Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Being so close to Peiter meant that his embrace was less of a shock than it would have been otherwise. Sabine closed her eyes and let herself lean into him and let out a slow breath. She could have stayed in his arms for a lot longer, but it was barely a moment before she opened her eyes and tried to pull away. She raised her arms to put her hands on his shoulders, still smiling. "Do not get too excited. I still have to teach you how to cast a spell."

Sabine sat down opposite Peiter again, motioning him to do the same. The first that she looked at him in the eyes made her lose her words altogether as the situation made its impact. She was reduced to another blush and a spontaneous chuckle. She took a deep breath to banish the fluttering of her stomach and reached for Peiter's wrists again. "Making a spell is like imagining that...you have another limb...almost," Sabine was having trouble staying coherent, but she was doing her best, "Once you channel, like you did before, there is magicka here," Sabine gestured to the space between his hands, "You can shape that however you like by imagining that it is a part of your body. You manipulate it. When you move your fingers, you are doing the same thing, but without magic. Think the same way about your magicka. Hmmh..." Sabine knew that she wasn't making much sense, so she straightened and let go of Peiter's wrists. "Imagine," Sabine put up one hand to Peiter and looked at him more seriously, "...that your hand can glow. It can't glow, but if it could, how would you will it to glow? Don't try it with your hand, but try it with the magicka." Sabine held his wrists again and smiled. "Let's try once more."

Again, Sabine knew that it would not be intuitive and it may take them many attempts. She was there to help Peiter channel if he needed it. Still, they had made some progress, and the continued guidance she gave offered the chance to focus and calm down. The hug had put her on the back foot.

Everyone insisting to Tzirret that he relax was not doing much for his anxieties, but he at least took a sip of wine after hesitating for a moment. The taste actually made his eyes light up and his ears rise; he had not been expecting moon sugar in the wine. It made it taste good. He passed the bottle on and actually seemed to lighten up a little as he responded to La'khay, "Well, Tzirret is not from a town, specifically. He was a caravan Khajiit. This one travelled with his family, mostly in central Cyrodiil, sometimes in the northernmost places in Elsweyr." Tzirret was still quiet in his reservedness, but he seemed to darken a little, skipping over his turning, "After turning, there was wandering in the cold for a day, and then being found by a hunting pack from the Bruma clan. That is home, now." Tzirret managed a smile as he glanced to Uthri, "And this is new family. Gallus taught this one to live."

"Tzirret, you've not referred to yourself directly at all. Are you starting to be absorbed by your ancestral homeland in your Cyrodilic now?" Uthri joked.

Tzirret looked at Uthri as if he had missed something important. "Oh," Tzirret laughed uneasily and shrugged, "I don't know." Now not quite so scared of the pride, Tzirret looked about with a little more openness. "Apologies, Khajiit does not remember the names of everyone. What is it that you all do in the pride?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As soon as Sabine felt the magicka moving without her help, she opened her eyes. "You're channelling!" she whispered with excitement. So as not to over-exert his underdeveloped reservoir of magicka, Sabine stopped channelling her own spell and wrapped her arms properly around Peiter's middle. She squeezed him playfully as she murmured into his ear, "You can stop now. Very good! You were making your magicka move. Did you notice?" Though Peiter couldn't see Sabine's face from where he was, she was grinning ear to ear.

Janius settled down and held Newt on his lap. He leaned towards Colours with one fist on his knee and one eyebrow raised. He was about to defend his pride, but the conversation went elsewhere. He settled to join in on the laughter.

While S'ajira was nosing through Colours' bag, Uthri craned her neck upwards and peered over to Tzirret. He averted his gaze once he caught Uthri's eye, his tail arcing side to side idly. Uthri propped herself up a little from her seat and called out, "Hey, Tzirret! You look miserable on your own like that! Come say hello, I'm more likely to bite you than anyone else here!"

Tzirret looked up at Uthri again and his ears perked, but his face still looked anxious. He glanced to one side, lowered his shoulders in what might be construed as defeat, and then wordlessly stood up to walk over to the group.

"He's just a shy one, always has been," Uthri said, looking to Tzirret as he sat down, "Isn't that right, cloudy-cat?"

Tzirret groaned and gave Uthri an uncomfortable look. He earned that nickname after the colour of his fur reflecting his behaviour around new situations. It didn't often get brought out. "This one wishes you would not say such things," Tzirret complained.

"Ah, loosen up, child. I mean nothing by it," Uthri said with a good natured smile. Her head turned back to Colours, "So, where were we, O bringer of drink?"

"Where did you find that, exactly?" Janius asked, intentionally trying not to sound accusatory, "I thought we only got essentials from the outpost. What is it anyway, wine?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine kept her eyes closed, concentrating on her spell, but she smiled. She continued to instruct him in a murmur, "Try again. This time, push it out through your hands."

This wasn't exactly how Sabine was instructed, as magic came more naturally to her, but it appeared to be working for Peiter. It actually occurred to her that she didn't need to be in such close physical contact with Peiter now that she knew what she was doing with her spell. Peiter didn't need to know that.

"I think three will do well enough. Any more and we'll stand out further." Gallus stood up, picking up the map and rolling it up. "I may as well accompany you to the business people. No point in tarrying, after all." Gallus then followed Meesei to Fendros and Ahnasha.

Just a little while earlier, when Janius and Kaleeth were taking their breakfast, Janius' curiosity about the Pride was piqued properly. Beforehand, they were all exhausted and recovering from a horrid experience. They were probably still going through that, but outwardly, they were joyful and more approachable this morning. Janius looked to Kaleeth with a curious smile, "How about we say hello to our new friends? I've been meaning to for a while."

Whether Kaleeth wanted to or not, Janius took his breakfast and Newt over to the gathered pride and approached with a friendly demeanour. "Greetings, do you mind if we join you?" he asked no one of them in particular.

Uthri was already amongst them, having struck up a one-sided conversation with the Pahmar, S'ajira, by the food supplies and being invited to the circle. "Ah! Here is the one I was telling you about. Janius, of the undergarment mask! If there is one bad thing about him being a father, it is that I cannot experience him and Colours competing over a curvy barmaid." Uthri chuckled heartily.

Tzirret away from them all, looking alone, but glancing over at the pride with a sense of anxiety. He wasn't sure how to approach them all.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sounds good.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine urged Peiter to try and channel a few times, but his comments were valid. If he didn't know what he was looking for, expecting him to find it was unrealistic. Sabine thought to herself with a long, level hum. She searched her mind for a way for Peiter to feel the magicka moving in his body.

She frowned for a few seconds longer, and then looked up to him. "I will try something," Sabine said, rising to her feet and moving behind Peiter. She knelt down and pressed her chest up against his back, lining her arms up with his, putting her head over his shoulder, and holding onto his wrists again. This time, Sabine tried to channel a spell to monitor Peiter's body, much like Meesei had taught her with restoration, but not paying attention to the physical. It took some improvisation, but with some practice, she was able to influence the way magicka flowed through Peiter to a very limited degree, like an oar paddling a stream. "Try again," Sabine said almost at a whisper, closing her eyes and paddling at Peiter's magicka to help it flow. It was unlikely to allow him to master a light spell, but at least he might feel the magicka moving.

Gallus nodded once, "As you wish." With that, Gallus bent back to stretch a little and took a deep breath, "Is there anything else we need to consider? Anything else we need from the city?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"That's okay," Sabine said, "Magicka comes from Magnus. Magnus is not a star, but...it does not matter. Everyone has magicka. You do not feel it because you have had it since you were born." Sabine tapped Peiter on the forearm, "It is like feeling your blood." Sabine reached for Peiter's wrists and lifted them slightly, turning them to face each other. "I want you to try something. Still yourself, slow your breathing, and feel your heartbeat. Feel how it spreads blood out from your chest in pulses. Feel that energy. Now breathe in deeply. Hold it." Sabine was looking at the spot between Peiter's palms, but she glanced up at him occasionally, "When you breathe out, try to will that energy to here, between your hands. Push it out. Concentrate. Make that space part of yourself. Make it shine like a light. This might require a few attempts."

What Sabine was trying was what she remembered the witches teaching her about channelling magic. It was not an intuitive thing in the first place, but describing it with earthly terms was almost impossible without knowing the experience first hand. They would have to keep trying until Peiter made a simple light spell.

Gallus offered a shrug, "I don't mind, as long as we aren't in one spot too long." Gallus looked to Meesei, "Meesei, as long as I have someone to translate Ta'agra for me, I could head out and get us a ship. Or someone else, it does not bother me. What's our timetable?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The proposal to try out magic now put a broad smile on Sabine's face. "Okay," she said, regaining her confidence. She stood up quickly, sliding her hand out from underneath Peiter's, and peeked over at where Meesei, Gallus, and the Pride leader where talking. "I do not know if we are going to travel today. We could still begin with basics. Follow," Sabine beckoned Peiter with one hand and walked a short distance to a quiet spot within sight of the camp. She sat down on with crossed legs and motioned for Peiter to do the same.

Sabine was grinning with excitement to begin the lesson, even though she knew that it was going to require a bit of background theory before any magic was to be done. Still, she wanted to keep it simple and narrow so that Peiter could have the best chance of making progress. "Before starting, how much about magic do you know?" Sabine asked. She knew that Peiter likely wouldn't know anything at all, but if there were a few scant details to start with, it might help.

"Saving coin shouldn't stop us from doing this properly," Gallus said, shaking his head slightly, "I like the idea of taking a ship. They can't track us through a city easily and they, of course, cannot track us along the ocean. We'll be safe and so will the remnants that we may find." Gallus looked briefly to the camp, "I don't think we'll be enthused to board a ship again, but it's no real matter. Still, I suggest we have a pack hunt with those that didn't feed yesterday, just to make things easy. What's the game like in this area, Ra'kalesh?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It took another few seconds for Sabine to form a response. Her eyes above her blank face were flicking to and from Peiter's face as if she was trying to keep her eyes on an illusion that was evading her. "We have," was all she could manage right then. Her mouth twitched into a smile that only lasted the blink of an eye and she looked to the ground in front of Peiter. "I still need to teach you magic," she said, even less audibly.

Gallus nodded and started at the map. "I see no reason not to try. One thing has come to my mind, however." Gallus looked up to the others without lifting his head, "That prisoner mentioned that their leader is a werewolf. That means that he would have the ability to track a large group of lycans just about anywhere. As much as it pains me to say, we cannot go forth assuming that the enemy will not have already found them." Gallus gave a nod to one side, "Granted, that is a worst case, but we will need to be wary. On that same note, word will probably reach him within the week that the champion has arrived. If I were him, I would do everything in my power to find her, including tracking us by scent. We will be on a deadline unless we either move fast or find a way to cover our tracks." Gallus raised his brow, "Is there some kind of magic that can help us?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Hey, I'm going to be out for most of the day. I probably won't have a post up until several hours from now.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

G'night!