A/N: I decided to try out a oneshot. I think it crashed and burned but you can be the judge. This is an AU fic, by the way. Martin lived through the Oblivion Crisis, and this is about three months afterwards. You can take it as MartinxHero but it's really just a friendship sort of thing. There's also some spoilers, but they're not huge. And mentions of smoking. Oh, and I don't own the Elder Scrolls series, it's all Bethesda's. :c The song used isn't mine, there's a few changes in the lyrics but it's an old tavern song called so affectionately, 'F*ck you i'm drunk'. Enjoy~
This is a flashback.
This is a song.
This is normal text.
Cheers erupted from the crowd in the Imperial City, Cyrodiil's new Emperor looking at them with a fondness that only a priest could muster. His dear friend, the Champion of Cyrodiil, was belting out lyrics to some old song he didn't know while she and a few others showed off their apparent skills in drunken dancing.
He was almost motivated to go closer for a first-hand account of his friend's drunken celebrating. What she was celebrating, he didn't know, for she had the tendency to take any simple occurrence as cause to party and drink. As far he he knew, his Champion had always been like that; She was always full of spirit in more ways than one.
Martin let out a chuckle as someone handed the woman a full tankard, another man offering to light her ever-present pipe. He heard her laugh loudly, turning down the light while she gratefully accepted the tankard. The people in the Waterfront were happily drinking and dancing in front of the Bloated Float, with people from inside the city walls coming to party as well.
"A round to the folks at the Float; Akatosh bless 'em and the finest brew they've ever perfected!" A voice rose above the crowd, rough and kind, that floated above the sea of happy cheers and elated yells. At one point the voice had been silky, soft, and quite shy, but it had come out of it's shell and taken on an edge about the same time it's owner did.
"And a round to the wonderful new impruvmem-I mean, inproowmen- Damnit!-Improvements!"
He had nearly forgotten that his Champion was not a native speaker of Cyrodilic, despite her being Imperial. He silently applauded her persistence in learning and expanding her knowledge on the language. Although he had a hint that her current speech impediment might be due to this being her seventh tankard.
A loud sea of cheers and roars of approval met her declaration. "Hey, we know who we've got to thanks for that, though! To our Hero and our Champion!" A random Nord cheered out, and an even louder roar of approval met his words.
"To our Hero and our Champion!"
His Champion managed to slip out of the group of heavily-drunken men and women, making her way over to the outdoor table where he was sitting. "This seat taken?" A smile played on her lips as she lowered her voice. "Not a good place for the Emperor to be, mate." She plopped down in the chair next to him, summoning a flame spell as she put her pipe in her mouth. "Ah, I didn't think i'd be spotted."
He had actually planned on the Hero getting to his side first, as she always had been. She was fussing over the fact that he was out with no guards, but he gently soothed her, telling her that he trusted her to keep all the men and women out for his blood at bay. The newly-crowned Emperor wasn't too worried to begin with, for he had had the knowledge that those skilled enough to be set out for him had a certain hero as their leader.
After a small bout of silence, the ex-priest smiled at his friend. "I'm surprised you turned down the man who wanted to so kindly light your pipe."
She gave out a chuckle, muffled by the pipe as she inhaled. "You know, you never told me what that was that you've smoked so religiously." His Champion exhaled the sparkling green smoke in a ring, eyes crinkling at the corners as she smiled at her Emperor. "Why, d'you want to try?"
He shook his head. He'd seen what continually smoking had done to the bodies of men in the Temple. It was a perfect representation of the Battle of Kvatch when the demons razed everything to the ground, but it was personal, like their own Daedra were burning them from the inside out. However, there was something captivating about the smoke, the way it danced and sparkled against the moonlit sky. He watched for a moment more before shaking his head.
"No. It wouldn't do for me to be under the influence."
She gave him a soft clap on the shoulder. "Damn. Thought i'd entice you tonight, but no gettin' blood from a stone, eh?"
Martin smiled softly, shaking his head. "Through nearly the whole time i've known you, you've always had that pipe and whatever it is you smoke. I was wondering what has you so devoted." As if to acknowledge it's presence in the conversation, the smoke drifted towards him, seeming to wrap him in an ethereal embrace before disappearing into the night sky. The Hero thought for a moment, shrugging.
"I guess it just makes me calm. Helps me get my thoughts in order. Kind of a handicap, I suppose, if you'd like to look at 'er that way."
She was quiet for a moment, and just as Martin was about to speak she started speaking.
"It reminds me of your pa, and my dear Prince. Lucien, too. Traven. Agronak." She took another deep puff of the sparkling green substance, breathing it out as naturally as she breathed air.
"It opens up my mind, you could say." Her eyes crinkled kindly once more, as she stared up at the stars. As she looked up, he could only notice how brilliant she was, surrounded by people who loved her unconditionally.
"One of these days, mate, i'm taking you to my realm. The stars there are like nothing you've ever seen. And probably a damn lot else you've never seen, too." Her eyes softened, taking on a slightly sad look as she thought about her home.
Martin took his champion's hand, squeezing it for good measure. She had told him about her adventure through the Fighter's Guild and the Arena. She had recounted the wondrous things she'd been through in the Mages Guild. The excitement of the Thieves' Guild, the ways of the Dark Brotherhood, he'd be able to recount them all. She'd seen the brilliant, vibrant, and deadly ways of the Shivering Isles, and resurrected the Knights of the Nine, all the while juggling her duties to Cyrodiil and her Emperor with grace that only she could manage.
"Anyways, i'm sorry if i'm depressin' you."
Her voice snapped him out of his train of thought. "Isn't it beautiful now, though? The waterfront? I heard from some of the beggars that the Fox 'imself donated the money and men to fix her up."
He gazed around the waterfront, at the beautifully repaired buildings and the newly paved streets. The cracks in the walls had been brilliantly patched, and the decaying docks had been restored and replaced so well that it looked completely new. "At this rate, i'll have to give the Fox immunity from the law and a medal for being such an exceptional citizen."
She grinned a full grin at him, showing off too-sharp teeth. "Wonderful, we can celebrate a new ally."
He rolled his eyes, looking at the ever-growing crowd. "They're gonna call me over in a minute. I can feel it."
"Hey, Champion! Come over here and sing with us!"
The hero laughed at her correct prediction. "I'll be right back. Don't drown while i'm gone." The Emperor simply chuckled, waving her off with a quick motion. "Shoo."
She practically skipped over to her crowd of adoring fans, laughing as they started to sing before joining in with them.
"We bang on our doors but they won't let us in, 'cause they're sick and they're tired of us reekin' of gin, they lock all our doors from the front to the back, and they've all left us notes tellin' us we should pack!"
A round of cheers went around the crowd as the men singing hoisted his Champion on their shoulders, as she belted out the lyrics to a song that, this time, he only knew all too well.
"I'll walk in the bar, and the fellas'll cheer, order me up a Tamika and beer, if you're askin' me why i'm here singin' this poem, some call it a tavern but i call it home!"
She hummed the chorus of the song as she lit her pipe, the priest walking alongside her as they made their way to Weynon Priory. "You gave me some options, you said i must choose, between you and the liquor, and I chose the booze."
"You said I was mad, that I couldn't see light, but by that time i'd drunk myself into the night. I woke up this morning, with madness aglow, and now I'll drink until you're forever ago."
Martin was confused beyond belief. This woman had gone into hell itself, braved daedra after daedra to defend a city that was not her own, and seen one man after another slaughtered less than an hour before and now here she was, humming tavern songs while she nonchalantly smoked an ivory pipe.
"I can practically feel your brow furrowin', mate. What's troublin' you? Besides the obvious, o'course."
Martin opened his mouth to reply. but closed it as he tried to think of a better way to put things. "I simply didn't expect someone like you to be our hero."
He winced at how the sentence had come out, bracing himself for a bout of anger from the woman. She, however, simply laughed. "I know, don't really look of the adventurin' sort, do I?"
The two walked a bit farther, Martin inhaling more of the forest green smoke before she spoke again. "I'm just tryin' to pay back my debt to your pa. I kind of feel like it's my fault he's dead, you know?" She handed him her pipe for a moment while she took out her map. "We'll pass through Skingrad...past the city...up to the priory? Huh. Might take a detour to speak to Vile, I still have his sword..."
"Vile? Clavicus Vile?"
She murmured a sound of assent. "The same."
He looked very slightly appalled. "You're a daedra worshipper?" He inwardly applauded his self-restraint at hiding his disgust.
The Hero looked at him in surprise. "No, not at all. I just kind of do what i'm told, mate. Whether the instructions come from the Emperor or his Captain of the Blades or a Daedra Prince make no difference to me."
Martin looked at her in confusion. "You don't care that they're the princes of Oblivion?"
A quick shrug and an upturn of the lips was his response. "I'm not going to lie, some of them sicken me to me core, but I just don't associate with 'em. Have you ever actually met some of the more cordial ones? They're not too bad, not really."
The priest quickened his pace to match hers. "What daedra have you, let's say, associated with?"
She scratched the back of her neck, thinking for a moment. "Uh, well, most of them besides, uh...Hermaeus, Dagon, Namira, and...Vaermina! Yeah. I haven't met any of them, y'know, like, up close and personal though. Oh, wait."
An easy smile lifted her face and a twinkle sparkled in her eyes. "'cept one, of course." Her eyes lifted up to the sky where she sighed happily. "Yeah. 'cept the one."
Martin stared after her curiously. "What daedra?" She smiled at him, eyes glinting with the prospect of a new game to play. "Why don't you give it a guess?" And for a moment, he would swear, as the woman exhaled he saw a face grinning in the outline of the smoke, beckoning him to play their game.
Martin stood up, stretching as he prepared to go home. The moon hung high in the sky, and he'd hate to hear Baurus and Jauffre if they caught him out. "Leaving already?"
His Hero was striding up to him, fingers flexing for something to lean against as she walked. "You know, I'd better walk ya home. I can't the big scary dark-dwellers hurting my poor emperor, now can I?"
Martin chuckled in disbelief. "You, walk me home? Stay here and celebrate. You haven't gotten the chance to relax in a long while."
The Champion let out a snort of disbelief. "Like hell, buddy. C'mon, I can always come back." The two began the winding walk back to the Imperial Palace. "It's funny to think that not even two months ago Dagon 'mself was here, eh?" Even though Martin's stance had relaxed considerably since the first day he had met her, he could never hope to copy the ease with which she carried herself as she practically glided down the street.
The ex-priest hummed in agreement, quietly taking in the dark streets of the Imperial City. "There's where I had my first bar fight." She pointed to a small inn on the side of the street. "That's where the guards arrested my poor baby Aureal for being a daedra. I didn't know that was even an offense, but, y'know. Guess times are tough."
As they passed through another district, she pointed out random places in the city, telling him about every fight and every person she'd met, every song she'd sung, every drink she'd devoured. It was entertaining until they stumbled upon the entrance to an alley, her eyes flashing in confusion and then recognition.
She stopped him by sticking her arm out so he bumped into it. "Stay here for a moment." She hurried off to the side somewhere. The Emperor saw the shadow of the woman lower herself down to one knee, gently running a hand over a lump on the ground. "Oh, my dear little ones...wake up for me." He heard a yawn and a sleepy murmur. "Miss Champion, what're yah doin' here?" She ran a hand on his face, her warm gaze outlined in the night. "It doesn't matter. I'm gonna to take you to the inn, alright? I don't want you two out here when it starts gettin' cold."
The small boy nodded his head, gently holding onto his Champion's hand as she picked up the still-sleeping girl. As the trio made their way back to the Emperor, he saw that she was smiling softly. "Do you mind if we take a detour?" Martin laughed softly as the Hero began to walk off. "Of course I don't mind." She walked a bit ahead of the priest, picking up the boy as well after a bit. His eyes drooped, and the two children curled into her chest, drifting off to sleep as she hummed a tune.
When they arrived in the district, the Champion made a beeline for the inn, winding and weaving through sacks and barrels' of the next day's goods. They entered the inn, the few patrons still awake raising their mugs as the Hero entered. She smiled gratefully at them, and the Innkeeper pointed up the stairs to an assumedly empty room. She was upstairs for a fair bit of time before she quietly tiptoed back down.
She immediately set up a deal with the innkeeper to keep the children safe and fed while she found a home for the two. The innkeeper remarked on how difficult it would be to find a home for a dark elf and an Imperial, but she simply shrugged and pushed her gold over on the counter. "Keep them safe. Keep them warm. Keep them well, yeah?" The innkeeper nodded as he counted out the gold, saying goodbye to the Champion after she had checked on the two children one last time.
As they walked off, his Hero smiled softly, taking another inhale of the sweet smoke. "C'mon, my Lord..." She paused for a moment as she delighted in his discomfort at his title. "...let's go home." Her eyes twinkled merrily as she gave him a glance, the deep pools of color swirling to blend into the starry background behind her.
And, as the sun began to peek over the horizon, Martin felt himself nod, tired eyes beginning to droop as the child's had, quietly walking home next to his ever-loyal Champion and ever-loyal friend. As they reached the great oak doors, the Emperor looked at his champion and her ever-present grin, observing the woman for a moment. Hardly believing that this was the same woman as nearly five months past. As she opened the gates, smiling once more, Martin took a great pleasure in the thought that there was no where else he'd be besides with his Hero, in his City, inhaling her sweet green smoke.
If you couldn't tell, by the way, she's smoking Greenmote. Again, read and review, i'd love to see what you think.