AN: So I started this because of a Creative Writing class I'm in, and I decided to write more on it. ^^ I'm sorry if it seems a little confusing at first, but it will make more sense later on. Six of these characters are mine; two are my friends. Aside from them, everything else is not mine. Enjoy!
"Our world is slowly falling to corruption. Without balance, without peace, my brother, mortals shall surely die as their world falls upon itself. And with it, those we have fought against for so long shall surely take over.
They've done well thus far, the humans and elves and beasts; who is to say they cannot mend their world without the help if we they call gods?"
Because they worship us as the gods we are, dear brother. Without our aid, they may surely loose hope, and when they do, we shall surely loose strength."
But what of their beloved Deadra, the unholy ones? Surely, there are a few mortals upon this land – take the Dunmer – who happily worship our hostile others."
"Must you joke on such a thing, brother? If we do such a thing as to allow the mortal to drift from us and unto them, then the Deadra – the ones whose hearts are set on our – and their – destruction, then chaos will surely reign. Could you honestly allow that to happen? You've created so much on the mortal planes, dear brother, and surely none such as your Dragonborn could defeat such impending doom on his own. "
"I must say that you aren't mistaken, Zenithar. I knew you were made the god of communication for your way of persuasion. Fine. We shalt do as the Deadra, and find ourselves mortal champions. Make hast, and tell the others of our plan. I must set to work. And Zenithar?"
"Yes, oh mighty Akatosh?"
"Please tell me you won't take too long in finding a hero this time?"
Ah, but might brother, you offend me. Yes, I promise. In fact, I might just have a few in mind."
He awoke with a start; something he had become used to since the early days of trying to get away from Skyrim. Being back did not help much, though refusing to tell Ji – the pain in his rear that got him here – the real reason he didn't feel like coming here, he couldn't nessicarily say no. Not without someone questioning him, at the very least. And while he was good at persuading, he would surely give in to the annoying pleading at some point.
Everything was quiet, save for the snoring of the Orc across the fire from him. Said fire was all but burned out, leaving red hot coals in its wake. Rabdom, that stupid elf, was still amongst the oak branches above them, having been assigned watch before they went to sleep. No doubt he had fallen asleep by now. Leave it to Rab to fall asleep on the job.
Carefully moving to his feet, he was careful not to wake any of the other sleeping figures as he quietly crept out of the camp – no doubt trying not to wake the child they had brought with them, whose hearing could sometimes be akin to a dog's. He managed out safely. Out of the seven of them, he was surely the one whose hearing was best; he could be disturbed easily if someone else was doing such things. He assumed that, besides the fact that he could fight, his refined way of sneaking surprised nearly everyone. Except for Ji, of course; he was sure that the cat assumed it was his doing when it came to how well he could sneak.
He found the river less than a few minutes later. While no ears could be seen on him – he was of lizard resemblance – he had decent hearing, especially when it came to sensing for water. Not that he'd lived near any large water source while growing up, but then again, he always assumed it was because Argonians like himself came from a water-based province, and had evolved themselves around such things. He would have to do some reading into the sometimes, just to double check. Oh, how he hated being wrong.
Mudcrabs shuffled along the opposite shore, shells reflecting in the moonlight above. A waterfall crashed down like something fierce just upstream, and an owl screeched through the wooded area. He was almost surprised that there were no werewolves out and about tonight. Then again, he was also thankful. Hemor being a werewolf was one thing, considering she'd had yet to attack them after that first time, and was pretty docile. Well, when she was a werewolf. Couldn't say much about any other time.
Sitting on a rock alongside the bank, the Argonian leaned forward and, cupping his hands, filled them with water and splashed his face clear of sleep. His head feathers, color akin to blood, weighed down with the water, sticking to his head. The ends of his sleeves, he was sure, would dry by morning. If not, he hoped no one would question him.
He tried to think: What had woken him up in the first place? He had become used to the Orc's snoring, that was for sure. Rab hadn't fallen off of his perch, nor had he moved along the treetops. Ji had been fast asleep on his bedroll, which was positioned next to his. Maybe Riil had woken up? No, the elven boy had been fast asleep curled up next to Fandreigh, the Imperial out like a rock. What had it been, then?
It had been like this for nearly a week: He would wake up in the middle of the night, often times trying not to cry out. Everyone else was fast asleep, as if a spell had been put on them. He'd go for a short walk, get some fresh air, and then return to camp and fall asleep 'till morning came. He was tempted to pull an all-nighter, just to see if someone was sneaking into their 'camp' – he really couldn't call it that, considering that they traveled around so much – just to see if anyone was messing around with them.
"Brai?"
If he had knew not the voice, he might have pulled his dagger out of his boot and threw it in self-defense. Instead, he jumped slightly and squeaked in surprise, scaled hand jumping to his chest as if to prevent a heart attack.
"Dammit, Ji!" Braizer cursed, his voice low but still high pitched. All Argonians had somewhat of a high pitched voice, it seemed. "Shouldn't you be asleep, you stupid cat?" Brai went on as the feline took a seat on a rock next to him.
I could ask you the same question," Ji retorted. Braizer sighed, shaking his head in some sort of defeat.
"Fine, fine, whatever." He brushed a few of his velvet feathers atop his head as they began to dry. They felt old and burnt, much like the rest of him. "I just couldn't sleep, is all."
"You mean like the last few nights?" Braizer instantly glared. It didn't help that his friend was giving him a rather toothy grin. "What?" Ji asked, and quite innocently at that. "You think you're the only one who knows when someone gets up at night? I'm a cat. What do you expect?"
"That you enjoy nosing into other people's business?" Now it was Ji's turn to glare.
"Not other people's business," he corrected, "just yours."
The lizard scoffed and again shook his head. If Ji hadn't been his friend, he just might have tied him to a tree and left him there a long time ago. But that wasn't how things worked anymore, it seemed. At least, not between the two. Besides, he was sure that Ji would manage to find a way down and back to him anyway.
"So, what's wrong then? You been having those dreams again?" Ji went on, looking absent-mindedly across the river. The Mudcrabs, seeming subdued, finally began burrowing themselves into the wet bank. With their bodies buried, their shells gave the appearance of rocks.
"Hm? Oh, you can say that. He hadn't had a terrible dream of any sorts since long ago, much less one that awoke him like this. "It's nothing, though. No need to worry."
"I find that hard to believe." Ji gave him a stern look. "If it really were nothing, you wouldn't be out here, now would you?"
"You really like getting into all of my business, don't you?" asked Brai, shifting on the rock to get into a more comfortable position. At the question, the cat laughed.
"You should know the answer to that by now, Brai. And besides, if you don't tell me, I can just find a way to figure it out myself. But, you already know that, right?"
Braizer was instantly starting to regret this decision, as per usual. Not that he would trade it up for anything, but still – again – starting to regret it. Sigh, this was going to be a long night.