Author's Note: And … this one's a lot shorter than the other chapters, because it was originally part of the previous chapter, and I felt like I should cut it in half.

Woah, has it been nearly a whole year since I updated this? Sorry 'bout that! I got distracted by Fable, and actually playing Oblivion, and SCHOOL OMG.

I like this part. I get to show off why a scaredy-cat like Lyssi stays with the Brotherhood. She's grown rather tough, between being a monstrous beastie and a murderess, but at her core, she's still easily shaken. Like most new Brothers and Sisters, she came because she was curious, and stayed because they treated her like Family.

Also, I know about the Green Pact. Lyssi, on the other hand, doesn't, so much.

This is a Disclaimer: I do not own Oblivion, or anything you might recognize from the game.

Nobody Important

Chapter Seven: Family

In which dialogue ensues.

By: N3k0

Her first priority was to find her spare things. The gear she kept for herself was a reminder of who she was, what she was – as if she needed yet another – but it was protection, from prying eyes and wounds alike. She knelt next to a box, flicked the latch open. She preferred to pick the lock, mostly to keep in practice; it was the most intricate contraption money could buy, and included a disfiguring, gruesome, poisonous trap, just in case.

Also, her key was with the rest of her gear, stored in an evidence chest in the Imperial City.

She found the spare set of Dark Brotherhood leather where she'd left it, folded neatly in the bottom of her chest. More, though; she found her feather-light, enchanted backpack here. It startled her; she took it from the chest, inspected it warily. When she opened it, she found it to be exactly as she remembered - the gold in it obscuring nearly everything else, a quill and some paper strapped to the side and unlikely to encounter damage - fishing through it she even found her copy of The Five Tenets. Handwritten notes were left folded in the side pockets, exactly where she'd left them. Beside her bag, there were the four paper-thin hidden knives she always kept strapped to her arms and legs, the glittering silver pendant - also a sheathed blade - she wore between her breasts, and the hidden knife that strapped around her waist to rest at the small of her back.

She even found the obvious, but comfortable, belt-dagger she favored, and the vials of poisons, potions, and ink. Her mortar and pestle were there ...

In short, every last thing that had ever been truly hers had been returned to her.

She didn't care what had happened to the stolen goods she'd been carrying – this alone floored her.

She carefully placed the weapons, making sure not to injure herself further. Her arm protested every time she moved it too sharply, and it was throbbing by the time she was done. She set the Amulet in the top of her bag, resting it atop her stash of gold.

"Foul smelling ape ..."

The Khajiit's voice, the contempt he didn't even bother to hide, rang clearly behind her.

"The Tenets keep me from killing you - be glad of that. Had your things been checked by the guards, you would have been responsible for betraying all our secrets! I was sent to retrieve your gear, to protect the Brotherhood." Lyssi winced. He was approaching a rant. "You - I do not know what Lachance sees in you, but if you ever fail so spectacularly again, I - hey!" He seemed to notice that she had taken her things and was walking away from him. He didn't bother to follow her, and she was glad for that.

She already knew how badly she'd failed.

Instead of immediately leaving the Sanctuary, though, she went to the living quarters, deciding to try a meal. She'd been able to stomach most of her own potions, and they were often made out of food. She should be able to handle the real thing, shouldn't she?

She kept her bottle of blood with her, even though it was tainted.

She listened to the orc, Gogron gro-Bolmog, boasting about his latest contract. She was a shadow - he was the opposite, preferring to bash people in the face with that axe of his.

It took different sorts, she guessed. He probably didn't get many bonuses, unless the contract involved killing everything in sight.

She eyed the orange on the table before her. She really had liked the flavor before she'd been turned, before she accepted the dark gift for what it was, regardless of its source. She wondered where orange trees even grew. Deciding that to be one of the great mysteries of her time, she pressed the orange to her teeth, piercing its skin and drinking the juice. The orc didn't even look sideways at her. She thought perhaps he figured people were people, regardless of how 'different' they might be.

Or maybe he just regarded everyone who wasn't Family as target practice.

On the other hand, Antoinetta Marie, who Lyssi guessed to be a Nord – or maybe an Imperial? - peered at her curiously. "Doesn't it taste any different or ...?" Lyssi didn't think so anyway. She wasn't sure. She'd only eaten blood, since she'd turned, and she'd had a year to grow fond of the flavor. After a moment or two, she shrugged. The woman was good enough at reading her - most of the Family was, since she didn't vocalize often. Taking the shrug as a negative, Antoinetta continued: "If it doesn't taste any different, then why doesn't Vicente like my cooking? You seem to know him better than anyone else.... "

Lyssi pulled the orange away from her mouth. Unlike the rare humans she'd killed that way, the fruit brought her no flash of remorse to see it shriveled and unrecognizable for the perfect sphere it had just been. "Garlic."

Antoinetta considered that. Lyssi watched her mull that thought over. "But it's so delicious! Are you sure?" Lyssi herself had been partial to the food, but her Sire was severely allergic. She nodded.

Talaendril sat down at the table next to the Orc. "Well hello. Our little sister eats, does she?" At Lyssi's quiet nod, the other Bosmer laughed. That was Talaendril - light hearted, quick to laughter, and piling her plate high with meat. It wasn't any wonder she and the Orc got along so well. Lyssi had seen the pair once or twice, late at night in the training room, so she knew Gogron wasn't just boasting when he said that he and Talaendril were that close. It didn't really bother her, but it was ... unique. She herself couldn't think of too many other such pairings. "I was getting worried about you! All skin and bones and teeth, you are."

Lyssi herself smiled nervously at that. It was no secret here, what she was, but she still wasn't sure how most people would respond to her 'condition.' Her Family was safe, but she'd taken to making sure her eyes were still green, and they stayed that way as long as she fed.

"Relax sister." Talaendril smiled. It was supposed to be reassuring, anyway. "What's your next contract, anyway?" Lyssi shrugged, shook her head. "You haven't taken one yet?" A nod. "You have?" She shook her head again. "Yes, you haven't decided to undertake any contracts yet?" Lyssi nodded again.

"That's unusual, for you, anyway." Lyssi felt like a doll whose head wasn't quite attached right, bobbing her head up and down like she was. "Next thing you know, you'll start talking and doing immodest things to our pet Khajiit!" Lyssi blushed, shook her head emphatically. She didn't even like the cat. Her reaction caused laughter all around.

Antoinetta Marie peered closely at Lyssi, finally asking, "So what do you plan on doing if you're not taking up any more work yet?" She considered the question, looked around the table. They were all friends. She rummaged through her pack to produce the Amulet. "By Sithis! That isn't - How did you ...?"

"The Emperor is dead."

"Dead?" This from the other Bosmer.

"Surely not! You didn't ...?" Lyssi shook her head firmly. "Then who did?" The Nord looked scared, just a little. Who could kill someone like the Emperor? Who would?

"Red-robes and conjured armor. They say, 'The Dawn is Breaking!'" Lyssi rubbed her right shoulder. That cry, and the blade that followed it, had very nearly cost Lyssi dearly. She was lucky she hadn't managed to throw her heart in the path of the blade instead.

"Wow. No name, huh?" Lyssi shook her head, and Talaendril patted her on the shoulder. "You'll find out, just so you don't have to describe them. That was almost a speech from you!"

The focus of the conversation finally left Lyssi, which she was glad for. She returned the Amulet of Kings to its place in her bag, waving her hand over it. She honestly doubted that anyone who found her would be all that fooled by a simple invisibility spell, but it was at least some protection.

"So, did you hear? The new recruit, what's his name - " Talaendril paused, considering.

A voice piped up from behind them, the hissing sound clearly belonging to an Argonian. "He calls himself Eshk." The voice belonged to Teinaava, who was late to the meal only because of the book he had tucked under one arm. It was amazing to Lyssi, how well-read the Family was. She'd always assumed murderers wouldn't care for things like that. She herself had barely learned well enough to read simple notes.

What was this about a new recruit, though? She looked around, questioningly, but everyone's eyes had turned to Teinaava, then back to Talaendril.

"Eshk, then," the other Bosmer continued. "Apparently, someone got to his kill before he could." A laugh. "Unlucky, don't you think? I heard he spent five hours just waiting for his mark to turn up."

"Feh. All of you lot, mark my words. Things like that don't happen when you just storm the place." Gogron never was much for the subtle approach.

"Guards," Lyssi offered.

The Orc seemed surprised she'd commented. "Legionnaires die same as anyone, it just takes a few more whacks to get through all that armor they wear."

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you Gogron?" Antoinetta laughed, waving her fork at him like a scolding mother, before stuffing the chunk of meat speared on it into her mouth. "Mphsh noh lih youf haven't killed plenty of them before. What's your bounty at, now? A few thousand?"

Ocheeva's quiet voice sounded from the doorway. It seemed the whole Family was intent on gathering together … but then, the sound of merriment often drew others. Lyssi couldn't believe how much she'd missed, in her childhood. "You should really learn to swallow your food, before you speak." With that, she made her selection – the remaining half of Teinaava's steak – speared it on a knife, and, as if to demonstrate her point, swallowed the thing whole. Argonians, Lyssi thought, could be as scary as Orcs.

Then again, everything could be at least a little scary.

"Ocheeva … !" Her egg-mate protested. "That was mine."

"You should have guarded it better then." A quiet voice observed from behind all of them, and Lyssi's heart leaped to her throat to hear it. Her Sire didn't normally take sustenance in the company of others – he didn't particularly care for watching them eat when he, himself, did not need to. He set a bottle in front of her, and she took it, gratefully, knowing that the dark, tinted glass contained fresh, untainted blood. He, himself, carried another just like it.

He was so thoughtful.

Lyssi hadn't thought Argonians could pout. Their faces were rather limited in their expressions. Teinaava, however, put on a good show of it, relying on body language to convey much of what his face could not. Then, recovering quickly, he reached for something else to eat.

The night continued like that, a warm, comfortable environment. Even Mraaj-Dar put in an appearance and managed to remain more or less civil, offering jokes and insight of his own.

She politely ignored him when he made cracks at her, and Talaendril lightly smacked the back of his head when he insulted Bosmer in general. He made a mocking bite at her hand, but she was far too quick for him, and flicked his nose. This resulted in an angered growl, before Vicente cleared his throat and took a long drink from his bottle, staring at them both pointedly.

A reminder that he wouldn't stand for infighting, she guessed … and of course, a reminder of what he was.

This was what it meant to be Family.

She couldn't believe she'd missed so much of this, during her short, hard life. Now that she had it, nothing would make her give it up.

Nothing.

She left the Sanctuary after the meal. Her family had contracts they had to attend to, and she had another long journey ahead of her.