I woke up peacefully for once. It was actually a nice change, but the pleasant feeling fled soon enough when my mission of the day donned on me.
Riften.
Oh, Riften.
Part of me wanted to scream. Another wanted to cry.
The whole of me jumped out of bed, threw on my red and black Shrouded Robes and muttered, "Let's just get through this."
I wiped at my eyes as I left my room. I walked down the hallway and came to a set of opened doors that led to a staircase that would lead me into the kitchen, but as I got to the banister and looked over, I saw Babette sitting at the table and turned, walking away, deciding I'd stop to eat on my way there.
As I made my way to the front room, I bumped into Astrid.
"Good morning," she said.
I nodded to her. "Morning. Am I ready to head out?" I asked. I was rather ready to get out of the Sanctuary and get this day over with, but apparently Astrid disagreed.
"Not yet. First I want Omazirr to take a look at your arms."
"First?" I questioned. "Not to be rude, Astrid, but how long of a checklist do you have?"
She cracked me a smile as we both glanced at Omazirr, walking in to the room from the door leading out of the Sanctuary. "I want- speaking of the devil- Omazirr to check your arms before we do anything else. Afterwards, I'm going to fill you in on what you need to know about this Riften case and finally, you're going to get Nazir to accompany you."
"No," Omazirr huskily growled as he started to unwrap my bandaged arms. I didn't feel much sting until after the blood-stained bandages were completely off. "He agreed to let me go in his place."
Astrid's eyes widened in shock, "Really? Nazir seemed particularly excited to go on this mission . . . alright, then." She seemed to shrug off some kind of thoughts, but I didn't pay it much attention.
At least, I didn't until Omazirr cast me a curious glance, almost asking me, 'Is something going on between you and him?' I don't know why it mattered to him, or why it mattered to me, but I simply shook my head. Personally, I couldn't really see anything happening between me and anybody.
I'm not exactly gorgeous, right? And I don't exactly have "killer qualities", either . . . that wasn't meant to be taken seriously. What I'm trying to say is that I have no good looks, I don't have qualities that could just pull a guy in, and, honestly? My personality is a disastrous work of art. I scare guys off instead of inviting them in.
Actually, now that I actually think about it, I'm in Tamriel. the fact that I'm a Khajiit alone is enough to scare anybody away from me!
Omazirr looked over my arms and I saw Astrid glancing at them from over his shoulder, too.
"They're not bad. Healed a lot better than I thought they would over just a few hours of sleep, but she's just about fine." He pulled out another roll of bandages and started to wrap my arms again.
"Good," Astrid declared. She leaned back against the table she's almost always pouring over and heaved a long breath. "Now, Ajivha, I'm not so sure you're going to like this. As a matter of fact, I know you won't."
I gave her a curious glance, my ears perking down. "Why do you say that?" I asked.
"You're going to be walking right into the grasps of the Thieves Guild."
My pulse was racing as fast as my thoughts, my palms warmed, my head spun.
Omazirr was tense beside me.
A pain started to spread through my head. One thought.
"Are you trying to get me killed?" I whispered. I felt a weakness spreading through my body.
I was kissing my life goodbye now.
Astrid smiled.
"Don't worry so much, Ajivha. It won't be as disastrous as you think."
I missed the next part of what she said as I cursed her out in my mind.
"Ajivha," she said. "Pay close attention to this, okay?"
"I'm listening," I replied, looking up at her.
"This will be one of the hardest tasks a beginner has ever had to do, but I'm trusting you. I believe you can do it."
I felt a little joyful at this news, but I wasn't so ecstatic that I didn't think about my life being on the line here.
"First thing's first. You need to slip in to Riften and stay undetected by the guards. That's obvious as can be! But you need to find your way into the Ragged Flagon. This might be tricky-"
"I did it before," I interrupted her.
Her eyes held shock, but then she must have put two and two together in her mind and figured out that's how I got my chain back.
"Well, you need to ask around about Mercer Frey. He's the one who set up the contract and he'll be able to give you more information than I currently can. He can tell you about your soon-to-be victim, but from what I know about the Thieves' Guild, it will probably be somebody who was planning on betraying them. The hard work will come after your meeting with them. This man, for whatever reason, is being protected by guards."
If I were drinking water, it would have been all over Astrid.
"Guards?" I was practically gasping for air, but none of them noticed as I kept my head down and my breathing silent.
Omazirr rested his hand on my shoulder, an 'I'll be there with you,' gesture.
"Yes, guards. However, whether you're about to kill them or not depends on if Mercer says you can or cannot. If you can't, I'll feel very bad for you."
"What else do you know about the man?" I asked. I needed as much information as possible if I was going to get thrown head first into a whirlpool of this size.
"He lives on the outskirts of Riften, so you'll catch a small break. He's elderly, about fifty years old. He's a widow and very rich. I wouldn't be surprised if he was buying protection from the Thieves' Guild and now is betraying them." She handed me a paper and a small satchel. "There's a small lump of coins and a map if you need it. If things go well, the two of you will be back in a little over a week, I'd say."
That was it.
Now I stood with Omazirr, choosing our weapons.
I chose a bow and arrows, my dagger and a longsword. Omazirr took simply an ax and a shield. Omazirr packed a small supply of food, which was good because the vampire whore was still in the kitchen, anyways. I let him carry the lump of coins and soon we were out.
But as soon as we were outside, we were joined by the sound of hooves thudding on the ground, and Cicero hopped off one of the horses.
"Good morning, good morning!" Cicero squealed. "I'm offering you my horses without deadly warning! You have a long journey ahead! Best to have a ride and a nice bed!" There was a caramel and a black horse behind him now as they stood behind him. "Your journey of eight days there can now be shortened into a measly four or five!"
"You're letting us take your horses?" Omazirr asked.
"Indeed, indeed! It's the most I can do for my new best friend! Isn't that right kitty?" Cicero leaned over to pet my head. I was about to give a growl at him, but I refrained since he was giving us his horses for the trip.
"Thank you, Cicero."
"Not a problem! And extra supplies have been packed for you, too!"
I did take note of bags packed on the horses. I could see blankets to keep them warm through the night, but I also saw sleeping bags on their sides and I suddenly wanted to crawl back into bed.
"Thank you, Cicero," I repeated. "If you don't mind, we have a long journey ahead of us so we'll be on our way."
"Not a problem!" Cicero stood at the door as we hopped on the horses. I climbed onto the Caramel horse and I let Omazirr take the black beauty.
One look toward Omazirr and we started off on our long journey. The wind wasn't so harsh today and the sun was shining although it didn't do much to defeat the chill in the air. I was only in robes while Omazirr dressed in fancy red and black armor. As the horses pushed us on through our journey, I knew Omazirr couldn't see it, but I was already shivering through my robes.
We stopped for a short breakfast in Falkreath before getting back on our trip. We bought some venison to cook between rest stops, halted several times to let the horses eat and drink, but nightfall finally came and I couldn't take it anymore. At the moment, I was thinking about too much and the wind was getting to me.
"Omazirr!" I called to him through the wind that was now hitting us. He pulled on the harness and made his horse slow to a trot besides mine.
"Aye?" he asked, concerned by how I called his name.
"I'm sorry," I said. "Can we please stop here for the night?" We were right under a small rocky cliff that could at least offer some shelter from the wind and any rain that might decide to make a presence throughout the night. If we built a fire, it could also ward off attackers and animals.
"Aye, lass. Something wrong?"
"I'm just tired . . . and cold," I sheepishly admitted. What good of a Khajiit was I if I couldn't keep myself warm through the winds?
Omazirr pulled his horse to a stop under the slab of rock as I did, too. "Sure," he said, and unmounted his horse. He helped me get off of my own, although it was unnecessary, and the two of us together quickly set up a pit for a fire and set up our sleeping bags. He started the fire and I spread his out first, then I went to my horse to get my bag and he asked, "What are you doing?"
I looked to see the fire was going and he was looking strangely at the sleeping bag,
"Setting up my sleeping spot," I told him.
"No, you're not," he said.
"Pardon?" I asked.
He started to take off his armor that covered his torso and after he slipped inside his sleeping bag, he motioned for me to join him.
Even though the dark night, I felt my cheeks warming up and knew he could see it if I didn't look away. I started to stutter, to dent his offer.
"No- I- we- I can't- we're not," I was cut off.
"It's not a romantic thing, Ajivha," he said, although something in his voice kind of said he wanted it to be, but for my sake he wouldn't let it be. "I want to make sure you're warm and our body heat together will keep us warmer than if we sleep in separate bags."
I knew he had a point, but I was still weary about joining him. Even so, the chill was getting to me, so eventually I slipped into his bag.
His body warmth immediately hit me and I found myself moving closer to him. It was just the warmth I craved, nothing more, yet nothing less. He laid with his head on the pillow and I had my head leaning on his chest. The bag was over both of our heads, not like it kept us from seeing, anyways. His arm found it's way around me and eventually I moved to rest my head in the crook of his neck and he gently leaned his head against mine.
"Are you sure you're just cold?" Omazirr whispered after a while.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Your body... you feel warm but you're still shaking. Badly."
It was only then that I noticed how much I was shaking. I shook it off, I tried to stop, but I couldn't.
"I'm sorry," I said, but he shook his head.
"Don't be. You're nervous, I understand. I was nervous, too, on my first big contract. Of course, I had many more smaller ones, too, but I'm here to help you and I won't let anything hurt you."
His words; they reassured me, but I found that I was till shaking.
"Come here," he whispered, rolling onto his side, gently pushing his arm under my head so I rested on it, and his other arm found it's way around my side so it was around my waist. "You worry too much, my Jha'Khajiit." Little child, he called me.
My shaking slowly subsides and I found myself bound to a smile, but only for a little. My shaking come on again, but this time in small waves. I was realizing how cold I was once again, but Omazirr pulled me closer to him and I pulled my robes open a tiny bit. I had an undershirt on, but the robes restricted my body heat from helping both of us more.
Eventually we found our way into a nice slumber.
Not in the form of nightmares, but in simple dreams, I found myself thinking about what Riften would be like for me.
Boy, was I in for a treat.
A/N - Hey guys! I hope you like this! I hate to be picky, but I'd really like some comments (opinions) about what you guys think of it so far! Riften, man, so close yet so far away! And just think, everyone! Soon after Riften, another big story-builder will come up and- oh, let me not get too far ahead! :D Anyways, please drop a comment or two and tell me what you think? I'd appreciate it! Enjoy chapter Eleven!