I knew for certain that death was coming for, and soon. I had never felt this kind of numbing coldness before. More than that, it was lke I had no limbs or body to speak if. Nothing complied with my desperate urge to some part of body just... Moved! I wasn't even certain that I was breathing. Minutes, hours, days could have passed and it felt like I was stuck in this imeasurable sensation of nothingness. Please... Please just let this end already... I pleaded silently to myself.
Of course I was not rewarded with a quick and merciful end. Little snippets of sound kept breaking into my barely there mind. Doors being broken, shouting, loud clangs of metal, a roar of pain... A female voice shouting. There was a loud slamming some where close to me. A voice accomponied it, shouting and demanding something from me. I tried to frown... Respond... Anything... But nothing came from me except silence. Then sansations came back to me seemingly en masse. A white hot searing pain all over my body accomponied by a waterfall of bitter foul tasting liquid cascading down my throat. Coughing... Spluttering... Hacking... Was death supposed to be so unpleasent? I was under some assumption that bleeding out was like falling asleep and not whatever this was. The last sensation I knew for certain was a pair of strong arms wrapping around my still and limp form.
There was a loud popping sound some where in the back ground. It was consistance and utterly annoying. I snuggled more deeply into soft warmth... Only to cry out in pain from attempting to move my limbs. Eyes snapped open in time to see Maul swivel on his heel to look at me. Soft whimpers on my account and a half a second later had him at my side wth a red squared vial at my lips.
"Drink it and don't spit it out this time." With no choice but to comply I swallowed contents, and another, then another... Five bottles later and a satisfied grunt left me agitated with a desperate need to rinse my mouth out.
"Wait a minute before you move. Give it a chance to work. Are you warm?" I raised my eye brows at him and didn't trust my voice enough to try and speak yet. I managed a soft sigh and looked pointedly at the fire. He added more wood and it blazed an intense heat through the room which wasn't hard considering the place we were in was fairly small. I was wrapped in countless layers and placed against a wall directly across from the fire its self. Warmth was spreading through my limbs bring much needed pain relief. As I waited to sit up my eyes became preoccupied with Maul who had decided to sit next to me and set to work cutting up bread and apples with a small dagger. If he noticed my staring he didn't comment and eventually I had to ask.
"How...?" Was all I could manage to croak out however. The hard set of his jaw showed he wasn't going to answer. Minutes ticked by and the room grew pleasently hot. With no pain in my limbs and only a contented numbing sensation left behind I struggled, pushed, and grunted my way into a sitting position. It was short lived as I toppled over. Grunting it what I assumed was displeasure Maul sat me up with my back against the wall and my furrs kept tightly around me. A larger clear glass bottle was held up to my mouth. It was water and I drank like I had never tasted water before. My arms automatically jerked upwards and grabbed at the bottle until it was taken away from me. I realized I had started choking on it and Maul tried to righten it with a sharp pat to my back. When I could breathe again I couldn't help but laugh.
"Easy there muscles don't break my back, yea?" The door opened in the middle of his murmured apology and he gave a little huff. Sapphire walzted in looking venemous and beautiful trailed by Rune who glanced around nervously and offered my a somehow shy smile.
"Well, well look who's awake." Sapphire murmured in a lustuious deep voice that I'm sure had men clawing at her heals. All it did to me was make my skin crawl. "Before you ask Ri'Akari and Mjoll are alive. They are headed here as we speak. " She drawled out in an almost a lazy fashion like she couldn't really bothered me. "However, you owe Maul your life. I don't know what you did to him but you made him... All of us... Turn on the Theives Guild and Maven Black-Briar. You've made some powerful enemies." She smirked at me and Maul cleared his throat in obvious discomfort. A side long glance was cast in his direction by icey sapphire blue hues before she continued. "Rune and I are leaving and will meet you again in Solitude. Maul will watch over you untill Ri'Akari arrives."
With a wave of a hand and another small smile from Rune, she left just as abruptly as she came. I didn't even get to say anything! Luckily I didn't really need to as Maul chose that moment to speak as if he was picking up on a conversation I didn't know we'd left off on.
"After your stupid stunt with Brand-Shei and I dragged you down to the Theives Guild personal cell Maven sent every Mercenary she owned after Ri'Akari and Mjoll. She even questioned Aaron but of course the littel runt said he knew nothing and his throat was slit on the spot. Unfortionately for Maven she didn't predict that Ri'Akari was the DragonBorne and Ri'Akari cut down every mercenary that was sent her way. It wasn't long until Maven ran out of hired swords and turned to the dark brotherhood. They sent out their two finest... And their heads were sent back. Thanks to all of this though what should have been an easy six day mission to save Brand-Shei turned into nearly twelve plus all the additional time it took to find you. They wouldn't have either if I hadn't come forward and said I'd get you out." He stopped speaking for a moment and watched his hands as he carefully cut the soft center of a piece of a bread out and held it out to me. I took it gingerly with my fingers and nibbled on it delicately. He wiped sweat from his brow and neck then decided to remove his upper armor leaving a thin leather kind of undershirt beneath it. A sharp glare and stern face turned pointedly in my direction.
"I won't tell you my reasons for my actions against Maven Black-Briar. They are my own and I expect you to respect them." Looking away he resumed fiddling with his knife. "Anyways, when I offered to get you out as quick as possible with little bloodshed Ri'Akari wouldn't hear of it. She burst through every door in the Rat Way and tore apart the ragged flaggon looking for you. Her and Mjoll both cut down Ansker, Delvin, Mercer, Vex, and Delvin as they unleashed hell through Riften and The Theives Guild. The rest of them have scattered or gone to Mavens side directly. While they were all distracted I made my way to you, pumped you full as many potions as I could when you weren't spitting them back out at me and got the hell out of there. Ri'Akari and Mjoll followed behind but we went seperate us to force them to look for two sets of people. Sapphire and Rune sided with me after they learned of the damage done and are going to look for Thrynn. They are good people and didn't really belong in the Theives Guild like I did, anyways."
He quieted again and I couldn't look up from my hands. Bloodshed had been and inevitability when we hatched our debautched plan to lure out The Theives Guild and sibsiquiently Maven Black-Briar. It wasn't supposed to turn out quite like this though. I wasn't expecting an ally in Maul who look for all the world like he could simultaniously gently carve the apple in his hands while casually stabbing some one in the throat. But he was an ally, and one I had already fucked over by him turning on the only family he knew. I tried to keep a little sniff to myself as I ran a hand down my face as subtly as possible. Apparently it wasn't subtle enough because Mauls head snapped up and the most confused expression I could imagine settled over a man of his stature. It looked foriegn as though he'd never held the expression before. I kind of curled in on myself and waved my hand at my body to distraction from whatever he was about about to.
"What about this? I had a suspicion Brynjolf was a hard man but this is a bit exsessive, don't you think?"
"Yes... Well... Maven was more than a little angry that her sellswords had been slaughterd like pigs. That was her suggestion and Brynjolf was eager to comply like a dog begging for a treat from its owner." He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortablely. "Did you... Did you mean it?" I couldn't help but smirk at him at a little bit.
"Why? Think I'm going to take it back? No... I meant what I said. I forgive you for what happened. You had no reason not to do what he said considering you don't know me and its not like I think you'd have any regrets about what you did or didn't do. I just... Wanted you to know for some reason?" The last part came out like a question and I gestered my arm in a broad almost sweeping motion. It was a nervous action perhaps although I couldn't quite identify why I felt it tugging at my stomach. If he had a response to my statement he didn't grace me with it.
'Why haven't you killed me yet?" The question ripped forth from my mouth like I'd vomited it onto the floor. He stared at his hands and again gave no response or even any indication that he had heard me. The nervousness built up in my stomach and my heart was suddenly beating wildly in my chest. I gasped, choking on air and sobs that threatened to bubble into and spill out of my throat. My hands clamped over my mouth in an effort to keep the noises locked inside but I couldn't even see as tears welled up in my eyes. At this point all of it seemed too false and all my bravado crumbled around me onto the floor in pieces. I realized that in my mind I had chalked all this up to not being real and was walking through it like a dream. But it was real and I had faced death. There were scars and healing wounds all over my body as evidence. I rubbed at them fantically with my hands trying to remove them but they wouldn't come even as my skin turned red from the friction. No... No... No... No! This isn't real! Skyrim isn't real! It's a game! A video game on my T.V! THIS IS NOT REAL! I keep screaming it over and over again in my head but the marks are still there, I'm still sitting in a pile of furs, and nothing was changing.
Maul interviened when the screaming started and I began using my nails on my skin. I was in the middle of a full scale mental break down. Two large hands jerkered me forwards and shook me even more senseless than I already was. Tears flew, shrieks sounded as attempts were made break me from my sudden hysteria. I kicked and tried to run... To where I don't know but strong arms held me fast against a solid form. There were consistant rythmic murmurs of "Don't be scared... Won't hurt you... Shhh... Calm down... Shhh..."
Time passed and I couldn't cry forever. Eventually I quieted and lulled against what I assumed was Mauls chest. His murming continued at a steady pace as my mind realed. Hows and Whys were my most prominate questions but I had no way to voice them. How could I? How was I suppose to tell him that none of this was suppose to be real and where exactly I came from? The answer was I couldn't and I sagged helplessly.
Positive I wasn't going to start my hysterics again Maul tucked me carefully back into my pile of furs. One rough caloused hand stayed flat on my back and other other ran ragged down his face.
"By the eight some one bring me some mead." I mumbled out disjointed apologies at what I'd done as the sound of two horses drew near and stopped outside our door.
Authors Note: I keep putting a bunch of filler chapters but the development of these characters outside of 'game' and in Kates 'reality' is important to me. Unfortionately I feel like it's not really getting anywhere and would appeciate any feedback of whether or not I should even continue this or scrap it.
Song: Orgy - Fiction (She Dreams In Digital)