EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Arinette planted her foot firmly on Sabine's throat, hovering her staff just above Sabine's face. It glowed with a terrifying amount of magical power. However, she did not commit to the finishing blow, however much her angered expression showed that she wanted to. The others in the camp were arming and moving to her quickly, but the automatons were approaching faster. She saw the control rod that Sabine had dropped on the ground nearby, but she herself did not know how to use it. Instead, she telekinetically pulled it across the ground and over to Sabine.

"Stop them. Now!" Arinette ordered.

Ahnasha was getting close, but with the sudden, undeniably advantageous position that Arinette now had over Sabine, she was at a loss. Right now, the Breton was just a single motion away from executing Sabine. Even if Ahnasha was able to get close enough to use her daggers, would she even be able to stop her from landing a killing blow? She could summon a bow instead, but that would break her invisibility well-before she could nock an arrow. Would a single arrow even be enough to kill her? Now that Arinette was alerted, she could have a shield spell upon herself that might protect her. If Ahnasha did anything wrong, she could get both Sabine and herself killed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine can certainly be captured, as that is the strategy Arinette would want to take for one of Meesei's packmates. She knows how much of a weakness their personal connections can be.

I don't think I would want Sabine to be killed at this point. That might bring an end to certain plot lines before they could really be brought to fruition. However, I do have some ideas of things that could happen in her captivity to further her own character. Though, I don't imagine Arinette will make it a pleasant stay.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Do'rhajul's response was almost instant as soon as he saw the light above him. "TO ARMS!" He shouted, which quickly stirred the camp to life. They all appeared to be disciplined, and were quite quick to respond to Do'rhajul's order. While Do'rhajul himself was unarmed and had to rush back to grab a weapon, Arinette was ready to fight immediately.

Before all of the automatons could even be activated, Arinette used the power contained in the staff to unleash an exceptionally powerful burst of lightning against Sabine's ward. While the automatons would be charging in quickly, they had not planned for Sabine to be discovered in such close proximity to the enemy. They simply could not reach her in time to distract Arinette from attacking her.

The attention was not on Ahnasha, but she was also somewhat distant from Sabine. She needed to help and started to rush for Sabine, still under the cloak of invisibility, but it would take her even longer than the automatons to reach Sabine. Meesei had almost certainly given the order for the rest of the warriors to advance, but they would be the last to arrive.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Ssarak Dyreackthanose

---

Ssarak was not expecting the sudden outburst of flames, to be certain. For a few, very brief moments, it raised quite a few questions in his mind which he had a hard time believing would possess reasonable answers. Between the Esyire’s thoughts and the words he screamed, it did not take too much effort for Ssarak to piece together what happened. The way the Esyire spoke seemed to suggest that he knew it would happen, which begged the question of why he, or any rational mercenary, would accept such a job to begin with. Why in the Inferno would anyone who was just working for coin agree to put on something that would allow said employer to immediately kill them at any time? Ssarak worked as a mercenary for a time, and if nothing else, he would have suspected that the employer could easily turn on them once they had secured the package. To Ssarak, it seemed insane, but he did not have time to dwell on such thoughts.

The Esyire, in his panic, was running for an exit, towards at least one of Ssarak’s friends. He could still be dangerous even in his last moments, so Ssarak followed after him. Being that the Esyire was on fire, Ssarak wondered if he might now be more susceptible to illusions. It did not seem likely that he was paying close attention to anything except his own pain. As such, Ssarak attempted to shift his perceptions to guide him away from anything dangerous he might end up setting ablaze. He shifted the apparent position of crates, other obstacles, and the exit itself to try and keep him from causing more harm.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha understood the warning, and with it, she was certainly in no mood to stick around. She needed to get out of camp, and the safest way appeared to be to go back the way she came. She still tried to stay silent, but she now knew that she had to be in a hurry. The Orc, if he was attentive and looking in her direction, would be able to see the distortion of her invisibility, but she just had to take the risk. To stay at this point would likely be even more dangerous.

To her relief, when Ahnasha had made her way beyond the tents and to some foliage she could use to obscure herself, she did not see anyone in pursuit when she turned back. The Orc seemed to be just as occupied with his snack as he had been before. She seemed to be in the clear, and could only hope that Sabine was having similar luck.

Do'rhajul had finally released his grip entirely on Arinette. Her anger had not died down, but she still took notice when the Khajiit directed his attention above them. His eyes narrowed as he stared intently into the tree's leaves. "Did you hear that? I could have swore..." He remarked with voice that trailed off as he started to take in the scents around him. "Something smells...off. Not right."

While Do'rhajul was seemingly unarmed, Arinette had her staff on her back, and she quickly reached for it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha did not need to get inside the tent, and indeed, she did not believe she would be able to even if she tried. The journal did not even need to be hidden too well inside, as long as it was in the tent. Slowly, she reached into her bag and put her hand to the book. Every motion she made had to be precise and deliberate to keep herself from making any mistakes. The sounds of crickets in the air at least overshadowed the faint noise of the book brushing against her leather pouch.

The Orc looked occupied with his snack, but he was still glancing around the camp. Ahnasha kept her eye close on him, waiting for him to look in a different direction. She turned the book on its side and lined it up with the small gap between the tent's flaps. With immense concentration, she applied just the smallest amount of telekinesis to pull apart the tent's flaps so she could slide in the book. Despite only requiring a small amount of magic, the fact that she was having to maintain her invisibility at the same time made it immensely more difficult. He form glimmered and distorted, to the point that she might be noticeable if someone happened to be looking right at her. Nevertheless, she continued to slide the book in until it was finally inside and she could release it. Withdrawing her hand from the tent, her eyes darted around the camp to determine if anyone had noticed. She did not see anything suspicious, even with the Orc, so it seemed likely that she had succeeded. The only task that remained was her escape, which she would need to accomplish quickly. After that exertion, she was feeling magically drained.

Arinette reached her hand back to grab a hold of the staff secured to her back, but with Do'rhajul's claws digging into her throat, she did not attempt to draw it. "Unhand me you...mangy cat. God or no, I'm still more powerful than all of you put together."

"And would that power keep me from bleeding you out right here and now?" Do'rhajul growled.

As he pressed harder against her neck, Arinette started to have to strain more to speak. For all of her apparent confidence, she did not appear to be able to hide some of the fear in her expression. "No...it wouldn't. And would you be able to...stop lord Vile from...punishing you?" She strained to say.

After a tense delay, Do'rhajul relented his grip enough to allow Arinette to take in a deep breath, though he still silently stared down Arinette. After catching her breath, she finally continued more calmly. "We can do it your way for now. If he'll be nothing but a benefit like you say, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about, right?"

With as heated as their argument had become, their voices had naturally raised along with it. For Arinette, their words drowned out Sabine's cough, but it was harder to say if Do'rhajul had been able to make it out distinctly. He was a lycan Khajiit, and therefore had a particularly acute sense of hearing. He did not react as if he had immediately identified what it was, but his ears twitched and he started to look up.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It took some time for the Orc to finally look away from Ahnasha. He had leaned in briefly into another one of the tents to grab a piece of fruit for himself before returning to the campfire. He had burned through some of Ahnasha's time, but at the very least, he had perhaps eliminated one of the tents that Ahnasha would need to check. It was unlikely that he would have ducked into Yerig's tent for a late-night snack.

When the Orc was finally facing away, Ahnasha slowly started to move forward once more. Her toes barely even contacted the ground on each step and her breaths were light. Again, she knelt down in front of the tent to peer inside. It was not easy to make out the details, but much to her own relief, she was confident that she saw the Nord laying in a bedroll, fast asleep. It seemed that their scouts' guesses had been accurate on the location of Yerig's tent. Now, there was just one last hurdle to overcome. She had to get the book into the tent without breaking her own invisibility.

Underneath Sabine's tree, Arinette's anger appeared to match Do'rhajul's. "Power does not care how much you 'deserve' it. Something you should keep in mind. Your usefulness is not limitless, Khajiit, nor is your authority. You are no longer my General; this is my mission now. I have allowed you your command because I have always respected your capabilities, but this man, he is a liability. I'll not have our mission undone by him, and if he interferes with our purpose, I will put him down myself."

Do'rhajul gave no hesitation in his reaction. With as close as they were, it was trivial for him to grab Arinette by the throat and slam her into the trunk of the very tree Sabine was hiding in. Baring his teeth, he spoke loudly enough that Sabine would hear him plainly. "Touch a hair on his head and I will rip out your throat myself. That stick does not make you a god; you had best keep that in mind."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Arinette was mid-sentence with Do'rhajul when Sabine finally managed to bring her ears close enough to make out their words. "...and it's going to cause problems. You know that as well as I. You are capable, Do'rhajul, I shall not deny it, but I am beginning to question your judgment. For all your years of service, for all your efforts, you have yet been unable to fulfill your end of your bargain with our lord. Now, you are ignoring my advice at every turn. It was a mistake to bring him with us. I know you have history, but he is too short-sighted to do what must be done for the good of everyone."

If Sabine could catch a view of Do'rhajul's face between the leaves, it would be easy to see that he was seething. "And I grow tired of you questioning me. I would not have even considered you for this team before you got that staff. You have no concept of what it means to be a warrior. To earn ones power through blood and toil. He does."

Ahnasha received Sabine's warning in time to turn and see the Orc approaching. She froze in place, holding her breath to keep herself as silent as possible. Her eyes were firmly on his, though his eyes wandered somewhat aimlessly through the forest. Luckily, he did not seem to be the most vigilant watchman at the moment, but that did not mean she was not still in danger. He wandered closer to her, enough that he might see the glimmer of her form through her invisibility if she moved too much. Or, he might simply see her displace the grass. At any rate, she had not yet been detected, but she was also being delayed by him.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Would your idea happen to rely upon them being discovered, or not being discovered?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Do'rhajul and Arinette took step after step closer to Sabine, but just as it seemed they were going to come right up to her, they stopped short of her tree. Arinette leaned in close, scowling at the towering Cathay-raht. Even while being physically eclipsed by the Khajiit, she still seemed to carry an air of authority. However, she spoke to him in hushed tones so that her words were not completely distinct to Sabine. It was obvious that she was upset about something, but Sabine would have to move ever so slightly closer to make out the words.

Ahnasha was crouched down low, standing rather uncomfortably on her toes to keep as little of herself in contact with the ground as possible. She moved around the first tent as close as she could without touching it. Anything she made contact with had a chance of giving her away, or even breaking her invisibility. When she finally came around the front of the tent, she found that the front flap was closed. It was not tied together or otherwise secured to anything, but even simply pulling it aside was out of the question. To figure out who the tent belonged to, she had to get down on her hands and knees and peer in through the smallest of gaps. In the process, she was unaware of her surroundings, and so did not notice that the Orc was starting to look at the west side of the camp.