Chapter 13: Western Watchtower — Ver. 2.0

Trigger Warning: Idk what exactly to put, because "nothing" happens, but it's not "nothing". Just... Read at your own risk.

After walking back inside, I meet up with the girls in our room. Hadvar's at Alvor's house, probably regaling Dorthe with tales of what happened in the Barrow. Faendal is headed off to celebrate with and brag to Camila. Bror's already on the road, marching in even now.

The rest of us; that is, me, Jenassa, and Uthgerd are left at the inn. None of us are wearing our normal armors, but simple tunics and trousers. One of them bought alcohol from somewhere, and left is on the counter.

"To a successful quest!" I toast. I don't drink a lot out of my mug, though. I have to keep my mind off. Subconscious or otherwise. To let it loose... I'd rather not find out what could happen.

"To a successful quest!" The girls repeat the toast. We all slam our mugs together, and as the mead splashes over the tops of the mugs, all I could think about is how my friends back home must be doing. I remember how I used to hang out like this with my friends.

The girls start talking about how each other killed certain draugr, and I head outside the inn, go around and head up to the roof. It's evening now, having spent the day making trips up the mountain, and delivering cargo. Speaking of delivery, the sick man that was up there we brought to the village, where we cured him with a cure disease potion. When the man woke up, safe and healed, he promised that for as long as he lives, his farm would give us free food. Overall, a really eventful day.

I watch the sun as it sets, and remember my old world. The sunset turns a light yellowy-orange, then a deep orange then a rosy orangish, then a bloody, crimson red, then it simply darkens to black.

My friends were a rambunctious bunch, and we used to hang out all the time. We'd build first, actual ones, out of wood and stone on our shared property and compete in HEMA swordfighting competitions. My knuckles used to be hit a lot, cause my friends didn't exactly have the best of accuracy, but we trained a lot, nonetheless. Their accuracy would get better over time. Afterwards, we'd just hang out and talk, about all sorts of things. How our lives felt to each other, how we could improve it, how we were doing in relationships. A lot of the time, we'd just sit there and chill next to each other, not even saying anything. Our mere presence was enough to hang out with. We played DnD and fantasy video games and went LARPing a lot, so that probably explained why I was able to talk like a native of this continent, of Tamriel.

A slight rustling from behind snapped me out of memory lane. I turned my head, and there Jenassa was. I turned back around and watched the moon rise higher in the sky.

Rosy-cheeked and misty-eyed, she crawled over to where I was sitting in the roof, and sat up directly next to me. She leaned her head on my shoulder, and said, "How ish it tha' peo'le ca' shee, and ye' be sho blin'?"

(How is it that people can see, and yet be so blind?)

She burped, and her cheeks turned a bright red in the whitish-blue moonlight. "'scuse me."

She grabbed my hand. "Ah know you know. You know Ahm aschracted to you, right?" (You know I'm attracted to you, right?)

"Yes. You made it very obvious, despite trying hard to hide it." I answer her. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about where this is going. I don't want it to go there, especially because we've known each other for like 2 days.

"The' why wo' you le' me *show* you?" She whispers in my ear, trying to sound seductive. Unfortunately her breath does not smell very good, so I was really turned off. Besides the fact that, you know, I'm not someone who takes advantage of people when they're drunk.

"Because I'm not going to take advantage of you when you're drunk like this." I answer.

She was going to continue, but ends up puking on my left shoulder, then dropping dead asleep in my lap.

"What a way to show me you care." I say, almost sarcastically. It's not (exactly) her fault.

I stand up, put her on my back and head to the ladder I used to get up here. I sit her down in front of the ladder, and go onto the first rung of the ladder. I put her arms around my shoulders between me and the ladder. With her main body on my thighs as I'm climbing down the the ladder, she won't be able to fall off if her grips loosens due to her drunkenness. She, knowingly or unknowingly, wraps her legs around my waist and hooks her legs together. While I have wanted to one day carry a woman like this, I don't want her drunk, nor do I want to do it on a ladder.

I slowly descend the ladder. She sleepily nuzzles her head into my right shoulder, seeking the warmth of my body. As I'm coming down the ladder, I can feel her sniffing my neck, then licking my neck. Ew. Ew. Ew. I do NOT need her drunk mouth on my neck.

After I descend the ladder, I set her down, flip her around to where she's getting a piggyback ride from me, and pick her back up. I head to our room, and lay her on the bed next to Uthgerd, who's got a silly grin on her face, and is also rosy-cheeked and in a drunken stupor. On the floor are at least half a dozen mead and wine bottles, all empty. Uthgerd then slurs out in her sleep, "Hif you...[hiccup] think he'sh shoo cuuute, then... go and kishsh him already. Ahm not... [hiccup] going to shtop you... Ah mi' e'en join you... [hiccup]."

..... I think I may have figured out what they've been talking about every time they've been alone. Next time I go on a quest, I'm going to take just guys. Me 'n the Bois, back at it again. As it should be.

I didn't think that I had the looks to score points with girls just by hanging out with them, though... Is this body really that good-looking?

I head back outside to the river and take off my tunic. I wash it in the river, then myself. After cleaning myself, I notice someone else coming to the riverside. I can't make them out just yet, so I quickly put my clothes back on, then shiver from the same breeze I was enjoying earlier. Not having a towel to dry myself off is rough.

The person finally comes into view. It's Jenassa, blushing. I guess she woke up and saw me? She mimes sleeping then waking up, and points over to the window in our room, as she slurs out words.

"I wohk u' and [hiccup] shaw you throooough the window. I [hiccup] wanna join you."

She starts to take off her clothes. I quickly put her hands back down.

"No, no. Don't take off your clothes." I say. "Not here, especially."

"B-but it'sh hawwtt. [hiccup]" She tries to pull a valid reason out, except it's not very valid. It feels pretty close to the low 60's, though. It's not hot at all.

"I don't care if you do it und the covers of the furs in our room, just not here. Come here." I heft her up into my arms and carry her back to our room in the inn. Luckily, she doesn't puke again, like earlier.

"You're sho shtroong," she says, rubbing and squeezing her hands on my back and shoulders. "H-how co' you [hiccup] never carry ush aroun' whe' we ge' tired?"

Thankfully, Uthgerd is still in the room. I put my knee on the bed, lean over, and lay Jenassa down on the bed.

"Heeere you go." I say as I lay her down.

"C-ca' you tu'k me in [hiccup]?" She asks.

I quietly sigh, squeeze my nose bridge and say, "Yes, I'll tuck you in." As I lean over her, though, she grabs onto my waist and won't let go. I'm forced to put my hands in between the two girls' bodies to stay at my current position.

"Heere, I go' 'im! Ge' 'im, U'gerd!"

Uthgerd sits up, saying "Ah-hagh," as if she wasn't asleep at all, and hooks onto my shoulders and neck.

She then drops quickly enough that my arms can't stand the weight of both of them at once, and I'm pulled onto the bed, perpendicular to the girls. The girls pull me around so my head is in between theirs. Then they wrap their arms around my neck, shoulders, and chest. They lock me down to where I can't sit up. They trap their legs around mine at the same time, and now I can't raise my legs, either.

While this happening, fear and disgust shoots through my heart, and in those few seconds, I hate the two of them. I want them to stop. 'Stop. STOP! STOP THIS! NO! DON'T DO THIS!!'

'Why', I plead the gods. 'Why is Uthgerd doing this? Why is Jenassa helping her? Why is this happening? Was their lust for me really this strong, that they had to rape me?'

But then they didn't actually do anything, and although I felt relief at that fact, it still hurts. I still couldn't let go of the shock, fear, and disgust that I felt. It stays with me throughout the night.

After that, that was it, though. They just locked me in place to sleep in between them. I'm glad they didn't do anything else than that, but I'm now going to invest a large portion of my free time into sit ups and leg raises. I think before I succumb to their combined body weight and end up falling asleep.

.....

[< Wow... What an ending to a day. Lying between two women. They may be drunk, but nonetheless. Impressive.>]

"You do realize that if they had any intentions other than that, I probably wouldn't even be able to be attracted to women anymore, right?"

I'm a bit furious at the Benefactor. He's not even a little bit considerate.

"Seriously, man. Men get raped too, and I almost could've been one of them."

[]

I cut off the Benefactor. My voice raises as I speak.

"Y'know for someone who is literally named the 'Benefactor' you're not very helpful to people who truly need it, are you?"

I have even more respect for those who do come out about getting r*ped, having nearly experienced it. The space shakes as the Benefactor out.

[]

I snap back. "Why?! What can you do? You grant me powers, but offer no explanation for why I need them, what I need to use them for. Even Spider-Man got a 'Be A Hero' speech. Obviously, yeah, to save the world. But even if you didn't help me, I'd have tried to do that. You wanted me to kill people for you to grant me more powers. I've personally killed like 12 people already, and assisted in the deaths of at least 20. I'm not really seeing more powers here. I can't even tell if I'm sane anymore. I've had to stop actively thinking, cause I'm afraid I might realize that I am a monster. And that I have no problem with being one. I'm trying to separate myself from my psyche, so that don't destroy this world in my attempt to save it. But you're not helping very much, are you? Speaking of you, what even are you anyways?"

My rage and stress from over the last few days explodes out of me. I tried not to immediately show how stressed I am, but that's because I might react violently, and destroy my relationships, literally or figuratively. I don't want to kill the people I've befriended in my attempt to hide from my mirror.

"Are you even alive? What even is this? It could be some simulation or some shit by aliens, for all I know. Hell, this could be a government 'project' that involves kidnapping citizens and forcing them into a dream or some shit!"

"Are you some eldritch god who only likes suffering, death, and torture? The powers you gave me so far are great, yeah, and thanks for bringing me back from the dead, but what the hell, man? If you have so much power, and all this strength, why can't *you* do any of this? Why aren't *you* ruling the world, with all the strength you have? Only two reasons you aren't ruling over this world as a god right now. You either can't or won't. And since you love granting power so much, you clearly would. That leaves one option! It sure looks to me like you fucking CAN'T!"

My energy drains out as I fall to my knees, screaming that last word with all my strength.

Tears fall down my face, and I gasp for air. The hate I held for the two girls at that moment rages out of me. I'm sure if there was a physical form for the Benefactor, I'd have attacked them.

The Benefactor clears his throat, (does he even have one?), and continues. I start to calm down.

[< I... apologize. I took your situation lightly. Now I merely meant to show my surprise at your having finished your day between two women, and it ended out fairly well, did it not? It *could've* gotten dangerous, sure. But it didn't, right? That was all my point was. You need not worry about what could have been. It ended well enough, didn't it? Let's leave it at that. If ever it comes to the degree that the trauma you experience is too much, I am more than willing to wipe your memory of that experience.>]

I apologize, and turn around.

"Who or what, am I facing today?"

[]

I turn, and see a desk. On top of it were five spellbooks, each with their own intricate cover. One from each school of magic, a dark grey cover for Destruction with a flaming hand on it, a yellow one for Restoration with a dove on it, a purple one from Conjuration with an Oht, the Daedric script character that signifies the gates of Oblivion on it, a red cover for Illusion with a triskelion on it, and an orange cover for Alteration which has a half dead tree on it. I open each one and find that they're all novice spell books.

I read through each one, and compare them all. I realize something about each branch of magic. Wherever it mentioned higher tiers of spells, it describes having to apply other properties from other branches of magic, meaning to cast any of the higher tiers without first experiencing how to apply properties of magic from the opposing branches is impossible.

I read through the novice spellbooks and try to learn each spell from a different branch than the two I already know before I ended up getting kicked out. I was only able to learn one, and that was Courage, a targeted buff spell that I can cast on other people. A relatively rare spell for it's level. I was close to finishing learning the other spells when I heard the Benefactor's voice.

[< I will grant you a new power. Of the items, people, and creatures you see in these dreams, you will be able to summon once a day. They will last for roughly an hour. Oh... It seems our time has once again come to an end. Goodbye, Drake. And,... I'm sorry.>]

My eyes open blurrily. I don't know how, but somehow my shoulders have become pillows for the two girls, and sometime through the night, they wrapped my arms around them. Not only that, but I'm now shirtless. Or, tunic-less, technically.

Uthgerd, to my left, nuzzles closer into my neck and her breathing starts to tickle my throat. Jenassa, on my right, wriggles closer, well, more on top of me. The blanket over us doesn't help the situation. I can't really get out of this without waking them up, which seems like a bad situation. I don't want to have to deal with tired, angry women who've already sexually harassed me on the way back to Whiterun. In fact, it'd probably be best for me to travel without them for a while. Next time I leave, they're staying in Whiterun.

I decide on a plan for revenge. If they thought that they raped me, how would they act? There surely would be a change, I'm sure. I fall back asleep after about 30 minutes, but the midmorning light wakes me back up.

I look over to where Uthgerd is. She's staring at me with a horribly embarrassed look on her face. 'You deserve what's coming, you self-serving bitch!' She didn't get up probably because she was afraid she'd wake me too. That, or she was enjoying my body too much.

I start my revenge. I force tears to come out as I said, "I wanted you to stop, but you just kept going."

I feel a weight on my other shoulder shift, and it's Jenassa. She's awake, too, it turns out. 'Double kill! Face your undoing, bitch!'

"You gagged me with a sock to keep me quiet."

Knowing how drunk they were last night, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't remember at all what happened. Even better, because having no frame of reference made them immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion, as they should. Welcome to my revenge, girls. Also, I'm probably going to have problems with them touching me now.

I sit up and the girls have to sit up because of it. When I crawl over Jenassa to get out of the bed, she jumps for the blanket, not realizing that she's still wearing a tunic, and holds it up to her chest, as though she were covering her breasts. 'Tch. If we actually did what you thought we did, then I'd have seen a lot more than that.' Well, it is my fault she thought that. She deserves it.

I look for my tunic, and get properly dressed. I equip my armor and backpack and wait outside the room. After about 20 minutes, the girls finish getting dressed, and come out. The innkeeper looks over at me and smiles. He tips his head down in a nod of respect and I walk up to him.

I gesture for him to lean in close, and I whisper in his ear what happened. His face darkens and a frown appears. I tell him what I'm going to do, and what I hope to achieve. He whispers in my ear. I nod. I stealthily pass over a small purse of coins.

I wave over the girls.

The innkeep leans over, and says to the girls quietly, "Next time, be a little bit more considerate of the other guests here at the inn. You were..." He clears his throat. "A little loud."

He plays along with my revenge, and the girls turn red. I wink at him and mouth the words, "Thank you" as we turn to leave. He winks back, and mouths, "You're welcome."

I get Faendal and Hadvar, but don't reveal any information about what happened.

We head down the road to Whiterun. It was a silent hike. Not much happened except the birds sang too much, and butterflies fluttered wrong. I don't know how to explain it. The world just seems... jilted, tilted, twisty-turny, upsidedown and backwards. Reversed, inversed. Completely insane and totally sensible. Very funny, but not to me, like an inside joke that I'm very out on. As clear as a crystal, and as opaque as the shadows inside a cave a mile below the sea with a cloudy sky at night. As deep and infinite as space, yet shorter than the distance between one nanometer and another. All of the above. It feels like something about the world had certainly been made wrong and everything wasn't as it should be.

Ah. I see. It's not the world that's changed... Just my view of it. Maybe it's because I've seen a taste of evil humanity is capable of the makes it so clear. Something is made clear and that thing is 'The autonomy of will of an individual should not be transgressed upon.'

When free will is no longer free, and it's not your will, there is no autonomy. Only lies, mistrust, dishonesty. I don't remember when I said it earlier, but it's broken dreams in a shattered night. Maybe that's all reality is. Sleeping. A being out there is sleeping, and when it finally wakes up, everything will end. That's because this is what this is: a dream. No, for some, a nightmare. For others, maybe they live in reality. I don't know. Maybe I'll never know. Oh. It woke up again. Go back to sleep, brain. Your input isn't needed here. I can't even laugh at the irony. My brain is waking, while I'm living in a dream. No. No. Not here. Better to live a happy lie, then a violently ugly truth. Not yet. It's not time for you to wake.

Six and a half stress and anxiety-filled hours later (for the girls anyways), we reach Whiterun, and head up to Dragonsreach.

I walk straight to Farengar, with the girls following. We hear the tail end of a conversation as we walk up between Farengar and a hooded woman. The woman has a book in front of her. I couldn't catch the title as we walked by, though.

Farengar's in the middle of speaking. "You see? The terminology is clearly First Era or even earlier. I'm convinced this is a copy of a much older text. Perhaps dating to just after the Dragon War. If so, I could use this to cross-reference the names with other later texts."

The hooded woman answers him, "Good. I'm glad you're making progress. My employers are anxious to have some tangible answers."

Farengar continues. "Oh, have no fear. The Jarl himself has finally taken an interest, so I'm now able to devote most of my time to this research."

The hooded woman reprimands Farengar. "Time is running out, Farengar, don't forget. This isn't some theoretical question. Dragons have come back."

Farengar answers her, annoyed at her statement. "Yes, yes. Don't worry. Although the chance to see a living dragon up close would be tremendously valuable... Now, let me show you something else I found... very intriguing... I think your employers may be interested as well..."

The hooded woman notices our approaching."You have a visitor."

Farengar looks over to us. "Hmm? Ah, yes, the Jarl's protege! Back from Bleak Falls Barrow? You didn't die, it seems. Do you have the Dragonstone?"

I set my backpack down and pull out the Dragonstone.

"Here you go."

"Ah! The Dragonstone of Bleak Falls Barrow! Seems you are a cut above the usual brutes the Jarl sends my way."

"So, uh, what about my reward?"

Farengar slides the Dragonstone over to him, and pulls out a magnifying glass. He mutters out as he stares at it.

"You'll have to see the Jarl about that. Maybe his steward, Avenicci. I'm sure one of then will pay you appropriately. My... associate here will be pleased to see your handiwork. She discovered its location, by means she has so far declined to share with me."

Farengar looks up at the hooded woman. "So your information was correct after all. And we have our friend here to thank for recovering it for us. And his friends, too, it appears."

She looks over to me. "You went into Bleak Falls Barrow and got that? Nice work."

She turns back to Farengar. "Just send me a copy when you've deciphered it."

"Now that I've gotten you the Dragonstone, what now?" I ask him.

"That is where your job ends and mine begins. The work of the mind, sadly undervalued in Skyrim. My... associate here will be pleased to see your handiwork. She discovered its location, by means she has so far declined to share with me."

"Strange. Feels like I've said that already." Farengar continues, frowning.

After I finish speaking with Farengar, Irileth jogs up to him.

"Farengar!" She calls. "Farengar, you need to come at once. A dragon's been sighted nearby."

She sees me and my crew. "You all should come, too."

We follow Irileth back to the Jarl. Meanwhile, Farengar's sputtering out: "A dragon! How exciting! Where was it seen? What was it doing?"

Irileth answers Farengar. "I'd take this a bit more seriously if I were you. If a dragon decides to attack Whiterun, I don't know if we can stop it. Let's go."

Jarl Balgruuf is receiving a report from a guardsman. "So, Irileth tells me you came from the western watchtower?" Balgruuf asks.

"Yes, my lord," the guard says.

"Tell him what you told me. About the dragon." Irileth commands him.

"Uh... that's right. We saw it coming from the south. It was fast... faster than anything I've ever seen." the guard says.

Balgruuf was leaning forward in his seat now. "What did it do? Is it attacking the watchtower?"

The guard answers quickly, "No, my lord. It was just circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my life... I thought it would come after me for sure."

The Jarl takes control of the situation. "Good work, son. We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it. Irileth, you'd better gather some guardsmen and get down there."

'Time to fight Mirmulnir.' I was both saddened and glad at the thought. Mirmulnir is the first dragon you kill as the Dragonborn, so I'm glad to fight him. I'm saddened because what will I do with all of the bones and scales? I'm no longer stuck in the confines of the game, where I'm limited in the amount of materials I can take from the dragon's corpse. I can take all of the bones and scales, and at an extremely low level, too. You're only able to do this after reaching the area around level 40-60 in the game. I should bring the bones and scales to someone like Eorlund Gray-Mane, the forge master of the Skyforge, aka the greatest smith in all of Skyrim.

I switch my attention back to Irileth, as she says, "I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate."

"Good. Don't fail me." The Jarl says. He's maybe only 30-something, but the lines on his face are worn there purely by stress. I wouldn't be surprised. The weight of the crown is much heavier than the weight of a sword.

He then faces me. "There's no time to stand on ceremony, my friend. I need your help again. I want you to go with Irileth and help her fight this dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons than anyone else here. But I haven't forgotten the service you did for me in retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar. As a token of my esteem, I instructed Avenicci that you are now permitted to purchase property in the city. And please accept this gift from my personal armory."

He waves his hand, and a guard comes rushing forward, holding a shield. The guard gives it to the Jarl, who hands it to me, giving me a glowing steel heater shield that was never in the game.

"This shield is enchanted against fire. It is said to nearly halve the damage taken from fire."

"I thank you, my Jarl." I bow down in respect and gratefully accept the shield.

"I shall leave and use this as you command." I continue.

"Go." Jarl Balgruuf's face is weary, and his voice shakes. Dragons aren't supposed to be things men should have to face, and wars are stressful on their own. I think I'd be, too.

Farengar steps forward. "I should come along. I would very much like to see this dragon."

"No," the Jarl stops him. "I can't afford to risk both of you. I need you here working on ways to defend the city against these dragons."

Farengar groans, then obeys. "As you command."

He returns to his workroom.

Balgruuf looks back to Irileth. "One last thing, Irileth. This isn't a death or glory mission. I need to know what we're dealing with."

Irileth confirms his will, as she says, "Don't worry, my lord. I'm the very soul of caution."

She leaves.

My crew behind me follows as I bow again to the Jarl and make my way out the gates of Whiterun.

-----------------

Funds: 2,603 septims

Weapons:

💠 - Orcish Sword of Paralysis

💠 - Orcish Sword

💠 - Quicksilver Throwing Knives {x5}

💠 - Nordic Daggers {x2}

- Elven Bow, Unstrung {x12 Elven Arrows}

Apparel:

💠 - Refurbished Steel Helm (15% more armor)

💠 - Steel Armor (HP Regen. Injury Heal Rate 25%↑, Light Wound Heal 50%↑)

💠 - Spiked Steel Gauntlets (+20 extra H2H damage)

💠 - Refitted Steel Boots (15% more armor)

💠 - Custom Quicksilver buckler (18% more armor)

- Winter Cloak (20% Cold Resistance)

- Shield of the Dragonslayer (Heater, 40% Fire Resistance)

Potions:

- Mysterious Potion x4

Food:

- Basket of Fruits and Vegetables; {onions x4, apples x8, leeks x5, potatoes x8, head of cabbage x2, carrots x6, loaves of bread x2}

Books:

- Stack of Stormcloak notes and letters to family {x15}

- Letter to Thrynn & Torturer's Ring

- Spell Tome: Sparks

- Spell Tome: Oakflesh

Scrolls:

- Scroll of Blizzard

Supplies:

- Backpack

- Bedroll

- Cooking pan

- Waterskin

- Metal Bowl

- Torches {x3}

- Tent

Miscellaneous:

- Lockpicks {x1}

- Vial for Mysterious Potion

- Golden Claw

- Potion bottle remains