Chapter 18: Reaching Ivarstead — Ver. 2.0
• • •
Lydia looked to where Thane Drake was sleeping. The exhaustion from earlier must have finally gotten to him, along with something... else.
After hearing his deep inhaling and exhaling, she exhales a breath she didn't know she was holding. The entire ride here, she couldn't say anything to her Thane. She didn't really know what to say, because she doesn't know what Drake likes to talk about. So she stayed silent. Every time she had something to talk about, she almost said it, but then she buried that feeling before it could control her, because what if she said something wrong? What if she said something he didn't agree with? What if he had no idea what she was talking about, like before when she had to explain the multiple Thanes?
When the 'bandits' tried to force Thane Drake to pay gold to them, she felt angry without really knowing why, but suppressed it as her Thane turned around, and took her away from them to discuss their options. Lydia was really glad that Thane Drake asked for her opinion on them earlier. At first, when he asked her how she felt about them before explaining how he felt, she felt that killing them would actually be the best option they could take, but after his explanation, she had no reason to dispute it.
They demanded gold from her Thane, and if he didn't pay up, they threatened to kill him! As Drake's Housecarl, she was given the duty to act his sword and his shield, and that meant defending him should he be attacked by bandits. Or should bandits threaten him with violence. [Despite his perfect capability to defend himself.]
After they dealt with the 'bandits' diplomatically, the 'bandits' chased them, thanking and praying to the gods that they'd been saved. However, the way they expressed their thanks... It seemed quite a bit fanatical, even to Lydia.
On Thane Drake's face, she could see he was greatly disturbed by them, and the urge to just kill them returned. However, by then she and Thane Drake had already managed to escape them. The faces they wore creeped Lydia out when they smiled and prayed, and echoes of their faces appear whenever she looks to a shadow, almost as if they were right there.
After that, when Thane Drake began to explain to her the concept of "thermodynamics", she wanted to learn more. Lydia feels that it's quite unfortunate that he stopped teaching her. Speaking of, she was still mulling over what he taught her when he suddenly just burst into tears.
He was staring at the fire when it happened - could something have happened in his past that he remembered upon seeing the flames? 'He must have lost part of his family to a fire, or could it have been all of them? How unfortunate... Setting that fire must have made his memories return. Ehhh, what if he was the one who set the fire? If that's the case it must've been an accident. He wouldn't cry over killing his family in purpose, would he?' [As you may notice, she has no idea what she's talking about.]
For a while, Lydia's head was filled with the thought that her Thane's personality was twisted, but she eventually came to the conclusion that whatever her Thane experienced from now on, she would try to help him heal whatever memories he was saddened by. [She is completely wrong on this. He just forgot their faces, he wasn't backstabbed or anything.]
After all, Lydia thought, that was what she should do as a person. [It wasn't. A person can only heal from something when they're willing to, and on their own time. Victim mentalities can be so strong that the placebo effect of their making makes their problems worse. It sucks getting knocked down, but it's worse staying down.]
Lydia catches motion at the corner of her eyes. Her head flits to see what it was. Contrary to her expectations, it's her Thane, who had rolled in his sleep, and is facing Lydia now on his side. Lydia quickly prowls closer.
'My Thane!' She thinks, as she moves closer. 'I want to know more about you.' Of course, by want to know more, she meant that she would closely watch him sleep, eventually even moving to lay next to him and staring at his face. The fact that she hadn't until now demonstrates how deep she was in her thoughts. You know, there's a lot you can tell about a person based on how they sleep.
She watches him take deep breaths in, then out. In. Then out. In. And out again. As he breathes, Lydia unknowingly matches breaths with him. The longer he sleeps, the closer her face gets to his, until their faces nearly meet. They're nearly kissing. Lydia's heart starts to pound. Eventually, she breaks away for a second, and breathes normally.
It turns out, it wasn't just her heart that was pounding, as her head starts to cool. Lydia looks back to her Thane, and...
• • •
Lydia's face, less than an inch away. Her face is so close that if I move forward even slightly, our lips would meet. I stare her lips for nearly a few seconds. They look... soft. Barely chapped at all. They were a pinkish-maroon color, sort of like a mature pomegranate. But realizing the situation, I slide backwards trying to create space between us.
I hear Lydia whisper something as I back up: "No, w-wait..."
She quickly catches herself, gasping, her face flicking between fear and embarrassment, as she tries again.
"Ah... Uh... I-It's time for your turn on watch."
She scrambles to her bedroll on the opposite side of the fire. She crawls inside, before hiding. She peeks just her eyes out, holding the bedroll to her face.
"O-okay..." I'm a little scared of her now, but I crawl out of my bedroll, equipping my armor, and weapons. The tears I was crying out earlier have long dried, as too my shock at my loss of memory. The sights of I've seen, the people I've killed. I remember it all, and none of it, at the same time. I'm glad that my Scribe exists. If the memories I have of my past completely disappear, it will be the only way to remember my sense of self. I don't belong to this world, no matter how much I try to act like it.
The fire's burned down a bit, but tossing a couple logs on it has it burning bright and cheerfully again. The air around warms up, and the firelight is once again being cast against the forest. All is quiet for a few minutes.
"... Are you okay?" Lydia quietly asks. I look at her, trying to figure out how I should answer. The truth? A lie? Both? Neither? I decide that giving a neutral answer would be best.
"I don't think I'm able to answer that right now." I say, trying to sound nicer than I did earlier.
"Oh... That's okay. You can tell me whenever you're ready." Lydia says in response.
"Could I ask why you were so close to me a few minutes ago?" I ask. I'm curious to know why she was that close.
"I... Uh... Was, um, uh... Just waking you up for watch?" Lydia answers, ending up turning it into a question. Her voice sounds nervous, scared, even.
"... Yeah... Sure." I don't believe her. She definitely wasn't just waking me up for watch. Staring into the fire and just being present with my environment clears and calms my mind, but without waking it. Like I'm asleep in a car ride, and someone else is driving.
Since I don't have much else to do, I play with my magic, Oakflesh and Flames. Over the course of about half an hour, I become able to focus my Oakflesh to harden it all at once completely into a perfect shell using up the Magicka "batteries". Unfortunately, that makes it end much quicker in exchange. I also figure out how to make my Flames focus into a spiral, twisting and turning. It stretches into a long helix made of a single Flame. The Flames casted over the Oakflesh turn the light shining on the forest around us to glow or even pulsate with varying colors.
The more I practice with my magic, the stronger I seem to be getting, but I'm starting to feel like there's going to be a wall for me to try and climb over to get much stronger. I think I'll be able to learn maybe two or three more spells before I hit it, though. Practicing so much is starting to leave me exhausted, too. Physically and mentally. My Magicka pool has increased again, though, so I think it's worth it.
After I get tired, I stop practicing magic and meditate. I was taught how to meditate back on Earth, by one of my friends. He got really invested in things like yoga and meditation from self-help books and videos. Ah damn it, I really miss Josh. If only he and the rest of the guys could've came here too.
I sit cross-legged on the ground, and close my eyes. I take a deep breath and focus on my breathing. I hold it for four seconds, before exhaling it for another four seconds as well. I stop breathing for four seconds, before inhaling for four, and repeating the process. This method was called box breathing.
For three hours I meditated, using my ears to identify the noises coming from the brush around me. Lydia sleeping not that far away. Crickets chirping and grasshoppers buzzing in their trees. The occasional hoot of an owl, and the soft, quiet flapping of their wings as they pass over me, less than two feet above my head. The yips and yapping of foxes, along with the howls of wolves, far off in the distance. The rush of the river not that far away. Then a noise I don't recognize.
It's a deep, bass snuffling, as though whatever was making the sound had massive lungs. The crunching of leaves and the snapping of branches breaking. The sound of clawing at trees. The footsteps, much louder than a humans'. My eyes open as the creature makes another sound. Growling.
It's a bear. It crawls into the firelight, it's fur shining wet and dripping. It must have swam across the river. I inhale a quick sharp breath, my mind racing. 'What do I do when I see a bear? Uh... Oh! That one video... What did it say? Brown, black... Something about attacking? Oh, that's right! If it's black, fight back, if it's brown, lie down! This is... Uh... A... Black bear. So I gotta fight back if it attacks me... Okay.'
I exhale, gasping. As I try to stabilize my breathing with deep breaths and ready my weapons for combat, the bear paws at my backpack, set off the side of our little camp. It claws at it for a few seconds, before moving to the sleeping area.
Lydia. I watch with horror as the bear crawls over to her. I don't know if I can take on a bear, but I'd rather not test my strength when it's so close to Lydia. It sniffs at her for a few seconds, hovering it's head over hers, before plopping across from me next to the fire. It scratches at the dirt for a few seconds, before laying down near the fire. I thought fire is supposed to keep bears and wolves away or something?
It falls to a heavy snoring slumber quickly. What do I do? It's not like I can pick up camp and head away from this bear. I don't want to kill it, because if I do, a spriggan nearby might become hostile. I don't know if there's any spriggans in the area, and I'd rather not find out either. The bear I might be able to kill, but I've got no chance against a spriggan, I think. My attention snaps to a tree nearby. It's pulsating a green glow, growing from the roots to the trunk upwards, and something is separating from the tree.
Bugs buzz loudly as something near me exits a tree, forming into a purple glowing tree woman, with flesh made of wood and bark. It's branch-like arms and legs look almost muscular. It steps out from the tree.
I spot four long-clawed fingers on it's hands, antlers (or rather, branches), and a tall body as the being comes into form. Glowing violet motes of light float around it's body, and it's heart, a taproot, is glowing in it's chest a bright purple. It's the worst case scenario I had feared.
The being I just described is a spriggan, a type of dryad in this world. Or rather, a spriggan Earth Mother, the strongest type of spriggan there is. There's a bit of lore about the spriggans, being that they have their own language and are connected in some ways to a lot of the strongest beings on Nirn. They have an annoying healing spell that they use when they're about to die, that restores their health and increases the longer you let them cast it. Whenever a player meets a spriggan, they're almost always considered hostile creatures and attack you.
However, this spriggan hasn't done anything hostile, as of yet. It walks towards me. I get up, taking a few steps backwards. I raise my sword, ready to attack.
<"Theeeeerre iiiiiisss nooo neeeed forrr thaaaat. (There is no need for for that.)"> The Earth Mother... Says? Whispers? The voice is made by a combination of a bunch of bugs vibrating their wings at different frequencies and wood creaking as it bends, so it's hard to determine the right word for it. She? It? I'll go with it. It has a soft 'voice', despite the materials being used to make the 'voice'.
"You can talk?!" In the game, the spriggans never spoke.
<"Yeees. Iii leeeaarned oooveer tiiime. Huuumaaans haaave traaaveled thiiis fooorrest siiince looong aagooo. (Yes. I learned over time. Humans have traveled this forest since long ago.)">
I don't know the Earth Mother's intentions, so I lower my sword only slightly. I frown. Clearly this is an unusual situation.
<"Doooo yooouuu wiiiish forrr yooouurrr frrriiieeeend toooo beee eeeeaaateen? (Do you wish for your friend to be eaten)? Puuuuut doooowwwnn yooouurrr..... weeaapons ooooof waaar. (Put down your weapons of war.)">
I sheathe my sword. Having Lydia be eaten wouldn't be a very good start to this journey.
<"Goooood. (Good.) Iiii caaaaame toooo ooooffferr youuu aaaa giiiift. (I came to offer you a gift.)">
"A gift?" I echo. What did I do to deserve a gift, and what does she want to gift me?
<"Yyyeeeesss. (Yes.) Yooouur... Aaproooaach tooo maaakiingg fiiiires iiiss... (Your approach to making fires is...) Saaafe, sussstaaaainable, and... (Safe, sustainable, and...) Dooooeeessss nooot unneeeecessaaariily daaamaage myyy fooooreest. (Does not unnecessarily damage my forest.) Sooo... Iii giiivee youuu thiiiisss... (So I give you this.)">
"?" I cock my head to the side, as the Earth Mother hands me a light bronze arrow of a strange design, glowing green. Parts of the designs on it remind me of my elven arrows, completely different, yet very similar.
<"Aaaan aaaarrrooww ooof aaancient maaake froooom an eeerraaa looong paaast. (An arrow of ancient make from an era long past.) 'Twaaaas saaaiid Ayyleeeiid, buuut Iii wooouuld nooot beee sooo suuurree. ('Twas said Ayleid, but I would not be so sure.)">
Ayleid?! An Ayleid arrow? That would make this very valuable, probably worth several thousand septims. By the looks of it, this arrow was also enchanted, making it twice as much. It feels almost brittle though, as if it would only take a single shot before the arrow shatters.
"Thank you, but if I may ask: why are you being so generous? Doing like I had should be fairly common." I'm not about to take a gift without being at least a little bit suspicious.
The Earth Mother took a second, then laughed. Or, at least, I think it was supposed to be a laugh. A bunch of the bugs flying around her body just started buzzing their wings in a 140bpm fashion. The 'head' of the Earth Mother was thrown backwards, and nods it back to me.
<"Aaahh! Moootheeer Kyyyne wooouuld looove yooouu! (Ah! Mother Kyne would love you!) 'Tiiis nooot sooo ooofteeen thaaaat aaaa mooortaaaal wooouuld aaact aaas yooouuu dooo iiinn heeer fooooreest. ('Tis not so often that a mortal would act as you do in her forest.) Noooo, taaaake thiiis giiiift and staaay yooouurrr paaaath. (No, take this gift and stay your path.)">
"... I will, then. Thank you." I don't really know how to react besides accepting the situation.
<"Goooood. Iii wiiiiill taaaake myyyy leeeaave theeen. (Good. I will take my leave then.)"> The Earth Mother nods, and walks to the tree. It touches the tree, then starts to meld back into it. First, the hand, then the arm, and so on.
The frown on my face from the entire situation remains as the tree swallows the rest of the Earth Mother's body. The form of it's body returns to the tree, fusing with it. The tree pulsates with a green glow, and bugs buzz once more as the form of the Earth Mother completely disappears. The bear wakes up, shakes it's body like a dog, then walks off into the forest, as if it'd never been here.
As soon as the bear walks off, Lydia wakes up, jumping up and grabbing her weapons.
"I smell wet fur! Did you see something?!"
I sigh. 'Thank God the spriggan didn't come when Lydia was on watch. We'd be dead.'
After realizing there wasn't an enemy in sight, she calms down, but keeps hold of her sword. She sits down on her bedroll, looks at me with her eyebrows twisted and opens her mouth.
"Uh... What're you holding?" She asks. Since she's across from me, and there's a fire between us, she probably can't tell what I'm holding, especially with it being as dark as it is.
"An arrow." I answer her. I turn back to my bedroll and sit down on it.
Lydia cocks her head to the side. "Where'd you get an arrow from?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I tell her. There's no way she'll believe me, right?
You wake up in the middle of the night to find that the person guarding you is now holding an arrow, and they tell you it's a gift from a magical creature that's blessed by a goddess, despite the fact that the magical creature is one that's also usually filled with bloodlust. Oh, and that magical creature can talk, too. Now, not only did that magical creature speak, it also threatened to make a bear eat you, the person sleeping nearby.
Yeah, it sounds unbelievable.
"I think you underestimate the crazy things I've seen." Lydia comments.
"Alright. If you really think so..." I shake my head a little kind of confused at what actually just happened less than a few minutes ago.
"So, at first, a bear shows up, right?" I start at the beginning. I explain what happened, and she looks at me in almost utter disbelief.
"Were it not for the fact that you attempted to convince me that I wouldn't believe you, I probably wouldn't believe you. But... Miracles happen almost all time, so I've seen... And besides, you're holding the evidence. So... I believe you." Lydia responds, her face all knotted up in a frown.
"Good. That being said, you can go back to sleep-..." I say, nodding towards her bedroll.
"I'm fine staying up. Not long till dawn, anyways." Lydia cuts me off. She leans forward and reaches her hands out to the fire. It's not especially cold out but it's a cool 40°F or so out here.
"Alright, then." I return to practicing my magic. Instead of Flames or Oakflesh, I practice casting Sparks, creating a loud buzzing and crackling noise, and lighting the area up with a whitish-blue light. The sudden noise makes our horses shift in their sleep, but they stay unconscious.
A heat unlike that of Flames washes over me from the miniature lightning bolts jumping around in the palm of my hand. Just like the first time I casted it, dust and pebbles rise, and and my hair starts to rise. A tension fills the air, as if I might lose control of my Sparks, but I know I won't.
I practice for the next hour and half, casting it into the sky, where a space between the peristyle and the trees were formed. The draining of my Magicka pool and refilling forces it to increase yet again.
Eventually, dawn breaks, starting at first by turning the sky a dim blue. Then, golden light shines over hills and mountains, and through the trees where Lydia and I are. We eat a light breakfast, and pack up our campsite: killing the fire, packing up tents, rolling up our bedrolls, cleaning up the fire pit, etc.; before refilling our waterskins and getting our horses ready to be ridden again. Speaking of the horses, they had a relatively good night sleeping peacefully, unlike us.
After setting up Myrmidon's saddle and packs, I guide him out of the area where the Barrow is, and move on. Lydia follows me, doing the same with Daryon.
Once we're outside the tree line and off the hill, we mount our horses, and start riding again at a moderate pace. We cross the bridge leading over the river, and head onward to the , passing the forest to our. We eventually see a sign ahead of us, with arrows pointing in a multitude of directions.
It's here that we come upon a person staring at the sign, standing next to a donkey with a saddle and large packs hanging on it's sides. He compares the signs words to his map. We approach warily, slowing our horses and preparing to draw our weapons, if necessary. It's a man I don't recognize in the slightest. He's probably not from the game.
Hearing our horses' footsteps, he turns around. He's a Nord. A bard, it looks like, too, based off of his lute and gear.
His lute appears to be a custom one, with fancy golden paint embedded in its wood, in elaborate designs of roses and crossed swords. Alongside the various potions he was wearing on his belt, was a sword and shield he had equipped.
"Oh?! Hello there!" He says in a chipper, but raucous voice. "Ah, could you help me?"
He grabs the back of his head, scratching it, with a wide smile on his face. "You see, I'm not very good at reading maps. If you could point me to Riften, that'd be very helpful!"
I stealthily remove my hand from my sword, nodding to him. I get off of Myrmidon and walk to the man's side. He shows me the map, a yellowed paper with tears at the sides and corners, and more than a couple burns and holes. I don't know how he doesn't realize, but...
"Well, to start, your map's upsidedown." I tell him.
The bard frowns, flips his map, and breaks into a smile, laughing. "Ah! So that's why I didn't recognize any of the checkpoints or landmarks."
"Yeah... Could I see your map?" I ask him. He hands it over, and I look over it. It appears that just by following the main road he should be able to get to Riften, although once he passes a fort, Fort Mistwatch (if I'm remembering correctly), he'll come upon a crossroads. By taking the road to the left and keeping Mistwatch in his northwest and passing the fort, he'll eventually come to yet another crossroads. At that one, he'll need to take the right, and head south. After that, he'll come up upon a mine - Redbelly, I believe - where he could either continue on the main road, or take a side trail. If he continues on the main road, he'll soon find himself at another fort, Fort Greenwall this time, and will likely have to pay a toll to the bandits there.
The forts get captured by bandits quite often for some strange reason, and the only reason I remember any of them is due to the amount of quests attached. Greenwall and Mistwatch you have to capture while working for either the Imperials, or the Stormcloaks. I forgot which.
On the other hand, if he takes the side trail, he'll be running a risk, as trolls and various hostile mages tend to roost in places like the Rift. The Rift is the temperate deciduous forest that commonly has great weather, and is beautiful with its autumnal atmosphere year-round.
The main road is actually arguably safer, given that the bandits are open to negotiation, while the trolls and mages usually aren't.
After deciding whichever he wishes at Redbelly, he would need to continue south to the three watchtowers of Riften. He will be able to see the watchtowers regardless of whichever route he takes. Finally, once he sees those, he's there.
As I explain the bards' situation, his face just gets more and more confused. He's not really tracking what I'm saying.
I sigh. "Look." I slide my finger along the path he needs to take, showing the map to him, and explain it again.
Just in case, I outline landmarks he'll need to spot in my blood, stabbing my finger with one of my daggers, and using the blood as ink and my dagger as a pen. I'm fine doing this because my armor repairs my skin quickly enough that the blood loss doesn't matter.
The bard's face turns to a worried look when I pulled my dagger out, but when he sees what I did, and how quickly I healed, he calms down. After getting him to memorize the path once again and handing him back his map, he thanks me, before saying:
"Oh, in exchange for helping me with my map, here's some advice I was told a couple days ago by some travelers. You should avoid heading to the Pale and Hjaalmarch Holds any time soon, there's a large regiment of Stormcloak soldiers marching through there. They said a battle might erupt when they reach the forts. Might mount a siege 'n all."
I was taken aback. I glance over to Lydia. She's got a worried look on her face. Turning back to the bard, I say, "Thanks for the advice, friend. Be careful now, time's are getting... dangerous. Speaking of, want to ride with us?"
As if times weren't dangerous already. Full-blown battles, and sieges are just the start of my problems. As soon as I finish up with the Greybeards, I need to go to Riften, and start prepping for the future. The Dark Brotherhood will be the start of my journey. Controlling the Thieve's Guild will also be necessary. If I can skip most of the unnecessary business with the Thieve's Guild... I can just hire them! Same for the Dark Brotherhood. I currently have a lot of gold.
I can make concentrated hits on supply lines using the Thieve's Guild, slowing the Stormcloak offensive, and contract assassinations with the Dark Brotherhood on the commanders of regiments in each Hold. In the time I currently have, I don't have nearly enough time to join each and every guild during this war, and solve all of their problems, but I can definitely make it much easier for the guilds to be run.
The Thieve's Guild is currently in the middle of a curse by the Daedric Prince Nocturnal, and they kind of need Nocturnal's blessing to be good at their jobs. I'll fix that problem by killing that traitor, and solve that issue. In the Dark Brotherhood, they're experiencing the death of their jobs. Not many people require assassinations anymore.
That being said, I have a lot on my plate that I need to get rid of. To start, I have to get to the Greybeards, which brings me back to where I am now.
After hearing my acknowledgement, the bard nods, gets on his donkey, and start riding on the main road, heading to Riften. We follow behind him, as the trail that kicks off towards Ivarstead is still miles ahead of us.
The bard strums his lute as we ride. He plays several joyous tunes, killing the dreary and foreboding atmosphere. Talking about the war is a reminder of the current events, and the fact that there's Stormcloaks marching to siege a fort isn't a very pleasant thought.
Riding for the next few minutes, we eventually see Fort Amol, a fort to our north controlled by bandits. The road travels east, so the fort was to our left. Up on the high walls, we could see pairs of eyes sticking out from above the battlements. A small hand from a child waves at us, before two large bandits stop them. All of us stop for a second, and the bard ahead of us stops playing his music. He sees the children as well.
"Keep on your way, travelers! We've no interest in harming you!" A brown-haired Nord called down, before looking to the child. "My dear Ronja (pronounced rone-ya), put your arm down. They'll think we kidnapped you!"
"Sorry, Da. He's my Da!" Ronja says, cheerfully, yelling down to us.
"Look at your daughter, Mattis!" The other bandit, a yellow-haired Nord laughs at Mattis. "At least me boy could control himself! Ain't that right, Birk?"
"Nope!" The other child, Birk, waves at us too, before calling out, "And that's my Da!"
He and Ronja quickly run away from the two bandits giggling, as the second adult bandit fumes and shouts out: "Oi! What'd we say about running around up here? It's dangerous! You could trip and die!"
Mattis roars out in laughter, gleefully, slapping his knees. "HA! Oi, Borka, you should get control of your boy!"
"Yea?! Well, not as much as you need control over ya daughter!" Borka fumes even further, then his face turns pales as new people approach, speaking in high voices, but unclear to us. Mattis stops laughing as well, as he backs up in fear, hitting the edge of the battlements.
"Hik! Y-yes dearest?" He stutters out.
Two women can now be seen standing in front of Mattis and Borka. In front of Mattis stands a red-headed woman with large golden hairclips. She speaks to Mattis in a high, strong tone. She also sounds tired, as if this weren't the first time she's done this.
"You stop arguing with Borka about everything, and actually get to work. There's lots to be done that you haven't yet finished, and last time I checked it's midday. Not much time left if you want to spend it drinking."
"Not the mead!" Mattis' face grew even more pale. He winces, and turns to look at us.
"Run! Before she takes your mead, too!" He hoarsely whispers out, before his ear gets grabbed by the woman and he gets pulled back.
"Ow! Ow! I'm going, Lovis! I'm going!" He calls out in pain.
At the same time, in front of Borka stands a blonde Nord woman with gaudy golden earrings. She's wearing a long blue dress, with a bright red belt. Her arms are crossed and her face is red.
Her screeching voice reaches us very easily, as she yells at Borka. "I ASKED YOU FOR ONE DAY! ONE DAY OF NOT ARGUING WITH MATTIS! AND WHAT DO I FIND YOU DOING THE MINUTE I WALK OUTSIDE?!"
She waits for a second calming down slightly, before bellowing, "I expect an ANSWER!"
"A-a-arguing with Mattis..." Borka quietly answers, shivering.
"YES! And what! Did I say would happen if I found out that you *were* arguing with Mattis?!" She shook and tilted her head as she spoke, or rather, shouted.
"Y-you said that t-the next time we eat a deer that I w-would eat the hooves." He stutters out, much in the same way that Mattis did.
"I did, did I? Well, guess we're going to have for dinner tonight?!" The woman yells at him.
"D-d-deer." Borka squeaks out, ducking his head.
"Right. In. One!" The woman shouts for the last time. "Now. Go and get yourself washed up." She nods to the inside of the fort. "You're going to help me cook it."
She and Lovis walk over to the edge of the battlements, where we're sitting on our steeds.
"Sorry for the ruckus!" Lovis calls out. "Please enjoy the rest of your day!"
They both walk into one of the towers inside the fort after that, and so we continue on our way. An interesting enough event, that was.
Knowing that those children weren't captured victims, but the actual children of those bandits raises an interesting point. What will those children grow up to become? More bandits? That seems to be the most likely answer, but what will happen after the war, when being a bandit is no longer as profitable, and the threat of guards showing up to kill them is raised?
And what about people like the 'bandits' from yesterday? What will happen to them? What if they become even more victims of the war?
What should I do? What *can* I do? I don't have nearly enough money to finance the building of an entire city, for all the various refugees and victims of this war. At least... Not yet.
For the next few hours we travel over two more large bridges, crossing tributaries of Darkwater River. Darkwater, as it's commonly known, is the river that connects Lake Geir, the closest lake to Ivarstead, to the White River, where they collectively flow north to Windhelm. Forests all around us, sometimes spotted with large empty fields, and massive boulders just lying everywhere, dot our flanks. It starts off a lush green, but the further south we travel, the more orange and red leaves dot the wood.
Soon after we cross the third bridge, we wave the bard off, as our trail begins from there. A softer road of soil instead of stone is now ahead of us, with light gravel on the sides of it. Fallen leaves crunch under our horses's feet as we travel to the south now. The temperature starts to raise a few degrees, and colors of the trees change from dark brown pines and oaks to the spotted whites of birch and aspen.
The foothills of the Throat of the World lie ahead of us, the snowy peak to our right, the west. The snow up on the mountain looks extremely cold, as though we trudging through it already. I shiver at the thought of hiking through that.
Instead of behind me now, Lydia rides to my right. Sometimes, a zephyr blows softly from the west, where gaps in the mountian's peaks allow breezes to flow through, and it makes her hair dance in the wind.¹ The trail we follow leads us on a twisted path, guiding us uphill, along the sides of the rapids and waterfalls of another tributary draining from Lake Geir.
After another half hour of riding we reach Ivarstead, a small village of a few dozen people to a hundred or so. There are about twelve longhouses, and several smaller huts. There's a large farm ahead of us, meant to sustain the village and pay taxes to the Jarl of Riften. As we ride into the village we receive stares and remarks are loudly said about us.
"Newcomers?" Someone asked.
"Probably to answer the Greybeards' summons." One answered.
"Well, that can't be. That'd make one of them Dovahkiin, right - Dragonborn?"
"Nah, can't be. Neither of them looks strong enough. Girl's too young, and that guy probably can't even fight a bear." The man who said that had a bored look on his face.
"What?! You can't fight a bear, either. You can't use a bear as a scale of strength for someone to be Dragonborn." A woman standing next to him smacks the back of his head saying that.
Another man laughs cunningly, runs away, and comes back fast enough for me to hear him exclaim, "Behold! The Dragonborn!" He's holding a large woodcutter's axe, holding it like a person would show off a cat.² Arms outstretched, holding it by what's needed.
"See? That's the kind of logic you have!" The woman points out.
"What?! No axe can kill a bear on its own. That's not what I was trying to say!" The man complains, before insisting that he'd "Just think that the Dragonborn would at least look strong enough to fight a bear. Which neither of those two look like they could do."
"Yeah, well, what'd fit for your standards, then? A giant?" The woman says indignantly.
"Tha's what oi said before me woife left me." A third man pops into their conversation, before roaring out with laughter. Hearing his joke makes a bunch of people laugh as well, especially the men. The woman standing by harrumphs, but as she leaves the conversation I could see a small smile on her face.
The third man's joke leaves a smirk on Lydia's face, and a wide smile on mine. I had to actually hold back my laughter, almost snorting as I do so. The smile stays for a long time as I ride around the town, looking for an inn. Unfortunately, however, there isn't one, making my smile eventually disappear.
I turn Myrmidon around, and guide him back to the north side of town, where a bridge crossing the main drainage point for Lake Geirmund is. That bridge leads to the start of the Seven Thousand Steps, the stairway that leads up to High Hrothgar, the stone castle that the Greybeards live in. We go to a small clearing by the side of the trail near the town.
Unlike last night, setting up camp this time was much faster and easier, as we'd now had practice playing our parts. We set it up in the same way we did it last time, before lighting up a fire and grabbing cooking utensils. We haven't eaten lunch at all in our efforts to get here.
We cook up a vegetable and meat stew for dinner. We get the meat from a local hunter selling meats and skins in the village, for a small price of 15 gold. After eating dinner, Lydia goes to the nearby river to clean herself up, and I go after she returns. Before cleaning myself up, I clean, polish, and sharpen my weapons and armor. Can't have dull weapons and dirty armor. If I get cut, I don't want to get infected.
It's about 9 by the time I finish cleaning up everything and head back to the camp. The stars shine brightly despite the incredible lighting of the moons. The autumn leaves and the soft wind set a certain mood, alongside the bright flickering light of the fire. Occasionally, I can hear the howling of wolves, the yipping of foxes, and the hooting of owls.
Lydia sits cross-legged on her bedroll not that far away from me. She stares into the fire, until she sneezes out of nowhere.
"Ah...kr-schu!" She makes a cute noise when she sneezes. My cheeks heat up as I realize that I thought her sneeze was cute.
"Bless you," I say.
"Thanks," she answers, sniffling. She rubs her nose, saying, "I think I might be sensitive to the flowers here."
"Bad enough to leave?" I ask. I understand that she might be having a bit of an issue, but if she's fine, I'd rather not leave.
Lydia smiles a little at me, before saying, "Not even close. This is the closest I've ever been to climbing the Throat of the World. There's no way I'm going to leave before I start climbing even a little bit."
Having said that, Lydia looks to the sky, and stares at the constellations above us. "It's such a beautiful night out, isn't it? I can't wait to climb the Throat of the World tomorrow."
I smirk at her, knowing what I'm going to say. It's gonna be almost cliche and maybe overused. "It is beautiful out here, but not as beautiful as you. I can see how excited you are in your eyes. The light of your joy outshines the fire in front of me and the stars above me."
Lydia blushes, her cheeks and ears turning a viciously bright red. She looks away shyly. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not that beautiful, but if you really think so..."
She plays with her hair a bit, twirling it in her fingers, before continuing. "It's just... I mean, it's not every day you get to climb the tallest mountain in all of Skyrim, you know?"
I don't know what just came over me. 'Why did I say that? Oh, God, that was totally cringe, wasn't it?' Thoughts don't just run through my head, they sprint through at a blistering pace. Instead of stopping there, I continue.
"Oh, come on. You can tell me. I won't judge."
'Why am I saying this? Why am I continuing? This is totally going to bite me in the ass later, isn't it?' My hand runs through my hair despite my will to not further the situation.
Lydia looks me in the eyes, and speaks again, her voice somewhat quiet. "Fine. I'll tell. I *might* be a little excited to be climbing the Throat of the World with you. But don't let it get to your head, okay?"
I laugh a little. 'Oh? She's excited to be climbing it with *me*? Wait, no, stop. I need to kill Alduin. I have stuff to do.'
A sneaking thought crawls up in my subconscious. 'But that doesn't mean I can't have a relationship as I do it, right?' No. Stop. 'Can't let that dark seed be planted.'
"Got it. I won't let it get to my head. But, seriously - I'm glad we can do this together." Something has taken control of me. I need to stop the longing for a relationship. I was fine in my last life being alone. Why is it that I can't stand being alone in this one? It's probably because I've felt alone this entire time. Since Jenassa and Uthgerd... I think I've just realized just how lonely I am in my quest, in my mission.
But to attempt for a relationship would be insane. I can't possibly have a loved one right now. With all the evil and danger in this world, and my current strength level, there's no way I can protect them. I can't have a relationship, not now.
Lydia's smile turns into a wide grin, making my heart flutter slightly, 'No, stop!' My conflicting thoughts hurt my head.
"I'm glad," she says, brightly.
I start to pray. Lord have mercy. I must stay focused. I must. Stay. Focused.
I lay down on my bedroll, not yet trying to fall asleep.
----------------
¹On a side note, "zephyr" is my favorite word. It means a 'soft, gentle breeze', and I'm really glad I finally got to use it for once.
²I really hope someone caught this. It's a legend referring to this guy Diogenes. Man was awesome.
------------------
Funds: 1,004 septims
Weapons:
💠 - Orcish Sword of Paralysis
💠 - Blade of Whiterun (Ebony longsword, 3rd Era, 10 points Frost damage/5 to Stamina/ slow)
💠 - Quicksilver Throwing Knives {x5}
💠 - Nordic Daggers {x2}
- Elven Bow, Unstrung {x12 Elven Arrows}
- Orcish Sword
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)
- Snow Bear Greatcloak (50% Cold Resistance)
- Shield of the Dragonslayer (Kite, 40% Fire Resistance)
Potions:
- Mysterious Potion {x4}
Food:
- Basket of Fruits and Vegetables; {onions x2, apples x8, leeks x2, potatoes x4, head of cabbage x1, carrots x3, 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 / Mountain Bedroll
- Cooking pan
- Waterskin
- Metal Bowl
- Torches {x3}
- Tent
- Pitons
- Climbing harness
- Rope (200 ft.)
- Hiking Staves {x2}
- Ice Picks {x2}
- Bar of Soap
Miscellaneous:
- Lockpicks {x1}
- Vial for Mysterious Potion
- Golden Claw
- Potion bottle remains