Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius stifled a laugh. "It's not your beast I'm worried about, it's you," he said. "Remember what we taught you about how it spreads? Any of your blood can do it. So, if your lip was cut during your rite, which it thankfully wasn't, and Leeus kissed you a little more enthusiastically, she would need that potion right away." He lifted a hand. "But you have it, that's good, just making sure. Now..."

He grew somewhat more serious. "I do not expect this to be an easy question to answer. But, say." He drew rings in the air with two fingers. "Say you were to grow close with someone during your stay here. You may feel rather strongly about it, but without saying anything to yourself, you are likely to justify rash behaviour. So, I need you to tell me honestly: Where are you going to draw the line?" He make an effort not to sound like he was accusing. "We're not staying forever. And if we come back, so much of everyone's lives will have passed by that things will change. People move on. You need to decide where you want to leave things in advance, for you...and for other. What are your thoughts?"

---

Rhazii and Fendros listened on. Somehow, the sight of Shevari managing all the tasks at once and talking to them at such length raised their impression from admiration to wonder. And that was before the explanation itself.

"You certainly deserve such a reputation," Fendros commented. "I have not seen many chefs in their element but if you do this every day for work, you go above and beyond, I must say."

Rhazii piped up as well. "Yeah, Shevari. You're amazing!"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius turned and walked with Julan. He looked over his shoulder one more time to ensure Leeus wasn't following. He began once out of earshot of her.

"So, I'll keep this brief," he said, looking to the ground as they walked. "Your mother and I had a talk about you and Hal-Leeus. She expressed some concern – you're young, experiencing new things, it's easy to get carried away."

Janius slowed to a stop near a tree he could lean on with his hand. He looked at Julan directly. "First things first. Do you know where our potions are to cleanse early stage lycanthropy? You've been carrying one around, right?"

---

Perhaps owing to their previous experiences, Fendros and Rhazii were coping with Shevari's demanding orders with good composure. It was their lack of speed and precision which left something to be desired. Their effect on Shevari was not lost on them.

Rhazii looked up from the coals he was prematurely raking with a long stick. He tightened his jaw in anticipation of being shouted down, but was instead left unsure of how to react to Shevari catching herself.

He stood up slowly. "It's okay Aunt Shevari." He ran his hand over his ear. "Er, sorry to rile you up. I've never cooked like this in my life. I'll just...let the fire pick up some more and go back to stirring the sauce."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"There you are, I was looking all over for you." Janius approached wearing a friendly grin. "No, I just realised there was something important I forgot to tell you before you ran off." He looked to Leeus. "I'm sorry to pull you two away so soon. Julan, I need you for a moment." His lips thinned and he glanced at the ground. "Come, we need to speak alone again."

---

As evidenced by the slow state Ahnasha found Rhazii in the morning, his sleep had been similarly poor. Her sharp eye also noticed the bookmark in his book having advanced a much greater amount than most nights. Reading was Rhazii's usual way to calm down after a nightmare after he got too big to sleep in his parent's bed. All the same, the discipline he learnt from his militia involvement brought him fresh and ready by the time they set foot outside. Today was the big day. Or at least it was until yesterday.

Fendros and Rhazii were all too happy to have something to focus on. Assisting Shevari was anticipated to be an easy start and possibly a way to get to know her better. They knew at least a few new things about her already.

"Uhh, uhh, the eggs were..." Rhazii frantically pulled the desired kwama egg out of one of the laden baskets Shevari had brought. He wasted no time stepping back over to Shevari. "Here you go, Shevari," he said. "Uhm, father? The bitter-"

"I'm shredding as fast as I can!" Fendros was no professional cook. He focussed intently on swiftly cutting vegetables on a board without slicing his fingers.

"That's not bittergreen, father, that's black cabbage!" Rhazii exclaimed.

Fendros' eyes shot up with a look of a man in a battle. "I know! This is for the frittata! The bittergreen's in the box in the far basket!" He pointed with his knife. "Go!"

"Yes sir!" Rhazii did not know what bittergreen even was. He pulled out the first small box he found in the basket. "I'll cut them up right aw- oh, never mind, it's already dried and shredded."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

We can probably skip ahead to the picnic with the Cheydinhal gang.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius stopped a distance away when he spotted Julan and Leeus. He put a hand on his hip and sighed from his nose. It would not do to mortify them so suddenly. He felt bad enough interrupting what was probably a formative moment for the both of them. No, he wanted to let them off easy.

Janius backed away stealthily until he was out of sight and a good distance away. He then cupped a hand around his mouth. "Kaj-Julan!" He called out as if searching.

Only then did he proceed forward. They could have at least a few seconds to compose themselves.

"Kaj-Julan!" He called out again to give the impression he had not spotted them yet.

---

"I'm looking forward to it," Fendros said. He blew on a spoonful of stew. "But I don't think I need anything complex right now."

Rhazii swallowed his first mouthful and spoke up. "Yeah, this is good. By the way, I like Nord cooking. They don't cut the fat off their meats."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius tried and failed to stop his eyes wandering to Kaleeth's reaction. He responded to Zharan as evenly as he could. "Ah, yes, I'm sure it would. The trouble we simply wish to avoid is...er...we want to prevent Leeus from getting ideas in her head of leaving with us. Having someone sneak along behind us when the rest of the village is about to migrate is rather avoided."

He cut himself off before he said anything else obvious. "But anyway, I will see you both soon."

Janius smiled and turned to leave. There were all manner of spots where Julan and Leeus could be cleaning up. He did not believe it would be too hard to locate them.

---

Rhazii gave some space for Ahnasha to serve up. Though he looked tired, he did look on at the stew with his tail lazily lifting and falling behind him. "Is that the time I got to eat a dessert for dinner?"

Fendros laughed. "Just about. It was some Khajiit dish Shavari made for you."

"It's one of the few things I remember from when I was that young," Rhazii added. "I remember loving every bite."

"Well, lucky for you, Shevari is cooking again." Fendros looked to Ahnasha and lowered his voice. "I brought up the cooking with mother. It's probably not best to repeat this, but mother was absolutely fine with it. Said she..." Fendros feigned a cough. "She used to have Argonians cook for her all the time. Back in Morrowind."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Sounds well enough." Janius smiled. "It will probably not take too long to check up on Julan and Leeus. If there is not much to drill into Julan's ears then I'll come and find you. I admit I'm curious to know what kind of character the master-hunter is these days."

Janius made half a step away before he stopped himself. "Oh, one more thing. Zharanthixil, thank you for encouraging Julan. I fear his shyness gets the better of him sometimes."

---

Rhazii nestled himself closer to Ahnasha, still weeping but showing some hope. "I know you're not a god or anything. Just keep that promise."

Without any of the terror that filled him hours before, Rhazii carefully put his arm around Ahnasha in turn and closed his eyes with his face resting partly on her shoulder. "I learnt from you both first," he said quietly.

The two of them sat in silence for a long moment. The day would not be forgotten any time soon, but neither had it torn them apart for long.

Fendros eventually sat down on the opposite side to Rhazii and craned his head to look at him. "It was good of you to come and speak, Rhazii. It's been a long and harrowing day, but I think we've deserved a sit down. Time for dinner?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Okay, fine. If it's bothering you, we can catch up with Julan later and ensure he's taking the proper precautions. I doubt he is going to take things as far as we did." He leaned to look towards the site of the rite. "Although, it might be an idea to talk to Juran-Selth about this as well. He saw his daughter kiss our son in front of everyone after the rite. If we can know his position, and if he agrees to cooling off Leeus' advances, there could be less to worry about."

---

"Can you promise that?" Rhazii asked, opening his uncovered eye to Ahnasha. "Can you promise not to kill anyone else who doesn't need to die?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius glanced briefly at Zharanthixil when Kaleeth mentioned their leaving. He was not sure how wise it was to speak as if Julan would not be coming back any time soon. Nevertheless, he raised his hands and answered calmly.

"I made it absolutely clear to him what the reality was with regards to how long we are here," Janius said. "He's young, true, but there is nothing wrong with him making a few mistakes. In fact, I hope he makes a few mistakes. It is healthier to learn from these experiences rather than avoid them." He smiled and turned up his hand. "What's the worst that could happen, knowing our Julan?"

---

Rhazii listened to every word. He had nothing to say back at first. He just sat, breathing slowly, until he had no will left to resist tears falling from his face. His inhaling grew sharper. He tried his hardest not to sob.

"I don't know what to do," he mumbled.

Fendros knelt beside Rhazii and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Mother," Rhazii continued. "I want to see you how I did before, but...I'm scared that one day you're going to kill more people because it's easier. I don't want you to. It's not how I remember you. I wish you didn't turn into this."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius did not broach further on the subject of Deerz. There would be no easy way to stand up to him if he was as stubborn as his behaviour suggested.

As for the matter of Leeus, Janius initially took a quick breath. "Ah, yes, I meant to inform you about that," he said, clutching his upper arm. "She's one of his new friends. We spoke about it and...well, you can probably tell they are fond. It should not be a worry – I explained the boundaries he was in."

---

"I understand all that, mother, I do," he said. "I just...I should have said no. I didn't. All the stress built up from being cooped up in the city, and all the pressure with the family, and I couldn't take it."

He placed a hand over one of his closed eyes. "And...then you crushed that woman's head. I didn't recognise you. Did you really not feel anything?"