Breathless

Chapter 2. Eastmarch

Taking a long, much needed swig of the Colovian Brandy that she'd kept stashed with Orgnar at the tavern, Eroeh threw her head back, relishing the warmth as it ran down the back of her throat. "That rough, huh?" Bishop commented as he exited the village alongside her.

"You have no idea." She sighed as she wiped a sliver of escaped liquid from the corner of her mouth. Offering the bottle to Bishop, she eyed him as he chugged a mouthful like it were water. "Looks like you needed that," she commented.

"That kind of week," he responded sourly as he passed it back.

Corking the bottle and placing it in her bag, Eroeh couldn't help but be curious about her new traveling partner. "So, you seem a lot more comfortable now that we're out of town," she mused, noticing his relaxing stance. "How long have you been living the life?"

"Grew up in the woods, so my parents used to take me hunting all the time as a kid," he explained. "Been killing giants for sport since I was ten. We were a bit of a nomadic bunch, so we moved around fairly often. What about you, sweetness? What's your illustrious history?" he questioned back sarcastically.

"My history? Well, my mother was a Breton from here in Skyrim, and my father was a Bosmer," she said simply. "I grew up one of four kids in Valenwood and moved up here after they died. I've been traveling around from place to place ranging and barding and whatnot to make ends meet for the last few years, and just narrowly avoided my execution this morning, so things have always been rather interesting for me." she trailed off.

"Execution? Ha! What in Oblivion could you of all people have done, Princess? Did you steal someone's sweet roll? Kick a chicken?" he asked mockingly, not believing her for a second.

"Nothing, funny enough," she chuckled. "Just got picked up sharing a camp with a bunch of the Empire's Most Wanted." she explained with a shrug. "I'm sure there's not many people who can say, 'Damn I'm sure glad that dragon showed up and started burning everything to the ground'," she laughed sourly. "It was a mess for sure, but at least I managed to make it out in one piece," she finished, awkwardly adjusting her pack.

"A dragon? Really? And to think, I almost believed ya too," he snorted.

"What? You mean to tell me you didn't see that big black son of a bitch flying over that barrow over there?" she asked, raising an eyebrow incredulously at him. "I don't know how on Nirn you could've missed it, the sky over Helgen was on fire for gods' sake!"

She let out an exasperated sigh then, figuring that most people not involved with Helgen must not know after all. "You know, I'm supposed to be running over to Whiterun to warn Jarl Balgruuf about the dragon..." she groaned. "I hope someone else is able to tell him."

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Bishop sighed. "You know, if we take the shortcut through the woods instead of the road, Whiterun's just a half-hour walk from here," Bishop reluctantly offered. "After you tell him though, we really need to get going. Maybe we'll even come across some info while we're there to give us a better idea of where to look for Karnwyr. Surely someone in that town has heard something about it."

Letting out a breath of relief, Eroeh set off running towards Whiterun. "Thank fuck, I really didn't want that hanging on my conscience!" she called back towards Bishop, who was scrambling after her. "How the hell is she so goddamn fast?" he huffed to himself through gritted teeth as he chased her over the hill and through the underbrush.

Finally getting within eyesight, he caught a glimpse of her just as she sent an arrow flying towards a giant lumbering in a nearby field, nailing it right in the eye. He slowed to a jog as he closed the distance, nocking an arrow of his own- unnecessarily it would seem as he watched his tiny companion quickly scrabble up the giant's back with dagger in hand, wrenching its head from its spine at the base of its neck before grabbing it by the shoulders and riding it back to the ground as it fell.