Author's note: Here's my attempt at a TES fanfiction. *Goes to sleep*
Evening Star extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving sleet, and Morning Star arrived, cold winding through the ground, like whispers from the tree's, bottom up, frozen hands biting. With hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed skin and faces.
Calloused palms pressed against each other, entering a fierce rub as moist hot breath beat down on them.
"Cold as shit." The owner of the palms declared, slapping his hands a few more times for good measure. The man, thin black hair thinning on his scalp, scratched at his chin as he looked about his camp and motley group. Wasn't everyday that a band of Highwaymen stuck to a single camp for more than two nights. Hell, they'd been here four.
"Aye. Ain't a thing to do though." Another, older voice replied, tired and hoarse sounding. A belch came from the same direction followed by snickers.
"I wonder if the lass is getting cold? Needs somebody to keep her company I'm sure."
All pairs of eyes revolved past the fire. The Breton girl that they'd captured was still there, feet bound to themselves, arms bent at painful angles and thick leather trapping her neck, knees and ankles to the tree she sat near. They hadn't bothered to cover her mouth, figuring their threats to be sufficient enough. It was almost comical, if not for the tear streaks filming across her cheeks, dried blood echoing her nostrils and terror filling her eyes.
Who were they kidding? It was pretty damn funny.
One of the younger members, a wrily lad with bones for brains, tried his luck as he walked over jauntily. His fingers found her knees as he leered at her.
The reaction was...expected.
Kicking out the Breton strained against her bonds with new found passion. A startled sob wracked her as she pulled on her wrists vehemently. She even managed to knock the lad down on his ass for all his trouble.
"Leave the girl alone will ya. She's makin' a right ruckus and I'd rather be sleeping." Came the aggravated voice of another man, clearly fed up with the groups shenanigans.
The girl shivered.
"Shut up." Another slap of hands, application of friction, and the first man stood up.
"That's not how this is gonna work. Nobody touches the girl. You hear me?"
Grunts went around the camp but the young bone for brain was glaring at the girl.
The man went towards him, fingers wagging so as to continue circulation.
"I said; Do you hear me?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now sit down. Watch that Skeever. Don't want it charred now. Bloody riot that would be."
The belching older man rolled to his feet, fixing his gaze on the balding man; who had was clearly the leader of the group.
"We can't stay here forever Stentus. It isn't healthy for bandits to be still for so long. The men are getting restless, they need a good raid." He glanced over at the Breton. "A good screw too maybe."
Stentus blew through his lips, a thin stream that tickled the wind.
"What would you have me do, hmm? The whole bloody lot of them guards are looking for Fat Ramp. No. We need to stay here, keep our heads down… We can go lookin' for some trouble later. For now, just shut up and stay down." Stentus turned and headed away from the fire, toward the dense underbrush and thick tree's. Most likely to relieve himself.
The belching man lingered a bit longer before he too scoffed, and with a final glance in the Breton's direction, made way for his tent.
Xxxxxxxx
He held no qualms with the wildlife surrounding Skingrad. He did however, hate stickle bushes with a passion. The things bit into his cloak, tore at his ankles and even tried their luck infiltrating his shoe. Quite a few of them succeeded.
No, Lucien Lachance generally enjoyed the outdoors, but tonight, his patience had long since departed him.
It wasn't the dead drop, no, that in itself was a simple enough task; any reasonably skilled initiate could complete it. Find the bandit camp, kill this Stentus fellow: the chief, and leave no witnesses. What did annoy him however was the four day trek by horse (Not Shadowmere mind you, no, no, the black hand had required him for some other business), in the snow, with no definite location of where to find his target.
It was a good thing he had a knack for listening to rumors.
A few people had referred to them as Highwaymen, others, Bandits. Lucien prefered ruffians, but that's just arguing semantics.
The guards of Skingrad had shoved him off with a general "to the east". Which also happened to be where it was snowing the heaviest.
Lucien cradled his hands in his lap thoughtfully. Perhaps, he decided, he would stop in the Imperial city on his return trip. After all, he hadn't gotten to enjoy the view on his last trip, far too busy washing the blood from his boots.
Sensing in his fingertips a change of approach, Lucien reigned in his horse, calming it for a moment with a thrum of fingers against the tips of its nostrils. With the grace of one practiced in the art, Lucien maneuvered himself out of the saddle his feet landing firmly in the crust of the ground. He halfheartedly wrapped the horse's harness to a branch, not particularly caring if it decided to wander off.
He crouched and listened.
A cold wind raced across the surrounding trees, turning the land into a heaving dark-green and white sea. It flew up through the branches of the pines and rattled the thin leaves. Sometimes a snow pile would break loose, tumble in the gale, fall and split, filling the night with its powder. The air was iron and heavy and growth.
He walked and tried to pull these things into his lungs, the silence and coolness of them. He had once been told of Sithis by a previous black hand member, his own recruiter if he recalled correctly (long since dead). The old withered man had described the endless void in a few choice words and raspy breaths.
A perfect, cloudless midnight, cold as winter ice and shrouded in shadow. That is Sithis, the black nothingness of and before creation.
Lucien breathed out.
An itching began in his toes, curling and crawling its way up to his chest where it clenched and cradled him. He smiled, and snuck forward.