.

Chapter II : The Slumber

.

Two days had passed since the incident in the marsh. The very first words of dictate that her father, Aslfur, spoke on the matter was to keep it 'discreet'. But, of course. Low-keys were bound to go high. Especially, in such little city like Morthal itself. Now every chatter and chit-chat wouldn't go merry without whatabouts of the peculiar mage and her arrival.

A particular girl with dark brown hair couldn't stop thinking about the very mage no less.

"Idgrod.. Idgrod..! Ya' over-heating those flowers!"

Brown eyes snapped open at her friend's voice. Her nose almost immediately scrunched at the displeasingly sweet pungent that assaulted her sense of smelling.

"Ya' nodding off again, aren't ya?" Lami came around the counter and took the vessel she was holding. "Why don't you go get some rest while I work on the potion, hm?"

Idgrod rubbed the sleepiness away from her eyes. Or at least tried. "No.. I... hmm.. still have to go see the mage." she answered, stretching out her arms.

To say that she was exhausted would be an understatement. Every few moments, her consciousness would ebb away and the soreness would sting beneath her muscles. Idgrod leaned herself against the staircase beside the alchemy table, her arms crossed. Soon submitting to her heavy eyelids.

Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the impatient glare Lami was giving her. "Hmphh.. to what? Watch that mage sleep like a rock? How many days has it been? Two? Three?"

"Two" Idgrod held up two fingers.

"Whatever.. Ever since we dragged her out of the swamp, she hadn't arose from slumber at all. That young bloat is as good as dead if ya' ask me."

As she glanced up, Idgrod couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's expression who stood by the alchemy table, hands on her hips to emphasize her dislike about the mage.

Idgrod smiled at the blonde woman. "She saved my life, Lami. Hadn't she come to my rescue.. I.. would have been as good as dead too, you know?" The older woman opened her mouth to speak again but shut it. "Fine.. But if ya' keep burning those mountain flowers, I'm brewing. Lucky, Alva had me that recipe on magicka potions."

Idgrod frowned upon hearing the name. She didn't like Alva. The woman was too secretive and barely in sight even for a small city. Plus, the fire-incident that Hroggar kept claiming 'accident' seemed off and down right fishy.

The shopkeeper seemed to have noticed her expression. "I know ya' don't trust her. But ya' need to let it go. She brings me rare ingredients for a cheap price, experiments new potions with me. She's a friend of mine now."

Idgrod nodded her head in understanding at the older woman's defensiveness. "Well, you have me too, you know?"

The blonde woman snorted a chuckle. "I know I know. Now ya' best hurry to the inn. Ya' wouldn't want Jonna freaking out like the last time when that mage kept murmuring for a tankard of water in her sleep." They both burst out laughing at the little episode the innkeeper had told them about.

"In that case, I'll be off then" Idgrod bidded goodbye and walked out of the shop. "Ask her name if she wakes up, yes?!" The shopkeeper shouted behind her.

.

xxx

.

As dead as business could be in Morthal, the inn hall awaited in hollow as Idgrod came in. She saw the innkeeper sweeping behind the counter. "Good morrow, Jonna. Anything of interest during my absence?" Resting her elbows on the counter, Idgrod greeted the redguard woman.

The innkeeper just shrugged as she wiped her hands with a rag. "If you don't count Lurbuk going on about how that mellifluous voice of his was the sole calling to awaken the girl.. No."

Idgrod shook her head with an amused grin. She sure hope the unnamed girl doesn't wake up while the bard was singing. That sure would only give a boost of ego to that orc.

"I've already placed her lunch on the table, by the way. She'd better be back from Oblivion. Wouldn't want the food going to waste."

"Thank you, Jonna," Returning a smile, Idgrod entered the small room on her left, next to the bard's room.

The room wasn't much. An old dresser on the right with several books stacked on top, a single chair and table in the further left corner, and a bed covered with cow-fur and hay.

She glanced at the sleeping mage, who now wore an oversized red-shirt Idgrod had changed her into. Her raven black hair covered in traces of mud, which somehow in Idgrod's eyes only added more of a strange sense she couldn't quite define to the girl. Brown eyes examined the figure as they slowly travelled from her dark silky hair, her pale well-sculpted face, her full lips, and down her lean slender body. In spite of the poor state the girl was in, the rich features tell Idgrod that the mage was indeed a nord like herself, and would be considered quite attractive in their standards as well.

Idgrod sighed out a breath she had no notice of since when she'd been holding in, and shook her head to get some sense back to her. What in god's name is wrong with me today?

She grabbed a book from the dresser and seated herself in the wooden chair by the small table. A new routine she'd been doing these past few days. She would stop by at her friend's alchemy shop in the morning, endeavouring to successfully brew a magicka potion for the mage. After which, she would simply spend the rest of the day with a book in her lap beside the mage.

"Guess what we'll be reading today, sleepyhead" Idgrod smiled to herself at the nickname she had started calling the mage. "This one is a bedtime story among many of mine back in my childhood — Watcher of Stones..."

.

xxx

.

Brows furrowed as a booming noise from the next door suddenly blared.

"...DOWN WITH ULFRIC! THE KILLER OF KINGS!..."

Idgrod cringed as a pain shot up her neck like a stake. She hadn't realised how long she had dozed off in the chair, but damn was that a bad idea. She tilted her head in attempt to crack the pain off.

"...ON THE DAY OF YOUR DEATH, WE'LL DRINK AND WE'LL SING..."

Lurbuk.

Idgrod gently pinched the bridge of her nose. Of course.. She knew the redguard innkeeper certainly wasn't the type to joke. But still.. she just wasn't expecting the bard to act this soon. And if he keeps this up, she just might have to move the mage to the double room on the other side.

"...WE'RE THE CHILDREN OF SKYRIM, AND WE FIGHT ALL OUR LIVES..."

"For the love of god, Lurbuk.. Have mercy upon the living souls around you.."

She heard Jonna grumbled at the bard to shut up.

"...AND WHEN SOVNGARDE BECKONS, EVERYONE OF US DIES!.."

Please... make. it.. stop.

Idgrod sat agape.

Was it just her or did the mage really just utter a word? She jumped onto her feet, and with two steps, towered over the bed, over the girl, whose eyes slowly fluttered open. And it was the moment, the moment she met them — Those perfect cloudless sky blue eyes that shimmered in a shade or two lighter than sapphire, like crystalline.

"Where am I?" The girl looked up at her groggily, her voice raspy and dry like it was in the marsh, and propped herself up on shaky elbows.

"Here, let me help you up." Idgrod sat down on the bed to put an arm around the girl's back and held her up into a sitting position. She made sure the girl was stable before letting go of her to grab the tankard of water from the table and handing it to the girl.

Idgrod watched as the mage downed it in a single gulp and wiped her chin. "What happened to me?"

"Well... we were attacked by a troll.." She watched the blue-eyed girl knit her brows together. "In fact, you saved my life from it".

The mage nodded her head. "Nasty one, I remember"

"And.. that was two days ago," she added.

"What the fu-!" The girl whipped her head towards Idgrod in disbelief, but much too hastily than she might have intended as the small act caused the mage to squeeze her eyes shut and hold her hands up to her head.

The mage ran her hand through her dark hair caked with mud, before eyeing the dirt nuggets in her fingers in confusion. "I-ah.. when you got knocked out, I couldn't carry you all the way back here." Idgrod stuttered, "..so I kinda had to cover you in mud to mask your scent while I came back here to ask for help.."

It surely isn't a pleasant thing to experience being bathed in mud, but she did what she could and she hoped the blue-eyed girl would understand the measures.

The mage nodded slowly, her eyes zoning out blankly ahead as though it was too much for her brain to process. Idgrod didn't blame her though, passing out for almost three days. The girl looked paler than normal, her face and hair in a dirt mess, her body too lean — an indication of severe famine. She frowned at the thought of another girl of presumably same age struggling with survival. "I'm.. I'm Idgrod. And you are more than welcomed to stay in our city as long as needed, for and after the bravery you have bestowed, it is the least I, and the people of Morthal could offer you, -um..." Idgrod realized she still hadn't asked the question she had been half-rotting to ask for days — a name. Not only she but also the whole city had already taken to calling the girl 'the mage', and it was about time she learnt the name of the person who was there with her in near-death incident.

But the raven-haired girl surprised her when she stared back at Idgrod, wearing a big smile, eyes brimming with sparkles of gratitude, joy, and purest innocence, as if Idgrod had bought her a stuffed toy she'd always wanted since childhood but had been forbidden.

"Ruvaak. The name is Ruvaak."

.

xxx

.

Yahayyyyy! Ruvaak. Ruvaakk. Ruvaak. I'm sorry this one took forever guys. Had an internship and stuffs. Tho it ain't much, hope y'all like it (: