Sorry, sorry, sorry, guy! I got tangled with some personal issues, and I had to leave the story for a while. I promise I will never do that again.

So, without further delay, dudes and dudetes, I preesnt to you Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Siris felt his head become ten times lighter, and a juvenile smile came across his face. Dila jumped on his neck, embracing him in a tight hug. The general laughed. The times in which he could tend to the needs of two people at the same time were few and far between, but he helped whenever he could.

- Now, since you have both just began, you shall start as Auxiliaries. Report to Legate Rikke. She will give you your first assignement.

The two went out of the door and went down the spiral staircase. Siris was overjoyed. On the way out, he cheerfully waved at the guard that stood by the door. The guard gave him a confused look and shook his head, unnamused.

- Dila. – he said. – You can break the hug now.

Dila blushed and released the Argonian`s neck. Siris made as if he was gasping for air, which earned him a laugh and a playful punch on the arm.

- Stop with that.

- Is the damsel distressed? – he said, playfully. – I can turn around and leave, if you want so.

- No! – she screamed, turning around. An awkward moment floated between the two of them. Dila spun on her heels and restarted walking to the Legate`s room. – I`m sorry.

Siris stood there for a moment, not sure of what to do. He smirked and followed her to the Legate`s quarters. That Khajiit had a will made out of ebony, that was for sure.

The Legate was sitting on a chair. Her room was smaller than the one Tulius had for himself. She was wearing a steel armor, designed by the Legion. Her helmet was resting on a table, sided with her sword. She turned around when Siris and Dila entered. She sighed before saying:

- An Argonian and a Khajiit. Tulius is really getting desperate for recruits.

The insult made Siris fown and Dila bare her fangs. Siris started:

- And I see you are just as racist as the Stormcloacks, no? It seems that all you Nords are like that.

The Legate laughed joylessly before standing up. She was the same size as Dila.

- You two come from Whiterun, don`t you? – she asked. When both of them nodded in agreement, she continued. – As you know, the Jarl of Whiterun, Balgruuf the Greater, is still undecided about what side to help. You are to deliver this message to him. – the legate gave Siris a small roll of paper. Siris looked in her eyes, and the cold look he received back meant "Don`t open it".

- Ma`am, yes ma`am.

They left Castle Dour after that. Siris really wasn`t looking forward to another long trip, and neither did Dila.

- You know… - he said, looking at her. – Why don`t we stay at an inn tonight. We can go to Whiterun tomorrow. I am sure the Legate wouldn`t mind.

Dila looked at him, as if surprised.

- I don`t think so, Siris. – she said, looking directly in his eyes. He seemed surprised at this. – The sooner we get to Whiterun, the sooner this war can start. And I`m anxious to kill some Nords.

Siris was surprised at this. Dila had been wanting her revenge for quite some time now. They had met two weeks ago, and since then he assumed that that would have been her utmost preoccupation. But he never thought it escalated to that level.

- All right. You want to leave now?

- The sooner, the better.

- Then we can leave now.

00000

The road was muddy. A small shower had been falling for the past hour. Dila remembered the day the caravan was attacked. Siris had shown up so fast, almost as if he knew where to find her. She had never felt so relieved in her life. Someone had come to her aid. Living as a beggar in Dune had told her to live by herself.

But she was quite enjoying Siris`s company.

She was walking in front of him, for a change. Her bow was firm on her back, alongside her quiver. Her leather armor was beginning to become damaged, same as her cloak. She needed a change of attire.

"I guess I can make a requisition to the Legion. I am sure they will give me a new one".

She did not want to ask too much out of the Legion, though. They had already made her a favor by accepting her on their ranks.

Siris, however, was faring quite well. That brown coat he wore had not torn once ever since she had known him, and his sword never lost it`s edge.

"I guess he`s luckier than I am." Dila said, with a smile. Siris noticed this, and did not miss an opportunity to tease her:

- Is the lady remembering some romantic adventure she had on the past?

Dila laughed at the thought. No, she had never been romantically involvled with anyone. Dro`Marash once told her that Kharjo had his eyes on her, but she knew that she was attractive for a Khajit. Even if she wasn`t as… voluptuous as other woman, she could hold her own. And she had a feeling she might have actually made an impression on Siris.

- No, Siris. None to speak of. – she responded. – What about you?

- Once. – he said, absent minded. Dila surely wasn't expecting that. Siris was usually quite reserved about his past. – Back on Black Marsh.

Dila turned around, very interested.

- What was she like?

- She had orange scales, the color of your fur, actually. Her eyes were yellow. She had horns on her head, they swirled and stooped right on her eyes height. She…

- I didn`t meant physically.

Siris stopped walking, and so did Dila. Siris was about to say something when they heard something. Some kind of buzzing. Siris instantly drew his Da-Katana.

- Spriggans. – he said. Dila readied her bow. They got into a back to back position. – They could come from anywhere. Be carfeull.

Dila nodded. Siris had his sword in his right hand and a throwing dagger in the left. Dila had a bow and three arrows ready to fire. They watched the surroundings closely. A small tear of sweat trickled down Dila`s face.

A bear came out of the bushes.

- Oh, no, not one of these things again… - Siris said, much to Dila`s amusement.

- Well, if you are having trouble, jus shout like you did last time…

- Did I shout?

- How do you think I found you?

A wolf appeared behind a tree. Dila saw he had a green aura around him. She let the arrows loose. They impaled the wolf`s eye, leg and chest, and it fell down without a sound. Dila picked another arrow and readied it.

- Here comes the big boss. – Siris said. Over her shoulder, Dila saw what he meant. The Spriggan had come out of it`s hiding place, and was now preparing to throw a spell at them. Siris quickly threw the knife at it, forcing it to break the spell and dodge the projectile. Dila, in turn, fired several arrows at it, keeping it at bay while Siris finished the bear with an overhead strike.

As Dila reached for her quiver, she grabbed empty air. She was shocked. She was out of arrows. The Spriggan took advantage of it, and dashed in, faster than Dila could react. It grabbed her neck and lifted her up in the air. Dila could feel the Spriggan`s woody fingers burrowing deep in her flesh, slowly suffocating her. She kicked the creature`s chest, but all it did was choke her with much more force. She could feel the life being slowly taken away from her.

Then, the blade of a sword appeared from the Spriggan`s chest. It was a curved blade, and it continued to grow until it stayed only a few inched away of Dila`s face. The Spriggan`s glow began to fade, and the fingers that had been crushing her throat lost their grip, letting Dila fall to the ground. She saw that Siris had skewered the beast from behind. As he pulled the sword back with a growl, the Spriggan`s taproot went out with it. Without it, the Spriggan collapsed into a small pile of ash on the ground. Siris looked at Dila, who was sprawled on the floor, and smiled.

- We have our bonfire for the evening.

00000

They had set camp not much after the Spriggan trap. Siris did not have to go hunting this time. A chunk of bear meat was already resting in his stomach, and the fire was keeping them both warm. Dila rekindled the conversation they were having earlier.

- So, that girl…

- Krona? – Siris said, almost sighing. He really didn`t like that subject.

- Yes. How did you two meet?

- I suppose that if I tell you that we met on a completely passive situation and it she had an honest job you would belive me, right?

Dila said nothing, merely crossing her arms in response.

- I guessed as much. – Siris said. He took a deep breath. – She was also a Shadowscale, with me. We met on a contract. Someone had actually been dumb enough to get two Shadowscales for the same target.

- I thought that you were family?

- Oh, don`t get me wrong. The Shadowscales are a family. We didn`t have much contact with our parents when we were young, and we could never contact them by any means. So, growing up with three kids your age and a mentor-father, you begin to know a family.

- Three? Don`t the Shadowscales work on larger groups?

- We begin our training as four, but when we achieve our first contract, they send us all to the same place. So, where was I? – he said.

"We are arriving at the bad part. Please, Talos, make her sleep…"

- At the part where she was a Shadowscale.

- Oh, right. When I went out on my first contract, the first I ever did, I was supposed to assassinate a corrupt general. So, I head to his house and find it locked. What do I do? I go through a window. I walk up a flight of stairs, and I find this big, strong Argonian sleeping like a baby by his wife`s side. I took out my dagger. I had trained for that a couple of time. Slit the throat, get out, get prize, get drunk. And I was about to do so when I heard a small click down the stairs…

- The door had been unlocked.

Siris smiled and nodded in agreement. Dila could catch things with a speed he himself envied.

- Exactly. So I hid in the wardrobe of the General. I could see who came in the room. A slender, female Argonian walked in the room, dagger in hand. At the time, I thought she was a petty thief, wanting to steal something. But she was moving so silently something had to be off.

- What do you mean?

- We are trained for everything. Alchemy, open fighting and archery, those are all things that we can do. But we are trained especially in the art of sneaking. We learn ways of muffling every little sound we make. We learn how to move according to the material we are stepping in, minimize sound.

- So she was using one of those techniques?

- Yes. She was moving according to the floors flow. Only Shadowscales do that willingly. Anyway, even if I didn`t know that she was a Shadowscale, the kill was mine. So I sneaked out of the wardrobe and grabbed her from behind. She slid underneath me and we started to fight. I`m going to spare you the details, but let`s just say I owe some of those scars you saw on my chest to her.

- And she turned out to be Krona? – Dila asked, already knowing the answer.

Siris nodded once again. The thought of Krona brought a tear up to his eye. He cleaned it before continuing.

- We eventually became lovers, and that lasted for a few years. Right up until…

He cleaned another tear from his eye. Dila noticed it this time, but she didn`t let up.

- Until?

Siris took a long breath and continued.

- Right up until I decided to leave the Shadowscales for good.

Dila was recoiled in shock after hearing that. Siris had never told her that he had left the Shadowscales behind.

- And what happened for you to make that decision?

- Our leader was becoming corrupt. He was taking contracts from anyone who had money. We might have been a group of assassins, but we always thought about the good of our nation before gold. We learned that he was getting involved in a coup to kill the king. And we couldn`t allow that. But… - Siris said. He had given up on cleaning the tears. – My brothers agreed to do that. Even Krona, though she regretted it. Poor girl. She said she had sworn an oath to their leader, and that she wouldn`t ignore orders. I tried to making some sense out of her mind, but she was really stubborn…

- Like someone I know. – Dila said, trying to lighten up the mood. If Siris found any humor in that joke, he disguised it very well.

- I left in the middle of the night, one day. I was hunted relentlessly across almost all of Argonia. Unfortunately, the first Shadowscale to catch me was… was…

- Krona…

Siris was beginning to sob.

- I had to kill her, Dila… - he spat out. – I had to. She was after me. She wanted my head.

"Damn, you idiot, what are you doing?"said a voice inside his head, as he brought up his hands to his eyes. "You have leaned to deal with this!"

- I am so sorry, Krona… - he said, starting to push back the memory.

As he took his hands out of his eyes, he saw that Dila was standing in front of him. She looked at him in the eyes, slowly calming him. She grabbed his hands. He stood up. He was half a head taller than her. Her hands moved up his arms and to his back. He put his hands on her shoulders.

Dila slowly started to approach him. She slightly turned her head to the left. Their mouths were approaching.

Slowly, their lips touched. Dila closed her eyes, and Siris did the same. He brought his hands to her waist. They kissed more intensely. Dila wrapped her arms around Siris`s neck.

They stood there, for a few seconds, embraced. Siris took a carful step towards one of the tents. To his surprise, she immediately followed his movement. He smiled, their mouths still locked.

His hands slid down further, and Dila let out a soft moan, before wrapping her legs around Siris`s waist. Surprised by the balce changing Siris clumsily stepped back, before walking toward the tent and entering it, carrying Dila in his arms. They laid dow, Siris on top of Dila. They broke the kiss for a second. Their gazes met again. Siris unhooked one of the leather straps on her armor, and she unhooked the other. She rolled on top of him and removed the rest of the straps. The arnor fell, revealing her naked torso. Siris`s hand reached up and caressed her breasts. She let out a moan and approached Siris`s ear.

- I love you. – she whispered.

- I love you too

P.S.: Please don`t ask me how a lizard and a cat kiss...