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A Random Encounter

20th of Sun's Height, 4E 319

*character 1*

Everything was a blur. Trees on either side of me flashed by at lightning speeds. Wind rushed through my fur with the force of a gale. Okay maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I was going extremely fast. Many say my speed is unnatural; they say that I secretly use magic to increase it. They refuse to believe me when I say that it's all natural. I honestly don't blame them though. Who would believe that my scrawny body could produce such agility? I could barely carry armor more than ten feet; why should I have been able to run?

It's the honest truth though; not only was I remarkably swift, but my legs didn't fatigue easily. I could run a marathon as if it were a sprint. That's why I'm basically the courier for my family's business. Whenever they need a letter delivered, I'm their guy. That's what I was doing just then actually. An associate in Markarth was being difficult and required some persuasion to continue supplying us. That's where I was heading. Whiterun to Markarth was a long way to go on foot; usually a few days walk. I'd been running for about six hours and had reached about the halfway-point.

*character 2*

High in a tree, I could see my next target fast approaching... too fast. How the heck is he running so fast?! I thought to myself. Must be using some kind of alteration magic. The target was a Lungari, a relatively new race to the known world. They used to all live on some remote archipelago, but many had migrated to Tamriel about ninety years ago for some unknown reason. The Lungari are a beast race that sort of look similar to rabbits. Long ears, short tail, big teeth, and, from what I've heard, very horny. This particular one didn't look very strong, he appeared to have barely any muscle tone, if any at all, but it was hard to tell from so far away.

A masculine voice called up to me from the base of the tree, "What do you see up there, Sea-Scales?" I looked down to see my loyal friend, Sly, impatiently awaiting my answer. Sly was a Zerdar, another fairly new race to Skyrim. They looked fairly akin to foxes. Long muzzles, sharp fangs, pointed ears. The main difference the race has different was that most of them have a more tannish fur. Sly was one of the exceptions. His fur was a ruddy orange which went great with his personality: a violent psychopath who chops his enemies to pieces. Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. He's not that violent, but he never refuses a fight, and his opponents do usually get serious injuries. But that's not entirely his fault; he just can't fully control his own strength.

"A single Lungari on foot," I call down with a slight hiss. The hiss was involuntary; it happens when I get excited, and I really don't like it. Showing emotions is detrimental for my trade. "I can't tell whether it's a flat-chested girl, or just a guy with a girl's frame."

The fox gave a wolfish grin. "Sounds too easy. What's the score?"

I focused my gaze back on the rabbit. It was a bit difficult to make out. "Looks like he has a knapsack. And by the state of his clothes, I would say he has a fair bit of wealth. Perhaps a trader."

"What do you think the chances are he's carrying a shipment of jewels?" he asked excitedly. Typical Sly, always hoping for the big score.

I scoffed, "With no guards? Not likely at all." I paused for a moment. "No, more likely we're dealing with clothes or books. Hopefully the former. Our camp sure could use some more."

"Yeah, seriously," Sly concurred. "I'm down to my last pair of pants!"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, maybe you wouldn't be if you would stop tearing them off every time you want to have sex with someone."

"Ah, shuddup."

*Lungari*

I slowed to a stop at a flowing stream for a respite. My legs we beginning to tire, and I didn't want to overwork myself. I took out my water-skin and guzzled all the water down. Running like this sure does make me thirsty. I removed my knapsack and grabbed some bread out of it. It was somewhat crushed from the jostling during my journey, but fine otherwise. I took a few bites of it, and smiled with joy at how soft it was. After I finished snacking on the bread, I went over to the stream to refill my supply. I kneeled down and dipped the water-skin in the running water. The cool liquid felt nice around my sweaty palm, so I left it in there much longer than necessary. The flowing water washed away the accumulated dust that had gathered in my fur. I could really use a bath sometime soon.

A faint noise made my ears twitch. I quickly surveyed the surroundings for the source, but saw nothing. Probably just some animal, I thought to myself. I took the water-skin and took another swig from it. Ah, nice and refreshing._Another sound pricked my ears, this one louder and sounded foreign. _No way that was an animal. I quickly scrambled to my satchel and tried to pick it up, but it didn't budge. It was only then that I noticed the arrow pinning it to the ground by the strap. I frantically tried to pull the arrow out to no avail.

I was suddenly tackled to the ground, my arms pinned by the creature's paws. It looked similar to a wolf, but it had the pale blue transparency typical of a ghost. It took me a few moments to realize that it was a conjured spirit from a magic-user.

I ceased all struggling and called out hopefully, "Please, call off your spirit! I promise I'll do what you ask." The weight of the beast suddenly vanished as the beast was dismissed back to Oblivion.

A unique-looking Argonian stepped out from the trees with his bow drawn. He looked to be quite fit. He wasn't incredibly buff, but his muscles seemed well toned. I had seen a few archers come into the shop before, and they all the same muscle tone as him. I suppose since archers don't need to swing around heavy weapons in bulky armor, they don't need to be as strong. He was donned with a full set of leather armor with a hood that had been cut to allow his two straight horns to protrude from it. His eyes were shrouded by the shadows, but his scales shone brightly. They were a brilliant shade of blue that seemed to glow. A hiss emanated from his throat. "Twitch and I shoot," he threatened.

I held completely still. "Please, I don't have much, but you can have it! It's just some food and a change of clothes."

Another person came out of the trees; this one was a Zerdar. He was fully clad in iron plate-armor aside from the helmet. His fur was much different than the average Zerdar. Instead of the regular sandy fur, his was a ruddy-reddish, sort of like the color of a regular fox. He looked to be wearing war-paint, too. It was an emerald stripe around his eyes. I couldn't really see his body, but if his armor was any indication, then he must've been incredibly muscular. Then I noticed the sword on his back. It must've been as long as he was! It was no wonder why he was so strong. Swinging that berserker must've really built up his strength. "I was hoping that he would at least put up a bit of a struggle," he sighed. He picked up my satchel and searched through it. "Hey, he ain't lying! There's only about a day's amount of food and some worthless clothes in here!"

I stayed silent, hoping that they would just take the food and leave. The Zerdar looked at me menacingly. "Strip!" he ordered.

I blushed heavily and stuttered out, "W-what?! Why!?" I was completely flustered. Not only was it a wildly inappropriate thing to order, but coming from a potential killer it made me incredibly nervous.

He growled menacingly. "DO IT!" he barked loudly. I slowly began remove my shirt. I hated how scrawny I was. My arms were as thin as twigs from the lack of muscle and my frame was that of a thirteen year old girl. I always felt so embarrassed when someone saw me shirtless. Next came the pants. My legs weren't as embarrassing as my arms. They had gained some mass from my constant running. But I was still uncomfortable with stripping down to my undergarments in front of a couple of guys who could easily overpower me.

I noticed the fox was staring at me as I removed my clothing. I couldn't tell if he was just making sure that I didn't try to do anything or if it was something else entirely. And then he licked his lips. That caused my body shudder with fear. I prayed to the Divines that these attackers would let me go if I just gave them my stuff.

"Good," the Zerdar growled, "now toss them over here, nice and easy." I threw my clothes over to him; they barely made it. I noticed a smirk from the fox as he saw how weak I was. He began searching through them. He looked incredibly disgruntled as he searched. "He's got nothing in here except this." He held up the letter I was supposed to deliver.

"Please!" I exclaimed reaching to him. I saw the Argonian steadying his aim on me. I took back my hand. I repeated in a calmer voice, "Please, it's a very important letter. I was just on my way to deliver it."

"Is that so?" the Argonian accused. "You seem a bit better dressed than most couriers, and that is the only letter you seem to have." I still couldn't see his eyes, but I could feel them. They were like daggers piecing my head. That was probably where he was aiming his bow too.

"I'm not a courier," I explained. "It's just an odd job that I did for some extra coin. I won't get paid if I don't deliver it. And they lent me these clothes so I would look presentable while I was there." I figured that it would be a bad idea to say that I come from a family who owns a store. They might want to try and hold me for ransom. If they think that I'm just some kid who did this for a few septims, they might just let me go.

The Argonian smirked. "Did they also give you that pendant?" My heart stopped and all the blood drained from my face.

I grasp my pendant. "Please, I can't lose this," I begged. "It's a family heirloom!"

"Heirloom you say?" The Zerdar chuckled. "Hey, Sea-Scales, isn't that just another way to say it's valuable?" The Argonian nodded slowly without a word. The fox grinned, "Great! Now just hand it over."

I grasped it tighter. "No! I can't lose-" I sudden pain shot through my right ear. I release my pendant to grasp at it. I felt something wet and sticky in my palm as I tried to ease the sensation which I immediately knew was blood. I look over at the man called Sea-Scales. His bow was still drawn, but I knew he shot an arrow. I didn't even see him draw his bow again.

In a low voice, he threatened, "The next one goes in your eye." Hesitantly, I took off my pendant and tossed it over to the fox. I felt oddly exposed without it on. Moreso than I felt when taking off my other garments.

The fox gave a grin that almost seemed... flirtatious. "Now how about you step out of those undergarments, and we discuss what you can do to convince me to spare your life?" All the blood that had drained from my face immediately returned. My entire face felt red-hot from surprise and embarrassment. He chuckled a bit from the sight. Then, in a condescending tone, he asked, "What's wrong? Is the little bunny-boi embarrassed? Are you too shy to admit you're tempted by the offer?"

"That's enough, Sly," Sea-Scales chastised. "It's apparent that he's not interested." Despite defending me, his bow was still aimed at me.

"Oh, c'mon," Sly whined, "you haven't let me have any fun for weeks now." I was surprised to see that the fox was actually pouting. I probably would've been amused if I wasn't fearing for my life and my ass.

"I said 'no' and that's final." His voice was stern and gave the impression that he wasn't going to be altering his choice. I silently thanked him which I immediately found odd. Granted he saved me from an impending rape, but he still had his deadly bow aimed at my forehead, so it sort of seemed like a hollow victory.

"Please," I begged, "I have nothing else." I got down on my knees. "Please just spare my life." There was an agonizingly long pause. I felt sweat beads from my forehead and dampen my fur. I stared with pleading eyes at the hooded Argonian. I searched for his eyes in the shadows, but they were still completely concealed. I momentarily wondered whether he could actually see out of it, but the cut on my ear seems to answer that question with a throb of pain.

After what felt like hours, he finally seemed to make his decision. He took the arrow off the string of his bow and placed it in his quiver. "I assume that you're smart enough to realize that town guards won't be any help way out here, so there's no point in even telling them."

My eyes go wide and I nod gratefully. "I swear, I won't tell anybody!" I thank the Divines for their mercy on me. Without another word, the two of them headed off to who-knows-where, while I was left nearly naked in the middle of the forest with no supplies. I just sat there thankful to be alive.

Suddenly an arrow fell from the sky. I nearly screamed when it landed just three feet away from me. For a moment I thought that Sea-Scales had changed his mind and tried to kill me, but then I saw that he had balled up a pair of pants and attached them to the arrow. Scared as I was, I was also thankful that I didn't have to walk around in my undergarments. I gratefully pulled on the pants and headed off in the direction the arrow came from.