Raahni closed her eyes as she fell lightly against the inside of the door as the tempest raged just outside. She exhaled sharply as she sighed, her ears flat against her head, thinking about the long day. Her chest still hurt from that impact from the orc earlier, every breath sending a light pain up her spine. She let out another soft breath as she relaxed, opening her eyes to the homey interior of the house. Her eyes roamed over the soft lighted walls from the central fire, casting the oranges hue on several shelves containing several books and odd knick knacks, the weapons racks containing a few older looking weapons. She let her eyes fall to the kitchen area, where her human companion was setting his heavy sounding satchel on the table with a groan. The weighed bag clanging onto the table. Caius exhaled as he looked to the khajiit with an amused look.
"Going to stand there all night? Or are you going to relax?"
Raahni looked around the floor for a good place to set her stuff down, not wanting to impose. She would've been just fine setting her bag on the ground and napping on a chair or bench. The khajiit went to set her bag down when the sound of wood creaking drew her attention. She glanced up to find the human standing on a set of older step leading up. He motioned with a hand for her to follow. Not wanting to waste time, she followed him up to the second level, where he turned and led her to a door. He opened it to reveal a very simple room, adorned with nothing more than a small chest, nightstand and a bed. Confused, she looked to the human who waved a hand at the bed.
"Go ahead and take a load off here Raahni. Ill go get some dinner started for us huh." He smiled warmly at her, and for the first time, it was an honest friendly smile.
She walked hesitantly into the room and felt the bed with her paw, feeling the soft material underneath. Raahni turned to ask why when he was already gone, the creaking stairs signaled her to his retreat. She sighed and set her own bags on the bed, feeling how heavy it was now that the weight was off her shoulder. She closed the door and began to strip, letting her dirty and worn clothes fall to the floor in a heap. Now fully nude, she let her paws roam over her lithe form, feeling for unseen injuries in her sore muscles. Through her pad she felt how messy and dirty her fur was. She grimaced as her own scent hit her, the smell of stale sweat, debris and others blood. Since she was unsure when she would bath, she reached for her bag and pulled a small book from within. Raahni opened the small handmade book to a certain page, eyes roaming over the words written in her own hasty writing. She inhaled deep as she focused her magic in her paws. She lifted her paw to above her head, mere inches from her fur and slowly worked down, feeling and hearing her fur tussle with magic. She opened her eyes and watched dust, twigs, leaves, moisture and dirt lift off her body and fall to the bare floor, landing in a circle around her. Once done she felt a little better, but still a bit gross. The khajiit would love a good soak in water soon. Raahni felt clean enough though to redress, pulling clean underwear and chest wraps from her bag, covering her intimate regions before reaching once more for something clean. Her ears fell as she pulled a blue dress from the depths. Not really one for the frilly clothes, she pulled it up over her petite frame, tying it off behind her. She pleaded with the divines that her human friend won't think the wrong thing.
Raahni opened her door, smell hitting her nose and made her mouth water. She made her way out of her temporary room and down the stairs to find Caius wearing simple pants and shirt, sorting the contents of his satchel, setting random stuff in one pile while the others went into a different pile. He looked up to see the khajiit wearing a very form fitting dress. He felt his eyes roam over her, not wanting to but still admiring what was in front of him. Raahni watched at the human gaze over her form, suddenly feeling very aware that this dress was showing her curves.
"I uh had nothing else to wear; I'm not really a dressy person." She looked down in embarrassment.
Caius coughed, "Oh that's fine Raahni, just after seeing you in bloody leather armor, it's different seeing you in normal clothes." He smiled at here before continuing sorting his loot. Raahni smiled, as she sat at the table, enjoying the tasty scents coming from the pot over the fire. Caius grabbed the useful items like potions, and herbs and placed them onto the shelf nearby while the armors and weapons went back into his bag. He walked over and placed it near the door. On the way back he opened the lid, wave his hand and stirred the contents by magic, filling the room with more of the tasty aromas. The use of magic impressing Raahni as Caius walked over and sat across from the khajiit. He placed a small bottle of mead in front of her.
He sighed as he folded his hands, "Look, Ill be honest when I say that I hated your kind, and I judged you based on mere opinions. I would've have gave you a second glance at the chopping block had my curiosity as to why you left most of my purse after stealing it. My hatred is from several events in my past."
Raahni looked expectedly at the human, "What happened?"
Caius looked of at nothing, "To start, I'm not a nord. My grandfather was a nord who moved to Cyrodill and married a lovely imperial. Well my dad would travel back and forth between Skyrim and Cyrodill for the military and loved the way the nords lived so he planned on moving here. Well when the White-gold concordant was signed, dad left for Skyrim. When the civil war broke out, he joined the Stormcloaks. However, he wasn't very keen on the way they treated non humans, since he had many mer friends while in the capital."
"That doesn't sound so bad so far." Raahni was surprised that her friend's father was a Stormcloaks, but still confused as to why this would lead to Caius's hatred.
"Well, after a campaign, they captured a group of altmer traders. They murdered two of them in cold blood as my dad told it. Well he was about to walk away, not wanting to be involved when one of them caught his attention. He approached her and pulled a necklace from her neck to see an amulet of talos. Turns out, she had no love for the Thalmor's ways and fled to avoid persecution or worse at the hands of the Thalmor's. Well not long after he found this, the camp was attacked by Imperials. During the confusion, my father and this female altmer fled into the woods. They changed their clothes and names, and blended into a local village until the war was over where they fell in love. A year later I was born."
Raahni sputtered and choked on her mead, "You're a mer hybrid?" She had heard rumors that they existed in the old days but never seen one due to the war spreading hate between and amongst the races.
"Yea, wouldn't believe by first glance huh. But my eyes and slight gold tinge are dead giveaway."
Raahni looked hard and after a second she did see a slight gold hue to his skin with a brighter colored ring around his iris.
"Anyway, then a few years later my little sister was born, and she looks full altmer, minus the magic prowess. I, on the other hand, look human but I'm on the same level magic-wise as a high elf. Well apparently one of the survivors of the assault found my dad, married to the former enemy, and he got pissed. He hired an assassin to murder my father, right in front of me, by slicing his throat."
"Let me guess. Khajiit assassin?"
Caius looked at that table sadly, "Yea, years later I found that monster camping in the woods hunting deer. He recognized me and before he could even raise his sword I put an arrow right in the middle of his forehead. When I got home, I found my mother tied to the bed, her clothes torn open and her eyes dull and glazed. Her and my little sister were drugged and raped by someone. Once the poison was cleared they told me it was a khajiit, they even told me his name."
Raahni stared wide eyed as he watched the man's face contort into rage, "I found him in a tavern nearby boasting about it to his buddies. Turns out they were doing it for kicks, the drugs were supposed to kill them hours later. I had gotten back just in time to save them." He paused sighing loudly, "The next morning local guards found me sitting outside the tavern soaked in blood. I told them what happened and I sat in jail for a week for murder. The only reason I wasn't put to death was because I killed monsters like that."
He took a large drink of mead, "Ever since, it seems every Khajiit I met either tried to kill me or rob me," Caius smiled at Raahni, "Until you."
Raahni smiled at the human, "So now what?"
"I want you to work with me, be my guard so to speak."
"What?" She asked shocked.
"I want you to be my second bow or sword. You can live in that room upstairs if you like and we can split the earning 50/50." He gestured. Raahni roamed over his face, seeing nothing but honesty. "What do ya say?"
Raahni smiled warmly, loving the feeling of trust that spread through her, "Of course, Id love to. How about now I tell you about my past."
Caius smiled and nodded as the Khajiit started to talk, the human listening to every word.