Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Very well," Gallus reflected Miranor's determination, satisfied with her answer. He gave the war council one last glance before standing up straight and nodding to Ri'vashi. "Unless I get to wish it to you before we mobilise, good luck everyone. May Hircine guide us."

With that, Gallus waited for people to start to move and turned to exit unless there was something else to catch his attention.

---

While it was a relief to hear that Ma'tanza's impressions were apparently not from first-hand experience, Tzirret's first words came out before he thought about them. "Well, it does not really hurt unless you do not take your time, it's..."

It was only a fraction of a second before Tzirret interrupted himself that he realised that his own knowledge might reveal his experiences with La'khay. Tzirret did not know how Ma'tanza would react to it. Instead, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he looked to Ma'tanza apologetically. "Alright, we will stop. Tzirret is sorry." He opened his arms and tried to smile. "He will not bother you with it before you are ready."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was a hum of acknowledgement from Gallus as he looked back down at the sketches. He curled his lips and thought for a short moment, wondering about anything else they might not have considered. Fall-back plans and rally points had been set out and the contingencies were in place. Mostly, the plan hinged on getting the gate stuck open. For that, Gallus looked up to the leader of the team responsible for it.

"Miranor, you already know how much we are going to depend on your team for this assault to work. I trust you have everything you need?" Gallus' look was intense, "You mustn't fail."

---

"Pain?" Tzirret narrowed his eyes in confusion. He replied with a hint of shock in his voice, "This one did not ever want to hurt Ma'tanza. He didn't think that it would..." Tzirret stopped himself and tried to make sense of it. It never seemed painful for La'khay, although she did warn him never to rush, else...

Tzirret's expression turned into one of realisation. His softened his voice again, trying to be sympathetic. "Ma'tanza, did...something happen?" More dots connected in Tzirret's mind and he turned his head slightly, still looking at Ma'tanza's face. "Did someone hurt her?"

In the interests of sensitivity, Tzirret did not bring up Qa'habi, despite his suspicions.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus nodded along as the matter regarding the tree line was presented. He could see little issue as well, especially considering their magical gambit. Speaking of which...

"What is the state of the mist cover, Meesei?" Gallus looked up from the sketches to ask.

---

Ma'tanza's reaction was unprecedented by Tzirret. He could have expected Ma'tanza to be reluctant, but to see her outright terrified made his eyes widen in surprise. Tzirret propped himself up on one elbow and reached to take Ma'tanza's hand. "Hey," he said softly, trying to think of what to say to calm her down, "We do not have to do anything if Ma'tanza does not want to. It's alright." Tzirret glanced down to their hands and tried to sit up more to catch Ma'tanza's eyes. "Is Ma'tanza okay? This one did not want to scare her."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"No, I believe you are right," Gallus said. "It's a glaring weakness. Even a lack of defenders around that scaffold would be a feint."

Gallus cocked his head to look at the new buildings. "I'm curious about these barracks. If we take the walls and start on the keep, is it possible that some enemies could come out of hiding from that building?"

---

"Well..." Tzirret paused to push aside his second thoughts once more. "We end up becoming very close and...when in private it feels like we are going further." Tzirret creased his brow up in his tension. "This one did not want to pressure Ma'tanza or embarrass himself going to find a potion in the middle of the night, so he got nervous and just...ran. It was stupid of Tzirret." Tzirret averted his eyes from the stars to Ma'tanza's eyes. "But now he wants to talk about it. He doesn't want to make it a bigger problem. So...this one is not sure that he can ask with more wit, honestly, so...what does Ma'tanza think about...sharing beds?"

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Reasons not to read a Jvan post directly after a pubcrawl: Interpreting the holy sight as an orbiting testicle-space-foetus. At least the music was cool.

I may edit this when I sober up. Please do not judge too harshly.

I think I'll sleep now.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The rest of the journey in felt quicker as the warband moved along. The routine drills and tasks made the days repetitive, though the sights they saw tended to break up the drudgery.

Gallus would himself admit that the tropical forests of Pelletine were a sight to behold, but even he found it amusing to see the reactions of those that had never seen a tree any larger than a desert palm.

Gallus' spare time was divided between keeping track of his pack and helping Ri'vashi to socialise. The latter ended up being a strange experience simply because of all the social anxieties that Ri'vashi displayed. He kept having to remind her of things that were obvious to him through experience before and after trying to meet someone new. It was an additional challenge when people became nervous around her, not only because she was a towering Cathay-raht, but because of her authority. At least Uthri seemed to grow accustomed enough to be counted as a friend, but not quite as close a friend as Gallus seemed to be to Ri'vashi now. Regardless, Ri'vashi was improving.

Of course, the final encampment before the assault put all external thoughts on pause. Everything was converging on the main event, the details of which were to be finalised in one more war council. Gallus pushed aside the flap granting access to the pavilion with fewer signs of levity than usual. He gave Meesei and Ri'vashi a nod and walked up to the group.

"We're finally here," Gallus mused, laying his hands on the table. "Are we waiting for anyone else, or are we ready to get started?"

---

Unfortunately for Tzirret, the forests gave him more tasks than he had in the desert. More humidity meant more water was being consumed. That meant more refills. More undergrowth meant more insects, snakes, and sprains. He became very adept at applying salves and wrapping tourniquets and splints, but he was regularly becoming exhausted at the end of the day.

Tzirret's nervousness regarding talking to Ma'tanza about the night where they got particularly close -- as well as similar nights afterwards -- was already high enough. The excuses to procrastinate coupled with an overarching belief that he could never seemed to find the right time delayed his intentions for just about the entire trip, until now.

Setting up camp was a swift affair. Tzirret was not quite as tired as he had been due to an odd lull in work and tension leading up to the attack. Ma'tanza and him might have been spending more time with Peiter, Sabine, S'nishi, and Bheja if there weren't combat drills and briefings taking place to keep the fighters sharp. That meant that Tzirret and Ma'tanza were left alone to lay together and watch the stars start to come out.

This point may not have been the best time to talk due to the tension of the assault, but Tzirret knew that he should stop delaying. He had waited too long. He had thought about the words that he wanted to say beforehand despite his apprehension, so he didn't stutter too much as he began. "Um, Ma'tanza," Tzirret itched his ear nervously, "this one wants to say that he is sorry that he has been leaving suddenly some evenings evenings. He...wants to explain."

Tzirret paused for Ma'tanza's reaction. Knowing her, she had probably read Tzirret from a mile away regarding his behaviour.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sure thing.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

This is how Belvast talks

It's canon

@poog the pig

Cannot unlisten. It's in all of the canons now. I love it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There was a surprised grunt squeezed out of Gallus as Ri'vashi essentially trapped him. He did know that she didn't mean any harm but he didn't appreciate being quite so close to getting crushed. With a twisted mouth, Gallus spoke with a stilted tightness to preserve his breath. "Oh, well, if you insist."

Gallus glanced to one side and looked back up to Ri'vashi. "What did you want to do first? Talk? Share a drink? Meet some people?"

---

Sabine let Peiter's retort go. She didn't want to pursue such an argument as they walked back into the camp. She nodded at his following statement as she responded. "Of course. Not either of us know what she wants." Sabine smiled sadly, "I wonder how she is coming to terms with their separation?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Gallus gave Ri'vashi a sideways glance just in time to see her doubt and stopped in the water. He raised an eyebrow at her as he responded, "Really? You didn't seem so content when you brought this up." Gallus' cheeky grin gave way as he waved dismissively to absolve Ri'vashi's need to respond to that. "Look, there's a difference between not being very social and never socialising at all. Your work is one thing, but relaxing with friends every now and then is beneficial. Maybe you should...open your mind to the option. What's the worst that could happen?"

---

"Mhm," Sabine hummed tersely, rolling her eyes and emitting a giggle with her mouth closed. "Okay, well, I hope Tzirret can find someone back at Bruma, too. Some new friends as well. And you do not know..." Sabine put an arm around Peiter's waist, "...He could be more single-minded than you are."

The embrace was short-lived as an audible grumble ran over Sabine's middle. She stood up without letting go of Peiter's hand. "Come on, I am hungry," she demanded with a smile.