Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine sat back on her heels. "I think we should practice your basic restoration. The sooner you are able to seal up little cuts, the sooner I will be able to teach you how to treat sunburn." Sabine fished out a dagger from her bag. "Remind me...where did we leave off since last time? Have you been practising?"

Still with his hand on Ma'tanza's arm, Tzirret looked around uncomfortably. On one hand, he did not want S'nishi to be put in more danger because Ma'tanza was absent, but more powerfully, Tzirret didn't want Ma'tanza to be hurt either. She may be a competent or even a powerful mage, but she was no soldier.

"Well, S'nishi is...she is experienced as well as strong. Battle is..." Tzirret stopped, he did not want to beat around the bush. "This one thinks that it is not best for Ma'tanza to be around the fighting. She would see horrible things whether she was on the front lines or healing the wounded, but..." Tzirret sighed with frustration at himself and ran his fingers over his head, "Tzirret is sorry...it is just...every time he thinks of you going to a battle, he thinks of the people who were shot by the enemy hunters at Bruma. They went for the mages first, even the powerful ones had trouble. It..." Tzirret moved his hand from Ma'tanza's arm to her hand and squeezed it, "Tzirret may not be bravest, but he still does not want to see Ma'tanza get hurt."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The corner of Sabine's mouth tightened up into one cheek. She wasn't keen on dwelling on such a dark subject either, but as for what to do? She wasn't immediately inspired. One obvious possibility came to mind, although that would require cleaning up all the equipment she had unceremoniously tossed into their tent in the rush. She slowly slid out of Peiter's arms and began to pack it away regardless. She would have had to eventually anyway.

"Hmm, I am not sure what I want to do," Sabine said while gathering everything up. "We could keep talking. I know I would like to keep cuddling." Sabine gave Peiter a smile in the dark as an idea came to mind. "We could have a magic lesson." The last piece of equipment was put away and Sabine leaned forward, took Peiter by the shoulders while kneeling, and planted a kiss on his lips. "I might reward you if you do well."

---

Although it was hard to see, Tzirret gave Ma'tanza a look of concern as she spoke. "This one did not know that Ma'tanza was going to fight...well, might fight, but..." Tzirret thought back to the tumult of the battle in the halls of the clanhome. He was safe because he was on the back lines, but Ma'tanza could go the same way as the mages that were taken down by crossbow bolts above the gate. The very thought made Tzirret horrified.

Tzirret did not even hesitate as he took Ma'tanza gently by the arm. "This one has been in a battle before. It is...Tzirret cannot make Ma'tanza's decisions for her, but he...it...they target mages specifically. The enemy. If you fight, Tzirret would want to be there to help. He might be scared as well, but he could not stay behind. He could not stand it." Tzirret's voice began to waver, "Has S'nishi talked to Ma'tanza about this at all?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ah, that makes sense.

I have to head off in about ten minutes, so probably no more posts tonight. G'night!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hey, don't be ashamed, I understand," Janius cooed, "You have been learning about your beast spirit. That's always a good thing." He was a little confronted by what Kaleeth said, but the last thing he wanted to do was to make her feel as if she had done something wrong. Still, if it was as serious as she was implying, then he wanted to help. "We...could try the rope, if you feel you need it. It..." Janius let out the rest of his breath, still a bit unsure. "I don't know, do you feel as if you might transform? How hard did it want to fight? I can't know whether the rope would be strong enough to hold you, even if you don't transform. In any case, I trust you not to seriously injure me." Janius was not completely sure where he was going. He was clearly out of his element, but he did not seem too nervous to do away with the idea completely.

Sabine sat silently for a while, thinking on what Peiter said. She had to recount the times during the war that she had killed. There were plenty, but she never had the same reservations as Peiter did. No times, except perhaps when she killed guards while searching for Fendros and Ahnasha after they had been captured in Black Marsh. She breathed in and gave a response. "It is...not nice killing people, Peiter. It is never nice. Most people I have killed, they have wanted to kill me or my family or my friends. Sometimes, though, there are people that exploit others to stand between us and them. It is not nice killing those people either, but...the best we can do is not be like our enemies. We should never exploit people like that. Even in a war." Sabine bowed her head and closed her eyes, "I hate this war."

---

"Um...this one is unsure." Tzirret curled his lips and licked his teeth for a moment, "We will definitely be staying at Orcrest until Meesei leads the attack on the stronghold, but...Tzirret does not know if he will be going with them to fight." Tzirret's eyes went down and up, "It depends on what Gallus wants. One of the reasons that my pack was needed on this journey was to help watch over Newt and Rhazii, the children. Tzirret might have to be one of the people who does that."

The next thought brought a deep sigh to Tzirret's lips. He lowered his head, but the darkness hid the other visual cues of his sadness. After the counter strike and possibly helping the Senchal clan to resettle, he would most likely be going home to Bruma, away from Ma'tanza. "A break would be nice, he thinks," he added, trying not to think that far into the future.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I hope what Kaleeth has in mind isn't going to breach the forum guidelines. Hoo boy.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Given how few and far between their chances to do such things were these days, Janius returned Kaleeth's passion without hesitation. His mind settled into the assumption that they were going to just enjoy themselves for a while, but Kaleeth's demeanour warded that somewhat. Janius was concerned, but did not address it before Kaleeth spoke. What she said turned Janius' face to confusion.

"Rope?" Janius responded, looking thoroughly puzzled, "I think we have some spare for the tent, but...what ever do you need rope for?"

Sabine closed her eyes and her smile faded. "Adventures are serious most of the time," she said, lowly. She did not stay grave as she continued. Rather, she sounded concerned. "Are you worried for him? Has this adventure been...serious for you, too?"

There was a moment where Tzirret hummed in thought. He couldn't quite remember all the things he had or hadn't told Ma'tanza. Apart from the battle for Bruma three years ago, most particularly exciting things in his life had happened on this journey. Well, there was the exception of his turning, but that was never going to be something he wanted to share just 'to pass the time'. Not to mention, it was still sore for him.

"This one could tell the story of the day we landed in Senchal. He does not think he has told you of that properly." Tzirret sat up as straight as he could without his head touching the side of the tent. He was partly glad that he got to tell a story, as it put his mind off the weather. "We had all been cooped up in a ship for weeks, out of the Imperial City. We had rooms for ourselves this time, but the crew were all non-lycans, so we could not transform at all. It was very tense, but very boring at the same time. When we landed, this one did not mind that Senchal seemed very...seedy. He was just glad to be on land. Our first destination was a tavern near the docks where we were meant to meet a contact..."

Tzirret went on to recount all the details he could remember. Meeting the traitor pack along with Colours, the tree house outpost, unravelling the scheme, Meesei being stabbed, even Peiter's account of the sneak attack on the ground. There were ups and downs, like any good story, even some laughs shared at Colours' behaviour and Gallus' drink order. Tzirret's role in the story was comparatively minor, but he was not exaggerated with his levels of bravery during the ordeal. He was just honest. He stopped to answer questions, of course, though retelling it all only took about an hour in total.

"...after that, once Ra'kalesh's pride was healed, we took a ship to the area we thought you might be hiding and began looking." Tzirret shrugged, "Beyond that, this one thinks that there was only the minotaur den, but he told you about that before." Tzirret's eyes went to Ma'tanza's pendant, as dim as it was in the light. He had elaborated exactly how he earned the creature's horns previously, after giving Ma'tanza the pendant. This was not the first time they had swapped stories to pass time on the road.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I would like that," Janius said, "Though with how scarce water is out here, I don't like our chances of a pool large enough being with the Orcrest clan. We'll have to make a note to do that on the way home, or when we get home."

Janius began to stroke his hand down Kaleeth's neck affectionately. It had been a while since he had shared a dive with Kaleeth under the effects of waterbreathing. He reminisced the time at the reef off the coast of Thorn, years ago. "Kaleeth, I don't think I get to say this enough. I love you."

Peiter's attempt at flattery was more amusing to Sabine than anything. She gave a similar chuckle in his arms. "We still have the nights. And a tent." Sabine grinned and turned her head up so she could see his eyes, "Am I spoiling you? Letting you touch me so?" She lifted herself up a bit to kiss him quickly. "I feel the same way, love."

Sabine still wanted to keep up the conversation, so she settled herself down to her prior position. It took the time of a deep, relaxed breath to come up with a question. "Peiter, how long has Gallus been your mentor? What is it like being taught by him?"

While Tzirret smiled a bit, he wasn't sure that returning M'ibasa's laugh would be laughing with him or at himself. He took M'ibasa's sarcasm as a prompt that he may have been trying a bit too hard to encourage him, but he could not say that his efforts were wasted.

"Well, let's see..." Tzirret leaned his chin on his fist and his elbow on his knee as he sat forward, cross-legged. "It's too dark to play any card games, that is what this one normally does with his pack when there is time to pass." Tzirret angled his head, "Do we know any good stories?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Haha, no rush then.

The Jade Stream

"'Get' is one way to describe it," Kyang said, slowing to a stop beside Torako. "A couple..." Kyang sighed through her teeth, "...were released by Dai Xin. The rest of them were killed, by the looks. There was talk of a boss and a hideout, but we couldn't quite get it out of them before they ran off."

Kyang then walked to the unconscious captive and squat down to get a better look at his face. She frowned, he hadn't woken up yet. Kyang looked to Liu and pointed her thumb at the bandit. "At least we've got this guy. He might know something." She narrowed one eye at the makeshift bandage, "How's the arrow hole, by the way? You're looking pretty healthy for someone who was shot."

It was looking like Xin was following the pair back to Liu, so Kyang waved dismissively at him when he made his appearance. "I'll let this guy explain all that you missed. I'm afraid I might shout at him again if I try." Kyang glanced to the stone faced Torako and grimaced, "...And it doesn't look like the Tiger Lily is in a talking mood right now."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius leaned his head against Kaleeth's. "You know, you're right," Janius responded, "There's not been much of any opportunity on the road. We've not really had much time to just...sit and be together, with all that entails. I've actually really missed being able to talk in private. I know I've been a bit grumpy lately with the sun and the sand, I should apologise for that."

Putting aside realising that his first thought did not go to another subset of 'all that entails', Janius craned his head around to look at Kaleeth more closely. There was plenty of time for whatever they wanted, really. Instead, he spoke. "How about you? How have you been lately?"

There was a half-hearted giggle from Sabine's nose that just ended up sounding like a high pitched set of hums. "That is what myself and others in my pack thought when we arrived at the Bruma clan for the first time, three years ago. Then Jerrick was poisoned." Sabine shifted to nestle into Peiter a little more closely, leaning the side of her head into his chest. "Maybe Hircine will tell Meesei if that is going to happen again. It probably will not, I think."

There was an endearing charm to M'ibasa's courageous words. Tzirret gave him a nod. "Ah, Tzirret knew the brave M'ibasa would not fret here. Not like this one," Tzirret's eyes darted around and he rubbed his upper arms as if shivering, still forcing a smile, "This one finds the wind a bit frightening. He needs brave M'ibasa and lovely Ma'tanza to keep him safe. Can M'ibasa do that?"

In betrayal of the actual truth of his words, Tzirret's tail wrapped itself around Ma'tanza's waist with a worried tension to it.