The Last of Us

Chapter 5

So, I originally was going to put chapters 5 and 6 together but i ran out of time and didn't finish chapter 6 in time so here's chapter 5 and hopefully chapter 6 will be up on Thursday, I hope you all enjoy! <3
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Chapter 5

It all happened so quickly. One second I was about to be killed and the next I'm being carried off to a camp site.

The bandit chief was about to strike out and kill me. I had turned my head away and closed my eyes, awaiting for the blow. But soon I was dropped and so was he. Norakvar had bashed in the chiefs skull from behind before I was hurt. I just looked at him for a moment, then the gory mess in front of me, and passed out.

Now, I was awake, being carried by Norakvar. I moved around in his arms and he stopped mid step to set me down. 

"Are you alright, lad?" His thickly accented voice laced with concern.

I looked over myself, making sure I really was alright. I didn't find any injuries, so I nodded in response. I felt a little dizzy, and shook my head to get rid of the feeling. It didn't work. I looked around me, trying to pinpoint where we were, to no avail.

It was dark, cold. And I had no idea how long I had been out. Norakvar set down our knapsacks and pulled some large clothes and a bed rolls out of it, looking around, seemingly surveying the landscape before starting to pick up stones and place them in a circle. I soon realized he was making a fire and camp site.

I helped out by grabbing sticks and throwing them into the circle of stones he was creating and soon, we had a fire lit and were setting up the tent. Norakvar had insisted I use the bed roll because he didn't want me getting cold. I tried to refuse the offer, not wanting to take his comfort from him, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. Defeated, I decided to sit close to the fire to warm up, Norakvar joining me, sitting opposite of me. Nothing was said for a few minutes, in those long moments it was a serine silence, neither of us bothered by it.

"I'm sorry you had to be a part of that, lad. A child shouldn't have to witness such bloody battle, no matter how short it was." Norakvar finally broke the silence, slightly startling me in the process. I didn't really know how to respond. He was right, I shouldn't have to witness that stuff. I should be back home, on the farm, washing the horses, feeding chickens and goats; I should be doing that, not all of this. But I didn't want to sound ungrateful, so I just nodded in response, looking around me once more.

We a little ways into the forest, down a small slope, you could almost see the road where we were but we were too far back for people to really notice us unless they tried to find us, or spotted the faint glow of our fire. In other words, we were pretty much out of sight.

"Why did you do it?" I guess my question caught Norakvar off guard because he asked me to repeat myself and apologized.

"I mean... With that man - the chief - why did you kill him? Why not just let him kill me and be done with it?" He looked down at his lap and then up at the stars, smiling slightly seemingly reminiscing in happier times before answering.

"Not every bandit is a cold blooded killer, lad. I'm not a killer, at least, not until today, that is." He paused for a moment before continuing. "To my knowledge, I am known throughout every hold, reasons good nor bad. I am known for being a different race."

"Well that seems rude, do all nords outside of Solitude have a reputation similar to orcs or khajiits?" Norakvar chuckled a bit at my question, amused by my curiosity.

"No, no. Nothing like that. I'm not a nord, lad. That is why I am known throughout the lands."

"What do you mean? If you aren't a nord then what are you?" I was beyond confused now, but still intrigued. 

Norakvar leaned forward a bit, making sure his face was fully shown in the soft glows of the flickering fire. He moved his hair back to reveal elf ears and markings along his cheeks that I hadn't noticed before. The markings were just triangles really, with the bottom line starting at the spot right in front of his ear and going out right under his high cheek bones until they reached about under the middle of his eyes. They were perfectly symmetrical and I would have believed that they were painted on had it not been for the color of them. They were almost the same shade as his skin, except they raised out of the skin a bit and were paler than the rest of his face.

"Those are scars? On your cheeks." I pointed at his left cheek, he returned the gesture with a small smile before letting his hair fall and sitting back again.

"Ahi, that they are. I don't know where they came from, I just know that I've had them since I was a lad like yourself, probably younger. My father refused to ever explain to me what they were for or how they got there. As for the ears, my father was a wood elf, my mother being a nord." Norakvar brushed his hair down a bit with his fingertips, trying to recover his 'flaws'.

"Why do you keep it covered up?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Because, lad. I'm an abomination to the other nords, to the elves. Everyone really. You're the first person to not ridicule me or poke fun at me for my differences. Many thanks for that." He smiled, a genuine full smile, not a halfway one like he has been doing up until this point. His eyes seemed to smile with his mouth, which made me smile in return. I felt a pang of pain in my heart because it was the first I had actually smiled since ma and pa. And it was a genuine smile. I felt guilty, angry at myself for allowing it to happen.

I stood up abruptly, surprising Norakvar, and walked towards where our knapsacks were lying in the dirt against a tree stump. I picked up mine and slung it over my shoulder and started walking away from the campsite.

"Where are you going, lad? It's dangerous outside the fires' light!" I could hear Norakvar's hurried footsteps catch up to me within a few steps but I didn't turn to face him or answer him, I just continued walking into the darkness of the woods towards the barely visible road.

"Listen, lad. I can't just let you leave. Not at this hour of the night in the middle of nowhere. You'll be slaughtered before morning." Norakvar set his rough hand on my small shoulder to stop me. It worked. I stood in place, still not answering, casting my gaze at my bare, snow white feet. 

My nose began to burn and I felt my throat tighten up a bit as my eyes began filling with tears. I sniffled a bit, which signalled that I was crying to Norakvar, whose hand on my shoulder turned me around the face him. He knelt down to my level and looked at me, waiting for me to return his gaze.

"Hey, lad. Come on, you need to rest." His voice was gentle, soft and soothing. It made me think of ma, when she would sit with me in bed after a night terror and quietly talk me back to sleep, and that thought just made me cry harder. I practically had waterfalls pouring out of my eyes at that point. But I let Norakvar lead me back to the campsite, having me curl up in the bed roll and laying at the other end of the tent after putting out our fire. I continued to cry as Norakvar simply talked about the starts and the northern lights, and about how our ancestors were up in Sovngarde watching over us, and so on until I finally drifted off into a depressive and restless sleep.