The Elsweyrian Predator

[Star Gazer]

Chapter 0: Prologue​

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David walked down the roads of Falkreath, carrying a slain deer on his back. He was to trade his deer to the general store for some coin, as he always did on a Morndas morning. He walked into the store, greeted by the same welcome the employees had recited religiously since the trader was opened, years ago. David placed the deer on the table. As always, it was weighed and he was payed for however much it was worth. He collected the few septims of gold, stuffing them into his satchel. Along with the coins, moon-sugar also jumped around in the satchel as he walked. The unrefined skooma stung the nose at the smell and burned the eyes if brought too close. David hated the stuff, but it was his only means of payment other than any animal he brings in to the general-store. His house was a quarter-mile from Falkreath, but the walk did not tire him. The walk usually heightened his senses when he was hunting.​

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David had hunted three out of seven days of the week for many years. He was a master hunter, tracker, farmer, and trapper. At his house he grew three plants. The first was the means of his skooma business, which was the same moon-sugar he carried in his pocket. The second was a poisonous plant from Stros-Mkai, called jarrin-root. This was his means of defense, and hunting if he was ever so lucky to have an excess of the poisonous plant. The third was his prized possession. Even if the plant had no use, it still meant much to David. It was a plant that consumed bugs. It was a rare plant from the sandy lands of Elsweyr. Although he was a nord, he had an affinity for foreign plants.​

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David walked through his door, looking to his carnivorous plant and nodding, as if to say hello. He knew the plant could not hear, see, or taste, but it was the only family David had, other than his dog. It was husky, native to Skyrim's snowy mountains. His name was Hubert, and he loved David. It bared some resemblance to a wolf, even though he was almost harmless. Every-day, David would share some of his dinner with Hubert, and the dog would be ever-greatful to his generous master. David sat at his alchemist's table, watching as the plant consumed a bug who had gotten too close. The plant's jaws closed around the small insect. David could hear buzzing from inside, but knew the small thing had no chance against the green beast. The acidic juices from inside of the plant eventually took care of the annoying pest. After the buzzing had stopped, the plant released it's jaws, inviting it's next meal into the tempting jaws of defeat.​

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David applauded at the successful kill, standing from his table and walking to his other plants. The jarring-root seemed to be growing well, and his moon-sugar seemed to be multiplying every day. A sickening feeling of dread arose from the pit of David's stomach as he remembered a frightening conversation with a group of khajiit men. He was to have a dozen pounds of moon-sugar by Tirdas, which was the next day. He cursed himself for going on a hunt instead of paying attention to the contraband herb. By the looks of things, it seemed he had about four pounds of the stuff, eight pounds less than what was expected. The khajiit merchants were very well feared for their reputation for killing venders after deals, but if David couldn't come up with the other six pounds, someone would have to die. He gave his dinner to Hubert. He couldn't eat because of the fear that filled his belly. He fell onto his bed, feeling helpless as the plant grew very slowly. Thoughts of death and torture filled his minds and tormented him in his dreams, he knew the elsweyrian men would surely hunt him down the next day if the plant did not finish it's growing cycle.​

 

[Star Gazer]

Chapter 1: The Trade​

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David awoke in a cold sweat. His dreams of being stabbed by a furry murderer kept him from the blissful state of sleep. He stood and ran to his small garden. So far, the plants hadn't moved an inch. It was already too late to run. There would be no way for him to escape with all of his belongings. He thrusted his fist into a nearby wall. The pain took away the fear for a moment, but couldn't replace the feeling for long. He took the four pounds of moon-sugar and peeked out the door. The morning sun cast down bright rays on the morning dew, making the ground wet and soggy. He closed the door for a moment, and pushed it open moments later. He walked outside, seeing a few fuzzy men in the distance. They walked forward, every step instilling fear into David. If only he lived in the forest, where multiple hiding spots and many areas to attack from aided him in his cause. The plains surrounding his house were open. He thought this was a good thing at first, so he could see if he was being attacked, but now that he thought about it, he knew he would be seen and chased if he ran away. He figured he wouldn't run away and leave Hubert alone with the khajiits.​

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Three of the elsweyrian men came to David, the rest stayed back and watched. The ones in the back drew their swords, but the men in front stayed calm. "Where is the khajiit's moon-sugar? Surely you wouldn't have... forgotten." He said in the thickest elsweyrian he had ever heard. David tried to speak, but no noise came out. At first he felt embarrassed, but cleared his throat and spoke. "Don't have it." He said, pointing his nose to the ground. "Then all this time we spent on traveling was a waste? I do not like to waste time." He said, drawing his sword. The men in back took a few steps forward, but stopped when they saw the khajiit speak again. "Do we need to do this the easy way or the hard way? You are going to have to pay khajiits back somehow, be it your life or your money." "Got no money." He replied. The head khajiit drew his sword as the entire group of khajiits approached. It seemed there were eight of them, but everything happened so fast, David couldn't count. David drew his blade. He would have never thought he would die like this.​

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The cats approached slowly. One swung his sword, but David's agility from climbing many trees allowed him to evade the swing and bring his sword up and through the man's arm. He fell to the floor, gripping the new stub of his arm. Everything from the elbow and below fell the the grass, turning the dew to blood, and turning the khajiit's calmness into rage. They all charged, but David ran through his door, slamming it with a slam. The men stopped at the door, filled with rage. "Let him run. We'll be back tomorrow. We have to fix Do'Mar's arm." He said, fully aware that it was never going to be "fixed". They made their way across the plain, setting up their camp at the far side, away from David's home.​

 

[Star Gazer]

Chapter 2: A Good Night's Rest​

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David could not sleep that night. He sat with Hubert, stroking his hand down his furry back, gently as if not to hurt him. He felt like he couldn't eat, but did anyway. He knew he needed the extra energy if he were to survive the siege on his house. "Well, Hubert. It seems the kings of the castle are also the first line of defense." The dog only looked up at him with a confused glare. He stood, and went to his bedside where he kept his hunting equipment. He placed his dagger on the ground next to everything. At his disposal were bear-traps, arrows, his bow, much rope, many small knives, and his sword, kept only for self-defense. He had no sheathe, so he stuck the sword into his belt.​

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David sat at his table, sitting excitedly as a fly came close to his plant. The fly obviously wanted the sweet nectar that was stored inside of the miniature monster. It flew inside, sipping joyfully, only to realize that it was trapped inside the great jaws of the plant. Every move it made only plunged it deeper into the sweet honey, feeding the plant as it died. David gave a grin, standing from his seat and tying the bear-traps around his back. He snuck out the back entrance of his house. He placed a trap in the tall grass just outside of the doorway, priming it and leaving it to clamp down on a victim's leg. He set another in front of his house, but ran back inside with fright of being spotted. He laid down on his bed, inviting Hubert on with him, but the dog turned and headed for it's bale of hay in another room.​

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David could eat and exercise, but without sleep, he had no chance. He finally shut his eyes, but a light peered through the boards that formed his house's walls. He stood, gathering his weapons and tossing Hubert a bone from a goat he had slain long ago. He pulled out his bow and waited, aiming out the balcony window above his door. The khajiits came out of their camp half an hour later, jogging at a fast pace towards the building. They stopped at the sight of David and his bow. "Stop, or I'll shoot your eyes out." "Put that down before you hurt yourself, did you happen to come up with eight pounds of moon-sugar and an extra arm?" He asked, looking to his one-armed friend. "Leave this place. I don't see why you need to die." "It's not this khajiit who will be dying!" Called one, charging. He stepped down onto the bear-trap, making a sickening snap of a bone, and a spine-tingling scream. David grinned at the success of his hunting equipment. ​

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David dipped his arrow into a solution of jarring-root and water, forming a very toxic liquid that will burn on contact and kill if it makes a cut. He pulled back the bowstring, waiting for one of them to move. The poor man who had been caught in the bear-trap had been freed as another khajiit came over to help him. He plied apart the jaws, letting it snap closed after the cat's leg was out. David released an arrow, searing through the air and connecting with the chest of a man in-front of the group. He fell instantly, the poison eating away at the fur, skin, and bone on his chest, leaving a horrifying corpse. Everyone in the party looked uneasy and fearful at the sight of their dead partner. "One down, six and a half more to go!" David joked, pointing to the man without an arm and the man who had recently broken his leg.​

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The group had no way of hitting him on the balcony if they didn't have bows. David aimed another arrow at the men. They were backing up slowly, but one ran in. David released the arrow. It flew and struck the man in the right shoulder, staggering him, but not incapacitating him. He jumped, clawing at the wooden walls of the house, climbing up to the balcony. He hoisted himself up and drew his sword. David drew his, swinging first but having it parried off the other. The khajiit brought his sword down, slicing David's leg. He fell to one knee, but stood and crashed into him, knocking him off the high platform. He fell many feet, finally connecting with the wet ground. His neck was twisted in different ways, next to the mutilated body of the one who was poisoned.​

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He gripped his knee in pain. The khajiits had all retreated, going back to their camp to come up with a solution to the man or find an end to his bag of tricks. David walked downstairs and into the kitchen. He grabbed some wrapping paper and wrapped it around his wound many times, stopping the bleeding and attempting to prevent infection. He ate dinner, feeding Hubert who seemed to know David was hurt. He snuggled up against his hurt leg, which caused pain, but he didn't care. "Hubert, thank-you for being there for me even when things get bad." He said, petting him. He limped outside, resetting the trap and setting it somewhere else in hopes of catching another one of the khajiit.​