Warders

27th of June, 1996.

Harry finished packing his bag. He was heading off to Egypt with a group of warders. Winky was staying behind to look after Remus and Leoline. Harry was glad he had invited Remus to stay with him. If nothing else it gave Winky something to do.

"Heading out now? Remus asked. He was sitting in the kitchen next to a very messy Leoline.

"Yes, we're off this evening," Harry said.

"That's nice," Remus said. "Can I invite Chiara and Adam over with little Amber?"

"Go ahead," Harry said. "I know them well enough to add them to the wards. Just give me a moment." Harry looked off into the distance for a moment. "There we go," he said. He bent down and kissed Leoline on the forehead. "Take care of your dad while I'm gone," he said.

"Remember to have some fun," he told Remus.

"Don't spend all your time working," Remus said.

"I'll do my best," Harry said. "Love you guys."

"See you when you come home," Remus said.

Harry headed out of the house and switched to Kato. He apparated to the private apparition node in Gringotts. Manoeuvring through Gringotts got easier and easier the more he did it. He loved the Dwemer-made halls. It was as close as he could get to Skyrim and thanks to healer Green it no longer hurt to think that way. He stepped into the great dining hall. It wasn't in use at the moment. The only people there were the ones he was supposed to meet. Five goblins were sitting together. Kato recognised two of them as his students, Ogden and Koss. The other three were unknown to him.

"Master Jora," Kato said.

"Ah, there you are, Master Kato," Jora said. "Good, now that we are all here we can get started. Does everyone know each other?"

"I'm unfamiliar with our two friends here," Kato said as he motioned open-handed towards the two Dwemer he didn't know.

"This is Master Vekk and Healer Syn," Jora introduced them.

"A fellow healer that is good," Kato said.

Jora looked confused for a moment before she looked through her files on Kato. His list of merits was longer than she had thought. "Yes, Syn is our main healer for this expedition," she said.

"Certainly," Kato said.

"I head our expedition and I am a Master Warder and a linguist. That means that I know at least ten languages."

"Vekk is our head warder. Ogden and Koss are his most prominent students."

"They are also my students," Kato said.

"I had them learn Dragon tongue under you. It is a skill that will most certainly be useful for them," Vekk said.

"I'm grateful that someone thinks so," Kato said. "I'm guessing that I'm coming along as a human liaison and jack of all trades then."

"Judging by your credentials it would seem that way. You also speak two magical languages both Dragon-tongue and Parseltongue," Jora said. She turned to the other Dwemer. "Does anyone here have any issues with Master Kato?" Jora asked the group. "Please bring it up now."

There was a deafening silence for a while before Jora nodded. "Good. Now we're going to Egypt to aid our allies Clan Pilangt. They have uncovered a new ruin and need some extra hands. We will work together with a curse-breaking team when we get there."

"Humans or Dwemer?" Vekk asked.

"Most likely both," Jora said. "I haven't received any additional information. We are going there and we'll do our job. We have been promised for two weeks. After that, you may stay if you want to, but you don't have to." She looked down at her notes. "I think that is all," she said. "Remember that clan goes first." She brought out a portkey and everyone grabbed onto it.

Jora counted down.

The room started spinning.

When they landed it was instantly warmer. Kato activated a cooling array and applied a powerful sunblock. He did not want to burn. He shielded his eyes as they left the arrival tent. The sun beamed down on them and the sand moved aside as they stepped on it.

They followed Jora to a larger tent. She headed into a room and let the foreman know they had arrived. "Dunkan is the head of the team. He is a good man," Jora said as she came back out. "We'll meet up with them tomorrow. For now, we have been assigned rooms and should make ourselves at home." She turned to Kato. "The humans are housed apart from the Dwemer. You are technically both so it is up to you where you stay."

"I can house with the other humans," Kato said. "It will be calmer for all of us."

"Good that is most likely true. Clan Alfknif embraces you but there are goblins from many clans here," Vekk said. "A wise person will try to adapt to his situation." He nodded approvingly.

"Then you can head to blue twenty-five," Jora said. "You will be sharing with a number of other people, but you will have your own room, just like us."

"Sounds good," Kato said. "See you tomorrow morning bright and early." He headed off towards the blue tents and looked for number twenty-five. "Anybody here?" he called out as he entered. He got no response. The inside of the tent looked like a rather nice living room with a wooden floor and old-fashioned furniture. There were several doors leading to private rooms. Nameplates marked who lived there. Kato chuckled. It would seem that he was sharing a tent with Bill Weasley. That would make things easier for him. He picked the only empty room and added his name to the door. He unpacked the things that he wouldn't need from his bag. Then he took a look around the tent. There was a bathroom with stalls both for toilets and showers. There was a smallish kitchen that seemed to be fully functional and Kato figured he could make some food. He just needed to find someplace to buy groceries first. He headed back out again and wandered around for a bit. There seemed to be some kind of produce stalls, but he guessed it was better to show up in the morning for those. He did find some spices and rice and some canned meat and vegetables. He might as well stock up on some good things. He found some canned fruits and got some sugar. He felt like pie. If he was right then Bill and the other people he shared the tent with would be back that evening. If he was wrong, he would have food for the next day ready. He smiled as he started working. These were things he would have baked with Katla and Rashall.

"Hey, do we have a new roomie?"

"We do?"

"Yeah, unless one of you has a significant other, over."

"I was going to, but not until the new project is breached," Bill said.

"Who is Kato Peverell?"

"Kato?" Bill said.

"Yeah, it says so on the door."

"Isn't that the guy with the Cure for Werewolves?"

"Kato is a friend of Fleur's," Bill said. He walked into the kitchen. "Hey Kato," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"I am a Warder among other things," Kato said.

"Oh, you are part of the Alfknif team?" Bill said.

"The only human on the team," Kato said.

"We were told only members of the clan were coming," a young woman with bright blond hair said as she joined Bill in the doorway. "I'm Jena by the way."

"Kato, and yes only members of Clan Alfknif came," Kato said.

Jena's eyes widened. "That means you are a member of the Clan that is like unheard of," she said.

"I am a member of Clan Alfknif," Kato said. He opened the oven up and pulled out two pies. "I hope you guys are hungry," he said.

"Are you kidding?" Jena asked.

"Kato is an excellent cook," Bill said. "Let's get cleaned up. You won't want to miss this." He grabbed Jena and they headed back out of the kitchen.

Kato hummed as he kept pilling food onto the table. Another guy walked into the kitchen. "Whoa, that's a lot of food," he said.

"We'll be on site for several days so I figured I'd make us some food," Kato said. "The goblin pallet is a bit different from ours so I figured we could use some of our own. I can cook on site too, but it is always nice to have something to just grab."

"Sweet, man."

Kato started packing food away for the next few days. Maybe he had gone overboard. He smiled at Bill as he came back.

"This looks amazing," Bill said. "So, you are joining us?" He sat down and piled up food on his plate.

"I am, yes," Kato said.

"So you have met Jena and Nicolai," Bill said. "We're on the team that is going. I don't quite know what goblins are going, though."

"Jora told me Dunkan was the team leader," Kato said.

"Yeah, but there are a lot of goblins Dunkan could bring," Nicolai said.

"Not really though," Jena said as she sat down. "We're short on people, that is why they asked for help from Clan Alfknif."

"Hope he can get some good people," Jena said. "Some of the goblins are a mess to work with."

Kato didn't comment. He knew that goblins often were hard to work with when humans didn't show them respect. He figured he might have to run interference. He didn't mind so much. He could teach other humans how to handle Dwemer. It seemed that he had cemented his existence with the humans on the team at least. Everyone seemed quite happy with the food.

"So you know Kato, Bill?" Nicolai said.

"He was at Fleur's place last summer when I went to see her," Bill said. He looked at Kato. "As I understand it, the Delacour family basically adopted him for some reason."

Kato chuckled. "It's because I'm an orphan, Bill," he said. He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Not that it matters," he said. "I never knew my parents and my sister raised me." He could see how the condolences died on their lips. He didn't need to hear it.

"Well, I guess we should head to bed," Jena said. "We most likely have a lot of rough days ahead of us." She stood up and headed into her room.

28th of June, 1996.

Kato was the first one up the next morning. It was chilly outside, but he knew that would change as the sun rose higher. He took his morning run around the camp. He was doing his best to learn where things were located. He didn't want to have to ask around unless he had to.

Kato wasn't alone on the makeshift streets. Many Dwemer and humans walked around getting things ready for the day before it got so hot they would need spells. He returned to his tent and started preparing breakfast as Bill and the others got out of bed and started getting ready.

"You are going to spoil us rotten, man," Nicolai said as he sat down by the table. "How are we gonna survive without you after this?"

"Like you survived before this," Kato said calmly. He went and fetched his bag so he could pack the food away. "We should head out," he said. He walked over to the tent opening and waited for a moment.

Bill joined him. "We might as well go ahead," he said. "They will catch up."

"If you say so," Kato said.

They walked together in silence to the meeting place and settled down by a table where the Alfknif Dwemer sat together with a few others that Kato didn't know.

"Master Dunkan," Bill said with a nod of his head to the team leader. "Master Norgu. I'm surprised that we managed to land you for this I thought you were deep in that Pharaoh's tomb."

"My apprentices can finish up there," Norgu said. "This seems like a new exciting dig."

"I'm glad to have you along," Bill said.

"I take it your team is joining us," Norgu said and Bill nodded. "Good," he said. "Then who is this?" he looked at Kato with dark gleaming eyes.

"I'm Kato Peverell of Clan Alfknif. It is an honour to meet such a renowned Master of his craft," Kato said.

"Ah the human that impressed our cousins so much he was allowed to travel through the Pits," Norgu said. "You carry the dragon with you?"

"Qozul is always with me," Kato said. He reached up to his collar and Qozul stuck his head out. "There are geinne, ones who wish to admire your scales here, little one," he said.

"Qozul can fly around?" Qozul asked.

"Go ahead," Kato said. The goblins watched Qozul as he took off from Kato and grew in size as he flew around the tent.

"Truly a beautiful little one," Norgu said. "A wondrous find."

"I hope there are more like him somewhere," Kato said.

"Understandable," Dunkan said. He watched the dragon fly around for a little bit before getting back to business. "I have split us up into three teams." He placed a note down. "Norgu you will have Sif, Ogden, Gareth and Kato with you."

"Gareth Wild," Norgu grunted.

"Is it going to be a problem?" Dunkan asked.

"Not really," Norgu said. "I'm sure Kato and I can handle it."

"Good," Dunkan said. He listed off the other teams and looked at everyone gathered. "Two teams will be down in the dig at a time. The third will handle the base and we will switch positions. The people up at base are in charge of food for everyone. We'll eat at set times. We will switch out the teams at meal times and everyone will sleep at night," he said. "I will not hear any arguments about this."

"With three teams the same people will be in charge of the same meals each day," Kato pointed out.

"True," Dunkan said. "Do you have any preferences as to when you want to be on kitchen duty Mr Pevrell?" He was grinning.

"Not necessarily. I just wanted to point it out," Kato said.

"Each shift is four hours long," Dunkan said. "We start at seven in the morning and end at nine in the evening."

With introductions and timetables over and done with, they headed out of the tent. They would have to travel to the site on foot. They gathered their people up and approached the stables. On foot didn't mean they were walking thankfully. Several camels were led out for them. The camels were laden with supplies. "There are too many of you," the stable master said gruffly. "I don't have more camels than this. Three goblins or two humans per camel."

Kato walked past the stable master as he spoke. There were two beautiful horses in the stable. He walked up to a dark brown stallion. "Hey handsome," he said in Tamrielic. "Want to go out for a run?"

The stallion neighed impatiently. Kato smiled and walked back out. "Can I borrow the dark brown full-blood?" he asked. "He seems eager to go out for a bit."

"Can you ride?" the stable master asked.

"Yes," Kato answered.

"Let me see you lead him out," the stable master said. "He doesn't accept many people."

Kato nodded. He walked back in and led the horse out. He didn't need a saddle or reigns but he put the reins on the horse just so he would be easier to transport back. He lifted himself up on the horse's back. "What is his name?" he asked.

"Obsidian," The stable master said.

"Well, Obsidian," Kato said. "How about you and I go on a ride together." He smiled as Obsidian stepped back and forth impatiently before the horse started trotting. Then he switched from a trot to a full gallop. The caravan of camels followed behind them at a more sedated pace. Kato laughed. He was considering getting horses for Ennerdale and he probably would have to. He loved riding too much not to. He would wait for now though. What was the point in buying horses when he wasn't home to enjoy them? He did look forward to teaching Leoline how to ride one day though.

Kato steered Obsidian back to the caravan. "There is a sand bank incoming. Do we have much further to go?" he asked.

"Too far to make it," the caravan leader said.

They stopped and pulled up a temporary shelter. They were all grateful for magic when the wind rolled over them. Kato dug down in his bag and made sure everyone had something to eat.

"The fact that you plan ahead will make you many friends," Norgu said as he ate a meat pie.

"I try to make sure to plan accordingly. Food will always be eaten," Kato said.

The wind blew through the night. Kato was up early the next morning and helped the caravan leader dig them out. He walked over to Obsidian and made sure that the horse was okay.

"We should make it there today."

"Good, are you heading back afterwards?"

"Yeah, Boss will want the camels back."

"That is understandable."

They ate breakfast and watered the animals then it was time to pack up and head out.