Chapter 1: The 'Blind' Khajiit

Milky blue eyes were what Serana awoke to, gently stirred by the khajiit. She chuckled when he shook her shoulder again. "I'm awake, Ja'kal."

Ja'kal seemed to stare at her, his hand still on her shoulder. His whiskers pulled in a small smile. "It is customary to wish this one good morning, yes?"

Was he asking because he was wondering about saying good morning to her, or her to him? It still took time to decipher his speech.

Serana pushed up on her elbows. "Good morning." The khajiit nodded, humming as he set about their tent and packed their things. She enjoyed his subdued cheerfulness, listening and working to his tune as she rolled her sleeping bag. She pulled her hood up when he tied the blindfold around his eyes and followed him outside, soaking in the sights of the sunrise as it painted the sky in a magnificent array of colors.

"Wow," she whispered in awe, noticing the khajiit's ears perk to her. "The sunrise, it's beautiful..."

He said nothing, and then she nipped her tongue wreathed in guilt. He couldn't see what she did.

Ja'kal turned towards her, and though he couldn't see her, she still felt awkward under his scrutiny. If he was scrutinizing her. His whiskers flickered. "This khajiit is curious. What does it look like? What colors? Is the sky clear or filled with clouds?" There was an obvious eagerness as he approached her slowly, toes curling and crunching around twigs. She smiled every time he wormed his claws into the soil. There was something amusing in the way he explored his surroundings.

"Red and orange bathing the sky. It's kind of like... A tower of flames, I guess. Lots of clouds."

"What do the clouds look like?"

That stumped Serana. She looked up, studying, thinking of how best to paint the picture for him. "Small rounded puffs scattered about, sort of like... Scales of a fish?" Has he seen them before? There were so many questions she wanted to ask. "How long have you been blind for, Ja'kal?"

"Since this one was a cub."

The swift answer brought with it a swift kick to the stomach.

"Come, we must move quickly if the clouds are like fish. That means it will be cold and the weather will change for the worst tomorrow. This one does not want to be stuck in a cave of ice while it is raining outside again." Ja'kal dismantled their tent, mapping it's dimensions with his fingers. Serana always watched how he navigated even the simplest of tasks, curious of how he coped and how he must have had to learn; mostly about how he had even survived for this long. It couldn't always be sneaking, could it?

"How are you still alive?" She blurted, grimacing. The khajiit slowed, but hadn't stopped. His tail end seemed to hook. She hadn't figured out every signal, but at least she had figured out that it was a signal. That was something, right? If only the castle had books about khajiit...

"You did not see how?" Ja'kal finally answered with subtle amusement lacing his accent. She liked it, it was like every word danced off his tongue.

"I... No. I guess I didn't."

"That is good."

Serana frowned. "How?"

"Because then this khajiit would be poor at hiding if you saw, no?" Ja'kal stripped the last hide of the tent down and rolled it, tying it to his knapsack.

Serana digested the dry joke, stopping herself from shooting back.

This khajiit was poor at seeing what she was hiding: what she was.

x - x - x

Ja'kal was humming again. Serana smiled as she watched the tail squish and quiver upwards when he emerged from a small lake, and she took that as a sign of happiness. What he was happy about, she hadn't the slightest clue. It couldn't possibly be because of the fish in his mouth. He was proud, she noted, but it was refreshing to see that it wasn't the type of pride she was used to seeing at home; it wasn't the kind that tore her family apart.

Granted, if she were blind, she would probably be just as happy for catching anything, really; but she couldn't bear to see the fish still wriggling in his mouth and looked away, until he had patted along the shoreline and dropped the fish on top of his shirt. "Drobi?"

"...What? I don't understand. 'Drobi'?" Was it a new word in this era, or had she misheard because of his thick accent?

"Ah, forgive Ja'kal, sometimes this one forgets where he is. Drobi means hungry in khajiit's mother tongue, Ta'agra." He pushed the flopping fish closer, and she grimaced, squeamish. "Eat. It will give more nutrients while it is alive." His bloodstained fangs made a show as he smiled, rousing her darker instincts awake.

"Aren't you hungry too?" She debated with admitting that this was not exactly the kind of sustenance she needed, for the khajiit appeared kind, but she learned that appearances could be deceiving. She still didn't know who she could trust; even less so now that each day she traveled without telling him the truth about what she was and what her home would be filled with. Why would she, if he couldn't see her?

She was more deceiving than appearances, it seemed.

Serana stared as the blind khajiit appeared to stare back, saying nothing. He simply smiled, turned, and dove under again. She sighed as she picked up the fish, frowning at how slimy and twitchy it was. How was she supposed to eat this anyways? She wasn't subject to any disease, but neither was she keen on eating raw meat of any kind. The blood trickling from the puncture wounds of Ja'kal's fangs only beckoned the true hunger gnawing away at her.

Hums broke the surface of the water, and Serana chuckled at how much more cheerful the khajiit was with a fish in each hand, blood trailing down from each claw embedded in the poor creatures that still fought for their lives no matter how hopeless. It was the circle of life, she knew, but she still wished all of this would have been done in a more humane way. She couldn't exactly ask her savior to suddenly change all his ways, especially when it wasn't like he had much of a choice. At least he was extremely generous, but that only honed her instincts to be cautious. Politics in court life taught her kindness was often more dangerous, for it cleverly disguised sinister motives.

"Mi marha!" Ja'kal proudly stated, his chest puffed out and drenched tail swung heavily. Serana guessed it had something to do with the fish. "Three fish!"

And she was right.

"Impressive." Serana smiled at how visible of an effect praise had on the khajiit. She took her fish and stepped back a safe distance away as he climbed out of the lake and set his catch on the shirt, then shook furiously, as she predicted. She laughed even when she was still caught by some water, and the khajiit immediately stopped.

"Sorry; this one got you wet, yes?"

"It's fine, a few drops won't kill me." She turned out of respect when he reached to wring out his loin cloth, wondering in the back of her mind if that particular boldness was due to his apparent friendliness, or blindness stripping away thoughts of what someone else might see. She didn't have it in her to ask; but she couldn't help her curiosity nagging over what it was like for someone else to not see. "What's it like, Ja'kal? I mean, if you don't mind me asking, that is."

"What is what like?"

"Being blind. Is everything just... Darkness?" She looked up in thought, searching for the last vestiges of the sunset's light trickling through the holes of trees. "How do you sleep if you don't see anything anyways? If it's always black, I mean. And what do you see in your dreams? And..." She chanced a glance behind and turned when she saw him wrestle his trousers on. "Sorry. I just realized that was a lot... You don't have to answer any of it if you're uncomfortable."

"This one is never uncomfortable. It is refreshing to have one to talk to." Ja'kal grunted as he hopped about, tugging at the stubborn pants dampening and clinging to wet fur. Serana tried desperately not to smile until she remembered: it wasn't like she was going to be seen anyways. His answer brought more questions, but she tabled them and patiently waited for the ones she asked for. At the rate he was going at with those pants, it seemed another era would pass her by.

"Here, let me help," she chuckled, calling on frosty mist to swirl about in her palm. "I know you said you never are, but this part is still probably going to be uncomfortable for you; I'm going to chill my hand and hold it near your fur, it should make your skin suck in the warm water for heat."

Ja'kal's milky blue eyes bore straight into hers, and she felt awkward under his scrutiny again. He hadn't said anything, and she interpreted no answer was still permission to go ahead. She hovered over his chest first, and his tail drooped as he shivered. "This khajiit said it is refreshing to have one to talk to, not one to freeze Ja'kal." His dry delivery, matched with chattering teeth, wrought a laugh from her. "Skyrim is cold enough, no?" His eyes slipped shut, and the pang in his accent called out to her in a way she could relate. "This one misses the warm sands of Elsweyr."

Serana couldn't think of anything to say, not when she was feeling her own pains. She merely hummed in acknowledgment, watching the khajiit's eyes slip shut as she worked over his arms next. Maybe it was best not to ask questions; he didn't seem to be as curious about her as she was with him. If it was refreshing to have one to talk to, why was she doing all the talking?

Questions, questions, questions, with answers nowhere to be found. When the last of his shivers died out and all fur stood at attention, he smiled. "Thank you, that was kind of you. You are unlike other humans Ja'kal has met." He wrestled on the rest of his clothes and set to work on his meal. Serana made sure she watched him more closely from that point on, but stayed a safe distance away the whole time.

She never told him she was human.

x - x - x

"Ja'kal is thinking it would have been wiser to take the boat from Dawnstar," he sighed. "This khajiit's paws are burning with fire in the toes from all this walking."

"Are you sure it would've been wiser?" Serana smirked. "I do recall you saying you'd die if you got on the boat."

Grumbles were her only answer. She caught up beside him and took a good long look at the black blindfold around his eyes, wondering if he could still see through it. His head and ears flicked to her. One ear turned another way and his claws pricked her hip when he missed grabbing her wrist. "Hide," he hissed, "something is coming for us."

Serana leaned back to look across from him, but saw nothing coming down from the beaten trail. Mystical magic fires to life in the khajiit's palm and he cloaked himself, becoming one with his surroundings. Light reflected off his form and it seemed to warp when he ran to the closest tree. She looked over when he clicked his tongue and made a series of sounds, but she wanted to see what was apparently coming for them.

An elk jumped out of the brush. Serana laughed and approached where the khajiit hid. "It was just an animal. An elk."

Ja'kal revealed himself as he swung down a tree branch by his tail, and his embarrassed expression earned another laugh from the vampiress. He hung his head low, mumbling his defense. "This is how this one is still alive." He climbed out of the brush, or tried to. His toes caught on the space in between roots and flew forward, taking Serana down to the ground. She laughed when the khajiit pushed himself back up with urgency. "Urada, ah, sorry. This one is very sorry, Ja'kal did not mean to."

"It's okay," she chuckled, grimacing when aches shot through her body as she pushed herself up on her elbows. It wasn't anything time couldn't fix, and it wasn't like twigs could brutally wound her. She couldn't resist to tease him. "Are you sure this is how you stay alive?" She smiled when he stood, bathed in shame. He helped her back up and she studied his furry hands, glad his claws did nothing more but gently scrape her. It was enough fun for now, she felt bad just seeing how his ears and tail drooped. It was time to change that. "You have really good hearing."

Pride flared in an instant. "All khajiit do, but this one must work harder, so Ja'kal pays close attention to the sounds." He tapped his nose. "Khajiit have good smell too. Serana smells different than other humans."

That set her on alert. She glanced down at herself, curious. Did he know what she was then? "How do I smell?"

Ja'kal smiled. There was something about it that conflicted with the purred exotic answer. "Tarmo. Halki."

"What do those mean?"

Whatever it meant, she liked the way they sounded.

"Old. Moldy."

"...Ah."

She didn't like it anymore.

x - x - x

"Serana, bath? This one found deep water."

That rubbed her the wrong way. She tried not to sulk as she ran her hand along her cloak. "Do I really smell that... Moldy?"

Ja'kal grunted. "It is not bad smell. This one was asking because it is customary to have good hygiene, no?"

That was reassuring. She had traveled long enough to know he was forthright with his thoughts. Time would tell if he was as honest as he seemed. Serana closed her book and rose from her stump. "It has been some time since I've bathed."

"Centuries?"

That dampened her spirits. She shot a look at him, hopeless. "Do I really smell that old?"

Ja'kal's laugh filled the forest. "You are young and kind at heart. That is all that matters. It does not matter what you are."

Serana smiled, relieved. He knew what she was. He was blind, and he trusted a vampire that could avoid his every sense with his life.

"Come now, this way." The khajiit's fangs showed as he grinned impishly. "Ja'kal will show you where to wash the tarmo and halku away."

Serana punched his shoulder and smirked when he laughed again.

Author's Note

Hello, hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I do love the khajiit and have had some trouble finding stories about them, so I figured I would just write my own and get to learn even more about them from research! As I am forced to type from my phone on the app, that means shorter chapters and simple formatting, but frequent updates. I'm open to feedback and suggestions. Thanks for reading and see you in chapter 2!