Bounty Hunters and Tavern Brawls

I woke up with a splitting headache, and I began to wonder exactly what I did last night. Though I soon remembered, I had passed out from the strain of the Night Mother's voice. How in the hell other Listeners had dealt with the dizziness I will never understand, but then again maybe it was just me? I sighed as I sat up and rubbed my eyes, though I was glad I wasn't woken up by Cicero again. I stood up and walked out of my room, headed for the dining hall for breakfast. Since Festus died during the Pentus Oculatus attack, Babette and I have been taking turns cooking- we would ask Nazir to cook, but frankly we trust him in the kitchen less than the old man; and Festus' cooking was simply dreadful. Often it would taste or look more like an arcane concoction than a soup and when it wasn't supposed to be soup- we could swear it moved. I walked into the dining hall to the smell of something delicious; oddly enough, Babette seemed to have coerced Kestrel and Zany into helping her in the kitchen and setting the table. I sat down at the table just as they began serving, though I was apparently the only one other than them who was up. As expected, breakfast was a type of soup; though this one was very different from what I had come to think of as the norm. It was more of a chowder, with potatoes and corn as well as bits and chunks of bacon. I ate a tentative spoonful, and was shocked by the smooth yet shocking taste; needless to say, I downed the entire bowl quickly. Zany and Kestrel had evidently done the same as they both finished around the same time I did.

"Babette, if you had this recipe why didn't you ever give it to Festus?" I asked her, curious as to why she would have left us to the horrible fate of the old mage's cooking. She looked at me blankly before responding,

"It was my mother's to tell the truth, I was afraid Festus would botch it like he did nearly every meal. Besides, I was unsure I had remembered the recipe correctly and it required some testing to get it right." She explained with more emotion than I was used to seeing from her as she sat down in a nearby chair, not touching the food on the table. As a vampire of her age, she didn't need to eat normal food and could easily sustain herself on blood alone. I thanked Babette for sharing the recipe that seemed so close to her heart and excused myself from the table.

I walked back to my room and sat down at my desk, pulling out a list of targets that still needed to be dealt with. I had given Nazir permission to use my desk while I had been gone, and found that several of the names on the list had names written beside them and had been checked off as completed. Lately it appeared that everyone was becoming very busy, as the once long list had been whittled down to just three names in a span of three days; frankly, I was proud of my family members for taking to their jobs with such gusto! This reminded me of the Night Mother's order to get to know the current family members before choosing whom I would leave in charge when I left to start the next Sanctuary. Who to start with? Both Zany and Kestrel where awake; it said on the contract list that Yuki and Luna were currently in Markarth, and I remembered that before Cicero and I left- Donovan said he was going to make a journey to Redbelly Mine in Shor's Stone for more Ebony ore. I swear that man has a fixation on Ebony! I sighed and decided that I should probably go with getting to know Zany, as he was the first recruit and I had still yet to talk to him much. I left my room once again and headed for the dining hall, where I had last seen him; though when I arrived he was long gone. I found Babette sitting in the same chair as before, reading a book.

"Any idea where Zany has wandered off to?" I asked her offhandedly, she didn't even look up as she responded,

"He said something about going to Riften, though I was only half-listening." She said as she turned the next page of her book. Wonderful, I would have to go to Riften just to talk to him? While it sounded like more trouble than it was worth, I had a feeling that Kestrel had left as well for someplace probably even farther. I sighed as I left the Sanctuary and saddled Shadowmere for the ride to the stinking cesspool that was more commonly known as Riften.

The ride to Riften was fairly uneventful, though the bandit camp along the road forced me to take a side road that had inconveniently been overrun with trolls that traveled in pairs. While one troll was difficult enough for a lone adventurer, two at once was nearly unheard of and I was forced to run past them- finding another pair along the way; letting the guards at the door tend to the trolls as I entered the city. Knowing Zany, he was likely to be at The Bee and Barb- the tavern at the heart of Riften. I entered the tavern and had to duck immediately to evade a mead-filled flagon sailing through the air that clattered to the walkway outside after narrowly missing my head. I took a second to scan the room before ducking behind an overturned table.

"I take it someone here in Riften is on your list?" said a voice not far from me, I turned to see it was Zany- who was also hiding behind a table.

"What the bloody hell is going on?!" I shouted to him over the clamor of the bar fight. Zany seemed to laugh a little,

"Some bounty hunters were looking for me, so I caused a bar fight to slip away… though it didn't work out so well." he explained sheepishly, obviously annoyed with how his plan had gone awry. I shook my head, suddenly thinking getting to know Kestrel would have been a far better idea. I sighed and was about to stand when someone pulled away the tables we were hiding behind, I looked up to see two very unsightly looking Argonian men who seemed to have had mead spilled down their fronts. I turned to Zany and scolded him with my eyes; THIS was how he had started a bar fight? He needed to learn more tact when it came to causing a diversion. Just as one of them grabbed Zany by the front of his shirt, a member of the Riften guard entered the tavern to quell the disturbance. The two Argonians fled at the sight of him, the tavern keeper immediately pointed out Zany as the cause of the fight… and I was caught up in the middle of everything by association.

I sat in a fairly uncomfortable chair as I leaned my head back on the cold stone walls of a prison cell.

"Well… that certainly did not go as you planned now did it?" I exhaled sharply in annoyance as I folded my arms over my chest. Zany said nothing in response as he relaxed on the cot by the other wall. For causing that bar fight, though I technically wasn't responsible for it, we had been given a night in jail. They say nothing builds a friendship like a jail sentence, but I was hesitant to consider this "bonding" since Zany had been in his own little world from the moment we were thrown in here, "So are you just going to lie there like a lump? Or are you going to explain why those bounty hunters got you so rattled?" I asked him as I stomped a foot and leaned forward to rest my elbows on my knees. For a moment, I thought he had fallen asleep, but he soon huffed and sat up as he swung his legs over the side of the cot.

"Normally bounty hunters would be nothing to deal with… but they said they were working for one in particular I would rather not have the displeasure of meeting." he explained as he mimicked how I sat, though lacing his fingers with each other in deep thought. Whoever this bounty hunter was, he had to be a force to reckon with if Zany was this unnerved!

"So who is this bounty hunter anyway?" I asked him out of curiosity. He sighed and began tapping his foot, a common nervous act,

"The Marsh-Stalker; a notorious bounty hunter from Black Marsh, no one has ever escaped him for longer than a week… ever. If he is after me, then not even the Brotherhood can help me." He explained, obviously trying not to think about how hopeless his situation sounded. I was about to respond to his pessimism, but all talk ceased when the jailer came by our cell to let us out.

As we walked out of the dungeon and into the light of day once more, I stretched and had to jog to catch up to Zany who was making a beeline for the city gates. "I'm sorry Sister, but I will not be returning home." he said as we exited the city. I grabbed his shoulder to stop him from running out the gates and turned him to face me.

"Zany, get a grip would you! All we have to do is find this 'Marsh-Stalker' and kill him before he kills you!" I said with a reassuring smile, though Zany did not seem to accept my positive attitude. He held a straight face for a several minutes before he slowly began to crack up laughing. I was beginning to think Sheogorath had taken Zany's mind and looked around nervously, unsure if he had indeed cracked under pressure.

"Bahahaha! You think it's that simple?! Many have tried to kill the Marsh-Stalker, all of them failed- he is immortal!" Zany explained as he slowly returned to his senses. I began to grin maliciously, an idea forming in my head.

"So if we did manage to kill him… we would become more notorious than he was?" I asked him slyly. Zany seemed to pale, though he also seemed to understand what I was getting at. If the Dark Brotherhood were the ones to take down someone who was supposedly un-killable, our reputation would be one large step closer to being restored. While I grinned from ear to ear as I turned around, Zany face-palmed,

"We're both going to die… deranged woman. Where are you going anyway?" he muttered as he followed me; I didn't slow my stride as I continued and turned down onto the staircase leading to the waterway,

"I have a contact here in Riften who may just be able to help us find this 'Marsh-Stalker' fellow." I explained as we walked along the waterway to the door I had been looking for. I knocked once and the door slowly swung open, I motioned for Zany to stay while I entered the house cautiously. Though as soon as I crossed the threshold, an arrow was knocked and aimed at my neck- at fairly close range. The steel point of the arrowhead scraped across my neck as I turned my head slightly to see a familiar face. "Nice to see you too, Arrati." I said plainly, as the Argonian woman withdrew her arrow and returned it as well as the bow to a nearby table. She was tall, standing about 5'6" with gold eyes and small spikes along the top of her head in two neat rows- the first spike having a small gold loop attached to a coin for decoration. The one thing that set her apart from every other Argonian I have ever seen, was her scales- black as the Night Mother's heart. Arrati and I have an interesting history, one that I would rather not bother with here since it is in the past and of no importance to what is happening now.

I sat down at the kitchen table and waited for Zany to get the hint that it was safe, thankfully he wasn't a complete ninny and caught on quick.

"So what is it that you need Alyce? Who do you need me to track?" Arrati asked as she sat down with a cup of Argonian tea- by the smell of it, frankly it reminded me of turpentine with a hint of honey. Arrati isn't just a contact, she is kind of an uninitiated affiliate of the Dark Brotherhood- in other words, she is the woman I go to for help when a client doesn't know where to find the target. She knows who we are and how to find us, but so long as she gets paid… she could care less; that said, she is the loyal type and has told me of many times she was asked to find the Brotherhood and feigned unimaginable fear just to get the potential client to go away. I suppose one could call us friends, in a manner of speaking; I dont step on her tail and she won't put a knife in my back.

"What? Can't I come visit an old friend- okay, yes I have someone I need you to track. We're looking for someone who goes by the name of 'Marsh-Stalker', have you heard of him?" I began to say in a casual manner, until Arrati gave a quite the glare that seemed to say "get on with it before I get my bow". Arrati sighed at my explanation before looking to Zany with an almost sympathetic expression,

"Run afoul of the Marsh-Stalker did you? I think I may know where to find him." She said blankly, with little to no emotion at all. I thanked her and gave her the usual payment of 500 gold for her assistance as she wrote down directions to a nearby abandoned mine where she said the bounty hunter gang had been hiding out in. Zany and I bid Arrati farewell as we left her house, bound for the city gates and Lost Prospect Mine beyond.

The mine was not far from the town, nestled into the mountain to the south-east of Riften. As we entered the mine I could see small flecks of gold in the stone of the wall; it had once been a gold mine, though now it seemed to be empty of both miners and their well sought after ore. We entered the main chamber cautiously, though we were puzzled when we realized that the mine was empty.

"Now that you're out of the city, I can finally do my job." Said a familiar voice from behind us, near the entrance of the mine. Zany and I turned around in surprise to see Arrati standing in front of the passage to the only exit, her bow drawn with an arrow aimed for Zany's throat.

"You have betrayed me Arrati?! Sold Zany out to the Marsh-Stalker?" I asked her in disbelief, shocked that someone who valued loyalty above all else would do something like this. Arrati frowned,

"I am truly sorry this had to happen my friend, but the bounty on this one's head was too great for me to ignore- if I did, then people would ask questions." She said with what seemed like regret in her voice, though I knew Arrati was a master of speech craft so I doubted the emotion was genuine. I was taken aback by her words, though I knew she cared about money I always thought money meant less than friendship to her.

"You would trade my trust for gold?!" I shouted in frustration, throwing my arms out to my sides in anger. Arrati then sighed and lowered her weapon slightly,

"You just don't get it do you? I did not sell you out, for I AM the Marsh-Stalker." She said with annoyance. As soon as Arrati finished speaking, Zany broke into a fit of laughter,

"You?! The immortal Marsh-Stalker?! A nice joke little girl, though I have heard better from a madman!" Zany said through his fit of mirth. Arrati growled and readied an arrow once again, Zany immediately calming as we heard her bowstring drawn back; Zany drawing his weapons- twin scimitars that glimmered with magic- in response. The arrow released with barely a sound. Zany dodged it by stepping to the side- the arrow skipping across the empty floor of the cavern. I thought about taking part in this fight, but then I remembered that I had yet to witness Zany's potential in combat- and I stepped back into one of the two empty passages so I would be out of their way.

Arrati was just as fleet of foot as Zany, dodging his attacks with ease as she fired her arrows- which never made their mark as Zany dodged them as he had done the first. As Zany swung his scimitars I could see what kind of enchantment was obviously embedded in them- in his left he held one of flame and in the right he held one of frost. An odd combination; though I had heard that heating something then freezing it again rapidly could cause burns far more severe than flame alone and that the same could possibly work in the reverse. As I watched them, I began to count down to the moment when Arrati would get angry and draw her sword.

"Five…" I began to count under my breath, watching as Arrati attempted to take the high ground by jumping from the table against the wall to the cold coals of the brazier stand and the waterfall ledge beyond. "Four…" Zany followed her movements to reach the ledge, Arrati's gold eyes going wide as he stood before her on the ledge. "Three…" Arrati then bolted from the ledge and into the small pool below, rushing from the water as fast as she could move- firing off another arrow that this time was knocked aside by Zany's scimitar. "Two…" Never had I seen anyone give Arrati this much trouble, and she glanced at me with a scowl- knowing her reputation with the Brotherhood was also at stake. "One." I murmured wistfully as Arrati roared with rage and she drew her sword; ironically enchanted with shock in comparison to Zany's blades of frost and flame. As Arrati charged at him with fury in her eyes, I could practically feel Zany's excitement for battle from where I stood. He stood his ground with scimitars before him, and when Arrati was close enough he ducked under her sword strike to slash her with his frost blade- but did not use the flame to finish her off. Instead, he mumbled something inaudible and Arrati crumpled to the ground, seemingly unable to move; he had used a paralysis spell to immobilize her. "ZANY!" I shouted as I watched him raise one of his blades to kill Arrati, freezing in surprise at my voice; he had obviously forgotten I was even here. "She is still useful to the Brotherhood, kill her and I will kill you myself." I said coldly, seeing disappointment in what I could see of his dark blue eyes from under his hood.

"As you wish, Listener… Hagraven." He said with a sigh, the last part mumbled as he sheathed his blades; I knew he had a habit of calling me that- at least he omitted the "miserable" this time.

After a few moments, Zany's spell broke and Arrati sat on the ground in frustration.

"Zany, go wait outside please- I wish to speak with my friend alone." I said without turning to him, and waited until I heard the wooden door to the cavern open then close again before kneeling in front of my fallen friend.

"He is good I'll give him that. Now would you tell me how you knew?" She scowled as I began to cast a healing spell on her wound. I smiled,

"One of your men, he talked far too much when drunk off his ass." I said with a chuckle as I stood to help her stand. Arrati folded her arms in annoyance while I simply smiled, "Thank you again for not killing him, Marsh-Stalker." I said with a sly wink before turning to leave the mine, finding Zany standing with his hood surprisingly down- a look of shock on his face.

"She got in only one good hit, I was too full of adrenaline to even notice…" He said as he held an arrow out for me to see, its steel tip red with blood.

"The Marsh-Stalker is one of the best archers in Tamriel; I would be surprised if she didn't at least graze you." I said as I saddled Shadowmere, preparing to leave as I offered Zany a ride home; he declined quickly and began to run home… though he seemed to be limping oddly with a curious red splotch on the back of his leather pants. I shook my head and laughed as I headed off for home myself.