Gamer Girl in Skyrim (for Liaras)

[Willow T Ferret]

"Ugh. My head. Where am I?" I tried to move any part of my body but I couldn't. My hands felt lied they were tied together and my ankles felt the same as well. I can barely make out what was some people talking in a low voice. I tried to shake the dizziness from my mind and as I did my vision started to become clearer. The area was barely lit and there were a few men wearing fur clothing that covered a small part of their whole body and they had swords at their waists. "Where am I? What's going on?" I frantically ask.

In a secluded cave, miles away from any road or passage, was--one of the many--bandit bases spread across the rogue, almost lawless lands of Skyrim. The cave itself was a spectacular example of the work of past people, having been carved deep into the land with countless split halls and rooms.

It was in one of the largest rooms, which had a floor covered with empty mead bottles and animal bones that had been cleaned of anything of value, whether it be their pelts, meat, hooves, or anything else. Then there were the people (five of them in total) sitting at a table, counting their newly acquired coin and drinking their mead--at least, they had been busy until their new catch had woken up.

The men--almost all of them well-over six feet taller with broad shoulders, unkempt blond hair, and only fur covering their bodies--gave lecherous grins as they chortled. "Oh, the kid's away. Someone better tell the boss; he had first dips."

One of the men stood up. "Nah, Haarald is goin' to be hunting all day. Somethin' about someone's loose lips and some gold to be had. He'll never have to know that we--" the man licked his lips "--played with the little gal." There was a hesitant consensus that soon became a roar of approval with cat calls and whistles as he--the tallest of them all at almost seven feet-- crossed the room and grabbed the chin of the girl. Her features were softer, smoother, and less worn down than any women he's ever seen. She was clearly a noble--and a well-kept one at that.

"You were only in these little things," he said, gesturing to the fabric wrapped around a woman's most sensitive area. "-when we found you. Clearly, you were looking for some--" The bandit never finished what he was going to say, and he never got the chance to continue his advances or test this exotic, pampered girl they had brought home.

Blood spurted from his neck, where a now red-stained arrow had pierced. It dripped and spurted all over, and some of it definitely got on the girl that he had been towering over. The bandit fell backwards, hitting the ground with a solid thud. For a moment, the entire room when quiet as the other bandits--all drunk--took a moment to process what had happened.

By the time they had processed it all, it was too late. Two new arrivals, one of who were covered from head-to-toe by brown cloaks that covered their faces, marched into the room, every movement calculated and precise.

The cloaked figure held out an ashen pale hand. There was a blue aura wisping around her hand, but very soon sharp, jagged pieces of ice shot from her hand and--before the bandits could even think of doing anything- ended the life of them all.

It all happened very fast.

"Well, that was easy," said the cloaked figure, whose voice was clearly feminine and whose tone was clearly dry. "Looks like one of the only things that hasn't changed is the run-of-the-mill strength of bandits."

The uncloaked newcomer, a man whose frame and muscles were even larger than the bandits, albeit his hair red instead of blond, barely spared his companion a glance. Instead, his eyes found the bound and nearly wholly nude kid atop a hastily assembled bed of rotting straw and holey blankets.

"There were only supposed to be seven, right, Serana?" he asked his companion, averting his eyes from the scene in front of him. "Why is there an eighth?"

"I don't know, maybe they napped another helpless, naive village kid?" asked the cloaked companion. "If she's theirs, we can get them to pay us more, at least." As she spoke, the woman moved across the room, and when she was close enough, drew a dagger. "Her looks just scream rich and sheltered, though, so she probably belongs to some noble family." As Serana cut the binds, her face was close enough to be made out underneath the shadow- high-cheek bones, black hair, slim nose, and blood red eyes that seemed to glow.

"Maybe she can tell us herself?" asked the bulky-set man, crossing his arms "What's your name, and where are you from?"

[Willow T Ferret]

I gasped when one of the large men came over to me and he points to my bra. I could smell all of the liquor on his breath or what I think was liquor, I couldn't tell what kind of brand it was. I was going to scream at all of the advances he was making until an arrow emerging from his neck and a bit of blood splattered onto my face. The man fell to the floor dead.

The same thing happened to the other four when two new figure entered. I didn't even hear them approach. The one who was cloaked head to toe in brown fabric began shooting ice from her pale hands. If I wasn't in mortal danger, that would've been the most awesome thing I ever since. In less time than I predicted the four fell to the ground, dead with some still having ice shards in their bodies.

I heard one of them spoke that sounded feminine and the other who stops his eyes on me. The female came closer and drew a dagger. My heart began speeding up until I notice her cutting me loose. "Thank you." I quietly said. The bulky man then walked closer and I then used my hands to try to cover my body as much as I and he asked me for my name.

"My name is Carole and I'm from Oregon." I answered him. "Who are you guys? How did you do that awesome ice magic thing?" I directed the second to the female. I wanted to ask more but I stopped myself before I got too ahead.

The kid covers herself, almost seeming to disappear within herself as he takes a few steps closer. Erar pauses, briefly considering that he may seem intimidating to a pampered girl such as this one, but then he decides he doesn't really care. The only feelings he cares about are the ones that pays him to do his jobs.

His eyebrows draw together at her answer. Carole has a distinctly Imperial-ring to it, although considering all the tribes of the Redguards, it could easily be a tribal name. She doesn't strike him as the latter. The name was Oregon was unfamiliar, but it meant she didn't belong to the village they had traveled to here from. He hadn't thought there were that many villages around here, but he had been proven wrong.

"Oregon," repeated Serana. "Never heard of it, but we love ourselves some detours." For a fee was the part that went unsaid, but that was because everyone knew that nothing was free in Skyrim.

He noticed her distinct lack of reaction to Serana's features. He was sure she would have seen the eyes common of a vampire when Serana got up close, but she didn't even seem to wink at it. Erar unconsciously upped her threat ranking just in case she proved to be a danger. He doubted it, though. Her arms were thin enough he could break them over his knee without any issue, and he had spent enough time with mages to be able to recognize those who had a higher interest in the art than others. Then there was her question about Serana's magic, which, while an advanced spell, any mage would have recognized.

Carole's eyes showed true interest and awe, though.

Therefore, she wasn't a warrior or a mage. She could still be an assassin or thief, both of which didn't need muscle or power to excel in--only sharp wit and a knack for timing. Erar secretly agreed with Serana; the girl was most likely a sheltered noble girl, although he wondered how these nobles had managed to defeat the trained guards of a noble family. Lots of questions, but they'd be answered in time, surely.

Serana, ever the starved conversationalist, answered almost casually as she went around the room and dug through the coin purses. "The name's Serana. The quiet guy you see over here is Erar. He doesn't talk much." Her nose curled up in disgust at the excess copper. "These guys weren't very good at their job--only two silver. Oh, and that spell was just some ice spikes. Nothing too advanced."

As Serana dug around a bit more, Erar continued to gaze at Carole, thoughtfully. "How did you get captured by them? Did they defeat your-" In the next few seconds, everything slowed as Erar heard a whisper of a footstep behind him. Serana's neck snapped up, and her hands glowed as they stretched out to send another impromptu spike.

Erar was fast. He whipped around, his eyes catching another of his brethren (equally as rash and stupid as many as he had encountered since coming to his homeland) swinging down a warhammer. There was no way he could draw his own weapon-his sword- in time. Serana's spell wouldn't reach them in time, either.

All of this ran through his head, and he made his life-saving decision all within less than a second. He found within himself power, and it raced from his lungs to his mouth- "Fus Ro Dah!" The strength of his shot echoed through the room even as his would be assassin was sent shooting down the hallway. No doubt the man would be a puddle of blood and shattered bones and guts by the time he and Serana went back down that way.

"Oh, well, that was lame," continued Serana. "He actually looked kind of strong, too."

Erar turned back to Carole.

[Willow T Ferret]

"Really you never heard of Oregon?" Carole asks looking at the new and seeing their facial expressions meant they were serious. She then learned their names, Serena was the woman and the man was named Erar. She watches Serena begin to dig through a small bag and watches her go through it and count the coins inside while also commenting on how little there is. "Ice Spike huh? Why does that sound so familiar?" She thought to herself.

Before she could answer Erar's question she saw the two faces turn serious. "What's wrong?" She asks until she turns and saw another man wielding a Warhammer approach them. Just then before anything could happen the Warhammer wielder was sent flying down the hallway. The three sounds definitely jogged her memory of something. A game she always enjoyed playing. She then saw Erar turn to her as she does the same. "Was that the Unrelenting Force shout?" She questions him. "One more thing, what is the name of this province?" She asks again hoping using her gaming knowledge would help her get an edge on this situation.

The pampered kid is surprised that they never heard of her village, and this only furthers their suspicions that a nice pay-day may be right around the corner. But then the kid suddenly demonstrates knowledge she shouldn't have, and Erar reevaluates her threat level, wondering if it might be safer to just slay her where she sat and move on with his life. As he contemplates this, Serana responds.

"Oh, wow, and here I thought I was the one with a terrible sense of direction. In case you couldn't tell from all the Nords running around, this is Skyrim. Oh, and the snow. I'm surprised you haven't died from the cold," commented Serana. The kid was still nude, remembered Erar, having not really forgotten but also not have really been thinking about it.

Then he catches an inference. The kid's first question was about what province they were in, and this suggests that Oregon is either a province, or a major enough city or town that someone within the same province might have known about it. Either way, the kid is far away from home, and he didn't have time to babysit.

"Serana, we're leaving," he said, not interested in pursuing dialogue with this girl any further. "Kid, you'd do yourself a favor if you grabbed any gear you could find and got out of here before a new set of bandits return here."

[Willow T Ferret]

"Hey wait. Are you seriously going to leave me by myself?" She yells out to the two who simply continues to walk away. "Fine. Go then." She huffs. She then recalls his suggestion and looks at the dead bodies. "Well better get started I guess." She said to herself. She begins at the first one who touched her. She removed his fur armor and bottoms and puts on her body as a top and skirt. Unfortunately, he didn't have any gloves and she didn't feel like walking around in boots she moves to the next one which still had the ice spike embodied in it. He did have fur gauntlets and fur shoes. She figured that would be enough for protection.

Next was finding some weapons, she searches the first body she looted and found only a steel dagger. Going to the next she found a steel sword and bow. She shrugs and picks those up as well. "Guess I can be an archer." She muttered to herself as she continues looking trying to find some arrows. Between the arrows Erar and Serena used and the small amount the bandits had she collected twenty-two usable arrows. Altogether she puts on the Fur top and bottoms which can double as a skirt, fur gauntlets and shoes. She then puts the dagger and sword on her skirt and the bow with arrows on her back. "I should probably take his advice and leave before more of them comes." She said as she makes her way to the cave exit.

Considering there was only one way out, she would naturally be forced to follow the same path as them, although that was also probably the safest as many halls were rigged with lethal traps that Erar and Serana couldn't have been bothered to completely dismantle. Additionally, a person not born in Tamriel (or not exposed to great violence) might have had a hard time walking down the path that was littered with mangled corpses and haunted by the stench of death.

"Do you really think that girl can survive on her own?" asked Serana in a shade of a whisper.

"Who cares?"

"Oh, someone's grumpy today, aren't they?" said Serana, dryly. "Well, as long as you don't go into a mood when we find her corpse, it's fine I guess." Erar stopped and gave Serana a piercing look, but she just kind of smirked.

Eventually, they reached the mouth of the cave and- "Oh great, another blizzard. I just love these," said Serana. "I guess we're stuck here till it blows over." Technically, Erar could use a particular shout to change the weather. The issue with shouts is a lot of things heard it, and he wasn't in the mood for a never-ending brawl.

So he and Serana both took seats on the dirty cave floor, waiting for the blizzard to end.

[Willow T Ferret]

As Carole walks the path the two went off to she then saw them sitting on a couple of rocks close to the exit. She looks at Erar and was reminded of how he was easily able to leave the girl to fend for herself. She scoffs and was about to leave the cave until she saw why they were still inside.

The view outside was obstructed by the large amount of snow that was falling and the cold wind that blew didn't help either as she had to put her arm up to try and look out into the distance but to no avail. "So I guess we're stuck in here until this stops." She said to herself as she stands at the opening as she waits for the second the storm stops leaning against the wall trying her best not to make eye contact with either of them.

Erar took in the kid--Carin or something- (he had forgotten her name, already), dressed in the stained, smelly fur of one of the dead bandits. It was big on her--too big. He couldn't imagine coming across a random piece of armor that would fit someone of her lithe design. She'd need something custom or her armor would be falling off a lot. She made the right choice in picking fur, though. It would help her somewhat with the cold. He also noted the dagger, the sword, and the bow that she was carrying, none of which were properly tied or strapped to her back or waist. Not used to handling weapons, then, he thought.

Serana, ever the social vampire, broke the silence. "So, Carole, why don't you tell us how you got here? Carried away in the night by thieves, ambushed by bandits on the road, or, maybe-" she licked her lips- "you're a little runaway?" Erar didn't think Serana was one to talk about running away, not considering she was on the run right now from her father.

He waited for Carole's answer, slightly curious. Only because there was nothing better to do, though.