Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With a glance over her shoulder, Sabine saw her pursuers. She grit her teeth and lowered her upper body, sprinting as fast as she could. She was terrified, but tried to focus on what to do next. She couldn't outrun them without transforming, but she had to fight them off until the other packs were alerted. She wheeled around a thick tree trunk and flattened her back against it for cover. She could hear two dull thuds against the other side of the tree where arrows made impact.

Breathing fast, she ran through what she needed to do. Protection. She cast a shielding spell over her body to help deflect arrows. Speed? It took an instant to realise that she did not have her shoulder bag on; there were no potions to help her here. Deterrence. She needed time and space to transform. Bringing her hands close together, she brought her magicka swirling into a focal point that steamed with magical cold. It grew in intensity until she was ready to launch it. She peeked around the tree and threw the spell at the first enemy she saw. It expanded into a whirling ball of energy-sapping cold power and lumbered towards the bowman, painting frost on everything between them. She charged and threw the same spell around the other side of the tree, not caring to aim as carefully. Similarly, she used much of the rest of her magicka tossing weaker fireballs in their direction.

Hoping that they would fall into cover, she tried to find her beast spirit. She just needed a few seconds...

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine had barely put on her undergarments before Peiter prompted her to the smell of intruders. She crouched down immediately, wide-eyed and serious.

Peiter's plan was slightly rash. Before she let him run off, Sabine took him by the arm. "Wait," she whispered, still looking at them, "Approach from north-east, harass them, run west. They won't all be able to shoot you clearly that way. And it will be quicker. I will help and then circle around the outpost. Just distract them." Sabine pushed him away then, "Be careful."

Sabine didn't like the idea of running away. They could draw some away, but not all, not reliably. They would have to interfere until the alarm could be raised.

Once Peiter was out of sight, Sabine charged an exploding fireball spell in one hand and launched it across the sightlines of the archers. She didn't need to hit anything, she just needed a bright light and a loud noise. Then she began running south.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sure thing.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius' Jel was not as fluent as Kaleeth's Cyrodilic, but he recognised the word 'trap'. Kaleeth's expression confirmed it. In seconds, Janius' own heart was beginning to beat faster. He looked around the room, trying to hide his nerves. The thought that this might have been a trick was at the back of his mind since he met Ra'maranja, but he had all but removed the thought by now. Meesei would have to be informed, but he would have to get the children out first.

"You just reminded me of something, Colours," Janius said, getting up slowly and gesturing Kaleeth to do the same. He looked over to where Rhazii and Newt were playing with Leaps, "Children. To me. You're getting a bath before it gets dark!" Janius was slightly firm, but wasn't too nervous.

Rhazii and Newt made noises in protest, but they got up and approached Janius anyway. They had been through this routine enough to know that resistance wouldn't help.

Once the children were near, Janius leaned close to Kaleeth, "Go let Meesei know," he whispered, leaving one last word in Jel, "Privately." With that, he squeezed her hand and took the children outside, heading to the platform.

Before they could step out of the door, Fendros got up as well and moved to stop Janius in his tracks, "Oh, it shouldn't be a problem Janius, they-"

"-I insist. They'll be itching all night otherwise." Janius interrupted and motioned for Fendros to sit down a little more forcefully than normal.

Though looking confused, Fendros slowly sat back down, "Very well." Janius' pace towards the door quickened. And Fendros gave Kaleeth a dubious look.

---

"Sorry," Sabine said, averting her eyes with guilt.

When Peiter began tripping over his words, she looked at him directly again. This time, as she smiled at his stammering, she felt her face take on a burning red blush. It passed by the time Peiter recollected himself, but her heart was beating too fast to think of any on-topic response. Her smile faded. She simply laid there, staring for a while at Peiter, her eyes darting to various facial features. Then, all of a sudden, she sat up.

The sound of the water flowing off her was sudden and jarring. "We should head back. It is getting dark," Sabine looked over her shoulder with a playful smile and pat Peiter lightly just above the stomach where he would be slightly winded. Then, looking forward, she stood up and motioned to take her washed and soaked clothes and dress herself.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius stifled a laugh and looked away momentarily with Colours' initial answer. He should have expected something like that.

As for Newt's name, Janius was just as surprised as Kaleeth was. After blinking and exchanging a look with Kaleeth, he angled his head forward to Colours and answered with a higher tone, as if it was something that everyone knew, "He hasn't had his name day yet. He's too young," Janius straightened again and continued regardless, "But, in the meantime, to make things easy, we call him little one, boy, child, son, and - where necessary - Newt. It's more of a nickname, that last one."

The conclusion that Janius came to was that Colours was possibly adopted, or simply grew up with a family very removed from the Marsh. Still, his behaviour was getting stranger. Janius decided to probe it, putting a worry in his brow and tilting his head. "Are you alright, Colours? You seem..." Janius waved a hand below him, trying to find the right word, "...uncomfortable."

---

Sabine shifted her eyes to Peiter with a glance, then swallowed and looked up at the trees again. "I never knew my parents," she said neutrally, "I had my older sister, and then Meesei and the pack, but I wonder what it would have been like to know my mother and father." Sabine lowered her eyes, "It is nothing."

Sabine breathed in and turned her head to Peiter, "What of..." she hesitated upon making eye contact with Peiter, "What of your siblings?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I honestly couldn't tell you.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius gave a nod in thanks to Colours, but didn't get the chance to say so.

"Well, there was that, and the dance, and the swimming, and the hunt we went on," Janius said after Kaleeth with a small laugh, "But yes, I think it was curiosity that had us meet." Janius gave a smile to to Kaleeth, but addressed Colours again. "Do you have someone you hold dearly as well?"

It was obvious to Janius that Colours was unlikely to say yes, given his introduction to Meesei, but he wanted to make conversation anyway. It was only after asking that he noticed Colours' odd hidden demeanour. Janius played it off as social anxiety for now.

---

For a few moments longer, Sabine scrubbed at her skin with her waterlogged tunic, getting at all the itches that her sweat had created. She laughed lightly at Peiter's words, even if his comment was just an idle observation. "It is much nicer than the air," Sabine said.

Given how comfortable Peiter looked, Sabine regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, then lowered herself back so that she was laying down in the water as well. If it weren't for the occasional stones on the floor of the stream, the soft silt might have been as comfortable as any bed. Whether it was a conscious decision, or simply the lack of space in the stream itself, Sabine positioned herself such that the side of her arm and leg was up against Peiter's side. She used Peiter's upper arm to prop her head up out of the water, regardless of any cramps that might cause him. She stared up into the canopy, observing the low, orange sunlight making patterns over the thick foliage.

"Peiter," Sabine said just quietly enough to be heard over the babble of the stream, "What are your parents like?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

All good. I'll account for that behaviour then.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"It would be remiss of me not to," Gallus responded, "This will likely not be the last we speak of this, Irenya. I just needed to be sure of you." Gallus paused for a second, relaxing a little, "Alright, that'll be enough serious talking for now," Gallus gave Irenya a pat on her upper arm and returned to his former self, "Let's get up to that outpost. We're all tired this afternoon, and I don't like sounding like father all the time."

The pair ended their conversation there, with Gallus turning and heading to the ropes to climb up. He intended to find Meesei to follow up his talk, but not before getting a drink and having a sit to gather himself. Irenya's answer was satisfactory for now. Gallus wished he could open her mind to properly fix the insecurities she had, but for now he just needed to make sure that they wouldn't cause problems where it really mattered.

---

Janius regarded Colours with curiosity and suspicion, given the looks he was showing. They had been chatting on the way here, but he was acting strangely. The question he asked, when he finally got around to it, explained Colours' reservations.

"Yes, we are," Janius answered, giving an amiable smile to Colours. However, he did glance to Kaleeth-Rei for a fraction of a second, betraying some unease.

---

Sabine's lips tightened slightly with disappointment when they reached the stream. She had been hoping for something a little deeper. Still, any flowing water would be better than nothing. Without a word, she peeled off her clothing until nude and stepped into the stream. The best she could do to immerse herself short of laying down was to lower herself to her knees in the water. To help cool off, she took her tunic and soaked it under the water's surface, and then held it above her head and wrung the water so that it fell into her hair. With the refreshing cool, she sighed with relief.

Looking over to Peiter, Sabine gave another smile, but didn't initiate conversation.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I kept the interaction between Sabine and Ra'maranja's pack lean so we could skip to going to a water source if you wanted.

As for Irenya and Gallus, it's times like these that I wish the relationships between Gallus' pack members was a little more fleshed out, but I guess we can go with what we have. I'm wondering, though...Irenya has to have a reason for being in Gallus' pack, but given their personalities, Irenya would have to have a pretty good reason to respect Gallus as alpha. Do you think we should expand on that, or just imply respect between them? I know that we didn't want these characters to get too developed so that they're easy to deal with, so I don't know what we should do.