Gabrielle had never thought she could ever feel so glad to be out of somewhere. The two of them hid and watched the dragon fly overhead.
"It's gone" Xena said, straightening up from her crouched position.
"Where did that thing come from?" Gabrielle said, the reality of what had just happened settling in on her.
"I don't know." Xena said staring at the spot where the dragon had disappeared.
"What do we do now? This is tne first time I've been back here since I was eight years old, I have no idea where to go."
Xena looked at her for a few minutes before letting out a sigh and responding "I'm going to Riverwood. I promised Hadvar I'd let his family know of his passing, then I pland to go to Whiterun and scrounge up enough gold for a wagon to Solitude." She paused appearing to regret the words she said before even saying them. "You can come along till Whiterun, maybe hire a wagon to Winterhold. The mage's collage is there."
"I hate to be such a burden, but I really don't know where to go. Your help is most appreciated." Gabrielle said as they started walking, feeling as if she was causing the tall warrior a great deal of inconvenience.
"It's fine, I'm just... I want to get to the bottom of this dragon mystery and fix it. It poses a danger to the empire."
"You are an Imperial right?" Gabrielle asked curiosly while she took in the colorful surroundings.
"Yes. Where were you coming from?"
"Cyrodiil." She said.
"Ah. I haven't been home in a long time. I hope to go back once this mess with the stormcloaks is settled." Xena said, a far away look crossing her face momentarily "Why were you in Cyrodiil?"
"When I showed a talent for magic they decided the mages guild in Cyrodiil was much more capablw of training me than the college here." She said "So they sent me there and forgot or didn't care enough to keep in touch." She paused, thinking for a moment then carried on "I haven't thought of Skyrim as my home for many years, but I decided it might be interesting to pay a visit to the country I was born in."
"Well, interesting is one way of putting it" Xena said with a slight smirk.
"Mhm. Colder than I remember. I don't know how long I'm going to be staying."
Xena snorted "And here I thpught all you Nords were born with ice in your veins"
"We are" Gabrielle said seriously before smiling to let her know she was kidding"Ice melts though, with prolonged exposure to warmth. Cyrodiil is very warm"
"True enough" Xena said, slightly suprised by the young mage's way of wording things.
They carried on in silence till they came upon three standing stones. Xena had heard they enhanced combat abilities ans she curiously touched the warrior stone. It shone and suddenly she found herself remembering every fighting move she'd ever seen someone use.
Gabrielle seemed to be having a similar experience with the mage stone.
"Huh. I'll be damned these things actually work. All that time I though Hadvar was just messing with me." Xena smirked. Poor fool, he'd thrown himself infront of a dragon to save a boy.
"That was... Different. What exactly just happened?" Gabrielle asked.
"Hadvar always said that these stones enhanced the abilities of whoever used them... As well as their ability to learn certain skills." Xena smirked. "Should have looked into this a few years ago when it would have done some good"
Gabrielle started to say something and then was cut off by the sound of a growl.
"Wolves" Xena said turning around, drawing her sword. A small pack of three wolves was making its way towards them at a full run, snarling and yelping as they approached.
Gabrielle felt the familiar surge of energy as flames jumped up around her hands, her skin warming but not burning. Xena leapt at one of the wolves, leaving a deep gash on its muzzle, causing it to yelp and beat a hasty retreat.
Gabrielle let the flames surge outwards from her palms, engulfing the nearest wolf in flames. It yelped and ran after its companion, only making it a few feet before the flames kept him from going any further. It fell to the ground in a scorched heap. She turned her attention to the last wolf just as Xena delivered a fatal blow to its head.
"Annoying brutes" Xena said wiping her blade off on the wolf's pelt.
"Well, could always have been worse. It could have been bears. I've tangled with enough of those for one day."
Xena smirked and sheathednher blade "Don't jinx us. C'mon, Riverwood isn't far, about a thirty minute walk from here."
"Do you think they'll let us staya few days? I've got singed or frostbitten in so many places... That bear got you pretty good too."
Xena winced slightly, admitting to herself she should at least get the wounds cleaned and wrapped.
"Here" Gabrielle said gently resting her hand slightly above the three, fairly deep gashes as they continued walking. She focused on the spell she wanted and let the healing energy wash over Xena's entire arm. The wounds neatly sealed and Gabrielle smiled.
As strange as it was, she specialized in both restoration and destruction magic. She had reasoned that before you can fix things you need to learn how they are broken, and to destroy you must first understand how things are built.
"Thanks" Xena said blinking in surprise.
"It might be a little stiff for a few days" Gabrielle apologized "I don't have the energy left to fix everything"
Xena shrugged "Well it sped up the healing process. I'll live" She still wasn't sure why she'd ended up with the wounds in the first place, she could easily have avoided getting hit, but the damned girl had gotten in the path of an angry cave bear.
What had possessed her to shove Gabrielle out of the way she would never understand, just that she'd reacted on an instinct, one she wasn't aware she had. The instinct to protect tiny blondes? The day was just getting more and more strange.