EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Since Narsi had to push back forward after stumbling back, Julan had a few brief moments to think about his approach. She had somehow managed to recover from his aggression, but she was showing no sign of stopping her own aggression. So, he decided to put into action some of his own training once again. This time, Julan did not meet Narsi's attack head-on, but rather set himself up to move with her momentum. He intended to deflect her first jab with the least amount of movement of his own arm as possible, but as his technique was not terribly refined, he ended up taking the jab directly to his gut regardless. But still, it meant his hands were still in a position to receive her main attack.

Guarding his head with one arm, Julan shot out with the other as quickly as he could and managed to successfully get a grip on her forearm. From there, he pulled rather than pushed to take advantage of her forward momentum. He knew he did not have the balance to keep his footing at this point, so he twisted his body so as to force her down underneath him and make her take the brunt of the fall. He left his torso open and legs open to a few hits, but there was no question that she was going down now.

---

After Fendros left, it would be about another hour before Ahnasha would rejoin him in their room. However, even with that time passing, he would be able to tell the moment she stepped through the door that it had done little to temper her anger. If anything, it had given it time to fester in her mind while she was putting on her act to appease her family.

Ahnasha practically slammed the door behind her, starring daggers at Fendros and ever so slightly baring her teeth at him. "What in Oblivion is wrong with you?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan, to start, guarded with his arms. She was not putting enough force behind her flurry for the strikes to matter, until she finally committed fully into one at his side. However, Julan could react on training, instead of just instinct. He was not skilled enough to block her attack entirely, but he had decent enough footwork to be able to move and lessen the impact. At the same time, committing fully to a strike had finally left Narsi open enough for him to strike back harder. He did take a hit, but she took one even harder, and right to her gut.

Not only did Julan land a hit, but he followed through as well. It was, perhaps, not elegant, but he had been taught not to let an advantage go to waste. He hooked one foot behind Narsi's heel while simultaneously shoving forward with his shoulder. Being that he was clearly bigger than her, Narsi no doubt expected to be at a disavantage in terms of strength, but it would not be until she attempted to resist an attack with his full weight behind it that she would realize exactly how easily a werecrocodile could overwhelm her, even out of beast form.

---

"There's nothing to say, husband." Ahnasha replied in an equivalent tone. She had precious little time to think about how to elaborate, but keeping her mind focused on the topic of teleportation did help for inspiration. She looked away and let out a long, slow, sigh, which bought her just enough time to say something. "I know what supposedly happened to your great-uncle, but Meesei doesn't even use that kind of teleportation."

S'nashi looked almost frightened, leaning in closer to Ahnasha. "Dear, please, if there's something dangerous about it..."

"There isn't mother, I promise. But...if it really does worry you, I can also promise that we will stop using it after we get home. If you really want us to." Ahnasha answered back immediately. Nothing in her voice or demeanor so much as hinted that she was being anything but genuine. It did speak to Ahnasha's ability to lie that she was able to keep it going this long, and even turn it to her advantage in a way. However, Fendros, at this point, had a choice to make. For as clever as she was, Ahnasha was unlikely to be able to keep going convincingly if Fendros persisted. But, Ahnasha's opinion on the matter was made abundantly clear. As soon as she looked away from her family, she mouthed a single word towards that concisely explained how she felt about his suggestions: "Leave."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Oh, sure, now you say you want to fight. Just a few seconds ago, you were refusing to even challenge me." Julan retorted, with him too taking up a fighting stance. Narsi had successfully pushed his agitation over the edge into outright anger. Although he was no longer under the influence of his beast spirit, the time he had spent in his beast form had certainly made it easier for her to get under his scales. "Have you ever even fought anyone other than your mother? Or did all the other kids back in your city just run away?"

Despite his taunting, Julan was at least not acting too overconfident. The stance he took was more than simply raised fists, it was one that he had practiced and drilled with his mother. In Elsweyr, Ri'kalesh had trained both Kaleeth and Janius in his unarmed fighting techniques, and as such, the Khajiit martial arts had been a part of his own training. He was, of course, very much a novice, but he was still trained beyond just throwing punches on instinct.

---

Both of Ahnasha's parents showed their confusion in the silence that followed Fendros' comment. Ahnasha did everything she could to think quickly, though S'nashi still had time to question what was going on. "I'm...not sure I understand. What is he talking about, dear?"

"Fendros, you...really don't need to frighten my mother like that." Ahnasha began, frantically piecing together her story in her mind as she spoke it. "Mother, he has always just been somewhat dubious about teleportation since Meesei first told him about it. Supposedly there have been some mages that have made mistakes using it, but they weren't Meesei. I assure you that we are perfectly safe, mother. She's teleported hundreds, if not thousands of times, with no mistakes."

S'nashi took hold of Ahnasha's hands. "I'm sure she has, but if there's a chance it could be dangerous, maybe you should..."

"It's alright, mother." Ahnasha interrupted. "If you really are worried, we can make sure to only ever use it sparingly. I promise."

Ahnasha's web of lies were becoming more and more twisted and complex, and it did not seem that she was stopping. The look she gave Fendros as soon as she turned away from her family made her anger quite apparent. "Fendros, maybe you should head back now. You know your mother is expecting to meet up with you before heading back home, and it is getting late."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan was taken off-guard and was unable to speak for a few moments as he was catching his breath. Despite being younger, Narsi was certainly able to throw a punch, though it was nothing more than anything Julan had to endure before. By the time Rhazii was finished berating her, Julan had recovered with only his anger left to show for the attack. And there was no mistaking that he was indeed angry.

Julan marched up and stood over Narsi, practically growling and locking eyes with her. "Then maybe I should just do it instead? You hit me with a cheap shot, then just run away and hide when it looks like you're going to have to actually fight? You're definitely not from a clan. You're just a soft little city-dweller. So I'm challenging [/i]you[/i]. Come on, fight me, coward!"

---

Between the two of them, Ahnasha was the one who tended to be better at lying, and in this case, she did at least have something in mind before the silence grew too long. As usual, it was to mostly tell the truth. "Well, he's really only good at wards right now. The protective magic, the one that guards against incoming spells. He had a lot of trouble learning as a child, but he did know enough that our friend Meesei was able to help him with wards. Fendros is an Atronach. Or, um, born under the birthsign of the Atronach, that is. It means he can't replenish his own magicka very easily, but apparently, Atronachs are naturally good at absorbing magic. Like with wards."

The specifics of magic and the celestial influence of birthsigns was something that went far above her family's heads, which was what Ahnasha was counting on in this case. It made them more likely to just accept what she was saying at face value. Most of what she said was true, even if it was not the full story, so they could not easily contradict her.

"Right, your mage friend." S'nashi replied, still looking visibly nervous as she spoke of her. "I'll be honest, the whole idea of her...teleporting you all across the world still terrifies me. But...if she can really let you move so far, so quickly, then maybe you can come visit us more often? As long as it is completely safe, of course."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"You're just going to have to deal with not being the best around anymore." Julan remarked, following Rhazii's lead and stepping up in front of Narsi in the training area. "You were trained by your mother, right? So when you were in your city, it was just her that was better. But now it's most of us. You try to laugh at me, but do you know what I had to do for my rite?"

By this point, Julan's agitation showed, at least subtly, through his slightly barred teeth. "I had to fight someone older than me who had been fighting longer, with real weapons. I had a spear put through my leg, and had to just keep fighting if I wanted to win. You just gave up as soon as you thought you couldn't beat me, and I hadn't even hurt you yet. I...guess it's good you at least want to get better, though. And you are tougher than a lot of others your age. It might not take as many years for you to become a warrior."

Julan gave a quick glance towards Rhazii. "Maybe we should see how she does with fists?"

---

It was not immediate for any of Ahnasha's family to pick up on Fendros' lie, but he did not get away with it. It was actually Vasiq who commented on it, though by his tone, he did not even realize what he implied until he had already said it. "I suppose it makes sense that you would've gotten a lot of practice back then. I don't know why your father was so surprised when you were able to cast a ward."

Ahnasha shifted nervously. She wanted to come up with some excuse, on Fendros' behalf, but she had to be careful on what she said, and when. If she just leaped into making excuses for him right away, then her parents would know to be suspicious.

Gwindir raised his brow at Fendros. "Yes, didn't...your mother say you had trouble with magic?"

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.