EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As stubborn as she had been, Narsi's answers finally gave Julan enough to go on to get what he assumed was a good picture of her life up to now. He grinned, though out of sight of Narsi as she continued her drill. "Hmm...well I think I get it, then. If you're really from Cheydinhal, then you're actually a city dweller, but probably raised different than most of them. I don't think children from cities are taught like lycans are. They're weaker, and aren't trained to fight like us. But if you were trained, then I guess you've always just been the toughest kid around."

Julan was smiling by this point, confident that he had figured out an explanation for why Narsi acted the way she was. "But not here. Almost all of us have been trained like that. Have you ever even been around other lycans before? Other than your mother? Hircine likes for us to fight each other and get stronger. Aunt Meesei has always said that the way we, um, test each other makes us more powerful. So now that you're here, you're not special anymore. You're just another one of us."

---

"Perhaps, at the least, we can still write letters. I suppose there is some small chance that he may read them." Gwindir commented. His attention remained firmly on Fendros, and his expression showed something between curiosity and uncertainty. It was fortunate that Ahnasha's parents were at least not stubborn enough to try and contact Rossarm after he had threatened violence, but the whole ordeal may have given them reason to doubt some of what they had been told.

"At any rate, I didn't know you practiced magic, Fendros. Where do you find the time between hunting and running a store?" Gwindir asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Finally, Julan felt that he was making real progress despite Narsi's distractions. He did not reply to her last comment for a time, instead allowing her to continue with her drills while focusing himself on reigning in his beast spirit. After another minute or two, he ended up shifting back to normal in the periphery of their vision.

Julan took a few moments to collect himself as he brought himself slowly back up to his feet. Transformation in either direction was still rather painful, and he did not feel close to being used to it. Still, he was at the point that he could at least act like it did not bother him. Ease of transformation was a point of pride for many children in the clan.

Walking back up to the edge of the training area, Julan quickly resumed watching the drills. "You said you're from a city, but you don't act like you've ever even been around people before. Or you're trying to pick a fight with everyone, even though everyone else here is tougher than you."

---

"So...that's it then?" Gwindir asked. There was a part of his demeanor that made it seem as if he was not quite convinced by what he was being told, which made it even harder for Ahnasha to maintain eye contact. "You're going to go back home and won't end up seeing him again. So you won't be in any danger from him, right? You're not going to make a big deal out of what happened and try to confront him again, so you're going to be safe?"

"That's right." Ahnasha lied right away, though quickly and confidently enough that she was actually rather convincing.

Gwindir let out a long breath. It was difficult to tell if he was just showing his stress at the situation, which would be perfectly understandable, or if he actually had some reason to doubt her. "Then I suppose there's nothing more to be done about it. I do wish we could have gotten along with your father, Fendros. I still really do believe that people like him can be reached, but it's not worth risking anyone getting hurt."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Narsi was making it somewhat challenging for Julan to focus on reigning in his beast spirit. It seemed like she was just trying to irritate him. Still, he felt that his heart was beating gradually slower as time went on, and he was feeling slightly more like himself. One of his dark green eyes opened and settled on Narsi.

"Now that I'm thinking about it, where did you come from? You look younger than me, but you still would had to have been born a long time ago, right? How did you just kind of show up all of the sudden? You can't be from this clan, so where were you raised? One of the other clans?" Julan asked.

---

Ahnasha nodded along with Fendros, picking up as he finished. "There is a reason we didn't want you to have to meet him. But...the rest of Fendros' family was really glad to have met you. Calia, Monderyn, Llarasa, they did enjoy our afternoon, until...you know. So it wasn't all bad, at least, and nothing like that is going to happen again."

S'nashi reached across the table, grabbing Ahnasha's wrist in her hand, then doing the same to Fendros with her other hand shortly afterwards. "Please don't do anything like that again. I don't know what all that was about with the sword, or what the sword was supposed to mean, but none of it could be worth risking your life like that. I woudln't be able to handle it if something happened to either of you."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Narsi's response was met with another rumbling snarl from Julan as a result of her tone. It took a conscious effort for him to reign himself in and avoid over-reacting. Everything seemed more intense to him when he was transformed, emotions as well as senses. Positive and negative emotions alike could feel exaggerated to him, including his frustration at Narsi's stubbornness. "Well I think you do. You...try too hard, it seems like. You act like some of the children. The young ones who aren't allowed to apprentice to the warriors yet. They try to act tough, but it just makes them look stupid. You shouldn't act like that, and you shouldn't want to be alone. Lone wolves are weak. That's what scoutmaster Eslund says. He's, um, one of the instructors."

Again, Julan started to try and focus on transforming back to normal, this time sitting down just in front of Narsi. Although, there was no position he could take that would make him seem much less imposing.

---

"Oh...we're all fine." Gwindir remarked, with a short silence hanging in the air afterwards. Interestingly, it was Shevari that recognized everyone's hesitation and decided to address the Daedroth in the room directly.

"I just don't think this is how anyone expected the day to go, but...we can all be glad that no one was hurt, yes?" Shevari pointed out with a, perhaps, optimistic smile.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan paused in place, closing his eyes in silence for a few seconds. He took in long, slow breaths, focusing on calming his mind and reigning in his beast spirit. However, after those few seconds passed, he let out a low, rumbling growl in frustration. Unlike most werewolves of his level of experience, he did not always have an easy time shifting between his forms at will, even when well-fed. "I just...need some time. Could you grab my things?" He answered.

However, it was Narsi's outburst that had grabbed most of Julan's attention. Even in his current form, he had the faculties to be surprised by it. She was far more abrasive than even Lorag. He could be tough on them, and was obviously intimidating, but Narsi just seemed unpleasant. Still, Julan was not about to refuse Lorag. "It's not that...unusual, you know." Julan commented, stepping out of the middle of the training area towards her. He looked distracted, like his dark green eyes were instinctively trying to seek out some unseen threat, or perhaps prey. But, it did not keep him from speaking reasonably clearly. "It can help to train with someone...closer to your skill. We do it too. It, um, it means no one has to hold back when we spar. And teaching is also...supposed to be good practice. For us. This is just part of normal training...sister."

---

As much sense as Fendros was making, Ahnasha did not seem to be hearing it. She gave him a nervous look, taking a drink of water to buy herself a few more moments to answer. "Fendros...my family isn't like yours. I know that's good in a lot of ways, but...not for this. Daedra worship might be perfectly normal to the Dunmer, but if I said the, um, truth to my family, they would look at me like...I don't know. Like how we see Hal-Neesa. It would be like I had embraced pure evil."

Unfortunately for Ahnasha, she had no more time to make her case to Fendros. Across the room, she spotted Vasiq and Shevari heading down the steps, followed closely behind by her parents. She had time for only a few hushed words, which she delivered with an almost pleading gaze. "Please, just don't do anything rash."

There was far less excitement for this reunion than when they had all first met. No one in Ahnasha's family showed any hint of fear or panic by this point, but there was a certain, palpable discomfort in the air as they all took their seats. There were still some smiles from them, but until they addressed it directly, there would always be that unspoken topic hanging over the conversation.

"It's good to see everyone back here together and...safe." Gwindir began, though he followed with only an uncomfortable silence.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Although Julan could see Rhazii's feint as it was happening, he simply had too much momentum to do anything about it. He failed to so much as lay a finger on Rhazii, though he did not notice that he had been hit until Rhazii pointed it out, which Lorag was quick to confirm.

"Now that one could've done some damage. Got to keep yourself ready to defend with every attack, Julan. Can't be reactive in this form. If you don't got anyone else watchin' your back, then you've got to plan ahead. If your mother's too busy to train you, then get another werecroc to do it. Probably gonna be more of those coming in from Black Marsh in the next few weeks." Lorag critiqued, though he only gave Julan time for a few words of advice before turning his attention back to his daughter.

"Right, so how unbeatable was he, again? Don't much matter that Rhazii is bigger than you; Julan overpowers the both of you easily. But experience still wins. Now, you gonna get serious about your training, girl? If so, then you'd better hope you haven't irritated these boys too much already, 'cause they're going to be the ones training you until I decide you're good enough. Now, I've got things to do, so you all get acquainted and all that." Lorag ordered, not waiting long before turning to leave.

---

Ahnasha hummed to herself a moment. She did give a few seconds of genuine consideration to Fendros' suggestion, but those thoughts were quickly overcome by the doubts she had spent years collecting. "Well...a lot of crying. Probably a lot of yelling and panicking over how to save my soul. Mostly from my parents. My brother would probably just slink away and try not to get too involved. I really don't know what he would think. I know he isn't as pious as my parents...though I do think he still believes, just less intensely."

"We should probably just...focus on the fact that we're all okay. They don't have to know that Rossarm left with us. I'm pretty sure their business deal is done, and I doubt they're going to want to see him again. I'm just going to tell them that there is a good reason we didn't want them to have to meet him, and that the rest of your family was still glad to have met them. If they ask about why you didn't panic, and how you stayed calm...we can just give an excuse or something. We could say that you've been training with the city guard back home and are part of a volunteer militia. For if the city is attacked, or something like that. That sounds reasonable, right?" Ahnasha asked, slowly reaching out her hand across the table towards Fendros.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Being evasive was simply not an option for Julan. He swatted at Rhazii's sword, but many of his blows found their mark. Though, Rhazii did not commit strongly enough to land a strike that would normally threaten a werecrocodile. However, Julan's own indecisive swings were even less effective. Rhazii could avoid him easily unless he committed fully, and aggressively. Even then, he had to try to predict how Rhazii would react so he could prepare ahead of time. He could not rely on being reactive.

Finally, Julan swung out his arm wide and charged forward, aiming to tackle Rhazii and win through sheer power. It was one of the more predictable approaches he could take, but it was the greatest advantage he had.

---

Ahnasha nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Yeah, for a minute or two. So...not really. They were shaken up. Vasiq said that my parents were just wanting to calm down for a while. They're up in their rooms, but they know I'm here. They'll be down soon enough."

Leaning forward over the table, Ahnasha sighed and stared into the water in her cup. "I don't know what I'm going to say to them, though. They don't deal with that kind of thing as often as we do, and I have to wonder what they're thinking about me. I mean, do you think they'll be...suspicious about how we reacted? Part of me just wants to tell them everything, but that's probably a horrible idea."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Even without Rhazii yet being in his own beast form, it was easy to see that Julan was far more nervous facing them than he had been with Narsi. Julan was still more massive than Rhazii's current form, and it was about the only time that he could overpower him outright. However, that advantage still did not instill much confidence in him. He was yet to best Rhazii in any duel that he was taking seriously, aside from the very first time that Julan had sparred in his werecrocodile form.

Nevertheless, Julan tried to be unpredictable. He started to make a swing with his left arm, but stopped short and held it out in front of himself to guard, then swung high with his right. As before, he avoided using his claws, but one swing from him would easily be enough to knock even Rhazii from his feet. However, no matter how deceptive Julan tried to get with his movements, his size had limitations he simply could not overcome. It would not be a challenge for Rhazii to see his swing coming.

---

Ahnasha sat nervously in one of the chairs at a corner table in Cheydinhal's inn. It was late evening, so it was crowded with locals that were somewhat loud and rowdy. By this point, most of those remaining had more than a few drinks in them. Ahnasha's family had been in their respective rooms for hours, but in the brief time that Ahnasha had spoke to them before, she knew they would be coming down at some point later in the evening. For now, Ahnasha decided to wait, partially to allow her more time to gather her thoughts.

It had been several hours since the others had returned to Blackreach. She had not been sure for how long Fendros would be held up dealing with his father, so it was a relief for her to see him step into the inn. In truth, she was not sure exactly how much he would be able to help her, realistically, but he at least made her more comfortable.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I think it could make sense to do a short scene alongside the one with Lorag and the children. Fendros can be there.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Although Narsi was at least attacking more intelligently, her inexperience still gave her a tendency to telegraph her intentions too heavily. He brought his arms close to protect himself, then charged with his shoulder right at her. Given his mass, he could not stop or turn quickly, but Narsi would need to be quick to react in order to take advantage of it, and her current mental state did not favor her odds.

"She might learn something if she'd use her head. Pay attention. She's just as stubborn as her mother without the experience to back it." Lorag remarked, grumbling under his breath for a few moments after. He gave a long look towards Rhazii as another idea went through his mind, then quickly snapped towards Narsi. "Fine, Narsi, take a break. How 'bout you fight your brother, Rhazii. Show her how it's done."