[h3][b]A Leif on the Wind[/b][/h3]

[i]Foxey and I wrote this![/i]


No sooner did the [I]Kyne’s Tear[/I] dock did Do’Karth disembark at the earliest possible moment that the ramp was secured and the ropes knotted about the cleats to keep the ship anchored to the dock, being one of the first to leave the ship when cleared. Part of his motivation was to get off of the hated seas as soon as physically permissible, but also that there was a good chance that Daelin’s outfit had returned before the ship, and with it Sevine. His heart raced with uncertainty; until he saw her with his own eyes, there was this lingering fear and doubt that consumed him that he would never see her again. The war had already cost so much, and after Valen’s passing and that of the prisoner, mortality was heavy on Do’Karth’s mind. The Khajiit needed to find Sevine safe; no other outcome was tolerable. 

It didn’t take long for confirmation of Daelin’s return to make the rounds, and there was talk about a siege at an inn and Daelin’s burns, but it was enough to know that they had returned. Elated somewhat, Do’Karth walked about Dawnstar, trying to see if he could catch sight of Sevine. Knowing her, she wouldn’t go somewhere too hard for him to find. Conspicuously absent was the ginger giant that was his good friend; Jorwen was usually one of the easiest people to pick out from a crowd, and a part of Do’Karth felt the man was probably resting off the journey and spending a few quiet moments with Halla.

When the Khajiit could not find Sevine in town, his heart began to sink, and he feared the worst when he saw Leif taking off in a hurry towards the outskirts of the town. Feeling that the man likely knew something he did not, Do’Karth followed, keeping a distance as to not provoke a confrontation. Soon, he caught sight of a tent, and a familiar set of crimson locks from beyond the flaps.

[I]It’s her.[/I] he realized, elated. His feet almost failed to move with his will, his relief was so profound. This quickly became soured when he heard the commotion and Leif’s body posture suddenly get rigid; it was clear things did not go as he pleased. Hurrying to catch up in case things became violent, Leif turned suddenly as if to leave and looked immediately disgusted to see Do’Karth. 

A finger jabbed into the Khajiit’s chest.

“How dare you.”

Do’Karth’s eyes narrowed, his ears pulling back. “Do’Karth cares not for what you think you’re implying, Leif Raven-Stone.” he said, swatting the hand away with the heel of his hand. “This one has done nothing to you.”

    Sevine scrambled to her feet as best as she could, sensing that something might happen if these two were allowed to continue their verbal dispute. Personally, she didn’t want to see Leif, and his obsessive attitude over her had put her in a foul mood. She had the idea to put him to the ground herself and beat some sense into him.

“I beg to differ.” In his eyes, a storm brewed, a tempest on the verge of releasing a torrent of fury, “[i]You[/i] have taken the one person I cherished most, and you have done it through your deceitful nature as a Khajiit. You are the same as all Khajiit.” He said, pushing Do’Karth in the chest. 

“Leif!” Sevine lumbered towards him unsteadily, “Get the hell out of here. I won’t have any fighting over your delusional notions.” She grabbed him by the wrist, yanking him back from Do’Karth.

“How can you say that? That [i]I[/i] am the delusional one? Take a good look at yourself. And it’s all because of this damned cat.” He reclaimed his arm and turned back to Do’Karth, “LOOK. Look at her!” His voice climbed an octave as he turned to shouting, “If you so much as cared for her, you lying bastard, you wouldn’t have left her alone! She could have died. And you didn’t give a shit. You weren’t around to protect her. You weren’t around to help her. No, you tucked your tail between your legs and submitted to Ashav’s orders. You didn’t protest, you didn’t ask for a change, you let this happen. You don’t care about her.” 

“Leif, I swear to Mara, if you don’t get the hell out of here, I’ll deal with you myself.” She raised her own voice. Damn it to Oblivion! She never felt more helpless than in a time like this, not being at her physical peak skewed her ability to defend herself. 

“No.” He turned to glance at her, “No. Someone has to defend your honor. And this mewling cat won’t care to do it. Unless he actually has a backbone.” Leif pushed Do’Karth again. 

“Sevine does not need anyone to defend her honour! She is a warrior, we all know the risks!” Do’Karth spat back, stepping forward after the shove. “It was not Do’Karth’s decision to separate with her, but perhaps if you were not so selfish in demanding the world cater to your whims and greed you would realize that we are fighting a war and need to listen to our orders or we’re all dead!” 

The Khajiit stepped to the side, attempting to prevent Leif from being between Sevine and himself. “All you have done is act like a child since Sevine and this one chose each other, and this one has attempted to give you space and respect that you were hurt, but do not dare call Do’Karth’s love for Sevine and her well being into question.” he stated, his voice edging on a growl. “This one cares for her like nothing else in his life, and a part of that is knowing that she was her own person before this one arrived. She is a warrior long before Do’Karth came into her life, and this one will not shield her from that part of her life. It is who she is, and it is her calling. She is not to be controlled by the likes of you, a man who claims women like trophies! You only care for her because she is the one woman you could never have and it has driven you to madness!” The Khajiit was shouting now, fists clenched. “She has requested you leave. She does not want you here. Go, now.”

A glob of saliva flew from between his lips and struck Do’Karth’s chest, Leif squared his shoulders in defense, “There you go again, you mangy cat. Do you hear how he speaks his honey-coated lies? I will not go.” He declared, his hands curled into fists as he raised them up, ready to fight. “Fight me cat. On her honor, fight me. Show me the type of a man you truly are, if you are a man at all.” 


“More so than you.” Do’Karth replied pointedly. “You wish to solve with fists what your mouth cannot. It is always someone else’s fault, never your own. How do you live with yourself?” He adopted a wide stance, a fist gently guided into an open palm. “This is not something you can hope to win. Walk. Away.”

    Sevine’s head spun with anger, how dare he do this! If it weren’t for Do’Karth in her way, she would’ve handled Leif herself, cracked ribs or no. Her stomach twisted in a series of intricate knots as she watched the unfolding scenario. “Leif. Just leave. Please. You’re only going to get hurt.” But her words fell on deaf ears.

“You are not from our land, you do not know our customs, leech. I will not turn my back and run.” With one fist, he lobbed it at Do’Karth’s gut.

Do’Karth’s fist moved down to deflect the blow, bringing it down and out to the side, the momentum away from his body while his open hand came up in a flash and chopped towards Leif’s exposed neck, a hard strike that wasn’t with the violent intent that Do’Karth would have usually put into a fight. Usually, he would seek to end things as quickly and painfully as possible to discourage further violence. He simply needed Leif to come to his senses.

Hopefully.

Stepping back into a slender profile, an open palm closest to Leif facing towards him while a clawed hand curved behind him like a scorpion’s tail. Do’Karth squatted somewhat, giving his muscles a lot of potential energy to spring out and react as need be. “As you do not know Do’Karth’s. You are clumsy, you telegraph your every move. Your anger makes you weak.”

The strike to his neck left him on one knee, blinking away the stars that danced before his eyes. He shook his head to clear them away and staggered to his feet, his upper lip curling into a snarl. “The audacity you have.” He growled. While he set himself in a defensive stance, Leif surveyed the situation. How could he best Do’Karth? By attacking him unexpectedly, that’s how. Several seconds passed before Leif lunged at Do’Karth, his arms wrapping around his waist and pulling him down to the ground. Sevine cleared the area, giving them a wide berth to fight. She could call for help, but what good would that do? Leif would never learn to leave her alone if Do’Karth didn’t teach him a lesson. She watched from a distance, her hands over her mouth. With Do’Karth beneath him, a hand curled around his ear giving it a hard yank while he drove a fist into his face.

The pain was agonizing; having one’s ear yanked was hardly sporting, and it more or less made Do’Karth’s mind up when it came to the question of holding back. Another strike across his muzzle brought the taste of blood to the back of his throat, and Do’Karth forced his rising anger down. [I]Pain is weakness leaving the body… pain is weakness leaving-[/I] he chanted mentally, extending his claws on his hand, and as Leif brought his fist up once more, Do’Karth jabbed all four of his fingers tightly together up into the man’s exposed armpit, tearing into the exposed flesh. Taking advantage of the moment that he’d bought himself from the fist, Do’Karth brought the heel of his other hand up into Leif’s throat, ideally stunning him and forcing him to choke. Having bought himself some room, Do’Karth grabbed into Leif’s shirt and pulled him back, enough for Do’Karth to get the weight off of him and break free, scrambling to his feet once more. Standing with more of a wide stance, the Khajiit prepared to dodge incase Leif leapt up into a tackle. 

    White-hot pain scorched his underarm from the Khajiit’s claws while the palm to his throat forced him to release his hold on Do’Karth. Now that he had the upper hand on him, Leif found himself being tossed to the side. He lay on his back, one hand clutching at his throat while the other put pressure on the wound in his armpit. When he regained the ability to breathe, albeit, still painful, he rolled to his knees. He glowered at Do’Karth, of all things he happened to overlook, he forgot that Khajiit’s had miniature daggers equipped to the end of their fingertips.

“Leif, I’m telling you, you’d better stop before you get hurt.” Sevine warned, seeing a chance to talk some sense into him.

“Shut up! This is between Do’Karth and I.” He shouted as he hoisted himself to his feet. As he did so, he spotted a metal tankard that belonged to her. He snatched it up, and in a second hurled it at Do’Karth’s head. The Khajiit couldn’t react to being assaulted by more than one object, or so he believed. As the tankard sailed through the air, it’s trajectory aimed for his head, Leif lunged forward, one leg slipping behind the cat’s ankle as his hand grabbed the budi to prevent him from going anywhere, while the other leg drove itself towards his groin.

The tankard was easy enough to dodge; it was expected the moment Leif grabbed for it. The grapple came immediately afterwards, and before Do’Karth could break Leif’s grip, he knew what was coming. Do’Karth had been in his share of dirty fights before. His duel a decade prior against Daro’Sahana  came to mind; she would have done anything to dismantle Do’Karth completely.

Leif was no Dara’Sahana.

Managing to squeeze his thighs together enough to slow the momentum of the knee down, Do’Karth nevertheless took the hit, but he’d been conditioned against pain in more than one way. The lessened blow didn’t have the impact Leif was hoping for, and instead of staggering Do’Karth, he was rewarded with a headbutt into the temple for his troubles. Bringing both of his arms down against Leif’s wrists to break the Nord’s grip, Do’Karth closed in, unleashing a flurry of pointed clawed jabs into various places along his shoulder joint, chest, and abdomen, claws puncturing skin and tearing muscle tissue along the way. Using his bent knee as a leverage point, Do’Karth planted his one foot firmly against the knee and brought the other into a high kick, striking under the man’s jaw. Like any good cat, Do’Karth landed on his feet and brought some distance, preparing for Leif to grapple and charge again.

[I]Daro’Sahana was defeated by not allowing her to escape. If he grasps you once more, do not let him leave standing.[/I] he thought to himself. 

“Pathetic. Do’Karth thought you were a warrior.” Do’Karth taunted, scorn oozing from his voice as if rebuking a stubborn pupil instead of a jealous lover. 

    Crimson liquid painted his billowing tunic, the blow to his jaw left him stunned, and one on knee while the headbutt had him seeing stars again. His chest heaved from a mixture of pain and anger. Do’Karth became the symbol for everything he felt on the inside, the sorrow, jealousy, and anger, he was the physical embodiment on which he could take out his frustration. All the while, Sevine watched from the sidelines, her hands clasped together in worry. Do’Karth held his ground without trouble, yet it was the unexpected attacks from Leif that worried her. If he wanted, Do’Karth could kill Leif, and the last thing she wanted to see was his blood spilled on the ground. She felt torn, but she said nothing.

    When he regained his strength, Leif got to his feet, the ground swaying before him. The adrenaline coursing through his veins slowed him down, it made his body heavy like lead. But he would not give up. Not to a cat. While he wanted to say something in return to Do’Karth’s comment, he couldn’t think of anything on the spot. He settled for a grunt. Sweat soaked through the thin fabric of his tunic, it clung to his muscled torso, while his chest heaved with each breath. He had all but ran out of ideas on how to get the cat back to the ground. He had used distractions, tackling, a kick to the groin, there was but one option left. Full on assault, no holding back. 

    He let loose a roar that tore through the air as he charged Do’Karth, he closed the distance between them in seconds. His fists were flying as he struck at Do’Karth, his rage kept the fire burning in him. All of the hurt he held inside were in those punches. The Khajiit was quicker and either dodged or deflected all but two of his blows. One connected to his ribs, and the other in the chin. Yet Leif continued until his arms tired out. He sprang on Do’Karth with surprising agility, one hand pinned his wrist to the ground while the other recoiled back to strike him.


The Khajiit twisted in the grip, bringing his legs around to grapple Leif’s arm like he was climbing a rope and he forced the man to his back, twisting the arm in his grip while pushing against the man’s torso with his leg, stretching the arm to its natural flexibility limits. Hearing something pop, Do’Karth wasted no time releasing Leif, kicking him in the face with the flat of his foot. “Yield, or this one will start to break you. Every blow will be a new broken limb. How do you plan on fighting if you can’t even take a shit without asking for help?” Do’Karth stated ruefully, wiping an armful of blood from his bleeding mouth. 

    He gritted his teeth as Do’Karth pulled his arm out of the socket, amongst all the other wounds on his body, this one sent him over the edge. The kick to the face set off a nosebleed, bloodying his lips and teeth. As he lay in the dirt, somewhere deep inside him, he realized something. Part of him had hoped that Sevine would separate the two of them, plead to Do’Karth to stop, but she did not. Did she want him to be beaten this way? Did she truly hate him enough to allow this fight? Roze’s words came dancing back into the forefront of his mind, [i]”She doesn’t owe you her love.”[/i], and that he realized, was the truth. He had forgotten their conversation after fearing that Sevine had died in assault on Nightgate. His old feelings had resurfaced, and because of his own self-ignorance, he found himself in this situation. While his pride was strong, his body was weak, he couldn’t keep fighting even if he wanted to. As he considered his options, he thought of throwing dirt into Do’Karth’s face, but what good would that do? The Khajiit had bested him. With a painful sigh, he nodded his head in consent. “I yield.” 

Stepping back and placing his fist against his hand as he had done at the start of their duel, Do’Karth bowed to his fallen adversary, the fight having left his eyes. “It is done. Find a healer.” he said, stopping short of advising Leif to meditate on the day’s events. What good would that do. Instead, Do’Karth, bloodied but still very much mobile, walked towards Sevine, his old injury in his leg beginning to throb. He knelt before her with a pained grunt, looking up at her with apologetic eyes. “Do’Karth is sorry for what had transpired. He had tried to avoid this. Would it be too much to ask for your forgiveness?” He asked.

    Without another blow from Do’Karth, he pushed himself to his feet. His eyes locked with Sevine, shocked to see the Khajiit kneeling before her. She glanced at him for but a fraction of a second before returning her attention to Do’Karth. He watched as she placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed his forehead, just like what he always wanted for himself. He turned away, disgusted with himself, and made the slow walk back into town. 

“My love.” She dropped to her knees and embraced Do’Karth, “You do not need my forgiveness, you have done nothing wrong.” All she wanted in life was in right there in her arms, the man she loved was alive and well. And so, she kissed him. 

Letting the kiss linger, feeling the doubts and fears wash off of him like a wave purifying a stone, Do’Karth pulled Sevine into a tight embrace, determined to never leave her again without a fight.