts were not worth the sacrifices I was making. I had hardly spoken to them at all for the better part of a year by the time they all confronted me together. And even before that, I had been growing more and more reclusive. But, my pack is my family, and I love them all. When they managed to convince me of how I was hurting them, I gathered the willpower to throw that cursed book off of a waterfall. I would have destroyed it more permanently, but Daedric artifacts are notoriously durable."

Pausing, Meesei took in a slow, deep breath. "So, I have been left with ancient, forgotten magic, and quite a lot of pain. I just hope that the power I gained from Apocrypha comes to serve some meaningful purpose. I am more effective at fighting our enemies now, at least. And I have been able to apply my magic to aid my clans' logistics. Again, I would not repeat the experience, but there is no reason not to use the power and insight I have already gained. My experiences and studies did teach me new ways of approaching magic that I did not consider before. The Psijics in particular have an enlightening view on existence."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei breathed a sigh, and leaned back somewhat as she clasped her hands together in her lap. "Something I would not repeat, if I had the chance to do it all over again. You guessed at the origin of my power before, and your guesses found their mark. I walked Apocrypha, and managed to return to tell the tale. Or give the warning, as the case may be. Mora originally game to us about a decade ago with an offer of information, of assistance. And he did indeed live up to that offer; nothing we have learned about him or his followers has given any indication that he is an ally of Vile. The actions Vile has been taking recently has upset many of his Daedra brethren to varying degrees. Even Molag Bal, a Daedra for whom I carry no respect, has been acing against him."

"But, at any rate..." Meesei continued. "Mora did not only give his assistance, he also left his...gift." She explained, her tone carrying a certain amount of venom to it upon speaking the last word. "A black book; a portal of sorts into his realm. I refrained from using it for years, as I was well-aware of the dangers of associating with Hermaeus Mora. But, then the war became desperate. The soul-tearing gas had a devastating effect on our morale through all levels of our clans, from the lowest hunter, all the way up to myself. It was...well, you can imagine being on the edge of everything collapsing around you at a moment's notice. At that time, if they attacked us, we lost. There was no contest. The gas was an unstoppable, unbeatable weapon. Any clan that was discovered, was destroyed, usually with heavy casualties. It was in that...environment that I decided to use the book. It was a source of potentially limitless knowledge, and a potential cure for their weapon. I used it sparingly at first, but over time, I grew obsessed. I had thought that, given the threat that Vile posed directly to Mora, he would not be as eager to destroy my mind, as he often does to those who seek his knowledge. I had thought that, given my importance to the war effort against Vile, he would allow me some of the power his realm could offer. Indeed, I doubt he would have let my body perish before Vile was defeated, but I know now that my mind would not have been my own by the end. I spent years walking Apocrypha, studying the knowledge contained there. Contrary to what some may think, Mora does not give his knowledge easily. His realm is harrowing, and I still had to perform the research myself. Make no mistake, I was powerful before I entered Apocrypha, it was just that my magic was more...conventional then than it is now."

As Meesei was thinking about her experiences with Mora, she closed her eyes and started to shake her head lightly. "It was my pack that saved me. They managed to convince me of what I was doing to myself before it was too late. I rid myself of the book, and hope that I never have to see it again. I spent years studying the secrets of Mora's realm; I learned magic that has not been seen in Tamriel in thousands of years, but I would give it all up to have those years of my life back. If you ever locate an artifact of Mora, lock it away and destroy the key. Mora will always win in the end."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei gave an understanding nod to Lunise. “I know, though I have considered what might happen should another find it. One would need to be versed in an extinct form of ancient Dumer magic to be able to identify the purpose of the enchantment, let alone to use it. I also recognize that it may not always be safe for me to teleport to you, for various reasons.”

Meesei slipped her enchanted ring onto her finger, pulled the stool from the corner of the room over beside Lunise, then took Lunise’s hand in hers as she sat down beside her. “If you shape some magicka into restoration energy, then channel it into the ring in just the right way…” She began, demonstrating on her own ring. “…then the ring’s counterpart will start to feel warm. That will be my signal to you that I want to teleport to you. If you channel raw alteration energy into the ring in just this way, then the ruby in the counterpart ring will briefly light up.”

Once more, Meesei demonstrated the technique on Lunise’s ring, which caused her own ring to light up for a moment. "If you were to do that, say twice, three times in a row, then I would know it is safe. If responded with the light only once, or not at all, then I would know to wait until some other time. We can discuss and perfect and exact system, but most of all, I do not want to have to spend months apart from you with no word, or exchanging only letters. I want to be able to speak to you face-to-face, to be able to touch you, to be with you. I want to be able to be a...couple, as you might say."