Chapter XLVII: Slumming it (Part 1)

(General pov)

A young woman, dirty and covered in mud, was running with all her might through the winding nooks of the Sprawl she was forced to grow up in. She cursed the fact that she was in the part closest to the actual city, this area was the absolute worst when you are trying to lose pursuit.

A thrown knife whizzed next to her head and she jerked it to the side, eyes meeting with a tall Orc looking at her with deep anger, seeing as she was stuck in her spot he took a deep breath "Give me the damn bag kid, ill only have to beat you if you do."

The tall, pale, red-haired Nord responded as you'd expect, with a raised middle finger "Go fuck yourself, green boy, you know damn well why I can't do that!"

The Orc's patient anger turned into glee as he shrugged "I tried diplomacy, thank you for not making it work!" as soon as the words left his mouth another knife left his hand, forcing the young woman to flee once again.

She tried weaving through the thin streets of the wooden houses that surrounded the 'trading company' she had just stolen from, but every time she would make a turn a knife would strike the position she was just in.

'The green fucker is toying with me!' The thought suddenly struck her and panic started setting in 'Shit! Fuck! Damn!' more and more creative curses screamed in her mind as she threw herself around, slowly feeling all her energy leave her.

She made another turn and bumped into something, one quick look quickly informed her that it was more of a someone instead. A shorter, masked, elven figure stood there, a bit of grey skin showing on their arms outing them as a Dunmer.

He, for his gravely voice could only belong to a male, stared down at the young Nord woman and immediately asked "You know your way around here kid?"

Noticing the opportunity she nodded her head so quickly she felt like she could break her neck.

The Dunmer nodded in satisfaction, but then stilled and pulled out a crossbow that was hanging on his back, he turned back to his new companion and sighed "Promise me on everything you consider holy that you won't run off after I save your ass."

The over-enthusiastic nodding continued without pause.

Finally, the Orc stepped into the alley and stilled upon seeing the Dunmer, he looked him over and grunted "And who the fook are you?"

The elf shrugged, pointed his weapon, and fired.

Now when someone fires a crossbow, you expect to hear the twang of its string and the sound of something being penetrated, maybe a groan of pain or a yelp... What you most assuredly do not expect is the bolt setting the target on fire, making them scream in incredible agony and burning them to ash within seconds.

Dear gods, the smell was terrible! The young woman barely forced herself not to vomit as she forced her legs to move when the Dunmer decided they needed to 'reposition'.

He walked forcefully, yet with surprising grace, almost flowing past any obstacle instead of vaulting or ducking. After a tense couple of minutes, they reached their destination, a closed-off nook in one of the alleyways.

The Dunmer turned to the young woman and crossed his arms after slinging his crossbow behind him "You got a name, kid?" he asked, not really demanding but still curious.

"Minthara." She said slowly.

He nodded "Name's Davos" then stared at her ears "Minthara is a rather odd name for a Nord..."

She groans "Nord of Altmer descent, you want my life story as well old man?"

The now identified Davos chuckles "No need for that kid, still my condolences."

The groaning returns as she mutters "Why do people always have to think it was rape?"

A snort interrupts her monologue "Because the alternative is rarer than a racially tolerant Morrowind Dunmer" He pulls out a piece of jerky and offers it to her "I meant no offense kid."

She grabs it with surprising dexterity and immediately stuffs it into her mouth.

Davos gives her a dry look "You do realize that could be poison right?"

She snorts and swallows "Oh please, you know damn well there are cheaper ways to knock me out."

"Fair." He chuckles "Now, you got a place to talk kid?"

She nodded and indicated for him to follow her.

------

They walked silently and cautiously through the sprawl, the wooden buildings slowly being replaced by wood frames draped in hides and leathers, and then tents. There were still some normal houses here and there, and one of them was their destination.

The dirty sign above the door read 'The house of cheese.'

'Odd' Davos thought as Minthara led him inside.

A light bell chimed when they entered and an old yet handsome man with silver hair and beard greeted them with a cheerful voice "Ah little Minthy, I see you survived your daring little plan."

She huffs "My 'daring little plan' was necessary to save Bella's life. Don't be a smartass Uncle Sheo"

The old man chuckles good naturedly "I already told you she would be fine, but no! You just had to rush heroically to save your friend..." He sighs "How nostalgic, I used to be a hero once as well you know!"

Minthara groans and goes to pull Davos inside to talk but they are stopped by 'Sheo' raising a hand "Wait." he points at her "You go ahead Minthy, I need to ask this one something."

She looks between the two of them, Davos calmly says "Don't run off after all that kid, I'll meet you in a bit." and after a nod, she disappears into what seems to be the basement.

After a beat of silence 'Sheo' asks with the same cheer and a wide smile on his face "So, little spidery boy, how is ole' Mephy doing?"

Davos stills and realization strikes him, he remembers one specific joke his boss told him while they were traveling to solitude 'If you ever see a cheese-obsessed man with silver hair you get the fuck out of there, even I don't know how to deal with ole' Sheo'

He thought Sheo was some kind of arch-wizard or something, but if he so casually referred to his new patron... Oh shit.

The patient smile never leaves the old man, as Davos slowly and forcefully stammers out "She is doing very well."

"Oh? Come on do tell me of her insane escapades." Sheo almost gets in his face with his enthusiasm.

Davos takes a deep breath, weighs his chances, mentally apologizes to both his bosses, and forces out "She recently had her champion ally with Meridia, only to verbally spit into her face days later..."

The old man, now revealed as the fleshy projection of a Daedric Prince stares at him dumbfounded for a moment, and then breaks out into deranged laughter, tears flowing freely from his eyes as he rolls on the ground.

The wave of amusement threatens to overtake Davos' mind, but the same feeling he got when his lady blessed him recently pushes the supernatural need to laugh his ass off just in time.

Sheogorath gets up slowly and dusts his pants off "That was hilarious!" He pulls something out from below the counter and offers it to Davos "Here, have some cheese!"

Davos blinks and takes it slowly "Thank you sir..."

Sheo nods quickly "Yes, yes all should be enlightened in the way of cheese!" His demeanor turns dead serious "Now off with you, I have a business to run."

Davos chooses not to comment at the poor choice of venue and leaves as quickly as possible, following wherever Minthara went. Before he closes the hatch he hears "Oh and spider boy, don't touch the kids."

Not quite understanding the meaning, but definitely understanding his position Davos nods quickly and gets his ass down the ladder as quickly as his arms and legs can carry him.

He finds Minthara feeding some kind of potion to a blonde Nord child, the younger of the two coughs roughly and without a word returns to the state between conscious and unconscious.

The red-haired mostly-Nord gets up and stares at her... friend? for a while before the sound of Davos clearing his throat interrupts her, he points at a nearby table and she nods without saying anything.

They take their seats and she gives him a quizzical look "So, what do you want to know old man?"

"I am only forty..." He grumbles but quickly catches himself "I have a couple of questions about the situation in the entire sprawl and I need to find my way into the Brotherhood of Tsun." He gives her a cold look "You will help me with both these."

She crosses her arms under her chest "And why should I help you? I will give you the information for saving me, but no one said anything about help."

He chuckles "Because whatever you fed your friend there isn't going to do shit and you know it, and I know someone who can cure her with the snap of his fingers."

Minthara stills and looks down at the floor "What would you even want with the Tyrants?"

He raises a hand to stop her "First tell me about what caused the rioting."

"You aren't from down here are you?" She asks knowingly and narrows her eyes "What guarantee do I have your 'friend' will help Bella?"

He rolls his eyes "As if I was trying to hide that fact." He straightens up "You have my word as a noble retainer of Morrowind that help will be provided in return for your services."

'Thankfully boss did give me some autonomy, or I would be signing off my ass right now.' Davos thought with great relief.

"Right... Like that means shit to me."

Davos sighs "Look kid, you will just have to trust me on this."

She stares at him like he was an idiot "Trust doesn't work down here."

He sighs deeply and starts rummaging through his backpack "Nope... nope... Ah! There it is." He pulls out a potion and places it on the table "If you help me I will give you this the moment we are done."

She looks at the pristine vial filled with red liquid "And this is..?"

"An enhanced potion of vitality. It will at least give your friend some time if I do end up breaking my word as you believe I will." Davos says patiently, completely understanding her viewpoint.

Minthara stares at the potion like it was some kind of divine item, forcing herself not to try and grab it she nods "Alright, fine... I will help you out."

Davos smiles behind his mask "Knew you would see things my way."

"As if I had a choice in the matter." She mutters and starts her explanation "The riots were caused when the Freemen finally decided to cross one of their lines and raid a food stockpile from the Massifs, they all butchered each other which practically left the stockpile in the open for every idiot to try and feast on." she palms her forehead in an attempt to contain her frustration "And try to feast they did, which led to fights, which led to more fights, which led to one idiot throwing a torch into a pile of dung... you get the idea."

Davos' lips thinned behind his mask "And no one thought to try and calm them down, or establish order? Did the fat man's goons not think to defend their territory?"

She shrugs "It was on the edge of everyone's territory and no one wanted to waste men to deal with it." A frown mars her face "Less mouths to feed that way..."

'Damn, this is Windhelm all over again' Davos keeps his own frown from showing "Right, and do you think the situation has calmed down?"

She laughs without any humor "Well people aren't gutting each other for a loaf of bread anymore so yes, it has." and looks at him like he is an idiot.

Not outwardly reacting Davos simply hums "Very well, and do you know your way around enough to lead me to the Brothe-"

"Tyrants." She interrupts, annoyed.

"You got a problem with them?" He asks, fishing for information.

She scoffs "Let us just say they are not fond of the fact that I am not in fact a product of rape as they like to believe and leave it at that."

Davos nods "I see they don't like their views being challenged. Will the fact I am Dunmer provoke them?"

Minthara scratches her chin while looking at him "I don't think so... probably will be complete dicks about it, but I don't think they will gut you without hearing you out." her eyes narrow "Now will you tell me why you want to find them?"

There was something about this girl that just made someone want to trust her, to help her out... Davos hadn't noticed it earlier but now that the thought had struck him he couldn't get it out of his head, he searched his mind for illusion magic as Lord Dagoth had taught him, but there was nothing...

"I need to deliver a message and set up a meeting with them." Is what he settled on saying.

She sighed "I guess I am not getting more out of you, am I?"

He crossed his arms and shrugged "Come with me and you will inevitably find out."

She turned to the rest of the room full of bunk beds, mostly empty due to the rest of her friends trying to find work and food and closed her eyes. Following her gut feeling she asked "You are here to make this shithole better, right?"

Davos raised an eyebrow "How do you figure that?"

"Call it a gut feeling."

He nodded slowly "Then you have quite the gut kid." and started getting up.

"Where are you going?" She asked slowly.

"To complete my job."

Minthara sighs "At least let me rest up for a bit."

"Very well." Davos plops his ass back on the chair "But only if you explain something to me."

She raises an eyebrow "And what is that?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe... Why the fuck you live with Sheogorath?"

Her eyes widen "WHAT?!"

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