Chapter Two

Pale golden of light filtered down through the aspens. The amber leaves were falling gently to cover the road in an ever growing blanket. The drying foliage gave a satisfying crunch as Noren made his way to the west. Inigo followed close with a soft humming on his lips. Noren looked back at the Khajiit, wondering if he were wise to travel alone with him.

Inigo himself had confessed to trying to kill him before. By all logic, he ought to have
taken his advice and killed him back in that cell. Still, there was something about this cat that made him feel that there was more to him than an addict and a killer. He was
too innocent. There was nothing about him that made the Elf worried. In fact, despite his natural aversion to people, he couldn’t help but feel comfortable around Inigo.

“I love it here.” Inigo took in a deep breath. “The Rift smells arboreal. My friend, do
you think we could camp here in the future? I would be willing to bet that the stars would be a sight to behold through these lovely branches.”

Noren nodded. “I have a feeling that we will have to at some point. If we plan
on making a career of bounty hunting, there will be times we must rest without
creature comfort.”

The Khajiit waved the words away. “Bah! Living in the wilderness for a while is good for the soul. I used to travel all the time. Nothing soothes better than a cool night breeze.”

“Or dampens like a midnight shower…”

Inigo laughed. “Nonsense! A good rain is lovely. It is necessary for the world to live
and recharge. It makes me feel alive to be a part of that.” He picked at the strap of the
jerkin Noren had purchased for him. “Thank you again for the armor. It is a little snug, but feels very sturdy.”

The Altmer grinned. “Can’t have you coming along without some form of protection, can I?” The pair came to a fork in the road, the branch leading off of the stones looking overgrown by many years. “Shall we follow the pavement, or the path less traveled?”

Inigo considered the choice. “Normally, I am a supporter of all types of adventure. But
in this case, I think it would be smarter to follow the main road. The ruins we are looking for are well protected on the southern side by rocks and dense trees. While they would be wonderful cover, I doubt the bandits would have missed that opportunity.” He nodded to the road. “We should come at their camp from the north side. They won’t expect that.”

“Agreed. We’ll follow the road. “

“My friend, do you have a moment?” Inigo pointed to Noren’s bag. “Skyrim is a big, and often confusing place. We are bound to lose track of one another from time to time. Don’t worry though, that map of yours is special.”

The high elf took the map in question out of its leather sleeve. “This old thing? How so?”

“I found one just like it on the remains of some old dead adventurer in Cyrodiil. It can mark the location of places, things, and even people! It can help us find each other if we get separated.”

“How does it work?” The mage was curious, never having heard of this sort of magic before.

“Let me see it for a moment.” The cat took the parchment, holding a hand over it. Soft
yellow light shone from the surface of the map, illuminating the scars on his face as he spoke. “Where are you, Inigo?” A bright flash came from the paper, a single point staying lit as the power faded away. “There!” He handed back the map, smiling at the look of wonder on his friend’s face. “Now we can find each other no matter where we are. If you ever need me, and I am not there, all you have to do is look me up.”

Noren flipped the map over, still amazed by the spell-work. “Thank you, Inigo. This is a wonderful gift.”

“No problem, Noren. Now, let us get back to the task at hand.”

The road was lined with flowers of all kinds. Noren, remembering his alchemical training, could not resist the urge to pick samples from them. On occasion, he thought he heard Inigo grumble about the extra time being spent. For some reason though, his companion never voiced his complaints directly. Noren couldn’t spare more thought to this, as a strange clicking noise came through the brush toward them.

Out of nowhere, three spiders of terrifying size emerged. Their fur was a bright russet
color. The black eyed beasts chattered to each other as they began spitting their venom toward the travelers. Noren readied his flames, his heart at a breakneck pace. He had always hated spiders. Just as he was about to let the spells go, Inigo leapt forward with a shout of glee.

“Yay! A spider!” He pulled out his sword, slashing at the three of them like a madman, The spiders seemed just as surprised as the magician, backing away as if unsure how to respond to the threat. Inigo jumped over one of them, his blade sinking into its back with a grace even the Eagle’s talons of the Dominion Army would have been jealous of. The wounded spider let out a strange squeal of agony. The other two snapped from their confusion, starting toward the attackers. Noren swept his hand across their path, igniting some of the dry grass between them. The monsters reared up to avoid the flames. Inigo rushed them with his weapon ready.

He gave out a somewhat unsettling laugh as his boot squashed the nearest of them, Before the last spider could flee the area, he cut off its legs on the right side. Noren watched, a bit of pity rising in his chest as his friend impaled the spider with a grin. “Don’t you think that was a bit much? It was trying to run away. “

“My, friend, it was only a spider. There are thousands more of them throughout the country. Besides, I can rarely help myself once I have started a fight with a group of them. I love the sounds they make. They are so satisfying to squash.”

Noren chuckled. “‘Inigo, please don’t take offense to this, but you are absolutely mad.”

Inigo smiled. “I am no more mad than the next man.”

“You are as mad as a box of frogs.”

“Gah! That is terribly mad, my friend!” He laughed. “But what about you? Are you not mad for traveling with me, if I am as mad as you say?”

Noren raised his hands in defeat. “Guilty as charged. Come on, we should get moving before we waste the whole day here.”

The sun was starting to go down by the time they neared the ruins. Inigo crouched down, motioning for his friend to do the same. He frowned at him, watching the terrible form he used. “You can’t possibly be planning on sneaking into the camp walking like that, can you”‘

Noren looked down at his feet. “Is this not how to do it?”

Inigo shook his head. “No, you’re not going to have good enough balance standing like that. You’ll fall forward, and end up alerting our enemies to our presence. Here, watch me.” He lowered his body, his tail curling behind him as he brought his weight onto his toes. “You want to keep your weight centered, try to keep the amount of boot touching the ground as small as you can. Lean forward just a bit, and let your weight help you move.”

The Altmer had to admit that this all seemed very complicated to him. It was all well and good to talk about balance when you had a tail to assist you. He messed up his face, trying to replicate his companion’s actions. For a moment, he thought he had the hang of it, but one step was all it took for him to lose control of his body. He fell forward, the ground meeting him with a mocking enthusiasm.

“You’re trying to move too quickly. ” Inigo offered.

“We don’t have all night for me to walk to the entrance… “

Inigo gave a sympathetic smirk. “Why don’t you let me scout their camp, them we can decide how we want to close in on it. Maybe we won’t have to rely entirely on stealth.” He made his stance, walking at a deliberate pace toward the ruins. Noren hid behind a boulder, scolding himself for his ineptitude. Even now, all these years later, he still couldn’t help but disappoint. After the third failure, he stayed down after the fall. He grumbled to himself until Inigo returned.

“There are only five, as far as I can tell. They seemed a bit more intoxicated than I would be in their situation.” He knelt down, his fur looking a bit lighter than it had from farther away. “I think we could just walk in after dark and take them out easily. But, if you wanted to the care of this before then, I think the two of us could take them out now.”

Noren considered the options, If they could make it back into town before nightfall, he was more inclined to that option. However, there was some logic to waiting to strike after dark. “Whichever you think is best. Dusk would be safer.”

Inigo nodded. “Then we shall wait. ” He settled onto the grass, taking a journal out of his knapsack. “You don’t mind if I write, do you?”

“Not at all.” Noren watched as he unwrapped the book, noting how old and weathered the leather was. “You never struck me as the kind to keep a journal. At least, it seemed like you wouldn’t enjoy sitting idle for so long.”

“On the contrary, I like a little introspection. It is good to look at one’s own thoughts from time to time.” He dug for a piece of charcoal. “I also enjoy writing fiction, as well as my memories. It is a fantastic outlet.” He found another book. It was newer, but no less worn. It looked as though the cover had been opened many times, the hinge bearing cracks from use. “This is something I’ve been working on for a while. A little story I call ‘Inigo the Brave’. It is probably rubbish, but I hold it quite dear to me.” He smiled at his friend. “Do you have any hobbies?”

“I was a gardener. I preferred to spend my time tending to the flowers at my parents estate. We had Galerion Orchids that stayed in bloom all year. We had a grove of West Weald grapes that were descended from the Tamika Vineyards. They made excellent wine.”

“Do you have a home to practice your skills?” Inigo asked. He scribbled into his journal while they spoke. Noren leaned back against the boulder.

“No. Not anymore.”

Inigo turned, seeing that his friend was looking off to the mountains to the south. Had he hit a sore topic? “I am sorry to hear that. I know how much it can hurt. Having no place to call your own. I spent a great deal of time drifting through Skyrim, I can tell you that having a purpose again is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.”

“I think that is something I’ve been looking for in my life as well.” Noren brushed his
hair aside. “I can’t seem to find anything I’m good at. Can’t even use magic that well.”

Inigo stayed silent for a while. One of his ears was back in sympathy, “You should not judge your worth on your ability to do a certain thing. It is the sum of your abilities that people look at, perhaps. I think it is more important to look at how we rise to meet the challenges Life throws our way.” He smirked, “If someone is an unrivaled clothier, but can’t recover from a bad batch of leather or cloth, then are they really worth the praise?”

“What do you mean?”

“Failure is what helps us learn. We might not want to admit it, but the best lessons often come after disappointments.”

Noren hadn’t thought of it like that. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Maybe that was part of why he had suddenly been able to use his magic. Still, he had a long way to go before he could really call himself a mage. “Thank you, Inigo.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. The world does a fine job of that without your assistance. If you want to rest, go ahead, I will keep watch until it is time to move.”

Noren didn’t see any reason not to take the Khajiit’s advice. He set his bag down for a pillow, looking up as the darkening clouds rolled by. Could he even do that? Could he really be less harsh on himself? Who else would make him improve? He rolled onto his side to sleep. He had never been that lucky, and that lack of luck made it hard to be an optimist. He smiled to himself at the thought of Inigo’s attitude.

It was kind of inspiring to see someone with so much hopefulness. From their talk at the jail, Inigo of all people should be the pessimistic type, He had been struggling with addiction since before they had met the first time. He had stooped to trying to kill a friend, but somehow recovered to the point that he had found a reason to live. I should ask him about that sometime. He closed his eyes, comforted to sleep by his friends low singing as they waited for dark.