I started to run after him. I dodged people left and right, the man getting further and further away from me. Of course, though, he knew Riften - and probably like he knew the back of his hand. I was furious when I lost sight of him, but I was even more furious when a guard sneaked behind me and grabbed my wrists. Another roped me.

"Hey!" I yelled, "What are you doing?"

"We told you if you made any false moves, we'd be on you. Now you have some explaining to do," there were three guards around me. The one on my right was the right guy from the gates and the other two were just meeting me.
"That guy stole my chain!"

"What guy, huh?" the guard asked.

"The one who ran out of the Bee and Barb! Delvin!"

The guards laughed, and pretended to look around for him, "I bet he did."

They hoisted me off of the ground that they first pushed me onto and started to lead me toward what I assumed was the jail.

I sat there for a good ten minutes trying to pick the lock. It wasn't very good for me, however. I had only one lockpick on me. They took my bag and put it on a shelf away from me outside of my cell. If I'd have known trouble was going to start, I would have stashed more.

When the door finally squeaked open, I leaned my head back and gave an exasperated sigh of relief, standing up and stepping out of the cell. I pushed the door closed as quietly as I could. Surprisingly, I was the only person in the jail. Really? Nobody else got in trouble? Like, ever?

I walked out and to my satchel, which I picked up and threw over my shoulder. No way was I going to stay in a jail cell. I had my chain to get back.

I searched around for a little before I finally found my way out. It was roughly midnight, and I needed to fine somebody who would help me - Keerava?

I made my way to the Bee and Barb. It was late, sure, but it still had to be open, right?

I pushed the door open and made my way inside. There were different people in there now and I saw Keerava at the bar, cleaning. She looked up and gave me a nod as I walked up to her.

"Did you get your chain back?"

I laughed, "I wish. I was actually wandering if I could talk to you alone."

"About?"

"I need your help."

She shrugged her shoulders and led me to a room in the back of the bar. Luckily, nobody really paid attention.
In the back room she asked me, "So, what happened?"

"Because of who I am, I got arrested. I just got out of the jail cell and I was wondering if you could tell me how to get to Delvin."

She seemed unsure of what to say, "I'm not sure if you're going to want to go through all of the fuss to get it back, but you can go under the sewers and..."

So a little while later, I found myself picking another lock. 'Hm', I thought to myself, 'Maybe I should see about joining the Thieves' Guild. I'm pretty fine with picking locks.' I laughed with myself as the door sprung open a little. I stayed where I was, waiting to hear if anybody moved or said anything. Granted, it was so late at night that probably everybody had to be asleep, but at the same time, who was I to know their sleep schedules?

When no sounds were heard, I tiptoed into the room and looked around. There was just about nothing but a bar type of area. Yeah, Keerava said it was called the... Ragged Flagon? Yeah, I saw why 'Ragged' was used. It could use a few upgrades.

I made my way across the area and found another door. It popped open and a smile covered my face. There laid the man named Delvin and my chain was on a table next to him.

Yeah, you could say I stole my chain back. But ask me a simple question: Ajivha Rae, if you stole your own chain back, why did Delvin Mallory follow you to the outskirts of Falkreath and try to take it again?
Ask me again when I could tell you a proper answer.

I found myself running through the trees outside of Falkreath. I was just settling into an inn at the bar when he walked in, a triumphant smile on his face. I sat there, chill as ice. What reason did I have to be worried? The chain was mine in the first place, right?

And there was a bar full of witnesses, so if he tried to kill me he'd go to jail.

Or so I thought.
Yes, I was wrong.
Oh, so very wrong.

"Everybody in this room," he said loudly, "I have a bone to pick with a Khajiit in here. Every person who runs to a guard will come to their death in a neck-to-knife manner. I don't usually kill, but somebody in this room has something I want." At this point, he pulled a small blade out and gave me a smile, "Hand over the chain."

"I don't think so."

"It's mine."

"You stole it from me."

"And you stole it from me."

"I took it back," I stood swiftly and walked toward him.

Truth be told, I had no weapons on me and I was doing an idiotic thing by approaching him. Well, I had weapons on me, but they were all in my bag and by the time I'd reach for them he'd have me sliced.

So what options did I have left?

I walked up to the man and he just stared at me... until my fist charged his face with a, "Hello!" kind of vibe to it.

I took my chance and I ran.

Now I was running through trees and bushes. He was hot on my trail. I feared that soon I'd be making a 'fine rug'.
So what if I was a Khajiit? I still had rights to be scared... and I'm not the toughest person in the world. Putting on a tough exterior usually keeps people from trying to mess with me... until they stare at me enough and start thinking, 'She's just a Khajiit. Little tidbit can't do harm to me.' Whatever you say...

I found myself dodging trees this way and that, hustling to jump over fallen trees and avoid thorn bushes. I know, I know - I'm a Khajiit. I'm supposed to be swift and stealthy... usually I am, but in new territory, when I'm running for my life, I prefer not to be having to look above me and below me for attacks and things that could trip me.

At first, I was doing fine. I was staying ahead of him and out of sight, but even as it was so late at night, my eyes were still better than his but that didn't mean I could see everything.

I dodged a tree on my left but felt myself coming to a collision with the ground, leaves, twigs and stones. I also found myself thinking I was done for, because even as I tried to get up to keep running again, I just wasn't fast enough.

But somebody else was.

I felt myself pulled off the ground and tugged backwards into bushes and a hand clamped over my mouth. My heartbeat started racing as I figured it was Delvin, but that didn't make sense - I could still hear footsteps running after from the way I'd came from.

"If you want to survive, stay quiet," a male voice hissed into my ear, "Otherwise, if you make a noise, I won't hesitate to slit your throat."

My eyes widened as I was gently lowered into a kneeling position with the guy getting down behind me.

My thoughts were racing. Was he a bandit or a thief? Was he another member of the Thieves' Guild looking to kill me? Was he a hunter wanting to use my fur as his pelt on cold, chilly nights? My heart pounded as I thought of all these possibilities. What if he was just a man prejudice against Khajiits?

And suddenly Delvin got closer to us. Too close, in fact. He stopped right in front of where we were in the bushes. We were hidden from the moonlight, but would that stop his eyes from looking down and seeing us? He looked around as I bit my lip and to my own relief, he started trekking on.

The man who was behind me kept us down for a good ten minutes after Delvin left, though. And even then, before he removed his hand from my mouth he said, "You have some explaining to do. Follow me if you want to be safe."

He slowly let me get up and I turned around to face him and see who the man was that saved me but before I could, he was walking away from me. I only saw his back.
"Wait!" I hissed, and the man stopped walking.

I saw a tail on him. A tail. The man had a tail!

"What?" he whispered back to me.

"Are you a-"

"Khajiit?" he finished my question, "Just as much as you are. Now follow me. I'll answer more questions later, but that guy is still around here and you're being tracked. Let's move."

It took us half an hour, but we came to a big door. It had a skull on the front of it and when he approached, I jumped. The door spoke, "What is the music of life?"

To the question, the man replied, "Silence, my brother."

And we entered.

He led me down a lot of steps, past a small room where a blonde woman was, to whom he said, "Evening, Astrid," and he continued down further. The woman glanced at me curiously and then she looked away.

Eventually we came into a kitchen kind of place and he pointed at a long table, "Sit."

There were two other girls sitting at the table and one guy and they all exchanged a glance from me to the man.
I was not going to let him speak to me like that.

"Excuse me?" I said, "I may be an animal, but I'm a Khajiit, like you. I'm not a dog, thanks."

He gave me a dirty glare and said, "I'm pretty sure I just saved your life. Some appreciation and gratitude would be nice."

He had a point, I knew, as I rolled my eyes and sat down at the table, but I sat out so I could look at him as he gathered some food materials.

"Oh, look at that," said one girl, who looked like a young, little kid, "Omazirr Reyuu actually has the heart to save somebody! Or is it just because she's your own kind?" (OH-mah-z-ear Ray-you)

"Shut up, Babette. You don't know anything about me to understand why I saved her."

"Then elaborate," another woman said.

"The woman needed help so I helped her. Now shut up!" he glared at the two of them and my eyes widened.

"So I'm not the only female you command around?"

The other two girls laughed but the younger one spoke up, "He's not the one in charge. Astrid is. He's just a high-ranking assassin, so she trusts him a lot."

"Just because he got here and killed more people in more time than we have," Gabriella chimed in.

Something hitched in my mind, "You're assassins?" I asked.

"Everybody in this this hideout is an assassin except for... you," Babette smiled, "Which stills makes me curious as of why you're here and why he saved you."

I eventually turned to the Omazirr fellow, "Why did you save me?"