Author's note: Depending on what phylum one sees Nix Hounds as being in, terms that might be used to describe their mouthparts include chelicerae, pedipalps or mandibles. My conception of them has these being used as taste/smell organs and not as attack organs, hence my choice of the term pedipalps.

Standard disclaimer: I do not own Morrowind, or any of the other wondrous creations of Bethesda Softworks, however I certainly lay claim to misspellings, mistakes, tweaks and characters of my own creation. Mods used in story will be credited. Characters are mostly credited, but I am way behind forwarding requests to the Fanfiction folks to expand the Elder Scrolls character lists.

The initially random movements of the little ones inside the cream colored instars became more purposeful. Tallis sat as still as she could, holding them in a state of quiet delight. They were hatching! They were hatching!

It became a silent refrain that sang through her head, along with the barely heard tones of Darvame's Silt Strider Sings-to-the-Waters. Finally from one of them, a finger's length of mottled green-grey with a jagged looking edge emerged. It sliced cautiously through the instar surface, which was thinner than Tallis had thought.

Then a smaller more delicately ridged leg (or was it an arm?) reached out, gripping onto the instar, and pulling a bit of it loose. The slender limb retreated into the semi-darkness of the inside of the instar, and faintly Tallis could hear the sounds of crunching. She recalled that Darvame had encouraged her to feed them bits of scrib jerky, so the next time the slender limb reached up she offered it a small piece.

The delicate pedipalp touched the jerky carefully, and finally gripped the small section, again withdrawing it into the mostly still whole instar.

Tallis held out another small bit for it, humming affectionately.

As the little one reached out again, she realized that there was quite a sonorous crooning all around her, louder than the usual noise the silt strider made, and that it sort of matched the song she had been humming. She looked up in surprise.

Darvame, still sitting with her hands on the inner antennae of Sings-to-the-Waters, smiled encouragingly. "It's a good way for you to strengthen your bond with them, and it's an easy song to learn."

Tallis' eyes widened at that. There was a song? Was it the same one for Silt Striders and Nix-hounds? Before she could form any more questions, Darvame inclined her head in the direction of the instars.

Right. Tallis could feel her checks turning red, and hastily offered the little one another bit of scrib jerky.

A soft-sounding something, and Tallis realized that the second instar was hatching too. This one seemed a little bit bigger and a little bit darker green. She wanted to wiggle with happiness, but forced herself to sit mostly still, continuing to rip tiny sections of jerky.

T'rheel watched intently, but the more visible the little ones became, the farther away the bosmer moved.

They ate rapidly at first, but after no more than a few ounces each, they concentrated more on wiggling out of the instar coating than on eating. They explored Tallis, crooning to her in weirdly high pitched tones, singing back to her.

She could tell they were happy and full. They touched her all over with their shortest pedipalps. Even before Darvame explained that this was to memorize her taste, which was the same as smell for Nix-hounds, Tallis could understand what they were doing. Apparently her spell had worked pretty well.

Tallis spent most of the rest of the three hour trip getting to know her new little family, and learning that her spell had apparently provided her with some knowledge that wasn't apparent until it was needed.

The Nix babies were a little smaller than some of the puppies she'd seen from a distance in Cyrodill. They didn't seem to weigh very much for their size, and once they had been out of their instars and moving around for a few minutes, their colors seemed to brighten a little bit.

The first one to come out was a little smaller, but a little braver. She was a mottled greenish brown, and had the slightly higher pitched voice. She liked to taste everything with her pedipalps.

This was kind of endearing when she tested the instar she had come from, and then the one that her sibling had come from. Then she tried to take a bite out of Tallis' shirt. That might not have mattered, but Tallis didn't have a replacement for it.

Without really thinking about it Tallis made several rapid chucking sounds with the side of her cheek, and the little Nix-hound stopped. This went on for a bit, with the little one tasting, and then making as if to grab or bite and Tallis stopping her.

When she approached T'rheel, he backed up so fast he nearly threw himself out of the Silt strider.

Tallis clicked a 'no' at the little one. Behind T'rheel she could see that Darvame was having to work hard to keep a straight face. Tallis kind of agreed. Yes, the adult forms of Nix-hounds were pretty dangerous, but the worst that this little one could probably do was bit a hole in his robe.

Of course T'rheel did have a very very nice robe. Maybe it was his only one.

The little Nix-hound obeyed Tallis' instruction to leave it alone, but responded with a cute little chirr of frustration that Tallis interpreted as a highly disappointed "Yes, mom."

The slightly larger and more vividly green one seemed content to settle in Tallis' lap.

"The sooner you name them," Darvame said softly, "the sooner they'll know to come when you call them that way."

"Oh," Tallis' eyes widened, "for some reason I was thinking they would pick their names."

Darvame's eyes sparkled. "Well, if you wait long enough I suppose they might, but it wouldn't be anything that you could pronounce."

The smaller browner one returned to Tallis, climbing easily up her leg. The coarse fabric seemed to provide plenty of traction and despite the sharp looks of the footpads, Tallis found herself giggling at the sensation.

"Tickle." She chided gently, and decided that was a pretty good name. She reached out a finger toward the Nix-baby's facial antenna, so fine and small that they could barely be seen. Tickle brushed her with them, so softly that Tallis could barely feel it. Then Tickle slowly explored Tallis' right hand and arm.

In her lap, the other Nix-baby apparently got curious, and stood up, the two of them exploring different sides of Tallis' arm.

"You I'll call Blossom," Tallis decided. Something about the depth of the green color, and the way she sat so carefully folded reminded the Breton of the bud of a flower, just about to open.

"Tickle and Blossom." Darvame nodded.

"Um," T'rheel asked hesitantly, "how are you going to tell them apart?"

Tallis looked up at him, "it's easy," she said indignantly, "Tickle is smaller and more tan, and her legs are a little long for her size. Blossom is larger and more green, and a little shyer."

The bosmer made a point of looking back and forth between the two Nix-hounds. Finally, he said. "If you say so."

Tallis' looked offended for a moment.

Darvame chuckled. "Well, he probably thinks all Silt Striders look alike as well."

T'rheel flushed red, but stated firmly, "well they do."

Tallis admitted. "I've only met Sings-to-the-Waters. I hope I'd be able to recognize her again."

Then, not wanting T'rheel to feel bad, she changed the subject. "Have you ever been to Balmorra before?"

He sat down on one of the bench-like projections. "No. Not yet. I know there is a guide hall there. I'm going to go and talk to Ranis Athrys who is the head of it."

"Will she know you are a member?"

Tr'heel looked thoughtful at that. "Well, Telura Ulver who teaches me has a membership through a different hall, but they should know everyone. I think that the book of memberships in any hall will show my name."

Tallis mused. "I was hoping to become an apprentice at the Imperial City mage hall, but there wasn't anything official when I left. I hope I can join here."

"Just don't try to grow any mushrooms and you'll be fine."

~~Civilization of Sorts~~

As they came down a gentle slope, Darvame gestured north. "You can see the city from here."

Tallis scrambled to the front of the Strider, and put both hands on her ridges. Tickle and Blossom each stood on a shoulder, also craning ahead. She wasn't sure that they could see much at that distance, but they could probably smell it a lot better than she could.

The grays and browns of the stone and daub construction flowed into the surrounding hills. Tallis was enchanted. "It almost looks like it grew there." She murmured.

The bridges were fairly low to the water, so she thought that probably only fairly flat barges could get through. "Does the river get much higher than this?"

Darvame shook her head. "Its actually a bit higher than normal. Although there isn't much in the way of boat traffic. Despite this being freshwater, there have been problems with slaughterfish coming quite far upstream. If a boat has too many barnacles or limpets, they've been known to chew them off, and if it's a small enough boat they can chew right through the hull."

T'rheel said. "I though there was something they could use to protect the hulls."

Darvame nodded. "You are right; unfortunately it's a closely guarded secret among the gondolier guild of Vivec. If you want the secret, you pay for it. Every year. Most of the coastal boats are large enough not to need it, but occasionally a fisherman who thinks he's found some secret trove worth harvesting will pay."

T'rheel whistled. "Sounds expensive."

"It is."

Tallis pointed. "There is another Silt Strider." She looked carefully back and forth between what she could see of Sings-to-the-Waters, and the new strider. They did look fairly alike.

Then the Balmorran Strider turned slowly, crooning a welcome and circling around in a pattern. Sings-to-the-Waters answered this song, and the two made a full circle around each other.

"His voice is lower." Tallis murmured.

Darvame smiled.

T'rheel said. "How can you tell?"

"It just sounds different to me. Lower." She turned to him. "Maybe the spell that made Tickle and Blossom and me be able to be a group changed me a little."

His eyes widened. "Is that safe?"

She shrugged. "I researched the spell with Albecius Colollius and if I'd done something too dangerous, I think he would have stopped it." Then she paused, realizing that this might be taken poorly, considering T'rheel's own experience with dangerous spellcasting. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

T'rheel was looking down and shook his head. "It's okay."

"He said he agreed that I was unconventional." She added. "And that I would never be a Battlemage. Though I think I wasn't meant to hear that last comment."

T'rheel gave her a sympathetic look and patted her arm.

She smiled. "Oh, I don't want to be a battlemage. I'd rather explore and help people than fight them."

Sings-to-the-Waters settled in to the Strider Platform. Standing on the platform, waiting for them to disembark was a black-haired muscular dunmer. He had the same genial welcoming air that Darvame had, and extended his hand first to T'rheel, and then to her.

Tallis had seen occasional fairly subtle tattooing on the faces of some of the dunmer in Seyda Neen, but the only other person she'd seen with detail work like this was Foryn Gilnith, and his had been much more subtle. The pattern existing as only a ghost of a shadow over his fierce countenance.

Looking at Selvile, she thought that here was the same pattern, but done in dark, almost black ink. Then something clicked in her head, and she realized that she was looking at not just a random pattern, but a stylized hand. As if some great hand, a left hand, had left its mark on the dunmer's face.

Left hand. She recalled something about left handed paths. Dangerous and something else that she couldn't call instantly to mind.

The hand in hers suddenly sang with tension, and though his facial expression didn't change much, something about his eyes went hard. On her shoulders, the two Nix-hounds half stood, hissing slightly, and then ducking down so that they were hiding mostly behind her.

"A question, outlander?" He inquired.

"For a moment you just reminded me of someone," Tallis' voice came out a little breathy, "that's all."

He paused, but instead of asking any further, he merely said. "Welcome to Balmorra. May I direct your travels further?"

"We are looking for the mages' guide first," Tallis told him, "and then I have to find someone called Caius Cosades."

He glanced from her to T'rheel, seeming to examine both of them minutely in seconds. Then he pointed down to a broad courtyard area, filled with tents and booths and the enthusiastic voices of sellers of every type of merchandise. "You'll take the street north from the northeast end of the square, and the sign of the mage will be easily visible along your right side."

Then his countenance softened. "You might want to be careful when looking up this Caius Cosades," he gestured across the river, "that is not a very safe part of town." He glanced meaningfully at the Nix-hounds hiding behind her shoulders. "Your friends will not be much protection. But if you insist on searching, you might start at the South Wall Cornerclub."

She was about to leave, but she just had to ask. "Um, what is the name of your Silt Strider?"

He stared at her, blinked once and then carefully asked. "What?" All the momentary almost-friendliness was gone.

She was aware of T'rheel tugging at her sleeve, and it was probably a good idea to get going, but she was curious. "I just wondered what his name was."

At the masculine pronoun, he raised an eyebrow. Then he gestured to a group of dunmer carrying barrels up the stairs of the Strider platform. "That is a conversation for another time, young Breton. You have things to do."

As she and T'rheel turned to go, Tallis caught a subtle smile from Darvame. Well, hopefully that meant that she hadn't offended anyone too badly.

~~Ranis~~

Weaving their way through the stalls and crowds of the market was made marginally easier for the Breton and Bosmer by the fact that anyone who noticed the two Nix-hounds on Tallis' shoulders tended to immediately back away from them.

Eventually they came to the hanging sign of the Eye of Magic that proclaimed that here was a guild hall. Opening the door, they came from a crowded street into an almost silent, faintly incense scented hallway. Sitting in a high-backed chair looking as if she was waiting for them was a slender aristocratic dunmer. She was garbed in bullion stitched robes which set off her carefully ordered auburn hair.

After a moment, she picked up a large tome from the table beside her. she opened it up, and looking at it, said. "Welcome, Associate T'rheel."

He gave a graceful bow. "Thank you guildmaster Ranis Athrys."

She answered his bow with a regal nod, and turned her attention to Tallis. "And do you seek membership, Ward Tallis?"

Tallis' mouth dropped open. That book must be pretty darn enchanted even to have Wards listed.

Beside her, T'rheel gave her a sharp nudge in the ribs.

"Yes," She said hastily, "yes I do."

"Very well, Ward Tallis D'Artagnan. Your potential with respect to skills in the magical arts has been noted by Evoker Earana, Wizard Gaspar Stegine and Wizard Boressean of the Imperial College; and by Warlock Albecius Colollius of Hawkmoth Legion 17. There is also record that you are owed a life-debt by Associate Regulus Cassiana of the Imperial College."

"Oh." Tallis' flushed redder than T'rheel usually did. "But I-"

Ranis raised a single finger, cutting off any further comment. "Do not interrupt."

Tallis firmed her lips and resolved not to say anything.

"That being the case, and recognition that young T'rheel vouches for you by his very presence, I find it meet to formally extend an offer of membership in the Guide of Mages."

When Tallis didn't immediately respond, T'rheel nudged her again and whispered sotto-voice. "I accept."

"I accept." Tallis said promptly.

Ranis closed the book and set it back on the table. "Good. Welcome Associate Tallis." She gestured farther down the hallway. "You may seek duties from Ajira downstairs. I'm sure she will have some tasks for you to perform. As to general information, Associate T'rheel will certainly answer any questions or direct you further."

"Go on," T'rheel said. "I just need to speak with guildmaster Athrys for a moment. I'll catch up."

Clearly he wanted her to be out of earshot for a little while. Cheeks still red with surprise at the compliments that had come out of Ranis' book, Tallis wandered slowly down the hall. She could feel a slight downhill incline and as she walked, the hallway got a little cooler, and the air felt a little less dry. On her shoulders, Tickle and Blossom stood, turning this way and that, extending pedipalps to taste the various scents in the air. She wondered if they liked the incense as much as she did.