#mraya

“Please. Wait for me.”

Mraya shakes her head in frustration, staring after the Argonian in front of her. Never-Gets-Hit seems eager to get this over with, and to be honest, so is Mraya herself, but they are not going to be able to finish this any faster with her out of breath… She wishes Never-Gets-Hit would understand that, but she just keeps walking in the same quick pace she did before, not even doing so much as turning to look at the Khajiit behind her. Not for the first time, Mraya wonders why she seems so intent on hating her. Never-Gets-Hit hasn’t ever attempted to get along with Mraya, ever since she had first set foot into the Sanctuary. Mraya wonders why Alen decided to send them on this contract together. 

It feels like ages until the Argonian finally stops, her golden eyes examining the hill beside them. Hidden behind several plants and bushes, almost unable to be seen unless you’re specifically looking for it, rests a small wooden door. 

“Is this it?” Mraya asks softly, twitching one of her large ears. “I prefer my contracts in the cities…”

“Yes, this is it. As you can see, you’re not in the city. Want to go home again?”

“No, I…” Mraya shakes her head again. While she could continue to respond, she knows it’s not worth the time and effort. It’s best if she just accepts it and moves on. “Well then, let’s get this over with.” She moves towards the door, every single one of her senses checking to see if there’s nobody watching them. Then, she pushes open the door, staring into the place.

It is very dark inside, the only light coming from the opening she is standing in, and a faint glow in the back. Yet, a quick sniff and one twitch of her ear determines that there is nobody waiting for her nearby, and she gathers the courage to step further into the cave. She hears Never-Gets-Hit following her, her steps slow and cautious. Mraya is relieved when the door closes behind them, surrounding them with darkness instead. She is not really made for sneaking, with the largest part of her body covered in white fur. Her armour does a lot to hide it, but she can’t cover up everything… 

She feels Never-Gets-Hit’s tail tapping gently against her hip, and she moves aside, allowing the Argonian to take the lead. Mraya would have liked to do so herself, but arguing won’t help their cause… Besides, Never-Gets-Hit is more experienced in the ways of the Dark Brotherhood. 

Instead she follows the other Assassin wordlessly, keeping close to her at all times. The tunnel from the entrance keeps going on for a long time, first lowering itself further beneath the ground, before travelling upwards again. All this time, there is no other person to be seen. This seems very, very concerning. Are they in the wrong cave perhaps? Who even decides to live in a cave like this, anyway? It’s so dark, and damp, and she can hear water dripping in the distance… She hates water. Even bathing the way the other races do makes her fur stand on end in fear. Hopefully the water in this cave will remain at a few drops. Anything more and she might run straight back home to the Sanctuary, or perhaps even further than that, into her father’s arms…

She shakes out her fur, about to tell her colleague about her thoughts, but then she feels smooth scales against her lips, and she realises Never-Gets-Hit is holding her finger against her muzzle to keep her quiet. 

Carefully Mraya sneaks forward until she is standing at the other’s side, looking around a bend in the tunnel. In the near distance, only a few steps away from them, the tunnel widens, eventually opening up into a large room. Soft rays of light fall from the ceiling, allowing just enough even for races other than Khajiit to see their surroundings. They will certainly have to be careful not to be seen now…

Mraya lifts her pink nose to the air, sniffing to determine where the people may be. She remembers Alen’s words as he gave them the contract. These people were apparently killers themselves. It was only logical that they lived in a creepy place like this. The Cheydinhal Sanctuary isn’t much better. 

Go around, Never-Gets-Hit gestures, pointing at a ledge on the wall of the cave. Mraya nods, approaching the open area. Before she goes forward, she checks the area once again. There are a total of three people here, two of them talking with each other while the final one is poking at the makeshift fireplace. As soon as Mraya is sure she isn’t going to be seen, she leaps on top of the ledge, landing softly on her paws. There she crouches, waiting for Never-Gets-Hit to get into place.

She watches the Argonian sneak through the shadows towards the two talking people. Mraya should take the lone person, then. 

She pulls her legs closer to her body, wiggling a little bit to get a good grip onto the surface beneath her. Her ear is still focused on the man, but her eyes are following Never-Gets-Hit’s form as she settles in the shadows behind them. 

Her fur bristles when she hears water behind her. It seems to be inside the wall, and it makes her claws slide out involuntarily as she imagines what could happen if things went wrong. Hopefully it’s just her imagination. 

She squeaks in surprise when she realises she missed Never-Gets-Hit’s signal. The Argonian is already on her feet, her dagger dug into the throat of her first victim. Quickly Mraya leaps down, as well, but by now her own prey has stood up, and she lands on empty earth. 

“It’s them!” the woman closest to Never-Gets-Hit calls out, jumping away from her bleeding friend. “Get out of here!”

Mraya leaps at the man, her own blade gleaming in the light, but only manages to cut at his shoulder while he sprints towards the entrance tunnel. Before she can chase after him, she hears Never-Gets-Hit let out a grunt, and the moment after, the woman comes running past Mraya as well.

“Are you okay?” the calico Khajiit calls out, running towards her Dark Sister. She kneels at Never-Gets-Hit’s side, gasping when she sees blood on her stomach. She is about to lean down to lick it clean, but the Argonian gently pushes her away.

“I’ll be fine,” she groans, pushing herself upright. “She did something. Before she ran away. I couldn’t see what it was.”

Mraya looks up, staring at the back of the cave… and lets out a yowl in surprise when she feels water by her feet. She nearly leaps into the air in fear when she realises the entire floor is covered in water, and even more is starting to stream in through a hole in the back of the wall. 

Her fur starts bristling, and she frantically starts looking around. Without seeing anything, she hurries towards the entrance tunnel, desperate to escape. Her feet splash into the water, and the sound only makes her run faster. She turns around the corner, but pauses when the water starts coming up to her knees. In front of her, the tunnel dips down, emerged entirely in the water. If she wants to escape through there, she would need to swim.

“Mraya! Wait for me!” her companion’s frustrated voice sounds behind her. She feels rather than sees the Argonian taking her arm, but her touch is everything but reassuring.

“We can’t escape,” the Khajiit gasps. “We’re trapped.” She turns around, pulling her arm free and hurrying back into the open area. “We’re trapped and we’re going to drown. There’s nowhere we can go, Nev!”

“Calm down!” the Argonian growls, pressing her palms against Mraya’s cheeks. “We’re not going to die. If we hurry now, we only need to swim a little bit.” 

Mraya shakes her head, pulling herself away once more. She leaps onto the ledge she had been on before, shaking the drops from her tail and feet. If she is going to die here, she at least wants to do it on her own terms. 

The water is pouring in even faster now, already up to Never-Gets-Hit’s waist. She lifts her green-and-red tail out of the water, looking up at Mraya. “We won’t die.”

“Maybe you won’t,” Mraya spits, flattening her ears to her head beneath her hood. “But I will.”

“Nonsense. I’m not going to escape while leaving you behind.” 

Before Mraya knows it, she has climbed onto the ledge, as well. 

“We’re not going to die. Neither of us. We just need to go through the tunnel. I’ll get you out of here.”

“Why?” Mraya gasps. “Now you can finally leave me behind. I won’t bother you.” 

“Shut up,” the Argonian growls. “I’m not going to leave you. You’re part of the Brotherhood, too. We were supposed to do this contract together, and I’m not going to just leave you.”

The water is rising even more, and if Mraya were to stand in it, it would come up to her belly. “I don’t care. I don’t want to go into the water. I… I’m scared. Nev, please, help me…”

Never-Gets-Hit puts her green scaly fingers on the sides of Mraya’s face again, her eyes uncharacteristically kind. “Mraya. Do you trust me?” 

The Khajiit remains silent, unsure what to say to that. Never-Gets-Hit hasn’t been kind to her before. But she is loyal to the Dark Brotherhood, and… Mraya can’t believe that she would leave anyone from their team behind. “I do.”

“Then trust me to get you out of here. The tunnel becomes higher again after the dip. I don’t think that part will be flooded. We need to be quick, though.” 

“What if we’re not quick enough?” Mraya gasps, her claws digging into her knees. “What if we get half-way through, and I’ll drown, and oh, by the gods…” 

“We are quick enough. If you trust me.” Never-Gets-Hit jumps down from the ledge, causing the water to splash up dangerously when she lands. She reaches her arms out towards Mraya, her tail slowly swishing from side to side through the water. 

Mraya stares at her, and shakes her head quickly. “No. I can’t. You go on ahead.”

“Trust me. I won’t allow you to get hurt.” 

The calico squeezes her eyes shut, hardly able to breathe. She feels as if she is already underneath the water, with no way to come back to the surface. Slowly, she scoots forward, until she is sitting at the edge of the ledge. Does she really trust Never-Gets-Hit? What if she lets her fall? She’ll have no way to get back up here then.

But what if she stays here? She’ll only be scared until the end, an end that will inevitably come… It will be better to at least have someone’s arms around her. She takes a deep breath, and allows herself to fall down.

She whimpers when she feels the bottom half of her body sink into the water, unwelcome memories and thoughts bubbling up again. But Never-Gets-Hit wraps her strong, muscular arms around her, holding her close to her chest. 

“It’s okay,” the Argonian whispers. “I’ll hold you up. I won’t let you go.” 

Mraya doesn’t dare open her eyes, even when Never-Gets-Hit slowly starts wading towards the tunnel, her steps gentle and strong. It’s easy for her, being an Argonian. Mraya doesn’t even know how to swim, even if she tried… 

After a while she feels Never-Gets-Hit stop, her grip on Mraya becoming stronger. “We need to swim now. I need you to hold your breath. That’s the only thing you need to do. I’ll do the rest.”

Mraya starts bristling again, her claws now pressing against her friend’s scales. “I can’t. I can’t do it.”

“You can,” Never-Gets-Hit retorts. “I’ll go as fast as I can, and after we’ll get through this we’ll be free. We’ll never have to go here again. I’ll speak with Alen. He’ll understand about the contract.”

Mraya wants to reply, but the words die in her throat, and all that comes out is another whimper. She finally opens her eyes, looking right into Never-Gets-Hit’s golden ones, shining in the faint light. “Promise…?”

“I promise.” She gently touches her snout against Mraya’s head. “Are you ready?”

She’s not. But she doesn’t think she will ever be, and all she can do now is to have faith in Never-Gets-Hit’s abilities. She’s an Argonian, made for swimming. Surely she’ll know the best way to do this…?

Mraya resists the urge to scream when suddenly Never-Gets-Hit moves forward again, and the water reaches up and up and up, until it’s lapping at Mraya’s chin. 

“Take a deep breath. It won’t be long.”

Mraya does as she says - perhaps the last breath she will ever take - and tries to resist the urge to scream and fight her way free from Never-Gets-Hit’s arms when her head dips underneath the water. It’s all around her, and even if she were to swim upwards now, there would only be a stone ceiling to greet her, trapping her without any chance to breathe.

Never-Gets-Hit’s heart beats calmly against her chest, her legs moving in a steady rhythm as she swims through the flooded tunnel. Her tight grip on Mraya never ceases, and Mraya tries to focus on that feeling instead of the water roaring in her ears, rushing past her, taking away her breath and all the warmth that has ever been in her body. 

Suddenly it’s getting too much for her, and she attempts to push herself away from her friend. She needs to breathe now, it’s taking too long, she’s not going to make it… 

And then her head breaks the surface, and she almost forgets to breathe in her relief of feeling the cool air against her face. She takes a few deep gasps, pulling all the air she can into her lungs. 

Never-Gets-Hit’s is still holding her arms around Mraya, not intending to let her go any time soon. She carries Mraya out of the water, and it almost feels surreal to have solid ground beneath her feet again, untouched by any sort of flood.

“I told you,” the Argonian whispers. “I’d get you to the other side.”

Mraya fluffs out her fur against the cold, her small body trembling. She would say something in reply, but again she can’t find the words, the memory of the water still too fresh. 

“We should get out of here,” Never-Gets-Hit murmurs then, holding one strong arm around Mraya’s shoulders while she guides her towards the door. “And we’ll find the nearest inn to get you warm again.”

Mraya hasn’t said a word since her experience in the cave, still shaken from everything. Still, she is glad that she is now in a comfortable bed, a thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders. 

“How are you feeling now?” Never-Gets-Hit asks, sitting down onto the bed next to her. “Better, I hope?”

Mraya nods. Her hands are still trembling, but at least she’s safe now. She’s still terribly cold, though, even with the blanket…

“That’s good.” The Argonian wiggles underneath the blanket, pressing her side against Mraya’s. “You’re freezing. Did you eat the soup I brought?”

Mraya nods again, feeling uncertain what she should do now. Never-Gets-Hit hasn’t ever been this nice to her, but… then again, usually they aren’t in situations like these. It’s a surprise that she can have a kind and caring side like this, too, but Mraya is glad. She likes this side of her more, she thinks.

Never-Gets-Hit wraps her arms around Mraya’s waist again, pulling her close against her body. She feels surprisingly warm, her tough scales pressing against Mraya’s fur. 

“It’s alright,” the Argonian mumbles, tightening her embrace. “We won’t have to go near water again.” 

“Thank you, Nev,” Mraya whispers. “Without you I wouldn’t have been here.” 

“It’s fine,” Never-Gets-Hit responds, burying her nose into the still damp fur on Mraya’s neck. “Just focus on getting warm now. And, uh… I’m sorry. For not liking the idea of a new recruit at first. You’re… not so bad.”