User blog:Synca/1. "Do you bleed?"

1.

 She crossed the tight, muddy area between the houses - eventually discovering that in the early dusk, the townsfolk are retreating at least to their porches, if not outright into their houses, thus she can easily sneak past simply by being under their feet... All the buildings on the seashore were standing on a forest of tall, thin stilts; each having multiple storey’s built over them. All of them looked old, made of creaking, graying wood long weathered in the salty sea breeze. Something told her she has to sneak past; hunger or not - she won't find food here. Too few people. Too aware. Too little food to start with: she saw no fishes or fishnets in the lagoon's water. This is not the Imperial City where a few disappeared pears make no difference. No; this has to be a fishing village, and if so, probably there is a trading post nearby, too. Or some orchard. Anything, really.

 She successfully snuck past the entire village in the in-creeping darkness, only to find herself before a smooth-looking, though not particularly tall wall. Not tall enough to be in par with certain city walls, but by far too tall to jump, or even climb over it. No trees near it either. Sh'kaille stopped in front of it in a mild shock. Then slowly looked around. Yes. It was everywhere. All around the settlement. In every direction except for the sea. Is this whole place... a prison? Or is it... protected from something...? Who on Nirn would ever wall in an entire village?? Especially a small one, like this...

 She decided to follow the wall to see those parts of it that weren't directly visible from this point. It had corners, bends, and had even smaller hills within its grasp, not to mention the houses: maybe there is a gate somewhere, she just couldn't see it. The idea was surprisingly fruitful. Climbing up a small hill - later, as she noticed, a half-buried ruin actually - she saw a majestic dual-gate in the distance, with stone carvings and statues to guard it. And.... and a giant.

 Yes, a giant. It looked like an enormous human at first, but Sh'kaille quickly realised that the creature is a sewn, partially flayed, and most obviously undead being with faintly glowing runes on its body wherever the skin was missing. Not really the usual kind of undead she found randomly in caves, ruins or town sewer systems before. She did have enough adventurer routine to not be phased by such things - as long as she noticed them first and had enough arrows to take care of them -, but this...? It was almost as tall as the wall itself. It made no sound, and as Sh'kaille crept closer, she quickly noticed it has no mouth... Its silence only made it much creepier. It also lacked eyes, which scared Sh'kaille to death: could that mean, whatever it is, sees without eyes...? Could it be possible that... it is already alert of her presence...? Morbidly enough, it scared her far less than being noticed by any person with actual eyes and the ability to speak, but being frightened of a monster came naturally even to her.

 The gate, however, looked like it is otherwise open: behind that beast it had its door boards open on both sides. It also seemed to be the only entrance to the village.

 "Perhaps it is a sort of a... guardian atronach then...?" she mused to herself.

 Sh'kaille, of course, already had her perfect idea of how to solve the problem. The giant looked tall, strong, and possibly highly... unnatural, but exactly because of its size, it also looked somewhat slow. She could simply sprint through.

 She snuck into a more upfront position to make sure she doesn't have to maneuver much, and briefly prepared, mostly mentally. Sadly, she saw the creature take a few quicker steps, so she was aware that it can probably run very fast as well - but likely not that much faster than a normal sized human, right? She knew this is going to be risky and frightening, but if she trusted something - only one thing in herself - that was her speed. All she had to do was to time it right: the being seemed to mostly be built for walking forward, so if it is turned with its back, it will have to waste time on making a full turn before running after her.... and it is much, much taller, and generally larger than any of the twin gates themselves: if she can pass through, she would be safe. The monstrous being kept walking back and forth, up and down, left and right in the small pavemented area that looked like an empty town plaza before the gates. (Well, in case we imagine a town plaza full of bones, rusty armors, a minor general waste dump, and a lot of stray plants and fungi emerging from between the cobblestones on the sides, where the gate-guarding monster didn't walk past too often. Clearly, keeping the place tidy was harder with a dangerous guardian giant around.) She prepared to run, then.... froze in the moment, almost even stopping to breathe. She had to remind herself that is a bad idea before running. She had to wait... wait, until the giant faced towards the gate on the right, then she set off trying to force herself to reach her full speed as soon as possible - within a few steps, preferably... she had to sprint past the creature before it could turn back, and fly through the left gate. The last thing she saw before pressing her eyes closed was the gigantic creature slowly straightening its broad back as it stood, just a step away from her - then the next thing was tripping on a stray rock on the other side. She fell, but the relatively soft, dry dust of the pathway leading from the gate was much less inconvenient than possibly being mauled to death by an undead giant, so she concluded she was successful with her transition.

 She stood up to look around - and listen around, too. She heard the heavy steps of the gigantic creature on the other side, but they didn't sound faster, or noisier than before, so she hoped she managed to get rid of the threat. On this side, there were still a few rays of sunlight painting the lush, colorful flora a warmer hue, and the wall held off the sea mist and made the air clearer. Strange, sweetly-flowery smell filled the evening, which reminded her of the springs spent in some rural areas of Cyrodiil. She was always on the go, but she could still appreciate the few pleasant things her vagabond lifestyle could offer. Her heart felt much lighter, and she adjusted and checked all her carried package - everything from her oilskin cross-strap bag to her bow mounted on her back. Soon enough, she was walking the yellow pathway that made its way between the rocks like some sort of creek. She followed it until it ran into another, slightly broader road, the two gently meeting when coming from almost the same direction. Sh'kaille imagined them being rivers, flowing towards the sea. "What _is_ the sea, here...? A city, perhaps. That is good news for me."

 As she progressed, the sky went fully dark, and the wind turned cold; the air turned moist... Maybe there was some raincloud or storm approaching...? She emerged from the rocky canyon, following the path, and realised she is on some sort of highland, full of weird, skeletal trees, and twisted tree trunks, or... giant vines, maybe...? It wasn't fully dark yet, and she saw a chance to finally leave the road to avoid unwanted attention. While pondering on a possible route on the landscape only scarcely littered with trees - thus allowing her to keep an eye on said road -, she heard a sound that alerted her in an instant. Steps...? Who is coming? Somebody slowly but steadily jogging on the road, from the same direction as her. She left the road, swiftly and silently crouching down and hiding behind a patch of taller shrubbery on the roadside. It was growing out around an old, dead tree, and Sh'kaille was sure   it is a good enough cover... but behind it, there was nothing but a low-sliding hillside, with some more plantlife that could prove a brilliant cover, especially in the deepening darkness. Behind them, she saw the sea's surface glimmering. She had the chance to sneak further from the road, and she did. She listened carefully as the steps rushed closer, and then got lost in the distance again. "Finally." she thought. It felt rather content and safe, hiding away so well, but it fell apart fast as there was a silent, skittering sound. She didn't even think: turned (only with her upper body to stay silent), while her eyes grew wide, and only the light possibly reflected by them could give her position away. Something moved. Something, only several steps away, on the hillside. She could take out the crowded outlines of a... leaf-like, or ant-like being in the evening darkness. It was mostly between the two. She has seen similar things before; small ones... Or even large ones, as large as a cub's paw. They were insects hiding away by looking like leaves, living in Elsweyr's forests. But this one was literally gigantic; not the skeever-size gigantic... the nearly horse-size gigantic. She kept her movements a tiny bit slower than the fastest she could react - to make sure she can do it silently. Set her bow and notched an arrow. This was the only reason she used a composite bow; not because she was short, but because it could be set in dead silence and without taking a step - _if_ the one doing it had enough routine. She aimed for the bug's eyes, which was a harder task in this case than with any other creature. Too many eyes - and too small ones. She knew these creatures are aggressive, but they weren't big enough to pose a threat - up to now.

 The first arrow only hit its head. It ripped through the chitin, but she had enough time to notch another one long before the creature came closer - and it did... it started to run and attack a split-second later, even with an arrow in its head. "Do you bleed?" - Sh'kaille hissed under her breath. She quickly aimed and shot again, but only caught the side of one of the sturdy chitin plates. Another quick shot, now almost from point blank, and with no aiming... It hit the creature's abdomen and insect stopped... then finally collapsed with some suddenness, in Sh'kaille's consideration. "Hm. No. But you die. Works for me..." She closed the few steps left to the bug and attempted to pull at least one salvageable arrow out of its carapace.

 After that threat was averted, and adequately studied by her, she set off a good distance to the right from the road, but still keeping an eye on it. She was much more cheerful, even though her clothing was still wet and her belly still empty. The yellow, dusty road filled her with hope: where there are roads, there are towns as well. And where are towns, there is food, and warmth, perhaps even.... new clothes...? Maybe clothing traders... Or just traders in general... Or just... people.

 Halfway into the evening, she reminded herself to not work her hopes up. Who knows what she would find... and when. The next thing she found was an obstacle - nothing edible, but at least not too problematic. Apparently, the road crossed a wide, low wetland, and while it ran on a continual, low rampart, there were still small lakes, puddles and salty lagoons all around it. The road ran haughtily above her on its traverse, but down here, a lagoon crossed her path. Sh'kaille considered backtracking and climbing up, but quickly dropped the idea. She didn't want to be vulnerable, even if it was getting darker. Soon, so she could greet the time when she already has a natural advantage. Still, instead, she backtracked only halfway or less, and started to sprint towards the lagoon.

 "Run... Jump... Land. Good!"

 She flew right across the lagoon, and landed in the shallow, muddy water on the other side, only a puddle depth of it on the shore. Paws down, with a perfect landing. "Dammit." She still wasn't pleased by this. "I should have made no noise." Indeed, she should have jumped just a half step longer. However, at first, she had a glimpse of hope: what is the chance of somebody being around to hear it....? And then - much to her horror -, she realised somebody was indeed near. Right after the lagoon and the few bushes on the other side of it, the road turned, its rampart formed a half circle, and in the middle of that, there was another lagoon - a round little inlet. Some old, half-sunken ruins formed a small island right in the middle of it, and on the top of these ruins there was a wide stone table and a lit brazier. Whoever was tending the flames certainly was nearby, and Sh'kaille could already see the obscure, robed figures pass by the light again and again. They heard her splash-land... and talked amongst themselves. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she was certain it involves the noise she made. She was laying low, to her best hopes: completely motionless, and in the shadow of the bushes she landed right next to. Oh how she wished these times she could force her tail to be still as well... But she couldn't help her own nervousness. Granted, that little movement - her rhythmically, softly swaying tail - never gave her away before in her entire life, she was well aware that it is just a matter of time. One day, one dreadful day, this will be her undoing.

<p class="MsoNormal"> She spent minutes there. Maybe ten, maybe more. She hid there for so long, her heart started to beat normally - slower and slower... She almost calmed down. The robed people stopped looking for her; they apparently returned to their ritual, whatever it was, and decided she hasn't been more than a remarkably large fish. "Good", she thought. She gave them an enormous radius of space when avoiding them, since if she didn't want to backtrack and cross the road, her only option was wading through the water. It was shallow enough, and it was dark by then - she could do it slowly but quietly, if she did so far enough. She successfully snuck past, at the price of being terribly cold. The water was too cold for her, and by far too salty; she had to declare that the second time today.