Hircine was standing in the light of the new portal he opened. The orange light from the lava in the Deadlands shaded Hircine and his spear wonderfully that Vile just stared at him. He turned away when Hircine shot his gaze to him.
Vile cleared his voice and spoke, "Are you sure he has Barbas?"
"Well, not entirely but it's the second best guess after Molag Bal was proven innocent… for once.." Hircine spoke with a dark tone.
Vile just nodded and looked down as he fixed his outfit that Mephala and Sanguine messed up. He was starting to get feelings of sadness and he knew why. He was gravely missing Barbas and it was starting to show. He couldn't keep his cool anymore and was starting to look like he was stressed out. He hated this.
Master… I can't handle much more… I'm gonna break..!
Vile jumped at Barbas's sudden inquiry but before he could respond he felt a hand press on his shoulder. He turned to see Hircine leaning in close to his face looked strangely unamused but worried.
"You're beginning to look horribly distressed… you sure you're up to this? I can go alone."
"What? No! What if you find Barbas? I wanna be there for that!" Vile whined while frowning.
"You sure? You look like a mortal child who needs a nap-"
"You trying to say something, Hircine? That I am too WEAK and CHILDISH for this?" Vile snapped.
"I did not say that."
"Yea but you were implying it!"
Vile was annoyed and crossed his arms, turning his face in the opposite direction of Hircine. He didn't want to argue but he could feel himself on the verge of snapping. Hircine was quiet for a bit, but then Vile felt a hard tug on his right horn. His head was forced lower as he was dragged into the portal. He looked up with eyes to barely make out Hircine's legs and the end of Hircine's spear.
"HEY! Let go of my horn!"
"If you're gonna behave like a mortal child, then I'm gonna treat you like one!" Hircine growled annoyingly.
Vile could barely see anything around him but the dirt on the ground edges of lava pools. He could hear Hircine sniffing the air but Vile was too distracted with his unwanted position. He grabbed Hircine's hand and yanked it off him. Hircine stopped walking as Vile stumbled a few feet ahead before he whipped around, looking pissed.
"Don't call me a child!" Vile hissed, crossing his arms.
"Then stop acting like one. Come on Vile, at least have a bit of maturity when entering other realms…" Hircine growled back as he turned, opening a portal for his werebeasts.
"I AM!" Vine whined loudly as he opened his portal for his Skaafin.
Skaafin and werebeast flooded out, attacking the nearby dremora relentlessly before they could react. Vile turned to yell more at Hircine but the ground below his feet shook as dust billowed up from behind him. He slowly turned around a see the big, red face of Mehrunes Dagon freakishly close to him. His head was about half the size of Vile and ogre-like he had horns all over his head but two big ones that were similar to the helmets his dremora wore. His yellow, slitted eyes burned into his. He snorted at Vile, his nose pierced with a thick, gold bullring.
"You think you can raid the prince of war's realm… AND GET AWAY UNSCATHED?!" Mehrunes Dagon's voice roared as he lifted his head up a bit.
Vile had a close-up view of Mehrunes Dagon's form. As always, it's big and muscular with four arms. He was only just a bit taller then Molag. He bore a simply black loincloth and a necklace of minotaur's skull. He slammed a giant daedric axe down to the ground near Vile but he didn't flinch. He curled his lip and narrowed his eyes. He hated to look at Dagon as well but instead of him being scary like Molag, he just looked disgusting to Vile. Hircine posed his spear, ready to attack but Vile, still having his arms crossed, just narrowed his eyes at Mehrunes Dagon.
"Depends. Did you take my dog?"
"Your dog?! Is that your excuse to raid realms like mine and Molag Bal's?! Barbas?! That is a poor excuse to justify your Skaafin and werebeast raid parties!" Dagon practically laughed as if were a joke.
Hircine growled, "I believe it's a perfect excuse! Wouldn't you invade the others if they stole half your power?!"
"No, because I'm not stupid enough to slice off half my power! Let alone make a dog out of it!"
"Trying to say something, Mehrunes Dagon?" Vile snarled.
"Yes, I am. Now get out of my Deadlands!" Dagon spat at Vile's face.
Vile spoke oddly calmly as he asked again, "Let me ask again. Do you. Have. My dog?!"
Dagon scoffed and leaned back into Vile's face, "No. Never would I want that stupid, useless mutt of yours! That pathetic dog would waste away here like the mortals."
Something snapped in Vile. That boiling anger returned once more, and it brought a rage he had never felt before. He grabbed Dagon's bullring and punched him in his left eye. Dagon jerked back but Vile kept his grip. He twisted the ring to the right, forcing Dagin on his side. He stepped on the ring with his left leg to keep him in place. Dagon had his left eye squeezed shut as he stared at Vile, growling, but it faded away as he started to stare at something else. Vile's toga had slid to the side off his left leg, revealing his leg all the way up to thigh. Vile didn't realize and snapped a finger at Dagon.
"Don't you ever! EVER! Call Barbas useless AGAIN! Or ohoho! I promise you that you'll NEVER be able to make a deal with a mortal again!" Vile shouted at Dagon.
Dagon didn't respond. He was just staring at Vile's leg then his looked slowly up at his body. He gently started then trailing a finger behind Vile's leg and almost up to his goal. Vile was about to protest more, not realizing what Dagon was doing, but he felt Hircine wrap his arms his waist and pull him back. He felt himself being put over Hircine's left shoulder. Vile growled and pounded his fists onto Hircine's back.
"Hey! Put me down! HEY!"
Hircine ignored him and leaned forward, sniffing the air around Dagon before shaking his head saying, "There is no scent of Barbas on him…"
Vile stopped pounding to see the same werebat from before fly down and bow. He was still fuming mad but he wanted to know if Dagon really didn't have Barbas.
"Again, apologies master for intruding but… the target's scent couldn't be found here either."
Hircine nodded at the werebat and dismissed him with a gesture, saying, "Fine. Then convene the rest up. We'll hunt elsewhere."
"Then we will take our leave Dagon." Hircine growled begrudgingly.
"Yes...good that you're leaving Hircine! But Vile~! You've made a fool of me here and now you owe me~! I could forgive you if-" Dagon sounded distracted at first but it turned in a smoother tone as Vile could hear him roll over.
"He's not interested Dagon! We're leaving now! BOTH of us!" Hircine snarled as Vile had no idea was they were talking about.
Vile was starting to calm down as he watched his Skaafin flood back through the portal he opened a while ago, but he felt like someone was staring at him. He tried to look back, feeling it was Dagon taking a good look at his ass, but Hircine jerked to the left. He was walking to a portal Vile didn't even know was there.
"Hircine! Where are we going now?!"
"Back to your realm, Vile." Hircine respond softly.
As they walked through the portal, Vile looked up to see Dagon had dawned a wicked grin on his face as he rubbed his left eye. He was snickering as he stared Vile into the eyes. He muttered something in his direction. Vile couldn't make out fully what he said but he felt very uncomfortable. That whole scene made Vile feel weird and he was just glad he was back home once through the portal. He felt Hircine sit him down in his stump chair. Hircine was standing in front of him, looking down.
"Have you calmed down enough to be reasoned with now?"
"Yea I'm fine now… He just pissed me off!" Vile whined as he frowned.
"I noticed that… Even without Barbas, you managed to put Mehrunes Dagon in a submissive stance…" Hircine spoke curiously, tapping a finger against his skulls chin.
"Well, it's not like I'm useless, Hircine. I am the daedric prince of power as well! Besides, you said it yourself! Barbas only holds half my power. I still have the other half!"
Vile leaned back into his chair as he began to bounce his right leg. He brought a hand up to his chin and began to think.
"But now this just leaves us stuck… If Molag Bal or Mehrunes Dagon don't have Barbas… then who does?" Vile questioned.
"Good question. The trail has gone cold and the pre-I mean dog is still missing…hmm…"
Vile just ignored Hircine's mistake. He was a hunter after all and would easily mistake Barbas in calling him prey, after all, they are hunting him down. Vile felt anxious and was getting very restless over it. He didn't like feeling these emotions but he's beginning to think that it's a result of either Barbas being away for so long or someone did something to Barbas.
"Vile? Hey! Speak up or I'm leaving!" Hircine growled, snapping his fingers in front of Vile's face.
"Hmmm…? Oh, I uhh… was lost in thought... " Vile said, strangely calm.
"I'll say! You've been acting strange since we left my Hunting Grounds!"
"It's strange… I felt oddly better there…"
"Really…? Hmm..." Hircine whispered loudly as he looked off to the side.
"Well thinking on the past ain't gonna help us now! What prince are we seeing next?" Vile fakely coughed.
"Hmmm… Malacath... Boethiah... any of them really at this point." Hircine sighed annoyed and shook his head.
"..."
"What?"
Vile growled and slammed a fist how on his armrest, "Hircine, I swear, whoever took Barbas… I will make them pay!"
