Chapter 1 – Arrival

It was dark and she ached all over. What the hell had happened to her? And why was it so dark? She wondered to herself, had she gone blind? No, surely not, she could make out some light, faint and warm. Sunlight? She was pulled from her thoughts and mini panic attack, when a heavily accented, female voice caressed her ears.

'Kharjo is the girl alive?'

Kharjo? Was that not the name of a Khajiit from Skyrim? Yes, yes it was. That was the only thing she had heard the name from. Hell, she had used him as a follower on more than one occasion, during her many play throughs of the game but how was that even possible?

'I believe so Ahkari, I can see her chest move with her breath.'

Ahkari!? What the hell was going on!? She, for sure, knew that Ahkari was definitely a character from the game, but how on Earth? She started to panic once again, her breaths coming in short, near hysterical, pants. She needed to open her eyes, she needed to centre herself, something had gone very, very wrong somewhere along the line. She struggled for a moment, why the hell wouldn't her eyes open!?

'Step back Kharjo, she is coming too, give the girl some space.' Came the ragged tone of Ahkari.

'Should we not help her? She seems distraught.' Came Kharjo's dulcet tones and unbidden, a shiver ran through her, warm and delicious in it's path across her body. Oh hell no! Her body was not, going to betray her right now. Especially NOT if she was with Khajiit, surely they could pick up any small change in her scent.

'And we shall! But I don't think she'll appreciate a Khajiit staring her in her face, when she finally manages to open her eyes.' That was Ahkari again.

She struggled some more and finally her eyes complied and flew open at her command, just to promptly shut tight again, through the glare of the late afternoon sun. She sighed and then slowly opened them once more, giving them a chance to adjust to the brightness of the sun. Once they were opened fully again, she took a shaky breath and sat up to look around and confirm where she was.

In her view she could see the fire pit, with the spit resting above it and a cooking pot, hanging over the crackling fire, steam rising from it lazily. Directly behind that was a massive domed tent, with a rug in front of the door flaps. And on the rug sat none other than Ahkari. Taking this in, she turned her head, to look around further, more tents, only smaller than the main one and pointed in the standard triangular shape. As she passed over these, she started slightly when her eyes landed on Kharjo, who was crouched beside her, looking her over with curiosity and slight mistrust. She smiled at him weakly but did not speak, fearing her panic would get the better of her.

From what she could see, they were camped outside Whiterun. She could feel her panic getting the better of her with the confirmation that she had somehow been transported into the world of Skyrim! But how? How could she be here? And how did she come to be slap bang in the middle of a Khajiit camp? Her breath started to increase in its speed. But Kharjo seemed to notice this and started to speak.

'Now, now calm yourself. Let's start with your name and then we can get the rest of your story.' Kharjo said gently.

'U-um it's Neave DeCourt.' Neave answered concentrating on Kharjo.

'Well Neave, I am Kharjo and over there is Ahkari.' Kharjo responded motioning to the aforementioned female. And then turned to the only other two Khajiit in the camp, one of which was stirring the cooking pot and the other was sitting outside his tent.

'The one cooking is Zaynabi and the one by the tent is Dro'Marash.' Kharjo finished. Of course Neave already knew who Kharjo and Ahkari were, but she had never really paid much attention to the other two. But of course she wasn't going to tell Kharjo that.

'Um what happened? How did I end up here?' she asked, her voice a scared whisper.

'Ah, I see the lady does not remember much but, after a fall such as yours, Khajiit isn't surprised. You probably knocked your head too hard.' Kharjo mused.

'I-I fell?'

'Aye, we were travelling along the road toward Whiterun. We heard a loud bang, then a scream and there you were, falling from the sky. Kharjo is surprised you survived. It seemed a far fall. You're lucky you only received amnesia and not death.' He answered, in a rather too aloof tone, for Neave's comfort.

So she had fell, that explained why she ached all over her body but it didn't explain how she ended up here. The last thing she remembered was playing Skyrim at home, in the real world and then a massive electrical storm rolling in, which was, weirdly, accompanied by a rather strong tornado. What was even weirder was the fact that, where she lived, didn't usually get tornadoes at all. It was a textbook case of freak weather. Weather that had rolled in so quickly, that she hadn't had a chance to dash for cover. The very last thing she remembered, was a deafening explosion, her own scream in her ears and then nothing! Total blackness. Until she'd came too, Jeez, it sounded like a modern day Dorothy in Oz situation.

'No, not amnesia, I remember what happened but it makes absolutely no sense. I know what I remember, but I also know, that it isn't possible in the slightest.' Neave confessed, concentrating on Kharjo once more.

'That in itself makes little sense, if you remember what lead you here, then it is clear that it is possible. You are contradicting your words.' Kharjo replied, not unkindly, seating himself beside her, to make himself more comfortable.

She briefly considered that yes, crouching beside someone for that length of time had probably been uncomfortable. She tried to shuffle over, to give him more room but was stopped short by the sharp pain that lanced up her spine causing her to let out a hiss of pain. Which seemed to break Ahkari's silence, Neave had almost forgotten that there were other people around besides herself and Kharjo.

'Kharjo, have her drink this. It will help her.' Ahkari rasped out and tossed over a red bottle which Kharjo caught easily. He pulled out the stopper and handed it to her. Neave just stared dumbly at his hand and the proffered liquid held within it. Mistaking her hesitance for distrust, he quickly explained what it was.

'Worry not, if we wished to kill you, we would have done so within the first hour, of the 12, that we have been watching over you. It is simply a bottle of ultimate healing. It will completely restore your health and help with your pain.'

Shaking herself mentally she made to correct him.

'Oh, no, I know. I just don't have the coin to pay for this and I know it's expensive. I can make do with the pain. It's only temporary after all.'

'Pay no mind to the absence of coin little lady. Drink up, I can always make more. Now take it or Khajiit shall pour it down your throat.' Ahkari boomed, with the demeanour of a mother hen chastising her chick and held no room for any further argument.

'I will pay you back. Is there anything you need?' Neave asked, facing the older woman.

'No I need nothing, except for you to heal.' Ahkari replied.

'But, surely, there must be something?' Neave pushed on. Ahkari closed her eyes at this and gave an annoyed sigh.

'If you insist and if it shall ensure you drink that philter, I need nothing, but Kharjo does.'

Neave looked at Kharjo expectantly then, waiting for him to tell her what he needed.

With a sigh he explained what he wanted, wanting her to heal also. She was a curiosity for him and he would rather have her fully healed and energised rather than the weak waif that she was now.

'A few days ago we were ambushed. A nuisance, really, but many of the marauders had quick fingers. One of them stole my Moon Amulet, given to me by my mother when I was just a cub. It is my only memory of home in this cold land. If you can return that, then Ahkari will consider your self-imposed debt, paid in full.'

Neave nodded at this, smiled brightly and then took the bottle from him and drank it down in one gulp. It was bitter as all hell, but she could feel it working, even before it got all the way down her throat.

It didn't take too long for the potion to work to it's full extent. She felt vibrant and full of life once again rather than feeling like death warmed over, damn Ahkari knew how to brew a healing elixir! She complimented her as such and accepted the bowl of stew, that Zaynabi had kindly given her, gratefully. Her appetite had come back with a vengeance.

After supper Ahkari spoke again.

'It is late now, the sun has begun to set. Rest here tonight and then you may start off on your quest in the morning. Kharjo has first watch, so if he is agreeable, you may sleep in his tent this eve.'

'But what will he do after his watch has ended? Where will he sleep?' Neave said worryingly.

'Worry not, there is plenty of room for two in my tent, I will simply share with you when Dro'Marash takes over. It is not the first, that Khajiit has slept beside a strange woman.' Kharjo spoke his voice positively dripping with innuendo.

It caused a shiver to skitter down her spine, making sure to hit every nerve in her back, sending little bolts of electricity through her system...He was going to be the death of her. She didn't have a furry fetish or anything but for some strange and off the wall reason, she had always thought herself attracted to his character any time she played the game. It was just how it was. So lost in her thoughts, as she was, she didn't notice Kharjo speak once more nor did she notice when he came up and crouched down in front of her closely, until he poked her shoulder gently. She startled and came back to Earth, reprimanding her mind for taking a nose dive into the gutter and gracing her with images of him and a strange woman, a strange woman that funnily enough, resembled her a great deal. Ugh she needed to get laid. That was the only reason her mind would be so misbehaved. Of course being a virgin didn't help her, she was 21 and still hadn't had sex. Not for lack of trying mind you, it just seemed that any guys that were interested in her, suddenly back peddled as soon as they found out she was a virgin. Thinking her some kind of prude and or someone who would only give it up, if she married the guy afterwards. None of them had actually given her a chance to explain, that she just hadn't dealt with her virginity when she was younger, she had been pushed to take on so much school work and then college, that while she was growing up, she was lucky if she even got outside in the garden on a weekend. Her parents had been so hard on her, that she hadn't had a chance to actually experience life, much less experience sex.

'I'm so sorry, I got lost in my own head for a moment, what did you say?' She asked, noticing a frown beginning to form on Kharjo's face.

'I asked if you were agreeable, to sharing sleeping space with me?' Kharjo responded tightly, his voice deeper than usual. Something she mistook for anger, but realised rather quickly that, that wasn't the case when his next words came softly, for only her ears and no one else's.

'Although, if your scent tells me anything, and it tells me everything, you are much more than agreeable to the situation. By the twin moons, I haven't smelt desire quite so strongly before.'

Neave shuddered, so he could tell. Great! Now she was feeling awkward. She didn't shy away from anything related to sexuality, she may have been a virgin but she wasn't the shy type that would blush at it, it was ridiculous to do so. It was a completely natural thing and needed in order to maintain life but still, that didn't mean she wouldn't feel awkward, when her body's natural reaction to what it found attractive, was called out. But, she needed to make something clear, Kharjo didn't need to be under the wrong impression when he returned to his tent, later in the night.

'You may be able to scent out my desire and I won't try and deny, that I find you appealing because that would be lying to you and myself however, that said, I will not act on it because I barely know you.' Neave whispered back, quite proud of herself for being perfectly articulate and not a stuttering mess.

Kharjo smirked rather naughtily at this, a single fang poking out with the expression.

'Ah, though you would consider it, if you knew me better? Worry not kitten, I can also smell your purity. You are untouched, something I find difficult to resist however I was planning to respect that for the time being. Your body may be ready, but your mind? Not so much. However I will endeavour to change that too. I will wake you at first light and will leave with you, in search of my amulet.' He said, still in that strange deep tone, that she was beginning to recognise, as his own desire, seeping through his words.

Huh. So he desired her also. And he liked the fact that she was still pure? Ugh too many changes in the past hour or so, she needed sleep. Plus, after all, they had a long road ahead of them, in order to track down the marauders that had ransacked the caravan. Maybe they could recover other things as well. She wouldn't lie though, the idea that she would be all alone, on the road with Kharjo, gave her quite a thrill and did more than a few funny things to her body. Would she return with her virginity intact? Did she want it to be? Ugh hormones sucked! She grumbled to herself mentally, as she entered the tent with a quick good night to everyone, closing the tent over and slipping into the second bedroll that had mysteriously appeared and been positioned suspiciously close to the first.

Soon sleep found her and she surprisingly slept fitfully. Excitement and anticipation, taking seed in her heart. Tomorrow would be the beginning of something special indeed. Of course, she still needed to figure out how she got here and ultimately how she would get back. But for now? She was content to just play outside of reality for a while. It wasn't like she had anything waiting for her back home anyway.

It was this last hazy thought, that sent her into her dreams and into a sleep so deep, that she never noticed when Kharjo finally came inside, stripped down to just loose fitting gray pants and slipped into his own bedroll and pulled her close to him. Nor was it noticed, when he took a subtle but deep intake of breath through his nose and promptly fell asleep wrapped in Neave's scent.