EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yerig hummed and gave a light, understanding nod. "That kind of pain, it's a story I've heard and seen many times. It's why I'm out here wandering Tamriel instead of sitting on a mountain shouting at the sky. I wanted to try to keep people from having to live through it. People's minds, they deal with pain differently. Sometimes people press through their trauma and move on with their lives, sometimes it haunts them. I know what you went through was horrible, but your mind might not dwell on it. It might not be the same for you as it was for your friends. You've got to have hope that you'll be able to get through it."

The Nord groaned briefly as he stood to his feet, then walked around the fire to sit back down beside Sabine, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Look, if it does end up haunting you and you end up suffering because of what happened, don't be afraid to go to your friends. Lean on them for support, because I promise it can help. But, if you can get past it; if your nightmares aren't haunted by it, then you don't have to re-live the experience talking to anyone about it. I'm sure your friends will understand. You have to do what is best for you; don't worry about anyone else. You can make your own judgments on it, but only as long as you know that you're being honest with yourself. More than anything else, don't try to suffer through it on your own if it turns out that you do need help."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I thought that Sabine explained their plan to them and what they had intended to do with the book?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yerig listened on attentively through Sabine's explanation, allowing her to get everything off of her chest that she felt she needed to say. The situation was making more and more sense to him. Sabine had not been acting exceptionally confident, but he could not be sure how much of her behavior was a direct result of the torture she had been through, or if there was something even deeper to it.

"You know, I don't see how you could think that about yourself, after everything you did. You were able to do what your whole team, or uh, pack, couldn't do together. Sure, you had me and Rhajul to help, but it's not like we did anything. Maybe you'd just say it was the staff, but even before that, back when we ambushed you the first time, you nearly killed Rhajul all by yourself. So I'd still say my description of you is fair. If you weren't as merciful as you are, I'd be outright terrified of you." Yerig said encouragingly. "You, of all people, shouldn't be beating yourself up over what happened. Your friend could have slit my throat in my sleep. She was right there at my tent. But after hearing what your plan really was, I just see that you took huge risk to try and do something good. I know I'd be dead if you hadn't, one way or another. I don't think anyone could blame you that it didn't go exactly to plan."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yerig nodded along with Sabine. "Yeah, I understand. I imagine they might warm up to me a bit easier, but even the optimist in me doesn't think that they could ever trust Rhajul. Not after everything that happened between you all. I think 'tolerate' is probably the best we could possibly hope for when it comes to him."

While he was sure that what Sabine had said was part of the truth, Yerig was perceptive enough to see the signs in her expression that she had something else on her mind. He doubted that he had the full story. "I know I gave you a hard time, but I trust that you're at least confident we can do this. I doubt you would want to send yourself to certain death for no reason. But, uh, you sure there's nothing more? Don't worry about me judging you or anything, whatever it is. You've already proven yourself a brave, powerful, and merciful woman to me. I just want to help at this point."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The camp was quite silent for the entire time that Do'rhajul was cooking up their dinner, which consisted of some dried fish and vegetables. It was not the most flavorful of meals, but hey hardly had the time to hunt for anything fresh.

Yerig was the only one who actually appeared to be bothered by the uncomfortable silence, and the downtrodden attitudes of his companions. Both Do'rhajul and Sabine looked like their minds were off somewhere else, and nowhere pleasant. It was a mood that rubbed off on him for a while as they ate, but he was not one to let the silence last forever. He was not entirely sure of what to say, but anything seemed to be better than nothing at the moment.

Yerig inched himself somewhat closer to Sabine. "So, um, Sabine, I was wondering something. We never really talked about it in much detail, but why did you want to do it this way? To go after the axe on our own, I mean, without help from your friends."

Meanwhile, Do'rhajul was the first to finish his dinner, and without a word or explanation, he stood up and walked off towards the beach, out of sight.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Circumtore

Between Sirka's powerful legs and Elias' jetpack, the pair were able to put quite a bit of distance between them and the remaining pirates rather quickly, particularly with the pirates having been stunned by the flash grenade. They weaved between crates to keep the line-of-sight broken, then tried to keep their path unpredictable once they were in the city. Sirka was absolutely not someone who could hide in a crowd, so their only option to get away from the fight was to simply keep distance from the pirates. Hopefully, with all of the confusion that had been stirred up at the warehouse, the pirates would not be effectively following.

Eventually, Sirka and Elias were able to holster their weapons and continue to walk somewhat less conspicuously towards the docking bay. Predictably, Sirka was none too happy about much of what Elias had to say to her. There was a low, rumbling growl from her throat while she stared him down with her black eyes. "I'll argue whenever, and wherever I damn well please." She asserted, though despite her words, she did not immediately begin to shout at him. "I just want to get my sister back home, but for reasons I can't comprehend, she was adamant that I stick my neck out for you. She insists that it would impress Koren for me to help his interests here, so against my better judgement, I'm going to get you and that package back to your ship. Even if I have to drag both of you there myself. Then, we can have a nice, looong chat, just you and me." As she finished speaking, Sirka reached out and placed her oversized hand on Elias' shoulder. She did not squeeze tightly enough to harm him, but at the same time, she kept her grip firm enough that he would absolutely not be able to remove her hand on his own.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Circumtore

"Fine, then get your beautiful and glorious hide over here!" Sirka remarked with crystal clear sarcasm. "No need to keep up this fight if we don't have to. We don't know their numbers. Let's just make our escape. Run over to me, I'll give the distraction. Keep your eyes off of them." She suggested to him.

Keeping herself behind cover for a moment, Sirka pulled one of her grenades from her bandolier: a flashbang. The device had an adjustable timer through a simple dial on the top, which she rotated to give it a short fuse. "Ready...now!" Sirka said to Elias as she armed the grenade, then leaned out from her cover to give a hefty overhand throw towards the enemy. The fuse was less than a second, so it ended up detonating mid-air in the middle of the group. It was far enough away that the sound did not daze her, and her eyes were resistant to the flash, so she was able to sustain reasonably accurate fire on the dazed enemies.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Circumtore

Being that Sirka did not know the plan that the Mandalorians had made among themselves, she could not help but to release a low growl upon seeing one of them fly away. "Suppose it's too much to expect him to actually help." She muttered to herself. Sirka had certainly managed to attract the attention to herself, as the pirates on the west flank were now trying to find any angle that she was not covering to take shots on her. After taking another blaster bolt to the stomach, Sirka made a sprint towards the nearest of the crates to finally take herself out of the line of fire. Still, she peeked out when she could to fire a few bursts downrange, so as to at least try to discourage them from advancing and potentially overwhelming her. Though, if the pirates did get more aggressive on her, she did have a plan or two in mind.

Sirka had been given the radio frequency that Elias was using by Delni on her way over, so she was able to patch herself into his communications, and her first words to him were likely not too different from what he may have been expecting. "Come on, you empty-headed hairless ape, get over here! I'll cover you, but I can't do this forever." She leaned out again to try and put more pressure on the enemy. There were enough of the pirates that, if they finally put their attention on Elias, he would not have near as easy of a time dealing with them as he had at the break of the firefight, particularly since he had some open space to cross.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Do'rhajul took the time to clearly and thoroughly observe their surroundings before responding. "Hmm, this camp could be more than a day old, maybe two. Still, what you said is true. Rushing after them could be a mistake, especially if the dragon has already gotten to them. We need to be well rested if we encounter it."

"I think that sounds like a plan." Yerig added. "I could use a break after all this sailing and walking anyways. These old bones don't have the stamina they used to."

Do'rhajul was the one who was carrying most of their heavier supplies, given that he was the most physically capable among them. The tents they had taken from their old camp were small, but there was one for each of them. Without needing to be asked, he started to set up their camp, while Yerig looked for something on which he could sit and rest. He rolled over a rock into the center of camp, then gathered up some kindling from around the camp to put onto the campfire.

With a groan, Yerig leaned down close to the campfire and spoke the slightest whisper of a word: Yol. The word formed a small flame to ignite the kindling, after which Yerig leaned back and let out a long sigh.

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

You didn't need to if you didn't want to.