Author's notes: I don't intend to go beyond a single chapter for this one. It's more or less based on how frustrating some of the followers in Skyrim can be. Hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Elder Scrolls games.

Frustration;

The door to the Dawnstar sanctuary slammed behind the Listener, greeting her with the crisp evening air. The khajiit was beyond angry, one of her initiates had finally struck her last nerve. The female initiate, Malia, had seemed like a capable woman when the Listener asked her to take part in her travels and contracts. However, perhaps only a few weeks of her company, she proved she was barely capable of walking without running into or tripping over anything. There had been several times when the Listener had been lining up a shoot with her bow, only to be thrown off by Malia pushing her when she lost her footing. If she wasn't ruining her shots she was blocking, or even intercepting them.

That was just combat, the woman had no sense for stealth either. Every time they entered a ruin or a stronghold, Malia seemed to make it her personal mission to activate every single trap. Not only did this cause them both to be injured on many occasions, but it also gave away their advantage of surprise. If only she had gotten to the Falkreath sanctuary sooner, she might've been able to save more of her family. Her thoughts drifted to Veezara, he was more than just a capable assassin. He was her brother, and he always had her back. Anytime they had been in the field together it was like they had done it forever. But now he was gone, as was Gabriella, Festus, Arnbjorn, and Astrid. Her hand lightly rested on the pommel of the Blade of Woe, remembering the pain she felt when she ended Astrid's pain.

The opening and closing of the sanctuary door brought the Listener out of her thoughts. At least until she heard, "How may I be of service Mis..."

"Shut up!" The Listener cut off the woman before she faced her initiate, her yellow eyes now like that of molten gold. "I called you out here, purely to save you some dignity as a member of this family, not because I need your help, understand." She all but growled while pointing a claw at the woman. "Remove your mask and hood." Malia complied, noticing the anger in her Mistress's voice. What had she done to anger her leader?

"Since you came to us, you have yet to successfully complete a contract without either, loosing the target, becoming injured or offending our contacts. I thought that perhaps if I took you with me on a few jobs that you might learn something," the Listener listed off the things that had both been reported from Nasir and Babette and seen by her. "However, for the last several weeks you have shown me nothing but the opposite," the Listener could see the change in Malia's eyes. Shifting between both anger and fear. She knew that the Listener was the deadliest of them, and that she valued the safety of the family above all else.

"Mistress, I'm sor..."

"I'm not finished Malia," the khajiit said, not in the mood to hear any apologies or begging. "I am giving you one last chance to prove to me that you have what it takes to stay in this family," she growled as she crossed her arms across her chest. "We have a contact in Solitude, they want someone in power eliminated. Speak with Nasir for the details. But know this, I don't want to see or hear of you until the target is dead, and our contact happy with both the results and your performance. If they say you were curt, rude, or anything other than professional and polite, I will end you myself. The same will happen if you fail this contract. If you are captured, know that I will silence you even when you're in a cell," the Listener gave her warnings to a trembling initiate who knew every word was true.

"Yes Listener, I understand. I shall not return until I am either successful or dead," Malia said with a heavy tremor in her voice.

"Good, now go speak with Nasir," Malia quickly turned and returned to the sanctuary. The Listener waited a few minutes before entering herself. Her thoughts had returned to the family she had lost, back to the partner she couldn't replace. As she entered the dining hall, she saw Malia exit the secret passage with enough provisions to last the weeks travel to Solitude. She saw Nasir watching her, so she sat at the table across from him.

"I hear you gave her quite the pep talk, she could barely get a word out without crossing her words," the Redguard seemed to chuckle while the Listener picked up a nearby apple.

"I told her that this was her last chance to prove she was capable, if she fails, you know the consequences," she said as she started cutting off the peel of her apple.

"It's so hard to find good help these days." Nasir said in his usual tone.

"Impossible to replace lost family," the Listener commented somberly. Almost immediately, the air in the room seemed to grow cold despite the fire behind her.

"You still mourn his loss?"

"I still mourn all of them, and yes brother, even Astrid. She was our leader, and she did what she believed to be what was best for all of you. I can't fault her for that," she said, suddenly loosing interest in her apple. There was a long silence between them, because they have had this conversation before. So, with very little else said between them, the Khajiit and the Redguard bid each other a goodnight before she went her bed chamber.

Once she was alone, Ashni allowed herself to accept the pain she had buried deep inside as it finally came forward. "Veezara, I'm so sorry my love, I'm sorry I wasn't there," Ashni sobbed as she clutch the gold and amethyst ring to her chest from where it hung on a rope necklace.

After notes: wow ok, this went a much different direction than I intended. Went from the angry bit straight to the feels for the last bit. Hope you guys still enjoyed it through. Please R&R, comments are always helpful.