Hey guys, I completely forgot about this place! Seen as my first fan-fic is pretty much dead, I feel it appropriate to start a new one. Plus, reading over it I'm not so happy with it. But I'm glad I found this place again, because I love reading fan-fics about such a great game. Anywho, onto the story:


The orange, setting sun hits my face, a smile playing on my lips, the green trees swaying in the gentle wind. The water beside me trickles gently, my fingers slightly dipped in the stream, the current giving a tiny push that just relaxes me. I look around, my eyes just opening and adjusting to the glare of the setting sun. Sitting on the nearby beach, a book open by her face, is my wife. She smiles, as my chair sits just by the stream, ever so slowly sliding down the river bank. Then, I slip, and fall into the river, my face splashing against the cold water, and back into reality.

My head is brought out of the freezing water, to meet no breeze, or setting sun. Just a cold, dirty interragation cell. The imperial guard holds the back of my head, and slams my face back in the water, that chills my face, and soaks my long hair into rat-tails.

"Who was working with you!" he shouts angrily, my head now above the water again. He pulls me up to the point where I am standing, and stares me in the eye. He glares at me with hatred, as I get my breath back. "Well? Who!" he shouts again.

"I swear! It was just me! Nobody else!" I tell him, water still in my throat. I look straight at him, in the eye. I see him frown, then throw me to the ground again.

"He's telling the truth. Bring him to the judge." The imperial guard says to the younger imperial standing by the edge of the cell with a long sigh. The guard takes his helmet off, and throws it to the ground.
"How do you know?" the other asks, whilst walking slowly away from the cell with the guard.
"His eyes. He had honest eyes. Get the jailor to take him up to the judge." The guard replied to the young imperial. He nods, and hurries off. The guard looks back at me, and walks out of the room.

I walk up to the locked cell door, and put my hand on the cold metal, wondering what my fate before the judge will be.

Soon, I hear the reinforced door at the end of the corridor creek open, and a patter of gentle footsteps down the corridor. I expect to be met by the jailor, but instead an all too farmiliar Khajiit. He looks at me, a smile on his furry face. He jiggles a lockpick in the lock, and withing about two seconds the lock clicks open.

"Come on. You haven't much time" he told me, hurrying me out of the cell. He runs to the window at the end of the corridor, and knocks in out in one swift punch. We climb out, just as the door clicks open, the jailor coming to pick me up, only to be met with an empty cell. We run, and hide by a tree.

"Nice to see you" he says with a chuckle, as we hug to celebrate our escape.




As always, C&C welcome.

Good start. Certainly pleanty of potential for this to be very good, you've caught my interest nicely.

I'll await the next installment.

Thanks.
Next bit:

"Thanks for not ratting me out." The Khajiit said, as he opened a small pouch and took a mouldy looking piece of bread out, taking a large bite.
"Anytime, Ka' Shakra." I replied with a smile, peering back round the tree, and looking at the wall of the imperial prison, where I hear shouts.
"How on earth did he escape! Get some guards to search. He isn't getting away from us." The guard that interragated me screamed, and within seconds I could hear the shaking of armour.
"Let's get out of here." I say, and begin running, grabbing Ka' by the wrist. He begins to flee with me, dropping his half eaten bread by the tree.

We run, looking back often to check how close the guards were. I turn around, and look at the cave next to us.
"Do you think we should hide in here?" I say, feeling the crusty wooden door, my fingerless gloves rubbing gently against the wood.
"Looks like our only choice." Ka' Shakra replied, so we opened the door and hurried inside, making sure to close it behind us. "Move silently, who knows who's in here..." Ka' Shakra told me, as I creep through the water that we were quickly met with upon entering the cave. We wade through, Ka' Shakra using his Khajiit ability to see in the dark, me using a nighteye spell. A light spell would be far too risky. My fingers running across the moist wall, we came to a fork in the cave.

"Which way?" I ask, looking at each of the 3 options, my hair still wet from the water.
I hear down the long corridor, the door's handle jiggle.
"Left..." I whisper, and me and Ka' escape down the left tunnel, to be met with a dead end, our feet still soaked.
We see the light at the three way junction flicker, and two guards stand, weighing out there options.

"You go down here, and I will search this one." the captain guard says to the other, and they both wonder down the tunnels, that were thankfully not the one me and Ka' were hiding in. We both take a sigh of relief, and swiftly mvoe down the tunnel to make our escape.
"Thank Vaermina" I whisper, me and my friend being so lucky that the well armed imperials did not find us.
We quickly go down the tunnel, towards the small cracks of light coming through the door, and opening it as silently as possible.
"Hello?" the guard calls, hearing the door. We close it in a rush, and run "They're out there! Get them!" he shouts, and runs down the tunnel. By the time he is out of the cave, we are already two different trees, both casting an invisibility spell in order to not be seen. The second guard exits the cave soon after, and the two wander into the forest, searching for Me and Ka', right above their noses...

Part 3:

We jump down from the trees, quietly landing in a roll to avoid injuries.

I cast a dispel on myself, and then send one over to Ka' Shakra.
"Nice work, Ahjra." He commented, as we happily walked along, towards lake Rumare. I take the wrist irons that they gave me in prison off, and the sandals.
"Any spare clothes in there?" I ask, motioning towards the bag Ka' Shakra had slung around him. He opened it, and rustled about. He chucked out some red silk robes, which I changed into immediately. I then crouched down towards my dropped prison clothes, my hands starting to heat up. My hands, now glowing a bright red held the clothes, which burned within an instant, leaving no trace of us.

"Where to?" I ask, my hand now beginning to glow a light, frosty blue. I turn, and look at Ka' Shakra who was counting the septims in his bag.
"Maral said she'd meet us in Cheydinhal." he replied, his fingers still flicking through the coins. "5,00. I think we have another 20,000 in Cheydinhal. Just another 10,000 and we can finally get a boat out of here, and afford a house in Summerset Isle. I smile, and begin walking as a blue, icy beam is shooting out of my hands, freezing the water below me to create a path across the water, towards the road to Cheydinhal. Ka' Shakra walks close behind me, and soon we are at the other side.

"How you going to get rid of this great ice bridge thing?" Ka' Shakra asks me, whilst twiddling his fur in confusion. I smile, and bend down, and touch both hands together. A great ball of fire is emitted, and it melt the ice into water within seconds.

"Like that" I reply, a smile playing on my face.

We continue down the road, passing a few walking people. We continue, down the peaceful green path, every now and then passing an inn. After neara 5 hours of walking, we reach Cheydinhal. "Here we are!" I exclaim, but quickly pull Ka' Shakra into hiding behind the bushes as we see an imperial scout come in.

"Watch for an Altmer, who may be with somebody else, believed to be either a Khajiit, Argonian or Bosmer. Here is an image of the Altmer" The imperial guard tells the Cheydinhal guard, handing him a poster. The Cheydinhal guard walks to the gate, and places the 'Wanted Alive' poster on the gate.

I cast a spell to turn myslef invisible, and walk with Ka' Shakra towards the gate.

"Excuse me!" The guard calls to Ka' Shakra. I stop with him, to avoid the sound of footsteps. "Have you seen an Altmer who looks like this?" He asks, pointing towards the wanted poster on the gate.

"Afraid not. See you around" Ka' Shakra replies, and we walk in undetected.

No more comments/criticism?

Part 4:

I silently creeped, forever next to Ka' Shakra, when I see a gang of three argonians headed towards us, in a straight line. In order to avoid bumping into any of them, I stepped to the side, standing perfectly still.

"You owe me money, Shakra." The male argonian said, grabbing Ka' by the collar, and putting his nose into Ka' Shakra's face.
"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Ka' Shakra replied, his hand on his money pouch.
"Yes you do. You bet 2,000 septims that the Gray Prince would lose. We agreed on double payment for the winner. So where's my 4,000?" The Argonian said, now reaching for a small, silver knife in a sheath by his side. I climb over the wall, into the cemetary by the chapel. I hid behind the wall, and conjoured a frost atronach, falling from a purple-black hole in the sky. I then cast the invisibility spell once more, and climbed over the wall. My frost atronach grabbed one of the female argonians, and froze her where she stood. This distracted the other two, so Ka' Shakra was freed from the hold the male had on him. The frost atronach punched the male argonian right in the stomach, sending him flying towards the gate. He slides, and lands by a guard, his bag opening and some goods falling out.
"Wait a minute... this is the unique stolen ayelid statue! You are under arrest" The guard says, grabbing the argonian and slamming him against the wall. "Pay the fine of 2,000 septims, of face a sentance of jail, and your house to be seized."
"I-I-I Don't have two thousand septims." The argonian replied, his legs flailing in the air. The other two, running.
"Well then it looks like no more swimming for you." The guard replied in an angry tone, and dragged the Argonian off. He walks up to another Cheydinhal guard, "You see, the altmer and the other one? What were they accused of stealing?" He asks, still holding the artifact and the argonian.
"It was an ayelid artifact, I think" The guard replied. "Why?"
"I found the 'other one'" The guard said, showing him the artifact.

As the guard is beginning to walk towards castle Cheydinhal, another man comes up to the argonian. An Altmer, in expensive looking red silk clothing.
"Oh, my! What happened to you, Jee?" He asks, looking at the argonian being held by the guard.
"Wait a minute - you know him, Altmer?" He asks. "Pass that poster!" He orders another guard, who gives it to him in a hurry.
"Well of course. We have been friends for a long time." The altmer replies. The guard looked at the poster, and back at the altmer.
All look the same to me, but still... The guard thinks, "Altmer you are under arrest for the assisted buglary of an ancient ayelid artifact recently stolen from Umbacano manor. Anything you say can be used against you, and unless you can pay the fine of 2,000 septims your home will be siezed and you will be thrown in prison." The guard orders the altmer.

"What! I didn't do anything! I swear!" The high elf protests, yet another guard quickly comes, and both the Argonian and the Altmer were taken towards the castle.
"Looks like we're free. How did he get in possession of the artifact, anyway?" Ka' Shakra whispers to me, watching a guard take down the wanted poster.
"Because I was invisible, I stole it off you and put it in his bag." I say, whilst dispelling the invisibility on myself.
"I hope that's the only thing you have stolen off me" He chuckles back, and we walk towards the river. "Ugh. My least favourite bit" Ka' Shakra exclaims, as I cast a water breathing spell, and gills appear in my cheeks, I give Ka' Shakra a ring that gives him the ability to breathe underwater. He slips it on, and we both dive under. Underneath the dirty waters of cheydinhal, we swim to the bottom of the river, towards a rock. We roll the rock, revealing a hole. We go through the hole, and roll the rock back ontop. We swim further down, until we are under the seabed, and in a place nobody else knows about. We both get out of the water, and into our secret home. Ka' Shakra takes off the ring, and hands it back to me. We both dump our bags down, and empty them, gold coins and goods falling all over the place.

"Hi. How did it go?" A voice says, and we both look into the corridor towards our beds. Out comes a Dark elf woman, who was wearing leather armour. She had black, long hair, and very expensive looking clothing. "I fenced 1,000s worth of goods today. People will pay a surprising amount for their prized possessions, and embarrassing diaries back. Especially when they're rich." She chuckles, beginning to help us sort out the goods from today.
"As long as you didn't give away your identity." I said back "Last thing we need is someone finding out who or where we are."
"Says the man who just got caught by the imperial leigon." She argues back, her eyebrows raised. "Yeah, I heard." She told me, and handed me a small mask. "You should wear a mask, like I do."
"I'd rather not play dress up, thank you." I reply, sorting out the last septims, and beginning to count them.
"It's not dress up. The Grey Fox wears a mask." She tells me, also handing a mask to Ka' Shakra
"I realise that. But that is his decision."
"No, it's an intellegant decision. I thought you'd be the first one to use masks, being the smart mage and all."
I try on the mask, and look in a mirror. A black mask, with red trim. It would look good with my black leather armour... "I'll try it. It won't be long before they realise that other altmer is innocent.
Ka' Shakra tries on his mask. It is a tan/brown, and fits his face perfectly.
"You are quite talented with a needle an thread, Alvala. Maybe you should give up being a thief and become a clothes maker hehehe" He chuckles to himself.

"You never know. Maybe I will once we get to Summerset Isle" She chuckles back.
"We've got 53 gold piece in coin, how much do you think we could sell all this for?" I look at the pile of jewlery and clothes.
"100-200. Depends on who we're selling to." Alvala says, looking at the different necklaces and rings.

"Not long, and we'll be out of this place. Let's just hope that the Oblivion crisis isn't in Summerset Isle too."

I like the tricks those two keep pulling. They're a crafty bunch. And all that to get to Summerset.

There was one thing though that really surprised me but is quite amusing all the same. The guard who arrested that Argonian. I dunno, but he seemed to have his priorities a tad wrong.

"Oh, look. An Argonian just got punched across the street and into a wall by a raging bloody FROST ATRONACH. I dunno, but shouldn't I sound the alarm or something? I mean, it is the Oblivion Crisis and all and we've got a real nasty daedra in our city right now." *shrugs* "Nah, let's throw this half-unconscious lizard in jail. I'm sure that Atronach will melt in the sun before it engages in mass slaughter."

It sounds a bit wrong, but damn it really made me laugh.

True, but also in Oblivion if you summon something and get in a fist fight with it, the guards don't seem to care. =~p

So all the guards are forced to swallow a 'constant effect summon Skooma' ring as an initiation rite. Hah, I knew it! That explains how dumb they always act.

Heh, you never know!

Anyway, Part 5:

"Come on. Let's rest. We're hitting Bruma tomorow." Alvala says, so we all finish organising our stuff and head to our beds. But, that night I couldn't sleep. It's the first time in my life I had ever got caught. I was climbing out this window, it was pitch black. I had my hood up. How did the guards see me?

I looked over my shoulder. The other two were asleep. I got up, getting dressed in my black leather, careful not to wake the others. I look at the mask Alvala gave me, and slipped it on. I go through the way I came in, and out in the river. Careful nobody could see me, I swim under the bridge, and crawl out on the bank, quickly, my back against the wall of the nearest building. Nobody can see me. Nobody is out, except the gate guards and one or two patrols. I climb the wall, my fingertips lodging into the brick work. I climb up, and hang on the window. I climb in the window, and cast an invisibility spell. I look to my left, in the bed is a Dark elf.

She wakes up, and I silently glide to the side.
"It's very cold. I should close the window." She walks over, and shuts the window. "Listen to yourself. Talking to yourself. I need help..." She then lays back down in her bed, and I try to figure out how to escape. Rather than going down the creaky looking steps to get to the cabinet full of expensive jewlery and crystal plates and glasses, I hang off the banister, and shuffle down.

I get to the bottom of the stairs, and walk towards the cabinet. I put my hand over the lock, and concentrate. When I take my hand away, the lock is opened. I pull it open, and look at all the jewlery, quickly putting it in my bag. I then take the plates and glasses, and put them in a seperate part of the bag. I cast an illusion spell all over the cabinet, to make it appear as if the glasses and jewlery were there, and then close the door and lock it. The dumner will be in for a surprise when she wants to put on the 'good jewlery'.

I then look for anything else of interest in the house. I find a chest, and lift the lid. 2 daggers, and a lot of scrolls. I quickly cram them in my bag, which was by now half full. I then walk to the door, and look out the window that doesn't open by the door. Nobody out there, so I just open the door, and walk out.

"I could hit one more house... but his will do for tonight." I mutter to myself, and cast another invisibility spell in order to get past the patrol guard. I then walk back to the river, and go into the hideout.

"There you are! I didn't wake Alvala. She would of got too worried." Ka' Shakra said, standing, waiting for me. He looks expectantly at me. "What happened to no thiefing without informing us?" He asked.
"Sorry, it's just I lost so much confidence being caught escaping from Umbacanos. I had to regain it." I replied, looking at the floor. "Sorry"
"Don't worry. What did you get?" He asks, as I unload my bag.
"Nice grab!" He says, looking at a big diamond shaped amulet, with a dark blue sapphire on it. He looks at the rings, and finds one that has an odd coloured gem on it. The gem was half orange, half teal stone. "What do you think this is? Must be enchanted or something" Ka' Shakra tells me, tossing the ring to me.
I slip it on my finger, and suddenly feel very ill. I run to the corner, and throw up. I take the ring off, and feel better. "What in Tamriel! That ring made you sick!" Ka' Shakra exclaims in a loud manner, quickly looking at the ring. "Why do you think this was invented?" He asks.
"It must do more than just make you sick. Let me study it." I say, and take the ring back off him, placing it on a nearby desk.

Then, Alvala comes running through in her night gown. "I heard Ka' Shakra shout. What's happened?" She asks, looking at the bag of goods.
"I went thiefing on my own. Found an odd ring." I point to the ring on the desk.
"You went out alone? Why? Although I see you took the mask"
"Because I needed to regain my confidence. Don't put the ring on. I need to study it's effects."
She nods, then goes back to sleep.

"We should sleep too. Need rest - it's a long ride to Bruma. And this one is tired." Ka' Shakra tells me, and he too goes to bed. After near half an hour, I follow. It will be a long day tomorow.

I woke up first, as usual. I look at the clock on the wall, that reads 5. Very early. I silently step out of the living quaters, and through the corridor towards the main hall in which we store money and stolen goods. I open the cupboard, and rummage inside it, finding various foods.
"Here we go!" I celebrate, as I find some boar meat. I go to the fire, and place it above. It slowly roasts, and after about half an hour of reading, it was ready.
"I'm sure the others would be happy with the rest..." I mutter to myslef, as I take my share, pushing the rest onto another plate. I cut the meat, and place some in my mouth, just as Ka' Shakra gets up. I hear the door of the living quaters open, and I see him walk through.

"Morning." He says, looking at the boar meat. "Mind if I..?" He asks, expectantly.
"Go ahead" I tell him, cutting the meat that I am not eating in half. He eagerly sits down and begins eating. He smiles, and gets up, finishing his food in a flash.
"Should I wake Alvala up? We need to get ready" He asks, before getting his things. I nod, and finish off the last scraps of meat. I wait, and within seconds Alvala is walking through, looking very angry.
"Stupid Khajiit. Had to go wake me up, didn't he?" She grumbles, and sits down next to me.
"He only wants to get to Bruma. How long should we stay there, you think?" I ask, handing her the rest of the meat, and a glass of water.
"Around 2 days. Thanks" I nod, and leave to get to the living quaters in order to prepare my things. I look at the various chests around my bed, and click them all open. I pull the lid up, and looke inside. Scrolls...not needed. I peer in the next one Robes. Not needed I sigh, and move to the next of the four. Daggers and staves. Not needed. I peer in the last one Lockpicks, and 3 sigil stones I take the lockpicks, and put them in a small pouch. I then take out the odd glowing spheres, and lay them on the bed.

"What in Oblivion are those?" Ka' Shakra asks, as he gets changed into his leather.
"I have no clue. Pickpocketed them off an adventurer in an inn. Talked to him the next day. Said he was going to end the Oblivion crisis. Although I think he's dead now, considering the crisis is still happening." I reply, still looking at the stones.
"Well they'd have to do something." Ka' Shakra told me, as he tied his laces.
I pick one up, and hold it with two hands, concentrating on just the stone. Suddenly, I can see what it does. I see an image, of a man with many muscles. Then, it flashes and a skinny person has a blade. He hits the muscely man with his blade, and suddenly he is strong and the other man is now weak. I drop it, and rub my head. I look at the next one, and the one after.
The first one either absorbs strength, or boosts it. The second does resist fire, or fire damage. The third boosts destruction, or drains destruction. I take the last one, and a ring from my pocket. I put them together, and the ring is sucked into the black sigil stone, as it it were a black hole. Then, the sigil stone begins to dissapear, and shape into a ring, that is a dark black and red colour. I put it on, and shoot a fireball at the spell wall. It rattles the little ball more than usual, and I grin with delight.

absorbing - you have learned to break the stories up into readable sections rather than pages of uninterupted splurge

Good descriptions and creative action. As for areas to improve- be careful of shifting from present tense to past tense. Ex. "I woke up first..." Past tense. "I look at the clock..." Present tense. Better-

"I woke up first.... I looked at the clock...."

Double-space between dialogue to help distinguish speakers.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks Treydog, recently I did notice that, but I thought it would take too much time to go back and edit it all. So I'll stay in past tense from now on.

We finally got our stuff ready, and were just double checked we didn't forget anything. Once I was sure my pockets had everything I needed, we all walked out, and then swam through the small waterway passage. We emerge at the top of the water, and climbed out, to see the sun shining straight at Cheydinhal, glaring our eyes.

We covered our eyes with our hands, and walked through the town, wearing normal clothes in order to not bring attention to ourselves. We kept walking, in order to not bring attention to ourselves. The gate opened before us, the guard happy to open it. We walk through, and swing on to our horses. Ka' Shakra on his great bay horse, Alvala on her black horse and me on my chesnut. They sped ahead, so I thought of something I got tought a few years ago... fortify speed! My hand began to glow, and I rested it on my horse. The horse quickly flashed red, and we quickly caught up.

"Since when where Chesnuts as fast as Blacks?" Alvala calls over to me, as we go either side of the road to let a traveller past. Ka' Shakra was a few feet behind us, but was stopped by the man. Me and Alvala, not noticing kept on riding.

"Your money, or your life" The man told Ka' Shakra, whilst holding a silver claymore that he just took of his back.
Ka' Shakra dismounted, and drew his fists. "your life, then!" the other man shouted, swinging the claymore at Ka' Shakra's head. Ka ducked, and jabbed the man's stomach. The man was winded, so Ka' Shakra took the opportunity to uppercut him. The man was lying on the floor, helpless, so Ka' Shakra finished him off with a deadly punch to the temple. Me and Alvala noticed that Ka' Shakra wasn't in sight anymore, so stopped and waited. He pulled the body into th bushes, and left his equipment there, after searching the corpse for money.
Within seconds, me and Alvala saw him coming over the hill, so we continued on the road to Bruma.

After a few hours of riding, we saw the great gate of Bruma infront of us. But, the sky was a little red, because next to the Bruma walls, an Oblivion gate was stood tall, surrounded by Bruma guards. Suddenly, the Oblivion gate rippled, and shot into the air, and a man came diving out.

"That's the adventurer! The one I took the stones off!" I called, and we ride forward, leaving our horses in the stable. We gathered around the comotion, and saw the man come out of the crowd that was cheering around him. He took off his dwarven helmet, revealing his Imperial skin, and long hair.

"Oblivion, shall not win!" he shouted, raising his sword high in the air, before swinging it back down, and walked through the Bruma gates. We followed, and rented a ncie spot in an inn, where we all rested our bags, and slept the day away - so we could theif all night.

One thing I noticed, the encounter with the bandit. If they rode on and didn't notice a thing, then how could the narrator (in this case, Ahrja) tell us exactly what happened?

Nah, nevermind. I'll just assume our furry friend told them what happened once he'd caught up.

So far so good. I like how it's going.

My eyes bolted open once I realised what time it was. 12.

I jump up, still in my clothes, and as silently as possible, get out of my room, and get the other two. They were ready, and we all left. We came down the steps, and there was Olav, still awake talking to one drunk Nord.
"All I'm trying to say, is that.. is that *hic*" The Nord grumbles, before puking onto the floor beside him. Whilst Olav is trying to sort him out, we sneak out through the shadows. If he didn't know we left at this time, he would suspect us for anything sneaky I feel the crisp Bruma air hit my cheeks, the snow by our feet blowing gently in the wind. I put my mask on, and we sneak by the wall.

"Beggar" Ka' Shakra whispers to me, and I nod, understanding that he was warning me of the risk that we may be noticed. I signal for him and Alvala to wait, as I approach the beggar as he just lies down in his bedroll.

"Escuse me, sir?" I ask, gently poking the man. He gets up, and brushes the snow off of his dirty clothes.
"Aye?"
"Would it be possible that you could tell me places of interest, valuably? I work with the Gray Fox" I ask him, looking deep into his tired, Nord eyes.
"How much is it worth to you?" He asks back, staring straight back at me, an evil grin that he attempts to hold back. I drop a pouch of ten septims next to his food bag, and he smiles with delight. "Well, there is the fighters guild, which is often empty. Lots of weapons there. There's obviously the castle, but that is well guarded. The weapon and armour shop, I forgot it's name, but that would be a good bet, and it's not in the middle of the town, off to the side, good to not get noticed. Otherwise, there is the obvious bets of the Mages guild, and just random houses, although I believe old Baenelin is quite rich." He tells me happily, and I drop another two septims on the ground as I walk back to my friends.

"First stop, Guilds. Second, Shops. Third, Baenelin. That will all fit in one night, right?" I ask my friends, them happily nodding back, as we trod through the snow, towards the walls where the guilds sit. I get to the door of the fighters guild, and Ka' Shakra picks the lock as if it were child's play. We sneak in, and Alvala instantly sets off, searching the chests and barrels.
"Guys!" She whispers, but somehow shouts at the same time. "You gotta look at this!" Her head, looking into a barrel. Me and Ka' Shakra look at each other, shrug, and hurry over. We look in, and see a gowing red sheet, crackling. "What... is that?" Alvala asks me, but even I couldn't put my finger on it. Literally. When I put my hand down, my finger went straight through, but it seemed to go somewhere else.

"Surely not..." I whisper to myself. Thinking, very hard about what this may be. I look in other barrels, it seems to be there aswell.

"Surely not what?" Ka' Shakra asks me, as I search all the crates.
"It appears to be some sort of miniscule Oblivion gate!" I tell them, a distraught look over my face.
"But nothing could fit through that!" Alvala assures me.
"Excatly. The beggar told me that this was often empty. So, once there is enough gates, they will be able to open a larger one, like what happened at Kyvatch! They, they could take this whole town! We need to tell somebody!"
"Tell them what? We were looking for something valuable to steal, and ran into some Oblivion gates?" ka' Shakra argues, as I sit to figure out what we could go - these could be in every barrel in Tamriel by now...

Mini Oblivion gates? This actually...makes sense. You could use them for infiltration, send through Scamps and other small Daedra to set up the big ones.

VERY funny...

Thanks for the replies.

Part 9:

"I think I know what we should do." I tell everyone, after a lengthy time thinking. "One of us joins the fighters guild, and then we tell the guards."
"But which one of us actually qualifies as a fighter?" Ka' Shakra asks, pointing out the flaw in my plan.
"Well, I don't. They seem to not like Mages much there..." I Say, looking at Alvala.
"Oh, please! I couldn't defend myself against a rat!"
"True. You are quite pathetic at fighting. I can only use my fists. Rubbish with weapons" says Ka' Shakra.
"Well you're the best fighter out of us. I guess you should join." I tell him.
"Where do I sign up?"
"I guess we'll have to ask a fighters guild member. Let's go sleep. I couldn't theive, knowing that this is here - my mind will be too sidetracked."

The others nod, and we walk back to Olav's to get some sleep, hoping a fighters guild member will be there in the morning.

*In the morning*

"What time is it?" Alvala asks Olav, whilst nibbling at a loaf of bread.
"Just gone 8."
"Should we go to the fighters guild?"
Me and Ka' Shakra nod, and head off, through the falling snow up to the fighters guild, getting many odd looks by the Nords - we really didn't fit in. A Khajiit in leather, a dark elf in silk and an Altmer in robes. We stuck out like a sore thumb from all the angry looking Nords.

We open the wooden door, and see an Argonian sitting down, happily thinking to himself.
"Excuse me?" I ask, gently tapping the Argonian.
"Hello friend! My name is Right-Wind. I offer blade training - if you can pay for it! Hah hah."
"Hi Right-Wind. I was wondering - what would it take for someone like, my friend here to join the fighters guild?"
"well, you would need to either speak to the heads of Chorrol, Cheydinhal or Anvil, but I can see that you wouldn't want that journey, right? I have a fast horse - one of the fastest in Cyrodill if you ask me. A black horse, that I feed with special ingredients that boost it's speed.. If your friend can beat me in a fight, I'll ride on him, and will deliver the message to Chorrol, and be back in less than an hour. Deal?"
I look at Ka' Shakra. He sighs, and nods. I nod at the Argonian, and he draws his blade, Ka' Shakra readying his fists.

Right-Wind strikes, but Ka' Shakra dodges, replying with a kick to the stomach. He then uppercuts Right-Wind, knocking him to the ground. Right-Wing quickly gets up, and swings his sword. It shaves some whiskers off Ka' Shakra's face, which makes him mad. He charges, punching Right-Wind in the face, then giving a sweep kick to the ankles. As Right-Wind falls, Ka' Shakra delivers a blow to Ka' Shakra's face.
"Fine! You have won, and earned your acceptance to the guild. Well done." Right-Wind gets up, and pats Ka' Shakra. "I will be back in a few hours. The message will be delivered to the master of the guild herself!"

Right-Wind leaves, and we cheer as Ka' Shakra looks at his lost whiskers.
"Don't worry. I'll put them back on." I tell him, placing them in their original places, and casting a spell. "Good as new. Well done"

Your troop of thieves are quite the lively bunch. They definitely make for a useful team though (well, we actually haven't seen the Dark Elf do much yet though...). Good work.

Thanks. You'll see why the Dark Elf is useful soon enough
Part 10:

We wait a few hours, but soon, Right-Wind comes back through the door.
"Congratulations! You are now a member of the fighters guild. Report to Azzan in Anvil or Burz Gro Kash in Cheydinhal for contracts."
Alvala walks forward, a concerned look on her face.
"Excuse me, Right-Wind. I was looking around, and I noticed something, that I believe should be brought to your attention." She told him, a hint of depair in her voice. "It would appear as if some sort of portal to Oblivion has opened in your barrels."
"What? Are you talking crazy?" He replies, his hand nearing his sword "What were you doing, snooping around in the barrels?" He asks, angrily.
"Please forgive me, it appears as though one of the lids fell off. I was mearly putting it back on, when I noticed the gate. I believe it should be dealt with - I don't know how, but it should. I looked in some more to check if there were lots of these things - and I saw Daedra coming out of some of them! Please! You must help!" She pleades, almost as if a tear were in her eye.

Right-Wind hurries over to the barrels, and sees some Spiderling Daedra crawling out.
"This is bad. Very bad. I should tell the guard, the Countess - anyone!" He runs off, as Alvala chuckles as she turns around, smiling as she has various necklaces and rings in her hand.

"Where in Oblivion did you get those?" I ask, my eyes wide open.
"Right-Wind. He had loads in his bag." She replies, chuckling at the jewls she holds.
"How, how did you search his bag without him knowing?" Ka' Shakra asks in disbelief.
"Easy. Distract him. He didn't notice, because he was too focused on the fact that there was a sad, scared woman infront of him. It makes men waay to easy to rob." She chuckles, throwing me the jewlery. I place it in my bag, and we continue searching the place, knowing that the Oblivion gates will be dealt with.

"Hey, guys!" Ka' Shakra calls me and Alvala. "Found a whole chest full of weapons - Glass weapons too! There's all sorts - daggers, axes, maces and shortswords! Let's take the whole thing!" He picks the weighty box up, and puts it in my bag. I cast a feather spell, making it much easier to carry. I then cast an illusion spell on my bag, to make it appear like it did before. We smile, and leave the fighter's guild, knowing that we will certainly have a full purse this evening.
"How am I going to get out of the fighters guild?"

"Just don't do anything about being in it. You never know - the ability to say, I'm fighters guild. May be handy."

"Ugh. I suppose."

Lessee, I see multiple styles of thief here. The mage-thief, the silvertongued rogue and then there is our furry friend who I haven't yet managed to put in a box.

I kinda enjoy how opportunistic and greedy they are. They even use an impending crisis just to line their pockets. (Ok, and they sorta avert said crisis in the process, but that's just a bonus.)

Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated. Been pretty wrapped up in GTA 4 since I got it. XD
I'll get a new section up tomorow hopefully.