Skyrim
Tale of two souls
Chapter 7
Three days and three nights graced the skies of Skyrim before Ne’Ma once more joined the waking world, having been near comatose after the wounds she suffered in the ruins of bleak falls burrow but when she finally opened her eyes she found herself in a comfy bed in a room that seemed vaguely familiar. The girl clutched the back of her head for a few moments as the pain from her wound came back to her, suddenly remembering what had happened back in the crypt, and instinctively she looked around for her father but the cat was no where to be seen. Trying to call out to him she then remembered that her voice was still taken from her then with no other options she shakily got out of bed, her legs feeling a little wobbly under her as she tried to walk around but after a few moments of stumbling about to get dressed her legs found their strength once again allowing the girl to make her way out of the room. Finding herself in the inn at Whiterun she nodded at least knowing where she was now and then went to go to the common room of the inn where a few people sat drinking or eating, the girl felt a little hungry but she wanted to find her father first. Looking around for a few moments to see if he was there and not finding him, she then decided perhaps the inn keeper would know where he was and so she approached the old nord woman who was talking to someone but then looked behind her when the girl tugged on her sleeve, the old woman then excusing herself from her other conversation for a moment then saying when she turned back around to the girl saying with a smile on her face,
“Well, it is nice to see you up and walking around again, why you’ve been asleep for about three days now.”
The girl takes a step back, finding out how long she had been out startled her, but then went back to her task and tried to ask the old woman where her father was, but without the words she thought for a moment then grinning as she put a towel on her head and her hands under it on her head mimicking her fathers hooded visage. The woman taking only a moment to realize what the girl was doing then asking,
“Oh, you want to know where your father is don’t you dear?”
The girl nods taking the towel off her head, then looking up as the old woman tried to remember where the cat had gotten to, only to have her assistant come over and say,
“He went over to the temple, they needed help healing the wounded after a dragon attack so he offered his aid.”
The old nord woman then nods saying as she looked down to the little girl,
“Ah yes that is where he went to, do you know where the temple is my girl?”
The girl shook her head, the old nord woman then saying with a nod,
“Not to worry little one, I’ll get someone to show you the way.”
The old woman then looked around the room before asking as she saw an imperial man in guard armor about to leave,
“Commander Caius, do you have a moment?”
The man nods asking as he walked over to the old inn keeper,
“Yes? Do you need something?”
The old woman nods then says as she sets her hand on the young argonian’s shoulder,
“Her father is over at the temple but the poor dear doesn’t know the way, caould you take her there?”
The man nods with a smile looking down to the girl saying,
“Sure, shall we go now little one?”
The girl nodded offering her hand to him which he quickly shook, the old woman then quickly saying before they could walk away sticking her tongue out a little after she spoke,
“The poor thing is mute so don’t expect much of a conversation, good kid though.”
The man nods then says as he motions for the girl to follow him,
“I understand, alright little one follow me, I’ll take you to your father.”
The girl nods following after the man called Caius as he left the inn behind walking along as he showed her the way, the man asking as he looked down to the girl,
“So, how are you feeling little one, you seem to have quite the lump on the back on your head.”
The girl rubbed the back of her head a little with a slightly pained wince then responded to the man with a thumbs up, the man nodding then saying as he lead the girl up a small flight of stairs,
“That’s good to hear, well uh kind of, well anyway here we are the temple is just up ahead.”
The girl nods following the man to the doors leading into the temple, the man holding the door open for her then asking as he kneeled down to her, setting his arm on her shoulder,
“Do you see your father little one?”
The girl looked around for a little till she saw where her father was, the cat using his healing magic on a wounded man, the girl noting at just how many people where in here and how many of them where badly hurt, the girl looking up to the guard captain who looked at her as she motioned to the room full of hurt people then shrugging her shoulders, the man then saying as he interpreted her meaning then,
“All these people huh?”
The girl nodded the man then saying,
“They’re members of a small farming village that got attacked by a dragon on their way to Whiterun to sell their goods. I‘m surprised that they got this far with a dragon on their tails, they should be proud that they got away at all, a dragon is not something most would survive.”
The girl nods then hugs the man’s leg for a moment before going over to her father leaving the man to get back to what he was doing, Ne’Ma then hearing her father ask as he looks away from the man he was working on,
“Does anyone have this man’s leg?”
The girl watches as one of the temples priest rushes over what is literally a man’s severed leg bringing it over to the cat then following the cat’s instructions as to where to set it and how to hold it then cat then saying as he looked the man in the eyes,
“Now this will hurt, but you’ll need to hold still or I’ll end up reattaching this limb wrong.”
The man nods readying himself for the worst as the cat then let loose his magic, his healing magic starting at the very bones themselves forcing them to knit back together then the muscle and nerves the mass of flesh and nervous fibers extending across the bone to reattach to the severed limb, finally followed by the skin which then knit itself back into working order, the man nearly howling in pain by the time the process was done. Once the cat was finished the priest then said as the man flexed his toes once more,
“That’s amazing, I’ve never seen magic like that before.”
The cat nods wiping his brow then saying,
“That’s because its long forgotten magic, not many now a days know it anymore if any other then myself do. Rest easy my man your leg will be back to new in a few days just take it easy.”
The farmer nods thanking the cat as the he then got up to go help someone else, the girl smiling as she walked over to the man the cat had just finished with, the man asking as he looked up to her,
“Hey li. . . Little one, could you possibly . . .fetch me some water?”
She looks around for a little then looks back to the man with a nod walking over to her father, the cat then petting her head a little as he said,
“Ne’Ma, I’m so very happy to see you awake once more, but I’m afraid I’m a little busy at the moment, so many of them need my skills.”
The girl nods then acts out drinking water, the cat nodding then saying as he points over to a far table,
“There is a pitcher and some glasses over there.”
The girl nods watching as her father was then called over to help someone else, then girl then going over to the pitcher and pouring the man a glass of water then taking said drink to him. The man quickly drinks the offered water then thanking the girl, Ne’Ma then looking over as she was called out to again and again. The girl helped out as much as she could bringing people drinks or the priest bandages, her father and a few of the other priest doing most of the actual healing work with magic, the girl hearing as she did her best to help out that it was a group of farmers from the village of Rorikstead, twelve of them and surprisingly enough only one person was killed in the attack. Once the panic and mayhem of the people rushing around trying to help everyone passed and things started to clam down as all of the wounded where finally tended to, the father daughter pair sat in a chair, the girl resting in her fathers lap head laying on his chest as the cat laid his head back against the wall, exhausted from his non stop use of magic for the last while, the cat petting his daughters head a little smiles at her before asking as he looked down to her,
“So, you hungry sweetheart?”
The girl nods, looking up to her father cuddling into his chest for a few moments before the cat got up setting the girl back down on her feet, he nodded to the head priest who quickly says in response,
“Thank you for all your help today, I hate to admit that we’d have lost more then a few people if you weren’t here today.”
The cat nods holding Ne’Ma’s hand as they left the temple behind, heading back to the inn to get a much needed meal and maybe some more so then the other, sleep. The pair arriving in time enough for the smells of cooking food to catch their noses telling them that dinner had just started cooking the young argonian’s mouth watering as they entered the inn, sitting at a table where the elder nord woman smiled at them quickly calling for her assistant, the redguard woman bringing over two plates of food for the two who then thanked them then began eating. The pair ate silently for a moment till the cat said patting his daughters head,
“You did good back there Ne’Ma, I’m proud of you.”
The girl smiled at her father for a moment till her stomach grumbled in annoyance at its delayed feeding forcing her to blush as she then returned to her meal, her father chuckling a little once he heard her stomach sound its complaint. The duo then finished their meals in relative silence till they finished Usshin then leading the way back to their room to digest their meals and get ready for bed. The two quickly took to their bed as fatigue caught up with the pair, mainly the young argonian who’s wounds still pained her, the young girl now cuddling with her father in the bed. The cat laid back with a sigh, tired from the extensive amount of magic he had used though marginal to the cats total capacity it was still more then he‘d used in one go for a long time; At the end just absentmindedly petting his daughter head. Sleep found them relatively easily that night and within moments of their laying down on the bed the father daughter pair slept peacefully together, till the world was noisily brought back to them but a few hours later; the cat opening an eye to gaze over at the door someone was knocking on wondering if he should kill them for waking him. Ne’Ma woke as well rubbing her eyes a little as her father untangled himself from her, the girl having wrapped her arms and legs around his right arm and leg in her sleep, and went to answer the door, seeing the dark elf woman from the other day at the threshold, the cat then asking as he yawned,
“You are aware of what hour it is do you? I hope this is important, I might just turn you inside out if its not.”
The elf nodded then saying rather officially,
“We need you to come to Dragonsreach, the Jarl needs your aid immediately.”
The Cat looked at the woman like she was insane, not even the Jarl should be able to wake someone and order them to come to his home in the dead of night, but regardless the cat sighed then said, not needing to offend the man paying for his room,
“Give us a few moments to get dressed”
The woman nods then cat then saying as he walked back into his room,
“Hope the Inn has coffee.”
Closing the door on the elf getting a annoyed scoff from the other side, father and daughter quickly got dressed despite the late hour then once finished left the inn with the elven woman who lead the way to Dragonsreach where inside people where rushing about the Jarl himself making a demand for coffee as he yawned in his throne. Once the cat was within eyesight the Jarl said fighting back another yawn, apparently the father daughter pair were not the only ones woken from a blissful nights sleep,
“My friend, I’m sorry to call you here at such an hour with no notice but I fear the situation is grave.”
The cat nods then saying forgoing the normal manners when talking to a jarl,
“Can I get some coffee.”
The man quickly laughed then said to the servants,
“Bring us coffee as quick as you can.”
Several others rushed off to get the demanded items as the cat approached Jarl Balgruuf the Nordic man fighting back another yawn then saying as he motioned over a guard that looks like he’d seen better nights,
“Apparently that dragon that has been skulking around my hold has attacked my watch tower, lad tell us what happened.”
The man in his uniform said as he removed his helmet, soot and dirt smeared into his skin from what had happened,
“yes my lord, you see it came from the south, it was faster then anything I’d ever seen my lord, it came from the mountains and attacked, I don’t know how many of us where left but the moment I saw a chance I made a run for the city, thought for sure it would have come after me, I‘ve never run faster in all my life.”
The jarl nods now accepting a cup of coffee from his servants, the cat then doing the same,
“You’ve done well to bring this to my attention, why don’t you go to the barracks, get yourself a hot meal and a good nights sleep, we’ll take it from here.”
The man nods bowing before his Jarl before excusing himself, Balgruuf then saying as he looked to his housecarl,
“Irileth, you’d better gather some guardsmen and get over to that watch tower.”
The elven woman nods then responds,
“I’ve already ordered my men to muster near the main gate.”
As the Elf turned to leave, Jarl Balgruuf turned to the cat and said placing his hand on his shoulder,
“I need to ask you for another favor my friend, I need you to go with Irileth and help her fight this dragon. You survived the attack on Helgen so you’ve more experience with dragons then anyone else here.”
The cat nods agreeing to help then turned to leave as well, leaving the Jarl behind, The cat already thinking of what was the best way to best the dragon, however he looked down as a bit of realization dawned on him, as Ne’Ma grabbed his hand. The cat kneeled down saying to Ne’Ma as he clasped his hands on both of her shoulders, saying as he looked her in the eyes,
“No Ne’Ma, not this time, you’re staying here no if ands or buts about it.”
The girl pouted a little as she grabbed his hand tighter, then cat then saying as he made her let him go,
“NO! this is not a discussion this is an order, you will go back to the inn and wait in our room for my return, you understand you are not to leave this city.”
The girl started to sob a little as she turned away from him, the cat then saying with a sigh as he picked her up and held her close,
“Listen Ne’Ma, you are important to me, more so then my own life, you gave me a purpose when I had none, you gave me a reason to want to exist and put an end to my loneliness, if anything ever happened to you because I let you come with me to face this dragon I’d never forgive myself. Let your father be greedy just this once, stay here where it is safe and wait for me to return ok?”
The girl nods a little wiping her eyes clean then looking on as she watched the elven woman nod to her father, the cat then saying as he turned to leave,
“Do as I said Ne’Ma, go back to the inn and stay there.”
The young Argonian nodded then watched as he left her behind for the first time, feeling a sense of panic rising within her she then reached out for a moment thinking of following him but then retracted thinking of what her father and said to her, unsure if she should stay or follow after him, but once she saw him cross the thresh hold and his foot falls vanishing from her hearing she smiled for a moment and thought to herself,
‘Well, I never was good at doing what I was told, if I stayed out of sight doubt there’d be any thing wrong with that. Yeah I’ll just make sure the dragon doesn’t see me then I can watch daddy fight and make sure he stays ok.’
With that sense of logic in her mind the young argonian took to her heels and quickly followed after her father and the elf, which would lead her right into the jaws of her first real battle.
~End of Chapter~
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