Flash Fiction February 2023 Day 22: A Visit To Someone In The Wild (Anna)

 A/N: In the words of my brother..."I don't do the wild." that is all for today.

Prompt: Visit to someone in the wild

“Remind me what it is we’re doing out here?” Farkas asks as we stop just outside of Rorikstead, a quiet little hamlet not too far from Whiterun. I shrug in reply, at the moment we’re just passing through on our way further west. “It’s better than walking all the way to Markarth in one go?” I offer and that response is accepted as fair enough. Erik says hello as he passes by after taking a moment to stop in his tracks and wonder at the familiar yet foreign faces…Rorikstead doesn’t get too many visitors, so the ones the wannabe adventurer does get to see are few and far between.

The day is nice enough that we stop for lunch and eat at a little table on the porch of the inn before heading on our way and leaving the tiny village behind us continuing on the ever winding stone road. We pass the time with conversation and observations about the changing landscape as one Hold transitions into the next and the tundra gives way to steep mountain peaks. The open expanse of land still is something I struggle to wrap my head around, it is very unlike the congested coastline around Daggerfall or even the rest of High Rock, but I must admit it is beautiful.

Eventually night falls and lucky for us we made good time having gotten as far as Dragonsbridge by the time the moons are fully overhead. From there we plan the remainder of our route that will lead us south to the place that had been marked on the map, apparently someone to go visit out in the wild. Whoever the person exactly is that a stranger had mentioned seems intriguing and they may have some information on a particular Dwemer ruin that was mentioned in a book Serena and I dug up while looking through the libraries of Fort Dawnguard. Still, I dislike the Reach personally, too many Forsworn warriors running about, too many steep cliffs one could fall off, and aside from Markarth and the occasional settlement a near complete lack of any civilization. It truly is the wild, and I have very mixed feelings on having to venture there in order to meet this mystery person.

Still, I sigh to myself rolling over in bed, it could be worse. Farkas looks over at me from his spot sitting at the little table in the inn room, having not yet gone to bed. Markarth makes him anxious under the best of circumstances, and I don’t think he is fond of the idea of this visit, even if he is perfectly fine with the wilderness. To each their own, I suppose, in the end I think we will both feel better tomorrow having gone to visit this person in the wilds, hopefully obtain some information, and return to the comfort and familiarity of the cities. Ah, cities, my beloved bastions of chaos and noise, I’d rather be stuck in Riften than the middle of nowhere…and that’s saying something. Thoughts swirl about my head going back and forth between the pros and cons of this visit as my eyes begin to feel heavy. “I’m sure it will all be fine in the end…” I mumble to myself just before dropping off to sleep.