Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Rather than give La'khay a straight answer either, Gallus simply reflected her friendliness by bringing his own arm around her shoulder as he addressed Colours again.

"What's the matter, Colours? Are you afraid she wouldn't believe you if you told her?" Gallus asked before looking to Meesei, "What do you think?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus gave a wide smile and laughed through his nose. "Never change, La'khay," he responded. "Although, far be it from me to take you away from La'tahne. I hear you've nary set out from your bedroom since you met her."

As for Colours, his words caught everyone's attention. It was surprising to hear him speak as he did, but the reception to it was warm. Janius ended up responding first. "Thank you, Colours. It's appreciated. Although, not as much as you saving our lives back at Senchal."

"Yes, don't think we deserve all the credit," Fendros added.

Gallus stepped up to Colours and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "And the ships. You saved more lives than you might think." Gallus gave a grin, "I'd count you amongst the best of us as well, Colours."

There were nods of agreement from Fendros and Janius.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros pursed his lips and nodded to S'ajira. "I am grateful," he said as he stood up, "We'll see you, then." Stepping away, Fendros went to give handshakes and more brief goodbyes to Colours and La'khay in turn.

Rhazii hugged Ahnasha as tightly as he could. His head rubbed against Ahnasha's as he nodded to what his mother requested. "I love you, mama," he said in a strained squeak. He seemed intent on not letting go, even when Ahnasha motioned to pull back.

"Ah, son, that is natural," Janius said, keeping his smile, "But I think you can do this. You're a clever kid, you'll have Jo'rashaad, S'ajira, and Ciinriel watching over you, and..." Janius ruffled Newt's scaly head, "...you and Rhazii can do anything if you put your heads together. Take care of him as well, alright? And watch Leaps doesn't get into too much trouble." Janius didn't let Newt answer before he wrapped one arm around Jo'rashaad and the other around Newt, holding the child close to his shoulder. "We'll be back before you know it."

Janius let Newt say what he wanted to say if there was anything, before letting him go and holding Jo'rashaad by the shoulder. "I don't think I need to repeat myself again," Janius said with a good natured tone. After a pause and a nod, Janius came up with only one more thing to say, "Take care, friend." Janius stepped back for Kaleeth to say goodbye as he farewelled everyone else in turn.

Seeing the entirety of Ra'kalesh's pack gathered had Gallus step up to speak to them as well. "Not even separated yet and Colours' teeth are in danger? When will you ever get a break?" Gallus laughed. He approached La'khay first as she was the closest from his position. He shook her hand and put a hand on her shoulder with a friendly half-smile, "La'khay, I have actually been meaning to mention my thanks to you. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but...about Tzirret, perhaps the way things panned out were unconventional, but you've been a help to him," Gallus said, not revealing how much he knew. "Thank you, and take care of yourself." Gallus let go, but raised a finger to her, "Perhaps don't make a habit of shaving any more of my boys, hm?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As he had ordered before that day, Gallus had his entire pack present for a head count well before the time of departure. Meesei's pack followed suit as well, though their duties would not have them as distributed during the march, so they were going to be near one another anyway.

With everything set, goodbyes were in order. Sabine, Peiter, and Tzirret had all given a quick goodbye to Ciinriel and had wandered off to find M'ibasa and Qa'habi to give a quick farewell to them, too. The parents of Newt and Rhazii, however, were going to linger for a little longer.

Fendros began by kneeling down to Rhazii and giving him a smile. Rhazii did not exactly look enthused about the situation, but he was not crying as he had been when he first heard about his mother and father leaving temporarily. At least not yet. "Alright, little one," Fendros began, putting his hands on Rhazii's shoulders, "You stay safe now, take care of Newt and do what Jo'rashaad and S'ajira tell you."

"Dada..." Rhazii mumbled sadly, "I don't want you to leave."

"You'll be fine, Rhazii. You're a big strong boy, and I know you'll be brave." Fendros drew Rhazii into a tight hug and held him for a while. "We'll be back before too long, I promise," Fendros said before turning his head and laying a kiss on the side of Rhazii's head.

By the time Fendros and Rhazii finally reluctantly separated, Rhazii's face was streaming with tears and he was periodically sniffing up a running nose. By the way he held his face, Rhazii seemed to be at least trying to show courage, but wasn't quite succeeding. Fendros was better at it to the point where he was succeeding, but there were even hints on his own brow that betrayed how he felt.

Fendros made space for Ahnasha to say goodbye as well as he addressed S'ajira. "It goes without saying that Rhazii is the most precious thing we have. It is...hard to separate, but we trust you and your pride." Fendros gave S'ajira a pat on her shoulder, "Thank you for helping us. You are good friends."

A similar scene was playing out just adjacent as Janius stepped up to Newt in Jo'rashaad's arms. He was playing off his anxieties by acting more jovial about the situation than Fendros was. He gave Newt a reassuring grin and put a hand on his back, rubbing the back of Newt's neck comfortingly with his thumb. "How are you feeling, my little Newt?" Janius asked, "Ready? Brave?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sure thing.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

So, where did you want to skip to after this scene?

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Thank you," Sabine said as the group hug continued, "I hope we can keep the connections too. It is not as lonely as travelling in the wilds can be."

The four of them eventually ended the hug. As much as Sabine didn't want to say goodbye, she did not want to continue imposing on La'tahne and La'khay and she had other tasks to complete. She took Peiter's hand again and addressed the odd khajiit couple once more. "We should be getting to other things now. Take care, La'tahne, La'khay. Thank you again for everything." Sabine's eyes focussed to La'khay, "...Not just the painting. We will see you again."

With that, Sabine gave Peiter a smile and let him say his farewells as well.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"We will try," Sabine laughed, "I am glad that we found you, La'khay. Thank you for everything."

Sabine stepped around such that she still had an arm around La'khay's torso but was turned to face Peiter and La'tahne as well. "I will miss you on the march. You take care of yourselves too." Sabine paused for a moment and her smile lowered, "Will we see you both before we leave or..." Sabine made sure to keep her voice such that everything seemed as business-as-usual, "...are you going to be busy?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

La'khay and La'tahne's unabashed behaviour to each other made Sabine feel uncomfortable. She was glad that La'khay didn't waste much time in showing them the finished painting.

The cloth slid off with no particular expectation from Sabine short of what she had seen before. Sabine's immediate reaction to the finished image was mixed. Outwardly, she had a small smile as she stared at it. The detail was nothing short of exquisite. In fact, from the distance that she stood, the focal points were hard to recognise as paint more than a frozen image in a mirror. Still, Sabine had only seen her own likeness in reflections from water, metal, and perhaps only once or twice through an actual mirror. Peiter's face was the same as she always knew it, but looking at her own face was utterly strange. To others, she looked normal with her lips locked with Peiter's. To her, she looked goofy and laughable. She wasn't sure whether she would get used to that.

Still, Sabine could not fault La'khay's skills. She stepped up to take a closer look and was almost relieved to have the illusion of the image's realness broken back into paint strokes. It allowed her to look at the image as a whole, which did bring back a small portion of Sabine's emotions when she was first told to take the pose that she did. That much at least was a better testament to La'khay's efforts.

"It is..." Sabine normally paced her words such that she spoke with a sureness, but she wasn't quite equipped to describe what was before her with justice. "La'khay, I had no idea you could do something like this," Sabine said, before looking to La'khay with a grin and a laugh on her breath, "It is delightful." Sabine stepped up to La'khay and gave her a tight hug, too happy to notice the smell of La'tahne's breath on her fur. "Thank you so much!"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While La'khay spoke, Sabine's face was reddened by what she saw, and smelled, and reflection on what she heard. Her suspicions had been as present as Peiter's, but it was still embarrassing to impose on her friends like this.

"Um, I think we should apologise instead. We should not have interrupted you both." Sabine almost stumbled over her words, but a quick pause prevented that as she considered her speech as usual. "We just came to see the painting. We did not want to miss out seeing it before the march began."