The leaves crunched quietly under soft soles as she crouched quietly, notching an iron arrow in her bow and pulling the string back. Taking a breath, she released the arrow, sighing in relief as she watched the elk scream and fall.

She stood up and strung the bow around her chest. She looked back and grinned at the man who had been watching her silently. "How was that?"

The man rolled his eyes and walked past her, stopping briefly to put a hand on her shoulder and smile at her. "Could have been better, cub." He said as he continued walking towards the fallen elk. She sputtered behind him, her tail swishing angrily behind her.

"What! Oh, come on Ralof! I took that down with a single shot!" She said as she approached him.

The man, Ralof, rolled his eyes as he crouched, pulling out the arrow. "Yes, but if you had been paying attention," he paused as another elk rushed past the clearing, "you would have gotten two instead of just one."

She groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "Damn…"

Ralof stood and walked towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders and crouching down onto his knee to meet her eyes. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Azita. Your aim was better than most children your age." He paused for a second, grabbing the tip of one of her pointed ears and squeezed lightly, "Better than some Nords I know, too."

Azita slapped his hand away, growling slightly as he laughed at her reaction. "I told you not to do that! It feels weird!"

He continued to grin as she barred her teeth at him, admiring her ferocity. The fangs she barred were barely bigger than his little finger, and her small size was hardly threatening. But, he did find that what she lacked she made up for in skill. She was quickly picking up on archery after only a few days of lessons, and was already like an expert with small swords and daggers. Even Wuunferth, the Court Wizard, thought she was picking up on his teachings quickly, mastering his spare spellbooks like she had absorbed them directly.

He shook his head as she rubbed her ears irritably, and returned his attention to the elk. "Let's get this skinned and go home, eh, hunter?"

As they walked through Windhelm's gate, Azita pulled a hood over her face. She had never felt comfortable, being the only beastfolk to be living in the hold. However, she also felt the judging eyes of those Dunmer living in the Grey Quarter; the occasional calls for her pelt were extremely unsettling. It was for that reason that she was hesitant to walk alone through the city.

When they neared Candlehearth Hall, Galmar, Ulfric's housecarl approached, nodding towards Ralof, and sending a scowl towards Azita. "Ulfric said you'd pass by here. He needs to talk to you."

Ralof, noting the serious tone, nodded. "Alright. We were heading up that way anyway-"

"It's urgent."

Ralof's eyes hardened. With simple days like today had been, it was almost easy to forget there was a war. "Aye."

He turned to Azita, who nodded to him in understanding, darkness entering her features. She of all people understood that the war was his main focus. It would be her main focus as well, had Ralof let her join the effort besides watching the meetings silently (and on rare occasions, giving opinions and ideas). It was the most she could ask for, especially since he agreed to be her guardian when-

Suddenly, she was shoved to the side, snapping her out of her thoughts. It was Galmar, who glared at her before jogging after Ralof, as he had already started to run to the hold. Of all Ulfric's court, Galmar was the only one who still distrusted her, though she (along with Ralof) was thankful that he stopped outright saying so after her first two years. An imperial spy, he had called her. As if!

Closing the main door silently behind her, Azita silently padded through the hallways, anxious to reach the room that she and Ralof called home. She paused when she heard several hushed voices coming from Wuunferth's study. Ulfric's deep voice, Ralof's kind voice, Wuunferth's rather odd voice, and even Galmar's gruffness stood out to her.

As she padded closer, she could finally hear the conversation.

"-I told you she was a traitor!" Galmar growled. "This could be a trap!"

Ralof scoffed. "She's been with us for six years. If she was a traitor, she would have had plenty of chances to do something."

Azita nearly bashed her head against the wall in aggravation. This again?!

"She has done nothing wrong, Galmar." Ulfric cut in before Galmar could continue. "Now, do we know who the letter was from?"

"Now, that's the odd part." Wuunferth said as Azita heard paper crumple. "It says who it is from, but I have no mentions of it in my books-"

"I told you!" Galmar interrupted, earning himself a glare.

"Like I was saying, I saw no mention of it in my books, but not everything the College knows was available publicly."

There was a pause before Ulfric spoke again. "Do we still have the bird it was sent with?"

"Aye." Galmar affirmed.

"Then we write a reply message. Wuunferth, contact the College and ask them about this 'school.' Galmar, alert the troops at our territories' edge and tell them to report back with any suspicious activity. And Ralof, watch her closely for the coming days. And, for both our sakes, hope that Galmar was wrong. Do not mention this meeting in front of anyone. Dismissed."

Azita quickly fled up the stairs, avoiding anyone until she got to her bed, getting in it and curling the blankets around herself.

Whatever was happening, it didn't sound good.

Authors note:

OMG guys!

So, I was brainstorming ideas when I found this file on my computer from a while ago.

Talk about throwbacks!

I decided to post it merely because I was curious as to how people would react to it.

So, tell me if I should continue to post the files I found, because from what I saw, it's kinda cool.

Also, Azita is my Khajiit character from Skyrim, a game I love with cool characters!

(Seriously, Oblivion made me cry over one of the last missions. Kill my Dark Brotherhood family?! I had literally made an Argonian character to match the ShadowScale member, and you make me kill him?!

I haven't grown attached to any game character since. Why, Bethesda why.

I might write a story literally telling you about the feelings I felt during that mission. It was like a Soap Opera goin' on in my emotions!

Awkward rant over.