Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-24449631-20140905103828/@comment-3293219-20140908134658

Nadira awoke in her cell; lay on a pile of straw at the center of a prison cell. Greenwall was one a Stormcloak stronghold, which was taken by the Imperials and then completely abandoned, after the war. The Stormcloaks saw it as a waste of man power and so, it was left to rot, prime real estate for any bandits, who happened to be looking for a military grade fortress.

This meant that they had the means to hold Nadira, the bandits held people ransom down here, on occasion, so the way that the prison was used was hardly changed, after the civil war. Despite the fact that what she was lay on wouldn’t qualify as a bed, by anyone’s standards, Nadira awoke like she was lay in her own bed at home. Her captor’s spell gave her a good night’s sleep, the first she’d had in ages…

The Breton slowly sat up and immediately noticed that she had a visitor, the same robed man, who had grabbed her, only this time he wasn’t wearing his hood, revealing his face. He took two steps closer to her cell, looking rather timid, as if he was approaching the cage of a feral dog. Nadira just sat on her straw pile, staring at him…

“Wh-Who are you? What do you want with me!?”

The Khajiit had hoped that she would have been a little calmer but she was young and probably inexperienced. He was probably her first abductor…

“My name is Ra-Jeed… I was the one who captured you.”

“Why?”

Ra-Jeed sighed and hung his head, already feeling nervous about this. He didn’t get to talk to anyone, except maybe his Master, his social skills had grown a little stale over the past year or so…

“My Master needed you, to lure Azarath here…”

“Azarath!? Do you have him to!? Where is he?”

The Khajiit raised his hands, hoping to put a stop to the bombardment of questions as struggled to process them all.

“We haven’t heard from or seen anything of him yet… As soon as he comes here, we’ll free you.”

Nadira simply swallowed in response, she didn’t like that, not one bit…

“Wh-What will you do with him?”

Ra-Jeed simply sighed, unlike his Master, he found himself caring more and more about the people that they hurt. They had lives, dreams, ideas; they felt pain, discomfort, regret… His Master was barely human, so he didn’t expect him to understand but Ra-Jeed couldn’t simply hurt someone, without looking them in the face.

“The Empire wants him… Incarcerated.” He lied as they had no intentions of taking him alive, if he did surrender, they would just keep firing arrows and spells at him, until he was dead. Goris was far too dangerous to let live and he clearly couldn’t be reformed…

<p class="MsoNormal">“You mean, you want him dead?” The Breton mumbled, looking up to the Khajiit’s face. She wasn’t stupid, far from it, she knew what Azarath was done, what he was capable of…

<p class="MsoNormal">Or at least, she thought she did…

<p class="MsoNormal">Either way, he had a dagger, hovering over his head, the Stormcloaks and the Imperials would likely kill him on sight and therefore, the Thalmor probably wanted him removed to and gods know how many other privately hired people would do the dirty work of the many parties that he had offended over the years. She wouldn’t tell them anything anyway as that’s what was keeping her alive.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Wh-What about my other friends? Did you hurt them!?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“No, I swear, I only took you and nobody saw me… I covered my tracks, so they’ll be none the wiser.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Nadira sighed and shuddered a little that should provide her some relief but to be honest, part of her wanted Emarrel to know where she was, so that she could find her and free her. Who would, if not her? Azarath? Her father?

<p class="MsoNormal">“After you kill us… You’ll leave them alone?”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Khajiit frowned; he didn’t mind her being spiteful towards things that she was obviously lying about but… He somehow didn’t like the fact that she distrusted him, as odd as it was…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nobody is going to hurt you, as soon as we… deal… with Azarath, my Master said that you can go.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Master? Who is your Master?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ra-Jeed hung his head, shaking it and scratching it as he tried to think of a nice way to say this. ‘Thalmor’ didn’t really go down well, with most of the locals and he could sort of see why…

<p class="MsoNormal">“My Master is the great Justiciar, Jorthar.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Justiciar? Y-You mean… Like a Thalmor?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes, he is a Thalmor Justiciar, from the Summerset Isles.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Nadira paused, not knowing what to make of this; she didn’t expect people as important as Thalmor Justiciars to be hunting Azarath… He was surely the work of guards or soldiers at the worst, not the secret service of the Altmeri Dominion.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Then… What are you? I thought that the Altmeri Dominion only hired Elves… Altmer.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes, they do. I’m not actually a part of the Dominion, I serve Jorthar and he teaches me magic, that is beyond the some of the Empire’s greatest teachers.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“So… You’re his apprentice then?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes, though, I’m more his…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Slave?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“What? Gods no, it’s not that bad… Like his… R-Right hand? Though that might be doing myself too much honour, either way, I stay close to him and do some important tasks like writing notes, making him drinks, going out for groceries and kidnapping pretty, young Breton girls.” He chuckled at the end of his list, it was rare that he attempted any kind of humour and… it kind of showed.

<p class="MsoNormal">''Another one? When did I become ‘pretty?’'' Nadira thought as she’d never considered herself as such, nor did her fellow villagers. They often reminded her of that…

<p class="MsoNormal">She paused and huddled up a little, thinking about her situation; this Khajiit’s friendliness was actually making this worse. It was like he had Lima syndrome or something…

<p class="MsoNormal">“What’s going to happen to me?” She asked, sternly, her eyes darted up and met his, she could see on his face, he was worried about something.

<p class="MsoNormal">“N-Nothing… If I can help it, nothing will happen. So long as you don’t anger my Master and Azarath is found soon.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“And if we never find Azarath or I decide to spit in your ‘Master’s’ face? Then what?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Then my Master may use… More ‘effective’ means to lure him out and/or ‘put you in your place.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“My ‘place?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“He’ll make every non-lethal pain nerve trigger, he might drag it out for minutes… hours… days even, depending on how angry you make him.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Nadira went cold, he could do that? Turn someone’s body against them? Make them feel pain or discomfort on a mass scale and hold onto that feeling? Days of constant pain, with no relief? It sounded like… hell…

<p class="MsoNormal">“I… Think I’ll be good then.” She muttered, pressing her forehead against her knees, knowing full well that antagonising this psychopath was the worst thing that she could do at this point, since she was trapped.

<p class="MsoNormal">She should just, bide her time…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah… That’s probably a good idea, for both of our sakes…” The Khajiit muttered, sliding a plate, with some sort of beans in red sauce on it. The Breton looked to it, feeling sort of disgusted by it, it was obviously foreign food that smelt like…

<p class="MsoNormal">Well, it actually smelt kind of good…

<p class="MsoNormal">She picked it up and carefully inserted a wooden spoonful into her mouth, it tasted good to. Upon realising this, she helped herself to a second helping…

<p class="MsoNormal">And a third…

<p class="MsoNormal">And a fourth…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Wh-What did you mean by ‘both of our sakes?” She asked, her mouth full of food, since she was so hungry.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Does he punish you?”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Khajiit glanced away, obviously checking to see if anyone was listening in, his Master had eyes and ears in all of the guards and what he was about to say wouldn’t forebode well with him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Sometimes…” He admitted, turning his attention back to his Breton prisoner.

<p class="MsoNormal">“He gives me migraines, if I screw up.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“That’s… Appalling!” She snapped, showing anger for the first time since she was captured, at the oddest of things.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Why would you put up with it?”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Khajiit shrugged, he didn’t know himself some times, like this morning, that pain was… He was still shaken by it…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, not everyone from my background gets the same opportunities as me; he took me under his wing and saw my magical potential. It’s… something that I always liked about him. Unlike most members of the Dominion, he values talent and character over race, gender or… anything that some would see as weakness.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Nadira nodded, she knew that feeling, all too well…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Besides… Even if that wasn’t true, he’s one of the only people who has a steady supply of cure disease potions.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Cure disease?” The Breton asked, somewhat intrigued by this, her village had a decent stock but they didn’t use them often. Why would one man need a stockpile?

<p class="MsoNormal">“Wh-What do you need those for?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ra-Jeed sighed and hung his head before looking back to her and shrugging, making it quite obvious that he didn’t really like talking about it but… at the same time, he sort of wanted to.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I… Get sick easily. The Altmer said that my body sometimes… ‘attacks itself,’ thinking that I’m sick. I don’t really understand it; they said that it was like my erm… What did they call them? Well, whatever they’re called, they protect me from diseases. They protect everyone from diseases, for the most part but mine sometimes attack things that aren’t diseased or sick, thinking that they are. It can make me ill, so I drink cure disease potions to control it; it seems to be working quite well.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You don’t look too bad for someone who’s sick…” The Breton pointed out, suddenly feeling a little concerned for this Khajiit. He did capture her and she’d probably slap him for that but still, he is a person, he obviously is someone of convictions.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well… You haven’t met many Khajiit, because I’m really pale and sunlight’s bad for my skin. I’m surprised that I haven’t been mistaken for a vampire, to be honest… My furs quite thin and I get rashes on my face. You can’t see them, because of the fur…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Nadira slowly pushed her plate away, suddenly not feeling too hungry…

<p class="MsoNormal">“But you’re okay, I mean… You’re walking around and capturing people, so you can’t be that sick.”

<p class="MsoNormal">   Ra-Jeed chuckled a little, seeing that she was better at it than he was…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Y-Yeah, I guess so… I’m a lot better than I used to be, the Khajiit doctors in my village didn’t think I’d see my fifteenth birthday.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“And I take it that you’re older than fifteen now?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yep, twenty three, twenty four in… A month.” He replied, with a grin, like both of them had forgotten that one was the other’s jailor. Though, they both knew, there was only one jailor and he wasn’t in the room…

<p class="MsoNormal">The Khajiit hung his head, realising that he had been gone for too long… He needed to get back to Jorthar, sooner rather than later.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I… It’s almost time for Master Jorthar’s tea… I must go.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Wait!”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Khajiit stopped to turn to her, knowing what she was going to say, they both knew that he couldn’t free her, there was now way…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Th-Thank you… For… Well, I don’t know. You didn’t have to do that…”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Khajiit smiled, giving her a nod and a pained smile, the sun shone through the window, onto her face and he began to see how scared she looked but her voice was as rock steady and calm as anyone. She was braver than he was, much braver…

<p class="MsoNormal">“I kind of did… I couldn’t let Jorthar bring you your food, now could I?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Nadira paused, her face changed once more, to a look of distress as she moved closer to the bars, pressing her face up against them…

<p class="MsoNormal">“You don’t have to do this either…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ra-Jeed paused as he thought about it, those words hit him, made him freeze on the spot, he didn’t like this either, he knew, just as much as she did that she was expendable to Jorthar. He wasn’t sure if he could live with that…

<p class="MsoNormal">“I don’t want to…” He admitted, with a sigh, closing his eyes and hanging his head…

<p class="MsoNormal">“But I don’t have a choice…” By now, his voice was but a faint whisper as he slowly shambled away from her cell, his head hung as he moved along, not stopping to look at her face. He couldn’t look at her face; he’d cave in, surely…

<p class="MsoNormal">Nadira watched as he left her, hands in his pockets, looking rather wounded by her pleas, she almost regretted it at this point. Knowing full well that he was powerless to do anything…

<p class="MsoNormal">She turned away and pressed her back against the bars, slowly sliding down them and hitting the floor, with a small bump as tears welled up in her eyes and Ra-Jeed’s voice echoed inside her head…

<p class="MsoNormal">I’m sorry…

<p class="MsoNormal">“D-Don’t be…”