Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius slowed to a stop behind the gaggle of young Argonian surrounding Julan. Leeus' actions were enough to turn Janius smile into a laugh, but that quickly halted with Julan falling. Janius tried to lunge to catch him but was out of reach.

Julan opened his eyes to see Janius kneeling next to him offering a hand. "I thought I told you to avoid the head and neck, hunter," Janius said. As he began to grin, the seriousness was disarmed and Janius pulled Julan to his feet again. He drew Julan into a quick hug. "Well fought, son. I'm proud of you."

There were other formalities Janius would make sure of, such as having Julan thank his opponent and retrieving his sword. That was to mention nothing of healing Julan's wounds. But Janius first supported Julan enough for his mother to congratulate him.

---

Fendros shook his head. "Rhazii isn't so young anymore. He'll calm down, we can check on him later." He ran his hand down her arm comfortingly. "The war doesn't have to define us, Ahna. You brought up those lives we took, likely uninvolved people. You know what it's like to feel empathy for such people, even if you don't feel it now. The fact that you brought them up at all tells me you still feel something. You can still feel something. What would you think if you did feel for them, for...for the bandit you killed, perhaps, at the very least?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The rest of the fight was tense enough to silence Kaleeth and Janius' conversation. Janius was amazed that Julan was still fighting. Had Julan not been a werecrocodile, Janius would have beseeched to end the fight well before Julan's final attack.

Janius gasped and flinched at the sound of the spear snapping. He lowered his shoulders when he saw Argrei without any serious injury, though that was overtaken with a shot of anger. He specifically told Julan not to go for the neck. Still, what held it all back was Juran-Selth's judgement. The master-hunter's choice of words carried weight.

"Divines above...He did it," Janius said. A proud smile crept on to his face. He darted his eyes to Kaleeth. "Would it be inappropriate if I were to applaud our son right now?"

---

Even without the full picture in his head, Fendros was astonished. "Even if it was a quick death, it does sound like a gruesome one. I doubt Rhazii had seen anything like that before. I can see why he was terrified."

Fendros did not let Ahnasha go, but he breathed in slowly. He had to dredge up an old memory. "I know you, Ahnasha. I know you have not lost your empathy for everyone." He swallowed. "I remember Najirra once spoke to me about the nature of nightmares when we used to seek his help, before he died. He told me something I thought odd at the time. He said our bodies and minds busy ourselves with the present. Too often, if there is trouble they do not have the knowledge to address, the trouble gets tucked away somewhere. Many find their troubles pushed into their dreams. Some even have it tucked into an intangible wandering pain on their body that does not abate with any magic. Some tuck it into odd habits, fears, or twitches. Some people shut it away with whatever else is attached to it."

Realising he was sounding unspecific, Fendros stopped and nodded his head to one side "The point I'm getting at is you might have found a way to dull the empathy without noticing it. I think you might be doing it because of something else you've been carrying, brushed away somewhere in there." He looked down. "I have noticed the change as well. Ever since..."

He trailed off. He knew Ahnasha did not like to talk about it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"He was lying," Janius answered. "If he wasn't, then we will have to be ready to leap to Julan's aid if he is struck gravely. Julan is a strong boy, he'll be alright. Especially since that spear isn't even metal, let alone...Well, an accident won't do him in."

Janius took a deep breath to try and push the worst from his mind. "If you ask me, Kaleeth, I think Deerz cared about you and simply did not take your departure well. Just because he's angry now, doesn't mean he would do something as horrible as that." He gave Kaleeth a look. "Unless you think he would be capable of it. You knew him better than I ever did."

---

Dark memories came over Fendros' face. He was still occupied in the back of his mind by piecing together what put Ahnasha in this state, but other things flashed into his mind. He averted his eyes.

"I've just learned to ignore it," Fendros admitted. "Most of the time, it's only the memories of my first...truly horrible experiences with killing that have stuck with me. They usually take up my nightmares when the usual ones don't turn up."

Ahnasha was acutely aware of what the 'usual' nightmares were.

"Do you really feel nothing anymore when you kill?" Fendros continued. "What about your earlier experiences. Do they still bother you?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius' first reaction was a natural fear. Had he been more impulsive, he might have threatened Deerz then and there. But as another moment passed, his brow furrowed sceptically.

"Deerz, what are you talking about?" He said. "Argrei pleaded for the fight to end when he injured Julan's leg. And now you are telling me what is going to happen before the rite ends? What kind of plan is that?" He huffed. "I told you, we have no need for your trouble. Take your venom elsewhere."

---

Fendros was shocked by the questions. "No, of course you're not a monster," he said, putting an arm around her. He held her close. "What put such thoughts in your head, Ahna? I've never heard you ask that before."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"I'll pretend I did not hear that from you," Janius responded during the next brief pause in the fight.

There was no telling exactly why Deerz was near them. He put a pit in Janius' stomach, but he was right; Janius needed to focus on Julan.

Julan was tenacious in the face of his wounds, but Julan feared his brute power might not be enough. Argrei was fighting Julan like a bull. Though Argrei was not perfect, he was wearing Julan down. Julan needed to force Argrei to make an error.

---

Ahnasha was acting far too strangely to shake Fendros off that easily. He stared at her with his head slightly tilted. His moment of thought and worry ended with him sitting down beside Ahnasha. He took her hand between both of his and rested them between them. He looked directly at her lowered eyes.

"I need you to tell me what happened," he said.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius' lips thinned. "I want to trust him, too. Just don't let him...take it too far."

The Master-Hunter called for the fight to continue. Janius took a quick glance to his side, focussing mostly on Julan. Two seconds passed before he noticed and took another look, recognising Deerz.

He ignored him for a long moment while the combatants fought. His silence eventually made Janius speak first. "What do you want, Deerz? If it is trouble, we have no need of it."

---

Cheydinhal and its inn had apparently not changed in the past few hours. A few wealthy looking young men shared an afternoon drink at one table, playing some board game. A barmaid wiped down another table with a cloth. Up the stairs and into Ahnasha and Fendros' room, Ahnasha found her husband folding and putting away the garment he had been trying to repair earlier that day. He turned around with a small smile that faded quickly.

"Ahna? Are you alright? You look exhausted." He approached her and held her hand up. "And what happened to your arm?" He glanced over her shoulder. "Is Rhazii with you?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I had an idle thought today. I wonder if lycan regeneration would mess with the tattoos that Kaleeth's tribe puts on themselves?

If it does, I'm not sure if it would come across Kaleeth and Janius' minds. Might be a source of contention if Julan earns his marks.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The certainty came over Janius as the fight dragged on that Argrei was indeed the better fighter. His confidence in Julan prevailing shrank, though he knew Julan still had a chance.

Janius noticed Argrei's trap an instant before Julan's sword was grasped. The spear going into Julan's leg caused Janius to show perhaps more pain on his face than Julan was. However, Julan did not give up. At that point, Janius half-turned his head to Kaleeth, still keeping his eyes on his son.

"Kaleeth," he murmured. "He's got your resilience. You know it better than I do. I need you to judge when to call for Julan to forfeit."

---

Rhazii at least stopped to give Ahnasha another moment. He only responded with a few small nods before he turned and left.

Ahnasha had all the time she could have wanted in the bandit camp. Enough to heal her wounds, butcher and dispose of the bodies, loot whatever could have been useful, and even look over the last mementos the bandits left behind to hint at the lives they were leading. Rhazii's clothes and her bag of potions were no longer present amongst her belongings when she went to retrieve them, but Rhazii did not return before she would decide to go back to the inn. Fendros probably would have returned by the time she got back.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Julan landed a solid hit. He did well to exploit Argrei's mistake, though he was unlikely to make the same mistake again. More concerning was Argrei's skill and control. Julan may have been strong but he was clearly not Argrei's first strong opponent.

"Argrei's armour might have helped Julan," Janius quietly thought out loud. "It would have given him better purchase to grapple. With Argrei's control, a grapple from Julan is probably the best way he could end this."

---

Rhazii rose halfway out of his hunch and looked back at Ahnasha. He tried speaking and whipped his gaze away instead.

"Mother, I..." He sobbed. "I can't think. I'm..." He tried to step towards Ahnasha and recoiled. "I don't know what to do. I want to go and...be on my own for a while. I'm not leaving. Don't follow me."

Rhazii pushed off the tree he leaned in and lumbered away sadly.

Before he left, he halted and shouted behind him "I believe you, mama. I love you, too."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius released his held breath when Julan got back to his feet. A close call. The spell left Janius momentarily puzzled, but Zharanthixil's comment helped him realise what Julan was doing.

"Just passing on what we know how to do," Janius remarked. He hoped no one in the tribe noticed Julan's bluff, let alone Argrei.

---

Rhazii stepped to one side and leaned a hand against a tree to put weight off his wounded foot. He could not bring himself to look at Ahnasha.

"I knew you as being kind and warm," he said. "You helped me when I cried. You were happy with me and father, and the pack. You still feel that, right? You didn't stop feeling that as well, didn't you?"