Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius frowned sympathetically. "There is no easy answer. We either return or we do not, the choice is in what is given up." Janius ran his fingers through his hair. "Or...well, I suppose there would be room for compromise, with a bit of work." He continued with cautious optimism. "Meesei and Sabine do have their powers, if only they could locate the tribe each time. If there was some way to do that, we could visit regularly without leaving everything behind. Do you think that could work?"

---

Fendros stood up promptly after Ahnasha, bending to pick up his tunic, giving it a harsh whip to remove much of the fur before sliding it over his head.

Meanwhile, Rhazii entered the room appearing neutral and collected, excepting his slightly wider than usual eyes. He was oblivious to what he interrupted.

Ahnasha's instructions were replied with nods at each line. "Absolutely," Rhazii answered. "I've never seen a pink Argonian before, and that woman was pink. All four were just like you described. The Suthay-raht woman even looked like an older version of you."

"Do you remember meeting any of them, Rhazii?" Fendros asked.

Rhazii paused for thought and then shook his head. "Not really. I only remember a few things, like the food, mother and grandmother hugging and crying..." he released his breath. "Not the faces, though."

Fendros smiled. "Well, you can relax," he said, patting Rhazii's shoulder. "They are friendly people. More friendly than my family. Just remember what we're hiding. You remember everything about that."

"Yeah," he half-grinned. "You don't need to tell me again. I've heard it so many times I might faint."

"Good. Let's go meet them. Hopefully we can catch them before they finish paying for their rooms."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"That sounds like something you should do anyway while we are here," Janius said. "It might not be the same but I think it will help."

The following question caused Janius to crane his head up to survey the village. He avoided the prying eyes of those around him. His face did not show much hope. "'Could' is the wrong word. I know I could be happy here. I would be happy anywhere with you and Julan." His eyes faltered down. "Though, it would be giving up more than I would want to. Not just the clan, not just the pack -- my best friends and things I have built. I would be giving up contact with my birth family as well."

---

Rhazii kept to himself in the main floor of the inn. The other patrons during the working day were mostly other travellers, generally too busy to pay him any heed. The locals were quick with their meals and drinks before returning to their occupations. Only once so far had Rhazii gotten away with one night of socialising over ales with a group of local men who mistook him for someone older, given his relative size, but he was sure not to drink too much. His parents could sniff him out if he was not careful.

This morning was typical. Rhazii traded his attention between some bread, cheese, and fried eggs and a small book he had purchased. Always looking to improve, his current read was a manual on mace techniques.

The sound of new patrons tended only to make him glance up. Sometimes their voices, manners, or appearance would make him look twice. He hardly saw any more than one or two Khajiit, for instance. When two arrived at once, he glanced twice. When his mind processed that an bright-scaled Argonian was with them, he looked again and slowed his chewing. When the shorter figure turned out to be a Bosmer, he swallowed hard.

Without taking his eyes off them, he pat shut his book with one finger, picked it up, slowly stood up -- almost to full height, and tried to walk to the staircase without drawing any further attention. The fact that he was the only Cathay he had seen in the city was not lost on him. The fact only made him walk a little faster.

---

Meanwhile, upstairs, Fendros brought his hands up Ahnasha's sides while they kissed. "Hmm, you will have to decide in what way to show how skilled you are in comparison to him." He said, before kissing her once more. Their hands and lips wandered. Only two fleeting seconds passed after Fendros' worn tunic had fallen to the floor before two firm knocks thumped on the door.

They halted. Fendros held his head back and closed his eyes, thinking it was the innkeeper warning that the breakfast meals would finish soon.

"Mother? Father?" Rhazii's nervous muffled voice came through instead. "Uhm...I saw some new people just arrive through the front door. I think it's mother's family."

Fendros exchanged a surprised look with Ahnasha. "Impeccable," he mumbled.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius did not know how to respond. He doubted there was any response he could give to help matters, as much as he wanted to try. It took him a while to come to that conclusion as he knelt with Kaleeth.

Eventually, he curled his fingers around one of Kaleeth's hands to stop its shaking. "You're still here, though. And we have plenty of time. There's regret, yes, but I think it would be healthier to grieve instead. Is there anything in particular your tribe does to mourn the passed?"

---

"If we see the worst might happen, one or both of us can always take Rhazii out at night to hunt if we must," Fendros added as Ahanasha stood.

The amount of tension in Fendros' shoulders and neck felt like cold clay to Ahnasha. Not a few seconds into her massage and Fendros let out a long breath and sank into his chair. His eyes were closed when Ahnasha leant over him. He opened them to look back at her when she spoke.

"Of course," he said. "Monderyn and I used to hunt together often. I doubt he has changed much in that way. Llarasa was never much a fanatic of the wilds, though. I don't know how either of them would feel about hunting with werewolves. However, a more conventional hunt might appeal."

It wasn't long before Fendros' shoulders grew pliable under Ahnasha's thumbs. He held his head back with a small grin to face Ahnasha better. "I'll never tire of this," he said quietly. He brought a hand up to reach behind Ahnasha's head and drew her into quick kiss. "You look like you need it more than I do."

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

@LokiLeo789 Ay, listen

We're working on it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With sympathy on his face, Janius looked sadly back at Kaleeth. He turned his head away, thinking for a time. He had not lost either of his parents yet, but he was no stranger to grief.

"It's awful when one comes to ask such questions," Janius began. "I wish such a hurtful thing had not happened." He sighed and faced Kaleeth again. "There's no way to bring her back, it's true. But...well, back home, when there were things we wanted to say to our late family, we would visit their headstones. I know being a wandering tribe makes such things infeasible, but...She went back to the Hist, didn't she?"

Janius peered over his shoulder to look for the Hist tree the tribe had congregated around this time around.

---

Fendros stopped and looked at Ahnasha directly. The idea took him by surprise at first, though it made more sense when Ahnasha put more constraints around it.

"It'll be risky," Fendros said. "But it's a good idea, Ahna. It's a more a likely story than anything else. If you think they will buy it for long enough, I say let us use it."

After fixing another pin into his clothing, Fendros finally had the rest of his mouth free to speak normally. "We can let Rhazii and my siblings know about that extra detail some time today. I just hope Rhazii has the patience for all this. And the willpower. I know your family could arrive at any time but I think one of us should take him hunting soon."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"For what it's worth, I think it was wise to..." Janius trailed off when he realised the way Kaleeth was wandering. "Kaleeth? Are you okay?" he asked.

When Kaleeth burst into tears, Janius reached out to her in surprise on her way to the ground. He knelt to hold her, wrapping his arms around to hold her up even as she let all her emotions out.

In the hut, around Zharan, Janius was reserved about his reactions. He could now act more or less freely. He held onto Kaleeth quietly at first, then a little tighter as he murmured to her. "I'm sorry. I am...I'm sorry we didn't get here in time."

---

Fendros' time in Cheydinhal so far had been challenging for different reasons. While the time to catch up with his family had made him grateful for visiting in the first place, he could no longer hide from other connections within the city itself. People started to recognise him. He could no longer feign ignorance or claim that he merely looked similar to the young man that disappeared a decade and a half ago. He worked with his siblings to adapt Ahnasha's lie into his existence in the city; he had run away from home, met a woman, had a child, and set up a hunting shop in Skyrim. Now, here he was, visiting his family. The hidden benefit was the familiarity it gave Llarasa and Monderyn with the cover story to use with Ahnasha's family. However, it was no less awkward to come across his aged friends and acquaintances changed and living entirely more grounded lives than he could ever realise.

Fendros did not know how to feel about it but tired. Tired to be dragged back into all the old superficialities he left behind.

Rhazii had his own difficulties as well, though they were closer to Ahnasha's. Being shown around Cheydinhal and exploring where his father grew up was interesting. It was no outlet for his beast spirit nor his own youthful energy. Fendros was worried Rhazii would get cabin fever at any moment.

As for now, Fendros was happy to be sewing closed a tear in one of his shirts. Anything where he did not have to risk going out in public was a less anxious task. He peered over to Ahnasha with a pair of pins poking out of his mouth. He spoke out of the corner of his lips. "Well, one thing I was planning to be truthful about was how much we didn't want this whole situation to blow up. The differences in culture and all." He paused to take a pin out and used it to secure a pinch in his shirt. "You're right, though. Just rushing down here does not explain how...well, how instantly we got here." He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe we just decided to come visit my family? Anything we say would have to be some wild coincidence, otherwise we would have to be here because we got the letter, which would mean we would have to make the journey from the time the letter arrived to a few days ago...You understand."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Without anything else on her mind, Narsi followed Lorag as he talked. She assumed she was going to be lead back to her room and shut away for a while. After being told in vague terms to occupy herself for the next several hours, she suddenly found herself at a loss. She looked around the training area with tired eyes.

She had a blank silence about her for only a few more seconds. Her stomach made a noise which drew her eyes down, both to her hunger and her clothes on the floor nearby. She went about dressing herself before listlessly navigating to where Lorag had showed her to get food.

---

Again, Zharanthixil's confidence in their staying in the village for good made Janius feel awkward, especially when directed to Julan. Nevertheless, Janius did not feel Julan was in any particular danger. Janius placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be close by, son," Janius said in Cyrodilic. "Sniff us out if you need us."

Janius smiled. His turn of phrase could be interpreted more literally for Julan. He then gave Kaleeth a look before making his way out of the hut.

He did not know what to say to Kaleeth when she joined him. He simply exhaled from nose and lifted his brow, blinking as if settling from a shock.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Narsi pressed her lips together around her tusks. "Fine," she said firmly. "Just so long as I get to beat you up in the end. I'll do that one way or another." She got just brave enough to give Lorag a glance in the eyes. "Every time you talk shit about me and momma, I promise I'll hit you harder. And she didn't raise me to go back on what I say, you hear me!?"

No one could claim Narsi did not have her heart in it. It was almost pathetic.

---

Janius started with a few nods. He clasped his hands behind his back as if he was being inspected by an officer. "He did have a naming ceremony and we have taught him to hunt in...different terrain to the marsh, but he is a self-sufficient and sharp boy. His experience here has been limited to our journey to find you, so we have caught some food together and Kaleeth has taught him some customs." Janius swallowed. "But he has not lived here, as you might understand."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Narsi's breathing steadied with the healing magic. She sat up and took her time opening and drinking the potion simply due to the shaking of her hands. Whether out of shame, fear, frustration, or a mix of the three, she kept her eyes forward, avoiding Lorag's gaze.

His proposal, if it could be called as much, stewed in Narsi's head for a long moment. She almost seemed like she would remain without an answer. Then, after giving Lorag some nervous glances over her scowling face, she spoke. "I wanna try again. When I can change again, I wanna fight you again."

---

Janius took a few seconds of deep thought. He breathed halfway in and narrowed his eyes. "Uh, Kaleeth? I am trying to remember that name." He exhaled. "Forgive me, did you ever mention this new master hunter before?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Narsi growled and bayed as soon as Lorag shouted down at her. However, her show of threat was from a place of base fear. She had drawn her tail between her legs and ineffectually attempted to slide away from Lorag by pushing at the floor. With every push, her limbs shrank and her fur retracted. The black turned green. Before another moment, Narsi was young Orc again. She had her eyes scrunched shut and her mouth agape with pain. She curled up to hold her temples in her palms.

"Aaaahh," she breathed and winced. She clenched her teeth.

---

"I see," Janius said with nod. "Thank you." He gave Kaleeth another glance and then breathed in ask Zharanthixil. "Who are the elders now? We should speak to them if we are going to stay a while longer."