Night was almost upon Cyrodiil; the sky had dimmed, leaving only a golden outline on the horizon.
A man was walking in the middle of the road, surrounded on both sides by sparse forest.
He was tall, with blonde hair, dressed in rags and carrying a waterskin.
He walked with his back straight, and his gaze focused forward, on the forest edge, watching carefully for any danger.
Septimus had been walking for several hours; how many exactly he wasn’t sure, but what he was told at the farm proved to be true: he barely left the fields and entered the forest path when he noticed the sun setting.
‘My feet are killing me.’ Septimus cracked his stiff toes.
‘Although I have to say this body is in excellent shape as far as stamina goes, I’ve been walking for hours, and I’m barely tired; even the injury on my head stopped hurting a while back.’
Ever since he left the farm, Septimus tried his hardest to recall and remember as many details from this time playing Skyrim as possible.
‘Even tough its been a while, I remember most of the story for the important questlines.
I also remember quite a few key events and NPCs, although as far as locations and other miscellaneous quests go, I can’t remember much.’ Septimus mused.
‘I’ve never been much of a completionist; I just hope I haven’t forgotten anything too important.
Man, I feel like I should’ve read all those books full of lore.
If I knew this was going to happen, I would’ve learned them by heart!’
While Septimus was lost in thought, the wind picked up; it was a pleasant, cool breeze, it pushed away the lingering daytime heat.
‘It’s almost dark now; should I look for a tree to climb up on and rest, or should I keep moving forward?
I’m not tired, and this body, or I guess now I’m young, so a sleepless night should be fine.’
He continued walking while keeping an eye out for shelter just in case, with little luck.
It was not long until the sun fully dipped behind the horizon.
‘It’s not too bad; it’s dark, but I can see quite far, even if only shadowy silhouettes.
Back home, if I tried to walk a mountain path in the dark id barely be able to see a few steps in front without a flashlight.’
Septimus looked up at the sky, feeling wowed by how bright the night sky was, a mix of colours and stars; he had never seen anything like it.
It was much more impressive to look at in person than on the screen, and he couldn’t help but appreciate how cool it looked.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t walk in the middle of the road; it feels very exposed.
If anyone was around keeping watch on the path id be spotted right away’
Finishing his thought, Septimus took a sharp turn left, walking through the bushes and into the first layer of trees, then kept following the road deeper into the forest.
He walked for a while, his eyes getting more and more used to the darkness; it felt very tranquil.
All Septimus could hear was the sound of insects and his own soft footsteps.
Alas, the calm didn’t last; suddenly he spotted a slight flicker out of the corner of his eye, almost like a firefly.
Septimus instantly tensed up and stopped moving; his head turned towards the direction he saw the light from.
Squinting his eyes, it wasn’t clear, but now and then orange light would slip from between the trees.
‘There’s a fire!
It has to be a torch or a campfire of sorts over that way; that means people, which means trouble, or opportunity’
Septimus slowly crouched, facing the direction of the fire.
‘I’ll be careful and just check it out.
At the first sign of danger I’ll turn around, I’m in no state to fight anyone, but maybe if I’m lucky I’ll be able to sneak up and steal some stuff!’
He slowly started making his way, keeping low to the ground.
Septimus checked twice before every step, scared of doing the cliché thing of stepping on a branch and alerting whoever was there.
As he got closer, he could see more and more light.
Eventually, he stopped and crouched behind a tree.
Peeking his head out, he spotted the source of the light; it was indeed a campfire, although a strange one.
It seemed to have been made in a hole in the ground covered on three sides and with a ceiling on top to boot.
‘That’s a smart way of making a fire; it blocks light from three directions, making it much harder to spot.’
Next to the fire pit there was a tent of sorts, an animal skin supported by a couple of sticks and a sleeping bag underneath with a man sleeping on it, his back to the fire.
‘Damn!
There’s someone there; it seems to be only one guy.’
Septimus then very carefully looked around to make sure the sleeping man was actually alone; he stood still for several minutes, seeing no movement.
‘This might be an extremely good opportunity, if there’s only one man here I can sneak up and ambush him in his sleep, knock him out and steal everything!
Clothes, gear, septims and maybe even a weapon’
Septimus felt his heart rate increasing, his mouth going dry.
‘I have to do it.
I’m sorry for whoever that is, but I own nothing.
If I’m left to my own devices, I’ll probably end up dead somewhere; this might be the best opportunity for me to get used to this world.
The question is, should I kill him?’
He slowly leaned the waterskin against the tree and took his sandals off, trying to be as stealthy as possible.
Looking around, he spotted a dry tree branch lying on the ground, which he picked up.
‘Ok, you got this.
Don’t go for the kill, but be prepared to do it if it’s needed.
If he doesn’t wake up, whack him over the head a couple times; he will almost a hundred percent end up out cold.
If he wakes up, it depends on how close I am to him; if he’s in rushing distance, we rush!’
With his heart beating in his throat, Septimus slowly skulked his way to the sleeping man.
He angled his approach in such a way that the man’s head was the closest part to him, and he also wouldn’t walk in the way of the fire to avoid casting a shadow.
As Septimus got closer and closer, he noticed something.
‘Isn’t this that bastard Garis!?
Actually, it does make some sense.
He said he was a hunter; I guess this is his camp in the area.
I understand the fire pit now; it did seem a bit much for an improvised camp.’
Finally reaching the sleeping man, now identified as Garis, Septimus licked his lips and lifted the branch, aiming at his head.
His heart felt like it would beat out of his chest.
‘This is for spitting at me, you little shit!!’
*WOOSH*
*THUNK*
As the branch made contact with his head, Garis let out a pained groan and went fully limp
Septimus was breathing hard now.
“Spit at me again, see what happens…”
Debating whether to hit him again, he used his bare foot to roll him over.
Garis’ hands were clenched, but they seemed empty.
While keeping one eye on him, Septimus rose and looked around; he couldn’t see or hear anything other than the sounds of the forest.
The fire was also going out, decreasing the amount of light and making the surrounding shadows elongate.
Now certain that they were alone, Septimus knelt and started stripping Garis.
He started with the boots, pulling them off, then the vest, followed by the tunic he was wearing; lastly, he pulled his pants off, leaving the man in his underwear,
‘At least you have underwear, you bastard, fuck, you stink.’ Spotting a rack with some rope on it, probably for stringing up small animals, he used it to tie Gariss’ hands to the pole holding his tent.
‘I’m not going to kill you.
When you wake up, you should be able to break out of the rope.
I just hope I’m nowhere near when that happens.’
Looking around the camp, Septimus was ecstatic; his hands were trembling.
He first checked the bags inside the makeshift tent; the first one was filled with scraps of cloth and miraculously, some spare underwear, a clean one to boot.
‘Yesss, finally out of the potato sack!’ Septimus very quickly changed clothes; they were small and somewhat tight, the smell wasn’t pleasant either, but it would do for now; the boots did fit very well at least.
The next bag was also important; it had food inside, supplies.
Septimus didn’t bother checking exactly what was inside; he just took note of it and kept searching.
He kept checking the bags; they didn’t have anything important in them.
One seemed to have carved wooden figurines of animals, useless; the other was filled with cotton, Garis probably used it as a pillow or something.
Spotting the second most important item after underwear, Septimus saw a quiver resting on the dark side of the tent, with the bow Garis was carrying earlier next to it; he quickly put the quiver on his back, pulled out an arrow, and held it in his grip together with the bow.
‘You don’t have much, do you, Garis, some clothes and a bow.
Wait, where’s the money?
He should have some septims; he probably hid them somewhere!’
Following his instinct, the first place he checked was under the bed, or the bedroll in this case, pushing the unconscious Garis fully off it.
Septimus rolled the bed and used the small string attached to it to secure it.
Then he knelt on the ground and, with his empty right hand, started patting it, searching for anything buried.
He went back and forth a couple of times, almost giving up when the fingers digging through the dirt caught something.
It was a string, one attached to a money pouch.
Septimus quickly pulled it out and felt its weight.
“Not bad”.
He mumbled, checking the hole where the pouch was.
He also found a small dagger, probably Gaius’s carving knife, judging by the small figurines he found earlier.
Septimus doubted whether to leave the dagger but decided against it; in for a penny, in for a pound, he’d steal everything that wasn’t bolted down!
Doing a double check and having made sure he didn’t leave anything, Septimus emptied the bag with the cotton and stuffed the sleeping bag inside before shouldering the bag next to his quiver.
He grabbed the bag with food inside and wore it on the front.
Now fully equipped from head to toe with freshly acquired loot, he stood up fully, oriented himself, and started quickly walking the way he came.
Slowly disappearing into the dark trees, Septimus grabbed the previously discarded waterskin and looked back at the collapsed Galis.
He sat there, collapsed in the fading light of the campfire, a trickle of blood falling over his eye.
Septimus let out a low chuckle.
“Look at me, I am the bandit now.”