Fate's Games

(A/N: This one will be fairly long. Try coming up with a personality for characters that aren't supposed to have one. Anyway, this bandit really does exist. You find him in the cave when trailing Golum-Ei for the Thieves Guild. He just swims in the water, never gets out. To investigate, yes, but then he immediately returns. It reminded me of the selkie's of folklore. And yes, I did avoid killing this one. He amused me, just with the strange behavior.)

Bandit

She went through the cave, no care, no fear, hiding in shadows and tailing the one the Thieves Guild had tasked her to follow. She let her arrows fly without hesitation. Each one met its mark on the intended target. She spared none that stood in her way. Why should she? Shortcuts were unimportant. She was more than equipped to take on any who stood in her way. Or so she thought… She was wrong.

She slipped into the water as if it were her second home. After all, what bandit would think to watch the oceans depths for one who was never supposed to be there in the first place? She swam as far as she could beneath the waves. Surfacing to breath she checked her surroundings, the water dripping from her hair. Her eyes gazed across the surface, taking in the little traps that had been set just above the water as a precaution. It was nothing, easily avoided. Then she peeked around the corner. Then her confidence fled.

She caught her breath, paling. It couldn't be, but it was. Up ahead… a man was there, treading the water effortlessly, watching over the dark cave. He was swimming, or bathing, she wasn't sure which. He was diving beneath the waves and resurfacing, gently pushing his hair, black as midnight, from his face. His eyes, as dark as his hair, turned in her direction and she pulled farther into the shadows, gazing out at him. Had he seen her? He made no move. She cursed the fact there was nowhere to stand, nowhere to draw her arrows from; but as she watched, trying to find a way around him, her eyes softened.

She cocked her head curiously. He was young. His short beard did nothing to mask his beauty, only enhanced it. He looked up and she followed his gaze. There was a woman standing there looking annoyed, chiding the young man who simply nodded or shook his head, yet he made no move to respond to the woman's words. Silently she slipped back and climbed onto dry land. As long as that young man was there, she couldn't get by in the water. Silently she slipped into the shadows and drew her bow, nearing as close as she dared.

She saw his head plainly. It was a clear shot, a one-hit kill. She drew back her arm and took a breath, focusing; but she didn't let the arrow fly… She just watched. Finally she lowered it. Too many men had died on this escapade already. Besides, there was a path around them. The frostbite spiders would be no match. Perhaps this once she would make an exception for a shortcut. She never thought on the young man again. Not until after she had found Golum-Ei and confronted him. She had no reason to kill the scoundrel, why should she bother, and Golum left quickly.

ES

Fear took hold of her heart as she swam back the way she'd come. She had killed every bandit in this cave. All but three, the third that she just noticed now, walking above her, and the two she had detoured around. All too soon she was back. The young man still swam there as if the water was his element. She found a standing place and crouched in hiding, drawing her bow. She had weakened before, but not this time. This time the man would die, as would the woman. Again a clear shot, a perfect shot. Again she drew back her bow. Again she couldn't do it… Perhaps if she finished the woman first? So she switched targets and shot the bandit girl, a mage she realized quickly enough.

The woman was downed by her arrow and the young man hurried out of the water, searching for the one who had killed his friend, calling for comrades that wouldn't come to him. She would escape the remaining two bandits without problem. She slipped into the water again. She thought she was in the clear. She was wrong. He looked just as she was about to dive, and his black eyes burned brightly with fury and hatred. He began to shoot arrows at her. She cursed herself a thousand times for letting the man live as an arrow grazed her. Quickly she swam beneath the water, hoping he would lose sight of her. She scrambled onto land and ran towards the exit of the cave. She had to have lost them by now! No… Oh no, she wasn't that lucky.

ES

She raced towards the door to safety. The world seemed to go in slow motion as desperation flowed through her. All at once she felt the piercing sting of an arrow in her back. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Her body screamed in protest. She gasped, clutching the dirt. She tried to crawl towards the door, but she was dizzy, bleeding badly. The arrow had been poisoned! Then all at once she felt a presence above her, dark and dangerous. She heard a sword unsheathed and closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the young man to finish her, cursing herself for letting him live. Pity, mercy. Never before had she let either rule her. Now… now she was going to die for this one exception…

But the young man never struck. She heard him replace his sword. She felt him grip the arrow in her back. Roughly he pulled it out. She screamed in pain. Oh gods, would he let her bleed out here, let her die in the pain that she would have spared him even if she had struck out her hand against him? "Please," she gasped, shivering now. So close to death… She'd never been so close before, and it terrified her.

"If I wanted you dead, you would be dead," the young man replied in an otherworldly tone. Otherworldly? What was this man? She heard his companion catch up. Roughly the other man dragged her up by the hair and held his blade to her throat, ready to kill her.

He paused, though, seeming to think better of it, then darkly laughed. She shuddered at the sound. It was far from pleasant. "An excellent shot, my friend. The murder of our fellows is on her hands, and she will pay in full. Death would be too quick." The young man made no reply, just walked away. The other followed him, dragging her along.

ES

For four days she was left in darkness, silence. They had gagged and blindfolded her; shackled together her wrists and ankles and thrown her into a cage, chaining her neck as well. The arrow wound had become infected, she knew; the pain was excruciating. She was hungry, and so, so desperately thirsty. They had left her to starve to death, or to die of thirst. Hah! She only wished that were so; but she felt the black eyes watching her, boring into her soul and being; the eyes of the man she had dubbed the Seal Lord and Selkie. It frightened her. It frightened her so, so much…

That fourth night she began to weep helplessly; scared, miserable, and in pain. She hadn't wanted them to hear her sob, but they heard. The Fisherman, as she had labelled the blonde one, was laughing at her, the selkie was as silent as the grave. One plotted her demise, ordered the other to leave her to die. The other came to her that night, late. She heard the cage door being unlocked. Heard footsteps crossing over to her. The scent of the ocean breeze washed over her making her calm, tired. The man who approached now knelt in front of her and gently removed the gag from her mouth. She trembled in fear. What was happening? Then she felt the cool touch of water upon her lips. Desperately she began to drink. She felt the sensation of food, and she never thought she could be so glad for bread.

The actions stopped and she wondered, had the Seal Lord left? She knew it to be him, because the Fisherman was never silent, always taunting her, always belittling her. Then there was light. He had removed the blindfold! She cringed at the sudden brightness, closing her eyes tightly. Slowly, very slowly, her eyes adjusted, and she saw the man with the haunting voice gazing into her eyes, into her heart, into her soul.

"Who are you?" she barely managed to whisper.

"The one you spared," he replied, and a chill went through her. How had he known? Without a word more he unlocked the shackle about her neck. "Lean forward," he ordered simply. She swallowed but obeyed, leaning ahead as far as she could. "Here me, my lady, I am not going to hurt you. I tell you this now because what I am about to do will frighten you, confuse you; but you must trust me," he declared. If any man let alone a bandit, had breathed those words to her, she would have laughed, or fought, but as it was she could hardly dare to move.

He lifted her dress. She nearly screamed, paling. He pulled it up until her back was exposed. She willed her frightened heart to slow its pace. The black eyed man examined the arrow wound on her back and pursed his lips. All at once he drew out some sort of salve and applied it gently onto the injury. With a touch like that of sea foam he wrapped it deftly and let her dress fall, covering her once more. She looked up at him fearfully. Without a word more he rose and walked out, leaving her to marvel.

ES

She fought desperately against her attacker, screaming in terror, pleading through tears. She had been left alone; alone with the Fisherman, the cruel one. She couldn't fight, wrists and ankles still bound in shackles as he dragged her by the hair from her prison of five days. He had found out, she sensed. Found out the Seal Lord had cared for her. Oh gods, what had he done with the raven haired highwayman? He thrust her down to the ground, pinned her, stripped her and relished in the sight before him, smirking cruelly. He would ravage her, she knew, oh gods, he would violate her and she couldn't fight back!

But as he prepared to advance she felt the atmosphere change around them. She felt another's eyes watching, black and cold. She felt the steely glare, and she knew the Fisherman had as well, for he stopped kissing her where he had no right to, and quickly he looked up. She sobbed as she heard the footsteps cross towards them. The Fisherman suddenly had the point of a sword at his throat. Slowly he rose from off of her and put up his hands, backing away. "Did you think I was so stupid?" her savior questioned in his otherworldly voice. She opened her eyes and found herself gazing up at the bandit selkie. After a long moment the blond pulled her to her feet, though he never bothered to hide her indecency. Her attacker pulled her into the water, towards a rock column. He bound her to it tightly, her arms around it as far as they could go, her legs strapped tightly against it. He kissed the back of her neck in a single act of defiance and swam back to the other.

"Farewell, maiden. Let the tide have you. The sea will take more pleasure from you than I ever could have," the blonde called to her. Coldly he laughed and walked to the fire pit in order to sleep.

She closed her eyes tightly, feeling the water rising. The tide was rising. "The ocean will avenge the lives you took," the black eyed Seal Lord declared, watching her softly, tone gentle. And what of you, young man? What of you? Have you never taken a life? Have you never slaughtered an innocent…? Lady, I do not claim innocence. I will never claim innocence. If you knew the lives I'd taken, you would not have spared me.

ES

She wept softly as the water rose around her. She felt the black eyes watching, always watching, tearing her apart from the inside and arousing in her guilt unlike any she had ever felt; guilt and hatred; and she wondered, could she claim not to deserve death? No, she couldn't… Would no more mercy come to her, as she had shown none so many times? Oh curse the day she had refused to kill the young man. Mercy be banished to the depths of Oblivion, pity be labelled pointless… Yet she knew that, if given the chance, she would have done nothing differently.

The water was above her head now. She struggled in a desperate attempt for survival. Not like this, not like this! Please, not like this. Oh thief and murderer, bandit and marauder, rescue me, I beg you. Oh selkie, do not let me die like this. Do not let your watery kingdom be defiled with my blood. Then all at once a hand was place upon her cheek, gently turning her head. Her eyes widened. He was there. He covered her lips with his hands. She shook her head. Could he not see he was too late? Even if he managed to free her, it would be too late. She coughed, feeling the breath leave her lungs. All at once, though, the young man's lips were covering her own, breathing life giving air into her. Air? Impossible. Unless… her eyes widened in disbelief. With no explanation he took her and drew her close, swimming to the surface as if he were one with the sea, as if he truly were the selkie that she had dubbed him. She could hold her breath no longer and surrendered to the lack of oxygen.

He laid her on the ground softly and bent over her. He cocked his head, examining her. Then all at once he leaned, breathing air into her once more, coaxing her to wake up. He heard his companion awaken, heard the other shouting curses at him. He didn't care. Her eyes flickered open and fell upon him softly.

ES

"Please," he said as he knelt on the ground, near death. She expected more, expected whimpering, weak begging, but no. Please was all he said. The other lay dead; at least she assumed he was dead. Now this one, the mysterious Seal Lord whom she spared, knelt, waiting for the death blow he just knew would come… Or would it?

She watched him. Please… that was all he would say… Oh gods, that was all he would say, and that word was burned into her mind playing over and over and over. Tears in her eyes she replaced her sword and turned and ran. He watched after her silently, awed. They didn't notice the body of the Fisherman was no longer there.

She ran as fast as she could, tears in her eyes. Mercy and pity had gotten her into this mess in the first place. It should have been the end of her mercy. Yet once again those black eyes appeared in her mind, watching, waiting, watching, waiting, reading her… She didn't notice the attack. Not until the blade tore into her flesh. She screamed in pain, pulling away instinctively and backing into a pillar. She looked quickly over and paled. The Fisherman… He was still alive! No, it couldn't be… He attacked again with every intent to kill. Forcing away the pain, she spun and parried the blow with the blade she so cherished. She was weak, though, disoriented, and he… he was fully aware.

He spun on her, and she couldn't move quickly enough. His blade came at her to run her through; and then all at once he was there… All at once her rescuer, her selkie, had run to her and taken her arms, spinning her around and placing himself as her shield. All at once the blade met its mark, piercing him through! His cry of pain filled the cave. He was collapsing and she screamed, and the Fisherman fled… and she did not follow.

ES

She fell next to the young man and took his hands, tears in her eyes. "No, no. Don't," she pled, seeing his once glittering black eyes, so beautiful, so full of life, beginning to dull. "Don't you dare," she begged, and her voice cracked.

He was gasping for breath. Weakly his hand reached up to her face and cupped it lovingly, gently wiping away the tear from her eyes that she never knew had fallen. "Go, Dragonborn," he ordered her.

"No," she refused. "No," she repeated again, this time gently drawing him up and tenderly letting his head rest upon her neck, softly stroking his black hair as she cradled the dying man. "You will live. You must live. I will not let you die…"

"Oh most beautiful one amongst women, dry your eyes. Do not waist your tears on me," he said softly.

"I will not let you die," she repeated. He shook his head. Painfully he looked up at her. He quietly gazed into the maidens eyes. Oh only the immortals themselves could know how he wanted to kiss her, but no. No… He leaned weakly into her neck again, waiting. She burst into tears rocking him desperately, pleading with the immortals. Curse mercy and pity, for if she had shown none, they wouldn't be here now. If she had shown none, she would never have come to love the highwayman. Oh let him live, gods of Tamriel… Let him live, or let death take him swiftly…

(A/N: It's up to the reader's imagination if he lives or dies, but while writing this I realized a lot of these oneshots had the potential to be expanded. In fact all of them did, if some endings were changed. Who knows, in future I may have stories based off of these oneshots.)