Muttonhawk — Roleplayer Guild

Sabine gave Meesei another hug with the alembic still in her hand. "I understand, Meesei. You are the best alpha ever. Thank you again," Sabine said.

When Sabine pulled away, she still had a wide smile on her face. She looked upon her breakfast again and hovered her hand over what she considered eating next. "With all this food, I might not be hungry for lunch," she said with a chuckle. She decided to pick up one of the sausages and bite into it. Sabine seemed to have a near-supernatural resistance to spicy heat in food, meaning that she was one of the few non-Hammerfell natives in the clan that liked these kinds of sausages. Anyone else who had tasted them before would likely have formed tears in their eyes by just watching Sabine eat one. It didn't stop Sabine from sounding her appreciation.

After a swallow, Sabine gestured to the platter. "Do you want any, Meesei? You're probably hungry after making all of this." She tore off a piece of the spicy sausage, "The butcher made a delicious batch this time."

Fendros put a hand on his hip as Ahnasha almost walked out in the nude. It continued to make for funny irony in his mind that they put more care into dressing. "I'm sure all the young men you're training wouldn't mind," Fendros joked, "The new ones have to get used to nudity eventually. But speaking of dressing..." Fendros turned his attention to Rhazii, "...Up you get, little one. You can come with me to give Sabine her present." As Rhazii nodded and got up from his bedroll clumsily, Fendros gave Ahnasha a quick kiss on the head while she was leaned over tying her leggings, "I'll bring some breakfast out for you."

The next few minutes consisted of Fendros assisting Rhazii in dressing himself. The toddler was not quite house trained yet, so he still wore an absorbent loincloth, but he was learning to use the latrine more and more. Some other simple hide clothing and foot wraps was enough to dress him such that he stayed warm in the colder corridors of the ruin. Ahnasha had to hurry out, of course, but once they were done, Fendros and Rhazii went hand in hand to Sabine's room with the formula book.

With a knock on the partly open door and a peek inside, Fendros saw Meesei and Sabine on Sabine's bedroll, eating a plentiful breakfast of food that was too much for Fendros' taste buds. There was no doubt that Sabine's favourites were on that platter. Fendros stepped in, leading Rhazii in as well. "Happy birthday, Sabine. Welcome to adulthood," Fendros said with a smile. He looked to Rhazii and gave him a nudge, "Go on, Rhazii. You can give Sabine her present."

Rhazii gave an excited grin and ran forward with the formula book in both hands. He shoved it into Sabine's side accidentally, but Sabine only laughed. "Happy birthday, Sabine!" Rhazii said.

Sabine took the book, "Thank you!" She said with a grin at Rhazii's antics and pulling him into a quick hug with one arm. With her other arm, she inspected the formula book. It was not an advanced one for her, but it would be useful for reference. Still, all these gifts were becoming overwhelming. She was not expecting to be quite so spoilt today.

"Good morning, Meesei," Rhazii said dutifully to Meesei in turn.

"I found that in Bruma the last time I was there and thought you might like it," Fendros said as he stepped up to the bedroll. He took another look at the food, "Did you make all of this, Meesei? You've been busy this morning."

"That's right. We're all bigger and stronger than any wolves that come by," Janius ruffled the growing features on Newt's head, "One day, you will be too. There's no need to be afraid here."

Janius didn't place too much thought into where Newt might have learned of wolves before. Perhaps it was too early in the morning, perhaps he just put it down to a fertile young imagination mixed with lycan nightmares.

"Feeling hungry?" Janius asked before lifting himself out from the bedroll and getting dressed, "There might be some chicken left if we're quick to breakfast." Janius gave Newt a smile while he pulled up a pair of cloth trousers, "I know you like chicken."

No one could deny that it was busy, but possibly the quietest chapter of the pack's lives thus far passed along amongst the clan from the three years following the battle. It was a time of redevelopment and recovery. A time to rejuvenate and prepare for the adversity ahead. Where they had entered the clan on a mission, and with great weights upon their shoulders, they had found themselves a community to love and, for some, a place to leave the past behind them.

Fendros continued to dutifully attend meetings with Ahnasha and Najirra. There were highs and lows during the process. Sometimes Najirra's methods would be so esoteric and counter-intuitive that Fendros would lose his patience. Thankfully, Najirra seemed to know exactly what to say to defuse the situation whenever Fendros raised his voice. Never was there any point where Fendros had to leave early. On the other hand, there were some days where Fendros walked out genuinely feeling like he had made progress. He made sure to encourage Ahnasha to perform their regular calming exercises and keeping track of their anxieties, while at other times leaning on her help similarly. Persistence brought them to a point above and beyond the desperate state they began in. Even running out of dream medicine had an adverse effect for only a few weeks. The nightmares still came, but not every night like they used to.

Sabine's life became more eventful, despite the stable location. A social life had thrown an enjoyable chaos into her life that she never experienced before. A week after her talk with Meesei, she gathered up the courage to confess her feelings towards Caleb. Unfortunately, it was not to be. However much Sabine cried and inflicted criticism towards herself for the next few hours, she soon aligned her opinion with everyone else in that Caleb was still trying to recover from losing his father. The good part of that episode was that it remained as the emotional low point of the entire next three years. Her friendships flourished into many cherished memories. She even tried another relationship when she was sixteen and a half - a Dunmer boy named Inderal. That only lasted five months due to mistakes and insecurities on both their parts, but Sabine was continuing to learn. Never did she make any obvious mistakes while under Meesei's guidance. 

The static location of the clan meant that correspondence between Sabine and Ariel continued. Ariel's life went on as normal. Her shop had expanded now. She had garnered quite the reputation amongst the city elite as the one to go-to woman for cosmetics, supplements, or the odd remedy. Sometimes her stock was damaged by floods, but she learned what she needed to do to protect it. Her relationship with Rukeewei was steady, but they were holding off having a child until they saved up enough money to get a better place to live. Handling a debt for both her shop and a new house would not be sustainable.

With their new goal, and Kaleeth's general happiness increased, Janius and Kaleeth's relationship bloomed greatly. Gone were any apprehensions about relationship or parenthood in Janius' mind. He had found a new lease in life and it had changed him. The frequency of Janius' signature half-smiles increased along with his humour. If getting him angry was difficult before, it was almost impossible now. There was another change, of course, with the hatching of his son. He loved his Newt with all his heart, but the stress began to shine through from the third night of crying onwards. When both Ahnasha and Kaleeth were watching the children for the night, Fendros and Janius found a new camaraderie shared over ale. Their situations were different, but their friendship was continued with a new sympathy for one another. Being a pack, they organised the occasional time for one couple to baby sit the other's child at various times.

Eventually, the pack was spared the chain-crying of their two youngest members by the result of expansions and renovations; their own individual rooms. It was a luxury afforded to higher-ranking members of the clan only, but the contribution that Meesei's pack had put in, as well as Meesei's standing as champion, secured them their new, private lodgements.

The years went on, everyone was altered. Most dramatically was the growing of Rhazii. He learned of objects and faces quickly, reaching for them when he wanted them. The series of babbling sounds that came forth with increasing frequency eventually turned into his first intentional word: 'Cub'. Something he said to address Kaleeth and Janius' hatchling. The children often played once Newt was old enough, but it was not without its falls and knocks that caused one or both to cry.

Milestone after milestone in Rhazii's development was crossed until he eventually gathered the strength to begin walking while leaning against a wall, and then on his own. This caused a new world of trouble for Ahnasha and Fendros, who now had a three year old cub who was at least one and a half years larger than his size, quickly finding new directions to run off towards without warrant. The innovation of chairs and stools to reach higher places literally added a new dimension to the mischief. Unfortunately, his bravery during the day was sometimes humbled during the night, when he would wake up with his own nightmares. They were not as bad as Ahnasha or Fendros', but they always involved fire of some sort.

Where before Fendros was doing odd jobs or training with the soldiers, Meesei's commercial vision brought his mercantile skills into demand for the first time in years. His working hours, where not training, were spent pouring over books and reports to make sure that the money was flowing. He was just glad that the Imperial tax men were not looking too closely at the "Jerrick & Co. Farming And Tanning Cooperative"'s astounding efficiency too closely. As he understood, the office front they kept in Bruma was staffed with the most polished silver tongues in the clan. Fendros found a morbid satisfaction in speculating what his parents would think of him now. The only thing that troubled Fendros, truly, was the times where Ahnasha would come to bed late and smelling of cadavers. He knew what that meant, but he didn't want to ask. He knew Ahnasha was doing what she had to in order to extend her life.

First and foremost, Janius was a spellsword. He was quickly relegated into the ranks of the clan's militia and he remained a full time soldier. He trained and he drilled and he guarded, all too used to Lorag's unforgiving exercises. With all the new sparring partners, his combat skills were honed beyond what they had been before. With the expansion in the clan, he and another set of soldiers were part of keeping order. He had become a knuckle on Meesei's iron fist against those who violently resisted the change she brought forth. With Lorag's initial advice still ringing in his mind about Kaleeth and Newt, Janius didn't have the greatest opinion of Kaleeth's own foray into the new military structure. However, he couldn't deny that the discipline did help to control her beast spirit, and her confidence in combat would only help in the future.

Sabine's niche remained in alchemy. Her contribution to the scholar's loft only increased with the resources Darahil granted her and her fellow alchemists. Though Darahil was none-too-happy about the use of ingredients, Sabine liked to make a large cauldron of her famous hangover cure on the nights of festivals and became well known and appreciated in the clan. She was still shy by nature, though, so she was never a good teacher for any prospective alchemists. In the field of magic, Sabine continued to learn from Meesei, lesson by lesson. Following in Meesei's footsteps, she showed promise in Restoration, Alteration, and Destruction magicks. What really piqued her interest, though, was the connection of magical effects between alchemy and the arcane. It made her potently creative, but somewhat inconsistent. Still, she was an established mage under three years of Meesei's continued tutelage.

While Sabine's profession in the clan remained the same, she grew in her own way. Physically, she became almost as tall as Meesei after a few growth spurts. Whenever someone forced her to groom her hair, she always drew the eyes of the clan youth. While she was kind to look upon, her behaviour was still too withdrawn and shy around strangers to have an attractive personality on first impression. Since Inderal, she didn't really feel like getting into a new romantic relationship, at least not yet.

Even Leaps-on-Elves had his own period of growing. Over the three years he got to the size of a dog, to the size of a large dog, to the size of a small lion, with a long tail waving hazardously behind him. Meesei and the other scholars eventually saw the danger in his size and had him neutered, but his lack of juvenile hormones didn't stop him being playful. It was up to Janius to train him, as usual, though some ex-kennel owners who joined the clan provided some much-needed expertise on animal training. Leaps turned from pet to war animal once he was trained to attack with his lightning, but he remained viciously protective of Meesei's pack, especially the children. Janius swore that sometimes the three had some hidden language, as Leaps would take them on rides and help them up onto high places. Even the kennel owners were impressed by Leaps' growing intelligence.

Meesei's relative absence from the pack did not affect Sabine too much, due to Meesei's priorities continuing a sort of motherly duty, but the others found ways to stay together as a pack. They ate meals together as often as they could (especially dinner, which was the most common time for Meesei to join them), they introduced the people they worked alongside as friends, and they still helped each other when needed, like a family. It was strange how much it seemed like an effort to do all those things now. Part of all of them were taken aback by how much living in a big community changed their interactions. Regardless, they all knew that it wouldn't last forever. This was all preparation for their time to strike against Vile. They couldn't ever relax completely.

In her half-asleep mind, the shuffling by the door was relegated to Leaps in Sabine's mind. She began to grumble tiredly as she was shaken awake and eventually focussed her eyes to see Meesei standing over her. She breathed in deeply through her nose and scrunched her eyes as she processed the words. "Hmm?" She hummed curiously. That was when the platter came into focus, and into her nostrils.

She rubbed her eyes and opened them wider, propping herself up until she was sitting. When the luxurious meal became fully apparent to her, she let in an excited breath through her mouth. It had crisp lamb shanks, bread cut into discs with chicken liver, fried eggs, mashed potato mixed with leek and mushroom and butter, that black sausage that the Redguard butcher makes from all the discarded offal and the post powerful spices. It was full of acquired tastes to many, but it was a feast befitting royalty to Sabine. "Is this for me?" She said in a gravelly, but still astounded voice. She grinned and threw her arms around Meesei. "Thank you, Meesei! These are my favourites! How did you know these were my favourites?"

Morning habit woke Fendros up in the almost-silence of the morning for once. He opened his eyes to see Rhazii and Ahnasha sleeping softly beside him. Rhazii had moved to his own bedroll due to his size, but he sometimes slept with his parents still on nights where he had a bad dream. Fendros smiled, he was proud of how quickly Rhazii was growing. He still had patchy fur and darkened skin where he suffered burns as a baby, but that was being grown over year by year. Fendros always nervously laughed to himself when he envisioned Rhazii surpassing his height at what would probably only be fourteen years old.

Fendros rolled out of bed and lifted himself onto his feet.

"Good morning, dada," a small voice spoke slowly from behind him. The movement must have woken Rhazii up.

Indeed, Fendros turned around to see Rhazii's big red eyes looking up at him. Fendros squat down to the bedroll and ran his hand over Rhazii's head. "'Morning, little one," Fendros whispered, "Not so loud now, mama is still asleep."

"Okay," Rhazii said sleepily, closing his own eyes. It didn't look like he would be getting up right now himself.

Fendros stood up again and began to get dressed. He had business to attend to today, but he had made time this morning to congratulate Sabine on reaching adulthood. He had obtained a formula book in Bruma during a recent rotation that looked interesting. A special present. Of course, he didn't know that Sabine already knew most of the recipes within, but that would not lessen the sentiment.

In the meantime, there was breakfast. That was something he usually shared with Ahnasha and Rhazii. They would likely be awake soon.

Janius was awoken less peacefully than Fendros. A sound which might have resembled a chirp, but now sounded like purr, punctuated a tugging at his arm. Janius sucked a tired breath inward and tried to brush the nuisance off. "Alright, Leaps, I'm awake. Lay off, you overgrown skink..."

With a quick sit upwards and a rub of his eyes, Janius was awake. He was starting to consider putting Leaps outside before he was big enough to rip his arm off by accident when he was hungry in the mornings. For now, he knew it was just playfulness and responded in kind by rubbing Leaps under the chin like he liked it.

Looking beside him, Janius saw his love and his son. Kaleeth was correct, Oswall was correct, all of it was worth it. He leaned down and laid a light kiss on Kaleeth's forehead. "Good morning, my lily," Janius said in Jel, some of the few words he knew and practised enough to say properly. He switched to Cyrodilic, "What do you have scheduled for today?"

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