Teldryn hummed to himself as he tightened the rope around the rolled up netch hide, then tossed it into the makeshift sled he'd fashioned with the carapace. He'd been rather fortunate to find a Bull Netch roaming around by itself away from the herd near the inlet of the Iggnir river. It was always tricky to lure one away from the Betty that ruled these parts. She was a nasty piece of work.

Once he'd loaded the hide, he dropped his pack into the carapace as well, then gingerly picked up the harvested jelly glands to wrap them in a cloth, careful not to apply too much pressure. Through much trial and error over the years he'd learned that it was best to use bare hands as his gauntlets did not allow enough feeling and he'd end up expressing netch jelly all over them, which meant he'd have to deal with trying to clean them without paralyzing his fingers for a few hours. Then there was that one time he'd missed a spot and rubbed one of his eyes. That had been a strange and terrifying sensation he'd prefer to never relive.

With the glands secured into the carapace, he settled himself on a rock and fished into a pocket for some dried guar that the Redoran guards at Fort Frostmoth had given him the previous night. Now that Raven Rock seemed to be prospering, the leaders of House Redoran finally saw fit to supply the fort and had recently sent some pack guar to replenish the herd that had long died off. He pulled down his cowl so he could chew the end of the piece of meat that hung between his fingers, remembering how much he'd missed it's rather satisfying stringy texture.

Despite his resentment for the way the Great House had left its citizens to rot, he had still agreed to escort one of the herders back to Raven Rock which the captain of the fort was greatly pleased about since it saved him resources. Of course, Teldryn had insisted he be allowed to utilize one of the guar for his own expedition in exchange. The beast was currently tied to a dead tree nearby munching happily on some scathecraw. Seeing as the trek back to the fort would be much quicker as he didn't have to drag the carapace himself, he had a little time to rest.

This had been exactly what he needed. He hadn't realized how much of a routine he'd fallen into over the past couple months until he was back out roaming the ash wastes, trawling the beach for clams to extract pearls, collecting spiky grass and creep cluster, and taking down the ash-spawn that were the reason he was the one collecting ingredients and not the intended user. He folded the remainder of the guar meat into his mouth and sighed, gazing across the river at the towering mushrooms of Tel Mithryn, overshadowed by the rising mountain peak dotted with a few trees that had managed to survive the constant onslaught of ash spewed from the larger mountain across the sea. He grinned as he imagined how wide Vanya's eyes would be taking in this view. He would bet that she hadn't seen anything like it on Earth. His smile faded as the familiar heavy feeling began to coil in his stomach. He shoved himself up to his feet as he replaced his cowl over his mouth then pulled on his gauntlets. He'd rested long enough.

He harnessed the carapace to the guar and led it back in the direction of the fort.

Vanya walked up the path toward the mine with a chilled flagon of Sujamma, smiling absently at the miners she passed by who were milling around or sitting at the various tables eating their lunches. She approached the large, four-story bunkhouse that reminded her very much of her college dorm keeping her eyes peeled for unkempt reddish-brown hair.

"Ah, so thoughtful," a raspy voice said from over her shoulder. She turned around to see Scouts-Many-Marshes giving what she had come to know as a grin, though she'd likely still mistake a grin for a grimace on an unfamiliar argonian. The feathers on his head were perked up a bit as he inclined his nose toward the flagon. "I was just thinking how thirsty I am."

"Hi, Scout," Vanya drawled as she looked up at him with a crooked smile. "You haven't seen Bralsa have you?"

"Aww, so that's not for me?" The scaled ridge of his brow raised as his feathers drooped, though she could see the end of his tail swaying happily as he toyed with her.

"Tell you what, if I can't find her you can have it."

"In that case, you'd better hand it over. I think she went back to Morrowind."

Vanya tutted. "Liar."

Scouts-Many-Marshes hissed a laugh and she rolled her eyes, "I can see you will be no help." Just then, she saw the stocky form and brown hair of the breton that had lately been glued to Bralsa at the hip.

"Rodane! Hey!" she called, waving at him. He looked around for the source of the voice and when he spotted her his face lit up into a dimpled smile and he jogged over, his pickaxe resting on his shoulder.

"Vanya, what's up?" he asked, then tipped his head in greeting to the argonian. "Feathers."

"Is Bralsa around?" she said as she raised the flagon.

"Ahh, her and Crescius went down yesterday to prospect and I've not seen her since. I expect she'll come back up tonight but," he shrugged. "You know how it is."

Vanya's shoulders sagged and she pouted. "Yeah."

"When I see her I'll tell her you were looking for her. How's that?"

She gave him a thin smile. "That'd be great." She turned to Scouts-Many-Marshes and held the flagon out to him. "Guess it's your lucky day, Feathers."

He gave her a toothy grin as he lifted it from her hands, a slight clicking sound emitting from his throat.

"See you, guys," she said as she turned away and headed back down the road to town.

She scuffed the bottom of her sandals on the dirt as she walked. She hadn't really figured out what she was going to talk with Bralsa about but she just really needed to see her friend. It had been a whole day since Teldryn had left without a word and she realized just how much time she'd been spending with him. She had really only seen Bralsa lately when she came in for a drink. With her visit spoiled she supposed she'd better get to Milore's, she still needed to replenish her stamina potion and it would be a welcome distraction.

Vanya stirred crushed saltrice stalks into the broth simmering in one of Milore's larger cauldrons. She had become proficient enough at health and stamina potions that Milore was now stocking what she made for sale. She'd been offered a commission but turned it down, feeling that the time and ingredients the dunmer was sacrificing to train her were payment enough. She watched the brew, tapping her lockpick against her lips while she waited for it to turn.

"I should be able to show you how to make a potion to restore magicka soon," Milore said as she tied a cluster of elves ear leaves together. "Teldryn usually brings me a good amount of pearls and creep cluster."

Vanya froze, the lockpick pressed against her lips. She spun on the balls of her feet to face Milore. "What did you say?"

The older woman hung the leaves in front of the hearth. "I said Teldryn usually brings me pearls and creep cluster." She glanced at Vanya curiously. "I sent him to fetch me some netch jelly yesterday. You didn't know?"

Vanya shook her head with a sigh, her shoulders sagging in relief. "No, he didn't tell me he was leaving."

"Ooooh," Milore said as she approached with a sympathetic look. "Perhaps he didn't realize he needed to."

"He doesn't need to," Vanya protested. "I just didn't know is all." She turned back to her potion which was swirling green. She prepared the fluted jug, tying the cheesecloth loosely around the top to strain the liquid.

She understood that he was a sellsword and would leave periodically, she'd just been thrown off by him simply vanishing. The first two times he'd left she'd seen him off, although that was more by chance than anything else. Teldryn was not required to let her know every time he wanted to go somewhere, she didn't own him.

Vanya finished straining the potion into the jug and lined up four bottles to begin filling them.

Milore was tying another bundle of elves ears together. "Men can be so inconsiderate. Take my dear husband, Garyn, for example," she raised her voice as she said his name, gaining his attention from where he was lounging on a chaise with his pipe on the far side of the room. Vanya stopped filling the bottles and looked at him blankly, then to Milore.

He furrowed his brow, smoke rising from his mouth as he groused, "And what did I do?"

"You know perfectly well what you did," she hissed as she hung the leaves and rounded on him with her hands on her hips. "Or you should after two hundred and twenty- four years."

"Woman, if I could read your mind don't you think I'd have done it by now? Speak plainly."

She marched to a shelf against the wall next to the chaise and pulled down a small pot then snatched the mortar on the side table that Garyn had dumped some ash from his pipe into. She overturned the ashes into the pot and set it down on the table, holding the now empty mortar up to his face. "How many times have I told you that you are not to use my mortars for your gods-damned tobacco?"

He glanced at the pot, then the shelf. "So that's where that went."

"Where it-" she sputtered. "That's where it goes!"

"No, that's where it goes," he said, gesturing to its place on the table. "If you want me to use it." He sat up and pointed the tip of his pipe at her with a smirk. "Perhaps you are the one who has learned nothing in two hundred and twenty-four years."

Vanya covered her mouth to keep from laughing as Milore huffed and stalked away to toss the mortar into the wash bucket. She glanced at Garyn and he winked before resuming his lounging. She couldn't help a small giggle as she turned back to finish filling the bottles.

The following day, Vanya sat on a rock tossing the small shells she'd gathered into the lapping waves. She'd taken a walk along the beach to the south shore and back seeing as her morning was free since Teldryn had yet to return. She could have gone to the training yard and done exercises, she supposed, but she would feel out of place without him.

"Hey."

She looked over to see Bralsa hopping up onto the rock beside her. "Rodane said you were looking for me yesterday. What's up?"

"Eh, I was bored," Vanya shrugged. "Feeling a little weird, I guess."

"Sorry I missed you. It's wild how quickly things have exploded, isn't it? The past few months make it seem like last twenty years never happened."

Vanya chuckled mirthlessly at the uncanny truth of her statement. She threw another shell.

"No training this morning?"

"Nah, Teldryn is out working."

"He's certainly been working you," Bralsa said approvingly, giving Vanya's upper arm a squeeze. "You're looking good."

Vanya scoffed as she tossed her last shell, then dusted her palms. "I'm still dreadful."

Bralsa shrugged as she watched the shell disappear into the foam. Vanya folded her knees to her chest, resting her chin in the cradle of her crossed arms. The plume rising from Red Mountain looked static but if she stared long enough she could see some churning movement. She lolled her head to the side to look at her best friend's profile. Her hair had grown enough that it grazed her brow as the breeze tousled it, the red of it reflecting intensely in the sunlight in striking contrast to the cool blue-gray of her skin.

"So...Rodane, hm?" Vanya prodded with a smirk, delighted to have something to tease her about for once.

The corner of Bralsa's mouth curled up, her eyes still on the water. "Yeah, I'll keep him around a while. He's fun."

"Just a while?"

"For me. It's a kind of curse having a soft spot for you humans," she said, a grin still on her lips as she met Vanya's eyes. "You don't live long enough."

Vanya's lids fluttered shut, a laugh bubbling up in her chest before finally escaping. She had really bad luck with teasing. She put her hands over her face. "That's so fucking morbid, oh my god." She threw herself back onto the rock laughing harder. "We're not dogs!"

Bralsa snorted and cackled at her statement then leaned over on her elbow. "You know..." she said between wheezes. "I have been thinking I should get Rodane a collar."

"Shut up!" Vanya cried, her stomach beginning to ache. Bralsa pressed her face into Vanya's shoulder as they fell into hysterics.

A/N: I neglected to describe Bralsa's haircolor when I first brought her into the story, so uh...she has reddish hair. I went back and edited that chapter a while ago so should be all good now.

I'm going to post again on Sunday, but after that I will be trying my best to hold pretty strictly to posting once a week since I'm only ten chapters ahead in my writing and that's getting a little close for comfort. Writing is going very steadily, just not quick enough to support two chapters a week like I've been doing.