Year of the Dragon - Skyrim

[YukiTen]

[Yay for Skyrim!]




Tennety marched up a poorly cobbled path up the side of a slowly sloping, well, mountain, eyeing the mountain flowers and thistles lining the path as she went. Monarch and Swallowtail butterflies fluttered and landed on these flowers that ranged from purple to red, lapping up their needed amount of nectar. They flapped their wings and floated away on the soft mountain breeze.

Birds of all kinds chirped and flew from branch to branch, searching for materials for their nests or maybe for food. Some rabbits squeaked and bolted through the undergrowth and into their holes as the Khajiit passes them by.

It was right around midday, the sun reaching it's highest point in the nearly cloudless blue sky. Very beautiful day.

Tennety, the white Khajiit woman, continued up the path, her lips pulling back in a smile that bared her sharp canines. She enjoyed the light breeze that blew through, the soft chirping of the birds, the pretty flowers... Oh! Speaking of the flowers, she should probably go pick some. The mountain flowers made great health and magicka potions.

Tugging on her Clydesdale's reigns, the horse whinnying in protest, she turned around led the large creature back down the path a few yards and stopped. Eyeing a patch of blue mountain flowers, the Khajiit hopped over a fallen log and stopped again at the beautiful expanse of flowers.

Her clawed fingers eagerly snatched up every flower she possible could, knowing full well the healing capabilities of these pretty blue plants. Stuffing her bundle of flowers into her herb filled satchel, she stood up and smiled at her progress, every single blue flower picked and stashed. 

The Khajiit stepped over that log again and walked up to horse with a bit of a pep in her step. She reached up and ran her fingers through Talamath's long white mane, the horse dipping her head and whinnying.

"Good girl," Tennety cooed as the large horse got down low enough so that she could hop on. 

She supposed that it might be easier this way. If trouble comes along, the big horse could make a run for it, with the Khajiit riding her of course. And it was just a simple bonding ride together through the forest. Yes. Tennety took the reigns and gently patted the horse's white rear end, which pushed her into a slow canter up the sloping path. 

As the said pathway rounded, it lead up to a wide open clearing, two tall ebony with whitw swirling pictures stretches up the pillars standing about two yards apart in said clearing. just beyond these pillars was a ruin - a seemingly deserted and very old ruin. It was carved into the mountain's side, a bit of rock creating a sort of awning above it to serve as some kind of shelter. Underneath the overhang was an iron door and two large tables off to its sides. Each table seemed to have rolls of parchment and unused pink stones in small cups all over them. Burned books, waterlogged books, leather...

Actually, now that Tennety thought about it, the ruin looked pretty freshly used. Almost inhabited. She pulled her horse's reigns to stop her before they reached the pillars, or halfway into the clearing. Moss and ivy hung over the lip of the awning above the iron door, nightshade growing in tufts in the cracks of the stones. 

Talamath whinnied and stomped her heavy hoof, shifting her weight and stepping about in place. It seemed she was uncomfortable.

"Hey, hey, calm down, big girl. It's alright," Tennety soothed, letting go of the reigns and sliding off the big horse. 

This ruin was a little unsettling, she could tell that much. But there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. Tennety frowned, petting Talamath's white snout to calm her nerves. 

Why would anyone inhabit a ruin - a crumbling carved cave? Just why? What was the point? Ruins are meant to looted or avoided, not lives in. The Khajiit shook her head and turned to face the horse.

"I'm gonna take a look around. Stay here. If something attacks you, kick it in the head," she instructed, patting her horse gently on her shoulder. "It'll die if you do that. You're pretty strong."

The horse only whinnied and grunted at the Khajiit's words, her hoof pawing t the ground.

[ink]

Tania woke up slowly, blinking drowsily. She sat up and stretched, yawning. She surveyed her small, burlap tent, looking at the sides and the blanket pooled around her hips. Rolling her shoulders first, she reached forward, wiggling her toes.

"Time to get up, I suppose," she sighed to herself. Throwing off her blanket and crawling out of her tent, she blinked at the sunlight, her eyes adjusting.

There were clouds high in the sky and the trees were green around her. A small stream burbled along on the other side of the clearing. She had made sure not to camp too close to it, she didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night soaked. Besides, the sound of water kept her awake.

But she smiled, breathing in the fresh air. Today was going to be a good day, she could just tell. Giggling as a surge of energy filled her, she wriggled and bounced in place, unable to stay still.

"Well," she turned to face her tent as she informed it, "I'll be back," she looked around, "It's just too nice a clearing to leave after one night."

She beamed and twirled around to a random direction, "Off we go! Time to explore!" she exclaimed to no one.

She started off then realized something, smacking her forehead. "My bow!"

She started to run back, but she didn't arrive at her tent before she tripped on a rock in her way. "Ahhhh!" she shrieked, tumbling forward.

"Owww," she whined on the ground, "Stupid rock."

Sighing, now unhappy, she laid there for a moment more before sullenly getting up and walking the rest of the way back to her tent.

Squatting down and reaching into her tent, she snatched up her bow, muttering, "Stupid bow."

She got up and slung it and its quiver of arrows onto her back, dusting off her clothes and looking around.

"Should I go the same way as before?" she wondered to herself before shaking her head, "No, that's a stupid direction."

Her foot made a small circle in the dirt as she spun around to the opposite direction. Setting off through the tall grass, she started whistling, her good mood returning.

A bird whistled back and she absentmindedly chirped at it. But when it landed on her shoulder, she jumped in shock.

"Hey, there, little tweeter," she greeted it. It chirped back and she giggled.

Soon, the two of them came upon a path. "Well," she consulted Little Tweeter, "Should we be squares and use the path or keep on going through the forest?"

Two chirps and she was nodding. "Good point," she replied, pondering the advice, "I didn't think of that," she brightened, "Path it is!"

There were all sorts of pretty flowers along the way, although she noticed a patch that seemed to all be picked. "Meanie," she muttered, feeling bad for the poor flowers.

Soon enough, she spotted hoof tracks. "You were right! There was someone here!" she exclaimed to Little Tweeter, her eyes sparkling, "Lets find them and make em pay for the flowers!"

She sprinted off, Little Tweeter flying off her shoulder and following her as she followed the tracks.

[YukiTen]

Stalking off to the iron door, Tennety noticed that there were small circled engraved into it. There was not inplication that the door was ever opened. The door didn't appear to have a knob of any kind either.

The Khajiit's ears twitched and she stepped closer to the door, hand at her hip and ready to draw her dagger or short sword if need be, and pressed her free hand against the iron door. She pushed. It didn't open. She pushed harder. It still didn't open.

Frustrated, she ran her claws through her hair and twitched her ears at the almost insulting whinny from Talamath. She frowned. "Be quiet!" Tennety snapped, whipping her head around to face the horse. She only grunted in amusement.

Stupid horse.

Tennety shook her head and took a few steps. She really wanted to check the ruins out! The door just wouldn't open. She shook her head again, rubbing her temples. Doors. Stupid, stupid doors. She dropped her hands and looked at the door with immense concentration, taking another step back.

That's it! Break it down!

She gave a light breath and took off, speeding into the door. Upon impact, the door flung open, causing the poor cat to crash and roll down a long and very mossy flight of cracked, crumbling stairs. Tumbling to a sudden stop, Tennety wound up in a firelit hall, crumpled and bruised in all sorts of places.

She groaned, rolling onto her stomach so she could push herself up. Her tail was bent and curved in awkward angles. There must have been bruises on her arms because they were really sore too. She shook her head and stood up, straightening out her poor fluffy tail.

[ink]

As Tania skidded into the clearing of the ruins, she heard thuds.

"Uh oh," she said to herself, then cocked her head to the side in confusion when she saw a lone horse.

"Huh," she wondered to herself and Little Tweeter before she decided to investigate.

She spotted an open door and walked over to it.

Their were stairs that led down and she called out, "Anyone down there?"

[YukiTen]

Tennety frowned, rubbing her rear end. She fell pretty hard, it seems. Oh well. Shifting her weight, she traveled further into the ruin, stepping over fallen pillars and tufts of moss.

It was definitely moist and humid in here, whih didn't really make sense. This was a mountain. Not a rain forest. Tennety shook her head and continued on, spotting a bookshelf overgrown with moss and practically crumbling. She grinned. A bookshelf could hold books with certain skills in them and they could also have a good weapon or two and some soul gems. Hopefully it had all of them on its shelves.

Stepping over a growing root, she walked calmly up to the bookshelf and frowned deeply. Disappointment washed over her.

There were no treasures here. Well, unless you counted ancient linen and an old wooden bowl a treasure, there were none.

[ink]

Tania sighed and walked down the stairs. She was treading carefully, but nonetheless she stepped on a slippery bit and crashed down the rest of the stairs, shrieking all the way.

She landed at the bottom with a thud, groaning. "Stupid stairs," she pouted before getting up and dusting herself off. Little Tweeter landed on her shoulder and she pouted again. "Yeah, fly down."

She shook her head to shake off the bad energy and smiled brightly at Little Tweeter, "Well, at least it's an adventure, right?"

Little Tweeter chirped a reply and she couldn't help but to giggle. "You're funny, Little Tweeter."

Little Tweeter scolded her.

"Oh!" she said, surprised, "Your name is Unte? Ok!"

Unte chittered happily, glad to be called the right name.

"Well," she smiled to the newly dubbed Unte, "Let's go exploring!"

[YukiTen]

Tennety's white ears twitched at the echoing sound of a screech, quickly spinning around to glare back down the crumbling hall. Was someone following her? No. They couldn't be. She let out a quiet breath and turned around again, the soft sound of water dripping off a stalagmite.

"Hope I'm not being followed..." she told herself, crossing her hands behind her head.

The ruined hall was lined with still-burning torches, hanging moss that could be harvested for potion-making, tables, bookshelves. At the very end of the hall, there was a large iron door, Tennety could see. But it was a long ways away... She started walking again, stepping over fallen pillars and jagged stones covered in moss.

As far as she could see, there weren't very many treasures.

How disappointing. But maybe there was something behind that door... Oh the possibilities! There could be an army of Draugrs or ghosts awaiting the return of an ancient. There could be a room full of ancient treasure and enchanted weapons. There could be books upon books of ancient skills and even a wall of dragon Shouts! All of it would be preferred.

None of it was likely.

The closer she got to the iron door, the higher her hopes got. She was so anxious to see!

[ink]

Tania spotted a crumbling bookshelf and skipped over to it, but it only had boring stuff.

"Stupid bookshelf," she wrinkled her nose at Unte, who chittered in agreement.

She walked on and then the GREATEST thing happened!

She spotted a white Khajiit woman. There was someone else in here!

"Hey!" Tania shouted to her, grinning wide and waving.

[YukiTen]

Right when the Khajiit pressed her hand up against the iron door, a loud "Hey!" echoes down and floated into her ears. So she WAS being followed. She cursed under her breath and spun around, crossin her arms over her leather-bound chest.

By the way the scent of the follower came into Tennety's nose, she could easily tell it was a Wood Elf. Incense was caked onto the lady's smell, indicating she was a gypsy traveler. Did she travel Khajiit? Maybe. But if she did, that would make her dangerous. She drowned slightly and leaned up against the iron door.

"Who are you?" she snapped, glaring down the crumbling hall at the approaching form.

[ink]

Tania frowned when the Khajiit snapped at her.

"Um... I'm Tania..." she said quietly, intimidated by the irritated cat-woman. She shook her shoulders and steeled herself. "I'm Tania!" she said louder, cheerfully this time.

"And this is Unte!" she added, gesturing to him.

"Who are you?" she grinned.