The argonion stepped inside the sables and found Daahin sitting at a table talking to the stablehand. Upon sensing the Argonian's presence, the khajiit looked up.
"Ah, scaled one. perhaps he is looking for khajiit, yes?" Hasir nodded while his tail flopped behind him. "Daahin had a marvelous chat with Tahidra."
The argonian stared at the khajiit like she had ten claws. Dahiin threw her bejeweled head back.
"Stop pulling this one's leg. That is the correct expression, yes?" Hasir nodded enthusiastically. "Okay then," She said standing up and striding over to him. "What a strange way of joking." She said, pulling a disgusted face. "No matter, that is, as you say, sand underneath a starry blanket." She said, waving her hand in a shooing gesture. "That is her name, Tahindra not Daahin, you understand. Tali was telling this one about a band of able-bodied caravaners who might join our cause to stop Molag Bal." She said, answering Hasir's questioning look. "Tahidra said these khajiit caravaners set up shop outside the gates of a city called Senchal. If we are quick, we can catch them before they leave for another town."
Hasir nodded and greeted Tali.
"Pleasure to meet you Tali. Daahin, we will need more than just a measly group of caravans." He said, looking aghast. "Molag Bal's army in many, so by that fact, we should gather as many moles we can find before they pop back in their molehills. We should gather at least a caravan of khajiit from all provinces of this sandy wasteland if we stand a chance against him."
Daahin threw the Argonian a curious look.
"Hasir, Armies are all well and good but one cannot put up a ton of floodgates and hope to stop a tsunami." She said, fear in her eyes. "If we stand a chance against him and his unholy army, we must create a diversion, one strong enough to keep the enemy distracted long enough for you and a small force, say two or three men, to slip through his defenses and assault the main keep. Khajiit has surveyed the place by first hand, unfortunately." She added as Hasir looked on, horrorstruck. "Yes, khajiit has been there, imprisoned for reasons unknown to her." She said, ears flat against her head and eyes filled with fright. "That is where she met a khajiit with blue paint on her face. "She knew the proper channels needed to escape the hellish place."
Hasir gasped. He never though Amahka would get caught. He thought she was way too resourceful for that.
"Amahka? They captured her? Why? How did you escape?" He said; stunned
Daahin recounted the horrifying tale to the Argoina. All the while, he stood there in stunned silence. He thought amahka would make a safe transition from Skyrim to this world like he did. Obviously she ran into a few problems along thw way unless she found and used one of the hidden keys in Clockwork Manor; ones that he hadn't stumbled across yet.
Hasir was about to speak when Inigo came in. The argonian's eyes flew to the khajiit's hand.
"Inigo, what happened?" He asked, grinning. "Did you fall in love with a horse or something?"
Inigo took a seat at the square wooden table and gave Hasir an incredulous sidelong glance.
"Yes. Your sense of intuition astounds me. I also met a beautiful khajiit."
Hasir glanced at the blue-furred khajiit. He sense of smell tipped him off to the khajiit's activities as well.
"That... and I could smell manure and dead flies on your clothes." He said, holding his snout, "By hircine, Inigo, you need a bath!" He looked at the blue khajiit, face contorted in confusion, "Er, didn't you already meet Affraji?" He snapped his fingers as a light bulb went off. "You did, I was there in Windhelm. You fainted as she looked at you." He said, laughing. "If I remember right you were trying to make a snow angel to impress her." He smirked as the khajiit's face went crimson. "That was before my wolf halves became one, even though I still struggle to keep my emotions on a tight leash." He said, his face finally falling.
Inigo hid his face is his hands and groaned. He looked from the Argonian and the two khajiit to the door with a pleading expression on his face.
"My friend, can we forget who I have or haven't met and continue wish our scheduled mission please?"
Hasir and the khajiit left the house and found themselves back on the island. Hasir walked over to Daahin and told her to saddle some horses for their journey south to Senchal. She stopped brushed Anthra, turned to the Argonian and asked about provisions and supplies for the road. She also asked Hasir what he expects to find there.
Hasir smiled at her and looked southward toward their destination.
"I was told by the god of the hunt to muster as able-bodied soldiers from Tamriel so I, er, we, can attack Molag Bal's castle, or, at the very least create a distraction while I face him one on one."
With provisions gather and horses saddle, Hasir and the fline and elven companions saddled up and headed toward Senchal. Hasir had a question burning a hole in his brain-sized pocket; he decided to voice it isteand of burying it like a durzog buries a bone.
"Inigo why do you call everyone you meet 'my friend' even if you aren't actually friends with them. Is this some kind of khajiit speech pattern I have not caught wind of before?"
Inigo's cogs started turning sluggishly and then picked up momentum as he greased them with the oil of the Argonian's question. The wires in his brain started to fused together as avenues of thought began to form.
"I thought everyone knew that the moons not only influence a khajiit's birth order and fur color but also his or her speech pattern. My brother speaks as I do but most other khajiit have more broken language, saying 'this one' instead of the subject I, their name instead as a third person placeholder and so on." The argonian nodded even though he couldn't comprehend it fully. "My brother and I have adopted the traditional khajiiti way of greeting people, that's all."
The remainder of the jounrey to Senchal was ridden in silence. They dismounted when they neared a khajiit camp just outside the city gates. Hasir positively beamed when he saw a familiar face.
"Mraaj' Dar what are you doing here? Did you finally get canned from the dark brotherhood?" He asked snarkily
Inigo walked over to Mraaj'dar and pulled faces at him. Inigo stopped as Mraaj snarled a warning.
"Back off, foul smelling creature. Mraaj'dar likes no one and pefers to be left in peace."
Laughter could be heard behind him as, out of nowhere, another familiar face walked up to the Argonian.
"Why is khajiit being mean to the Argonian? M'aiq thinks he has come to trade, either that or talk. M'aiq does not know. Perhaps he has had too much skooma."
Inigo strode up to Mraaj, grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against one of the tents the caravan had erected.
"My friend was just greeting you." He said though gritted teeth. "Why must you be so mean? Do you coat every dish you ingest with sarcasm?"
The orange khajiit cough and spluttered as the smart blue cat applied excessive force on his trachea; cutting off his air. Hasir saw this and ran toward Inigo, trying to prise him off the poor khajiit. Hasir was finally able to wrench the khajiit free. M'raaj gasped for air, snarled and ran at Inigo. The blue khajiit sidestepped and sent M'raaj rolling, head over tail into furry legs.
The dazed khajiit stood up, rather unsteadily, as he shook off the injustice down to him by the blue khajiit. The female khajiit stared in disgust at the male khajiit.
"Would you mind talking to your boyfriend over there and letting him know that I was only greeting the Argonian in the only way a cold-hearted assassin can?"
Daahin grabbed her tan and gold backpack that was already fraying along the bottom and pelted him over the head with it saying that she was never interested in anyone that way. M'raaj Dar did his best to advert as many of the blows as he could but despite his best efforts, angry red spots shon all over his yellow-furred head like tiny red sandstorms erupting over a serene desert.
He cowered on the ground; doing all he could to nurse both his bodily bruises as well as his bruised ego. Daahin blanked the yowling khajiit, shouldered her bag and walked towards the Argonian and the khajiit who looked like a chicken who found himself in a slaughterhouse accidentally.
Daahin walked to the khajiit and asked him why and how he got here. The robed khajiit looked at her and smiled.
"Greetings, M'aiq does not know if he has made your acquaitance." He said bowing to Daahin. "Surely you were told about the additional force needed to gain an upper hand against Molag Bal?" Daahin let the stones of thoughts roll around in the field of her mind for a bit before she nodded.
She smiled again at M'aiq as she walked over to the yowling khajiit.
"Get this filthy fur carpet to a healer. He is dishonoring the moons." She barked
A khajiit unseen by the three travellers walked to the khajiit with the black headband and kneed him in the gut. He groaned outwardly. Daahin looked at him incredulously.
"He was already unconscious. What did you do that for?" She said, gesturing toward him. The white male khajiit looked somewhat resentfully at M'raaj Dar "Khajiit wanted to ensure he was really injured. The hit over the head was a nice try but the healer would see right through that." She said as she blanked her and walked him to the large tent at the end of the camp. Daahin watched them until they disappeared into the tent.
Daahin turned to M'aiq and Hasir, who had walked toward them; tail swaying like a dying snake.
"Well, that's one problem solved." She said, shrugging. "Now, we should sniff around to see where the eager caravans are located. This one thinks that khajiit and Argonian are standing in is one such spot. M'aiq and I were talking earlier and, this one thinks he will be more than willing to join our escapade." She sighed, tail drooping like a wilting flower. "M'raaj, on the other paw, He'll need more persuading; if he wants to help. This one fears he is hiding some ulterior motive; though this is just a theory."
Hasir thought for a moment, made his way over to the large tent situated between two smaller tents and ducked under the tan flap. Once inside, he was confronted by a black, brown and white furred khajiit wearing steel armor. The khajiit held out his hand; palm outward telling Hasir to go no further lest he aggravate the 'sickly' khajiit any further. Hasir looked at Kharjo, a khajiit whom he was on friendly terms with, and looked taken aback.
"I'm sorry." He said sarcastically. "I was under the impression that I, was allowed in here, plus, you know me, Kharjo, I would never intentionally hurt anyone. He is the one who apparently has a grudge against me, Hircine know why though." Khajo nodded, allowing the green Argonian to pass.
Hasir walked to the tan cot where M'raaj dar lay and sat beside him. The orange khajiit sat up and gave him the deadliest of stares.
"M'raaj, I would like to know, here and now, why you have a deep hatred fror me." He asked,
The 'sick' khajiit was about to explain when a white furred hand pushed him back down again and told him
"Do not overexert yourslef, you'll make you wound worse." J'zargo said kindly.
Hasir looked from M'raaj, who despite wanting to escape from being cared for, slumped back on the tan cot, to J'zargo.
"J'zargo, long time no see." Hasir said, smirking. "Did the college finally kick your to the curb for being too cocky?"
J'zarg looked at Hasir and snarled; saying he left the college voluntarily and that his skills were of better use out in the field instead of an enclosed space. Hasir glanced at him and reminded him that he, seemingly left one cage for another.
The khajiit shot daggers at him with made Hasir reel back in fright as if he was a horse spooked by a sudden noise.
"I know that!" He said, his fur standing on end. He let the fire in his voice simmer a little. " I... I'm sorry about that. J'zargo has been on edge ever since the Archmage and the other mages saw thought his cocky exterior and saw he did not know any magic at all. He was just forcing a dammed river to flow when, in fact the riverbed was empty." He shamefacedly looked at his sandlas. "I came here because of the turbulent atmosphere at the college, including the people who thought I stole magic from some other magic users since I could not produce it on my own." He looked at Hasir, "What I said previously was a half-truth, meaning that I did come to Elsweyr to find a better outlet for my skills. That and... to find a purpose in life. I was just so sick of people telling me I would never amount to anything." He said, sobbing into a leather cloth the Argonian had given him.
Hasir moved over to him and placed a clawed hand on the khajiit's shoulder.
"I understand what you're going through. I, too, was made to feel 'less than'." Both in Morrowind and Skyrim, where khajiit and Argonians are frowned and looked down upon."
Kharjo looked at him and tried to stem the trickling river than ran through the valleys that was his fur.
"...and here I thought this cruel world was devoid of kind souls. Thank you for hearing him out."
M'raaj sat up and looked like he was forcing his floodgates shut.
"What about me? I have stories too, ya know."
Hasir eyed M'raaj dar and snarled.
"Shut up you piece of troll dung! You made you're bed, now lie in it!"
J'zargo walked over to where Hasir sat, eyed him wearily, saying that that was uncalled for and even though the khajiit may look like a wolf denied meat, he may have greener pastures beneath the dead, brown grass. Hasir shrugged, said the khajiit mage had a point and the three of them left the tent leaving M'raaj to stared after them; hurt for not being included and for being treated as the black sheep.
Hasir and the khajiit found Inigo and Ceralyne enjoying two bowls full of Elsweyr fondue and two tankards of warm spiced milk that he found in a tent. M'aiq advanced on them, snarling and unsheathing an iron dagger
"Thieves! How dare you go behind M'aiq's back! He shall skin you alive for that." He said, eyes narrowing. Put it back else he'll be tanning your hides instead of animal hides."
Inigo grinned as he watched M'aiq's face grow red as a bloodmoon.
"Calm down M'aiq. Otherwise, we will have to cook an egg on your face." Both he and Ceralyne burst out laugh at the dig the blue khajiit made at the brown and tan khajiit's expense. "Relax, we cooked this ourselves. We... found the ingredients in the wild and made it ourselves." M'aiq's face slowly returned to it's natural color. "Wait... that is a lie. We found bought it at an inn down the rode to the south and ate it out here because the inn was full. The tankards of milk we bought there as well. Inigo giggled as his mind fixated on M'aiq's maddened expression. "You should've seen you face when you thought we stole it from your tent." He said, much to M'aiq's shegrin.
M'aiq walked over to Inigo and asked where this inn was because his stomach was practically eating itself of starvation. Inigo shrugged and said he had no idea. M'aiq's tail drooped slightly as he asamedly look at the spot where a burning fire was moments before. The smart blue cat got up and aprroached one of the khajiit in the camp. After a few minutes, Inigo told M'aiq where to go. The khajiit thanked him and sped off to the aforementioned inn.
Hasir came over and asked Inigo what the real reason was the he sent the crazy khajiit to the inn. Inigo was about to explain when he looked up in the sky, his ears flat. A moon, red as fresh blood rose in the sky. He tore his eyes away as he heard a horrifying cry of pain. He stared at the Argonian in horror as black and white fur sprouted like dandelions over scaly ground.
The werewolf stood up and sniffed the cool night air. A feline scent reached his nostrils - two, in fact. One in front of him and another nine feet to the north. He howled out a long, steady note as he took off, searching for its source. Ingo's ears flattened as he realised what was going on, or at least, part of it. He headed in the direction of the tent the M'raaj Dar was in and prayed that the wolf did not find him first.
Inigo checked the tent flap for any sign of the black and white beast but, like a riverbed after a drought, came up dry. He started thinking that maybe whatever had forced Twilight to grab hold of his friend so completely had moved on until he heard movement in the treeline to his left. He saw monstrous light blue eyes peering out from the shadows, watching him like a dog watches a favorite ball before his owner throws it.
Inigo's brain urged him to run, to save himself but the khajiit remained rooted to the spot. Twilight took advantage of this momentary lapse of feline judgement and lunged. The khajiit knew his life hung by a very thick and wet thread and waited to be the beast's dinner when Twilight barrelled past him, heading for the tent. Inigo's instincts kicked in as he ran toward the tent just as the beast approached the sleeping khajiit.
Twilight was about to dine on the sunset-orange fur when Inigo, framed in the tent flap, called out to him.
"This is not right, my friend. I haven't the foggiest what made you transform or why but taking it out on a poor, defenseless khajiit is a very poor way of going about it. I'll admit the he may've been a bit of a jerk, that much is true but why kill for the sake of killing? Where is the morality in that? My friend, don't do this." He looked at Twilight pleadingly, "I know you, the real you. He would never let this happen, you have to fight this." Inigo had hoped his words sank in but the thick hid couldn't even be penetrated by one thousand dull swords much less incomprehensible words.
Inigo walked, cautiously, to the werewolf, took a raw steak from his bag and tried to tempt the beast with it. Twilight, truned, sniffed the slab of meat and snarled a warning at the blue khajiit. Inigo watched helplessly as the werewolf feasted on the sleeping khajiit. He cringed with every crack of bone. The blue khajiit had to fight the urge to vomit as, before him lay a khajiit skeleton picked clean of meat. He heard someone scream as he knew the forced werewolf had claimed another victin in his insatiable hunger.
All he had to do was follow the bloody paw prints to find another crime scene; this time, instead of feasting on people, Ingo found a field of dead cattle. He heard a wall crumble and a scream from inside the farmhouse and headed inside to see the werewolf staring down a male farmer and his wife.
The male khajiit farmer was brandishing a pitchfork at the furry intruder and yelling something, which was incomprehensible to the irrate werewolf and also due to the constant sobs of the farmer's wife. Inigo felt sorry for her and went over to console her. The beast roared in pain as the farm stabbed it with his pitchfork over and over again like a cattle branded with a cattleprod. The wolf would not be deterred, though, as he snarled, swiping the pitchform from the farmer's hands and clawed at his stomach. Blood painted the walls of the farmhouse as the man fell onto the floor, dead.
The wife ran outside, despite Inigo's attempts to dissuade her, only to see a field of dead cattle. She sank to her knees and sobbed. The lord of annequina had gifted them to her for helping him with a private matter. Losing them felt like Jone and Jode had somehow forsaken her. She felt like she did an egregious wrong to Annequina for not protecting them.
The next morning, Hasir's nostrils became overwhelmed with the stench of death and decay as he lay in a haybale on the corner of the farm. His head ached horribly, The taste of foriegn blood in his mouth made him sick. He got up, looked at the farm and what he saw almost made him retch. He wondered what went on the night previously to leave this type of carnage. He decided he would inquire about it with the inhabitants in the house.
When he entered, the stench of death permeated the room. Hasir's mouth fell open as he saw what looked like someone had lit a fire and left it unchecked. He saw a khajiit skeleton resting in the corner. He screwed his face up in thought but his river came up empty. He went upstairs to ascertain the state of of the cabin and why it came to be like this. Seeing no damage, he descended to the basement. He saw a female khajiit cowering and sobbing in the corner of the stone chamber.
The argonian approached her with a confused look etched into his reptilian features.
"Excuse me, what happened here? Had a bear come through and ransacked the farm in search of food?" He asked. The khajiit female inched closer to the wall as if to become one with it. Hasir held out a clawed hand, hoping see would see he meant no harm.
She slapped it away, looking at him coldly.
"No, get away from me," She yowled, "Who are you? What was the beast the murdered my husband?" She said, a stream of tears suffusing her black fur.
Hasir looked apprehensive at this and ashamedly shook his head.
"I'm sorry, I have no memory of the event. All I know is I am here and he is not. If I can, I will do anything to repay the pain caused to you and your husband, though, I do not know how."
She stood up and moved slowly toward Hasir, all the while wondering if he could be trusted. She sniffed him, and, realizing that she could, felt the fear of Mehrunnes leave her and was filled with Alkosh's light.
"You smell just like the wolf that attacked this one's husband. If the yearn you weave is true, khajiit will trust you. If you wish to work to repay for your... rash actions of which you say you know nothing of, this one can permit you to work at her farm."
Hasir looked at her uncertainly, tail mvoing like an excited dog behind him.
"How am I supposed to do that? Do you want me to replace the cattle as well?" He asked, shocked
She gave him a knowing stare as she began to ascend the stairs that led to the main floor.
"Argonian will find a way. Khamara recommends that he try a nearby town, maybe Senchal, Rimmen or the forset of Tenmar. Check there if you need supplies or have questions. Now leave Khamara be. She has to clean up after Argonian's atrocious mess. Gods, she has alot of work to do thanks to him." She said, glaring scathingly at him.
Hasir was left staring up at the empty stairway long after she disappeared.
"You idiot!" He said, slapping his forehead with an open palm, "Why couldn't you keep your wolf on a short leash? Oh well, Silver hands can't befriend werewolves, so I guess I'll see what is required of me... Hssss!" He sighed as he ascended the stairs.
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