Finally have time to start writing this story again. Sorry about the delay I should be able to update it every other week at least. Just a forwarning though I didn't have anyone edit this so it may be a little rough around the edges. I would appreciate any reviews or comments you want to offer. thanks, Chevy99


The bee and barb is a friendly and warm inn. Much more pleasant than Candlehearth Hall. Then again Riften is everything Windhelm isn't. I have to admit I haven't slept that well in months. Of course that just makes pulling my lazy ass out of bed at first light even harder.

I sit up in bed pulling my arms over my head. My tightened muscles stretch and loosen and a grunt escapes my lips as my body adjusts. Next I lean over stretching out my back and legs as I reach for my toes. After holding that pose for a minute or so I start to pull my leather armor back on. The dried animal hide is actually warm for a change, making it not horrible to get into. I pull one of my spare pairs of socks out of my small backpack and slide them on before settling into my leather boots.

The Argonian inn keeper is silently wiping down the bar as I make my way toward her.

"I trust you enjoyed your stay?" She says to me.

"Best night's sleep I've had in months." I answer her honestly.

"Glad to hear it. Can I get you any breakfast before you get on your way?"

My stomach picks that moment to growl loudly answering her question for me.

"What are my choices?" I ask.

"Sliced goat or eider cheese, vegetable or tomato soup, we also have some fresh honeyed bread or some left over venison stew ready right now. I can make you something if you have time to wait."

"I will take the bread and a couple slices of eider cheese."

She disappears for a couple seconds getting me my request. I place the cheese and bread in an extra piece of cloth from my pack and start snacking on one slice now. I thank her one last time as I set my gold on her counter and make my way toward the gate.

The guard doesn't even acknowledge my existence as he opens the gate. I pay him just as much attention as he pays me, partly because he's a Nordic ass and partly because leaning against a tree a few paces down the road is Sapphire.

I keep my eyes on her as I walk past on my way North toward Whiterun.

"Someone in a hurry?" She says to me when I pass her on the road.

Unsure of what she wants or what I should say I just look back at her and keep walking.

"Hold on jeez." I slow down a bit when she starts to jog to catch up to me.

"Listen people talk. Especially Delvin, everyone has heard about the new recruit. Especially since it was Vex that recruited you. She's not exactly the most friendly of people."

Curiosity getting the best of me I can't help but ask, "What did you hear?"

"Not much, just that they gave you your trial job." Sapphire answers.

"What has this got to do with you?" I can't help but wonder aloud. As far as I knew thieves aren't the most friendly or outgoing people and having the memory of her shaking down that stable hand last night is still fresh on my mind.

"I noticed the bow on your back when you came into the city. It looks even better than Niruin's, looks like its Elven right?"

"Yeah it is." My answer is short and curt. I don't know why but this is making me more and more uncomfortable.

"Alright just stop and listen for a minute. I know what you saw last night and I'm sure your wondering why I'm here so I am just going to come right out and say it. OK?" Sapphire grabs the leather pad on my shoulder and forces me to stop along side her.

Keeping my skepticism clear on my face I answer her, "I'm listening."

"Good, OK here it is. Nobody in the guild knows this which is why I'm asking you but I have a little hobby." I wonder to myself if I would even know what her lying face would look like, she sure looks like she's telling the truth though so I just stand there and listen. "Anyway my hobby is simple. I find bandit hideouts and I clear them out."

"You rob them?" I interrupt her.

"If you consider looting their corpses robbing them." She answers me honestly.

"Nice hobby."

She can't hide the anger on her face with my comment and I worry for a second if I said the wrong thing. "Don't fucking judge me. This is a good deal for you."

I hold up my hands in a placating way, as I answer her, "I'm not judging you. I just don't understand why your telling me this."

"Sorry, I'm a little defensive which is why I don't want to tell anyone at the guild. The thing is I need help. I've noticed an especially well organized group of bandits and I'm not sure I can handle them on my own." She pulls her hand away as she steps back. Someone more experienced may have understood the expressions on her face but this conversation is just making me more and more confused.

"OK, look just ask me what you want to ask. I don't understand what you want." My heart rate slows down and I visibly relax.

"I want you to help me clear the bandits. I'm guessing if you impressed Vex enough to allow you to join you have some sneak skills. I have enough experience around men to know when your confident in your abilities and while you scream nervous with almost everything else, when I mentioned your bow your eyes focused and you stood up straighter. I'm just guessing here but I would be willing to bet you know how to use that thing on your back. So I want your help killing bandits, and in return for you helping you can keep half the loot we find in the cave. Does that sound like something you would be interested in?"

Before even realizing it doubt clouded my thoughts. I tried to dismiss it quickly so Sapphire wouldn't notice but of course she did.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" She asks it like its the strangest thing in the world for me not to have killed anyone. The fact is until yesterday the answer to that question is would have been no. At least now I don't have to worry about lying to her. Before I even realize it I'm answering her.

"Of course I have." It comes out way more defensive than it should.

Now it's her turn to hold her arms up and look non argumentative. "I'm just wondering, that's all."

"Fine. Even if I wanted to help you I have my own job to do. I don't have time for side trips." I proclaim, defensively.

"Well where are you going maybe it will be right on the way."

"Just south of the ritual stone. That's where it's located on my map anyway, I'm not exactly sure where it is."

Sapphire laughs when I tell her. "That couldn't be any more perfect. Not only is lost knife cave pretty much right on the way but with two of us we should be able to cut through the mountain path which will cut off hours of your traveling time. We can travel to the cave today and clear it out. Once it's clear we can make camp there and spend the next day traveling and tomorrow evening scouting out your target. I can't help you with the actual heist but I can act as a look out. Once that's done we spend a couple hours getting back to the cave. It's a known bandit hideout so we should be safe there in case anyone is looking for us, then come morning we make the trip back to Riften. You should have your new armor before bedtime in two days. I don't think you could do it that fast on your own even if you didn't stop to clear out the cave."

My brain is screaming not to trust her but her plan makes a ton of sense. There just has to be a catch.

"What's in it for me?" I ask her.

I watch her laugh again. I can't help but smile, her laugh is catching and I realize just how attractive she is.

"You mean besides the loot from the bandits and the pay from your job." When I nod she keeps answering me. "Well, you will also have someone who owes you and will act as your lookout anytime you need help. Not to mention a friendly face. Trust me the guild isn't the most friendly to new comers."

"And the catch?" I have to know. It sounds way to good to be true.

"Smart. It's good to know you have some sense to build on. We will make a thief out of you yet. As to what the catch is, it's simple. Keep my secret. Don't tell anyone what were about to do. That's it. So do you think you can do that?"

After thinking it over in my head for a couple seconds I nod my agreement. Sapphire smiles at me again and extends her hand.

When I shake it she says, "Oh and one more thing. Don't ask me why I do this. You have your secrets and I have mine."

Nodding again we set off toward Shor's Stone. We settle into a nice crisp pace in silence. My thoughts drift from the woman walking beside me toward my future as a guild member and all the riches that are going to be mine for the taking.

We eat the rest of my cheese and the still warm bread on the way to Shor's. For her part, Sapphire shares her mead with me to help wash the bread and cheese down. After passing through the mining town we veer off the road and work our way behind the mine. A small game trail disappears into the mountains and we both ready our weapons as we make our way down the path.

Any man, woman or child will learn one thing very quickly while living in skyrim. That thing is whenever you leave a road, you do so at your own risk. While you might see the occasional wolf or spider or bandit on the road, when you go off you might run into any of the dangerous things that call Skyrim home. Saber-cats and bears are the most common but you could easily find yourself face to face with a troll or a necromancer. Witches and hargravens also make their homes among the forests and caves that dot the Skyrim landscape.

I would have taken any of those things besides what we actually saw. The first warning we got was a heart stopping screech that reverberated throughout the mountains. Sapphire instantly dropped to the ground and rolled into the brush. I stood there like the biggest dumb ass to ever exist until her warning finally registered in my fear addled mind.

"DRAGON!"

I dove next to her just in time to see the creatures wings and head come clearing over the mountains. I have never been so scared in my life. Part of me wanted to lift my head up to see if I can get a better look at the beast and I probably would have if Sapphire didn't grab me roughly by my armor and pull me back deeper into the brush. She wrapped her arms around me and held me down on the ground as the wind and sound from the dragon's wings assaulted our senses.

"Don't make any sounds or moves. Dragons have better sight and hearing than we do." I hear her whisper. Her breath against my ear. I can feel her lips against my skin. I wanted to ask her what to do. She must have read my mind because she answers my unasked question.

"We will just lay here until we can't hear the dragon anymore. There's a nest on the top of that mountain. Once we get through this path we will be alright."

I nod my understanding as I feel my pulse pounding in my head. She must have been able to feel how scared I was because she pulled me even closer against her. I briefly thought how weak and pathetic I must look but I was just happy to have her so close at the moment.

The creature flew overhead for what felt like an eternity. Finally though it disappeared back over the mountain. I got up to move but Sapphire held me down.

"Always wait five minutes. If it's all quiet for the five minutes then you can move. Remember that they can hear better than you." I nod at her again as I wait for the allotted time to pass.

Sapphire finally smacks her hand against my chest telling me it's OK to get up. Getting up with as much pride as I could after looking like such a milk drinker, I throw my bow back over my shoulder and resume our trip. Once we get going she asks me the question I knew would be coming.

"First time seeing a dragon?"

"That close. I did most of my hunting at the hot springs and while I heard them off in the distance I never saw one up that close. They are horrifying. How did you stay so calm?"

"When they first started showing up a couple years ago the guild basically shut down since it wasn't safe to travel. That was until Mika came to the guild though." She answers.

"Mika?" I ask.

"The dragon-born." She answers me like it's not the most unbelievable answer ever.

I stop dead in my tracks and just stare at her.

"What?" She asks.

"You know the dragon-born?" I mumble in awe.

"Of course I do. She's our guild master."

"Shut the fuck up!" I proclaim. "You can't be telling me that the Dragon-born is the leader of the Thief's guild."

"Why not?" She asks me when we start walking again.

"I've seen her before." My answer is simple but the amount of awe which I say it with is overwhelming.

"Oh when?"

"During the assault of Windhelm. I don't see how anything that powerful needs to steal anything." I wonder.

"Ah you saw her at the pinnacle of her power. It's amazing what 2 years can do to a person when they are touched by the gods. The first time I met her she was just an untrained, attractive woman looking to make her way in the world. You could tell by looking at her that she was different. She has emerald eyes and hair the color of fire. Her voice dripped power even then, but that didn't change the fact that she was still just a runaway looking to make a name for herself just like you. She ran with us for a couple months fighting the graybeards call before she finally gave in. After that she was just a whirlwind. Coming and going non stop. Every time she came back she brought us more riches and power. Not to mention every time she returned she was stronger than before."

"Does she still come by the guild?" I wondered. Hoping for a chance to see her up close. The closest I got was during that raid. I will never forget that night.

Fire rained down on Windhelm. The streets burned as much as brick and mortar can. The stormcloaks set up barricades all along the streets. I witnessed everything from my perch atop one of the walls overlooking the Palace of the Kings. Men and women cried and cursed as they were sent to their afterlives. I remember how detached I was from all the death and destruction that was taking place below me. I waited for this day for so long. Most Nords in Windhelm treated Ulfric like he was Talos' gift to men. I hated the man and the way he treated my dunmer kin. That's when I saw her. She was at least a couple hundred paces ahead of the rest of the legion army. She was a one woman death machine. Her dragonbone armor visible even among all that carnage. I will never forget the duel swords she carried. Anything or anyone that got in her way was instantly cut down. Then I heard her shout and it was like the gods had come and it was our judgment day. At least ten stormcloaks scattered in her wake. If that wasn't frightening enough she calmly walked up to all of them while they tried to regain their bearings and killed them. There was no hesitation or anything, she just ended their lives. What I will remember most though is what she said while she took their lives. "Doesn't seem like such a fair fight now does it. This is how your king justified killing his rightful ruler." I never had a doubt about what the outcome of her fight with Ulfric would be. Compared to her Thu'um his was like a child's tantrum. I wanted to slip into the Palace to see if I could watch but the rest of the legion had arrived and I thought it best to just slip back to the orphanage and tell everyone the good news.

"Officially she's retired now, although she does stop by to make sure Brynwolf is doing OK." Sapphire answers me.

"So she's the one who told you what to do in case you see a dragon?" I ask.

"Yep. Although from what I hear she handles them quite differently." Sapphire smiles at me as she says it. We're both probably aware how jealous of her we are.

"Don't feel so bad about being scared though, the first time I ever saw one up close I almost pissed myself." We both laughed.

We spent the rest of the trip chatting about how much the world has changed since the arrival of the children of Akatosh. Soon enough we spotted the small crevice in the mountain side that Sapphire assured me was our goal. On each side of the cave opening were two bodies. They were both stripped and flayed and impaled. I found myself being thankful that at least they were impaled through their sides and not from ass to mouth like I've heard about.

Sapphire must have seen the shock on my face and she used it to drive her point home. "That's the type of person were about to kill. Remember that if you feel yourself hesitating when they are in your bow's sights."

I knew right away there wouldn't be any hesitating. Anyone who could do something like that was a monster and deserved whatever fate they got. A silent arrow to the throat was a kindness to what they really deserved.

In answer to her I just looked back at her, my determination stronger than it's ever been. "You ready to do this?"

She smiles back at me, "You have no idea. Let's go."

So we set off toward the entrance. Our pace was slow and calculated. When our eyes adjusted to the change in light inside the cave we set off. It wasn't long before we came upon our first two victims. We stopped a hundred paces from them and I looked over at Sapphire letting her know I was well within my bow range. She just nodded back at me and pointed toward where she would hide in case they started to come after me. I watch her start to sneak her way up there while I ready my bow. Once she's in place she looks back at me and smiles then winks. I aim down on the bandit furthest away. Since the one closest to me was facing my direction it's possible he wouldn't even see his friend die. Even if he does I'm confident that I can draw again in time to hit him at least once more not to mention Sapphire.

I take note of his armor, smiling to myself when I see its fur and nothing strong enough to stop my arrow. In a cave their usually isn't any wind and this time isn't any different. The sound of the creek should hide my arrow as well. Bringing my bow up I center my sights on his chest. With fur armor no use going for the harder neck shot, since a good heart shot will kill him just as dead. I slow my heart rate down as usual making sure my arrows can be drawn quickly if I need to. I completely zone Sapphire and the other bandit out as I aim down on my target. My sights find him quickly and my arrow rushes off silently toward his chest. The impact sends him falling backwards and crashing into their camp. That makes the other bandit turn around toward his friend and I decide to show off a bit. My next shot finds it target, the other bandits neck. Both are dead before they even knew what was going on.

Sapphire smiles at me as I approach her. "Nice shooting."

"Thanks." I smile back at her. My smile stays as she runs ahead of me, leaving me to stare at her ass.

We loot the bodies and the campsite for anything worth keeping. That turned out to be about 50 gold pieces. None of their armor was worth carrying out so we left them as is.

After looting their camp we slowly work our way deeper into the cave. The stream leads us toward the center of the cave and it opens up into a good sized lake. A path leads across the water and we notice two more bandits along the path.

"No place to hide." I tell Sapphire. "I will take out the bowman first then try to kill the next guy before he gets to us. She nods at me and holds her sword at the ready.

These guys are further away than the last so I take a bit longer to aim. At least one was sitting down facing us so I have a nice big target. My shot flies true and he never gets up again. His friend sees my arrow in his chest and grabs his war-hammer and comes charging at us. I rush my shot a bit and miss his chest. Hitting him in the leg, he stumbles a bit. While he's down Sapphire rushes in to finish him off with her sword. Once I see her plunge it into his back I focus on the third bandit running at us from across the lake. It's a difficult shot since he's a fast moving target at quite a ways away. I take my time though and my aim ends up being true. We pick over their corpses as well and start walking toward the other side of the lake. As I'm taking in my surroundings I notice a small opening at the base of one of the waterfalls. I tap Sapphire on the shoulder to get her attention. When she looks over at me I ask her.

"If you were a bandit where would you keep your treasure?" As I ask I point over toward the cave.

In answer she just smiles. I smile back at her, "feel like getting wet?"

Her grin back is pure delight, "how do you know I'm not already?"

I laugh out loud as I start making my way back to the dead bandits.

"What are you doing?" She asks me.

"I don't feel like getting my leather wet. I'm going to borrow their fur for the trip."

"Wow your just full of great ideas." She answers me.

I don't waste anytime stripping down and getting into the furs. The thing about bandit armor is it usually doesn't have much to it. This particular set is basically just a pair of breeches that barely goes down to the knee. I decide to use his fur shoes as well. Once I get my outfit in order I turn around to see how Sapphire is doing. I find her kneeling in her small clothes working on the other bandits armor.

When I walk up to her she looks back at me and smiles. "Sorry I won't be much longer. I just didn't feel like making the trip with my breasts hanging out."

I can feel the heat on my face and her laugh tells me she can see it. I turn back around to hide my embarrassment. A couple seconds later she tells me I can turn around now. When I do so she has rigged the armor into two separate sections. One across her chest and the other across her hips. I can't help but notice how well she fills it out. Looking away quickly I walk up to the edge of the bridge, the water looks deep enough to jump so I don't bother saying anything to her and just take the plunge.

I hear her follow as I start to make my way toward the cave. Sure enough inside the cave is a treasure chest with an assortment of jewels and a silver necklace. In one chest I've made more money than most years in Windhelm. I can't stop myself from jumping up and down as I think about just how much money we are going to find in this cave.

After making our way back toward the bridge and across the water we work further inside. A couple bandits later we come across another cave. I notice a bandit hidden behind some boxes.

Leaning over toward Sapphire I whisper, "I have no shot. Should we just leave him?"

She thinks for a minute before she answers, "No chances are there is another chest there. We sneak up, its time for me to earn my money I will try to either kill him myself or draw him out into the open."

I nod my agreement and ready a shot as she makes her way up the ramp toward her target. He notices her before she gets there though and its then I realize he's an Orc.

"Shit!" I curse realizing how much trouble Sapphire's in. Even worse she's hidden behind the boxes now as well. Panicking I discard my bow and pull my dagger free and rush in to help her.

She's holding her own thanks to the tight quarters but she can't get near enough to do any real damage. She's also tiring out, so as quietly and quickly as I can I make my way over the boxes. I quickly time the swings of his great-sword and jump on him between swings. I manage to sink my dagger into his shoulder as he yells out in pain and flings me off of him. I go crashing into the cave wall but I gave Sapphire the opening she needed and she plunged her sword deep in the Orc's gut. I've never seen as much hate as I saw in Sapphire's eyes as she watched him die.

I ignore it since I promised not to ask, and besides there was another chest. This one was locked as well so Sapphire quickly went to work on opening it. More jewels awaited us inside as well as a glass hammer that will catch a nice price back in Riften.

Deeper in the cave we went until we came across what looks like an old fort. Two guards were posted further up but what had me worried was the opening in the stone structure. Sapphire and I stop a distance away to come up with a plan.

Actually we stop and I stare at her as I wait for her to tell me what to do. I mean she is the bandit killer not me.

"This is a risk. If we try to look to see just how many bandits are inside that structure we could give ourselves away to the others. If we don't though there's no telling how many of them will come rushing us if we're discovered." I don't know if she's talking to herself or explaining to me but I wait quietly for her to come to a decision.

"OK, we need to find out how many we are dealing with here. We're going to ignore the one on the walk way up there for now. You're going to lead us along the wall toward the opening. Once we're both there your going to sneak a peek to see how many are inside. Once we know we can plan how to deal with them." She explains her plan to me.

I nod again at her, keeping my bow at the ready while we silently work our way toward the structure. Once we arrive and slowly and as quietly as I can lean over to see inside the room. It looks like a bar or inn setup. There's one bandit working behind the counter. Once I'm sure he isn't paying attention to anything but his job I sneak over to the other wall on the opposite side of the opening. From there I notice two more bandits eating. I hold up three fingers so Sapphire knows how many we are dealing with. She waves for me to come back over so I carefully sneak my way back to her.

"OK we can handle that. Aim for the one closest to you, and just fire as quickly as you can. If any make it to us I will be waiting to ambush him when he attacks you."

I can't help but realize in all her plans I'm always the one getting attacked. Of course I didn't have a better plan so just frown at her to let her know I'm on to her. She completely ignores me and readies her weapon.

I figure the one sitting facing us will be the fastest to react so I aim for him first. My arrow finds his neck. I notch and draw my next arrow before the other bandit gets more than a couple steps toward us. I didn't panic this time and he goes down in a heap. I back away from the opening to get a shot at the bartender but before I could zero in on him he was on me. I started to stumble back away from him to get a shot when I see Sapphire launch herself at his back. Her small sword slid across his neck as her weight forces him down to the ground. He is dead by the time they both land.

We both look up at the same time to see if the bandit on the walkway noticed us killing his partners. Thankfully he was still standing there blissfully unaware. We work our way though the kitchen area quickly. Another chest awaited us inside once we cleaned it out I donated another arrow to our lookout friend. He never even noticed us.

We work our way through the old fort making quick work of the last bandit who we found sleeping in her bedroll. Sapphire did the honor of slicing her throat. On the other side of the fort we came to another section of cave. I stop in my tracks when I notice all the animal cages. Someone is actually capturing bears and saber cats to fight. What a bloody moron. I stop my progress and look at Sapphire. She takes in the room with me.

We stop by the waterfall so we can have a conversation without having to worry about people hearing us.

"I noticed 6 bandits total that I can see. How about you?" Sapphire asks me.

"Same plus the animals."

"Well we ignore them, they won't open the cages to have them attack us since they will attack the first thing they see. So we focus on the bandits. The two on the ledge will be our priority. I don't see an archer among them so we can make a stand there. We kill those two and then you can pick off the rest as they try to cover the distance between us." Since I didn't see any faults in her plan I just nod again.

Since we knew our position would be discovered we focused less on stealth and more on killing them quickly. Sapphire closed the distance quickly and dispatched the closer one before he could even react. I timed my arrow to hit the other bandit at the same time. Sure enough the rest of the bandits saw us and begin to work their way over.

"Bring it you fuckers!" Sapphire cursed as they approached. I found myself wondering again at the venom in her voice. For some reason she really hates bandits.

Her plan is a good one as I was able to kill two more bandits before they engaged her. Luckily they actually stopped to plan how to take her out which allowed me to send another arrow into one of them before they engaged her completely. That sent the last bandit attacking in a frenzy which allows Sapphire to best him quickly. Never fight angry, it just makes you fight stupid.

We split up to check out the room more quickly. Feeling bad for the animals but not wanting to free them I end their lives in their cages. They deserved better but we killed the ones responsible. Sapphire met me by the cages with a huge smile on her face.

"I found a master locked cage back there. It took 8 lock picks but I finally cracked it." I watch as she brings out two Elven weapons. Both of them hold enchantments which makes their value skyrocket. Doing the math quickly I realize that I should get more than 2000 gold from this job alone.

We were both so excited about our luck we didn't notice the last two bandits on a ledge back in the lake. Sapphire handled hers well but I was just plain lucky. She attacked me with a mace and if we weren't on a ledge I probably would have died. Since we were though, when I went down to avoid her mace swing I swiped her leg with my bow. The force of my swing makes her fall forward and off the cliff. I know the fall won't kill her since the lake will break the fall but I keep my eye on her and finish the job with a well placed arrow in her back.

Clearing the cave has taken longer than we planned so we decided to camp in the cave for the night. I have to admit it's not exactly what I thought the life of a thief would be but I can't argue with the results. Hopefully my actual job will go off just as well tomorrow.