EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

If you want to do any sort of skip, the pack would return later that night, after having been searching in High Rock for Sabine.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was yet more silence from Ri'vashi. For what seemed like an eternity, the only sounds were their breathing, and the faint sounds of Dwemer mechanisms which could always be heard in the city. She maintained her intense gaze at Do'rhajul, so it was difficult to tell how she had taken Sabine's impassioned argument. The only hints that her body language gave was that the internal debate within her thoughts was every bit as intense. "Justice is not monstrous. Crimes must have their punishments."

Ri'vashi took in a deep breath, and with her eyes closed, she finally lowered her sword entirely. "But Ri'vashi is not going to raise her blade against you, Sabine. Not even for this. When we collect the Champion and the rest of the council together, we will all discuss this. Just make sure he is watched at all times, and under no circumstances should he leave the city. You, murderer, give Ri'vashi your weapon." She demanded.

Since Sabine had already offered for him and Yerig to disarm, Do'rhajul did not hesitate in removing his scabbard from his belt and handing it over to Ri'vashi. Yerig also took the sword off of his back to give to her, though it was seemingly an afterthought for her to take his blade. It was clearly not Yerig that held all of Ri'vashi's ire. At the very least, it did not seem that there would be too much resistance in accepting his help. Ri'vashi would undoubtedly be the source of most of their opposition.

"Now, the axe...we have it now. We have the Rueful axe. That is the last piece. Based on all the reports from the other clans, that is the last item we need to carry out our plan. Once it is prepared. Ri'vashi supposes that Darahil should examine it. We also need to know what happened to you, how this...confusing mess transpired. Would you rather wait until your pack returns, to tell all of us at once?" Ri'vashi asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Your pack is in High Rock, looking for you, Sabine. A messenger came through the propylon chamber this morning and told us of your arrival there. Your pack went to investigate. They might still be there, but knowing the...mood that Meesei is in right now, Ri'vashi does not think that she is going to stop looking until she sees you with her own eyes. Your pack will likely end up back here tonight." Ri'vashi explained. However, despite becoming less outwardly aggressive, she was not taking her eyes off of Do'rhajul.

The tone with which Ri'vashi continued started to show less in the way of rage, and almost started to sound pleading. "But, Sabine...you have to reconsider your demands. You want Ri'vashi to just ignore this murderer. He is responsible for killing Ri'vashi's family, her friends, everyone she cared about for most of her life. He destroyed her father's entire legacy. How can you ask this of Ri'vashi?"

Do'rhajul remained completely silent, but his head lowered as Ri'vashi revealed more about herself, and the reason for her anger. His expression showed a similar sort of depression that he had been displaying any time he was left alone with his thoughts for too long. Seeing the face of someone he had harmed directly made the weight of his guilt heavier on his shoulders.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ri'vashi had not paid close attention to the axe until Sabine called attention to it. She cast her eyes to the weapon curiously for a few moments before she recognized it for herself and, for quite a few seconds, was left speechless at the realization that the axe was actually in her possession. "That's...the Rueful Axe? How? Ri'vashi did not think the enemy had the axe; the Champion said that we would likely have to deal with a dragon to claim it. We were going to bring a veritable legion of our warriors, gather ships, siege equipment...how did you claim it by yourself?"

For a few seconds, Ri'vashi was distracted by her astonishment, but allowing her eyes to focus back on Do'rhajul was all it took to bring her attention back to him. "But...no, that's not what is important. Even if that monster saved you, he is too dangerous! It might be a ruse, he might be using you! He cannot be allowed to walk around our home freely, and armed at that. We need to detain and interrogate him right away!"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While there was no way that Ri'vashi could not have noticed Sabine, she still reacted as if she was seeing her for the first time. Her eyes widened, and she pulled her sword back somewhat when Sabine stepped between them. "'Under your protection'? What madness is this? Why are you with this murderer?"

There was a pause from Ri'vashi. She did not put away her sword as Sabine had requested, but she did lower it. She seemed unwilling to raise it against a friend like Sabine. Even so, the unhindered rage in her expression did not subside; her confusion simply joined it. "We heard the report from the Daggerfall clan that you had returned, and with prisoners. Then you just left right after. The Champion did not believe it, and I thought it made no sense. Ri'vashi does not understand any of this, what is going on, Sabine?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Before Sabine could so much as turn around back towards the stairs, they heard the easily recognizable, and rather alarming sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard. Sabine's shouting had masked the footsteps coming up the stairs, but it was no stranger who had drawn the blade. Rather, it was Ri'vashi, who was currently staring down Do'rhajul with a look of pure, unrestricted hatred. She growled threateningly, though a particularly attentive eye might notice that her hands were shaking.

Ri'vashi spoke only a single word: "You." She did not yell, but even so, it was almost frightening how much anger she could contain within a single, simple word. Ri'vashi had obviously seen Sabine, but it was clear that her attention was solely fixated upon Do'rhajul as she stood with her blade in both hands, pointed towards him. She was not in her armor, but Ri'vashi was never without her weapon.

Even when he heard the sound of the blade being drawn, Do'rhajul did not make any sudden movements. He turned around to face her, but did not make any hint of a motion towards his own sword. As much as he wanted to speak, Sabine had already requested that they allow her to talk for them.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Both Do'rhajul and Yerig followed Sabine just as instructed and tried to avoid calling too much attention to themselves. There were some strange looks towards both Sabine and Do'rhajul along the way, but it was difficult to tell exactly what was out of place for them. The High Rock clans had obviously been informed of Sabine's capture, but they did not know if word had spread to other Tamriel clans. The Rueful Axe was quite a unique looking weapon, but the knowledge that they had been looking to obtain it had been a strict secret among the highest ranking members of the clan, so the average member of the clan would not know of its significance, even on the off-chance that they did recognize it.

Eventually, the trio moved away from the more crowded, public sections of the city and towards the quarters for the various, higher ranking members of the clan. It was midday, so most were attending to their duties out in the city and were away from their quarters. They were able to get all the way up the stairs to the highest level of the Dwemer building without running into anyone who recognized Do'rhajul.

Sabine would likely be disappointed to find that Meesei was not in her room, nor were any of the other members of their pack in any of the other rooms. Based on the scents she would be able to pick up in the hall, they had not been there all day. However, Sabine was also likely to be surprised by the state in which they found Meesei's chamber. Between the clutter strewn across the room, broken furniture, and even scorch marks on the walls, it looked almost like a fight had taken place in it. Meesei was not obsessively organized by any means, but this was no state that Meesei would normally have left her room in.

"Is this...normal?" Yerig questioned as he rubbed his hand over one of the black marks on the wall.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As it was not the first time that they had used one of Sabine's portals, there was less hesitation from Do'rhajul and Yerig to step through. Likewise, both Meesei and Sabine had used portals openly in the Silent City enough that they had become mostly desensitized to seeing them. However, there were a few heads to turn once the people in the square saw the first two to step through.

When Sabine stepped through, she would see the near-simultaneous looks of awe come across their expressions. Their eyes were naturally drawn up, to the glowing orb above them, and to the dotted, glowing ceiling of the massive cavern they were in. Then, they went to the mix of restored Dwemer structures surrounding them, and the new additions the clan had been making over the years. Do'rhajul had been well-aware of how organized the lycan clans had become, but even he was left in shock as their home completely surpassed his expectations.

"In all my years...this is in Skyrim?" Yerig said in disbelief.

Likewise, Do'rhajul could not bring himself to stay silent. "This is just...there are no words. I had thought I was so close, but...I was so, so far."

Amazement was nothing uncommon among visitors to the Silent City, so neither of the men's behavior was particularly suspicious. However, there were a few attentive eyes on Do'rhajul in particular. Most members of the clan knew of their former enemy, but even a description was not enough to confirm with certainty that he was who they might expect. There were only a handful of people in Blackreach who would be able to recognize Do'rhajul right away.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I have already made my choice." Do'rhajul answered with hardly any hesitation. "I promised my service to you, and I do intend to keep that promise. For my fate, I trust that you will choose whatever you believe is fair for me, and I will abide by your choice no matter what. After all you have done here for your people, I would not say that any of them would have a right to deny you your choice."

Pausing for a moment, Do'rhajul gave another look down towards the axe in his hand. The relic of Clavicus Vile was a potent weapon by itself, and even Do'rhajul's limited magical attunement could feel that it was enchanted. He still could not quite understand how any simple relic, no matter how powerful, could be used to defeat a god, but he doubted that Sabine would have gone through such trouble if it was just a hunch. Holding out the axe in both hands, Do'rhajul offered it to Sabine. "Would you like to be the one to present the axe to your clan? I would not wish to give them the wrong impression about me, or...incite any violence. I would prefer not to be carrying a weapon openly when I step through your portal."

Yerig was not quite hesitant, but he did want to be cautious about returning to Sabine's clan with her. "For me, I think I am going to have to rely on your judgment. All of this about Clavicus Vile, about those Towers, it does sound important. I know I'm not physically what I used to be, and honestly, I should have stopped all this fighting a long time ago, but I devoted myself to helping the good folk of Skyrim. I would be failing them if I let some Daedra absorb all of Skyrim, and everywhere else, into Oblivion. But, I'm also not keen on ending up locked away in a dungeon somewhere. So, if you think that your people will be willing to overlook my association with your enemy and let me help, then I'll stick with you."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Now that they had all settled down, Yerig and Do'rhajul could easily see how shaken Sabine was. Neither of them believed that her nausea was solely because of the smell. Even so, she still offered to try and pull the axe out of the tower. Do'rhajul sheathed his sword and carefully placed his shield on the ground beside him before slowly and cautiously stepping up alongside Sabine. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and did his best to make himself seem compassionate, despite his towering form being naturally imposing. "Sabine...you've done plenty already, don't worry. I can handle this; you just take some time to rest. Besides, magic does not need to be the solution to every problem."

Looking into the watchtower, Do'rhajul took in a long, deep breath, then held his hand over his nose. The corpses inside the tower were foul, but as a lycan, it was not as if he had to worry about disease, and his nose could not pick up the scent if he was not breathing. As Do'rhajul stepped into the tower, Yerig showed his concern for Sabine quite transparently on his face. He placed one of his hands on hers after he noticed how it was trembling. "Are you going to be alright, Sabine? I know a lot has happened in only a little time, but...it's all over now. We can relax, collect ourselves. And if there's anything you want to talk about, I'm here to listen."

Do'rhajul did not remain in the watchtower for long at all. The bodies were piled close to the entrance, so it took only a few steps for him to reach what he was looking for. It was less than thirty seconds before he was stepping out of the watchtower with a large, two-handed axe at his side. He made sure to put enough distance between himself and the door before uncovering his nose, but he still ended up gagging when he took in a breath. There was no telling how long the axe had been in the watchtower, and while it was nowhere near as bad as the tower itself, some of the foul scent had still rubbed off on it. "Well, there were a few axes in there, but I believe this is it." Do'rhajul declared as he presented the weapon to Sabine. By appearance, it was a steel, double-headed battle axe with a leather-wrapped haft and an ornate head. The engravings on the head of the axe were symmetric and depicted two wolves. Interestingly, despite the wear on the leather suggesting the weapon had been heavily used, the metal itself was pristine, in terms of damage, and its edge was razor-sharp. There was no mistaking that this was indeed the Rueful Axe.