Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I have a plan for what to do next with Janius, but I want to give him some time to think about it and execute the plan in the next morning. If there's no more business today, I'm fine to timeskip. Alternatively you could try and have one of the pack notice Janius' problems and talk to him about it, but I don't have anything else planned for this IC day.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth's outburst came as a surprise to Janius. He could only sit and watch while she shouted, but her words informed enough to Janius to realise that he was going about this the wrong way. Kaleeth felt that she would be deluding herself by believing that there was hope for her. Once she lay back down, Janius stayed seated for a while, thinking. It took several minutes before he realised that he needed some space to process this.

Janius slowly got up, filled his lungs with air, then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Once the latch shut, he shut his eyes and sighed, whispering to himself, "You have no idea how much I care, Kaleeth."

From then on, Janius spent time pondering on this problem. He spent time walking around the Xanmeer and doing his own training routines, and kept on thinking in a chair in one of the separate rooms. His demeanour seemed distracted and distant for the rest of the day.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Oh Kaleeth, I know it is difficult, but you have to know that there is still hope," Janius kept his eyes on Kaleeth's even if she didn't return his gaze. "You know, I don't think you hear this enough, but between your trial, your skills, your bravery to slay a fully grown wamasu, not to mention your progress controlling your beast spirit so far, you have amazed me. I honestly couldn't say I would have done what you have done in your shoes. You are a great individual. You could accomplish anything you set your mind to. Now, I know that not knowing what life has in store outside of the village is frightening, especially when you have a beast spirit accompanying you down your path, but hear me out. What keeps many of us going is having something to work towards. After this mission, the world is open again. You could become the greatest hunter there ever was, you could explore the furthest reaches of Tamriel, you could even find your village again, whether it be for a visit, or..." Janius hesitated, both not knowing whether it was wise to encourage Kaleeth to trust in the reactions of her villagers, as well as the underlying feeling of not wanting to separate from her. In his desperation he decided to try anyway. "Or to gain enough control to live in the village once more. If you speak frankly with the elders, maybe they would understand. I saw them to be wise enough. Anyway, there's surely something. I need you to tell me what you would like to do, regardless of whether, right now, you think you can do it or not."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hey, maybe three weeks old news, but apparently our thread's been linked as a notable RP on the latest RPGN thread. Check it out.

http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/61511/posts/ooc

Kind of humbling.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

For just enough time to protest, Sabine forgot her knowledge of an uninformed populace and its general reactions to werecreatures. It may have been her anxieties being not as strong as they were, or Sabine's impression of Kaleeth's village that fueled her reaction. "But she could live there without hurting anyone, and her father is the Master-Hunter. The Treeminder, Thorantilth, he is wise enough to understand. Even the wise woman must have already known what she was, otherwise she would not have..." Sabine cut herself off, "...or maybe she was scared too." Sabine's expression lowered to.deep disappointment with her realisation. They couldn't know for sure whether Reanaseer knew that werecreatures could control themselves well enough to live amongst people, or whether her reaction was purely from fear, but having Kaleeth reintegrate seemed a lot more difficult now that Sabine said it out loud

Next door, Janius had to stop and wonder for a moment whether he should be completely honest to Kaleeth about their situation. Most of his delay came from his own uncertainty rather than Kaleeth's. However, he had been in situations before where the outcome was uncertain, and this one hadn't removed all hope yet.

"...To speak the truth, Kaleeth, I can't tell you for sure," Janius said, looking to one side at the bedsheets for a moment, "I can't guarantee that any or all of us will survive. This is a very dangerous scenario we've got ourselves into, one with less control or certainty than we would like." Janius looked to Kaleeth again and rubbed his hand over her upper arm comfortingly, "That's not to say that any of us are definitely going to die here, though. There's still possibility that manifests reasonable hope. We could all survive."

Janius reached out to Kaleeth's hands and gently encouraged her upwards out of her curled up and withdrawn position. "Come, sit up, let me see you." Janius put his arms around Kaleeth and kissed her on the forehead. "When you went on your trial, the one that earned you your tattoos, was there any point where you thought you might not survive? Any point where you felt as if you didn't have control over your fate?"

The Depths of Deception

Taking her weapon in her hands, Shiva's expression became cool and serious as they approached the hangar. Shiva took Rareth's instructions as implicit that she would be accompanying the main party, which was slightly strange to her, but then again, Shuo was heading them up as well with his high profile suit. A terse "understood," from Shiva preceded their touchdown.

After Rareth and Shuo scanned their landing zone and declared it clear, Shiva emerged behind them and scanned her eyes over the area, plasma rifle raised. The hangar was relatively clear, but there were enough crates and vehicles around to make a rudimentary defensive position. "If they couldn't secure spots like this, maybe they really don't have the numbers to hold the station. Maybe it really was just a screw-up that stuck them here," Shiva speculated, though she quietened down once the team reached the edge of the hangar.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius took his eyes away from the door, and looked at the floor in front of Meesei. "You're right. I've seen it too." Janius' tone was more sullen now, "I thought she would eventually accept this life, that she would start to adapt, but...maybe I'm not helping the way I should be. She doesn't deserve to be here in a place like this." Janius took a deep breath and tried to hold back his emotions where he recognised his own failures in this regard. He couldn't give up, though. He still loved Kaleeth, and if there was still a way to help her embrace the world again, Janius would find it. Janius looked up at Meesei once more, unfolded his arms and walked out of the room. "I'll see what I can do."

Once Janius left, Sabine spoke from her set up. "Do you think, if Kaleeth learns to manage her beast spirit, she could return to her village? She is unhappy with us." Sabine didn't speak hatefully, but as Kaleeth had stayed with them, she couldn't help but wonder if she would ever emerge from her melancholy. Sabine knew that she had emerged from a similar place, but that was with the assistance of a supernatural being. "Maybe she should speak to the Hist," Sabine suggested.

With quiet steps, Janius leaned into Kaleeth's room with a concerned frown. Once he caught her attention, he raised a small smile and spoke, "Hi there." Janius strolled across the room and sat down on the bed, "What are you thinking right now?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius decided for now to pretend he didn't hear the implication that Meesei would not be escaping if they needed to fight their way out. The pack would never leave her behind. For now, the hope that they could make themselves useful was what they had to hold on to.

For a few more moments, Janius stood and considered exploring the xanmeer more thoroughly himself. But while they were gathered it would be a good time to discuss other matters. If they were staying for a few days, other problems could be presented, one of which made Janius look sideways to Kaleeth-Rei. "Kaleeth, how is your beast spirit? How long do you think you have before you next need to turn?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei's conclusion was met with silence. None of them wanted to be tools for followers of Molag Bal, especially when the cultists now knew that they had the ability to kill or bind them all if they so wished. Some wondered how they would have any hope at all, but if there was any diplomacy between Hircine and Molag Bal, it was probably manifesting in their lives continuing where they stood.

Sabine began to wander to one side of the room and check on the state of her alchemical supplies. Nothing was broken or lost, thankfully. In her regular manner, she started to lay out what she had and assess if she had anything to help. She could make a few potions to resist certain things, or help the pack's abilities, but she was at a loss for how to deal with the vampires of this place. Being powerful enough mages, they could probably cure most poisons that Sabine could make, but not only that, poisons affected undead differently. Sabine did not have the privilege to test anything on vampires before. "If they have such power, what could we do that would be useful to them?" Sabine asked, her thoughts cutting through the fear as it turned to something more resembling hopelessness.

"With their talk of souls and experiments and the like, I shudder to think of what's in the future. I have a feeling that if they wanted us dead right away, they would have gotten it over with by now," Janius commented from one side of the room, "But I hate waiting for this elusive husband of Hal-Neesa's. It's like we're on borrowed time." Janius crossed his arms and looked at Meesei. "Is there anything we can do right now except wait?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine and Janius observed the duel with tension backed up with hope. It didn't appear at first like either were going to fall. The power radiating in the room rose in a very narrow crescendo for a while. Janius didn't know what to think. The atmosphere spoke of an underlying malign motive, but they were talking casually with each other as if this was a recreational exercise.

It only took the smallest flaw in Meesei's ward for everything to change instantly. There was a thunderous sound. In a surge of power that seemed to bend reality beyond anything they had seen, Hal-Neesa's lightning glowed quickly brighter and shattered Meesei's ward like thin glass. As if that wasn't enough of a demonstration of power, Meesei was lifted and thrown against a wall by Neesa's telekinesis.

Janius cursed in astonishment, and he and Sabine rushed to Meesei's side. "Meesei, are you alright?" Janius asked quickly. They both helped her up and motioned to lead her out of the door and back to their rooms. This woman had unnatural power, and now she knew their limits. That she would wait for the authority of her husband meant that either he was simply the chosen leader, being manipulated, or he was more powerful than Hal-Neesa in the first place. For Sabine and Janius, to choose between favouring one possibility over the other was difficult.