Chapter Thirteen: Cracking the Shells
The sun began to dip down below the trees in the horizon, shadows playing across the small camp beside the White River. Hulgar shivered slightly in the cold evening air, tossing another log onto the fire. Anjaarra was still asleep but she kept falling in and out of sleep. His dark plum eyes constantly glanced over at her, his eyebrows constantly furrrowed in worry.
How is it that I came to hate people like this but yet I'm falling for one? Hulgar asked himself, sighing quietly as he looked back at the fire. He seemed so confused about the whole ordeal. The Nord closed his eyes and hoped to clear his mind, listening to the soft breeze and the birds chirping their final songs before the moons rose in the sky.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Anjaarra whispered under her blanket. Hulgar's head snapped over to her. When did she wake up, he thought as he watched her slowly look over at him. "The sky is so beautiful here, don't you think?" She asked him, her eyes soft and clear. The Nord stared at her for a moment before smiling and nodding.
"Yes, it is," He said quietly before staring up at the sky. The sun had dipped below the trees, showing the brightening outlines of the moons. He heard Anjaarra breathe in a deep breath of appreciation as she stared up at Secunda and Masser.
"Anjaarra?" The Nord said quietly, looking over at her again. Her bright orange eyes shifted to look over at the man.
"Yes, Hulgar?" She said, slowly sitting up and holding the blanket tight around her. Hulgar watched her for a moment before clearing his throat.
"Um, I was wondering, why do the Khajiit praise the moons so much?" The Nord asked. Anjaarra tilted her head to the side, thinking over his question. Her tail flicked slowly behind her as her eyes were glazed over with thought.
"Well, it helps determine what form the Khajiit will take when their born." Anjaarra told him, her glowing eyes glancing back up at the moons again. Hulgar did the same before looking at her with a questioning look.
"Forms? What do you mean?" He questioned, his thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Anjaarra smiled at his puzzled face before explaining.
"Yes, forms, or well, more like different breeds. There are seventeen different ones," Anjaarra explained. "There's the Pahmar, the Pahmar-raht, the Senche, and the Senche-raht. These four breeds are born while Masser is in its full moon phase but Secunda is in its different moon phases. Does that make sense?" Anjaarra asked after she was done explaining. Hulgar nodded slowly, starting to understand.
"Yeah, I think I get it. But what about the other breeds?" He questioned. Anjaarra smiled and waved her hand in the air to motion for him to calm down.
"I was getting to that, don't worry. Now these next four breeds are born under Masser's waxing phase. There are the Cathay, the Cathay-raht, the Tojay, and the Tojay-raht." Anjaarra ticked each breed off of her fingers as counted, her ears perked in odd fashion as she tried to think of all of them. "And there's the Ohmes, the Ohmes-raht, the Suthay, and the Suthay-raht. Their born under Masser's new phase. The Alfiq, the Alfiq-raht, the Dagi, and the Dagi-raht are born under Masser's waning phase." Anjaarra took a deep breath and dropped her fingers when she was finished explaining. Hulgar's head was spinning with all of the new information, his face contorted with puzzlement.
"Wait…" He finally said, the confusion leaving his eyes and looking over at the cat-woman. She looked up at him. "That was just sixteen. I thought you said there was seventeen?" He asked her. Anjaarra's eyes lit up with realization.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot! There's also one breed that is so rare, only one is born at a time and only when the three moons are aligned." The cat-woman explained. Hulgar stared at her before looking up at the sky, seeing only two moons.
"But I only see two." He told her. The cat-woman nodded her, watching the Nord with her bright eyes.
"They say that only when Masser and Secunda are aligned that the third moon appears from the darkness. When that happens, the Mane is born and he brings peace to Elsweyr. Or so the legends say." Anjaarra said quietly, her tail flicking lazily behind her and her orange eyes looking over at the fire. Hulgar stared at the fire then at her.
"Which breed are you, Anjaarra?" He asked her, seeing her ears flick up at the curious question. Her eyes looked up at him before a grin crossed her feline lips.
"I'm a Cathay. We're the more common breed here in Skyrim and Cyrodiil, though that's not to say you won't see one of the other breeds outside of their homelands. Like S'Baadar was a Cathay-raht." She said quietly, only realizing afterwards that she had mentioned her late husband's name. Hulgar's eyes light up at the name.
"S'Baadar? Who was that?" The Nord asked the cat-woman. She diverted her eyes away from the Nord, speaking in a quiet tone.
"My husband…" Hulgar barely heard the whisper but he knew that he was probably dead if she never spoke about him before. A sigh slipped through his lips as the Nord turned his plum eyes to the low-lying fire. The two sat in silence for several moments before Anjaarra stood up, the blanket still wrapped around her tight.
"Where you going?" Hulgar asked her as she started to walk away. She stopped and looked back at him over her shoulder.
"To relieve myself." She said simply before turning away from him and walking away into the bushes. Hulgar stared at where she had disappeared for a moment before staring at the fire. It was starting to dwindle down pretty low and he knew that he would have to get some more firewood soon.
I'll wait for the cat to come back, Hulgar thought to himself as he leaned back against the rock. His mind shifted to the name that Anjaarra said. S'Baadar. It was obvious that he was a Khajiit, Anjaarra had even said so. But Hulgar knew that he had heard that name before, it sounded so familiar. Maybe she'll open up a bit if I soften her up, the Nord thought, a grin playing across his lips as the bushes rustled. Hulgar grabbed for his war axes but saw that it was only Anjaarra coming back.
"Feel better?" The Nord asked. The cat-woman only rolled her eyes, dropping the blanket that was wrapped around her and grabbing for her leather cuirass. She slipped it back on, her fingers playing over the bite marks before sitting down across the fire from Hulgar.
"Anjaarra?" He said, looking at the Khajiit over the licking flames of the fire. She didn't look at him but her ears perked up as if to tell him to continue. "How did you meet your husband?" This time the cat-woman looked up, a mix of emotions clouding her usually bright eyes.
"Why?" There was a bitter tone to her voice but Hulgar didn't take it personally. He knew that he would speak that way too if someone asked about his sister. The Nord shrugged at her question.
"I'm just curious is all." Hulgar said quietly. Anjaarra didn't say anything, she only looked back down at the fire. It seemed to frantically lick at the air and grass around it as it tried not to die out, its flames loosing heat as it started to into burning coals. Not seeing that she was going to make a move to speak any time soon, Hulgar stood up and grabbed his war axe. He hated using his war axe as a wood axe but the latter was too heavy to carry around all the time.
The Nord walked away from the dying campfire, walking down the road a few feet to a fallen tree. He had already cut off most of its branches earlier but there was still some decent wood that could be used for the fire. He chopped away at the remaining branches with his axe before returning with a large armload of wood. Anjaarra was still sitting quietly in front of the now pile of burning coals, only a single flame existing. Setting down the wood, Hulgar placed a few branches around the flame, watching the flame catch and slowly start up again.
"Falkreath," Anjaarra said quietly as Hulgar sat back from the fire. He looked up at her with a confused look, his mouth opening to ask her what she was talking about but she spoke again. "I met my husband in Falkreath when I first came here." She explained. Hulgar stared at her, nodding slowly.
"He didn't come here with you, then?" The Nord asked. Anjaarra didn't move for a moment but she eventually shook her head.
"No, he had made his way here after the Great War ended. I came about ten years after him." The cat-woman's bright orange eyes glanced up to look at Hulgar before she continued. "He had ran into me in the market when he tried to get away from a group of Nords." A faint smile crossed her lips as she continued her tale. "He had cheated in a game of cards and won all of their money and they were going to beat it out of him. But he ran into me and brought me into the mess. But if he hadn't run into me that day, I wouldn't have…" Her voice trailed off, tears starting to cloud her eyes. Hulgar watched her sadly as she turned her head away and wiped away the tears.
"I know what it's like to lose someone you love," Hulgar said quietly after sitting in silence for a minutes. Anjaarra looked up at him, pinpricks of tears still clear in her eyes. The Nord stared back at her for a moment. "My sister was taken from me a few years back from the Thalmor." Anger and hate crossed his face before it softened with recollection. "She would never talk during the day, but I remember always hearing her talk and sing while the moons were still in the sky." It was Hulgar's turn for a small smile to cross his lips as an image of his sister singing and dancing crossed his mind.
"She always thought that there were bad people watching her during the day and that she was only safe at night. So I would wake up real early just so that I could watch her dance or listen to her sing." Anjaarra watched as Hulgar talked, a small smile crossing her lips as she listened to him. "She also had this little stuffed cat that she would sing to and she would dress it up and take care of it." The Nord explained, his face filled with bitter sweet bliss, a tear welling up in his eyes. He let out a mighty sigh before clearing his throat, his cheeks flushing slightly.
"S-sorry… I must sound like a rambling fool," The Nord apologized, glancing up at Anjaarra. She smiled and shook her head.
"No, you don't. I think its real nice of you to tell me about her," The cat-woman said, her orange eyes locking with the Nord's plum ones. They both stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Anjaarra flicked her ears in an embarrassed fashion and looked away. Hulgar's cheeks flushed again and he looked away, clearing his throat again.
"Well, um…" Hulgar struggled to think of something to say but nothing seemed to click. Anjaarra stared at him before glancing over at a map that was sticking out of the Nord's knapsack.
"Did you have a plan yet?" She asked, gesturing towards the roll of paper. Hulgar looked at her then at the map.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Hulgar grabbed the map but didn't unfurl it. "Do you know what blood-kin means?" Anjaarra cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner.
"Blood-kin? Like what Orcs say to outsiders?" Anjaarra asked. Hulgar shrugged at the Khajiit.
"I guess, I don't know." The Nord unfurled the map and showed the cat-woman the annotation at Dushnikh Yal. "See, Gro-Gluk had written down something about becoming blood-kin. But I have no idea what that is." He explained, looking over at Anjaarra. She shrugged this time.
"I have no clue. Maybe they can tell us what it is if we go there." She suggested to him. Hulgar looked at the map, nodding slowly to himself. That wasn't too bad of a plan. The Nord grinned and looked at Anjaarra.
"It sounds like a plan."