The legend went that in ancient days, before the creation of the world, the first gods dwelt in the infinite mind of their nameless mother. Their ideas would take form in the void, and then unravel as their attention turned away. Nothing was constant. Existence was ephemeral and fleeting. But the youngest god, whose name was Lorkahn, loved his creations and wished them to remain and breath of their own will. He poured his divine essence into his ideas, giving them permanence, and the universe was born and spread through the mother’s endless mind.

Angered by what they considered their younger sibling’s arrogance, the other gods determined to punish Lorkahn for his insolence. Azura, the eldest, tore Lorkahn’s heart from his chest and hid it deep in the earth of a nameless world. With the core of his power removed, Lorkahn fell into a deathlike slumber.

Millennia as we know them passed, little more than an eye blink to the gods. On the world where the heart was hidden, life sprung forth and evolved. The gods watched and became amused by the drama that unfolded there. After a time they were no longer content to watch, and they began to manipulate the players, each in their own way.

Several thousand years as we know them passed and the races had advanced considerably. One people, known as the dwemer, believed in technology over theology and had built a civilization many times more advanced than any other race in existence at that time. Their cities, lying partly underground, soaring partly in impressive towers, were marvelous to behold. The greatest of these complexes was nestled in the heart of the ancient volcano known as Red Mountain. As it’s inhabitants expanded they stumbled up a strange stone deep in Red Mountain’s bowls, a stone the likes of which had never been seen before, and which radiated untold energy.

After a great deal of study, the most skilled and renowned dwemer artificer, Kargnac, came to the theory that this was Lorkahn’s heart, and he devised a way to harness its divine power. He forged three tools with which to accomplish this, and brought his case before the dwemer elders, claiming that he could grant their entire race immortality.

The dwemer’s allies were uneasy with this prospect, for the dwemer were ambitious and had often waged war on the other races. The chimer, being the most powerful, were tasked with confronting the dwemer. The king of the chimer, Lord Nerevar, called counsel with the dwemer, but the dwemer refused to even accept parlay on the issue. The chimer declared war, and Nerevar rode forth at the head of an army with his wife, Almalexia, and his three closest advisors, Vivec, Sotha Sil, and Dagoth Ur.

The war was short and brutal, and in the end the chimer were triumphant. Seeing that all was lost, Kargnac and his personal guards fled into the depths of Red Mountain. Nerevar himself gave chase, along with his most trusted friend, Dagoth Ur. They pursued into Kargnac’s workshop, where lay Lorkahn’s unearthed heart and Kargnac’s unholy tools. Though they fought valiantly, they were unable to stop Kargnac from using the tools upon Lorkahn’s heart, but the results were not as Kargnac had predicted. When he struck the stone with his tools, the entire dwemer race disappeared from the face of the earth.

Realizing the dangerous power of this relic, Nerevar bade Dagoth Ur to guard the tools and returned to his wife and councilors that he might hear their minds on the issue of what to do with the relics. Nerevar was in favor of destroying the dangerous tools, and sealing Lorkahn’s heart away forever. His greedy councilors, however wished for him to use Kargnac’s tools and take Lorkahn’s dormant powers for himself for the benefit of the chimer. As they debated, the elder goddess Azura appeared to them and bade them do as Nerevar suggested.

Appearing humbled, the councilors accompanied Nerevar back to Kargnac’s workshop. However when they arrived they found that Dagoth Ur had been corrupted by the power that washed off the stone. He refused to relinquish the tools, and yet another battle ensued, ending with Dagoth Ur being driven into the deepest reaches of the mountain and Nerevar being sorely wounded.

Despite his injury, Nerevar prepared to carry out the wishes of Azura concerning the tools. However, the stone’s raw power proved too tempting to his councilors. His wife Almalexia stabbed him in the back with her own hand. An enraged Azura appeared before them, but they scoffed at her, saying ‘We shall soon be gods and rival your power. We fear you not!’

Azura prophesied, ‘Hear me betrayers! In time your stolen powers shall wane and you shall grow weak. In that time Nerevar, who trusted you, Nerevar, who you betrayed, shall be reborn into this world. He shall be the undoing of your false godhood, and shall finish the task that I had set before him. For your foolishness in opposing me, I curse you! Let all know your folly by this mark.’

At that exact moment all the chimer were changed. Fair, silvery skin turned black as coal, and pale eyes turned red as blood. The chimer were forever after known as the dunmer.

Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec refused to be daunted. After several months of studying Kargnac’s notes and the Heart of Lorkahn, Sotha Sil devised a way to empower the three without the deadly side effect that caused the disappearance of the dwemer. And thus the Triumvirate was born, three demi-gods who ruled and guided their race.

Deep in the bowls of Red Mountain, Dagoth Ur, who had also received a share of the stone’s power, plotted his revenge.

A thousand years later, Azura’s prophecy came to pass. Dagoth Ur’s power had grown mighty while the Triumvirate’s power had waned such that they could no longer fully contain him. His power touched the dreaming minds of the dunmer, mesmerizing hundreds into unwilling service. Ash storms rolled down from Red mountain, choking the land and spreading fearful new diseases.

The Nerevarine rose up and became mighty. He recovered Kargnac’s tools and confronted Dagoth Ur in his lair. A mighty battle was waged, and the Nerevarine used Kargnac’s tools to destroy Lorkahn’s heart, dispelling the power that granted immortality to Dagoth Ur and the Triumvirate. All four simply disapeared.

The aftermath was a time of both rejoicing and sorrow. The great enemy, Dagoth Ur had been destroyed, and with him the terrible disease ridden storms, but the dunmer’s beloved Triumvirate, whom they had worshiped and depended upon for a thousand years was also no more. Still, the dunmer would survive, and continue to live in uneasy peace with the other races.

It would be several years yet before the side effects of the destruction of Lorkahn’s heart were fully realized...

19 ADU, the Sovreign Sisters Tavern, Suran:

“Lorkahn’s Children, bah!” snarled a dunmer male at the next table. “Just a fancy name for a bunch of freaks, that’s what it is.”

Okami kept a careful grip on her temper. She would have liked to just get up and leave. This tavern wasn’t the sort of place she usually hung out in, but she had business here today. She just wished she could hurry it along so she could go home. This place was crawling with Commona Tong and their sympathizers. It was no place for a human, an LC, a member of the thieve’s guild, or a Morag Tong operative to be, and she was, unfortunately, all four.

“They should all be rounded up and destroyed!” harped the over-loud dunmer. He continued in this vein with no sign of stopping, and Okami felt a headache coming on. The remarks were obviously aimed at her. Everyone in the room was pointedly not looking at her, but their attention was certainly glued to her for she stood out like a sore thumb. Every last one of the tavern’s other occupants were dunmer, with skin black as a panthers pelt and eyes red like coals, pointed ears, narrow faces, and slender wiry bodies. Okami's skin, though warmly tanned, was pale by comparison. Her short unruly hair was white as any old granny’s, though certainly not as sparse. This only served to point out that she was likely not a normal human, which Commona Tong disliked, but was probably one of the aforementioned Lorkahn’s Children, whom the Commona Tong despised and feared.

Okami sipped her Sujamma and picked splinters from the discolored wooden table as she reflected on her ill luck having been conceived at such a momentous and unfortunate time. Fifteen years ago some hero had destroyed some artifact that had released some kind of power wave that had somehow affected children. Every bosmer, dunmer, and altmer under the age of three had died instantly. Those still in the womb had been miscarried or stillborn. Even some of the adult mer, those who were very old, sick or otherwise weak died. However, as if to laugh at the terrible misfortune of the elven races, any human child still in the womb had been ‘gifted’. Each child was born with a unique power or trait, some displaying their abilities as soon as they were born, others taking years to manifest. This occurrence caused a panic across the world, for some of these powers were truly terrifying.

Okami sighed and finished her drink in one quick gulp. Her mark was surrounded by hostile cronies and was obviously not budging. He and the rest of the dunmer in this room likely knew she was Morag Tong and were hoping she wouldn’t have the guts to strike while he was so surrounded by allies. Certainly no one else would have dared the situation, for it meant a quick end. She was beginning to see why the Morag Tong had commissioned her for this job. They always handed her the trickiest, hardest to reach writs. Being an over-achiever had its disadvantages.



She waited for another ten minutes, listening to the ranting dunmer at the next table with increasing irritation, fantasizing about following him home and slitting his throat while he ate. But soon it was time to move. A town guard entered, just doing a routine check. Okami stood suddenly. Dead silence fell and every eye was glued to her back as she swiftly crossed the smoky tavern to her mark’s table. Not a man noticed the town guard, who lingered near the door to stare at her tempting backside. Before the man could remember his duty and leave, she made her move. With a subtle flick of her wrist she freed a small scroll from her right sleeve. It dropped to her waiting palm and she unfurled it with one hand while loosening a dagger in its sheath with the other.

“Tran Rethran, I have here an honorable writ of execution with your name on it,” she announced into the silence. Not the usual method of the Morag Tong. Usually they killed first and presented the writ to the guards later. However, she wanted it to be very clear to the guard at the door that she was defending herself when the rest of the room came at her. Getting a bounty for multiple-murder off one's head was pricey, even for someone with her connections.

The minor Redoran noble was quick to react to this unusual announcement, grabbing the edge of the table and flipping it at her, then darting toward the hallway that led to the back entrance. Normally Okami would have little trouble catching up to him, but his cohorts leapt into the fray and for several seconds she was busy twisting and scrambling to avoid sharp pointy objects that were directed in an unfriendly manner at her body. But saving her skin or not she wasn’t willing to let him get away so easily. If he made it out of the tavern and into a bolthole somewhere it would take more time and effort to track him down and work past his new defenses. When an opening presented itself she flung her dagger down the hallway. There was a cry from the darkness there, but she couldn’t tell if she had hit him or just scared him, and she had no more time to worry about it.

One of her assailants flicked several daggers at her retreating form. She snagged two of them out of the air and returned them to their rightful owner, though she doubted his eyes were where he usually sheathed them. A sword slid toward her neck and she threw herself backward over a table, one boot kicking at the blade to deflect it and the other connecting with someone’s face. There was a satisfying crunch from the face as its nose shattered, spraying blood across the owner’s cheek. The other foot wasn’t so lucky. The blade it had been trying to fend twisted expertly and the tip dug into her ankle before she pulled away and tumbled over the other side of the table.

Damn, Okami thought, feeling her leg protest as her weight came down on it. Sasuke’s not gonna let me hear the end of this if he finds out. He was always telling her that move wasn’t effective, even though in worked like a charm when she used it against Naruto in practice. Then again, Naruto couldn’t wield a sword if his life depended on it.

Two assailants were coming around the right side of the table, a third was coming from the other direction and the last had grabbed the table and was lifting it out of the way. If she retreated backward she’d be pinned against the wall in seconds, so she opted to go the direction of least expectation and rushed at the duo. The man in the lead had a short blade, which suite her just fine. She grabbed his thrusting arm and dipped her shoulder, catching him in the stomach, at the same time pulling the captive arm and lifting with her legs. The man rolled neatly over her shoulder and across her back where his chest intercepted the sword that was diving at her from behind. It slid right through him and poked her under the shoulder blade.

She grimaced as she let go of the skewered dunmer and clapped a hand under her next victim’s chin with enough force to crack a few teeth and make him drop the club he’d been bringing to bear. She caught the clumsy weapon as it slipped from his nerveless fingers and flung it blindly over her shoulder, hoping to slow down the swordsman behind her. There was a thud and a curse and she grinned with satisfaction as she let her stunned assailant fall and dove forward over him.

Rolling nimbly across the floor she put as much distance between herself and her foes as she could. Glancing over her shoulder she yipped and ducked quickly as the tip of a spear prodded at her head. It grazed her scalp and painfully tore at her hair before burying its tip into the wall. Okami gripped the weapon with her right hand then slammed the heel of her left into the flimsy wooden length between her fist and the wall, shattering it and separating the head from the shaft. With a quick downward yank on the broken spear she pulled her enemy off balance and kicked out, shattering his kneecap. He shrieked and tumbled to the ground.

Okami dove to the side again and came up with her spare dagger in her hand, looking for the closest hostile body to perforate. To her surprise and relief the guard had stepped in and her last two assailants, the one with the broken nose and the one who had inadvertently skewered his ally, were being restrained by the guard and one of his comrades, who Okami had not seen enter the tavern in the all the fuss. She ran to the hallway and peeked down, half expecting her quarry to be waiting to ambush her. No such luck, though her first dagger and a blood trail gave her ample direction to follow.

The young female burst out the back door and used a drainpipe to clamber to the rooftop. She scanned the surrounding streets quickly. It had been less than five minutes since she had begun the fight in the tavern. Her prey couldn’t have gotten far. Letting her instincts guide her as much as the sparse blood trail did, she sprinted and leapt across rooftops until she caught sight of a limping figure in a dark alley. It seemed that her wild throw had hit Tran in the leg. She grinned in a predatory manner. This would be over in seconds.

Silent as nightfall itself, she dropped into the alley behind her prey. A swift movement of her hands slid her blades across the Redoran male’s throat. His cry of surprise came as nothing more than a bubbling gurgle as his breath sprayed through his neck. With hands that were surprisingly gentle for a hired killer, she guided the dying man into a sitting position against filthy alley wall. He stared at her, and as his life drained from his neck, so did the light in his eyes.

Through her own special sensitivity she felt the man’s spirit withdraw, and she shuddered slightly. It was a horrid feeling. She often wished she didn’t have that particular ability. Of all her LC talents it was the one she despised most. She was so sensitive to the vital energies of life she could feel an ant being crushed carelessly underfoot as far as ten feet away. The larger and more intelligent the life, the farther away she could sense it, and the more deeply she felt it. She had learned to tune it out to some extent, but she refused to do so when the death was by her own hand. The feeling reminded her that she had killed a person. The day she was no longer bothered by the feeling, she feared, was the day she lost her questionable humanity.

Now that the excitement of danger had passed, the adrenaline stopped flowing into her blood and she felt tired enough to sleep right in the urine-scented alleyway. She became painfully aware of her own injuries, which she had nearly forgotten in the heated, surreal world of life-or-death. Standing slowly, she tested her ankle and found it wasn’t too serious. She was still grateful that her recall spell would put her right at her front door. She wasn’t in the mood to exert herself to reach her home.

Not bothering to loot the corpse, she stood and closed her eyes. Forming the correct hand sign, she concentrated and murmured an incantation, drawing on the energy within herself to fuel her spell. The magic grabbed her corporeal form and yanked her sideways through space itself, guiding her toward a warm bed and two pairs of warm hands that were waiting to sooth her injuries.

“You didn’t get the right kind, idiot.”

“Well how was I supposed to know?”

“Don’t you know by now she likes the sweet kind?”

“I don’t know what the sweet kind are!”

“They’re called Vidalia onions, idiot.”

“An onion is an onion to me! And quit calling me idiot!”

“Fine. Stir that pot for me, loser.”

“That’s worse than idiot!!”

“So you prefer idiot to loser?”

“I don’t like either one!”

“Too bad.”

"Shut up, Sasuke-teme!"

Naruto sublimated his grumbling, knowing that he wouldn’t win against Sasuke. To keep protesting would only invite more verbal punishment. Sasuke always got the last word. Trying to outwit him was nearly impossible. The only person Naruto knew who was capable of this was Okami and even she rarely got the best of an encounter with the sharp-tongued young man.

Sasuke was one of those people who always kept a cool head, no matter what was said or done. Nothing seemed to shock him, and anger merely made him furrow his handsome brow slightly, not shout and gesticulate as Naruto did. It was infuriating. Just once, Naruto wished that pristine demeanor would crack and he could see calm and collected Sasuke lose it.

“Hey, quit slopping all over the place, idiot,” said Sasuke, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts. The young man looked down to see that he had been stirring far too violently. There was broth all over the stove. “You can clean the kitchen tonight if you’re going to be so careless.”

“I clean the kitchen every night anyway!” muttered Naruto.

“What do you expect? You never cook, so it’s only right you clean instead,” replied Sasuke, even though he knew Naruto wasn’t talking to him, just complaining in general.

“Why should I cook when there’s a great ramen shop down the street?”

“You do realize that not everyone shares your fascination with noodles, right?”

“Ramen isn’t just noodles! It’s the ultimate in noodles!”

“I beg to differ,” came a voice from the kitchen entrance. The two men whirled, warm smiles on their faces. Okami was home! Their smiles of greeting turned to frowns of concern when they saw the state she was in. Her normally bright violet eyes were dull with exhaustion. Her face was drawn and the left side was caked with dried blood. More blood stained her white hair so that it clumped and matted to the side of her head, framing a garish wound to her scalp. The shiny black leather coat she wore had a pattern of small matte spots where more blood, presumably someone else’s, had spattered the front, and the leg-hugging brown leather pants she wore had also been liberally splashed. One of her knee-high boots had a clean slice in the material of the ankle and the entire side and foot was discolored.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” she said in response to their horrified expressions, and limped into the living room to collapse on the couch. Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a knowing glance. Okami always understated her own condition. The two sprung into a well-rehearsed action, Naruto running for bandages, stitching and clean cloth, Sasuke pulling the food off the fire so it didn’t burn before filling a large bowl with clean water.

---

Okami bit back a groan as she hit the soft couch. Eyes half-closed, she listened to her friend’s feet on the floorboards, Sasuke’s padding softly in the kitchen, Naruto’s pounding loudly down the stairs. The two converged on her carrying what they would need to patch her back up. She looked forward to this when she came home from a dangerous outing. She secretly liked to be pampered, though she would never admit it. Being treated for her wounds was the closest she would allow anyone to come to spoiling her. Not that she let herself be hurt so she could be treated this way, but it made her feel a little better when she was damaged to know her two best friends in the world would be there to tenderly patch her back up.

They tried to start at her head but she redirected them to her ankle.

“It’s the worst one, trust me. The head wound bled a lot but its shallow. The ankle is deeper and running on it didn’t help much.”

“You did that kick move again didn’t you?” accused Sasuke with a slight frown. Okami’s rolled eyes were answer enough to that question. “I told you that was foolish.”

“What’s wrong with it?” asked Naruto ingeniously. “It always works on me.”

“That’s because you’re pathetic at sword-work. Any five-year old could dodge your attacks successfully,” snorted Sasuke.

“Oh, shut up,” muttered Naruto as Okami chuckled softly. She winced as Sasuke pulled her boot off. Her blood had glued the leather to her leg and it ripped away the scab when it left. Fresh blood oozed, and her companions both scowled at her as they staunched the flow and cleaned the old blood away from the wound.

“How the hell do you manage to get so torn up?” grumbled Naruto as he strung a fine needle with finer thread.

“You did another hit for the Morag Tong, didn’t you,” Sasuke stated rather than asked.
“Why do you keep working for those people? They always give you the shit end of the stick.” Naruto’s brow furrowed deeply in concentration as he made the first stitch. Naruto was clueless and clumsy at many things but he had a steady hand and good eye when it came to sewing. His stitches were so small and fine that Okami would let no one else sew her back up. Of course this logically made him in charge of mending clothes as well, which he complained about endlessly, regarding it as a ‘girl’s job.’

“Despite the unlovely nature of that statement, I have to agree,” said Sasuke, wiping away more blood to give Naruto a clean view.

“That may be true, but there are reasons for that,” replied Okami, forcing her leg not to twitch reflexively when the needle pierced her already tender flesh. “I’m the only one capable of pulling off many of the writs they give me. Anyone else would be rat bait if they walked into a situation like that.” Two scowls deepened at her statement. “You have to admit these tough jobs pay well. The harder the hit the higher the reward y’know.”

“It’s not worth it!” blurted Naruto and Okami’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Usually talking about money got them to shut up. Cash was tight, and both the young men felt guilty about the fact that Okami shouldered most of the burden when it came to their finances. She new very well it wasn’t their fault. Lorkahn’s Children were rarely welcomed into the guilds, and freelancing wasn’t nearly as profitable or steady as pulling guild contracts.

Okami had connections with two guilds, which made her extraordinarily lucky. From there it had been a flawless reputation at getting the job done, no matter how hard or nasty it was. And they had certainly thrown enough unpleasant ones at her, for no better reason than she was an LC and therefore worth less than everyone else. These days it was just the hardest one she got stuck with because she had earned a measure of respect from her guild leaders over the course of the last two years.

Okami had tried to use her reputation and connections to get Naruto and Sasuke into one of the guilds, but she still didn’t have enough influence to do so. At the moment she was little more than a valuable tool to be used when other tools failed. She was hoping her reputation would become great enough that clients would begin requesting her for jobs. Not only would she be able to command higher prices, but also if she could contact those clients she could recommend her friends for freelance work.

“You call this not worth it?” asked Okami, pulling a fat pouch of coins from inside her coat and tossing it on the floor. “There’s close to 3000 gold in there. That’ll make the payments on this place for three months.” Her friends both winced when she named the amount and again when she mentioned the house payment. Okami had managed to procure the four-story building when the previous owner met an unfortunate demise, and even worked out a deal where she could make monthly payments until the entire 80,000g were paid. The boys had protested the purchase, but she had insisted, reasoning that they were turning 18 soon and privacy was becoming an issue. With a bedroom on each of the three upper floors and the shared living spaces on the bottom floor, it was perfect for a trio.

“But, they treat you like garbage most of the time! And you only get the most dangerous missions! It’s like they consider you disposable or something!” protested Naruto. “Why can’t you just freelance with us?”

“’Cause freelancing doesn’t pay the bills Naru-chan,” she said, using his pet name to soften the harshness of her words. “And for the record, I am disposable to them. But that’s not why I get the most dangerous assignments. It’s ‘cause I’m damn good. Besides, getting all the hardest jobs boosts my reputation all the faster, and pays all the better. I’d rather have things the way they are than be stuck doing grunt work.”

“But…”

“Just shut up Naruto,” intervened Sasuke, moving to begin washing the blood from Okami’s face. “We all knew taking up the adventurer’s life would be dangerous. Just because we feel guilty is no reason to hold O-chan down. Instead of badgering her we should be thinking of ways to pull our own weight.” That was Sasuke. To the point, no matter how uncomfortable it was. Naruto flushed, but declined to respond, instead clipping the last stitch in her ankle.

“You could slip over to the smuggler’s coast and do some scavenging,” suggested Okami, though she was nervous about the whole idea. Scavenging was the term most people used for raiding outlaw lairs. It was dangerous. But who was she to try to shield her friends when she placed herself in even worse situations?

“Are you sure we can spare the travel money?” asked Sasuke a bit sourly. Fares for boats and silt striders were generally triple for LCs.

“We could walk,” suggested Naruto. “It’s only four days on foot, and we might run into some bandits we could beat up and rob.” The authorities didn’t care if intrepid adventurers hunted down bandits, smugglers, slavers, necromancers or cultist and relieved them of their belongings. It just made the guard’s jobs easier. Vvardenfell was a very large and relatively unsettled place. It was a land riddled by caves, crypts, and ancient ruins, which were generally inhabited by monsters or the aforementioned outlaws. When one came up vacant, it didn’t take long for something else to move in.

“You could also travel up to the northern coast and hunt for pearls,” mentioned Okami, just to give a slightly safer idea to her companions. “The waters in the Sheogarad region are rich with oysters.”

“Yeah, but that’s way too far to walk and the price to get there will be outrageous,” sighed Sasuke.

“Then the smuggler’s coast it is! I heard someone at the ramen shop say there was some very suspicious activity going on in a big ruin north of Hla Oad!” enthused Naruto.

“Sounds like a good starting point,” mused Sasuke. “We could cut a day off the travel time if we cross at the Odai Plataeu.”

“But that’s such a tough climb!” protested Naruto.

“Don’t be such a baby.”

“I’m not a baby! You’re just sadistic!”

“Applying effort isn’t sadistic. Besides a little hardship builds character.”

“That is so damn cliché.”

Okami closed her eyes and listened to their bickering with a small smile of contentment. It was familiar and comforting. She felt safe when she was with these two. She always had. Maybe that was why the three had bonded, a need to feel safe, and wanted.

Like many of Lorkahn’s children, parents who feared them had abandoned the trio. They had been lucky, for they had been rounded up and placed in an Imperial orphanage. Even though these establishments were more like internment camps than children’s shelters, those contained within were safe when the witch-hunts of 6 ADU had happened. By all reports thousands of children had been slaughtered before the imperial forces had stepped in.

Stuck in the same dingy, over-crowded orphanage, Okami, Naruto and Sasuke had formed a group early on. They were surrogate family of a sort, and they were inseparable. They had endured ten long years filled with hardship, prejudice and suffering, always together, supporting and loving each other. Together they had survived where many who stood alone fell by the wayside.

So the boys’ bickering didn’t bother her. That was their way of expressing care for one another. It was when they were civil to one another that Okami worried because that meant they were angry at each other. It was a strange relationship they held, but Okami knew no matter how much they denied it the two adored each other.

Sasuke and Naruto were polar opposites in almost every way, from personal taste, to personality, to looks. Sasuke was tall and whipcord lean, with pale skin and jet hair that somehow managed to stick up and hang in his face at the same time. He had eyes like polished onyx that were guarded and cool, revealing nothing of his inner thoughts, set in a serious face that rarely smiled or frowned. He always wore loose clothes in dark colors, black and navy blue. They fit his somber, brooding attitude perfectly.

Sasuke was a perfectionist. Everything he did had to be done to his best ability. He was never able to cut corners or take short cuts. Consequently he was very good at almost anything he put his mind to, which he was unfailingly smug about, especially around Naruto. Okami suppressed a chuckle at that thought. Sasuke was exquisitely handsome. Women literally drooled at the sight of him. Sasuke, however, paid not a whit of attention to any of them, and Okami knew why, even if the young man still wasn’t aware of his feelings.

Then there was Naruto. He was spunky, energetic, loud and often obnoxious, but that all compiled into an irritating sort of charm. Naruto was as animated as Sasuke was stoic. He was cheerful, loved to play pranks, and was quick to smile or laugh. His grin was absolutely infectious in nature. Where Sasuke was a quiet and private person, Naruto was the sort that spit out whatever was on his mind without really thinking about it first.

Naruto was a few inches shorter than Sasuke, though his spiky blond hair made it hard to tell. His skin was warmly tanned like Okami’s. Huge ocean-blue eyes were always bright and often sparkled with mischief. His face was round and still retained a touch of baby fat, and also displayed his most evident mark of being an LC. Three thin lines resembling whiskers adorned each dimpled cheek. They were just a hint of the power that resided inside the blond boy.

Naruto dressed completely opposite Sasuke as well, preferring bright, sometime garish colors. Orange was his favorite, and he insisted on wearing an eye-watering shade of the color at least five days out of the week.

Naruto wasn’t as skilled at most things as Sasuke or Okami were, though he made up for it to some extent with enthusiasm and a great deal of stamina. He was often clumsy and awkward, but anything he tried to do he put his entire heart and being into. He was constantly trying to compete with, or at least catch up with Sasuke, and to all appearances found the other boy absolutely infuriating. Okami knew better. Naruto competed with Sasuke because he admired the young man, though he would never admit it. She sighed as she wondered how long it would take them to acknowledge their true feelings.

With these thoughts drifting through her head and the pleasant buzz of the friend’s voices washing over her eardrums, Okami drifted slowly down into the warm realm of sleep.

---

“But that’s why we should take the bag of holding,” nattered Naruto. “We don’t know how much junk we’ll find, and even stuff that’s mostly worthless will fetch a few coins. It’s not like we can afford to be picky-“

“Quiet,” commanded Sasuke suddenly.

“Don’t tell me to-“

“She’s asleep,” clarified Sasuke quickly before Naruto’s voice could scale up enough decibels to wake their tired companion.

“Oh, right,” whispered Naruto and immediately went silent. No matter how much they bickered there was one thing that they always agreed on and that was Okami. Keep her happy, do anything they could for her. After all, Okami was their light.

Sasuke continued gently washing at the blood caked in her white hair while he reflected on what she had done for them all those years ago, what she still did, without even realizing it.

In the orphanage life had been hell. He was never regarded as a person. Even the children looked at each other with fear and distrust, if not outright hatred. There was fierce competition for food, adequate clothing and the shelter of a roof. The adults did only the bare minimum in the orphanage. They did nothing to see that supplies were partitioned fairly, so the strongest inevitably got the most and the best of what little there was to have.

Okami had come in just before the witch-hunts had erupted. She had been sick and fevered at the time, but of course, their keepers did nothing about it. Smaller by far than the other children she immediately became a target in everyone else’s minds.

Sasuke had been among the strong class. He shared an uneasy alliance with Naruto and another boy to hold down a room for themselves and keep the rest of the rabble out. They weren’t friends, far from, they were simply banding together for mutual protection.

Okami had stumbled into their room, a tiny, pale, sickly waif. The third boy in their covenant, being closest to the door, stood and tried to shove her out. He had been swatted like a bug. At the time Sasuke wasn’t even sure what he had seen. It had looked like something black and menacing and not entirely corporeal had risen and struck, quick as a snake. The boy had hit the floor, quite dead, and Okami had followed, so wracked with fever she was completely delirious.

After such a display neither Naruto nor Sasuke dared touch the unconscious girl for fear of meeting the same fate. It was obvious that she hadn’t done it intentionally. She didn’t even look like she knew where she was! An out of control power that dangerous was the last thing either wanted to mess with. But what happened next had captivated them both.

After Okami collapsed on the filthy floor a second form had flowed from her body, this one made of a soothing silver light. It swirled and coalesced into what looked like a transparent white wolf. It had padded to the dead boy’s side and touched his forehead with the tip of its nose. He had jerked spasmodically, then gasped a huge breath and sat up, eyes wide and fearful. He’d run out of the room and had never dared come close to Okami again. Sasuke and Naruto didn’t have that luxury, for the girl and the apparition were between them and the door.

The ghostly lupine walked slowly over to the boys, who had unconsciously huddled together in terror. It seemed to sigh, and a warm breeze washed over their skins. In the space of a moment they were healthy. Sores, bug bites, bruises and lacerations disappeared like magic. The cough that had been plaguing Sasuke for weeks was gone.

Without sparing them another glance the wolf went back to the shivering form it had come from and sank back into her. Sasuke had been confused for a moment, wondering why the apparition hadn’t healed the child it was born from, until he realized that maybe it couldn’t. Recognizing the value of such a talent and the benefits of having the owner on his side, he had quickly decided that letting the tiny thing die of fever just wouldn’t do.

Grabbing every spare piece of clothing and scrap of material they could claim to posses, he made a bed of sorts and wrapped her securely in the tattered blankets. Naruto had the same idea, for he disappeared for a while and came back with food and water he had managed to cajole out of an adult somewhere. He was good at that sort of thing, Naruto was. Like Okami he was dangerous when threatened, so the adults wouldn’t hit him or push him around, and he had a talent for being so annoying that people would give him what he wanted just to make him go away.

So the two had taken care of her while she was sick, feeding her and forcing her to drink, until the fever broke and she slumbered peacefully. Then the really amazing thing had happened, the thing that had changed both of their lives forever. Okami opened her eyes and looked at them.

Her eyes were pools of violet that seemed to pierce them both to the core of their beings, for there wasn’t a trace of fear or loathing, hatred or contempt anywhere in them. She looked at them both like they were people, just people, not monsters or freaks or rivals for survival. She had smiled then and thanked them for helping her, and for the first time in either of their short lives, Sasuke and Naruto had felt like they were wanted.

Okami had been the binding that drew the three of them together. She was the glue that held them through thick and thin. She was the light that shone on them in the worst of times when one or both felt like succumbing to the weight of the world and breaking. She had boosted them up when everyone else tried to hold them down. Without her, they wouldn’t be who they had become, wouldn’t be where they were today.

For that, they loved her more than anything, even themselves.

Sasuke sighed softly as he watched Naruto stitch her scalp closed. Okami had seemed so frail back in those days. Where had all this strength and grit she was displaying lately come from?

Sasuke and Naruto waited a few days before heading to the smuggler’s coast since they were loath to leave until they were sure Okami’s wounds were healing properly. They had been horrified when they tried to move her to her bed and discovered the puncture beneath her shoulder blade (via a blood stain on the couch) and had scolded her thoroughly the next day for neglecting to mention it. Okami made certain they didn’t skimp on supplies, as they were prone to do because of their own misplaced sense of guilt over their inability to make as much money as she did. She also forced them to take her most precious item, a bag of holding, though Sasuke protested vehemently. The young man was nervous they would somehow lose the rare and expensive item. At the rate the two made money they would never be able to replace it. Okami only had it because as a Morag Tong operative she had right of ownership to anything a victim might have on their person, and one of her marks had been carrying it. There was no way they could afford something so extravagant on their own.

Okami walked them to the south gate of Balmora, their chosen city of residence, and waved until they were out of sight. She had misgivings about letting them go, but she knew they were completely unreasonable. Sasuke and Naruto could take care of themselves. She was just being a mother hen. Besides, the two young men would be alone together for a good while. It might be a good catalyst in their as yet non-existent relationship.

Their absence would also spare her the bitching she would be subject to if they knew she planned on doing some moonlighting up near Caldera. There were reports of bandits preying on the supply caravans to and from the ebony mines. It was an opportunity for some scavenging, but she’d have to move quickly before someone else was hired to take care of the problem. The imperial ebony mines were not something that got screwed around with for long.

There was other business to take care of in Caldera, business she needed to keep on the down-low. Exterminating bandits was really just a cover for other activities. Okami secretly belonged to a third organization called the Twin-Lamps. Since it would be a very bad thing for this fact to get out, she told no one, not even her boys.

The Twin-Lamps was an anti-slavery ring that operated in the shadows of society. Law in Vvardenfell protected licensed slavery, so the task she had ahead of her, that of freeing Caldera’s mine slaves was highly illegal and very risky. What made it worse was that the Imperial Government owned these slaves. This wouldn’t be like freeing a few poor creatures that had been smuggled in to avoid paying taxes. That was perfectly okay. This meant severe punishment and a huge stain on her spotless reputation if she got caught. She knew the risks, and she chose to take them. With one last glance in the direction her friends had vanished, Okami turned toward their home to get ready for her own little adventure.

---

“Man, this is…harsh,” panted Naruto. “Why’d…we have to…come this way?”

“It’s a short cut,” said Sasuke for what he was sure was the hundredth time. Naruto had been complaining non-stop since they began the arduous climb up the path to Odai Plateau. There was a small estate owned by some House Hlaalu noble at the top, and steep paths had been created on either side of the narrow mountain range for the convenience of those living there. As if anything about living in the crotch between two high peaks was convenient!

“Who the hell…would wanna live…in a place…like this?”

“People who don’t…want to be bothered…by whining idiots…idiot!” replied Sasuke, even though he had been wondering much the same thing. The difference was that Sasuke was keeping his complaints to himself, while Naruto insisted on wasting his breath. He never was able to understand why his blond counterpart felt the need to be so vocal.

“I wish O-chan…would have gotten…a jump spell or…something,” continued Naruto, not taking the hint. “Would make…this sort of thing…a lot easier.”

“Spells are expensive…stupid, even…if she does…save money by…teaching us herself…instead of buying it…three times,” scolded Sasuke. He had to admit, a jump or levitation spell would be nice right now, but they had far more important things to use their money on than spells of convenience.

“But it would…make life so…much easier!”

“You already said that! Shut up…and just climb. We’re almost…to the top.”

“Finally!” gasped Naruto. “Can we eat…when we get there? I’m starving!”

“Sure,” agreed Sasuke. He was hungry too, for it was well past noon and they had been hiking since dawn. It took nearly twenty minutes to scale the last mile to the flat area that held the estate. When they got there Naruto simply flopped onto his back on the ground outside the gate. Sasuke asked the lone guard’s permission to use the well and was curtly given leave. He emptied the tepid liquid from their water skins and refilled them with sparkling clear, ice-cold mountain water. When he brought them back Naruto snatched one away and gulped the contents greedily, surfacing for breath only after half of it was gone.

“Ahhhaaaa! That’s got to be the best water I’ve ever tasted!” he exclaimed happily.

“If you keep chugging it like that you’ll get a stomach ache,” Sasuke pointed out, taking small sips of his own water.

“Don’t care,” Naruto replied in a singsong voice.

“Then don’t make a fuss when you have to climb down this mountain in discomfort.”

“Whatever!” snorted the blond and began rummaging through his pack looking for food that didn’t have to be cooked. Eventually he came up with a package of rice balls wrapped with hackle-lo leaf and spiced with trama root. He began stuffing them in his mouth with gusto. Sasuke nibbled his slowly, not bothering to warn the other young man about the consequences of gorging. Naruto wouldn’t listen anyway.



Sure enough though, less than fifteen minutes into the climb downward Naruto was groaning and clutching his stomach. Sasuke nobly refrained from rubbing it in with a smug ‘I told you so’ and instead slowed his pace to accommodate his suffering comrade.

Why do I put up with such childish behavior? he wondered. Naruto was such a pain in the ass. Sasuke wasn’t the most forgiving person in the world and usually didn’t tolerate foolishness or incompetence. Okami didn’t bother him. She was reliable and capable. No reason to complain there. But Naruto was a constant strain on his patience. Despite that, the dark-eyed young man had a soft spot for his blue-eyed counterpart. He chalked it up to having been through so many trials with the boy.

In a way he admired and envied Naruto, though he would only acknowledge this in the deepest parts of his mind. The blond was so completely unrestrained and uninhibited, laughing when he was happy, crying when he was sad with no regard to what others thought of these actions. Sasuke had a deep need to feel in control, but it could be so hard, even painful to maintain his composure. He sometimes wished he could just let go and shout his feelings to the world the way his companion did so easily.

That was near impossible for the serious young man though. Something inside him demanded he maintain his cool no matter what, was fearful of what might happen if he ever lost his iron grip on himself. It wasn’t because he was scared of ridicule. He was afraid of himself.

Sasuke, Naruto and Okami were Lorkahn’s Children, which meant they each carried the burden of abnormal powers. These could be useful or deadly depending on circumstance. Okami was fully in control of her abilities these days, even the deadly black entity that dwelt in her left arm. She could manipulate her powers as easily and delicately as a master lace-worker could tat an intricate wedding shawl. Naruto’s power only manifested when he or his friends were in dire peril. The threat of death seemed to bring it to life, but even then he was in control of his actions. Sasuke was another story.

The young man possessed two LC traits. The first was in his eyes, and when summoned could give him a tremendous advantage in battle, for he could see a few seconds into the future. When you knew exactly what your opponent was going to do before they did it, it became easy to dodge, block or counter attack to best effect. He could even imitate his enemy’s moves or spells before they did them, which really messed with people’s heads.

Sasuke’s second trait was born from a tiny mark that rested between his neck and shoulder on the left side. When he became angry, it began to spread, feeding on his intense emotions, and the more it spread, the less he could control himself. Something else inside him took over when those strange patterns crawled across his skin like living tattoos made of fire and night, something cruel and dangerous. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was capable of in that state, and his worst fear was that he would lose control and hurt the ones he loved. He shuddered as he thought about the few times it had manifested when he was young. It left him feeling filthy, like a miasma had impregnated his skin and no amount of scrubbing would remove it.

“SASUKE!!!!” Naruto’s yowl jarred the other boy from his thoughts.

“What now?” growled Sasuke, clamping down on his irritation.

“Uglies to the north!” The young man turned his gaze in the direction indicated and spotted what had alarmed his companion. A small flock of cliff racers was nearly upon them.

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Sasuke griped as he unsheathed his wakizashi and called upon his special sight. Immediately phantom images of the winged reptilian creatures appeared several feet in front of the actual beasts.

“I did but you were off in la-la land or something,” snapped Naruto. Sasuke saw the shuriken arch toward the enemy seconds before they actually did so, and registered the avian reactions.

“Two to the left, three to the right,” he informed his companion as the real set of shuriken left his hands. Naruto was far better with distance weapons than melee. The blond nodded and smiled with satisfaction as every missile he’d launched met and sliced into flesh. The cliff racers scattered just as Sasuke had predicted and the boys leapt to either side, taking the battle to their adversaries.

Sasuke had no trouble with the beasts. They flicked long tails that were covered with sharp serrated scales at his head, but he saw it before it happened and his blade intercepted the whip-like tails, severing all three cleanly with one move. With hoarse cries of pain they turned to retreat.

“Don’t let them go!!” shouted Naruto from behind him. “My shuriken are still stuck in them!” Sasuke glanced at his friend and saw Naruto had things well in hand. The two he had faced off against were flopping on the ground, their wing membranes shredded and the blond was moving in for the kill. Sasuke turned his attention back to his fleeing quarry. Using his foresight, he placed a kunai in a wing joint per racer. They spiraled to the ground and he quickly crossed the uneven terrain to end the maimed creatures suffering and retrieve what weaponry he could. Even low-quality chitin shuriken weren’t cheap.

---

A long way to the north Okami was also crossing mountains. Alas, she didn’t have the benefit of a path, however steep it might have been. She had already visited the town of Caldera, made a few quiet inquiries about bandit activity, and tracked the outlaws down. After efficiently executing them and stripping their lair clean of useful items, she had returned to town and sold most of it, even though she could get a better price from her regular fences and pawnbrokers back in Balmora. This was all to set an alibi after all.

She had set back south at dawn, ostensibly returning home, but had cut into the mountains as soon as she was out of sight of the settlement. The mines were a little west and south of the actual town, in a volcanic crater. It had taken her almost half a day to work her way through the low peaks and tall hills that surrounded the area. Now she gazed down on the mining facility and watched the coming and going of guards and other personnel.

There were several buildings in a line extending from the center of the crater to the north lip where the only easy pass into it lay. They were perched on rock outcroppings and connected by wooden bridges. The offices and storage area were farthest north, and next came the living quarters. South of that on the largest outcropping and surrounded by a fence were the slave quarters and a single guard tower. Far from the solid stone construction that graced the rest of the buildings, the slave quarters were nothing more than three tiny hovels made of badly fitted, rotted planks. Okami was aware that there were eleven slaves that labored in the mines. That was a lot of bodies to pack into a trio of small huts.

Directly below her was the entrance to the mine itself, a track for the mining carts winding like a tongue from the cave mouth to lick at the base of the warehouse. Every so often a bedraggled slave would exit, straining to move a heavy cart. Okami eyed the contents of those carts speculatively, wondering if she dared filch a bit of the ebony. Since all ebony mines were owned by the empire it would be risky to try to fence the stuff, but for the very same reason the precious substance was worth a bundle on the black market.

Okami lay patiently amongst the broken stones for hours. When night fell the haggard slaves were escorted back to the central, fenced in area. They were exclusively argonian and khajiti, she noticed. It seemed that ninty percent of the slaves in Vvardenfell were of one of these two races, because being reptilian and cat-like respectively, they were considered by many to be little more than semi-intelligent animals, not people. They were served a meal of bitterroot mash, which was not only disgusting but also not very healthy, and then left to huddle together in their cramped abodes.

Okami continued to wait until well past midnight, when only the guards on duty were still awake. When she was sure the coast was as clear as it was likely to get, she made her move, slipping a black hood and mask over her head, and making her stealthy way toward the offices. The key to the slave bracers should be located there somewhere. It would have been easier to just pick the bracers, but due to the magical nature of the items only the key tuned to the enchantment would release the bindings.

Timing her furtive movements with those of the guards she broke into the office and began rummaging carefully through desks and cupboards. As she did she came across something very interesting entirely by accident. She flipped through one ledger lying on a table, her mind making absent note of the numbers therein, but when she picked the lock on a fancy polished oak desk in an upper office she found a second ledger in the back with an entirely different set of numbers. With only half a thought for it she stuffed the second ledger into her rucksack, feeling somehow that the information could come in handy in the future.

After thoroughly searching the office and pocketing the key, some other small, valuable items and a good bit of loose coin, she slipped out and worked her way to the guard tower at the southern point of the complex. There were two guards patrolling and a third at the top of this tower keeping a look out. They called in every half an hour, and the one on the top had a good view of the other’s movements. If the slaves were to have a chance to get away, the guards would have to be silenced, and she had to start with the top one. If he noticed one of the others break patrolling pattern he’d raise the alarm.

Okami scaled the side of the tower that was least visible to the other guards and hung from the crenellation until they called their next check. With the clock beginning to tick, she struck fast. Pulling herself up and rolling over the lip of the tower she rose behind the unsuspecting dunmer and slapped one hand over his mouth. The other jabbed a tiny dart into his neck. It was coated with a fast-acting sleeping poison that would knock him out for almost twelve hours.

The man struggled for only a second, then slumped in her arms and she lowered him carefully to the tower roof. From there it was easy to put the other two to sleep and it was over in less than ten minutes. Okami wasted no time in rousing the slaves and freeing them of their shackles. From her rucksack she pulled eleven sets of pants and shirts, since beast race slaves were generally kept naked, and handed them out. She also pulled out 11 small pouches of coins and gave a quick verbal account of where they should go and whom they should talk to when they got there, if they wanted to return to their homelands.

By now it was almost time for the slumbering guards to call their checks again. While this might go unnoticed, since everyone else appeared to be sleeping, she wouldn’t be surprised if the absence of such a familiar phenomena woke someone, so Okami urged the newly freed and grateful folk into action, cutting short their attempt to thank her. She played silent guardian until they had passed the offices and were loping north along the trail leading away.

Luckily no one seemed to be stirring in alarm at the lack of routine noise, so Okami decided to peek at the warehouse and see if she could snag a few pieces of raw ore. The lock was incredibly complicated and had a nasty poison dart trap attached to it.

This proved of little trouble to Okami, for the mistress of Balmora’s thieves guild had taught her very well. Okami had a hunch that her involvement in the Twin-Lamps was a well-known secret amongst the beast races of Balmora, for those people always treated her quite warmly, despite the fact that she was an LC. The guild mistress, a khajiti known as Habasi Sugar-Lips had warmed to her considerably, shortly after Okami had joined the Twin-Lamps and carried out her first successful mission. Habasi had made it a point to train Okami as thoroughly as she could in the thieves arts.

Once inside Okami began poking through the myriad of containers. There were dozens of wooden crates and barrels, large canvas sacks and clay urns stacked in a disorganized manner throughout the building. The warehouse wasn’t only used to store the ebony for she found a large food and liquor supply near the door. She helped herself to bread and ash yams, and tucked several bottles of expensive cyrodil brandy into her rucksack. Without the bundled clothes there was plenty of room in the leather bag for loot. She had funded this entire thing out of her pocket, so it was only right she get a bit of recompense.

Continuing her search she came upon the unexpected. There was a guard sleeping in a corner. She froze at first, but realized she hadn’t woken him yet. Apparently the man was supposed to keep watch over the valuable ore in the warehouse, but this job was so uneventful and boring she had no doubt he spent most nights sleeping. If he’d been awake he surely would have noticed that the guards outside hadn’t checked in for nearly an hour. The poor guard would catch hell tomorrow. Feeling a bit sympathetic, and also not wanting him to wake while she rummaged trough the rest of the goods, Okami stuck him with another sleep dart.

“Lucky for us both I brought spares,” she murmured as the guard stirred in protest to the sharp pain, and then settled back down. “Unlucky for you, I’m going to pick your pockets now.” She patted him down, but found little of value, a cheap ring and a few coins. On the other hand, when she turned her attention to the area around him, she found something much more valuable. His weapons had been leaned against a crate, and to Okami’s surprise and delight, the man owned a sword and a dagger made of glass.

Glass weaponry was pretty rare and super expensive. The items were forged and reinforced with magic, making them as strong as fine steel. They wouldn’t shatter no matter how delicate they looked. The best thing about glass equipment was it was extremely light and sharp. With a grin of glee, Okami claimed the weapons. Those alone made the entire trip worth it ten times over.

Sparing only a few more minutes to find some ebony and pocket half a dozen good quality pieces of the stuff, Okami decided it was time to go. The longer she stayed here the higher the chance of getting caught, and she already had enough loot to make life sweet for several months. Summoning her magic she recalled herself to her home.

“Whoa! It’s huge!” gasped Naruto, gazing up at the pyramidal structure that loomed out of the thick coastal mist. The ruin of Hlormaren looked like a giant had stacked huge square slabs of stone atop one another, each a little smaller than the last. From their vantage point it looked like it had five tiers, and that there were human-sized structures at the top.

“Well, let’s go,” said Sasuke mounting the steep steps. “We won’t get anything done staring at it.”

“What’s your hurry?” demanded his tow-headed companion. “I’ve never seen anything this amazing! And you can pretend you’re not impressed but I know you haven’t either. Don’t you think this place is incredible?”

“I forgot, you’ve never been to the city of Vivec,” smirked Sasuke.

“What’s that got to do with anything? Surely there’s nothing even in a place like Vivec that can compare to this!”

“But there is. Each of the cantons looks much like this, and there are eight cantons, plus the palace, which is even larger.”

“Whaaaat?!” shouted Naruto, drawing a wince from his companion. “How is that possible?”

“Keep your voice down fool!!” hissed the brunette. “You don’t know what could be around here! And to answer your question, the city of Vivec is ancient. People settled into what was already there, just like Molag Mar.”

“Huh, so why hasn’t anyone settled this place?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s far from deserted,” muttered Sasuke.

"Yeah, but it’s not a real settlement. It’s smugglers or bandits or something,” replied Naruto. They had stopped briefly in Hla Oad to listen for rumors. Sure enough, as Naruto had promised, there were stories of activity near these ruins, though what kind exactly was debatable. No one seemed entirely sure just who was making use of the place, or for what purpose. The only thing anyone agreed on was that comings and goings were furtive, making them suspect.

Naruto felt his heart rate increase slightly as his imagination supplied a dozen different scenarios, each more dangerous, and therefore more glorious, than the last. He would brave horrible monsters conjured by some evil necromancer or something, and come out victorious! And maybe if he was lucky Sasuke would screw up, but Naruto would be there to rescue him and Sasuke would sulk because Naruto had finally done better than him. Or maybe he would be grateful and impressed and say ‘You’re so cool Naruto! I wish I was like you!’ Or maybe he would say…

“Naruto, wake the fuck up you idiot!” The blond found himself being yanked roughly to the hard stone steps. He opened his mouth to shout at Sasuke, but the other young man pressed a finger to his lips and motioned to the edge of Hlormaren’s top tier. Naruto peeked carefully over and saw immediately what his friend was concerned about. Near the door to a huge building were three men, a dunmer and two humans. They appeared to be guards, though they were currently engaged in a game of dice and weren’t paying much attention to their duty.

“Maybe we can surprise them,” murmured Sasuke, his mouth so close to Naruto’s ear that his lips tickled his skin. Naruto felt himself shiver and wanted to wonder at that reaction, but the situation at hand demanded his full attention, so he dismissed it as nerves.

“Or maybe I can provide a distraction. You sneak around to the side that the door is closest to and when you’re in position I’ll pop out and act innocent and lost, and then you can strike from behind while their focus is on me.” Sasuke looked sideways at him, then back at the guards.

“For once you use your brain,” he said finally, and Naruto struggled with that for a moment, not sure if he had been complimented or insulted. A little of both he decided and turned to deliver the most scathing retort he could come up with, but by that time Sasuke was already gone, creeping along the next lowest tier to find his position.

Naruto waited nervously, his impatience evidenced by his fingers as they rapidly drummed on his knee. Sasuke was going ridiculously slowly, creeping along as though hostile forces surrounded him. He was always like this, taking careful into overkill. It took him nearly ten minutes but at last he was in position, back pressed against the wall within spitting distance of the trio of guards.

Naruto took a deep breath to steady himself, said a quick prayer that they didn’t have crossbows, or at least would listen to his story before they perforated him, and went into action. Panting in an exaggerated manner, he climbed the last few steps and bent over with hands on knees, gasping and muttering curses at the stairs behind him and steep climbs in general. He pretended not to have noticed the men near the door yet, though they had surely noticed him and stood quickly, drawing weapons as they did.

“Oi! Who be you and what be yer business here!” called one of the humans, a nord if the pale hair and thick accent were any indication. Naruto straightened quickly, a fake expression of surprise painted on his features. He changed it immediately to nervousness, which wasn’t hard at all because he was nervous. Brilliant plan Naruto, make yourself the bait. No wonder Sasuke calls you an idiot, he thought as faced the three well-armed men.

“Oh, ah, hi there!” stuttered Naruto. “I hope I’m not intruding. I was just going from Hla Oad to Gnaar Mok and this looked like a good place to have lunch.”

“What’s your business in Gnaar Mok?” asked the dunmer smoothly.

“I have to deliver-“ Naruto stopped short, and then glanced quickly away. “Uh, something to someone.” He shuffled backward a step. The three exchanged glances and began to smirk. The two humans stepped forward, leaving the dunmer to watch the door.

“You can eat here,” said the second human, a redguard with dark brown skin and hair. “We don’t mind at all. We’ll even share some of our wine with you.”

“Oh, no that’s okay,” stuttered Naruto, looking terrified and backing more quickly. “I wouldn’t want to disturb you fine gentlemen. I’ll just be on my way.”

“But we insist you stay,” continued the redguard, striding quickly toward the young blond. It was then that Sasuke struck, silently rounding the corner and sliding in behind the dunmer. He slapped one hand across the dark elf’s mouth, and neatly cut his throat with the other. The man only struggled for a moment before Sasuke was able to lower him to the ground. The other two were too intent on his companion to notice.

The two humans were closing fast, so Naruto readied his shuriken. The men seemed to find this more amusing than threatening, for the weapons were made of cheap chitin and they wore iron armor. The little weapons hardly seemed like they could be effective against their defenses. If they had known how accurate he could be with the missiles they might have been more cautious.

Seeing Sasuke closing from behind, Naruto timed his throw to coincide with his ally’s strike. Sasuke’s wakizashi slid into a chink in the nord’s armor and the man shouted in pain. The redguard whirled toward his companion looking startled, but not enough to make him hesitate, and he moved to skewer Sasuke with his longsword, for the brunette’s blade was trapped for the moment, leaving him mostly defenseless. Before he could carry out his intentions a shuriken sunk into the side of his face. He shrieked and stumbled backwards, clawing at the weapon.

“You little shit! I’ll kill you kid!” he roared and leapt at Naruto but another shuriken thunked solidly into his throat. His shout ended in a gurgle. He sunk to his knees staring at his executioner in disbelief. To the side Sasuke’s opponent had stopped struggling and the boy was wiggling his wakizashi free of the binding armor.

“Well, that worked out better than I thought it would,” said Naruto, retrieving his shuriken from the redguard’s body.

“Stealth is a good method of evening the odds,” replied Sasuke. “We should be grateful Okami passes along any training she receives.”

They looted the bodies, taking everything of any value, and then dumped them over the edge of the tier. They didn’t want to run into any scavengers come to feast on the carrion when they exited Hlormaren. They slipped inside and took shelter behind some crates in a half-circular alcove a few feet down the corridor. A quick scan showed no signs of anyone within sight, but they could hear voices from somewhere beyond. Sasuke slipped farther down the passageway, and after hastily raiding the crates Naruto followed.

There was a room ten feet from the alcove. A cursory check revealed there was only one occupant, a woman dressed in fine mage's robes. Sasuke’s stealthy attack eliminated her as easily as it had the dunmer at the door. She was in possession of some very nice magical charms that the boys happily deposited in their bag of holding.

So it went. They moved carefully room to room, ruthlessly slaughtering anyone they found and stripping the place bare of anything they could conceivably sell, even empty bottles. There was a brewer in Balmora that would pay for the containers. They had trouble only once, when they came to a room obviously meant for sleeping, for there were several sets of bunks shoved up against the walls and the room was sectioned by hanging curtains. There were five people in this room and the commotion they made while fighting Sasuke and Naruto drew two more from deeper in the complex. The boys were hard pressed for several minutes, but they came out on top with only minor injuries sustained.

After that intense encounter there were no more enemies on that floor. Instead the boys came upon two sets of stairs, one rising to the next floor, the other descending deeper into the monolithic structure.

“So, which way now?” asked Sasuke.

“I say we go up,” said Naruto. “There’s only so far up this things can go, maybe two more floors. Who knows how deep it goes. I’d rather secure the top floors so nothing comes up behind us while we’re down there.”

“And what if something comes from below while we’re checking out the top,” queried Sasuke.

“We don’t know if there’s a way out from below,” reasoned Naruto. “So if something comes after us that we can’t handle we could be trapped like rats. Up top, if worse comes to worse we could go out a window. The outside walls are climbable enough.”

“True. Then up it is,” agreed Sasuke.

The second floor was much like the first in layout and caliber of enemy they encountered, nothing too tough for the well-trained pair to handle. They continued with their trend of stripping the place bare. After all, why leave anything useful for the next set of outlaws who claimed this as their den? Eventually they came to the next upward stairway and upon scaling it found themselves on the roof of the building. On the far end from where they stood was another, smaller structure, probably just a single room detached from the rest for the sake of privacy. The two boys sidled up to the door, and after listening for signs of life, kicked the portal open.

On the other side was a dark, herb scented room dimly illuminated by a few blood-red candles. Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room within a chalk pentagram was a very startled altmer female. She didn’t let her surprise delay her reaction though, and she quickly jumped to her feet, snatching a scroll from a table and a staff from it’s resting place on a shelf behind her.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“We don’t need to tell you that, witch,” smirked Sasuke, advancing slowly. Naruto could tell his friend was confident, but the blond boy didn’t share that attitude. He hated fighting mages, and the feeling in the pit of his stomach urged him to cut his losses and run like hell. He forced himself to calm down though, reminding himself he couldn’t leave Sasuke to fight alone, and readied his weapons.

“Insolent brat!” snarled the woman. “You won’t be smiling when I finish with you!” She raised the staff and pointed it at the brunette, beginning to chant the incantation that would release its power. Naruto hurled a pair of shuriken at her head, hoping to disrupt the casting long enough for Sasuke to apply his blade to her flesh, but no such luck. The mage smoothly ducked without so much as stuttering in her chant and swung the tip of the staff to point at Naruto instead. The young man had time only to blanch before a bolt of green lightning leapt from the instrument and blasted into his chest, flinging him backwards out the door. There was a loud ringing sensation in his ears for a moment, but oddly his body didn’t hurt at all. Instead he felt like he was floating. He thought he heard Sasuke shout something, but lost the thread of the words as darkness swallowed his mind.

Sasuke watched in horror as Naruto was flung backwards. It seemed to happen in slow motion for him, the tow-headed boy’s body folding as it lifted off the ground, jerking backwards as though a rope had been tied around his waist and violently yanked. Sasuke heard himself scream as the limp form skidded and tumbled across the roof before coming to rest against the crenellation, still as a stone.

“Bitch!” shouted the dark-eyed boy, rushing the high-elf. She laughed at him and tossed a scroll on the ground, the runes traced on it burning through the paper as its enchantment was unleashed. Suddenly there was a tall woman standing between Sasuke and his target. She had glowing white eyes and skin that seemed painted with gold. Sasuke paled as he skidded to a halt. A daedra! And worse, it was a golden saint, among the most powerful of the demon kind.

Behind her summoned creature Sasuke saw the altmer mage smirk in satisfaction. Rage and terror boiled up inside of him threatening to take over his senses. He struggled to push it down. Naruto could still be alive. He couldn’t risk hurting his friend in his anger. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he were to cause harm to Naruto.

Keeping these things in mind to help quell his emotions, Sasuke sprinted for the door. He couldn’t resist a parting shot though and as he barreled through the opening he spun and launched a kunai past the pursuing daedra. The mage saw it coming and moved to avoid it, but wasn’t quite fast enough this time. The wicked little instrument dug into her shoulder and she cried out in agony, then hastily mumbled a few words and disappeared.

The golden saint paused for a moment in confusion as the force that had been guiding its actions dissipated. Sasuke took advantage of the momentary reprieve, skidding to a stop next to Naruto. The blonde’s chest was blackened and still smoking slightly. Knowing he didn’t have time for anything else, Sasuke slung the limp body over his right shoulder and ran for the door leading downward. He bolted through, conscious of footsteps close behind him.

Sasuke ran headlong down the corridor, occasionally having to hurdle a corpse and cursing his lack of foresight in leaving them sprawled in the middle of their escape route. A cramp formed under his ribs pulling painfully with every step. His breath came in ragged gasps. Alcoves and empty rooms passed him with agonizing slowness and the steps of the daedra behind him seemed to echo far too loudly in the narrow hall.

Finally he reached the next stairwell and clambered down them so quickly he twisted his ankle. Just one last stretch and he was out! But what if the persistent creature chased them past the bounds of Hlormaren? Without the mage controlling it, that was entirely too possible. Sasuke tried not to think about it as he reached the bottom of the stairs, determined instead to concentrate only on running without faltering.

Something hard glanced off his left shoulder blade, sending him spinning into the next stairwell. He lost his tentative grasp on Naruto and they both tumbled headlong down the flight of steps and slammed into the door at the bottom. Sasuke should have been terrified, for now the daedra was between him and the only exit he was aware of. But instead he felt a surge of elated hope. Naruto had groaned.

Energized by the knowledge that his beloved friend was still among the living, Sasuke hauled himself to his feet and grabbed Naruto’s arm, dragging him through the door and slamming it behind him, heedless of what may lie on the other side. Anything was better than the damned demon spawn at the top of the stairs. He glanced around quickly, looking for something to barricade the entryway with. His dark eyes fell on a jumble of large crates stacked in a corner of the room he now stood in. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he pushed one in front of the door, just in time. There was a loud bang as the daedra attempted to force the portal open. The crate moved an inch. Sasuke dragged another over, and another until every object in the room stood between him and the golden saint. It looked like it was working, for the door was no longer shimmying slowly open.

Feeling slightly safer for the moment, he took the opportunity to examine Naruto’s injury. The charred remains of his shirt flaked away. Not surprisingly, so did charred remains of skin. Underneath was the pink of newly healed flesh. Thank the gods for Naruto’s ability to heal at an abnormal rate.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief and gathered up his fallen comrade. He needed to find a way out of this place. The cantons of Vivec had sewers in their depths, which had grates that let out into the sea. Hlormaren was located on the coast. Perhaps the same would prove true here.

The young man soon found that this lower level was utilized for the imprisonment of slaves. There were two men guarding this level, but Sasuke wasn’t about to let a pair of humans stop him now. They went down and he found the key to the slaves’ bracers on one of them. He freed the wretched creatures and listened to their tale, and soon found that these slaves weren’t intended for resale.

“Hrrr, the mage, she uses us for her magical experiments,” rumbled a deep-chested male khajiti who identified himself as Rhadashi. He seemed to be acknowledged as the leader amongst the ill-treated lot. “Many of our brothers went to her and did not return to us.”

“Well, you’re free to run, but I wouldn’t go out the front door. There’s a rather hostile other-worlder between us and the exit,” Sasuke informed them. There was a dismayed murmur. “I was hoping there would be another way out through the sewers. I don’t suppose any of you have seen a way down from here?” That was answered with a general negative.

“We have not been allowed out of our rooms,” said a well-spoken khajiti female with an attractive striped pattern on her face fur. “But perhaps we should all hunt for one. Many eyes will make light work of this task.” The others agreed and began to spread out. As Sasuke rose to join them the female laid a clawed hand on his shoulder. “You should stay and care for your wounded lover.”

“W-what?” gasped Sasuke, feeling his cheeks burn. “He's not my lover!”

“Oh?” replied the female with a raised brow. “My apologies for this mistake. You hold him so tenderly I thought perhaps you loved him.” She moved away then, leaving the two boys alone.



'Lover?' thought Sasuke incredulously. 'Does it really look that way? He glanced down at his blond companion. Naruto looked so cute curled on his side with his head resting on Sasuke’s lap. He continued to gaze thoughtfully at the young man, his fingers running gently through his wild golden hair. And somehow, the longer he stared, the less the idea of Naruto as his lover embarrassed him. They had been best friends for ten years hadn’t they? True, they were so different they were like night and day, but didn’t people always say that opposites attract, or differences make good sparks, or something like that? As cliché as it sounded, things usually became cliché because they were true.

He shook his head. This was crazy! Just because some random person made a remark suddenly he was entertaining these outlandish thoughts. True he had never felt any interest in the women who tried to chase him, but he’d always thought that was because he hated being pursued. It wasn’t as though he didn’t look at pretty girls; it was that he couldn’t stand being treated like a prize or object.

It was a comfort issue, he realized. He knew Naruto like the back of his own hand, knew him so intimately that he often knew what he would say before the words left his mouth. They were so close that they could read each other’s intentions. Even if they bickered a lot, when they needed to work together they synchronized beautifully, meshing like two pieces of a puzzle.

Sasuke laughed aloud. Why hadn’t he seen it before? It was so obvious that they were intended for each other. It made perfect sense now that he thought about it. They were yin and yang, the moon and the sun. Did that make Okami the earth, he wondered? She was the center of their universe certainly. That thought made him wonder why it wasn’t her that he was attracted to. The answer came immediately. Ever since the day she had first stumbled into his life and killed a boy, then brought him back to life, Sasuke had stood in awe of her. In his mind she felt untouchable, like a goddess made flesh. He still hadn’t quite shaken that feeling, even after twelve years of seeing Okami at both her best and her worst.

Soon the ex-slaves began to return to his resting place. They had scavenged an odd assortment of clothing, armor and weapons to outfit themselves with and most clutched small bundles of food, which they shared freely with those who hadn’t been fortunate enough to find sustenance. One reported finding a hatch beneath a pile of crates in the back of a storage room.

The entire group migrated to the indicated chamber and with a collective effort moved the jumble of containers out of the way. They quickly discovered that the hatch was locked. Sasuke pulled out a set of picks with a sigh. He wasn’t all that great at lock picking yet. He tended to be too heavy handed, more often breaking the picks than opening the lock in question. He examined the lock carefully, becoming more dismayed by the moment as he realized its complexity.

He fingered his picks nervously. He only had four with him. That was four chances to get it right. With a deep breath to steady himself and keep his hand from shaking, he inserted the first one and began jiggling it in an attempt to flip the tumblers. There were a few promising clicks, then he applied a bit too much force. Snap!! The tip of the pick slid through the lock and he heard a faint clink as it hit the floor below.

Sasuke cursed softly to himself. Of all the damn things it had to be lock picking. He looked around at the gathered khajiti and argonians.

“I don’t suppose any one here is an expert in lock picking?” Heads were shaken all around the circle. He sighed, rolled his shoulders to rid himself of the tension building there and tried again. In slid the pick. He probed as delicately as he could. One tumbler rolled, then another. Sweat slid down his face, tickling his skin in the most irritating manner ever. A third tumbler rolled. A surge of elation hit him. Just one more tumbler! Snap!!

“Shit!”

“What are you doing, Sasuke?” The brunette jumped up and whirled toward the scratchy voice.

“Naruto!” he gasped, losing his composure altogether. He scrambled to the blond’s side and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. Naruto grunted at the contact but it sounded more surprised than pained, so Sasuke declined to let go immediately.

“S-Sasuke? What’s with you?” stuttered the young man, obviously not sure what to make of his friend’s uncharacteristic actions.

“How are you feeling?” Sasuke said, finally pulling away.

“Thirsty,” croaked Naruto. One of the slaves immediately offered half-empty bottle of Sujamma. Naruto made a face. “I was thinking more along the lines of water.”

“Sorry, we haven’t got any,” replied Sasuke. “You’ll have to be content with liquor.” Naruto winced again but accepted the bottle. He took a long swig, coughed and handed it back. “Anyway, you woke up just in time,” continued Sasuke. He presented the remaining two lock picks to the blue-eyed young man and pointed at the hatch. “We need that open.”

Naruto stared at his dark-eyed counterpart for a moment, then looked slowly around at the expectant faces of the beast men.

“Should I even ask what’s been going on while I was out?”

“Long story short, the mage summoned a daedra and disappeared,” replied Sasuke. “I ran. Now it’s between us and the door and we need to find an alternate escape route. This mystery portal is the only other route off this floor, and we hope it leads to the sewers and maybe out. You know I’m not that great at lock picking. You have the delicate touch. You open it.”

The mischievous gleam that characterized Naruto’s eyes was back as he grinned at Sasuke.

“So there’s something you can’t do that I can? That’s rich!” he laughed. Sasuke just smiled indulgently, which threw Naruto for a loop. The blond’s grin faltered and he stared at his brunette companion nervously for several long seconds. “Um, aren’t you going to tell me to shut up?” he asked finally.

“No,” replied Sasuke simply. This seemed to make Naruto even more uneasy.

“Why not?”

“Because when I thought you were dead, it put a few things in perspective,” replied Sasuke. So it was only half of the truth, but the other half could wait for a more private moment. “We’ll talk later. Right now, lets focus on getting the hell out of here.”

Naruto nodded and accepted the tools, then crawled over to the hatch and examined the lock. He hummed softly in the back of his throat as he did so, a habit that usually indicated he was concentrating. It took Naruto’s clever fingers only seconds to pop the lock open, drawing a collective sigh of relief from those gathered. Sasuke hauled open the portal, dropped a torch in and stuck his head through, taking a good look around.

“It’s the sewer alright,” he reported as he resurfaced. “There’s a wide canal down the middle and I think I saw fish in it so it has to connect to the outside somewhere.”

The group descended the iron rungs embedded in the wall and soon stood huddled in the damp gloom. Sasuke passed out torches and they split into groups, the khajiti and humans heading into the tunnels and the few argonians diving into the canals to look for underwater passages. The underworks of Hlormaren were a maze of inter-connecting tunnels and canals, which forced them to separate into ever-smaller groups. It would be easy to get lost, so Sasuke instructed his group to scratch marks into the walls every few feet indicating the direction they had come from. There weren’t any notable threats. A few large rats were bold enough to attack the searchers, but well placed kicks and stabs fended the rodents off.

Sasuke’s group soon came to the conclusion that the section they were searching held only dead ends, so they retraced their steps and found several others waiting for them at the starting point. Soon most of the slaves had congregated beneath the hatch and it was beginning to look like they would have to take their chances with the daedra when an argonian burst from the water hissing excitedly.

“There isss a grate from which flowsss sssea water,” he informed them. “Three-Toesss isss there trying to open it.” The others eagerly followed their scaly savior through the tunnels to a blank wall. “One mussst ssswim through to the other ssside.” He informed them. “There are more tunnelsss beyond.”

The khajiti weren’t too thrilled with the prospect of submerging themselves but weren’t about to protest if it meant they would be free. One by one they went through the tunnel, the argonians helping those who were poor swimmers. Sasuke marveled at how easily the reptilian creatures slipped through the water, almost envious of such ease in a foreign element.

Once on the other side it was a relatively short trip to where the argonian known as Three-Toes was working on the grate. “It ssseemsss to be jammed or russsted,” he told them when they arrived. “I am not ssstrong enough to open it alone.” The other lizard men jumped in to help followed closely by Sasuke and Naruto. The khajiti wisely stayed where it was dry, for their race was awkward at best when in the water.

It took much effort, a lot of pauses for breath and the application of a steel spear for leverage before the grate finally gave with an audible groan of protest. Then it was a short wait that seemed very long while the argonians went ahead and scouted the passage out. When they returned they reported that it was less than ten feet to open water, an easy swim even for the most ungainly khajiti to make without aid.

Soon they were out and dancing for joy on the muddy beach. It was decided that they would make something of an impromptu victory feast, and the argonians went back into the water for fish, while the khajiti hunted for firewood and the mud crabs that scuttled along the shoreline. They feasted richly that night and sang songs of their homelands. Sasuke was a little disappointed, for he was eager to get Naruto alone for a talk of personal nature, but Naruto seemed to be having a great time, so the brunette settled back and contented himself with watching his enthusiastic companion enjoy himself. There would be plenty of time for that, he reminded himself. The trip home would take at least four days, after all.

---

“Hey, Sasuke? Can we not tell Okami about me nearly dying?”

“Why not?”

“Cause she’ll fret and worry and won’t want us to go out on these trips anymore.”

“Oh. You’re right. Okay we won’t tell her about any of that. We’ll just say that we found some ruins to raid and that it was a success. We found some good stuff to sell and freed some slaves and that’s it.”

“Good,” sighed Naruto. He was glad to be heading home. The trip had nearly ended in disaster, and he wanted nothing more than to eat a big bowl of ramen from the shop down the street from their house, take a long hot bath and sleep in his own soft bed. Besides, Sasuke had him worried. The dark-eyed young man had been acting oddly since Hlormaren. At first the blond had thought it was just the scare he’d had when Naruto was hurt, but he assumed that he’d get over it quickly enough and return to his old condescending attitude.

It had been three days and Sasuke was still being unusually civil. At night when they camped he was quieter than normal, and Naruto noticed he kept watching him intently. Maybe he was concerned the blond would show some side effects from getting zapped. Naruto wasn’t sure what was on his friend’s mind, but he wished he would just say it because it was making him uncomfortable.

Sasuke seemed even more agitated as they set up camp for the last time this trip. Naruto had hoped that the arduous climb over Odai plateau would calm his companion down, or at least tire him out, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect. Sasuke, who was normally the still one couldn’t seem to stop fidgeting and pacing about as they waited for their food to cook. By the time they had finished eating Naruto couldn’t stand it anymore. Who the hell paced in circles while they ate dinner?

“For Azura’s sake Sasuke sit down and spit it out!!!” he hollered. Sasuke stopped dead and looked at him blankly. “Whatever’s bothering you just get it off your damn chest! You’re driving me nuts! And scaring me!” To his surprise Sasuke actually flushed a deep crimson.

“Is it that obvious?” he asked a bit sheepishly.

“Like a fucking beacon,” stated Naruto flatly. Sasuke seemed to hesitate for a moment, teetering on the edge of sitting down where he was and continuing to move about. Then his jaw clenched and a determined look came into his eyes. He crossed to where Naruto was perched on a log and took a seat beside him.

“Alright,” he muttered to himself, then took a deep breath and looked his tow-headed friend squarely in the eye. “Naruto, I’m in love with you.”

It was Naruto’s turn to stare blankly. Had Sasuke just said…? He blinked once slowly, thinking he must have imagined the whole scenario. Maybe those berries they’d eaten for dessert had been fermented and he was hallucinating. But Sasuke was still staring at him when he reopened his eyes.

It must be a joke, he reasoned finally. Yeah, Sasuke was pulling his leg. The whole thing had been an elaborate prank. Maybe his own mischievous nature was beginning to rub off on his serious friend. So he laughed, though it seemed a little forced, even to his own ears.

“Good one Sasuke. And here I always thought you weren’t capable of making a joke.” Sasuke frowned.

“I wasn’t joking,” he stated.

“Seriously?”

“Dead serious,” replied Sasuke, and to prove his point he leaned forward and kissed Naruto firmly on the lips. The boy froze, uncertain of what to do. His best male friend in the world had just professed his love and was now sliding his tongue into his mouth. His body was unable to move, but his mind flipped through several courses of action.



The rational part of his mind said 'Stay calm and tell Sasuke that this is a mistake, that the trauma of the past few days has him confused and these feelings will pass.

The irrational part of his mind said 'Scream like a little girl and run like hell!!

The biased part of his mind said 'We’re two men kissing. This is sooooo disgusting!

A part of him that he hadn’t known existed said 'Fuck convention. Throw him down and take him like you own him.

The four conflicting impulses jostled about in his mind for a few moments, vying for supremacy. Then a warm hand slipped under his shirt, softly caressing the sensitive new skin of his chest. His nipples hardened instantly and opinion number four forcefully kicked the first three out of the way with a triumphant laugh. Naruto leaned eagerly into Sasuke, sending them both toppling over the back of the log.

---

Naruto’s lips were somehow both soft and hard against his as the kiss went from tentative to furious in the space of an instant. Sasuke fell hard on his back as Naruto pushed him over the log, landing in a sprawl atop him. Sasuke was a bit startled, for he hadn’t really expected this heated of a reaction at first, but he was far too pleased to let it interfere.

The kiss slowed down after a moment, becoming less frantic and more romantic, more passionate. Their mouths brushed gently against each other, and the tip of Naruto’s tongue darted out and wandered along Sasuke’s lips like warm silk. Thrills raced up and down his spine as Naruto’s hand moved slowly up his arm, across his shoulder and down his side. A feeling like he was falling welled up in his stomach, a mixture of fear and excitement, like fire and ice in his belly and groin, throbbing in time with the way Naruto’s body rocked against his. It felt so good he thought he could die, and at the same time it terrified him to his core.

Sasuke couldn’t believe he felt afraid at a time like this, this moment he had been waiting for, hoping for, planning how to bring about for the last three days. His companion, as usual, seemed to have simply let go and was letting his instincts dictate his actions. Gods! Why couldn’t he be like Naruto?

His companion must have felt his sudden tension for he pulled away a bit and looked him in the eyes, concern drawing a line between his brows.

“Sasuke? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, fine. I’m just…uh, I suddenly feel…a little…” He saw understanding blossom in Naruto’s eyes and felt both embarrassed and relieved. Of course Naruto knew him well enough to know he was insanely afraid of losing control, no matter what the situation. He laughed harshly, trying to cover his own foolishness with humor, though the attempt sounded lame even to his own ears. “Gods, I’m such an idiot.”

“You call yourself an idiot instead of me? You must have a fever,” chuckled Naruto lightly. His attempt at humor was far more natural and effective. Some of Sasuke’s nervousness drained and he felt himself relax a bit.

“Oh, I have a fever alright,” he murmured tracing his fingers down Naruto’s back and drawing a soft moan from his lips. Then Naruto surprised him by rolling off of him and pulling him along so that Sasuke was on top.

“You control it,” said the blond earnestly. Sasuke was struck by how cute he looked when he tried to be serious. “You set the pace so you’re comfortable.” Sasuke smiled softly. What a remarkably considerate act for Naruto. But then maybe Sasuke was simply judging him based on the ongoing competition they had engaged in for years. Of course they wouldn’t be considerate when they were trying to one-up each other.

Naruto waited passively beneath him, looking up at him with a beguiling expression. Sasuke was enchanted by the way his eyes looked when he wasn’t scowling at him, so soft and deep, both innocent and infinitely knowing. He lowered himself slowly to settle atop the adorable blond boy, feeling his arousal press against his thigh. He brushed his lips against Naruto’s, and then moved his mouth down to his throat, licking and nipping at the sensitive skin between neck and shoulder.

Naruto gasped and released a long cry of pleasure and Sasuke noticed for the first time how his voice seemed to purr in his throat. That sound alone sent more thrilling sensations through his body and he shivered in response. He continued to work his mouth at his companion’s neck, consciously trying to draw more of those enticing noises from his lips. Naruto was happy to oblige, moaning and writhing beneath him. Sasuke was delighted and fascinated by the reactions he got just from kissing and biting his neck in different places. As Naruto moved against him he felt his own body unconsciously respond, his hips grinding against his companion’s leg.

Naruto’s hand slid inside his shirt, warm fingers stroking his back. After a moment they slid down into his pants, firmly cupping his ass and pulling Sasuke’s hips harder against him. His cries were more insistent now, more pleading, and he moved with a determined rhythm. Sasuke’s body was as demanding as Naruto’s, moving in time, keeping pace with the other.

“Sasuke!” Naruto’s back arched violently as he climaxed, and hearing him scream his name pushed Sasuke right over the edge with him, the intensity of his peak ripping Naruto’s name from his throat as well.

For several long minutes they lay there, panting in the afterglow, feeling the heat of desire rise through their sweat-soaked clothing to slowly dissipate into the cool night air. Finally Sasuke raised himself up on one elbow to look at his companion. Naruto’s eyes were still cloudy with pleasure, and he wore a sated, dreamy expression. Sasuke felt a tiny pang of trepidation. What if his tow-headed friend had second thoughts, decided the whole thing was a mistake? Regrets would be setting in just about now. Then their eyes met, and Naruto smiled beautifully, washing away Sasuke’s doubts. He reached up and wrapped his arms around the brunette’s neck, drawing him down for a long lazy kiss. When they finally broke apart and looked at each other again, the blond had only one thing to say.

“I wonder what Okami will think of this.”

It was very late the next evening when the two young men arrived home, weary but somehow satisfied with the results of the trip. When they entered their four-story house they discovered that Okami was just waking up. She still wore her sleeping clothes and was pouring coffee into a glazed clay mug. None of the three actually liked the bitter beverage, but its ability to awaken and sharpen one’s mind was useful, particularly for Okami, who often kept an odd schedule.
“Ah, welcome back!” she exclaimed brightly, embracing them both at the same time. “How did everything go?”
“Fine,” said Sasuke nonchalantly.
“Yeah, we got some good stuff,” added Naruto cheerfully. “We brought it all back for you to sell cause you get better prices than we do.”
“Besides, there might be something you want to keep in there somewhere…” Sasuke trailed off for Okami’s eyes had become sharp as razors upon them. Both boys sweated, figuring their acting hadn’t been good enough, that she had figured out already that the trip had nearly ended in ruin.
Then a slow smile crept across her pretty face. They glanced at each other, somewhat confused. If she were mad, why would she be smiling?
“Something’s different about the two of you,” she said. She caught the edge of Naruto’s collar and pulled it down, her grin widening so that it nearly took in her ears. “What have we here?”
“What? What is it?” fretted Naruto feeling his neck. “Sasuke, what’s there?”
Sasuke was blushing because he knew what had caught Okami’s attention without even looking. After all, he had put the mark there last night.
“Who gave you the raspberry?” asked Okami with a sly glance at Sasuke. It was obvious to him that she already knew who was responsible. She just wanted to hear them say it. Naruto was still clueless of course.
“Raspberry? What?” Naruto ran off to find a mirror and see what she was talking about. Sasuke gave an internal sigh. Might as well just come out with it. Letting her drag it out would be something akin to torture.
“That would be me, as I’m sure you are already aware,” he stated as blandly as he could. His effort was somewhat ruined by the fact that his cheeks were still crimson.
“Aarg! Sasuke! What did you do?!” came Naruto’s shout from the bathroom. Okami began laughing heartily. Naruto scampered back into the room. Holding his own collar out and pointing at the hickey he glared at Sasuke. “Look at this! They're all over the place!”
“I wasn’t trying to put them there,” muttered Sasuke. “It was an accident.”
“That’s a very prolific accident,” snickered Okami. Sasuke glared at her.
“You’re not helping,” he growled.
“Oh, whatever,” snorted Naruto. “Just be more careful next time.” Then his eyes widened as a thought struck him. “Hey, O-chan, you’re not…um…”
“Freaked out because my two best friends, who happen to both be male are doing each other?” finished Okami gamely. They both flushed this time. “Nah. I saw this coming months ago.” She walked into the living room with her coffee, leaving the boys standing in the kitchen with their mouths hanging open in surprise.
“Wait!” cried Naruto, recovering first and pursuing her. “What do you mean? How could you know months ago when we didn’t even…” he paused and looked at Sasuke. “Did you know something that long ago?” Sasuke shook his head.
“Nope I only realized…on this trip,” he temporized, barely catching himself before mentioning Naruto’s near demise.
“It was obvious to me, but that’s from the outside looking in. By the way, just what did make you realize how you felt?” Okami asked suspiciously.
“Oh, he just...looks so cute when he sleeps,” hedged Sasuke.
“Suuuuure,” said Okami. “I know you’re lying, but I’m in too good a mood to push the issue.” She relaxed back into the embrace of the couch. “Wait until you see the hot weapons I scored last time out.”
“You went out while we were gone?” asked Naruto in a somewhat accusing tone as he took a seat beside her.
“Well, you didn’t think I’d tell my employers that I had to wait till my friends got home before I could do a job, did you?”
“Well, no, I guess not...” said Naruto.
“You look like you’re getting ready to go out again,” said Sasuke.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I wouldn’t be sleeping during the day and drinking coffee at night otherwise.”
“What kind of job this time?”
“Information gathering, as the guild of thieves calls it.”
“So spying, in layman’s terms,” smirked Sasuke.
“Yeah,” she smirked back.
“On who?” asked Naruto.
“I’ll give you three guesses,” she snorted with a roll of her eyes. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other.
“Commona Tong,” they stated at the same time. It was obvious when they thought about it. The guild of thieves and the CT despised each other and were in constant rivalry. The same was true between the Morag Tong and the Commona Tong. The CT was like the guild of thieves and the Morag Tong put together, in the way that a common street whore was like a pair of high class courtesans. They dealt in the same form of business but the CT had nothing that remotely resembled honor or a moral code.
The Morag Tong only accepted writs from clients who could provide evidence that they had been gravely wronged by the mark. Their reputation was impeccable, and the imperial government legally recognized them, which was why their operatives could walk away from a murder scene if they had the writ for that murder. The Commona Tong would accept a contract on anyone, from anyone, with no questions asked as long as they were paid enough.
The guild of thieves was also legally recognized by the government, and was considered an equal to the mage's or fighter's guild. They too had a certain code of honor. Their members didn’t steal from each other or from certain affiliates, nor would they steal from the impoverished, and they avoided violence as much as possible. The Commona Tong would fleece anyone they could, often killing victims in the process.
The Commona Tong had other flaws that made them undesirable. They had their fingers deep in the illegal drug and slave trades. Rumor had it that when the 6th House cult had sprung up and spread like a disease before the coming of the Nerevarine and the destruction of their foul deity, Dagoth Ur, that the CT had profitable dealings with them as well. To make things worse, the members of the CT were extraordinarily prejudiced. They hated any and all races save dunmer, and their ranks were made up exclusively of xenophobic dark-elves.
“So what’s the deal this time?” asked Naruto. Her involvement with both the guild of thieves and the Morag Tong put Okami at odds with the Commona Tong rather too frequently for her friends’ peace of mind.
“Some tip off that they’re planning some sort of strike against the guild. Of course, any tip on them we get is questionable. It could very well be planted to lay a trap, so of course, I get to spring it.” Sasuke and Naruto scowled as one. “Don’t give me that look. You know the score with me and I know how you feel about it so spare me the glare and the lecture. I’m gonna get dressed.” She stood and finished her coffee in one gulp, then headed for the stairs.
“Well, I guess we should get something to eat,” suggested Naruto.
“Let me guess, you want ramen,” said Sasuke in an amused tone.
“Oh yeah! It’s been more than a week since I’ve had my favorite food!” replied Naruto enthusiastically, practically drooling. Sasuke took it upon himself to fetch the ramen, leaving his companion to make sure Okami didn’t run off before he got back. When he returned with the steaming bowls of noodles, Naruto had found something else to drool over. Okami was downstairs again, wearing black leather from neck to toe. She was strapping weapons and useful equipment to her slim body, and one of these items was what had Naruto’s attention. He was holding a green glass dagger and sucking on his thumb.
“Sasuke, check this out!” he squealed as he caught sight of his lover. Blood dripped from his thumb as it left his mouth. “It’s beautiful isn’t it? And sharp as…well, glass!”
Sasuke set the ramen carefully on the table and went to kneel by the excited blond. With a smug grin Okami handed him a second translucent blade, a slender longsword. He whistled softly as he examined the weapon. He’d seen glass equipment before, but never so close, and he’d surely never dreamed he would touch a piece. Shops that carried such expensive items rarely displayed them openly, and if they did it was in a securely locked case. A sword like this sold for over ten thousand gold coins.
“Where…” he breathed, but was unable to continue, mesmerized by the play of light down the blade.
“A guard who was asleep on the job,” she smirked. “Waking up to his prized possessions missing should teach him to take his duty more seriously. Anyway, I’ve got to bounce if I’m gonna get into position on time.” She held her hands out for the weapons and the boys reluctantly handed them over.
“I’ve got to say, knowing you have something like that strapped to your back makes me feel better,” said Sasuke, and Naruto just nodded his agreement since his mouth was full of noodles at the moment. Glass blades could cut through an orc’s tough hide like a hot knife through butter. “Can you say where you’re going?”
“Sadrith Mora,” she replied.
“Mages, ugh,” said Naruto. “Be careful, those bastards are sneaky.”
“Ah, but so am I,” replied Okami mischievously, laying a kiss on his forehead and another on Sasuke’s. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Have fun while I’m gone,” she added with a saucy wink. “Just don’t leave any stains on the couch.”
“You’re one to talk,” snorted Naruto, his face turning pink. “There’s so much of your blood on that thing a necromancer could bring it back from the dead.” Okami chuckled and waved before she strode out the door.

---

Okami headed straight to the mage's guild, where she could purchase magical transport to Vivec, Caldera, Ald'Ruhn or Sadrith Mora. It was the fasted way to travel to any of these places, but it would cost her ten gold. She didn’t have three weeks to take the long way, so she would pay, and hope her expenses didn’t outstrip the fee she would be paid by the guild.
The actual transition wasn’t much different from a recall spell, except that she wasn’t the one controlling it, which added an unknowable factor. She always had an image of a mage with a grudge against Lorkahn’s Children dumping her into the heart of Red Mountain or somewhere equally unpleasant. She appeared in Sadrith Mora’s branch of the mage's guild without mishap though, and was greeted by the guild master, an argonian male named Skink-In-Trees-Shade. Skink was a good friend of hers, which again stemmed from her involvement with the Twin-Lamps. She knew he was also a member, for she had been directed to him as a contact on occasion, but this remained unspoken between the two of them.
“Ah, miss Okami,” said the lizard-man fondly. His intelligence was evident in the lack of accent in his speech, which was quite the feat coming from a muzzle that wasn’t designed to speak the human tongue. “What brings you to this side of Vvardenfell?”
“Guild business, Master Skink,” she replied with a wink. “Very hush-hush.”
“Understood. May I offer you something that may assist you?” He handed her an exquisitely crafted gold ring set with a polished piece of ebony that glowed faintly. She raised an eyebrow at him curiously. “Consider it repayment for past favors,” he whispered. She caught on immediately. This wasn’t from Skink himself, but from the Lamps, though how they knew she would be coming through here at this time she declined to guess at. She nodded slightly to indicate that she understood.
“What sort of enchantment does it possess?” she asked, rolling it across her knuckles.
“Ah, this ring holds a constant chameleon spell. It may come in handy in your line of work,” replied Skink, and parted his teeth in the reptilian equivalent of a smile when her eyes widened. Come in handy indeed. Such an item was priceless. Okami placed the gift carefully in a hidden pocket in her jacket.
“Thank you very much for this generous present, friend,” she said with a deep bow. Skink smiled again and walked her to the door. From there she slunk her way through the nighttime shadows of Sadrith Mora, careful to avoid the guards. Visitors required documents to move freely in this town, papers which cost a pretty penny. It was extortion really, set up by Master Nelos, the Telvanni archmage who governed the town. He was a greedy bastard, but no one in their right mind argues with an archmage.
She made her way to the seedy side of town, located on the south part of the island Sadrith Mora sprawled across. There were several abandoned buildings in this section. Her instructions had indicated that the basement of a two-story wreck across from a seedy tavern called Dirty Muriel’s was to be the Commona Tong’s meeting place. The place was obvious, the only building with more than one floor for several blocks, excepting the tavern itself.
Okami circled it cautiously, searching for any guards or lookouts that might have been posted. She didn’t find any, which made her a little nervous. If this was an official meeting, or even if it was a just few rogue dissenters with their own little plot, someone should have thought to post guards.
Trap, whispered her instincts. But lack of guards wasn’t a good enough reason to abort her mission. She knew very well that if it was a trap, the guild meant her to spring it. She sighed inwardly, cursing the Commona Tong for making her life difficult, and slipped into the building.
Okami was blessed with superb night vision, so she didn’t need a light to navigate through the trash-choked rooms. As a precaution she scouted the first and second floors before descending to the basement. Still no sign of life, not so much as a vagrant or even a rat. Her instincts screamed at her not to keep going, but she’d known her role in this when the mission was presented to her. By accepting the mission, she had inherently accepted all risks associated with it.
She took her time navigating the narrow stairwell, testing each step before fully trusting her weight to it. Who knew what form the trap would take. She managed to stay relatively calm as she entered the den of the beast, so to speak. She hardly sweated at all, though she was taut as a pulled bowstring, waiting for the trap to go off.
When it finally sprung, she came to understand that she had specifically been the target of this set-up. As she laid her toes carefully on a step halfway down, the entire staircase shuddered and collapsed. Her frantic leap carried her just short of the top of the stairs and she tumbled to the bottom in a controlled roll. There was no way that was coincidence, her instincts shouted. Someone knew her physical ability to jump and had set it up so that it wouldn’t save her. The next shot came as she reached the bottom and rolled into the basement itself. Her entrance broke a filament so fine even her sharp eyes hadn’t seen it until it snapped and moved. Three glass globes fell one by one from where they were suspended in a hollow in the ceiling, and as they smashed she lost her sense of hearing, then her sight. She had no idea what the third globe did until she felt something touch her, spreading unearthly cold through her body.
It was very clever, containing spells in the globes so that the silence spell wouldn’t negate the other two, even though it prevented her from using magic to fight or escape. Taking her sight prevented her from finding a physical escape route. And the undead would be immune to physical attacks. She possessed no enchanted weapons, so a guardian spirit, or what ever it was, would be the perfect weapon to use against her. Someone had studied her thoroughly to set up such a well-planned trap.
There was only one thing they had over looked. She was an LC. Her innate powers didn’t require her to speak or see to use them. She hadn’t been forced to use them since long before she joined the guild and the Morag Tong, so the Commona Tong couldn’t possibly know…
'Wait…forced to use? She laughed aloud, though she couldn’t hear it, as she fled blindly, hands outstretched in front of her. Of course. This wasn’t as much about killing her as forcing her to use her power. Other wise why set one ghost on her? Why not a dozen ghosts? Or a couple of daedra? If that’s what they wanted, the mastermind had to be nearby, watching and waiting for her to reveal her secrets.
She would reveal a secret, he would get his answer, and he would take it to the grave.
Okami tore the left sleeve of her jacket right off, tossing it aside. She called to what dwelt there, releasing the mental bonds she had on it, and felt it stir in response. She gave it silent instructions and set it free. Almost instantly the spells affecting her dissipated. Her sight and hearing returned just in time to hear the ghost’s keen as her most devastating weapon tore through it, banishing it back to the realm of the dead.
Okami sat cross-legged in the basement, sending herself into a light trance. Her ego rode on the back of the entity, watching through its eyes as it slipped invisibly through the night, hunting. She forced it to bypass a few innocents who stumbled drunkenly through the night, little in their minds except the need to pass out somewhere. After several long minutes of scanning they found what they were looking for, a mind with her image at the forefront.
A dark-elf, of course, sitting in a private room on the second floor of Dirty Muriel’s. There were two others in the room, but they were mere guards, with little interest in the events that were unfolding. He was watching the building her physical body sat in, waiting for something, not sure what, but whatever it was he was expecting it to be spectacular, flashy. If her spirit had been with her body it would have grinned. To bad for this fool her powers were far more subtle than he expected.
The entity slid through the wall behind the unsuspecting dunmer. It coiled then struck. He didn’t even have time to scream. He simply slumped forward against the window. His companions didn’t even notice, so engrossed in a card game were they. She quietly withdrew, bringing the entity with her, forcefully reining it in when it wordlessly protested.
Okami’s soul reentered her body. She felt the entity follow, settling comfortably into her left arm. She looked down and saw the mark reappear as it returned to her, coiling for a moment as though it were a living tattoo, before becoming still. Of course it was alive, in the sense that it had a will of it’s own, but like a parasite it could not live separately from her. It had no name that she knew of, and she had never bothered to give it one. She didn’t even know what it was, but it seemed serpentine in nature so she often thought of it as a snake.
The shadow creature in her left arm was actually half of a pair. The other lived in her right arm, and was more like a wolf tattooed in white. They were opposites in all ways, from intent to ability. The wolf was a healer, a source of life energy, not a death dealer. She had used the wolf far more often than the snake. She disliked the snake, for it was bloodthirsty in the extreme, and sometimes proved difficult to control. The wolf was passive and benevolent.
With a sigh Okami gathered her sleeve. Naruto could sew it back on for her. There was no need to waste good clothing after all. She made the signs and murmured the words that would recall her home, appearing in front of her house. She entered quietly, not wishing to wake her friends, and climbed to the roof. They had several chairs and a table up here. Okami often came here to think when something troubled her.
She relaxed back and dug a bottle of flin out of a crate they kept stocked with liquor, popped the cork and took a hearty swig. Frowning up at the full moon she reflected on the night’s events.
The Commona Tong was gunning for her. She had built too good of a reputation in the guild of thieves and the Morag Tong. When she really thought about it, she would consider herself a threat if she were CT. A highly skilled LC with unknown powers working for your two biggest enemies? One who had repeatedly handled the most difficult of tasks with surprising, nay, alarming ease. Of course they wanted her dead.
Now that they had specifically attempted to kill her she couldn’t ignore it. She would have to take steps to be sure they knew whom they were dealing with. She would have to make it clear that they would regret it if they fucked with her, because next time her friends could get caught in the crossfire. She would not allow that.

Over the next several months Okami made a series of clandestine strikes against the Commona Tong, first searching out its small outposts in little towns like Hla Oad, Ald Velothi and Tel Branora and utterly annihilating them. Then she went to medium towns like Suran, Khuul and Dagon Fel and slaughtered them. Next it was the large towns like Vos and Gnisis. Now she was working on the small cities. She had already demolished their holding in Balmora. She had her sights set on Pelgiad for her next conquest.
The beauty of it was that she was so stealthy and careful no one could claim they had spotted her at the scene of the crime. She was sure there were many who suspected her as the culprit, but not a thing could be proven. The three organizations she belonged to surely suspected. Her superiors made a few hints to this effect, followed by insinuations of approval, for all three hated the Commona Tong, but none said anything directly.
Okami was forcing her foes into a very sticky position. Soon they would have to either plead for a truce or issue some sort of challenge, or they would eventually be completely destroyed. As it was they would have a very long road to rebuild, and they may never regain their full strength, but at least it would be possible to recover.
Okami figured they would be smart and ask for a truce. That’s what she would do, because to issue a challenge in their position would be like handing her a knife and baring their throat for her to slit. So when a toady from the guild og thieves knocked on her door requesting that she attend Habasi Sugar-Lips, she figured it was routine, just another assignment.
When she arrived at the Southwall Corner Club, the guild headquarters in Balmora, Okami was surprised to be sent into the back corner of the common room, instead of speaking with the khajiti at her desk in the upper hall. The club was nearly empty, which tipped Okami off further that something was out of the ordinary. Usually the place was swarming with guild members, since it wasn’t just headquarters, but also a pub and their favorite hang out. The only folk in evidence were the bartender, Habasi, and her five most trusted lieutenants.
Okami bowed in respect to her guild mistress before claiming a seat at the table the others occupied. The bartender wordlessly brought her a mug of matze, and then left the room all together.
“So what’s up?” asked Okami curiously as the six at the table watched her closely. Some of those eyes shone with hostility. Although Habasi favored her, those positive feelings weren’t shared by most of her other associates. Berkthgeld, Habasi’s first lieutenant and the eldest of the group, was the most open with his hateful glare. The next two eldest, and correspondingly highly ranked amongst the advisors were firmly in Berkthgeld’s pocket, so there was no love there. The two youngest and lowest ranked were far more liberal than their more experienced counterparts. Hikaru and Kaoru regarded Okami with respect and a bit of fear, but also with a healthy measure of curiosity.
“My friend,” began Habasi, her choice of words drawing a scowl from Berkthgeld. “This is a delicate subject, yes? We know what you have been doing in your free time recently, and I fear it draws too much attention to you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” replied Okami evenly. Deny everything, that was the best course of action. There was no evidence, no witnesses to link her to any of the massacres she had committed, and in many cases she had a solid alibi. Most people wouldn’t believe even she could have killed the Commona Tong in Balmora when she had been seen in public in Dagon Fel, seven hundred miles to the north, that very same day. Some might argue that a recall spell would bring her instantly to Balmora to do the dirty deed, but a recall had one set spot it would bring you to, so how had she been seen in Dagon Fel within hours both before and after the crime had been committed? There was no mage service to Dagon Fel, and the only mode of transportation was boat. It took at least two days to traverse the distance between Balmora and Dagon Fel.
Of course, Okami had devised a method, a very devious one, but unless anyone was able to catch her in the act she wasn’t going to admit to a thing. Habasi exchanged glances with her underlings as Okami made her statement, then she sighed heavily.
“Well, whether you are the culprit who has so devastated the Commona Tong or not, they think you are, and have demanded the guild hand you over to them, on threat of imperial involvement.” Okami just shrugged.
“What can imperial courts do to me? There is no evidence.”
“Because you are innocent, of course,” said Habasi dryly.
“Of course,” replied Okami with an answering smirk.
“You may be dumb enough to brave the imperial courts, but we want nothing to do with them,” snarled Berkthgeld. The old nord spit on the floor at her feet. Okami ignored him completely, her eyes never straying from Habasi’s.
“Hrrr, as rude as he may be, Berk is right,” confirmed Habasi. The khajiti looked regretful as she gazed at Okami with large, slitted green eyes. “I’m afraid we may be forced to expel you if it comes to that.”
“I see,” replied Okami, pursing her lips thoughtfully. She rocked back in her chair, took a swig of her matze, and stared hard at the ceiling, pushing hurt feelings away and thinking of a way to spare everyone embarrassment and pain. After a few seconds she leaned forward again and looked back at the silent assembly. “Alright, if they want me, I’ll go to them. Send them this message; I am terribly offended by their allegations. However, in order to avoid the discomfort imperial involvement would bring to my associates, I will confront them. They may choose the location and the date. I will come alone. They can do as they like, but they may not expect me to be idle if they threaten me, and I will defend myself with all resources available to me.”
Habasi raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat impressed, as did most of her lieutenants, especially Hikaru and Kaoru. Berkthgeld just looked sour. Okami rose to depart, again bowing respectfully to Habasi.
She was out of the building and several blocks away when running footsteps behind her brought her about. She was somewhat surprised to see Hikaru and Kaoru as they stopped in front of her. The two weren’t much older than she. If they had been born a few years later they would have been numbered among Lorkahn’s Children. The boys were interesting in that they were identical twins. Each was tall and slender with mahogany hair and sleepy hazel eyes. They purposedly dressed alike, so they were impossible to tell apart unless they identified themselves.
“Okami, are you really going to face down the Commona Tong?” asked one.
“Okami, did you really take out all those Commona Tong outposts?” asked the other at the same time. She blinked as she sorted the jumble of words spoken in identical voices into two clear sentences. She looked from one to the other and just shrugged and smiled.
“What else can I do? They have made up their minds, and so I must sacrifice my own comfort to appease them,” she said nonchalantly.
“You mean, to destroy them,” corrected the one on the right eagerly.
“If that’s the choice they make for themselves, that’s what I will grant them,” she replied. “But really if they are willing to listen to reason, no one needs to get hurt.”
“They won’t, right Kaoru?” said the one on the left, giving her an orientation on who was who.
“That’s right, Commona Tong are completely unreasonable, especially when it comes to your kind,” Kaoru stopped short and flushed, a flash of fear crossing his narrow face. Okami chuckled to show she wasn’t offended.
“We’ll see,” was all Okami would give them, and she turned to go. The twins weren’t willing to let it go so easily though. They paced her, falling in on either side.

“What if we told you we heard a rumor,” began Hikaru.
“About the Commona Tong hiring outside help recently,” finished Kaoru as Okami stopped dead in her tracks. She eyed the young men, knowing they had something more to say on the issue and probably wanted something in return. They were thieves after all, and a thief rarely gave something without getting something for his trouble.
“I’d say thanks for the warning, I’ll keep it in mind,” she replied trying to sound disinterested. She knew it didn’t work when the twins exchanged a smirk. “Fine, I’ll bite. What do you know?”
“Well, it’s a very interesting piece of information,” Hikaru purred slyly.
“One might even say valuable,” added Kaoru suggestively.
“That would depend on how useful it proves to be, if it’s even true. Rumors are so unreliable,” countered Okami. “Tell me how much you want for it and I’ll tell you if I’ll take it or if you can shove it.”
“All we want is a favor,” explained Hikaru. “Of course, the magnitude of said favor would be in direct proportion to how useful our information proves to be.”
“You have a reputation for being fair, so we’ll trust you to be the judge of that,” continued Kaoru.
“Yes, and know that if you end up dying during your little confrontation with the CT, we’ll get nothing, so it’s in our best interests to provide you with accurate details,” added Hikaru.
“So why don’t we find a quiet place to discuss it, hey?” finished Kaoru. Okami shrugged and motioned for them to follow, continuing on her original path. Soon the three of them were ensconced in her living room with elegant blue glass vessels full of bosmeri wine, things she only broke out when she had company, which was almost never. She’d had to wipe the dust off the glasses before using them.
“Nice place,” the twins commented simultaneously.
“Very big,” continued Hikaru, sipping delicately at his wine.
“Where are your housemates today?” asked Kaoru. He paused as there was a noise from upstairs somewhere. Naruto’s voice carried down the stairs a moment later, crying Sasuke’s name in a manner that made the twins blush.
“Upstairs playing with each other, as usual,” remarked Okami, though Naruto’s moan was pretty self-explanatory. She enjoyed seeing the twins’ faces redden further as she continued, purposely making them uncomfortable. “They’ve been humping like bunnies for the last three months. Teenagers, they’re so full of hormones. Pardon Naruto. He’s loud.”
“Oh, no problem,” said Hikaru hastily. “We’ve heard worse.” Kaoru looked at him as if to say, ‘We have?’
“Anyway, what is all this about hired muscle?” asked Okami, swirling her wine in the glass.
“We have connections in Vvardenfell’s immigrations and visitations office,” began Hikaru.
“Naturally, we keep tabs on promising marks,” continued Kaoru. “Foreigners are so easy to take in, you know?” Okami nodded in understanding.
“We also note any registered LCs that come through,” added Hikaru delicately. “Understand, we wouldn’t want to find ourselves on the wrong end of the powers they possess.”
“So, what has this to do with the CT hiring tough guys?” asked Okami with a bit of amusement. The twins seemed to be under the impression that LCs were touchy about the subject of themselves. It was true that some were, but she was very easy going about the whole thing. She appreciated her powers despite the fact that possesing them made her a target for abuse.
“Not tough guys,” corrected Kaoru. “Just one.”
“And not so tough to look at, so says our contact,” put in Hikaru. “But from the looks of his records he’s dangerous.”
“Very, very dangerous,” stressed Kaoru. “His records indicate he’s been a member of the Dark Brotherhood in Mournhold since he was ten.”
“That’s not the kind of info that pops up in imperial records,” said Okami doubtfully.
“Ah, but he was Prince Helseph’s favorite tool,” said Kaoru. “These records are the kind that are unofficial, the kind that only high level-“
“Hssst! Kaoru!” snapped Hikaru angrily, his brother winced and Okami grinned.
“My, how careless of you to reveal so much,” she teased. Hikaru glared and Kaoru squirmed. “Oh, don’t worry, your secrets are safe with me.” That made them both pause as they considered her use of the word ‘secrets.’ What else, they began to wonder, had Okami figured out? Or was she including any future secrets they might reveal? Or was she just messing with them?
“Anyway, this dark elf must be something special to have favor in such high places,” said Okami, shifting the subject back on track. The twins glanced at each other and smirked. “What?”
“Not as sharp as we thought,” chuckled Hikaru.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” demanded Okami, her eyes narrowing.
“He’s not a dunmer,” grinned Kaoru, and Okami’s eyes widened as things clicked into place.
“No, don’t tell me he’s an LC,” she breathed. The twins nodded. “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely positive,” they responded in unison. She gave a sharp laugh.
“How ironic! The xenophobic, LC-hating Commona Tong resorts to hiring one LC to kill another!” She laughed again.
“You aren’t taking this seriously enough,” scolded Hikaru.
“This man has over two-hundred suspected kills under his belt, in less than five years,” added Kaoru gravely.
“Oh, I’m taking it deadly serious,” replied Okami soberly. “I never take a situation that involves one of Lorkahn’s Children lightly. I should know better than anyone, we’re full of deadly surprises.” The twins sat abruptly back in their chairs, suddenly reminded of what they were dealing with. They stared at her nervously for a few moments as Okami tried to think of a way to break the tension. She hadn’t intended her remark to scare the young men.
“Aaaoooh, Naruto!” came the moan as Sasuke orgasmed upstairs. Okami silently thanked her brunette friend for his timing, for as she began to snicker, so did Hikaru, then Kaoru, and in seconds all three were roaring with laughter. A few minutes later Sasuke and Naruto came down the stairs.
“Okami, you’re home earlier than we expected,” said Sasuke, and then flushed as he saw she had company.
“I told you I heard someone else,” muttered Naruto as he flopped onto the couch next to Okami. He still had a sheen of sweat on his skin, and Okami’s sharp nose detected the subtle scent of sex on him. “So who are your friends O-chan?”
“O-chan?” repeated the twins, again in perfect synch, right down to the mischievous grins that graced their pointed faces.
“It’s just a pet name,” said Okami, rolling her eyes in exasperation.
“Yeah, the O stands for Okami, and the chan means cute,” explained Naruto brightly.
“So its ‘cute Okami,’ is it?” smirked Hikaru.
“How…cute,” cooed Kaoru and they both began giggling hysterically.
“It’s not that funny,” muttered Okami. She decided a smooth change of subject was in order. “Sasuke, Naruto, this is Hikaru and Kaoru, lieutenants in the guild.”
“You’ve never brought your work home with you before,” said Sasuke.
“Are we the first of your work associates to see the inside of your home, O-chan?” asked Hikaru teasingly.
“We feel honored to be your first, O-chan,” added Kaoru just as mischievously.
“Better watch it,” she growled at them. “And don’t you dare spread that around the guild, or I’ll get them calling you the terrible two-some, or the trouble twins or something.” That had them howling with laughter, and they continued to joke back and forth for a while. Okami was gratified that they were being so easy around her and her boys, daring to hope they had made friends of the twins.
Eventually the two got up to leave, saying they had other matters to take care of that day. Before they left Okami stopped them with one final question, for in their mirth she had forgotten to ask more questions about their earlier business.
“You never told me what this person can do. Do you have any info on his power?” Hikaru shook his head.
“That information wasn’t shared with us, but whether its because our contact didn’t know that or he was scared, we’re unable to tell,” he replied.
“We can tell you that he’s come here permanently, sent here because Prince Helseph has come to fear him,” continued Kaoru. “Apparently he’s developed a mind of his own lately, and the Dark Brotherhood can no longer control him.”
“Why Helseph didn’t just dispose of him when he became too dangerous is an interesting question, for that is Helseph’s usual method of dealing with tools that no longer serve their purpose, ruthless bastard that he is,” mused Hikaru.
“We can only speculate it has to do with his power,” finished Kaoru. “The only other thing we can tell you is his name. He is called Gaara.”

Okami received the Commona Tong’s response the very next day. They wanted her to be in the ruins of Bal Ur tomorrow. She’d have to push to get that far that fast. The Commona Tong was giving her no time to investigate their pet LC. She wasn’t even sure if she would be forced to face this Gaara character in Bal Ur. They might have something else planned for her, and have other purposes for him. It didn’t ring true in her mind though. The fact that the notoriously prejudiced CT had hired a non-dunmer, and an LC no less, stank of desperation. They wanted her dead, wanted it very badly. She was positive they would hit her as hard as they could.
And what kind of person would this Gaara be? She couldn’t judge against him for working for the Dark Brotherhood, which was an organization of assassins that held prevalence in the area of Mournhold. She worked as an assassin herself, though she doubted he’d ever heard of the Morag Tong, since they were exclusive to the large island that was Vvardenfell. Ancient homeland of the dunmer or no, Vvardenfell was on the farthest edge of the Imperial Empire. It was extremely remote, and thus attracted rogues of all sorts, which is why they had such an abundance of outlaws.
In some rare cases people were even banished here, as seemed to have happened with this mysterious LC. It was a perfect place to dump someone you didn’t want around anymore but were unable to get rid of in a more permanent manner. For a moment she almost felt sorry for the poor fool. But that passed quickly for Okami was nothing if not practical. Sorry for him or not, if he got in her way she would destroy him.
Okami didn’t tell Sasuke and Naruto what was going down. She didn’t want them to freak out and maybe follow her into a bad situation. She wouldn’t do as well if she had to think about protecting them as well as defending herself. She hated to lie to them, but that’s exactly what she did now, telling them that she had a guild assignment to scope out a possible new recruit. She told them she would be traveling first to Seyda Neen, and from there she didn’t know where, since he may have moved on by the time she got there. That seemed to satisfy them, fitting well enough with the end of her conversation with the twins to sound plausible.
She left as soon a she had outfitted herself, taking along mostly useful things like lock picks, a grappling hook, and a pendant that contained a recall spell, just in case she was unable to utter the enchantment herself. It had been this very charm that had allowed her to pull off her previous offenses against the Commona Tong.
She took along the glass dagger, but left the longsword, along with a letter naming Sasuke as it’s new possessor, should she fail to return. It also gave such details as the hiding place of her stash and what she had really been doing when she disappeared. She hoped there would be no opportunity for them to read it, but she would feel better knowing they had access to these things if she fell. The boys would never enter her room without permission unless they were sure she wasn’t coming back, so it could be weeks before they found it.
Okami shook her head to clear it of such morbid thoughts. She would be fine. She had never met a challenge that she had been unable to overcome somehow. But there was a saying that went ‘no matter how good you are there is always someone better.’ She had survived by never overestimating herself, or underestimating an opponent. She was incredibly clever and was blessed with a great deal of talent and power, but this latest development had her worrying. She had a feeling of impending doom, the kind you get when you walk along a narrow ledge with a deadly drop below you and a sheer cliff wall above you. One wrong move and you die.
She lounged back in the passenger area of the stilt strider she had paid to take her to Seyda Neen, forcing herself to relax and let the swaying motion of the giant insect’s walk lull her into a half-sleep state. She had to clear her mind and focus. She remained in the reverie for the entire five hours it took to arrive in Seyda Neen, and even maintained it on the seven hour trip from there to Suran. From there she had a long and arduous hike around the edge of Lake Masobi and up the Nabia River. The Nabia wound through a steep pass through the Molag Amur Mountains. The banks were narrow, rocky and slippery.
Okami arrived at Bal Ur very early in the morning. The demand she’d received hadn’t specified a time, so she found a relatively intact tower, scaled the side, wedged herself in a nook under a crumbled crenellation, slipped on her chameleon ring and settled down for a nap. The height wouldn’t stop a determined enemy, and wouldn’t hinder winged creatures at all, but it was better than nothing. They would have to spot her before they could attack her, and with the very handy ring she was wearing that would be a hard feat to accomplish. Not only did it make her blend with her background, it was a continual effect, so she didn’t have to recast the spell every few hours or wait for the item to recharge. She silently thanked the Twin-Lamps for the gift. _ _ _ _ He was annoyed. The fools who were acting as ‘escorts’ on the pretense that he had no idea where he was going were getting on his delicate nerves. It was true, being a stranger in this forsaken land, he wouldn’t have been able to find this ancient ruin, but why did they have to stage the thing here in the first place? He would have preferred to be shown his quarry and let loose. Besides, this area was too remote. From what he understood, this female had been making a fool of them. It would be more effective to make a public example of her. _ “Where is she?” fretted Halas Renan for what had to be the twentieth time in the last hour. He was pacing rapidly back and forth in front of their position, eyes glued to the entrance, chewing his thumbnail so incessantly that it was bleeding. This was aggravating behavior, to be sure, but it wasn’t half as trying as his companion’s way of dealing with her stress. Terega Undaal chose to relive her emotional pressure by relentlessly lecturing their outlander ally. This wasn’t the wisest move in the world. Pissing Gaara off could be fatal. _ The truth was he wasn’t very keen on working for these Commona Tong thugs. Their company left an unpleasant taste in his mouth, and their ‘better than thou’ attitude really irked him. If he hadn’t needed the cash so badly he’d have walked and sought employment elsewhere. He hadn’t been able to bring any funds with him when he was suddenly exiled, and the word was it was hard for people of his nature to find legitimate, or even illegal work in Vvardenfell. _ Gaara was feeling rather bitter about his hasty eviction from the Dark Brotherhood and Mournhold. He’d allowed them to use his unique talents for five years, faithfully executing anyone they pointed him at like a dependable dog. Hadn’t he been loyal? Hadn’t he done whatever Helseph asked of him without question? Was one lapse worthy of being discarded like dirty laundry? Just because he didn’t feel like killing a 6 month old child… _ If Gaara had been asked he’d have said that Helseph was getting out of hand. He was losing his subtle touch and instead was resorting to brute force and fear to maintain control. He’d wanted to teach a rebellious young nobleman his place, and so had given Gaara his orders. However, the young LC had seen things differently. Murdering their infant would have had the opposite effect of what Helseph had wanted to achieve, making them stronger in their stance against the Prince of Mournhold. Threatening that which they desired most to protect would bring them under control, not robbing them of it completely. Gaara had seen this clearly, so he’d improvised. Instead of killing the infant he’d left his calling card in the baby’s crib. Just a bit of sand, but that would be enough to make the family rethink their stance. Helseph hadn’t agreed, and just like that, Gaara had become obsolete. The Prince of Mournhold had no use for a tool that would not obey him completely. _ Unfortunately Gaara knew too much to be allowed to roam free, and due to his unique abilities disposing of him in a permanent manner wasn’t plausible. So he had been shipped off to the most remote corner of the imperial empire, this island called Vvarfenfell that was mostly swamp and ash-covered mountain. The only place less hospitable was the small, mostly untamed island of Solstheim, which was just to the northwest of Vvardenfell. Gaara was sure he’d have been sent to that ice-covered place if there had been a reliable means to get him there. _ “Are you even listening to me, outlander?” demanded Terega loudly, reclaiming his wandering attention. “Pay attention! Don’t forget who is paying you!” She reached out as if to grab his arm, but was stopped cold by a glare that promised a slow death. She froze, sweat beading on her black skin, unable to escape that terrifyingly hypnotic stare, like a frog caught in the gaze of a snake. He looked away releasing her and she stumbled back a few steps. As much as he would like to kill the overbearing female he was too broke to indulge in personal pleasure. _ “As I was saying,” she persisted, smoothing her shirt nervously. “You must not underestimate this woman. She is most tricky, and we have yet to identify the exact nature of her powers, for she hides them well.” Terega continued in this vein as she had been since they’d gotten to Bal Ur. Gaara refrained from pointing out that she had already told him this, repeatedly. He’d tried that and it still hadn’t shut her up. Instead he simply tuned her out again, lost in his own dark thoughts. _ _ He wasn’t sure how long he’d been zoned out before Halas gave a sharp hiss, bringing Terega scrambling to where he stood peering up the hall. Gaara didn’t bother to move from his position, leaning against the wall in the shadows behind a pillar, arms crossed and head bowed. He didn’t want to be noticed until he was ready to strike. The only part of him that moved was his eyes, shifting to the entrance of the room. _ “She isn’t even bothering to conceal herself,” said Halas, his voice scaling up an octave, laden with panic. His foe inspired a delicious amount of fear in his employers. Gaara was suddenly eager for this encounter, the bloodlust rising in his chest. He felt himself begin to fidget, and had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. It wouldn’t do to become careless. _ “It means nothing,” soothed Terega, though her voice was undoubtedly strained as well. _ “But if she’s this confident she must have a plan of some sort!” cried Halas. Terega slapped him hard. _ “Get a hold of yourself fool! You’re a disgrace to the Commona Tong!” _ “Oh, that’s not saying much. Your entire organization is an embarrassment to organized crime,” came an amused female voice. The two dunmer stiffened. Gaara couldn’t help but lean forward a bit to catch sight of the LC his employers were so deeply in fear of. _ He found himself surprised. He’d expected someone more…intimidating. Maybe sinister or imposing. The female standing confidently on the steps had nothing menacing about her. She was slight, barely as tall as he was, and slender as a reed. Her hair was white as a snowcap, contrasting with her warmly tanned skin. Her heart-shaped face held an ingenuous expression. She was actually kind of…cute. _ He blinked. Did he just think the word cute? She chose that moment to look directly at him, despite him being hidden in the shadows. Wait, hadn’t Terega said she could see in the dark? _ He was even more surprised by her eyes. The color of an iris’ petal, they held an expression he’d never seen directed at him. There was no fear, no hate or disgust or mistrust. Her eyes weren’t cold or hard, they were soft and warm, but also curious and sharply intelligent as they scrutinized him. He suddenly felt exquisitely uncomfortable, but was unable to break that incredible gaze himself, held captive by a spectacular pair of eyes. When she looked away what might have been a second or an eternity later he began to shake in reaction. As she renewed her conversation with the pair of dark-elves, he struggled to regain control of himself. _ _ _ _ Okami woke suddenly around noon, thinking she’d heard voices. She squirmed her way out of her hidey-hole and crept to the edge of the tower to peer over the edge. Though she stayed there, quiet and near invisible, for many long minutes, she saw and heard nothing. Finally she decided it was a dream born of nerves. _ She returned to the ground and scouted the ruins, looking for signs of the Commona Tong. There were two entrances and before one of them she detected several pairs of footprints in the damp earth. They were less than a day old, the edges still sharp and fresh. So this was where they had entered. She considered going through the other portal and finding a way to circle around behind them, but decided to confront them directly. She slipped off her chameleon ring and stored it in a secret pocket, momentarily regretting bringing the item along. If she were defeated the Commona Tong would get it as part of their spoils. She considered for a moment throwing it into the Nabia, but if she managed to win it would be a real bother to find it again. _ She stepped through the tall oval door in front of her and continued along the winding hallway. Bal Ur was a daedric ruin, built by the demon kind centuries before even the dwemer were building their strongholds. Daedric ruins all shared the same unique traits, making them easily identifiable. There wasn’t a right angle to be seen in Bal Ur. Every corner was closer to 120 or 30 degrees instead of 90. The corridors wound left to right, up and down with no discernable purpose to their direction. The hall she walked along now seemed like it was trying to cave in on her, the walls leaning in as they rose so that the top was only half as wide as the bottom. The walls were covered with strange designs, whorls and swirls carved into every surface of the mottled red stone. It was clear that the architects were of otherworldly origin. _ As she continued she picked up an echo from ahead. She paused and closed her eyes, listening carefully. Two voices, one female one male. The woman’s voice was going on and on about something, barely pausing for breath. Okami couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. The man’s voice was intermittent, every several seconds repeating the same phrase. She grinned to herself as she detected a good deal of stress in both. These had to be regular Commona Tong, ones who were familiar with her formidable reputation. If the LC they had hired was here that made at least three people against her in the upcoming confrontation. She couldn’t tell if there were anymore lurking. Well it didn’t really matter. The only one she really needed to worry about was the LC. If the Commona Tong had anyone they thought could challenge her they wouldn’t have sought outside help, so they were little to be concerned with. _ She smoothed her clothes, mostly brown today instead of her customary working black. She didn’t want to look like an assassin for this event. She was supposed to be innocent after all. Rolling her shoulders and running a hand through her messy hair, she took a deep breath to settle her nerves and donned her most relaxed expression. Then she walked around the corner, purposely stepping normally instead of keeping her movements quiet. She wanted this to seem like she walked alone into possible danger every day and it didn’t bother her in the least. _ As she descended the steps she caught site of the first one, a dunmer male, pacing back and forth before the pillars of a broken arch. He gasped loudly when he spotted her, bringing the second, the female who was also a dark elf, scrambling to his side. They stared at her, sweat beading on their brows. _ “She isn’t even bothering to conceal herself!” shrilled the male, an edge of panic in his voice. Okami suppressed a satisfied smile. Her casual attitude was having the desired unnerving effect upon her adversaries. _ “It means nothing,” replied the female, who appeared to be much calmer despite the moisture that shone on her dark skin. _ “But if she’s this confident she must have a plan of some sort!” wailed the male, beginning to lose any semblance of control. The female swung and struck him, the sound of her palm meeting his cheek echoing along the hall. _ “Get a hold of yourself fool! You’re a disgrace to the Commona Tong!” she snarled. _ “Oh, that’s not saying much. Your entire organization is an embarrassment to organized crime,” said Okami as she stopped five steps above the level of the floor where they stood. This was calculated to have her looking down on them in order to further intimidate them. She wasn’t a very tall person, after all, and those extra inches afforded by each step helped make her look a little less small. _ A slight movement to the side drew her attention. She focused on the shadows behind a broken column of stone. The figure leaning against the wall there appeared in shades of gray to her, so deep was the darkness, but she could tell it was definitely male and appeared human. This had to be the LC. _ Her curiosity peaked and she strained her eyes to pick up any other details. There was an odd curving object propped against the wall next to him that she was immediately suspicious of. Other than that he seemed fairly average, neither short nor tall, not incredibly muscular or fat or skinny. Nothing outwardly extraordinary about this one. _ Then she looked in the eyes. Her breath caught and a tiny shiver coursed up her spine. At that moment she couldn’t have said if it was fear or delight that caused her reaction. Perhaps it was a touch of both. He had lovely eyes that widened slightly with what looked like surprise when he saw her. Even deep in the shadows where colors bled out in her vision she could tell they were an unusual color of blue. Aquamarine, or perhaps turquoise. A rare shade to be sure. But they were cold and unreadable, a solid azure wall that revealed nothing of the soul that lay beneath. _ One of the dunmer shifted and Okami tore her gaze away from the young man and refocused on the Commona Tong themselves. _ “You won’t be so smug in a few minutes,” the female snarled at her. “You’ll pay for all you’ve done to us!” _ “Tsk, revenge is so petty,” sighed Okami, sitting on her stair and propping her chin lazily in her hand. _ “You’re one to talk! Haven’t you been slaughtering our people in retaliation for our strike against you?” demanded the male. _ “People try to kill me every day. What makes you think you’re special enough to deserve revenge?” smirked Okami. “I was actually doing that more because I hate the CT and you’ve pushed me just a bit too far. If I didn’t make a point you’d just never leave me alone, and it would be a huge hassle. So I figured I would send a message you couldn’t ignore. I figured you would eventually realize you had better make peace before I completely annihilated you. I never dreamed you would actually challenge me. And really, don’t you think it’s a bit hypocritical for you to hire one of Lorkahn’s children? Aren’t you Commona Tong against anyone who isn’t dunmer? And I was under the impression you particularly hated us LCs. Gods know every time I talk to one of you, you can’t seem to stop telling me what an abomination I am.” She examined her nails casually, digging a bit of grime out from under one. _ The two dunmer had begun shifting uncomfortably since the word ‘hypocrite’ left her lips, and now they were both so pale their skin appeared gray. The female seemed unable to stop glancing over her shoulder at the figure that still hadn’t moved. _ “Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter,” continued Okami, standing and stretching to her limits. She settled into a ready stance, her expression suddenly changing from bored to cold. _ _ _ _ Gaara listened to the conversation impassively. His employer’s stuck up attitude made a bit more sense now, but he didn’t give a damn what sort of prejudices they held. He was only interested in the fascinating female that was supposed to be his opponent. When her expression had changed he’d reevaluated his first impression. She definately had a dangerous side. _ “Now that you’ve been foolish enough to challenge me, the Commona Tong is history,” she continued. “I’ll crush them, and if anyone tries to revive the organization I’ll crush them too, for the rest of my life. So prepare to die, scum.” She took a step down. _ Halas whimpered and shrunk back, clutching his sword. Terega managed to stand her ground, though she was shaking badly. _ “We aren’t the ones you will be fighting,” she proclaimed. “We are simply here to witness your demise and bear the news back to our comrades! You will face one of your own!” She motioned for Gaara to come forward. “Kill her, outlander!” _ Okami took another step down. Gaara didn’t move. No one told him when to fight. _ “It doesn’t matter a bit who I end up facing today. You two CT bastards will still die, regardless.” Another step. _ “Outlander, what are you waiting for?!” screeched Terega, looking back over her shoulder. The young man still didn’t respond. He just kept watching Okami, assessing her with every move she made. Graceful and confident were the two words that came immediately to mind. _ Okami took the second to last step, lazily unsheathing a glass dagger. Gaara was impressed with that. Such weapons were expensive, not only because of the material they were made of, but also because of the exquisite craftsmanship that went into them. He had once owned a set of such weapons, though he’d rarely found occasion to use them. _ Suddenly Halas broke, screaming and charging the woman, sword leading. _ _ _ _ Okami waited for the male dunmer to come to her, not really worried. Most of her attention was still tuned to Gaara, though she wasn’t looking directly at him. She was relying on instinct and peripheral vision to tell her if he decided to strike. The dark elf was only a few feet from her when a bolt whistled past her ear, nicking it slightly and buried itself in his right eye. She leapt backwards, whirling as the body crashed to the floor at her feet, the sword clattering across the stones. She figured they had back up who had snuck in behind her, that the bolt had been intended for her and simply missed the mark slightly. The person behind her though was anything but an enemy. _ _ “Hikaru!?” she gasped. _ “Heyla, Okami!” he said cheerfully as he smoothly reloaded a dwemer crossbow. _ “You said you’d come alone!” cried the female dunmer. _ “I thought I did,” replied Okami in an exasperated voice. “Hikaru, what are you doing here, and where is your brother?” _ “We just came to make sure it was a fair fight,” explained the young thief with a broad grin. “It seems to me that three on one isn’t very even y’know?” _ “I don’t really need backup,” said Okami. _ "Weeeell, we also wanted to see you in action, and we were curious to find out if you really were behind all those strikes.” He smirked as Okami scowled at him. “Don’t worry, your secrets are safe with us,” he parroted her earlier words back at her. Okami had to laugh. _ “Cunning little guttersnipe,” she chuckled. “You still haven’t told me where Kaoru is.” Hikaru just grinned and shrugged as though he didn’t know. The remaining dunmer was glancing around nervously as though expecting a quarrel to bury itself in her flesh at any moment. _ “He is circling around from behind,” informed a low voice, making Hikaru jump. The boy obviously hadn’t noticed the person leaning in the shadows. Okami shifted her eyes to where her attention had always been, thinking idly that his voice was incongruously deep for someone so small. You usually associated a bass voice with a large person, though that didn’t always hold true. It was as expressionless as his face. He was still staring at her, she noticed, but now he came away from the wall, grabbing the object next to him and slinging it over his back. _ Okami felt her eyes widen and her brows lift to her hairline as he stepped into the torch light. He was beautiful! His skin was pale as moonlight, contrasting sharply with his black clothing, loose pants and short-sleeve shirt. Black fishnet ran from beneath his shirt, encasing his arms, which were still crossed casually over his chest. That seemed to be his customary pose. His unruly hair was as unusual as his eyes, a shade of red like fresh blood. There was a symbol on his forehead and his eyes were ringed with black like a raccoon’s mask. Were these tattoos or marks he was born with? Impossible to tell. And was that a giant gourd strapped to his back? Yes, and it appeared to contain something, for there was a cork jammed in the top. _ “Are you finally going to do what we're paying you for, outlander?” spat the dark elf angrily. _ “Quit your ceaseless yapping, you annoying woman,” he growled with a murderous glance. Hikaru wasn’t smiling anymore, and had trained his weapon on the LC. Okami reached out and forced the weapon down before the boy could do something foolish and get himself killed. _ “Is that true, Hikaru?” she asked forbiddingly. “Did Kaoru come in the other entrance?” The young man nodded, not sure why she was so solemn about it. “Crap. I hope he’s all right. Daedric ruins are laced with…” _ There was a vibration in the floor and a faint cry was carried on the roar of falling stone. _ “…traps,” finished Okami grimly. _ “Oh gods! Kaoru!” cried Hikaru, dropping his weapon and sprinting toward the end of the hall. __---____-----_____---- Thanks for reading, and I'd like to make a request. Though I proof-read my work and have a friend do the same, I'm aware some errors may slip through. Please, if you see a mistake, post a review detailing the mistake so I can correct it. I take pride in good spelling and grammar. Thanks again, Aysha.

“Wait Hikaru, stop!” shouted Okami making a grab for the boy but missing. He was quicker on his feet than she’d given him credit for.
_
He flew past the dunmer, who was screaming at Gaara to do something. The LC didn’t even twitch, letting the other boy run past unscathed. His eyes were still on Okami. The dark elf, seeing that he wasn’t going to obey her commands, took matters into her own hands, uttering the beginnings of a spell. Okami revised her original plan of trying to dart past and follow Hikaru, instead veering to the side and plunging her glass dagger to the hilt in the female’s chest. She gasped wetly, the words of her spell trailing off in a trickle of blood as she stared dumbly at Okami.
_
“Don’t you dare try to hurt one of my friends,” she growled at the dunmer, but she doubted the woman heard her, for she felt her spirit fly before the words left her mouth. She yanked the weapon free and sprinted after Hikaru. She half expected some kind of reaction from Gaara but the redhead just watched her run past. She shivered. He was starting to give her the creeps the way he kept staring. She swore he hadn’t blinked once since she’d first laid eyes on him.
_
_
_
_
Gaara watched impassively as Omaki drove her blade viciously into Terega’s heart.
_
“Don’t you dare try to hurt one of my friends,” she snarled, her violet eyes hard as chips of amethyst. He was finding this female more intriguing by the moment. She hadn’t hesitated to kill at all, but her motivation was confusing to him. He had never thought it was possible for one of Lorkahn’s children to have friends. Even amongst their own kind there was a great deal of mistrust and fear, not to mention rivalry. There were few ways for an LC to make a living, so there was an ever-present element of competition whenever LCs came together.
_
The very concepts of friendship and closeness were completely alien to him. The world had an order that consisted of ‘me’ and ‘everyone else.’ ‘Me’ was the only thing he could trust or rely on and ‘everyone else’ was there to be used to best effect in achieving whatever his goals were at that moment. He was alone, it was a fact, and there was only one thing to do: survive on his own. It had always been this way, as far back as he remembered and he received constant confirmation that this was the way things were supposed to be in the way others treated him.
_
But there was a difference in this woman. Even as she raced past him, casting a glance his way, there was no negative emotion in her expression. She was just checking his reaction, at least that’s the way he read it, as though she didn’t consider him a threat or an abomination, or even just a rival. Curiosity was clawing at the back of his head as he watched her sprint down the winding corridor and out of sight, shouting for her companion to wait.
_
Gaara glanced at the bodies of his erstwhile employers. He wasn’t really upset at this turn of events. He hadn’t liked them anyway, and if they had kept on the way they had been it was likely he’d have killed them himself out of pure irritation. He would find another way to acquire funds. Right now he had a mystery named Okami to solve.
_

Without another thought for the dead dunmer he turned and sprinted after the target of his interest.
_
_
_
_
“Hikaru you fool! Stop!! You don’t know what’s ahead of you! You’ll set off another trap!”
_
Okami barreled along the winding hall shouting at the top of her lungs. The boy didn’t seem inclined to do so, instead out-pacing her with his longer legs. She couldn’t really blame him, for she could clearly hear Kaoru screaming frantically for help and his brother, alternately. Figuring the young man could be hurt she sheathed her dagger and tore off her jacket, exposing her arms. She might need to use her powers, and she’d rather not shred her jacket when she did.
_
She flew around a particularly sharp bend, ricocheting off the wall so as not to lose momentum and emerged into a large room with a high ceiling. Near the center of the room she spotted Hikaru, or at least his lower half. His torso was hidden within a hole in the floor, and his legs were spread along the floor for traction, but they were sliding rapidly toward the edge. Kaoru had triggered a pitfall and Hikaru was unsuccessfully trying to pull his twin back up.
_
Okami leaned forward to gain momentum, knowing she wouldn’t get there before the twins fell. She had a plan though. Tossing her jacket to the side she dove headfirst over the edge just as Hikaru’s feet slipped into the pit.
_
“Hikaru, grab me!” she shouted, and the young man responded, reaching up to catch her right wrist. She snatched her grappling hook from her belt and heaved it over the edge toward a corner of the room where she had seen debris from a collapsed ceiling. She made sure the fine chord was wrapped securely around her wrist so that it couldn’t be jerked from her grip, and prayed it caught on something solid enough to hold their combined weights.
_

_
There was a metallic clatter as the tri-pronged hook struck the stone, then the grating sound of it dragging across the floor. No, no NO!! Don’t drag, don’t drag!! She thought frantically. She had no idea how deep this pit was, but she didn’t think there would be time to reel in her errant grapple and make a second throw.
_
The sound stopped suddenly and Okami had barely a second to brace herself before the line snapped taut. The cord dug ruthlessly into her hand and wrist, but that pain was overshadowed by far by the burst of agony in her shoulder that accompanied a sickly pop. She was unable to suppress the cry that burst through her lips.
_
“Okami! Are you alright?” She looked down at Hikaru, who had a death grip on her right arm, and Kaoru, who had a similar hold on his brother’s legs.
_
“Fine, now climb up to the top, Kaoru first. Quickly! You two are fucking heavy!”
_
The twins did as she bade, scrambling up her body and then the thin rope. They were nearly to the top when Kaoru let out a surprised cry and was yanked over the edge. When Hikaru followed a moment later Okami realized that something had come down and grabbed them. Her imagination defied figuring out what it was, for the shape she had seen had been amorphous and colorless, though that could be the darkness bleeding color again. It had flowed almost like water, but the faint hissing that reached her ears didn’t sound like liquid at all.
_
“Okami, that guy is up here!” shouted one of the twins at the same time the other screamed, “Let us go! Get this stuff off!”
_
Okami let her mind sink down, unlocking the mental shackles that bound a certain part of her being. Then her mind went out, bourn on the back of the shadow creature in her arm. They rose up together, leaving her body hanging limply from a thin filament of chord over an unmeasured drop.
_
Gaara was there, standing with arms crossed again, considering the twins, who were wrapped in…something. It flowed and shifted restlessly like it was alive, but parts of it would detach and remerge independently of the main body. The entire mass was connected to the gourd on the LCs back, flowing from the huge container’s mouth. It surged and heaved at the young man’s feet like choppy water.
_
The twins were trying to struggle, but they were wrapped in the stuff from shoulder to knee. Gaara was allowing them no space to move. His eyes shifted to look straight at the black entity as it reared above the lip of the pit, ready to strike. Okami felt a bit startled. He shouldn’t be able to see it in this dim atmosphere.
_
“I wouldn’t,” he said and glanced at his feet. Okami shifted her focus, then hastily reigned in the entity before it could lash out at him. There was the end of the grappling hook, encased in more of the stuff that he was obviously controlling with his LC power. If she struck she would fall, no doubt about it. She wasn’t going to overrule that option though, if it meant saving the Hikaru and Kaoru. It was possible she would survive the fall. Chances were slim the boys would fare as well if the redheaded LC decided to kill them.
_
As if he were reading her mind, Gaara released the twins, via tossing them bodily toward the exit with his power, still not moving a muscle himself.
_
“Go home kiddies,” he said in a deadpan voice so that it was impossible to tell if he was mocking them or not.
_
“I don’t think so,” growled Hikaru.
_
“Yeah, we’re not leaving you to have your way with Okami!” agreed Kaoru vehemently. They both unsheathed several slender throwing knives from unknown hiding places in their clothes and let fly. Gaara didn’t even flinch. A thin protective wall of the stuff sprang up instantly, stopping the weapons cold.
_
“Damn that sand, how do we get around it?” hissed Kaoru. Sand? thought Okami. He was manipulating sand? That was actually a really neat trick. Her mind whirled with the possibilities.
_
“You’re trying my patience,” growled Gaara, turning enough to glare over his shoulder at the pair. “My generosity has limits. Leave before I change my mind about letting you live.” Okami pulled her psyche back into her body, ignoring the entity’s disappointment at not being allowed to wreak any destruction. It was a rude shock for when she was disembodied she didn’t feel the pain of her injuries, and now it hit again at full force.
_
“Hikaru, Kaoru, run!” she shouted as soon as she had command of her bodily functions again.
_
“Okami, no!” cried Hikaru stubbornly.
_
“You risked your life for us, how can we just leave you like this?” added Kaoru.
_
“You idiots! If you hadn’t come in the first place I wouldn’t be in this situation!” she yelled back. “I can’t fight the way I want if I have to protect your stupid asses! You’re in my way! So get the hell out of here and take my jacket with you! Give it to Naruto or Sasuke, and don’t you dare raid the pockets or I’ll take it out of your hides when I get back!”
_
There was a long moment of silence, then the sound of footsteps and the rustle of leather, then the words of a recall spell in two identical voices. She sighed to herself, regretting that she’d had to be so harsh with the twins, but she hadn’t seen any other way to get them to leave of their own accord.
_
Her shoulder gave a twinge as the line she dangled from moved. She was being reeled in like a fish. That simply would not do.
_
_
_
_
Gaara listened to her tirade against the twins with a curious ear. She claimed they were her friends yet she was verbally cruel to them. He glanced at the boys to see the effect her words would have. Surely they would be angry. There was a flash of shock in their faces, then something like sad understanding replaced it. The twins looked at each other, nodded solemnly, collected the discarded coat and with one last worried look toward the pit and a final unfriendly glare at Gaara they disappeared. Odd, they hadn’t been mad at the young woman at all. He heard a sigh from the girl. It sounded relieved, and suddenly he understood. She was protecting them, and they knew it.
_
He shook his head slightly, and willed his sand to draw in the line. It was all too confusing for him. How could an LC, basically a freak of unnatural creation, be on friendly terms with normal people? Why should she care about them, and what was it about her that made them willing to accept her? It made no sense to him, didn’t fit with his previous experience. It felt abnormal, and for some reason it was bothering him greatly. So he had to solve this mystery, for his own peace of mind.
_
The cord suddenly jerked and went slack, and for a second he stared at it blankly, then he stepped to the edge of the pit and looked down. She had cut the cord. Daring, considering that she couldn’t possibly know how deep it was. He heard the sound of an impact and a sharp cry echo up from the blackness below. Daring, but also foolish.
_
With a touch of his will Gaara gathered his sand into a wide disc that hovered just past the lip of the pitfall. He stepped out onto it and rode it downward into the unknown.
_
_
_
_
Okami slashed the cord, preferring the fall to being dragged upward as though she were helpless. The wind rushed past her as she dropped like a lead weight, her eyes trained downward, looking for the first sign of a floor rushing up to meet her. As she increased momentum she began to wish she knew the slowfall spell. She would definitely have to get it when she went back to Balmora, because as she finally spotted the end of her descent she knew without a doubt that this was going to hurt like a motherfucker.
_
She landed with her feet at an angle and spun into a roll to absorb momentum, but she still felt a stab of pain from her knee, and she picked the wrong direction to roll, for she slammed into a wall, jarring her injured shoulder and drawing a cry of pain from her throat. She lay there for several long seconds, waiting for the flashing lights to clear from her vision. When she could finally see in the dimness she hauled herself into a kneeling position and checked her shoulder. Dislocated, without a doubt. She sighed heavily and put her dagger sheath in between her teeth, then grabbed her arm and gave it a lift and shove. There was a sick crackling sound as it slid back into its socket, accompanied by a flash of nauseating pain that made her scream through her clenched teeth and sag dizzily against the wall.
_
_
_
_
Gaara descended rapidly, finding the bottom just in time to witness Okami jamming her joint back into place. She collapsed against the wall looking dazed and panting heavily, the sheathed dagger falling from her mouth into her lap. Gaara decided to play it safe and catch her while she was weak. That strange thing that he had seen earlier when he had the twin boys captive had surely been a manifestation of her LC power. While he hadn’t seen it do anything he instinctively knew his sand would be no defense if she used it again. He wasn’t sure if immobilizing her would stop her from using it, but at least he’d know he could kill her instantly if she tried.
_
The sand that swirled around him snaked out, slithering across the floor to wind around her torso and pin her arms. He decided it might be to his advantage to show some consideration, so he made sure her injured arm was folded across her stomach, which as far as he knew was the best position for a dislocation. She reacted almost immediately, struggling against the binding feebly at first, then more determinedly as she regained her senses.
_
“I’d stay still,” he said, and her head whipped around to pin him with an angry stare. He was again struck by the intensity of her eyes and it took him several seconds to find his voice again. “You’ll only hurt yourself,” he explained when he did. She stilled and looked at him hard.
_
“What exactly are your intentions?” she asked calmly. “If you just wanted to kill me you should have done it already, unless you like it slow.”
_
“Not really,” he replied blandly. “I’m not planning to kill you yet, unless you try something stupid.”
_

_
“Then what the hell do you want?” He stepped forward, willing his sand to stand her upright so he could look her straight in the eye.
_
“I want to know why you look at me that way.”
_
“What? Look what way?” she asked, her expression guileless and slightly confused.
_
“That way,” he said, stepping even closer so that their faces were inches apart and he could gaze directly into those incredible eyes. “Why are your eyes so…clear?” He struggled to find the words to describe what he meant, what he saw in those lavender pools. “Why can’t I see any fear in you? No hate or distain?” A sudden flash of understanding crossed her face and she smiled.
_
“Why should I hate you? I don’t even know you.”
_
Gaara stumbled back a step, taken wholly by surprise. What a strange attitude to have!
_
“I don’t understand…”
_
“I don’t hate anyone until they give me reason to, nor do I love anyone until they give me reason to,” she explained. “I don’t judge anyone until after I get to know them. A jewel looks like a regular stone to the untrained eye until you polish the surface and see the shine on the inside. You never know who could make a great friend until you try to be a friend to them.”
_
Gaara’s head was whirling. How could she survive with such a philosophy? People would step all over you if you were soft like that! But she had already made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t soft at all. If you are strong, you survive. If you are weak, you die. That was the most basic truth in existence, but somehow this female had struck a balance. Somehow, she had found a way to walk that thin line, could be tough yet kind, to care for people without becoming weak.
_
A sudden sharp pain stabbed through his head, causing him to clutch at his temple. No, that couldn’t be right. There had to be a flaw somewhere, a fatal weakness in her philosophy. There had to be, or his entire life had been wasted. If she were right, then he was a breathing lie.
__---____-----_____----
Thanks for reading, and I'd like to make a request. Though I proof-read my work and have a friend do the same, I'm aware some errors may slip through. Please, if you see a mistake, post a review detailing the mistake so I can correct it. I take pride in good spelling and grammar. Thanks again, Aysha.

Okami truly believed her words, and hoped they would shine a light in Gaara’s heart. The poor thing was clearly suffering from what she liked to call Never Been Loved Syndrome, a common malady among Lorkahn’s children, orphans, and people from broken families. Being looked down on and kicked around all one’s life could make one bitter, hopeless and hateful. But it was curable if caught before the person became completely jaded beyond repair. She was hoping it wasn’t too late for Gaara, but when he suddenly winced and clutched his head she realized he was going into denial. That wasn’t good. People who plunged into the denial state could get aggressive to protect their beliefs. She was in no condition to deal with a violent and angry LC.
_
He looked up at her and his turquoise eyes had gone wild, the pupils contracted to mere points. Crap, she thought as she felt her prison of sand begin to tighten around her. She again released the black entity, giving it very specific orders: attack only the sand. She would take care of the living obstacles. It grumbled at her in it’s wordless way, but obeyed without a fight. It had long been established that her will was the stronger, and it no longer fought every time she used it.
_
The entity surged outward, blowing sand away from her left side with explosive force. Okami lurched that way, trying to escape its confines, but it latched onto her right arm and leg, holding her there. Gaara raised his hand, the fingers curved like claws, teeth clenched in a caricature of a grin. As he began to close his fingers she felt the pressure on her captured side build to painful proportions. The entity slid across her body, covering her like a second skin, then shoved violently outwards, forcing the sand away. She slipped out of the deadly grip.
_
Seeing that his crushing tactic wasn’t going to work he switched modes. The sand reared up in front of her and shot outward in a spikey formation intent on impaling her. She leapt high, planted her feet against the wall and shoved off with all her might, sending her sailing over his head into the open area behind him. The sand surged after her as she landed and she skipped backward rapidly to avoid the seeking tendrils, ignoring the sharp protests from her knee. Her entity struck again and again at the slithering stuff, but while it could scatter it and temporarily disrupt Gaara’s attacks, it wasn’t enough to stop it. She was already retreating for her life, and the room wasn’t that big to begin with.
_
Okami considered her options. She could recall to safety, but that didn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t hunt her down out of sheer obsession. If that happened other people would be caught in the middle, and not just Sasuke and Naruto. A fight between powerful LCs in the middle of a city like Balmora would mean countless innocent casualties. She had to deal with him now, but she didn’t really want to hurt him. He was just misguided.
_
She knew his type, for she was much the same. They both followed the philosophy of ‘do what you must to survive.’ His problem was that he was feeling the effects of regret. Having seen Okami’s way of life, he had been forced to realize that the way he’d been living was hollow, that much of the pain he’d suffered and caused had been completely unnecessary. The guilt was more painful than the loneliness, so he rejected it, fended it off with murderous rage.
_
The big problem here was he was seeing things all wrong. Instead of looking at what it meant for the future (i.e. it doesn’t have to be this way anymore) he was looking at what it meant about his past (i.e. my fucked up life was a complete waste of time.) She would have to change that point of view, but first she would have to make him calm down, by force if necessary.
_
As she scampered away, trying to avoid the deadly tendrils and quickly running out of space, she tried to think of something that would nullify sand. Water might do it, might bog it down and make it slower. But she didn’t know any water-based spells, just a fire, a lightning, a poison and an ice. Hmmm… Ice turned to water when it melted…
_
Stopping suddenly and directing the entity to keep the sand away from her long enough to cast her spell, she knelt down so she could put her hand on the ground and began to chant. Ice spread rapidly from her fingers streaming outward to touch tendrils of sand and engulf them in a clear crystalline prison. The good thing about this spell was that it would continue to create the ice for as long as she could feed it energy. She kept it going until all the sand she could see was swallowed up, even sending it right to the mouth of the gourd that it seeped from. The shocked expression on her opponent’s face would have been funny under different circumstances.
_
“Duck and cover,” she warned, then chanted her next spell. A wall of fire rolled outward and Gaara hastily took her advice, diving to the floor and covering his head with his arms. The wall was brief but intense, and had the desired effect of melting the ice without evaporating it. She silently applauded herself for her quick thinking as she saw that her plan had worked. The sand was no longer moving as quickly, which would give her a good deal more time to think. Maybe she could rush in and knock him silly. A good smack upside the head might make him see a little sense. It usually worked for Naruto.
_
Her plan was not to be achieved though. Gaara stood up, snarling angrily, his clothes emitting smoke from the back and dripping wet in the front. His forearms were bright red from the heat and the tips of his blood-red hair were blackened. He raised his arms and the sand raised with them, albeit sluggishly. However what happened next both impressed and worried Okami a great deal. The sand began to vibrate, creating a humming sound and shedding water like a duck’s feather. All of it rose above the floor to avoid the liquid puddling there. The entire mass of it slammed into her like a giant fist, sending her crashing against a wall, then drew back, poised to hammer her again.
_
Okami realized she had no other recourse but to hit him hard. In the momentary pause as he readied his next attack, she quickly chanted a spell and aimed it directly at the mass of sand.
_
“Lightning bolt!” she cried, and a pulse of energy surged from her hand. Gaara smirked, thinking it would simply be absorbed. He forgot that the sand was no longer grounded. The lightning sizzled through the sand, and the paths it traveled turned instantly to molten glass. Okami mentally nudged the output, upping the intensity. The bolt pushed right through the barrier and sprang out the other side, striking Gaara in the chest and blasting him right out of his shoes. He was lifted and thrown violently against the wall. The impact was somewhat cushioned as the gourd on his back dissolved into sand. When he slid to the floor he was still as a stone. The remaining sand and glass in the air dropped abruptly to the wet floor with a sizzling splash. Okami sighed and dragged herself up the wall she was leaning against. She pulled the black entity back into her arm and limped across the room to see if the other LC was still alive.
_
_
_
_
Sasuke was in a good mood today. He hummed inside his head (he would never be caught dead humming aloud) as he and Naruto sorted through the jumble of stuff they had acquired on their last scavenging jaunt. The place they had struck was a dwemer ruin just east of Balmora and north of Fort Moonmoth. It had been infested with smugglers dealing in dwemer artifacts, the trade of which was illegal. That didn’t stop anyone from selling them though, and Sasuke knew for a fact that Okami had contacts in the mages’ guild that would pay handsomely for the pieces they had found.
_

_
It felt good to be substantially adding to the income. When he and Naruto had a hard time finding work he began to feel like a free loader. He’d been secretly skeptical about the scavenging idea at first, but it was turning out much better than he had hoped. Of course it didn’t hurt that he and Naruto got to spend a good deal of time alone together, and Sasuke had developed a fetish for getting laid in dangerous places.
_
Sasuke paused at that thought. He sometimes wondered if the new status of he and Naruto’s relationship upset Okami at all. True, to their faces she was all smiles and approval, and she had even claimed she saw the whole thing coming long before it happened. But if she felt jealous, lonely or left out, would she show it? He doubted it. It wasn’t her style to interfere with another’s happiness for her own sake. If she had one major flaw it was that she was a little too willing to give everything to those she cared for.
_
“Hey Sasuke, check out this strange jewel,” said Naruto interrupting his thoughts. The blonde held a disc shaped yellow gem up to the light.
_
“That’s a grand soul gem, one of the best kind actually,” replied Sasuke, reaching out to take it from his companion. “Okami said to keep any soul gems we find because she can use them for something.” Naruto moved the hand holding the gem back a few inches, forcing Sasuke to stretch for it, then reached out and caught the front of his shirt. With a swift yank he toppled the over-balanced brunette and pinned him to the ground, the forgotten soul gem clattering away across the floor.
_
Sasuke lost all thoughts of treasure and Okami as Naruto’s warm body pressed down upon his, his soft lips brushing the sensitive skin of his neck. He moaned and arched a bit, feeling the heat rise in his chest and spread swiftly through the rest of his body. A hand slid up his shirt, the tips of Naruto’s fingers delicately brushing against his nipple, making the responsive flesh harden. Sasuke tangled his hand in the wild shock of blonde hair and tightened his fingers slightly, making Naruto gasp and tilt back his head, exposing throat and ears to the brunette’s teeth and tongue.
_
When they had first begun making love to each other things had been a bit awkward. They were clumsy and inexperienced, running mostly on instinct. They had been lovers for several months now, and through trial and error had gotten much better at the whole thing. Each time they came together they learned something new about one another. For instance, Sasuke was a bit surprised to find that Naruto liked to be bitten and have his hair pulled, not too hard, just enough to give him that little shock of almost-pain. Naruto had figured out that Sasuke’s nipples were ultra sensitive, and usually messing with them irritated the brunette, but if he touched them in just the right way it sent him into a hot sweat. As far as being the dominant partner, they tended to switch off depending on their moods.
_
They were half-undressed and fully aroused when someone started pounding on the front door. Naruto started so violently that he accidentally bit Sasuke’s lower lip hard.
_
“Ow!” gasped Sasuke as they hastily sat up. He checked for blood, for Naruto’s incisors were rather sharp. His hand came away clean and he looked up just in time to catch his shirt with his face. He clawed it off his head and pulled in on, glaring at Naruto for throwing it at him, but his companion was oblivious.
_
“Who could that be?” the blonde wondered allowed, pulling his own shirt back on and re-zipping his pants. “We never get visitors.”
_
“Who ever it is they have shitty timing,” grumbled Sasuke, leaving his shirt un-tucked to hide the bulge in his trousers.
_
“It sounds like it’s urgent,” replied Naruto with a frown. “I wonder if it has to do with Okami?” Emboldened by that thought they rushed to the door and yanked it open. The twin thieves that Okami had invited over once were standing on their front step.
_
“Hey, you guys were here a few days ago,” said Naruto. “Hikaru and Kaoru right?” They nodded solemnly, and Sasuke felt a stab of fear. The two looked worse for wear, dirty and scraped up, and they wore identical unhappy expressions. And even worse, one of them was holding the jacket Okami had left in yesterday.
_
“Get in here,” growled Sasuke, grabbing them each by an arm and hauling them into the house. He propelled them forcefully into the living room, ignoring Naruto’s protests that this was no way to treat a guest, and tossed them onto the couch, then snatched the coat away. “Where did you get this,” he demanded brandishing the garment accusingly.
_
“Hey, that’s Okami’s coat!” yelped Naruto, finally catching on to why Sasuke was upset. His glare joined his companion’s on the twins.
_
“Calm down for a second, that’s what we’re here to explain,” said one hastily, raising his hands defensively before him.
_
“Yeah, we brought it here because she asked us to, right Hikaru?”
_
“So why did she ask something like that?” demanded Naruto. “Why can’t she just wear it home?” Sasuke already had a few theories. If she took off her jacket it meant she was getting ready to use one of her LC powers. If she had been pushed to that, either someone else was badly hurt or she was in serious trouble.
_
“Why don’t you just start at the beginning and tell us everything,” he suggested, trying to stay calm. His protective instincts were shouting for him to run out the door that second, but he didn’t even know where she was, so that was unfeasible.
_
The twins swallowed and nodded. They didn’t really know Sasuke or Naruto and had met them only once, though they had heard a little about them from Okami. They were understandably nervous, especially because of Sasuke’s expression. When his face turned grim it became scary. Naruto was just cute when he was angry.
_
“Well, it has to do with why we were here the other day,” began Hikaru.
_
“What, scouting an LC for the thieves guild?” asked Naruto. A confused expression flashed across the twin’s faces so quickly Sasuke almost missed it.
_
“Yes, that,” replied Kaoru, not missing a beat.
_
“You don’t have to cover for her,” said Sasuke. “She lied to us about what she was doing, isn’t that it? Tell us what’s really going on.” The two glanced at each other, then shrugged in unison.
_
“It actually starts a few months back when she was sent on a spying mission that ended up being a trap,” said Kaoru.
_
“No one is sure, ‘cause she didn’t tell us the details, but we’ve speculated that it was set specifically with her in mind,” continued Hikaru.
_
“We’re pretty sure that whatever happened pissed her off royally, ‘cause next thing you know Commona Tong were getting smeared left and right,” added Hikaru.
_
“At least sixteen of their bases of operations that we know of, every member present dead. Pretty much every town has been hit, with the exception of the major cities, which you realize there are very few of.”
_
“We think she was working up from smallest to largest.”
_
“Wait, you think Okami was doing that?” asked Sasuke incredulously.
_
“Well, no one really knew for certain, there were only suspicions based on the fact that she was one of only a handful that had the motivation, skills, and sheer balls to do it,” mused Kaoru.
_
“Others still don’t know for certain, but I heard her admit to it,” said Hikaru smugly.
_
“Anyhow, the Commona Tong had the same suspicion and called her out. She went to meet the challenge, still protesting her innocence to the world at large, of course.”
_
“The reason we met with her the other day was to warn her that the CT had hired an LC from Mournhold to fight her.”
_
“Well we were terribly curious, so we decided to follow, and maybe lend a hand if the CT tried to pull anything too unfair.”
_
“Our only mistake was to split up,” sighed Hikaru.
_
“Tcha, no, it was my fault for not being careful enough,” protested Kaoru.
_
“Oh, Kaoru,” mourned the other boy, catching his sibling’s hands in his own. “It was my fault, for I suggested the idea in the first place. You are blameless, brother.”
_
“No, Hikaru, I was the one who proposed we follow her, so truly it is my fault.” They were getting teary eyed as they gazed earnestly at each other, each advocating the other’s innocence. Sasuke was getting a little wierded out by this display, and besides, they were straying off the important topic.
_

_
“What about Okami?” he demanded impatiently.
_
“Yeah, quit crying on each other and get back to what happened!” scolded Naruto. The twins looked aggrieved at the interruption but returned to the subject.
_
“Well, when I got there, she was talking to a pair of dunmer, I guess they were having problems with their LC for hire, ‘cause he didn’t make any kind of move, so one of the Commona Tong went after her, and I plugged him with my crossbow, which I left behind,” explained Hikaru, sounding a bit put out at the loss.
_
“Who cares about a stupid crossbow?” scowled Naruto.
_
“Hey, it was of dwemer make, okay? Those are hard to come by!” snapped Hikaru, returning the boy’s scowl for a moment before sighing heavily and falling back into the couch’s comfy embrace. “Well, about then Kaoru met with trouble.”
_
“I was circling around trying to get at them from behind in a sneak attack,” said Kaoru, smoothly picking up the flow of the story. “Unfortunately I was careless and triggered a pitfall trap.”
_
“We heard it of course, and being very concerned I slipped past the opposition and flew to my brother’s aid,” continued Hikaru, getting a bit dramatic again. “I’m pretty sure Okami took out the other dunmer before she followed me, ‘cause I didn’t see her after that.”
_
“So, there I was, hanging from the edge by the tips of my fingers, only seconds from falling, when Hikaru appeared and grabbed my wrist!”
_
“Unfortunately my position was tenuous and Kaoru’s weight was pulling me over the edge, but just as we fell, Okami dove in after us armed with a grappling hook!”
_
“She saved us, and ordered us to climb up first, so we did…”
_
“…but the LC was waiting! His power seems to be the ability to manipulate sand, for he used a bunch of it to bind us and pull us up.”
_
“I guess he wasn’t interested in us, ‘cause he tossed us aside like a pair of old shoes and told us to go away, but of course we weren’t about to leave without Okami.”
_
“So we attacked instead, throwing our knives at him. We had to leave those behind too by the way.”
_
“Unfortunately a shield of sand blocked them. He threatened to kill us if we didn’t get lost right then, and that’s when Okami ordered us to take her jacket and leave,” finished Kaoru.
_
“And you did?!” shouted Naruto. “Are you cowards or something?”
_
“Hey, we’re not cowards, but there’s no way we could have done anything against a guy like that!” protested Hikaru.
_
“Besides Okami said we were in her way, that she couldn’t really fight if she had to concentrate on protecting us,” added Kaoru sullenly.
_
“Well I guess that kinda makes sense,” growled Naruto unhappily.
_
“And just where did all this go down?” asked Sasuke. It was all he really needed to know at this point.
_
“Bal Ur,” replied the twins simultaneously.
_
“Naruto, get ready, we’re going,” ordered Sasuke, already running for his room.
_
“Right!” responded the blonde, scrambling after him.
_
_
_
_
Gaara opened his eyes slowly, at least he thought he did, but all he could see was darkness. After a second his eyes adjusted to the dimness and he remembered where he was and what had happened to knock him out. He took a deep breath, testing for pain and was surprised to feel none. He sat up slowly, but he felt no discomfort in any part of his body. In fact he felt great, better than he ever had before. He looked down at his chest, wondering if he had dreamed about being hit with a lightning bolt, but the hole charred in his shirt was proof enough. The flesh beneath was unblemished, and he noticed that even the burns on his forearms were gone.
_
In confusion he glanced around and his eyes came to rest on Okami sitting against the wall a few feet away, her eyes closed, apparently asleep. Had she healed him? If so, why was she still all beat up? She’d shredded the bottom of her shirt to fashion a makeshift sling for her dislocated arm. Her entire left shoulder and most of her upper arm was covered with a mottled purple, green, and yellow bruise.
_
“It doesn’t work that way,” she said suddenly, making him jump. She lifted her head and opened her eyes to look at him shrewdly. “My power,” she explained. “You’re wondering why I didn’t heal myself too, right? It doesn’t work on me, only other people.”
_
“How did you know I was thinking that?” he demanded. “Can you read-“
_
“Your mind? No. It was a lucky guess.”
_
Gaara stood swiftly not entirely sure what was going on.
_
“Why didn’t you kill me?” He looked down and added, “And where are my shoes?” She pointed to the side, guiding his gaze to his charred sandals.
_
“The charge left through your feet,” she said apologetically. “And I didn’t have any reason to. I don’t think you’re a bad kid, you just need to make a few friends.” She hauled herself to her feet with a painful wince. Gaara tensed and began to gather sand at his feet, ready to defend himself. She sighed in exasperation. “You’re not getting it are you? I don’t want to fight you anymore. If I wanted to hurt you I’d have done it while you were helpless, instead of repairing you. Geez, how paranoid can you get?”
_
“I don’t trust you. What motivation do you have to help me?” Gaara replied with a scowl.
_
“LCs should stick together,” she replied with a shrug. “Besides if everyone in the world only did anything good if it profited them, the world would be an ugly place indeed.”
_
“It is an ugly place,” he retorted sullenly.
_
“Man, you are jaded, aren’t you?” she sighed again and pulled a pendant from around her neck. “Look, there’s no way out of this pit. I checked while you were out. I can get out with a recall and I’m sure you can get out with your talents, but I also have a feeling you have no idea where to go. It would be rather cruel to just leave you to wander the wilderness until you find civilization, so here, take this.” She tossed the amulet at him and he caught it reflexively.
_
“What is it?” he asked suspiciously.
_
“It has a recall spell, you just breathe on it and say the word ‘return.’ That one is set to Dagon Fel. Its the northernmost town in Vvardenfell,” she said, again sounding apologetic. “Not the most hospitable area, but on the plus side there’s lots of sandy beaches, haha! Seriously though, the Sheogarad region is crawling with smugglers. I bet you could make a pretty petty in bounties and from raiding their lairs.”
_
“And why are you telling me this. Wouldn’t it be more advantageous to act on this information yourself?”
_
“Nah, Sheogarad is way too far north of Balmora. If I want to scavenge I just slip over to the east coast or hike around in the Molag Amurs.” Gaara was doubtful, still unable to bring himself to believe she would help him for nothing. His expression obviously expressed this, for Okami suddenly scowled impatiently. “Look, I realize you don’t trust me, and you can take my advice in good faith or leave it, your choice. If you’d rather get out of here by your own power, Suran is due south of here. You can sell that amulet at Goldyn Beloram’s pawnshop or Ralds Oril’s general merchandise. I’m tired. I’m going home.”
_
She twisted her hands into a sign and muttered a few words, then disappeared, leaving Gaara to ponder whether to use the amulet or not. How did he know it really did what she said it would? He decided not to use it yet, but in this Suran he should be able to get it’s purpose confirmed. If it was really what she said it was, then perhaps he would use it and follow her advice regarding the northern region, for as paranoid as he was there was a part of him that deeply wanted to believe in her.
_
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EXTRA TREAT: A GROUP PHOTO

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Thanks for reading, and I'd like to make a request. Though I proof-read my work and have a friend do the same, I'm aware some errors may slip through. Please, if you see a mistake, post a review detailing the mistake so I can correct it. I take pride in good spelling and grammar. Thanks again, Aysha.

Okami was tattered, aching and exhausted when she appeared in front of the steps leading to her house, and wanted nothing so much as her bed. She wasn’t just physically and mentally tired, she was a bit disappointed in the outcome of her encounter with Gaara. She had hoped to make some sort of connection with the other LC for a number of reasons. He was new to Vvardenfell, he needed a friend, and gods he was beautiful! Not necessarily in that order either. Maybe he just needed some time to think it through, or maybe he was far too emotionally damaged to make any sort of recovery. Who knew?
_
She had a tiny little hope that she might run into him again sometime in the future. Maybe she would find an excuse to visit the Sheogarad region in the next few months, just to see if he had decided to trust in her word. If he had, then maybe he wasn’t a hopeless case after all. Even if that were so she wasn’t foolish enough to expect that he would be friendly immediately. From what she’d seen of his personality, she expected winning his trust would be an uphill battle.
_
Okami decided to worry about all of that later. Now she needed rest, food, and probably a bath. She limped up the stairs, favoring her twisted knee. In retrospect cutting her line and braving the fall may not have been the wisest thing to do. It hurt enough to seriously hamper her mobility, which wasn’t good in her line of work. She usually avoided buying the services of a healer if she could help it. They were exorbitantly over-priced. But her injuries from her latest expedition were too serious to let heal on their own. She couldn’t afford to take months off of work to mend.
_
I really need to quit being cheap and cough up the dough for a few healing spells, she thought as she reached for the door handle, a point that was accentuated when the door flew open and Naruto came barreling out, slamming into her and sending them both crashing down the stairs. She screamed as both their weights landed on her bad shoulder. The burst of pain was so intense she blacked out for a few seconds.
_
When she came back to her senses Naruto was shouting alternately for Sasuke and for her to wake up. She raised her good hand and clamped it over Naruto’s mouth.
_
“Please stop yelling in my ear,” she growled.
_
“MmmMph!” he responded. She let go of his face and he propped her into a sitting position just as Sasuke came running out the door.
_
“Okami!” he cried, skidding to a stop next to them. “Are you alright?”
_
“No, but that can be fixed,” she replied bluntly. She looked more closely at the two, noticing they were outfitted for travel and trouble. “Where are you guys off to?”
_
“To save your skinny butt,” replied Naruto.
_
“Well by all means, don’t let me stop you,” she retorted sarcastically, a bit miffed at being called skinny. It was true, she was thin and small, but did he need to rub it in? “I guess the twins stopped by, eh?”
_
“We did, and sorry, we had to tell them the gritty details,” replied a familiar voice. She looked up to see the aforementioned duo leaning in the doorframe.
_
“So tell us, O-chan, what happened after we left?”
_
“That can wait at least until we get her in the house,” snapped Naruto, lifting her in his arms and carrying her up the steps. “Outta my way, there’s a wounded lady comin’ through!”
_
_
_
_
Naruto was utterly surprised when he literally ran into Okami as he exited the house to buy travel supplies. Now his only thought was to get her into the house and see what he could do to ease her pain. He carried her into the living room, as always marveling at how small and light she was. She wasn’t really that much shorter than he or Sasuke, but she was whipcord slender, hardly any substance to her at all. He’d have to figure out a way to fatten her up.
_
He deposited her on the couch as gently as he could, wincing in sympathy as she grimaced in pain.
_
“Where does it hurt? How bad is it?” he asked as Sasuke came up beside him.
_
“It’s nothing you can help with Naru-chan,” she replied. “Dislocated left shoulder, and possibly some torn ligaments in the right knee.”
_
“Did that LC the twins mentioned do this to you? I’ll kill him if I see him!” growled Sasuke. Naruto grimly nodded his agreement. No one touched their O-chan and got away with it.
_
“Tsk, just who the hell do you think you’re talking to?” she snorted. “Don’t you think I’d have taken care of that already if there was a need?”
_
“So you got him?” asked one of the twins, plopping down next to her.
_
“How’d you get past the sand?” asked the other, claiming the other side of the couch. They deliberately ignored Sasuke and Naruto’s mutual glare.
_
“I used my head of course,” she replied primly. “I may not be known for using magic, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a few spells. Ice and fire makes water, and water and sand makes mud. That tactic didn’t work for long though, so I had no other choice than to get forceful. I hit him with a lightning bolt. Turned most of his sand to glass and blew him right out of his sandals.”
_
“So he’s dead?” gasped the twins in unison.
_
“Nah, I healed him up,” she replied off hand.
_
“What? Why?” blurted Naruto. “If he was trying to kill you, then why-“
_
“He wasn’t really a bad sort,” she said with a shrug, then blanched as her shoulder protested the movement. “I talked to him before and after the fight and more or less he’s just badly jaded. He’s what we three would have ended up like if we hadn’t met each other when we were really young. I figure he just needs to have his faith in people restored, make a few friends, you know.” Naruto watched her closely, for she was being a bit too nonchalant as she spoke of this other LC. A suspicion began to form in his mind.
_
“So you pointed this out to him by electrocuting him?” asked Sasuke dubiously.
_
“No, I pointed it out in words. Gaara just wasn’t ready to hear them.”
_
“Gaara?” asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow. “Is that his name?”
_
“Yeah, what about it?”
_
“Nice name I guess, so what’d he look like?”
_
“Why do you want to know?” asked Okami suspiciously. “If you’re still thinking of beating him up, forget it.”
_
“Oh, no no,” dissembled Naruto. “I’m just curious. Sounds like you want to help this guy out so I thought if I see him I’d say hi. In a friendly way, I promise.” She continued to eye him doubtfully, and he figured he must have been a little too nonchalant as well, because Sasuke was also looking at him as though trying to figure out what was on his mind. Well there was more than one way to get the answers he wanted. He looked at the twins, raising an eyebrow to prompt them along. This was all the invitation they needed.
_
“If you ask me he was scary looking, right Kaoru?” opined Hikaru.
_
“Yeah, always glaring, and with those black rings around his eyes he looked like an evil raccoon. And that weird symbol tattooed on his forehead was pretty creepy too,” Kaoru added with a shiver. Okami made a disparaging sound and Naruto forced himself to hide a grin, suppressing the giddy delight that was swirling in his chest.
_
“And he dressed in black head to toe, all sinister and stuff,” continued Hikaru.
_
“I usually dress all in black too when I’m working,” retorted Okami. The twins ignored her griping, too into their description to be bothered.
_
“He was really pale, like he never sees the sun.”
_
“His hair was the exact color of fresh blood, and his eyes were hard and cold like chips of lapis lazuli.”
_
“He always had his arms crossed liked he was bored, but he kept staring so intensely and never seemed to blink.”
_
“He was really blunt and to the point,” and now Hikaru assumed the crossed-arm position, hunched his shoulders and glared balefully at his twin, attempting to illustrate the point. “Leave, before I change my mind about letting you live,” he growled, forcing his voice as deep as it would go. Kaoru cringed away in mock terror, then they both began laughing. Through this all Okami fixed them with a flat, disapproving look. Naruto used the pause in the twins’ tirade to give voice to his theory.
_
“So, I guess redheads are your type, eh O-chan?” he said casually. A muscle under her eye twitched. Busted!
_
“Or maybe its people with green eyes,” suggested Sasuke, finally catching on to what Naruto was thinking. Another twitch.
_
“Or maybe she has a raccoon fetish,” Naruto suggested to his lover, beginning to get into this game of ‘tease O-chan.’ She rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “I’ve heard of stranger things.”
_
“Perhaps she simply likes the aggressive type,” suggested Hikaru. “Are you secretly submissive, O-chan?” That wasn’t the sort of thing Naruto would have thought of, and surprisingly his female friend began to flush.
_
“I think it’s the low voice she finds sexy,” opined Kaoru. “They say the deeper the voice the bigger the-“
_
“Alright! I think he’s cute!” shouted Okami suddenly, blushing deep crimson now. “Would you idiots shut up?” They all began laughing at her, and she struggled to her feet, clearly embarrassed.
_
“Wait, O-chan, don’t!” protested Naruto reaching out to support her as she staggered a bit on her wounded leg. “We’re sorry for teasing you, we’ll stop.”
_
“Tcha, whatever,” she snorted. “That’s not the problem. I just want to go to the healers ‘cause this pain is making me touchy.”
_
“Of course, we should have known,” replied Sasuke, coming up on her other side. “We’ll help you get there.”
_
“I have to get some cash first,” she muttered, glaring sullenly at the stairs. Naruto picked her up again.
_
“No problemo, I’ll get you to your room in a jiffy,” he said bestowing her with one of the grins he knew very well were irresistibly infectious. As planned she smiled back. He bounded up the stairs with the white-haired girl in his arms, all the way to the top floor, which Okami had insisted be her room, saying that climbing the stairs kept her in shape. Naruto knew very well that she took it so that he and Sasuke wouldn’t have to climb so far.
_
He pushed her bedroom door open with his foot and set her in the chair at her desk. She pulled a fat pouch from the top drawer and began counting out gold coins.
_
“What’s this?” asked Sasuke from behind them, and Naruto turned to see him pick up a folded piece of paper lying next to her glass sword on her bed.
_
“Oh, ah, you weren’t supposed to see that unless I didn’t come back,” said Okami awkwardly.
_
“Really,” said Sasuke with a raised eyebrow, and flipped open the note. He scanned it quickly, then pinned her with a hard stare. “Is this how you were going to say goodbye, O-chan?” She squirmed under his harsh gaze.
_
“That’s not necessarily true,” she protested. “It was equally likely that I would come back.”
_
“But if you didn’t this would be your only farewell,” said Sasuke flatly. He handed the note to Naruto, who was both curious and afraid about the contents. He read it carefully, then turned accusing eyes on his friend.
_
“That’s it?”
_
“Oh, come on!” she protested. “I didn’t really think you would ever have to read it! It was just a precaution! I just wanted you to be taken care of if the worst case scenario happened!”
_
“Did you even think of how we would feel if you didn’t come back?” said Naruto mournfully. “It doesn’t even say I love you or anything!”
_
“No more lies O-chan,” said Sasuke sternly, leaning forward with his hands on the armrests of her chair until their noses almost touched. “Don’t do this to us. We’re your friends. You don’t have to dodge us like this.”
_
“Sasu-chan, there are some things you’re better off not knowing” she sighed, attempting to avoid his gaze. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him directly.
_
“Such as?”
_
“I just told you you’re better off not knowing.”
_
“That’s not good enough. Don’t you trust us, O-chan?”
_
“It’s not that, it just you can’t be implicated if you don’t know anything.”
_
“We’d rather be implicated at your side then left behind in the dark to wonder,” snapped Naruto.
_
“He’s right. You think you’d be protecting us, but in truth you would be doing us more harm than good,” said Sasuke far more calmly than his blonde lover.
_
“Besides, we can take care of our selves,” put in Naruto.
_
“So please, don’t leave us out of the loop anymore. Come clean, all the way.” A minor staring contest ensued between dark-eyed boy and the violet-eyed girl as they tested one another’s will. Sasuke won, for Okami surely knew she was in the wrong in this matter.
_
“Alright, I’ll tell you all my secrets and I promise not to keep any from here on,” she conceded. “But you have to promise to exercise the utmost discretion.”
_
“Of course we will, right Sasu-chan?” replied Naruto with a grin to lighten the mood. His lover nodded his assent.
_
“And can we save it until after I see the healer?” Okami groaned.
_
“Well, I suppose we can wait that long,” replied Sasuke teasingly as he picked her up, replacing his blonde counterpart as her carrier.
_
“Hey, O-chan, one question,” said Naruto as the group headed down the stairs. “Why does Sasuke get the sword?”
_
“That’s easy,” Sasuke was quick to reply. “Its ‘cause you can’t use a sword to save your life, idiot.”
_
“Arg! Don’t call me that!”
_

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Thanks for reading, and I'd like to make a request. Though I proof-read my work and have a friend do the same, I'm aware some errors may slip through. Please, if you see a mistake, post a review detailing the mistake so I can correct it. I take pride in good spelling and grammar. Thanks again, Aysha.

Gaara sat high up on a stone outcropping over looking Dagon Fel. It was a small, windy, ramshackle sort of town, patched together with whatever materials were handy and inhabited by a scruffy assortment of folk who numbered less than fifty. The northernmost settlement in Vvardenfell it was also the coldest and held the highest concentration of vagabonds and thugs. It suited Gaara just fine, for the residents didn’t try to bother him. No one asked questions about anyone else in a place like this, or tried to get to know each other. There was an unspoken rule of ‘mind your own business’ that everyone instinctively knew and followed.
_
As much as this village suited him, it had come time for Gaara to move on. On the advice of that intriguing female called Okami, he had come here almost four months ago, for despite his suspicions all her words had proved flawlessly true. The amulet she had gifted him did indeed hold a recall spell set to Dagon Fel and he still carried it, often using it to return after an exploratory journey into the surrounding area. It had also proved true that the region of islands known as Sheogarad was infested with outlaws and other vermin, the extermination of which was an easy source of income. Unfortunately he was a little too good at this sort of job, for the pickings had become slim. Few new bandits were willing to move in with his reputation as a bounty hunter growing quickly in the area. He’d been reduced to gathering pearls lately, which were abundant in the cold waters of the area, but even that was getting harder as he ran out of areas to harvest from.
_
He pulled a rolled piece of guar hide from inside his heavy coat and opened it to reveal a crude map of Vvardenfell marked with major travel routes including boat, stilt strider and commonly traveled roads. It also detailed several less- popular and more dangerous ways to get from one place to another and caves or ruins used as way stations for smugglers. He’d found it on a smuggler several weeks ago.
_
His eyes strayed to the southwest quadrant and a name scrawled untidily above a crude depiction of a group of buildings. Balmora was apparently a fair sized city for Vvardenfell. Okami had mentioned the name, and Gaara had the feeling that this was where she lived. He’d been unable to get the woman out of his mind since their brief meeting in the ruins of Bal Ur, and ever since he’d found the map he’d been unable to stop looking at that particular city. He wanted to go there badly, wanted to see that person again, though he wasn’t sure why he felt such an urge.
_
Though his mind might insist that he didn’t need anyone else and that he was better off alone, the truth was that his heart desperately wanted to be accepted, even welcomed, not just tolerated. He’d felt that way for the first time when Okami had looked at him, and whether his brain was willing to admit it or not, he wanted to feel that way again, wanted those clear amethyst eyes to look on him without judging or scorning him. He needed it on a primal level, craved it like a man in the desert thirsted for water.
_
Because of his internal conflict he had been procrastinating his departure, but he was swiftly running out of reasons to delay, and for some reason on this day his longing for companionship was very strong. Perhaps it was the cold scent of the approaching winter in the air that made him feel lonelier than usual. Whatever was affecting him so it made him reach a decision. He would leave tomorrow.
_
He stood and half ran, half slid down the eastern slope of his favorite perch, skidding to a stop near the base of an ancient dwemer tower that lay on the outskirts of Dagon Fel. The place had been inhabited by a necromancer named Raven when he’d first arrived. Though the man kept to himself Gaara had quickly discovered two facts that made him a prime first target. Raven had a substantial bounty on his head and the only thing stopping most of the inhabitants of the nearby town from claiming that bounty was fear of his undead minions. Walking skeletons posed no problem for Gaara. His sand easily smashed their bones into small fragments. So Raven was permanently evicted, and Gaara acquired a home and a good sum of cash with which to begin rebuilding his life.
_
He entered his temporary abode and began to pack his meager belongings. It didn’t really take long. He’d acquired only the most essential items, preferring a minimalist lifestyle. Only one set of dishes for he was painstakingly neat and cleaned them immediately after using them. Several extra sets of clothing for it was colder here than he was used to and he tended to layer heavily. A few weapons and pieces of light armor that he carried on his adventures, for there were ways to defeat his LC power and he wasn’t about to be caught off guard. There was a single chair and a small table, which accommodated several half-melted candles. His only luxuries were his large feather bed, the thick woolen covers and goose down pillows and comforter that lay atop it, the dozens of books lined neatly on the shelves, and a long reed flute he was learning to play.
_

_
It didn’t take more than twenty minutes to stuff everything into three large duffle bags, most of the room being taken by his books. The bed and blankets he rolled tightly and tied. With nothing left to do he became antsy and began to pace anxiously back and forth. He did this for nearly an hour, and then finally went to the docks to book passage on tomorrow’s trip to Khuul. The dumner female who ran the ferry informed him that she was willing to make an extra trip that very day for a small extra fee. Normally he wouldn’t have fallen for such extortionist tactics, but the impatience was roiling inside him like a restless beast. He agreed, paid the outrageous amount and returned to his abode to claim his belongings. He hauled them down to the docks easily thanks to his sand.
_
It took seven hours to get to Khuul from Dagon Fel, and by the time the boat docked it was nearly dark. The stilt strider service would only move during the day, so Gaara was stuck in the fishing village for the night. He rented a room at the trading outpost, since the town didn’t have an inn, and spent a sleepless night in the tiny cubicle reading to make the time go faster. He was at the strider platform at dawn, foot tapping hectically as the driver sluggishly finished his preparations. The man was clearly not happy to be working at this hour, for he sent more than one glare Gaara’s way, looks that were returned with equal fierceness.
_
They got underway shortly, Gaara and the driver pointedly ignoring each other the entire seven hours to Ald’Ruhn. The stilt strider service between Ald’Ruhn and Balmora was a six-hour trek and he had missed the second trip. So he found himself stranded in Vvardenfell’s second largest city, only half the day gone and too many hours between himself and the morning. He booked a room in an inn called the Rat in the Pot, stowed his things and wandered aimlessly through the dusty streets, marveling at the houses, which were built in the hollow shells of some ancient creatures. He browsed through shops, looking for nothing in specific, but ended up purchasing a few new books. As evening descended he climbed to the top of the gigantic shell of the ancient king crab known as Skar, which was so huge it contained five large noble houses and a number of high-end shops. All this he had gleaned from the talkative hostess at the restaurant he had lunched at. He felt comfortable up there. He had an affinity for high places and the strong wind was equally calming as it pulled aggressively at his unruly red hair. He drew out his flute and began to play, not a song, for he knew none, instead letting his fingers wander randomly over the instrument, the wind tearing the sounds he made away as quickly as they emerged from the instrument. In this way he passed the time until the sun set.
_
_
_
_
Naruto and Sasuke were escorted to the exit of the manor district of Ald’Ruhn by a pair of Redoran guards. They had just come from an interview with Brara Morvayn, a noble of House Redoran, a meeting which had been enable by the twin thieves Hikaru and Kaoru. The two might seem frivolous and mischievous to a fault, but it seemed they had their fingers in everything. Brara had seemed satisfied with them, for she had already given them a task to fulfill. It was a simple thing, just the extermination of some vermin that had infested an egg mine she owned, but if they performed in an expedient manner they were assured more jobs from her in the future. This was their foot in the door to freelance service for house Redoran. The better they did at the missions Brara set them the more likely she would pass their names along to other nobles of the house.
_
“I say we go find this mine today,” enthused Naruto. “She said it’s not too far east of here right? We can have it done and be back before nightfall if we’re lucky!”
_
“I agree. Prompt service can only benefit our reputations,” agreed Sasuke as they pushed through the door leading out of Skar. As they headed away from the enormous shell the blonde boy paused and looked around. “What’s the matter, Naruto?”
_
“Do you hear music?” Sasuke paused and listened but heard nothing but the wind.
_
“You’re imagining things, idiot.”
_
“Am not! Don’t call me that!”
_
They left the city through the south gate and turned east. Following the directions Brara had given them they followed the narrow road that led to Ghostgate until the path split, a worn trail meandering north through the foothills. A few miles up this path was the egg mine. The workers were camped outside the wooden door, huddled around a fire drinking greef. Questioning the men earned them the knowledge of their enemy. Apparently a pack of nix hounds had managed to enter the cave, had taken up residence and were eating all the kwama eggs and chasing away the miners.
_
It was a simple matter for the two young men to exterminate the pests, for while they were a vicious sort of creature, nix hounds were also extremely stupid. They charged blindly at their foes, and the majority were killed with distance weapons long before they came within striking range. The whole messy business was done in less than an hour and the pair headed back to Ald’Ruhn, leaving the clean-up to the miners. Once back in the city they were quick to report their success to the Brara Morvayn, receiving a nice amount of gold for their efforts. She promised to keep in touch and sent them on their way.
_
“Well that was easy,” said Naruto in satisfaction as they made their way toward the Rat in the Pot. They were staying at that inn because it was the thieves' guild headquarters in Ald’Ruhn and Okami had connections there.
_
“Yeah, and it went far more quickly than I thought it would,” replied Sasuke looking at the fiery sunset. “We’ll head home in the morning. But for now, we have all night to waste.” He snaked an arm around Naruto’s waist. He was getting to the point that he didn’t care if people saw their relationship. It didn’t matter what anyone thought as long as their little family was happy.
_
The blonde flushed a deep crimson, but didn’t push him away, instead catching his wrist and pulling him faster toward the inn. They went straight to their small room, refusing the offer of dinner from their host, too eager to be in each other’s arms to feel any hunger. Sasuke pulled Naruto into their tiny cubicle of a room, pressing his lips against the blonde’s and slamming the door shut with his foot. He fumbled impatiently with the lock, straining to set it into place without parting his mouth from his blonde lover’s sweet kiss. Naruto kissed him back just as passionately, darting his tongue out to slide sensuously across the brunette’s lips. Sasuke answered the silent demand, parting his lips to allow his companion entrance and immediately Naruto filled his mouth with his tongue, the wet muscle rubbing and dancing against his own.
_

_
Withdrawing to allow for breath, Sasuke pushed the other boy down onto the narrow cot then fell atop him eagerly, his mouth wandering along the blonde’s jaw line, trailing kisses down to his neck, stopping to suckle on the earlobe. Naruto moaned and tilted his head to the side, allowing Sasuke better access to the sensitive flesh of his throat, and the dark-eyed boy gladly obliged, licking and nipping down to the apex of neck and shoulder. There he bit hard, earning a mewling cry and upward thrust of the hips from his lover.
_
“Ooooh, Sasuke...” Naruto moaned, slipping his hand up under the brunette’s shirt. The feel of the blonde’s warm hands running across his chest and abs drew a moan of his own from the back of his throat. Sasuke sat up long enough to rip his shirt off and toss it carelessly to the side. Naruto raised his arms as the other boy pulled at his shirt, making it easier for Sasuke to remove it as well. Naruto’s garment joined Sasuke’s in a wad on the floor and the two threw themselves at each other, reveling in the feel of the smooth skin of their bare chests pressing together.
_
Hands roamed across heated flesh as tongues battled for dominance, moans echoing from both throats. Breaking away from the lip lock Sasuke dropped his mouth to Naruto’s chest, taking a nipple into his mouth and nibbling lightly, then biting a bit harder.
_
“Ahhh, Sasuke!” cried Naruto, once again thrusting his hips upward. This time the brunette did the same, grinding their erections together and drawing another cry from the blonde. Rocking his hips in a constant rhythm, Sasuke continued his assault on the nipples, making sure the first was thoroughly hard before transferring his attention to the other.
_
Sasuke reached down and struggled with their pants, losing some coordination in his lust. Naruto finally lent his hands to help and they kicked free of the stubborn fabric. Sasuke had been forced to roll onto his side to get the garments off, and now Naruto took the lead pushing the brunette back and sliding atop him. It was his turn to lavish kisses, his talented mouth working at Sasuke’s neck and shoulders, then moving down to briefly suckle a nipple. Those soft lips moved even lower, meandering across his stomach and brushing his arousal teasingly.
_
Sasuke squirmed beneath his lover, sweat slicking every inch of his pale skin, throaty groans issuing from between slightly parted lips. Naruto’s hand reached up and his strong fingers wrapped firmly around the other boy’s member, beginning to stroke at a torturously slow pace as he slid his lips over the head, his tongue swirling around the tip.
_
“Oh fuck, Naruto!” he whimpered, back arching as he strained to resist the urge to thrust into his lover’s mouth. After only a few minutes he couldn’t take anymore, felt himself near the edge. His fingers tangled in the soft golden hair and pulled away, forcing Naruto to stop his ministrations. “Not yet!” he gasped. The blonde grinned wickedly at his panting partner and crawled up to devour his mouth in a fiercely passionate kiss.
_
Sasuke raked his nails down Naruto’s back leaving fiery red trails from shoulders to hips. The blond shivered and moaned into his mouth, grinding his hips against his lover’s. Sasuke caught one of Naruto’s hands and sucked on his first two fingers, swirling his tongue around them to get them thoroughly wet. When his mouth released the digits Naruto brought them to Sasuke’s entrance, rubbing lightly then gently inserting them one after the other.
_
Sasuke gasped and moaned as Naruto scissored his fingers, preparing his lover for his intrusion. Once he had relaxed enough Naruto positioned himself between the brunette’s legs.
_
“Are you ready?” he asked huskily, teasing the other boy’s opening with the tip of his erection. Sasuke violently nodded his assent, moaning and trying to push himself down on Naruto’s throbbing shaft. The blonde slowly slid himself in, pausing once he was fully buried to allow his lover to get used to the feeling. Sasuke’s nails dug hard into his hips, his fingers clenching from the initial pain, but they quickly relaxed and he began to squirm again as the feeling turned pleasurable. Naruto recognized that as the sign that he was ready and drew out slowly before thrusting in again. Sasuke cried out in ecstasy as Naruto touched that spot deep inside him that sent electric shocks of mind-numbing pleasure screaming down his nerves.
_
“Aaahh, tight,” gasped Naruto as he thrust again, drawing another cry from his lover. “Oh gods, Sasuke, you feel so good!” He once again fisted Sasuke’s pulsing organ, pumping in rhythm with his thrusting.
_
“Say it again!” panted the brunette, clutching the other boy tightly to him. “My name, say it again!” He loved to hear his name fall from his partner’s lips during sex. His lover’s purring voice wrapped it in silk and caressed him with it. Naruto complied, murmuring the word in rhythm with his stroking and thrusting
_
They quickened in their lovemaking until Naruto was pounding into Sasuke almost violently, their soft murmurs growing into cries, then shouts as they rocked closer to orgasm.
_
“Ahh…Naruto, I’m ahhhhh…!” the brunette screamed as he climaxed with a violent spasm, spilling his milky seed onto his belly. He was momentarily blinded, his vision sparking with white flashes as pleasure coursed through his veins like fire. Naruto came a moment later, emitting his own ragged scream as he poured his semen into his lover. He collapsed atop the brunette, their sweat mingling as they gasped and panted, so spent that neither was able to move for several long minutes.
_
Finally their bodies stopped humming enough that Naruto was able to pull out and roll to the side, curling around Sasuke and pillowing his blonde head on the brunette’s shoulder.
_
“I love you, Sasu-chan,” he murmured sleepily, as the afterglow beckoned him into the arms of slumber.
_
“Same here, Naru-chan,” replied Sasuke just as softly, then smiled. He doubted Naruto had heard him, for even as the word left his mouth the blonde was already snoring lightly.
_
_
_
_
Gaara was once again waiting at the Stilt strider platform at dawn, looking a little worse for wear. Despite not having slept for two days he’d had a hard time finding sleep last night. His nervous anticipation was making him horribly restless, and if that wasn’t enough the people in the neighboring room had been very loud in their activities. He’d been close to gagging them permanently with his sand when they had finally shut up, only to wake him with more of the same that morning. Since catching another hour of rest looked like it would be impossible, he’d simply checked out of the room and downed a hurried breakfast. Maybe he could catch a nap on the way to Balmora.
_
The Ald'Ruhn Stilt Strider Platform

_
As he sat atop the rolled bundle of his bedding, head bowed with weariness, two others joined him in his wait for the stilt strider. He didn’t bother to look at them, not caring whom he would be traveling with as long as they didn’t irritate him. He was already feeling supremely pissy. It would be their funerals if they pushed him into an even fouler mood.
_
“Hey Sasu-chan, can we have ramen when we get back?” asked one.
_
“Don’t you ever get tired of that swill, idiot?” sighed the other. Gaara groaned inwardly. Those voices! His neighbors for the inn last night would be his traveling companions? So much for his planned nap.
_
“Stop calling me that! And who in their right mind would ever get tired of ramen? It’s the food of the gods I tell you!”
_
“Whatever. If you’re that set on it we’ll go after we’ve reported to O-chan.”
_
“Yay! Ramen!” shouted the first, obviously the louder of the two, though it would have been hard to differentiate last night. Gaara winced, the sound of that voice grating on his nerves. Gods, he might just throttle the pair here and now!
_
“Pipe down, you’re embarrassing.”
_
“Hey, that’s not nice!”
_
“I never said I was nice.” There was blessed silence for a while, and Gaara had begun to relax a bit when the feeling of being watched made the skin on the back of his neck crawl. He glanced up instinctively and found the two watching him. He narrowed his eyes in a challenging glare, daring them to keep staring. Their eyes widened in unison as they got a good view of his face and they exchanged a look that Gaara couldn’t read. It had looked almost…knowing. But that made little sense. He didn’t know these two. Unless they were smugglers who had heard of him from his reputation in the Sheogarad region.
_
Before the situation could erupt the driver of the stilt strider called them aboard and he became occupied with wrestling his gear into the hollow in the giant bug’s shell that served as a passenger cabin. He piled his things in the farthest corner and sat again on his bedroll, reclining against his bags, head turned to stare off the side at the scenery. He was studiously ignoring the other two passengers. Let them stare, as long as they didn’t bother him.
_
For a while it seemed that his wish would be granted, for they stayed on the opposite side of the cabin for some time, conferring with each other in voices too low to be heard and casting an inquisitive glance at him every so often. The swaying motion of the stilt strider was soothing and it had almost lulled him to sleep when that annoying voice intruded on his peace again.
_
“Um, excuse me…”
_
Gaara’s head shot up and he instantly snapped a baleful glare on the blonde boy who was now squatting next to him.
_
“What is it that you want?” he growled angrily, making it very clear that the boy’s attention was most unwelcome.
_
“Pardon us for bothering you,” said the other, a boy with raven-wing hair and eyes. He was obviously the quieter and more diplomatic of the two. “My name is Sasuke, and this is Naruto.”
_
“So I heard,” replied Gaara coldly. The confused expressions on their faces were almost comical. “You were screaming it at each other last night…and this morning,” he clarified, not bothering to hide his irritation.
_
“Oh, gosh, sorry about that,” apologized the blonde laughingly, scratching the back of his head and turning a delicate shade of pink. The brunette went all-out crimson and looked off to one side, his expression mortified.
_
“Whatever. Just go away,” said Gaara sullenly, and added in a silent after thought, before I shove my sand where the sun doesn’t shine. Try that for friction!
_
“Um, just out of curiosity, is your name Gaara?” pressed the blonde. Gaara’s eyes narrowed as he considered the way the boy could know his name.
_
“Why do you want to know?” he asked with sudden deadly calm, fully prepared to kill these fools if they said one wrong word.
_
“You match the description a friend gave us a while back,” replied the brunette, his lips twitching into a light smile. “You’re the LC who manipulates sand, right?” Gaara tensed, his will already wrapped around his sand, ready to make it crush the two like bugs.
_
“Oh, don’t worry, we’re LCs too,” said the blonde quickly as he picked up on Gaara’s unease. “And if you’re the guy O-chan told us about, I’m pretty sure she’d like to talk to you again.”
_
O-chan? he thought. Who was… Then it struck him.
_
“Are you speaking of Okami?” he asked a bit breathlessly, sitting a little straighter. They nodded in unison.
_
“Yeah, O-chan is kinda like our sister, kinda like our mother, all mixed into one,” said the blonde with a bright grin, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. “We three have been together since we were five or six I guess, so we kinda became like a surrogate family.”
_
Okami’s family? He stared at them a bit incredulously. A surrogate family. What a disgustingly trite notion. On the other hand, it did explain the woman’s baffling point of view. She had grown up with people who cared about her, who loved her as she loved them. Gaara had always considered such emotions to be weakness, a soft spot for an enemy to strike at, the hesitation that got one killed. But Okami had not been soft. She had taken him down rather quickly. So perhaps it wasn’t such a waste of time to care about other people.
_
Gaara remembered the way she had looked at him, the way he felt when she did and suddenly a flash of jealousy sizzled through his veins. These two had enjoyed that for ten years. What had they done to deserve such happiness, when he had been steeped in cold distain all his life? Why had they been so blessed?
_
“We were all lumped together in the same imperial orphanage,” continued the blonde heedless of the maelstrom of emotions that was beginning to boil inside the redhead. “Life really sucked for us until she came along. But she’s always been a light in the dark, y’know?”
_
The welling anger in Gaara subsided. An imperial orphanage. He’d been spared the horrors of those establishments, having been taken in by the Dark Brotherhood very young and trained until he was ten, at which point they deemed him ready to take up the mantle of an assassin. He’d heard accounts of the imperial orphanages though, from both the LC inmates and the people employed therein. The picture they all painted was incredibly unpleasant. If they’d had to deal with that, he actually felt a touch sorry for them.
_
“I would like to speak with her as well,” he said abruptly, interrupting the blonde’s rambling words. “I would like for you to take me to her when we get to Balmora.”
_
“Sure,” agreed the blonde readily. “She’ll be happy to see you!” Gaara felt his cheeks begin to heat at that comment. Would she really? His heart was beating at an uncomfortably quick pace all of a sudden. He looked away, gazing again at the passing scenery to hide his sudden confusion.
_
_
_
_
Sasuke had remained mostly silent through the exchange, instead studying Gaara while his attention was focused on Naruto. While his blue-eyed companion might be oblivious, Sasuke clearly noted the erratic emotions that crossed the redheads face. The boy was unstable, that much was clear. He began to feel a touch uneasy about their O-chan getting too involved with this LC, but that wasn’t his decision to make. He would watch Gaara closely though. Very, very closely.
__---____-----_____----
Thanks for reading, and I'd like to make a request. Though I proof-read my work and have a friend do the same, I'm aware some errors may slip through. Please, if you see a mistake, post a review detailing the mistake so I can correct it. I take pride in good spelling and grammar. Thanks again, Aysha.

“This whole thing is your house?” asked Gaara. He gazed up at the tall building for a moment before following Sasuke and Naruto up the steps.
_
“Yeah, though we’re still paying on it,” replied the blonde, holding the door open so that the redhead could wrangle his belongings inside. “I’ll go see if O-chan is home. Just lean that stuff against the wall over there and make yourself at home.” He motioned to a corner of the entryway then bounded up the stairwell directly across from the doorway.
_
“I’ll make some tea. Would you like some?” asked Sasuke. Gaara nodded his assent as he piled his things in the corner, and the brunette walked through the opening in the right hand wall. Gaara surveyed his surroundings. The entryway was cozy, with coats hanging from pegs driven into the wall, a tattered knot rug and an assortment of footwear lining the walls. He followed Sasuke’s path and found himself in a large den.
_
The room looked well lived in, with worn but serviceable furniture. To his right, against the west wall was a long couch framed by a pair of end tables that were covered with candles and books. A long and narrow knee-high table sat in front of it and two comfortable-looking arm chairs sat close together at the near end. Directly across from him a fireplace was set in the south wall, a merry blaze within. To the left of the fireplace was the woodpile and in front of it sprawled and enormous black bearskin rug. Directly to the left of him was a small table with two chairs set against the wall between the entrance he stood in and an opening that he assumed lead to the kitchen.
_
The most notable feature though stood between the door to the kitchen and the wall with the fireplace. Two tall sets of shelves lined the east wall, their surfaces overflowing with books, punctuated here and there with an interesting knick-knack or weapon. He went to stand in front of it and began browsing through the titles, every now and then selecting one and briefly flipping through the pages before returning it to its spot. There were a lot of volumes here that he hadn’t yet read, and he quickly became absorbed in one entitled A Hypothetical Treachery.
_
“You like to read?” asked a voice by his ear, taking him by surprise. He jumped and whirled, dropping the book in the process. “Whoa, sorry! Didn’t mean to startle you!” said Okami, patting the air in a placating manner. Gaara bent quickly to retrieve the fallen book, using the motion to hide the embarrassed flush that was warming his face. How had she snuck up behind him like that? She hadn’t made a sound.
_
He managed to get his blush under control and straightened, carefully smoothing the bent pages of the book. He nodded his assent to her question as he replaced the book on the shelf.
_
“O-chan makes us read all the time too,” said Naruto as he flopped onto the couch. “She says ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is power.”
_
“Some of us take that more closely to heart than others,” said Sasuke with a wry glance at his blonde counter part as he carried a tray laden with tea fixings into the room.
_
“Please, have a seat,” said Okami politely, motioning to the couch as Sasuke set the tray on the table. Gaara took a seat next to the grinning blonde while Okami and Sasuke sat in the armchairs on the other side of the table.
_
“So it looks like you’re moving, Gaara,” said Okami once they each held a ceramic mug of steaming fireflower tea. He nodded, not really feeling like speaking if he didn’t have to. “Where were you planning on relocating to? I have contacts in most of the major settlements in Vvardenfell, and I could probably help you find reasonable accommodations.” He shrugged, then realizing that this wasn’t enough of a response, he replied.
_
“Here in Balmora seems fine to me.” Okami’s smile widened, her eyes glittering with something he couldn’t identify.
_
“Is that so? Well, what sort of home were you looking for? There are several vacancies along the riverfront and on the east side of town. The east side is generally cheaper, but the neighborhood can be a bit rough. The riverfront is a fairly respectable neighborhood, but it can get noisy because of the main thoroughfares along the banks.”
_
“I prefer quiet, detached if possible. I’d rather not hear my neighbors.” He glanced meaningfully at the two boys, who flushed. Okami raised a curious eyebrow but didn’t question the silent exchange. “A rough neighborhood doesn’t bother me. Price is irrelevant.”
_
“Irrelevant eh?” said Okami thoughtfully. “You sure about that?” Gaara nodded. “Hmm, there’s a place on the west side for sale. Very posh neighborhood. Quiet, ‘cause the noble class wouldn’t have it any other way. Well guarded of course. High end shops. The place is three stories, four bedrooms, one master on the top floor and three smaller servant’s quarters on the second. Three full bath, kitchen, dinning room, pantry. What do you think?”
_
“I don’t need anything so fancy,” he replied, sipping his tea.
_
“Hmmm…” She tapped her lower lip in thought for a moment before snapping her fingers.
_
“Old Kissura Llaadel just passed away, and her kids are selling her place. It’s on the riverfront, but not directly, so sound from the traffic will be muted. It’s two stories, one bed, one bath, kitchen /dining room combination. Full pantry, no den. And it’s one of the few detached buildings in the neighborhood. It’s pretty central, so access to everything is mostly equal. I think they were asking 40,000 gold. Not sure if they’re willing to take it in installments though.”
_
“Sounds promising,” he replied.
_
“Well if you like I can arrange for us to look at it more closely,” she offered, which he accepted with another nod. “Alright, we’ll slip on over there tonight.”
_
“Can you make an appointment that quickly?” asked Naruto. “It’s already well past noon.”
_
“Appointment?” asked Okami innocently, and with a flick of her fingers produced a set of lock picks. “Who said anything about that? Besides it would be best not to let the sellers know that the buyer is an LC until the deed is handed over, or they may just refuse to sell, or at least bump the price substantially higher. I’ll have Hikaru and Kaoru deal with them. Those two could smooth talk a daedra.”
_
“In the mean time we can give you a tour of Balmora, get you familiar with important locations and people,” suggested Sasuke.
_
“Good idea!” said Okami with a smile.
_
So Gaara found himself being dragged through the city streets and bombarded with an over abundance of information. As he’d been trained to do so long ago, he stored all of it in the depths of his mind regardless of whether it seemed useful at that moment or not. By the time that was done it was well past sun-down and everyone was hungry, so they stopped at a small inn called the Eight Plates and had dinner. Okami assured him the place had some of the best food in Balmora, and he certainly could believe that based on that one experience.
_
The Eight Plates was also conveniently located three blocks from the house they were supposed to look at so that was their next destination. It was at the end of a narrow side street and stood completely alone, a contrast to the other buildings in that section, which were long and two storied and held at least six apartments each. It actually looked as though the place had originally been a duplex, for there was a staircase along the east outer wall that led to a door to the second floor as well as the front door. It was up this stairwell Okami led them, using the cover provided to quickly pick the lock and admit the small group.
_
The interior was messy, junk strewn everywhere as though her relatives had rifled mercilessly through her possessions when she’d died, taking only things of value and leaving everything else for the next lucky owner to clean up. Closer examination confirmed that it used to be two separate single-room apartments. The bottom floor had been converted into a kitchen/dinning room, and the downstairs bathroom gutted to make the pantry, freeing space on the top floor for more bedroom accessories. There was a hatch to the roof that looked as though it hadn’t been opened in centuries, and another hatch to a small cellar space that was similarly neglected. The structure itself was in fair condition, though there were things that would need to be fixed.
_
Gaara decided the place was perfect and said so. Okami assured him it would be his. In the mean time they set him up in a room on the second floor of the Southwall Corner Club, which was a mere five minute walk from their home. Okami made a point to invite him to visit any time he liked and offered to let him borrow any books in her collection that he found interesting. The redheaded LC was both gratified and disconcerted at the amount of attention she was paying him. He wasn’t at all used to being treated in an open and friendly manner, which made him feel distinctly uncomfortable when he was in her company. But when he was alone again he immediately felt the urge to return to her side. To make the confusing situation even worse, he kept catching her two ‘brothers’ exchanging amused glances. He was puzzled by, and somewhat wary of this behavior, half suspecting they were plotting something, but as the days passed while they waited for Hikaru and Kaoru to finish closing the deal on the Llaadel place, neither of the young men made a move that seemed in any way threatening.
_
As he came to know them better he found he rather liked them despite some glaring personality flaws. Not that he was one to judge in that department. He knew very well his own shortcomings. Naruto was garrulous and could be a touch whiney, which could be annoying at times, but he was more often cheerful and warm than anything else. The energetic blonde was utterly transparent, a trait which Gaara distained and found charming at the same time. Sasuke was much more softly spoken than his lover, was much less expressive, and was correspondingly harder to read. His somewhat cocky attitude was grating to the nerves, but Gaara had the feeling it was well earned. He wouldn’t be able to judge for himself until he was able to see the stoic brunette in action. So when the pair invited him to join them on a scavenging outing while Okami was away in Vivec he accepted.
_
“We’re heading into the Molag Amur Mountains,” informed Naruto as the trio of young men exited the south gate of Balmora and turned east. “Horrible place really. All ash and steaming sulfur pits. A lot of Vvardenfell hasn’t recovered from the blight storms Dagoth Ur assaulted it with nineteen years ago.” Gaara’s curiosity pricked as he remembered an important fact.
_
“His base was here in Vvardenfell, wasn’t it?” he asked.
_
“Yeah, Red Mountain is north of here. It’s about a day’s travel east of Ald’ruhn to get to Ghostgate. Only way past the ghost fence unless you can fly.”
_
“That’s the barrier the Triumvirate erected to contain Dagoth Ur, isn’t it?” Naruto nodded his assent as they crossed the bridge over the Odai River. “I’d read that the Triumvirate disappeared along with Dagoth Ur when Lorkahn’s Heart was destroyed.”
_
“Technically, only Vivec disappeared. Almalexia and Sotha Sil were already dead,” said Sasuke. “But yeah, that’s the general consensus. The dunmer of the region took it pretty hard and many still refuse to believe their godlings no longer watch over them.”
_
“What do you mean, Almalexia and Sotha Sil were already dead?” asked Gaara with a frown.
_
“Almalexia was mad. She’d killed Sotha Sil herself and tried to convince the Nerevarine to be here God-Mate. He was supposedly her husband reborn. Maybe she was feeling guilty for betraying him in the first place, but it sounds more like she was power-mad. The Nerevarine destroyed her almost a year before he destroyed Dagoth Ur. Vivec was the only survivor of the Triumvirate by that time.”
_
“Where did you hear such a thing?” asked Gaara, perturbed. He’d never heard this version of the story and was rather skeptical of its accuracy.
_
“Okami has a copy of the Nerevarine’s personal account of his doings after coming to Vvardefell. The temple suppressed it, so of course it’s very rare, and illegal to boot. She keeps it in the locked cupboard in her room with any other books of extreme rareness or questionable legality. Ask her if you can read it sometime. It’s extremely gritty. The Nerevarine, an outland dunmer by the name of Rumiko Ashura, was not the hero of shining purity the temple wants everyone to believe. He didn’t even support the temple, though it’s true he made some deals with Vivec himself.”
_
Gaara pondered these revelations in silence as they walked. About an hour later they passed on the north side of Fort Moonmoth and the land took a quick and drastic change. The grass turned sparse and then stopped all together. The stones and ground became a soot-covered grey. What trees still stood were dead and blackened. The vegetation became sparse and dwindled to the hardiest of plants; scathecrow, bittergreen, trama and the ash-loving fireflower. They began to encounter hostile creatures regularly. Cliffracers were thick as fleas on a guar, but were more annoying in their frequency than dangerous. Huge starveling rats were also common though as often as not they ran from the trio, attacking only in groups. Shalk, huge black beetles with super-heated carapaces that they used to burn their prey to death with were more of a threat. The three young men handled all comers well.
_
“What do you want that stuff for?” asked Gaara as Sasuke pried up the stomach plate of the third shalk they ran afoul of and mined a foul-smelling waxy resin from it insides with an old dagger he seemed to reserve specifically for this unpleasant purpose.
_
“Alchemists use it for something or other,” said Naruto, his nose wrinkling in distaste as he held out the collection jar so that Sasuke could scrape the nasty substance into it.
_
“Potions of fire resistance,” clarified Sasuke with a grimace.
_
“Huh,” replied Gaara, eyes scanning their surroundings for any new threats. “Who do you sell to? Nalcarya?”
_
“Heck no!” snorted Naruto. “That stuck up high-elf wouldn’t give us an eighth of it’s worth, even though she’s the wealthiest alchemist in Balmora. Okami sells stuff like this to Ajira.”
_
“Ajira? Who is Ajira?”
_
“Alchemist at the Mages Guild Hall,” replied Sasuke, stabbing the befouled dagger several times into the dirt in an effort to clean it.
_
“She’s khajiti,” added Naruto helpfully. “Many of Okami’s fences and contacts are khajit or argonian. She has a special relationship with the beast races around here.”
_
“Why’s that?” inquired Gaara. The two glanced at each other and didn’t answer for a moment.
_
“They’re less likely to discriminate against Lorkahn’s Children,” Sasuke supplied finally. Gaara didn’t press the issue, though he suspected there was something more to it that they were reluctant to voice.
_
“What are we looking for out here anyway? Or are we just going to wander around decimating the local fauna and collecting their excrement all day,” he asked irritably.
_
“Caves, crypts or ruins,” replied Sasuke coolly. “Places where thieves, cultist or smugglers might be holed up. Unfortunately the only way to find them is to scout around until you stumble across one.” Gaara pursed his lips, feeling fretful and impatient for no particular reason. Deciding to get things moving along he summoned his powers and used his sand to scour the thin layer of ash and soil away from the bedrock of the region then sat and placed his hand against the exposed bones of the earth. Even though his power could only manipulate sand, Gaara held a special sensitivity to stone. In his view, rocks were sand-that-would-one-day-be. He listened intently to the voice of the stone while the other two watched curiously. The stones spoke slowly, so it took several minutes to hear what he wanted to know. Eventually he stood and pointed to the northeast.
_
“There is a cave there, very deep, where something makes it’s lair,” he reported. Naruto looked impressed while Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow.
_
“What manner of creatures?” asked the brunette.
_
“The stones don’t know that,” replied Gaara with a shrug. “They merely feel the vibrations of their steps.”
_
“Well lets go investigate,” cried Naruto enthusiastically.
_
“Don’t get to excited. It could be nothing more than an egg-mine,” warned Sasuke.
_
“Yeah but it could also be an abandoned ebony mine!” replied the blonde. “Think of how much money we could score with a few pieces of raw ebony on the black market!”
_
“No,” said Gaara with a shake of his head. “There is no ebony for miles. But there are several large quartz outcroppings in the cave.” Naruto looked deflated but Sasuke’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
_
“Mages like to use such caves,” he said. “Quartz can be used to focus and amplify their power, allowing them to cast spells more powerful or complicated than they would normally be able to handle.”
_
“You think there are mages there?” asked Naruto, his face showing even more distaste than when they were handling the shalk resin.
_
“It’s a possibility we should be ready for,” replied Sasuke a touch grimly. He hadn’t taken a mage for granted since one had almost killed Naruto.
_
They hiked the quarter mile to where Gaara had sensed the mouth of the cave. It was barred with a shoddy wooden door possessed of a simple iron lock that Naruto tickled open easily. The three slipped in and started down the narrow corridor. Sasuke’s eyes turned suddenly red and Gaara realized he was seeing the physical manifestation of the young man’s LC power. Exactly what it did was still a mystery to him. A few minutes later the young man stopped them with a hiss of “Undead!” and Gaara wondered if he could see through walls or around corners as the rattle of skeletal feet on stone heralded the approach of the enemy. Naruto muttered something uncomplimentary about necromancers and asked if they should pull back as the animated skeleton trudged slowly into view.
_
Gaara snorted and stepped out of the shadows, drawing the rotting thing’s attention. It clumsily raised its sword and advanced. Naruto and Sasuke leaped out to flank him, though they didn’t look too pleased with his boldness. As Naruto got ready to let fly with his shuriken the redhead held out a hand to stop him.
_
“Those won’t do any damage,” he said. “You’ll just break them on its bones.”
_
“Well we’re not really equipped to deal with the supernatural,” growled Sasuke.
_
“I am,” replied Gaara baring his teeth in a wild grin. It had been weeks since he’d had a good fight. He wasn’t going to back down now! The gourd on his back dissolved into its true form and the sand quickly reformed into a huge fist in front of him. With devastating speed and force it smashed into the skeleton, slamming it against the wall. The spine and ribcage splintered and the thing fell in a heap, the malevolent glow fading from its eyes so that it was once again just a pile of bones.
_
“Whoa!” breathed Naruto in awe. “That is so cool!” Gaara felt supremely self-satisfied at that moment.
_
“Let’s go find this necromancer, if there is one,” he said beckoning the other two to follow. “I’ll take care of the corpses. You should be ready to take out any humans from a distance, before a magic user can cause us more trouble than we need.” Naruto nodded eagerly, brandishing his shuriken to show he was ready. Sasuke looked a bit put out to be taking orders, but said nothing, instead putting away his wakizashi and readying some kunai.
_
Gaara strode through the cave with utter confidence, smashing through the skeletal defenses with impunity and leaving their remains for the other two to loot. When they came to a branching and Sasuke voiced concern about the possibilities of enemies coming at their backs Gaara solved the problem by building a barricade of sand across one of the branches until they had explored the other and were ready to proceed down the alternate path.
_
They encountered two people in the cavern, both mages, one at the end of each fork in the path. The first presented no problem, for they took her by surprise and Sasuke and Naruto filled her with projectiles before she could do more than gawk at the intruders. The second was more of a problem, for the commotion had alerted him to their presence. When they emerged into the cave he had set up for himself they did not immediately see him, but as Gaara smashed a bonelord into the ground, shattering it’s four skeletal arms into oblivion, they heard chanting coming from behind a natural stone pillar.
_
With prolific curses Naruto darted to the side so he could see the back of the pillar and in a moment the mage’s voice cut off in a gurgle as he slumped to the floor, a chitin shuriken buried in his throat. He had managed to get off at least one spell though, and a guardian spirit had appeared in the room.
_
Sasuke was closest and the ghost reached for him with transparent hands. He drew his blade and slashed at it futilely, backing frantically to keep out of its reach.
_
“Shit, shit, SHIT!” he shouted as he hit a wall and the transparent fingers slid through his arm, numbing it to the point he dropped his weapon. He tucked into a ball and rolled beneath the hovering spirit, coming to his feet and sprinting to the other side of the cavern as the thing turned to pursue.
_
Gaara was prepared for this too. He was well aware that the physical nature of his attacks could only harm a corporeal foe, and this wasn’t the first time he’d encountered a ghost. The underworks of Mournhold were infested with the supernatural vermin. He reached around his back, beneath his coat and shirt to where a sheath was affixed to the back of the flexible enchanted leather armor he wore beneath his clothes and drew a silver shortsword that glowed faintly with magic. These were relics of his days in Mournhold, things he wore wherever he went and had been with him when he was hastily banished from the city and the Brotherhood. His ‘escorts’ may have prevented him from collecting belongings from his abode, but they had not dared to strip him of what he already carried.
_
As the translucent creature pursued its prey the redhead lunged forward and plunged the blade right into its pale face. He felt some resistance and an icy chill bit at his fingers as the creature shrieked in agony. He drew back his arm as it recoiled and stabbed quickly three more times, whereupon the spirit dissipated.
_
“Nice weapon,” said Naruto with a sigh of relief. “Man, you’re prepared for everything.”
_
“Whereas you appear to be quite ill-prepared,” replied the redhead, flexing his chilled hand to reinstate normal blood circulation.
_
“Not everyone can afford enchanted weapons,” Sasuke said coldly.
_
“In your line of work, I’d say you can’t not afford to have one,” said Gaara scathingly. “You should at least look into getting something in silver.”
_
------------------------
_
“We’ll mention it to O-chan,” said Naruto in a placating manner as Gaara and Sasuke glared at each other. The blonde sensed the dislike growing between the other two and moved to squash it before became damaging. This was going to be a delicate friendship to nurture, the young man realized. Here were two strong personalities, each proud and slow to bend. He and Okami would have to be the oil that eased the friction between these two.
_
As the trio headed back towards Balmora, the setting sun in their faces, he kept up a stream of cheerful chatter and questions to the both of them. By the time they had reached the south gates several hours later he had managed to get Sasuke to reluctantly admit to being impressed with Gaara’s skill, and Gaara to grudgingly admit to being impressed with Sasuke’s LC ability. The tension had eased dramatically and Naruto was very proud of his work. However the effort had left him both mentally and emotionally exhausted. He decided that if he had to keep this up constantly he would fade away to nothing. Perhaps a private word with Sasuke would do the trick, something involving the phrase ‘Okami’s happiness’ would work wonders in keeping the brunette’s pride in check.

Winter passed swiftly for Okami and her friends. Aside from her guild duties, the white-haired woman was also occupied with hunting down the remnants of the Comona Tong. Sasuke and Naruto, fortified with silver weapons given by Okami for their birthdays, continued to make a successful career out of scavenging and built a stronger reputation among the retainers and nobles of House Redoran. Gaara sometimes joined them in their freelance adventures, though more often than not he preferred to strike out alone. The twins were promoted in the thieves guild when Berkthgeld had a mysterious accident involving a bottle of skooma, a stray dog, and a wooden spoon. All in all it was a good season, business-wise.
_
Okami could often be found in Gaara’s company these days. He saw the inside of her house far more often than he did his own, and by this time he had read almost every book in her collection. The redhead had come to trust Okami far more than he had ever trusted any other person and dared to allow himself to call her ‘friend’, even expanding that term to her housemates and the twins, though not nearly as easily. He was still temperamental and sometimes taciturn, but the others came to accept these moods as a part of his personality to be carefully tolerated.
_
Despite all the positive aspects of the winter, there was one blemish that was bothering Naruto as spring blossomed across the countryside. Okami’s relationship with Gaara had hit a dead end. At least that was how it looked, but he was pretty sure there would be readable signs if it had progressed beyond friendship. They certainly appeared to desire each other’s company, but somehow both seemed satisfied to leave things as they were. Or perhaps they were hesitant to make the next step for fear of destroying the ease they had finally settled into with each other. Or maybe, like Naruto and Sasuke had once been, one or both were unaware of their feelings. The blond was determined to be nosey and find out what was taking so damn long.
_
Out of necessity Naruto inducted Sasuke into his scheme, but even with the two of them together it took a while to catch Okami alone. Gaara was almost always with her when she was in town, and Hikaru and Kaoru were often around as well. So when the white-haired woman came home several days earlier than expected from a task for the Morag Tong and Gaara was still out raiding bandit lairs, the two cornered her and sprung for a mage-trip to Vivec, where the twins wouldn’t be able to disturb them.
_
“So what’s the occasion?” she asked her companions as they sat in an upscale restaurant called Flowers of Gold and waited for their meals to be delivered. “It’s not my birthday for three months yet.”
_
“We just wanted some quality alone time with you,” replied Sasuke smoothly.
_
“Yeah, we never get you to ourselves anymore,” agreed Naruto. She raised an eyebrow but didn’t dispute this claim, and they chatted contentedly until the last course was cleared away and they were sipping after-dinner cordials.
_
“So,” said Naruto, trying to sound casual. “How are things going with you and Gaara?” A broad grin split Okami’s narrow face.
_
“Aha! The ulterior motive is revealed!” she crowed, pointing an accusing finger at the pair. She laughed through their protests saying, “If you wanted to know why not just come out and ask? There’s no need to wine and dine me to get personal information.”
_
“Well, if that’s the case then spill!” retorted Naruto.
_
“Yeah, what’s up with you two?” asked Sasuke, resting his chin in his hand.
_
“We’re friends,” she replied with a shrug.
_
“Is that all?” asked Naruto skeptically. “I mean, you’re always together. Shouldn’t you have gotten farther than that by now?” She shrugged again, but her attitude was a bit too casual.
_
“You want him, you know you do,” said Sasuke with a smirk. Okami blushed but didn’t deny it, instead leaning her chair back on two legs and staring at the ceiling.
_
“So? What’s it to you?”
_
“So we want to see you happy, that’s what it is to us,” replied the brunette a bit sharply. “You like each other, so what’s the problem?” Okami let her chair back down to all four legs and leaned her elbows on the table, staring sullenly at her friends.
_
“I don’t know.”
_
“What? What do you mean you don’t know?” cried Naruto, drawing attention from the other patrons so that Sasuke had to shush him.
_
“I mean, I don’t know!” she replied in exasperation. “I’m pretty sure I’ve made it obvious that I really, really like him. But I haven’t seen anything that could be interpreted as a definite response to that, and if he doesn’t like me that way I don’t want to offend him by pushing the issue.” She sighed unhappily and traced the damp ring left by her glass on the tablecloth.
_
“Just how obvious have you been? He could be oblivious like Naru-chan,” said Sasuke.
_
“Hey! I’m not oblivious!” protested the blond
_
“Yes you are,” chuckled Okami, then sighed. “I make a point to spend as much time as I can with him. I touch him whenever I can, though no overt groping, mind you. I invite him to dinner alone at least once a week. I’d think even Naruto would figure it out from that. The only thing I haven’t done is full out thrown myself at him.”
_
“Maybe thats what it will take,” suggested Sasuke.
_
“But if he doesn’t like me that way and is politely ignoring my flirting, that would make things super awkward.”
_
“That can’t be. I know he likes you, I can see it whenever he looks at you,” argued Naruto.
_
“I have to agree,” added Sasuke. “I can see it to. He treats you different from everyone else.”
_
“So do you, and neither of you are trying to get in my pants,” she muttered.
_
“Tsk, that’s totally different!”
_
“Well, then I don’t know what’s wrong,” she replied in a frustrated tone. “Maybe he’s frigid.”
_
“Frigid?” said Sasuke, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.
_
“Fuck off, pretty boy,” she growled, though her voice lacked vehemence.
_
-------------------------------
_
“Do you think O-chan is right about Gaara being frigid?” asked Naruto a few days later as the lovers hiked around north of Balmora collecting chokeweed, roobrush and stoneflowers to sell to Ajira.
_
“That seems unlikely,” replied the brunette through a cloth mask as he gently shook chokeweed pollen into a paper envelope.
_
“But how could we find out?”
_
“I dunno. Seduce him maybe?”
_
“What!?”
_
“You asked.”
_
Naruto was silent for a long while thinking this over.
_
“But Okami doesn’t want to push that hard,” he said finally as he gently cut a stoneflower from it’s stem, careful not to bruise the delicate blue petals. “So if we want to find out for her, maybe we should do it.” Sasuke stared at him incredulously.
_
“I wasn’t serious about that.”
_
“I am.”
_
“What the hell are you on? Have you been messing with moonsugar or something?”
_
“No, I haven’t! I’m just saying, better us than anyone else. I would think hiring a whore for O-chan’s love interest is out of the question. And I’m not talking all the way, just enough to get him hot and bothered. That would prove he’s not frigid, right? And while we’re at it we can ask a few question about his feelings for Okami, find out where he stands in all this.”
_
“You’re insane.”
_
“No, I’m not. And I don’t hear you coming up with any better ideas. It’s try to find out what’s up from his point of view, or watch O-chan suffer.”
_
They argued about the issue for the entire day, but by the time they returned to Balmora, the blond had managed to sell his lover on the idea. For the next three weeks they bickered, planned, and waited for the right moment.
_
-----------------------------------
_
“Solstheim? Are you serious?”
_
“Yeah. Nasty bit of business. Locals seem to think there’s a werewolf running loose.”
_
“That’s ridiculous. There’s no such thing.”
_
“That’s what I thought, Sasu-chan, but the Imperial Legion asked the Morag Tong if they could take care of this. Do you know how rare it is that the Legion asks a guild of assassins to do anything?”
_
They were discussing Okami’s latest assignment, sprawled across their living room with the door and windows open to let in the cool spring air and mugs of cyrodillic brandy in their hands. Naruto was lying on his stomach on the bearskin rug, Sasuke sitting cross-legged next to him. The twins had the squashy armchairs and Gaara and Okami were on the couch. Sasuke noticed that they sat close enough that their knees were only a hairsbreadth from touching and suppressed the sudden urge to stand and shove one into the other.
_
“It’s gotta be pretty serious if the legion can’t handle it,” mused Naruto, sipping his beverage. He cast a speculative glance at his lover and the brunette instantly knew what he was thinking. Opportunity. It would take over a week just to reach Solstheim. There was no mage service to the remote island and the boat trip itself would take up most of that time. Okami would be gone for a good long while.
_
“Not necessarily,” refuted Hikaru.
_
“Fort Frostmoth isn’t exactly well manned or well provisioned. Most of its ‘soldiers’ are thugs, petty criminals given an opportunity at freedom by the legion if they’re willing to spend a term on the edge of civilization,” added Kaoru.
_
“Needless to say they aren’t the cream of the crop, and the legion doesn’t bother to give them quality equipment,” finished Hikaru.
_
“That may be true, but the locals are anything but wimps,” argued Okami. “The skaal are nordic by decent and have a reputation for being tough and hearty. They usually don’t rely on the legionnaires to take care of such problems.”
_
“So if the legion is calling for help it probably means the locals haven’t had any luck either,” said Sasuke with a nod. “But still, a werewolf? Most instances where people think there’s a werewolf running loose it’s just a very large, extremely mean wolf.”
_
“If that was the case they wouldn’t be contracting this job out. The skaal hunt snowbear on a regular basis. I doubt even the meanest wolf would phase them for long,” replied Okami.
_
“It might be some crazy mage’s experiment gone bad,” suggested Hikaru.
_
“Yeah, an animal imbued with magical properties might be beyond their experience,” agreed Kaoru.
_
“Maybe it’s the ghost of a wolf?” mused Naruto.
_
“Maybe it’s an LC,” suggested Gaara, speaking for the first time. That gave them all pause.
_
“Now that I think about it you’re probably right,” mused Okami after a moment. “This could be interesting.” An excited gleam graced her violet eyes.
_
“When do you leave and how long do you think you’ll be gone?” asked Sasuke.
_
“Tomorrow I think, and who knows? At least two weeks I would guess. It’ll take a week just to get there, and who know how long it will take me to track down my quarry and find a means to deal with it? Once I hit Fort Frostmoth the only mode of transportation is my feet.”
_
“Well in that case we should all go out tonight!” said Hikaru with a grin.
_
“That’s right, we won’t get to see you for a long time,” agreed Kaoru. “And who knows, you might never return.”
_
“Don’t say things like that!” snapped Naruto and Sasuke in unison.
_
“Tcha, they only speak the truth,” said Okami, waving a hand lazily to dispel the budding fight. “Solstheim is a dangerous place. I heard there’s a real giant living in a glacier in the northernmost region.” Once again her eyes sparkled with excitement.
_
“Don’t you dare go looking for trouble!” scolded Naruto severely. “If you get yourself killed I’ll get a necromancer to summon your spirit and then I’ll…I’ll yell! A lot!” This statement was so ridiculous they all had to laugh, even Gaara, and after a moment Naruto was unable to resist joining in.
_

Author’s Pre-Note: The term n’wah means outlander, or foreigner, but has uncomplimentary connotations. Kind of like calling a muggleborn a ‘mudblood’. ^_~
_
-----------------------------------
_
The trip to Soltheim was miserable. Violent spring storms tossed the small ship that departed from the docks at Khuul, threatening to capsize it, or flood it, or both. Okami was pressed into service bailing the rapidly collecting water in the bottom of the ship. She got little sleep on the eight-day voyage, and felt bruised and permanently chilled by the time they limped into the docks at Fort Frostmoth. Thank Azura she could simply recall home. The weather on the island itself wasn’t much of an improvement. Being so far north, Solstheim was still in the grip of winter. Snow coated the ground and a brisk wind slid icy fingers into any gaps in ones clothing.
_
The legion commander of Frostmoth wasn’t easy to deal with either. General Darius was a hard-faced man who eyed her with distaste and muttered under his breath about the shamefulness of hiring assassins and/or women to do a soldier’s job. Okami held her tongue, deciding that provoking her only contact in this inhospitable place would be a bad idea. Instead she followed him up to his unwelcoming office and sat in the hard chair he ungraciously proffered while he gave her a debriefing.
_
“The creature is humanoid,” began the general gruffly. “Though it runs on four legs as often as two. It wears human clothing, probably in an attempt to blend in. However, witnesses claim it has fangs and claws like a beast. Some say it looks like a man, and others claim it’s covered in thick brown fur. It’s unnaturally fast and strong, and it’s always seen in the company of wolves.” Okami frowned thoughtfully.
_
“And you think it’s a werewolf because…”
_
“Aren’t you listening? It changes from fur to skin!” growled the General impatiently.
_
“Are you sure it isn’t just wearing furs? Fur clothing is fairly common in these parts, ne?”
_
“You think it would pause to change its clothes in the middle of battle?” Okami thought for a moment.
_
“So you’re saying people have seen it physically sprout fur before their very eyes?” she asked finally.
_
“Well, not really. It’s too fast to see the actual process. But one minute it will be without and the next it will be with,” explained Darius grudgingly.
_
“Is it only seen with ‘fur’ at the full moon?” The general frowned, picked up a sheaf of papers and shuffled through them for a moment, every so often pausing to peer at a calendar posted on the wall. “No, it seems not,” he replied finally, sounding a bit miffed that he hadn’t noticed this before.
_
“Then I doubt it’s actually a werewolf.”
_
“That doesn’t change the fact that this thing is a menace!” snarled Darius throwing his papers back onto the desk in a bad temper.
_
“Didn’t say it wasn’t,” replied Okami coolly. “Now, where has this…wait is it male or female? Or do we know that?”
_
“Witnesses agree it’s male,” replied the flustered General, though his expression clearly stated that he doubted this fact mattered much.
_
“All right then. Where has he been sighted?” she finished her question giving emphasis to the gender.
_
“It,” replied the general harshly. “Has been sighted all over Solstheim.”
_
“Any pattern to his movements?” Darius hesitated, then scowled mightily and reached for his papers again. “Wait, never mind. I’ll take a look at those myself later. Next question.” The scowl deepened. “What sort of behavior does he exhibit? Is he actively attacking people? Will he strike at a town or is he more likely to go for a lone traveler? How many people has he killed and how often does he leave targets alive?”
_
“What does all this matter anyway!?” griped the general.
_
“It matters a great deal. I need to know if it would be easiest to draw him into a trap by walking alone through his territory, or holing up in a small town and waiting for him to make a move. I need to know how blood-thirsty he is so that I know how wary I need to be while trying to track him. All details are important, General!” Darius looked unhappy but finally shrugged his compliance.
_
“It went after livestock and sometimes vegetable patches in the summer,” he began.
_
“Wait. In the summer? How long has this been going on?”
_
“Over a year,” admitted the general reluctantly.
_
“And you’re just now calling for help?”
_
“We figured a simple food thief we could handle on our own!” roared the angry man. “So he’s stealing food! Big deal! We’d hunt him down in due time and clap him in irons!” The general didn’t seem to have noticed that he’d begun to use the proper descriptive when referring to their foe, which rather amused Okami.
_
“Didn’t go like you planned, hey?”
_
“He proved extremely slippery.”
_
“I other words you couldn’t catch him.” Darius snarled at her, but declined to comment. “So let me take an educated guess here. He was stealing food, and that’s all until you tried to catch him. He gave you the slip for way too long, making you look bad, so you upped your efforts, giving the order to kill on sight. At this point, our mysterious, sometimes-fuzzy friend felt threatened and defended himself. Am I right that any deaths or injuries happened after you got needlessly violent?” Darius muttered and glared but also nodded. Okami was beginning to see why the man was station on the remotest edge of the empire. He was utterly incompetent. She felt the strong urge to punch him, then go home and leave him to clean up his own stupid mess, but she was on contract for the Morag Tong. She never left a job undone. So she would find a way to deal with this, though it might not be the way the foolish general and his precious legion wanted.
_
“I’ve heard enough. Give me a map and the reports and leave me in peace to study them,” she said shortly. The general was clearly unhappy about her authoritative attitude, but after some blustering he complied and Okami settled down in a small guest room to peruse the documents. It was just as she suspected. The legion hadn’t taken her target seriously until the embarrassment of failure loomed. After that they had claimed he was a ‘werewolf’ and began attempting to use lethal force.
_
Their prey continued to embarrass them however, displaying a sharp cunning and stunning athletic abilities, and seeming to take a great deal of amusement out of running circles around the soldiers sent to take care of him. Finally, less than two months ago, one of the wolves that often accompanied him was killed. This obviously pissed him off. Subsequent legionnaires sent on the hunt were often severely injured, and sometimes killed outright.
_
When supply caravans bound to and from the imperial ebony mines at Raven’s Rock started getting raided, the miners had bullied the legion to bring in outside help. A smart move considering the ebony officially belonged to the Emperor himself, and anything that interfered with the flow of the rare mineral had to be dealt with swiftly, else those responsible would feel the Emperor’s wrath.
_
After careful review Okami decided that she would head towards Raven’s Rock and the ebony mines. It looked like the supposed ‘werewolf’ hadn’t raided a skaal farm since the death of the real wolf, instead taking his spleen, and his supplies, solely out of the imperials. Since the only imperial outposts were Frostmoth and Raven’s Rock, both situated on the south coast and less than a day from each other by foot, it was logical her target would be somewhere in that area. If simply walking to the mining outpost didn’t draw him out she would explore more extensively. There were several spots marked on the map on a short peninsula south of the trail that were identified on the map as ancestral tombs. They were likely places for a loner to take refuge.
_
----------------------------------------------
_
“Oi! Gaara!” cried Naruto, waving his arms frantically to catch the redhead’s attention. Black-ringed eyes settled on him in a disinterested manner. Naruto ignored the silent rebuff. He’d been trying to catch the other LC since Okami had left over a week ago. But with the woman out of town it seemed Gaara had little reason to stay in either, for he’d disappeared the same day. Naruto could only assume he was out scavenging as usual, and had been fretfully waiting for the redhead to return to Balmora. Time was quickly running out, and this perfect opportunity would be wasted.
_
“Have a good hunt?” asked the blond, falling into step beside the other young man. Gaara merely nodded. “Haha! Silly question I guess, of course you did! Hey, Okami should be back soon.” The turquoise eyes lit with interest, as Naruto had known they would.
_
The bait had been proffered.
_
“So why don’t you come over tomorrow night and share dinner with us?” continued the blond. “Sasuke’s going to cook. He says O-chan always manages to come home on a day when he cooks, so maybe she’ll show up tomorrow night.” A fleeting smile flickered over the pale lips.
_
“Fine. I’ll be there,” replied the redhead. Naruto grinned broadly and waved goodbye as he turned for his own home.
_
The trap was set.
_
----------------------------------------
_
Okami trudged through the melting snow that made a cold wet carpet of the Hirstaang Forest’s floor. After getting a good night’s sleep by the warmth of a roaring fire and a hot breakfast, both of which she’d sorely needed after her miserable trip, she’d set out toward Raven’s Rock. Her way was made difficult by the nasty, ankle-deep slush. It soaked through her leather boots and made her feet painfully cold. Waterproof her ass. Darius had lied about them, the bastard. What a day for the melt to start.
_
The white haired woman was further impeded by the weight of the imperial chain-mail shirt she wore over the top of her leather coat and the huge backpack slung across her shoulders. The mail had the imperial emblem emblazoned across the chest and there were five large smoked hams and a dozen strings of sausages in the pack. She figured if the imperial emblem wasn’t enough to draw her erstwhile foe, the succulent scent of the meat would be too tempting to resist.
_
Four hours after departing Frostmoth she was sure she was being watched, though she had yet to catch any visual sign of this. The hair stood up uncomfortably on the back of her slender neck. She didn’t bother to suppress her urge to glance all around nervously, figuring it would lend verisimilitude to the image she was trying to put forth. He ears were pricked for the telltale splish of feet in slush, but she doubted she would be able to differentiate that from the sound of great globs of snow falling from the pine trees all around her. Damn thaw! It was making this whole thing much harder than it had to be.
_
She struggled up a hill and was relieved to stop at the crest. She was in good shape, but damn! The chain shirt and the hams together had to weigh sixty pounds! Besides, there was a figure standing less than ten feet away from her on the other side of the hilltop.
_
He was tall, with dark hair swept back into a long pony-tail, a strip of leather tied about his forehead to keep an untidy fringe out of his yellow eyes. A wakizashi was sheathed at his hip. He was dressed in gray leather pants, brown lace-up fur boots that reached his knees, fur gauntlets to the elbow and a leather half-curiass with fur pauldrons fastened to the shoulder straps. She wondered idly how he stayed warm with his midriff and upper arms exposed to the biting wind.
_
Okami had no doubt the young man standing there, with his arms crossed against his chest and a wide grin, was the one she was looking for. She also had no doubt he was an LC. ‘Fangs and claws indeed,’ she thought, eyeing the sharp incisors exposed by the cocky smile. At least it hadn’t taken him too long to accost her. Much more climbing with this dead weight strapped to her back would have fatigued her too much to fight effectively. Hell, at this rate she might be home before nightfall!
_
“Trying to lay a trap for me, eh?” said the young man in a growling voice, startling Okami considerably. Her surprise must have been painted clearly on her face for he laughed harshly. “Like it wasn’t obvious, n’wah. No one from around here would travel these parts in imperial armor, laden with food, alone.”
_
“How’d you know I was an outlander?” she asked, more amused by the insult than anything else.
_
“You stink of the mainland,” he replied. Okami made a mental note of that, wondering if his nose was that sharp or if he could get such information from his wolf-friends. Speaking of which…
_
“So where are your four-legged comrades?”
_
“Around, I assure you. Now drop the pack, little man. Cooperate and I might let you live.” Okami scowled fiercely and her foe tensed.
_
“Little man!?” she repeated incredulously, shrugging off the pack. “For the record, I may be little, but I ain’t no man!” The chain shirt followed the pack to the ground. “I ain’t an imperial either. I’m Morag Tong, so don’t fuck with me!”
_
“Morag Tong? Never heard of them,” said the young man in a bored fashion, delicately scratching an ear with a long, sharp nail.
_
“Then count yourself lucky,” the woman snapped. There was a growl behind her and the young man smirked. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that she was flanked by half a dozen wolves. She shrugged and kicked her pack open, then shoved it with her foot down the hill. The hams and sausages spilled out as it rolled, scattering and bouncing away down the slope. The canines immediately bounded after the savory meats, more pealing out of the trees to join the chase. She was the one smirking as she turned back to face her adversary.
_
“I think your friends are more concerned with their stomachs that with backing you up.” He scowled and drew his weapon, knees bent in preparation to pounce. “Hold it!” forestalled Okami, holding up a hand. “I honestly don’t want to fight you.”
_
“Too late for that!” he growled. “If that food is poison I’ll be sure to string your guts from the battlements of that cursed fort!” He lunged, slashing wildly. Okami quickly drew a borrowed iron short-sword. It quickly became clear that he had no idea how to properly use the blade, but he was devastatingly fast. She was hard pressed to escape the attacks simply because her body didn’t match his speed. Only skill, honed reflexes and razor sharp instincts kept her from being gutted in the first few seconds. As it was, she sustained several shallow gashes before she had a stroke of luck. Her opponent’s footing was no better that hers in the slush and he slipped slightly. It gave her the momentary opening she needed.
_
With out hesitation she struck at his sword hand. The tip of her blade sliced across his knuckles. It was enough to make him yelp and reflexively open his hand. The wakizashi disappeared in the muck. He leapt away, snarling at her and cradling his injured hand.
_
“Wait!” she shouted, rushing after him as he fled into the trees. It was no use. She couldn’t run effectively in these conditions and he quickly disappeared among the pines. It was impossible to track him in the watery snow, for footprints filled in as soon as they were made and were hard to differentiate from places were snow had dropped from the branches. She searched around, thinking she might spot a blood trail.
_
The rustle of disturbed foliage was her only warning as she was rushed from behind. She barely had time to turn before he was upon her. She almost hesitated in shock, for now her foe was covered from head to toe to fingertip in thick brown fur! As it was she didn’t dodge quite readily enough, and his claws raked across the back of her leather jacket. She was suddenly very thankful it was thick, for they hadn’t pierced to her skin, but the blow sent her staggering and she was sure the coat was ruined now.
_
Before she could retaliate, her foe retreated again. She knew better than to pursue this time, for it would only give him more opportunity to circle around her. She stood still, listening hard for any rhythmic noises, the sound of breathing, anything to clue her to which direction the next attack would come from.
_
A branch snapped off to her left and she turned in that direction, only to be hit from behind, her adversary’s claws ripping through her thin pant leg and scoring the back of her thigh. She hollered in pain and he laughed as he bounded away again. Okami had noticed something important though. He’d struck with his right hand, the hand that had been holding his blade earlier. He shouldn’t be able to use that hand effectively with his knuckles gashed open. Plus she’d gotten a good look at the eyes this time. They were human eyes, peeking out from behind a muffling mask of fur. She started to chuckle. Silence met her from the concealing forest as her quarry tried to figure out what she was up to.
_
“You’ve been a thorn in the legion’s side for over a year!” she laughed. “A whole year, and not a one of them realized there are two of you!” A few moments passed, then one figure stepped out from behind a tree on her left, followed closely by a second figure on her right. She grinned in satisfaction, gratified that she had been correct.
_
“You’re a smart one for sure,” said the first, his right hand now wrapped in a bloodstained cloth. “You’re the first to figure it out. The first to injure one of us too.”
_
“But it doesn’t really matter,” continued the other, pulling back the furry hood and mask that had concealed his features. “You’re going to take that secret to the grave.”
_
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_
Author’s Note: Yay! I love cliffhangers!!

Sasuke pushed open the front door with his foot, his arms occupied with bags of groceries. He was pretty sure he had everything he needed to make an excellent meal; steaks and herbs to season them with, fresh greens for a salad, ash yams for baking and honey to drizzle on them. It would be a meal fit for a king, the perfect thing to put a guest in a relaxed mood. Now, if only Naruto would come through on his part of the preparations.
_
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_
‘Crap, not more identical twins,’ thought Okami. They had to be, though it was easier to tell the difference than with Hikaru and Kaoru. The one dressed in furs had short hair while the once in more normal attire had very long hair. Other than that they looked almost exactly alike.
_
Okami, tried to keep her eyes on both her adversaries at once, but each time she shifted backward to try to get them both in front of her, they shifted with her, keeping her firmly between them. She sighed in frustration, thinking that there were better situations in which to find oneself pinned between two handsome men.
_
“Look, I really didn’t come here to fight,” she began.
_
“Bullshit,” snapped one. “You set bait meant for us specifically.”
_
“You came looking for us,” agreed the other.
_
“True,” admitted the woman. “The legion did commission the Morag Tong to stop the attacks on the caravans, but that doesn’t mean we have to bring this to violence. Or, any more violence that is,” she added as the claw marks on her thigh throbbed.
_
“Tcha, why should we believe you?!” snarled the short-haired brother.
_
“Because if you don’t, things could go very badly for you,” she replied coolly.
_
“Empty threats,” smirked the long-haired one. “You could barely defend yourself against one of us. Prepare to die! Ready, Kiba?”
_
“Ready, Koga!” replied Kiba, and together they sprang.
_
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_
Sasuke looked up from the vegetables he was chopping as the front door opened with a bang.
_
“Do you always have to slam doors, oh Loud One?” he asked as Naruto strolled into the kitchen. By the looks of the satisfied grin on the blond’s face and the paper-wrapped package under his arm he’d been successful. “You get it?” he asked, needing confirmation.
_
“Yup!” replied Naruto, unwrapping the package and setting its contents gently on the counter. “Just so you know, the lady at the Elvan Nations Cornerclub charged me an arm and a leg for this stuff.”
_
Sasuke smiled and picked up the item Naruto had mage-traveled all the way to Vivec to acquire. Vintage Bosmeri Brandy. The liquor was rare this far from the Bosmer homelands, and was accordingly expensive. It was worth it by all accounts though. The blood-red liquid was contained in a lovely bottle of hand-blown glass, a work of art in itself. It was smooth, unlike the crap like Matze and Sujamma that were common in Vvardenfell, beverages that would strip rust off an iron sword. It was also known to be a mild aphrodisiac. This would be the cap on the night, the thing that would substantially boost their chances of success.
_
With a satisfied smirk, Sasuke carefully placed the bottle in the liquor cabinet. Everything was set. They couldn’t possibly fail.
_
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_
With twin howls Okami’s adversaries lunged toward her, claws leading, identical golden eyes burning in identical snarling faces.
_
‘Fang and Wolf, huh?’ The idle thought skimmed across the surface of her brain as the rest of her mind calculated what to do. In a split second she had come to a decision and acted.
_
With a twitch of her legs she dove to the ground at Kiba’s feet, rolling through the slush and tripping the LC. His feet impacted with her ribs, driving the breath out of her, but he went down with a cry of surprise, landing face first in the wet snow. Okami entertained the fleeting hope that Koga would trip over his sibling’s suddenly prone body, but alas, her wishes were in vain. As she rolled to her feet the long-haired brother danced nimbly around his twin’s rising form and lashed out with his left hand at her face. Okami threw herself back frantically, feeling a sting as a claw grazed the tip of her nose.
_
Knowing she had to put some distance between them and her she let momentum and gravity help her along down the slope, rolling quickly away from Koga and Kiba, who was on his feet again, spitting out slush and mud. She tumbled recklessly through the sodden snow until she slammed face-first into the trunk of a pine, the rough bark scraping her cheek raw. She forced herself to her feet despite the pain and dizziness that assaulted her. Her foes were quickly bounding down the slope toward her.
_
Okami had had enough. She was soaked with icy, muddy water, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, her favorite coat was ruined, and she’d seen nothing but discomfort and trouble since this trip had started.
_
She let her dark side loose.
_
The left arm of her jacket was shredded and bits of leather flew everywhere as the shadow creature burst forth. It swirled around her forcefully, demolishing the tree and spraying its splintered remains, along with a great deal of slush, in all directions. The twin wolf-boys skidded to a halt a few feet away from its sphere of influence, startled yelps escaping their lips.
_
“Enough!” shouted Okami. “I’m sick of this already! Do NOT make me kill you!”
_
“Ugh! What is it?” gasped Kiba, pulling his mask back up over his face in a protective manner. “It smells foul!”
_
“It smells like death,” replied Koga grimly, nostrils flaring, eyes narrowed at the white-haired woman. “You know what to do.” They glanced at each other, Kiba nodded, then they broke into a run, retreating for their lives.
_
“Oh, no you don’t!” cried Okami. From a belt-pouch she snatched a coil of thin cord with a lead weight tied to the end and slung it at the retreating forms. It wound around Koga’s ankles just before he managed to dash out of reach. With a yank, Okami pulled the LC’s feet out from underneath him, sending him toppling into the slush. Another heave pulled him backward several feet.
_
“Brother!” cried Kiba, skidding to a halt and turning back.
_
“Run, fool!” shouted Koga.
_
“No!” snapped the other, leaping to his sibling’s aid. He scooped up a chunk of the splintered pine and slung it at Okami’s head. The dark entity reduced it to sawdust before it came within a foot of her. Kiba visibly paled, but did not stop his advancement.
_
“Stop! Just calm down!” said Okami, trying hard to keep her voice level and calm. “I swear I’m not going to hurt either of you! So please, just stop and listen to me!”
_
Kiba halted and looked at his brother. Koga quit trying to kick loose the snare and looked back. Then they turned eyes in unison toward her and waited tensely. ‘Finally,’ thought Okami. Apparently they realized that hearing her out was the best option open to them at that moment.
_
“Good, thank you,” she said. “As a show of good faith I will let you go and put…IT…away.” She beckoned and the entity slid back into her arm. Instantly the young men relaxed, though only by a fraction. Kiba pulled his mask down again with a sigh of relief. With a flick of her wrist she released Koga’s ankles and he scrambled to his feet.
_
“Please don’t run,” pleaded Okami, beginning to shiver horribly now that her adrenaline rush was fading. “I’m way too cold to keep this game up.” Her words seemed to make them realize that they were as soaked as she was and they both began to shiver as well.
_
“Yeah, about that,” said Koga, a bit hesitantly. “If you can trust us not to try anything, then come with us to our camp so we can get warm and dry.”
_
“Is that a good idea?” hissed Kiba.
_
“She kept her promise,” replied the other. “I think it will be okay.” Okami nodded gratefully and followed in their wake as they began to trudge slowly southward.
_
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_
Gaara knocked on the door of the four-story building that Okami, Sasuke and Naruto called home just as the sun was beginning to set. He was greeted by the grinning blond and stepped into the warm interior, the mouth-watering scents of Sasuke’s cooking swirling around him. The tempting aromas were almost enough to make him forget the real reason he was here. Almost. He still hoped Okami would return tonight. Whenever she was away for long periods he began to feel restless and lonely. He liked Naruto and Sasuke, Hikaru and Kaoru well enough. But they weren’t Okami. He wasn’t sure what the difference was. The others were just as friendly toward him as she was, but it wasn’t the same, somehow. He relaxed back into the embrace of the couch to wait as Naruto stoked the fire and Sasuke worked his magic in the kitchen.
_
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_
It was dark by the time they reached a cave that wound deep into the side of a rocky hill. The passage wound for well over thirty feet before opening into a fair-sized cave where the smoldering remains of a fire rested amid the odds and ends of the twins’ belongings. Some time was taken to stoke the fire from the glowing embers and to arrange wet clothing around it. Now the two LCs sat stripped to the waist on one side of the fire, while Okami sat on the other. She had refused to remove her shirt, halter or not. Not that she had much for them to see, but she still had her modesty and wasn’t about to parade half-naked in front of a pair of virtual strangers, no matter how cute they were.
_
“So,” said Kiba, once they were all settled in relative comfort. “Start talking.”
_
“Well, where to begin,” she mused aloud. “I guess it starts with me working for the Morag Tong. That’s the guild of assassins in Vvardenfell.” They both scowled at this revelation but didn’t interrupt. “It’s almost unheard of for the Imperial Legion to hire us, but that’s what they did. I was chosen to come here to Solstheim and investigate, probably because everyone else was too smart to come this far north during this time of year,” she chuckled wryly. “I’ve never seen worse weather.”
_
“It’s been bad this year,” replied Koga with an unconcerned shrug.
_
“Hmph, just my rotten luck I guess,” she snorted. “Anyway, once I got here I managed to drag the real story of what was happening out of that buffoon, Darius, and bullied him into giving me the reports to examine myself. The more I learned the more I suspected you were one of my kind.”
_
“What do you mean by that?” asked Kiba with a frown.
_
“Why, one of Lorkahn’s Children, of course,” replied the white-haired woman.
_
“Who’s children?” asked Kiba, looking bewildered.
_
“Who’s Lorkahn? That wasn’t our father’s name,” said Koga at the same time.
_
“No, no. It’s not meant to be literal. It’s just the name given those of us that were effected by the destruction of the Heart of Lorkahn.” Identical blank stares greeted her. “Hmm…maybe I should start a little further back.”
_
So she told the legend of Lorkahn’s Heart, the history of Kargnac and Nerevar, and the more recent events surrounding the Nerevarine and Dagoth Ur. She abbreviated it as much as she could without leaving out any important facts, but it still took nearly an hour. Kiba and Koga paid rapt attention, absorbing her words like dry ground drinks in water.
_
“You’re talking about the Millenium-born,” said Koga when she had finished. Okami cocked her head curiously to the side. He explained further. “The ones born in what the Imperials dubbed the ‘zero year,’ in the time after the red moon appeared.”
_
“Was that about nineteen years ago?” she asked. They nodded. “Okay, yeah, that’s the right time frame. I don’t know anything about the red moon, but it may have been connected somehow.”
_
“No one around here ever knew why we were born different,” said Kiba. “Your explanation sheds a great deal of light on a mysterious subject.”
_
“Glad I can help,” chuckled Okami.
_
“You speak as though there are many of these ‘Lorkahn’s Children,’” said Koga with an inquiry edging the words.
_
“There are,” replied Okami. “All over the empire. Any human who was within his or her mother’s womb at the time the artifact was destroyed was changed. There were hundreds of thousands of us at first, but fear and hatred of our kind have taken their toll. At least half were killed in the sixth year, when the hunts raged, before the imperial legion was able to get the riots and mobs under control. And of course, since then the attrition has been steady. You could say we’re a dying breed, which is one reason I wanted to find a peaceful manner of settling things when I suspected you were LCs.”
_
“Well, I don’t know what you want us to do about it. Those imperials deserve what they’re getting. And we need to survive somehow,” said Koga.
_
“Well…I’ve had this idea in my head for some time now…” began Okami slowly. “In numbers lies strength and safety. I’ve been thinking about gathering as many LCs as I can find, and who are willing to come, at my home city, Balmora. Make a sort of guild of LCs. So, I guess my question is, will you consider coming to Balmora and joining me in this endeavor? It would be a great deal easier to survive in Vvardenfell than on this inhospitable chunk of ice.”
_
“You’re stupid if you think we’ll be able to secure passage on a ship from the fort,” snorted Kiba. “They’d kill us on sight. And we don’t like boats. At all.”
_
“A ship isn’t the only way to get from place to place,” said Okami with a smile. “There’s always magic. It will take me about two weeks, but I can get home and fetch some amulets that will transport you instantly to the mainland. So what do you say?”
_
The lupine twins looked at each other, their gazes skeptical and wary. Okami felt her hopes begin to falter. It didn’t seem they were inclined to trust her that much. Or maybe they were just reluctant to leave the place they’d called home their entire lives.
_
“I dunno,” said Koga after a time, rubbing his injured fingers a bit nervously.
_
“Oh, damn!” said Okami suddenly, smacking herself lightly on the forehead. “I totally forgot about your hand! I’m sorry! If you’ll let me, I can heal it.” Koga hesitated for a long moment, then nodded and held out the hand.
_
Both sets of yellow eyes widened when the exposed white markings on her right arm shifted and detached themselves. Their eyes flickered to the marks on her left arm as they realized what the black ‘tattoo’ really was. Then the swirling silver-white mist coalesced into its wolf shape and the eyes widened further.
_
The pale apparition padded silently forward to the awed boys and touched Koga’s bloodied hand with its nose. He gasped and flexed his fingers, eyes glazing slightly. The translucent wolf then touched Kiba’s forehead and he acquired a similarly dazed look. Okami didn’t know what had been wrong with the short-haired twin. It could have been as simple as a cold setting in after the chill he’d caught. Their gazes bordered on worshipful as the white being settled back into its place on her right arm.
_
“It smells like…” murmured Kiba softly, awe thick in his voice. “Like…mother. And the wind.”
_
“What was that?” asked Koga, just as softly.
_
“These are my LC powers,” replied Okami readily. “This one is destruction, death, hate, bloodlust, and so on.” She held up her left arm and the black snake-like mark crawled briefly across her tanned skin. The two young men leaned backward slightly. “This one is love, kindness, benevolence, life, healing, and so on.” She displayed the right arm and they leaned forward again. “They are yin and yang and live within me.”
_
“Why didn’t it heal you?” asked Koga, eyeing her still-bedraggled form.
_
“’Fraid it can’t. Doesn’t work that way. Don’t know why.” They continued to stare in amazed silence at her right arm for several minutes. Finally, feeling uncomfortable with their reverent attitude, and wanting little more than to be home and warm again, Okami stood and began gathering her scattered things. “So anyway, I’m going home now. I need to rest.” The two exchanged a long, measured look.
_
“Wait,” said Kiba.
_
“We’ll come to this Balmora,” continued Koga.
_
“We will miss our wolf-friends, but to be near that…” Kiba shivered slightly. “It’s like being near god…” This observation made her feel even more uncomfortable.
_
“Don’t expect me to bring it out and parade it around just so you can admire it,” she said touchily.
_
“Of course not!” gasped Koga, looking scandalized. “That would be a wasteful way to use such an incredible ability!”
_
“Alright, just so you understand that I only use them when they are needed,” she replied, a bit mollified. “I’ll come back as soon as I can. And if you can get by without attacking the imperial caravans, I’d really appreciate it if you would stop.”
_
“As you wish,” said Koga. “Look for us at Hrothmund’s Bane.”
_
“Where is that?” she asked, not remembering a place marked with that name on the map she’d perused.
_
“It lies between the Moesring Mountains and Mortrag Glacier, directly south of Castle Karstaag,” replied Kiba. “We’ll steal from the giant and its frostling lackeys instead of the imperials.”
_
“I’d heard there was a real giant in these parts,” said Okami, interest perking. “I’d like to have a look at that.”
_
“We might be able to arrange that when you come back,” said Koga, the cockiness he’d displayed upon their first meeting back full strength. “You are coming back, right?”
_
“Trust me,” said Okami with a smile, then made a hand sign, muttered the words of the recall spell and disappeared.
_
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_
Next: That moment you’ve been drooling over for the last three chapters…Naruto and Sasuke’s attempt to seduce the ever-so-smexy Gaara! XD

It was comfortably warm in the house that night, and all three young men present were full of a supremely satisfying meal. Now that dinner was done they were lounging lazily in the den, Gaara on the couch and Naruto on the huge bearskin rug. Sasuke was finishing the cleanup in the kitchen.
_
Naruto was yammering on about something, as usual, though Gaara wasn’t paying much attention. He was a touch sleepy, and his thoughts drifted along random subjects until Sasuke entered from the kitchen. There were three fluted wine glasses balancing between the slender fingers of his right hand, and his left set a fancy-looking bottle on the small table by the door. He wordlessly passed one to Gaara, then sat next to Naruto on the rug, relinquishing another to the blond. Gaara raised the glass and inhaled as he’d been taught, checking for the scent of poison. It was an instinctive action, one long ingrained into his habits. Nothing obvious presented itself from the sweet fragrance, so he raised the glass to his lips and let the blood-red liquid just barely touch the tip of his tongue.
_
His blue-green eyes widened in surprise and delight at the flavors that flooded over his taste-buds. He detected hints of a dozen different fruits that he recognized, and some that he didn’t. There were traces of many types of flowers as well, with a whisper of pine and maple and an earthy undertone. It was mellow and powerful at the same time, and exquisitely smooth as a larger sip washed over his eager tongue and slid down his throat, spreading a delicious warmth in its wake.
_
“What is this?” gasped Gaara in surprise, looking up at his hosts. Naruto had his eyes closed, a look bordering on ecstasy gracing his tanned face as he sighed after his first swallow. Sasuke was smiling at them both with something like smug satisfaction, his glass as yet untouched.
_
“Vintage bosmeri brandy,” he replied as he sipped his portion. He closed his eyes like Naruto and sighed.
_
“I’ve heard of it,” said Gaara, a little awed. “But I’ve never had the chance to try it!” The liquid had trailed gentle fire in a line down his chest to burst like a heated blossom in his belly. He took another sip, savoring the subtle flavors and incredible sensation.
_
“We’ve only had the chance to taste it once,” said Naruto dreamily. “But man was it great. It’s so hard to find around here.”
_
“Where did you find it?” The heat had reached the back of his eyes and he felt as though his skin was softly burning.
_
“Vivec,” replied the blond as the brunette got up and moved lazily to the bookshelf. “Vivec and Ebonheart are the best places to find uncommon things in Vvardenfell. Imports have to go through customs at Ebonheart, and Vivec is the market it reaches first by virtue of being a stone’s throw away from Ebonheart. Unless what you’re looking for is illegal, then the best place to look is Sadrith Mora. The Telvanni are the most likely to flaunt the law, especially if there’s profit involved.”
_
Sasuke slipped a thick, ancient looking tome from the topmost shelf. It was bound in tattered burgundy leather and the remains of gold filigree could be seen shining dully from parts of the cover. Gaara couldn’t remember seeing it before, though he’d thoroughly perused the shelves in the den. He decided it must be a new addition, for he was sure he would remember such a distinctive novel. He felt himself leaning forward with interest as Sasuke sat back down on the rug and opened it across his knees.
_
“Hey, O-chan hasn’t finished reading that yet!” protested Naruto as he noted what his lover was holding.
_
“So? She isn’t here to use it right now,” replied the other young man. “Don’t worry, I won’t loose her place.”
_
“That looks old,” commented Gaara, leaning forward even further. To his fascination, what he could see of the pages appeared hand-written. “What’s the title? It’s too faded to make out from here.”
_
“Roughly translated it comes out to ‘Secrets of Dwemer Animunculi,” he said with a smug grin as he looked up from the first page. Naruto was leaning against his back, reading over his shoulder, blue eyes huge with interest. “As far as we know, this book is one of a kind.”
_
Gaara’s eyes widened and he couldn’t resist sliding from the couch and moving to the rug to look. He peered at the pages as he settled cross-legged beside the brunette.
_
“So this is written in dwemeri?” he asked. Sasuke nodded as he shifted the book into the redhead’s lap. “Where did you find it? How was it translated? It thought…”
_
“We found it in a dwemer ruin called Nnuflcheng quite a few months ago,” replied Sasuke.
_
“Yeah, and since Okami had recently come into favorable terms with Divayth Fyr, she was able to take the book to him,” added Naruto, crawling to Gaara’s other side so that he could see too. “He agreed to translate it on the condition that he be allowed to keep it long enough to copy it and the translation to another tome. We only just got it back a few weeks ago.”
_
“Divayth Fyr?” asked the redhead, as his eyes scanned the freshly inked, neatly lettered script in common tongue that underscored the faded dwemer sentences. “I’m not familiar with the name.”
_
“He’s the Telvanni archmage that lives in Tel Fyr,” replied Sasuke. “Kind of a remote place. Divayth likes his solitude.”
_
“He’s near eight-hundred years old and deals with obscure branches of research, like finding a cure for corprus,” added Naruto. “He’s obsessed with the dwemer, so ever since she met him O-chan sells anything dwemer-related to him. There are lots of people interested in dwemer artifacts but Divayth pays the best, being an ancient and very rich dark elf, you know.”
_
“Hmmm…” was Gaara’s only response. The tome was a treasure to be sure, but was a touch less interesting than he’d hoped. It seemed to be a mechanical text, dealing with the functions and proper methods to repair the moving metal constructs the dwemer had been so fond of making. There were some ruins where functioning animunculi could still be found, but Gaara had little interest in how they worked. Still, it might be an interesting read, simply because an extinct race had written it.
_
“Facinating, ne?” said Sasuke, leaning so close over his shoulder that his breath slid in a warm wave across his ear and neck. Gaara shivered slightly and felt his face flush. He lifted his glass of brandy to his lips and took a quick swallow to hide the reaction, feeling embarrassed that he should like the sensation. He decided that drinking more of the powerful beverage had been a mistake when the alcohol invaded his system and made him hyper aware of how close his two hosts were. He could intimately feel the tiny flutter of the hair along his neck as Sasuke’s breath continued to stir it, and was excruciatingly aware of Naruto’s shoulder and knee touching him as the blond leaned in to turn the page. He cleared his throat and shifted, his face growing ever warmer, unsure of what to do. What an awkward situation to be in! He wanted to stand and leave, but was far too embarrassed to draw attention to himself so sharply at that moment.
_
“What’s the matter, Gaara? Liquor going to your head?” murmured Sasuke, so close to his ear his lips brushed against it. Gaara stiffened and felt another pleasurable tremor course down his spine at the same time.
_
“Nice, isn’t it?” whispered Naruto near his other ear, and Gaara suddenly realized he had never moved away after turning that page. Now he leaned closer so that he was pressed against Gaara’s left side. He opened his mouth to reply, then found himself unable to think of anything to say. He closed his mouth and swallowed hard. A strange pressure was building in his chest and stomach, an unfamiliar sensation that was, nonetheless, fairly pleasant.
_
“Just relax and enjoy,” said Sasuke. The book disappeared from his lap and a warm hand slid in to twine with his now-empty fingers. He gasped as soft lips pressed gently against the skin between shoulder and neck. He felt his eyes slip closed, almost against his will. He couldn’t seem to move or breath, his entire body buzzing and every touch sending waves of tingles rippling across his skin.
_
A hand softly cupped his cheek and guided his head to the right, where a smooth pair of lips and a hot, wet tongue assaulted his mouth. The lips that still worked at his neck took advantage of the sudden exposure of the full span of his throat and slowly, slowly nibbled their way up to his jaw line. A low moan vibrated in his chest as teeth nipped lightly at the spot just behind his ear.
_
Gaara was hardly aware of it when he was pushed onto his back in the thick fur of the rug, or when a deft pair of fingers unlaced the front of his shirt so that his chest and stomach were exposed to roaming hands and lips. His mind had completely abandoned any semblance of rational thought and was operating on instinct alone.
_
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_
Okami was happy to come out of the disorienting rush of teleportation and find herself in front of her home. She just wanted to be warm again. A smile touched her lips as she noted the wisps of smoke drifting out of the chimney. Sasuke and Naruto must have realized she would be freezing her tushie off in Solstheim and kept the fire stoked for her. They were such considerate young men.
_
It was well after midnight, and figuring they would already be asleep, Okami did her best to remain silent as she entered the house, not wishing to wake them up. She didn’t really want to listen to them make a fuss over her injuries either, all of which were too minor for them to do anything about. She gently set down her sodden boots, which she had never actually put back on, and hung the ripped-up coat on a peg.
_
As she was about to head for the kitchen to see if there was anything left of whatever Sasuke had cooked up that night, she was stopped dead by a soft moan issuing from the den. She blushed. So maybe the boys hadn’t expected her home tonight. So much for a late-night snack. She would just go quietly up to her room and pretend she’d never heard that.
_
Okami’s toes were on the bottom stair when another soft cry made her freeze.
_
‘That voice…’
_
It hadn’t been Naruto or Sasuke’s voice.
_
‘No…’
_
Her head turned slowly to the side until she was looking through the portal to den.
_
‘Not him…’
_
She drifted silently to the doorway, both shocked and captivated by the sight in front of her. Three bodies were sprawled on the rug, all three shirtless, the glow from the fire painting sweating skin rose.
_
‘Not Gaara…’
_
But it was. There was no deny the figure lying between Naruto and Sasuke was Gaara. She leaned against the doorframe, her mind trying to find a way for this scenario to be an innocent accident. It was pretty hard to do when she was pretty sure Sasuke’s tongue was in the red-head’s mouth, and one of his nipples was trapped in Naruto’s. No, there was nothing whatsoever innocent about this.
_
‘Shit.’
_
She tore her eyes away as a sharp stab of jealousy pierced her chest. Not good. The shock was already wearing off, allowing for the intrusion of all sorts of other unwanted emotions. Her eyes fell on the bottle of brandy resting on the table next to her. Without pausing to consider she grabbed the bottle and turned away, padding gently up the stairs, long practice making her feet automatically avoid spots that would creak and give her away. She ascended all the way to the roof and threw herself into one of the chairs that resided there. Uncorking the bottle she tossed back a hearty swig. Her eyes widened a moment later as she registered what was pouring down her throat.
_
Vintage bosmeri brandy…
_
“What the hell?!” she growled indignantly, looking more closely at the blown-glass vessel. Where had they gotten something so high-end? And how the hell had they managed to afford it? And for fuck’s sake, why hadn’t they waited for her to come home before drinking it? Had they intended to keep something so fine all to themselves? How fucking selfish could you get!?
_
Anger snarled and clawed around in her stomach, making her feel ill. She swallowed hard against a rush of bile and took another swig of the exquisite drink to wash away the foul taste. Her heart was throbbing too fast in her chest and her breathing was ragged and quick. Every breath, every heartbeat hurt, as though there were cords tightening slowly around her ribs and lungs and heart. She wanted to scream or smash something or maybe just cry.
_
How dare they? How dare they do something like this to her?! If Gaara was gay that was one thing, but even so, how dare they touch him when they knew how she felt? She had confided those feeling in them. They were her best friends, they should have respected that! She didn’t care if they fucked the whole of Vvardenfell, but why did they have to seduce the one person they knew she wanted for herself?
_
She finished what was left of the delicate bottle and with a growl flung it as hard as she could, watching as it spun end over end above the rooftops and out of sight. The sound of it shattering against something several streets away wasn’t nearly as satisfying as she’d hoped it would be. She leaped up and paced the length of the roof, her thoughts barely coherent as rage and betrayal and envy and hurt whirled in a violent maelstrom that threatened to consume her entire being.
_
She wanted to destroy things, not just some stupid bottle, big things, like buildings or mountains! She wanted Naruto and Sasuke in her grasp, wanted to shake them, scream at them, demand an explanation! She wanted to hurt them, make them feel as bad as she did now! She wanted to kill them!
_
She stopped dead in her tracks. No, she didn’t want that. Not really. Guilt seized her and she sank to the rooftop, legs curled to her chest and face buried in her knees. It wasn’t fair! Why did it have to be Gaara?! The ache was too much. Her pride couldn’t hold it back any longer. She bit down on the leather of her pants to strangle her sobs as hot tears traced cold trails down her cheeks.
_
-----------------------------------------------------
_
Sasuke was well satisfied with the night’s work. As they had agreed beforehand, he and Naruto hadn’t ventured below their victim’s waist, tempting though the idea might be. It hadn’t stopped them from fulfilling their goal. Gaara was half-naked and fully aroused. A glance downward confirmed this.
_
‘Yep, hard as a rock,’ thought Sasuke smugly. ‘Frigid my ass.’ Time for phase two. He kissed his way to the redhead’s earlobe. After lavishing it liberally with nibbles, more for his own enjoyment than to further their purpose, he pulled away slightly and murmured in the other’s ear.
_
“This feels good doesn’t it?” The turquoise eyes fluttered open and looked at him. They were glazed over with lust, but Gaara managed to nod, indicating he had heard and understood. Good. This would all be wasted if he was too out of it to understand what he was hearing.
_
“Wouldn’t you much rather be doing this with Okami?” asked Naruto as he left off messing with Gaara’s nipples and peeked up at him through his thick lashes. The redhead’s eyes widened at this, and he blushed furiously. Sasuke chuckled.
_
“What, don’t tell us you never thought about it,” he said with a grin. Gaara’s eyes narrowed.
_
“And what if I have?” said the redhead finally.
_
“If you have, then why haven’t you done anything about it?” asked Naruto, tracing a lazy finger down his chest and stomach. “She’s not going to wait forever. She’s beginning to think you’re gay or something.”
_
“You’re one to talk about gayness,” muttered Gaara, flushing a darker red and sitting up.
_
“Are you?” asked Sasuke, eyes widening.
_
“No!” A pause. “We’ll, I don’t think I am…”
_
“Or, you didn’t until tonight?” snickered Naruto. “Doesn’t mean you’re gay though. You’re attracted to O-chan right? Then you’re bi.”
_
“You might want to get a little more aggressive with O-chan,” said Sasuke as he stood and pulled Naruto to his feet. “Just a suggestion, you know? Or she might shift her interest to someone else.”
_
“Feel free to crash on the couch if you like,” offered Naruto as he wound an arm around Sasuke and they headed for their room.
_
“Do you mean this whole scenario was just…” said Gaara incredulously.
_
“To figure out what your sexual orientation was and whether you liked Okami? Yeah, basically,” said Naruto.
_
“But it was fun!” added Sasuke with a smirk. “Night, red.” But as they headed for the stairs the brunette hesitated for a moment. He was sure he’d left the bottle of brandy on the little table against the wall. It wasn’t there anymore. Naruto pulled him toward the stairs, eager to vent the sexual tension they’d built up, but Sasuke’s mood was ruined by a feeling of deep foreboding.
_

Dawn was lightening the horizon by the time Okami had cried herself dry. It was longer before the resulting numbness broke and she was able to think again.
_
‘I just have to accept this,’ she thought, determined not to let her negative feelings get the best of her. ‘I can live with it, if that’s what it takes to make Naruto and Sasuke happy. I’ll just pretend like I didn’t see and let them come forward on their own.’
_
‘Why should I?’ hissed the angry part of her, unwilling to be shoved aside. ‘That was MY territory! They trespassed, and worse they KNEW what they were doing! They should pay!’
_
“Shut up,” she growled aloud.
_
‘Make me!’ laughed the nasty little voice. ‘You can’t! Not this time! You’ve pushed me down for too long. You can’t deny me anymore!’
_
‘Sometimes we just have to make sacrifices for the greater good,’ she began, trying to take the high road. It had always worked before.
_
‘Don’t try to pull out that sanctimonious bullshit! Greater good my ass! The fate of a fly doesn’t even rest on this issue! The world won’t end because I get my way! And for fuck’s sake, why is it always us who makes the sacrifices? I think it’s high time those two brats took their turn.’
_
‘They don’t deserve to suffer!’
_
‘And we do?’
_
‘Better me than them,’ she argued.
_
‘They might be better for a little suffering,’ she argued back. ‘You spoil them, spare them anything you can, give them everything you can, push yourself as hard as you can just so they won’t feel any lack.’
_
‘Why is that a bad thing? I love them, I want them to be happy!’
_
‘Love is supposed to be a two-way street, fool. Do you really think they feel as strongly about you as you do about them?’
_
‘Of course they do!’
_
‘How much did they love you when they seduced the person they knew you wanted behind your back? Is that how true friends act?’ She had no argument for that. ‘They only love themselves. There’s no room in a relationship for three. The moment they became closer to each other than to us, we became a fifth wheel. Just extra baggage, convenient to have around when they need something out of us, but unwieldy and unwanted when they don’t.’
_
“Stop it…” she moaned into her knees. “That’s not true!”
_
‘You think not? Fine. Be your forgiving self, let them get away with it. They’ll just walk all over us again, and again, and again, until you finally see that I’m right.’ The angry little voice stilled then, leaving her head blessedly quiet. She sat, curled in on herself until the sun was well above the horizon, then she rose and headed back into the house. She was hungry now, and a body’s functions didn’t stop just because its soul was torn asunder.
_
Sasuke’s door on the second floor stood ajar, but Naruto’s door on the first was firmly closed. She supposed that must be where they’d ended up.
_
‘Why do they each need a separate room when they spend every night in Naruto’s?’ asked the mean little voice.
_
‘It’s nice to have a place to get away from each other when they fight,’ she replied unconvincingly.
_
‘They could go outside. They don’t need all that space, they’re just greedy.’ Okami tried to push the nasty impulse away again, but again was unable to make it disappear. She sighed in frustration and descended to the den. She paused in the door, mildly surprised. Gaara was passed out on the couch.
_
‘Used him and threw him away, they did!’ squealed the angry voice gleefully. ‘He’s damaged goods now, leftovers, sloppy seconds…’
_
‘Shut up!’
_
‘We don’t need someone that easy anyway,’ said the voice, paying her no mind. ‘That is if he isn’t a complete fag, though in light of the evidence last night…’
_
‘SHUT UP!!!’
_
She went into the kitchen and found some kwama eggs and guar bacon, threw them into a pan and began frying them.
_
‘Why so much? You’re not actually going to make breakfast for them, are you?!’
_
‘Maybe I’m really hungry.’
_
‘Bullshit. You can’t lie to me. I AM you.’
_
“Okami? When did you get home?” She turned to see Gaara standing in the entrance, rubbing sleep from his black-ringed eyes.
_
‘Slut,’ snarled the voice.
_
“Just now,” she lied, turning back to the pan before the sight of him made her mouth say something she would regret. “Hungry?”
_
“Yes.”
_
‘Leach of someone else! Man-whore!’
_
“Tea?”
_
“Yes, thank you,” he replied, taking a seat at the little table just outside the kitchen door.
_
“So, stayed the night?” she said as casually as she could as she slid two slices of bacon and a like number of eggs onto a plate. She set it on the table in front of him without looking, unable to meet his eyes at that moment.
_
‘And why not? YOU don’t have anything to be ashamed of.’
_
‘Except YOU,’ she replied to the hateful side of herself as she worked on the tea.
_
Gaara took a minute to respond, and when he did it was a simple affirmative.
_
“Couldn’t make it home? What, you guys get drunk last night?”
_
“Sort of,” he replied shortly. She had the impression he felt uneasy with her line of questioning.
_
‘And well he should! Traitor!’
_
‘Don’t be stupid. He wasn’t ours to begin with.’
_
‘He should have been.’
_
“What was the occasion?” she asked, wishing with all her heart she could just let it go so she wouldn’t feel so awful anymore. She saw him shift uncomfortably out of the corner of her eye.
_
“Naruto invited me,” he said warily. “Sasuke made dinner. We thought you would come home last night.”
_
‘Liar!’
_
“What happened to your face? And your thigh?” He said, changing the subject suddenly. Okami started. She’d forgotten her injuries, mild as they were, in the face of a more intense pain.
_
“Ran into some trouble. Nothing serious,” she replied, setting a cup of tea in front of him. She turned back to the kitchen. Unable to bear the thought of sitting next to him she ate her bacon and eggs right out of the pan. They dined in silence, but she could feel his eyes on her back. The quiet was acutely uncomfortable, and eventually he stood and brought his plate to the sink.
_
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, trying to catch her eye.
_
“Fine,” she grunted in reply.
_
‘Like you actually care, bastard!’
_
She kept her eyes carefully on the sink as she drew water for washing and began to scrub the dishes. He stood there beside her, watching, as if not entirely certain what to make of her attitude or what to do about it. The tension was palpable.
_
“Gaara,” she said, breaking the silence at last.
_
“Yes?” he replied instantly, relief audible in his voice.
_
“Do you still have the pendant that I gave you when we first met? The one with the recall spell?”
_
“Yes.” Confusion colored his words.
_
“May I borrow it please?” There was a long pause, and when he responded she could hear a touch of disappointment. She wondered what he’d been expecting her to say.
_
“Sure.”
_
There was a rustling of fabric and the clink of metal as he drew the fine chain from around his neck. She held out her hand for it, despite her surprise that he was actually wearing it. His fingers brushed hers as he placed it in her palm and she quickly drew her hand away. The contact had ignited a surge of irrational rage.
_
‘It should have been ME touching you like that last night!!’ howled her inner demon. ‘Now you’re dirty! Tainted! You don’t deserve to touch me anymore, you cock-sucker!’ She turned away and strode from the kitchen. She had to get out of there before she tore the place down around her ears.
_
“O-chan.”
_
‘Don’t call me that, bastard!’
_
“What?” she asked, pausing in the door to the entry hall. He hesitated for a moment.
_
“I’d like it back when you’re done.”
_
‘Why do you need it, you greedy son of a bitch?’
_
“Sure.” She walked out the door before he could say anything else.
_
-----------------------------
_
Gaara stared at the exit, confusion, hurt and foreboding warring in his stomach. The combination didn’t bode well for keeping his breakfast down. He didn’t like the way Okami had been acting. Her tone of voice had been far cooler than he’d ever heard from her, and her questions had made him wonder if she somehow knew what had happened last night. She hadn’t looked him in the eyes the whole time, except for that brief instance when he’d first come into the kitchen. He though he had seen a flash of hostility before she had turned away.
_
He sighed heavily and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes. Had he ruined things before they’d even begun? ‘Shit.’
_
“Gaara?” came a sleepy voice. He turned to see Naruto entering the den, yawning and stretching as he came, followed by a tired-looking Sasuke. “I smell bacon.”
_
“Any left for us?” asked Sasuke. The brunette looked like he hadn’t slept well.
_
“No,” replied Gaara, wondering how to breach the subject he wanted to ask about. Damn! He was no good at these sorts of things!
_
“What?” said Naruto with a frown. “If you’re going to cook our food at least make enough for all of us.”
_
“Okami cooked it, not me.”
_
“O-chan is home?” gasped Sasuke.
_
“She was,” sighed Gaara.
_
“What, she left already?” asked the blond, looking shocked.
_
“Yeah. Didn’t look like she changed clothes or tended her wounds or anything. She didn’t even put on shoes before she left,” he blurted. Naruto looked dumbfounded, but Sasuke bit his lower lip, looking worried.
_
“Why would she do something like that?” gasped the blond.

“I have a theory…” said Sasuke hesitantly. “I think she walked in on us.” Gaara bit back a groan. He’d been afraid of something like that. It took Naruto a second to figure out what his lover was talking about.
_
“Huh? Oh! Oh…” his tanned face blanched. “Crap. Not good.”
_
“That’s an understatement,” snorted the raven-haired young man.
_
“Wait, we don’t know if that’s what’s going on. Maybe she remembered something that was really, really urgent.”
_
“She wouldn’t have cooked breakfast first,” muttered Gaara. “And she was acting distant. Cold.”
_
“But…”
_
“Aside from that,” interrupted Sasuke. “I distinctly remember setting the brandy on the table. It wasn’t there when we headed for bed.”
_
“And most likely she thinks we did a lot more than what really happened,” groaned the blond. Gaara’s heart had been steadily sinking through the entire conversation. Just when it had settled near his toes and he thought it could go no farther it managed to plunge right through the floor. There was a long silence. Finally the redhead managed to voice what all three were thinking.
_
“What do we do now?”

Okami strode quickly away from her front door, weaving randomly in and out of alleys and streets. She paid no attention to where she was headed, only knowing she had to put distance between herself and her home. Eventually she slowed as she realized she wasn’t wearing any shoes and the cobbles were bruising her heels. She stopped and leaned wearily against a wall, considering her options. She didn’t want to go back home and face the three men.

After due consideration she realized she would have to. She had no gear or money on her to speak of. With a frustrated sigh she decided that from then on she would keep a stash with someone she trusted. Maybe Habasi Sugar-Lips, or Hikaru and Kaoru.

‘Can we really trust anyone?’ murmured the dark voice in her head.

“If we can’t we’re in trouble,” she snapped. A passing guard gave her a strange look and she felt the insane urge to laugh hysterically. She was talking to herself now. She must be crazy.

“Move along, vagrant,” growled the guard with an imperious motion of his hand.

‘Vagrant?!’

‘Well, we are shoeless and wearing dirty, ripped clothing.’

“Yes sir,” she murmured aloud, and started to wend her way home. She might be able to avoid contact with her roommates if she went in through the roof, so she approached from the rear of the house. A three-story apartment building butted up against the back wall. It conveniently possessed an out-side staircase for access to the second and third floors. She sidled up the stairs and used a windowsill to boost her to the roof. From there she used cracks in the wall and her own strength and agility to reach her own roof.

Very carefully and quietly she cracked open the trap door leading to the hall outside her room. She listened for a long moment. There was the murmur of voices from far below. She strained to make out the words but the sounds were too diffused by the time they made it up the stairwell. She was debating whether to go in right then and risk discovery, or wait until they went to bed when the voices stopped and the front door slammed. She peered cautiously over the low rail that edged in the roof and was delighted to see the tops of three heads outside her door. The blond and brunette went south, and after a moment’s hesitation, the redhead started westward.

It looked like Gaara was going home. Who knew what Naruto and Sasuke were up to, but lest they return quickly, Okami decided not to waste this opportunity. She opened the trapdoor and slid down the ladder, landing lightly on her toes, then skipped quickly down all three flights of stairs. She rifled quickly through her ruined coat and found the items she’d left there, her chameleon ring and the map of Solstheim. Then she went to the den and retrieved her bag of holding from its spot in a fake copy of The Pilgrim’s Path on the lowest shelf. The book was so common no one would ever look twice at it.

She slipped back up to the top floor and entered her room, pausing as she crossed in front of the mirror on the wall next to the door. She really did look like a vagrant, totally filthy. Well, she’d shower when she rented a room for the night. Not bothering to change, since it would just get clean garments dirty, she stuffed three changes of clothes into her bag, a pair of boots she knew were really waterproof, a few books to peruse during the boring sections of her journey and a fat pouch of gold. She then outfitted herself with her usual tools, but this time she armed herself with her glass weapons. She had taken the time to wrap the hilts in plain leather and lacquer the pommels and cross guards. They were sheathed in worn leather scabbards, the effect being that they were plain and of little value. Until she drew them, that is. She didn’t want to attract unneeded attention.

Satisfied that she had everything she would need, she pulled on a pair of hiking boots and a long black jacket that had a deep hood and slipped back out the trap door. After a quick scan of the surrounding streets she climbed back down the wall and left her house behind. She wound her way westward, pulling her hood low in case she should run into someone she knew, heading for the mage’s guild across the river.

‘Why should we be so furitive?!’ demanded her unwanted mental commentator. ‘We have nothing to hide! Why sneak around like a guilty child?’

‘I want to avoid questions,’ she replied reasonably. ‘I’d rather not get into a confrontation with anyone I know just now.’

‘Pussy! All you need to do is deck whoever it is and walk on!’

‘Not everyone deserves that sort of treatment.’

As she came onto guild row she had to duck into the entry to the mercenary’s guild, for a familiar figure stepped out of the mage’s guild building. Gaara paused, looking deep in thought, then swiftly crossed the street to Dorrisa Dahrvel’s Books and Stationary. Okami remained in her shadowed alcove until the redhead had exited a moment later, looked both ways along the street, then headed north towards the temple.

‘They’re looking for us. Hitting all the usual places. Bet anything Naruto and Sasuke were heading for the thieve’s guild.’

‘No doubt you’re right.’

When she was sure the other LC was out of sight she continued south down the block to the huge building that housed the mage’s guild and quickly entered the dim interior. She wound her way through the incense-scented halls, moving toward the room that was used for mage-transports. She was stopped before she had reached it.

“Hrrr, is that you miss Okami?” rumbled a familiar voice. She turned to face the kajiti alchemist.

“Yes Ajira,” she replied from beneath the hood. Trust a kajiti’s nose to see through her disguise.

“You’re friend was here just moments ago looking for you,” said the cat-woman. “The one with the sullen eyes. He looked worried.”

“I know. If he asks you again, I wasn’t here,” she said turning back towards the teleport room. Ajira’s dark eye-markings shifted as her green eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “If you do this for me, friend, I will fetch you belladonna berries and hrorker horn from Solstheim, free of charge.”

“Hrrr, you must wish heartily to keep your presence a secret for such a hefty bribe,” purred the kajiti, with a sharp-toothed smile. “I will do this for you, and I will not forget your promise.”

“See you in a month or so, then,” replied Okami. Some extra gold bought the mage-on-duty’s silence at the same time she purchased a trip to Sadrith Mora. She would pick up a second amulet of recall for a cheep price in the mage town, then book passage on the boat to Dagon Fel, from there to Khuul, and from there to Solstheim once again.

---

Naruto, Sasuke and Gaara regrouped outside the blond’s favorite ramen shop.

“She’s hasn’t been to the thieve’s guild, and the twins haven’t seen her either. Hell, they were still asleep!” reported Naruto.

“No sign at the Morag Tong either,” added Sasuke. They looked expectantly at the redhead.

“Nothing,” he said shortly.

“She must have left on foot,” said Sasuke after a moment. “We might be able to catch up with her if we run. One person out the north gate and two out the south, split up where the path forks…”

“Not necessarily,” said Gaara reluctantly. The other two looked at him blankly. He sighed. “She took my recall amulet with her. It was still set to Dagon Fel.” The others looked crestfallen.

“Should we go up there and try to see if we can track her from there?” asked Naruto.

“No,” replied Sasuke. “By the time we made it they probably wouldn’t remember her being there, especially if she tried to cover her tracks. The best thing we can do at this point is wait for her to come home.”

“But that could be a long time!” cried Naruto, his stress evident as his voice rose an octave. “What if she never comes home? You know how she gets when she’s mad! She takes insane risks! She could be killed and we’d never…”

“Stop!” said Gaara sharply. He didn’t want to listen to the suggestion that he might never see the white-haired woman again. There was a long silence as the other two stared at him sullenly, Naruto looking like he would start to cry any minute. “I’ll go to Dagon Fel,” said the redhead finally. “You two stay here and wait for her to come home. That way we have both bases covered.” Naruto looked relieved. Sasuke didn’t looked quite as happy with this solution, and Gaara figured the brunette would rather be taking some action despite his earlier assurance that waiting was the best thing to do.

“Then it’s settled,” he continued, whirling away from them and heading westward toward the mage’s guild. He’d take the mage-transport to Ald’Ruhn and the stilt-strider to Khuul, then the boat to Dagon Fel, reversing his original path to Balmora. He knew people there, people with sharp eyes and ears who would talk for a bit of gold. If anyone had seen Okami pass through the town, he would find out.

---

Author’s Note: Argg!! I’m sorry this took so long! I know it’s a pathetically short chapter for the amount of time I took in posting it. First I had relatives visit, and once they left me in peace I had lost my momentum! I have the worst case of writer’s block right now! I know where I want the story to go, but I’m having a really hard time filling in the spaces between good ideas! Please, forgive me! And be patient. I’ll get it together eventually, I promise! Though I think I’ll take a break and work on some other stories to get my mojo flowing again.