Rivalry and Reunion
Yet another collab of Roze and @Frizan
It had been a cold and dreary trip back to Dawnstar. Talk was limited, and supplies were running short. When the harbor came into view, Sagax joined the collective sigh of relief that could be heard across the top deck. He had remained topside for the most part, as he preferred the open sea air. But, as misfortune would have it, Roze was also on the top deck. Neither of them wanted to so much as look at each other, so both sat on opposite ends of the ship, as they did aboard the Kamal frigate when searching for the jail key. Roze had been killing time by speaking with Do'Karth, and still was by the time the
Kyne's Tear docked. Sagax took the first opportunity to hop off the ship and get to dry land; he spoke with no one. He was simply too tired and drained. His head rang, his shoulder and arm panged from their previous injuries, and his mind was in conflict. Surely, deep down he knew that Roze was right, that not everyone can be saved. Ever the idealist, though, the Imperial stuck to his convictions. Everyone could be saved, it sometimes just takes a little doing. Whether that was a sensible outlook or not didn't enter Sagax's mind, his only concern was maintaining his principles.
Sagax left the company's current ramshackle headquarters with fewer coins than he was previously promised. He would be lying if he said he wasn't even slightly resentful about it; who the hell did that Jarl think he was? War bonds, right, and Sagax was Uriel Septim himself. Thoughts raced back to a time when the Imperial had to steal to make ends meet, and more than once he thought about trying his hand at the craft once more, but decided against it. He would not stoop to petty thievery, not ever again. Instead he bought the meagre amount of food and drink he usually ordered from inns he stopped at, and went back outside; he didn't want to deal with all of the noise echoing inside the inn. His meal left him with few coins, but this Sagax did not mind. Once out in the open air again, Sagax searched for a place to sit, and immediately spied a building with the best view of the sky. He had a knack for telling what buildings afforded the best view of things, and this ability helped him more than once when trying to find his way around the Imperial City. These viewpoints were as much a home to Sagax as anything else.
It wasn't a magnificently tall building, but it was high enough to place him a few tens of feet off the ground, and it gave him an overview of not just the sky, but Dawnstar itself. Sitting down casually, Sagax bit away at the jerky he had brought from Windpeak; it was still warm, and this coupled with the fur cloak graciously gifted to him by his friends from Windhelm left the Imperial comfortable, if not cozy.
Following the brawl between Leif and Do'Karth, Roze's good mood seemed to ebb away. All that talking she had done with the pair aboard the
Kyne's Tear, for nothing! Leif starting fights, Do'Karth beating the crap out of him, and Sevine looking on helplessly. It was all so... uncharacteristic to see her friends in acting such a way. Before the fight had even finished, Roze had walked off, temper beginning to steam - she had wanted to talk with Sevine, but figured she and Do'Karth needed some alone time to deal with... well, that shit-storm that had just happened.
"Honestly! What is it with these men? Always thinking with their bloody hearts all the time." Her anger wasn't just directed at Leif, and she knew that - immediately feeling a sense of guilt afterwards. Thoughts and memories of what had occurred in the past few days kept swirling around Roze's head, and any confusion coming from such musings just tickled her temper further. Deciding that she needed some form of a pick-me-up, Roze directed her stomping towards the headquarters rather than the inn for her pay... only to come away with less than normal.
"Where's the rest of it?" She had asked the quartermaster, knowing simply from the weight of the coinpurse that it was less than usual. After some weak excuse of the "Jarl's War Bonds", Roze left the offices no better off mood-wise than when she had entered. Still... it wasn't as if she couldn't find some spare change lying around elsewhere...
About half an hour later, Roze had managed to reimburse her lost payment threefold; with so many guards milling around on the look out for Argonians, they didn't really pay attention to the slight Breton girl wandering around. Nor did the townsfolk, or the visiting merchants. Dawnstar was abuzz with the news of the murder of Vurwe, and with the growing tensions between the Argonian refugees and racist Nords, they were easy pickings for the thief. Rewarding herself with a room at the Windpeak Inn, changing into some clean and comfortable clothes and buying a bottle of whiskey (and a few skins of mead for later), Roze found herself wandering the ever-emptying streets of Dawnstar, nearly whiskey bottle in hand and feeling that strange sense of contentment one gained from alcohol. Not quite happiness, but definitely a pleasant buzz. The buzz didn't leave her as Roze's gaze turned skyward, suddenly catching sight of a familiar face. Sighing irritably, Roze wondered what kind of games the Gods were playing. First the trouble with Do'Karth and Leif, and now, just as her own mood was beginning to pick up, they shove Sagax into her vision? Everything that had happened onboard the frigate suddenly came rushing back, and a scowl set firmly in her face. Being stuck on the ship with him was awkward enough, but Roze was still pissed off at the fact he was judging her so harshly. All she had wanted to do was to survive, and make sure he survived! What gave him the right to act like he had?
"Oi!" Pausing in her step, Roze glared up at the building. "What are you doing up there? Trying to get yourself killed again?!"
Looking around in confusion, Sagax wondered where the sudden yelling was coming from. Peering over the edge of the rooftop, he found the source...and she looked drunk off her ass. As usual.
"No, as a matter of fact, I am not. I'm trying to relax. Or at least, I was." Getting up on one knee so as to get a better angle over the ledge, Sagax peered down at the sneering Breton below. "What do you want, Roze? Don't you have some working-class sods to pick coins from? Maybe some homes to crawl in through the windows of? Surely you have to be busy with something, you don't need to be bothering me." Sagax already knew she was in no conditioned to be reasoned with, and so he hoped that maybe he could just....make her go away for a while. He would speak to her sober, and that was that.
"Seriously?" Roze scoffed incredulously, muttering under her breath to herself. Sagax's tone made it obvious what he thought of her lifestyle... and while they'd debated about her thieving in the past, they'd never really butted heads over it. Not like this.
"It's not like I'm hurting anyone by taking a few septims here and there." Even looking back when she had done some serious work for the Guild; heists and sweep jobs - they had never hurt anyone! And she'd never targeted the poor... that's not how her or the Guild worked.
"Don't act like you're better than me!" Roze suddenly snapped, properly scowling at the Imperial now. "I steal from people who don't need what I've taken; it's how I've survived for my whole life! Don't tell me you're living comfortably with the meagre amount they gave us today!" The amount was just short of what any other Merc would get... but for the job they'd just done? There were bandits out there getting more money for killing a giant! Their group had just tackled ancient Dwemer killing machines and bloodthirsty armigers, and then they find out their pay was cut by a quarter? Roze wouldn't let Sagax pretend he was happy with that.
"Survival!?" Sagax snapped back, now standing up straight. "What do you know of survival!? Stealing to survive is taking a potion off of a rack when no one is looking to cure the rockjoint your mother is in agony dealing with! Stealing to survive is whisking away a loaf of bread to give strength back to your withering sister after a day of hunting! Stealing to survive is not duping some gullible baker with sweet smiles and honeyed words to score a free sweetroll!" Taking deep breaths to relax himself, Sagax continued softly. "Am I better than you, Roze? Honestly, I would say no. But the reasons why we do what we do are wildly different, as are our circumstances. So don't you sit there and try to give me a speech about how we're 'not so different'!"
"As for our pay today...I agree, it is irritating that we have not gotten our full allowance of coin. But I know how to live within my means!" Eyeing the flask the Breton carried, Sagax scoffed. "Clearly you do not."
Cheeks beginning to flush red, Roze's face twisted with anger. Despite his "honest" words, there was some tone of superiority present. Sagax had had a hard life, that she could not deny - but just because her's was different did not mean she had struggled any less.
"I may not have struggled with finding food every night, but by the Gods I had to work! My Mother was no Saint, and she made sure to raise me in the exact same way! I had no choice... and don't you dare stand there and question my morals. I did what I had to do as a child to make sure my mother looked upon me with favour. And I do the same now as an woman to keep those I care about safe." Glancing at the flask of whiskey in her hands, the container was less than half gone; nevertheless, she flung it to the ground, smashing the glass and spilling the alcohol across the streets. Not just in anger, but to prove a point to Sagax. Looking back to him, frustrated tears of anger were beginning to build up in her eyes. "Don't act like you are perfect. You're not without sin; and neither is your family." Her words would be vague to any except Sagax - he knew what she meant.
Face dropping from a slight scowl into a loose, but obvious glare, Sagax jumped down from his perch and landed but a few feet from Roze. He knew exactly what the Breton was talking about, and normally words like that wouldn't bother him. But it was the fact that they were coming from her, from Roze, that made them cut so much deeper. He had poured his heart out about his father to Roze last time when they were in Dawnstar; they had drunk a fair amount of spirits and both got onto the topic of their parents, and then the Gazette entry that came in the next day...to use that against him...he felt almost betrayed. In the heat of the moment, Sagax dug deep for something that would strike at Roze as viciously as she struck him, and he found it quickly.
Staring straight into Roze's eyes, Sagax spoke icily. "My father was taken from me unfairly...but at least he did not abandon me."
And with those parting words, Sagax began to walk away from the woman he called a friend not more than a few nights ago.
Although aware that she herself had hit below the belt, Sagax's comeback may as well have kneecapped her; there was a moment of stunned silence as Roze's jaw dropped slightly, simply unbelieving that Sagax had brought up...
that. He knew about her father's disappearance, knew about the desperate search that she herself had ended just before joining the mercenary outfit - he knew she hated not knowing whether he was alive or not. And to insinuate that he had abandoned her and her mother, without any justifiable reason?
The back of Sagax's head became swamped in red, as did the rest of Roze's vision. All of a sudden she was striding forward, fists clenched into balls and clocking him in the side of his head while his back remained turned. Had she been completely cohesive in the moment, Roze would have considered such an action cowardly. But with her temper snapped and blinded with sudden rage, the thief had no case for "rules" of fighting. She just needed to hit something; preferably Sagax's face.
All of a sudden, Sagax's vision burned with searing agony.
"Why does everyone go for my fucking head!? he thought to himself bitterly. The hits he took at Windhelm and in Bthamz did him no favors against Roze's punch. Without those prior injuries, he was sure he could have just shaken off her assault. Turning around unsteadily, Sagax tried deciding between confronting Roze further, or simply taking to the rooftops and laying low somewhere in Dawnstar. He didn't have to choose either.
He could swear they weren't there before, but Sagax could see through the haze in his eyes someone standing behind Roze. A very heavily armored someone. Before he could react, the stranger grabbed Roze by her neck and by the back of her shirt and threw her to the ground like a doll.
"Piss off, you Breton whore, before I break every bone in your fucking body!" These words rang out from the stranger's large helmet. They were...a woman? Either a woman or a very effeminate man. Sagax was stunned into silence...with a hint of fear. This person looked the sort to make good on their promises.
Before she knew it, the red haze surrounding Roze's vision suddenly vanished; as did the ground, and Sagax, as someone roughly grasped her from behind and picked her up effortlessly. A split second later, Roze saw the ground again. In fact, she became so closely and suddenly acquainted with it that all the air seemed to be squeezed out of her lungs, and everything turned black for a few moments. Even despite the tunnel vision, Roze could hear the resounding crack as she hit the floor, and the yelled words from the stranger rang in her ears.
"Wuh...?" Was all she managed to mumble past confusion, fear, and pain radiating down her body. Roze had been slammed well and truly into the ground, and the right side of her body was feeling it. Gazing blearily at the armoured stranger, the argument with Sagax suddenly vanished from her thoughts. Who was this person? Were they going to kill her?
"Gods, what if they kill us both?!" Feeling particularly naked without her armour or any form of weapon, Roze found herself regretting what might just be her last action on this mortal plane.
After seeing that Roze was successfully united with the dirt, the armored stranger turned and knelt by Sagax, holding him by the chin and turning his head.
"You okay, Sagax? She's pretty damn small, but you look like you're about to fall over and die...well, you aren't bleeding or anything, but-"
"I, uh, um, I appreciate the concern...ma'am...sir? But...who are you?"
Staring at him for a few moments, the stranger spoke again. "What? What the hell do you mean 'who are you'? You gone so long you've forgotten what I sound like or something?" Without waiting for a response, the knight removed their helmet and coif....
"Piper!?" Sagax asked with exasperation. "What the hell are you doing here!?"
Placing her gauntlet-covered hands on her hips, Piper responded shortly. "Making sure you don't fucking die out here doing whatever it is you think is a good idea to go do." Nodding towards Roze, she spoke again. "Who's she? Some five-coin streetcorner worker? You really know how to pick them..."
As sense seemed to come back to her surroundings (And air to her lungs) Roze was able to listen in on the conversation between Sagax and the stranger. Except it wasn't a stranger - it was his sister. While relieved that her attacker wasn't just some random psychopath intent on killing people in the street, any positive feelings drained away at Piper's acknowledgement of her.
"Hey! Go fuck yourself!" Too dazed to think of anything smarter than that, Roze made do with the insult and simply spitting a gob of blood at the armoured woman's boot; Roze had bitten her lip on her violent journey to the ground, so there was some satisfaction in seeing her blood land on the polished metal.
Glaring down at the grounded thief, Piper gritted her teeth and brought back her leg for a kick against Roze's chest. "Little rat-faced bitch-!" Before she could let loose, Sagax intervened frantically.
"No no no no, Piper, don't! She's...she's a friend, Piper."
Looking at her brother with bewilderment, Piper said loudly, "Friend!? What kind of friend nails you in the back of the head when you aren't looking!? You ought to kick her teeth out!"
Looking towards Roze sheepishly and with guilt in his expression. "It's...complicated. I can explain later. We're just going through a rough spot, you know? Some disagreements..."
Throwing her hands up and rolling her eyes, Piper bent over to pick Roze back up. "All right then, friend, get on your damn feet then..." She didn't wait for Roze's hand, instead the Imperial woman grabbed the thief by the sleeve of her shirt and lifted her to her feet.
Flinching as Piper's leg drew back, Roze expected a hard kick; not a defence from Sagax. Meeting his sheepish gaze, her own was uncomfortable to say the least. He could have said a whole host of words rather than friend to stop Piper... but he didn't. Guilt washed over her, seeing the look in Sagax's eyes and the red mark from where she had hit him; however, any contrition was paused as she was hoisted up by the towering Imperial, the cotton in her shirt sleeve stretching under her grip.
"Thanks." Roze muttered sarcastically, glaring sourly at Piper as she rubbed her ribs tenderly. She was sure a few were broken, or at the very least bruised. Never before had she missed the protection of her leather armour so much.
"Pfft. You'll be fine, little rat. A few bruises should toughen you up a bit." Looking back to Sagax, Piper spoke with an almost unnoticeable reduction in iciness. "When you're done with your booty call, meet me back at the inn. I want to hear everything, from when you left until now. And there better not be a damn detail missing!" Before leaving, Piper took the chance to snort derisively at Roze as the Breton cradled her side.
Not really knowing how to deal with the thick air of awkwardness between the two rogues, Sagax just ended the encounter simply. "Uhm...I'll....I'll see you later, Roze. Sorry about Piper, she's a little...rough." With a mere few glances back towards Roze, Sagax followed Piper to Windpeak Inn, leaving the injured thief alone in the street.
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