//------------------------------//
// Clan: A New Job 
// Story: Skyrim: Band of Thieves 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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After returning to the fort, and seeing that everyone was still hard at work training or making their base even better than it had been previously, it was easy to see how the newcomers were integrating themselves into everything, making sure they were useful to Brurid and Bek-Kajin, just like everyone else. Some of their fellows were interested in hearing about what happened in Riften, even though they knew that Rarity would require more training to be able to fit in with being a thief, all while Midnight would have done well and one even knew that Capper was a prodigy in the making. Capper had to chuckle as he confirmed their thoughts, even though La'nari told their clan mates how he had stood out, doing far more than the rest of the novices combined, meaning there was a chance that he might be approached by Brynjolf again in the future. She knew that the Thieves Guild was in desperate need of good thieves that could turn their luck around and he had shown that his skills were beyond what anyone might have been expecting from that event, meaning they would be fools to ignore someone with his potential.

"There's also the chance that Maven might seek you out, if she saw your skills while we were in the city." La'nari added, a fact that told the group how things were likely going to change for them now that they knew people had seen Capper's skills for themselves, all while she brought her hand to her head for a few moments as she thought about all of this, "Listen, if Maven does show up, I'd recommend taking whatever job she offers, as she pays well and might have even more tasks for you in the future... the few that have turned her down in the past ended up regretting it to the end of their days."

"Darling, do you really think such a classy person would come all the way out here to offer us a job?" Rarity inquired, as it seemed unlikely that Maven would bother with such a thing, instead it was likely that she would keep an eye out for them and speak to them the next time they were in Riften, which means she would be waiting since their next visit would likely be in the next few days.

"She's Maven Black-Briar. If she wanted to she could show up this afternoon and hire us for whatever job she wanted... such is her nature and outlook on life." La'nari answered, as literally everyone in Riften bowed to her whims, even her children did from time to time, despite the fact that one of them happened to be in jail on his mother's orders, which she had no real interest to learn about.

"La'nari's right, it's not worth turning down Maven... not when she could bring an army to annihilate use if we refused any jobs she offered us." Brurid added, as he had been listening to the conversation while everyone else went back to whatever they had been doing before the group returned from Riften, while his tone revealed that he had some dealings with Maven in the past and that it was better to take her jobs, "Plus her jobs tend to pay very well, and completing them within her very specific conditions tends to make her give more jobs to those that please her, so it is worth listening to her and accepting any jobs she sends your way."

Capper glanced at the others before all four of them nodded their heads, as it was basically do whatever Maven told them or risk their clan being destroyed, if she came by to hire him and his friends for a job anyway, something he would keep in mind for later, just in case they were ever approached by the lady. With that in mind he found some of the other members of their clan coming forward to ask about how he tackled pickpocketing in general, as some of them were thieves before coming out here to be bandits and they figured that asking him might help them master an ability they struggled with. It was quite the interesting way to round off their trip and Capper was more than willing to help the rest of the clan master their skills, in fact one bandit was willing to be the target he would be focusing on, allowing him to show off his skills while he noticed that all of his temporary students seemed to be taking notes. Of course there wasn't a lot of paper for them to do such a thing, rather they were observing his motions and how he managed to take the coin pouch out of his test subject's bag without even him noticing, despite the fact that he had agreed to help him with a demonstration for everyone else.

What he discovered, however, was that when he was done with his lesson the members of their clan that happened to be in front of him dropped a small bag of gold on the table that had been to Capper's left the entire time, where Bek-Kajin told all four of them, him and his friends, that when one gave lessons they were usually paid for it, so their clan mates made sure he was paid for his important lesson. This was news to Capper, Rarity, Midnight, and Azure, as La'nari hadn't said a word on it on their way to their new home, but he didn't hold it against her as he collected the pouches and started to count the gold that was inside each one, coming out to fifty coins per bag, and for ten observers that was five hundred coins total. It was a good haul, all things considered, and he was quick to store it away in his bag for the time being, even though he would be storing it in the vault in due time, just to make sure it was safe and sound. Rarity and the others considered such a thing as well, even though Rarity didn't have any skills to offer since making dresses seemed like an undesirable skill in this land, and the former guards seemed lost in thought about this matter.

As they got ready to head inside, however, one of the lookouts informed their leaders that someone was approaching their fort, causing the group to get up on the wall and discovered that it was none other than Maven herself, along with her guard and one other plate armored figure.

"Bandits of Treva's Watch, I seek the one known as 'Capper'. I have a job for him and his associates." Maven stated, which meant that she had been observing them and that he had caught her eye, just as their leaders and La'nari had told them about upon their return to the fort earlier, where Brurid and Bek-Kajin glanced at each other before allowing the main gate to be lowered.

In the next couple of seconds Maven walked into the fort and made her way up to the table that they were positioned near, though no one stopped her from taking the seat, a chair, that was near it, rather everyone seemed intimidated by the fact that she was among them and feared that speaking out of turn might cause her guards to kill them instantly.

"Lady Maven, I am Capper. What is this job that you have for me and my associates?" Capper inquired, as he knew that she was interested in him and his skills, and had seen the others several times while they were in Riften, especially when she just stole everything from one of their shipments, but he wanted to be more like a business person since she was coming to him with a job offer.

"I require you to take a shipment of my mead and deliver it to two locations: the inn in Helgen, who are preparing for the arrival of General Tullius and Elenwen, and the two inns of Whiterun." Maven replied, where her tone told him that she was going to walk out of here with them agreeing to her demands, as it was her way or those who defied her died, meaning he had to think about the specifics of what she wanted from them, before she produced a large sack of gold, "You will be given three thousand septims upon agreeing to the job, and there will be another three thousand upon your return... however, I will expect you to deliver to me the payments from the inns for my mead, otherwise I will deduct it from the final payment. In addition to that I need you to check in with someone while you're in Whiterun, an imperial named Mallus Maccius who will be in the Bannered Mare during his breaks and who should hand you a note for me... delivered it sealed and I might give you a little more money when the job is done."

Capper kept a straight face while everyone else had stunned looks on their faces, as six thousand for a perfect delivery was quite a lot of gold, even split between five individuals since they needed La'nari to help them get to their targets, though this did tell him that she was expecting to make quite a lot of gold from the three locations.

"Sounds like an interesting job. Do you require us to get moving immediately, or do we have to wait for the shipment to be made ready for transport?" Capper asked, where La'nari was honestly surprised by his words, as he was one of the very rare few people that seemed to talk to Maven without being intimidated by her, and it was easy to see that Maven was smiling, like she approved of someone having some backbone while respecting her power.

"I would prefer if you left immediately." Maven stated, where she gestured towards the road and they found that there were a few exhausted workers that were setting the mead crates down on the ground, who must have been carrying them for the entirety of the trip while the soldiers near them made sure they reached their destination without delay, "Succeed in this and I might have more jobs for you in the future... fail... well, you'll wish you hadn't failed when I'm done with you."

Capper nodded his head in agreement and Maven handed over the sack of gold, travel expenses in her mind no doubt, to which La'nari and the others got moving as he tended to the wagon, directing the horses out of the fort so they could cross the stone bridge once more. Once he was on the other side of the bridge the others helped the workers carefully load the crates into the back, which was definitely packed full of bottles of mead, while at the same time it was clear that the soldiers, Maven's own no doubt, were eying them like hawks. It was clear that they were here to uphold her orders to the letter, that if she told them to murder the clan they would do so without delay, but for the time being they seemed to be passive and did nothing as the last of the crates was loaded into the back. The moment that was done Capper and the others returned to their seats on the wagon and made sure there were no other instructions from Maven, who simply moved a hand like she was dismissing them, causing Capper to get them underway as their leaders wished them well.

While they moved down the road, heading back in the direction they had used to first arrive at Treva's Watch, Rarity kept an eye on everything that was behind them while La'nari focused on the road in front of them, before they sighed after putting some distance between them and their home fort.

"Now I really understand what you had said about her previously... I really got the feeling that she could have ended us with a single command if she wanted to." Rarity commented, as being around Maven made her nervous, because the lady really had the power to install fear and respect into everyone that was around her, even hardened and seasoned bandits that had struck fear into the area around their base of operations.

"She could have, if she wanted to... though to be honest, I wasn't sure if she was going to be offended by your lack of fear, but she seems to respect your skills." La'nari said, shifting the focus to Capper once more, as this just confirmed her earlier comment about the khajiit showing off too much of his skills while they were in Riften earlier, the powerful lady wanted to put his skills to use, and no doubt this was just a test run of sorts, to see if he was trustworthy or not.

"Still, she has her own force to deliver her mead to those who are buying it... why call upon bandits for this?" Azure asked, as that part didn't make sense, because Maven likely had her own people who did this and it made him wonder if they were being set up, like she wanted them gone for a long time or something, "You don't think she's going to exterminate the clan to get Capper to join the Thieves Guild, so she can use his skills however she sees fit?"

"That might be too extreme, especially since having a bandit clan in her pocket might be useful." Midnight said, because she suspected that Maven could use them to hinder the transport of mead from any competitors that were scattered across the whole of Skyrim, or whatever businesses she wanted to put herself at the head of, but at the same time she couldn't fault Azure for thinking that, as she had considered it as well.

Capper wasn't sure which was the right option, if he was being honest after considering the information they had, so for the time being he focused on traveling to their first destination, Helgen, which seemed to be where those nobles had been on their way to before he and the others stole their wagon. With that in mind there was a chance that they would still be there, so they might recognize their wagon despite none of their stuff being on it, but he knew it was a risk that needed to be taken since the other path to Whiterun was down a mountain path, much more dangerous than what La'nari had planned. This was why he was grateful for her sudden arrival when they first stole the wagon, because her familiarity with Skyrim's vast landscape, no doubt thanks to her time as a member of the Thieves Guild, was saving them a lot of time and effort, which also meant that she knew the quickest routes to take. He also considered themselves fortunate that they had come this way not that long ago, as it meant that they wouldn't have to stop for anything or anyone, though he knew that they would have to buy some food in Helgen, since Maven insisted they leave without any real preparations, meaning she really didn't intend for them to make off with all the gold she was giving them.

His thoughts were interrupted a few minutes later as they found a group of bandits, wearing an odd assembly of leather and fur armor, blocking the way forward, though unlike their clan these ones seemed like they were done on their luck and had no real skills in being bandits, causing him to bring the wagon to a stop.

"If you want to use this road, you'll have to pay us a toll... and hand over your loot as well." one of the bandits, who had to be the leader, stated, showing them that he believed that he and his three allies had the advantage over the five people that were on the wagon they were trying to rob, thought the reality was that this was four on four, unless Rarity was good to go after her last couple of lessons.

"Sorry, this is the property of Maven Black-Briar, so move it or pay with your lives." Capper stated, though when he found that none of the bandits seemed intimidated by that statement, which might be since they were dressed like the guards that were seen around Maven whenever she was wandering outside the city, causing him to sigh as he nodded to the others, as it seemed like they would have to kill some people to continue moving.

Azure stepped forward and drew his greatsword, the elven one that Capper had given him since it seemed better than the old one he had been using, where he swung it and slashed through one of the fur armored bandits before he even drew his weapon, much to the surprise of his fellows. La'nari took advantage of their surprise by loosing an arrow into the shoulder of a second bandit, knocking him backwards for a moment, causing the other two to move once they realized that this might have been a bad idea, one that couldn't be stopped now that the assault had been started. The third one rushed at them from the side and Midnight blocked her incoming attack, as she had been training off and on in the fort and it appeared that her training had paid off, only to flip over the bandit's head and stab her in the back. Capper found that the fourth one just ignored him and went right after Rarity, though this time around she seemed more ready to fight back as she slashed at him and grazed the side of his arm, drawing blood in the process, something that seemed to make Rarity stall for a moment.

In the next instant something seemed to wash over her as she leapt onto the bandit, knocking him to the ground, before she bit into his neck and started to drink his blood before their eyes, causing her target to shrivel up, like she was greedily taking every drop he had, and when she was finally done Rarity let go of the corpse with a satisfied look on her face.

"Rarity... are you feeling alright?" La'nari asked, because while this was technically the pony's first feeding as a vampire, she was still coming to terms with how fast she had turned and the fact that she seemed just fine in the sunlight, this wasn't what she was expecting from their changed friend, as she had never heard of a vampire drinking all of the blood that was in their target in one go like this, hence her worry for their friend.

"I've never felt better darling. In fact, I feel better than before." Rarity replied, where she had to wonder if maybe she was a unique type of vampire that grew stronger the more she fed, as in the more blood she drank the more power she got, even though she had no desire to actually test and see if her thoughts were right, as she knew she needed control now that she was actually drawn to blood, before she noticed the state the bandit was left in, "Oh my, did I do that?"

"Yeah... it's not a pretty sight." Azure commented, though at the same time he followed La'nari's instructions and moved the shriveled corpse off to the side of the road before Capper looted the stuff that the bandit had, since they could have a few useful items in their possession, but once he was done La'nari loosed a bit of fire from her right hand and set the corpse on fire, "Um, why are we doing this?"

"To make sure he doesn't come back as a vampire." La'nari answered, though she was unsure if that was true or not since this was the first time she had seen someone like Rarity drain someone of all their blood, so it was hard to know if the bandit would have been revived in due time or if he would have remained dead, all while Capper finished looting the bandits of all their gold, arrows, and even a few lockpicks, useful items to have to help Rarity and Midnight train their new skills, "Those who are bitten, scratched, or even attacked by a vampire's drain attack have a chance to come down with the illness that turned you into a vampire... better that we make sure he doesn't come back as another threat to the people of this land."

"I... I see. I will have to be more careful in the future." Rarity said, as she had no idea the illness could be transferred like that, even though it made sense when she considered how she had been afflicted with it earlier, but now that she knew about the potential threat her feedings could cause she realized that all of her future feedings would have to be done carefully, all to avoid what La'nari was worried about.

Capper realized that Brurid's plan to get Rarity involved in the battle for Faldar's Tooth had done what the nord had wanted, as the constant spilling of blood, and all of the death she had been made to witness, had caused her to become used to how this world worked and how the people operated. This meant she was likely going to keep improving her skills so their leaders kept her around, even though he knew Bek-Kajin would let her stick around since having a person like her could open more doors for them in the future. At the same time he knew that Rarity's sudden change into a vampire might have caused part of her personality or morals to erode, to the point where she would willingly drain someone of all their blood like that, but for the most part it seemed like it had only benefited her in the end. There was also how she reacted to doing what she did, a sort of indifference that was unusual for her, because she didn't seem disturbed by her actions, and there was the fact that she claimed to be feeling even better than before, which only made him wonder what was happening to her and if they needed to be worried about her changes.

Once they were done with the bandits, and La'nari made sure to put out the flames so they didn't spread to the rest of the area, Capper got them underway once more as they continued along the path that would bring them back to where they had landed when they were brought to this world. It was kind of interesting that they were coming back this way, though Capper did have to wonder what sort of event would cause the leader of the Imperial Legion and the emissary of the Dominion to be in the same town, enough for the innkeeper to order some of Maven's mead ahead of their arrival. Something big was going to happen, that much he knew for sure, and while it would be interesting to stick around and see what that might be, to see what was happening to this land, he knew it would be in their best interests to be on their way before the pair arrived for their event. The only reason he considered such a thing was because Skyrim was in the middle of a war and this could very well be them discussing the potential execution of prisoners that might be passing through the area, which he and the rest of the group really didn't need to see, hence why his focus was on getting them to Helgen and then out with Maven's gold for the mead they were transporting.

Despite all of this, however, Capper found himself smiling as he looked at the road that was in front of him, as Skyrim was a land of opportunity and so far he was enjoying every moment of their stay in this land, a fact that only made him wonder what the future held for him, his friends, and their clan.