The Swords of the Betrayed

It had been two weeks. Two weeks since her father looked her in the eyes and told her to leave him. Two weeks since the people she had called her family became strangers to her. Al was the only person she had left.
The two of them had made it halfway to Morthal. They were camping out by Rorikstead, but neither had any money. They were stuck hunting, and sleeping in the cold night. It was rough, but nothing the two of them could not handle.
Every night they would sit around a small fire. Dreamgutta wanted to speak to him, but there was no way. He looked at her with so much guilt that she could barely stand to grab his attention. It was like everything had changed. She had gone from his best friend who would stand with him in everything, to the poor girl he dragged away from home. Every day, they walked in silence. The only words exchanged were directions, or talk of when and where they would be finding their next meal.
However that all changed one day. The morning sun was bright; heat bounced off of Dreamgutta’s back. She spent the beginning hours preparing herself for another silent day, when Al popped into her tent. For just a moment, she could not breath.
“So I’ve been thinking,” Al’s face contorted into a smile of sorts, something he had been missing for the past couple of weeks. “You know how there’s the Dark Brotherhood, and the Theives Guild and so on?” Dreamgutta wanted to run and hug him, but she did not want him to think she felt guilty for the silence. So instead, she just nodded. “Well, we should start our own guild.”
Dreamgutta could not help but laugh at that suggestion. It seemed the silence had driven him mad. “Al that is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard.” She passed him to make her way out of the tent, but he grabbed her.
“Just hear me out.” Dreamgutta sat on a chest beside her, and waited for him to speak. After a minute of silence, he began again. “We were both betrayed by the orc stronghold, we have nothing. We could go join a guild, or we could make our own. Even the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild had a beginning, why can’t a new one begin? We could call it ‘The Swords of the Betrayed’. Anyone who has been betrayed in any way can join.” Al looked so proud of himself for this one. He seemed excited, but Dreamgutta knew this idea of hsi would get tossed in the back with all of the other genius ideas he has had before.
“And what is it that we would do?” She decided to humor him. Al shot her a very questioning look. “Well the Dark Brotherhood kills,” she elaborated, “and the thieves guild steals, so what would we do?” She could see the gears moving as Al thought. Two minutes passed of him pacing back and forth through the tent.
“We would do everything!” Al straightened his stance and began to act out what the guild would be like. “We would have thieves, and assassins,” he tiptoed around and grabbed random items from Dreamgutta’s tent, “and we would perform random jobs, like clearing out bandits, or destroying a vampire clan!” She laughed hard at his performance. For a moment, it seemed like the past two weeks of silence had never happened. For a moment, it was like they had not gotten thrown away from their home.
“Then what the hell,” Dreamgutta knew that their was no way to stop this boy when he set his mind to something. She did not want to fight him, and she did not want to lose these moments. Orc’s had betrayed her, but Al had not. “Let’s start a guild.”

Trees surrounded them; no matter what direction they turned, all they saw were the vast forests. Al refused to admit he had gotten them lost. It seemed they would be a short lived guild. They had traveled far in the past few days, but once they entered the forest everything had gone wrong. Al believed it was a shortcut, but it had put them back at least two days.
“Al this is hopeless,” Dreamgutta sighed, and slumped against a tree, “we are never getting out of this place.” Al ignored her, continuing to climb the tree. Well, attempt to climb the tree.
“Not if you keep saying that.” He huffed out. His arms were shaking, and his feet kept falling from their spot on the trunk. It was no surprise when he came crashing down on the ground next to Dreamgutta. “Oh this is hopeless!” She would have laughed if she hadn’t heard the footsteps.
“Quiet,” Her instincts kicked in, and she pulled two knives up in defense. Leaves were cracking all around them. Someone or something was out there.
The sounds came from every direction; she had no idea where to face. Al pulled out his swords, and stood back to back with her. Dreamgutta heard growling and immediately knew what they were dealing with. “Wolves,” she whispered to Al. Suddenly a wolf jumped out of the shadows towards Al. Dream turned a quickly threw a knife into it’s side. The wolf backed down, but it would not be long until it rejoined the fight. More wolves exited the shadows, soon there were too many to count. She and Al separated and began to fight. Al cut through the animals with his swords, and Dreamgutta stabbed them with her knives.
There were too many for the two of them to defeat. No matter how many they cut down, more would fill their spots. They seemed to be multiplying. It all seemed pointless to fight, but then something dropped in front of Dreamgutta. All of the wolves stopped.
“Do not kill them!” The young girl screamed. She was a wood elf, a small one, who had to be no older than seventeen. She held her hands out, in a crouched position, to the wolves. Al and Dreamgutta slowly backed away until they were together. In a few seconds, the wolves turned and ran away.
After the last one was finally gone, the girl stood and turned. They could do nothing but stare. Not only was she young, and covered in weapons, but she had a dark scar on her jaw. A mark of fire. Sticks and leaves were tucked into her long, red braid, and her outfit was covered in mud.
“You are lost,” she spoke softly, and formally. Her eyes stayed on them, but her body seemed to shrink down. “Follow me.” She turned and began to walk away. Neither one of them moved. How could they follow this girl they had just met? She stopped and turned, “Or stay here and never make your way out. It is you choice.” The girl ducked under a branch and disappeared. Al looked at Dreamgutta and then sprinted after the girl. She had no choice but to follow.

Once they had finally made it to the edge of the forest, the girl immediately began to walk away. She did not give any more directions, and did not wait for any gratitude.
“Hey,” Al shouted after the girl. She turned and gave him a questioning look. “Why don’t you come with us?” The girl took a few steps closer to them.
“I do not know you, and you do not know me.” Her voice was shaky. It seemed she wanted to be rid of the two of them, but she was so young, how could they just leave? This poor girl needed others to help her survive.
“Well then,” Al reached his arm out to her, and she flinched away. His smile slowly faded from his face. “I am Alodon,” he said softly. She grabbed his hand lightly and shook it. Everything she did was so timid, so different from the girl in the forest. “What’s your name?”
“I am Thaenaen Duskthom.” Her eyes found the ground as she spoke her name. Dreamgutta noticed the girl's hand rested on the hilt of her sword. A defensive move, showing how long this girl had been on her own. It took a moment for her to realize the girl's eyes were resting on Dreamgutta.
“I’m Dreamgutta,” She introduced herself to the timid girl. Thaenaen, the girl had said. A typical Skyrim born wood elf name. Al moved closer to Thaenaen, with the smile back on his face.
“So, you with us or not?” It was silent for a moment, but then the girl’s hand dropped from her sword. She walked closer to both of them, and nodded sharply. “Welcome, to The Swords of the Betrayed.”