EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Well...yeah, I don't want to hurt anyone. Obviously." Julan answered. "The Master-Hunter said that the fight will go until one of us concedes, or he judges that a real fight would have been finished. Like, if one of us would have been able to make a killing blow, if that was what we were trying to do."

Julan gave another, quick glance back to the Master-Hunter before giving a final nod to Janius. "I'll take the sword. I think I know how to approach it. I just have to...what's the word...nullify the reach advantage." He commented as he waited for his father to offer him the blade.

---

"It's okay, Rhazii. It's okay." Ahnasha replied immediately, glad to have finally heard something definitely from her son. Her voice in her current form made it harder to convey, but she sounded as reassuring as she could. Even her body language became more passive, making her seem at least somewhat smaller. "It's almost over. I helped make your beast spirit submit. You lost control, so I don't know if you remember anything, but all you have to do is transform back. I wish I hadn't had to hurt you, but if we hurry, I might be able to get you back to my things so I can get you a potion before the pain sets in. We didn't run that far, so it shouldn't take too long."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Although hesitant, Julan did slowly nod in response to Janius. "I know it's hard, and the spear probably had the advantage because of reach and everything, but I just think I would be better with a sword. I don't have enough practice with a spear in duels. Master-Hunter Juran says that as long as the sword isn't enchanted, I can use it."

Julan was looking nervous, though it was hard to tell if it was because of the topic at hand, or the approaching duel in general. "Do you think it's a good idea? Should I try the spear anyway? You know a lot more about this kind of thing."

---

Ahnasha did not waste time, now that the beast had seemingly capitulated. She stood, towering over Rhazii, close enough to pounce quickly should he try anything sudden. Now that she guessed the beast's willpower had been weakened, she spoke more directly towards Rhazii, without her demanding tone or threatening growls.

"Rhazii, I've weakened your beast spirit's will, and pulled it back in line. You should be able to wrestle back control from it. I want you to force the best back inside and transform back to normal. Once you are Khajiit again, it shouldn't be able to influence you for a while." Ahnasha instructed.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It was hard to say right away what effect Janius' advice had on Julan, since he went off on his own to return to his friends right away, but it was only a few hours later that Julan's rite was set to begin, so their games could not have lasted too long. Kaleeth had stayed with her father most of the morning, so they headed out to the center of the village together. The terrain was not perfectly even, nor clear grass or mud, but the area near the base of the Hist tree was the most open in the village, at least on one side.

In general, village life would go on as normal during a rite, except for those particularly close to the participants. However, according to Zharanthixil, Julan's rite had attracted a bit more attention than usual. There was more of a crowd gathering, especially among the hunters and apprentices. Fortunately, Julan did not know that the attention was unusual, else he may have been even more nervous.

Kaleeth, her father, and Janius had found a comfortable place to sit underneath the Hist tree, on one of the floor mats from Zharan's hut. Kaleeth was finally feeling comfortable enough to leave her weapons behind and get out of the chitin armor she had been wearing for most of the past few weeks, and was instead just wearing a simple loincloth like many of the other villagers. At the very least, she looked like she fit in.

It was hard to say that Julan was not nervous, but he was not letting it show too much. After spending ten minutes talking to the Master-Hunter, Julan finally pulled himself away for long enough to approach his parents. "I, um, guess we'll be starting soon. I was just wanting to ask, father, can I...use your sword? I just have this knife. They offered to give me a spear, but I don't think I would really be as good with that. I have been trained with it, but only really in formations and stuff. You're the one that has been teaching me with a sword."

---

Ahnasha and Rhazii had sparred many times before, all throughout his training, in and out of their beast forms. They had done everything ranging from light sparring with practice weapons, to rather heavy brawls. It would be easy to say that they should understand each other's styles, and that was partially true, but Rhazii would quickly discover that there was still much for him to learn. Ahnasha had always fought better than Rhazii, but she had also held herself back, simply allowing herself to be better and better the more skilled Rhazii became. Rhazii's training required him to fight against more skilled opponents, but Ahnasha had to fight close enough for their bouts to still be instructive. Now, however, there were no limits, other than the lethality of Ahnasha's attacks. She reacted as quickly as she could, left no openings in her defense, and used tactics that Rhazii simply did not have the experience to respond to. For Rhazii, it was his first true glimpse into why the clans held the Champion's pack in such high regard.

Rhazii's quick strikes looked slow in comparison to what Ahnasha could accomplish. It was not only her physical training, but the degree of control she had over her beast spirit in order to use her wolf form more directly, with fewer mental barriers. She could not control herself as perfectly as Meesei with her Ring, but she was as close as she could be without magic assistance. She dodged Rhazii's swipes, feinted attack after attack to keep Rhazii on edge, perhaps even wondering if she even intended to attack at all. Then, she timed a short flurry of attacks in step with Rhazii's limp, jabbing the claws on her thumbs into him three separate times. Two were minor flesh wounds on his bicep, but the other struck the inside of his elbow directly. She sacrificed allowing Rhazii to scrape his claws across her shoulder, but Ahnasha's precision attacks were calculated and effective. He had caused her some bleeding, but she was compromising his ability to move at all, limb after limb. In her mind, if his restless beast spirit would not lose the will to fight, then she would remove its ability to fight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Goodnight, then. I'll reply before going to bed as well.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Probably, I'd imagine. He might not have really understood, having never felt attracted to anyone

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan was still at a loss, and ended up just standing with his mouth half-open for a few seconds before he realized he needed to say something. "Father, you're...confusing." He said, but eventually he started to laugh only slightly uncomfortably.

"I...guess I should just try to make friends. I do understand the game they're playing, so maybe they're still playing it back there. Leeus told me it was 'like hip-and-tail ball, but in the water.' I don't know what that is, but the rules didn't look too complicated. I would have joined, but...she was showing me how to hit the ball right...and she said to watch her hips, and..." Now that he was thinking back, Julan suddenly looked away, visibly embarrassed. "...I just had to get away for a few minutes and think about things. I don't think I made her mad."

---

Ahnasha had, for a while now, been complementary of Rhazii's fighting ability. She had praised his progress, and encouraged him to push farther. That might have given him a fair amount of confidence, but here, in this fight, the gap between them would be fully on display. Rhazii was fast in his attack, but Ahnasha saw it coming easily, and reacted effortlessly. She saw him reaching for her arm, and instead grabbed his, jerking it suddenly in the direction of his own momentum. While he was off balance, she pushed him past her and raked her claws across his back to make a shallow would, though one which still drew blood. However, her hands were only a distraction for the true point of her attack, which was to jam one of the claws on her foot into his ankle. Despite Ahnasha's growing anger, her goal was not to cause Rhazii serious harm. She just needed to get him to stop fighting.

"Submit, wolf! You do not command my son! You obey me!" Ahnasha shouted. Regardless of the fact that Rhazii was not acting exactly like a feral, she simply did not believe that her son could be responsible for what he was doing. Not entirely.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan paused in place and scratched his head. "A flower, but...wait, I thought I wasn't supposed to do the same thing you did with mother? Wouldn't that make her like me more? I'm...this is all just so confusing." He replied, his shoulders sagging down along with his mood. "Maybe I should just focus on the rite or something."

---

Ahnasha let out an enraged growl, and every part of her beast spirit wanted to act on it, but she reined herself in. Although, that did not stop Rhazii from immediately receiving a hefty blow to the side of the head in return. Unlike Rhazii, Ahnasha was controlling the force she used and ended up dazing him long enough to wrestle her arm free from his jaws. His teeth had ripped through even her thick, werewolf hide and blood now covered her arm, but adrenaline helped her to fight through the pain for now. She struck him again with her now-freed arm to give her enough time to climb off of him, staying close enough to pounce at a moment's notice.

"You know I can't let a half-feral werewolf rampage across the countryside, Rhazii. If I have to fight you into submission, I will! You know you can't escape me. Whatever part of you that still has some shred of sanity left needs to take back control and back down." Ahnasha shouted at Rhazii.

Last of the Jedi (EliteCommander and Sep)

Kresst gave a concerned look towards Mevenn. "That was...quick. Whatever was said in that message could not have been any more than just a few words. And yet, it was enough to compel your squad to take up arms against a close friend? This does not bode well. I do feel this should be reported directly to the Jedi Council, but this darkness we have felt, this...pain and suffering seemingly from everywhere. It has me concerned."

"Back to Coruscant...I almost forgot." Eeruna began as she started to search through her datapad once more, along with mumbling under her breath. "Can't believe I almost forgot. Had to be about the best news I'd heard all year, then all this craziness happened..."

Eeruna started to seem mildly frustrated with her datapad, then soon stopped searching through it entirely. "Look, we also started getting another message, not encrypted, from Coruscant. The Jedi Temple, specifically. It's ordering a full retreat for all Jedi back to the Temple, and saying the war is over."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan only started to understand the point that Janius was getting to at the end, though it was hardly an encouraging message. "Oh." He said, lowering his head and letting out a long breath. Although, he quickly thought to make at least some attempt to defend his intentions. "I mean, I didn't want to...drag her away with us or anything. That would be crazy, I just..."

While not close to tears by any means, Julan did look defeated. "I wish there were Argonian girls back home. I like having someone to feel that way about. The only ones I've ever seen just visit for a little while, and I'm not allowed to use the propa...propyl...teleporting stones to go to other clans."

---

Ahnasha paused in place, though only briefly. Now, she was not sure what to think. Was the beast in control, or somehow influencing him? In any case, she was not sure what would cause him to have such a harsh and sudden reaction. She had expected him to perhaps be uncomfortable, but she genuinely could not make sense of what likely would have been obvious to most others.

Just as before, Ahnasha quickly chased after Rhazii, and it proved equally as fruitless for him to attempt to flee. Even if he could have managed to work up a faster sprint, the skill with which she could maneuver through the trees made catching him an inevitability. When he tried to turn sharply around a tree, she ended up turning on the other side and pushing off of it to launch herself at Rhazii, tackling him once again. This time, she did her best to try and hold him down. Rhazii was the stronger of the two of them, but in their beast forms, the difference was not as pronounced.

"Submit, wolf!" Ahnasha demanded, though her expression quickly became more pleading. "Rhazii, if you really are in there somewhere, talk to me, please! I'm begging you; I can't help you if you won't talk to me."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan was still not sure what Janius was intending with his story, but he supposed he did see the parallels with him and Leeus. Still, he was not sure what to say and just nodded along with faint uncertainty until Janius questioned him again.

"Um, well, not really. I know she said she agreed to it, but she didn't say how. I asked how and she just said: 'I don't know'. Is it some big secret or something?" Julan asked.

---

Ahnasha was now quite legitimately worried. For whatever reason, Rhazii's emotions had gotten a hold of him strongly enough that he had actually lost control. This was not something she could just be patient with, or talk him down from. Without control of his beast spirit, he was, at the moment, no different from any feral werewolf. If left unchecked, he could be hurt, or do something he would regret. Ahnasha had to act, and everything she did, everything she said, would have to be directed towards the beast spirit itself. Not Rhazii. It was no longer him that she was dealing with.

Immediately, Ahnasha chased after Rhazii into the forest. Though the Cathay-raht werewolf was stronger, Ahnasha was still faster thanks to her training, control, and experience. Not only could she best him in speed, but she could quickly and deftly avoid every tree, root, or other obstacle between her and her target. It hardly took much time at all for Ahnasha to catch up to him. Even a feral beast could notice that she was close, and it tried to avoid her, but it was a predictable opponent for Ahnasha. She pounced on him, but without the desire to harm him, she did not use her claws or teeth to latch on and drag him down to the ground. So, both of them ended up tumbling head over heel. But, for Ahnasha at least, she was expecting it enough to be able to recover quicker.

Ahnasha marched towards Rhazii as he was scrambling to his feet and struck him across the head, though with her fist closed to avoid using her claws. "Stop and submit, wolf! You do not command Rhazii; you listen, and you follow. Now, submit, and kneel to your superior!" She barked towards the beast.