Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"You can really place it on an organ like that?" Oswall unconsciously scratched at his back uncomfortably.

The others had a mixed response. Vera raised an eyebrow at Darahil, then looked to Meesei, "Any opportunity to reduce risk to the clan is something I can support."

"Quite," Darahil gave no direct response to Vera's look. "I must admit, Meesei, my expertise is not within the types of enchantment you describe, but it seems that this plan is a wise opportunity to take if you can exploit it so. Just promise us that you will not take undue risks with the prisoners..."

"...And," Oswall looked at Meesei sternly and jabbed a forefinger in her direction with every word to emphasise them, "Don't. Let. Harriet. Attack our people."

Darahil narrowed his eyes at Oswall when he was interrupted, but finished all the same. "We'll put our trust in you here. Is there anything you will need us to do or provide to prepare? I can spare some of the larger of my soul gems if you require the power."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Vera and Oswall looked to Oswall for confirmation that such enchantments would be possible. "Such a collar is cruel, to be sure, but practical. As long as she does not get the opportunity to cause any damage to us before you can activate it, I could see her contribution to be valuable."

Entertaining the idea, Oswall sat back and stroked his chin in consideration. His initial mood appeared to simmer down.

Darahil continued before any comments could be committed. "Another consideration will be how exactly you plan to hide the genuine enchantment. There is no guarantee that Galsek will only assume one item was planted on him. Where will the second one be, and what do you think he will do if he finds it?"

"Stuff it down his throat, then he couldn't do anything, at least for a day." Oswall predicted, "Or better yet, cut him open and put it under his skin. If he does find it and cut it out, we've got a blood trail to follow."

"...Unless he dresses it. We don't know exactly what he's capable of," Vera added.

All three looked to Meesei to hear what her idea was.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was an awkward moment in reaction to Meesei's plan. Oswall sighed through his nose and Vera wiped her mouth with the back of her hand idly and looked away. Darahil broke the silence, being the only one who didn't visibly react until now, "We talked to both. Harriet was forthcoming, fortunately, which meant that Galsek's attempts to proclaim his innocence were easy to root out as false." Darahil angled his head forward, "We were not able to gain a direct confession from Galsek, but we know him to be a liar and manipulator all the same. However, are you sure you can guarantee that he will return to Vile's servants?"

Oswall grunted. "They're more likely to have some way of detecting an approaching lycan. When that happens, they'll either kill him and we'll get our fight, or they'll scurry off and we'll be back where we started." Oswall wasn't done there, he unfolded his arms and addressed Meesei with some incredulity. "And what is this nonsense we heard from Harriet that you would allow her to go in first and fight? We would have a traitor in our ranks that could sow discord at the worst moment! I do not like the taste of it."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Our plans for tonight are not too different from the last time," Oswall said to Meesei, leaning his hands against the table either side of the map. "We should be ready in a few minutes."

A few minutes, as Oswall put it, turned out to be about half an hour. The discussion was made up mostly of which packs would hunt where and delegating the tasks of directing them before they left. With the old marks that were already made on the map, Oswall was at least right that most of the planning was already done. The original plan must have taken hours to plot the first time. Meesei was allocated a small hunting ground at the edge of a forested area that wouldn't take long to navigate to. The only concern was a small farmstead that was nearby, but the pack of Hircine's champion was assumed to have enough control to avoid it.

Once the pack distribution was finalised, Xander and Tariam were tasked with briefing Harriet's remaining alphas, as the other lieutenants would for their packs later. For now, they lead Meesei to the meeting room to speak with her. They shut the door on their way in for discretion. Meesei's words hinted at a requirement for such. They seated themselves down with both Harriet and Jerrick's seats unused. Whichever one Meesei decided to take would leave the other one haunting in the space it left.

Vera decided to open up the conversation. "So, champion, what did you want to discuss first? We may need to step out in an hour at the latest to resume organising the hunt, but we can talk now."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros gave a firm nod. "I'll tell the others," he responded at a similar volume. As Meesei left, he turned to Ahnasha and gave her a quick kiss. "Hungry?"

The morning that Meesei woke up to was positively bustling. There were people carrying cloaks and coats in piles in their arms, shouldering around in the corridors. The main chamber was changed from a hodgepodge of packs training to a large scale, organised response. Evenly spaced throughout about a third of the dais were neatly piled articles of fur clothing. They varied in number in the piles, but by the length and breadth so far, they would eventually serve to accommodate all the packs for the clan. While most were arraying the clothing, others were herding the children of the clan in one corner. Adults were speaking to the older children, sounding as if they were being briefed to take responsibility for the night. They looked just young enough to not be transforming yet. Behind the children, about three visibly pregnant women were sitting on seats behind them.

Meesei would not see any of the lieutenants here, but her job was made easy as she found them gathered around a table in the dining hall. They all appeared to be standing over a map drawn on a hide. With Oswall was running his finger along certain lines that were hard to see from this distance, but quickly revealed themselves to be depicting the wider wilderness around the town of Bruma. Another two people joined the council; a large Redguard and small but wide wood elf. They seemed familiar.

Looking up from the map, Vera was the first to notice Meesei's approach. She waved and spoke up to welcome her. "Good morning champion. We're sorry we didn't have time to fill you in on what we do for the full moons. We were just diving up the hunting grounds."

Darahil glanced to the two new people at the table and gestured to them. "This is Xander and Tariam. They are Harriet's alphas. They have agreed to help organise Harriet's packs for this hunt."

Xander and Tariam nodded, but didn't say anything. They were visibly uncomfortable around Meesei.

"If you haven't had breakfast yet, you had best find something." Vera suggested in an urging tone without sounding too forceful, "You'll need to know where your pack can hunt tonight and we might need your help keeping order. We haven't done this without a clan head before."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The rest of the day and the night went by with a complicated atmosphere in the clan. On one hand, they were anxious about Harriet's fate, and her packs were somewhat listless. However, for all, there was a measure of relief. The sordid business with Jerrick's murder had been resolved, he would be cremated under the bright moons the night after they were full. Then, everyone could bid him a true farewell.

There were some minor concerns that had sprouted since the trial, the greatest of which was the matter of succession, but also other complications. Word had spread quickly of Galsek's arrest, as well as the words he had shouted through the halls during his questioning. Surprisingly few people were upset about his true nature, and those that were drew emotions of betrayal for the most part. At least the plan to release him hadn't been eavesdropped upon. At least, from what Meesei's pack could gather.

As far as Meesei's pack fared now, Fendros had recovered from his episode and joined everyone for dinner. Everyone idly rubbed their necks as they felt the stress they had stored through the past few days. Laughter and smiles were traded easily as they shared catharsis in their unity. Fendros especially was relaxed to be with Ahnasha and Rhazii without any great fear hanging over their heads. It had been an eternity since the last time. Janius was glad to be around Kaleeth, not only because they were separated, but because he was eager to swap stories with her about their experiences with their respective lieutenants while they guarded them. Finally, Sabine ate happily, but she couldn't help but feel that she enjoyed the excitement of working with new people and materials. For all her smiles, her eyes drooped with fatigue and she eventually fell asleep on Lorag's side despite the loud murmur of the dining hall.

Morning came by as everyone woke up one by one. Due to the lack of sunlight, stirrings seemed to be more sparse. Fendros awoke first to find an empty space where Kaleeth and Janius' bedroll was. Even while groggy he solved that riddle quickly. Just the movement of Fendros sitting up stirred the others. All except for Sabine, who was still fast asleep and looked like she would be until further notice. It was no wonder with how exhausted she was last night.

After sliding the sheet of leather off the light-stone, an almost silent sound of struggling was heard next to Fendros. He looked over to smile at Rhazii, who's little eyelids were scrunched in protest. "Good morning, little one," Fendros said softly.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

My next post is coming up a bit short. Where did you want to go from here?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Harriet turned her head to look at a wall off to the side and huffed in frustration out of her nose. Despite that, she looked thoughtful. "...Save face or have an honourable death," she said gravely after a pause, "you sure know how to pick a creative punishment, champion."

There was no more sound from Harriet until her neck became uncomfortable in its position a half minute later. With that, there was only more tiny clinks of the chains as her head drooped back to the hanging forward position that Meesei first saw her in. There was no expression by Harriet that she expected Meesei to leave. Harriet was silent for so long that it was clear she had no answer for Meesei, though that was because she was pondering.

Labyrinth

You remind me of the babe
What babe?
The babe with the power
What power?
The power of voodoo
Who do?
You do!
Do what?
Remind me of the babe!

In all seriousness, I'm going to reconcile my free time and see if I have space to join this :)

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The immediate response that Meesei gave soured Harriet's expression. The way that Meesei presumed Harriet's motives and spoke as if she did not know the consequences to her actions brought her to the brink of exploding in her face. Thankfully, Meesei picked the right time to offer Harriet a far more favourable offer. Her face dropped to one of mixed confusion and surprise at what Meesei asked.

"You would let me fight?" She asked, bewildered. A moment later, her voice hardened in suspicion. "Wait, what's to stop me runnin' off or joinin' with them once you let me go, huh?"