Skyrim Khajiit Fic
Disclaimer: All familiar characters belong to Bethesda Studios. I own F'arrasha.
Chapter 5: Wandering
As I departed the lowly hamlet the next morning, I felt my body was still sore from the night before. Though it was a soreness that I had enjoyed, it was only for a while. Hadvaar was nowhere to be found, and I decided to wander the vast area of Skyrim, training and conditioning my body to be what I wanted to be; the greatest thief in Skyrim, like the legendary Gray Fox.
I wandered about, my daggers and a bow and some arrows I had procured, and began the journey. I had assumed that the soldier would have warned the Empire of the dragons, and they would handle it. As I continued to walk down the road, I could see, in the distance, farms, mountains, and towers. In the center of them all was a town called Whiterun. It was a small town, regrettably not much to steal. But, my body and mind had to be honed to a razor's edge, and exploring was the way to go.
Hunting bandits and taking over their lairs was one way I sharpened my skills. The bandits were tough and strong. Though sparsely armored, they carried huge weapons. I had to rely on my ability to blend with the shadows, my dark fur blending into my own shadow with ease. Each place I visited, I cleared out the cave of bandits. Though, as a thief, I would not want bloodshed when I was on a job, at the same time, I also knew that I had to be able to defend myself should I need to. The way of a thief is one of heightened awareness of one's surroundings and of the people that I would be dealing with.
Back to the bandits. The bandits were difficult if I did not catch them off-guard. Usually, they would appear in a group of two or three, conversing with each other about some trivial matter. I paid it no mind as I waited for my moment to strike. Though I preferred a pair of daggers as I fought, I liked the bow from far away, especially when dealing with sentries posted on bridges and towers. In one such case, I came to a ruined area that bandits were being held up in. I had agreed to do a favor for a man in Whiterun to retrieve his sword that was being held by the bandits in the area. Though I would have minded my own business, I truthfully needed the coin and he promised to teach me a new fighting technique. It was a fair proposal, and he seemed sincere about it, so I accepted it.
This ruin had several archer bandits on the outside, as well as their leader, and a few others patrolling. One of them was cooking something in a pot outside. The night sky made the campfire brighter, but only for a short distance. I stayed in the shadows of a rock, my body trembling with both excitement and a sense of dread. This was truly a life or death situation, and I clearly did not want to die. As I watched and waited for my moment to strike, I saw several of the bandits draw weapons. I stayed hidden and peered carefully around the corner of the rock. As I did, I saw them all shooting and hunting something out near the river. It was my chance, and I dashed under the cover of darkness, as quickly and as I silently as I could. I got in and hid in a corner with a treasure chest near me. I listened carefully and waited. No sound came for a while. Finally, the sound returned and, as the door opened, I prayed I would not be caught.
In the darkness, the bandits did not see me as two of them walked by me. My breathing stopped and watched as they both continued onward to their posts. Once I was sure they were gone, I exhaled, breathing easily. In the darkness, I noticed the chest and it contained a trap. I carefully disarmed the trap, slowly severing the wire connected to a mace. Once that was done, I looted the chest, taking whatever was in it. Then, I carefully made my way up the tower.
Before I could finish my accent, I could see one of the bandits on the bridge, doing a patrol. I noticed he had a bow and, readying my bow, waited until he was walking back and fired an arrow. It dropped him instantly, the sound of the projectile hitting through his armor and into his flesh. I waited and heard a sound above me. Someone was looking down to see what had happened, but, given the time of night it was, he did not see anything, and I continued onward.
I quietly and quickly made my way to the other side of the bridge, but, as I did, I saw a sentry sitting across the river, waiting. I ducked behind the other tower just as she tried to find me, but I managed to stay evasive. The wooden beams creaked as I tried to make my way to a chest that could have contained the item I was seeking. I searched for traps, remembering full well the last chest I had encountered. It was not trapped and I hefted the lid slowly to see what sort of loot was inside it. The sword I had been searching for was here, as well as some gold and some jewels. I snatched everything up and tried to make my way back the same way I had come, hoping to evade the bandits. But, it was not so.
I returned to the first tower and was about to go to cover when one of the bandits yelled. He had spotted me. I cursed to myself and, drawing my daggers, made a dash for the rocks and the mountains, hoping to evade them all. There was still darkness, but not much as before. Dawn was approaching, and I had to move fast. One bandit got in front of me. He must have been out hunting and he reached back with his bow to fire a shot. I dashed at him, slashing at any exposed skin I could hit; arms and shoulder. He shouted in pain and dropped his bow and, as he turned, my daggers plunged into his chest. He was down, a surprised look on his face as he dropped to the stone path. I saw several other bandits making their way down the tower and continued running.
Once I some distance, and in the vicinity of Whiterun, I returned the sword to the client and he agreed to show me his technique. Though I would never likely use a shield, he was still handy with a sword. It got me thinking on using a sword if both of my daggers should fail. It might be useful.
I had sold the goods I had gained to another merchant when I noticed several, tough looking men nearby. I had no idea who they were, but I decided that I should take whatever I could get before anything else happened. One of them seemed to notice me and I hastily decided to leave. Walking the quickest way out of town, I could see the others starting to follow me. I do not know what they were after, but they seemed very interested in me, so I decided to slip out of town and to a wagon. Once I was outside the city gates, I slipped some coin to a wagon driver and told him to take me far away. The driver nodded, and I was on a crowed wagon heading to a place called Riften. I had no idea where this place was, except that it was very far from where I wanted to be and, hopefully, very far away from the people that were looking for me.
The question I had to ask myself now was who were those people, and why were they after me?
Next Chapter:
Riften, the City of Thieves!