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"Well if you are quite done with your metaphorical afterglow, we'd better get going don't you think?" Sworddog asked Slutcat, sounding a little perturbed.

"Oh, I suppose. Which way did they go?"

"Follow me," Sworddog said impatiently and trotted off down the path that Ralof and the other Stormcloak had taken. They passed into another chamber with more bodies, but it was the cobwebs that bothered Slutcat.

"Ew... Spiders. I hate spiders," she said, staring at a particularly large web in one corner."

"That's pretty much universal, I guess. Come on, Ralof will have knocked down any that cross the path."

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Soon they had caught up with the others and Slutcat readied her newly discovered talent, this time priming both hands with the Spark spell. Up ahead, they heard the clear sound of more Imperials.

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And then the battle was on. Unlike before, Slutcat was a very active participant this time. Sworddog helped her take down one Imperial bowman, but not before she had been wounded by an arrow. She barely felt it, such was the adrenaline flowing as she rained sparks upon the doomed man and Sworddog worried him from behind.

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Before she knew it, the Imperials had been defeated and Ralof and the other Stormcloak were heading out of the room. But Slutcat sat where she was for a minute. The healing potion had taken care of the pain in her leg, but she was looking at the dead man in front of her. Sworddog came up and sat near her.

"You know, he didn't look like a bad man," she said, not looking away from the lifeless corpse.

Sworddog said nothing for a while. Finally she spoke up. "He probably wasn't. Just a soldier, doing his job. Just a man really."

"What have we gotten ourselves into Sworddog?"

The dog didn't answer, but Slutcat stood back up, took one last look at the body of a man whose bones would likely stay down here forever, then went on to join Ralof.

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A bit further they crossed a drawbridge, but the straggling other Stormcloak was on the far side when another dragon-induced cave-in cut them off from him. Once again they were back to just Ralof, Slutcat and Sworddog. Without any choice, they continued on. But soon they found the only way out was down a rivulet running with water. Cold water.

Slutcat slipped on a stone and ended up in the water nearly to her knees.

"AAAAAAAAAA! THAT'S SOOOO COLD!" She screamed.

Sworddog's voice came from behind her, "At least you're mostly out of it! Hurry up! I'm up to my shoulders!"

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She'd barely gotten any warmth back in her feet when they had to turn off the stream bed and go down a side passage. Then the passage widened into a room full of Slutcat's deepest fears. Spiders the size of Sworddog and more were dropping from the ceiling. She fled in abject terror back the way they'd come. Once Ralof had dispensed with the spiders, he and Sworddog went back to find her huddled by the stream, her eyes wide and staring. She flinched at Ralof's touch.

"I'm sorry... I... Don't like spiders," she shivered not from the cold as she tried to apologize.

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"It's understandable. Loathsome creatures. Some even spit venom. You are right to be afraid of them. But they're dead now."

She looked back at him. "All of them?"

"Yes Slutcat. All of them. Sworddog took down a few herself."

Sworddog nodded. "Taste like crap. But yes Slutcat. They're all dead."

"You wouldn't lie to me, right Ralof. I mean... I REALLY REALLY REALLY don't like spiders! It's like a phobia or something."

Ralof took her hand and hauled her to her feet. "They're dead. Come on. I'll hold your hand."

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Though nervous, Slutcat did make it through the room with the dead spiders and breathed a sigh of relief when it was safely behind them. However she didn't get much time for respite when Ralof hushed them and crouched low.

He whispered, "Hold up. There's a bear just ahead. See her? I'd rather not tangle with her right now. Let's try to sneak by. Just take it nice and slow, and watch where you step. Or if you're feeling lucky, you can take this bow. Might take her by surprise."

Slutcat shook her head and pushed the bow away. "I've killed enough for today. Let's just sneak past her."

Ralof nodded, adding, "Go ahead. I'll follow your lead and watch your back."

Slutcat raised her eyebrows. "My back? Listen buddy, I don't want to tangle with bears at ANY time. As slow and low as I'll be sneaking, it won't be my back you'll be watching. Have a good look, but stay close. If she charges I'm going to be running like hell!"

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Slutcat began crawling. At the beginning of this little romp she would have felt a little thrill at displaying her wares to him in such a manner. But after the roller-coaster she'd just been through, she was focused completely on the sleeping bear ahead. This went through her mind for a moment, and she realized that she would have said just what Ralof had said a long time ago. "This is not the time, nor the place for that!"

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