Jiggle jiggle jiggle..

"Nngh!" Vaarla tugged and wiggled at the doorknob to no end NOT even five minutes after Uriel Septim and his two Blades carried on without her, even though she was specifically told her to stay put and to not follow by one of the armoured guardians.. But could you really blame her? I mean, for a moment, freedom from her misunderstood confinement was so close. Oh, so close. Now, the only way out was taken from her, blocked by a single, locked door.

The young maiden let out an angry yell, pointlessly kicking and banging her fist against the wooden frame of the door. Pained grunts flooded past her chapped lips with each time she ran her sandled foot against the hard wood, but she didn't stop for a good moment.

Almost as if she thought the door would magically yield to her anger and might, and unlock its latch for her. Oh, if only that were the case..

"Damn it!"

She turned away from the door with one last punch, backing out of the small, arched doorway. Back into the main room with the bodies.. Where the stench of death and burnt flesh permeated the air with no hope of any sort of filtration.

Perhaps that was what brought the rats.

She could faintly hear it; the scratching and the squeaking. Before the brunette knew it, the weak wall on the right of the door began to crumble away and collapse in a tumbling, loud mess. In the darkness, red, beady eyes blinked as they honed in on Vaarla before two oversized rodents sprung out from the newly formed hole and latched themselves onto her: one sunk its teeth into her leg, just above the ankle as the other leapt up and tackled her chest. Both the force of the second's charge and the first's searing bite, Vaarla cried out in pain and fell back. The second rodent snapped its disgusting yellow teeth at her, hoping to sink them into her face. She held the beast back with her forearm, which was being lashed at by its disease ridden claws...

It hissed angrily at her, clawing furiously at her, while the other squeaked with irritation as Vaarla's free foot came into contact with its face in attempt to tear him from her leg. It worked, but only for a short while. After all, it would latch itself back onto her, and most likely at a different place.

Vaarla panted, pressing a hand against the snout of the one attempting to attack her face, her fingers curling around the curvature of its skull and, to her dismay, into the glaring eyes. A sick squishing sound filled her ears and nearly made the girl wretch. Blood filtered from the gaping holes she just created, oozing into the fur and onto her skin..

The rodent screeched and tore away from her, writhing on the ground as its paws scratched furiously at its now useless eyes..

The Imperial jumped to her feet, limping from the bite the other rodent had inflicted upon her ankle. She clenched her fists, glaring at the disgusting creatures with a hate filled gleam. Flames erupted from her hands once more, swirling around her fingertips just as the second rat launched at her. His teeth snapped furiously at her, attempting to tear her to shreds. She dodged the lunge, swiping her hand against its frame and unleashing a fireball at the creature, which propelled it several feet away from her. It let out a high pitched scream as fire seemed to engulf the creature. Its fur sizzled and glowed a bright orange as it burned.

It charged at her once more, but was flung back with one more swift fireball. Its lifeless corpse lay at her feet, twitching. The stench of its burning and boiling flesh mixed with the already present odor of death, and it made Vaarla's eyes water.

Vaarla turned to the first rodent, who was still clawing at his injured eyes. With a limp and a wince, she hobbled over to the creature. She stumbled to her knees just as she reached the rat. He bared his yellowed teeth at her, hissing as he clawed out at her blindly in attempt to keep her away. She stretched her hand out and killed the disease ridden beast with one more flaming ball and killing it.

She slumped back onto her rump, pulling the fabric of her pants up along her leg and revealing her injured calf. Her features drained of colour as she inspected the wound. The skin was torn; chunks were missing and dangling, and blood was running down her leg. She could faintly see the curves of her muscle and... Was that bone? Oh gods..

The young woman needed to heal it, and heal it quickly. Unfortunately.. She had used quite a bit of her magicka, both earlier and just now, so she had to wait a few moments once more before she could heal it efficiently.

After a few minutes of rest and catching her breath, she healed her leg. Her hand glowed with the shimmering light blue. Her cells began to regenerate and meld back together. Once she healed herself, she stood up and brushed the blood on her hands onto the dirty fabric of her tunic..

She couldn't remain here. She had to move forward. Unfortunately, the hole those rats came from seemed to be the only option. That thought wasn't exactly the most comforting of notions, especially since she didn't even know if that would even lead her to her freedom. She very well could die if she went in there. Of course, if that was the case, she was dead anyways. She could get lost and die of starvation, or go back and die in that cell. But there was still a sliver of hope. After all, where did those rats come from?

If she was going to die, she'd rather die fighting and with the small hope of finding the way out.

So, with a weary filled heart, she moved towards the hold when she felt her foot kick at something, a loud clanging filling the room. Vaarla looked down, and saw Renault's Akaviri Katana.. The curved blade gleamed with blood, drops of the crimson liquid running down the blade once the young Imperial grasped it by the grip. It was as if the weapon were crying for its master, whom would never wield it again. It was a shame, that she would not receive a proper burial, her blade firmly clasped between her lifeless fingers..

Vaarla went to Renault's body, peering down at her. The harsh woman had saved her meaningless life, even after expressing how little it was thought of. She was killed, protecting a criminal. Protecting her Emperor.

Vaarla sighed, reaching down to remove the weapon's sheath from the deceased woman's hip, sliding the katana into its scabbard before gripping the shaft tightly..

"Here goes nothing.."

She pushed herself through the narrow hole, having to suck in her belly as she squeezed through the hole and entered what seemed to be a catacomb like room. It was damp and smelled of mildew, feces, and had dark atmosphere to it. Another rat inhabited the dank room, but it was quickly dispatched with a fire spell.

Upon looking around the room, she could see rays of sunlight filtering within the room, clustering columns pouring down from a caved in hole in the ceiling. A hanging root system from a tree hung where the some seemingly collapsed, and, as luck would have it, the skeletal remains of an unlucky wanderer that had fallen through the hole, got caught and tangled in the root system, and died, most likely from starvation. His decayed remains were adorned with bits of armour, worn and old. Much to her delight, she spotted, curled in his brittle fingers, a bow, which was just as worn and old as the leather armour the skeleton wore, though the roots had grown around the bow. She'd have to cut the weapon down if she would have any chance on being remotely capable of protecting herself. If she could find arrows at. But first, she needed to free the body.

Picking up the shortsword located just beneath the hanging body, she grasped it firmly in her hand. The blade was something she wasn't exactly used to, especially since she often dealt with bows. She was unused to wielding a hefty weapon. Dropping Renault's sword to the ground, she clasped the hilt of the short sword with both hands, and, with less grace than she would of liked, began hacking away at the roots. Because the blade was blunted, or perhaps it was her lack of expertise in the use of a blade, it took quite a while for the roots to give way. Her arms ached well before she cut the body from the roots, and she rubbed her forearms with blistering hands.

She could of gone forward wielding just her flames and a sword, but magic was limited, and she could barely swing the sword to kill anything. No. She needed the bow and the armour..

Finally, the skeletal body slumped to the ground, several hacked bits of the root along with it. Bones sprawled out along the dampen ground, rolling out and away from the cuirass. Vaarla looked hesitant as she reached for the old leather, picking it up from the ground. More bones fell from the piece of armour, thunking softly against the ground. The skull rolled against her foot, and the Imperial looked down to see it 'looking' at her. She smiled apologetically down at the skull. "Sorry," she said softly, licking at her chapped lips before coughing a bit awkwardly.

Quickly shuffling about so she could work the leather cuirass around her form, she grunted in some discomfort. It wasn't a snug fit, but that wasn't really expectant. It'd be amazing if the armour magically fit her, but this wasn't made for her. It hung a bit loose on her body, but.. Vaarla didn't complain. She now had some protection, albeit very minimal. It was better than no protection. There were no grieves, though those probably wouldn't of been an option. The skeleton looked as though its person had been taller than her in its previous life. There would of been no way she could wear his trousers even if they were their.

She didn't even bother to put on the boots. While it would of been great to of been able to protect her feet, she would of been stumbling around like a wee babe learning to take his first step.. Not good..

No. She's just stick with the sandals she had been given.

Forgetting about the shortsword, leaving it on the ground in some forsaken space, she reached for the bow. It was worn, much like the armour she wore, as to be expected. She gave the string a tested tug, checking to see if the bow could withstand any action given to it. It seemed alright. It wasn't the best obviously, but at least it seemed durable, considering how long it had been down here. Gods only knew. Now.. If only she could find some arrows. A bow with no arrows would be pretty pointless..

Maybe this poor sap had some arrows when he fell down here? Of course.. With how her luck had been the past few days, she doubted she'd find any.

That didn't stop the young Imperial from searching around the body, however. She was just that optimistic.. Nearly gasping upon finding an old quiver just a few feet from the body, seven, maybe ten, arrows scattered about. What luck!

Vaarla gathered them quickly and placed them inside the quiver. She preferred to use those that hung from her waist as opposed to this, but she was more than willing to use what she got. Maneuvering the strap so that it hung from her back, the maiden went to tie the sheathe to Renault's sword to the strap so that she didn't have to carry the Captain's weapon by hand. She more likely than not was going to abstain from using the weapon. It wasn't her sword, even if its master had met her demise.

Deciding to take a quick look around the area, she eventually spotted a door not too far from where she was. Quickly making her way towards it, she froze in mid-step. A creature laid in front of the door, dried blood splattered about and seeping from gaping holes. It smelled awful. Looked awful. The horned, female goblin was dead. Or at least, Vaarla presumed it to be. That didn't stop the Imperial from removing an arrow from its home and tentatively prod at the creature with the iron head. It did not stir, thankfully. Dead, indeed.

She stepped over the fallen creature, the arrow pointed at it as if the brunette expected the beast to jump up anyways and tear her limb from limb, and closed in on the door. She tugged at it after grabbing at the knob, cursing loudly as the blasted thing was locked.

Big surprise there..

She didn't kick and punch at this door. Instead, she hissed at the wooden barrier and turned to kick at the fallen goblin.

The body jostled at the pointless violence wrecked upon it, and what looked like a key could be seen laying under its form. Vaarla blinked and returned the arrow to its quiver, squatting down to push the dead creature over.

Sure enough, it was a key! Thank the blasted Gods, they didn't hate her! She grabbed the key in haste, popping back up and turned to the door. She stuck the key in the slot, hoping that it turned when she twisted her wrist..

"Please, please please.."

CLICK!

Rats..

Everywhere, rats, rats, rats, rats, RATS! It was like the entirety of the vermin inhabiting Nirn resided within this stupid cavern. Their beady eyes and disease ridden teeth ready to sink in flesh. Everywhere!

Honestly, if she didn't hate them before, these disgusting creatures were certainly the bane of her existence, no matter how brief that existence may be in her current circumstance.. Why were there so many of the damned-able beasts down here?!

Literally, no sooner did she unlock the door and traverse forward, she was attacked by the unusually sized rodents.

A barrage of stabbings from an arrow and the sizzling fury of a few fire balls caused many of the pests to meet their unfortunate ends.

Of course, as their bodies twitched and burned to ash, fur glowing an angry red, Vaarla couldn't help but think little of their hapless deaths, cursing away at them as she continued forward. 'Being set ablaze was too good for the blasted creatures,' she thought bitterly, rounding a corner in hopes of the dirty corridor being the way out.

Squeak.. Squeak..

Vaarla actually turned her nose upwards, to the sky. Er.. Well, roof of the degraded tombs. As if she were scowling at the Gods. Apparently, their 'divine purpose' for her was to face an innumerable quantity of rats.

Squeak!

"Gods.. Why do you ha-"

Sque-AHK!

The piercing cry of an injured rat wail in pain and to death stalled Vaarla's momentarily -and rightly just, she'll tell you- whinings. Just ahead, she could faintly see a group of the rodents, barely even a group, circling, battling, and losing against what looked to be.. a man.

For a moment, sheer joy swooped over her. There was someone else down here. Maybe they could assist her in.. finding a way out..

Unfortunately, that minute moment of happiness was violently quelled upon realization of what the being was.

The flesh was decaying, falling right off the body in bits with each step it took. Other worldly moans poured from the gaping hole that could barely be called a mouth.. Rotten, black teeth tore into the flesh of the rodents, ripping large, mortally wounding chunks of flesh from their bodies. Even in the dull lighting, the darkened sprayings of blood splattering the walls and painting them the bright crimson..

She almost retched at the sight.

"...hate me..?" she finished, her voice barely even above whisper. Her scornful beratings towards the gods was put on hold as the decaying turned its chilling, dead gaze towards her. Black goo poured down its face, down its cheeks and from its gaping maw.. Probably blood, rotten like the rest of the being.

It stumbled towards her, a single arm stretching outwards and fingers curling. Broken and over-grown nails dripped with blood, and other questionables, threatened to shred the Imperial as if she were cured meat were she to allow them to grow too close to her.

With clumsy haste, she clenched her bow tightly with one hand, while retrieving an arrow with the other, and went to notch it. Her heart pounded painfully against her breast, lurching high up into her throat with each step closer the creature took towards her. It was unlike anything she's ever seen. Or smelled. The beast terrified her..

The bow-string was drawn back, the feathery fletch brushing against her bruised and bloodied cheek, the slight touch illiciting a small hiss from her.

Focus.. Breath.. Aim..

The arrow shot forth through the air, spinning as it torpedoed towards the creature and struck it in its belly. It staggered back a step, though it showed no signs of falling to the ground. Despite the potentially fatal wound, the creature seemed to not weaken; in fact, the opposite seemed to take place.

Angered, the creature rushed at Vaarla, that much more determined to sink it's putrid teeth into the Imperial's skin.

Another arrow was shot through the air as Vaarla took a step back, the iron head now sinking within its chest, missing the heart by an inch. Even that didn't stop the beast! Sure, it slowed it down a bit, caused its steps to fumble, but it continued after her. It was too close now. Too close for her to have time to get another arrow ready. That didn't stop her from drawing one from her quiver, taking several steps away from the oncoming creature.

She could see rotten flesh stuck between the black teeth, bared for all to see by the receding mouth..

It lunged, reaching for her face with a gargled growl.

An extremely, and embarrassingly enough, girlish shriek poured from the brunette's throat as she felt the dead beast crash into her, knocking her to the ground.

The zombie followed after her, landing on top of her and nearly knocking the breath right out of her.

Talk about dead weight..

Her hand was pressed against its cheek, using all her might to keep its gnawing jaws from her face. Its skin felt disgusting. Cold and frayed, slick with wet and dried blood.. Her finger even pushed into its eye socket.. The beast clawed viciously at her armour, cracked nails breaking against the worn leather..

Black, tar-like drool poured from the beast's mouth and pooled onto her cheek, congealing into a sticky mess that made her empty stomach churn. The beast growled. "Sh-shut up!" she growled back, tightening her grip on the arrow before letting out a strained grunt and thrusting the weapon into the creatures head. Right through the eye.

The sound it made was sickening. Flesh and bone breaking under an arrowhead. The creature shrieked, or st least attempted to, before a ferocious wave of fire erupted from the palm pressing against its face. The beast fell back, pushed off from Vaarla's fallen body from the force of the blast, and onto the ground, writhing in pain as it lowly died. It twisted and convulsed even after its second death.

Pushing herself up from the ground, Vaarla panted heavily and slumped against the cold, stone wall. She reached up and proceeded to wipe the zombie goop from her cheek, only succeeding to smear it across her skin even more. She made a face in sheer disgust before rubbing her hand along her pants before hesitantly pressing forward. She was more than certain that there was more to these catacombs that she would be facing soon enough, but what could be worse than a rotting, reanimated corpse?

More damn rats. Well, that wasn't the answer she was looking for, but she would gladly take an endless horde of the rodents before having to face another undead monstrosity. That didn't mean the mass number of rats she's faced and already slain wasn't beginning to irk her minorly.

She cleared out a room with eight pillared structures holding up the ceiling. Natural light seeped through the grated roof. It was almost blinding. But she loved seeing it. However, she was more than excited once she saw a little piece of heaven laying on the ground. Food. Most likely dropped by merchants from above ground. She let out a soft, happy cry as she practically dove for it. She didn't care that it had been nibble on by the rodents or touched the ground. She hadn't eaten in what seemed like days, and it didn't help that she was expelling vast amounts of energy. She went for the tomato, biting into the surprisingly plump body and allowing its acidic nector to flow down her throat.

She didn't even like tomatoes.

An almost sensual moan flooded past her lips, reveling in the fact that something tangible enough to be a liquid was available to momentarily quench her parched throat.

She allowed herself a small break, finishing off the tomato and half a cheese wedge before stuffing the remaining cheese and the small head of lettuce into the burlap sack tied to her hip. Save it for later, she figured, since she didn't know how long she would be trapped down here.

She finally pressed forward after about thirty minutes, a small number of rats falling under her wrath until she came upon another door.. Taking a deep breath and steeling her nerves, she tried at the doorknob to see if it was locked or not. It opened with ease. Maybe things were on the verge of looking up. She pushed it open completely, following the tunnel deeper into its dark cavern.