Blindness
by Deunan and Hawkings.
Escapee
~~~*~~~
Xochi's eyes shot open, she was in a camp, it was night and she had heavy iron shackles around her wrists and one around her ankles.
Her heart raced and once she sat up, worried, where was she? What had happened?
"Where are we?" She heard a voice say.
"I don't know, you think I've been here before?"
"God dammit, where were we when we took the girl?"
"The 'Imperial City', see it's right there." The man groaned.
"Which way did we go?"
"Down this bridge... I think down this road until we turned into the woods and then... um..."
"We're lost! Great. Ask the girl, she should know."
The three men came into Xochi's tent and put a map in front of her.
"Where are we?"
"I don't know. I don't know what's around us so I can't tell." Xochi said.
"Fine then." He picked her up and unlocked her shackles pulling her outside.
"Woods." He said dragging her violently to the road.
"Roads and..." He pulled her to a hill overlooking a city.
"A city, but which city?" He asked.
"Cheydinhal, that's Cheydinhal." She said realizing they went the opposite way.
"And which way do we need to go to get back?"
"I don't know... I don't even know how I ended up in Cyrodiil." She stated.
"Damn useless." He pulled her back to the tent and threw he on the ground, locking her back up.
"Don't try anything."
She sat on the ground pulling twigs and small rocks off the ground in hopes to break the lock.
The twigs were not strong enough to pick the locks and the rocks were too small to break it, that and her lack of strength forbid her too.
She stopped once she turned to the back of the tent she lifted it slowly and reached out, picking up a larger rock and dragged it back.
Once she knew that no one was outside looking at the map and instead were out on watch she began hitting the rock against the chain, attempting to break it at it's weakest point.
After a while one chain link snapped and she sighed in relief, she tried again on one around her ankle, coming to avail once another link snapped.
She did so again until all were broken off.
She crawled out the back of the tent and slowly made her way to her horse, easily spotted in the darkness she stood up slowly and got on her now saddle-less and rein-less horse.
As she slowly backed the horse up the others spotted her.
"What the-!? Get her!" A man shouted as her horse reared and galloped away, Xochi was holding tightly onto his mane, hoping she wouldn't fall off.
"How did she get out?" A man said on his horse as they all began chasing her.
"Remember, I'm faster, stronger and much more talented with my horse, if I can out run Nero I can out run them." Xochi snapped her horse to ride faster as the men stayed at a distance behind her.
"Come on! Come on!" She snapped him again and again, but he was riding as fast as he could.
"Cheydinhal is just over the hill, we can make it there." She slowed him down as they came to the hill and she turned onto the road.
"She's going to the city, if she gets to the guards we're through." He whipped his horse and the others followed closely behind.
"Sir!" She stopped upon reaching the gates.
"Guards?" She looked around, no guards in sight.
"Guards!" She shouted, unaware the guards were inside the tower, chatting.
"Oh, guards!"
Xochi turned her horse away and ran around the city.
Inside the tower the guards had just discovered her, hearing her call they grabbed their swords and ran outside where multiple riders approached them.
"Halt!"
Two men stayed to distract the guards while the others followed Xochi.
"In the name of the Emperor I say halt!" One guard got on a horse and chased after the men.
"Hide... hide." Xochi looked around the area and got off her horse, she pushed him away and he rode off as she hid in the bushes, she thought they would follow the horse instead of searching the area.
"There she goes! Hurry up!" They went on right past her as she stood slowly and made her way to one of the gates.
Xochi snuck her way behind trees and bushes, trying to stay out of view.
However, plans never go the right way, wolves appeared, smelling her there they closed in on her, hoping for a good feast.
Once Xochi heard their growls she looked to find them and when she finally spotted four of them she concluded that there was more waiting to pounce.
She backed slowly away until she was cornered by the Cheydinhal walls.
"Be brave Xochi, run." She breathed in and ran forward, dodging one leap from a wolf and dodging the rests claws from her skin, even though they tore at her clothes.
She ran around the walls until she came to a gate, again no guards, they were all around front fighting her two captors.
She banged on the doors, knowing there was no way to open them she caught a building in the distance and decided to run towards it.
The wolves ran faster then her but she was more conscious of the situation and as she crossed over a hill she saw the building was just a ruin, left over from some old city.
Xochi ran to the ruins, slipping on mud and puddles left over from rain.
Once she reached the ruins she tried to open the doors, to no avail she turned, back against the doors she watched as the wolves closed in.
She looked around, picking up a large branch she swong it at the wolves just as her horse seemed to have came back to her.
"Stupid training! Go! Away with you!" She shouted at her horse as a wolf leaped at her and caught her forearm.
"No, away with you!" She whacked the wolf right on it's head and it realeased, backing up again.
Just as she was loosing space a dagger flew across her sight and hit a wolf square in the head.
"What?" She looked to see where it came from.
She spotted a man wearing complete black robes.
"Thank the Highest!" She sighed in relief as she ran over to the man who seemed oddly surpised she did so.
He pulled a sword and began fending off the wolves, two attacked at once, but he was too fast for them and pulled quickly on one and turned around to do the same.
With five left he kicked one back and swong down just as another attacked, catching his robes Xochi came up and whacked it with the branch which cracked it's skull.
Regaining his balance he swong once more at that wolf that he knocked down while Xochi lifted the brance once more to swing and instead of hitting a wolf she missed and one bit down into the branch.
Eventually the few wolves left decided they were weakened enough and ran away.
After taking a breath the man seathed his sword and took his dagger from the wall.
"Thank you." Xochi said panting.
The man simply turned to her.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Xochiquetzal and who are you?"
"Nobody, forget you saw me." He walked past her.
"How could I ever forget?" Xochi walked toward the man.
"Because you will if you know what's good for you." He stopped her and pushed her back.
Xochi was confused until she heard a sound from away.
"It's them, oh no, they'll find me." She looked around.
"Can you hide me?" She walked up to the man who was attempted to get rid of her.
"What?" He was surprised by the sudden change.
"Hide me!" She got behind the man.
The man confused heard sounds of horses and riders coming upon them.
"Go away." He turned away again.
"No!" She walked right behind him, annoying to the man he had enough.
"If I hid you, will you go away?" He sighed.
"Yes! As long as I get escort to Cheydinhal, I will."
"No escort, only hiding." She smiled. "Escort or I will follow you to the ends of the Earth."
With a silent cursing, the man put her inside a tree trunk.
"Don't move." He turned around, walking to the white horse he suspected to be the womans.
"You there!" One rider said and the man turned to him.
"Yes?"
"That horse belongs to a woman, hard to miss, her skin is white, you have seen her yes?"
"Yes I have, she ran into the woods, from the look of those wolves she may not live much longer." He patted the horses head.
The men rode off into the woods and until they were out of sight he pulled Xochi up.
"Hurry up." He put her by her horse then rode his own back to the city gates where he fulfilled his deal.
"Now leave me alone." He turned back around to leave.
"Oh wait!" Xochi stopped him. "Thank you sir." She bowed and rode around to the front gate where the man awaited until she was gone to begin this trip, since he was planning on traveling anyways, might as well leave now.
Xochi trotted along to the city gates and upon reaching them she dismounted and placed her horse in the stables where the guards opened the gates and Xochi got to be once more glad to be in a city again.