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Of Cloaks and Swords
Another @Hank and @Stormflyx novelMorning, 17th of Sun’s Dawn, 4E213
Aboard the Kismet, Daggerfall port, High Rock
“Easy, boy, easy,” the Nord blonde whispered into the horse’s ear. She pressed her forehead against his and stroked his flank with a loving hand. “This isn’t the first time, Charlie. Remember? You’ll be on your own feet again before you know it.”
Charlemagne whinnied nervously, but she sensed that he had resigned himself to his fate.
He was suspended in the harness that the ship’s cargo lift, a complicated system of pulleys and ballast that the sailors used to hoist heavy objects in and out of the hold, would use to lower him into the bowels of the Kismet. There he would be safe and sheltered from the elements during their voyage and Aurora was eager to see her treasured companion made comfortable before their departure.
“Ready?” one of the crewmembers asked.
Aurora nodded and stepped back. Charlemagne followed her with his eyes, dark and heavy-lidded, and scraped the deck with his hoof.
“Everything will be alright,” she promised him and smiled.
The sailors hoisted him up and opened the hatch the hold below. Charlemagne, to his credit, didn’t struggle or flail against the sudden lack of solid ground beneath his hooves. He looked quite forlorn, however, such a majestic animal reduced to a piece of hovering cargo, and Aurora felt pity for him all the same. With practiced expertise, the crew lowered him until he disappeared beneath the deck and into the hold, and Aurora heard a satisfyingly gentle thud as Charlemagne found his footing. The sailors had taken extra care to make sure he didn’t have a hard landing, just like she’d asked.
“Thank you so much, my darlings,” Aurora said and went around the men to shake their hands. All of them looked down in surprise to find a gold coin pressed against their palms and they tipped their hats at their grateful passenger.
For her part, Aurora took the stairs down and helped to undo the harness from Charlemagne’s massive frame before guiding him towards the area of the ship that would function as his makeshift stables for the duration of his stay. The corner of the hold had been cleared of supplies and fitted with a trough full of hay and a barrel of water. Aurora tied his reigns to one of the support beams of the ship and patted him on the flank again. “There you go,” she cooed to him. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”
She made sure that he was comfortable and able to relax a little before she made her way back to the deck. The fresh breeze and the sunlight were welcome sensations now that she was sure that Charlemagne was taken care of; she was finally able to enjoy the start of her trip. One of the cabin boys had taken her personal belongings to her private suite already and that meant that there was little left to do but to meet the other passengers and the captain. She smoothed over her clothes -- a white, high-collared coat, cinched at the waist, over an equally white tunic and cream-colored pants tucked into leather riding boots -- and cast her amber-colored gaze across the ship. Almost immediately, it landed on a remarkable sight.
A massive, hulking Khajiit, whose fur was as black as the night. It was like he was made to be her opposite, Aurora thought, and smiled at the idea. He was seated and merely looking about the deck, same as her, and she waved when she locked eyes with him. They were a startling shade of green, but it suited him very well. Aurora placed one hand behind her back and the other on the pommel of the gem-encrusted saber that was sheathed at her waist and approached him with measured steps.
“Good day to you,” the Nord said with a curious tilt of her head. Her rich and husky voice further betrayed her inquisitive feelings towards Dro’Sintaba. “Forgive me for asking, but you’re not with the crew, are you? Though I’m sure they’d appreciate the help, looking at those arms,” she remarked as she freely let her eyes wander.
The Khajiit in question had been lost in thought when a distracting motion of a hand pulled him out of it. Sharp as a tack he locked onto her with his intense gaze. He was sat hunched on the barrel, one foot flat on the deck, and the other tilting at the barrels side, knee bent. To wave back felt simply like too much effort. A nod of his head sufficed, and apparently had been enough for her to initiate further contact.
Dro'Sintaba made his best effort to straighten up for her, he moved so slowly - as if he'd been roused from the deepest sleep imaginable. There was something graceful about it, anyone else may have made it look as though they were lazy, but Dro'Sintaba's movements were calculated and powerful, slow as they were. He rolled his shoulders, placing a hand on the lid of the barrel beside him. "Not crew," he said finally, his voice was smooth and tone relaxed. He eyed the woman, she was just that - a woman, and so he spared her a glance of judgement and his gaze warmed up significantly. "Passing through, and you?" He asked, his green eyes with the slit pupils locked onto her own. They were as rich as her voice and presence were. The corners of his mouth curled to a slight smile.
His curt manner of speaking and the deep resonance in his voice reminded Aurora immediately of her former mentor. It seemed to be the fate of all large men, be they Redguard or something else, to become gruff and tight-lipped with age, though it was hard for her to estimate just how old the Khajiit actually was. “The same for me,” she said with a nod. “I’m on my way home. My name is Aurora Brightwind, and who might you be?” She offered her hand for him to shake and smiled up at him.
It was his own fault for asking a question, not that he'd meant it as further invitation but that was where they were now headed. "Aurora Brightwind," he repeated curiously, "doesn't sound Cyrodiilic…" His tone was borderline accusatory, and his eyes narrowed as he continued his stare at her. Finally reaching out his own hand to take hers. "A nice name, regardless of origin," the Cathay-raht added as he took a firm hold of her. "Dro'Sintaba," he said, offering a slight inclination of his head too.
She laughed, revealing two neat rows of pearly teeth and creating two dimples in her cheeks. “That’s because it isn’t, truth be told. I’m a Nord, but the Imperial City is my home,” Aurora explained before she ooh’d appreciatively at the strength of his handshake. Her grip had been quite dainty at first, but she winked at him as she tightened it and gave him a firm shake back. Her strength couldn’t match his, of course, but it would suffice to let him know that she wasn’t an ordinary woman. “Dro’Sintaba,” she said, echoing his repetition of her name, and looked up while in thought. “Don’t tell me, I know this one… a leader, or an elder, yes?”
"Impressive," he responded quickly, the smile at the corners turned into a smirk, "something like that, anyway." He took in a deep breath, and as he did so it was as if the air he took in really did fill him, his posture straightened more and his chest puffed out, he brought himself to the edge of the barrel. "You are returning to your home… You are a businesswoman of some description?" He asked - although it was just as much of a statement as it was a question. She didn't look like a woman who'd simply been sightseeing, and her outfit gave much of that away. Aurora was dressed to impress, not relax.
He was perceptive and she inclined her head to indicate as much. “I am. My business is in rare and exotic goods. Antiques, artifacts and artworks, that sort of thing,” Aurora said and tapped her chin with an index finger while she looked Dro’Sintaba up and down again. “You have a keen eye for people and a distinguished honorific, but you’re built like a warrior,” she surmised and narrowed her eyes at him. Now it was her turn for a half-smile to tug at her lips. “And yet, I don’t see a weapon on you. My, you’re quite the enigma, aren’t you? What could it be that it is that you do?” she asked and tilted her head again. Suddenly, she clapped her hands together. “You’ve been a soldier before! You talk like one, at least. But I don’t think you are one now. Maybe… you’re retired?”
Dro’Sintaba gave her a moment under his gaze as he formulated his answer, his expression did not change, and he gave little away as to how he felt about her comments. “Weapons are predictable,” he finally said, lifting his hand from the barrel at last. He wondered if she would take a seat there, and then his eyes left her and he instead looked at his hand - at his claws. “An enigma is purely an abstract idea. The truth is far less exciting than that which your mind creates, isn’t it, Aurora Brightwind?” He asked, finally meeting her eyes again. His very posture could have appeared threatening in that moment to a passerby. There he was, like a predator about to pounce and unleash a claw upon the woman…
That very threatening image was shattered, however, when he simply took that claw to the underside of his chin and gave himself a gentle scratch. “Retired? How old do you think I am?” Dro’Sintaba asked, glancing at her again. Everything about his expression was stoic, and yet something playful twinkled in his eye in her direction.
"Old enough to be successful and retire early," she retorted. The twinkling in his eyes hadn't escaped her notice and she laughed again. "Well said, enigma! You don't talk like most Khajiit, so either you weren't raised by them or you're well-traveled enough to adapt your speech patterns to your current company. I still think you're not a soldier, but you don't like the idea of retirement, so… mercenary?" It was a tough guessing game, but Aurora enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity to meet someone so out of the ordinary.
“Something like that,” Dro’Sintaba said again, truthfully quite enjoying the chase he was giving the Nord. “As for the speech - hmmmm, this one believes that Aurora is quite curious, yes?” He said, humouring her, giving her a typical Kahjiiti handwave to accompany his words. The gravel seemed to leave his voice when speaking in such a way, and it most certainly thinned out in its impressive depth. “But you’re right. I am a travelled mercenary of sorts. Not quite as interesting as a proprietor of exotic goods…”
It was then that the Nord snatched up the spot that had opened up on the barrel and she looked up at the massive Khajiit with a smirk. “Me, curious? Whatever gave you that idea?” she said, voice dripping with sarcasm, and tapped a playful hand on his knee. “And I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss yourself as uninteresting, my dear. You have the eyes of a Khajiit that has seen much. Who knows what stories you have to tell about your exploits?” Aurora let the question hang in the air and raised an eyebrow suggestively.
“I said the idea of an enigma is far more exciting, I didn’t say that meant I wasn’t interesting anyway,” he remarked with a smirk. Stories indeed he thought to himself, leaning forwards again, his elbow finding another barrel. He wasn’t surprised that Aurora had come to seat herself beside him, he was a little surprised at how openly touchy she was, however. It caught him off guard enough to give him cause to flick his ears back when she touched his leg. She was a lively one, and he made a mental note to send Vas her way when he got a chance, perhaps the Nord could teach the bratty Imperial some manners, or distract her long enough to stay out of his way.
“Exploits?” Dro’Sintaba asked, and for the first time, chuckled. “What kind of exploits do you think I get myself wrapped up in, Aurora Brightwind?”
She tapped her chin again. “Rescuing fair princesses from dragons and trolls, for a start,” Aurora proposed with a languid drawl to her voice, but she laughed and waved her own joke away. “Really though, a mercenary always has stories. And even if you don’t pursue trouble, Dro’Sintaba, I can’t imagine it never came calling.” Her eyes were quite serious now and she looked at him like a headmistress that expected one of her students to start lying any second. “It sticks to men like you like a cloak,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. She thought of her brother, Rolf, who had been tall and broad and severe. Now he was dead. Abruptly, Aurora sighed and looked away. “Sorry, I don’t mean to pry. We’ve only just met.”
In his own way, he scoffed at her. One single huff of breath from his nostrils, followed by another smirk at one side of his mouth. “I think you do mean to pry, Aurora. You make your business from prying, do you not?” Dro’Sintaba asked, leaning close to her although she had looked away - his face was just the shadow in her peripherals now. “A friend of mine once said that trouble finds me and that death accompanies me on my shoulders.” It was strange, there was nothing malicious in his manner, and he did not mean to impose on her space or be the chilling whisper that ran down her spine. Somewhere in the grit of his growl was a measure of shame.
The Khajiit pulled back and sighed. “My cloak is just a cloak, just fabric…”
There was nothing about Dro’Sintaba that suggested there was any reason not to believe him. Just from the way he carried himself, from his movements and his voice, Aurora had known that he wasn’t an ordinary person. He had seen things, done things, and his voice did send a shiver down her spine.
“And a fine cloak it is,” the Nord said with a smile and ran her hands over the green textile, stopping at his collar to adjust it properly. Perhaps it was better to let certain things lie, instead of her curiosity leading to her getting more than she bargained for. The tone in his voice signaled to her that there were things beneath the surface of Dro’Sintaba that should stay buried… for now, at least. “Are you traveling for work?” she asked.
The question was enough to snap him out of it, and he remembered that yes, he was working. “Something like that,” Dro’Sintaba said yet again. “Escorting several ounces of trouble,” he chuckled, relaxing back into his makeshift seat. As she moved his cloak around, he stole a quick glance at her, moving his arms back so they weren’t in her way. “Been some time since I was in Anvil, I’m rather fond of the coast there,” he said with a sigh, trying to push past the atmosphere he’d left hovering around the place.
“It is beautiful,” Aurora agreed, remembering the golden fields and sunrises of the expanse that lay between Anvil and Kvatch, and the view of the ocean from the harbor. She thought about what he said, a few ounces of trouble, and grinned. “You’re a bodyguard?” she asked as she looked up at him again and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I heard an excited woman prattling away somewhere in the ship when I was belowdecks. Are you escorting her? I bet you are,” she theorized and wagged a cheeky finger at him, narrowing her eyes inquisitively once more.
"Excited woman prattling on? Sounds like the one," he said, deflating with a drawn out sight. "A walking headache… But, gold in hand." Dro'Sintaba brought a hand to his jaw and stroked there, in thought again. "Don't know her story, didn't ask. Know more about you, actually." He shut his eyes tight and groaned, the very mention of her brought the sound of her incessant chatter to his ears.
“Oh my, out of the frying pan and into the fire!” Aurora said and laughed, clapping her hands together. “You escaped one talkative woman only to run straight into me, eh? How very unfortunate for you.” Still giggling, Aurora gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “There, there, Dro’Sintaba, it’ll be alright.”
Dro'Sintaba immediately tensed up, his shoulder flexed as she touched him, his ears flicked back again. "Two talkative women that have me in common… Maybe I remove myself from the equation and she can be your pet project instead?" His eyes narrowed playfully, hiding the fact that he was actually quite serious. The Khajiit leaned in close to Aurora again, "what do you say?" he whispered in a deep purr, close enough to her ear and neck that she might feel his warm breath. If she insisted on touching and prodding at him - well…
She turned to face him directly and fixed her amber eyes on his. He was even more magnificent up close, she decided, and she had to suppress the primal reaction of fear that his feline menace evoked. She could smell him, too -- something earthy and animalistic. “No,” she whispered back. “I think I’d much rather learn more about you, big guy.”
“If only we were going to be trapped on a ship for a short time…” he smirked again, pulling away from Aurora - disturbing the gravity between them. “There really isn’t that much to learn,” Dro’Sintaba said with a nonchalant shrug before pushing himself off the barrel. She’d see his full height now, and he made sure to stand in her vision for just a moment longer than was necessary. Tall enough to block out the sun.
“As much as I am loathe to part from your company, I suppose I should go and see about a girl…” the Cathay-raht said at last, slipping his huge hands into the pockets of his cloak. He didn’t wait for a goodbye - he wanted to play on his enigma after all, and instead gave her a wave with the back of his hand after he’d created enough distance with his relaxed strides.
Being cast in his shadow sent another shiver down her spine, though of a different kind, and she bit her lip as she watched him walk away. “Fine, be like that,” she muttered to herself and laughed quietly before getting to her feet as well. There was someone else she wanted to meet and he wasn’t hard to spot; Captain Ravana, a name well-known to her from her travels to the western seaboard, kept watch over his ship at the helm of the vessel.
She climbed the steps to the upper deck and approached Ravana much in the same way she had Dro’Sintaba, with one hand on her sword and the other behind her back, and she stopped a respectful distance away.
“Captain Ravana, I presume?” Aurora asked and placed a hand over her heart before bowing slightly, showing proper deference to a captain on his ship according to Imperial customs. “It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Aurora Brightwind, one of your passengers on this voyage. Are the winds looking auspicious?”
The Captain had been watching out beyond the horizon, eyes narrowed and almost closed as he thought about the voyage ahead - enjoying the sounds of his crew at work. The sound of passengers arriving was even more enjoyable. It had been a while since he had carried passengers. He was an explorer more than anything else, but the opportunity had arisen and he had taken it rather happily. People generally paid good money to travel on a real ship - especially one like the Kismet. He inhaled the sea air, the salt that lingered in it was his absolute favourite perfume - so smile, and yet it invoked such a serenity within him.
He was deep in such a serenity with his jewelled hands resting gently on the railings and his stance relaxed - but at the appearance of Aurora he quickly straightened up, caught off guard perhaps. “Miss Brightwind, yes - I’m Captain Ravana…” he said with a warm smile, bowing his head to her - appreciative of her own etiquette. His eyes trailing her from head to toe as he did bow, he liked what he was observing. “The honour is all mine,” he began slowly before stepping closer towards her, “and the winds are always auspicious when you board the Kismet,” he concluded with a content sigh.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of such beautiful company?” Ravana asked with a boyish smirk, the hair in his ponytail caught the breeze behind him, and the light of the sun seemed to focus in on the various stones that he wore in his ears and on his fingers. They practically glittered as he reached out his hand for her to take.
He was so forward with his charm that Aurora was forced to hide a laugh behind her hand. Still, it was charming, and she wasn’t averse to compliments. “You are too kind,” she said and smiled as she took the offered hand. “I always make an effort to meet and thank the captains of the ships I travel with. It is only by your mastery and leadership that I get to traverse the waves, after all,” Aurora cooed. “And I am doubly grateful for your willingness to transport my horse as well. Your men were very gentle and attentive when they lowered him into the hold.” She could be charming if she wanted as well, and she inclined her head to emphasize her words.
“Now you’re being too kind,” Ravana replied, tilting his head back with his arms spread outwards as she took a backstep towards the railings again. There was a confidence about him that he revelled in displaying in his mannerisms. “I’m glad to hear they took care of him, truly — sometimes my boys are rowdy but I’ve got them on their best behaviour for as long as I have passengers like yourself…” Ravana’s elbow found a surface, and so he leaned onto the railing, one leg crossed in front of the other - his free arm was held out towards Aurora, as if inviting her to his side.
He’d recalled her name on the passenger list, he wasn’t so out of touch with the goings on of his ship like many Captains were - he liked to be in the know of who he was bringing aboard, that and he did in fact like to write out all of his own paperwork - for peace of mind. She was a suite passenger, and he raised an eyebrow at the recollection of that fact; “you’re not staying in the shared quarters, are you?”
She raised an eyebrow at that, impressed by his attention to detail. “I’m flattered that you remember. No, I’m not. I like my privacy,” Aurora said and did as his extended arm suggested, joining him by the railings. She looked out over the waves, towards the horizon, and briefly thought about everything she knew about the captain.
Explorer, charismatic, known to merchants as a reliable transporter of goods… oh, and an excellent swordsman, of course. How could she forget? She graced him with her most winning smile as she turned her attention back to him. “Say, captain… those swords aren’t for show, are they?”
That gave him cause to laugh, and he placed his hand on the hilt, tapping his fingers over it as he watched the woman, having noticed Aurora’s own weapon during his once over of her. “Do you think that they are, Aurora?” He asked playfully, giving her a grin, before her ran his fingers over his moustache, and down to his chin - outlining his mouth as he smiled. If there was one thing that he enjoyed, it was others stroking his ego, but Aurora seemed different - sharper. Ravana couldn’t tell if she was asking a serious question, or simply trying to beguile him.
“No, not at all,” she reassured him and brushed the back of his hand with her fingers. “In fact, I was hoping… well, you see,” Aurora began and shifted her body so that she was facing him entirely, and she leaned in closer with an enthusiastic look on her face. “Swordplay is something of a hobby of mine and I like to challenge every swordsman of renown that I meet to a duel. I know you’re a busy man, captain, but if you could find a moment to spar with me sometime during our voyage, I would be much obliged.” Her eyes were full of life and she smiled after glancing down at the two scimitars, wondering what his style was. “What do you say?”
The Redguard’s bronze eyes narrowed, and he sucked in a breath through his teeth before toying with his beard again. “I could duel you…” he began, his words soft and tone tinged with the enchanting promise of adventure. “Not many people I come across would challenge me.” The corners of his mouth curved upwards and his smile was suddenly boyish again - the sparkle in his eyes was too. He enjoyed a challenge, he especially enjoyed a challenge if it involved him being able to use his swords, and even more so if it involved a beautiful woman. “But you’re a passenger — it might seem untoward if I were to hurt you in any way,” then came the smirk. A quirked eyebrow too, and in his own mind he began to imagine the theatrical scene - letting it play out to his own direction.
Ravana pushed himself off from the railing, turning his back on Aurora to pace to the ships wheel again. “But I must say I’m intrigued at what skills you may have learned from… other renowned swordsman.” He glanced sidelong at her, a hand on his hip and the other on the hilt of one of the scimitars again. An odd hilt it was too, with a strange engraving on the top - deep etchings that looked labyrinthine in their detail.
There it was -- the inevitable moment that she was underestimated or not taken seriously. “Don’t worry about me,” the Nord replied without any outward signs of annoyance. “I can take care of myself.” She raised her left hand and gathered magicka in her palm, releasing it as a spell that fortified itself around her silhouette with an ethereal clang, almost like a suit of armor being fastened on her body. “You’d have to be trying to hurt me to get through an Ironskin spell.” Aurora tapped the railing with her index finger and cocked her head. “So, what do you say, my captain?”
“I don’t doubt that you can,” Ravana said with a tilt of his head and a smile. His eyes followed her movements as she applied her spell, he’d seen such magic before - and it was impressive, that was for sure. The competitive side of him knew that it wasn’t permanent, though. “I would, myself, be honoured to duel you, Aurora.” He gave her a showy bow, one arm held outwards.
“Get yourself settled in first, unpack - enjoy all the ship has to offer, and then we’ll duel--”
Ravana was cut short by the sound of approaching footsteps, heavy, up the stairs behind Aurora. A tall man with slicked back raven hair and an aquiline nose, his skin tanned and clothes light. “Captain, I don’t mean to intrude,” he began - he did not speak in slang like most of the crew, and his accent differed too - he enunciated his words unlike his colleagues who simply cut them off.
“Bronn,” Ravana responded, placing a hand in front of Aurora, to indicate he would resume their conversation momentarily.
“There’s some business to attend to in your quarters,” Bronn’s eyes shifted to Aurora, and then back to Ravana. They were grey and downturned, but in more of a distinguished manner than offputting. “I’m afraid it can’t wait.” His tone was curt, and he placed his hands behind his back, unwilling to say anymore.
Ravana nodded, turning back to Aurora with an apologetic smile. “Duty calls, my dear-- but come and find me when you’re ready,” he offered, gently taking her hand in both of his for a farewell shake. It did pain him to have to leave such a fascinating woman to simply have to deal with business, but alas, a Captain’s work was truly, never finished.
Aurora curtsied gracefully. “Of course, my captain, I understand,” she said. She hadn’t expected anything else, and besides, she was still wearing her riding clothes, which hardly made for suitable attire for a proper duel. Aurora held no illusions about underestimating him and appreciated the opportunity to prepare and find him at a time of her choosing. “Thank you for your time.”
