EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei lingered into the kiss for a short while before finally responding. Since she and Lunise only met when it was safe to do so, Meesei had stopped changing into her proper city clothes for the occasions. Instead, she was simply wearing her usual hide, leather, and bone adornments.

"Hmm, so I am in Arenthia this time. That would explain the pleasantly warm air. Regardless, I think we can take your mind off of all of that for the night." Meesei responded. The remained standing in front of Lunise, holding her hands gently over her partner's hips. "As for my pack, the good news is that we have found the Axe. We know exactly where it is, but...the bad news is that we now have to kill a dragon."

Meesei allowed a moment for the seemingly absurd statement to settle in before continuing. "So, the bounty hunter we are tracking is evidently either the most over powerful, or the most overconfident warrior in Hammerfell. I am leaning towards the latter. He, and a small group of other bounty hunters, have decided to take a bounty that the East Empire Company placed on a Dragon harassing their ships just off of the coast of High Rock. A dragon that fully-armed warships have not been able to deal with. Chances are that he has already left for the island containing the dragon's lair, so he is probably dead. And we will have to go to the island to claim our prize."

Pausing, Meesei let out a sigh. "...After we deal with Do'rhajul. He found us."

---

Saras nodded. "Yes, please collect as much of your pack as you can. We have some new information, and will likely need to act on it within the next day or two. If the clan needs to provide any resources, I would like to have the time to prepare and mobilize them." He responded.

Saras moved to get the meeting started as quickly as they could, so it was just half an hour later that everyone was seated in the meeting chamber. Saras, Ri'vashi, Marcaille, Vera, and the rest of the clan's council were all in attendance, as well as most of the pack, apart from Meesei and Sabine, who had already gone to the spot that Meesei was planning to bring Lunise.

Since he was the one with the relevant information, Saras started off the meeting. "It is good you could all be here on short notice. I received a report from our scouts that they have found Do'rhajul's camp, and from what they could tell, they were not spotted. I have their report here, including a full description of the topography of the area.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I haven't thought much about it either. Great that it will actually go to completion though. I did not expect it to go 4 years, and it might be slightly my fault that it did. I think I let some things go on too long, maybe added parts that weren't necessary. Regardless, I think next time I go into a 1x1, I will start with a sort of beginning, middle, end in mind. This one has been great, though, and I have put a lot of thought into the last parts. A few ways it can go, though. Haven't set anything in stone.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

So, the big things that are left are Do'rhajul, claiming the axe, the assault, and an epilogue. With those, the end of the story is getting fairly close. I have to ask, what do you intend to do once this story is over? Just curious.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For those who were injured, the following week of recovery went thankfully uninterrupted. Kaleeth stayed in bed, under the watchful eye of the healers for an extra day so they could make sure her recovery proceeded properly. Physically, she was deemed healthy, and she thankfully showed no signs of the mental issues that could follow traumatic head injuries. She tried to remain cheerful around Julan, but in private with Janius, she confided in him the fear that the experience had given her. It had served as a reminder that death was not the only possible outcome if something went wrong. With worse luck, she could have become unrecognizable as a person. Regardless, she did her best to move past it, as she knew she would need to.

Unfortunately for Meesei, her planned dinner with Sabine, Karl, and Lunise had to be delayed, as Lunise did not respond indicating that it was safe to teleport to her. Nor did she give the okay on the next evening. Evidently, Lunise's duties had taken her somewhere unsafe for them to meet, which was not terribly unusual for her. Being a representative of the Thalmor, she spent significant time around people who were important in the Dominion, and who could not know about Meesei's regular meetings with Lunise. Granted, since Lunise was assigned as the Thalmor's representative to the lycan clans, it was highly unlikely that the first assumption upon seeing them together would be a love affair. But, the fact that Lunise had not reported the meetings to her superiors could raise some eyebrows among them.

After a week, however, Meesei finally received a positive response from Lunise. Immediately, she informed Sabine, then returned to her room and made a portal to Lunise's location. As usual, she did not know where she would arrive.

Meanwhile, Fendros was in the courtyard, walking between buildings when he was approached by Saras. The Dunmer's clothes did not make him stand out from anyone else in the clan, but he moved with a distinctive purpose. Usually, he sent messengers, so the fact that he was approaching himself was somewhat odd. "Ah, Fendros, it is good I was able to find you. I have gained some new information on our target and cannot find the Champion. You can speak for your pack, yes?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I wanted to have Meesei discuss some things with Lunise as well, so they could be doing that while Fendros speaks for the pack for their plans. After that, we can go to the next encounter with the general. Then, retrieving the axe.

After that, there is only one more shorter task for the pack to accomplish with the axe before it is time for them to push their planned attack against Vile himself. I imagine that will be exciting.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'm thinking about a week or so time. Perhaps a scene making an actual, more detailed plan for how they intend to approach Do'rhajul, with new information. And perhaps another scene concurrently. I can skip to it if you like.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei slowly stood, then walked on all fours the short distance over to Sabine. She put a large hand on her shoulder, speaking softly. "You are all I have ever wanted, Sabine. When I was your age, all I thought about was giving you my love and support. Now, well, my mate is an Altmer woman, so I do not think I shall be having any eggs. And I do not need them. You are everything I could have wanted in a daughter. You are my legacy in this world."

Following her heartfelt response, Meesei gave another short chuckle. "And I did not wish to mention it before, but now that you have said it aloud...I am also glad to hear that you are open to giving me grandchildren. Perhaps that legacy might live on for quite a while? Both as my daughter, and my former apprentice. I did teach you everything I know about magic as well. All of the styles of learning, the approach to the arcane that was passed down to me by my father. Ancient spells and forms of magic, lost to most of the world, but preserved across hundreds, perhaps thousands of years of my village's Treeminders. Indeed, if I spent a month or two teaching you about the Hist and a few rituals to go along with it, then you could be fully qualified to be a Treeminder for an Argonian village. And that is not even speaking about the magical discoveries you and I have made since then. I have been making quite detailed notes on all that I learned in Apocrypha, as well as my more recent experiments. I keep them in that Dwemer bookshelf over there. Consider them to be yours."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Is that so? I would think I would like to persuade Lunise to mate with me in my lycan form, as impossible of a task as that would be. How do you think one might try to convince a Thalmor Justiciar that it would be worthwhile to try? This form does have some...impressive attributes." Meesei responded, though it was not long until she stopped holding back her laughter. "All this time, and it is still just as easy to fluster you. Ah, but do not worry. I am just teasing you. Even I am not so cruel as to make you put any detailed thought into the intimate details of your mother's life."

Rolling back over onto her stomach, Meesei looked at Sabine somewhat more seriously, but still while in quite good spirits. "Honestly, though, I am glad you have Karl. There was a time in our lives where I was quite worried about how your experiences would affect you. We went through a lot, you in particular. Pieter's injury changed him, made him bitter and caused him to turn to alcohol. I can understand it, certainly, but I was worried you would blame yourself. I was worried it might keep you from getting close to anyone else again. It has been such a relief to see that things have turned out as well as they have. The last I heard about him, Pieter's life has turned around for the better, and of course I know well how your life has developed. Perhaps one day soon, you will be able to retire. There is nothing more that I have wanted in my life than to give you the chance to live yours. You are only...what, by this point? Thirty? You still have plenty of time to settle down, have children, raise a family. After this is over, you will have that freedom."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei was less "civilized" about her meal than Sabine was attempting to be. With less fine control, it was far easier for her to grab her portion roughly in her hand and tear into it with her teeth. She had to admit that there was a bit more satisfaction than usual in having a meal without the Ring. Losing the pull of her beast spirit's instincts also meant losing the satisfaction of fulfilling them.

"In all honesty, some of Hircine's choices for lycans have seemed odd to me. I would have supposed he would have chosen all predator animals. Regardless, I am sure he had his reasons. Different types of lycans can make it difficult to form a clan with all of them as members, but wereboars rarely give trouble. Werecrocodiles are often the most difficult." Meesei said before tearing into her part of the meal.

"Hmm, seems your nose did help with the seasonings, I would say. Just do not get too used to it; I will be needing that Ring back." Meesei joked. After finishing off part of the meat, Meesei laid down on her back, relaxed, and started to lick the meat's juices off of her claws. "Is a wereboar as...soft and loving as a werewolf can be?" She asked with something approaching a chuckle.

---

"I love you too, son." Ahnasha responded, her tone soft and genuine. She held onto him for a while, ignoring any soreness which it gave her. When they finally pulled back from one another, Ahnasha beckoned for Fendros to join them as they started to walk away. She was not entirely sure where they were going, but decided to simply allow Rhazii to lead the way. At the moment, she just wanted to spend time together as a family.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei licked her lips as she stared into the fire. The scent of food cooking in the air was a bit more tantalizing than usual for her. However, she could be patient. She laid her head down on its side and gave a motion somewhat similar to a shrug towards Sabine. "I cannot know, unfortunately. There are no histories or records to work with. A small handful of Hircine's Champions may be mentioned in history, but most go unrecorded, regardless of their strength. It is not unreasonable to think that some of the Champions may have preferred their beast form most of the time, but it is just speculation."

Sitting herself back up, Meesei took a few more sniffs of their cooking meal. It would be ready enough for them to eat soon enough. "I can say that I now have little reason not to fight in this form. Unless there is someone around who does not need to know what I am. It does certainly make me feel strong, capable. I suppose that does come with the knowledge that you can tear down a small tree with your bare hands, or scale a building in seconds. Hircine does certainly know how to make an effective predator. I think Lunise is becoming at least somewhat more accustomed to lycans, or at least my lycan form. It does speak to how intimidating we are that even one such as her could be made uncomfortable by even a friendly lycan."

Meesei's gaze slowly drifted onto Sabine. "I do not believe I ever asked, what type of lycan is Karl? Is he a werewolf, or something else?"

---

"We already have a better plan for dealing with him. Do'rhajul did not succeed in this attack, and that was a mistake for him. He will not get another chance like that." Ahnasha responded reassuringly.

Ahnasha paused to stand herself back up to her feet, then she extended a hand down to Rhazii to help him up. "Come on, let's not just sit around here worrying. How about we all three go do something together? We could go shoot targets, try to summon something, or perhaps just go for a swim or have dinner? I can't do anything too physically demanding right now, but that's not going to stop me from spending time with you."