A/N: Note this chapter has undergone minor revisions since the release of the final chapter of this story. Revised chapters may be inconsistent with reviews and with author's notes from unrevised chapters.
Second seed 26, 4E1
Second seed 20:
-Arrived in Leyawiin at 7:00pm, "Scar-tail" late
-Decided to head to the castle, interviewed 2 subjects briefly: Hlidara Mothril and Traveler-for-knowledge. Neither gave any indication of a plan for Imperial invasion. Instead, it seems the Countess wants no business with outsiders. Traveler-for-knowledge seems to view the idea negatively, however.
-7:30pm, Goes-in-heavy still not present.
- 11:00pm, I decided to call it a night. Going to bed early, hopefully "Scar-tail" will arrive tomorrow.
Second seed 21:
-Still no sign of Goes-in-heavy
-Overheard an unsettling conversation, making references to the "disappearances" you mentioned in the scroll.
-Talked to a khajiit by the name of Shomara. Apparently the people of Leyawin realize our fears.
-Still no sign of him.
-11:30pm , going to sleep
Second seed 22:
-"Scar-tail" still nowhere to be found
-Infiltrated castle torture chambers and prison in search of Goes-in-heavy. No luck, both were empty of him or any other allies.
-Met Tsavi, conversation almost identical to that with Traveler-for-knowledge.
-12:00, ending my day
Second seed 23:
-Given up hope finding Goes-in-heavy.
-Followed Traveler-for-knowledge from the castle. She didn't see me, but by the time she returned to the castle I had witnessed nothing suspicious.
-Inadvertently met the Countess herself, though she was far from friendly, her words still pointed towards the ideas of Tsavi, Hlidara, etc (no threat of an invasion)
-12:00am, going to bed.
Second seed 24:
-Rumors of a Renrijra Krin attack by the Elsewyre border. A member of the Imperial Legion was killed, but the attackers had escaped long before I could make any sort of contact.
-Infiltrated the room of the Countess, though I found nothing of interest other than the Countess's fascination with "the elder scrolls". I'll bring this document to you.
-11:30am, going to bed.
Second seed 25:
-Owner of Five Claws Lodge seems to sympathize with the Countess. Perhaps future assignments shouldn't lodge operatives here.
-Talking to and over-hearing a couple of Leyawiin's guard captains seems to indicate they have their hands full dealing with the Renrijra Krin. Another indication County Leyawiin presents little threat.
-Infiltrated the castle once more, still nothing to report.
-12:00am, going to bed
Second seed 26:
-Heading back to Gideon.
For some reason, I felt like reading the paper repeatedly before I gave it to Learns-fast. I guessed it was partially pride. My findings definitely pointed our nation in a clear direction, which was something I was honored to do.
There were also the memories attached to that document. I'd experience unique emotions during my first few days in Cyrodiil I wondered if I'd ever feel again. I was trying to reacquire wisps of them by rereading this piece of parchment. I had always been amazed at the technological marvels of our headquarters, given that I had only the tribal territories as a basis for comparison, but I knew I'd never look at our headquarters the same way again. Cyrodiil was breath-taking.
It seemed Argonia didn't have much to worry about from Lady Leyawiin. I'm sure all of it would be something Learns-fast would be happy to hear, and that always made our time together more comfortable.
Even so, some tension was starting to well up inside me at the thought of Goes-in-heavy. What would I hear happened to him?
I took my eyes off the paper and put them back on the path. Our headquarters (the headquarters of the Cyrodiillic Transfer Branch, that is), which lied about two miles from the city of Gideon, well hidden behind trees and shrubbery, was right behind the bushes I was now face to face with.
Making my way around the bushes, as I expected, revealed the sanctuary entrance. Its walls were embraced by vines, and its sides guarded by trees with two torches burning a chemical used to keep the bugs away.
It was hard to get an idea of how big the building was from any one angle of view, because, like nearly everything in Black Marsh, it was shrouded in leaves of bushes and trunks of trees. It made free-roaming considerably more difficult than in Cyrodiil, but hiding our headquarters significantly easier.
I opened the front door, causing a refreshing blast of cool air to grace my skin. I removed the shoes from my feet before doing anything else. After a week in Cyrodiil, it was like coming home to a totally new sanctuary. Its like as if everything in the sanctuary had become every-so-slightly different in some way, changing its aura completely.
The headquarters was built around a very long, straight hallway, with several doors on each side. Rooms with similar functions usually branched off opposite to each other. Though Learns-fast's office wasn't the first door accessible upon entry (that was the healer's area), it was relatively close to the front door. The second door on the right, in fact.
I always loved the feeling our headquarters brought in me. A feeling of safety, trust, comradery formed in the most beautiful way possible, and reassurance that there were those with a pure pursuit of justice in their souls. A faith in all those concepts was encouraging with Goes-in-heavy's disappearance, because I knew we'd do the utmost to find him.
The door to Learns-fast's office was closed, but I could hear noise in there vaguely resembling speech. The closed door muffled and fuzzed the words. I could make an educated guess the other voice was Mr. Lachance, but I wasn't positive.
I knocked on the door. Then I heard what I could distinctly interpret as a pair of feet walking towards the door. It was Mr. Lachance who opened it, the Black Hand over-seer for our particular group of Shadowscales whose face always seemed to be decorated with a calming, content smile, but never breaking the threshold to a grin.
"We have been waiting for you," he said, holding the door opened for me "Come in. We have important matters to discuss." I could guess he was referring to the plan for my transfer in the next few days to work for "our friends across the borders" (as Learns-fast liked to call them). I always felt calm, opened, and comfortable in their presence, and was interested to learn more about the Dark Brotherhood, but I felt every fiber of my body tighten as I entered the office, wondering what I'd hear about Goes-in-heavy's disappearance.
The office consisted of nothing more than a desk, two chairs, and some racks on the wall. Not extravagant, but effective. I took a seat and placed the scroll on the desk, along with the document I recovered from the Countess's room.
"This is the intelligence I gathered, its mostly good news." I said, then encountered an unexpected silence, and decided to continue "I...never found Goes-in-heavy. He wasn't at the Lodge. Do you know what happened to him?" I had to push out the words, as speaking them felt like truly acknowledging the predicament.
"No." Learns-fast said, no sugar-coating as usual "He was supposed to come back here three days ago. Just yesterday we began an investigation."
"Oh..." I replied, my heart sinking. I hoped something would distract from the uncomfortable issue that had been spawned into the room. My hopes were answered, somewhat, as Learns-fast began skimming the scrolls I'd written. It made the silence not-so awkward. This was the first time I'd spent a full week on a single assignment, so wondering how well I did was a very suspenseful moment.
I was neither disappointed nor ecstatic with his reaction. His facial expression remained the same as it was when he started reading the scroll, and he put it in his desk respectfully enough. Then he spoke again, shifting the conversation into Cyrodillic. The week of native practice had done wonders for my understanding of spoken Cyrodillic.
"Okay, Mr. Lachance, it seems she's as ready for transfer as she can be. The day after tomorrow, I'll let you take her to Cyrodiil." He said. I wasn't sure how I should take that comment. Mr. Lachance didn't reply, seemingly understanding Learns-fast's intention to speak to me again.
"Well, Fights-up-close, meet me in this office the day after your birthday. Mr. Lachance will make sure you find your way to Dark Brotherhood's headquarters in Cyrodiil. For now I will report your findings. Thanks for all your help."
"So is that it?" I asked, just to be sure. There was no visible cue that our meeting was over.
"Yes, that's all." He said. That was a much better cue for me to leave. Despite being physically exhausted, hunger and worry about Goes-in-heavy were keeping my mind sharp and fast. Images from the past week rushed through my head.
As I walked to the dining area, I felt burdened to think for some way I could assist with the search. It seemed I had to remind myself repeatedly Learns-fast would have told me if they could use my help, because this idea never really seemed to sink in. "Scar-tail" was apparently in Leyawiin before I arrived, so I couldn't imagine what happened. Would I be woken up tonight and told he was found dead? Would I hear him burst through the sanctuary doors an hour before dinner to find out he'd gotten horribly lost on his way back? Would I wake up and find this was all a dream in the next few seconds? I hoped I could celebrate tomorrow without worry or mourning tainting that experience.