[The Orange Road, Glademist Cave] Licking their wounds

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Arla screamed with nary a breath taken for air. It echoed from her very soul and resonated through the ancient cave. She continued screaming, bandages tensing across her chest, the bed roll nearly flipping into the fire as she panicked inside it.

She didn't stop...it just kept going.

Kennek opened the flap to the tent, his eye bloodshot and blinking as he looked at Arla. A liberal amount of bandages covered where his left eye used to be. Just when he thought he'd get a nice sleep, maybe cop a feel off Seeks by "accident" to make himself feel better, screaming happened.

He wasn't dressed in his armor - rather, he had several bandages over his chest and stomach, a pair of loose linen pants tied by a rope covering his lower body. "Calm down! What... what in Oblivion is going on here?!"

Seeks awoke with a start, the shriek making her jump. She knew almost immediately what was going on. Her robe still on, she pulled herself out of the tent and ran to the girl, ignoring the fact that Kennek was likely staring at her. "Arla! Thank the Hist you're awake. You've been out for days!"

"GET AWAY! DON'T TOUCH ME! HUNTSMAN TAKE YOU! LIZARDS! DRAGONS!" She backed up rapidly from them, bunching the sleeping bag up as she pushed up against the cave wall.

Her breath came rapidly healing flesh cracking. She couldn't even cry, her eyes bloodshot and blinking unfocused.

Kennek looked decidedly unamused at being called a lizard after helping to save this girl. He looked to Seeks. "She just had a nightmare, let's go." He muttered, rubbing his remaining eye with a knuckle.

"Bloody ungrateful brat."

Seeks shot a protective look at the other argonian. "There is no such thing as 'just a bad dream' when Daedra are involved. Not to mention how long she's been out."

She then returned her gaze to Arla, her gaze soft, almost motherly. "It's okay, Arla. We're friends. We're here to help."

She reached into a saddlebag nearby and pulled out some food, offering it to her.

She started taking deep breaths, starting to calm down. She took the food but didn't eat it.

"This...I'm...it's real?"

She pulled the bread apart, waiting for her world to turn nightmarish again. "Where am I?"

Kennek shook his head, sitting in the tent just to make sure Arla didn't flip out again. Seeks could handle herself, but frankly he was asking for any reason to take his frustrations out on this Imperial. She'd cost him an eye, she'd cost him a reputation in the Empire.

He almost regretted not pushing her off that horse. Least he could have acted against the Thalmor easier without her dragging them all the way to High Rock. "Where do ya think, you're in a camp we set up. You're welcome."

Seeks shot Kennek another look. "What Kennek means to say is that we are on the Orange Road on our way to High Rock. Now, I heard you mention the Huntsman. Who, exactly were you referring to?"

"Orange road... Okay I know where I am... And that? Nothing. It's just bad dreams." She pulls the sleeping mat away from the fire.

"...High rock? Why?"

Kennek noticed the looks Seeks kept giving him, and the corner of his mouth turned up in a slight growl. He looked at Arla, crossing his arms. "There's a cure for your bein' a werewolf there, 'ccordin' to Seeks - and I trust Seeks enough to believe her."

She nodded. "I don't know for sure, but there have been rumors for centuries of an ancient witch cult that can cure lycanthropy somewhere in the hills of southern High Rock. I can't confirm if they actually exist, and if they do, what we will have to do to get this cure, but we can save your soul from the fate of someone like me."

"Wait what? I'm not a lycanthrope...." She bites her lip hard, hoping they didn't ask anymore questions "And isn't that incredibly far away? And witches?!? We don't need to go risking that or anything"

She looked around at the interior of the cave, frowning. "Can't we just go and pretend these wounds never happened? I'm not gonna press charges or anything. That fire and those men...I really just want to get home to my family"

Images of her dream fresh in her head, she shivered.

"...are you stupid?"

Kennek glared at Arla, clenching his fists. "You are a fuckin' werewolf, you got me? We saw you transform, we saw you wreck up a few buildin's, I lost my fuckin' eye because of that shit!"

"I am not about to let you go away jus' because you wanna be a fuckin' brat and run away from your problems! You'll kill your family come the next full moon! Ya think about that, ya stupid bitch?!"

He looked at Seeks, "Don't you even start givin' me that look, Seeks! You know this is fuckin' stupid just as much as I do!"

Seeks, too, was starting to grow annoyed with the girl. Her soft look reverted back to its former coldness. "Quiet, girl. You are coming with us for the sake of yourself and your loved ones. I am not going to have innocent blood on my hands because I did not deal with this. The Lord Malacath has very specific rules when dealing with other Daedra, and I will not break them just for you."

She shrunk, more than a little afraid now. She didn really notice their jaws until now. Feeling a little bit like a cornered hare, she relented a little.

"Okay...let's just calm down here. I didn't want to make you mad. What are the rules...and I'm sorry alright?"

She smiles weakly at them

Kennek rubbed the scar atop his head, the pain returning swiftly. He looked at Arla, his yellow eye shining in the light. "I dunno, ask Seeks, she's the wizard... she knows about weird shit."

Seeks shot an annoyed look at Kennek, "For the last time, Kennek, it's not 'weird shit', it's arcane lore. And Lord Malacath's law is very simple. The beast within you is an enemy combatant that must be vanquished. I'd like to avoid killing the host—you—if I can, but I'm obligated to deal with this problem."

"There isn't a beast in me! It is just me" She groans and pulls her legs up to her chest, trying her best to keep warm and not tear anymore of her flesh.

She was not looking at this the right way. They knew it, she knew it, and by denying it, despite how good it felt, it wasn't helping. It did feel nice to know that for some reason they cared but in all honesty, this wasn't their problem.

"So why haven't you...cut off my head or buried me in silver or something." Silver, she always knew that that metal was strange.

"Don't do those things by the way, I'm just wondering why you care. We can all go our own ways. The Orange road goes past my home."

"...where in Oblivion would we get enough silver to bury you in?" Kennek raised his brow at Arla, mouth slightly agape from what she just said. He looked at Seeks and sighed. "Could you please explain to her the gravity of the situation? 'cuz that'd be grand considerin' I can't exactly think straight right now."

"I have not killed you, Arla, because you are not a worthy opponent. Killing the weak is a waste of time and effort. The infection of Hircine is what I am after. This is not about the fates of you, me, or Kennek. It is about keeping you from spreading your curse."

That wasn't entirely true. She wanted Arla to survive for more personal reasons. She knew not what Malacath wanted, she simply wanted to save the girl from a fate such as hers.

Arla at that point might have sprinted away, Seeks answer chilling her to the bones. She felt something inside her panic, making her want to attack and escape to the wild. It didn't want to be fought or attacked. It wanted to be part of her.

Arla swallowed and took a couple deep breaths. Alright, they were really serious. She had to play the game. The blood of the Empeors and their shrewd tongues were still there.

"Is that his name? Hircine?"

"Oblivion if I know. All I know is that whatever you got in there needs to be ripped out and beaten to death, before Seeks has gotta that to you. Me? I don't wanna kill ya, but after all the shit that's been done because of your little... outburst?" Kennek sneered slightly. "I wouldn't much mind as I did before."

"This ain't a negotiation. We're headin' to High Rock, we've gettin' you cured, and then? You can go home and do whatever you damn well please."

Seeks placed her claw on Arla's shoulder. "Yes. Hircine is his name. Daedric Prince of the Hunt. He created the so-called 'gift' of lycanthropy and spread it about Nirn. But it is not gift, it is a curse and you'll be better off rid of it."

Gift or Curse, Arla just wanted to get away from these people? Could she even call them that? She could feel the claws on her shoulder. The slight hissing as they spoke.

"Okay. Alright....High rock it is." She gave a weak smile. "What are you doing right now though. Just sitting in a cave?"

It was her turn to sneer at the lodgings, happy for the barrier of her sleeping bag. "You guys cleared out the animals right? And uh...I'm sorry"