Here's a new chapter! It's a bit longer than the rest. Anyways I forgot to say but I don't own Oblivion's characters or storyline. And that's it. Enjoy!
The next morning I awoke to the sound of sound of uproarious laughter. I sat up with a start; first surprised at the sound of laughter, secondly surprised by being in a genuine bed, before remembering where I was. The Living Quarters of the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary. I looked over to the table and saw Telaendril sitting at the table, her back to me, and Gogron across from her. Gogron was pounding his fist against the table, shaking as he tried to hold in his laughter. Telaendril was trying to shush him, but he just raised his finger to point at me and started his deep, throaty laughter again. Telaendril turned and saw me sitting up in bed, a confused look on my face. She sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Sincerest apologies, dear sister. I told him to be quiet, but once he starts laughing there's no stopping him" she said, shooting Gogron a dirty look.
"I am sorry, dear sister," he choked out, still attempting to hold back a snigger.
"It's fine," I said truthfully. It was something new to wake up to the laughter of friends, and it was something I could get used to. "What's going on?"
"I was just telling Gogron about my latest contract, and how the girl's nanny turned out to be a Fighter's Guild bodyguard- lets just say it was quite the surprise for me. Gogron found it extremely amusing," she said, jerking her head towards his still shaking form.
I smiled with her as Gogron started to roar with laughter again, unable to contain himself any longer. Still smiling, I swung my legs out of bed, rubbing my eyes.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"Around noon," said Telaendril, turning back to her lunch.
I pushed myself out of bed and stood up, yawning and stretching my stiff body. I knew I would have to get going soon if I wanted to arrive in the Imperial City with enough time to scout out the area before I carried out my contract, so I started to pull on my traveling clothes- leather greaves and a dark green shirt, with my leather boots and headband to hold back stray strands of my long black hair. I strapped on my dagger and shouldered my quiver and bow, while Gogron watched the process.
"You heading out to the pirate ship then?" he asked. I nodded, feeling oddly nervous. I was scared to be caught; I had never gone out with the intention to kill before Rufio, and that was in a secluded place. This was in the middle of a city, the Imperial city no less. I would be surrounded by guards, and if I was caught they would descend on me like a pack of wolves, ready to take me down. I was starting to get myself worked up when Gogron interrupted my thoughts.
"You'll do fine," he said, in a brotherly tone, his eyes warm. Telaendril turned to look at me and smiled encouragingly.
"Gogron's right- you'll be fine. From what we hear you're more than capable," she said, glancing at Gogron, who nodded encouragingly.
I smiled at them both, and was about to voice my thanks when I realized what she had said.
"What do you mean, from what you've heard? What has everyone heard about me?" I asked quickly.
"Oh, it's been nothing bad, dear sister. I'm sorry to leave but we both really must be going. Good luck- I'm sure you'll return to us with the blessings of the Night Mother after a successful kill." And with that, they both left me alone in the living quarters, pondering on what she had said. I once again wanted to know what everyone had been told about me, and by whom. The only Dark Brotherhood member who had met me was Lucien Lachance, so I figured it was a safe bet that he was the one who had been telling the others about me. But it wasn't like we had met for long- just two short visits. How much could he have learned about me in that amount of time?
I put my musings into the back of my mind, and focused on the task at hand. I wanted the journey to be as quick as possible, so I decided that I would try to steal a horse from the stables. This I had done several times before, along with your petty thievery and even the occasional pickpocket. They were skills I had to posses to survive in the world after the passing of my aunt, and I now put them to good use.
Twenty minutes later I was riding a freshly hijacked black horse on the road to the Imperial City, hair flying back in the wind, eyes gleaming with the thrill of traveling so quickly. My journey was going to almost non-existent on this horse- I would have hours before it was dark.
I decided that I would leave the horse by the banks of Lake Rumare and swim across to the Waterfront, instead of riding all the way around. Also, that would meal less guards would see me entering the city- always a good thing. Having only one bridge to access the City, which was surrounded on all sides by the lake, really could be a hassle sometimes.
I dismounted the horse near the shores of the lake and gave it a little shove in the right direction, back towards Cheydinhal. I watched it trudge off for a moment, and then turned toward the lake, switching my leather greaves for some flannel pants and yanking my boots off. I waded into the water slowly, letting the cold wash over me. It was really quite refreshing. After a few moments of floating around, I started swimming at a leisurely pace toward the distant island that was the Waterfront. I was always on the lookout for slaughterfish- the damned things could be such a nuisance.
The swim was a long one, and when I reached about the half way point I was seriously starting to regret my decision, but all I could do is press on. After what seemed hours, I reached the shores of the Waterfront and dragged myself on the beach, exhausted. I rolled over onto my back and tried to catch my breath, staring up into the azure blue skies. Suddenly I heard footsteps in the sand behind me.
"Are you okay miss?"
I tilted my head back and saw the up side down face of an Imperial Legion Officer looking down at me, his face curious.
"Oh, I'm okay, thanks," I said quickly, starting to stand up, but nearly falling over. He caught me at me at my elbows and held me steady, his face now concerned.
"Are you sure ma'am? What's happened to you?"
No one in their right mind would have just swum that, and I couldn't exactly tell the truth now could I?
"I was across the Lake, heading toward the bridge when a bandit attacked me. He was faster than me, so I jumped in the water and started swimming, hoping it would slow him down because he was covered in heavy iron armor," I said, inventing wildly. "He followed me to nearly the middle of the lake. I decided just to swim this way instead of heading back, but it was a lot further than I thought,"
"What happened to the bandit?" asked the Officer, getting into official business mode.
"He drowned, the armor dragged him down," I said, putting my head down as if I was an innocent, sorry for the indirect death of someone else.
"It was not your fault- you did what you had to survive. Not many would have had such quick thinking in a similar situation. I thank you for making the roads safer for the next innocent traveler," he said, lifting my chin. I did have quick thinking, I thought to myself, but not for the good he believes. I smiled in return, and he asked if I needed anymore assistance, but I told him I was fine and proved it by taking a couple of steady steps on my own.
"Good day, ma'am," he said, and strode off.
I breathed a sigh of relief, and wiped my face with a dry piece of cloth. There wasn't anything he could have gotten me in trouble for, but I had just given myself a reputation among the Waterfront Imperial Watch as an innocent girl. It could be useful if things went wrong, either now or in my future.
I changed my clothes, pulling on a skirt and plaid shirt for walking around the area. Surrounding me were several wooden shacks, old and rotting, barely standing. Behind them was a huge stone wall, with entry-ways through it that led to the docks. I headed through the center entryway, looking around at all the people.
It was a lot different from Cheydinhal- everyone was dressed in rags, and they all looked slightly undernourished. They also had a look in their eyes that I recognized, and could relate too- they were all hungry, and would steal, cheat and lie to get food and money. I saw several beggars who gave me a pickpocket's eye, but I stared them down and they realized I wasn't a likely target.
There were two boats in the harbor- to the right was a ship that I found was called "The Bloated Float", and it had a tavern and inn on board. The boat to the left was the Marie Elena, where Captain Tussad was. It was an average size boat, its sails flowing in the soft breeze. As I walked briskly towards it, taking on the airs of a tourist seeing the sights, I saw a Dunmer woman and two shirtless men standing by the boat, singing songs of the sea. As I drew closer they looked at me suspiciously, their song wavering and then stopping completely. I looked around quickly, realizing that no one else was strolling around these ends of the docks. So much for being inconspicuous.
"What do you want?" asked one of the men harshly.
"I'm just looking around," I said, putting on a slightly defensive tone.
"If you take one stop onto my ship, I slice my sword across that pretty little neck of yours," the other said, leering at me.
"Okay, okay, I'm going!" I replied, acting scared as I scurried off the way I had came. The laughter of the sailors echoed behind me, and they started to sing again. This was going to be a little more complicated then I thought it would be. I had noticed that the beach with all the shacks looped around to behind the boat, so I decided to head there to further inspect the ship.
When I reached the corner beach I could clearly see the back of the boat, and I stood at an angle that the sailors couldn't see me as I mapped out the best possible route to kill their captain. Teinaava had been right- there was a small balcony at the back of the boat, and I could see from here it was tightly locked; definitely seemed like it led to the captain's cabin.
Scanning the dock around it, I saw that I could probably make the jump from the dock ledge to the balcony if I aimed just right, but the crewman would have to be out of the way. I knew that I would probably have to wait until later for them to leave the area and go on the ship, and I would need it to be dark if I wanted to make the jump without looking extremely suspicious, so I had all day to spare.
I spent the day in the Market, selling and buying, haggling and coercing with the little money I had. I sold some of my old gear, repaired the stuff I kept, and purchased some more arrows just in case of emergency. Around six, I still had some time to kill, so I went back down to the Waterfront and got a drink at the Bloated Float, and spent my evening going through my bag of various plants and herbs and testing around, concocting potions and poisons.
At around eleven, the bar in the Bloated Float was still rather full, but the crowd was starting to disperse. I left the bar silently, no one noticing my presence, and head out to check if the pirates had left the area yet. The Waterfront was nearly deserted; the only sounds the yells and shouts echoing dully from the Bloated Float; the area attracted a rather boisterous crowd. I walked carefully around the edge of the outer wall, toward the little area with all of the shacks, and quickly shed my day wear, slipping into my new Dark Brotherhood armor. It fit snugly, tight, but also loose in the right places so I could move easily. I then pulled on the dark hood, which effectively hid my face.
When I started to move around with the armor on, I felt as though I could walk more silently- it must have some sort of enchantment on it, I thought. I crept along the wall, sticking to the shadows, until I could peek around the corner and get my view of the ship and the area surrounding it. There was an Imperial Legion Officer walking along the pathway, but he was heading for the lighthouse. The pirates were no where to be seen, and I figured now was my chance. I walked out from behind the wall, crossing the well lit road quickly and silently, and clambered onto the ledge across from the balcony.
I looked around once more, still saw no one, and I dropped down lightly onto the balcony. I landed with a soft thump, and the ship shook slightly, bobbing in the water. I steadied myself, trying to get my sea legs as the boat swayed with the waves. After a moment, I could stand fairly still and I leaned down to inspect the lock on the door. It was a very difficult lock, with several pins that I would have to place. Pulling out my lock picking tools, I started to manipulate the pins, slowly, testing them out, feeling where their weaknesses were.
It was slow work, but I needed to be concentrating deeply- however, I was constantly worried I would be caught, so I wasn't having much luck. Ten minutes and 6 broken picks later I was starting to get worried- one, that someone would come along and see what I was doing, and two, that I would run out of lockpicks. I only had 5 left. I started to work again, with a sense of urgency but also an extreme caution. After two more broken picks I finally heard the clicking and sliding of the lock opening, and breathed a deep sigh of relief.
My heart was racing in anticipation, my breath starting to become short. I drew my dagger, and crouched down, preparing to open the door. I tried to look through the keyhole, but it was too dark and I couldn't get the angle right; so, I slowly twisted the handle down and started push the door open, bit by bit.
Once I could see in the room, I stuck my head in, only to jump back in alarm upon finding that the captain was sitting in a chair not two feet from the door, his back to me. My eyes widened and I leaned against the railing of the balcony, trying to slow my racing heart. I didn't have much time- the captain was bound to notice the breeze from the open door any second, so I leaned forward and with a silent prayer to the Night Mother, pushed the door open all the way, slipping silently into the room.
I stopped right behind the captain's chair, the lust for the kill causing a thrill to rise in my stomach, my breath becoming short and excited. In one smooth motion I brought my left hand up to cover his mouth to stifle his scream and brought my dagger to his throat.
"The Night Mother says good-bye," I whispered softly, and he whimpered, struggling against my grip, pulling on my hands. If someone had been in the room, they would have seen as I drew my blade mercilessly across his throat; they would have seen that as Captain Tussad fell gurgling to the floor, I was wiping my dagger on his tunic indifferently; they would have seen the red gleam in my eyes as I watched the final moments of his life, and they would have heard my soft, dark laughter as he finally gave in to the fate we all share.
Not a moment later, however, there was a banging on the door and voices from outside. I was instantly alert, my body in battle mode, facing the door.
"Captain Tussad, are you alright in there?"
I couldn't tell how many, but there was definitely more than one man out there. I wasn't one for multiple persons combat, at least not yet, so I started to panic slightly.
"Captain Tussad we heard some loud noises. Captain we're coming in there!"
I did the only thing I could do- I darted out the door and leapt off the balcony. My last thought before I plunged into the waves was that this probably wasn't a good way to break in my armor- leather and water don't mix.