Yeah I know, I've been taking a while to review, I've just been… busy… Yes that'll work… They'll believe that

Um, anyway, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and thanx 2 those who review.

O yeah, and I better do this.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Morrowind or any of it's thingys. Jolin, Maddy (although she isn't in the story anymore), Vanhil belong to me. The plot belongs to me. I made up the cave so unless there actually is one in the cliffs near Ebonheart, I own that too. Vinziah, Valdemar, Veritas (OMG how many ppl in this fic have names starting with the letter V?) and Torla the fool belong to some of my fans.

And also I added a few more sentences to the bit where Maddy is killed. It was too rushed, I tried to lengthen it out. Just if you were wondering. Right then, on with the story.

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My breathing was raspy, my throat dry. My thighs felt as if two daggers were repeatedly dragging up and down them. I couldn't get the image of Maddy falling to the ground out of my head. There she was, her mouth agape, eyes wide open, blood gushing from her stomach. Vanhil's cold, careless eyes.

I'm sure I would have ripped his face off if I hadn't had been so shocked. But I couldn't move. My legs were stuck to the dirty ground, my eyes were fixed on Maddy's lifeless face.

'Jolin! Jolin!' A distant, rushed voice said. I shook my head viciously. Vinziah was staring at me in a caring way, but I could see a tinge of frustration in the corner of his eye. He was the one that kept on pushing me to go further, making us get as far away from the cave as possible. 'Hurry up!' he continued on. 'We're probably not even three leagues from the cave! We need to get moving! They'll most likely be hunting us right now!'

'They won't be hunting us…' I answered through gritted teeth. 'Vanhil's too lazy. Even if he does want to, he won't until morning. We're dirt to him. He's just like that Valdemar inside. He wants power, wants to be known and respected. And he doesn't care what happens to make him that way.'

'It doesn't matter! What if he knows you'll think this way and they come marching right at us? We won't stand a chance!'

'AND WHEN WAS IT YOUR DECISION WHAT WE DO?' I suddenly broke out. I had been holding in my anger for long enough. It was Vinziah's fault that Vanhil and Valdemar weren't lying dead in the cave right now. He had been the one who dragged me away. I could have stood and fought. Vanhil was tired, and Valdemar didn't really stand a chance at me. They would both be dead. Already I would have avenged Maddy's death. But no, Vinziah had to take me away. Stop me from getting to them. And now my anger was bursting out from me, like a trapped monster finally breaking free from its cage. 'IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT THAT SHE DIED! YOU SHRANK AWAY INTO THE CORNER WHILE WE BATTLED OUR HEARTS OUT! TWO AGAINST TWENTY! AND THEN, WHEN I COULD HAVE GIVEN MY FINAL STRIKING BLOW, YOU TAKE ME AWAY? HOW DO YOU THINK THAT IS RIGHT?'

'Hey stop trying to put the blame on me.' Vinziah stated. 'Anyway, it was Vanhil that was giving the final blow, not you! If it wasn't for me it would be your body lying on the cavern floor.'

'IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!'

'Hey! You're the one that locked me up and kept me there!'

I hated him, I hated Vinziah so much. Him standing there with his cool posture, using a relaxing tone while talking. Maddy was dead, and he didn't even care. He just wanted to stay in control. He was power thirsty just like all the rest of them.

I hated him.

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You could see it in his eyes. Jolin was really angry. You could even mistake him for wanting to kill Vinziah. Which, actually is probably what he wanted to do. The Altmer had no idea why Jolin was blaming him for all the things happening. He was probably just so upset he didn't realise it wasn't actually anyone's fault but Vanhil's.

It was also quite unfair how Jolin was blaming Vinziah, because the High Elf had actually quite cared for Maddy, and he was quite distraught for her loss, through he tried his hardest not to show it.

Vinziah wasn't quite prepared for what happened next. Jolin suddenly dropped his katana and launched himself at Vinziah, knocking the poor Altmer over.

Over and over again, Vinziah felt Jolin hammering him anywhere that the Imperial could reach, though the blows weren't very strong. Looking up to his attacker, Vinziah saw Jolin punching his stomach in a tired matter, as if he didn't care how hard he hit Vinziah, as long as he got him. Almost beaten to a stupor, Vinziah threw Jolin off him and reached for the katana. Swiftly he stood up with the katana in hand, and gracefully placed one of the blades at Jolin's throat. Jolin stopped for a moment, then screamed out in a wet voice,

'IF YOU WANT TO KILL ME THEN KILL ME! I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE AFTER WHAT'S HAPPENED!'

He finally fell back in a heap and started weeping into his rough hands. It was horrible for Vinziah to watch a strong, fully grown man like Jolin being as vulnerable as this.

The High Elf dropped the blades and sat down next to Jolin in a caring manner.

'I-I…' Jolin started. 'It's my f-fault Maddy died.'

'Hey don't go blaming yourself now, because it isn't your fault. All the blame should go to Vanhil and Valdemar. They're the ones that caused the damage.'

'No. It was me who-who started it.' Jolin stated firmly. Or as firmly as a shaky man like he could. 'It was me who first hit the guard, me who made Maddy turn against the law. Me who made her run away from Ebonheart with me. Me-me who believed Vanhil's fucking sappy story too quickly. It was all me. I ca-caused this.'

'Here,' Vinziah said. 'We'll take a boat to Cyrodiil, leave this place. Start a new life.'

'No.' Jolin said flat out. 'I'm not leaving. I'm no coward. Vanhil must pay, and he's going to pay. I don't care how, as long as it's painful. And Valdemar, I'm going to torture him, like how he tortured me.'

'He tortured you?'

'Of course.' Jolin nodded. 'It was him who put the Telvanni Bug Musk in that skooma. The addiction has been eating away at me this whole week.'

'Well, just know.' Vinziah started, trying to think of things to say to cheer up the Imperial. 'I'm very proud of how you chucked out the skooma. I don't know anyone who could have done that once they were hooked on it.'

Jolin looked up at Vinziah fearfully.

'The thing is…' he said. 'We didn't chuck out any skooma. Only the flasks. I hid the actual skooma, and I've been drinking it all this week.'

'What?'

'It's true. I couldn't help it.'

Vinziah sighed. He didn't really know what to do.

'Well.' He tried. 'Where's closer, Suran or Pelagiad?'

'Pelagiad. It's right by us.'

'We'll go there for the night then.' Vinziah said. 'Get a nice soft bed. My backs really painful and I'm quite tired.'

Jolin looked as if he was about to argue, but then his sores probably took over his mind, and he agreed.

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The two moons shone down on us as we walked past the sign showing us which way was the main road of Pelagiad. We were barely strolling, our legs were aching so terribly. On our journey we swapped every so often holding my armour and two katana. Our clothes were sticking to us from the sweat. We were shaking in our shoes as the freezing cold air blew all around us. As soon as we entered the gates of Pelagiad we could make out small round balls of gold floating through the air. At first sight we thought they were dangerous, but soon realised that they were only guards carrying around lit torches. We made our way slowly to the local pub, hoping it was still open. Surprisingly, when I tried the door handle, it twisted easily and we stepped inside, shivering.

A large burst of warmth greeted us, with the smell of alcohol coming right behind it. A fire burned away gently as the supposed owner (an aged Dunmer woman) was trying to clear away two drunks, both of which were holding a bottle of sujamma in their hands.

The owner looked up to us as we walked in.

'No no!' She said to us. 'No more people! The pub is closed! It's three o'clock in the morning! We will have no more drunks in this place tonight!'

'No you misunderstand!' Vinziah cried out. 'We're looking for beds! And maybe some new clothes and a bath.'

'Oh…' The owner said. 'Well just give me a minute.' She finally grabbed the drunks by the back of their shirts, accompanied them past us and finally shoved them out the door, before closing it and locking it.

'You two look terrible.' She stated flatly. She walked over behind the counter and stared at us. 'We have three baths downstairs, and…' She checked a piece of parchment on the counter. 'Ah, perfect. One room with two beds. I can give you some clothes, even for free if you like. I don't like any of my customers to have to wear clothes like that.'

Vinziah looked down to me, and I stared up at him. The thought had most likely hit both of us. We had no money whatsoever.

'Uh,' Vinziah started, still staring at me. 'We, we have no money.' He finished, finally looking over to the owner with a defeated expression.

'Oh that's alright.' The owner said. 'Well at least, it is for now. How about I let you do everything tonight, and I'll let you tomorrow to go find some money to make up for it. Would it be alright if I could have it in, two days tops?'

Both Vinziah and I breathed a sigh of relief.

'Of course.' I answered gratefully. 'Thankyou very much.'

She smiled, then pulled out some new clothes (common brown pants, shirt, and shoes, though it all smelt fresh and clean) and gave them to us, before ushering us down the stairs to the baths. After a quick clean, we went back up to our room, where I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.