EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think I will make the skip to Meesei's next task.

Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath

~|Strike Team Base, Day 3 ATC, 9th hour|~

~|Fa-Val-Kuul|~

The previous night had, unfortunately, been more eventful than Fa would have liked. If the arrival of the Jedi rescue team and the attack of the wild beasts were not enough, they also discovered a Sith outpost that was an uncomfortable distance from their encampment. It was not close per ce, at least in that she doubted they would stumble upon them by accident any time soon. However, they were close enough that their farther patrols could reasonably encounter the strike team’s encampment, or their own patrols, which was an unacceptable risk.

Fortunately, the news was not all horrible. During their scouting run, Fa had observed the Sith for hours, and from what she could tell, it was doubtful that the Sith had already discovered them. Their lack of alertness, or transmissions back to their main base, was evidence for that. Fa’s team still would have the element of surprise; they just needed to form a plan to eliminate the threat without alerting the Sith forces as a whole.

It was the next morning that Fa called for a meeting in the cavern to discuss the matter. Vebra, as well as the rescuers, were all present. She was still dubious about involving these new Jedi in her operations, but she doubted that she would be able to convince them to simply stay behind. Astera, at least, had proved herself to have reasonably good judgment with her handling of the scouts she found, so Fa supposed that they might be able to adapt to her team’s methods.

Fa, as usual, got straight to business the moment everyone had arrived. She activated a holographic display showing some scans she had made of the topography surrounding the Sith outpost before proceeding. “It is unfortunate that this problem is arising so soon after our arrival, but this matter is now our priority. The Sith appear to have a small outpost that is far too close to our encampment for comfort. Normally, I would suggest relocating immediately, but we have already used our shuttle too often in a short period of time, and it may be dangerous to wait until we can use it again. Thus, we will need to enact a plan to remove this threat without making ourselves known to every Sith on this world.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Ideally, after we make it safe enough for you to join in the majority of our tasks. We should only need to kill one god before that is the case." Meesei joked, though with a seemingly serious tone. "But yes, the hard truth is that most of the tasks we undertake require only the most skilled and experienced among us. You began your training in earnest only relatively recently. But I suppose you will want something more concrete than that for an answer, and I suppose it would be just as easy to give you one. The day that you can defeat, or at least match, any other member of our pack, Julan excepted, in a duel will be the day that you can join in some of our more dangerous missions. And of course, you will need to defeat one of us in good condition. If Lorag breaks a bone one day and you manage to defeat him, then no, that will not count. I only specify because I honestly believe that Lorag would still take that duel, just to prove a point.

Meesei knelt down to be at eye level with Rhazii, though with his height, she only needed to kneel slightly, even with him sitting. She still made no comment on his tears, and instead pulled him into a hug. "Rhazii, my nephew, you know that I love you. You are my family, and always will be. No matter what events come to pass, and no matter where you end up in life, we will still be family beyond death itself. I have always been fond of how you look up to me as someone other than 'The Champion.'" She said, though after a moment, he would feel the grip of her hands tighten around his shoulders. "But with that said, I am still The Champion of Hircine. I do value the criticisms of my pack, but I also have a certain...reputation to uphold. My role is to maintain morale as much as it is to be a leader. And you might see how it would be difficult for me to command the respect of the clans if they do not think I can even command the respect of my own pack. So, as much as I love you, my nephew, if you disrespect me in public again, you will have given me no choice but to demonstrate some of the Champion's wrath. Publicly. You understand, yes?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Again, Meesei's expression was unmoved, no matter how much anger Rhazii started to show. "It is not a disappointment if you are performing exactly as I expect. Make no mistake, if you continue to behave as you did at the feast in public, then neither Fendros or Ahnasha will be able to protect you from the consequences. I promise. But, you have not disappointed me. I never expected you to know exactly how to handle yourself in what is essentially politics."

Meesei hummed as a thought passed through her mind. "Hmm, you do remind me of someone, you know? Your Aunt Kaleeth, I know you are familiar with her past. She was raised to be a hunter for an Argonian village before we came across her. But did you know she was also the first and only member of our pack who was not a lycan before we found her? And neither did any of us infect her. She and Janius became infatuated with one another shortly after meeting, but it was the decision of Hircine himself to infect her. She does not have much memory of the event itself, but I believe that, after she sought out Hircine through a hunt in the wilds, he chose to grant her lycanthropy because of the potential she held. The same kind of potential I see in you."

Despite Rhazii's anger, Meesei actually gave a quick laugh. "And I can promise you, it was...equally unrealized at the time. Perhaps moreso. For all of your life, you have known your Aunt Kaleeth as a skilled warrior of immense strength. She is determined, fearless, and can meet any threat head-on. She is an Argonian knight, if there were such a thing in Black Marsh. But what you were too young to remember was that when she first joined our pack...being a werecrocodile did grant her immense strength, but that was about the only advantage she had. Kaleeth was only about nineteen years of age at the time, and in combat, she was only passable with a spear at best. She was...not terribly good at much of anything. Non-Argonian culture was completely foreign to her, and she could hardly even speak Cyrodilic. She was the very definition of a fish out of water. She could only rely on the brute strength of her beast spirit to keep herself alive in a fight, and failed many times when it was not enough. Kaleeth's beautiful body would be marred by scars today if her lycan blood had been unable to heal them. And yet, I can see the surprise in your eyes at my words. The person I have described is nothing like the woman you know. When she was in crisis about the new life she had chosen, and considered abandoning us, she chose to persevere. And now you see the results. She may have much to teach you, now that I am thinking about it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei hardly budged, though she did let out an amused breath. "That reaction could not be any more typical of one your age, Rhazii. You are about in your sixteenth year, yes? A bit older than Sabine was when she first joined my pack, but much younger than all of the others. Do you truly expect to match the ability of those with decades more experience than you? But yes, the other members of our pack, Julan excepted, have had far more opportunities to grow their skills. Lorag received legion training, fought in a war, then had to survive on his own for nearly a decade before I found him. Janius had years of Fighter's Guild experience; enough to survive a harrowing encounter in a spiders' den. I was raised with the singular purpose of becoming my father's successor as a Treeminder, then forged my own path in service of Hircine with the knowledge I had. In this war, we have all fought battle after battle, survived certain death on multiple occasions, and honed our judgement in situations where to choose wrongly would mean the deaths of ourselves, or those we care about. It was those trials that made us what we are...and you should be glad you do not have to face them."

Taking another step forward, Meesei placed a single finger on Rhazii's head to push it back and force him to make eye contact with her. "Our trials nearly killed us, nearly broke our minds, out bodies, our willpower. Our strength is build on the pain of our scars, and it was an unenviable path to take. You...you are young and inexperienced, but you have one advantage we never had. You have good teachers. We can pass the lessons we learned onto you, without you having to suffer for them. You have always received training from us, of course. I know you have taken well to lessons in magic and steel alike, but your training can extend so much beyond mere fighting. You can learn from us all, but only if you open yourself up to listen. If you go off on that typical adolescent rebellion and start believing that you know more than your mentors, then you will never reach that potential."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As opposed to the anxiety and nervousness that was no doubt going through Rhazii's mind, Meesei hardly took a second to respond, her tone forceful, but not shouting. "And yet they were not the ones to air grievances in the open. Fendros did not share his resentment for Do'rhajul to the other clan leaders, nor did Janius. Do you think your father loves your mother less than you do? Do you think Janius is indifferent to Kaleeth's suffering? Of course you do not. But they make their voices heard in private, or among the open debate of our council. They do not spread their doubt to other clans."

Meesei took a step towards Rhazii. "But I am under no illusions of why you did it. It is because you are young, impetuous, inexperienced. You have just now reached the age where you have just enough knowledge to think you know what you are doing, but not enough wisdom to realize all the ways you are wrong. You were born to a pack privileged with strength, influence, and respect. To that, I can only apologize. It was unfair to you to be born into a pack with such high expectations placed upon its members. The simple fact is that no one of your age should be expected to deal with what we have to face, without all of the struggles we had to overcome to earn our position. But that is the reality of it. It may not be fair to you, but you are still part of my pack, and you have to act knowing that you represent, in some capacity, my pack. You have to listen to and obey us completely, even when it does not make sense."

Star Wars - Lawless Galaxy

Since Heat told me that he would be able to take over for Orro, and there does not seem to be too much support for a reboot, I believe we can try to keep going as we are now. I would like to try and get some activity going after the hiatus we have been on, so I would like to know how many people are still interested so I can plan for how to include everyone.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I don't plan on making the conversation with Rhazii too long, so we can probably summarize with Do'rhajul.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei ignored Rhazii's defeated-looking demeanor as she shut the door behind her, or at least she did not acknowledge it. She stood a few paces in front of the bed and crossed her arms. "So you know that I welcome the criticism and advice of my pack, yes? You made it clear that you do. Indeed, I encourage it, and I do not demand that my pack follow my every word without question. But, you also are aware of of the many roles we play in our clans. You certainly should be, unless you ignored every lesson that myself and your parents gave you. You would know that the Champion's pack guides all of the clans as a leader on the battlefield and in peace alike. You would, of course, be perfectly aware that it is my great burden to keep every clan in Tamriel united under one banner against Vile; to keep them fighting as one even through difficult decisions and uncertain times. And being the intelligent boy you are, you would also be completely aware of the fact that having a member of my own pack loudly and...disrespectfully questioning the wisdom of the decisions I support would greatly erode the notion that the Champion and her pack have made their decisions with confidence and resolve. So why is it then, Rhazii, that you would do such things in front of every single one of the most important people that I need to keep happy with my leadership?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It had been several hours since Meesei left the feast, which was apparent by the number of people who were returning to the city. It was not crowded, since people had been trickling back into the city for hours, but there was more activity than when Meesei had been giving Lunise and Marod the tour. She headed back to her own chambers, though as she walked down the hall, she realized that she was the first of her pack to do so. Her perspective on how much time had passed was perhaps flawed, though she had no doubt that they would be retiring for the night soon as well. As eager as she was to return to Lunise, there was another matter she supposed she could deal with quickly. Meesei did not even open the door to her own room before turning back around and heading to the stairwell leading up to their floor. It was the only way up, so she found a spot by the wall and decided to wait for Rhazii.

A few of Meesei's other packmates passed in the minutes that Meesei was waiting, but their conversations did not amount to more than a few words to wish each other a good night. Finally, she spotted Rhazii's unmistakable, tall figure rising up the stairs and moved herself in front of him to make sure he did not simply walk past. "Rhazii, there you are. We need to speak, privately. I will follow you to your room." She said. Her tone was not outright angry, but her words made it clear that it was not a request. Rhazii, at his age, had been given his own chambers. Communal quarters were more common in other clans for the majority of members, but given the amount of space they were yet to utilize in the Silent City, more of the clan's members could have private chambers.

---

Do'rhajul's ears perked up as Sabine spoke one particular word. "I am always glad to help, but...a Blade, you said? That would explain much about her. Why she was such a worthy adversary when we were leading on opposing sides. In a traditional Legion family like mine, there was a great deal of respect for the organization of the Blades. Revered dragon hunters, and protectors of the Septim Empire. Their skill was legendary, and their fall tragic. It is such a shame that the average citizen does not even remember them. The Penitus Oculatus have been a worthy replacement, but there is a certain...mythos that surrounds that ancient order. Something that cannot be so easily replaced. Just avoid allowing that Thalmor to learn of it. They have sought to remove any trace of the Blades from Tamriel, and even being associated with one could mark her as a target."