Chapter 3: What to do Now?

During the last of Hearthfire and the first week of Frostfall, Kirra secretly traveled all around the Hold of Falkreath and looted every bandit camp she could find. Her style was simple: quick and silent. Some camps she pillaged successfully without alerting the inhabitants, while others she had to escape from certain doom like the first. Even the wagon of junk became useful when a group of bandits found it "abandoned" and were distracted by it while Kirra visited their unattended camp. They weren't thrilled to find their own loot to be looted upon returning. That was going into her journal for sure, a hilarious night she would never forget! Kirra enjoyed the thrill more and more. It felt like a good deed, as if she were avenging those they'd mistreated.

Still, the lootings were difficult to accomplish since she was disadvantaged working without a weapon thanks to a certain Nord. Too bad the Bandits weren't dense enough to leave a dagger lying around for her to grab. On the bright side, this challenge trained her to be successful without one.

But most important of all, Kirra had to keep her parents from finding out what she was really up to. She didn't go out everyday. She took days off to "replenish her inventory" for the store and to keep her parent's suspicion at bay. It wasn't too much longer now, she was close to collecting the 500 gold the family needed. They were just fifty or so Septims away from paying off the Jarl.

The end of the first week of Frostfall was drawing near, just a couple of days before the deadline. Kirra sat at a table out by the stables in the backyard for a lunch break from chores. She plotted on just one more run that night. She may even attempt to hunt down two camps, if time allowed.

Abegira walked up to Kirra. She appeared a little worried. "Have you seen your father, lately? I noticed he went missing after breakfast."

"No, I haven't! Did he tell you he was going anywhere today?"

"No, he didn't. The poor man has had a lot on his mind as we all have. It's been very hard on him. Maybe he just needed some time to himself."

Unexpectedly, Karlundr appeared, towing the empty wagon behind him up the path from the main road.

"Oh! Hello, Dear! We were just wondering where you had gone off to." Abegira said to him.

Karlundr moved up to them with the wagon and parked it. He held his arms out wide with joy and a big smile on his face. "Well, we did it! I collected a few things from around the farm this morning and sold them in Falkreath. I took every coin to the Jarl and the taxes have finally been paid off! Thank you, Talos!"

"Really, Papa?" Kirra said excitedly.

"That's wonderful!" Abegira ran up to Karlundr, threw her arms around him, and kissed him on the cheek. "I think this moment calls for a little celebration tonight! I'll start the preparations!" Abegira leaves with a happy hum as she goes into the house.

Karlundr approached the table as Kirra gulped water from a tankard, eyeing him from around the metal cup. "Mind if I sit here and chat with you, Kirra?"

Kirra lowered the cup and smiled. "I don't mind, Papa. What do you want to talk about?"

He takes a seat in the chair across from her. "I wanted to thank you for all your hard work. Your mother and I are very proud of you. "

"You're welcome, Papa. Though, I wish you didn't have to sell your things."

"It was just a few things I can live without for a while. The sooner we paid off the debt, the better. I'll get them back."

"And I'll help you get them back."

"That's what I want to talk to you about... how you helped." He sat back in the chair and folded his arms, appearing to be troubled. "Tell me, Kirra, how did you really do it?"

Kirra's smile disappeared, and her ears turned back slightly. How did he know there was something else? "What do you mean? I sold hand-made trinkets." She shrugged and tried to hide her feelings.

"I'm not fully convinced, Kirra. I don't want to doubt that you sold anything. But I'm afraid that I've noticed you've... changed. Your demeanor has been different, lately. What have you really been getting into?"

Kirra held her hands together under the table in her lap. She stared down a bit before confessing, "Okay. If you must know…" She drew in a quiet breath, "I've been raiding bandit camps for gold."

Karlundr became shocked and instantly reacted, nearly shouting, "You, what?"

Kirra immediately defended her actions. "I've been training my sneaking skills; I'm invisible in the night. They never see nor hear me coming. It's been the most successful thing I've done. Trying to sell hand-made junk was such a joke. So, I was thinking, why stop now?"

"Kirra…" He spoke sternly.

But she ignored him, speaking quickly to explain herself, "I can get back out there and keep at it. I can make so much more g-"

"Kirra!" Karlundr broke through. "This is going too far. Not only does this put your life in danger, but would endanger the farm if they find out where you're from. If your mother finds out about this…" He struggled to find words. "We've worked so hard to protect you. I can't just stand by and let you do this. It's… it's changed you."

"But it's changed me for the better, Father. I've come so far in my training. Common bandits are far below my skill level from when I started."

"That may be, but there are those higher in rank that are stronger and even more powerful than the common ones you've dealt with."

Kirra folded her arms. "Then I'll just keep getting better."

"You still don't understand. The bandits lure in those with skills to fulfill their deeds; those like you... the Khajiits."

Kirra shakes her head, "I'm not like the others, Father. Everyone in this town thinks I'm a thieving Khajiit like the stories tell. But I'm not like them at all… They take, but I take back." Kirra rests her head on her arms on the table, "For once in my life, I felt useful."

Karlundr immediately becomes sympathetic, not knowing about her motive. "If you are trying to prove yourself worthy to us, I want you to know that you mean the world to your mother and I. You have to understand that." Karlundr stood from the table, "I suppose I cannot stop you as you are old enough to make your own decisions, but please think about what you're doing." Karlundr turned and walked away to go into the house.

After he left her sight, Kirra buried her face in her arms on the table and groaned. "What do I do now?"

Later that day, Kirra left home to go for a walk. She stood atop of the snowy hill behind Pinewatch, over-looking Falkreath. She contemplated on what to do. She had no pride in the matter and only wished to help her family.

She folded her arms when a sudden chilly breeze swept up around her. Unexpectedly, a loose letter swooped from below and is blown straight into her face. "Oh!" She grabbed it before it slipped away and the gust of wind faded. "What's this?" She started reading the letter, "To whom it may concern…" and then she mumbled through the rest, gradually becoming more excited the closer she got to the end of the note. The Jarl of Falkreath is offering a piece of land to an adventurer that must prove himself loyal to the Hold. When she finished, she exclaimed, "This is just what I need!" she then spotted the fine print at the bottom of the note.

Disclaimer: Must be prepared to pay the Adventurer's Discounted Price of 5000 Gold for land purchase.

"Oh. Well, there's a price for everything. But it would be so worth it for my very own house!" Then she folded the paper and slid it into her pouch.

Kirra left the hilltop to take the back road along the lake to go home. Once reaching the road, she had already taken the paper back from her pouch to study it as she walked. Could a Khajiit like her be eligible for such an offer? She happened to look up over to her usual resting place by the lake when she noticed a new stranger covered in a brown robe sitting there. She quietly walked up the road toward him and stopped, unsure if she should greet him or not.

Kirra folded the paper and placed it back in the pouch. She stepped forward as she started to feel oddly drawn by this mysterious person.

"H-hi, there." She said nervously.

"Greetings, traveler." The stranger responded. "Come, have a chat with Maiq."

Kirra noticed he had an usual accent, none like she had ever heard. "I'm Kirra."

He didn't seem to want to show his face and remained hidden under his hood. He kept staring out onto the lake. "So, you are Khajiit, yes?"

"Yes, I am. How did you know?"

"Maiq knows many things."

A strange response, she thought. She moved closer to him as he spoke, curious to get a closer look. She sensed such a familiar presence about him.

He turned his head away from her. "Oh, be careful. Maiq has a bit of a fever. Maiq wouldn't want you getting ill."

"Oh, sorry." She stepped back to give him space. "Should you be out in the chilly air when you're sick?"

"Maiq is bundled well, he will be fine. So, Maiq wonders, what is a Khajiit like you wandering the roads of Skyrim?"

Kirra shrugged with a half-smile, "I guess you could say I'm a bit of an adventurer."

"A Khajiit adventurer, hmm? That's a new one. Say, if you like adventuring, there may be some opportunities for you in Riften. Yes… Riften."

She became curious, "What kind of opportunities?"

"Opportunities that reward in coin. It is coin that adventurers seek, yes?"

"I suppose so, I could always use more coins. I'll look into that, thanks." Kirra looked across the lake and noticed the sun beginning to set. "I better get back home now. Stay warm and feel better, Maiq!"

"Maiq wishes you well." He said, and continued to stare out onto the lake.

That night, before bed, Kirra sat at her desk and studied a map of Skyrim in a book. She finds where Riften is located and uses her finger to follow the best route from her home. "Hmm, it's directly East from here… ugh, seems I have to get around Helgen, somehow… then, through a mountain... Surely, I could get there and come back home in one day, right? I guess I shouldn't spend too much time there; just a quick visit."

Kirra wasn't sure what she was getting herself into since this would be her first trip alone and so far from home. She was afraid, but she had the irresistible urge to go. She glanced at the Jarl's letter on the desk. She had a new goal to work for now.

Kirra woke up early the next morning before sunrise. She dressed in her "adventure" tunic, pulled on her brown hood, and grabbed a satchel to pack with essentials for the journey to Riften. She looked around her room for items when she glimpsed the small chest of hand-made trinkets on the floor by the nightstand. She reached down to grab it and lifted it onto the bed. She opened the lid, and glanced over all the pieces - every piece she'd made since day one.

"Well, I suppose you're not all junk. In a funny way, you've kind of helped me get where I am now." Kirra pulled a particular necklace from the chest that laid over the others. She held it up to study it. The pendant was a painted, clay replica of a Falkreath guard's wooden shield strung on a sturdy cord with the deer insignia carefully painted on. It was one of her best pieces. She pulled the necklace up to her neck and hooked the clasp. Then, she lifted the pendant to her face and admired it. "Perhaps you're my charm of good luck after all." she said and then pulled the necklace beneath her tunic.

Kirra soon entered the kitchen with the satchel on her back. It was so early, her mother hadn't even started breakfast.

Abegira emerged from her bedroom in a faded red dress and her reddish-brown hair was fixed in one long braid hanging over her shoulder. She found Kirra looking around the kitchen for something. "You're up mighty early, Kirra. What's the occasion?"

Kirra looked up to her mother. "Oh! Hi, Mama. I felt like going out for a some exploring today. Selling trinkets really got me inspired to do a little sight-seeing."

Abegira smiled. "That sounds nice, but be careful on your travels. Falkreath is a beautiful place, but there are still many dangers out there."

"I will. I have pretty good hearing. I'll know when something, or someone, comes near."

"Are you going to eat breakfast?"

"I'll eat on the road. I hoped to enjoy as much sunlight as I could get."

"Take some lunch with you, too." She said as she moved into the kitchen and pulled a small, empty sack from the cupboard. She packed Kirra some apples, bread, and a sweet roll. "Here you go dear." She gave Kirra a peck on the cheek.

Kirra took the lunch bag. "Thank you, Mama."

The sun was starting to rise enough to light the farm. Kirra walked out of the house. She looked back and saw her father sharpening an object at the grindstone by the stables. She approached him and watched him work. She could tell the year had been hard on him. The silver of his sideburns faded into his black hair and reached further than it did last year. The stubble around his chin was also more silver. They were the signs of stress.

Without Kirra saying anything, he started to talk. "When I was your age, I wanted to travel the world, but I worked in the mine with my father. He wanted me to stay and help him. It made decent gold, but it was rough work. Then I met your mother. We married and moved into a small house together. We lived so far from the mine, I had to take a carriage with others to work and sleep in housing five days a week. We grew tired of the mine taking me away from her for days at a time. It was tiresome for Abegira and I having to spend so much time apart as a young couple. One day, I decided that we should build a bigger house of our own and run a farm. That way, we'd have more time together while sustaining ourselves. I never did travel the world, but I loved our new life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. We were also able to support my father and keep him out of the mines until he was laid to rest. If you're like me, you, too, want a life of your own."

Kirra kept quiet to listen to her father.

Karlundr stood from the grindstone and looked over his work and slipped it into a leather scabbard. "If you're traveling from home, again, take this." he held a sharpened iron dagger out to her. "It's my old dagger from when I was young. It's not much, but I don't want you to leave without it."

Kirra gently took the dagger and looked up into his weary, blue eyes. He was smiling but they were still filled with worry. "Thank you, Papa." She clipped it to her belt, then threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

Karlundr hugged her back. "Be safe, daughter. No matter what happens, I'll always be proud of you." When they released, he let her know one final thing. "And I won't tell your mother. I will leave that up to you."

Kirra nodded, adjusted the satchel on her back, and then went on to leave her home, off to journey to a place she's never gone before.

Chapter Comment:

This may be insignificant, but I thought of a minor change to the house since I wrote the 1st chapter. Originally, I thought to have just one bedroom like some houses seem to have, and some are just one room houses, anyway. But now I think I'll split the bedrooms into two enclosed rooms with doors. This is a house that doesn't actually exist in Skyrim, so I have some room for imagination.

Thanks for reading and Chapter 4 will be on the way. See you there!