1A/N: Chapter 2 already! I started writing this right after I posted Chapter 1 lol. Anyways, this chapter plays 3 roles, explaining the deal with Tenarr's honorifics, introducing a few new OCs, and setting up the plot for next chapter or 2! Takes place a couple years after Nicknames. Btw, signed dialouge is in '-' format.
"Two parts pounded Frost Miriam to one part distilled Snowberry juice to two parts ground Bear claw-" Suddenly, there was a knocking at Jo'Tenarr's study door. He stood, closing the alchemy chest he was digging in. Turning, he saw a short Khajiit with thick, grey fur with ochre patches. There were black spots and stripes on her face, and she wore a white tunic and dark brown pants that reached to her paws.
"Oh! Hello Bishu Fa!" Jo'Tenarr greeted his ward with a grin, signing as he spoke.
'Hello,' the Dagi signed back. 'There's an Imperial Legionarre waiting for you in the kitchen.'
"Huh. That's strange. It's the dead of winter, it should be nearly impossible to make it all the way out here," chimed Shrike, who was huddled under the desk in his physical form, one resembling a sky-blue Senche that looked almost exactly like a Sabre Cat, minus the teeth and color. He had large white wings that faded into a dark purple near the bottoms, like they'd been dipped in dye.
"Alright then, let's go see what they want." With this, Jo'Tenarr stalked down the hallway to the large, open area near the front of the cabin that housed the kitchen, common area, and dining area. There was, indeed, a young Redguard sitting at the table, obviously not any older than 16 and shivering rapidly. He wore the standard-issue Imperial armor over a gambeson, obviously a desperate attempt to keep warm. There was an imperial bow leaning against the wall by the door and a quiver of steel arrows was slung across the back of his chair. His insignia denoted him as a cadet. He startled a little when Jo'Tenarr cleared his throat, then startled even more when he noticed Shrike padding over to his corner by the fire.
"Hello there friend! I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long! Would you like some tea? I have a blend specifically crafted to warm you up. You aren't the first to show up at my door freezing your hands off, after all." As he said this, he fluttered about the kitchen, pouring water into a kettle and setting it to boil over the fire. "Though, I am surprised they sent a cadet all the way out here, and in the dead of winter too. Oh, sorry, where are my manners? I am Legate Do'Tenarr Zha'ja. You are?"
The boy blinked. This was not what he was expecting from the notoriously rather quiet Cathay. "U-uh, Cadet Volenfell, Sir. Thank you for the tea sir."
Do'Tenarr waved his hand in the teen's direction. "Oh, drop that 'sir' nonsense, at least while we're here. One of the reasons I live all the way out here is to avoid all that stupid hero worship!" The Khajiit laughed, then walked over to the kettle, which had started steaming silently. If Volenfell looked closely as Do'Tenarr poured the boiling water into 3 mugs, he would notice the glimmer of enchantments on it. "I'm really proud of this kettle, it's specifically made to- Yes, M'Sarefi?"
The aforementioned cub was tugging on his pant leg in an attempt to get his attention. 'He has a message, remember?'
Do'Tenarr grinned guiltily. "Right, thank you Bishu Fa," He turned to the boy, placing one of the mugs in front of him and pulling up a chair opposite to him, placing the other two mugs on that side of the table. Beside him, M'Sarefi scrambled onto another chair, one stacked with cushions, before pulling over her mug. "You have a message for me, yes?"
This seemed to snap Volenfell back into reality. He took on a more confident posture and voice. "General Tullius is gathering all members of the Hawks in Skyrim at the Headquarters in Solitude. It's time to strike at the Auction."
Do'Tenarr scowled. Next to him, M'Sarefi's claws dug into the wood of her mug. The Dark Auction was a massive trafficking ring that stuck its fingers all over Tamriel. They had been a major enemy for decades, to the point that the Hawks, a squad of shock troops in charge of investigating and countering magical threats and criminal organizations, had shifted their focus entirely onto them about a year ago. It was the Auction that had sold Do'Tenarr's parents to a farm, and it was the Auction that had tried to sell M'Sarefi, and would have succeeded had Do'Tenarr's crew of Hawkblades not raided their caravan.
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Do you have a horse, Volenfell?" At this, Do'Tenarr stood. He padded towards the front door, quickly followed by all the others. The cadet swung his quiver across his back and pulled his bow into the holster attached to the quiver.
"Uh, no, I don't." The second half of Volenfell's sentence wavered as the four stepped out into the cold, Shrike getting caught on the doorway before grumbling and going incorporeal for a second.
"That's fine! I don't mind you coming along with me!" Do'Tenarr practically threw open the door to a smaller building, about 20 feet from the house. The interior was like a half barn, half armory. Volenfell let the Khajiit hero practically drag him over to the armory area. He was still looking around, astonished, when Do'Tenarr yelled "THINK FAST!" and suddenly there was a bundle of fabric flying at him at top speeds. He caught it, unfolding it to reveal a coat, one also glowing with enchantments, much like everything else in this house. Pulling it on made him instantly feel much warmer, bringing a grin to his face.
Glancing around for the others revealed the distinct lack of Do'Tenarr and M'Sarefi, and Shrike standing around awkwardly. "Just… Don't touch anything. Most of these are enchanted, and I doubt Tullius would be very happy with us hauling you back more burnt than Helgen," he grumbled, startling a laugh out of the Redguard teen. "What?"
Volenfell giggled. "Nothing, it's just- I didn't expect that. Nobody really talks about Helgen, and if they do, it's in whispers."
Suddenly, Do'Tenarr chimed in from a door that Volenfell hadn't noticed yet. "Considering that me and Shrike were there, I don't think anyone'll mind us talking about it." As he said this genuinely concerning piece of information, he crossed over to a door that had been propped ajar. There were rustling noises coming from inside. Right as Do'Tenarr was about to enter, the door was pushed ajar by M'Sarefi, carrying a stack of tack taller then she was, and obviously causing her guardian no small amount of stress. "Y- you want some help with that M'Sarefi?"
The tiny Khajiit shook her head (at least, he thinks she did, he can't see her head) and just kept walking, all the way over to the door Do'Tenarr had entered through, with Shrike falling into step right behind her. Volenfell glanced back at his host, but Do'Tenarr just waved his hand as if to say "go ahead" as he ducked into the tack room.
Stepping out into a large, fenced in area, the first thing he noticed was an absolutely massive grey stallion standing by a trough of water. It was at least 6 feet tall with a thick, well groomed coat and draped with a heavy blanket.
"That's Owaz. He's Do'Tenarr's destrier. Absolutely a gentle giant. His name means Snow in Ta'Agra." The sound of Shrike's voice pulled the teen's sight away from the stallion and towards the Senche and his companion. His front right paw was raised, and M'Sarefi was trying to slide what looked like a steel bracer onto it. His front left leg already had a bracer on.
"Wait, all that tack is for you, uh…" it was at that moment he realized he had never actually gotten his name.
"Shrike. This is specilized tack to accommodate the wings. It's actually based on experimental designs of tack for dragons, just scaled down a significant amount. And no, it's not uncommon for Senche to be used as mounts by bipedal races, especially other Khajiit. Just remember to ask permission. We are still sentient, after all." During this, M'Sarefi had gotten the bracers onto all four paws, and had moved on to the saddle. Volenfell had sat down next to the two Khajiit on a rock with white lines running all the way through it. Salt deposits, supplied the part of his mind that had grown up on books of geology and minerals.
The three fell into a comfortable silence. Volenfell closed his eyes and leaned back, allowing himself to process the events of the past 15-20 minutes. Birds sang overhead and rabbits hopped their way through the snow. The massive stallion by the fence snorted. Somewhere nearby, a creek bubbled as it raced the wind down the mountain. A few minutes later, more clanking metal and shifting leather joined the chorus as Do'Tenarr started tacking up Owaz, and snow crunched under M'Sarefi's feet as she went inside, likely to arm up herself. Maybe 15 minutes passed before Volenfell remembered something that had been plaguing him since the older Khajiit had introduced himself.
"Do'Tenarr? I have a question."
"Yes, kid?"
"Well one, I'm not a kid. Two, in some imperial ledgers, you're refered to as Shadesong, in some you're referred to as Jo'Tenarr, and in some you're referred to as Do'Tenarr. Why is that?"
The legate sighed. "Yes, you are. Shadesong is a name I went by for my first year or so in Skyrim. As for Jo' verses Do', you'll need to have a bit of a Ta'Agra lesson for that. Jo' and Do' are honorifics, and ones that mean very different things. Jo' is for male scholars, mages, healers, or the like. Do' is for warriors. I change between the two when my role changes. The times I was called in for healing or magic purposes, I used Jo'Tenarr, but when I'm called in for warrior duties, I use Do'Tenarr. Does that make sense?"
Volenfell frowned. "I- I guess?" He sat up, noticing that Do'Tenarr was almost done tacking up Owaz. The stallion's armor was obviously made for function over form, as it seemed to be made of ebony plate, with only a few embellishments in gold. He shifted uncomfortably under his owner's hands as the Khajiit attached a pillion to his saddle. Do'Tenarr himself was in a set of beautiful, but still functional, armor made of some kind of grey-blue metal. There was a pair of small wings made of gold detailed onto the back of the chestplate, right below the shoulder blades. A sunburst adorned each gauntlet. A helmet sat on his belt, next to a menacing mace and a sword that seemed to be of dwarven make, but held a ball of bright light in a circular shape right below the blade. There was a holster and quiver swung across his back, with a dwarven looking bow and arrows that looked like they were fletched at least a millennia ago.
Do'Tenarr clapped his hands together, making a harsh sound of metal clanking together. "Alright," he crowed, "Done! Now we just need to wait for M'Sarefi to finish, then we can go."
"Speak of the Daedra then, because she's right here." Glancing back at the door, Volenfell noticed the Dagi. She was in studded leather armor, with a quiver of crossbow bolts fastened on her belt next to a sheath containing a dagger. The little bit that Volenfell could see looked wickedly sharp, and seemed to be made of bone. The crossbow itself was slung across her back.
Do'Tenarr grinned even wider, if that was even possible. "Perfect! Hop on Volenfell!" He sprung up, apparently unburdened by the incredibly heavy armor, and pulled himself into the saddle.
The Redguard boy approached the great destrier, grimacing about the prospect of climbing onto him. Do'Tenarr obviously noticed his trepidation, as he reached down to pull the teen into the pillion. As he settled himself, the Khajiit in front of him chimed "Alright, hold on tight," and then they were off, leaping over the low fence and rocketing down the mountain towards Solitude.
A/N: OH MY GOD IT'S DONE. This chapter took MUCH longer than Nicknames did. On the other hand, it's almost 3 times the length! But seriously, this was a doozy of a chapter. Horse girl blogs and wikipedia have been my saving grace during this. Feel free to ask questions!