Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As the hours turned into days, Janius became more and more uncomfortable. In the first couple of days, he held out the hope that Kaleeth was simply taking her time, but by the third day, he was so worried that he wanted to go out and find her, only to be talked down by Meesei. Now it was the forth day since she left and she had still not returned. Janius didn't even prompt the others after he had eaten his breakfast, he began to don his armour and weapons and prepare to move.

"Janius, what are you doing?" Fendros asked demandingly, concerned by his behaviour.

Janius gave Fendros a glance while he worked the clasps on his cuirass, "I'm going out to find her."

"What? How? Her tracks are four days old now. Besides, Meesei has already told you to stay put."

"I have to try, Fendros. She only said she would be a day at the most." Janius spoke calmly in comparison to Fendros.

Fendros let out an exasperated breath, then shook his head, "Janius, just hold on a moment. Think about this." When Janius decided to not give a response, Fendros turned his head to look at the entrance to the common hut they were standing in, then back to Janius. With a sigh, Fendros turned around to exit at a brisk pace, "Janius, you buffoon, just wait a moment, okay?"

With some urgency, Fendros stepped out of the common hut and looked around for Meesei. Upon seeing her sitting near the Hist tree, Fendros jogged over to her. "Meesei, Janius is suiting up, he wants to go out and find Kaleeth. What should we do?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Heh, you caught me while I'm making lunch. I'll be a little delayed.

EDIT: May or may not have eaten too quickly xP

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ehhh, next point of interest. I'm not sure if there would be much gained from playing it out.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After successfully requesting to Meesei that the pack stay in the village until Kaleeth's return, Janius was quiet for the rest of the day. He distracted himself by maintaining his equipment and finding a book to read amongst the pack's belongings.

The next morning, Janius wasn't expecting Kaleeth to have returned already, but having her nowhere to be seen still gave him some heartache. He responded unenthusiastically to the morning greetings of the pack. Strangely enough at first glace it appeared that Sabine's old withdrawn behaviour had transferred into him. That was until breakfast, where Janius started to talk some more and his mood improved somewhat.

By the time the pack was about halfway through breakfast, Fendros spoke up with a suggestion. "So, Meesei, I was wondering. The village has been good to let us stay for so long, I was thinking perhaps we might be able to make it up to them somehow." He leaned forward and put his hands together, "I know some of us have been busy, but most of us have been sitting around for most of the time. Perhaps these people would appreciate it if we were to bring a kill for them? We'll need to stock up before heading out anyway. Anyone feel like hunting?"

"As much as I would like to, Fendros, I would rather wait here for Kaleeth-Rei," Janius said with some apprehension, "But, I might ask Thorantilth if there are any odd jobs I could do. I think sitting around and doing absolutely nothing today would drive me mad."

Having no particular plans for the extra day, Sabine thought for a moment, then faced Fendros and nodded. "I will go," She answered quietly.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius was loath to see the end of his last day with Kaleeth, but he knew as well as she did the importance of her decision. He found a spot a short distance from Kaleeth's family hut while she confronted her parents. When their voices were raised, a part of Janius was glad that Kaleeth was brave enough to go through with telling them, but mostly he looked at the ground and felt guilty for causing so much trouble for them. With short term flights of fancy back in Bravil and the Imperial City, there was of course some anger from families if Janius were to court their daughters, but no permanent damage. Here, Janius understood that Kaleeth's parents were upset because they would lose their daughter if she chose to go with the pack. No rakish attitudes took the guilt away here.

When Kaleeth emerged and burst into tears, Janius stood up quickly, walked up to her and placed his hands comfortingly on her shoulders. He responded to her words by running one hand down the back of her head and bringing her into a tight hug. "I love you, Kaleeth. Stay resilient. I'll be waiting for you." Janius released her so he could see her face, then moved his hand from the back of her neck to the side of her jaw. After a few seconds of denying their separation, he kissed her deeply for as long as he could get away with. When their lips parted, he smiled sadly and stepped back, letting his hands slide free of hers. "Good hunting." He said more confidently.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I don't think you'll have to worry about making friends with us. I daresay you'll get along fine." Janius replied in a friendly tone, "They would be your new family after all. I remember when I joined I had many problems getting along with everyone. Granted, it was mostly because I didn't want to be there, but that didn't mean life became any easier or harder except directly from my own actions." Janius looked up and thought about it some more, "As long as you show a willingness to work as part of the pack, and improve yourself, I don't think there would be problems at all."

Janius looked at Kaleeth directly to answer her other question, he took on a more serious tone, "As for whether it would be enough for you, I can't really say. That's one of the things you will have to think about and reflect. Is the village enough for you? And if not, then ask yourself whether the pack will be enough for you. If they are both lives you would like to lead, then answering such a question wouldn't be helpful as far as I can see. Meesei or myself can answer any questions you might have about life in the pack if it will help you."

Probably without enough instruction, Janius attempted to get Kaleeth to slowly twirl under his hand. Instead he managed to twist his arm around her, bringing her back against his front and tangling their arms somewhat. The contact was a pleasant surprise, if unintended. Janius chuckled and let go of her to try and motion the right way to do it. "If you were to join the pack, is there anything else you would feel worried about?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

S'all good. I'm doing an assignment at the moment.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Helping Kaleeth regain her balance, Janius let out a small laugh. "You're not bad," he said reassuringly while his memories of grand balls flooded back. It was the truth, Kaleeth wasn't actually dancing too horribly despite the uneven ground and lack of experience. It was a fairly easy dance though.

All of Kaleeth's questions made Janius wonder whether he would ever be able to truly explain Imperial society without showing her. Her curiosity of how there can be rich people at all made his smile fade a little while they danced. "Well, Imperial society... when you have lot's of people in cities, sharing everything with everyone is very difficult compared to here. It's not really something that people do." He scrunched his brow for a moment, "I suppose one way to think about it is that... each family shares like it were its own village, but doesn't share with other families. Instead, if you want something from someone else, you have to trade for it, most of the time in gold." Janius' expression became slightly somber, "Unfortunately, that means that some families have a lot to trade, they become rich, and some don't have as much to trade, they sometimes have to beg or steal just so they can eat. It's at that point that you realise that Imperial society is nowhere near perfect. It allows for a lot of great things, but... sometimes people suffer for it." Janius looked at Kaleeth and tried not to dwell on it. His attachment to that society was in the past. "Living with the pack and in this village seems much fairer, but changing everyone's mind across Tamriel is quite impossible. The next best thing is just to live the way you would like. The pack is enough for me."

Janius decided to add another movement to their dance. He stopped and raised his right forearm up in front of them both. "Place you right arm against mine," he said, before beginning to step in circles around where their forearms touched "...And dance around the tree," he added, motioning for Kaleeth to do the same. Once they stepped in unison four times, Janius turned his body so that his other forearm was in the middle instead, "...And the other way." Janius smiled, he hadn't danced in this way in years.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius looked up at the sky and probably spent more time than he needed to thinking about how to answer. The question made him think how lucky Kaleeth was to live in a community that didn't have to put up with nobility. Janius took a slow breath and began, "Put simply, rich people are those who have more money in their possession than they need. They wear extravagant clothes, eat decadent meals, live in huge houses and castles, employ servants, but they aren't good for much. Not many of them anyway. They have this social etiquette, this set of formalities and good manners, which I always found irritating because it had all these strange rules." Janius picked up a twig stuck in the river bed and held one it forward as if he was holding a fork in the proper manner, "...like holding your knife and fork in the right way when you eat, always bow, always stand up from your seat whenever a woman enters the room. I didn't really see the point." Janius tossed the twig over his shoulder, "I was tutored to act like one because I was going to inherit my parents' money when they died, but that didn't end up happening. It's not really my life though."

Recalling other memories, Janius looked into the water in front of him and watched the rippling reflections, "There was one thing I did like, however. Often, rich people would have gatherings where they would get into formation and dance gracefully to soft music. Here..." Janius started to motion to get up and helped Kaleeth upright, taking both her hands as they stood. Moving while almost shin deep in the water might be difficult, but Janius wanted to try. He placed Kaleeth's right hand on his shoulder and placed his left hand on her waist, then took her left hand in his right hand, "We'll try it slowly. Follow my feet with yours, keeping them opposite each other." It took a little while for the dance to come back to the forefront of his memory, but once it did, Janius slowly moved his foot in the first step. It was of one of the simplest dances he remembered. The water resisted and made noise as he forced his ankle through it, but he continued with the next steps, allowing Kaleeth to keep up. Keeping balance on in the silty riverbed was becoming quite the feat while they held each other.

The Depths of Deception

Well, apart from the climate, it's the only remarkable thing about the building that we really know. I think we might have escalated it in the IC however :P

EDIT: To pass the IC time, does any character want to strike up a conversation?