Muttonhawk

The Depths of Deception

Alright, that makes more sense.

The Depths of Deception

Hey cqbexpt, what do you mean when you say "grab Rareth a go bag"?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine was taken off guard by Kaleeth’s sudden embrace, but eventually raised her arms to return it. She had never received a thank you this enthusiastic for her simple little cure. It gave her a moment of levity despite her anxiety, especially since many of the interactions that Sabine and Kaleeth had were when Kaleeth was in a more negative place.

---

"I’m going to miss this city," Janius said as he led the pack to the ship he had found a couple of days earlier, "There’s nothing quite like it."

Fendros agreed, "There are certainly some good memories."

Janius looked over his shoulder with a cheeky smile, "Including accidentally taking moon sugar?"

"Well, mostly good memories," Fendros corrected, squinting his eyes and feeling an uncomfortable tingle just at the thought.

Sabine looked mostly withdrawn throughout the walk, understandably. No matter what comfort anyone offered, she just wanted to get the farewells over and done with before she could anticipate them any further.

The pack eventually reached the ship, which was abuzz with more activity than before. The crew of mostly Imperials with smatterings of just about every other race, were all tying, carrying, securing, or cleaning various things in preparation to leave later in the morning.

Janius eventually spotted the captain, who happened to be a middle-aged, yet still imposing Nord. After inspecting the pack and their belongings, he confirmed the deal to provide passage to the Imperial City, and Meesei came forward with a sack of septims in payment. As if having the uncanny ability to count the coins by weight, the captain only needed to heft and knead the sack in one hand for a few moments before giving a satisfied nod. With that, he noted that their pet lizard should stay restrained, referring to Leaps, but otherwise reminded everyone of the time of departure and went about his business. Now all that was left was to sit around the dock for Ariel to arrive and keep out of the way of the crew.

Luckily, the pack didn’t have to wait too long for Ariel to come briskly walking out to the docks with her head craned up, aimlessly looking for the pack. Some in the pack called her over and waved, and soon she wore a bright smile as she came towards them.

"Good morning, everyone!" Ariel said over the crowds and movement. She held one hand in the other and looked over everyone’s faces, taking a breath and thinking of what to say. "So, how long until you set sail?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros nodded in agreement. "Right, a few more nights like that and I might not be as quick to anger," Fendros said in a good enough mood to be self aware. He took a bite of his breakfast, then looked to the campfire. "Let's go and eat with the others," Fendros offered to Ahnasha as he started to stand up.

As she poured some water into the mortar filled with crushed herbs, Sabine tilted her head forward and to one side, conceding. Practise. Meesei had her there. It wasn't as if Sabine didn't want to write letters, or that she was worried about whether Ariel would be able to read them. She was just looking for excuses to be glum, for the real reason was that separating from Ariel again was going to be sad for her. "Okay, I'll...I'll write letters," Sabine said, seeming to suppress a welling in her throat.

A quick stir of the mixture in front of her and a careful pour into a vial left Sabine's cure ready to consume. She found a stopper for the vial, then stood up and walked quietly up to where Kaleeth was trying to blot out as much of the world as possible. Sabine squat down and lightly shook her by her shoulder that was under the covers. "Kaleeth, sister." Sabine said quietly, holding the vial to where Kaleeth would see it if she poked her head out from under the pelt she was holding over herself. "Drink this."

Janius returned with a rich set of raw ribs for the both of them and some more fresh water. As usual, it appeared that Sabine had taken the initiative and provided a cure. "Ah, thank you, Sabine." Janius addressed Kaleeth to encourage her, "You'd best drink that, Kaleeth. It works much faster than water."

The Depths of Deception

The man's outburst was not something that any in the team seemed to be immediately prepared for. When he spoke, Shiva discouragingly levelled her pistol at him, right before he disappeared in a puff of dark vapour. Shiva looked briefly around the room to try and see where he went, but the sounds of a scuffle behind her quickly drew her gaze to where he was tangled on the floor with Rareth. "Shit!" Shiva shot when Rareth was clear, but only succeeded in leaving some plasma burns on the floor. She took a moment to glance around the room, but it appeared as though the man had escaped. Rareth lay out of the way with a sizable hole in her chest from where the man's head spike drove into it.

Why didn't we bring more damned handcuffs? Shiva thought frantically as she holstered her pistol and knelt down beside Rareth. She knew what her job was, someone else could take care of the terminal. "Stay still, Rareth," Shiva said firmly, placing a hand over the wound and attempting to diagnose it. "You are one lucky little lizard, my friend. If that went any further, you wouldn't be able to breathe," Shiva remarked, somehow keeping her habit of being demeaning to patients despite the anxiety over healing a friend for the first time in decades showing in her face and movements.

Seeing as she could, Shiva took the time to remove Rareth's chest armour, before her regular routine of disinfecting the wound, then repairing it. "This might tickle," Shiva commented before resetting Rareth's rib. Ribs were always quite painful to put back in place for the patient, but Shiva always thought it better to get it out of the way quickly. Sealing the flesh and the skin was trivial, apart from the pattern on Rareth's scales being slightly scarred by the puncture. Shiva was not practised enough with the Rothian epidermis. The scar was there to see by keen eyes through the hole in her armour when Shiva replaced it. No matter, they had bigger worries.

Shiva took a relieved breath after finishing up, then stood up and offered a hand to Rareth. "You're fixed, ma'am." She exchanged glances with the rest of the squad, "Was anyone else hit?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I had a very strange dream, but it wasn't like the recurring ones. It was more like my old ones, except it had a strange ending. A very strange ending." Fendros looked to one side, still a bit confused, but sat down by Ahnasha and regained his smile, "Rhazii did actually wake up on just one occasion. You were sound asleep, so I didn't bother you. I think he just heard a sound in the night or something, he just needed some comfort."

Fendros put a hand on Ahnasha's shoulder and leaned into her, looking at Rhazii. "You know what this means, right?" Fendros' eyes moved to Ahnasha's, "I think this means that the medicine works. That, or we got lucky, but I'd like to think that it was the medicine."

Sabine's mouth twitched into a smile at the mention of letters, but it didn't last long. She kept her eyes down at the leaves that she was grinding in her mortar. "I'm still not very good at writing," she said quietly, despite the fact that Fendros' help had actually made her improve substantially since her last letter. The practice had to be using sticks and dirt in lieu of the writing materials they lost in the fire, but it was still working.

"One thing at a time, Kaleeth," Janius said, trying to be reassuring. He craned his head up and was about to talk to Sabine about a remedy, but it appeared that she was making one already. Or at least she was making something. Janius decided to fill Kaleeth in while she was still getting used to the daylight, even though she probably wasn't in the best state for learning. "So, you had a lot of wine last night, more than your body is used to." Janius started in a normal voice, but quickly lowered his volume upon seeing Kaleeth wince at the sound, "It was Argonian wine, so it still affected you. Do you remember feeling off-balance and without restraint last night? That was the wine making you drunk. Sometimes, if you have too much, you wake up with what is known as a hangover," Janius gestured to Kaleeth with one hand, "That's what you're feeling now. Water helps the hangover to eventually go away, but Sabine can make you a potion that will work quicker." Janius began to get up, "I'll get you something to eat. Try not to move too quickly."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros returned from getting breakfast to see Ahnasha awake as well. He wasn't woken up by her during the night, so a smile spread across his face, driven by some hopeful excitement. Fendros even forgot to say good morning. "Did you dream anything?" He asked quietly enough not to disturb Rhazii, but loud enough to express his mood.

By the fire, Sabine glanced at Meesei and seemed to relax a little under her comfort. She still looked glum, though. "We aren't coming back to Thorn after today, aren't we, Meesei?" She asked rhetorically. "I wish I could see Ariel again." Sabine's words were forlorn enough that she seemed to understand why they couldn't. It didn't make it any less sad to leave.

There was a shout from one end of the camp that was unmistakably Kaleeth's voice. This caused Sabine's gaze to be drawn to her and Janius where they laid. Her face didn't change, but her voice sounded somewhat surprised. "I didn't know that Kaleeth would get sick from drinking." Sabine gave the entire rest of the hackwing leg to Leaps to rip, tear and roll around to his little heart's content, and then she produced a mortar, pestle, and a few springs of herbs. Without prompt, she began making a cure for Kaleeth, but until it was done, she would have to suffer a little while longer.

The shouting woke Janius up from his half-slumber almost immediately, making him look around frantically until he realised that there was no danger. He seemed to still be in his city clothes. He had forgotten to take them off. Kaleeth was beside him, writhing in her hangover and Janius picked up on it quickly. "Ah, I forgot to mention this part." Janius whispered, knowing that even that volume of voice would still cause Kaleeth some pain, "The morning after being drunk causes such things. Where is the water...?" Janius sat up and searched around for either his waterskin or a vial left by Sabine. The latter was absent, for some reason, but no doubt Sabine could make one on request. Some fumbling finally located Janius' waterskin, which he uncorked and held out to Kaleeth, "Drink some water. It will help." Janius but his hand to Kaleeth's shoulder before she could sit up, "Wait, take your time getting up."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"That's fine, you can be whatever you like here," Janius said quietly, humouring Kaleeth, "That is, if you can manage to steal my clothes. You've had enough trouble undoing your own." He sat up and tugged at the various loops and knots that secured Kaleeth's dress to helped her slide out of it. "There, that suits you better," he whispered, before laying down and simply exchanging a stare with her in a little competition to see who could stay awake the longest.

---

These white walls did not make for a good hunting ground. The Imperial City did not have many trees and bushes to hide behind. Though, that deer was around here somewhere. Fendros had picked up its scent on the wind. It would be a good kill to sate his beast spirit. If only he could see past this damn purple tinge over his eyes. He didn't question it immediately, it just seemed part of reality. For now, he just kept tracking.

His claws made a series of tick sounds as he stalked along the main street of the market district in the middle of the night. He could not detect a single soul. Where was that deer? Fendros rounded a corner and immediately a doe perked its head up in his direction. For some reason, it was glowing. Fendros didn't even have time to register this before it bolted away through the streets. A chase!

Energy surged through Fendros as he chased the creature down, not quite letting it get to the gate of the tower district before leaping upon its hindquarters and dragging it to the ground. The deer made a sound in protest that didn't sound like any deer Fendros knew of, but it was soon cut off as Fendros bit down on its throat until it finally stopped twitching.

Fendros lifted his head away from his kill, slavering to eat, but the deer was no longer a deer. It was now Fendros' mother, her face lifeless and marked with the shock of sudden death. The previous glow was not a few feet away in the form of a fallen torch that she had been carrying. So long had it been since Fendros had killed his mother in his dreams that he staggered back in shock. When he staggered, however, he noticed that his feet were different. He could no longer see his snout. He was in Dunmer form, almost as if he had been the whole time. The gates to the tower district opened and a column of imperial legionnaires poured forth, surrounding him in seconds. Fendros panicked, and tried to call upon his beast spirit, but it did not respond.

One legionnaire stepped forth and read from a scroll while all the others levelled spears at Fendros' neck. "You are a monster, irredeemable in the eyes of the law. For killing your own family, we sentence you to death." The officer's face appeared at first to be Imperial, but it shifted and changed as he spoke. For a fleeting moment, it appeared to be the Argonian torturer, Sabine, Ahnasha, even Rhazii's face made an appearance in turn. "You will be summarily executed before any more may die," the sense of the charge the officer was reading steadily descended until it was utterly foreign, but Fendros wasn't paying attention to it. The officer's face continued to change into various fresh cuts of meat and slick organs rolling around in his helmet like the intake of a large mincer. Occasionally, it would cycle back to the faces, or a dagger, or a chain. It had no pattern that Fendros knew of.

Fendros was slightly disturbed by the sight, but more confusion ran through his mind than revulsion. It was as if some other image was trying to get through, some other memory. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that every soldier around him was cycling the same strange images instead of their faces. Soon, Fendros' mother's face started cycling into meat, metal and faces, then even the cobblestones. The images slowly began to spread until the sky was churning blood and organs...and the walls...and the buildings. Soon, everything was replaced by strange churning images of faces and flesh except the spears, which slowly closed in on Fendros. He tried to avoid them, but was paralysed for some reason.

He closed his eyes. He felt the cool metal pierce his neck. He couldn't breath.

Fendros took an uneasy breath in before he realised that his tongue was still preventing him breathing through his mouth. He moved his tongue and took a deeper breath in, opening his eyes to dim moonlight over the back of Ahnasha's ears. His heart was pounding and his body was covered in cool sweat, so that was obviously a nightmare, but what exactly was going on? Did the medicine not work? Why were there such strange images? Slowly, Fendros started to piece it all together. That nightmare was not unlike ones he had before the torture, right up until that strange ending. Maybe that purple sheen over everything was having an effect. Fendros decided not to bother himself too much and try to sleep some more. He wasn't nearly as tense and panicked as he was after a dream that revisited his traumatic memories.

That last thought crossed his mind with a elated feeling before Fendros went to sleep. The memories never came up, so perhaps the medicine was working after all.

---

The morning came with no more incidents during the night on Fendros' part, save for Rhazii waking up once. Fendros actually woke up with a satisfied puffiness in his eyes that indicated a long, relaxed, and relatively uninterrupted sleep. He couldn't wait for Ahnasha to awake and see if she had any nightmares. The medicine wasn't perfect, but it appeared to be working in some capacity. With how conventional Fendros' was, he wouldn't be surprised if Ahnasha experienced no dreams at all.

Sabine appeared to be the first awake, and was tearing pieces of meat from a hackwing leg to feed Leaps. She was cross-legged in front of the fire, but her hunched demeanour and tense frown told of some anxiety building, probably from anticipating another farewell from Ariel.

Janius seemed to still be asleep, even with the orange light of the dawn creeping up, but he would eventually awaken with the camp activity.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius placed down their bedroll on a comfortable spot on the sand and unravelled its length. Being tired as he was, he didn't bother removing his city clothes just yet and decided to relax with Kaleeth for a little while. He laid himself down on the bedroll and put and arm around Kaleeth, encouraging her off the sand and closer to him. Janius was going to correct Kaleeth about the stars until he looked up at them himself. "You know, you're right. It looks like there are more stars than usual. It's beautiful." Janius would have fallen asleep without noticing if it hadn't been for Kaleeth's attempts to be free of the dress she so disliked. Janius was honestly surprised that she was so susceptible to the wine that even that would become somewhat comical. He lifted his head to look at her, "Do you need some help with that?" he offered, suppressing a laugh behind a wide smile. Janius supposed that he should be glad that Kaleeth wasn't trying anything dangerous in her state.

With what Ahnasha said, Fendros was actually looking forward to an uninterrupted sleep. He set up their bedroll quickly enough and sat cross-legged, waiting for Ahnasha to put Rhazii to sleep. Some peaceful rocking and the voice of his mother had Rhazii sleeping again without too much trouble. Once everything was sorted, Fendros put his arms around Ahnasha and gave her a quick kiss goodnight. He didn't need to say it, but he knew that they were both equipped with a little more hope tonight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As soon as Meesei was out of sight, Ariel traced her eyes along the ground and turned to Rukeewei with one hand clasped in the other in front of her. "A wonderful night." She approached him, put her arms over his shoulders and gave him a quick kiss, "Thank you for being so accomodating, Rukeewei." She looked down and peeked up at his face with a smile, but her voice became more apologetic, "And, look, I'm sorry if Sabine made you feel awkward or pressured, she is making up for years of being reclusive, and it's unfair to ask such things."

---

The walk back to the campsite with Kaleeth in his arms reminded Janius of the other times he had to carry her. Each had a twinge of guilt associated with them, each had Kaleeth in some sort of pain. Now, it was quite the opposite. Today was the end of an overall enjoyable day, and both Kaleeth and Janius felt, as Kaleeth put it, great. Janius attributed it partly to the wine, both for himself and Kaleeth, but as he caught Kaleeth's eyes, he knew that he didn't necessarily have to discount his happiness.

When Janius attempted to place Kaleeth down so that he could lay out their bedroll, Janius chuckled at her comment. "If you want that, you should drink wine more often." Janius attempted to shift to continue, but it soon became clear that Kaleeth was not letting him go. He smiled with futility and put his arms around her torso to give her a lengthy kiss. "Can I unroll our bedroll now?" Janius mumbled once they finally separated.

Nearby, Fendros was in no rush to get to sleep. He took his time unpacking and replacing his and Ahnasha's bedroll on the ground while Ahnasha got Rhazii swaddled and settled. Unshouldering the smallest bag he carried reminded him of Ariel's medicine with the telltale clinking of bottles and he was still for a moment. Fendros took one of the bottles from the bag and held it up to the light of the fire to read its label again. "One small spoonful right before going to sleep" Fendros murmured to himself almost inaudibly. It took a moment for him to find a wooden spoon to suffice, even if it was a little large. He went to Ahnasha with visually no question as to his intention, "Let's test this out."

Once Ahnasha was ready, he carefully poured a few drops into the spoon and swallowed it quickly. Mercifully, the medicine did not taste bad. In fact it tasted similar to a tea that Fendros had forgotten the name of. However, it was strong. Even the paltry spoonful cleansed Fendros' pallet of his dinner and the wine, and replaced it with the familiar tea-like taste. A second passed and Fendros gave a nod to Ahnasha, handing the spoon and the potion to her.

Even before everyone had finished adjusting their bedrolls, the light of the fire revealed Sabine completely unconscious on her bedroll. She had obviously been exhausted at this point and went to sleep mere moments after laying her head down. Leaps seemed to be in a similar state, and was curled up against Sabine's back, enjoying her body heat.