[sub]Brought to you by yours truly and [@Dervish][/sub]

[h3][i]14th of Midyear, late afternoon, entrance to the Oasis[/i][/h3]
 
The chat with Gregor went about as well as could be expected, Zaveed decided, a lingering sense of irritability pumping through his arteries like an accelerant for his blood. He watched the Imperial go, spitting into the ground distastefully before deciding his attentions were best spent elsewhere. Going to his pack and grabbing an apple, Zaveed took his dagger and began to peel off the faintest of slivers; it was something of a game, to see how many slices he could get out of an apple before reaching the core, with each piece nearly translucent from how fine the edge of the point of his blade was. He allowed himself a moment to savour the juices before looking up and noticing an Argonian standing by the mouth of the cave.

[I]So, he’s the one.[/I] Zaveed thought, carelessly strolling over, apple in hand as his teeth mulched the skin and flesh of the fruit within his jaws. 

Zaveed stood beside the Argonian, not saying anything for a few moments as he thoughtfully concentrated on the apple. Four slices. Five. He made a slightly larger cut and offered it to the infamous interrogator in his midst. “You seem to be quite the popular one.” Zaveed observed. “Seems like half of Gilane knew of what happened to Nblec, and yet you were the one to take the fall for it. How much of a merit does that particular story hold… Jaraleet?”

Jaraleet looked over as Zaveed approached him, not saying anything as the Khajiit stood beside him. He accepted the piece of apple that his one-time enemy offered to him and swallowed it down. “I could say the same to you Zaveed.” The Argonian said in response to the Khajiit’s comment about his ‘popularity’. “Hmmmm, why don’t you tell me that? How much merit do you think those accusations hold?” He asked, turning to look at the Khajiit. “I assume that Sevari told you my name, no? Or did they have dossiers on every one of us in the Dwemer’s secret police?” 

The privateer let out a slight chuckle, turning his attention back to the apple as his knife began to work again. “If we had dossiers on each of you, my job would have gone so much smoother. We knew about Roux and worked our way from there. As for your rumours, honestly? I don’t think [I]you[/I] killed him. I’ve interrogated my share of people, and they don’t suddenly die from having nails driven… under nails.” he replied, smiling a bit at the repetition of words. Ta’agra had two very different sounding words for the two distinct thing, although one turned out being a variation of ‘claw.’ “I’m almost certain Gregor soul-trapped the man when your backs were turned.” glancing over at Jaraleet, he added. “I knew he was a necromancer from when I fought him. He just told me it was you and Raelynn who know his secret. I intend to honour that, for some reason.”

“Ah, I see, I see.” Jaraleet said in response to Zaveed’s comment about Roux. “As for your assumption, you’d be correct in it.” He said with a light shrug, falling silent for a moment as he pondered what the Khajiit had said. “I had my suspicious that if someone else in the group knew about Gregor’s secret it’d be Raelynn.” The assassin said after a second, letting out a sigh. “But it is good to have confirmation on that. As to why you are honoring that request, I suppose you must pay your debt back to Raelynn in one way or another.” He said, shrugging slightly. “And if it makes working with us any easier….I do not necessarily approve of Gregor’s methods but, you know what they say, ‘Better the Dremora you know’ or something along those lines.” Jaraleet spoke, pausing for a second. “Plus, I do not want to provoke him unnecessarily. I still don’t know the full extent of his capabilities and would rather not take my chances.” He added, shrugging slightly.

“I’m surprised that you agreed to come. I’d have expected you to avoid us if anything, not strike a deal to work together.” Jaraleet said, glanzing at Zaveed with a curious look. 

“I have a rather concrete idea of exactly what he is capable of.” Zaveed muttered, stopping the notion with the knife. “These scars aren’t for show. If a time ever comes where you find yourself opposing him, do not give him the chance to cast anything.” the Khajiit warned darkly, his pupils narrowing.

With a shrug, the mood passed. “It wasn’t really much of a choice, truth be told. Sevari gave up his own biological brother to protect me, and he sacrificed his career to spare my sister hers. Now he’s alone without friends or family, except for me. And he’s all I have left, too.” Zaveed rolled his eyes. “Apparently, he thinks you and Latro are his friends, but what the fuck do I know? So tell me; you seem rather cordial towards me, a contrast to my chat with Gregor. Why is that?”

Jaraleet nodded in response to Zaveed’s advice, noting it inwardly in case it was ever necessary to call upon it. “Is it really that surprising?” The Argonian asked rhetorically, letting out a mirthless chuckle. “I can work with Gregor who’s at fault for almost everyone believing me responsible for Nblec’s death.” He said, shrugging slightly. “But to give a more proper answer, I don’t see why I shouldn’t be cordial towards you, we are allies after all. There is no point in antagonizing you any further, we have enough enemies out there as it stands.” The assassin said, turning his gaze to look at the cave’s entrance. “Wouldn’t you agree that it makes sense?” 

Zaveed nodded; Jaraleet was a pragmatist. “Leave bygones as bygones.” he agreed, slipping more slices between his teeth. “I’m a privateer by profession, my worst nemesis one week was my brother in arms the next. Everything I’ve had to do to survive, to claw my way out of one shit heap to the next, it was only possible by not lingering on what has been and instead focusing on what [I]could[/I] be.” he looked over at the Argonian. “Right now, what [I]could[/I] be is me having my throat slit while I sleep by anyone behind us. Sevari, Sirine, and I are outnumbered considerably and here at his choice; I’m here because I love him and want to try and do right by him. Do you have family?” he asked.

“That’s a complicated question to ask one of the Saxhleel, you know?” Jaraleet laughed, shaking his head slightly. “Only my father is left alive of my biological family. But, yes, I do have a family.” The assassin said, smiling fondly. “Those of us who are born under the Shadow share a link that transcends blood. We are united by a common purpose, and the ties that we forged during our training.” He said, letting out a sigh. “We were all that we had to support the other. I’m sure it was much the same between you and Sevari, no?” 

Zaveed pondered that for a moment. “Not quite the same as yours, I think.” he said after a spell. “We aren’t related by blood, but rather circumstances. We grew up on the streets of Senchal as orphans, he helped save my sister and I from being caught by guards for stealing, and he helped feed us and since then we were a family that looked out for each other, slept together, suffered together. I think after decades apart, both of us hoped to see the other would have succeeded where we had each failed.” he sighed. “We’re both Khajiit who are cut from a very bloody cloth, our paths went very different ways, but neither of us could be described as good men. Only my sister turned out alright.” he smiled, looking into the blue sky beyond the mouth of the cave. 

He resumed his attention to the apple. “Forgive me for my ignorance on the matter, I’ve very little experience with your people’s customs. What significance does the Shadow hold for Argonians?”

“Oh, on the contrary, after hearing you say that I think that the relationship between you and Sevari isn’t that different than the one between me and my brothers and sisters.” Jaraleet said, chuckling softly. “Those born under the Shadow have been chosen to serve Sithis.” He shrugged, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “We are the blades that eliminate the enemies of Argonia and who send those who have the misfortune to cross us back into the Void.” The assassin explained. “Before it’s destruction, we had a….working relationship with the Dark Brotherhood you might say. Any youth born under the Shadow would be sent to them to be trained as Shadowscales so that they might serve the Brotherhood and the Dread Father. Of course, those days are long gone, now our only masters are the An-Xileel.” 

“So, where does that leave you?” Zaveed asked curiously, mulling over the casual place of Sithis in the Argonian pantheon. That was a revelation he hadn’t expected to hear. “What becomes of Shadow born Argonians if they are not Shadowscales these days?”

“We are Haj-Eix. Or Hidden Scales, if you prefer to use Cyrodiilic.” He replied with a shrug. “We are assassins and interrogators as needed be. Our functions haven’t changed all that much, if at all.” Jaraleet said. “It just took a while for us Shadow born Argonians to be given purpose again.” 

“Very forthcoming.” Zaveed observed. “You are a long way from home to really serve your purpose, if I may. Do the others know that you’re a professional political murderer?”

“What is one more secret, I trust you will not lose sleep over keeping that along with what Gregor told you. Plus, I’m sure that sooner or later your brother would have told you.” The assassin said with a shrug. “As it stands, the only ones who know are Latro and Gregor. Alim knows that I’m an assassin, but not the full story. And of course there is your brother as well, and you now.” Jaraleet explained, pausing for a second. “The others merely think that I’m a former soldier of the An-Xileel. Of course, I’m sure that a few others in the group suspect that there’s more to me than I say, namely Daro’Vasora and Janelle.” He finished, turning to look at Zaveed. “I trust that my vocation doesn’t bothers you Zaveed, correct?” 

The privateer shrugged. “Only difference between you and I, from a practical perspective, is I committed most of my violence out at sea with a crew whereas you’ve skulked in the shadows and killed in the dark. I’ll keep it between us, although I must admit, I wasn’t expecting this sort of candor from you.” he turned to look back at the group, a frown crossing his countenance. “You know, I tell people that I’m not overly concerned by what they think, but for some reason this group… it’s like looking at a list of terrible things I’ve visited on people in display and me being here just aggravates the wounds. I don’t know if it’s guilt or discomfort for being around people who wish ill upon me, but I’ve seldom felt I was more of a thorn than I am now.”

“You say that, but you revealed to me that Gregor had told you his secret almost immediately. One would expect that, after being told to keep something like that secret, you would think before speaking about it. But I understand why you told me.” Jaraleet said with a chuckle before he turned along with Zaveed to look back at the group. “Give them time, you would be surprised but they can be rather accommodating once you get in their good graces. Not that I have much to say about that, given that shortly after I’ve joined them the vast majority of them must think of me as a murderer.” He shrugged, turning to look at the entrance of the cave once more. “I can’t say that things will be easy, as you noted your presence here aggravates old wounds, but…” He paused as he searched for what to say. “Well, I don’t know what to rightly say truth be told.” The assassin spoke after a second. “But what will happen will happen, as simple as that sounds. Who’s to say why our paths intersected, but I’m sure that we’ll see the why of it eventually.” 

Zaveed snorted. “Accommodating enough to harbour the man that tried to soul trap me. I don’t think there’s an up for me to strive for, nor an acceptance I could wish for. It is not an aspiration of mine, but if you can help make sure I don’t get murdered in my sleep, I’ll try to return the favour somehow.” he said with a shake of the head, he took a large bite out of the apple before tossing it carelessly. “I never much believed in fate, nor destiny. Life’s far too ruthless to be by design. I appreciate the talk, Jaraleet. Take solstace in the fact you’re no longer the most loathed person in this particular party.” 

“Don't be so harsh on them, most of them are good people. But I'll try to ease things with the rest of them.” Jaraleet said to Zaveed before he left, shaking his head slightly. He looked as the Khajiit left, simply nodding in response to his last words, and turned back to the entrance of the cave and resumed his watch.