Along We Go [OPEN]

[Felicia Greenwood]

Felicia could tell that the male had a joking tone in his voice, but it only seem half so. “I guess I’ll try not to give him a reason to.” She mumbled, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. She understood to a certain extent though. Given a reason, most animals would attack, if they felt threatened for example. The dog would most likely do that if she posed any threat towards him or his master. Not that Felicia would try to harm the Argonian since he was helping and all, but it made sense. She guessed that it wasn’t the only reason that Titan was wary of her. She was a complete stranger to the animal and even she wouldn’t trust strangers she’d just met. Most animals were like that with completely strangers. It was just the way things worked in the world, most likely a defence mechanism more than anything. Something that had developed over time and was rather hard to overcome. Felicia made her way over to a nearby tree and leaned against it. She would rather not sit down after kneeling for so long.

Letting out a small laugh, Felicia looked over at the dog. “Sorry about that. I didn’t want to lug that thing back to Riften to find someone and you were the closest people I could find. I’m kind of glad you guys were here though.” It would’ve murdered her back to have to carry the deer back to Riften. At least in pieces, she would be able to arrange them in such a way that it wouldn’t annoy her. Speaking of which, how was she going to get the meat back to town? There was only so much her small pack could carry. She couldn’t ask Del to do it as it was asking too much. She could carry the rest back, but Felicia didn’t fancy carrying that much back. When the time came, she could find some way of doing it. Focusing back on the male and his dog, Felicia could a couple of steps forward and bent down, looking at the dog. “You’re a smart dog aren’t you?” She gently smiled at the animal. “A pretty brave one you must be as well, protecting your master like this.” It was a bit unusual for her to be speaking to an animal, but Del seemed to do it half the time, so it couldn’t be that weird. Could it?

Felicia eventually abandoned the crouching position, moving a little bit closer to the deer and sat down. She stretched her legs out in front of her, placing her hands on the ground behind her to keep herself from falling backwards. She had totally forgotten that her quiver was still on her back until she sat down. Slipping the strap over her head, she placed it alongside her right leg, being careful as to not tip any of the arrows out. This brought her mind to where her bow currently was. Looking around, she spotted it near the deer. Felicia leaned over and dragged the weapon over to her side. If ever needed to get up quickly and shoot something, it was handy to have her weapon near her. Not that she didn’t her dagger didn’t count as a weapon, but she was more skilled with a bow than a dagger. It would still do a bit of damage though.

Felicia shrugged a little bit, but her face then fell as she listened to the short story that Del told her about the dog. “It’s a good thing you too him in. I guess it’s what the guy would’ve wanted instead of him running around in the wilderness for goodness knows how long.” She let a smile appear on her face. While Titan might’ve survived, it would’ve been sad to see such a loyal dog have to spend the rest of his life with no-one there for him. “He was loyal to the end I guess.” She let her eyes wander over to the dog itself. She hadn’t really thought about how loyal animals were, but hearing what had happened, it surprised her just how loyal dogs actually were. It was a nice twist in such a sad thing. It must be the same kind of thing for family as well. At least in Felicia’s it was. They were all loyal to each other, but it was rather refreshing to see it happen between an animal and a person.

She waved the thanks off with her hand. “It’s really no problem. It’s the least I could do.” Felicia said. She wouldn’t need both the skin and the meat to sell anyway, she had enough coin already. The meat would just provide an extra bonus for her to take home with her. She placed her hand back on the ground and took the time to have a look at her surroundings. Felicia hadn’t managed to get a decent look around since she walked in on them and asked for help. It was a pretty good clearing. Not all that big, but big enough for Del to be able to get the horse, himself and Titan set up comfortable enough. A couple of butterflies floated past her vision and Felicia watched them flutter off into the trees.

[Del-Rah]

“Sorry about that. I didn’t want to lug that thing back to Riften to find someone and you were the closest people I could find. I’m kind of glad you guys were here though.”

"Ah, it's no problem," Del replied as he crouched next to the deer, pulling at a piece of the skinned deer. "Get some Septim, at least, and that stuff seems hard to come by now a days."

Del had seen his fair share of poor around the streets of Imperial City, however everything seemed to get worse, what with people getting killed from dragon attacks and going out to war. The Argonian kind of felt sorry for those people, however, with himself and two animals to feed, it was kind hard to be generous at the moment. He would have if he could, and the first he would give to would probably be a few of his friends back in Imperial City - if they were still alive, of course. If you didn't have enough coin to buy food and other nessesities, you either died of starvation, heat or cold, and that must have been a horrible way to die, in Del's opinion. At the very least, he wanted a fast death, plain and simple.

Another reason he didn't help the poor was because of his father. Sure, his father was nice and all, however he was getting to the point where he would be unable to travel around and sell goods like they used to. And no one seemed to be buying anything in Imperial City anymore due to the amount of shops lining the streets in the Market District. Although his father had told him that he didn't need any help to take care of himself, Del sometimes paid a Currier money to run him money to, at the very least, feed himself. Sometimes, Del even wondered how his father was able to take care of himself. Then again, he was able to take care of Del and himself at one point, when Del wasn't even able to help him at all, so he decided not to question him.

“You’re a smart dog aren’t you?” She gently smiled at the animal. “A pretty brave one you must be as well, protecting your master like this.”

Realizing that he was being spoken to, Titan raised his head and began to hit his tail against the dry earth, a sound mixed between a happy whine and a growl emitting from his throat, as if he still couldn't decide how he felt about the woman. Del thus snorted at the mutt as he moved the deer around and tried to see if he could keep skinning the side Licia had started before going to the other side. She had gotten most of it, however, a few small chunks of fur and skin were still attached to the meat, and he was sure that she wasn't planning on eating it along with the meat. He had accidently done that once, and, although it was fully cooked, it really didn't taste well.

"So," the lizard grunted as he got to the bigger peices of fur, "you gonna have t' carry this far?" He thought that he might as well try to make more conversation while he tried to skin the deer. Didn't like the quietness much, anyway.

[Felicia Greenwood]

Felicia chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I’ve heard it comes in handy.” She continued to watch the Argonian skin the animal, her legs crossing automatically as she did so. She let her features smooth out as she watched him. For some reason, it was kind of therapeutic to watch him do it. Maybe it was because it was such a simple task that she didn’t need to really think about what he was doing. She felt her mind drift off as she did so, leaning against one of the trees. Felicia knew she shouldn’t start daydreaming like that, in case anything happened. It had happened before in their family when they first came into Skyrim and had been trying to find a place to call home. They’d set up camp during the night after travelling around a bit and all of them had drifted off into some sort of daydreaming whilst the food was cooking in the fire. Felicia knew that they should’ve been more alert because a few seconds later, they got attacked by bandits. Thankfully, they’d managed to defend themselves against them and the bandits hadn’t managed to steal anything, but it still drove the point home. They had needed to be alert when they weren’t in the comfort of their own home. It was a reason why Felicia liked to sleep up in a tree from time to time. Bandits as well as most animals, couldn’t reach where she was currently sleeping, which meant that they couldn’t take her stuff. It was a useful trick, but rather uncomfortable, which is why she didn’t do it often.

She didn’t know what it was that made drift off into a daydream like state in the first place. Felicia could of pinned it on the rhythmic pace that Del-Rah was moving the blade back and forth or maybe the peacefulness of the surrounding area. But she had always been like this. Drifting off in the most unusual of places, though it was rare when she did. It wasn’t normally in her nature, but there were times when it happened, like it would with anyone. “If you don’t mind me asking, how do you get most of your coin? You don’t seem to be struggling all that much.” It was a pretty odd question to be asking someone she’d only just met and she knew she’d have to make up some excuse for how she got hers, but it something that got the conversation going again. It had been quiet for some time now and Felicia didn’t want to the conversation drop until she’d finished everything and had to leave. Granted that might get the work done quicker than if they were talking, but it was something to do besides the work. Plus it made the atmosphere less awkward.

Felicia looked at the dog, with a grin on her face as she heard the sounds he was making. “Sounds like you don’t trust me all the way yet do you?” She let out a laugh. “Good Titan.” It was one thing to be overly trusting, another to be too stubborn to allow people in, Titan however, despite being a dog, seemed to be a bit between. She was growing fond of the dog, though like the animal itself, she was still a little wary of him. It was a mutual thing really. Though the dog could probably tell that she was wary of him still from her body language. It wasn’t that hard to guess, even Del could probably see it if he tried. She turned her body several inches to the right to be able to keep an eye on both Del himself and the dog. “I’ll be able to put a few parts of in the small pack I have…” She gestured to the piece of the material that was on her back where her quiver had been. “But the rest I think I’ll be able to carry back into Riften. Some will be sold, obviously. A few bits might go to a few friends I have there. The rest I’ll take back to Whiterun with me for the family to have.” Hopefully there would be enough there for all three parties to have an equal share of. She might have to cut down the pile for the Thieves Guild however, depending on how well the meat sold originally. But they shouldn’t mind all that much, they had the basic necessities anyway, the meat would be an added bonus.

[Del-Rah]

“If you don’t mind me asking, how do you get most of your coin? You don’t seem to be struggling all that much.”

That was something everyone seemed to be asking a lot of people these days. He was getting by, sure, although he tried not to show it too much. There were people who wanted to try and take that away from you, of course, which was one reason why he tried to hide it. Not like he couldn't take care of himself in a fight if he ever ran into a thief trying to nab something from him, he just didn't want to go through the trouble of it. Nor did he want to kill someone just because they were trying to get by. He would gladly give them the coin if they were actually struggling with getting the coin. Of course, they'd have to prove it. He wouldn't be giving coin to just

[/i]anyone[/i].

"I mainly work for the Companions," Del informed, grunting as he picked the deer up and proceeded to flip it over. Man, it seemed so much larger than it looked! "I usually get jobs and missions from the Inner Circle - the big guys who kinda help run an' manage the place - and they give good coin. Mostly it's Skjor and Alea, and sometimes Vilkas and Kodlak if everyone else is busy. Other than that, though, I usually travel around and take up jobs and missions for people, some of which others won't take. I actually fought a few bandits once, myself."

Ah, the adventures of Skyrim! There was always a reason he liked this place. The Companions were quite the group of people, if he did say so himself. Sure, that dog of theirs that everyone was complaining about sure could use some learning, however, other than that, it was all good. Gave him a place to sleep when he needed one, and the coin when he needed it, too. He had met a few people there who he became rather good comrades with, and, he had to admit, he'd never thought that he would have found somewhere like Jorrvaskr to stay when he needed. Too bad he needed more coin than they could give, otherwise he would probably be staying there permanently.

Some of the jobs he found, however, were usually worth it. Sure, most were simple, such as killing a few animals that were making themselves as pests in people's houses, or hunting down a family heirloom someone decided to misplace on the side of the road. The worst one he had ever done was probably the one with the bandits. Apparently, a few of them had taken over a tower near Whiterun, and he was sent to kick them out. It wasn't the easiest job, but at least he got some new armor and things to sell from it, right?

“I’ll be able to put a few parts of in the small pack I have…But the rest I think I’ll be able to carry back into Riften. Some will be sold, obviously. A few bits might go to a few friends I have there. The rest I’ll take back to Whiterun with me for the family to have.”

"So ya live in Whiterun, then, I take it?" he asked as he began to skin more of the deer, getting back into a sitting position to make it easier on himself. Titan now watched the Argonian expectantly, as if he was going to get something from his owner as soon as he was done."If ya want, I could probably cut the meat up and put it in a bundle of the sorts. Make it easier for ya t' carry and whatnot."

He hadn't met many people who were from Whiterun, although he would have hated to carry a deer - some or all of it - from the rift to Whiterun. He always liked making sure to get most of his things either out of the way or eaten up, that way he didn't have to worry about weight. Made everything easier when you had a bottomless pit for a dog.[/size][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Felicia Greenwood]

“Ah the Companions. Good group of people from what I’ve heard from my brother.” Felicia nodded, chuckling ever so slightly. “You must have had some good adventures along the way with that lot. Especially with bandits.” Bandits always proved to be a bit of trouble with Felicia. Maybe it was because she was more suited to sneaking around and archery rather than close combat, which was more suitable for bandits. The Companions wouldn’t be her first choice though. If she hadn’t gone with the Thieves Guild, she probably would’ve gone solo. She wasn’t very good with magic, so the Mages Guild wouldn’t have suited her at all and the only sort of weapon she had any decent skill with was a bow and arrow, which people weren’t usually looking for anyway. That ruled out roughly half of the factions throughout Skyrim. Felicia didn’t agree with the terms that the Dark Brotherhood gave out so that would automatically give her a no. She didn’t care for politics so the Imperials and the Stormcloaks were out. She could’ve tried her hand with the Dawnguard, but really, Felicia felt her only place was with the Thieves Guild.

“Wait a minute. Back up a little here. You took a whole bandit camp on by yourself and came out alive?” Felicia shook her head in disbelief. “You’ve got to be joking.” Del seemed like he could hold himself against in a fight against one or two people, she wasn’t bothered by that at all. What bothered her was the fact that the whole thing seemed a little far fetched to Felicia. Maybe with several other people, sure, but on his own and with the dog, it seemed totally outrageous. There was no way he’d be able to get through the camp in one piece without getting some sort of injury. Or was it? She had a hard time believing it would be the whole camp. Maybe he was saying one or two bandits and not the whole camp? Felicia had no clue and maybe she was being too quick to judge, but still the whole concept of it seemed ridiculous. “That’s very impressive if you did, but I’ll still find it a little hard to believe.” It was one of those ‘you had to be there’ moments for her to be able to fully believe it. She’d either have had to have seen it or heard the words from the person who gave him the job to do.

Felicia nodded. “Yeah I do. It’s a nice place, albeit the lack of trees.” The one thing she missed most was the lack of trees. Whiterun wasn’t full of them and she’d have to move to somewhere in the Falkreath Hold or maybe the Rift to be able to be near most of them. It was something she had to give up when they moved to Whiterun though. She wasn’t sure how long her parents would get by without the coin she brought in. Sure they brought in coin of their own from the random jobs they did as well as the hunts they did, but it wasn’t enough to get by on their own as well as three other children to feed. Felicia would have to make sure they had enough coin of their own before moving to somewhere else. Even then she’d have to save up quite a bit herself to be able to make do on her own. Granted she could hunt for food, but there was a limit to how much you could catch before it got repetitive and boring. She couldn’t very well live on meat alone; she’d need other sustenance to live on.

Catching the last of the Argonian’s words, Felicia shook her head. “I’m pretty sure I can cut this up on my own thank you. That’s one just I definitely know how to do.” She pretty much knew how she was going to cut up the deer now and carrying it back into Riften shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Plus, by the time she’d sold at least half of the meat and given a few bits to the Thieves Guild her load would be lighter anyway. She wouldn’t have much trouble carrying it back to Whiterun on her own. The only problem she faced would be wolves. “Thanks for the offer though.”

[Del-Rah]

“Ah the Companions. Good group of people from what I’ve heard from my brother. You must have had some good adventures along the way with that lot. Especially with bandits.”

"Ah, well, it ain't always easy," the Argonian admitted. "They usually push you to be your best, and that's always good, but sometimes you come back from a mission so worn out, you wonder if you'll wake up the next mornin'."

He sometimes wondered why he even stayed with the Companions when the missions cold be hard. But then again, he was sure Skjor, Vilkas and the others wouldn't give you such a mission if they didn't think that you could handle it. He usually could, and rarely did he take one from someone else if he didn't think that he couldn't handle them, either. That, and he didn't want to seem like a weakling by taking on easy missions instead of the hard ones. And the pay was rarely ever good with the hard to do missions, either. He had considered joining one of the other 'guilds' in Skyrim when he first arrived, such as the Bard's College, although that didn't sound as fun as the Companions did, even though he was rather good in the line of speech and convincing other people of things. Not that he would use such a thing for wrong, of course. Well, sometimes.

“Wait a minute. Back up a little here. You took a whole bandit camp on by yourself and came out alive? You’ve got to be joking.”

"Well, not a whole camp, exactly," said the Argonian with a shrug. "There was a tower of the sorts on the side of the road, and they were, like, three or four of 'em that I had t' kill 'cause they were scammin' people outta their money. Had help from the big lug -" he gestured to Titan with one hand before he went back to skinning "- too, don't get me wrong." Again, Titan thumped his tail against the ground when he realized that he was being spoken about, however that went ignored by Del. "Not that I couldn't have taken 'em on, 'course, but ya know."

Skinning the deer was nearly complete, and, seeing as how he wasn't going to be able to skin the legs or the head, the Argonian stood and set aside his tool and the hide he had got from the deer before walking over to his tent. He came back with an ax of some sort. Kneeling down with the ax in hand, he examined the deer before switching the ax to his right hand, and grabbing the deer's head with the other. Raising the ax up, it took three or four swings before the head was rather easily and simply pulled away from the rest of the deer. The legs took less time than that, and each was set aside, near the fire. Well, minus one, of course. Feel generous, Del grabbed one of the legs, and Titan didn't even need an order to stand up, wagging his tail and waiting expectantly. The leg was thrown up, and the dog leap, jaws snapping against the end of the leg. Taking a moment to land and inspect the object, the dog then picked it up and drug it off, albeit a little awkwardly, to the side of the fire, and began happily munching on it.

"Stupid dog," the Argonian muttered, although the small smile on his face made it obvious that he was probably being sarcastic.

“Yeah I do. It’s a nice place, albeit the lack of trees.”

"Neh, I don't mind the trees so much," commented the Argonian as he looked over the deer and began getting the bits of fur still left on the meat. "Just don't like the lack of water myself. Might be 'cause Argonians are more water dwellers rather than land, and 'cause we can breath underwater. Think my dad's parents came from the Black Marsh, too, and there's a lot of water there, from what I heard."

Del commonly liked the water more than the trees and the land. He'd figured it was because his ancestors came from a place where water was plentiful and they soon adapted to the land by being able to breath underwater, a rather great skill if you wanted to avoid roads and wilderness because of the animals and bandits you found in it. He had been used to a lot of water being around him, too, due to Imperial City having it's own port and being sourounded by water and all. His father used to take him swimming a lot, and he had a lot of fun trying to beat him by seeing who could stay under water the longest without going up. His father had always won at first, because Del wasn't exactly able to use his water breathing ability correctly when he was young. Neither knew why, although his father assumed it was just some sort of odd disability he had. He was just fine breathing underwater now, so he really never thought about it much anymore.

“I’m pretty sure I can cut this up on my own thank you. That’s one just I definitely know how to do. Thanks for the offer though.”

"No problem," the Argonian shrugged as he tried to search for anymore odd pieces of fur on the meat. He would hated to carry such a thing anywhere too far, however, Licia seemed to be able to take care of herself, so why question her word for it?

[Felicia Greenwood]

Aimlessly scratching at her cheek, Felicia thought about the males words. “Hmm. I guess.” Was it really like that? She didn’t really hear much from her brother apart from a few mission details and a few bits and pieces about the Companions. So there was a chance that it was like that. In fact, it seemed to be the case in both of their factions really. The Thieves Guild didn’t like giving you something that would be deemed too easy for you to be able to do. It seemed like it was the case for most places anyway, but she could be wrong. “I guess it pays better if you do the things that push you rather than the things that don’t. That’s what I’ve found out anyway.” Though certain factions did seem to have it easier than others. She wouldn’t name any, but from her travels, it did make her wonder what some of them did exactly. She never really sat down and spent time trying to figure out what the aims of some of them were. Some were more obvious than others, but she had always wondered…Ah well. If there ever was a time to think about that sort of thing, it wasn’t now.

Felicia rolled her eyes. Okay, so maybe not a whole camp. That certainly made her less impressed than before, but it certainly was an accomplishment in itself. She nodded soon after Del was finished speaking through. “Hmm, maybe two, possibly three, though I think you would’ve had to have help from him in the end.” Felicia teased, letting a grin spread across her face as she spoke. She was fully aware that Del could probably hold his ground against that many bandits. For a guy like him, it wasn’t that hard to be able to do. Felicia preferred to stay in the shadows or somewhere a little way away to be able to kill them, not go into the actual place and fight that way. While she had some skill with a sword, she knew that she’d be over powered in an instant if someone much more skilled fought with her time. “But at least you got rid of them. That’s the main point.” The fewer bandits that were around, the better in her opinion since it meant people could stop being terrorised by them. They certainly could prove to be quite the problem if they wanted to be. Especially when they wanted to get the job done.

She couldn’t help but laugh at the two of them after watching the Argonian cut the legs off. Thankfully he hadn’t cut them too far up so that some of the meat was lost. In most cases, the legs were the best parts of the animal. The meat was rather nice around the legs since it was basically all muscle. “You two make such a great team.” Felicia stated, a joking tone edging around her voice. Her hand moved out and gripped the knife that lay by her side. One edge was smooth, while the other was slightly serrated and would definitely prove useful when cutting up the meat. Felicia’s eyes looked over the animal one last time, dividing the thing up with her eyes one last time as the male got to work getting the last few bits of fur left of the meat. She looked back up at the male as he finished speaking. “I guess what you prefer depends on what race you are. As you’ve said, Argonian’s prefer the water, while Bosmer’s most likely prefer tress. Though I can’t speak for all of them of course.” From what Felicia had seen, each race seemed to have their own ‘preferences’ in terms of terrain. One person of a certain race might be prefer the terrain of their homeland while another might prefer something totally different. Views differed, she understood that.

Absentmindedly, Felicia started stroking the hilt of the dagger, her fingers itching to start cutting up the meat. Once she had cut it into the appropriate segments, she could divide it up into what parts were going where. Two or three parts would be able to fit into her pack, though those would have to be the smallest bits. That combined with one other part should be able to feed her family for a while. She would strip a few parts off the meat to be able to eat on the way home. Those three or so parts would take away at least a third of the beast. The other two thirds would be split into segments and could be sold in Riften. If she wanted to make a few more septims, she would have to sell as much as possible. So really, only one piece, two at max would go to the Thieves Guild. Felicia would’ve shrugged at this if she was on her own, but she didn’t really want to share her thoughts about this. However, her reply from Del didn’t take long and she nodded, moving closer to the deer, knife hand.

Looking over what remained of the deer; Felicia scored lines across the body of it, marking out how large some of the pieces were going to be. The stumps of the legs turned out to be the shortest parts. Two of them would go home with her; the other two could be sold. There was also a small piece near the shoulder, which she would also take home. The other parts would be sold, as she thought of before. Starting out at the top, Felicia dug her knife into the body, flinching slightly as she felt the knife go through the flesh rather easily. It took several attempts to get the first few pieces off, but once she got the hang of it, she was able to get the rest of the deer cut up rather swiftly, using both sides of the knife to do the job. She stacked them into three piles, one for home, one for selling and the third for the Theives Guild. She’d calculated the amounts correctly, but she moved some of the pieces over to the Theives Guild. “There we go.” Felicia grunted, pulling her knife through the last bit of meat. Take her pack off her back, she placed the three pieces of meat into it and placed it down by her bow.

She then looked at the rest of the meat. If she piled it up correctly, she’d be able to carry it pretty much effortlessly back into the town. Felicia pressed her lips into a thin line as she carried out this task, being careful as to make sure she didn’t forget which pieces would go to what place.

[Del-Rah]

“I guess it pays better if you do the things that push you rather than the things that don’t. That’s what I’ve found out anyway.”

Del shrugged and nodded in agreement. Many missions that didn't ask for much usually never gave much in return, as he quickly figured out. Well, unless someone was looking for some sort of family heirloom or some kind of idiotic thing like that. They usually paid well for something like that. Other than that, though, there was rarely anything given to him whenever he went on a missions. The Argonian could even recall receiving farm items such as food, eggs, and chickens on the rare occasion due to what little coin some people had these days. Not that he complained, of course; most things could be sold for some coin, or, at the very least, made into something more edible. And, usually, that was just fine by Del.

“I guess what you prefer depends on what race you are. As you’ve said, Argonian’s prefer the water, while Bosmer’s most likely prefer tress. Though I can’t speak for all of them of course.”

Del could understand that as well. He hadn't come from his own homeland, the Black Marsh, nor did his father, and to go back would make him feel like an outsider. He probably wouldn't fit in too well, due to feeling like someone else rather than one of them. He had grown up in Cyrodiil for the better part of his life, and had only grown to know some of the customs that were centered around there. His father had taught him very little, if at all any, customs relating to the Black Marsh and it's people, primarily due to the fact that he had grown up in Skyrim most of his life, before going down to Cyrodiil to live. It was a wonder either of them counted themselves as Argonians in the first place. Sure, they both resembled them, however the closest thing that related them nationality wise was their sneak and speech abilities.

Sometimes he had to wonder why his father went to Cyrodiil in the first place. Sure, he'd come well before the war broke out and the dragons appeared, although he had never stated why exactly he wanted to leave his homeland for someplace that was just as against his race more than any other. Not that he hated anyone in Cyrodiil, nor did too many people outwardly judge him because of his race or appearance. But for people to talk about you behind your back, and knowing such a thing, well, Del never really took much of a liking to those kinds of people much.

"Looks good," Del snorted as he looked over the deer. It wasn't terrible, however he might have done a better job at it. Not that he was going to tell Licia, though. She seemed rather happy about her work; outwardly, at least. "'Least ya got everything done before you tried to drag it off to the nearest town," he stated. "Might have been tougher to skin and cut the longer it set."

[Felicia Greenwood]

Felicia nodded slowly. “I wouldn’t have tried dragging it back to Riften anyway. It’s much too heavy. Even if I hadn’t run into you, I probably would’ve stopped and skinned it as best I could.” She let another shrug roll of her shoulders at this. Even though Riften wasn’t all that far away, it would’ve been a foolish thing to do. She could’ve done her back in and the likelihood of someone helping her was slim. Which meant she’d had to have dragged it down to the Thieves Guild and get someone there to help her. Felicia hadn’t many friends in Riften since everyone was so sceptical of each other because of the Guild in the first place, she hadn’t even bothered trying. It would’ve taken a humongous amount of effort to succeed and in the end it might not have even been worth it. “It would’ve been easier to do it out here anyway. No-one can distract you very much and there’s less chance of someone trying to haggle their way into a deal is less likely.” From what she’d encountered, the second someone saw something that could get them a profit or a good deal, they pounced like a hungry dog. It was often very tiring to try and get someone to go away when you were busy when they were trying to persuade you to trade with them.

Once she finished stacking the meat, Felicia leaned back and examined the pile. It still didn’t seem right to her. She sighed, racking her brain for something to do with the meat. She needed to carry the pile into Riften somehow and the pile didn’t look fun to carry, despite it having shrunk in size. She scratched her chin, partially glaring at the pile of meat until a thought popped into her head. “I’ve got it! Give me a few minutes.” Felicia sprang up, looking from the meat to the Argonian and then back at the meat again. She sprinted off into the trees, her head spinning left and right as she tried to find the materials she was looking for. One thing she picked up in Valenwood, among all the trees, was to be able to make a makeshift basket out of the various materials of the trees. Of course, it only worked with certain leaves and twigs, most of which were commonly found in Valenwood. Skyrim however, proved to have little of the materials which she needed. Despite the lack of trees she needed, Felicia eventually ran to a halt among some trees with wide leaves, some of which had started falling already.

Crouching down, Felicia fingered some of the leaves. They were thick enough for what she wanted, but would they hold against the strain of the meat? There was only one way to find out. Scurrying around, she picked up as many of the leaves as possible, only taking the ones that looked like they were useable. Once she had found the best ones of the floor, Felicia moved among the few trees that there were and placed quite a few more onto the pile she already had in her arms. She rushed back in the direction she’d come from and placed the leaves down by the pile of meat. “Be right back.” Felicia panted as she ran back into the forest. It would take a while, she managed to find a number of sticks, both thin and thick and that were both flexible and strong enough to be woven into a basket. She knew it wouldn’t hold for long, but it didn’t matter, just as long as she got the meat back into the city in time. She ended up walking back to the camp and sat down by her pile of items, letting herself regain her breath before getting to work.

“If this all goes to plan, I should be able to make a basket out of this.” Okay, she wasn’t perfect at this, but had made a few good baskets in her time out of such items. The items weren’t perfect, but she’d have to make do. Felicia placed the sticks next to the leaves and hoped she’d got enough of each to be able to make a decent sized container. Sighing, she grabbed a hand full of the sticks and her knife. Cutting a hole in the middle of all the sticks, Felicia grabbed several others and poked them through the hole. That then left her with several of the thinner sticks she’d found, which would hopefully be flexible enough to do what she wanted. Felicia hadn’t exactly made a basket since they moved to Skyrim, so her skills were a little rusty. However, if her memory served her correctly, the next thing she had to do was twist the other sticks around the ones she was holding. She held her breath as she started weaving the sticks around the others. After a couple of uneasy seconds, the sticks seemed to hold and she let out a breath. She continued weaving in the sticks, until it made the bottom of the basket. She then managed to plait some of the thinner sticks together into a sort of rope like structure out of the baskets edges to act as a sort of wall. So the sticks she had found were flexible enough, but how much would they be able to withstand? She placed a couple pieces of meat in the middle of the large circle. They seemed to hold pretty well.

Gently placing the makeshift basket on the floor, Felicia looked up at Del and held the longer, plaited sticks upright to keep the meat in place. “Hold this open for me please.” This next bit would require a bit of team work. She would have to place the rest of the meat into the basket before tying it up at the top. The plaited sticks were frequent enough around the edge of the basket, that the meat wouldn’t be able to fit through the holes. It was a risky plan, but it was the only thing she could think of at the moment. Granted she could ask for Del’s help with the matter, but she was just a little too stubborn for that.

[Del-Rah]

“I wouldn’t have tried dragging it back to Riften anyway. It’s much too heavy. Even if I hadn’t run into you, I probably would’ve stopped and skinned it as best I could.”

Deer weren't something he very well liked to deal with very much when it came to trying to drag them around and taking them to different places. Sure, Sabrecats and Bears were much larger in size compared deer, however a full grown buck could even be a neusance when it came to lugging it around. He liked trying to get rid of it as quickly as possible, such as cutting up the venison and getting the skin together, and tossing anything he didn't need for the carnivores and scavengers to eat. They could probably make better do with it than he could, anyway. And it wasn't like Titan could eat that much by himself, either.

He wasn't much for hunting unless he needed to, either. He got most of his food from stores, and bought meals from inns where he stayed. The most he ever caught to eat - because of his sometimes monstrous appetite. Of course, there were times like now when he hunted his own prey to skin, cook, and eat, and he always made sure to use the most of it that he could. Anything else, Titan or some wild animals ate.

“It would’ve been easier to do it out here anyway. No-one can distract you very much and there’s less chance of someone trying to haggle their way into a deal is less likely.”

"Don't like gettin' conned much, myself," Del mused. "Usually do most of my bartering with Belethor over in Whiterun, and sometimes Lucan over in Riverwood if Belethor can't buy what I have."

Rarely ever was Del a hoarder. He only kept items that he needed, and rarely anything more. That was another way he made most of his coin; selling. If he had something that he did not want, then there was probably someone out there who did, even if he had to sell it to a shop keep first. The few he knew, he thought he knew rather well and thus wouldn't get conned by them. At least, he hoped; he had not yet had such a thing happen to him, and he was sure that at least Lucan knew what mind happen if he was scammed from earning any kind of pay from selling him any kind of goods. Plus, his father had been a merchant, so he was sure he would be able to catch on if he was being deceived or not.

He had really only ever learned enough to take care of himself, though. It wasn't like he disliked being a merchant. In fact, he was surprised that he hadn't became one himself due to the fact that he had been raised most of his life traveling around and learning the art of trading and earning a good amount of coin on even the strangest or least profitable item. Not that he would do such a thing to someone who was nice, of course, but his father still taught him how to haggle, and he did a rather damn good job at it sometimes, too.

“I’ve got it! Give me a few minutes.”

Del jumped at the sound of her voice, not realizing that he had drifted off into his own thoughts. The Argonian blinked as she dashed off into the nearby woods. Del seemed speechless, his head cocked to the side as he stared confusingly after her. He then finally looked back to Titan, who had his own head tilted in confusion as he, too, looked after the girl. When he realized Del was staring at him, he glanced back, giving a whine before going back to where the girl had disappeared. Well. That was.... strange. He hadn't really had too many people run off suddenly like that before, but then again, he was sure that she had a good explanation for doing such a thing. Hopefully.

As quickly as she had left, the Wood Elf returned, except with a pile of leaves in her arms. Setting them down next to the meat, she barely seemed to be able to get out, “Be right back," before rushing off into the woods again, leaving Del in an even more confused state. He was sure that she was going crazy or something with the way she was acting, but then again, who was he to judge? When Licia returned for a second time, she bore sticks of various sizes and such.

“If this all goes to plan, I should be able to make a basket out of this.”

"Ooohh," Del said, rather intrigued as she got to work.

Del hadn't been the one to try and make hand made things for himself - besides armors and weapons, of course - so learning that Licia was going to try and make a basket was rather interesting. He and his father commonly bought their own things rather than making them by hand, aside from the occasional fencing and wagon wheel, and that was just fine by him. Made jobs for other people, right? That, and he wasn't sure that he would be able to make things by himself, let alone at all, and was just fine with other people doing it instead.

“Hold this open for me please.”

"Um, alright," the lizard muttered as he got a hold of the end he was told to grab, gently holding it open as if afraid he was going to break something. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen. But then again, his luck was never any good.

[Felicia Greenwood]

Letting out a small laugh at the lizards uncertainty, Felicia started putting the rest of the meat inside of the makeshift basket. She managed to get most of inside the basket she’d just created, leaving one piece out in the open. She looked at it for a few seconds, trying to make up her mind as to what to do with it. There wasn’t any more room in the basket for it to go and she didn’t really want to carry it in with her free hand. She gently took the ends from Del, smiling at him. “Thank you.” Felicia then grabbed the last bendy stick that was on the ground next to her. She had deliberately put this one aside because it was not only the longest, but the most flexible to work with. She pushed the sticks together so that they met at the top and had some room to be tied together. It took her a few seconds, but Felicia managed to rope the stick around the others, tying it off as tightly as she could without it breaking on her. She double knotted it for good luck. Now came the next part. Placing the leaves around the edge of the basket just in case. It also stopped the meat from rubbing against the plaited edges of the sticks.

This part took a little more focus than making the basket itself. It also required her to be a bit more skilful as to where she was putting her hands. Felicia didn’t want to rip the leaves that she’d got in fear she’d have to go back and get more. She wasn’t sure where the place was in the first place, so trying to find it again might be a bit difficult. She started near the bottom and worked her way up, gently threading the leaves through the gaps in the sticks. They were just big enough to cover the gaps, though she had to discard a few because they weren’t big enough. Eventually, Felicia finished putting the leaves it. Granted it wasn’t as good as she would’ve liked it, but it was only to transport the meat into the Riften, she didn’t expect it to be used for anything apart from that. She looked over at the lone piece of meat and her stomach rumbled. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until that point.

Felicia placed the basket by her possessions and scooted forwards a little, picking up the piece of meat. She then looked over at Del. It wouldn’t hurt to eat it now would it? “Any chance I could use your fire to be able to cook this?” It was one of the smaller pieces, so it wouldn’t take all that long. She’d have to get a few things to be able to cook it, but there was a chance that Del could help with this aspect of it. But there would be things that she’d have to do herself. There was a certain way she liked her meat cooked, primarily from the way she’d been brought up in Valenwood. Felicia knew how to do it, but having Del interfere with it might cause the meat to taste less like home that she knew. She didn’t necessarily dislike the taste of meat on its own, but there were times when having something else on it would improve it dramatically. Of course, she didn’t have any salt with her, so she’d have to deal without it. Felicia would have to have a little walk around before she’d find something to put on it. If not, then she’d go without for one day.

[Del-Rah]

Well, that had gone easier than he expected. Not like he had actually made a basket before; like stated, he and his father usually bought such things from the market and whatnot instead of making it themselves. He would assume - or rather be sure about it - that both would fail at even attempting to make a basket on their own. Del hadn't had much of a mother's influence growing up, either, and he was sure that he was quite lucky in having a father who was able to teach him such trades such as how to cook for himself. Not that he was saying that it was too hard to do such a thing for himself, but in most households - at least as far as Del was concerned - it was usually the mother and wife who cooked and cleaned and took care of the kids and whatnot, and the father who did the hard labor and brought home the coin. Not in all cases, of course, but from what he had seen around Skyrim and Cyrodiil, it was.

“Any chance I could use your fire to be able to cook this?”

"Oh, yeah, sure! No problem!" Del replied happily. Speaking of cooking....

Grunting, the Argonian got to his feet and trotted around to his tent, Titan watching him rather closely. Bending over and reaching in, he pulled out a plate, and thus marched over to the forgotten slab of meat currently searing over the fire. Outside, it was burnt, but, being a fairly decent sized piece, that was just the outside being burnt. The inside was probably rather well cooked, as a matter of fact. Taking the stick that had been used to keep it over the fire out of the ground - and burning it a little in the fire in the process - Del set the meat on the plate, and, after a couple tries and probably minorly burning his hand, he managed to get the meat off the stick and onto the plate.

Well, it wasn't all that bad, at least. Didn't seem too burnt, and it was rarely the one to complain about burnt food. Unless it tasted disgusting or something, of course. He couldn't say that he was the best cook in the world, either. Sure, his father had taught him a couple things, however both simply lived on what was there, and Del rarely ever complained when there was food. Food was food, of course, and people were probably living off of worse than just simply cooked meat. Therefore, he tried not to complain much about it. Especially when he was cooking, of course.

"Hey, ya want some a' this while yours cooks?" the Argonian asked as stuck the stick in the ground behind him and tried to peel apart some the venison he had.

[Felicia Greenwood]

Felicia let a small smile appear on her face as the Argonian agreed before walking to the already burning fire. In fact, she’d forgotten about the smell. She’d been so busy working on the deer, talking to Del and making the basket that the smell of roasting meat had just moulded into the background. Her eyes stayed trained on Del as he put the roasted meat on a plate after successfully attempting to put it off the stick. There were going to be burns on that later. Nothing a little time wouldn’t fix, but still, Felicia had the urge to heal it for him. Her restoration magic wasn’t all that strong, but it was strong enough to be able to heal something like that. “Are you going to be alright with those burns? I mean, I know they’re not much, but they could still cause some pain.” Felicia chewed on the inside of her cheek. Even if they had only just met, she still had the urge to try and help. “I could try and heal it for you if you want.” Her cheeks got a very subtle pink hue to them. Despite how distant she could see from people, that urge would always be there no matter what. She would try to help if anyone was in pain, but there was a limit to what she could do. Well, when she meant anyone, anyone who didn’t get on her nerves. And there was a line to that as well. If they were majorly injured, sure she would try to help, no matter what their relationship was like. But if it was just a minor cut or something, she wouldn’t bother.

The smell of the cooked meat drifted towards her as Felicia started to drift off. Her stomach started to complain even more and she clamped her arms around her stomach, her cheeks going a little bit redder as the noise echoed. She couldn’t really say no when she was obviously so hungry. “Yes, if you don’t mind.” Her voice was rather timid at this point and Felicia flushed even more. It was then that she straightened herself out, digging deep within herself to find her normal confidence. “Just hold on a second, I need to see if I can find a few things.” True to her thought earlier, Felicia got up and padded her way around the clearing, looking for anything that could be of use. She couldn’t find anything that could be deemed worthy or wouldn’t poison her. Her alchemy wasn’t all that great, so she wasn’t sure of all the side effects of certain plants. It didn’t take her very long to find something. She wasn’t that far off the main road anyway, so the chances of finding Lavender were quite high. While she wouldn’t usually use lavender on venison, she’d tried it a few times. It not only added a nice aroma, it brought out a few of the flavours as well as adding one of its own. It added a sweet taste, it anything.

Felicia jogged back to the camp where Del was with a few stalks of Lavender and a stick. “Adds a bit of taste to it.” She muttered, just loud enough for the Argonian to hear. She knelt down by her piece of meat. Rubbing a piece lavender between her fingers, Felicia then rubbed it over one side of the meat. She then tied the other couple of pieces around it, hopefully allowing it to seep into the meat while it cooked. She would remove it near the end of the cooking process. Picking up the stick, she pushed the sharper end through to meat and watched it push through the other end and further along the stick till it reached the middle. She let out a small laugh. “Now this would be a rather intriguing weapon. Venison on a stick.” She let the bubble of laughter rise again out of her mouth before sobering up. “I’ll put it on the fire.” Felicia stood up, walking over to the fire and placed the long stick on the hooks that supported it. Now all that was left to do was wait for it to cook. She looked back at Del who was currently peeling the Venison.

“Want any help?”

[Del-Rah]

“Are you going to be alright with those burns? I mean, I know they’re not much, but they could still cause some pain. I could try and heal it for you if you want.”

Del hadn't even really noticed that he had gotten burned much by the meat until the Wood Elf pointed it out. Inspecting his hands, he couldn't help but figure that it wouldn't take them long to heal. And he didn't have to worry much about disease, either; Argonians had a rather high resistance to disease compared to most other races in Tamriel, so it wasn't like he had to worry about that much, either. He wouldn't have to worry about them much, so long as he didn't do much heavy lifting and whatnot while they healed. Probably find some bandages, too, just so he could be a little bit more careful with them. Wouldn't want to injured them more.

But then again, it wouldn't be helpful to have burnt hands while going on missions. He often had to fight creatures and people trying to kill him, and he was sure that wielding and swinging a sword would only injure them further. Sure, he could take a few days off of fighting, but that would probably mean no pay, and he wasn't sure he would be able to take off that long if it meant no pay. He had three mouths to feed, after all, and he wasn't sure he could hunt with them, either. That could probably make them worse, actually, and he didn't want that.

"Um..... Sure, I guess," the Argonian hummed as he looked over his hands one last time, before dropping them to his side to look over the chunk of meat again. Already, Titan was happily bounding around his owner, as id expecting more food than he already had. "Oh, shoo!" Del ordered, as he swung a hand at the canine, motioning for him to get away.

Titan stopped in his antics, lowering his head and tail sadly and whining, before turning and dragging his body rather sadly to the tent, and thus plopping himself in front of it. Del merely snorted at the dog; he could be overly dramatic sometimes, it seemed. He wondered how much animals actually knew and could do, sometimes, but then again, they were only animals, right?

“Yes, if you don’t mind.”

That, having followed a rather large growl from Licia's stomach, made Del raise an eyebrow and look at her with a quizzical expression. After a moment, the Argonian snorted and laughed a little. Well, she was hungry, it seemed. Del went to his tent and rummaged for another plate, just as Licia decided to get up and start searching in the nearby forest life again after excusing herself. Due to what she had found earlier, Del decided to try not to question her or ask her what she was looking for. It was probably something useful, as was the basket she had made. Del found her jogging back to camp just as he returned with the plate and attempted to try and divide it equally for the two of them. He also happened to notice her holding something; a plant?

“Adds a bit of taste to it.”

Ah, well, that made sense. Del wasn't a fan of seasoning, due to he was used to just eating things plain, though, since she was putting on her own venison, it seemed, he really couldn't complain. Instead, he managed to just about split the chunk of cooked venison almost equally. There was still some burnt places on it, and thus, while the Wood Elf attended to the other piece of venison, he tried to peel some of the burnt pieces off without taking chunks off of it. He was doing rather good at the moment, although he had rarely ever burnt meat before, much less the outer layer of it, so it was proving rather difficult.

“Now this would be a rather intriguing weapon. Venison on a stick.”

Del looked up to see that the woman had already put the chunk of venison on the stick, and snorted at her humor. "Oh, no, please, don't hurt me!" he laughed as he put his hands up in mock defense. Well, at least she had a sense of humor. He chuckled lightly as he went back to trying to peel the venison and she went to put the meat on the fire.

"Want any help?"

Del pondered for a moment, looking over the cooked venison, before carefully grabbing the piece he had left for Licia and gestured it to her. "Yeah, actually, you could try to peel yours if you want," he offered. "Don't think I could do both without them getting cold, really. They both cooled down a bit, already, really, so it should be fine to touch."

[Felicia Greenwood]

Felicia hesitated for a few seconds. It could probably wait until they’d both finished eating. That way, she wouldn’t have to fumble her way over there and drain her energy. Anyway, it would be a good idea to get a bit of food in her before trying to do any magic. It always seemed to drain half her energy away when she did it, so food would help strengthen her. “I’ll do it after we’ve finished eating. They don’t look too painful to stop you doing anything for a few more minutes.” She bit on her lip for a brief second or two before relaxing slightly. Del seemed a little hesitant about it anyway and Felicia would rather have him relax than tense. If he was tense about it, then she would and there would be a slight chance that she could mess it up and do something she wasn’t supposed too. She’d heard rumours about how magic could go wrong sometimes if the caster wasn’t completely concentrated on what they were doing.

Though she relaxed even more when she heard the male Argonian laugh. Well at least Felicia knew he could laugh and that someone in this forsaken land could laugh at something. She let out a burst of laughter at his mock defence and after putting it over the fire, trailed over and sat down by Del. “I wonder if that would be a good distraction. Throwing a chunk of venison at them and running off.” She snickered at the idea. “Probably wouldn’t work very well.” Felicia let a smile sit on her face instead of the normal calm expression she wore. In truth, she knew that it had a very slim chance of working if she was ever attacked by bandits or anything. It might buy her a few seconds, but even that was highly unlikely. It was a nice thought though, she had to admit and it got a laugh out of Del, which seemed hard to do under these sort of circumstances. She looked over at the dog, who was now huddled underneath the tent and made a face. “Are you always this hard on him?” She felt a pang of sympathy for the mutt, but her common sense kicked in. It was probably for the best. Even the most sensible of animals needed a bit of discipline every once in a while to put them in their place.

Felicia smiled at him and took the piece of meat that Del gestured at as well as the second plate that he’d gotten out. “Thanks. I’ll heal your hands after we’ve eaten.” Saying that again wasn’t really a reminder for Del, but more for herself. If she forgot, it would eat away at the back of her mind until she met the male again and apologized for forgetting. The meat was still a bit hot when she picked it up and she jolted a little before realizing it wasn’t all that hot to begin with. True to what Del had said, the meat wasn’t all that hot to begin with. So, Felicia got peeling. It took a while since she little to no nail on her fingers since she kept them short to keep the dirt out, but once she got going, it was relatively simple and got quicker once she got into peeling it. She hummed a simple tune as she peeled as to fill the silence between the two, placing the skin in a pile next to her. Once she’d gotten the last few bits of skin off the meat, Felicia glanced over at her cooking piece of meat. It looked like it needed turning. Placing the plate of meat on the ground next to her, she stood up and walked over to the fire. She turned around to the next side, the side that was cooking already getting a nice brown skin on it. She sniffed at the aroma that was coming off it and smiled. The lavender was proving to be a nice addition.

Sitting back down again, Felicia placed the plate on her lap and started stripping off the meat. She got a few strips off before she started eating it. She chewed the first part for a few seconds before swallowing and grinning. “Good meat. You’ve cooked it for just the right amount of time.” While she liked it a little less burnt, it had been cooked rather well.