Note: I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but I'm going to try and exclude as many miscellaneous quests as I can, and focus just on what I meant for this story to be: Raedyn saving Morrowind, and coming to terms with his past and himself. The reason I brought up this subject was Terheil and his 'hey, where'd the ground go' scrolls. I wrote that section because they will play a part later in the story.

Chapter Two: Portends of Prophecy

As Raedyn walked out of the South Wall Corner Club in the late morning, after sleep came to him purely through exhaustion, he made his way down the roads and stairs to the Imperial's house. As he walked, he once again found himself, unwittingly, walking close to building walls in order to gain a small sense of security while outdoors.

When he realized this, he closed his eyes and grit his teeth. Calm down, Raedyn. He silently ordered himself. Unless this land offered him a chance to live indoors the rest of his life, he was going to have to learn to deal with this phobia.

When he made it to the door leading to Cosades' house, instead of barging in like last time, he knocked a few times, remembering the bruise still on the back of his head. After a few moments, the door opened, showing the aged Imperial, still without a shirt on. Raedyn couldn't help but notice the slightly stronger aroma of sugar in the room compared to the night before, as well as the red in Caius' eyes.

"Find reason to celebrate last night?" Raedyn asked, dryly.

While stifling a yawn, Caius answered drowsily with a hint of frustration, "Just had to relax after the package. But it's still none of your business!" He then rubbed his eyes heavily, his next words sounding somewhat apologetic, "Well, that may not really be true anymore. Come in, we have much to discuss."

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An hour later, Caius lead Raedyn out of his house. The Dark Elf was quiet, still digesting what he had learned: that the elderly human was the Spymaster for the Blades, the Imperial Spy Network, here on Vvardenfell, and he was ordered to induct Raedyn into the group as his subordinate. He expected the human to be more than he was, as he had never met any Imperial regular infantryman with the hand-to-hand skills the old man displayed the night before, yet it seemed he wasn't entirely prepared for what he got.

Walking a short distance from the small house at the corner of the settlement, Caius, fully clothed now with a commoner's shirt, he walked toward a very small apartment house. Walking under the stairway leading to the room above, Caius knocked on the door to the lower apartment. Soon after, an Altmer opened the door, and greeted Caius warmly. He ushered the two in, and as soon as they were inside, Caius grabbed a nearby broom, and using the top of the stick, poked the ceiling a few times, hard enough to where anyone in the apartment above would hear it. A minute later, a Redguard in bonemold armor walked into the Altmer's apartment.

"Ah, good, this'll do." Caius said, his Imperial voice now clean and clear, showing no signs of his former drowsiness. "You two can fill in Nine-toes when he returns from his expedition. Journeyman Rithleen, Journeyman Tyermaillin, this is the newest addition to the Blades, Novice Raedyn Otheril." The Imperial then addressed his Dunmer subordinate, "Several skills are required for any adept Blades agent. Besides discretion and intelligence gathering, all agents need to be able to defend themselves. Tell me, do you have skill with any particular weapon or magic variety?"

This was all happening a little fast for Raedyn, and he was struggling to digest all this new information. "Uh, I have some skill with short blades." He finally informed. Back in prison, daggers and tantos were just about the only weapon one was able to hide and wield, as all prisoners had their magicka draining bracers on day and night, preventing them from using any form of magic. What skills he learned on the streets, he relied on and refined in prison.

"That's a start," Caius said, sounding somewhat disappointed, "but I think it best you receive training from Rithleen here in the long blade. Short blades do have their advantages, but being an agent, we want others to trust us, and seeing a tool used more often by assassins than common adventurers will likely make it harder to talk freely with common folk."

The Redguard woman, Rithleen, extended her hand out. "It'll be my pleasure, Raedyn." The Dunmer hesitated a few moments before accepting the handshake.

Caius continued. "I'd also like you to take magic lessons from Tyermaillin here as well. He has a wide variety of spells he can teach, and can offer training in the different colleges." The Altmer nodded with a smile toward his Elven cousin before Caius continued on. "Since you will be dealing mostly with intelligence gathering, I think it best that you become a freelance adventurer, probably starting with one of the Guilds. I would recommend the Mage's Guild. They often send you to different locations around Vvardenfell, which will broaden your horizons of this land and help you fit in the role of a common adventurer."

"Do they pay well?" Raedyn asked, not fond of the idea of being outside a lot. Good payment would help him combat his newly found phobia. Yet at the same time, he wasn't liking the idea of working for any organization. His whole life, he had survived on his own without the need to slave away for money. More than anything else, it was the threat of going back to the Imperial Prisons that kept him from openly refusing Caius' recommendations.

"Oh yes, you'll make enough to get by, I'm sure." Caius replied. "Now, my friends, if you'll excuse me, I have some documents to go over. Tyermaillin, why don't you teach Raedyn a few rudimentary spells if you have the time? At the very least, make sure he can cast a simple fire spell and use scrolls. And Raedyn, you can start your lessons with Rithleen at her discretion."

"I'm open at all times." The Redguard added. "I'm still recovering from Ataxia Disease I had a few days ago, so I'm not going anywhere in my condition, but I can still train you. Come by my place whenever you want and I should be able to help you."

With that, the two humans in the room left, leaving the Dark Elf and High Elf alone. After some time going over the basics of the different colleges, Tyermaillin started tutoring him in the College of Conjuration, how to exert one's will over the lesser beings of Oblivion. Twenty minutes later, Raedyn successfully formed a daedric dagger in his hands.

"Be sure to practice that." Tyermaillin instructed as the Dunmer inspected the weightless weapon in his hands. "I wouldn't rely on it in a fight unless I could summon it without fail when I'm not in danger. Now, which would you like to learn next? The College of Destruction? Illusion?"

"I have a few scrolls here I'd like to learn how to use." Raedyn answered, pulling out the Icarian Flight scrolls. "I don't know what they do, though."

The Altmer took one of the scrolls, unrolled it, and began to read. As he deciphered the coding and symbols, his focus intensified, until he finally said, "I've never seen a scroll like this before? Whoever scribed them must've been a genius. Probably a fool, as these are entirely impractical, but genius nonetheless."

"What do they do?" Raedyn asked with bored impatience.

"Well, it would be difficult to fully explain if you don't already have a good knowledge of the College of Restoration, how it affects the body, and how the body works, but I can summarize it as this: it makes you jump high. Really, really high." He then laughed, and asked in a joking manner, "I don't suppose whoever you got these from just fell from the sky, did he?"

Raedyn just smiled nervously, "He might have used one himself before giving me them."

Tyermaillin laughed. "I doubt that. Unless you're jumping to the top of a monstrously high cliff, no one could survive this." He rolled the scroll back up and handed it back to the Dunmer. "Keep them, or try and sell them if you want, there might be someone in the Mage's Guild who would pay to study them, but don't ever use it."

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After a long discussion about the different Guilds available, Raedyn finally accepted the decision, though grudgingly, to join the Mage's Guild. It wasn't as dangerous as the Fighter's Guild, with his current level of skill with armor and long blades, and though he had skills in the trade of the Thieves' Guild, he wasn't going to risk going back to prison so easily. So he joined the Mage's Guild, and was set to work almost immediately…

…as the errand boy of the lowest ranks in the Guild. He rarely did anything besides gathering herbs at alchemical stores, or go out in the wilderness, in all his agoraphobia, to pick plants. At least it helped him deal with it. He did the jobs, as he was paid immediately after finishing each, but that didn't stop the liberal complaints and insults. After a few too many comments about his patrons, Guild Stewardess Ranis Athrys gave him a vicious verbal assault about ethics. Since then he made sure to bite his tongue. It wasn't so much for the honor or understanding of why ethics were in place, but to keep that Dunmer harpy off his back.

Rithleen gave him a steel katana and shield made of netch hide, and started instructing him in their use. The Redguard woman worked him hard, she seemed to have a limitless supply of stamina for someone recovering from a disease. He quickly decided to take the lesson at the end of the day, after his Guild chores and training with Tyermaillin ended, as he was left exhausted afterwards. Yet he was surprised by what he learned from her. He had always assumed long bladed swordplay was merely brute force on brute force, when it actually shared more in common with short swordsmanship than not. Dodging and avoiding direct attacks were still preferred over blocking, but it was still an option with the long blade, unlike the short one, and the targets were still vital areas on the opponent that were tough to cover with armor.

A few times, he met with the Argonian Nine-toes to learn some basics of hunting, stalking, and gutting animals. He had skill in hunting from his peasant days, running from one settlement to another, but he still picked up a few tricks.

Tyermaillin continued to instruct him in the different colleges. He could successfully cast low-grade shock and fire elemental spells, became better and better at conjuring a dagger, then learned how to conjure gauntlets. He discovered he had an affinity for the College of Mysticism. He could detect people and animals within fifty feet, use a Soul Trap spell with good efficiency, and could manipulate small objects with Telekinesis at fifteen feet. He was still working on Almsivi Intervention, and Tyermaillin wouldn't teach him Mark or Recall until he did.

A few times as he finished up with Rithleen, Caius would stop him before he'd sack out at the South Wall Corner Club, and give him a book to read. At first he said he wasn't interested, but when he saw Caius wouldn't let him go until he agreed to read it and tell him what he read, he grudgingly agreed. At first he had to force himself to read the minor history books on Morrowind, but soon became fascinated by them. He always assumed the providence was simply conquered by the Imperials. He rarely read books back in Cyrodiil, but he found himself looking forward to studying up on this land he was stuck in.

After a week of torturously trite chores in the guild, Ranis had a discussion with him on his magical abilities thus far, then promoted him from Associate to Apprentice, and told him his new chores would be the next day. Over the next fifteen hours, Raedyn wondered if he was excited by the break from the monotonous chores from before, or worried that what he was about to start was worse.

As Raedyn stepped into the Mages Guild late in the morning, Ranis greeted him. "Good morning, Apprentice. I have your new chore." She reached into a satchel and pulled out several gems. "You are to fill each of these soul gems with kagouti souls, no diseased ones. Normally we would start you off with fewer soul gems to fill, but we've received shipment requests from the Legion, and we're on a schedule. You'll find more kagouti up north around Ald'ruhn and Maar Gan. Here's two hundred septims for disease and blight potions. Good luck, Apprentice." She turned and walked started down the hall.

"Wait," Raedyn pleaded, "you want me to fill all of them?" There had to be fifteen soul gems.

"Yes, Apprentice Raedyn. Like I said, we're short on time and supplies. We must have all of them by tomorrow night at the latest. Now be off, I have other work to perform."

Raedyn was about to say something about the work, or lack there of, she did, but wisely held back. He dreaded the thought of how much worse her tirades would be if his comments were directed at her. He gave up, and left, hoping kagouti were easy, common prey.

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They weren't. Raedyn had a talk with Nine-toes before he paid for Silt Strider service to Ald'ruhn, and what the Argonian told him didn't sound pleasing. Kagouti weren't the fiercest or most dangerous of local wildlife, but fifteen kills on one trip was pushing reasonable standards for a novice. He gave the Dunmer all the advice he could, telling him the most important thing was to use his head.

After arriving in Ald'ruhn in the afternoon, he started his search for the kagouti, making sure never to stray far from the beaten path. The tracks were easy to find, but the creatures themselves were hard to catch up with. As afternoon turned to evening, he had encountered five kagouti, and four had run from him, the last one was probably hungry. They were large and not slow at all, but far from nimble.

As dusk approached, and the ashlands cooled down, Raedyn laid himself against a rock formation to rest. Six hours, and only one kagouti out of fifteen. He wasn't going to get paid for this job. If he was having this much trouble with his first Apprentice-rank chore, he saw himself quickly getting demoted, or likely expelled. This was why he almost never had a job growing up.

After a few minutes of resting, he saw, through a nearby bush, a kagouti walking around, it's back turned to him. Deciding to take the chance, he got to his feet and crouched low. He then formed a blue sphere of electrical magic in his hand. It wasn't strong, and it would likely never kill a healthy kagouti, but it would at least stun it. He concentrated on forming a thin layer around the sphere, so that it wouldn't burst the instant his fingers weren't wrapped around it; that way it could reach targets outside of his reach. Reaching back, he thrust his hand forward, and the ball flew out, quickly striking the kagouti to the left of it's tail, burning and paralyzing it's left haunch and leg. Raedyn got up quickly, and used a Soul Trap spell, then cut it's head open with his katana.

His satchel lit up from the inside as one of the soul gems got filled. That wasn't too hard. He thought. Though it made sense to sneak up and attack without them knowing he was there, up until this point he didn't think he could actually do it. Here, all it took was being downwind behind a bush. That was far easier than he thought. What else out here could he use to his advantage?

Ideas came slowly at first, but his thought process soon started to snowball, and he couldn't stop himself from running out and start tracking the ugly beasts once again. Using sight, tracks, and Detection spells from the College of Mysticism, he found three more kagouti before it became dark, and Raedyn had three more soul gems filled.

It was only fear of losing sight of the road in the dark that made him return to Ald'ruhn before dusk had settled. Suddenly, this 'chore' became a game, one where he had to use creativity to win. Each kagouti was different; one he lured into a little valley between rows of rocks with a piece of nix-hound meat, which Raedyn brought along as a meal if he got hungry, while the Dunmer waited on the rocked watching the clueless animal below. Another one, he waited in shadow until the beast was in the right spot to chase it between two crops of rocks into a dead end. The third one, he conjured up a dagger, and used telekinesis to hurl the weapon right into the creature's head, the daedric weapon cutting through hard bone like it was butter.

He spent the night at the house of Gilden, another Blades operative, where he was up half the night thinking of new ways to dispatch kagouti. He was excited. He hadn't been this excited since…since before his mother died.

As he laid in his bed when that revelation hit, his mood quickly became more solemn. His childhood was non-descript up until his mother died. With no friends or known relatives of hers to take him in and no orphanages that accepted elven children, the eight year old Dunmer soon learned how to live off what he could find on the streets, with nothing but the steel dagger his mother always kept when they left the house at night. He remembered, before his mother died, how he used to play games with the neighbors' cats, and thought up games or imaginary settings wherever they went. It all changed after his mother died from that rare disease, and he was forced to live in a harsh, unforgiving world all too soon.

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The next day, he got up early and put his strategies to good use. By mid-afternoon, he had all the soul gems filled up, and when evening came, he was back in Balmora. He was told, then, that the other guild members on the same chore performed so well she didn't need all fifteen kagouti souls. So after giving them the soul gems and receiving his payment for the chore, he was given standard payment for the three spare common-quality soul gems with kagouti in them: twenty-four hundred Septims.

As he left the guild on his way to purchase an expensive dinner, he saw a bookshop. He always thought it interesting how writers were able to immortalize themselves through words, and had often thought of doing it himself, if only through a journal. He had always put it off, but today, he felt the need to get things done. He walked into the store and purchased a blank journal, ink dipper and quill.

That night, as he sat on his bed, before blowing out the candle in the lantern, he opened his journal and started writing:

5th Hearthfire, 427 3rd Era.

This starry, clear night marks the end of my tenth day in Vvardenfell, and the longest I've gone without stealing food. In a span of time so short it's nearly left me dizzy, I've gone from being an Imperial prisoner to a half-free Mer, learning magic and sword from those who serve the Empire. While it is strange how the Empire's faith toward me has mysteriously, or perhaps miraculously, turned around completely for this soul who's always despised it so, it is even stranger that I am gradually feeling less chained here by threats of imprisonment, and everyday I feel more that, given the choice, I might actually choose the life I live now.

This land is strange, I cannot deny that. Whatever kinship I have with the native Dunmer through my race and sentiment for the Empire is offset by my being an Outlander. Despite this, I've never felt more welcome. Up until now, I've run away from the hardships life threw at me. The last two days has opened my eyes to this fact.

Yesterday, I was given what I thought to be an impossible task: to fill a dozen soul gems with a certain kind of creature's soul in only a day and a half. I placed little hope in this difficult task, and even less faith in myself. I had all but given up, when by chance, I realized how it was not the nature of the task that made it difficult, but it was me, all along. After that, the task became easier. It still wasn't easy, but it became thrilling.

These past few hours, I've pondered on the days and years behind me, wondering if, all this time, has the one holding me back been none other than myself? I'm still not sure of the answer, but one thing has become clear to me these last couple days: there may be more that I'm capable of than I thought.

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Caius stood with hips pressed against the railing on the roof of his house, staring at the stars, trying to drown himself, once again, in Imperial business to distract him from his hunger for sugar. He knew it was in vain: he'd eventually give in and indulge his sweet tooth before he went to sleep. At least this way, he was able to fill out his duties before hand. His extensive experience with working in such a critical position for the empire told him that, as long as they got results from him, they didn't care if he had a sugar problem.

He looked off to the side and saw the Odai River passing through the town, seeing the moon reflect off the coursing water. He thought back to his skooma pipe, how the silvery liquid would get warmed up from the little flame, and become all the better as he sipped…

No, sweets are for later! He adamantly told himself, using all his discipline to focus on his current tasks. The Prophesies. Just focus on finding out what you can on the Prophesies. Believing his subordinate to be nearly ready to help him investigate these Prophecies, he had made sure to ask Ranis of Raedyn's progress, claiming the young Mer to be a friend of his nephew, and that he had promised to keep him out of trouble. He didn't know Ranis well, knowing her more by reputation, as he'd only talked to her a few times in the years he'd lived in Balmora, but her answers were pretty much as he had expected: they were blunt. She thought of the young Mer as an arrogant, grouchy outlander with no understanding of manners. But word on his recent assignment was reassuring. Blunt as she was, she admitted that she didn't expect him to complete the task in full, and that was why she had multiple guild members on the same task.

Even more assuring, if not just shocking, was Rithleen's praise for his skill with the katana he had. Though he didn't seem to realize it, she said he had more natural talent with the long blade than she had ever seen in anyone, Dunmer or Redguard alike. It was not like he was 'learning' to use the sword, but more like he was 'remembering' how. She claims he gained the amount of skill in a week what most people don't get until a year into training.

This bit of news was indeed assuring. Assuring, and even a little frightening.

End of Chapter Two.

Author's Notes: In case you didn't get the hint, Raedyn's unnatural talent with the long blade comes from him being Nerevar Reborn. And in case you didn't notice, part of this chapter was inspired by the little notes you get when you level up, about how your character is "more aware" and stuff. Interesting little factoid: my computer did not indicate a possible misspelling with the word Ataxia. Curious, I looked it up, and found it's an actual disease. Fancy, that.

Once again, constructive criticism is welcome, and if you notice any inconsistencies, let me know. If you find the price is off with the kagouti souls, take note that souls cost differently in different gems.