Scar-Tail and Apoltis traveled for at least two nights southward in the direction of Leyawiin. Apoltis was asleep for most of the ride and Scar-Tail was getting tired. They finally stopped at a small settlement known as Border Watch.
Apoltis awoke in a big bed with a cold sweat. Most of his sleep had been plagued with nightmares. For the most part about his mom but others about the stone. He saw strange things. Things he could not have described if he wanted to.
He was in a different set of clothes and his cloak was gone. He looked around a new room and found none of his belongings. He scanned the room and then began to feel this creeping pain claw at his stomach. It was hunger. He rolled one of the sheets off the bed and stood up.
Suddenly, the front door into the room began to open and in walked a khajiit. He was not about to stick around and find out which weapon this one was wielding. He did the only thing he could think of at the time. He took shelter under the bed. He watched the cat-like feet enter the room and the door shut behind them. His breathing became very heavy and he could not control it. He tried to muffle his breathing by putting his hand over his mouth but all that seemed to do was make a small wheezing noise from the air hitting his hand. He was so scarred.
The feet stood there for a short second and then began to head over to the edge of the bed. As they got closer, Apoltis's breathing became more and more heavy. The feet stood by the bedside and seemed to be staring at Apoltis. As if they wanted to sink their claws deep into him.
Something was different though. They didn't move like they were stalking him or sneaking around. They seemed to be just supporting weight. Not only that, they seemed a lot more smaller then most. These feet belonged to no warrior.
Apoltis could see a line of cloth draped around the ankles which now lead him to believe that it was a female kahjiit. He was not about to crawl out from underneath the bed though for fear of being wrong. Female or not, she would probably eviscerate his fleshy extremities at the first chance she got.
He then saw the feet turn and face a small stand by the bedside and saw the draped cloth extended downward. She put something on the table. The feet then turned and walked out of the room. Apoltis waited for a minute before slowly crawling out from under the bed and looked on the small stand. There was an assortment of things that would quench his appetite. There was half a loaf of wheat bread. A bowl of meat stew with a range of vegetables. A clay pitcher of water and a small piece of candy it seemed. Apoltis did not know where he was but it was starting to get a little better.
He was still a little weary of the food but he was so hungry that his evasiveness of the food wore off quite quickly. He began with the stew and before he was done he ate the piece of candy. He had eaten most of the loaf of bread and all of the stew. They all had a good taste but the piece of candy was the taste that intrigued him the most. It tasted like a fine cheese with chocolate. Those two tastes do not sound like they would compliment each other but somehow, this time, they did.
After Apoltis was done, he decided to brave the unknown. He opened the wooden door and looked outside. Outside was a young khajiit woman standing at a counter. The counter was made of a strong wood with a glass showcase of round objects. Apoltis could not tell what they were at first glance. She looked at him and Apoltis got a good look at her. Her fur pattern was very warm and inviting. She had a toothy, wide-eyed grin cross her face when she saw the boy. He quickly shut the door. He leaned against it kind of afraid.
He heard a voice from outside. It was definitely the khajiit woman. She was talking to another person. Her voice was slightly raspy but that was only because she was a cat creature. Underneath the rasp seemed to be a very young, pleasant maiden's voice that seemed otherworldly nice. It actually made Apoltis feel ashamed for shutting the door on her. "I think your friend is awake."
He then heard footsteps and quickly launched himself onto the bed. He pulled the sheets over his head and tried to pretend he was asleep. He heard the door open and he quickly shut his eyes. Apoltis heard a gruff sigh and then a very familiar voice say, "You honestly think that is going to work?"
Apoltis's eyes bolted open at the first word. Scar-Tail! He leaped off the bed and sure enough stood the almost bronze yellow-scaled argonian. He was dressed in different clothes but it was him. No doubt about that. Apoltis ran up to his friend and hugged him. It was comforting to finally see a friendly face.
Scar-Tail was a little caught off guard by this but he snaked one of his arms to the boy's back and patted him. "It's alright kid."
Finally letting go, Apoltis's eyes were shimmering with tears. "I thought I was alone."
Scar-Tail bent onto one knee and put both of his hands on the boy's shoulders and said, "I would not just leave you!"
Apoltis wiped his eyes and said, "I know."
Standing up, Scar-Tail and Apoltis walked out of the room. When they did, Apoltis again caught sight of the khajiit behind the counter and kind of retracted. Scar-Tail felt this and stopped with him. The khajiit behind the counter looked at the boy and said in that raspy-maiden voice, "I am sorry if I startled you. I guess you have not been around a lot of beast people before, besides your god uncle here of course."
Apoltis looked up at Scar-Tail confused and Scar-Tail just looked back at him and thankfully spoke first. "Well, I just saw him there and he looked so hapless so I said I should save him."
Suddenly, a purple-skinned woman came into view. She was a very young and very attractive dark elf. She was sitting at a table that Apoltis couldn't see. Scar-Tail had been sitting with her before Apoltis had gotten up. She came up to Scar-Tail and began to caress him. She also started whispering into the argonian's ear and wrapped her leg around him. Apoltis couldn't hear what she was saying but he figured it was nothing important, to him at least.
She kissed Scar-Tail and walked back over to the table. He followed over to her and left Apoltis's side. The confused boy watched as they both sat down with each other and were caressing each other. He then walked over and asked, "Where is my cloak?"
Scar-Tail looked over at him and said, "It is back in your room in the small stand by your bedside."
Apoltis turned around and entered his room. He went over to the stand where the tray of eaten food and drank water was gone. He looked around for a second not having recollected hearing nor seeing the khajiit lady come in and collect the empty dishes. He did not think much of it.
He opened the small stand and indeed there was his cloak and the stone was there too. He put his cloak back on and put the stone back in his pocket.
He exited the room and went up to the counter display case. He finally could make out what the circular items were. Cheeses. All different kinds of cheeses. He looked at the display queerly. "Why would there be cheese in a display case?" He decided to ask.
The woman khajiit looked at him with a smile and answered, "Because this is Border Watch's heritage."
That did little to wipe off the confused look on the imperial child's face. "Border Watch? Where is this?"
Her toothy grin did not diminish. "Just South of Bravil and perfectly north of Leyawiin."
Neither towns had he heard of. Apoltis was now really confused to where he was. So he decided to ask, "Excuse me but how far are we away from the Imperial City?"
The khajiit behind the counter could have been a candidate for a painting model because once again, her smile was unfading. "About a two-in-half days' ride."
Apoltis had never been that far south in his life. The only 'big' town in Cyrodiil he had ever visited was Chorrol and even then he had only seen about half of it. He had heard of the Imperial City before but had never actually been. He had never heard of Bravil or Leyawiin.
Apoltis decided to leave. He began to walk for the front door when he heard Scar-Tail's voice from behind him. He was snuggling with the dark elf girl when he said, "Hey kid, do not go too far outside. There is not too many imperial people this far south."
Nodding his head that he heard him, Apoltis walked outside and Scar-Tail went back to the dark elf girl.
Outside, Apoltis's eyes were greeted with a vibrant small town sight. He saw small houses on both sides of a clear pathway leading straight away from the building behind him. To the right, behind about three houses, was a medium sized fenced-in area with sheep herded inside. They seemed to be right at home with the few horses corralled up as well. There, Apoltis caught sight of Scar-Tail's black mare. She was very majestic looking and looked more regal then the other two horses tied up with her. Both stallions and both mangy looking. As if they had not been cleaned or groomed in months.
Plenty of people were walking around Border Watch too. They seemed to be on their way to other tasks around the village. The thing that struck Apoltis most peculiar was that most of the towns' people he saw moving about were khajiits. It kind of made him nervous. He wondered if this small village was some kind of khajiit exclusive town. He did see other types of people walking around but he figured that they were there only for trading and resting.
He would soon learn that he was right. Border Watch was indeed a khajiit populated village. It made him kind of nervous but he took a deep breath hoping that none of the big cat-people would give him any trouble.
He stepped off the small wooden steps of the building and took a few steps into the village. He turned around and looked at the building he was just in. He saw a sign hanging from the building. All it said was: BORDER WATCH INN
Apoltis turned back around fully knowing that the Inn was probably the biggest building in the village. It was a small village and Apoltis knew it. He had lived in a small village most of his life and these were definitely small village people.
Turning back around, Apoltis decided to investigate the town some more. He began to move out into the main part of the town were most of the traffic was. He walked right for the straight path and watched as most of the cat people ignored him. He suddenly got bumped by a male khajiit who was carrying wood for some fireplace. Apoltis landed on his rear end and made a slight whimper.
The male khajiit put down his load on the ground and knelt down next to Apoltis. He touched Apoltis on the shoulder and a gruff, almost monstrous voice asked, "Hey, are you alright?"
Apoltis did his best not to be too shaken by the big cat's voice and brushed off his black cloak. He answered back, "Yeah, I am okay."
The khajiit grabbed his arm and was about to help him up when Apoltis suddenly jerked away from him in primordial terror. He scooted away from the large cat guy and had a fearful look on his face when he got up on his own.
The khajiit man put up his hands, and stood up saying, "Hey, relax little guy! I don't mean you any harm. You must not be use to seeing khajiits."
Apoltis's face went from that scarred look to a pitiful look. He felt kind of bad about the way he had acted towards the kindly khajiit man. It was just that every khajiit that Apoltis had run into up to arriving in Border Watch had either tried to kill him or have him for lunch. He actually explained this to the khajiit male. He had also apologized more then once for the way he acted towards him.
The khajiit man smiled with these large incisors and said in his growling voice, "That is okay little tyke. My name is Ra'tarnik. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." Ra'tarnik outstretched his hand waiting for Apoltis to shake it.
This was when Apoltis really got a good look at the big male khajiit. He was tall and built. He was probably the buffest khajiit Apoltis had ever seen. He had a large mane that circled his entire head. It was a bright, sunset red close to his ears but as the mane extended, the red faded into a light wheat-yellow. Which was most of his fur color with some patches of a dark yellow looking almost like an aged gold. His eyes were an emerald green with a sophistication there that made Apoltis curious of his inner personality. Apoltis was not that good at reading beast people but he was starting to learn.
They also had a hardness to them. They were nothing like Scar-Tail's eyes. Apoltis could tell there was something hidden inside the khajiit's eyes. A kindness that seemed to be seeded from the world. As if he was scarred to act kindly to others. Though he didn't seem to be having a problem with that at the moment.
Reaching out hesitantly, Apoltis grabbed his hand and said, "It's good to meet you Ra'tarnik."
The large paw/hand wrapped around Apoltis's small, fleshy digits and Ra'tarnik's grip was so strong that it hurt Apoltis's hand. Apoltis kind of reacted to the pain but he tried to hide it. Ra'tarnik caught on and let go of the small child's hand. He did not mean to hurt the small lad but he was just so strong that sometimes it was hard for him to check his strength.
Ra'tarnik looked at the small boy curiously and then decided to ask, "So young man, what brings you to Border Watch?"
Apoltis was not good at lying and he was even worse when it involved a khajiit. He looked at him and he furiously searched for a good lie but found none.
Suddenly, a voice from behind Apoltis spoke up with a hiss sound to it and that ominous dark tone that Apoltis had come to recognize. "Sight seeing."
Turning around, Apoltis saw Scar-Tail. He was walking out of the Border Watch Inn right towards them. Apoltis looked back at Ra'tarnik and had this worried look on his face.
Scar-Tail put his hands on Apoltis's shoulders and then said, "With his uncle."
The khajiit and the argonian met eye-to-eye and in that very moment; the both of them knew that the other was something more. They were both killers! Scar-Tail could tell that the khajiit in front of him was a lot better at disguising his darker nature then himself. Something bugged Scar-Tail about this killer though. He had met a lot of other killers before but this one had something in his eyes. A spark of honorability. He had never seen it in a vicious killers eyes before. That was when Scar-Tail knew even though he could almost smell the blood coming off the khajiit, that he was more then an ordinary killer. He was a warrior. A killer for not only money but a hunter of prize game. One that looked for a more deadlier challenge then the last. Probably a freelance one.
Scar-Tail figured that if this cat warrior was here for big game then there was only one person in the whole of Border Watch he wanted. If this khajiit was indeed a killer, then he was here to kill only one person and Scar-Tail had a pretty good inkling on who that was.
What Scar-Tail was most concerned about was Apoltis. Even though this khajiit maybe a noble warrior and was not here to kill the child, he still dared not to let his guard down.
Ra'tarnik looked deep into the argonian's eyes. This monster was definitely on par with his skills as a killer. He actually had a hard time remembering where he was, nearly letting his façade deteriorate but he kept his composure coming face-to-face with someone just as skilled as him if not more so. He could tell one thing for sure about the argonian assassin, he had definitely killed more people then him.
Apoltis was in the middle of these two with Scar-Tail's hands still on his shoulders. He was the first to introduce Scar-Tail to Ra'tarnik. "Uh Ra'tarnik this is my step uncle Scar…"
Scar-Tail pulled Apoltis behind him and then said, "Scarullen-Ta" Not wanting the khajiit to know his name. He did not want anyone to know his name except for Apoltis.
Extending his hand to shake Ra'tarnik's but the weary khajiit just looked at the dark golden scales on the argonian's hand and sneered at Scar-Tail. He then took a long breath and said, "That is an odd name for an argonian. The only Scarullen-Ta I know of is the criminal overlord that existed about fifty years ago."
Scar-Tail now realized what a mistake he had made. It was the only name he could think of at the time that sound like his own. Little did he remember the significance behind the name. No argonian mother would name their hatchling Scarullen-Ta. The name was nearly forbidden to even be uttered in the land of Black Marsh let alone Argonia.
Keeping his composure though, Scar-Tail simply said, "My parents were rebellious."
Ra'tarnik decided to anger him a bit to get him to strike. He wanted to test Scar-Tail's skill. Not because he was curious either. "Did you even know your parents, lizard?"
Watching in a tense surprise, Apoltis noticed Scar-Tail's hands drift off of his shoulders but he dared not to look back at the argonian. Scar-Tail's hands balled up into fists and his claws began to scrap against his slightly armored palms and Ra'tarnik could hear it. The reason that this insult got to Scar-Tail so deeply that it was true. He had not known his parents being chosen at birth for the service of murder for the land of Argonia. Ra'tarnik had struck home on his first shot.
He decided to go deeper. "After all, I see that you bare the mark."
Looking down at his right arm, Scar-Tail did indeed have the Argonian royal symbol placing him in the service of Argonia. It had been branded into his arm when he was just a child. If Scar-Tail had been wearing his black leather armor instead of the sleeveless dress shirt he now wore, Ra'tarnik would have never seen it. Scar-Tail though had taken it off just in case somebody would have recognized the dark assassin's armor. This khajiit would have more then picked up on his assassin nature as everybody else would have too. So it was good and bad that he was not wearing it. In the current situation, more good then bad.
Scar-Tail took a step towards Ra'tarnik and then said, "I think you should keep your flea-ridden nose out of other people's business!"
Ra'tarnik took a step towards Scar-Tail and they both were staring each other down. They were both about to say something to the other but Apoltis began tugging on Scar-Tail's shirt from behind.
Scar-Tail spun around and then saw what Apoltis was trying to get his attention for. Across a dirt pathway, a female khajiit was convulsing from purple bolts of lighting coming down from the sky! Apoltis took a step back and Scar-Tail actually put his arm up shielding the child from the strange occurrence.
The woman khajiit fell to the ground and the purple bolts of lighting encircled her and zapped the ground around her. She had her maw gapping open but no sound came out.
Ra'tarnik took a step back with Scar-Tail and then said, "Damn it, not again!"
(A/N: I'd like to know what people think so far. I don't believe I need to say this but reviews are more then welcomed. You can tell me the bad stuff too. As long as it is a good critical review, I don't mind.
Also, its been forever since I have played TES IV so I hope everything was correct. If you disagree please leave it in a review. I would like to know, if anything, what I did get wrong. If I didn't - tell me that too. I look forward to reviews. If people don't read I don't write.
With that being said, there is alot more to come. I'd say that this story will be well over 30 chapters or so. So whoever out there is enjoying this story I hope you're in for the long haul.
I think a little backstory is also in order. When I played Oblivion, the mysterious character of Scar-Tail seemed very intriguing to me. I found nothing more on the character then a few tid-bits on the side mission of the Dark Brotherhood though. I don't even think a decent fanfic has been written for him. I wanted to change that. I promise you, in this story, you will find out what was the order that Scar-Tail denied to follow which marked him for death and branded him a traitor to the royal court of Argonia and to the Dark Brotherhood.)