Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to The Elder Scrolls franchise. It belongs to Bethesda and other respective sponsors. I am not receiving any monetary benefit from writing this fan-fiction; it is purely for my own and others' entertainment.
Author's Note: Just for future reference, I will be answering your reviews. It's just something I love to do and it gives me a chance to recognize you and thank you personally. Also, sorry for the lateness! Finals suck and I've been concentrating on writing my novel!
To Alone in the light: Thanks for your review! I appreciate your honesty because I am rather worried about how this fanfiction will be received. Not so much because I'm worried about "Oh my god, what if they don't like my writing?" I just want to be as true as I can to the lore and realities of Tamriel. I really have no intentions on sugar-coating the reality of this world and the kind of crap I'm going to be putting myself through in the future of this fic (as that tends to happen in a lot of self-insert fictions). You mentioned that you don't care for the Khajiit and I can respect that. Everyone has their favorites and least favorites. (I personally hate Altmer.) Haha, but I didn't choose them necessarily because "OMG, KITTEH PEOPLEZ! 3" I grew up with Everquest in the household so kitty people are kind of old news for me (the cat people in that franchise are called Vah Shir). I chose the Khajiit because 1) Azura created them and she is the patron-Prince of this game, 2) I wanted to subject myself to harsh conditions without getting my ass kicked immediately upon arrival (because we all know how much Dunmer love Nords – I've got a lot of Swedish and Norwegian blood in me. I seriously look like a Nord.) and 3) I wanted to explore the culture of the Khajiit in more depth (the whole being bound to the moon phases is just cool to me.)
Also, I promise there won't be any kitty/human action going on. That's akin to bestiality in my mind and just...yick. No thank you.
To Newtinmpls: A thank you for your review as well! And I'm trying to proceed as cautiously as possible as well, simply because I only have a limited resource regarding the Khajiit and Elsweyr so I'll be drawing inspiration from other sources.
Chapter 2
Star-Child
I woke, wrenched from the goddess' reality and into another. I didn't just wake either; I fell. I fell as if someone had tossed me from the top of a tower and I magically landed on the ground with minimal damage to my body. I struck the ground on my belly and feeling the wind knocked from my lungs, I struggled to breathe. I tried to gasp for air, only to inhale sand. Coughing wildly, I pulled myself up onto all fours. I couldn't get enough air into my lungs without pulling the sand I'd inhaled further into my nose and throat. My eyes watered, my body began to sweat, and I was so busy worrying about being able to breathe that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings.
It was my first mistake.
My scalp burned as a hand took a fistful of my hair, wrenching my head back painfully. I gasped for air, finally feeling the burst of oxygen I needed to breathe properly. My eyes, though blurred, cleared quickly as I blinked the tears away but suddenly I was very aware of a handful of sharp claws being pointed at my jugular.
It was then that I made my second mistake.
Some six months prior to my uncle's party, my mother enrolled herself, my sister, and I into a women's self-defense program and we'd spent eight weeks training for a possible assault on our persons. Our teacher had explained to us that every person has a dog inside of them and most days, this dog is passive. However, when under extreme stress, the dog will either cower or fight. It was more or less his way of explaining fight-or-flight to people who weren't aware of what that was. His desire was to teach our inner dog to, instead of freeze up during an assault, to turn on the anger and use it to our advantage. I could remember going into the class feeling mousy and unsure of myself, and coming out feeling much more confident and unafraid. A lamb into a lion, so to speak.
Now, however, that was not the case and my hand came up, gripping the wrist of the person that grabbed me. I shoved its hand away from me quickly and very aware of its hold on my hair, I jerked upwards into a standing stance, careful to step in towards him, whirled and flung the heel of my palm into its face with a force I hadn't used in a few months. A distinct cracking noise found my ears and the heel of my hand stung with the force of the blow. I was hardly as strong as I was all those months ago but there was a little relief in that I could still remember some of the movements.
The creature let out a yowl and released me, stumbling backwards with its hands over its nose. The sight of this creature startled me, as it looked very much like a cat on two legs. Its fur was a soft brown, flanked with white. It was bedecked in leather and there were weapons at its hips, which made everything much sharper in my opinion. I knew I wasn't fast enough to dodge knives. I barely dodged the claw it flung at me. The claw caught hold of my hoodie at the arm, tearing the fabric as if it were made of tissue paper. I backed up into a defensive stance, feeling my body tense up, waiting for the next attack. My hands were flat, my right chambered, ready to strike again.
Suddenly, there was laughter and I briefly glanced around. I was in the middle of a crowd full of these cat-people and they were highly amused by the sight before them, speaking in a purring tongue to one another while pointing at me and the other cat. It seemed as if I interrupted a party because several of them were holding cups and sitting around a large bonfire. They were dressed in stunning, colorful kaftans. Beyond them were tents of all colors, vibrant against the firelight, and beyond those were sand-dunes as far as the eye could see.
You're not in Kansas anymore, came Stephen Lang's southern twang in the back of my head.
"That one's stance is poor," came a female voice off to my left. The voice was laced with a thick accent that I couldn't place. I looked towards the voice and found what clearly was a cat-woman. Her fur was the color of charcoal and her eyes were two glowing emeralds with black slits. I was briefly reminded of a Russian Blue. She wore green robes and a strange talisman around her neck. In her hand, she held a silver bowl, though I couldn't see its contents. "Too easy to attack." She purred, almost thoughtfully. "Yes, this one has much work to do." The cat-woman then looked to the injured cat-person in front of me, speaking in the purring tongue. The injured one slipped through the crowd, blood seeping from its nose, head sunk between his shoulders in shame.
I raised a brow. "Who are you?"
"This one is Mother Ri'lujayn," the cat-woman replied. "Azurah sent you to this one."
Azurah. Where had I heard that name before? The goddess had never introduced herself to me. No name was given to me when she stole me from my world and placed me in this one.
The crowd seemed to hush, now only a small beehive of talk. They seemed as curious about me as I was about them.
"And that one's name?" Mother Ri'lujayn questioned.
I blinked, glancing around a bit. "My name is Ash," I answered, quietly, slowly coming out of my reportedly bad stance. I felt foolish but what could be done? I was sure that a lot of the things I did were strange.
Another long, thoughtful purr emitted Ri'lujayn's throat before she turned to the crowd and spoke at length, indicating to me and occasionally to the sky. I had no idea what she was saying but I surmised by the conversation between she and I that she was explaining who I was and where I came from. The cats looked to each other, curious about the situation at hand and finally, when Ri'lujayn stopped speaking, she beckoned to me. "Come," she said.
While I was aware that I was in no immediate danger, I really wasn't sure what was about to happen if I came closer. I stood still for a long moment, glancing around. Everyone watched me with expectant eyes. Apparently, Mother Ri'lujayn was a person of importance and obeying her was in my best interest. I shifted a bit on my feet before finally willing myself to move forward. I stopped in front of her, feeling the nervousness stinging the hairs on my neck again and tying my stomach into unpleasant knots. "This one has told Khajiit that that one is a star-child, blessed by Azurah, Mother of the Night Sky. Azurah has told this one of her intentions. The people will train that one in Rawlith Khaj and give her a new name when she has earned it. Come. Drink."
I could see the contents of the bowl now. There was a milky substance inside of it that glowed softly and smelled sweet. I didn't want to drink it. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know if she intended to poison me or not. Seeing my mistrust, Ri'lujayn's mouth curled in a fanged smile. She drank from it first, a long swallow, before offering the bowl to me again.
Taking the bowl, I brought it to my lips, pausing once more. Am I really going to drink from this? I thought. I could die.
But if you don't, my sensibility kicked in. They may take it as an insult and kill you anyway.
What was the bigger risk? Either way, I'd die and be none the wiser, but given that they seemed to hold Azurah in high regard, there was a small part of me that said I was being too paranoid. I poured the contents into my mouth and let it slide down my throat, warming my belly. The taste and texture of it delighted me. If Hot Sex had had a vanilla flavor, that is what this milk would taste like. However, I doubted that Hot Sex liquor hit me with such a pleasurable feeling nor so quickly as this did. My head became light and my vision danced with color and light. The stars above me became bright as ever and the moon, in all her beauty, glowed more brightly than all the stars combined. Every nerve in my body became alive, just the arid wind hitting my skin alone made me moan with delight. The warmth from the fire became more intense, warming my whole body. "Oh," I breathed, closing my eyes and touching my lips. This was ecstasy, this feeling.
There was laughter and Ri'lujayn called out to the people in her purring tongue, who in turn laughed when I stumbled backwards away from her. I staggered but was caught by another Khajiit, as Ri'lujayn called them. As it caught me, music started up, drums and stringed lutes filling the night with music. Talking resumed and I looked up through hazed eyes at the one that caught me. Ri'lujayn's eyes looked down on me, but this one had black markings in his grey fur. "Heheh, first time?" he purred.
"Oh yes," I answered with a dazed smile.
"You will feel it in the morning," the purring Khajiit laughed. "For now, dance!" He gave me a shove forward into a crowd of dancing females, who swept me up in their strange dance.
What happened afterwards was history. I could not recall when I awoke just what had occurred the rest of the night. I could only remember drinking the milk and the divine thrum of my body when I danced. When I awoke, I was lying on my belly in a bed of silken pillows. The first thing I could feel was the pounding in my head and a dull ache in my chest. My throat was dry and my body was lined with a sheen of sweat. I rolled onto my back and groaned when my head spun. My hands cupped my head and squeezed my eyes shut, as if it would stay my blurred vision.
There was a throaty chuckle from nearby and the Khajiit male that threw me into the crowd of dancing females sat just to my right with his digitigrade legs crossed lazily. "I told you you would feel it in the morning," he said. I heard him move closer and when I opened my eyes to make sure he kept a fair distance, I found him holding out a vial filled with a red liquid. It looked like Kool-Aid to me. "Drink this. It will help."
I moved slowly again, as I had with Ri'lujayn, to take the vial. "What is it?"
"What is it?" snorted the creature, a mock on his tongue. "It's a health potion."
I blinked at him and then turned my eyes to the vial. Why are health potions always red? I wondered, thinking of all of the video games I'd played over the years and how it never seemed to fail. Health potions were red. Mana potions were blue. Fatigue potions were green. My head continued to pound and as the night before, I decided to heed the Khajiit beside me and opening the vial, I tipped my head back. I drank the entire vial and the effects were instanteous. My head ceased pounding. My chest ceased aching and every muscle in my body that protested last night's dancing ceased to hurt.
Hello, miracle cure!
The Khajiit took the vial and I let my head rest, delighting in the fact that I was no longer in pain. "Thank you," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes to further wake myself up.
"I saw you last night," I said after a moment. "What's your name?"
"Do'amran," he said. "I am Ri'lujayn's son."
I nodded in understanding. "I figured as much. You have your mother's eyes."
Do'amran's mouth curled into something of a smile, his white fangs bared. "Yes. I have been told." There was a brief pause of silence between us, as I didn't know what more to say. I wasn't the type to ask questions. I simply followed another's lead and observed, only asking questions when needed. I supposed I ought to have been more inquistive but I was used to figuring out my own answers from books and the like, as I'd learned not to trust the words of individuals over written fact at a very young age. The dictionary was my best friend at one time.
However, Do'amran moved to the other side of the tent and lifted some clothes out of a nearby basket. Turquoise harem pants and a sleeveless, high-necked shirt the color of pink plumerias. "You will wear these," he said, tossing them to me. They fell across my belly and chest. "It is not polite for women in our culture to show their chest fur. You will cover your breasts or the camp will think you dress like a whore."
I was briefly reminded of Islamic culture and how in some more conservative circles, even so much as showing the face or wrists or ankles was considered immodest. They only asked me to cover my chest, which I was capable of doing; even if in my own world, I was used to wearing low-cut shirts. Some of my family members assumed I was looking for male attention but the truth was, I wore them for ventilation. If my chest grew over-hot, then so would my entire body and my tiny body would overheat. I wasn't looking forward to walking around with this high-necked shirt on, but at least it was sleeveless and if I could keep hydrated, I might not suffer heat-injury.
"Also, we do not wear shoes or boots," he said. "Get used to being without them."
I raised a brow, thinking of how hot the sand must be outside. My feet were not leathery as they had been when I was a child. I hadn't ran around barefoot in a long time and the possibility of blisters made me cringe. "Not even my sandals?"
"Not even your sandals," he answered. "Your feet must connect with the earth to help you balance. You will be going through training soon, Ash. You will have to get used to being uncomfortable and sore. Rawlith Khaj is a difficult thing to learn and you are so skinny and unfit. I could knock you over with a feather..."
Gee, thanks, I thought, thinking that I'd held my own pretty well against that Khajiit last night. "Alright," I agreed, quietly, not wanting to be seen as incapable. If there was one thing I didn't like, it was someone telling me that I was this or that and it wasn't positive. It was like my father picking on me about being a wimp and then proving all this last summer that I was tougher than I looked. I spent the whole summer helping him with his trucks and carrying heavy objects and cleaning in the heat. Plus I'd love training with my self-defense teacher. Of course, he had made it fun. Do'amran seemed like the type to make it difficult and challenging, and probably not very fun.
"Put those on and I will meet you outside. Today is a day of rest," he told me. "Last night, you saw the moon festival. We have these once a month when the moon is full and use the moon-sugar milk to connect to Azurah and the Moon herself. Now everyone is winding down so we wll train your mind instead. I will teach you ta'agra, the language of the people, so that you might understand us."
My interest peaked at that. I loved language; in fact, I had aspirations to be a Spanish teacher after finishing up my generals at a local tech college. In fact, I quietly noted now how well Do'amran spoke English...or was it the common tongue here? When Do'amran lifted the flap of the tent and slipped into the hot sun, I laid there for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. Part of me, the side of me that did not want anything more to do with this situation, that begged me not to go outside without my sandals, that pleaded with me not to go out into that baking hot sun with this high-necked shirt on, didn't want to move. I wanted to just sleep and wake up in my uncle's camper with my family and enjoy breakfast, but even as I closed my eyes, I knew it wasn't to be. I asked for a purpose. Azurah was going to give me one and quite frankly, who was I to deny not only Her but myself this opportunity? I could learn to fight. I could meet new people, learn new languages, wear strange-looking clothes, and become this Nerevarine Azurah wanted me to be. I could be someone who would make a difference and that was something so fine and precious. Who could turn their nose up at this opportunity?
My optimism drew me out of my short reverie and I stood up, slipping out of my old clothes and into my new ones. The pants were a bit loose but it was nice that they didn't cling to my body and promise a heat-stroke. The shirt too was a little baggy. I briefly glanced around the large tent for a mirror and found an oval-shaped bronze mirror sitting at the far end with a low-laying vanity and a pillow in front of that. I let myself fall to my knees and pulled the ponytail out of my hair, only to smooth my hair back and tie it up again.
Once I was done, I stared at myself in the bronze mirror. I felt strange in these clothes, in this place, but this was what suited the khajiit and if I was in their land, then I knew I would need to do whatever I needed to do in order to fit in. I would be here for some time.
Well, I thought, here goes nothing...
