Drujeeta kicked a red and grey rock that stuck out of the ruin's exterior with all her might. She cursed loudly as pain shot up to her
brain,
"Hircine dammit, why in Oblivion did Juleen have to die, it was me Molag Bal wanted not him." She broke down, clutching her knees
and sobbing uncontrollably. She looked over to her children who were huddled together, She smiled as a tear came to her eye,
"At least you are safe." She embraced Neesha and Milsha, "Thank Hircine for that."
Tullen came over to her, helped her to her feet and told her of the vision he had had with the dark shadow of which Molag Bal
spoke. Drujeeta looked at him thoughfully and frowned,
"Tulen, while you were in your daydream I found out more from Molag Bal," She encircled him, smirking to herself, "The bits I heard
from lord Bal varied slightly from what you told me," she laughed as he gaped at her, "While your side of the story still holds water
Molag Bal just stirred the waters a bit so that they became clearer."
She sat down on a ruin and patted the seat next to he, her sat down eyeing her with cautious curiousity,
"Lord Bal told me and your, erm, late uncle, that the head made of clouds you saw was in fact and someone named the Doomstrider.
What his true intentions are, I do not know. He may, however, have something to do with us werewolves not being able to be as
common wolves instead of realizing our full glory as Hircine's children.
She looked at Tulen with the same pained expression he had worn in the cage; she read his lips as he mouthed 'the Doomstrider?'
and nodded,
"That device your were trapped in was both a torture device and a memory extractor." She read his shocked expression, "As you
may have guessed Molag Bal was scanning your memories for any sign of treachery; he just found your recent vision of ancient
Argonia, that is all. He did, however suspect you would be in league with the Argonian who married that Aldmer."
Hearing this, Tulken shook his head,
"Drujeeta, what are you talking about?" He asked her
Drujeeta smiled and thumped Tulen in the shoulder; Tullen turned to her and hissed in pain,
"You don't know about the the impure union? Xuth! You really have gotten the short end of the hist branch." She said, giggling.
Tulen shook his head, causing his aunt to scowl at him,
The Impure Union? What in Oblivion is that?" He asked confused
She smiled and told him the Impure Union was what the marriage between Hircine's child, an Argonian, and Molag Bal's servant, an
Aldmer. Tulen asked his aunt what in oblivion an Aldmer was.
Drujeeta frowned at him,
"You don't know what an Aldmer is? She asked, shock. "By Hircine, you are an idiot."
Tulen stuck his tongue out at her. She scowled and crossed her arms and huffed in anger,
"Very well," She said calmly, "Stop being an insolent hatchling and I'll tell you." Tulen straightened up; she grinned at him, "That's
better, being calm and civil works wonders, don't you agree?" Tulen didn't answer her, too stunned to speak. "Right, an Aldmer is an
ancestor of an altmer, a high elf." She said, smiling coldly. "Do you need me to explain the mixed marriage as well?" Tulen shook his
head.
Tulen was not sure whether to believe this our refute it because he knew, unlike his aunt, uncle and cousins, that Molag Bal was an
evil bastard, not only that but he was also a liar; Tulen could believe him as far as he could throw him. He turned to Drujeeta and
hissed angrily,
"Drujeeta... I can not make tails or scales of why you are Molag's loyal lap dog; you have to smarten up and think for yourself, for
Hircine's sake." As he said this, Drujeeta groaned; she could hardly believe was she was hearing, Tulen blasted back to full volume,
"You shouldn't place your faith in a higher power.'
The amber Argonian snorted loudly and sniggered,
"Higher power indeed. What do you call Hircine then, hmmm?"
He slumped his shoulders and he exhaled deeply to contain the anger bubbling below the surface like lava threatening to burst from
the belly of red mountain,
"Hircine is different. He is more of a, er, force of nature." He screwed his face up with he scratched his head. "In a matter of
speaking, he IS nature." Drujeeta looked at him shocked, "I mean, he is more natural than Molag Bal is."
Drujeeta bared her teeth and swung a right hook which Tulen dodged and sent the wide eyed Argonian falling head over tail over the
ruined structure in the dirt and fell headfirst into the muddy water that surrounded the island. Tulen sat on the ruin, his heels
drumming the side nearest the water and roared with laughter as he saw Drujeeta, mud obscuring her features. She stood up, shook
the mud out her hair and strode over to Tulen and sat down, glancing angrily at him. Tulen stopped laughing and looked up slowly.
The two moons, Massar and Secunda, rose over the water. He cast one frightened glance at the female Argonian as beads of sweat
danced on his forehead,
"Oh Hircine, what is happening to me?" He asked
His screamed in agony while his bones broke and reformed, his skin strench as well as thick red fur sprouted from his skin and
covering every inch of his body. He let out a piercing scream that seemed to come from the very depths of his soul. The pain was so
much that he passed out.
When he came to, he saw the silver wolf staring at him with her amber eyes. He edged himself closer to the water. He gripped the
side of the grey and red stone around the edge of the ruin with massive front paws and claws sharp as daedric daggers. He peered
down into the glassy surface of the lake and backed away from the edge. His lupine brain struggled hard with what he had just seen.
He thought that he heard the wolf in the water whine. When he opened his eyes, he realized it was him that he heard. Silver
padded over to him and nudged him with her muzzle in a reassuring way. He took this as a sign to go and look.
Begrudgingly, he crept to the water, gazed down and saw an iron-red wolf with white fur mixed in and yellow eyes the size of large
marbles; the iron-red wolf could not help but admire his reflection. Cool wind blew through Ironclaw's fur, He heard the wind
blowing the dust alot clearer than he could before, same went for the scents that he nose could pick up; everything was alot crisper
than he could have ever dreamed than in his Argonian form. Silver smelled a familar scent about him: the rush of adrenaline she had
also felt after her first transformation.
Ironclaw tore off clearly filled with rage, bashed his body against the shrine door; finally, after the third attempt, it broke, leaving a
hole big enough for a wolf to enter through. Ironclaw tore inside, laying waste to the walls and stairs of the structure. Silver ran in
after him, hoping to Hircine he does not hurt anyone. She made it to the cavern's entrance where she could clearly see a red wolf
inching closer to the statue of Molag Bal and watched him fell it with one swipe of a massive claw.
Powered by rage, Ironclaw ran the way he had come, Silver followed him quickly and he rounded the corner as floor turned from
cavern to daedric ruin, ran down two sets of stairs and ran out into the moonlight towards two rather terrifed Argonians. Ironclaw
swiped at the two scaly morsels; Silver ran full out to position herself between the terrified Argonians and the slobbery red wolf, a
crazed look on his furry face. Silver flew past her and flew, again, into the water. Silver got up and cringed as she heard the tearing
of wolfish teeth into scales and heard a scream of blood-curtliing terror as muscle tissue seperated from their housing.
Silver looked on with terror as the red wolf started to rip into the blood stained Argonian. Silver ran full pelt for the red wolf, wanting
to knock him off of his prey. Ironclaw dodged this as he still clung onto the neck of the Argonian whose life hung in the balance.
Silver yelped with fright as she saw Ironclaw, fangs deep into Neesh's neck and eyes aflame with rage; she tried to wrench the mad
wolf off of the Argonian but not before the mad wolf ripped Neesh's head free of his body. The silver wolf whined as she saw her
son's frightened expression. He tried to say something but as he no longer had a throat he could only mouth a few words before his
eyes lost all traces of life.
The silver wolf clawed at the nearby red wolf. She growled at the red wolf as he tried to put his head on her shoulder and went to
bite him, forcing Ironclaw to retreat with a mournful look on his face. The red wolf redoubled his efforts but Silver growled loudly at
him and clawed him on the cheek. The blow was enough to send Ironclaw head over tail to smack into a bit of red and grey rubble.
The red wolf looked at her indignantly and saw the sun rise.
Drujeeta transformed back while looking over pitifully at the Argonian as his loud yelps became screams of pain. Drujeeta looked
down and laid Tulen's head on her leg while she gently stroked his hair,
"Tulen, everything will be okay, take deep breaths."
She reached over with one hand, scooped some water out of the lake and splash it onto his scales to moisten them. Tulen opened his
eyes and looked around and then saw Drujeeta's tail wrapped around his wrist. He patted it weakly,
"Hey, listen, er, thanks for moistening my scales. I needed that, they were getting a bit pale." At this joke he started to laugh which
turned to a coughing fit.
Drujeeta grew worried at this and told him to take it easy for a few days as anyone's first transformation can be a bit jarring. He said
he was okay. Drujeeta hugged him and Tulen's tail wrapped around her leg. She reached down and uncoiled it; he eyed her with
indignation and asked wordlessly what he did. Drujeeta smacked Tulen on his already scared cheek,
"Ow! What in Oblivion was that for?" He asked, rubbing his cheek
To answer him, Drujeeta pushed him hard onto the ground,
"You idiot! why did you kill Neesh? I no I shouldn't be mad because you were on your first change, but still, he was my son."
Tulen burst out laughing, Drujeeta shot him a scathing look,
"Very well, as the alpha of the silverfang pack, I banish you from the pack." Drujeeta said coldly.
Tulen looked downward as he did not want the amber Argonian to know he was feeling intense anger at him. Drujeeta answered this
for him,
"You killed a member of my pack and that is punishable by banishment." He slunk to the ground, tail drooping, "Thanks, I really
needed that," he said gloomily, "I was just undergoing my first wolfish experience, quit bothering me." He said as he stormed off.
Drujeeta dropped this rather unwelcoming new and went to Tulen's side, she turned the subject towards her late husband.
He knelt down at the water's edge and dove under the water, followed closely by Tulen, who was still sulking, and Milsha who had
just returned with Juleen whom she had difficulty prising off of Molag Bal's stone tail. She had placed his and Neesh's body in the
water. Their corpses floated just below the surface. They looked down and saw Juleen and Neesh's lifeless bodies being decomposed
slowly by algae. Drujeeta told Tulen and Milsha that Juleen's soul is being pulled from his body, but something was wrong, the spirits
would not take his soul as it had been tainted by a lycanthrope. They accepted Neesh's body just fine though.
A bright white light filled the bottom of the lake and when it formed, Drujeeta could see a white stag standing several feet below her.
The stag attempted to pull Juleen's soul into his realm, but the nature spirits pulled at the strings of Juleen's soul also. It looked like
a magic duel where both spell casters were at a stalemate. White and green clashed against each other attempting to pull the grey
white soul to their side.
This tug of war of sorts went on for several more minutes until Hircine pulled as hard as he could. The algae released the soul
and it was sent via a bluish-purple portal to reside in a realm called the hunting grounds, where Hircine watched his loyal hounds
hunt various types of game in his honor, animals and sometimes other werewolves for his enjoyment. Hircine had one rule: watch
the souls only, never get involved with the hunt.
The white light faded from the lake bottom just as a reddish orange sheen began growing on the lake surface. The argonians swam
hard to avoid it. Once upon land, they ran for the shelter of the little daedric shrine. Drujeeta saw a cat-like creature in a colovian fur
helm and exquisite shirt and pants sitting a few feet away from her. She went over to this creature, taking care to stay in the
shadows.
She saw that there were actually two cat-like creatures. Infinite and another, to whom he was talking to she did not know. Upon
seeing her, the khajiit said hello and then introduced her to his friend, M'aiq the lair. Infinite said that they were talking about
tamrielic lore and he told her that M'aiq has been hitting the skooma bottle a little bit too much, then he implied that his friend is
one sand particle short of a sand dune. In order to ram this message home, he wore a crazed look while making a vertical circle
with his finger while it was pointed at his temple.
Infinite positively beamed when he saw her, "Khajiit welcomes lizard warmly, where would the lizardfolk like to depart to?" He asked
in his usual smooth voice that he had whenever adressing the ladies. Drujeeta said now that their deed on Vvardenfell is complete,
she needs to give chase to Angof, she believes he is holed up in a city called Mournhold. Infinite said he knew exactly where that is
because he was going in that direction to spread more about his tales of adventure. Drujeeta said she needed to do something first,
she went over to the ruins and found a daedric slab and she carved into it with her dagger. When she was done, she planted it into
the sand at the exact point where she placed her husband's corpse into the water.
The stone said "My beloved husband Juleen died here in defense of all he believed in, may this slab be a reminder of his sacrifice
and bravery. A few spaces down from the epitaph, it read: Juleen in memoriam.
When all was said and one, Drujeeta signaled to Infinite that she was ready, she gathered Tulen and his cousins and together they
stepped into Infinite's boat Which was moored just offshore. When they departed, Drujeeta took one last look at Juleen's makeshift
gravestone and blew it a kiss while a tear ran down her scaly cheek.
The ship, named the clever cat, passed by the palace of vivec, it looked different in the twilight than in the day. For one thing, the
palace and the puzzle canal that surrounded the palace were lit up. The canal was split into four levels, all of which were lit up with
an amber light emminating from underneath the palace steps. The palace was also bathed in an amber light that was accented by
candles that were placed at various intervals around the palace exterior. The candles and the canal lights gave the palace an
ethereal appearance. Within minutes, the ship, or rather a long boat with a solitary white sail, left the palace behind and headed
far to the north of Vvardenfell.
While the boat sped on, Drujeeta and the kids sat in their seats and talked about the day's unfortunate events. The small Argonians
baled their eyes out as they wished their father could come back. Drujeeta said she wished that too. As if to answer her pleas, a
voice spoke inside her head. "You can see him again argonian, all you need to do is join with me and you can save him from the
torment of death." She wondered if that would even be possible. She listened to the voice once more, "You can save him from the
hunting grounds of Hircine, all you need to do is to bring me his body and we can bring him back...together."
Again, Drujeeta drowned out the voice with her own thoughts. One thought in particular crossed her mind. Can I trust him, if what
he says is true, I can see him again. But all of this is so strange. Just then, A new thought crossed her mind. What if I go along
with his demands, will he deliver or make me his servant?
The voice continued, "If you want to see him again meet me at Old Mournhold, which is located in the mournhold sewers, it can be
accessed through a trap door in one of the stalls in the great bazaar. The voice vanished, leaving Drujeeta to her own thoughts.
Infinite called from the front of the boat and told them that they were almost to Mournhold. After two hours of sailing, a magnificent
green and gold city rose up, high above the sea. At the center of the city was the white and gold temple of Almalexia was visible as
it towered over the doors of the city. The clever cat arrived at a dock located just south of the city, the khajiit and argonians
disembarked. However, they were not alone. A figure stirred from slumber on one of the rear benches.
