Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lunise returned the hug as eagerly as her limited speed of movement would allow. She squeezed Nytala hard. "Thank you, mother," she whispered. "It means more to me than I could ever describe."

She loosened her grip when Nytala continued. The unusual growing comfort Lunise felt turned to a different kind of concern than before. She gently pulled away to look upon Nytala's face, her own eyes showing some fear. "Mother? If Meesei is to face a danger we are not aware of, I would very much like to know, if you please." Her own voice reflected Nytala's quivering.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lunise was perhaps less taken aback by everyone freezing to a stop around her than might have been expected. She glanced around briefly and nodded upwards. "So that is the trick. I had been wondering."

Still, Nytala's questions were not ones she could avoid if she wanted to. Lunise looked at Meesei's still face and let herself smile. "Who is she? Meesei is..." She sighed. "Meesei is, at first glance, one of those charismatic leaders who casts an illusion of perfection and higher destiny. However, just as I must cast my illusions in my public life, there are more relatable truths behind them." Lunise looked back to Nytala. "I was perhaps quite vulnerable when I first came to personally know her. It was shortly after learning the truth about the Thalmor's grand plan. After investing nearly all my life into the Dominion, I was suddenly so isolated. But then Meesei approached me, so...openly and selflessly. She was perhaps one of the few people who could relate to my burden. And she was there just to be a friend."

She readjusted herself, straightening as she continued. "With thanks to her patience, Meesei and I shared ourselves with each other. We each spoke some of the best and worst memories we had ever experienced." Lunise let out a breathy laugh. A grin persisted on her face. "She's was prideful as I was- is as prideful as I still am. I tried to be her rival, and she answered the challenge with gusto. I made such a bluster at the time but I admit now she seemed so admirably implacable."

Lunise closed her mouth and looked down. "I think that's it. The strength with the compassion. Hard as steel, soft as feathers. And yet, I think the greatest feeling I have with her is that neither of us are holding the weight of Nirn on our shoulders while with the other. We share our burdens now." She smiled widely. "By all rights, I should be a compromised agent who has been used and manipulated. But I was lucky. So, so lucky to have her."

The tone of Lunise's voice shifted to amusement. "Although, I fear your sight of the future may have left you out of the present. Neither of us shall possibly be described as 'settled down' until the matter with Clavicus Vile is finished."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lunise's face did not change, but her throat swiftly closed up. She took a moment to bring her hands together on her lap and clasp them tightly enough to respond.

"So you do know," she began. Her chest rose and fell with a quick recentering breath. "Very well. Meesei?" Lunise turned her head around and beckoned Meesei forward. When Meesei approached, Lunise shifted over on the bench to make room. "Mother, I am sure you are familiar with Meesei by now. She is a creative mage, the champion of Hircine, and..." She gently took Meesei's hand. "We have been...partnered for several years now." She could not quite maintain eye contact. "Meesei, my mother Nytala."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lunise remained cautious towards accepting the praise just yet, though she did let her shoulders relax a little. What brought her eyes down again was the realisation she was barely acquainted with the 'Old Ways' compared to Thalmor philosophy.

Fortunately, Nytala did not dwell on the deeper topics. Lunise pivoted her mind to recalling the important points of the last few hundred years.

"I am," she finally decided. "I am happy. I have had friends. I have friends, still. Some unlikely friends in particular. I am afraid my work demands that I keep myself distant, but there are exceptions." She regained her confidence with a thread to follow. "Though I rarely see them now, some recurring colleagues have been my friends amongst the justicars. Overseeing parts of Anequina sprouted friendships amongst Altmer, Bosmer, and...Khajiit as well. Though many of the latter have passed away since I began. However, on my latest assignment, I have become rather closely acquainted with..." she chewed on the word, "lycanthropes."

Lunise lifted a hand to interrupt Nytala's immediate response, whatever it would be. "Before you ask, know I am safe, I am not afflicted, nor has my piety shifted to the Daedra. But the lycanthrope communities of Tamriel are extraordinarily eclectic. And in fostering cooperation between them and the Dominion, I have come to know some rather unique characters. A surprise in light of their traditions and living conditions, but even in my standing I can respect their talents."

A hidden part of Lunise hoped the subject would distract away from Nytala's query regarding children.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lunise walked to sit down on the bench opposite Nytala. She produce a handkerchief to wipe at her face, but her look of uncertainty did not leave her.

"What I have been doing, ultimately, all these years..." Lunise turned her eyes down. "It has been for the nation. For the Dominion. That has never changed, even after learning of those inside who wish to use it as a price for immortality. However, to say I have been a model Altmer is..." Her expression faltered. "...An overstatement." She met Nytala's eyes. "I did not expect to hear you express pride over me. Or, I should not have known what to expect. Father and I have not heard from you since the island disappeared."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Unacceptable! You need to control the weather better!

Nah, I've made you wait longer before.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Lunise slowly drew back from Nytala, though not out of reach. Behind her still red and tear-streaked face was a worried look. "You are proud?" She asked unsurely. Her eyes flicked to Meesei and back. "How much have you seen?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I don't have any more major points to bring to the map room scene. We can move on from that whenever you like.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Teroiah did not take here eyes of Hal-Neesa until she turned away completely. Even then, she hardly made a motion to disturb her posture.

Meanwhile, Sabine felt herself start to breath again. She was unsure how Teroiah had managed to stand up to Hal-Neesa without either flinching or getting magically obliterated on the spot. Of course, a few moments of thought revealed it was not in Neesa's interests to continue butting heads, but it could certainly have turned out worse.

She only managed to tune in again when Hal-Neesa mentioned her thralls.

The reactions varied between quietly shocked and quietly confused. Gro-Tagnud exchanged a look with both Ri'vashi and Teroiah, apparently unsure of how to answer.

Teroiah crossed her arms. "Undead are amongst no doctrines in this coalition. Under your command, they will be tolerated. Involving them in mixed formations or tactics would require more time for exercises than we have time for."

"Just for completeness' sake..." Gro-Tagnud said with a hand held forward to slow down the conversation. "How do your thralls behave, exactly? I'm no general of the dead, but if they're going to be a piece on the field either way, I want to know what they're capable of."

---

Lunise knew who Nytala was as soon as she lowered her hood, but her subconscious mind took a moment longer to catch up. Meesei could see the subtle change in Lunise's face -- her jaw relaxing and a tiny blink flicking over her eyes.

Unsurprisingly, Nytala held an obvious enough resemblance to Lunise that Meesei had no trouble recognising them as related by blood. Nytala had the same straight blonde hair as her daughter and a similar stoic demeanour. Her eyes were similar, if slightly greyer and smaller, and her cheeks were just a little wider, but there was no mistaking her.

Lunise was stiff in Nytala's embrace, her forearms lifted to each side with some surprise. When she tried to breath in through her nose, her lips tensed into an emotional grimace and her eyes filled up instantly with tears. "I...thought..." She could not make out all of her words before breaking down. "...I thought I forgot your face."

Lunise pressed her eyes shut. The tears holding onto her eyelashes fell down her reddened cheeks. Finally, her arms wrapped around her mother and held on, desperately trying and failing to suppress her sobbing.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

If Neesa had not been so near Teroiah, she might have cast the illusion that she was not breathing at all. But she was, and she breathed calmly, with not a shudder from Hal-Neesa's speech.

Exactly four seconds of silence passed.

Teroiah opened her frown. "Are you done putting words into my mouth?" she asked softly. "If we must be direct as Gro-Tagnud requests, I need only clarify that you were never the one in this room who needed to fear doubt. All I need to know is whether you will commit to giving a damn, as you put it, or whether you will be like so many other talented Thalmor officers both above and below my rank that all insist on disrupting command for the sake of their pride."

---

Even as Lunise drew herself up from the water, soaked, dripping, and chilled, she slowly assumed the 'mask' she mentioned previously to Meesei in front of the hooded monks. She flinched a little when the water was shed from her body and clothes, letting a little astonishment show on her face as she glanced up her arm and sleeves.

She did not have any immediate words. The details around her began to distract her; the sky, the shore, the robes, and the man who received them. She shakily brought her hands together and gave a polite bow of her head. "Thank you, Loremaster," she said more quietly than she had expected to. The ambassador-like tone she took did not quite gel to the situation. "While common protocol would demand that word be sent ahead, that was beyond the means of...anyone for quite some time, as far as I am aware."