Freed From the Web (how Kat got her hands on a manor)

[𝐊𝐀𝐓 ᴀᴋᴀ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻]

"I come peacefully presenting purposeful words in the hopes of clearing the misunderstandings of our failed exchange." Anwen said, bowing slightly while keeping her luminous eyes on Kat.

Kat narrowed her eyes, jaw clenching. Her eyes swept over the elf suspiciously. They rested a few moments longer on the bound axes before they returned to her face.

"I have brought sustenance, stolen from a terrified serving girl, as well as alcohol. The serving girl was quite adamant this be presented to you without fail. However, the liquid in question," - Kat's attention immediately went to the platter, both brows raising, "was of questionable quality. I have brought you something better in replacement. Will you agree to speak with me?" Anwen stood back up straight and stretched her arms forward, presenting Kat with the covered platter.

"Ppfft.... Ye had me at liquid. Which better be alcohol," there was a brief pause, "Come in then." She stepped back cautiously, allowing the elf to continue carrying the platter, "Just, uh," her eyes scanned the room as she squinted. The room was quite small, the twin sized bed, unmade, taking up much of the space. Next to it was a night stand with an extinguished candle that looked to have only enough wick left to burn for another minute- if it was lucky. In the corner was a storage box, her bag at the foot of the bed. From one corner of the room to the other was a clothes line full of what appeared to be half-heartedly washed clothes, many full of blood stains. The air was heavy with the scent of them and stale booze. Strewn over everything were dirty clothes and empty drinking bottles.

Kat strode over to the night stand, and delicately picked up a sock that had been hanging off the corner of the drawn, tossing it toward a corner. "Right here," she tapped the top of the night stand. "Can put that right here."

Anwen nodded, moving over to place the tray upon the table.

Shaking her head, Kat nodded to it, "Ye open it, slowly," she instructed, side stepping back a few steps. 'just in case'.

When the cover was removed from the tray, the scent of mashed potatoes, gravy and fresh sausages filled the room. Lying atop the potatoes was a flask. The sight made Kat blink, an impressed light shining within her eyes.

"Alright..." she began, sliding back to sit on the edge of the bed, nodding to the platter, "Yer gonna sample everything, before I touch any of it," there was a thin smile, "I have poisoned one too many meals and drinks in me line of work to accept any second hand sh*t without precautions. So... Enjoy. And start apologizing."

[@sylverdubs]

"Simply sampling savory foods to set the stage? Had I wanted to eliminate you, I would have chosen a method more direct than poisoning your food. The mistrust is understood and so I will comply. First though, a grandeur gesture of peace..." Anwen took the tightly wrapped weapons under her arm and tossed them on the bed, easily within Kat's reach and very much out of her own.

"It would also be proper to tell you, since you seem not to know, that bosmer are inherently much more resistant to poisons, as well as diseases, than most of the other races of Tamriel." She tilted her head to the side, lips tightening in a thoughtful grimace. "Except Argonians. Tough, stringy meat with an acrid taste. Not worth the effort."

Anwen plucked the fork from the platter and sampled in turn the mashed potatoes (grimacing) and the sausages (nodding in satisfaction.). "Good enough I suppose." She then picked up the flask, removed the cork and took a sip of the liquid inside. She swished it in her mouth for a longer time than was proper then swallowed. "As expected, no surprises. It aged well. The manor's cellar has a few more bottles of this. That information may be relevent to you later." She stepped back and looked patiently at Kat.

"I am... unused to dealing with other people, that is clear to even the most studious of Moth Priests. What you rightfully readily regarded as a sign of aggression was not intended as such. In lieu of tribute, I offer vows of contrition and a renewed offer of passing my ...property... onto you. With a few slight changes to the offer."

[𝐊𝐀𝐓 ᴀᴋᴀ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻]

Leaning back on the bed, her palms sliding out behind her, she listened to the elf ramble. Her head was tilted to the side, nodding slowly, both brows raised. Her eyes slid to the weapons when they landed beside her on the bed. The act made her press her lips together into a thin, pleased smile.


"It would also be proper to tell you, since you seem not to know, that bosmer are inherently much more resistant to poisons, as well as diseases, than most of the other races of Tamriel," Anwen continued.

Oh, she was still talking? Sighing, she pursed her lips.

"Except Argonians. Tough, stringy meat with an acrid taste. Not worth the effort."

Kat's lips curled into a disgusted sneer. It almost sounded like the elf ate Argonians. She took a breath to inquire, when Anwen dug into the food. As the elf ate, Kat kept a careful stare on the woman's face, looking for even the barest hint of reaction. When the potatoes were sampled, she scoffed with a laugh, "Yeah, I don't much care fer vegetables... Meat, meat, and more meat is about how I prefer to eat," her voice dipped into a low purr, "Nice and bloody."

Standing quickly, she swiped the flask from the elf's hand and plopped back onto the bed. Her dull gaze brightened at the end of Anwen's spiel. "Ah, aye! The property... Now we be getting to the point." The flask was tipped up to her lips where she took a long haul, hissing the next words, index finger raising from the flask to point at the elf as she continued to speak, "Ye still want to pass it off eh?" a long belch rolled off her lips as she sighed. "What be the catch this time."

[@sylverdubs]

"Catch? No, no catch." Anwen shook her head, making her braids clatter. She sighed and stepped from one side to the other. "This time we will destroy the web, not entangle ourselves further." The bosmer sat cross-legged on the floor, hands laying loosely in her lap. "I need to be rid of it. Completely. The manor, I mean. The web is... harder to escape, but I am close. Close enough."

She lounged back, supporting herself on her hands as she leaned back. "This room does not suit you. It might shelter you but it makes you a carefully caged creature. You should be like the senche, free to roam with a territory to claim, defend and fight for. This I have and, as this room is to you, it does not suit me any longer."

A small bug crawled around the wooden floor, searching for something to eat or cool dakrness to hide in. Anwen picked it up and popped it in her mouth. The bug crunched under her teeth noisily as she chewed. "My conditions are thus: I will no longer wish to reside anywhere on the grounds. Not yet, perhaps not ever. However there is one room which you should keep strictly off limits. It holds a large black soulstone containing the trapped soul of my former master. Release it at your considerable peril."

Abruptly she stood and kept her pale eyes on Kat. "A story for another time. The soulstone will pose to threat to you and yours if left undisturbed." She nodded her heads towards her axes. "My weapons are yours to withhold, until such a time as you believe me worthy of your trust. I seek purpose and you may yet give it to me. That is what I was led to believe."

[𝐊𝐀𝐓 ᴀᴋᴀ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻]

"There it starts..." Kat drawled, leaning forward, gesturing vaguely at the elf, "the riddles n weird sh*t." There was a light shrug, her elbows now resting on her knees as her hands hung loosely between her legs, index fingers brushing against each other as she moved. "But," she sat up, "If ye really wanna get rid of that huge ass place by giving it to me, I aint gonna complain. Ye can talk anyway ye want."

Kat nodded as Anwen continued, her amber eyes drifting lazily about the cramped, and cluttered room. The elf was right. This closet didn't suit her at all. She had always intended it to be temporary. However, with the amount of bounty she had on her head every time she went to work (and screwed up resulting in her capture) she wasn't getting ahead anytime soon to move out. It had become a growing thorn in her mind. How familiar and wonderful being at that palace felt. Not really the palace itself per se, but the property it was on. The ocean and the heat. Perhaps, she had thought, if she was there long enough, the tide may bring in memories of who she was.

Wet crunching noises brought Kat back with a start. Her noise wrinkled when she realized what the elf had done. "Ye know, ye brought a f***king plate of sausages in here, er would ye like them seasoned with dirt and sh*t from the floor? I could stick one up me ass and twirl it around a bit too if ye would like extra special frosting." Her tone was mildly playful, but the undertone of seriousness would make the more observant possibly queasy.

The moment the word 'soul-stone' was mentioned, however, Kat went deathly quiet. Soul-stone. Soul-stone. Her fingers began to twist oddly, dancing limply in the air as her eyes unfocused. There she sat, for a few minutes, until finally her right hand turned over, palm upward and cupped. She glanced down, expecting to see something there, yet there was nothing.

"Soul-stone..." she intoned, already shaking her head dismissively, pressing a fist into the other to crack her knuckles almost as loudly as Anwen's insect crunching, before shaking out her hands.

"Aye, whatever, sure. I be sure that place got enough spare rooms, I can spare one fer a... soul.... stone. Long as this.... former master person aint gonna be oozing out at some point and trying to off me in me sleep. If there aint a lock on the door, put one on it, enchant the f***ker and keep the key. f***k knows," she began to laugh a bit, taking another drink from the flask, swirling the liquid in her mouth, "the sh*t I can get up to when I be proper loaded."

"My weapons are yours to withhold, until such a time as you believe me worthy of your trust. I seek purpose, and you may yet give it to me. That is what I was led to believe."

"Wood-gnat," Kat began dubiously, "if that be the condition yer leaving them with me, ye aint never gonna get them back. Only person I trust be meself. Would take a sh*t tonne more than a plate of potatoes and sausages," raises the flask, "and booze, no matter how decent, to change that."

Grunting, she pushed up from the bed, pressing her free hand into her hip, looking down at the elf. "So," she grinned wryly, "When do I get to go home?"

[@sylverdubs]

"The soul stone is of no concern, as long as it is left alone. I will find a lock though such means of protecting precious personal items or dangerous artefacts is pathetic, at best."



Anwen frowned at Kat for a long moment. "I am Anwen. I am not a gnat." She almost seemed puzzled that she would be called that. "Ahn-when" She pronounced clearly and slowly. "Ahn...when".



"Trust has many levels" She said, looking at the axes on the bed. "You can trust someone to work for you, fight for you, even while making sure you can keep an eye on them. I came to rid myself of the manor though. If you choose to be rid of me at the same time, I will not pursue the issue." She picked up her weapons, leaving them tied together and holding them loosely, clearly still making sure Kat doesn't see it as a threat. "The key is still in the door to the manor courtyard. Hopefully no one has moved in since. They are yours to evict should that be the case. I will visit later to show you the room to avoid and lock it."



Anwen moved to pass Kat and leave the room.

[𝐊𝐀𝐓 ᴀᴋᴀ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻]

Palming her face, Kat shook her head. "Ye tell me yer weapons be mine to withhold, then ye go and take them back? sh*t getting lost in translation somewhere, elf?" her tone was moderately teasing, still that darker undertone remained.

"I choose to not be rid of ye just yet. I tend to appreciate the importance of useful people," her eyes washed over the thin form of the elf, a slight tinge of disdain coloring her words, "Even if they be an elf. I mean hey... Yer suddenly one of the most useful people I've met in a while."

A toothy grin was flashed as she nodded, "Any papers we anything I need to spit on to prove the place be mine now?"

[@sylverdubs]

Anwen simply hands her axes over to Kat, bowing slightly with an arm across her chest, hand fisted.

"No papers. The manor has been in my master's possession for centuries. If anyone comes to challenge you for it, I am certain you will be able to show them the error of their ways."

[𝐊𝐀𝐓 ᴀᴋᴀ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻]

Kat winks and accepts the axes with a light smirk and flutter of her fingers. "See ye around, elf."