(Disclaimer: I do not own Skyrim; just Xana, Brii and all of my other OC's.)
(Authors Note: Drem Yol Lok, Greetings dearest readers, fellow writers, and my fellow Skyrim nerds! I hope you all had a decent Holiday season and made some achievable New Years resolutions (that you intent to keep ;)) Anyways, I've been assigned to create a very special item for a very special person, so my free time is mainly spent working on said project. That, or it's playing Dungeons and Dragons. Accepting the role as Dungeon Master, I have taken it upon myself to create an entire world for my players to explore and discover. They've fought fearsome beasts, encountered a variety of memorable NPC's, and have completed challenging tasks befitting of honorable/capable warriors, but their true challenge awaits within the darkest dungeon's depths. Anyways, now you know why updates have been lacking. Regardless, I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter :D Until next time, sat awesome and enjoy!)
As the day gradually came to an end, a trap was set in hopes of catching the werewolf that had been plaguing the residents of Blackwind for the last few weeks. With the help of Dagger-Fang (the blacksmith) and using a fresh boar carcass as bait, Reem-Sha and Stone-Scale constructed a metal cage trap that would activate once the werewolf trips the trigger, enclosing it within the iron cage and allowing them to safely dispose of it. Sure, it wasn't a very honorable way to kill a beast, but they couldn't risk being attacked and overpowered.
Opting to take the first watch, Reem-Sha climbed atop the barn roof and kept a silent vigil over the trap, while gripping onto his bow. Having roughly twenty silver arrows in his quiver, he hoped they'd be enough to bring the werewolf down when it came time to cull it…assuming it would even show up and activate the trap.
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Nearly an hour after setting up the trap and taking watch from the safety of the barn roof, Reem-Sha suddenly heard rustling noises off in the treeline, indicating that something was approaching the field. While he initially assumed that it was a deer or a boar, it seemed that luck was on his side, for it was none other than the werewolf.
Perfect!
Observing the beast while silently notching one of his silver arrows, Reem-Sha watched as it began circling the trap as if to inspect it. Fortunately, it didn't seem to notice his presence or the tripwire as it cautiously entered the trap and approached the boar carcass. 'Come on. Just a little bit more,' the Argonian mentally coaxed as he watched in anticipation.
Digging into the carcass, the werewolf leisurely began to eat; however, as it moved a bit closer to the meat, its foot suddenly triggered the tripwire, setting off the trap and securely enclosing it within the cage. At the same time, Reem-Sha fired his arrow, successfully hitting the beast in the left shoulder. A pained growl emitted from the werewolf's maw before it suddenly collapsed upon the ground and began shifting its form.
Climbing down off the roof, the Argonian male cautiously approached the iron cage and watched as the werewolf suddenly transformed into a young (naked) Redguard woman. Despite her once ferocious nature and appearance, she now appeared rather timid and scared, which was completely unexpected. Gripping onto her injured shoulder, she backed into the corner of her cage and curled in on herself, to which Reem-Sha unequipped his bow and took note of her appearance: Aside from being completely naked, she was rather thin and malnourished looking, which was odd considering that she had apparently been feeding off of livestock for the last few weeks, which should have given her a more hearty/fuller appearance.
"..P-Please don't kill me..," she pleaded in a shaky tone before suddenly collapsing, sending a pang of worry through the male.
Cautiously, Reem-Sha knelt beside the cage and immediately noticed that aside from the obvious wound in her shoulder, she had dark bruises all along her arms, legs, and abdomen, as well as large (fresh) claw marks down the length of her back, which were oozing out blood. Seeing the frail and battered state of the female, he knew this couldn't possibly be the same werewolf that had been terrorizing the residents of Blackwind.
With a sigh, he decided to open the cage and tend to the wounded female, knowing he'd probably get a good tongue lashing from his family about aiding the very monster responsible for killing their livestock. Carefully, with as much gentleness as he could muster, the Argonian picked up the Redguard woman bridal-style and carried her out of the field and over to the house. As much as he didn't want to bring a werewolf into his family's home, he didn't have much of a choice as the animals within the barn would panic upon sensing her predatory nature. It was still touch and go with Odahviing while he was in his human form, but an unknown werewolf?! Not a chance.
"Mother?! Xana! Someone help," he hollered as he entered the house, which alerted everyone of his presence and caused several of his family members to emerge from their respective rooms and approach.
"What's going on? Who in Oblivion is that," Stone-Scale asked as his brother carried the unconscious woman over to his room and placed her on the bed while Xana and their Mother swiftly entered with her medical kit in tow.
Knowing he was likely going to get chewed out regardless, Reem-Sha answered, "She's a werewolf, but she's not the one we're trying to catch."
"You brought a werewolf into the house," Shastan asked as he and Marbella stood outside their room after being awoken and opting to see what all the fuss was about.
"No, he brought an injured woman into the house," Flower-Song corrected as she and Xana began to work at stopping the bleeding. "She needs her wounds cleaned before we can properly treat them. Stone-Scale, I need you to boil some water. Shastan, bring me some extra bandages, clean linen rags, and a bottle of ale. Marbella, find some extra undergarments and a tunic for our guest. Odahviing, bring me an extra blanket from the chest in the sitting room. Tenova, dear, I want you to go around and make sure the house is fully secure."
Understanding their assignments, the group headed off to complete their tasks while she and Xana remained with the unconscious woman and silently prayed to the Nine that she would survive her injuries.
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-Two Hours Later-
Despite having an arrow removed from her shoulder and her flesh sewn up in multiple locations, the young Redguard woman remained unconscious throughout the duration of her treatment; however, she did emit some pained wimpers here and there, but she was clearly too weak and exhausted to cry out in protest.
During this time, Reem-Sha worriedly paced outside the door, waiting for any sort of news. While he wanted to question the woman on the whereabouts of the beast who attacked her (and likely killed their sheep), he was also curious as to how she became a werewolf in the first place. Was she bitten by another lycan? Was she cursed? And, also, where did she come from? He can't recall ever seeing her face around Blackwind.
Questions continued to fill Reem-Sha's mind before the sound of the door opening caught his attention, to which he glanced over to see Xana stepping out of the room with a basket of bloody rags in tow.
"How is she?"
*sigh* "She's alive, but she'll need time to fully recover. She practically slept through the entire procedure, which is probably for the best as her wounds were rather deep and painful looking."
Hearing this, he hung his head in shame for contributing to her injuries, "Part of that is my fault..I shot her with that silver arrow after she triggered the trap."
At his confession, Xana placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, "You had no way of knowing how things would have turned out. If anything, that arrow forced her to return to her human form. You might not think it, but you may have saved her life. Had she not set off your trap and continued to wander through the village, someone else might have attacked her. With how injured and weak she already was, she would have easily been killed."
He didn't respond, but silently nodded in acknowledgement as she then patted his arm and headed off to wash her hands and return to bed. Once Xana left, Reem-Sha silently entered the room and approached his Mother, who was gently dabbing a damp cloth to the unknown woman's brow.
"Poor dear has a slight fever," she quietly stated without looking up from her task. "I managed to give her some medicine and a bit of water recently, but I'm hoping that she'll want to eat something when she wakes up."
He nodded in agreement before taking a moment to look at the Redguard woman lying in his bed. Now that her face was clear of dirt, blood and grime, he could clearly see her features: she had a round face with mahogany colored skin, long eyelashes, full lips, and dark freckles around the bridge of her nose and upper cheeks. Her ebony hair (now clean) was short and styled with several small braids, but they only added further charm to her features.
"..She's beautiful," he whispered, prompting Flower-Song to smile at his comment, while she focused on her task.
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-Morning-
As the sun's golden rays seeped through the curtains, the young Redguard woman slowly opened her emerald eyes and winced as pain emanated from her back and shoulder. "Where am I," she groggily asked herself as she attempted to sit up, but immediately opted not to upon feeling another wave of discomfort roll through her body. Glancing around the strange room, she couldn't help but frown as she tried to piece together the events that ultimately led her to this point. Before she could; however, the door slowly opened to reveal an Argonian woman carrying a tray of food:
"Oh good, you're finally awake. How're you feeling?"
"..S-Sore," she answered with a wince before asking, "Who are you and where am I? And how did I get here?"
"My son brought you here," she replied while placing the tray atop the nearby dresser. "As for who I am and where you are: my name is Flower-Song and you are in my family's home. Might I ask your name?"
"..Imogen."
"Imogen? That's a beautiful name," she kindly smiled before gesturing to the tray, "Would you like to try and eat something? I made fresh bread and vegetable soup."
At the mention of food, the young woman's stomach emitted a growl, causing her to blush, "..Sorry."
"There's no need to apologize. Now, would you mind if I helped you to sit up? You sustained some pretty nasty wounds along your back and I don't want you to accidentally aggravate them further by moving the wrong way."
Wordlessly, Imogen nodded and allowed Flower-Song to assist her in sitting upright before she then placed the pillows behind her back for additional comfort. Afterwards, she carefully set the tray of food across her lap.
"T-Thank you."
"Of course, dear. Now, you just take your time and I'll be back in a little while to check on you. If you need anything, just holler."
"Okay," she curtly nodded before Flower-Song exited the room, leaving her to eat her meal in private. Tearing a piece off the bread, she dipped it into the soup and emitted a 'Mmm' as the warm, comforting flavors enveloped her taste buds.
(Another Authors Note: Sooo, I know this chapter primarily focused on Reem-Sha, but I thought it was about time he got his own little segment. Besides, this just adds to the story. Plus, I thought it would be kinda cute for him to be paired up with a werewolf girl :D Also, I had wanted to introduce Imogen into the story for a while, but never quite got around to doing it until now. She was actually my sister's Dragonborn, but since Xana is the Dragonborn in this story, she's been demoted to NPC: There can be only one! LOL Anyways, thank you for reading this latest chapter.)