Hasir raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Tigress? How do know her?"
Garrus turned away from him and Kassamae, who was patiently watching them. He lowered his head in contemplation.
"I should have told you this earlier, but I am, or rather, was an agent in the Imperial Legion, I was my job to root out enemies of the Legion and rip them out of the ground before they spread. It was during one of my missions that I met Tigress."
Hasir stared at him, concerned while his tail flapped about wildly.
"Was she part of the Legion?" He asked, crossing his arms on his knees.
Garrus walked over to Hasir, sat next to him and stared out of the tent flap trying to seeing if they were being watched.
"Not as such, no." He said, shaking his head making his long black spines sway as though caught by a strong wind. "I met her while on a recon mission in Rorikstead. I was tasked with taking out a supposedly dangerous inhabitant of the dragon land.
Hasir's forehead furrowed as he thought on this.
"Let me guess...Tigress."
Garrus nodded, further confirming Hasir's suspisions.
"Yes. I went to Rorikstead, dwarven crossbow slinged to my back, bolts on my hip. I lay in wait behind a rock wall near the tavern and, what I saw shocked me. The Ka'Po'Tun whom I thought was to be my target, doing battle with a vampire. I had seen many vampires in my time, but I had never seen one with such hatred in its eyes. I clearly saw the Ka'Po'Tun was struggling, so I readied my crossbow and fired. The bolt caught the vampire in the shoulder, sending him into a tailspin."
Hasir asked what the grey and white Argonian did next.
"I... well I did the only logical thing in my mind. I sighted along my crossbow and fired again, to you know, ensure the creature was dead. I then ran to the Ka'Po'Tun and, seeing the vampire had diminished into a pile of dust, I asked her if she was ok. She said she was and we both introduced ourselves. She thanked me and, to this day, she and I had each other's backs. I am not sure what that means, but I am sure it is a good thing. Anyway, she said if they was anything I needed, she would help me out as I helped her."
Hasir burst out laughing. Garrus furrowed his spikey eyebrows, asking why he found what was said funny.
"You idiot. You hit the nail on the head a little too late. The hammer bounced back and smashed you in the face. No wonder you look so ugly." He said, bursting into fresh fits of laughter. Garrus glared at him for making fun of his facial features.
Garrus turned away from Hasir agaian, ashamed.
"Hasir, in Gideon, where I'm from, facial scars are considered a sign of admiration. Those who have them are met with the highest praise for they overcame challenges and faced foes that no other in Gedion, and perhaps in Tamriel, would dare face. The only apt comparison I could make are the Nords of Skyrim. When I heard the threat that had the fate of Tamriel stuck in the balance, I decided to come to Lukiul Uxith. It was, in my mind, the only logical point from which I could observe the enemy, discern his patterns and formulate a plan."
Hasir looked at Garrus and swore he'd never seen an Argonian look so serious, though, all Argonian looked emotionally void.
"That still doesn't account for why you married Xochitl. Was that all part of your plan as well?"
Garrus' eyes flitted from Kassamae to Hasir.
"I neglected to touch on that point. I began courting Xochitl soon after I came to Lukiul Uxith. I realized that if I had the enemy in my pocket, as it were, I could study him more effectively. "A few moths after our initial courtship, we became a mated pair and soon after that, we were bonded. I had to careful to not let Xochitl I was onto her nor that I was an Imperial spy. Though trickery and espionage - reading her corespondants and finding out where she goes every day - I was able to gain enough intel to pass down to Tigress, in one way or another."
Hasir stared at Garrus and snarled.
"So, you what? Stalked her? I will strangle you..." Just then, a voice told Hasir to reconsider his actions; that it may've been for a good reason. Hasir sighed and rerouted his horse, "I, er, am sorry about that. I meant to say that that you gave an eye for an eye. You entered Oblivion, got valuable intel and got out before Mehrunes Dagon even knew you were there. Brilliant!" He said, clapping Garrus on the back.
Hasir walked to the mouth of the tent to chek on his mom who was looking, longing, into space.
"You miss him, don't you?" He said puting a hand on her shoulder.
She nodded as a stream of tears fell from her eyes. Hasir hugged her, saying it will be ok. She turned and looked at him.
"Ues, I miss him terribly. How could youi send him to the Hist before his time?" Hasir flinched at the scathing note in her voice. "I think he will have something to say if he knew we were prearing to kill the An-Xileel. Hasir, this will be a mountain of a task that we may not come down from. We may be stranded up there; either that or our bodies strewn across the rocky crag."
Hasir put an arm around his mother and embraced her.
"Don't think like that. The nature gods will see us victoriuos. We have one ray of sunshine amongst these dark storm cloud," He said trying to harden his mother's resolve. "Garrus told us about his contact, Tigress, went to Black Marsh to gain some intel on the traitorous Haj mota." He looked away from his mother in embarrassement, "Sorry, I wish I could find a stronger insult but I am still a hatchling when it comes to speaking Jel. Kaoc! I should've asked Quinchal if he knew some. Xuth!" He exclaimed, tearing a hole in the tarp near where they stood.
Kassamae kissed her son on the forehead, somewhat quelling his raging volcano.
"Do not beat yourself up. I was told, before you came, that you forged your own bow, felled a Haj Mota and won a game of Teeba Hatsei; these test, I believe were part of you becoming on of the people; of the Saxhleel. I must say, being an ojel who became one with the marsh nearly overnight is no easy task. I've seen many in positions similar to your knocked out on their tails because did not have the willpower to overcome those rigorous trials. You are stronger than you know. You just have to break down the walls of self-doubt you've erected."
Hasir took these words and used them to rebuild his resolve.
"Thanks." he said, taking a deep breath. "I needed that. Now, how do we clear the swamp of those traitorous An-Xileel?"
Kassamae and Garrus pooled what little resource they had to find a solution. Hasir watched them eyes narrowed as they deliberated over a way to kill two birds with one stone, as it were. Garrus broke the chain that held him mentally to Kassamae and walked over to Hasir.
"Hasir, we have found a way to help but that would require throwing Xochitl over there to the Rootworm lik a fish to a Wamasu." Hasir's face screwed up at this. Seeing this, Garrus laughed, "Sorry, it was too good not to throw my mate under the worm. Taking a step back of murky waters for a minute, we, Kassamae and I, did find a way all of us can book passage to Blackmarsh. We can use what we Saxhleel ride around in to get around Blackmarsh. What I mean is," He said, seeing Hasir's confused expression. "We can use Rootworms."
Garrus stopped Hasir before even a syllable left his scaly lips.
"Yes, Hasir, what you used to get her, at least I can olny assume you did." He pushed that thought away a if it was a departing ship on the Padomaic ocean. "Anyway, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, though, we've got to decide what to do with my traitorous bitch of an Uxith Beeko. My thought is we feed her to a pack of ravenous wolves, either that or have her be eaten by poisonous snakes."
Hasir looked from Xochitl to Garrus.
"Those are all good suggestions, but Xochitl is desert comapred to the An-Xileel main course. Let's eat the main course before worrying about diving too deep into desert. We need to assist Tigress in the destruction of the crooked rombus that is the Argonian government; twisted beyond recognition by Molag Bal. We should all get a good night's sleep tonight before we thrust ourselves into the fires of Oblivion for if we rush things we may all pay an early visit to Aetherius." Kassamae nodded, saying her son was right and they all laid down in the tent for a little calm before the storm that was to come.
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