Hey guys, sorry for the really long wait! I'm not even sure who reads this, but I'm sure someone does! Anyway, nothing big this chapter, just Jhak and Rikke finally meeting each other again, and then Tullius begging Jhak to join the Imperials because he is Dragonborn. Oh, and some other stuff. Also, I am thoroughly mad at my backspace button. I always seem to deselect the page when I press backspace, and then I go back to the last page, and lose all my stuff! RAGE
Anywai, GO!
"Kharjo! Look at this!" Sapphire called said Khajiit over for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day. Her bag was currently full of newly acquired merchandise, and the same amount of gold that she had when she entered Solitude. They were currently in Fletcher, after recently liberating a steel dagger from a local smithy.
"They look nice, Saph. I'm sure Jhak is done now, lets go back by the castle and wait." Kharjo, who had been appointed by his brother Jha'kzar to "supervise" Sapphire, had only managed to supervise the theft, or liberation, as she called it, of items that tended to belong to other civilians. Sure, Sapphire was pretty, useful, and energetic, but even Kharjo had his limits when it came to patience. He had to admit, she was a good thief. And her armor looked a perfect fit around her waist, although he hadn't noticed that at all, not even glanced there once. Never. She and Kharjo made their way towards Castle Dour, Kharjo being a gentleman and walking behind her, not staring at the sway of her hips as she walked. Not at all.
Jhak slowly closed the door behind him, barely making a sound as he shut it. "Legate, you do realize that this crown might not even exist, and this Dragonborn might not exist either. Myths will not help us win this war. I need soldiers, and lots of them." The unmistakable voice of the man who had sent Jhak to the headsman block was loud and commanding. Tullius.
"I know that General. But think, if we had the crown and the Dragonborn, the Nords would come to our side. Please, Let me assemble some soldiers to find the crown, an-" She was cut off abruptly by the angry General.
"You stupid Nords and your stupid legends. The last Dragonborn was Martin Septim, and we all know he never had any children. The Dragonborn is gone, he or she will never be back, and the crown has probably rotted away to NOTHING" Tullius' voice rose with every word, until he was screaming at the Legate, who now Jhak knew was his Rikke.
"General, general. Be kind to Rikke. She's a Nord. Think, if the crown is real, and Ulfric gets it...? And the Dragonborn, he's real. I've met him." Jhak stepped out of the shadows after he spoke the last word. He was then crushed against the wall in a massive hug by Rikke.
"JHAK!" She screamed, and ran into him, knocking the wind out of him. "I missed you, I'm so sorry about what happened at Helgen. I should have let you go." Jhak looked at the young soldier, and realized that she was on the verge of crying. Unlike most Khajiit, who would have had to stretch up to be face to face with the average Nord, Jhak bent down, and pushed Rikke face up so that her eyes connected with his."
"It's ok, Rikke, I forgive you, you were just mad. Don't cry, please." Jhak said, worried that she would cry in front of her direct superior. She didn't care, just buried her face in his furry neck, and whispered, "I'm sorry, Jhak"
The loud cough disturbed them. "Legate, do you two need a room, or shall you introduce me to your... Lover, shall I say?" The general looked amused, but also surprised at the size of the Khajiit warrior. Rikke stood up and turned back to the general, a smile still on her face.
"No, sir, we shall find a room later, and no, he is currently not my lover." Rikke looked back at Jhak, then back towards Tullius. "General, allow me to introduce my good friend from Eleswyr, Jha'kzar, Ma-" She was cut off with a loud cough from Jhak. When she said no more, Tullius raised an eyebrow.
"What were you saying, friend from Eleswyr, Jha'kzar, then what" He actually looked mildly curious about it. Rikke opened her mouth and stuttered, and then closed it again. Jhak took the initiative, and stepped forward to answer.
The large warrior walked up to the general and put out his hand. The general accepted and gave his huge hand a shake. "Thane of Whiterun." Rikke had walked up behind Jhak and leaned into his back, resting her head onto his shoulder. She began to speak, "General, I was wondering if.. maybe I could.. well, have a week off?" the young legate had hope in her eyes as the general considered his answer.
"You look like you need it, Legate."
Jhak and Rikke held hands as they walked out of the castle. They stopped when they came around a corner to see Kharjo ad Sapphire talking quietly to each other. Jhak put a hand out to Rikke to stop her, then whispered, "Lets see what they do"
Kharjo and Sapphire had stopped sometime before the castle when Sapphire turned around and caught Kharjo staring at her ass. She cleared her throat so that he looked up, and he was glad that Khajiit fur made it impossible for them to blush. HHe spun them around and shoved her against e would have.
"Kharjy, what are you looking at...?" She whispered seductively. The effect was what she wanted, him gazing at her face, mouth partially open. The bulge in his pants were an extra, too.
"Umm... nothing." Kharjo responded. Neither of them saw Jhak or Rikke peeking around from a corner. Fortunately for them and apparently Sapphire, Kharjo had his back facing the wall and facing them, but he was too distracted to notice. Sapphire stepped closer slowly, her face pushed into his, then she grabbed his shoulders and pushed him against the wall, kissing his face. Him being a Khajiit, this didn't exactly work, but Sapphire did as best as she could.
"Really, Kharjy, nothing...?" She replied, again seductively. She continued mashing her face against his, kissing him relentlessly. Then Kharjo's instincts kicked in. He spun them around and shoved her against the wall, licking and nipping at her neck. He shoved one of his knees in between her legs, massaging her there. Sapphire started moaning, and both the onlookers stared wide-eyed. Sapphire kept moaning, and then Kharjo stopped.
"Damnit, Kharjy, why'd you stop." She sounded pissed. Kharjo shrugged apologetically, then grabbed her hand and they started walking forward. Jhak pulled Rikke into the shadows with him, so they wouldn't be seen.
"Sorry, Sapphie, but Jhak and Rikke will get here any minute, but I promise we'll get a room at the inn tonight." Kharjo said back.
Jhak stepped out right before they walked passed them, and they both yelped in surprise and jumped back about 5 feet. Jhak and Rikke burst out laughing. "Sorry, bro, but you'll have to do it on the road tonight. We're leaving for High Hrothgar now." Both Rikke and Sapphire looked confused as why they would want to visit the greybeards, but didn't question it, just started talking about random topics. Jhak and Kharjo both noticed right away, then shook their heads and said "Women" simultaneously. From his experience, women either got along perfectly, or hated each other completely. There was no grey area, and the decision was made instantly upon the first word the other woman said.
Jhak and Kharjo walked past them and each grabbed one by the wrist and pulled them along. Once they left Solitude, talking about how they met each other, some of their history, and what they had done recently, they headed towards the stables to get a ride to Whiterun, where they would stay the night.
"Jhak, why are we going to the Greybeards?" Sapphire asked the Khajiit. Jhak looked over at Kharjo, then back at Sapphire. He seemed to debate whether or not she really needed to know, then uncomfortably shifted in his seat on the carriage.
"Umm. Well, I guess first I should tell you something besides that, because you seem to be the only one in our group who doesn't know this." Jhak stopped for a moment, and after considering the words he should use, he continued. "So, you now how Skyrim has it's High King, and that he is chosen by the Moot, and is voted upon. Well, in Eleswyr, the High King is called the Mane. He or she is chosen by birth, bring born on a specific day, when the moons and stars align perfectly to create a balance of strength, agility, stealth, and intelligence. Essentially the perfect warrior. I was the Mane of Eleswyr, until I chose to abandon that rank and move to Skyrim."
Sapphire looked stun by this knowledge. She was traveling with royalty. The riches he must have back in Eleswyr would surpass all the gold she had seen in her lifetime. Now THAT would be quite the burglary. "Wow." Was all she said. While Sapphire had completely forgotten about High Hrothgar, Rikke had not.
"So, Jhak, that still doesn't answer the question about why you two need to visit High Hrothgar. Why would you want to talk to the Greybeards?" She repeated Sapphire's question. Jhak was still uncertain about answering, but he knew Rikke would take him seriously.
"I'm the Dragonborn. They summoned me." Now that really blew both of the women's minds. Whatever they had been thinking, that was not it. Rikke almost immediately reached the conclusion that Jhak had hoped she wouldn't think about.
"The Dragonborn... Tullius will promote me for sure if I can enlist you." As soon as Rikke said the words, she realized that it was a mistake. But the carriage had already reached Whiterun, and Jhak hopped off walking towards the gates. Sapphire knew that most holds did not allow Khajiit inside the walls, and was confused as to why Jhak walked towards the gate. She had thought they would be sleeping at the caravans. As she had expected, the guards stopped him from entering.
"Sorry, no Khajiit allowed in the city. Go sleep-" he was cut off by an angry glare from Jhak. "You will let me in, because I am a Thane of Whiterun, and the Dragonborn." Jhak said, deepening his voice. He looked extremely intimidating, where full Nordic carved armor, minus the helmet, and standing at his full 6"11' height
Rikke sat in the Bannered Mare, leaned back in her chair. Kharjo and Sapphire had left, "to go to bed". Hardly any chance of that happening in the next hour. Jhak had left just an hour after they arrived, because he had to deliver news to Riverwood, apparently. Uthgerd was once again boasting about how she had earned the name Uthgerd the Unbroken.
"Hey, you, Imperial Nord. I could beat you in a brawl any day!" She boasted to Rikke. The Legate stood up, and pushed her chair in, then walked forward. She had beaten quite a lot of other officers in brawls during her time as an Imperial. She could take one drunken bitch.
"Oh yeah? You want to make that a bet, Uthgerd? How about 100 gold?" She challenged. Uthgerd, of course, accepted. She stood up as well, and threw the first punch, which Rikke easily avoided, and swung back with her right hand. Uthgerd leaned back and barely dodged the hard swing. Then Rikke swung again with her left, following up with an uppercut from her right hand. Both punches nailed Uthgerd, who stumbled backwards. Quickly regaining her balance, she charged for with three punches at Rikke, and the second and third hit her, knocking the wind out of her. Rikke returned, quickly hitting her five time in the face, then leg sweeping Uthgerd onto the ground.
"Fine, fine, you beat me this time bitch. But only this time. Besides, I was a little drunk." Uthgerd complained. Rikke just shook her head, and grabbed the 100 gold.
Jha'kzar had just arrived in Falkreath and ran out of the gates, down the road. He felt like it was time for him to pay his dark family a visit, before they paid him one. The carriage driver had looked surprised when he ran up, and thrust the huge bag of gold in his face, pushing through the other people and said, "I need to get to Falkreath, now."
Jhak could just make out the Dark Brotherhood's Black Door through the trees, and it started to glow, then produced a deep voice. "What is the music of life"
"Silence, my brother" Was the Khajiit's reply. Time to get some more contracts. As he entered the sanctuary, he was a little worried that he might get in trouble for no- the flash in the corner of his eye was unmistakable. Dagger. He spun around and caught the wrist of Trikas, stopping the dagger in mid-air.
"Damnit, I thoughtI had you!" Trikas exclaimed, alerting Kailyn to the noise in the hall. She came out of her and Trikas' shared room, and looked at Jhak.
"You're back! Where have you been this entire time?!" She ran forward and hugged him, then pulled Jhak towards the table, where she and Trikas talked about where he had been. "So, you came back to get some contracts from Nazir? Well guess what! He said I get to hand out contracts now! Here, take these three. Now lets talk about where you've been." They chatted on and on while Jhak looked over the contracts. Beitild, in Dawnstar, Ennodius Papius, miller at Anga's Mill, and... Oh, just his luck. A beggar in Ivarstead.
"I can kill Narfi tomorrow, probably. I'm on my way to High Hrothgar with some friends, we are going to stop at Ivarstead right before we go up the steps." When Jhak said that, Kailyn and Trikas realized that he really hadn't told them anything about where he had been. So now they wanted to know. Kailyn opened her mouth to speak when they saw the shadow pass by the entrance to the door. The Veezara stepped in, smile on his face.
"Fellow beast-brother! It ahs been a while since we saw you, we were worried the old bitch might have gotten you!" He said, reaching out to shake Jhak's hand. The Argonian looked mean, and he was when on the job, but he was actually pretty nice around the sanctuary.
"Ah, nice to see you too, Veez, I was just about to tell Kailyn and Trikas here about where I have been, and where I'm going, but I can only stay for an hour!" Jhak reached forward and took another swig of the strong mead he was drinking. "Well, after I left to deliver news to Whiterun, I was sent on some shitty mission by the Jarl to find a piece of rock in a cave. Then a dragon attacked the watchtower, and I had literally just returned, and the Jarl sent me to go attack it." His audience was listening closely, and looked entranced by his story.
"Me being me, I killed it. The guards were all gasping and screaming like little girls when the dragon disintegrated in my direction. They kept calling me the Dragonborn, and telling me to shout." After this story, Jhak's dark brothers were very surprised, and started asking him all the expected questions, what's it like, do shouts feel good, how many dragons have you killed, what do you think the greybeards want, and blah blah blah.
This was going to be a long hour.
Longest chapter yet! I'm trying to make them longer every time, just to let you know. Again, extremely sorry for the wait, but with exams, and a recent vacation, it was unavoidable! My new story's first chapter should come out this weekend, even though I promised it for last weekend