Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus' grin faded and he narrowed his eyes. He had thought that seeing dominion soldiers in this place would be the last thing he expected, but finding an impostor of Meesei got close to surpassing it.

"You have a Meesei inside?" Gallus asked to confirm, tilting his head and eyeing the leader suspiciously. Gallus then looked to Meesei, then back to the leader, "If that is the case, then one of these Meeseis are lying. But, since I would rather have trust pervade..." Gallus stood up straight, undressed as swiftly as he could, and doubled over, baring his teeth.

Gallus' body shifted and warped into his beast form in a few moments longer than usual. The Imperial he was sprouted thick grey and black fur and grew greater than twice his original size. As Gallus was an alpha himself, he raised himself up and towered over all figures present, barring any Senche-rahts at best. He growled softly while looking in the direction of the militia leader. "I am Gallus Oswallson, of the Bruma clan. I would see this impostor myself," he said with a slow lisp through his sharp teeth.

"Should we shift as well, Gallus?" Uthri asked.

Gallus' eyes did not leave the militia leader. "Not unless this one needs you to."

---

The early stop for the day gave Tzirret time to sit on his own for a while to try and concentrate. He had wanted to finish carving a new sewing needle out of some discarded bone as requested by one of the clan clothiers. Tzirret had borrowed the previous one and accidentally snapped it. After a short time alone in his tent, he emerged with the finished product and dropped it off, but afterwards found himself at a loss.

Irenya wasn't around for lessons, he had been practising simple magic all day on the road, and he wasn't hungry. It was natural that he gravitated toward the regular group of friends he had frequented throughout the trip. Although he hoped that he could catch Ma'tanza on her own, he knew that was unlikely. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to do when he found her, he just wanted to be around her.

The Jade Stream

I'm fine with it ._.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Tension rose between the silence of the group and the rocky walls of the dark cave they had wandered into. The possibility of the Orcrest clan being destroyed was unlikely, but it gradually weighed on them more with every step. The smell of lycans presented some relief, up until they remembered Vile's new tactic of emulating the scent for ambushes just like one they might be walking into.

Confronting the wall of shields and spears was a jolting shock at first; Gallus thought for a moment that the Dominion soldiers had tricked them all along. It was the last thing he expected. The seconds that followed were a mix of relief and caution. These people smelled of lycans.

"Ah-ah-hold on, hold on," Gallus stepped back and showed his hands. "Alright, we're putting our weapons down. No trouble." As Gallus carefully reached down to his hammer with one hand, he gave the others a nod. Uthri followed suit with slowly pulling out their weapons and dropping them onto the sandy floor with dull thuds. As for Irenya, she did not always bring weapons with her, but Gallus trusted her to disarm herself. In the action, Gallus even discarded the daggers from his belt and sleeve, but kept the one in his boot.

Fendros unbuckled his scabbard and let his sword and shield fall to the ground. He didn't say a word, but he knew that Meesei as capable of defending them for long enough to retrieve their weapons if these spearmen weren't genuine.

Gallus kept up the dialogue. "Thank Hircine we found you. In such tumultuous times as these, there was no guarantee that the Orcrest clan yet lived." Gallus forced a grin and tilted his head to Meesei, "Perhaps I had best let Meesei here put your fears to rest."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

No problem, I'm about to start work. G'night!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus peered up at the ceiling while they walked. "While the colour of the rocks might be different, this is beginning to feel more like home with every step," he murmured. His voice carried easily in the wide cave, even as he spoke quietly.

"Not quite," Fendros added, "I don't smell any lycans."

A light breeze passed the group from behind them, indicating that there may be openings further into the cave.

"I think we're just heading down wind. Give it a moment." Gallus tried to look ahead into the dark that Meesei's light couldn't pierce. It was hard to see further into the dark with it present.

"I would think we could have been confronted by now," Uthri commented as she peered around, "We would never have allowed outsiders this close back home. Perhaps they want to surround us in case the people we left outside mean harm."

---

Sabine quietly frowned for a while in Peiter's arms. What he said made sense, so why was she worried at all? Was it a learned thing? Was something wrong with her?

"I still do not know," Sabine mumbled, "It has been a long time since I made so much of something that I ran out of ingredients before finishing. I am just not used to it."

Perhaps it took talking with Peiter to realise it, but Sabine found her thoughts at that moment unhelpful. She shuffled around until she was facing Peiter and kissed him on the collarbone, before curling and bringing her forehead to his chest. She took a deep breath of his scent to calm down and let the thoughts go, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Her muffled voice grumbled from below Peiter's chin, "Could you hold onto me for a while longer? I want to nap."

The Jade Stream

Yeah, I'm thinking this is a group movement where we turn in our bounty and go our separate ways for a bit. Should we just collectively skip to tomorrow and summarise our activities until the point where we meet up again to take on the leadership?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Who are the Blades, anyway? Some kind of Imperial Khajiit legend?" Gallus asked while stepping around some boulders.

Fendros gave a short laugh, "No, not specifically Khajiit. They are the Emperor's bodyguards. Well, they used to be. They were disbanded after the Empire made peace with the Dominion." Fendros was covering the ground where Ahnasha wasn't, saving them a bit of time, but he spoke up to communicate with Gallus. "They have quite a bit of history. Some say they're still out there, hidden. They're also known for these special swords and armour, based on Akaviri equipment."

"What? Like those curved swords with the little round guard? What are they, kabanas or-?"

Gallus' wild guesses were cut off by Uthri's shouted response from the top of the hill she had scaled. "I see what could be it! Right there! Around the bend! This looks like that's the biggest hill!" Everyone looked up to Uthri then to area she was pointing to. After another moment of looking around, Uthri added, shouting, "I do not see any bigger hill! Check that spot!" Uthri squat down and carefully began lowering herself down the slopes, "I will be with you in a moment!"

---

"No, I am just..." With her back to him, Sabine wrapped her hands around Peiter's. She took a deep breath and tried to enjoy the closeness, but it wasn't ridding her anxiety. "I am just worried," Sabine mumbled, "I know I should not be, I just am."

After a moment, Sabine began to mumble back at Peiter. "Do you not ever get worried about how people will react if you do not do something for them? Even if they are nice people?"

The Jade Stream

Who's on next?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I had to help my dad with something this morning, apologies for the delay. Hopefully I'll have some time before work for more posts, but no guarantee.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The search continued for perhaps another twenty minutes. Most of the time was spent weaving between the various hills and rocks looking for anything that look remotely like the frame for a passage. There was only one that could be described as what they were looking for, but it was so covered in loose gravel from the slope above that it was not going to be a passage for anything.

After a time, the search appeared rather aimless. They were looking for a big hill amongst many big hills, from the bases of all the big hills. Uthri eventually spoke up with a suggestion, "You know, I could climb up one of these hills myself and shout down what I can see." Uthri pointed her thumb to the rocky hill beside them, "It will probably be easier to judge where the biggest hill is."

Gallus gestured and raised his mouth in an expression that held no objection. "Go ahead. We'll look around here for a bit while you do that. Just stay in view of us."

With a nod and a smile, Uthri began to ascend one of the hills at speed. The way she stepped up the loose stones and clambered up the handholds spoke of some experience with climbing. While the rest of the group poked around below, she would be up there in a few minutes to give them some direction.

---

Sabine at least removed her hand from her face when Peiter kissed her cheek, but she still didn't look very mollified. "I know I do not have to," Sabine conceded, "but...now everyone will expect it. I just want to stay here and hide until we find the clanhome."

With one hand, Sabine grabbed at her cold snake skin. After a moment, she turned herself onto her back to look at Peiter worriedly, "Could you...just tell people that I am not around until we pack up camp again?"