Middle/high school cringe based on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

*****

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away...

A female Argonian ran shrieking down the streets of Vivec, chased by most, if not all, of the Ordinators in the city. In the distance behind them, a smoky fog rose with the sun.

The Argonian reached a dead end: Her choices were to dive into the sea and the open arms of the Dreugh therein, or suffer at the hands of the Temple and the townsfolk. She hesitated, and then turned to face her accusers.

"I didn't know!" she pleaded as the Ordinators closed in. "I thought it would hold a silt strider, since Vivec holds it up! I didn't—" She was cut short as people screamed and dove for cover. Confused, she looked past the Ordinators who had laid hands on her, and behold: The largest silt strider that ever lived was galloping down the canals between Vivec's cantons.

"Tiny!" the Argonian cried. "You're all right!"

'Tiny' bellowed in response, breaking a canton bridge with his prodigious strength. The Argonian easily pushed the shocked Ordinators aside in her rush to the canton edge. "Tiny!"

The silt strider screeched to a stop before her, splashing all present with seawater and slaughterfish. The Argonian leapt onto its shell—which was whole and identified it as being wild—and the pair raced away to the mainland.

Later, camped beside Lake Amaya, the Argonian sat under a mushroom-tree and stroked Tiny's leg (which was all she could reach) affectionately. "It was just a hunk of rock, anyway—'High Fane' my tail. It is a pity that it crushed the Temple, though...but at least you're ok." Tiny groaned softly in response.

...And they lived happily ever after. (Pursued by the Temple, of course.)