[center][h3]Kinship[/h3]
[i]by Shafty and Greenie[/i][/center]
[hr][i]16th of Midyear, Near Noon, the Oasis[/i]

Rucksack on her back, paper and ink and quill nicely stowed away, Sirine was making her way back to the entrance of the cave where she had decided to sleep the first night and the following one since their arrival to the oasis. It was nice and secluded, comparatively, yet still offered a nice view of the cavern and the many within. Perfect for Sirine's people watching, as it were, which she would have continued if she hadn't seen the familiar figure of Sevari standing near the entrance of the cavern. A relaxed look on her face, she made her way over to the man, raising a hand in greeting. It was still something of amazement that two men of the same race could look so vastly different from one another. [i]Well, they certainly argue like brothers.[/i]

"You're looking quite lonesome there by yourself," she commented once she was close enough to be heard without shouting.

“Looks can be deceiving.” He smirked around his cigar, nodding to Sirine. He patted the pistol at his side and the large messer sword on the ground next to his disassembled rifle, “I’ve got my best friends right here.”

He had been sat at the cave’s opening like he had been every chance he got. Ever since his and Aries’ conversation, he would perch himself at the entrance as often as he could, cleaning his weapons or smoking, or doing anything to make sure Gregor never knew he and anybody he talked to was being watched. He felt a sense of normalcy, being a spy again. Covering every action with another, maintaining appearances, every word veiled with misdirection, people-watching. After all, he still was who he was. “You always just take a stroll at the same time?” He asked curiously, “Same route too?”

Sirine looked to the pistol and the sword before allowing herself a laugh. It sounded almost sad if she was being honest with herself, but he seemed quite satisfied with himself. "I see, well greetings to you both, best friends of Sevari." 

Silly joke put to the side, she nodded at his question as she took a seat nearby, one knee tucked under her chin as she folded her other leg under herself. "I like taking a walk around the river," she started. "The sound is very soothing, though not quite like waves at sea." She chuckled a little, wondering how long it would be before the Ohmes-Raht got tired from hearing the virtues of the sea from both herself and his brother. "And I've been meeting some... interesting people along the way. I believe you're familiar with them. Gregor yesterday, Megana and Jaraleet today. The last one is your friend, isn't he?"

“Yes,” he nodded, finally pulling the rag once more through the barrel of his rifle as it came out just a bit more blackened. He began reassembling the weapon, “A steadfast one, something in short supply for me.”

He was quiet for a bit, focused on reassembling his rifle until it once again took form as a weapon. He worked the lever and slapped a round home in the chamber, aiming down the sights and putting it down. “He and Gregor are friends too, I’ve learned. Now I don’t know who he holds more loyalty to, him or me. There are things I’d like to find out about Gregor and his crimes in Hammerfell.”

He got up to a squat and took a drag of his cigar, speaking through the cloud, “You can see how grand this makes me feel about the Argonian. Do you think they all know about the necromantic fuck?”

Sirine looked away from the tents and over at the cloud of smoke covering the khajiit man. While the sight amused her, it was dulled by his words. "They don't," she replied flatly, a frown replacing her previously relaxed expression. "I mentioned it blatantly to them both, to Gregor and Jaraleet. The former said it was an appropriate punishment for his lover’s torture. The latter mentioned that it wasn't common knowledge and it would be best for it to remain that way." She let out a humourless laugh, shaking her head. "I found him tolerable, the Argonian, but I don't understand how..." Her teeth gritted in irritation before she took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. "He said the man's like a beast when cornered, as if he was warning of what may happen if the necromancer was threatened. And yet they feel he is a good man."

Fingers tapping against her knee with irritation, she further continued. "I mentioned him to Zaveed the night we arrived. He seemed nonchalant, said not to be concerned about Gregor. But I don't know..." She raised her eyebrows, head tilting as she tried to decipher what Sevari might be thinking.

“You and I both know Zaveed has led the kind of lives we have.” Sevari began, looking out over the tents and watching the goings-on of the camp, soon enough seeing Gregor in there but averting his gaze lest it stay there too long and the man catch him looking, “If anybody killed Zaveed, Zaveed himself would know he deserved it. I hold no illusions it holds true for me too.”

He shook his head, grabbing up a whetstone and getting to work on his messer, “But you fuck with a man’s soul.” He growled, “You fuck with [i]my brother’s[/i] soul. I’ve killed men for far, far, [i]far[/i] less than that. I just have to figure out how I can do this without turning each and every one of these people against me. I let my own fondness for one of my target’s protectors get the better of me once. Once.”

“If it’s between my love for my brother and my friendship with Jaraleet and Latro,” he frowned darkly at Gregor in the camp, “Let’s hope they don’t have to find out how those chips fall.”

"That's the part that scares me," Sirine admitted, "from when he mentioned almost being soul trapped when we hadn't left Gilane yet." She looked down at the ground by her boot, her free hand flicking at a few small pebbles laying about. "We are with people who have someone so... dangerous with them. I saw the healed scars on your brother's chest- they looked bad enough then and I can only imagine how terrible the wounds had been when inflicted. How can we trust such people? What do we really know of them? This... peace, these allies, it all seems so fragile..." 

Her hand moved away from the ground to grasp the coin around her neck; she glanced his way once more, uncertainty clear in her eyes. They were here because they trusted Sevari's judgement, but if he himself wasn't sure... "Do you trust they won't see us as extra fat to be trimmed? Because as far as I can see, I need you and Zaveed to free Bakih, and as much as it irritates me to say it, in turn, you need [i]them[/i]. Not the other way around."

“I know.” Sevari said, flat, as the whetstone rang across his blade. A few more long rings and he spoke again, “Trust me. I have people here too that would protest to have at least me gone. But it is all tenuous. The bridge was seen as kindling when Latro came riding up out of nowhere, I know.”

He stopped for a moment, puffing on his cigar, “Their weakness though?” He frowned and found Sora in the camp, “They’re better people than me.”

Sirine couldn't help but let out a small sigh at that. She wasn't displeased, but she didn't know how to feel about what Sevari said. It was like that conversation she’d never had with Zaveed. How did one know who was good and who wasn't? Were people who harboured a necromancer really 'better' people? She decided not to contest him, however. She would have to simply trust the man and have his back if things went south, just as he had helped Zaveed free her from that shithole of a tavern.

"I saw you talking to someone when we arrived," she said after a moment of silence. "That woman... I don't recall her name but the one with the reddish hair." The hair had stayed in her mind because it had reminded her quite a bit of her younger brother's. "She doesn't really sing terrorist-" a smirk came to her face and she lifted her hand- "apologies, I mean [i]freedom fighter[/i]. She seemed quite testy- she isn't a former lover, is she?" Her tone was now lighter, indicating she didn't really mean what she said seriously.

That made Sevari laugh, something that wasn’t known it was needed until it happened, “No, no.” He said, the vestiges of a smile still on his lips, slowly fading, “No. An associate. Things in Hammerfell with the insurgency… well, I have a complicated working relationship with them. I’ll leave it at that. As for Janelle, she’s a very good helper and I am a helper to her in turn. A sense of loyalty in a world where there is almost none.”

"Hm..." Sirine tapped at her chin with a finger. She supposed it made sense in a way- there was so much she didn't know about the insurgency after all, save for the lists she had found in Jamir's dresser. She had never been one to bother herself with politics as long as she and her crew were fine with a path to the sea. The idea that she was part of a group of rebels wasn't the most comforting to her. However, it seemed to her as if Sevari trusted this woman, so that was something at least.

"I guess that's one person we don't have to worry about trying to stab you in the back then." Sirine laughed under her breath before continuing. "Are you the reason she's with the group, or is that due to something else? She just... seems different from the rest."

“We brought a few of them into our world. Ones we knew we could keep an eye on.” He sighed, holding his blade up to check the edge on the sunlight. Seeing no imperfections in the edge, he slid it into its scabbard, “When the time came, we brought ourselves into the light to the lot of them. Everything else about the why’s and how’s is not for me to tell.”

Sirine nodded in understanding. "That's fair," she agreed. There was so much that was probably hidden behind most of these people, even friends, that would take much unravelling to reveal, if at all. She herself kept many secrets that wouldn't necessarily affect anyone other than herself.

"I mentioned I talked to that girl, Meg?" Sirine decided to change the subject once more. "She said you saved her and her friend from the dwemer... she seems to trust you despite thinking you don't like her." She looked pensive as she recalled her morning conversation with the Nord. "Loyal to a fault."

“Being angry at somebody almost getting your asset killed, being angry that your asset was doing stupid fucking things?” He clucked his tongue, leaning back and taking another drag of his cigar, “Having someone you’ve never met before reprimand you for doing something stupid can be misconstrued for a disliking.”

He shrugged, “I don’t, by the way.” He said, “I have no strong feelings towards Meg, besides the fact she can be too rambunctious and act without thinking first. I remember being like that. It got a lot of people killed. So I stopped.”

"From asset to friend," Sirine murmured under her breath. She wondered what had happened to change that but wasn't actually nosy enough to ask. It was something of the past, and more likely than not was probably something Sevari wouldn't wish to talk about.

"Hm. I was actually the opposite, truth be told. Since I was a child, I never did like rushing into things." Unfolding her leg from beneath her, she stretched them out instead, leaning back on her arms as she thought of the pleasant times of her youth. "My family, both my paternal and maternal sides were merchants for as long as they can remember, as were my parents. Listening to orders, making plans, doing things systematically, it was something ingrained in me from as soon as I could understand."

Sevari smiled a bit, thinking on his childhood. The good parts. His mother, Suffian, the years spent with Zaveed and Marassa. “And then it changed.” Sevari looked over to Sirine, “Like life does? Merchant to pirate captain? Gutter orphan digging beggars graves to one of the most notorious gang leaders and enforcers in southern Tamriel with a price on his head in half the continent?”

"Exactly that," Sirine agreed, a rueful smile on her face."I ended up the exact opposite of the expectations laid out for me at birth, attacking ships just like the one I was born and grew up in. Not that I regret it. The choices I made, good or bad, turned me into what I am, and I was stronger for it." [i]Until the dwemer attacked[/i]. "Life also has a way of sudden twists as well, doesn't it. You and Zaveed, you only recently reconnected, right?"

“Yes.” He nodded, ashing his cigar, “I paid him an exorbitant amount to take me here. I’ll admit, at the time, I never knew Captain Greywake would be my brother until I laid eyes on him. He came very recommended for the type of thing I had in mind when I came calling for his services.”

Sevari let out a sharp breath of air through his nose and a smile, “Sudden twists.” He said, “Speaking of brothers, no offense, but I’d like to at least know what the man is like before I go charging headlong into a prison owned by the same people who want me dead for treason to rescue your family.”

"That's fair." Her smile was now tinged with a touch of sadness, and she let out a sigh. "Bakih is a good person. I know it's biased of me to say, but if I'm comparing him to my other two brothers..." She shrugged before continuing. "He left the family that rejected me and travelled by my side. He didn't have to, but he did. He was barely seventeen when he decided to follow after me. Smart and loyal. Being out at sea wasn't his number one choice in life, but he did it for me. It's like I told Zaveed- Bakih gave up a good life for me and now he's stuck behind bars because of it." 

She looked at Sevari. "I owe you as much as Zaveed for helping me out of that tavern and agreeing to free my brother. Neither of you had to, or have to... so thank you."

Sevari was touched by that, just a bit. Sirine owed it to her brother to get him out of that prison. The man had changed his life so much for her. Say what you wanted about Sevari, but seeing innocents caught in the crossfire was something he never liked. Not that Bakih was innocent, but whatever life he led with Sirine wasn’t the one he was expecting.

He could understand why Sirine wanted to get her brother from the prison, then. He empathized with her, if it weren’t for Sevari, Zaveed wouldn’t have even been in Hammerfell with him. “Well,” Sevari nodded, looking out over the rolling dunes of the Alik’r, “That’s a fine enough reason as any. I know how it feels, having someone suffer the consequences of your own life. Zaveed never would have been here if it weren’t for me.”

He sighed, “My life has left a lot of dead men in its wake. A lot. I don’t know how I would feel if Zaveed was one of them.” Suffian came to mind, and he’d tired of fratricide and seeing his family die because of himself, “Helping you get your brother out of that prison would be one of the only altruistic things I’ve done in my life. Maybe it’d put some good deeds behind Zaveed’s name too. Gods know he and I need some of those.” He chuckled.

"And believe me, I appreciate it wholeheartedly." Sirine reached and lightly touched Sevari's arm before returning her hand to her lap, a small smile on her face. "It's a little amazing to see how close you two are even after so many years of separation. Zaveed had a little outburst when he'd realized you were taken prisoner. And even when you two argued at that shitty tavern, it almost made me envious." She laughed under her breath. "You two care about each other to get upset with one another. Unless it's Bakih, I'm indifferent to the rest of my family."

“I think most of mine’s dead.” He said deadpan, looking out at the dunes, “The Thalmor took them. All of them.” 

Except for Suffian, he thought, that one was me. He shifted where he sat and sighed, “Zaveed is the only one I have left. I used to have a woman in Elsweyr. A long, long time ago. Time came, though, I left her.” He said, “Around the same time the Thalmor killed my brothers. I didn’t want them to see me with her, so I just stopped seeing her, no goodbyes. Nothing.”

Sevari sucked his teeth and replaced his pained expression with a soft smile, “I don’t mean to assume anything about you or overstep any lines, Sirine,” he worked his jaw trying to come up with the words, “If you and Zaveed are what I think you are, or becoming… I’m glad. He needs that. Maybe you can keep him from being such a theatrical shitheel.”

Sirine blinked in response to Sevari's words before laughing under her breath. "Well, I guess I owe it to you to try," she replied, purposely deciding to ignore his assumption. "With this crowd, I can hardly blame the man for the way he may act... though I daresay, simply from watching the going ons since we've arrived, I don't believe you have to worry too much. Besides..." She couldn't help but chuckle aloud this time. "I thought theatrical was part of his charm. That display in the [i]Scorpion's Song[/i] with Jamir was-" she smirked "-absolutely entertaining."

“It gets old.” He said, though his smile stayed, “Trust me, whatever he is to you, friend or… you know. He needs as many fucking guiding hands as he can get.”

"I'll take your word for it," Sirine replied, glancing in the direction of their shared camp. She wasn't sure if she was capable of being a guiding hand- she didn't quite have a clean slate herself. Friendship however was proving an easy task, to her surprise, and a pleasant one at that. "I gave him my word that I would follow him, and I don't intend on breaking my promise; once the sea captures a person's heart, she never truly releases her grasp. I feel this and I'm sure Zaveed does too, and it gives us common goal to strive for. Beyond that, who knows? You know he wishes to be a better person, whatever the fuck that is- I think after a while, it’s no longer in his hands, others have to accept it."  
 
“Whatever the fuck that is,” he chuckled, quoting Sirine, “I’m guessing ‘whatever the fuck that is’ is whatever the fuck isn’t the infamous whoring, bloodthirsty, thieving Captain Greywake. All I’m asking is your guiding hand makes sure you guide him right out of any stupid heroics or poetics in the name of being a damned hero.”

He sighed, eyes going to the camp where he saw Zaveed about, “Because knowing that fool, being a better man means being a big damn hero. No in-between. Obscurity isn’t even in his vocabulary.” His voice dipped into solemnity and wistfulness as he continued, “That’s what he’s always wanted, for as long as I knew him. To be loved, to make others laugh and cheer. Funny, how I thought back then that he’d be the best out of the three of us shivering together in the gutters.”

He let a few moments pass, just watching his brother go about his life, remembering when they were younger and the idea of them turning into what they did seemed preposterous, “He and I,” he clucked his tongue, re-lighting the cigar he’d forgotten about and puffing on it a few times, “He and I… maybe we’re not the best we could’ve been, but we can at least be better.”

He pursed his lips, offering Sirine a small and wistful smile as he looked at her, “That’s what it’s about, isn’t it?”

"I guess it is," Sirine replied, returning the smile with her own. "Like I told Zaveed the other night, helping me out of the tavern and aiding in finding my brother is a fine start." She quieted, her mind thinking over what the Ohmes-Raht had mentioned. Even if it was very sparse, it was still a little enlightening hearing about her two companions' childhood. There was so much to unravel, and so much she knew probably never would be- it wasn't as if anyone knew more than the barebones about her- but she could see how a trio of ragtag orphans would have such grand dreams. It was almost impressive they had grown up to be so strong and accomplished, despite their chosen paths- it was almost enviable, yet at the same time a little heart wrenching.

[i]There you go feeling things again.[/i] Taking in a deep breath, she slowly let it out. "It's been nice bantering, Sevari. Thank you. I know I haven’t known you or Zaveed long, but..." She smiled ruefully before shrugging. It felt silly to say it aloud that it almost felt like she was part of a crew again. “I’ll do what I can, [i]if[/i] I can, to make sure your brother doesn’t act a complete idiot.” A small grin found its place on her face, remembering Marassa’s words. “Even if it involves a fist to a face. I quite like the rare few friends I have to remain alive and well.” She looked pointedly at Sevari. “Including you.”

Sevari chuckled at Sirine’s words. He felt something he hadn’t felt in a good long while, not since being at the head of his gang with his loyal brothers, no matter how tough and cruel a lot they were. He felt a genuine kinship. That meant something, “Thank you, Sirine.” He smiled, “You’ll have me when you need me, long as we’re running together.”

Sirine smiled, her stance and expression relaxing once more as she leaned back and looked out in the distance. "You're welcome, Sevari... and thanks."