The moons start to set and the darkness deepens as dawn slowly approaches, the only light the fire that flickers golden. Leaps-With-Wolves sits with her back to the fire some distance from the group, staring up at the moons as they set, Tervven sits leaning against a tree arms crossed a fowl look upon his face, Rel'ihala sits cross-legged working on stringing her bone armbands back together, and Talshaza curiously watches her.
After a few moments, the Dunmer woman speaks. "...You know how to fight. All I know how to do is run," Talshaza whispers.
Rel'ihala looks up from her task, eyes puzzled as her gaze travels from the Dunmer to her staff. "Are you not a mage?"
Talshaza shakes her head. "This staff does things. Not me."
The Imperial woman's eyes continue to stare at the staff, taking in the runes, the nature of it, and at last, holds out her hand after a brief pause Talshaza hands her the staff, and after looking at it up close for a few moments she winces and hands it back. "It does not like someone else's hands on it. I think it may harm any who try to take it," Rel'ihala tells her.
Puzzled, the Dunmer looks down at the staff and back at the other woman. "You speak as if it is alive."
"It seems...Daedric," Rel'ihala tells her, "And at the same time, elemental. As if it is a force upon its own."
A near hopeless look crosses the Dunmers face as she holds the staff, looking down upon it. "How do I even begin to know this? It...spoke to me before. Not in words but..." Talshaza trails off as if words fail. The strangeness of it all.
"Talk to it then," Rel'ihala says with a shrug.
Another frown from the Dunmer and then she rises and walks into the darkness with the staff.
The words of the two women seem like distant murmurs to Leaps-With-Wolves stares up at the moons as if they are the only thing that can soothe her troubled spine. Lost in the past, lost...everything. Even her control. "Never have I lost control. Never," Leaps hisses up at the moons. Knowing how strong her control was...before being lost in the river of time. Only a wolf for a few short years, but unlike others, she had chosen this life. Prepared for it long before the night she became a wolf and as the memories drift down the river, back before the wolf, back when she was Kal-Reiki, her eyes close.
~/~
Kal-Reiki's brothers, J'Ram-Lei and Teegiith wrestled in the marsh, muddy water splashing in all directions. Kal-Reiki watches with quiet amusement and more than a little exasperation. "Well they never take things seriously?" she says as she turns her head to her Egg-Father.
The smallest smile across his face before it fades, before the sadness that is ever-present in his eyes returns. "If Xil-Kai could see all of you," he hisses quietly.
Her claws reach to his. Xil-Kai, the Egg-mother she and her brothers had never known. A grievous sickness had swept through the tribe when they were but eggs waiting to be hatched, and she had been one of those who succumbed to it. A question forms, one she keeps to herself. She never asks about their Egg-mother, for the sadness in her Egg-father is more than she can bear, and the smallest smile...to chase that away would make her spine droop.
But ever wise, ever watchful, her Egg-father sees the question in her eyes and stills. "They take after her," he whispers."So full of life and energy. Carefree and joyful." A small tilt of his head as he regards her brothers. "She reminded me a little of how I was before..."
She takes in the rare knowledge happily without asking for more, just wrapping her claws tightly around his. "She is with the Hist," she quietly says. "But I wish she was here, too."
Long quiet moments pass before he speaks again. "...I will tell you things," he at last says. "Things you need to know." A turn of his head as he regards her brothers before he continues. "Things they do not. Come to me before you leave."
She starts at his words. She had told no one of her desires yet. No one, and yet... "You know?" she squeaks.
Another rare small smile. "You take after your Grandmother. I know you need more the Marsh. More then... scales." he tells her.
She looks down. "Will you be alright without me?" she says softly. The desires in her heart, the call of the wild...so very strong. But her love for her family is equally as strong.
His claws move to her shoulder. "Daughter, I and your Grandmother will wander again soon after as well. We...have paused long enough."
She looks up at him puzzled. "I don't understand," she says.
A glance of pain across his face. "You will soon, my little Kal. You must if you are to wander from the Marsh. Now go to your Grandmother. She's waiting for you."
Again, she starts. "She knows too!?" Kal-Reiki squeaks as she rises, her tail swishing. A tilt of her Egg-Father's head is all the answer she needs. Of course, her Grandmother knows. Both of them know everything! With another squeak, she dashes off to find her.
Kal-Reiki finds her Grandmother sitting in a large tree overlooking the marsh, her favorite spot to perch, and with practiced grace, Kal-Reiki scales the tree to perch with her, and the two sit in silence as she studies her Grandmother. The same as her Egg-father. They knew her desires, they supported her, but there was strangeness about all of it, mystery. Her Grandmother, to outsiders, would even be strange. No scales, no tail. But she was so very familiar to Kal-Reiki and she reaches up to touch the tips of her Grandmother's antlers, the Bosmer horns being so different from any Argonians she had ever seen.
A laugh from her Grandmother and Kal-Reiki lowers her hand as the moment passes into seriousness. "Be sure," her Grandmother says. "I know you have thought on it. Perhaps all your life. But take one more day. If you are sure, meet me near the diving pools tomorrow night, when the moons are at their peak." A small rueful smile crosses her face, a brief moment of sadness. "This life you want...it is hard. The world outside the Marsh is very different. And being one of Hircine's wolves will forever make you an outcast to many."
She wants to insist she's sure. But she loves and respects her Grandmother too much so she nods accepting this small request. And as her mind turns to the strangeness of her Egg-father's words, she, at last, puts something to voice, something she has wondered about for so very long. "My Egg-Father was hatched here. But...it as if he's not from here."
Unfathomable emotions cross the Bosmer's face. "Kal-Reiki," she says softly.
"Do I want to know?" Kal-Reiki responds. "He said I must know things. But my Brothers do not. Why? I...I do not understand."
"Kal-Reiki, if you want this path, if you want to venture outside the Marsh being his hatchling, you must know." her Grandmother answers. "It... will be difficult to know. But you must, if this is your path."
Kal-Reiki swallows at the grim words. Suddenly not sure she wanted to know. But knowing she must. Knowing she would take this path, for no other felt like her river. ~/~
Leaps-With-Wolves's eyes open. She had taken the wild river. And she had been told things that chilled her spine. The truth of her Grandmother's and Egg-Father's past was beyond the scope of the river she knew, so very very beyond. She had come to understand why she had to know, for her Egg-Father's... a small swallow. That is one being she must never cross paths with. She may very well be protected from him. But her river must never cross with his. A small turn of her head as she looks back at the fire. Being lost in time, the truth of her family's dark past, those things she should keep deep in her river. They were not for these strange companions of hers to know. They may swim in the same river, but the depths were left to her alone.
Talshaza sits in the grass a ways from the warmth of the fire the staff on her lap both hands wrapped upon it. The dark brings back memories of that terrible night during the mad Necromancers' war. Shadows, screams, the smell of the undead, and coppery blood. She had been able to do nothing but hide with her brother, terrified. When at last the night was over, their farm had been nearly destroyed, their parents dead. They had protected their children. Provided prey to the ravenous horde, provided a distraction so perhaps their children would live. That night, everything changed and continued to change. Nothing would hold back the flow of time, not even the desire to have things the way they had been, simple and yet peaceful. This was not simple. This was not peaceful. This...
Her hand grip the staff tighter. "I...do not know how to be anything else but this simple farmer's daughter," she whispers. "How am I to know how to fight, to use this strange frightening power? I do not know how to..." Talshaza trails off unable to say the final world, the image of the bandit being immolation by the fire in her mind, and slowly her eyes close.
~Destruction...is so simple. And so easy.~
Talshaza's eyes bolt open and she leaps up startled. Not only has a voice spoken, but the landscape has changed. No longer is it the night she knows, but a night with a fiery red sky with smoke and ash all around.
~Calm. Breath. Only your spirit is here. You are safe.~
At last, she calms, and before her a faint figure forms. Made of elemental flames and a hint of something else. Something nearly lost in the fire. "Who are you?" Talshaza asks, fear turning to curiosity.
The firey form studies her. "How to answer that? I...this... is a shard of memory, of will perhaps. I locked a small piece of myself in the staff you now wield."
"Why?" Talshaza asks.
A faint trace of a smile barely seen among the flames. "To prevent so much. But that was yesterday, and this is now. You do not face the same threats I did, nor the one I would have expected. Something else has come. A shadow across the moons, a threat as very real, and very dire as the one I faced."
"I...the staff called to me," Talshaza admits in a small whisper. "But I do not think I can do this. I am neither warrior nor mage, or any kind of hero."
Another smile, this one tinged with sadness. "I sought to escape my roots and become an exceptional mage on my own. That is all I wanted. But fate pushed me onto a harder path. Fate nearly took everything from me including my life in the end, in a way."
The young Dunmer stares right into the eyes of the fiery figure. "Do you not regret it then?" she asks.
A true smile then. "I am not a slave to a dark master, my friends whom became my family still live and the war was won. Tamriel is saved. Who would regret that? It was my choice in the end to fall. To prevent all the power I had from being used against the world I love, the world I helped save."
Talshaza's eyes wide as she takes in the words. Of just who this must be. All knew of the heroes of the Mad Necromancers war and the one who died to prevent another and she moves to speak but the fiery form holds up a hand.
"Do not speak my name, Talshaza. I am not her, but a small shard that will guild you until you no longer need guidance. For now, think on these words, Do not fear the flames, master them. Be one with the fire you have been gifted and you will never be lost, or out of control as I was. These flames once belonged to the Prince of Destruction, but I rent their bonds asunder and now, the power is yours, and yours alone. No one can bind you, you will be as free as you let yourself." she says and at Talshaza's hesitation she reaches out and lightly touches the young Dunmer's arm. "You are more than you think you are. Follow those fate has guided you to, they will become your family, your most trusted allies. When you falter, they will be there. Just as my friends were, even when I was all but lost."
The world fades to black and when Talshaza opens her eyes again she finds herself in the dark before the dawn. With a small tilt of her head, she looks back at the fire. Fate was all but overwhelming but she...was not alone.
Back in the fire's warm glow, Tervven is lost in his thoughts. Thoughts that consume him, thoughts that sicken him to his very core and so he snaps his attention to Rel'ihala and the bones she plays with. He knows Imperials. Their family has had dealings with them. This Imperial girl dresses and acts far different, and yet her voice has the Imperial Cities accent, however faint as it is. "You must be from Cyrodiil. Yet here you are, in the middle of nowhere, dressed as one of the lizards," he says.
Her head jerks up, her intense dark eyes focusing on his before they drift to her clothes. Argonian? This was... a frown crosses her face. She had wanted to blend in and not stand out. "My armor was...damaged," Rel'ihala lies. "I took what I could find. And I am NOT from Cyrodiil. I have never been there in my life."
"You must have, at some point," Tervven insists. "I know the accent. You would not have it had you not grown up there."
The Imperial's fingers tighten on the bones and she snaps them across her wrists and her eyes darken with anger. "I NEVER lived there! Maybe the other girl did, BUT I NEVER DID. I know where my home is and always have been." Rel'ihala jumps up and as the Dres starts to argue the point she hisses, "One more word and I will gut you Dark Elf!" As he falls silent she turns and stalks off into the night.
He stares after her until she vanishes then he throws up his hands. "What did I say?" he snaps as the Imperial disappears into the night. And the moment her footsteps fade his eyes dart around. No one is left by the fire. No one but him...and the dark and so he moves closer to the fire. He wants the sun to rise and banish the night for he finds he no longer cares for it. The moons live in the night. The moons drive him insane because of that accursed lizard. Slowly he holds up his hand and stares at it. No claws, no fur, but... "I deny all of this," Tervven hisses as he clenches his hand into a fist and tries to dispel his thoughts of what almost happened. The moons, the savage unnatural feeling that nearly overwhelmed him and caused him to beg a damn lizard for help. If his father ever learned of any of this... With a burst of anger, he slams his hand against the ground. "All I wanted...," he trails off unable to answer that question even to himself. He knows his rightful place was by his father's side in his proud house but... "Idiotic thoughts," he snarls to himself and folds his arms across his chest. "Fetching lizard will fix this and I will return to my house and do my fidelity duty." His eyes close as he thinks of just what got him into this mess, to begin with.
~/~Tervven's father had banished him. Why...because when ordered to learn the family business, he instead had gone chasing after common girls and then when that had not gone well, had slumped on the couch and just did nothing. It was relaxing...and it was far better than dealing with the stench of Fetchers and their fleas. All of them had fleas! He knew it! How could something covered in so much fur not? And his father, in a fit of rage, which he felt SURE he did not deserve, banished him. Forced him to go with a Dres slaving party to the mainland. And so he found himself on the accused ship, long days of seasickness followed by a wicked storm that threatened death itself, and then getting to the shore of Black Marsh followed by days of trekking through swampland on what he soon was to learn was an illegal hunt, since the Pack forbid Argonian slaves...but some Dunmer still insisted. Still paid the Dres very very well for the lizards. But it had gone so very wrong. Pack Guards had caught up to them at their base camp and a conflict that erupted into an all-out battle. Tervven had...he NEVER would tell his father this...would not tell anyone this...but he had backed away from the conflict and tripped over a lantern setting the whole camp and the brush around it to tinder. He was sure his father did not want him to DIE, so he did the logical thing and ran away back to the shore, where he swam aboard the Pack ship and hid until it returned to Deshaan.~
Tervven opens his eyes banishing the memories away. "Damn you father," he mutters under his breath. "If you had not thrown me out, I would have never found this cursed fate." The lizard must cure him. And then he would return home. Surely he had suffered enough?
Away from the fire and in the cool of the night Rel'ihala at last calms and she slumps to the ground pressing her head against her knees, her hands to cool dirt. "Damn it," she whispers. "Damn you girl. Why are your memories in my mind? Why do they plague me? I was happy back at home. I was strong. I was what I should be, not...lost like this." she falls silent and closes her eyes as fragments from the dreams that started not so long ago overwhelm.
~/~Darkness and then light as the dream returns in such vivid detail. More of a memory than a dream, but it is not her memory. It is the memory of a little Imperial girl full of softness and innocence. Nothing like Rel'ihala at all. Why does she have memories of another girl in her mind? And with that last thought, all that is Rel'ihala is swept away as the dream takes over utterly.
The little girl bursts from her room and runs down the stairs at breakneck speed, the front door the only thing in her vision, and the shadow of a man who pauses at her frantic footsteps. "Daddy! Don't go," she breaths as she arrives at the bottom of the steps near breathless.
He turns to her then, his Imperial armor shining in the lantern light, his helm in his arms, his grizzled face regarding her. "Little Nelina," he says as he places the helm on a nearby table.
She runs to him and leaps, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck and her face buried in his chest as she sobs. "Don't go!" she says again.
He holds her for long moments then speaks. "I have to my little Nelina, but I will return. I always do, do I not?"
She moves her head back to look into his eyes. "Promise?" she asks.
A small smile from him. "I promise," he answers and then places her on the ground a hand on her head. "You are growing up so fast, Nelina. Not such a little girl anymore, are you?" As a woman walks from the kitchen he glances at her. "I know you'll be a big girl and protect your mother," he says as he picks up his helm and turns to the door, and then looks back at her. "You promise right?"
She looks up at him solemnly and nods. "I promise Daddy."
Her mother comes and looks at her father and the two walk outside, the door closing. Nelina stares at it for a few moments. She's used to her daddy leaving. He always comes back. But even as a little girl she can see how worried her mother has been this time. How uneasy everyone is. And of course, they won't tell her why. And so she moves to the kitchen and creeps upon the window sill quietly opening it as she listens into things perhaps little girls should not.
"You cannot promise her that," her mother says.
Her father stops and turns his head back, eyes full of warmth yet hints of seriousness. "I always return," he says gruffly.
"It is different this time. You know this," she answers.
Silence for long moments and then he turns and cups her face gently with his rough hand. "I know. The rumors I am hearing..." a frown across his face. "This... I am no longer certain this is the Empire I know. Yet I must still serve." She leans into them and quiet moments pass before he speaks again. "If things go bad, gather all our family and flee the city. Our country home should provide refuge if the worst comes to pass."
She closes her eyes and nods silently and he drops his hand and turns. "Promise me something," she quietly says and he pauses. "Promise me you will do the right thing. Not for the Empire, not even for us, but the right thing. No matter what it costs."
His head lowers slightly. "I promise," he says gruffly and then walks down the street.~/~
Rel'ihala's eyes open and she stares into the night. Confusion wars with bitter rage across her face. "I did not ask to have another girl's memories in my head," she hisses. "Why?" The night has no answer and she sighs helplessly and then looks back at the fire. Was it truly a good idea to go with these people? It could not be. But what other choice was there? But beyond that, there was one thing she knew. These people... she could not, would not tell them about these dreams. And she would not mention where she was from. She would travel with them until another solution presented itself.
Far away from the warm fire under a grove of trees, Licks-Dagon-Horns stares at the distant fire. A portal briefly opens and Stratos Firn emerges to stand by him. A moment of silence and then the mad Breton speaks. "Too many secrets. They will gather like moths before the flame then scatters like angry wasps." Licks turns his head to regard the Breton and then tilts his head in question but Stratos shakes his head. "Let us see if they gather or scatter first. Let us see what the butterflies tell us about this." He turns and opens the portal, and the two walk through to rejoin Books and Cheese.
Licks moves right to his fellow Argonians and stares at both of them and then a quick gesture with his claws.
Cheese looks utterly baffled but Book's perks up. "He wants us to go to the Hist. To..." a look on Book's face and her tail starts to swish as she hisses, startling Cheese.
Stratos laughs and spins in a circle before leaning against the wall. "He wants your secrets," he says with a smirk. "And to show you his."
Cheese slowly blinks and looks down. "I think mine has bad things on them. And I do not think I remember the Hist."
Stratos snaps his fingers and a portal opens. "I'll show you mine, you show me yours. Clothing is optional," he says happily and walks through the portal.
Licks looks greatly startled. Either by what Stratos said or by the implications.
Books giggles. "Non Argonians should not lick the Hist. He's going to lick the Hist! Lick the shiny sap!" she says and then bolts into the portal followed by Cheese and Licks.