Disclaimer: Wow, anyone else notice how annoying these things get? And I'm only on chapter two. This does not bode well. Anyways, once again, TESIV: Oblivion belongs to Bethesda and associated companies, and not to me. How I wish it did, though.

Note: Well, obviously, here's the second chapter; I do hope it receives as good a reaction as my first did. Also, I have some references to other games and movies in here, so if you catch any of them, let me know, 'cause it'd probably make my day. Finally, I took a few artistic liberties in this chapter to make things both more realistic and more interesting, so if something doesn't fit with the actual game, then that would be why.

Chapter 2

I Hate this City

I officially hate fish. Except for eating, that is. As soon as I had finished my lovely crab meat, I went to get a small drink from the lake and to wash my face of any remnants of my meal. Out of the clear blue water (ahem) this stupid slaughterfish lunges up and tries to take my whiskers clear off. Had I not been fuming mad, I might have thanked my cat reflexes that it didn't succeed. However, I was fuming mad.

I yanked my bow off my back, notched an arrow to the string, and then dangled my tail right above the surface of the water. Here, fishy, fishy. Soon as the thing, stupid as it was, came near the surface, I darn near point-blanked it with my arrow. That fish had taken its last lunge for a cat's whiskers, as it did not continue to move. It was at this point that I realized irony must be trying to kill me. In one day, rats and a fish had both tried to make me, a cat, their meal. I yanked my arrow free of the fish in a bout of annoyance at this thought, and then calmly took to removing a sample of its scales. Never know when they'll come in handy.

That done, I set about deciding my next task. Sure, I could go find my way to Weynon Priory and hand off the amulet, but that would simply take forever, and in my current condition, I had no intention of trekking through that much wilderness with the horrid, rotting equipment I currently had. Thus, urgent or not, I was not taking the amulet yet. After all, the Redguard did say to take no chances. So I wasn't going to take any chances. I was going to march myself into the Imperial City, get rid of this junk, find myself some better equipment, and get a good night's rest on a real bed. Not another slab of stone, thank you very much.

That decided, I turned on my furry little heel and started to trek towards the city that was perfectly visible from here. Never did it occur to me that marching into the city whose jail I just escaped from might be a slightly bad idea. So, this thought not going through my head, I continued my casual walk across the City Isle towards the main entrance of the city. That is, it was casual until a wolf, on top of everything else today, decided to try its paw at making me dinner.

Three missed shots, five bite wounds, and two arrows in a fallen canine corpse later found me nearly cutting my hands as I tried to stupidly skin the wolf with a short sword. A couple nicks after that and I settled for just a sample of the pelt, leaving the rest of it, my arrows included, to whatever happened upon it. I did, however, recover my three missed shots before continuing on. I now, more than ever, was looking forward to that real bed.

The rest of my walk was, quite surprisingly, rather pleasant. With no further surprises, I reached the rear gate of the stable outside the Imperial City, the Chestnut Handy Stables. I noted their rather nice selection of horses as I walked through them, gently patting a couple of them as I passed. By time I walked inside the city's enormous main gate, the sun was setting at my back. I figured I'd still have enough time to check the shops before finding an inn. I would've asked the guards standing at either side of the main gate where to find these shops, but both of them were giving me the oddest of looks. I couldn't imagine why.

Dead ahead was a large statue of a dragon surrounded by a garden and pillars, with two guards circling it on patrol, and absolutely no one else. Okay…I thought this was the capital. So where are all the people? I moved on.

As I passed, I noticed the large hanging sign outside a building that proclaimed it the 'Tiber Septim Hotel'. Hmm, perhaps an inn with a bed? I made a note to remember how to get back here.

I passed a fellow citizen…or, at least, I thought it was a citizen. He had a full set of chain mail and was patrolling with a torch. I passed him by, hoping to find a more friendly looking face to question.

On the other side of the next gate found me staring open-mouthed at the tower in front of me, while the citizen before me stared at me with a disgusted look on her face. When I noticed her, I failed to notice how disgusted she seemed to be by me; all I saw was a citizen who wasn't decked in armor. So I approached her.

"Where did you get those clothes?" she said in this snobby holier-than-thou voice. She was Altmer, so her snobby holier-than-thou voice was definitely perfected.

"I don't know, perhaps a clothier?" I said sarcastically; I didn't appreciate her tone, nor did I fancy explaining my recent escape from jail, where these clothes came from.

"Ugh," she snorted, "You must have gone to the worst clothier in all Tamriel. That, or you have very poor taste in clothing."

I glanced at my sack-cloth clothes that seemed to be ready to disintegrate before responding, "Agreed, my clothes look awful. The concept is grasped. Care to tell me where I can get some better ones? I'd hate to cause your eyes to bleed," my voice dripped in sarcasm, and perhaps I showed my fangs a bit more than necessary, but I would get the answer I needed.

"In the Market District, over there," she gestured over to one of the far gates in the circle around the tower I had first started at, and then quickly moved away.

Thank you, helpy-helperton. I headed across the area, skirting the large tower which I assumed to be White Gold Tower, where the Imperial palace was located, and passed through the gate to find myself within the Market District. Now, had someone not told me, I never would have guessed this was the Market District. The streets were near deserted; I had to wonder yet again where all the people were.

By time I started to scout the shops, it was already dark. Still, I hoped these shopkeepers did not rise and set with the sun. The first shop of interest was called 'The Copious Coinpurse'. I took this to mean that, hopefully, this would be a one-stop shopping trip so I could go collapse on a real bed.

I went to open the door, and found it locked. I hate these shopkeepers already. So, my shopping would have to wait for tomorrow. I turned to find my way back to the Tiber Septim Hotel when a guard approached me. He was wearing white armor trimmed in gold that was far fancier than the other guard armor, so I guessed he was important.

"Hail, citizen. A moment of your time?" the tone he spoke in said I didn't have a choice. I nodded.

"I am Itius Hayn, one of the Captains of the Guard here in the city," now where had I heard that name before… "The men reported a suspicious looking Khajiit within the city, care to explain your business here?" …That's right! He was one of the guards that oversaw my transfer into the Imperial City Prison…

My elders would most definitely not approve of the Ta'Agra words that flowed through my mind at that moment. Thanks to the darkness, the guard failed to notice my face, or else he might have recognized me. Or at least would have been more suspicious at sight of my cringe.

"I am simply visiting here, sir. I needed to buy and sell from the market, but I came in late and did not realize the shops closed so early. I intend now to find an inn to stay the night in," I said sweetly; I had no intention of getting myself in worse trouble than I might already be in by disrespecting a guard captain.

He looked at me with distrust, but seemed to decide not to press the issue; after all, I had done nothing wrong that they knew about. "Very well. Carry on, citizen."

No need to repeat yourself. I was outta there as quick as I could go without looking suspicious, feeling the Imperial's gaze on my back as I moved back towards the inn I had seen earlier. That was far too close for comfort, but perhaps they would leave me be from now on. Note to self for the future: never enter a city the same day as escaping from the city's prison.

Still earning strange looks from every guard I happened to pass, I finally was able to make my way back to the Tiber Septim Hotel, and entered. I found the inn to be a bit more, erm, fancy than I had ever suspected. The main room was quite spacious, with quite a few rather large and expensive looking rugs and some rather fancy furniture. In front of me was a large desk, behind which stood the innkeeper who was looking at me with utter, undisguised disgust. Yeah, so my clothes suck. I get it. Anyone else want to inform me?

Not letting her disgust bother me one bit, I strolled up to the desk and leaned slightly on it. I do that a lot, don't I? Guess I'm too lazy to stand unaided for too long. You know, me being a cat and all. The innkeeper had very obviously shuffled away as I approached, her disgusted look deepening as she studied my rather disheveled appearance. Okay, okay, maybe 'disheveled' ain't strong enough a word, but you get the point without me disappointing my elders any more.

"Can I help you?" the innkeeper said in this holier-than-thou voice as she looked down on me as best she could, seeing as we were about the same height. I notice a lot of people here have holier-than-thou attitudes. I've decided I officially hate this city.

"Yeah, I need a room for the night. How much?" Sure, I could have been a bit more proper, but why try being something that I obviously am not?

She stared at me long and hard; my guess she was deciding how much cleaning she'd have to do if she rented me the room. I guess she decided that a paying customer was worth it and finally said, "I do have one available, but it isn't cheap," she was so very obviously hinting that she doubted I had enough money

"How much?" I repeated, getting the hint she had dropped; can't say that I blame her, seeing as I don't precisely look like a noble or some rich merchant, but how much could a room for the night cost?

"40 Septims a night. More if I have to clean up after you."

…I just kind of stared at her for a full minute. Then I started what must have been a five minute rant in Ta'Agra before she finally put a stop to it when other citizens came in.

"If you don't have the money, then leave." I think that was a subtle 'leave or I call the guards' tone in her voice. "I have other customers to deal with, so I am very busy. Go try one of the lesser inns."

I hissed quietly in annoyance and then turned on my heel to stomp past the others on the way out, leaving a string of, um, colorful Ta'Agra vocabulary in my wake.

Okay, so that didn't go too well. Given that I had less than 100 Septims to my name, I was not about to spend half of 'em for a single night, no matter how much I wanted a good night's rest. I decided I'd try one more inn before finding a nice spot on the ground outside the city.

I glanced around for someone to ask where another inn was, but was disappointed to find that the only person on the streets in this entire district was a guard who was watching me suspiciously just like every other guard in this oblivion pit of a city. I hissed my further annoyance before approaching him.

"What do you want, citizen?" He asked rather rudely. Oh, just 'cause I look like I'm some beggar gives everyone the right to treat me as such? I'll have to remember that later; I may want to enact my revenge on the next person I see that looks like a beggar.

"Where can I get a cheap room for the night?" One that doesn't cost half my current funds.

He glanced at what he could see of my clothes in the darkness, then gestured to his left, my right, to a large gate. "Head over to the Temple District, then out the gate to your right to the Water Front. The Bloated Float would be the best choice for someone of your status."

My fur began to rise in anger, bristling along the nape of my neck, but I said nothing. I knew he was right; still didn't mean he had to say it, though. But, since he was a guard, and I had no wish of further trouble, I muttered thanks and then went on my way. My feet were throbbing after a few steps, and I decided that stone was not the best material to stomp on.

After wandering aimlessly in the waterfront and trying to find where on Nirn this bloody Bloated Float was, I finally found it to be one of the docked boats. No, this did not occur to me from the name of the inn; don't ask why. Anyways, I waltzed in through the front door and up to the Altmer behind the counter, only slightly unsteady in my walk due to the constant movement of the ship. I only then remembered how much I did indeed loathe ships. Maybe I'd be sleeping on a nice patch of solid ground, after all.

"Well met! Welcome to the Bloated Float! What can I get you?" the elf didn't seem to even notice my horrid attire. Course, while I was happy about that, I wasn't sure if it was a good thing, because this guy is used to it, or a bad thing, because this guy is the most oblivious being in all Cyrodiil.

"I need a place to stay for the night. How much for a room?" Cheap, cheap, cheap. I thought, as though my thoughts alone would change the price.

"There's a fine room available for only 10 gold. What'd you say?"

What do I say? I say that's flipping great! A little over a tenth of my gold ought to be easy enough to replace tomorrow at the shops with all the junk I have to sell; unlike half of my savings.

"Sure, I'll take it," I said, fishing ten gold out of my pocket and handing it over.

"Wise choice, my friend. You've never had a night's rest like this!" I'll bet. We're standing in a docked boat. Don't think I've ever slept on a docked boat yet. Course, with my faulty memory, you never know. "The room is down below deck, the door on the left. And do keep it clean."

I nodded and headed below deck, slightly more comfortable with the rocking motion. The room, considering the price, was not too bad. A real bed, of nice size, awaited me along with a table with a cloth, a bowl, and some water for washing. Then I noticed that the bed was actually just a few planks of wood built into the boat covered in a cloth so that, upon entering, it only looks like a real bed. I likely would have earned a pretty little punishment had my elders heard my mutterings.

Resigning myself to the fact that luck loved me sometimes and hated me the rest of the time, I poured some of the water into the bowl and began to wash my face of the grime. I felt decidedly better after this, now my fur was not caked to my skin, and finally turned in to sleep, not bothering to change seeing as I had no other clothes to change to, but setting my bow and quiver on the table, along with most of my other junk.

Despite the fact that I was literally sleeping on a plank, the bed was at least remotely comfortable; hey, it was better than stone. I was stepping up in life! Or not. Still, I managed to sleep quite a few hours before my body finally said enough and jarred me from my deep sleep. I've been known to redefine the term cat-nap, so it was always when my body decided it was rested enough that I woke up, and not when someone else tried to wake me up. My family members had dumped buckets of water on me and I just muttered, turned over, and kept sleeping. I'd like to see anyone top that.

As I sat up and put my feet on the floor, I suddenly realized that the boat was moving quite a bit more than it was when I went to sleep. "What in the forests of Elsweyr?" I muttered. I wasn't surprised that I had not woken up whenever this started; I was surprised by the fact that it had started at all.

I stood up, and promptly fell right back down. More colorful language, yay! It is decidedly easier to walk on a ship while it is docked, rather than while it is out at sea, as I guessed this one was now. I finally scraped myself off the floor and tottered around to my door, hoping to find the captain, wherever in Oblivion that elf had gone.

Before I actually reached my door, it opened and a big Nord fellow came barging in; probably heard the crash my fall had made. "Hey! Who in Oblivion are you? You don't look like one of the Blackwater Brigands!" he says in this doofy voice all Nords seem to have.

"None of your business." I spat; I was still not awake enough to notice his armor and weapon…

"Intruders are my business. I think instead of locking you in the storage room with the bouncer, I'm going to dump your body overboard!" Uh, what now? Since when did I become a body? I stared at this guy like he had just grown horns; that is, until he yanks out this iron sword of his. Oh criminy.

I leapt, not jumped, leapt back at his first swing, knocking the stupid table over, effectively scattering my bow and arrows. Not good. Definitely. Not. Good. The short sword was the only weapon within reach, and we all know how bad I am with one of those. Still, it was something, so I snatched it up just in time to block his next swing, nearly dropping it again from the impact. Nords are definitely too strong for their own good.

Getting backed into a corner with nothing but a weapon you can't use and a battle-raged Nord between you and freedom has got to be the worst feeling I've had in, well, pretty much forever. Speed was on my side, so I was able to at least knock the power of most of the swings, even if I couldn't stop them fully from reaching me. Still, there was no way on all of Nirn and Oblivion combined that I could keep this up.

Sure enough, the Nord power-swung at me and knocked that short sword of mine clear across the room. Yeah, so now I'm backed into a corner with no weapon at all with a battle-raged Nord between me, freedom, and a weapon. I retract my earlier statement; this is the worst feeling I've ever had. Course, I had no intention of being killed by someone who sounds like he couldn't even count to two. Just had to think of something…

"What do you say now, eh Khajiit?" he says, holding his blade for the next attack, "Still none of my business?"

"I say if your going to kill someone, then get it over with, don't stand there talking 'bout it," this statement got him to stare at me dumbly for a while, then to burst out laughing. I moved.

No hope of getting my weapon without him noticing, but lucky for me, I'm a cat. We always have weapons, ten of 'em, actually, whether we're good at using them or not. With his head thrown back in laughter, his thick throat was quite nicely exposed. One hand went right for it, my claws going for the best purchase, the other hand gripped the wrist of his sword hand with all my might, digging the claws in deep until he dropped his sword. Now we were even, even once he tore himself from my grip on his neck with all that bloody strength of his.

"You'll pay for that, you savage animal!" Ha! Yeah, I'm the savage animal when you were the very one that attacked me when all I did was wake up!

Not bothering to try to pick up his weapon, the Nord decided to try to literally beat me to death. Except now, I had slightly more room and could dodge. Ain't that lovely. So now he was just tiring himself out, seeing as the only thing he was beating up was stale air. I even got in my own hits from time to time, actually doing some damage seeing as I had my claws, which he did not, even when he did land a hit. Still hurt, but he did less damage now, especially compared to when he had that stupid sword.

Eventually the big Nord really started to run out of energy, giving me much more time between dodges to formulate a way to finish this. Course, luck was impatient and would not wait for me to come up with the plan on my own; on my next dodge, I slit my foot on one of my fallen arrows. Yeah, that hurt. But, hey, here was an actual weapon! I picked it up, dodged the next swing, and jumped in to stab the guy.

A note to anyone who actually cares: arrows are not daggers. They should not be used as daggers, either. It got the job done, sure, and the big Nord keeled over dead with my rather well-aimed attack to his neck, seeing as that was the most vulnerable area not covered by armor, but the arrow snapped and splintered in my hand upon completion of the attack. It'll be weeks before I get all these bloody splinters out of my fur and skin.

Cringing, I tossed aside what was left of my arrow and then glanced around. My room was a horrid mess. I doubt I could take a step without cutting my foot again on an arrow; in fact, I'm surprised I lasted as long as I did before stepping on one. Or perhaps I just stepped on the shafts, especially since a good fourth of my arrows had snapped somewhere near the middle. Had anyone been near by, I would have filled their ears full of Ta'Agra words to never say around a Khajiit.

I gathered up what was left of my arrow supply, about twenty or so arrows, perhaps a few more; I wasn't going to count. Then I kicked all the rest into the corner of the room, gathered the rest of my supplies that had been knocked off the up-ended table, and finally righted said table. I wasn't about to pay extra to the innkeeper for having him clean my room.

That done, I finally crouched near my fallen foe, whose body was making a mess outside my room, so I didn't have to deal with it, and searched through the pockets of his armor for anything of interest. When I found a key, my mind stopped being stupid and made the connection that the constant banging I was hearing was because of the bouncer, who my foe had mentioned locking in the closet.

I also found a folded paper on his body along with a few Septims, which I pocketed. Deciding the bouncer could wait, I unfolded the paper and started reading. Turned out the guy I killed was named Lynch, and that this paper was his order from someone with the initial S. I pocketed the note and finally walked over to the closet door with a leisurely pace and took my time unlocking and opening the door. Hey, I wasn't the one locked in there.

The bouncer, a big Orc fellow I had glimpsed before upon entering the inn, immediately stopped trying to break the door down and stared at me for a couple seconds before gathering himself, "About time someone showed up," he grumbled, crossing his large arms over his chest.

I tilted my head, "Perhaps I should have left the door locked…" I said in a tone that asked where my thank you was.

"Thanks," he muttered, "I've been locked in here for hours," yeah, probably while I was asleep. He should have banged louder to wake me up; not that it would have done him any good. "I'm the bouncer," yeah, I guessed, "Graman gro-Marad."

"Jo'Rawlith," I offered, seeing as it seemed no one would ever ask my name, so I may as well tell 'em whether they want to know or not.

He nodded slightly, then continued, "I don't know exactly what's going on, but not long ago, a gang of thieves calling themselves The Blackwater Brigands stormed the ship." You know, I just noticed how huge this guy's fangs are. How in Oblivion is he even talking through those things?

"They took myself and Ormil, the Float's owner, hostage and put her out to sea. I got no clue what they're after," he said gruffly, apparently agitated. Can't say I blame him, given the situation, but he doesn't have to take it out on me.

"If you can get me safely to the top deck, I can steer the Float home. But I'm not budging 'til the coast is clear," oh sure, some bouncer you are. Too afraid to even fight a couple of thieves. Seriously, even I beat one of these guys, they ain't that tough.

"I'm used to dealing with drunken louts, not a gang of well-armed thieves," a likely excuse.

"Fine," I muttered, well, more like half-hissed, but ah well. He didn't seem fazed; why does it seem no one is ever fazed by my hissing?

"Good luck…you'll likely need it," this time my reaction was a full out hiss. Wonderfully grateful for my freeing you, buddy. I ought to lock you in that closet for real until you learn to be grateful.

But, seeing as he was the one that would be getting this ship back to the dock, I decided to just turn on my furry heel and keep moving, dropping to a crouch to creep up to the next deck, doing my best to not limp from the cut on my foot; limping would not be helpful to my sneaking. At all.

I stopped before entering the main room on the inn deck, an arrow to my bow and a dark elf dressed much the same as the Nord in my sights. I didn't have any poison to work with, so I had little hope of a one hit kill, but if I just stayed hidden long enough for a couple of follow up shots, I'd drop this one far easier than the Nord.

I loosed, and the Dunmer cried out in pain, then yanked her sword out and started looking around, too stupid to look in the direction the arrow had flown from. Another arrow to my bow, sight and loose. This time she noticed me and came at me, but another arrow to the string and loosed stopped her dead in her rush. Literally. Archery: the survival tool for the weak. Like me.

I moved further, glanced around, and found no others in this area. I crept back to the stairs and then called down, "This deck's clear!" I heard the bouncer grunt a reply, then his heavy footsteps on the stairs. As he came up, I stopped by the fallen thief and began to carefully search her belongings.

Two of my three arrows could be recovered; one was beyond hope. In addition, I added another meager amount of gold, and a key marked "Top Deck Key". Gee, I wonder where the door this one opens goes to?

Keeping my crouch, I moved towards a door at the top of a short stair case that looked to lead to the top deck, signaling the Orc where I was going and to stay quiet; I didn't need his heavy stomping walk to alert the next thief to my presence.

Not that it helped me. Soon as I stepped through the door, another big Nord fellow turns to me and, in that idiotic 'I can't count to two' voice, demands to know what I'm doing.

"I'm awaiting orders," I said, hoping to stall for time or avoid a fight altogether; bows didn't work in close quarters, as we were in now, and I didn't feel like taking another beating from a battle-raged Nord.

"Orders? Selene didn't tell me about this, and I don't remember her taking on someone else to help us find the Golden Galleon," the what, exactly? "When did all this happen?"

"Er, about three days ago, why?"

"Dang that woman! She promised a four part split when we recover the Golden Galleon. She never said anything about splitting it five ways!" Erm, five ways? Don't think so; try three. "She said when we got back to the safe house in Bravil, we would divide the loot after she fenced the dang thing. Do Lynch and Minx know about this?" Lynch was the first Nord, and I guessed Minx was the Dunmer. Yeah, about them…

"Uh, they're both kind of…dead?" I said, cringing at what I just knew would be a bad reaction.

"Well, since they're out of the way, if I kill you, that means Selene and I split the take two ways. This heist is getting better and better!" Wow, he actually used some logic there. Maybe he ain't as dumb as I thought.

At this, however, he yanked out a sword identical to the ones the other two had used and immediately started swinging away at me. I dodged the first couple of swings, just barely, then smartly ran to the side and back, retreating so that I could half-jump, half-climb onto the roof of the boat's cabin. Ha! Can't touch this! (A/N ahem, don't mind me)

As he started jumping and trying to reach me, I retreated further out of range before taking the time to put an arrow to my bow string and start shooting. Each arrow just seemed to make him try harder, and after four arrows he was still trying to get to me. A fifth put an end to that, though, as a particularly lucky shot dropped him with a particularly loud thud. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

I dropped lightly to the deck below and searched his body, retrieving my arrows, and finding some more gold and a key marked "Cabin". Hmm, wonder if it might open the ship's cabin…

I returned to the big Orc bouncer to tell him the good news that the wheel was now unguarded, "The path's clear, just as you asked. Care to get us back to dock now?"

"Nice work, I'll make my way up there. But this ship ain't moving an inch 'till Ormil's safe." Oh, course, we couldn't ever just return to the waterfront and let the guards handle it. You got to send me on a mission to achieve more pain. Wonder-fricken-ful.

"Fine, fine, not like anyone else is goin' to do it," I said pointedly. He just grunted and moved to go man the wheel. Sighing, I headed towards the only remaining door that I assumed would lead to the cabin.

I didn't bother sneaking, knowing it'd likely be no use, and sure enough, soon as I entered I was spotted, and an Imperial woman approached me and asked, "How'd you get in here?"

I glanced at the door. Perhaps through the only entrance there is? Or is that too much for you to grasp? At this point, I didn't have much respect for anyone's intelligence.

"I took the key off one of the idiot Nords," I explained, talking a lot slower than was necessary.

"Wrath? I told him to guard the wheel and not talk to anyone! Who are you?" Wrath, ha, what a name for a Nord that moves like a fat horse!

"Oh, I'm just the ship's cook; couldn't you tell that from my clothes?" I didn't think she'd be hard to fool, especially with my respect level for her and her so-called gang. I could have perhaps acted interested in joining the gang or something like that, but the fact is that I wouldn't join this bunch of idiots if someone paid me too, so I doubted I'd be very convincing.

"There's no cook on the Bloated Float!" Crud. "How dare you try to make a fool of me!" Lady, I don't have to try, you do that yourself. "After I deal with you, I'll feed your body to the slaughterfish!" Ha, so we have one of Irony's henchmen! Trying to help the fish make a meal of a cat, are you?

She yanked out her sword, which was decidedly better than her gang members, seeing as it glowed lightly with enchantments, and started to attack me. I rolled out of the way and settled for bashing her upside the head with my cruddy iron bow. She stumbled just long enough for me to put an arrow to the string and into her. Ooh, that's gotta hurt, 'specially at that close range!

It didn't drop her, though, and she simply spun to attack me again. So began the pattern. She'd swing, I'd roll and bash her upside the head, then sink an arrow into her. And of course, she was too dense to realize what I was doing and so eventually I emerged victorious, with her looking like a human porcupine, and with minimal damage to me. Hey, I think I'm getting better at fighting in impossibly close quarters!

Before speaking with the Altmer, I recovered as many arrows as I could, getting only a few back; most were fired so close there was no way they were coming out again. I also pocketed a few more Septims. Then I snagged that pretty enchanted blade and strapped it hastily under my quiver. Now, I turned to the high elf owner of this Oblivion pit of a boat.

"Oh thank goodness!" he exclaimed before I could even open my mouth, "That horrid woman kept threatening me! She said if I didn't come up with the loot she'd throw me to the slaughterfish!" Did you fail to hear what she told me? I'm not surprised.

"So, what loot, exactly, are we talking about?" I asked, tilting my head. I still had no idea what was going on apart from the fact that the Brigands had set the boat to sea.

"Well," he started nervously. Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to want to strangle this guy by the time he finishes? "I'm afraid all of this was my fault. They hijacked the Bloated Float because of me. Business has been waning of late, so I invented a story." Oh do continue, I can tell this is going to be a good one.

"I fashioned a tale about a 'Golden Galleon' that the previous owner hid within this very vessel. It was to be a statuette made completely of gold," you idiot. What kind of idiotic idea was that?! You idiot. How did you not guess something bad would happen?

"At the time, the idea was quite clever," oh yeah, at the time. Well, what about at this time, eh? "I figured the lore would draw in more curiosity seekers and adventurers. What could the harm be if, while they were here, they bought a drink or two?" Wow, what a conniving, and yet idiotic, plan. "My business has increased quite a bit since I leaked the story," Gee, I wonder how many of those new customers were thieves hoping to get enough information rather than storming the place?

"Well, obviously, I was mistaken. It was a terrible idea!" No dip, Sherlock! "I'm just glad that no innocents were hurt; I wouldn't want to have their blood on my hands," I glanced at my many wounds which I had yet to taken the time to heal; guess I don't count as an innocent. Humph.

"Anyway, sorry to ramble. You better get below now and rest until we arrive safely at the Imperial City docks." I muttered plenty of Words Not to Say around Khajiits as I turned on my heel and headed back down to my room. Upon reaching my quarters, I took out my anger on the door by slamming it, hard, and then set about searching through my belongings for a healing potion. Just so happened I had none left, so I settled for chomping down on my stores of Cairn Bolete. If I knew what paper tasted like, I'd say this plant was a pretty good comparison; of course, I don't know what paper tastes like, so I was at a lack for a comparison of taste.

Grumbling, I placed my bow and quiver back on the table, hoping I would not repeat the earlier scenario, and crawled under the covers for some well earned rest. Many, many hours later, I finally awoke, my wounds healed from the combination of rest and the Cairn Bolete, and my body fully rested. The ship was back to its light rocking, so I guessed we were docked, and wouldn't have doubted it if we had been so for quite a while, the way I sleep.

Climbing out of bed, I stretched lightly before grabbing up my bow and quiver, placing them both on my back. Set to go, I finally noticed the note that was sitting on the table and picked it up to read it.

Jo'Rawlith-

We're docked back in the Imperial City. I would have told you personally, but you sleep like a rock, Khajiit. In any case, I'd like to thank you again personally, and reward you for the help you rendered, so please see me before leaving the ship. I'll be waiting in the inn cabin.

-Ormil

What, he actually wants to reward me? I would've thought I'd have to drag a reward out of him, given how stuck-up his kind are. Ah well, less work for me, which is always good, especially given the work I've already had to do. Pocketing the note, I headed up to the inn deck and sought out tall-and-yellow.

There was one thing I noticed on the way up: the bodies were gone. Like, completely. Mess and all. No one would have suspected any fight had taken place at all. I made a mental note to ask Ormil what he had done with the bodies; I was remotely curious.

"You're awake, good," he said as I approached, "I was a little worried you had been hurt worse than I thought," oh yeah, I'm sure he was so worried about me. All he was probably worried about was me taking up space that he could be making money off. Humph. "I suppose you're wondering what I did with Selene?"

"Yeah, actually, I am," I said, tilting my head once again; I do that a lot, now that I think about it, guess it's just an instinct for us cats.

"The authorities of the city took her and her group off the ship as soon as we docked. I was also informed that there was a reward for her capture," ah, so the city took care of the bodies; bet he had to clean up after 'em though. Good, nice to know he can at least do that much.

"Here you go! Don't spend it all in one place… unless it's here, of course!" he said in this way too enthusiastic voice, handing me a bag of Septims. "The reward was 75 gold; it's all there, count it if you like," he said at my questioning glance. Well, that defiantly helps my funds at the moment. Perhaps staying on this Oblivion pit of a ship wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Pleasure doing business with you," I said with a smirk, and then turned to go as he burst out laughing. Honestly, it wasn't that funny, elf. Nor was it that true.

Out in the sun and on solid ground again, I felt much better, and completely ignored all the odd stares I kept receiving from people as I walked past on my way back to the Market District. For just this once, life was good.

And then I found the stores closed again. I hate this city.