* * *

Chapter 12c ? The Fighter


Then Tadrose was opening a door, and Teresa immediately recognized the clacking sound of wooden practice swords issuing from within. She followed the Dunmer into the room beyond to find that it was a wide chamber with a high, vaulted ceiling. The walls were lined with racks of both real and wooden practice weapons, as well as shields and armor. The rest of the room was completely bare however, and in that great open space she saw two men facing one another with wooden swords.

Both seemed to be middle-aged. However, there the similarities between the two ended. One was dressed in a fisherman's garb of dark pants and a plain, flaxen shirt. He had the brown hair of a Breton, tousled around his head in a wild mess. His stomach protruded from his waist in a short paunch, and his skin sagged loosely on his frame. Sweat beaded on a face that was lined and worn, like leather that had soaked in water then dried out and cracked. His eyes had a slack, hollow look within them, and he gulped for breath as he moved his sword from one position to the next.

The other man was an Imperial with dark, closely-cropped hair going to grey at the temples. He wore nothing but a simple pair of cotton breeches, revealing a chest of finely-chiseled muscles that fairly gleamed with dried sweat. His face was as strongly featured as his body, in a way that Teresa knew most women thought was attractive. Methredhel would describe him as 'easy on the eyes', she thought. His gaze was bright and hard, like steel glittering in the afternoon light, and quickly settled upon the pair of women in the doorway.

He paused in the workout, stepping far enough back from the other man to be out of reach of his sword. Tadrose held up her hand for Teresa to wait by the door, and then walked over to the Imperial. The two of them spoke in low tones, too quietly for Teresa to hear them. Yet they both looked over at her several times. Finally Tadrose returned to the doorway while the Imperial resumed the workout.

"Gaius still has some time to go in the session," Tadrose said quietly and led the wood elf back into the hallway, closing the door behind them. "Aleron's a paying customer, so Gaius cannot cut it short. Although what that fisherman's paying with I have no idea?"

"Do you do a lot of that?" Teresa asked.

"Yes, it is one of our best sources of income in fact," Tadrose replied. The dark elf took a seat on a wooden bench along one wall and motioned for Teresa to join her. "We can do half a dozen or more training sessions a single day, either one-on-one or in groups. On the other hand a single bodyguard contract can last for weeks. Vincent - he's our other member - is on a job taking someone to Skingrad right now. He probably will not be back for at least another week."

Teresa nodded and laid her pack down before sitting beside the other elf. "This place seems awfully big. So is it just you, the commander, and that Vincent here?"

"It is now." Tadrose looked down at the floor, the bright expression on her face vanishing like the sun behind a storm cloud. "There is Tavian too, but he is just the porter, not a fighter."

Teresa wondered what happened to the rest of them, but did not want to open up what were clearly fresh wounds by asking. Then she remembered what Valfreya had said on the road south to Bravil. "The way I hear it they lost most of the guild at Bruma." Now that she thought about it, she recalled Volsinius saying something like that as well.

"If you have things to do I can just wait here by myself," Teresa finally said, breaking the awkward silence that was growing between them. She gestured at the thick leather apron that Tadrose wore, and the grime on her features. "I can see you're in the middle of working."

"That is alright, I am all done in the forge for today," the dark elf said, glancing back to the closed door to the training room. "Besides, I doubt Aleron in there can last much longer."

"So is the other one Pappy then?" Teresa asked. "A soldier told me that was the name of the head of the guild down here."

"Yes, that is what most people call Gaius," Tadrose smiled ever so slightly then. "He is not quite forty, but that is older than most guild members."

It was more than twice as old as she was herself, Teresa thought. He was old enough to be her father, that was for certain, probably as old as Volsinius. She wondered what would keep him fighting after so long. Perhaps like Vols, fighting was all he really had in life?

"So what is it like in the guild?" Teresa asked. "I mean, what are the rules? How does it all work?"

"Well, the rules are pretty simple," Tadrose said. "You have to obey the laws of the Empire, and do what the Guild commander says. Not that Gaius is a tyrant or anything. You do not have to take every contract that comes up, but if it looks like you are just taking advantage of the Guild for free room and board you will be sacked."

"How do you get contracts?" Teresa asked.

"Gaius will assign them to you," the dark elf explained. "The way it usually works is that people who need the Guild go to him. I thought you might be here to take out a contract in fact. He makes all the negotiations. Then he decides how many people the mission needs and assigns them. You go out and do the job, then when you come back you receive your portion of the payment."

"What if someone comes directly to you and wants to hire you for something?" Teresa asked, thinking of Umbacano.

"You can either direct them to Gaius if you do not want to do the hondling," Tadrose said, "or you can make the arrangements on your own. But if you do it yourself afterward you have to give one fifth of the payment to the guild. That is the standard cut the guild takes for all contracts. Why, do you plan on making a lot of your own contracts?"

"A high elf in the Imperial City hired me to find some Ayleid artifacts for him," Teresa said, thinking of how much money one fifth was. "That's why I came down here in the first place. Most of them should be in this area. That is a lot of money to give up though?"

"Well, these guild halls do not pay for themselves," Tadrose said, gesturing at the corridor around them. "While you are in the guild you will have free room and board at every guild hall in Tamriel. We will also perform upkeep on your armor and weapons free of charge. We provide healing and shield potions for your contracts too. If you do not have any gear, we will supply it, but the cost will be taken from your pay. We also have arrangements with most Mages Guild chapters for discounts on spell instruction and enchantments, the same with the best armorers and weapon-trainers in Cyrodiil. Not that we are unskilled at doing the last two of those ourselves."

Teresa nodded. It did seem like quite a bit, she thought. If she could get contracts that took her back to the Imperial City, then she could stay at the guild hall there for free and visit Simplicia at the same time. "What if I decide I don't like it, and I want to quit?"

"Then you say so and that is all there is to it." Tadrose replied. "You have to turn over any guild property in your possession of course."

"So what about training, how does that work?" Teresa said.

"Believe me, you will be getting more of that than you bargained for!" Tadrose smiled once again. "It is something Gaius and I have been talking about. All in-house training is free. Anything going outside the guild you will have to pay for, but like I said, we have arrangements with the best teachers in the province."

"Like Alix Lencolia?" Teresa found herself asking.

"Yes." One of the dark elf's eyebrows arched at the name. "You have heard of him?"

"I met him on the way here, at the Faregyl," Teresa explained with a faint smile. "He mentioned joining the Fighters Guild."

The door beside them opened, and both women looked up to see the middle-aged Breton walk out. He was covered in sweat and gasping for breath. Behind him strode the guild commander, who was not even breathing hard.

"Come back tomorrow and we will keep working at it," the Imperial smiled.

The Breton shook his head and muttered something Teresa could not hear. As he staggered down the hallway the commander looked at Teresa.

"You are Teresa then?" he asked. "Tadrose says you are looking to join the guild?"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subrosa_florens/oblivion/Oblivion274.jpg

"Yes," Teresa rose to her feet to face him. "We've been talking about it."

"And she hasn't talked you out of it yet!" he laughed, extending his open hand. "I'm Gaius Vitellus, but most people just call me Pappy."

Teresa took his grip and watched as her hand disappeared within his own. His clasp was hard as iron, and the wood elf had to resist the urge to wince as his fingers closed in on hers like a vise. Looking back up, she saw his blue eyes were locked upon her own. She wondered if this was some kind of test, and stared back at him while squeezing his hand as hard as she could in return.

"I will go get cleaned up," Tadrose murmured, wiping her grimy fingers on her leather apron. She made her way past the two of them and disappeared down the hallway.

"Let's go for a walk while we talk," Pappy suggested. He released his grip and immediately made his way down to the opposite end of the corridor. Teresa had to hurry to gather up her pack and bow stave in order to keep up.

"The first thing I need to know is whether you are currently wanted for any criminal offenses, and if you have ever been convicted of a capital crime," the middle-aged Imperial said as he walked.

"No," Teresa replied, "I already told Tadrose that."

"I know," he said. "She told me that you are not on our wall of shame either. But I still have to ask anyway."

He stopped at a door and turned to look her in the face. "I also have to run a background check on you. You need to tell me right now if that is going to come up with something or not. Because believe me, I will find out if you have been incarcerated."

Teresa bit her lower lip, wondering if she should tell him about the prison.

"All right, out with it." he said, crossing his arms across his chest as she stared at her.

"Well, I did kind of go to prison a few months ago?" Teresa looked down at her feet, then raised her eyes back up to his. "But I was never charged with anything, and the Chancellor gave me a pardon."

"What?" The commander's eyes opened wide. "How do you go to prison without being charged? And how did you get a pardon?"

"Well, it was on the account of the Emperor, and the Amulet of Kings," Teresa said, looking down again. "Then Jauffre of course, erm, I mean the Grandmaster of the Blades. Well, before Baurus, but I met him too? He talked to the Chancellor because of what I did, Jauffre I mean, not Baurus."

"What on Nirn are you babbling about?" the Imperial stared down at her with an incredulous look.

Teresa felt her heart sink as she went back to the beginning and explained everything that had happened to her after waking up in the Imperial Prison. The way she found herself in a cell with no idea of how she got there, meeting the Emperor, watching him die, and taking the Amulet of Kings to Jauffre at Weynon Priory.

"Are you expecting me to believe that load of minotaur manure?" Pappy exclaimed. "Damn kid, if you are going to lie, at least make it something believable!"

"I am not lying!" Teresa felt heat rising in her ears and cheeks as she stared back at him. "You ask Baurus, he will tell you! Check with the prison too. They say I was never even there! My pardon is on record too, even though I was never charged with anything!"

"Are you crazy, is that it?" the Imperial said, now standing with arms akimbo.

"No!" Teresa resisted the urge to poke him in the ribs. She remembered what had happened when she had lost her temper with Volsinius, and did not want a repeat of that occasion. "I am not crazy, and I am not lying damn it! That is how it happened!"

"Well telling people a story like that, what do you expect them to believe?" the Imperial said in a quieter voice.

It took every ounce of Teresa's will to avoid curling her hands into fists. She felt her heart beating as if she were in combat. She tried to slow its wild pounding and steady her breathing. She had to keep control of her temper, she thought. What would the Emperor think if he could see her now? Would he be proud of her, or disappointed?

"Look, you have met the Emperor right? I mean Uriel, not his son Martin." Teresa forced her voice into a lower tone, focusing on the image of the Emperor in her head. When the Imperial nodded, she went on. "Well, he believed in me. When he talked to me, it was like he and I were the only two people in the world. He showed me that I could be a better person than I was, that I didn't have to be a street urchin all my life. He showed me that I can make a difference in people's lives. I can still see him in my head, and hear his words. There is nothing I would not have done for him."

"I'm sorry that I don't have statues of me like Baurus does, or bard's singing about me, or a grass crown like you." Teresa went on. "I'm not a hero. I'm just a regular person. But that doesn't mean I cannot do my part to make the world a better place to live in. The Emperor believed in me, and if he did, then you should too."

Atta girl, T! Way to come down from that temper of yours!

I really love the way you've developed Pappy's character in just a couple of sentences. He really came to life in just that one scene where he is training Aleron. That's great writing!


Oh, and your earlier comment:


That's how I look at the men in the game! :hubbahubba:
Be sure I will check out Tadrose, too, just out of curiosity!

Woo Hoo! I was going there to check out Tadrose anyway, Now I need to see Pappy too! (or have I already?...I may go check out your old thread and see what is standing on the front porch of the Fighter's Guild there!!! ) - Oh yes, and here is the link :


http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1047284&st=120


I agree with Hauteecole Rider, you really developed his character so quickly and subtly that it just slips up on you - like you did Vols! Awesome as usual Ms. Minx of Minxonia !!



ok, here is the real scoop, she (SubRosa) was just being a minx (as usual) by not putting the screenshots in, so I will do it for her!:


Pappy:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subrosa_florens/oblivion/Pappy04.jpg


Tadrose:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subrosa_florens/oblivion/Oblivion131.jpg


*

This was fabulous!

Plenty more insight into what makes Teresa tick, while fully developing an entire new guild with loads of wonderful TF flourishes. You imparted a great deal of info on the guild without the slightest hint of a data dump - testimony to your skill with dialogue.

I'm sure there will be plenty more of Tadrose and Gaius ahead - you are doing a superb job of developing them by their actions and words.

As ever, your descriptions and dialogue are both rich and effective.

I find your decisions and choices on when to linger and lavish vs when to move on and add action to be flawless. Your stories are ALWAYS a satisfying joy to read.

Sorry, I couldn't find any things to pick on like typos and such. :lmao:

Woo Hoo, I like the one with his shirt off - I see Maxical coming back to life and visiting the Fighter's Guild in Bravil, lol.

Wow, I've missed alot since I've been gone. Great job on these chapters. They're good. . . really good. I kind of want to go visit Bravil to see if I can see what you described.

However, I would've never guessed that Teresa would be a Fighter's Guild recruit. I'm kinda surprised, but in a good way. I'm a big fan of the FG, so I'm glad to see that Teresa's interested.

Keep up the good work!

How nice of you to pick up on the joke about dykes :rofl:
Another nice addition!

hauteecole rider: Thank you rider. Teresa is indeed trying to learn to rein in her temper. As you will see in the next few posts, her successes are still not guaranteed however...

Pappy is coming across? Good. We will see more of him in the next post or two. He is inspired by a real-life person (and a rather sensationalized version of the same person from on an old tv show). Can anyone guess who?


Countess mINX1 of TransMinxonia: You might be disappointed with the Tadrose you see in the vanilla game. As with Nerussa, I used the CS to give her an entirely new outfit (normally she wears iron armor).



Acadian: Thank you. I am glad the dialogue flows naturally. It is a concern of mine when there is so much of it at once. But that is what happens when you put two women together. They talk. In this case I also wanted to show that Teresa wants to know more about the FG before she decides if she really wants in or not.


Broken-Scale: Thank you Scale. Most people probably figured Teresa for a Thieves Guild recruit, at least at the beginning of the story. She never would have imagined herself in the Fighters Guild back then either. Yet this is exactly where her feet have led her. Not that she is necessarily going to join that is. As the ending of this chapter has shown, the FG is more than a little skeptical about her...


RemkoNL: I make it a point to pick up dykes... :hubbahubba: (comes with the whole lisbian thing... ).

Thank you.

Is it the A Team?

Tadrose looked great, but "Pappy" ... Bleah. You must have worked really hard on both his looks and personality to get him like he is on your game, in my game the Porter was nicer and looked better than Pappy and by the way everybody - the Porter did not follow me around and act creepy!!!!! I think I found a glitch in there, the Khajiit was clearly dressed in a dress, but the Porter called it a "He" - so I went and talked to the Khajiit, and it had a female voice too! What gives there? ROFL.

*Bzzzt!* Thank you for playing, but please try again. The A-Team is not where Pappy is inspired from. Try a decade earlier.

Pappy is not in the game dear, he is entirely fictional. You were probably looking at Vincent, whom I also replaced with a new face. The bug with people referring to Nahsi is a common one in Oblivion, the voice actors just used the wrong pronoun is all. Either because they messed up, or whoever gave them their lines did (or the character was meant to be male to begin with and was changed to female after the voice acting was done).

I am ineligible for this contest due to inside info.

:whisper: I shall however, relay your success to Acadian Sr.
Don't forget: Drinkin' & women, but no paperwork.

Surely you can't mean that old show Maverick, if I am too young to have been a fan, then I KNOW you are too young to have seen it!!!!! - Oh wait, was it the Black Sheep Squadron? That would explain Acadian's reluctance to vote!

Pappy reminds me of Pappy Boyington, of the TV series "Baa Baa Black Sheep."

I watched that show religiously every week. And I mean EVERY week.

I had just learned about six and thought R. Conrad was HOT. Heck, I thought he was HOT when I was three years old and watching him in "Wild Wild West" from the doorway of my bedroom. It was always on past my bedtime, and I could see the TV from my room (we lived in a small ranch house).

Tell me I'm right, puh-leeze!

You are right! It is Pappy Boyington/Robert Conrad. When I was little I used to pretend to sleep every Sunday night at 11:30pm, but really I was watching reruns of Wild Wild West with the sound down way low so my parents could not hear it. I was an ardent fan (by Azura!) of Baa Baa Black Sheep (or Black Sheep Squadron if you will). I got the first season on dvd last summer. I am saving up the last episode for a few more chapters in, to help me get the flavor of Pappy. In spite of all the inaccuracies, pure fiction, and just plain silliness, I still think it is loads of fun. Usually macho-man types annoy the crap out of me. But once and a while a guy does it right, and they are awesome instead. Robert Conrad is one of the latter.

Couldn't have said it bettah!

*Charges in with a P-47 and does a loop and a roll at the top of the loop*

WOOO HOOOOO!!!!

Chapter 12d ? The Fighter


The Imperial stared at her for what felt like an eternity. Yet Teresa knew it was probably only a few moments. Then he relaxed his stance and his eyes took on a sparkle.

"Alright kid, let's see what you can do." Turning, he opened the door in front of him and stepped through it, motioning for Teresa to follow.

"I am not a kid!" The growl escaped Teresa's throat before she was even aware she was going to speak. "My name is Teresa, get used to it."

That brought a laugh from the much older man, who turned back to look at Teresa as she stepped through the door. She found herself in a huge field that stretched out behind the guild hall. It ended at the city wall at the far end, and was separated from the rest of the city by low, stone walls to either side. The grass of the field was trampled down under her feet, giving Teresa the impression that people must walk on it a great deal. At its far end, against the stones of the city wall, she saw several archery butts. Only these were not the round targets she had always seen before. Instead these were shaped in the silhouette of a person, with several colored regions fanning out from the center of the chest.

Pappy stepped over to a well near the back door and drew a bucket from its depths. Teresa jumped back as he upended the contents over his head and gasped.

"Achh! that's cold!" he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as he wiped the water from his eyes.

"And you say I'm mad?" Teresa said, now it was her turn to lift an eyebrow.

"If you spent all day holding workouts and training sessions, you'd be happy for a bath too," he remarked as he picked up a small hourglass. Then he stepped away from the building and out into the field.

"My idea of a bath comes with a tub, or at least a lake or a river." Teresa remarked as she followed.

"A good soldier improvises," Pappy said with a smile. "Alright Teresa, you got balls the size of an ogre's. I like that in a fighter. Now let's see if you can back it up. So string your bow tub-girl."

He waited for Teresa to do as instructed, and then pointed at the targets down the field. "I want you to fire as many shots as you can, as accurately as you can. One arrow per target, starting from the left. You have one minute, now go!"

Pappy turned the hourglass over, and with that Teresa knew she had to move. Without looking down, she drew an arrow from the quiver at her right hip and set it to the nock. Her eye was on the left-most target down range as she drew the fletchings back to her cheek. Letting half the air from her lungs, she loosed and reached for another arrow.

"Come on, pick up the pace!" Pappy shouted in her ear. "My grandmother can shoot better than that!"

Teresa felt her heart double its pace in an instant at his scathing words. Yet she did not look away from the second target as she nocked the next arrow and drew its feathers back to rest against the soft skin of her cheek. She breathed out and loosed, moving her eyes to the third target and reaching for another arrow.

"Time is running out while you play with yourself kid! Speed it up!" Pappy continued to yell at her.

Teresa felt the familiar warmth of anger spreading through her cheeks as he continued to scream at her. She did her best to ignore her feelings, and him, and concentrated on her shooting instead. There was nothing but her, the arrows, and the targets, she thought. All she had to do was put them together. With that in mind she continued to fire until finally Pappy waved a hand in front of her face.

"That's it Teresa!" he exclaimed, holding the empty hourglass up with his other hand. He was grinning now. "You got six shots, all center mass, with me screaming in your face. That's good. That's damn good! The legion couldn't do better."

Teresa realized that her chest was heaving up and down for air, and forced herself to slow her breathing. Likewise her heart was once more racing like a thoroughbred. She thought about the Emperor again, fixing her mind on his face, remembering the soft tones of his voice. With that she felt herself slowly begin to relax once more.

"You were trying to rattle me, weren't you?" Teresa said, turning to look at the Imperial.

"The last guy I had here only got two shots off before he stopped and got into an argument with me." Pappy smiled. "I like someone who's got sand, but not when they haven't any sense to go with it. He didn't make the cut. You just did."

Teresa nodded, continuing to picture the Emperor in her mind while the excitement of the last few minutes slowly eased from her frame.

"What else can you do?" Pappy asked. "That bow is the only weapon I see you have. You any good with a sword? Or hand to hand?"

"No." Teresa shook her head. "I don't know a thing about fighting close up. I can use some magic though."

"Let's see." The Imperial's eyes flashed at the mention of magic, and Teresa wondered if that was a good thing or a bad one.

Concentrating on the image of an erupting flame, Teresa drew the magicka up from within her. She felt it tingle in the tips of her fingers. Then she pointed her hand across the field and unleashed a ball of flame into one of the targets.

"I know another spell to absorb the vitality of a person, and a healing spell," Teresa continued. "I do not have a lot of magicka though, so I can only cast a few times before I have to wait and let it build back up."

"That's good, a healing spell too you say too? That's even better." Pappy nodded, then turned his head toward the building and shouted in a voice that fairly split Teresa's ears. "Tavian!"

As if summoned by magic, a teen with long brown hair appeared from the guild hall. He wore a simple green flax shirt, and equally plain tan leggings. In spite of his lighter hair, his features looked more like those of an Imperial than a Breton, and Teresa guessed that he was probably just a few years younger than herself.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subrosa_florens/oblivion/Tavian01.jpg

"What is it Pappy?" he asked, his glance bouncing from Teresa to the older man.

"Say hi to Teresa," the guild commander said. Then he jerked a thumb at the archery target that Teresa's spell had set alight. "And put out that fire please, before the City Guard complains again."

The young man nodded once at Teresa and grabbed the bucket from the ground where Pappy had carelessly discarded it. Then he rushed over to the well and hurried to lower it into the water once more. In the meantime Pappy motioned Teresa to follow him back into the guild hall.

"Hi Tavian," Teresa called out to the boy, who was furiously cranking on the windlass. Then she turned to follow the older Imperial back into the building.

"How good are you at scouting?" Pappy said, glancing over his shoulder as he led her down the hallway past the training room. "Sneaking around, being quiet, that sort of thing?"

"I grew up on the streets of the Imperial City," Teresa said with a faint smile. "I've spent most of my life sneaking around, especially when I was living on the Waterfront. Now I have a pair of goggles that let me see in the dark as well."

"Good, I need a scout as well as an archer," Pappy explained. "Akatosh's wings! I need an entire guild again?"

"I know some alchemy too," Teresa offered up as they continued into the bowels of the hall. "I used to make potions for the Thieves Guild back in the city. And no I wasn't in the Guild myself. A few months ago I stopped and started selling them to the Mages Guild and local alchemists instead."

"So you're a connected girl then too." Pappy stopped and turned to look at her once more. "You are just full of surprises. C'mon, I want to see about this alchemy of yours."

"Most people laugh at the mention of the Thieves Guild, and insist it's a fairytale." Teresa said as he led her through another door and down another hallway. "Not you?"

"I was born at night, but not last night kid," Pappy said as they came to the kitchen.

"That's Teresa, old man," the wood elf reflexively corrected him.

"I was born at night, but not last night kid," Pappy said

I see you're witty as well as (I suspect) pretty, kid...oops, Sub Rosa.

*well I have at least 10 years on you, I can call you kid!*

:lol:

Seriously, the whole post is the usual MinxRosa blend of gritty reality and subtle lyrical prose. A style which I said I would try to absorb, am absorbing, and will continue to absorb.

Awesome chapter SubMinxia!! Just Awesome! I loved the interactions between her and Pappy! Teresa's depth never ceases to amaze, how you can put so much of it out in a few short sentences !!! This chapter is def one of my favorites!

Once again, beautifully done! Wonderful throughout with solid descriptions and a nice mix of action to punctuate the rich dialogue.

I like that you have changed the porter from a heavily armored irritant into a more appropriate young 'squire' type. Nice touch.

I also like how you somehow made the pacing of the timed shooting come alive with urgency and pressure.

Great banter between Teresa and Pappy that helped develop both characters entertainingly.

Yay! :goodjob:



You go girl!


Hmm. . .
"Alright kid, let's see what you can do," he said, turning back to the door he stood in front of. He opened it and stepped through, motioning for Teresa to follow.
It may be just me, but this read a little awkward/wordy, and with a lot of 'he's'. Would you consider something like:
"Alright kid, let's see what you can do." Turning, he opened the door in front of him and stepped through it, motioning for Teresa to follow.

Great chapter, I'm starting to really see Pappy develop in front of my eyes (and not quite in the way that D. Foxy would take it, though I wouldn't mind :hubbahubba: ). The admissions test was pretty gritty and realistic, as well as Teresa's persistence in sticking to the bow techniques that have served her so well for so long. Accuracy trumps the number of arrows (or bullets, as the case may be) every time. :gun:

A couple of sticky places for me:



Shouldn't it be "I want you to fire as many shots as you can, as accurately as you can." Pappy has been speaking fairly fluently so far (my impression), he strikes me as being a little too literate (as opposed to illiterate) to not know the difference between accurate and accurately.

and:


I think you have an extra the in there.

I got stuck here:


In its context, I got the impression that Tavian was already far away at this point, so how could Teresa say "hi" so casually to him, as if he was standing next to her? Maybe rewriting the sentence like this:

"Hi Tavian," Teresa said to the boy, who was furiously cranking the windlass, then turned to follow the older Imperial.

Overall, I loved Pappy's dialogue - to the point, but humorous at the same time. That last exchange between them that has already been pointed out is delicious! I especially enjoyed Pappy telling Teresa she has "balls the size of an ogre's!" That's a compliment coming from an old soldier like Pappy! :twirl:

D.Foxy: As much as I would like to take credit for that line, I cannot. That is straight from the ambassador of Detroit, Kid Rock.



And that is Rosa, old man...


mINXoinetta mINXrie: Thank you mINX. Pappy has been an easy character to write, and the interactions between him and Teresa have come out very naturally.


Acadian: Thank you. That was the part in the chapter where things really started happening, so I am glad it worked.

Thank you for the observation on that sentence. I have re-done it to clean it up.


hauteecole rider: You probably will not be seeing Pappy grow in that manner! (now if mINX1 was writing him it would be different I am sure... ) I am glad the shooting test came across as being a challenge. I wanted to present it as being difficult.

I arrived at the number of six shots a minute because that was the rate of fire that veteran English longbowmen could sustain while making aimed shots.

Editory nits noted and picked clean!

Like I said to Acadian, Pappy is easy to write. I have so much to go on for flavor from the tv shows that I have a very clear picture of him in my head.



Finally, the conclusion of chapter 12:

* * *

Chapter 12e ? The Fighter

The kitchen was a simple affair, with an ice box, a large stove, an oven, and numerous cupboards along the walls. A massive table dominated the center of the room. Hanging over it from hooks in the ceiling was all manner of knives, spoons, ladles, pots, and pans.

"Make me a potion," Pappy said, gesturing at the table. "A healing or shield one."

"Okay, I can do that," Teresa breathed. Setting down her pack beside the table, she then unstrung her bow and laid the stave beside it. She rummaged through her pack for her mortar and pestle and set them on the table. Finally she dug through her bag of ingredients until she produced a sprig of lavender and a leaf of aloe vera.

Putting the two plants together in the mortar, she spent several minutes grinding them into an indistinguishable paste. Adding water from a pitcher near the stove, she mixed it all together until it formed a pink liquid.

"The last time I hired someone who said he was an alchemist I found out later that he was full of crap," Pappy explained. "It wasn't until we were at Bruma that it came out he'd stolen the potions and was claiming he made them."

"Well I don't steal anything. I don't even buy my ingredients anymore. I pick them in the forest myself." Teresa held the mortar up to Pappy. "Here you go, one healing potion."

"Okay, show me it works," the Imperial folded his arms across his chest and stared at her.

"Well, go ahead and drink it." Teresa said, offering it to him again.

"Oh no," Pappy shook his head, "for all I know that might be poison."

Teresa sighed and lifted the mortar to her lips. Was this guy ever going to trust her, she wondered?

"Hold on there," Pappy stopped her with an upraised hand. Bending down, he produced a knife from a sheath that Teresa had not even noticed at his ankle. With deft fingers he spun it around in his hand so the blade faced him, and he proffered the hilt to the wood elf.

"Anyone can make pink water," he said. "I want to see that it really works too."

Teresa shook her head and set the mortar on the table beside her. She took the knife from his grip, staring at her reflection in its wide, steel blade. She could not believe how paranoid the Imperial was. But if she was going to get into the guild, she knew she would have to show what she was capable of. That made her wonder if this was not just a test of her alchemical abilities?

Gritting her teeth, she drew the knife across the back of her hand, tracing a long red line through her flesh. Pain flared bright and hot in her skin, and she held it up so Pappy could plainly see the wound. Setting down the bloody knife, she picked up the mortar and chugged the potion as quickly as she could. Just as suddenly as the pain had erupted, it faded away to a memory. She lowered her hand as the last of her flesh knitted closed across it. A moment later there was not even a scar.

"Happy now old bastard?" Teresa said in a low voice, slamming down the mortar on the table with a loud crash and handing the knife back to Pappy. "Or do you want to me to go out and kill a daedroth next?"

"Nah, I'll save that for the next one," Pappy smiled as he took the knife and wiped it clean before placing it back in its sheath. "I'm impressed kid, you got what it takes alright, and then some. Come back in about two weeks and I'll sign you up."

"Two weeks!" Teresa's eyes widened. "What in Oblivion for?"

"That's how long it will take me to check with the prison," Pappy said, his hands falling to his hips again. "Once they tell me you're clean, you are in. I don't even care about the rest of it, but I cannot take you if you have a record."

"What? I just told you?" Teresa fumed. She took her mortar and pestle in hand, gripping them so hard that she could see her knuckles turning white. It took every ounce of her will to stop herself from throwing them at the Imperial.

"Kid, I have heard every story there is, but never one like that," Pappy said. "I like you Teresa. I really do. But I'd be a damn idiot if I didn't check you out first."

"Then why were you wasting my damn time with all this bull!" Teresa could not contain the shout that tore from her throat. "If you didn't want me you could have just said so! You didn't have to lie to me you fetcher!"

"I didn't lie. I want you!" Pappy raised his own voice as Teresa stuffed the mortar and pestle into her pack. "But I'm not gonna stand here and blow sunshine up your ass either!"

"You are so full of it!" Teresa yelled back. Her heart was pounding in her chest again and her skin felt as hot as Oblivion. She lifted her pack over her shoulders and grabbed her bow stave. "Getting me to chop my hand up and waste one of my potions wasn't enough for you? What, you want to jerk me around more?"

"Damnit kid slow down." Pappy said as he stepped in front of her. "I'll give you another healing potion. I'm not trying to screw with you, I just need to know what you can really do."

Teresa looked at him and felt her fingers curl into a fist. They wanted desperately to find a new home in the Imperial's face. But some part of the forester remembered what had happened the last time she was at Methredhel's shack. She was not going to lose control of herself like that again, Teresa vowed. Gritting her teeth, she felt herself start to tremble as she pushed by him and into the hallway.

His hand caught her arm, tugging her to a stop. She turned to face him. He was saying something that she could not hear over the pounding of blood in her ears. As if by its own accord, Teresa felt her arm pull back to launch her fist into his head. A moment later she saw it begin its flight directly at his nose.

"No!" she cried, jerking her arm back with an effort. He just stood there staring at her with those steely eyes, and Teresa realized that he had seen the blow coming and was just waiting for her to land it.

"Go on slug me if it makes you feel better," he said earnestly. "Get it out of your system."

Teresa shook off the hand that gripped her arm. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of the Emperor, like she had before. She pictured his face in her head, and remembered the sound of his voice. Breathing deeply, she tried to will the anger out of her and into the wooden floor underneath her feet. Yet this time it just would not wash away so easily. Instead she could still feel her blood boiling just as intensely as before.

"You sure got the temper to go with that hair Teresa," she heard Pappy say. "Come back tomorrow at midday, I've got some time open then. We'll start training in anything you want, hand-to-hand, sword, knife, mace, you name it. Same thing every day until I hear back from the Imperial City. No charge, same as if you were a member already."

Now she did feel the rage begin to slip away from her. Yet replacing it was a lump in her throat, choking back her words when she tried to speak. She forced herself to turn away as her eyes began to water. Damnit, she thought, she was going to cry. Why? She had been absolutely furious just a few moments ago. Now she was a weeping willow!

Doing her best to hold back the tears, she stomped down the hallway to the foyer where she had entered. Pappy was saying something behind her, but she could not make out the words past the thunder of her own beating heart. Through her watery eyes she saw that an orc sat in the lobby, clad in fine blue velvet and reading a book. He looked up as she entered and opened his mouth to speak. But after one look at her face he shut it again. Teresa turned her eyes away from him, shoving her way through the door and out into the street beyond.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subrosa_florens/oblivion/Ancondil09.jpg


Edited to get the censor tags out.

For some strange reason this thought came into my head - that if Teresa hadn't been gay she would have kissed Pappy at the end of that exchange. Weird.

Well, apart from that weirdness, once again as gritty and realistic as possible. Pappy is the epitome of wariness!

You thought it was a cat fight! ROFL !!!


@ MinxRosa - this was the absolute best chapter ever! (of course, half the words were censored out, and I have been killing myself trying to figure out what your arm could have done that was censored) - very powerful scene, raw emotions - just AWESOME !!!!!!! You are Minxier by the minute !!!!!