"Mm-hmm..."
(′｀)
The afternoon sun finally peeked through the clouds now and then, casting down a welcome warmth. Two hours earlier, little Annie, the Huntress Aela, the heavy-armored warrior Farkas, and the newcomer Ria had stuffed themselves with several pounds of meat at some old farmer's home on Pelagia Farm. Now, they were sprawled across a carriage, basking in the warm winter sunshine of Skyrim as it rattled along. They were almost at Whiterun's gates.
The distant gates and the outline of the great city were already clear to see. The carriage just had to climb this little slope and continue a short way farther, and they would nearly be at Whiterun's entrance.
"Whoa!"
"Hey! You there, Companion—and ladies!"
"Whiterun's just ahead. You can start gathering your things and get ready to hop off..."
The carriage driver, Butcholem, a blond Nord who had been hired at Pelagia Farm for a Septim, slowed the horses and called back to the Companions lounging in the open carriage bed. He also called to the little girl perched on the rear edge, legs swinging and a foxtail grass stem clenched between her teeth as she hummed some tune or other.
Whiterun was supposedly unsafe at the moment, so he didn't plan to linger. Once he dropped off the passengers who had hitched a ride, he would unload his goods and then head home.
"Huh?"
o(′▽｀)o
"Let me see! Wow! We're really almost there?"
At the driver's call, little Annie sprang up from the back of the carriage. Without a second thought, she trampled over the Huntress Aela's feet and the legs of Farkas, who looked as if a dog had chewed on him, and dashed a few steps to the front of the carriage bed. She leaned against the carriage rail and gazed toward