#also thesis

[aviator-capricorn]

brain empty, have this guy

[fireintheforest]

Behind the Blue: chapter 4, part 1

Toivon’s musings were cut short when he walked out of the Den and went back down the alley passages amidst the roots of Elden Root. Magic spheres, mostly in warm reddish colors, gave some illumination to the otherwise dark tunnels that he traversed until one sharp turn to the left guided him back to the exterior of the roots, in the south end of Elden Root. Looking around, all that was surrounding him were some mer of the night chatting customers, an open bar that had some drunk people outside singing, a couple khajiit muttering amongst themselves, and a cart of street food where Marcello was receiving a little package from. Toivon approached the stall, his footsteps announcing his approach and making Marcello turn to him.

“So we got everything we need, and they got crab legs.” He said proudly, motioning to the tired-looking Bosmer on the stall. He just gave Marcello a bored glance.

“Awesome.” Toivon replied, “And we might have Saufinril.”

“Might?” Marcello’s smile dropped as they both walked away from the stall, “That’s not good. ‘Might’s not good. Didn’t you convince him? Talk him into it?”

“Normally I would,” Toivon said as he grabbed one of the crab legs from Marcello’s parcel and took a bite of the soft flesh that poked out of the shell, “but it seemed like that would just push him away. I told him we’d wait for him ten minutes, then leave. That’ll give him the option of joining us.”

“What?!” Marcello stepped in front of Toivon, “What if he doesn’t join? What if he decides not to come with us?”

“Then it’s on you to go be pretty at the party.”

“Toivon that’s not funny. We need him in-” Marcello lowered his voice and moved impatiently, “We need him in this heist!”

“First of all, I’m well aware we need his help. But like I said, our friend is a little…how do I put this gently… nervous, I guess. The money will be hook enough for now, and we know it’s a lot of money.”

“But what if it isn’t hook enough?” Marcello insisted

“We haven’t needed Saufinril in the past, have we?” with that, Toivon tore a piece of the crab’s leg shell and ate the meat, followed by Marcello and his parcel, to the inn.

 The sky was painted a light blue with streaks of pale yellow by the time the Den had closed, plates and cups were taken back to the kitchen to be washed, floors were mopped, tables and chairs were set up for tomorrow and people abandoned the first and second floors in favor of the private bedrooms in the third, where jewelry was taken off, baths were taken, hair was untied and brushed, makeup was removed, gossip was shared, down time was indulged in, and where the chatter and sometimes pearls of laughter now and then came to the fourth floor, where Saufinril was currently in. He was sitting in his bed, legs crossed underneath him, staring at the bag he’d begun to pack but was halfway (or, more accurately, one-fourth) full as he pondered with his gaze lost. 4000 Septims. Taking into consideration the distance they’d have to travel from Valenwood, the event the heist was taking in, the net worth of the jewel and, assumedly, the skill of all three party members, it was alright. If he did decide on doing this, he had to let Lillandril and Rialas know. Ugh, he also would have to pack up upscale things. Maybe if he raided Muraz’s, CC’s and Amara’s clothes he’d find something. Maybe Marci’s or Huuhna’s, too.

He let himself fall on the mattress. Obviously, the question of this being a trap to him hadn’t skipped past. But if he’d asked if this was a trap to him, then Toivon would know he was suspecting of him. That’s why it was easier to play being halfway sold on the idea and say the trap could be for all of them instead of revealing that he was not sure at all on the idea (even if he had just now considered borrowing clothes from Amara). But if it was a legit thing, then 4000 Septims would come nicely. He didn’t NEED them but…you know…4000 Septims.

He didn’t pinpoint the exact moment he fell asleep, but he knew precisely the moment when he woke up, judging by the leathery hand that was touching his ear. The immediate reaction from fear was to kick their stomach, which made the assailant grunt and fall back. Though it was daylight outside, the curtains in the private rooms didn’t allow much sunlight in in order to let the people inside sleep, not to mention not all the rooms had windows at all, so the darkness shrouded the identity of the person inside Saufinril’s room.

Saufinril immediately conjured a shot of lightning, throwing it at the intruder. The sparks lit somewhat up, allowing Saufinril to only see one fraction of a second the person: they were dressed head to toe in dark clothes, had leather gloves and a sort of mask covering their face. The intruder easily jumped aside from the fire ball, grabbed the evidently heavy bag it had by its side and ran out the room. Saufinril got up and ran behind it, initiating chase.

As he ran behind the person through the hallways, Saufinril figured out details of them. The figure was shorter than Saufinril (then again, almost everyone was) and by the time they reached the stairs, was running them down almost two at a time, and expertly dodging any spells Saufinril threw despite clearly hauling a lot with them. At one point, one of the spells hit the sack they were carrying, making the intruder stagger and drop something from one of their pockets: a very very familiar jagged hunting knife.

“Oh fu- you fucking thief!” Saufinril yelled, leaning down and grabbing the knife as he ran past it, still on hot pursuit of the stranger. They reached the third floor. The yells and the spell impacts had awakened people, who got out of the rooms to peer: groggily at first, then when the thief ran past with Saufinril in hot pursuit, more awaken and curious, though not interfering. The stranger kept running, opening one of the doors wider as he ran past, throwing a chair that was outside, anything to obstaculize Saufinril and block the spells he threw. Someone shrieked as they grabbed their door, the intruder’s hands mere centimeters away from their face when they swung their door open.

“Saufinril-!”

“What’s going on??”

“Who’s that?!”

“Go back to your rooms!” Saufinril called out, aiming and firing a frost spell that was supposed to land on the foot of the thief, but at the last minute said thief cartwheeled out of the way, grabbed the railing with both hands and vaulted over it!

Saufinril got to the railing, peering over, just at the second that the thief impulsed itself up and hit him square in the chest.

“Oof!”

Saufinril staggered back, the thief using his feet already in Saufinril’s chest to jump back, arching their back, and landing on their feet before taking off to the stairs. Saufinril had hit the wall meanwhile, but he took off after the thief once he was back on his feet, now both of them running down to the second floor.

“Saufinril what do you think you are you doing??” Mama Fro’s voice rang from a distance behind him, before the loud talking and panicking of the other workers rose cut her off, all explaining and pointing at the same time. Saufinril didn’t stop for her, rather he unsheathed the knife and threw it at the intruder, missing by a second due to them dropping and rolling. The knife got incrusted to the wall. Saufinril aimed again, this time the frost spell hitting the intruder’s left calf, making it emit a shriek of surprise.

GOOD! This will slow them down. Saufinril ran, reaching out to grab the thief by the hood, just a reach away, just one yank and he’d be able to see who it was at the very least. The stranger ran as best as he could but the frozen muscle was proving to be an issue for them. Saufinril stretched his arm. The stranger leaned forward, running. Saufinril leaned forward too. The last flight of stairs was close. The stranger ran. Saufinril ran. His arm outstretched. Reaching. Being dodged. The mask was close. So close. He could touch the mask. The stairs-

The intruder turned sharply to the railing, grabbed it with both hands and jumped, tucking their legs into their chest mid-jump and then stretching the legs out ahead of them as they released the railing. When they landed, their feet touched the ground, then knees, hands on the ground, they did a roll and ran.

“Fuck-” Saufinril ran down the stairs and followed in the direction the intruder had gone to. How did he get inside, anyhow?? Surprisingly, the thief ran to the front door, unlocked it, and bolted out.

“STOP!” Saufinril ran after the thief, blinking fast from his eyes adjusting to the sun. Which has GOT to be the stupidest fucking thief he’d ever had seen, to have run out of the front door in broad daylight. Still, Saufinril ran after him. People running errands and cleaning houses and businesses both witnessed from the sideways and occasionally moving aside from the chase. The daylight allowed him to see better the suspect: what he thought was a mask was actually a cloth wrapped around the suspect’s head, face and neck. Blue as far as he could tell, since the thief weaseled into as many obstacles as they could.

“When one gets one’s HANDS ON YOU-” Saufinril hissed, trying to reach out again. Instead, the thief turned right suddenly, vaulted over a street stand (gaining a yelp from the owner, who had to duck), and ran to the trees. Saufinril had to stop to keep himself from running into the stand, then ran around it, following the thief. The dense foliage made it harder to keep his gaze on his prey, but the sounds of quick footsteps ahead of him gave him an idea of where he was when tree branches hanging low got in his vision. The muscle seemed to have regained some of its old strength back, because the thief was running faster than a while back. Saufinril pushed the branches away, not caring where they went. The followed party would also push branches back to swing at Saufinril’s face, but he managed to avoid (some of) those. The terrain of rocks and roots sticking out didn’t help much, either.

The person took a wild, left turn, but their footing was off and their left foot slipped, tangling with the right one. Now was the time. Saufinril shot a paralyzing spell, which hit them square in the lower back. They emitted another yell, and arched their back as they fell. Saufinril turned left and grabbed their glove!

His own footing slipped as well, the ground was soft, he turned too close to an edge and he hadn’t realized. The speed of his run allowed him to keep turning despite him not wanting to. The only thing he was grabbing on to was the glove, and the more he turned the more it slid off until it was completely in his hand. He expected to land on the ground as it approached his vision camp, but didn’t; instead, what he had mistaken as ground covered in leaves disappeared underneath him. His arms flailed to grab something, his hand raked the soil, clinging to it, but when he felt a root under his nails he tightened his grip to it, stopping the fall. His other hand still clutched the glove.

Saufinril felt his shin hit a hard, jagged surface with all the force of the momentum first, raising a sharp immediate pain both all over his shin and in the one point where he’d hit the hard object, forcing out a strangled gasp and yell of pain. Then his whole body slammed itself to the soil wall of what seemed to be a big hole, dug on purpose. A hunter’s trap!

Cursing under his breath from the pain on his shin and resting his forehead on the soil as he did so, he brought the glove to his mouth and bit it to hold it, then used his other hand to cling to the root he was holding on to. He had to bring himself up, but his right shin (the one he’d hit) extended the pain down to his ankle and he was under the impression that his leg was heavy. Using his left knee on the wall, he pulled himself up, attempted to claw up to grab something, failed and had to hang again. He took a couple of deep breaths. The paralysis spell would last some seconds more but he had to get back up now. At least the reigning silence told him the target was still frozen in place. He had to try again.

Left knee on the wall, pull himself up, this time Saufinril reached to grab the same root further up. He was breathing heavily and peering over the edge. The stranger was indeed lying on the floor, but he was also starting to move. Oh gods oh fuck he had to grab him now. His leg pain was shooting up and down like a maniac, he let out a low noise of pain as he kept slowly pulling himself up. He tried putting his right foot on the wall to help with pulling up but the leg protested by sending agony up and down, forcing Saufinril another grunt from the torment and to release the leg from the strain. Gods, hope he didn’t twist an ankle. He was almost sure he hadn’t, but he still couldn’t support his foot. He’d have to make do with arms and left leg. The stranger now emitted a low groan.

By the time Saufinril had both arms well out of the hole and could push himself up, sadly, the stranger was standing up and staggering.

“Nff!” Saufinril yelled in anger, teeth still biting the glove, “Dnnf y drr!”

The stranger took the uncovered hand to their front, took the bag and, without turning back on the Altmer, ran back to Elden Root. Saufinril shot another paralyzing spell, but this one hit the branches. The intruder ducked and kept running.

Sigh. Well.

Saufinril used his forearms to drag himself up until he felt his hips touch the edge, when he pulled up the left knee and rolled completely out of the hole, lying down on the ground. He still held the glove with his teeth, so he exhaled from the chase. Usual jungle noises surrounded him. His right pant leg felt like it was too tight, and it was hurting. He sat down, removed the glove from his mouth and set it aside, he then rolled up his right pants leg to see his shin turning painful shades of blue and purple and a bump right in the shin, which was where the most pain was at. No blood on sight, though. Saufinril got up, testing how much weight his leg could sustain. He hissed in pain when he tried putting all his weight on both legs as usual, so he limped his way back.