"Well, here we are." I said as we entered a cave. We had been hiking through the mountains all day, and had finally happened upon the cave we were to sleep in. As we slung our bags off of our backs, the Doctor dug out a bundle of firewood from his backpack and set it out on the floor into a fire pit some thoughtful soul had arranged there ages ago. Donna and I laid out our blankets and cushions on the cave floor. "So," I asked her, "How did you get to traveling with him?" I gestured over to the Doctor, who was expectantly prodding at the small fire with a stick.
"Wow. It's a long story. Let's just say, never buy any diet pills. Ever." Reading the baffled look on my face, she added, "I'll tell you tomorrow." I arranged the thick furs that were my bed into a cozy-looking nest, and pulled some cozy, simple-looking robes out of my bag before heading behind a large rock to change out of my muddy, thick adventuring clothes. When I emerged from behind the rock, the Doctor had already gotten a cheerfully crackling fire going and was roasting some meat. Where he had gotten said meat, I had no idea, but I just decided to roll with it and be glad we had food.
I headed over to the fire pit and sat down on a smooth-looking stone next to the one Donna was sitting on. The Doctor gingerly pulled a strip of the meat out of the coals and handed it to me, where I gratefully received it. It was the first food I had had that day, aside from a few wild berries we had found on our trip. I bit into the roasted meat, only to instantly open my mouth again. It was so hot! "Too hot! Burns!" I panted over the intense pain while the Doctor snickered from across the fire. I ran over to the mouth of the cave, grabbed a pawful of snow, and quickly stuffed it into my mouth. As the burning sensation quickly melted away, I glared over at Donna and the Doctor, who were trying their best to suppress their laughter. "Hey!" I shouted, only half-angry at them. I suppose it was kind of funny.
I tried to retain my dignity as I padded back over to the fire, then took my seat. I took another, smaller bite out of the roasted meat. It was good, now that it had had cooled. It tasted juicy and well-seasoned, reminding me of my mother's home cooking. Mother… I hadn't really thought about her since, well, since the dragon attacked. What had happened to her? The last I had seen of her was when she had run into the streets of Snowridge to fight the dragon. I prayed that she was still alive, but even if she was, what did she think had happened to me? She would never believe me if I told her that a madman with a time-traveling sentient box had invited me on a grand adventure through space and time. I just tried to push the thoughts out of my head and clear my mind as I had been taught to when faced with stress. Still, I knew I couldn't hold in all my emotions for long, and I especially knew I didn't want to start crying in front of my friends. I turned tail, ears drooping, and stalked back to my bed, where I curled up in my blankets and drifted off to sleep, warmed by my blankets and the campfire.
I awoke to the sound of hushed voices. I felt two fingers pressing into my neck, testing to see if I still had a pulse. They were in the wrong place, directly on top of my windpipe instead of right above my clavicle. Any skilled warrior would know that, even a simple sorcerer like myself. "No pulse. Must have died in the cold." A raspy voice echoed around the cave walls. I froze, suddenly realizing what was going on. They were thieves. Poorly skilled, but deadly nonetheless.
I watched through slitted eyes as the two figures (wrongly) checked the pulses of both Donna and the Doctor, across the cave from me. However, something struck me as odd. The soft grating noise I heard following them around; scaly tails. The raspy voices definitely had a reptilian tinge to them. Not only were they thieves, they were Argonian thieves.
I sat motionless, disgusted, as scaly fingers rummaged through my bag, the only possessions I owned, and almost hissed as they snatched up my crystals and grabbed the dagger I was so fond of, as they pried a strange device out of the Doctor's hand and kicked out the remaining glowing coals of our fire. That was it. I couldn't handle it any more. Filled with rage, I silently sat up, murmuring an incantation as a ball of flame slowly formed in my left paw. "You disgusting criminals." I hissed under my breath. As the two thieves turned around, knives drawn, my suspicions were confirmed. They were indeed Argonians.
"Well, alive still, aren't we?" one of them asked in a singsong, sarcastic voice. "We should have slit your little kitty throat when we had the chance."
"Get away from my friends. Now." I took a step towards them, paw blazing as fury slowly built up. One of them charged at me. I threw the fireball with as much strength as I could muster. It hit the second thief in the shoulder, causing him to drop the burlap sack he was holding filled with our things. As the fire hit him, he let out a cry of pain, waking the Doctor and Donna with a start.
"What's going on?!" the Doctor shouted, jumping to his feet. Upon seeing the thieves, he immediately checked his pockets and, upon realizing whatever he needed was no longer there, grabbed a stick from the floor next to his bed. "What's happening?"
"Thieves trying to kill us, that's what." I snapped back. From across the room, Donna mumbled, "Five more minutes. 'S too early," and then turned back over to sleep.
"Come on, face me and fight—" I growled, turning around only to find the two thieves gone, and the scent of burning reptile on the wind outside. "They got away with our stuff!" I grabbed my cloak off of the floor. "I'm going after them."