Collab between [@Haeo] and [@gcold]

A life of mining and hunting did not help when suddenly placed in a game of dodge the rock with an armored cousin of a frost troll who happens to carry a grudge. Utu-ja tried to reach the relative safety of the shield wall so that he could bring his bow to bear again. But, he failed. Again and again he was forced to run or jump the other way to avoid hurled rocks that broke into pieces from the impact when they hit the stone of the docks. He was too busy dodging to notice how close to the water he was being forced. He did notice the sound of gutteral laughter coming from the nearest of the enemy ships. It seemed that throwing rocks at an lizard was considered good fun where these daedra-lickers came from. 

That was not something that he liked. He could not afford to be a source of shame for the company, not right now. Not with moral so low and casualties so high. He took note of the distance between him and the water at last. Ten feet or so. His thoughts were interrupted by the pressing need to dodge. But, he made sure to dodge toward the water. These things seemed unable to swim so he might have a chance. That rock throwing hulk of meat and metal was bleeding steadily, the blood flowing in a thin trickle out the bottom of his armor and onto the stones before running slowly into the water. On his next dodge Utu made a step that seemed ill chosen, half on the stone and half in the air over the water. He made as if he slipped and splashed into the ice cold dark. 

A burst of bubbles broke the surface and then nothing. The beast rose unsteadily and turned to face the shield wall that opposed his brutal comrades. Then he raised the great axe that he had carried and brandished it above his head with a loud cry. 

It was terribly cold. The lakes of the Reach were nothing like this. It bit and stole his breath. But, this was still water. He twitched and wriggled, hooking his bow over his shoulder so as to not lose it, and drew his dagger. Its long blade would have work soon. Turning over, he looked through the swimming light that touched the surface of the water and picked out a silouette. It rippled with movement and he heard a resonant roar, though dimly through the water. The rancid skeever was cheering already. He swam smoothly up to the surface, pausing just beneath it, and braced himself against the stone of the dock. He didnt have long before the cold would rob him of feeling. He had to hurry without being seen. Maybe, just maybe, he would be able to turn the attention of the beasts back toward the water and give the other mercenaries a chance to turn the tide. 

The beast wasnt going to sit there for long. It would be joining the attack soon. Utu slowly raised his eyes above the water, then his shoulders. Not a drop fell to reveal his presence but time was running short. The beast shifted its balance to its right leg, then the other. As it shifted back to its right and began to lift its left foot to advance away from the water, Utu sprang up and grabbed ahold of the beasts waist with one hand. His dagger bit deep through the leather at the back of the knee and then he withdrew it and struck again, driving the tip between the helmet and the collar and levering himself up onto the beasts back. He was only there for a moment but his eyes flicked out over the battlefield to spot the one person who probably wouldnt care for his plan, Daelin and Utu saw each other, in a brief moment of mutual recognition. 

Then he swept his tail powerfully from one side to the other and smacked it into the wounded knee of his enemy as he leaned and pulled backward with all his strength. The knee buckled and the beast turned and fell into the freezing water with a dismayed howl that carried as far as its cheer had, but cut off much sooner. Utu wrenched his dagger free as soon as they were below the surface and narrowly escaped the beasts lashing arms as it tried to drag him down with it. It faded into the dark below as Utu began to realize that he could barely feel the tip of his tail. His fingers were going numb along with his toes too. And his chest hurt. It felt like his blood was freezing in his lungs. Heh, maybe it was. 

He smiled mirthlessly into the dark and swam away, using the pier and then the enemy ship for cover he sought to reach the gap between two battles. He was hoping to get back on land before he froze. The last thing he wanted was for Daelin to think that he, an argonian, had drowned. For some reason that thought was abhorrent suddenly. 

That was when the water exploded around him, the water sang, and everything went black. 

The enemies on the ship had spotted him as he swam out from beneath them and mages on deck shot out large ice lances at Utu-ja. Several of the lances of ice collided under water, shattering with great force and causing a large fountain that cast spray across a good part of the docks. The lances had missed their intended target but the blast had not. 

Utu came to his senses a few moments later in the shadow of pier two. There was a small ledge there and he mustered enough control over his numb arms and legs to haul himself onto it. There he lay for a long moment with tiny shards of ice sticking out of his skin like needles while his hearing and vision tried to decide whether to stay or go. His lungs felt wrong. He tried to cough but only managed to turn his head and make a weak sound. He managed to fumble one of the vials he carried to his lips and swallow its contents, or most of it, before coughing hard. It seared and bit and he tasted copper and cold. He couldnt feel his lips but blood and healing potion intermingled in a thin trickle from the corner of his mouth. It truly was luck that it was a healing potion and not poison. The empty vial fell next to him as his senses finally made up their cursed minds. They left him alone in the shivering, silent dark.

Prior to a large rock flying their way, Daelin thought his position was secure, at least relative to everyone on the docks. But when the armored brutes came charging in at him and Utu-ja, it quickly became apparent that nowhere on this battlefield was safe. He saw the Argonian archer dodging and running, out of his sight not for long as the Bosmer went his own way to prevent a painful death. Pier four had fallen, they were a dozen corpses sprayed about, many with half connected limbs and smashed it heads. Daelin was not much of a frontline warrior, quite the opposite, small stature and weaker blade swings contributed little to the Red-Bear's tattered line. So he took off quick, sliding underneath one of the massive invaders and found him between piers three and two. Somewhere along the waterfront, a shape appeared behind one enemy and it fell back into the water. There was no struggle or repeated splatters. With metal plates of this weight, keeping their snouts above water is futile struggle.

The kill, if it could called as such, was quiet and nearly unnoticed. But what happened next was absolutely not. The ships that were inactive thus far decides to eject its munitions. Wait, it felt different then the bombardments across; it was closer to when the atronachs were conjured. Whatever the case, the resulting blast brought out a beaten shape at dock two. It had a tail, the scaled tail of an Argonian. Utu-ja, the last of his favored scouts beside Farid, survived an insane ideal. He didn't know how but wasn't entirelly surprised given the shear toughness Utu exhibited before. His position was close enough to Utu fumbling with a potion bottle, then splayed on the cold stones, shivering and drained of strength.

Daelin took off after him, but between the piers, Ashav was directing panicked folks around. Daelin grabbed his superior's shoulder, shaking him out of his business and turned his attention at Utu-ja. "He's still alive, we can't leave him there!" Daelin said.

"Him? Who?" Ashav perplexed. There was other unmoving bodies around the second pier. Though most of the fighting north-side were centered around the first pier. "No time for one man, our line is barely holding."

"It's Utu-ja, my scout, and he just drowned one of these, things." Daelin argued. "He found an opening and dying will make it all for moot." 

"Fine, fine." Ashav conceded. He shifted his greatsword and followed after the scout. "Get him back to where the Orc is." He pointed to the scrap-barricaded section near the large stairway, where Orakh lies unconscious. 

Together, the two of them and a newly enlisted mercenary managed to reach Utu-ja. Ashav slung the Argonian over his shoulder, slightly heavy for his old age but Utu-ja's malnourished frames made it bearable. Almost immediately after, one of the invading berserkers slammed through. The fresh faced recruit took most of the first hit, his shield smashed to bits by the gigantic axe and his forearm half dangling off a partially severed elbow. Sheer impact knocked the man on his back, then the monster stepped on his head, leaving behind a puddle of red in it's next step.

Daelin quickly shot off three arrows one after another. They all met metal plating and turned aside harmlessly. Fortunately, he bought time for three more fighters to creep up from behind. They engaged the giant in combat, whatever happened, Daelin couldn't be bothered to know. All he did was run, and crouch beside Utu-ja when he reached the barricades at last. Ashav already left, probably going back to the front. Thankfully, the Argonian was still breathing, but damn, the shards lodged in his scales looked bad, real bad.

"You crazy son of a snake." Daelin mumbled. He poked at one of the wounds, it was treatable, but not something he could do here. "We're going to get you aid, don't go dying on me now."