T-B-R: It was rushed. I wrote it at about 3 in the morning and just wanted to get to sleep, but the ideas wouldn't let me. The more I got down, the more tired I got. Writing is cathartic.

Also I want to give a shout to the ever-awesome Wyndbain of deviantart for her awesome wolf-maker that gave me the cover image.

Chapter 2 – Escape

"So you did," Hadvar rubbed the back of his neck, "With that nose you could probably smell them coming from miles away. Anyway there should be some spare armor around here somewhere you can use. It may not fit your, er, physique very well, but it's better than rags." He paused, looking uncomfortable, "What exactly are you?"

Amaya stopped trying to fit her foot in an imperial boot for a moment. With a sigh she said, "I'm not a werewolf if that's what you're worried about."

Hadvar looked ashamed, "That's not what I meant. It's just I've never heard of anything like you anywhere in Tamriel."

"That's probably because I'm from Akavir." She resumed trying to get the boot to fit. The boot won as she toppled over. From her spot on the floor she looked up at Hadvar and remembered something, "Thank you for offering to find my family, but considering where I'm from that would be almost impossible. And my kind, Okamis, are rare to begin with." Standing up and stomping finally got the stubborn boot to stay on her foot. She almost fell over again when a fire blast shook the tower. "We should probably get moving. I don't doubt that dragon would tear out these stones to get at any living being it can smell."

"Me either," Hadvar replied. He led her over to a blocked doorway and pulled a chain on the wall nearby. The action caused the grate blocking the door to slide into the ceiling.

Amaya stared at it for a moment before commenting, "You ever wonder where that goes? I mean, it just always seems to slide up into solid rock…" she trailed off noticing him looking at her with a you -are-crazy expression. She rubbed the back of her head embarrassedly. "Heh, my mind wanders a lot."

"I can see that. You know, they say curiosity killed the cat," He said with a smirk.

Amaya smirked right back, "Good thing I'm a wolf then, huh?" They both laughed at that. "All right, let's get the heck out of here." She crouched down into a stealth position.

"Why are you sneaking? It's just us," Hadvar asked with a perplexed look on his face. Regardless he began making his way to the next room.

She stood up and followed him. "Habit I guess. I'm used to dungeon delving alone. Sneaking is invaluable if you don't want to get overwhelmed by sheer numbers."

Hadvar just made a noncommittal noise and moved on. It wasn't long before they came across a large room. Voices could be heard from inside. "Stormcloaks," said Hadvar, "Maybe we can reason with them."

Amaya thought that sounded very sensible, but no sooner had they said, "Hello," than the Stormcloaks were upon them with sword and battleax. She had barely drawn her own blade before Hadvar felled both of them. She let out a long whistle, "That was impressive Mister… You know, I never got your name."

"Hadvar, of Riverwood," He said proudly.

"Riverwood huh? I take it they don't use surnames here then."

"Some do, but only if they are from a lineage worth remembering. Now miss Amia, let's get moving."

She rubbed her face tiredly, "It's Amaya."

He tried again, "Amala?"

She was beginning to think he was doing it on purpose until she saw how embarrassed he looked. "Just call me Ammy. It's less foreign sounding anyway." She started walking ahead of him despite not knowing the way. The whole place seemed pretty linear to her, not much of a chance of getting lost.

She could have cried when she realized the room ahead was the kitchens. It had literally been decades since she last ate, not that Hadvar knew that. While he took out the Stormcloaks, she was snatching every potion, apple, ingredient, and piece of meat in sight, which confused him to no end. Well, she took almost every piece of meat. "What? You're not going to take the rabbit too?" He pointed to the rack where pheasants once hung.

"I can' ea' vat," She said around the apple in her mouth. Swallowing, she tried again, "I can't eat that."

"Why not? I thought wolves loved rabbit."

"Wild wolves do, but I can't. I used to have a pet rabbit, Lucky, and now I can't bring myself to eat it. All I think of is I could be eating one of his relatives. Besides, they're just so cute."

Hadvar left it at that, thinking, "Everything I find out about this girl just leads to more questions. Like how on Nirn she got a pet rabbit."

The next door they opened led to the prison section where they were greeted by a blood spattered torture rack. Hadvar saw the disgusted expression on her face and was quick to defend the legion, "The torture room. I wish such methods weren't necessary…" She didn't let him finish.

"They aren't. They're only implemented by officials too lazy or too stupid to use cunning to get the information. Only the unintelligent use these methods. That's why it's called brute force."

He knew she was right, so he elected to remain silent until they caught sight of the torturer and a guard. The three spoke for a time, but Ammy wasn't listening. She had caught sight of a black and silver book on the table and was reading through it. 'Dragonborn, huh? It's not worth much, but it looks important. And I love books." She was going to explore the rest of the room when the torturer addressed her directly, telling her that she could loot the corpse of their last prisoner, a mage, if she could pick the lock. He said the last part with a sneer.

Luckily there was a lockpick next to the book and a few more in the next room (along with more books she noted happily.) She returned and got the lock open without breaking a single one. The torturer looked unamused and said, "Some sort of thief are you?"

Smiling at her luck with the pick, she stood and, still smiling, addressed the torturer, "In the loosely translated words of my homeland: up yours." His confused look made her smile even wider. She then picked up her bag of picks and books and walked over to Hadvar and the guard.

The guard assessed her for a moment and said, "I don't know about the old man, but I'm coming with you guys. She looks dangerous."

Hadvar looked him right in the eye and said, dead serious, "Good call." And so the three made their way into the tunnels, not knowing what wait for them next.

END NOTE: I would like to give this guard a name because even though he's only with us a brief time, the fact that it's the same voice as Fenris of DA2 makes me love him. And I can't keep calling him "the guard" through the next few pages of interactions.