Chapter Text
He went to bed after a boring day of putting in applications to anywhere he was even remotely qualified. He sighed for the life he'd promised himself. The rat race consumed his dreams as it does most people his age for a few years. He idly wondered if it wouldn't be more fun to be a dragon hunter in the old days. Too bad adventuring doesn't pay in modern day.
His eyes fall shut to an all consuming void. Suddenly he feels a voice in his very soul. It feels like he is ripped asunder as it thunders through him, more a shockwave than a physical sound. The world needs more Dragonborn. He will aid in the awakening of the strongest and he will be gifted the soul as well. Find Parthanax, he can help. He simply knows this.
He shudders awake to the sound of a wooden cart and horseshoes on cobblestone. With a jolt, he wakes on a carriage, hands bound behind his back facing a mildly annoyed amber-skinned elf.
"FUCK!" He whisper-shouts a curse. "Don't move your head so suddenly. Sun above that hurts."
A voice from ahead calls back. "Be quiet, murderer. You won't have much longer to bear the pain." A couple laughs from the surrounding guard chorus.
"Oh, fuck off all of you. I ain't dying today." The elf mutters back before glaring back at him. "And what about you? Why are you riding to the gallows with a killer? You a thief or just pissed of the wrong noble?"
“Die? I-no! I’m not a criminal! I went to bed and woke up here! These aren’t my clothes, I shouldn’t be here, wherever here is!” Panic rose in his throat like bile, though there may have been some of that too.
The elf laughs darkly. "Sure sure! Deny it all you want but the fact is it's both of us tied up and headin’ for the makers." He shrugs his shoulders to show his arms are tied as well. "We're the same in this instant no matter your crime." His smile stretches into a smirk.
The young takes a moment, as if to process the finality of the statement, before speaking.
“Your ears… you’re an elf? Where am I?”
The smile turns to incredulity. "Are... you serious right now? What forgot your map on your journey? No wonder you got caught." He sneers. "Where could you have come from that elves are a rarity. We're in the nation of Skyrim. Home to conquerors, racists, and criminals. Not a pure soul ends up in these lands."
The guards seem to take offense to his statement and call for their silence again. The elf chuckles but falls quiet at their demands. The gate of a grand stone fortress comes into view ahead on the road.
“Ooooooooh I get it.” The young man sighs. “I’m still asleep. This is just a dream. Okay. Cool. This is fine.”
He turns back to the elf with a new light in his eyes. “Okay mister elf, what’s your name? I want to remember it when I wake up. I’m Tobias. Toby for short.”
"By the eight. He's truly dumb in the head. How hard did you hit him?" One of the guards on the side of the cart cackles.
"I only knocked the little shit out! Barely a graze of the head. Not even a bruise!" Another responds, scandalized.
The elf chuckles again. "Alright, fine. We'll play your little game, Toby~~" He sing-songs in response, ignoring the guards beginning to argue in the background. "My name is Chiraki. Chee-RA-key." He says slowly with a smirk. "Ain't got a secondary name I know of but a dozen titles depending on who ya ask. All good things I'm sure." He winks and Tobias can't help the small snort that escapes.
“Chiraki, sounds cool! Do you know who the guy in the gag behind us is? I get the feeling he can’t tell me if he wanted to.”
“Watch your mouth! You speak of Ulfric Stormcloak! The true high king of skyrim!” One of the other prisoners pipes up from the second cart.
“Pah. True king! Just like I’m a princess.” Snickers the elf, causing an uproar from the collective prisoners and some snickering from the guards. The man in the gag glares at the elf, who smirks tauntingly in return. Tobias gets the feeling this is a touchy subject.
“Shut up, all of you! Or I’ll knock you as stupid as the boy!” The guard yells, after he’d composed himself, and the both of the carts fall silent quickly.
“Guess that answers my question” Tobias mutters under his breath.
Tobias takes the silence to look about and take in his surroundings. The cart they were in looked like those he’d see in medieval festivals. The men around him were wearing various types of armor and light clothes reminiscent of every form of fantasy movie and show he’d ever seen. Some even looked like knights from ancient manuscripts.
And then there was the elf.
Tobias tried to subtly study the elf in front of him. The elf was paying more attention to the forest they were traveling through, perhaps he was plotting his escape route. His hair was a dark brown and braided in three separate braids starting at his temples which were then pulled back with the rest of his hair into a high ponytail. His ears were long, just like the generic style of fantasy elf races, but they twitched and twisted like a cat’s to listen to the guards or the forest around him. His eyes were an amber shade, like honey, while his skin was pale but slightly green in hue. He almost looked like a Vulcan with longer ears and Tobias had to choke back a laugh at that thought.
The elf turned to look at him and snarled when he saw Tobias’ smirk. Tobias quickly looked away to study the rest of the men in the cart and heard the elf scoff lightly.
Soon the carts rattle through the gates and parade the criminals through a small settlement. Children gape in awe at the criminals, who Chiraki smiles at and nods, getting him a sharp remark from a guard. He looks at Tobias with a smirk and rolls his eyes. After a few minutes, they roll into a small square where a block and a man holding a giant axe waits with a languid stance.
"Ah! You're extra lucky today, Toby the Innocent." Chiraki whispers. "The axe is a much less painful death than the gallows."
Before Tobias can respond, a guard orders them all to get off the cart and line up. They check off everyone in a row and then Chiraki laughs when a petty thief tries to make a break for it only to get only a handful of strides away before arrows bring him down. When they go to confirm Tobias, the guard suddenly gets confused. "I... I do not have this man on any criminal list. Have we nabbed a civilian?"
Tobias turns to Chiraki , bouncing his eyebrows smugly. The elf seems genuinely surprised.
“Forget the list. They go to the block with the rest.” The captain snaps.
Tobias’ shoulders slump and his brow furrows. “Worst. Dream. Ever.” He pouts, trudging to the block.
Chiraki, once again, howls at his expense before quieting as they line him up second in line for the block. He snarls at one of the guards being particularly rough with him while the axe falls on the unfortunate soul ahead of him. Chiraki's ears flick upward as distant thunder crashes but his face loses all mirth as he glares at the axeman.
He begins to put up a small fight as they force him forward and Tobias notices a dark shape soar by in the clouds above for just a moment. It takes two guards holding Chiraki's shoulders down to keep him on the block. A distinctly closer clap of thunder roars through the sky as the axe is raised. Tobias watches as a black dragon dives out of the clouds and lands on the tower just behind the axeman, causing him to drop his axe in alarm. Chiraki gets but a single incredulous laugh before the dragon roars and all the stunned faces panic suddenly. As Tobias runs from the dragonfire, he hears Chiraki's victorious screech. "I told you fucks I ain't dying today!"
In the resulting chaos, he's shouldered into the rubble of a house and notices its the elf, who is currently using a metal sliver to cut his bonds loose.
"Quite the fortuitous escape, eh? Escape the block and trade it for dragonfire." He snickers as he gets his hands free.
“Hold on, I think I’m having a heart attack.” Tobias gasps. “Nope, arm’s fine. Pass me the blade when you’re done. I wanna get out of here and… okay so maybe this isn’t a dream.”
Chiraki huffs a laugh. "Oh, what the dragon was just too real for you? Whatever, it snapped you out of your funk." He walks behind Tobias and Tobias feels the blade slide along his hand as the rope falls away. "There. Now come with me if you want to live. We can escape in the chaos and fight off any guards who decide to try and do their duty on the way."
Chiraki peeks out of the small hole of safety they found before looking back at Tobias as his only warning. He bolts out into the town and weaves between the streets toward the carts. The dragon seems to be enjoying destroying the civilian side of town so is away from the square where it landed.
“Hey! Over here!!!” An imperial soldier waves to Tobias, “This way, prisoner! I know a way out!!!”
“Chiraki, come on!” Tobias cries, running towards the soldier.
Chiraki scoffs as he digs through the trunk on one of the carts. He quickly pulls out a small bag, holding it triumphantly before grabbing a pair of daggers from it and running to them. "If you're going to have a problem with me armed, we should split up now imperial." He snarls at the guard and he ties the bag to his belt.
“At this point you could be wielding Wuuthrad and I’d still be trying to get somebody out of here alive!” The soldier retorts. He guides the prisoners to a fortified building, but grinds to a halt at the sight of another nord.
“You’re not stopping us this time, Hadvar!”
“Fine! I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!”
Both men find a door to the building and beckon the prisoners to follow them.
“Chiraki, which way? The angry guy was on the wagon, but the soldier seems nicer.”
"Honestly? I'd like to kill ‘em both and be done with it." He grumbles with a roll of his shoulder. "But I'll admit the soldier probably at least knows where we are going."
Tobias nods and bolts for Hadvar. He holds the door for Chiraki and slams it shut just as the dragon swoops, spewing fire and death.
Hadvar slumps against a bookcase, gasping for air for a moment before addressing Chiraki and Tobias. “You two, find some weapons and armor. We’re going to need them. I’m going to find something for these burns.
Tobias nods and grabs the leather imperial armor and iron sword from the trunks in the room. The armor hangs a bit loose on his slim frame, but he decides it’ll do for now.
As he turns to see if Chiraki has found anything, he sees that the elf has put on a set of dark blackened armor with silver engraving. His silhouette seems to waver at the edges as he waves around his dagger to check it wasn't damaged in their flight. When Chiraki catches him looking, he smirks and winks at him, puckering his lips is a mock kiss. Tobias rolls his eyes and follows Hadvar down the hall towards what he hoped was safety.
The party reached a gate, and noted worried voices discussing their next move.
“Shh. Stormcloaks. Maybe we can reason with them.” Hadvar suggests opening the gate.
The stormcloaks watch wearily with weapons drawn as the gate opens.
"Listen, idiots. None of us like each other but there is a fucking dragon outside. Save your blades for that." Chiraki calls out. "We can all go back to being enemies tomorrow when we are out of this hell hole, alright? For now, numbers mean safer. Let's go."
The stormcloaks look at each other and nod. “Alright. Lead the way.” The woman says, lowering her hammer.
The group dashes down the stairs, and Hadvar grumbles, wishing that torture rooms like this weren’t necessary. The stormcloaks call to their brothers in arms for a ceasefire, and all parties agree. The head torturer decided to stay behind, and so does his assistant. The stormcloaks join the party though.
“Hey, what’s that in the cage?” Hadvar asks the torturer.
“Oh, that poor fellow. Don’t bother. Lost the key ages ago. He screamed for almost a week.”
Chiraki looks disgusted at the man before pulling out a lockpick and breaking open the cage. "At least give the man a burial after all this shit." He mutters before moving over to where Hadvar waited for them to leave, clearly done with this place.
Passing a table, Tobias’ eye is caught by the title of a book. “The book of the Dragonborn,” he reads aloud, picking up the book in a daze as half lucid memories swirl in his mind.
“Just take what you need and go!” Hadvar calls impatiently.
“Sure, take all my things.” The torturer grumbles.
Tobias slips the book under his armor and follows close behind, grabbing an iron dagger and knapsack along the way.
Chiraki shoves his way into the torturer's office beyond and rummages around before coming out and handing Tobias a mace. "You don't even know how to hold that thing." He says gesturing to the sword with annoyance. "This will suit your blundering style until you can be taught."
After handing Tobias the mace, he tucks two books into his pack, Tobias watches as they disappear impossibly into the small bag. He then holds out his hand for Tobias' sword.
Tobias rolls his eyes and sheathes the blade at his waist next to the dagger. “I’ll keep it thanks. Best to have it and not need it.” He gives the mace a few practice twirls, finding the weight isn’t too offensive to his sensibilities.
The group pushes on to the next room. The roof collapses down the hallway, forcing them to duck through a storage room, finding more stormcloaks.
“What’s going on Hilda? Who are the imperials?”
“We called a truce while we had even numbers and would just be killing each other.”
“Well you’ve got us now. Let’s gut the spineless worms and be off.” The new man says with a sick grin.
Chiraki rolls his eyes as the previous allies look at each other and draw their weapons. "You shouldn't have done that." He growls as a black mist begins to envelope his chest. He quickly slits the throats of two of the cloaks behind him before vaulting over a crate to take the head off another. One cloak attempts to retaliate but begins to hack and cough as she gets into the smoke. While she falters, Chiraki easily cuts open her throat as well. An arrow whizzes by his face and he turns and lobs a ball of electricity across the room.
Tobias swings for the choking stormcloak's head, splattering blood and bone across the wall. Hadvar assists Chiraki with his bow, attacking the Stormcloak the lightning was hurtling towards.
As the Stormcloaks across the room were distracted dodging the projectiles, or failing to, Chiraki all but melted into the shadows with the dark clothes and armor. Not to mention his hissing shadow mist cloaking him from sight. The Stormcloaks focus on Hadvar and charge for him only to have Chiraki reappear behind them, snapping the furthest cloak's neck and quickly stunning another with a handful of electricity. He kicks the 3rd aside as he attempts to save their friend, and runs his sword through the flimsy leather armor of his stunned victim. Hadvar finishes off the last and the room falls into blissful silence for a moment.
Chiraki begins to hum a haunting tune under his breath while he kneels by each body to strip them of all valuables. He takes the least bloody uniforms as well to Hadvar's puzzlement. All the extra weapons and supplies disappear into the tiny pouch once again. His song crescendos and he begins to look about the room for supplies.
Amidst his scanning, he notices Tobias sat in a chair lost in thought.
Chiraki heads over and taps Tobias' forehead. He doesn't stop whispering the haunting song, but he takes the mace and cleans the blood from it before handing it back. He tilts Tobias’ chin up and smirks at him mid song before moving on to the chest nearby to root for more supplies.
Hadvar takes a turn trying to comfort Tobias, saying it was okay to need a minute.
"It's just that it was too easy. I just swung and his head burst like a gourd... nasty. I mean I've seen it before but... it doesn't feel much different."
Hadvar places a hand on Tobias’ shoulder. "You're a natural at closing your heart. That's an asset to a soldier. Just make sure you can open it back up when you need to."
Toby nods and stands. Once Chiraki finishes his looting the party of three moves on.
Chiraki finishes his song as they step out of the room and he sighs. "Idiots. We could have all lived to see another day." He grumbles to himself as he hands both Hadvar and Toby a red bottle.
"What's this? Booze?" Tobias asks, holding the bottle to the light. "I'm fine. Thanks, Chi."
Chiraki stares at the boy before laughing. "It's a health potion in case you get hurt. It's brewed with minor restoratives so it should at least dull the aches and heal small wounds." He pats Tobias on the shoulder as he pushes past. “I don’t trust any potions I don’t brew myself, but I figured you two would have no such issues. It may just mean you survive this hell.
Tobias shrugs and follows with Hadvar. They fight their way through more storm cloaks, eventually making their way into a natural cave. "There's something up ahead," Hadvar mutters. Listening closely, Tobias can make out a scuttling sound.
Chiraki drops into a crouch and becomes perfectly still. He almost reminds Toby of a cat watching his ears flick around trying to catch the sounds. He stalks forward and peers around the corner to see what is ahead, steps barely a scratch upon the stones.
As he gets further, Tobias finds it hard to keep track of his silhouette despite knowing where he is. He can’t imagine an enemy trying to track the elf’s movements with that hazy mist obscuring his silhouette in the darkness.
"Is he gonna need backup?" Hadvar whispers to Tobias.
"I don't know, I just met him today. But given the way he handled the Stormcloaks, I think he's fine."
Hadvar nods quietly and they wait as Chiraki disappears from view. There is a couple minutes of silence before an alarmed shout echoes down the cave. "Is that a body?! Who killed him!?" There is only a brief scuffle of noise, but before Hadvar or Tobias decide whether to get up to help, the noise dies and the cave becomes still again.
They hear Chiraki begin softly singing the haunting melody again and Hadvar turns to Tobias. "I think it's clear now."
Tobias nods and moves up to Chiraki. “Hey, up ahead, are those spider webs?”
“For the love of Talos. Those are frostbite spider webs. We need to be careful.”
Chiraki sighs as he looks at the web. "That is going to be annoying. Killing people is easy, but those fuckers we have to be careful with... And someone's people broke my fire bow." He snips at Hadvar.
“Well I like you better when more lightly armed. Your tongue is as sharp as any dagger anyway. Tobias and I can handle this if you’re too tired.” Hadvar hisses.
“Ladies, you're both pretty. Let’s just take care of this and get out of this cave.” Tobias sighs out as the two glare at him.
The group collectively shrugs and makes their way into the chamber. The spiders are dispatched quickly and they moved on.
“Hold up. There’s a bear up ahead. I’d rather not tangle with that right now. Or, you can have my bow elf, to replace the one that broke, and take them out from here.”
Chiraki huffs and holds out his hand for the bow. Once Hadvar gives it to him, with only one arrow he notes with a glare, he takes one of the poison sacs he swiped from the frostbite spiders and coats the arrowhead and part of the shaft. He throws the sac aside and takes aim. His aim hits the bear in the neck where a vital artery is, the poison keeping the bear weak until it bleeds out in mere seconds.
Chiraki smirks at Hadvar and flips his hair over his shoulder. He tosses the bow back to the soldier before he walks to the bear and begins to hum lightly while stripping it for meat and fur.
Hadvar huffs in kind and slips the bow back into his quiver, heading for the cave exit.
“I ship it.” Tobias remarks drily. He was growing tired of his saviors being at each other’s throats over their career choices. Personally he thought there wasn’t a cooler and more adventurous life than that of an assassin.
Chiraki wraps the meat of the bear up in clothes he took from the storage room and bundles up the furs as the two make their way down the cliff of the cave wall. He points down a new tunnel to where light trickles in from a small opening.
"I think that's our exit." He says, closing up his bag and standing up. He seems to have taken even the bones, leaving only a small pile behind. "This may be where our partnership ends."
“And where you get properly arrested by someone who isn’t just out to impress general Tullius.” Hadvar remarks.
“Don’t bother, Hadvar. He’s a professional. You’d be dead before you found some rope. Let me keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble. I have a way with stubborn jerks like him.”
“You’re kidding…”
“Nah. Watch this.” Tobias says, turning to Chiraki. “Chi, you’ll behave and not murder people while I’m around right?” He asks, hoping Chiraki can see him winking in the dim cave.
Chiraki gives a small snort at the wink. "Oh sure~~ Besides, it's not like I know where we are. I didn't even mean to cross the border. I just wanna go home." He says, his face melting into a sad, wistful expression. His ears tilt downward to really sell the kicked puppy look. "I didn't mean any harm."
Hadvar’s glares but relents. “Fine. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve both earned a pardon after a day like today. I’m too tired for this.” He grumbles, leading the group out of the tunnel. “Wait!” He hisses, crouching behind a boulder as the dragon soars overhead, and over the distant mountains, out of sight.
“Damn. It’s headed towards Whiterun.” He pauses for a moment looking at the two men gently shoving each other. “I need your help again. It’s too much of a coincidence that the dragon attacked on the day of Ulfric's execution. I need you two to warn Jarl Balgruf of the dragon. I can follow you as far as Riverwood, but then I have to report back to General Tullius.”
Chiraki nods. "I don't mind playin’ errand boy if it means a town with an inn. Get a lay of the land and where we are." He rolls his shoulder as they stand. "Lead the way, soldier boy. Oh and... don't report that you helped some prisoners escape, yeah? I doubt Tullius will agree about the pardon thing. Don't want you in trouble for your kindness." He smiles as he stretches in the sunlight.
He peers up at the sky. "Looks like the sun is setting. If we dont want to get caught out at night, we best head for your town then."
Shortly down the road to Riverwood, Hadvar stops. “The guardian stones. Three of the thirteen standing stones that dot Skyrim. They’re said to hold a blessing that can be granted to those that pray to them. You should give it a shot Toby.”
Tobias starts at the idea, looking to Chiraki as if for assurance. Chiraki shrugs, his eyes bored but ears twitching. Toby gets the feeling his ears give away his true feelings more than he thinks, and perhaps more than most people realize. Learning to read them would be beneficial if he sticks with the assassin.
"You just go up and touch one. Say a little wish and hope for luck basically." He mutters softly. "Though it never seems to do much for me."
Tobias nods. He approaches the stones. Hadvar explains the blessings of each stone for Tobias before letting him choose. Tobias nods and steps in front of the mage stone. Placing his hand on the stone he feels a tingle up his arm as watches a light begin to glow in the hole in the stone.
“A magic type eh? Well, to each their own.” Hadvar remarks dryly.
It has been a difficult choice for Tobias. On one hand, martial skills like he’d been learning on earth might be good to speed up, but he felt he had a head start on those skills and resolved to learn magic, a completely foreign skill.
Neither Chiraki nor Hadvar made a comment on the glow. In fact, Chiraki came to do the same with the thief stone and nothing of the sort occurred. It seemed the blessing was for him to see and he alone.
Once they had paid their respects, Hadvar led them down the road. It was a long walk, but as the sun began to set, they approached a small village at the foot of the valley.
“Cozy little village.” Tobias remarks.
“I grew up here. My uncle is the smith. He should be able to help us to get where we’re going.” Hadvar explains.
Inside the village, Hadvar heads to the smithy and greets his uncle warmly but with urgency. They head inside and Hadvar tells the story.
“The Jarl needs to know about this.” Alvor exclaims.
“I agree, uncle. That’s why I’m sending these two to whiterun while I debrief General Tullius in solitude.”
“Well in that case you’ll need some supplies. Go rest downstairs for the night and I’ll have packs ready in the morning for you. There’s bed rolls in the trunk.”
Chiraki nods and smiles warmly for once. "Thank you. Would you like some of the hunt we had on the way? Or I can go catch us a rabbit for dinner?" His ears flutter for a bit while he makes pleasant conversation with Hadvar's uncle.
The evening passes pleasantly, including jokes from Alvor about wood elves having a great idea to eat only meat. His wife smacks him for that one.
That night when they’re settling down in the cellar Tobias speaks.
“Hey, Chi? Thanks for agreeing to go to Whiterun, and letting me come with. I don’t think I could do it alone, and I don’t really have anywhere to go…”
Chiraki stares at the ceiling for a moment before nodding. "Yea, that's fine. A job is a job. Any lead toward another job is welcome." He shrugs, ears shifting down slightly. "A nomadic life with no home to return to ain't for everyone. I don't mind it too much. Besides, no one wants to have a thief or a murderer as a neighbor and that's all the world gonna see me as, whether I do or don't."
He leaves it at that and starts shuffling his bed roll out, digging into his small pouch for various animal furs to make a nest of. He doesn't seem interested in sleeping inside the bedroll but rather constructing it into a base for a pile of furs.
“Well, I think you’re pretty cool. Hadvar said you were an assassin, which is different from a murderer. That’s why they’re different words. But I am confused about something. Do you really not eat fruit and veggies?”
Chiraki's ears flatten back to rotate toward him but he doesn't face Tobias. "Plants are... sacred beings to Wood Elves. We protect and revere them as life bringers. They feed the world around us and thus we feed not on them, but only beasts." He says, finally glancing at Tobias. "I do not mind others eating as they are accustomed but I will not partake. It is why I hunt for my own food and why I do not trust potions or remedies of others that are not prepared in front of me."
“That’s cool. And it’s perfectly healthy for you? You don’t have like, certain times you need to have plants? Where I’m from there is a holiday some people celebrate where they fast for a month, but only during the day, because otherwise they’d starve in a week.”
Chiraki stares at him with an unreadable expression, ears pointed forward to listen. "I suppose for others that would be true. I just eat different parts of the beasts than others might. I do not know why it would be unhealthy to do so, but eating varied parts of the beast seems to work out any issues I have." He shrugs.
“Wow. When humans eat nothing but meat we get sick with scurvy. Vitamin C is what stops that and it’s in fruits. Don’t ask me why carnivores don’t get it though.”
"Health potions also help, but again I have to brew my own such that I do not partake." Chiraki says, head tilted. "Perhaps the 'Vetahmin C' you speak of is in this."
“Could be. Well, I’m glad you don’t mind me partaking. It’s for my health. But I do appreciate your culture and agree it’s worth thanking the plants that are the basis of life.” Tobias yawns and lays back on his bed roll. “Good night, Chi. Sleep well.”
Unbeknownst to Tobias, Chiraki was stunned. Most Men don't understand the elves, especially not Wood Elves. While some can keep their opinions to themselves and be civil, most don't think fondly of them. Let alone attempt to understand them and respect it. He stares at the prone form of the Breton... Is he Breton? He certainly looks like a man from Skyrim but more and more Chiraki doubts this.
He lays down in his nest, having completed it in the time they were conversing and watches as Tobias so easily falls asleep with another person in their room. Someone of a different race and a known killer, assassin versus murderer comment aside. There were so many hints that this man was... not as he seemed to be. Displaced somehow from wherever or perhaps whenever he belonged.
Chiraki tried to think back on whether or not he'd seen the Breton getting arrested before being placed on the cart. He knows the guards joked about how they knocked him out but it didn't feel right to him. His mind refused to put the Breton into place in what he remembered of the chaos of his arrest and the arrest of the Stormcloaks not two hours later causing the cramped cart to Helgen. He couldn't place where the Breton had come from and when he thought too hard on it, his head hurt and his mind tried to slide off the subject. Such tell tale signs of memory magic but who could have cast it and why?
He settles further onto the furs, pulling out a small lockpick and practice lock to fiddle with. The man acted shocked to be where he was, claiming it was a dream until completely unable to. He spoke of strange traditions and used words that made no sense. Chiraki had never heard of some of the things Tobias spoke of and his entire life depended on information gathering and collecting knowledge.
He spent the next hour listening to the sounds of the strangest man in Tamriel gently snore in his sleep and contemplating his next move. Perhaps he would stick with this man a bit longer. Chiraki couldn't help but be intrigued by his existence.