I awoke to the sound of clinking glass. Annoyed, I sat up and peered around. It took me a moment to remember that I was not in my cozy home in Whirerun. I rolled out of bed, slowly got dressed, and then approached the tiny mirror on the wall to attempt to make myself look presentable. My hair looked like a hagraven's nest. I retrieved my boar-bristle brush from my pack and began to comb it out, regarding myself in the mirror as I did so. I had always been…odd-looking, to say the least. I had the large eyes that Bosmer tended to have, but a large nose and small mouth, and it all looked out of place on my broad Nord-typical face. I had the long pointed Bosmer ears, which I always ended up pinching in any helmet that wasn't elven-made. I had inherited my father's stout frame, which came in handy when I needed to do anything that required strength – I could swing a greatsword whereas most Bosmer would struggle to lift one – but I wasn't nearly as lithe and sneaky as I wish I could be. My nearly waist-length, sandy brown hair was the only physical feature about me that I actually liked, although I had to keep it in a braid most of the time to prevent it from getting in my way.
Satisfied that I had tamed the mass of hair, I quickly braided it, collected my things, and left the rented room. Geldis was restocking newly washed glasses and mugs at the bar, explaining all the noise.
"Morning," he greeted me. "You interested in a bite to eat?"
"What have you got?" I inquired.
"My breakfast special. Baked ash yam scrambled with tern eggs. Teldryn's upstairs having some right now, in fact. 3 gold."
"I'd better have some food before we go. That'll be nice, thanks." I handed over the money, and he disappeared into a back room and came out a few minutes later with an iron plate heaped with the reddish-orange and yellow concoction. "Enjoy!" he said cheerfully.
I carried the plate upstairs and found Teldryn sitting at the same table I'd seen him at yesterday. He looked up at me as I approached and nodded, his mouth full. He was already nearly done his food. "Good morning," I said.
"Gmrf," he replied, shoveling more into his mouth.
"Slow down, you'll get sick," I observed.
He held up a finger, continuing to chew for a minute, then finally swallowed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Always been this way," he remarked. He scooped the rest of the food into his mouth.
"Well, forgive me if I don't inhale my food as well. This smells rather good so I'd like to enjoy it," I replied, sitting down opposite him. He smirked and sat back, patting his stomach. "Sleep well?" he asked, after he had swallowed his last mouthful.
"Like the dead," I answered between mouthfuls. "I was pretty tired."
"Good. I'm hoping to get some action with you today so it'll be best if we're both alert."
I nearly choked on my food. "Come again?" I spluttered.
He looked at me like I was from one of the moons. "I want us to have a good fight with something."
"Oh. Oh. Right." I mumbled, staring down at my food, eating a little faster. There was a few moments of awkward silence. In my mind I slapped myself upside the head for taking his remark from a gutter-minded perspective. I wished he'd put his helmet back on so I woudn't have to look at his admittedly handsome face.
As if he'd read my thoughts, he picked his chitin helmet up from its place by his feet and tugged it onto his head. He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head, letting out a deep sigh.
"Sorry. I'll eat as fast as I can," I apologized.
"Take your time. I probably do need a few moments to digest," he commented. I was somewhat uncomfortable during the rest of my meal, as he said nothing further and I didn't know what else to say. Behind his mask I couldn't tell if he was watching me or if he was relaxing with his eyes closed.
Finally I was done and stood up. "Ready?" I asked.
"About time!" he exclaimed. He stood up and stretched, and I followed him out the door.
Outside, the sun was shining, a contrast to yesterday's overcast and ashy weather. I squinted at the sudden bright light, taking a look around. Just beyond the borders of the town a hillside and some craggy, volcanic cliffs rose up, the atmosphere beyond still hazy with drifting ash from the volcano on an adjacent island. Teldryn headed towards a narrow path that wound up the hill, me following close by. We climbed to the top and began walking through the field there. A lot of the grass was blanketed by ash, which I mistook for snow at first. There were green patches here and there though, and native plants poked through in abundance in some areas.
Suddenly, I felt what I thought was a sharp rock chip hitting me on the back of the knee. "Ouch!" I yelped, and turned around to see who was throwing things at me. Instead of finding a person behind me, I instead encountered an odd creature the size of a mudcrab. It looked a lot like a grasshopper, but was golden in colour and had a more hefty carapace. I stared at it for a moment, wondering if it had been the culprit somehow, when it jumped up and nipped my fingertip.
"Hey!" I yelled, and drew my bow. Before I even had an arrow nocked, a sword flashed in front of me, cleaving the beast in two. I looked to my side to see Teldryn sheathing his sword. "Ash hopper," he remarked. "Probably couldn't kill you unless there were a lot of them ganging up on you, but they're territorial and incredibly annoying."
"I'll say. That hurt," I exclaimed, toeing the still-twitching carcass with the tip of my boot.
"Do you do any alchemy? The jelly can be useful to you if so," Teldryn offered.
"Jelly?"
"Yes. Little fetchers are full of it," he commented, unsheathing his sword again and using the point of it to dig inside the thorax, scraping out a good portion of a reddish jelly.
"I do, actually. Let me take some and I'll play around with it." I picked a large leaf off a nearby tree, wiped the jelly off his sword with it, folded it up and put it in my pack.
No sooner had we gotten moving again than a column of something white suddenly whizzed past me, grazing my shoulder. I looked to see a blaze of frost on my left pauldron. "Ice spike!" I yelled, drawing my bow and wasting no time in having an arrow nocked. I heard the zing of metal as Teldryn drew his sword again in response, but this time I was faster than him and buried an arrow in the heart of the Dunmer who had just come out of invisibility near us.
Teldryn looked over at me. "Nice shot!" he complimented me. I stepped forward and examined the corpse. He was wearing robes of destruction, nothing moderately powerful, and from the weak staff on him I asserted that he was probably an apprentice wizard. "Wonder what his issue was with us?" I questioned.
Teldryn shook his head. "Probably a reaver. Unfortunately Solstheim is crawling with them. The bloody ash hoppers are less of a nuisance. However, these fellows are significantly deadlier. Let's see what else he's got." Teldryn crouched down beside the body and pulled off the robe clothing it.
"Teldryn! Leave him a little dignity," I scolded.
"Reavers don't deserve any. You'll share my sentiment after we meet a few more," he growled. There was a leather belt around the man's waist with a small pouch attached. Teldryn sheared it off with his blade, holding it up towards me and shaking it. It jingled with the sound of gold coins. "And we're sure to find more," he said smugly. "We'll split up everything at the end of the day. Now – let's find that camp."