Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As the hours flowed into the morning, Sabine was on the last watch. She had slept worse than usual with the memories of the past unearthed by yesterday's events plaguing her mind. By the time Meesei sat herself up, Sabine was by the fire reading one of the journals they had found the previous day. She had managed to find a large fur pelt of some description to serve as a substitute for her own fur cloak and wore it over her shoulders. Looking up to the movement from Meesei's bedroll, Sabine put the journal down, then got up to gently push Meesei back until she was lying down again. With a number of wads of clothing and pelts that Sabine had obviously gathered while looking for a suitable warm cloak, she bundled up a soft wedge of material for Meesei to sit up at a slight angle with. She helped Meesei to sit up slightly again so that she could slide the wedge under her alpha's back. Now at least Meesei could look at everyone without hurting her neck or risking any unnecessary strain to her wound. All her actions were wordless as always, but Sabine's anxious treatment was about as much of a good morning greeting as anyone was likely to hear.

The next to wake was Janius, disturbed by the noise. He sat up with a wince at his own wound before rubbing his eyes. When he saw Meesei awake, his look immediately brightened. "Alpha, you're awake!" His mouth curled into a relieved smile, "Thank goodness. We've all been worried for your life."

Fendros continued to sleep for the moment. With Ahnasha close, he slept more peacefully than he had for a done for while. It was also influenced by how exhausted he was after the hunt and the fight, as well as the lack of sunlight in the cave to herald the morning, as was what normally woke him.

The Hallows Inn

Leo's head bowed as the initial sense of excitement began to drain from him and the headache of dehydration started anew. He noted the way that the great lizard man gave him the same look as any other humanoid he encountered regarding his form. "Right, right, you're probably exhausted as well, both of you." Leopold said slowly, before addressing both the paladin and the fae properly, "I should introduce myself, I am Leopold. A traveling healer. Come and have something to eat. I'm unsure, but there hasn't been a passing of coin, so I think the meal is complementary." He turned and walked back into the bar area where dinner had been served, gesturing for the lizardman, the fae and virtually anyone else in his party to follow. As he walked, he turned his head to one side to look back at them, "I didn't get your names..."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I've got relatives over today, my activity's going to slump a bit. Sorry.

At least I'm pretty sure I've worked out what I want Sabine's past to be.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fendros and Ahnasha appeared to be the last ones awake at the end of the night. Even Sabine had decided to take a break from her search, having only found a couple of journals among the loot pile that she was too tired to read that night. Fendros had not found himself a bedroll yet, he was too engaged watching the fire and thinking. Or maybe it wasn't so much thinking as trying not to think too hard, losing himself in the fire. It was an alternative to getting worked up about the possibilities of tomorrow.

Feeling a gaze upon him, Fendros looked over at Ahnasha. She was having trouble sleeping as well by the looks. Returning her stare, Fendros felt drawn to her again. The bliss he felt while just being near her was something he wanted to embrace again. He got up and walked to her blanket and settled down next to her, looking into her eyes without any words. With one hand, he stroked her cheek and began to kiss her.

---

Little Sabine, these bars cannot be bent open.

Little Sabine, we will lift this curse.

Little Sabine, you are our sister, not a wolf.

Little Sabine, drink this remedy.

Little Sabine, the wolf is not you.

Little Sabine, inhale this evaporate.

Little Sabine, this curse will not hold you.

Little Sabine, hold still while we apply this salve.

Little Sabine, we will beat your hound until it submits.

Sabine's eyes shot open. She had tears streaming across the side of her face as she lay on her side. She cursed her memories and tried to calm down to sleep again. She wouldn't be caught by them again. Not while she was with the pack.

The Hallows Inn

Leo was part way through his meal when he spotted the armoured lizard man out in the lobby. The man was huge, bigger than Leo had seen out in the clearing. Judging by the equipment, he looked as though he was a god's warrior of some kind. The type of people who get their gods to do the healing for them. Lucky chumps. A glint on the paladin's hand caught Leo's attention and caused him to stop chewing for a moment, however. From where he sat, Leo spotted a tiny humanoid, a little winged girl. Fae...?

"A fae!" Leo sprung upright, his legs pushing out the chair under him with a loud sound of wood sliding. With a brisk pace that belied his previous fatigue, he marched up to the lizard man, his bulk becoming even more prevalent as Leo approached him. But Leo's eyes were fixated on the creature on his hand. As soon as he was close, Leo squinted and confirmed his suspicions. The small creature did indeed fit the description of a fae, if looking a little haggard, sickly even. "Excuse me... miss... uhm..." Leo fumbled with his words, unsure exactly how to address such a creature, "Are you local to these parts? I am looking for one of your kind in this wood, it is very important."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Even though Fendros had a fluctuating impression of Meesei in the month he had known her, it took listening to Ahnasha to realise just how much their alpha had done for them. Fendros felt an empathy then, for he knew that Meesei's actions had always been for the pack. She took care of them all more than he had known. Trying to keep his own tears back now, Fendros put his arm around Ahnasha in turn and rubbed the side of her far shoulder to comfort her. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head while she wept and he watched on. There was nothing much more to say to make the situation any easier. All they could do was wait.

The search for surviving flasks from Sabine stretched on. It was a little distracting for the rest of the pack to hear so much glass making noise, but none of them interrupted her. It was better than the wordless silence they had all taken on. After what seemed like an age of rummaging and searching, Sabine triumphantly produced a single intact flask, filled with a swirling purple liquid that had a thicker looking gas inhabiting the void between the liquid and the stopper. Like the others, it had no label, much to Sabine's disappointment, but it was something she could work with. Carefully, she carried the flask in both hands and placed it down with her other belongings, before going back to find any more clues.

Lorag, having splinted his leg and bandaged himself, noticed the flask Sabine had found. He limped towards it and picked it up, looking at it front and back. His move prompted Sabine to stop and turn to stare at him, as if to wonder what interest he had, or more importantly whether he would be a problem in her investigation.

"Hey Runt, what do you plan to do with this?" Lorag asked. Sabine didn't answer, but remained still and staring. Lorag followed up, "It's an affront to us, nearly killed us all, we should get rid of it."

Sabine stepped up and took the flask from Lorag's hands and put it back where she had left it. "I've seen it before," Sabine said, before turning and walking back to the crates.

Lorag furrowed his brow, he wasn't in the mood for tricks, much less from probably the least mischievous member of the pack. "If you're hiding something, Runt, you'd better tell us. This stuff is dangerous."

Sabine stopped in her tracks again with her back to Lorag, considering. "I can make something to block its effect," she lied. In fact, she knew very little about the substance itself, but she wanted to get Lorag off her back so she could continue.

"What, you mean like a cure?"

"It's not a cure!" Sabine spun and yelled the words at Lorag with a distressed look and clenched fists. Lorag blinked with surprise and confusion, "I meant a cure to the turning us back effect..." He said slowly.

Realising her slip, Sabine's eyes shifted for a moment, then she nodded quickly and turned to resume her search.

Satisfied that Runt at least knew what she was doing, Lorag let it go and went to grab some of the meat that Janius was butchering. Eating some before Janius was finished with the task, naturally.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Having done as much as he could, Fendros turned and walked to the water near the side of the cave to cleanse his hands of blood and wipe his face. As he wiped his hands clean, his adrenaline wore off completely and he felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. Somehow he thought the end of the fight would have more fanfare and celebration. But now things were simply more tense than ever. He wanted to wipe his face clean and find everyone recovered and smiling. He stayed squatting at the water for several moments, trying to steady his thoughts, with little success. He got up and turned to see Ahnasha sitting quietly, but she was clearly distressed as well. Fendros thought at least he might be able to comfort her. He sat down next to her shoulder to shoulder, his knees up in the same position. Reaching, he took her by the hand and looked at Meesei as well.

He was quiet for a few moments, thinking of something to say. "Meesei is stong. I think she'll live." Fendros said, smiling sympathetically to Ahansha. He could not convince himself that what he said would be the certain outcome, but it was hurting him further to see Ahnasha in such a state.

Janius was also distraught, but kept himself in control by controlling what he did still have power over. Once he treated and bandaged his wound, he set to work on a number of tasks. First, he went back and carried the rest of the pack's equipment to the main chamber, allowing everyone to repair their clothing and dress if they so wished. After that, he set about picking the equipment off the corpses strewn through the cavern, being careful not to touch anything made from silver without a piece of cloth between the item and his hands. Once that was done, forming a sizable pile of loot for them to scrutinize later, he set about piling up most of the corpses out of the way, and butchering some of them to prepare something to eat. Building a fire served to lift everyone's spirits a little, if at all.

Once Sabine had dressed and sorted through her belongings and the potions they found, she proceeded to inspect the broken flasks that had contained the transforming gas, being careful not to step on any shards of broken glass. Of all of the broken flasks, all of the contents had completely evaporated, leaving no trace of their content. She began to sort through the crates and barrels that contained the flasks, searching for any surviving samples. She had to pilfer some leather gloves from one of the corpses to do so without cutting herself. The way she searched was single-minded, concernedly so. The resolution of her search was as if she was also trying to find not only remaining flasks, but any information about them as well.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Mkay, g'night!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

After a short time, Fendros emerged back into the chamber holding Sabine's bag in his hand. By its extra bulk it seemed that he had collected some of the healing potions they had left behind. He was patched in dirt from where he had crawled back through the hole in the cave in, some grazes that he suffered along the way were beginning to be healed over with regeneration. He ran up to where Meesei lay and slid to a stop on his knees, short of breath, and presented the bag to Sabine.

The scene was peaceful in comparison to how Fendros left it. The corpse of the Orc hunter was only a few feet away, everyone had gathered around Meesei. Lorag was burned and had spots of blood about him, but was healing. Janius clutched a small number of magicka potions in one hand and clutched a bleeding wound in his side with the other. Ahnasha appeared to be okay on the surface, apart from a few scratches, and was carefully pouring one of the magicka potions into Meesei's mouth. Meesei breathing was becoming laboured and she was barely conscious. Fendros hoped dearly that he wasn't too late.

Sabine passed the bandage cloth she was tearing over to Lorag and snatched her bag from Fendros' hands, opening it rummaging through, glass vials clinking. She produced a bottle that looked like a health potion, but was a deeper red colour. Gently leading Ahnasha's hand away, Sabine removed the stopper from the bottle and began to try to get Meesei to drink its contents.

"What is that?" Fendros whispered.

Sabine did not look up from her task, "regeneration." After some of the potion had been swallowed, Sabine pushed some of the strips of cloth that they had made into bandages towards Fendros and Ahnasha with a free hand. "Soak in healing potions, clean the wound. Don't use all of the potions."

Fendros curled his lips and did as he was told. Hopefully Meesei was still conscious enough to make use of the magicka potion that Ahnasha had administered. If I were better at magic, I might be able to help more, Fendros cursed himself in his mind. Anxiety was high, not one of them was going to let Meesei die after all they had just fought through. Not if they could help it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Holy crap, you're not going to kill your PC are you?