I've been having a hell of a time trying to write anything of late, so i am super sorry this took so long. i hae two more chapters pretty much on deck and ready to go to follow this one, so i'll hopefully be posting those soon! i'm really sorry about how long this took for me!

M'rissi could hear people screaming behind her as she ran, growing more and more distant as she limped along. As curious as to why as she was, she couldn't bring herself to look back, tears stinging her eyes. She has to keep going… if she can find the Stormcloaks, they may be able to save him!

She frantically searched the forest ahead and around her for any sign of the Stormcloaks, growing more fevered with every passing moment. The horrified screaming behind her was fading, but was definitely more than one person, her curiosity over taking her. She had to know what was going on.

Maybe… maybe the Stormcloaks found the tal'mor… maybe they are saving Ra-William right now! she took a long shaky breath, trying to blink away the tears blurring her eyes.

But… what if it's not… what if it's some creature? Going back would get her killed… what should she do? Her eyes dropped to the ground as she shuddered, unconsciously watching the blood leaking from her leg. Small spasms randomly shot through her body, the girl unable to calm them

"Hey, I see someone! They're bleeding!" a male voice shouted out near her, drawing her attention. There was a burly nord pounding over the brush toward her, clad in chain and a blue kilt. Several more came running from different directions as well, not one's armor quite matching.

S-Stormcloaks? Or… bandits? M'rissi doesn't know! She took a pair of steps away from the running men, tripping over an exposed root as her focus was still on the men. She yelped as she landed on the injury, the impact sending a furious pain through her leg.

"Whoa there… uh… uhm miss?" the closest nord skidded to a stop at her as he spoke, crouching beside her. with the open faced helmet he was wearing, it was clear he was quite concerned for her, that one expression helping calm M'rissi.

"Ranger! She has to save Ranger!" she spoke without thinking, trying to scramble to her feet and run back the way she came. Her leg couldn't hold her weight anymore though, collapsing under her and sending her to the brush again.

"Hey, calm down, you're injured, don't try to get up! Who's this Ranger you speak of?" he kept her from standing, gently forcing her back down as the other nords arrived, totaling maybe five at most.

"let go of her! she has to save her friend! The Tal'mor will kill him!" she tried to struggle against the nord, but she was simply too weak, only managing a meager flailing. Meanwhile, the screams that had been in her ears fell off, the forest silent beyond her struggling.

"Thalmor!? Rori! Get back to the company and warn them! We may have an attack coming! The rest of you, with me! Let's go save us a Ranger! He shouted that out as he ripped a blade from it's scabbard, thrusting it into the air. After his shout, he used his free hand to pull M'rissi to her feet, helping her stay standing. "Lead the way!"

She nodded and pointed back the way she came, gulping as her imagination began to run wild as to what they were about to find. The screams she had been hearing were awful sounding, even the memory of them grating at her nerves.

After she pointed, the soldier helped her limp in that direction, the other three still with them spreading out around her protectively, the archer of the group taking up the rear. As they were helping her move, and she was their guide, the group seemed painfully slow compared to the wild sprint m'rissi had maintained just minutes earlier, the group creeping along.

As they got closer to where she last saw William, it was though they had stepped through a veil, the smell of blood overwhelming her nose. Even the nords noticed it, each of them grimacing. They pressed on, not letting the awful metallic scent slow them. Minutes later, they found the first group of corpses, several of the high elves that had been chasing M'rissi now nothing but tattered bodies. Armor and limbs were scattered about the area, every single one of the elves laying still in some sort of mangled state, be it missing limbs, or even a missing head. The sight was ghastly to behold, but M'rissi did her best to keep her cool, pointing them deeper into the forest.

The second set of bodies was just as ravaged as the first group with one major difference. In the center of the group lay Ranger, face down in the dirt. His bow lay beside him, nothing about him seeming out of place. Her nose was also being assaulted by a fresh smell, one that reminded her of a dog's musk amplified a hundred times. The smell, and seeing Ranger still, both had her heart hammering in her chest, her eyes frantically searching the area for any signs of a dog.

"R-Ranger?" she whispered as she shoved herself off the nord, staggering toward Ranger. The nords didn't stop her, each of them letting their weapons fall slack. Their focus was on the carnage around them.

M'rissi couldn't care less though. She needed to see if Ranger was alive. After only a handful of agonizing steps, she collapsed next to him.

"Wi-William!?" tears stung her eyes, her ears pressed flat on her head as she gently shook him. He didn't stir, M'rissi's heart spiking with pain. She forcibly rolled him over, finding his front as covered in blood as she saw him last. Oddly though, there were no crossbow bolts protruding from the holes in his vest.

M'rissi timidly unclasped his vest, gulping as she peeled it open. The shirt underneath was also soaked in blood, but there were no wounds behind the holes. She frantically felt his chest, feeling his blood under her fingers as she swiped them over his skin. At first, she felt nothing but smooth skin, until she came across two slight bumps. Startled, she pulled his shirt up to look at them, finding a pair of scars where fresh wounds should have been.

In that moment, his chest suddenly rose as he took a breath in. with that breath out, he coughed several times, blood sputtering from his mouth. Only a few coughs though, his breath stabilizing into something oddly normal.

"William!?" she shook him again, trying to wake him to no avail. Though he was breathing, and clearly alive, he wasn't responding. Tears streaked her fur as she frantically continued.

"Hey, calm down, he's alive. Let's just grab him and leave before what ever did this comes back, okay?" the nord spoke to her very calmly as he pulled her back to her feet. "you two, grab him and his bow, and lets get out of here!"

M'rissi shuddered as she watched the other two nords pick up William, his limp body utterly eerie to her. as soon as they had him straddled between them, the group rushed from the area.

William slowly became acutely aware of a sharp ache across his body, groaning because of it. It was though every fiber in his body had been stretched too far, the pressure along his back from laying down incising all of it.

"W-William!?"

He heard M'rissi's pained voice, his eyes snapping open the moment he did. As far as he could tell, he was in a small room with a single two person bed. The bed, which he was on, was clean and comfortable, much better than the whiterun inn's beds. In one of the corners was a man in falling apart chainmail armor, a ragged blue kilt wrapped around him marking him as a stormcloak soldier. M'rissi on the other hand was directly beside the bed, a bright smile on her face as her tail excitedly flicked behind her.

"H-Hey M'ri. Uh… well…" memories from the forest slipped into his mind, of being shot by two separate crossbow bolts. And more importantly, he vividly remembered the strange voice, and the events that transpired after. What it felt like to crush and tear flesh and bone in his jaws. Every single one of his senses had been amplified ten fold. The soldiers had been in a state of absolute fear, and he was well aware of it. From the screams, the sweat, the urine, the blood, even their heartbeats, he could sense all of it. "What happened…?"

"M'rissi doesn't know… M'rissi ran like you told her… but she came back when she heard screaming…" M'rissi's voice was very quiet, hear ears flat against her head as her eyes dropped to the floor.

"She left out the part about running into us. We carried her to find you. She keeps insisting you had been shot by a crossbow bolt." the soldier stood as he spoke, moving over to the bed. "Also wouldn't leave your side for anything. Got yourself a pretty loyal friend there."

"I guess my gambeson prevented me from being killed by it… and I must'ave used some healing magic or something…" he shrugged, not really sure how to respond to the soldier. He still didn't even have an inkling of a grasp of what happened himself.

"Any idea what killed those Thalmor?"

"None. Last thing I can remember is loosing an arrow at one and missing. Everything else is just… blurry."

"Alright. Well, after we found you, we brought the two of you to Ivorstead. Closest town to us. You're in a room at the Inn right now. If you're feeling up to it, inn keeper should have a meal ready in an hour or so. But do not leave this inn. We have guards on the doors to prevent it." The soldier kept his voice plain and calm, a slight serious undertone to it. "And that goes for you too, Kajiit." With his statement finished, he stepped clear of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Are you alright Kitten?" William spoke as soon as the stormcloak had closed the door, remembering the injury to her thigh.

"Her leg hurrrts… But the Stormcloak surrrrgeon gave her stitches and told her she would be fine as long as she doesn't move around too much for now…" her response was quiet, and though she was standing, she was leaning heavily to one side, likely to avoid putting pressure on her leg.

"Good. Do as he says and let it heal alright? Once they let us go, we'll find a place we can lay low for a while. Sound good?"

"M'rissi thinks it sounds purrrfect!" Her reticent response from a moment ago was completely gone, a broad smile lighting on her face as she let out a small purr. "Or… Um she was thinking the same thing! So she can hide… From the tal'mor… Her wanting to stay with Ranger is not related…" she muttered to herself as she finished, quiet enough that William was certain he wasn't meant to hear it.

"Alright." William smirked at her, slipping out from under the blanket and gently putting his bare feet to the floor. Thankfully, he was clothed at the moment, but not in his own clothes. Nothing more than a simple cotton tunic and loose fitting pants. Of course, his clothes were probably ruined by blood.

"Rrrangerr! You shouldn't be getting up! You only just woke up!" She grabbed his shoulder to stop him, her ears pressed against her skull again.

"I'm alright M'ri, I've just been lying around for too long." He gently pulled her hand off his shoulder, just before slipping off the bed and to his feet. All of his muscles were protesting moving, being difficult to control his movements. But he could still stand. In the corner of the room was a pile of gear, his bow, blade, and cloak all amongst it. So by his parting statement, they are treating us kinda like prisoners, but they let us keep our equipment? Odd…

"Umm William? Can she call you that?" M'rissi drew his attention back across the bed, seeing her ears curled almost like before, though far less to her head. Behind her, her tail had formed an almost question mark shape.

"I guess… I mean, I'd rather go by Ranger, at least in public. But you can use my name if you want to." He shrugged, having intended to keep his name to himself. Mostly, because he didn't want to form any attachments to anyone and felt that keeping people from knowing his name would go a long way to that.

"What is lycaanthrrpy?" she continued a little quieter, slipping up to sit on the bed.

"Lycanthropy you mean? It's the disease that produces werewolves. Why?" He leaned against the bed, more to help steady himself than anything else, his legs feeling like mush.

"Errr… She thinks? The soldiers werrre talking about it… they said they thought you might have it, and want a mage to come inspect you for it…"

"Oh…" he understood exactly why they would want to. He had shredded those Thalmor as a wild beast after all. I know for a fact I don't have Lycanthropy though. I don't have any other symptoms, nor did that transformation match any of the texts father had me study… this is something else entirely. "What happened that they would think I'm a werewolf?"

"Well… the tal'mor corpses she found you with… looked like they were shredded by a beast, not a man…"

"Ah… I guess I would be concerned about that too. I promise you M'ri, I don't have it, so you don't need to worry about it, kay Kitten?"

"Oka- HEY! Don't call her Kitten! Her name is M'rissi!" she jumped as she realized what he called her, the small fuzzy fur that covered her exposed skin standing on end, her tail becoming like a spear.

He let out a small chuckle as he pushed off the bed, doing his best to walk normally as he moved for the door. "What ever you say, Fluffbut." He didn't make it to the door before he was being smacked upside the head.

M'rissi followed quietly beside Ranger, glancing behind her to the small village they were presently leaving. After a week of soft captivity by the storm cloaks, they were given passage to leave the village, the Stormcloak mage confirming what Ranger had been saying. That he was, in fact, not a werewolf. Which had led to several days of harsh questions about what killed the Thalmor chasing the pair. After neither party got answers on the matter, and the fact M'rissi and Ranger showed no hostility toward the Stormcloaks along with being chased by the Thalmor, the pair was finally released. They were even able to procure new clothes from the local farmers, though they were not the most comfortable clothes in Tamriel.

M'rissi had found an old faded blue short sleeve tunic that sort of fit her. Really, everything she tried turned into more of a dress than a tunic, even the one she was now wearing falling almost to her knees. Thankfully, it had split sides high enough that she could still comfortably run, should the need arise. Coupled with a pair of off white leggings that were supposed to be form fitting, tucked into a pair of old riding boots that actually fit her feet, she could at least move freely. The only two articles she kept were the fur shoulder wrap and hood, and her satchel, currently stuffed with the afore mentioned hooded shoulder wrap.

William still had his original pants and boots, but his gambeson and undershirt had been utterly ruined, beyond the repair of the local seamstress. As a result, he was wearing what equated to a burlap sack with sleeves and a head opening, still stuffed into his leather vambraces. All of their clothing was second hand that one farmer or another had been willing to part with for a few septims, so it was threadbare and scratchy, nor did she particularly like the smell of any of it.

She will definitely have to clean this when she can. She wrinked her nose as they walked on, following the cobbled road. "William? Where are you going to take her?"

"Well, I was thinking at least going to Riften to start. Never actually been there myself but, Dad…" His voice froze for a moment, William gulping before he continued with more of a somber undertone to his voice. "Dad told me the Thieves' guild operates out of Riften, so we will have to be careful, but on the other hand, we can definitely find someone who could tell us more about that ring of yours…. I hope…" the last part of his statement was spoken much more quietly, almost to himself.

"Do not worry William! She will make sure no nasty thieves take any of your stuff!"

"Alright, I'll hold you to that." William smirked, only visible as the hood on his cloak was down, though that smirk quickly fell. "M'rissi you should prepare for the likelihood that we might not find anything.

M'rissi felt her heart drop a little, knowing exactly why he was saying that. It was a very real possibility that her ring was simply a family trinket with no significance to anyone but herself. "She… She knows we will find out something! You have never failed her before!" she wanted to stay as positive as she could, but the thought of never finding anything about herself always haunting her.

"Yeah… listen, while we are there, I want to try and find the Rift's Ranger. Or try to find out where he is. From what da- from what I always heard, he tends to not stay in one place for very long." His voice stopped again, though it was before he finished saying dad this time.

She… gets the feeling he recently lost his father… It was easy for her to tell that he was going through something. He was usually very quiet, and always looked sad to her when she found him alone. Add to it how his voice changed every time he mentioned his father and it was undeniably obvious.

"Okay. William… What are the Rangers?"

"Oh… not really anything official. Most people call hunter's or woodsmen Rangers if they spend enough time out in nature. My fa- or… um I fall into a loose group of Ranger's that one of us call's Kyne's Ranger's. There's one or two of us in most holds and kingdoms, and we try to stay in touch with one another. We mostly try to keep nature and civilization from clashing too badly. The various Ranger's try to stay in touch as we occasionally call on each other if things need more hands than we have." He maintained slightly downturned monotone as he spoke, almost as though he were reading from a page.

"Oh… so you are imperials then?" They had a long conversation while they were running from Whiterun explaining the civil war going on in currently in Skyrim, partly to help her understand at least who the people chasing her were.

"Hmph. No. we, as a group at least, do not hold any allegiance to any one nation. As individuals, we can stand for whatever group we want. The only rule is that we do not attack one another. If we happen to end up on opposing sides of a battle, that's fine, but we can't explicitly target one another. And if we call for help dealing with wildlife, we must put that aside to help each other. Our main goal is to keep a balance between nature and civilization. So that means dealing with particularly violent animals, teaching hunters how to not over tax the land, helping farmers with crops, all sorts of things like that. Some of us, like… well, some of us also help out against local criminals, but that is entirely on the individual's prerogative." His voice dropped for a moment again, M'rissi guessing he was about to mention his father again.

"So you do not work for the Stormcloaks or the Empire?"

"No. I don't. though, me, personally, I do hope the Stormcloaks regain their right to worship Talos back. Beyond that, this war is pointless to me." He shrugged, his eye's staying locked forward. There was a slight glisten to his eyes that wasn't normally there, M'rissi losing sight of it as he began scanning the pine trees around them.

She wonder's what happened to his father? And if he has any other family? She moved to open her mouth to ask him, but quickly stopped herself. No… She shouldn't ask him… that is way too personal, and it clearly pains him. She let out the breath she had taken in as a weighty sigh, her eye's dropping to the cobblestone road they were walking on.

"Keep your chin up M'ri. Even if we don't find anything that will help you, I promise you, I'm not going to just abandon you." His voice snapped her attention to him, seeing the soft smile he was giving her.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! she is fine… she is just… she is just hungry! She want's some fresh fishies!" she stumbled over herself trying to cover her worry for him. He always seemed happier if she was happier, so it was probably best if she acted as happily as she could for him.

"Oh… shoulda know…" he rolled his eyes, his focus returning to the path before them with an amused smirk. "It's always fish with you fluffbutt."

"Hey! Don't call her fluffbutt! Her name is still M'rissi! And what can she say, fishies are the best!"

He let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "Whatever you say! This road is following along the river, so when we stop later I promise, I will do my best to catch you some fish."

"YAAAAY!" she excitedly jumped at his response, earning herself another laugh from her companion, her worries for him already forgotten.