Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine's screams had quietened to shuddering sobs at this point. The lingering pain in her hands made her vocalise with every outward breath. Her red face streamed with tears dripping down her neck.

Arinette's question only made Sabine gently shake her head. "I cannot..." she whimpered. "I cannot tell you."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Standing up only made Sabine shiver further. Goosebumps covered her body. She could no longer conserve the small warmth afforded by holding her legs to her torso.

Her shaking breaths quickened as Arinette approached. Especially as the stake and hammer lifted to her hands. It was clear what came next. Sabine was hyperventilating by the time the point touched her palm. The first hammer blow did not cause her to make a sound. Her rising and falling chest stopped as her eyes widened in shock. The next few strikes breached her hands. She threw her head back against the tree and scrunched her eyes shut as whimpers turned into pained shouts and screams. More tears streaked back from the corners of her eyes. A seemingly burning heat ran down her arms, though the brief relief from the cold was not enough to turn the sight of her own blood running down her pale skin.

"Stop! STOP! PLEASE!" Sabine shrieked. "We are not the ones spreading the curse!" She sobbed desperately. "We are not the ones spreading the curse..."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The kick made Sabine grunt painfully and forced her face into a rictus. She shrunk to the side she was kicked. The immediate hurt was too much to object to Arinette's lies.

After a moment of sobbing in the dirt, Sabine whispered something through her teeth.

She thought about drawing Arinette closer. Close enough to blow a jet of magic into her face and freeze the water in her eyes. What little she had would be enough. She didn't. Her magic was the one thing she had. She needed to wait until she was left alone again and do something more useful. If she blinded Arinette out of spite, they would make sure it could not happen again.

"Meesei is my mother." Sabine drew her eyes up to finally meet Arinette's. "You are wrong about us. I will die before letting you kill her."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine could not tell whether she was able to get any sleep at all through the cold night. She could not get any more comfortable -- not even to lay down on her side -- courtesy of her restraints. She felt as if she was going to throw up when she heard her interrogators approaching.

She slowly lifted her tired head. She didn't look up far enough to look at Arinette's eyes. "Why do you want to kill her? Why are you being so horrid?" she said. Some determination seeped through, even if it was through biting cold and anticipation of punishment.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

No problem.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine was already shaking before she was searched and restrained. She had thought Arinette would continue her violence. She then only had accidental shivers elicit strikes from the Orc twins, even though she did not resist. When they left her pitiful against a tree, she drew up her knees as close to her chest as she could. Her shivering quickly drew from the cold as much as from the fear.

The entire hour that Do'Rhajul's team took to settle in, Sabine sat shivering and staring at her knees. No amount of that time had made her tired or calm. If anything, the healing bruises on her torso were just beginning to hurt, making breathing even harder.

Arinette's approach made Sabine cringe and hold her eyes shut. She tensed up and waited for whatever suffering she had in store. Somehow, only having the words to deal with escalated the fear more than opening up with punches. Sabine had no idea what was coming or when it would come. She barely even processed what Arinette was saying.

What Arinette said drew Sabine back to old memories. Memories of the silver cage and the endless antidote experiments. The way her beast spirit and her would torture each other at the behest of the alchemy forced into her. Ariel's face was a blur. Sabine could not imagine anything worse than what happened in the Vos coven. But she did feel like a helpless, emaciated, and terrified little girl again.

Mention of Meesei was one thing that kept her warm. That made her eyes burn.

"She is my mother," Sabine whimpered, not realising she had said it out loud until she opened her eyes and saw the back of Arinette's feet walking away.

Sabine let her forehead fall onto her knees and she quietly wept. Between the fear, the cold, and the pain, she could not sleep if she tried.

---

Fendros' gesture had the intended effect. However, the moment was shorter-lived than he expected. The ring was a small amount of good news that they needed.

Even if Meesei could not immediately locate Sabine's ring, she gave him an idea. He was still neutral in his tone, if more energetic. "I would not give up just yet. If that ring is powerful enough to detect the other over a distance, it improves our chances. Do we have a map of the High Rock region?"

Fendros continued whether they could use a map or not. "Consider the distance between here and the last place we fought and forced them to disappear, those weeks ago. We know little about the limits of their magic, but we may be able to take a guess to narrow down the total area they may have gone to. It is likely to be any distance in radius around this point..." he pointed to the ground. "...to the point we were ambushed before. We can use the ring to sweep larger areas while others search conventionally beyond the ring's range. It is our best chance."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine was hit hard enough to take the wind out of her lungs. She coughed and wheezed in a breath. She might have doubled over if Do'rhajul was not holding her up. Hair stuck to her face as Arinette pulled her face up.

The words gave Sabine flashes back to the state she found Ahnasha and Fendros in back in Black Marsh. She barely even remembered their torturer. She only remembered that he did horrible things to them. Things that stayed with them forever. Arinette could do those things to her.

Sabine mouthed something that did not make a sound on her vocal chords. She tried again. "Please..." She barely spoke louder than a mouse. "We did not plan to fight. We did not come to attack anyone."

She did not want to say what the plan was. She did not even know if it was a success.

---

Meesei's outburst caught Fendros' attention just as strongly. Not only because it was uncharacteristic for Meesei, but also because he thought for a moment she was referring to him and not Ahnasha. Fendros looked back at Meesei with silent astonishment for a long while.

This was what it took for Fendros to realise the impact of what had just happened. His efforts of cobbling a wall of anger and action that would never surmount their situation crumbled. His knees shook. He slowly emptied his lungs to little above nothing and panned his unfocussed eyes across the ground.

"The...the same reason you didn't," Fendros barely managed to string together.

The words felt cold. Colder than Meesei deserved. Fendros knew what it was like to know that his child was in danger. He knew the feeling well. Looking at Rhazii's face reminded him every time he saw it. Nothing he could say would placate Meesei. The thought put him into focus. He did the only thing he could think to do.

His helmet fell to the ground with a hollow thud. He took step after careful step towards Meesei. He was not aggressive or sympathetic. He did not even flinch. His only other movement was a ward prepared in his left hand. Unless Meesei cast magic he would be forced to ward away, he did not react to anything she said or did. He just closed the distance with a face as blank as the Dwemer automatons around them.

Then, when they were close enough, he embraced Meesei. He embraced her tightly.

"I won't let you be the stoic one," Fendros murmured in a pained monotone. "I won't let you. Not for this."

Fendros' words were clear enough. He had similar wrath when Rhazii's life was in danger. None of that gave him any further control, yet Meesei was there for him and Ahnasha those years ago. Now the roles were reversed. Fendros would not let Meesei go unsupported.

Janius watched on through his own tears. He could see Fendros' face over Meesei's shoulder with his jaw clenched tight and his eyes stern and unnaturally calm. It was amazing in a strange way that he was not in a similar state to the rest of them.

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

I have a question to ask everyone:

What do you think Teknall looks like?

@BBeast

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine held her breath and looked back at Arinette. She was still terrified. She could not even perform the logic as to whether she should say anything or not. Her fear kept her silent. She closed her mouth and waited.

---

As soon as Ahnasha revealed herself, Fendros pulled off his helmet and hugged her suddenly. The embrace was short-lived as he took her by the shoulders. "Did you plant the book?" He asked frantically. "Do you know where they could have gone!?"

With both Meesei and Fendros clearly not in position to command, Janius turned wandered listlessly over to those remaining. "Ri'vashi," he said without lifting his eyes or his voice. "Please order a search of the camp. We need a moment."

With that, Janius went slowly to Kaleeth with his head low. He slid his axe into his belt along the way. While Janius was ostensibly going to check on her, he broke down as soon as he placed a gauntleted hand on her shoulder. Tears flowed from his shut eyes. He was not strong enough for this.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine continued to struggle for breath. Having her magicka sucked out of her all at once was as much chilling as it was nauseating. She could feel the familiar, taken-for-granted safety of her magic get replaced with a void. Any last vestiges of lucid thought in her mind were now replaced with the nightmarish reality she was in.

She could not have stopped herself wheezing in a breath and breaking into a coughing fit the instant Arinette moved her foot away. Do'rhajul's iron grip was all that kept her from stumbling to the ground after being picked up. The icy feeling of a blade at her throat made her tense up. She became a statue but for the rapid rising and falling of her chest.

Fendros and Janius burst out brandishing their own weapons. Their eyes glinted with shock behind their helmets when they saw Sabine.

They halted on orders. The exchange was short between Meesei and the enemy. Janius' head twitched from side to side to see each in Do'rhajul's team. Fendros felt he could put an arrow through the eye of any one of them. Both were caught in futility.

Sabine's face showed only pure fright. Her tears ran down her cheeks. And then the team teleported away.

There was silence.

The pack knew they would teleport away. Fendros and Janius froze in place, Fendros with his bow drawn and Janius with his guard up. It sank in slowly and painfully.

Fendros lowered his bow as his jaw quivered. He listed his head from side to side in denial before pitching his bow upon the ground in anger. It bounced a distance behind him. He stomped forward. "We can't let them get away with this!" He growled and spun around to the others. With spread arms he shouted through the gap the lower half of his chitin helmet afforded his mouth. "There has to be a way to follow them! They can't get away again!"

Janius was standing straight with his arms hanging limp. His axe and shield were held only barely in his fingers. "Fendros," Janius said only loud enough to make himself heard. He raised his hand and slowly lifted his visor with a creak. His mouth was slightly parted and his eyes were lined red. "They're gone," he stated. "She's...She's gone."

As if only now realising truth, Fendros' arms lost their energy. He glowered through his helmet at Janius. Nothing he could muster to say would prove Janius wrong. Fendros' eyes sunk and his breathing slowed.

Only then did he have a realisation. His head perked momentarily. "Ahnasha," he said softly. He half-turned and raised his voice. "Ahna!?"

---

Sabine remained frozen and breathing shallowly throughout the entire experience. Her eyes were open but she did not know where she was. With the knife still at her neck, she was too scared to think further on her situation, much less speak. She barely even noticed the smallest dregs of magicka flow back into her body naturally.