Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I wish things could be different, Kaleeth." Janius reached and ran his hand across Kaleeth's back, being there for her. For a moment, Janius considered suggesting to Kaleeth that she explain her lycanthropy to her parents so they might better understand why she has to leave so suddenly. Unfortunately, no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't think of the right way to word it. The more he thought about it, the more the risk of them reacting badly made it sound like a bad idea. Instead, Janius let Kaleeth weep for another minute or so. At least Kaleeth was lucky enough to have the opportunity to say goodbye at all, but it didn't change the fact that her life had been turned on its head. Janius still felt horrible in his thoughts. He might have prevented all this.

"There's also something else, Kaleeth." Janius resumed after a while, "I never got to hear about how you were turned. What exactly happened after you left? Were you attacked by a werecrocodile?"

The Depths of Deception

Shiva's eyes twitched in their shut state, undulating in sync with Rareth's words. She was dressed in the grey military exercise garments that doubled as her pajamas, intending to dress later, and she had laid the length of her body across the couch of their suite with a rather large bag of ice melting against her head. There were several seconds where Shiva simply breathed in and started to clack her vocal chords in such a way that Rareth's translator desperately tried and failed to make sense of whatever pseudo-words were coming out of her mouth. A quicker second breath heralded clearer, if more strained, words. "Morning, Rareth. Thank you for the offer, but I already have something on the way. Do not open the oven if you value your senses, and please..." Shiva raised a hand, "...do not speak so loudly."

A synthetic ding sounded and with another series of groaning clicks, Shiva rotated herself to sit up and slowly rose to her feet with the ice bag still to her head. "That 'Ashley' human, she is very friendly and helped me to get to know the city last night," Shiva said as she walked to the kitchen. "She can hold her drink though. Didn't think it was possible for such a small creature." Shiva put the ice bag back in the freezer then held onto the handle of the oven. Before opening it, Shiva turned to Rareth and pointed at her. "I've seen a Tempu officer faint by whiffing what's in here. With respect, I suggest you cover your nasal passages."

Shiva opened the oven and released what could only be described as a hearty stench. For masulu that was. For anyone else, it would smell like rotten shellfish mixed with durian and roasted sweet potato. It seemed as if it would be good if it weren't for the fact that it was horrible. Shiva pulled forth the source of the smell. There were six of them on the tray; some sort of cupcake-sized crustaceans somewhat similar to armadillos curled up in balls, but more prickly and lobster-like. They steamed, red and fresh as Shiva put the tray onto the bench opposite the oven. "Never thought I would find saezhian seacrawlers in the markets here, but they are the perfect thing to restore a masulu's wits." Shiva chuckled and retrieved some seasoning and started to flavour the cooked bottom feeders. "Don't worry, they only smell while they're freshly cooked. I am going to put them in the refrigerator for a few minutes." Once Shiva was done spicing the surface of the shelled creature, she opened the fridge and slid the tray in, praying silently that it remained closed until the seacrawlers cooled.

Shiva then washed her hands and addressed Rareth with a bit more fizz. It seemed as if just the smell had reinvigorated the medic a little. Over the past few days, Shiva had mostly avoided Rareth and the others at first, but the combination of not receiving any verbal abuse from anyone and general curiosity brought forth a little conversation. Rareth still scared the pants off Shiva in some respects, but at least despite her politeness Rareth wasn't nearly as superficial sounding than the few other Rothians that Shiva had come across. She at least felt comfortable enough to speak freely around her. "So, today is the big day. Finally get to be brought up to speed." Shiva chortled and leaned her hands against the bench, "I bet you know everything about this briefing already, though, right?"

The Depths of Deception

Hailfire, I'll start by pulling the same face as your new, excellent, awesome avatar. Yes my sig is on a rotator ala: http://sig.grumpybumpers.com/

If you want to use it, just make sure your images all have the same height in pixels, otherwise you'll cause the page to jump around while loading it each time you refresh.

Also, I think I'll take you up on your offer and give Shiva an unprofessional hangover this morning.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Kaleeth...?" Janius whispered. As soon as he recognised Kaleeth's silhouette in the door, he stood up. He had been staying up anxiously, wondering if she wouldn't see her until tomorrow. Even though Kaleeth looked nervous, Janius stepped over to her and hugged her, holding one palm against the back of her head and kissing her on the cheek as they pulled away. Meesei quickly caught his eye and he followed her outside. "Come," he whispered, looking back at Kaleeth with a reassuring smile and leading her by her hand. She looked especially scared, but Janius believed that she would calm herself once she began to talk with them.

Once the three were out of the way, they could begin. "So, I had a talk to Meesei, and the rest of the pack," Janius started slowly, not quite cheerfully, but not solemnly either, "We've agreed that if we just left you here, it would be too dangerous. You could end up seriously injuring or killing someone without wanting to. However, Ahnasha is still due to give birth soon, and we have to make haste for Stormhold so we can find instruction on how to deliver her child." Janius breathed in uneasily, "Meesei has tasked me with teaching you how to control your beast spirit. That means you will be coming with us when we leave tomorrow." At this point, Janius looked down and took on a remorseful expression, "I can't guarantee that you will be able to return to the village, but it is better to be away from them than to hurt them. I'm sorry. If there is anything more you would like to know, don't be afraid to ask."

Janius very much wanted to get to the explanation of Kaleeth's turning, but he was well aware how much of an impact this moment held. He let the fact sink in, ready to try and comfort her if she needed it. Besides, Meesei probably had something to add as well.

The Depths of Deception

A bit busy today. I'll get a post up in a few hours.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius contemplated the idea of being responsible for someone for once. It was a little foreign to him, but fitting seeing as this was mostly his fault. He felt it weighing down on him particularly hard in light of Ahnasha, but there didn't seem to be any perfect solution. Janius would just have to trust in his ability to teach, and Kaleeth's resolve. "I'll do my very best." Janius responded.

Perhaps against his further judgement, Fendros made a suggestion to the group, in response to Ahnasha's concerns. "Sabine, would it perhaps be possible to make some of Ariel's suppression gas, just in case?"

Sabine's eyes shot to him and she felt a wave of fear run through her. She quickly shook her head. "I...can't make it." Sabine said with a tense apprehension, "But, we shouldn't anyway. If we do that, the beast spirit will only come back worse. It is...not calming for it, it only cages it. Please, don't."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. We won't do that." Fendros blinked and looked down guiltily. He perhaps should have thought more before saying such a thing. Even after the ritual, Sabine was still visibly affected by some things it seemed.

With reassurance, Janius addressed Ahnasha, "It may be difficult, I think, but I will make sure that she doesn't lose control near any of us." Janius rubbed one side of his head and faced Meesei, "In any case, thank you, Meesei, for giving her this chance. I know this isn't optimal, or even safe. We're going out of our way for this. I feel as though it was my mistakes that brought this about, but..." he stopped and sighed through his nose, "...the way things have turned out, Kaleeth is going to need all the help she can get."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As the other search parties returned, Janius informed the pack members that they were successful in finding Kaleeth, but he didn't recount all of the events, simply telling them that he'd tell everyone once the pack was gathered. Janius was somewhat disappointed that he had to wait the longest for Meesei, as her wisdom was something he desperately needed to tap into here, but he was patient enough to wait.

With the pack now gathered, Janius replied to Meesei. He sat down on his bedroll with one knee up and an elbow leaned against it. His expression was worried and contemplative, but not hopeless like it was this morning. "Zharanthixil and I found her. She's in her parent's hut now, recovering." Janius looked up at Meesei, "There was a...complication. I don't exactly know how to put this, so I'll just retell what happened."

Janius crossed his legs and looked around to everyone. Fendros put down what he was doing and leaned in to listen. He was wondering what exactly was on Janius' mind since he heard that the search was a success, but his suspicions were not conclusive. Sabine sat down next to Meesei, looking and thinking similarly to Fendros, though without as much context. Janius began, looking to the ground in the middle of the gathered pack, "The search party I was a part of looked along a river, as that was a sort of landmark that Kaleeth might have used to get home. It took a while, but we managed to find a trail. Something else was in the air as well. We found Kaleeth in the mud, thin and crying, but unharmed. We got her up, all relieved and ready to take her back, but she was scared about something and ran off. We ran after her, but..." Janius curled his lips in pause, "I was the only one who could keep up with her, that was the first thing."

Fendros' eyes looked to others in the pack. Perhaps his suspicions were true, though not in the order he had thought. He had suspected that Janius might have infected her by mistake somehow.

"She eventually gave up the chase, collapsing over," Janius continued, before stopping to lean to see the common hut door in case of any eavesdroppers. "She began to transform. I had thought at that point that she had somehow became a werewolf, but the last words that she said were 'I am not a werewolf'. She didn't grow fur, or any wolf features for that matter. I'm fairly confident that she was a werecrocodile. I hadn't seen one before, but it fit the description. She was big. Bigger than me, even in my wolf form. I stripped down and transformed to keep track of her. She had enough control not to attack me, but she ran off to hunt." Janius shuddered as the crocodile Kaleeth had found flashed in his minds eye. "She found a fully grown crododile and preyed on it. Her jaws...crushed the thing in half. I can't get it out of my mind. Once she was done eating, she transformed back to Argonian form and I went to take her back to the village. She protested, she was of course scared she would hurt someone, but I assured her that she had another day at least before she would transform again. In any case, she implored me to keep her secret safe, so I took a detour and headed back to my equipment. Zharanthixil had found it first, so I had to lie and say I needed to swim faster by taking it off. I think he might have believed me but he is still suspicious. Until now I think her and myself are the only ones who know about her lycanthropy." Janius looked up at everyone, having finished his recount, "I asked her to come along to the common hut when she was ready. I don't know how exactly to treat this situation. She's not a werewolf, so...whether she would be appropriate for the pack, I don't know. I think it's only fair that we help her to manage her condition, however. I was thinking that she could come with us at least to Stormhold, she won't slow us down, and I fear what might become of her if we don't help her."

Once enough time had passed that it was clear Janius had finished, Fendros spoke up. "How exactly did she become infected? Is there a werecrocodile in the area?"

"I don't know," Janius responded, shaking his head, "She was distraught and tired, so it didn't seem as important at the time as helping her home. I was going to ask her what happened in her journey when she arrives."

The Depths of Deception

May as well have Shuo say something on a less awkward basis now.

The Depths of Deception

Shiva listened, though she caught herself with an uncertain expression. This was what she was thinking about with Rothians. This one was another case of them taking the time to excel in life because of the resources and time available, essentially becoming a 'badass' as some races would call it. The comment that hit home was considering fifty years old to be young. Shiva had to double check that her translator was still on and converting units of time to something standard, but the Rothian lifespan quickly became apparent. Shiva was a young masulu, but not an immature one. She had accomplished plenty in only forty-two years of life, and Rareth'Jharn's words just made her feel inadvertently patronised in a way.

Rather than speak up about it, Shiva held back for now. She didn't want getting off on the wrong foot with anyone here to be her fault at least. Unfortunately, Rareth'Jharn's next question proved to be a little testing. There was a silence where Shiva looked to one side awkwardly in thought, the only sound from the conversing humans and dirophyd off to one side. She had answered Shuo because he was her superior and it was required, but she wasn't sure she wanted to bring her lifelong shame into the squad if she didn't have to. As far as she knew, they would have the same stigma as other Sovereignty grunts. "I do not think it...well, I guess you could say that the Consilium...'influenced' me to join." She took a breath and held it, then shook her head. She had already said more than she wanted to, "...apologies, I do not want to go into that right now."

In an effort to direct the conversation away from herself, Shiva glanced at Shuo and her tone turned a little more optimistic. "But, 5th echelon Yuyun might have a more interesting story. You're from ArmSpecWar, right sir?" Shiva felt she was stepping onto thin ice talking to Shuo so nonchalantly, but she supposed now would be as good a test as ever for his level of strictness.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Managed to get a post in here and in DoD despite the fact that it's almost four in the morning. Just did a doozy of an assignment. I think I'm going to sleep and hope that the neighbourhood dog barking doesn't wake me up too early :P