[I]"That's the Justiciar! I'll take him!" A Nord girl's voice rang out from the chaos of the battle. The blonde broke from the fighting and went straight for the hooded Altmer, but the Thalmor agent just stood there with his cruel-looking Daedric sword. Aria watched this battle scene from her past as she had so many times. The nightmares were relentless. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't change this... She couldn't save her friend in time. As the Nord girl moves to swing her dual blades at the Thalmor, one of her arms is violently taken off by an insanely fast dash from her opponent. Her wounded body lands behind the Thalmor, the poor soul is too shocked to scream out in pain. The Thalmor approaches his prey, pointing the tip of his sword at the girl. But a sound from behind him takes his attention off his kill. Aria roars, tearing through the Aldmeri troops in her way with an inhuman strength and pace, knocking and slashing them aside like skittles. She leaps for the Altmer for a killing blow, but just as she's going to make contact... he vanishes in a puff of purple smoke. Not waiting to ask how he did it, Aria breaks from her berserker state and runs over to her dying friend, falling to the ground and cradling the girl in her arms. The two couldn't be more than sixteen years old, and here they were fighting and dying for each other... Before the Nord girl passes away, she starts sobbing quietly, repeating "I'm sorry...!" Aria holds the girl tightly as she slowly gives in to darkness, turning limp in her friend's arms. Just another comrade she can't save, no matter how hard she fights. The battle around the two finally ends in a decisive victory for the young Imperial Resistance scouting force. Everything is silent, save for Aria's crying... "Sa... Sarja... Wake up! Damn it...!" The Altmer's smug, cruel smile flashes once before her eyes, and then...[/I] ---------- "LOREN-!..." Aria jolted, but calmed as she remembered what this was. Just another harsh reminder that she couldn't change the past or bring back anyone she loved. And a refresher.. of that face she wanted to drive a dagger into some day, even if she died doing it. She held her face in her hands for a moment, trying to regain her bearings. It was Sundas, early in the morning. The stray cat had already gone, and judging by the absolute silence of the shop, Cronic was out too. No knocks on the door, no requests... But damned if the previous day's work and Jarl Balgruuf's payment wouldn't keep Aria, Cronic and the curious stray fed for a while. Aria stretched, let her chair rock forward as she groggily stood up to stretch some more. She hadn't bathed since the middle of the week, and her lightly padded outfit was getting dirty, no thanks to a horde of vampires and their thralls. The bloodstains were hard to remove! So the plan was to quickly throw some water on herself and go find Cronic in less gory attire. An hour or later, give or take a few minutes, she'd show up at the Bannered Mare in a traditional Akaviri kimono, black with grey flower patterns and some simple socks and sandals. The red rose tucked into her hair added a little more feminine touch to the young lady that Whiterun knew as a keen sword fighter. Aria didn't look shaken - she was used to the nightmares by now. In fact, she looked cheerful. Taking a seat next to Cronic at the fire, she let out a relieved sigh and nudged him. "I closed up for now, don't worry."