CHAPTER SEVEN:
PART ONE:
Hikari's eyes slowly opened. Her vision was greeted by the wooden figure of a roof, clearly indicating she had been relocated. Her first thought was of her home, the temple of Kynareth in Whiterun.
But she was wrong.
After she'd turned her head left, she observed an unrecognizable pit fire, providing light and warmth within the chamber she was currently located in.
The girl perceived the need to get up, as her body felt numb, and proceeded to do so, except that something caught her attention.
After pulling her gaze to the right, she noticed her friend and companion, the Dragonborn, sitting on a chair besides the bed, with his upper half asleep near her. He only wore a pair of trousers, allowing clear view of his musculature, and... was firmly holding onto her right hand.
The Dovahkiin was most likely the one who rescued her from the... tomb place that she couldn't remember well at the time. A small line of blush happened on Hikari's face at the realization that he cared for her.
Hikari noticed her bed clothing: a multitude of bandages and wrappings around her chest and waists. This whole discovery made her shiver at the thought that she'd been undressed and clothed by the Dragonborn while she was unconscious.
The thought made the girl pull both her hands around her body, covering it as if she were under the lustful gaze of many, fully exposed, ashamed and embarrassed as she looked back at the Dragonborn.
Wanting to slap him at first, Hikari soon realized the most important part of everything: he saved her life. As such, slapping him in his unconscious state, or any state for that matter, would be very rude and inappropriate.
She instead opted to calm down, leaning closer to the Dovahkiin.
With a gentle touch, her lips caressed his cheek in utter silence, creating a small, infinite moment of peace and prosperity, tranquility and possibly love.
"Thank you." Quietly whispered like the buzz of a flea, it was all that the girl could muster in that moment.
Hikari couldn't fathom how embarrassing it would have been should her friend wake up and discover what she'd done without his knowing. Not to mention the most awkward moment it would create between the two.
Getting back up, she looked at her wrappings, fully accepting them as a sign of emotion, and displaying said acceptance by briefly adopting a position that... embraced, the gift.
She almost looked like a mother hugging her newborn child.
PART TWO:
Hikari had got out of bed, his bed, and begun discovering the dwelling that the Dragonborn took her to, being completely flabbergasted at the whole construction.
Did the Dovahkiin build this whole place? She wandered through and through, exploring every nook and cranny with a very visible glimmer in her eyes.
She had seen the hall of mannequins, the sauna, the kitchen, the living up higher... but now she'd been more amazed than ever.
Before her waited the armor Hikari wore throughout her adventures with and without the Dragonborn. Only that now, there was a problem: the armor had been modified.
No longer was it as exposing as it once was. It would appear as most weaknesses had been removed from the equipment, but at the cost of making it heavier.
Her chest plate now reached up until the neck where a fancy winged helmet waited, the only gap in protection being a line for eyes to peer through. The back of the helmet had a maneuverable chain mail attached to it, possibly for the purpose of not being a hindrance to her hair.
Moving down, the breast plate completely covered her abdomen and lower sections, leaving no skin exposed. Her waist now had an ebony dress around it, long enough to reach until her knees, covering her crotch and backside properly.
Her leggings had been completely redone, as they proved unrecognizable, and they now covered her lower body entirely.
Her shoulder pads had been remade, spikes no longer adorning them, leaving instead a round shaped pad that lead down unto the arms. Similar to the rest of her equipment, the arms had no gaps in protection at all.
Quickly checking for any hidden blades, Hikari found none.
'Did he do this?' She was beyond surprised at the thought that someone, possibly the Dragonborn, heavily modified her armor, it now being a full body suit.
As it was supported by the manikin, the girl figured her armor must now weigh about twice or three times as much, mostly due to the fact that her war gear was thicker.
It was an absolute achievement when Hikari found her armor in the first dungeon she ever explored. No, it would be safe to say that her meeting with that equipment was a blessing from the Divines.
Hikari placed her right hand on the armor's left shoulder pad, grasping at it and feeling its protective layers. Deep within, the girl sensed that the Dovahkiin was indeed the one who remodeled the armor, and she understood that he'd worked with endearment and thought of her while hammering.
"Thank you..." Once more she thanked her companion, who'd proven a loyal and trustworthy friend. Surely he would not let her down when she would need him most.
Looking to her left, Hikari had caught sight of another armor, white in color, and just as impressive if not more so, than her original armor.
Its helmet was an exact replica of the black winged one, but white in color. She guessed this overall shape or form provided increased protection or something. There was also a blue halo above the helmet.
Everything else about the armor looked different, but Hikari was unsure if the change in color was what gave it a different appearance.
Similar to the modified version of her armor, the white one too had no exposed body parts. Wouldn't want to get shot with poisonous darts a second time now would she?
But something that this second armor had which the first one didn't, were some kind of flying crosses above the shoulder pads. Hikari only stood gawking at them speechlessly for... They were quite majestic.
Her left hand moved almost subconsciously to try and touch the levitating crosses, all the while standing there stunned at the whole idea that floating protection even exists.
As a matter of fact, she was quite flabbergasted at the whole concept of flying things. The only things that could fly were birds and dragons, thus, it felt natural that nothing else fly.
Such terrible mentality...
One more question now crossed her mind: could the Dragonborn himself fly? He was after all linked to dragon kind in some shape or form, so maybe there was a chance... Wait. Wouldn't he have just flown to the tomb after they'd partnered up in the first place?
If he could fly, that surely would have happened, right?
The girl had heard a sound from her left.
PART THREE:
"Come on Rubmeir! You can't seriously be wanting to go visit the old hermits?!"
Three male figures were climbing the seven thousand steps that lead to High Hrothgar. Each of them wore full ebony armor, but it was by no means Daedric.
"Were not stopping Zieger." Their leader spoke, he was the one to walk in the front.
"But it became so cold! And there was a troll back there!" The third of them spoke, his name was Meur and he was without a doubt the most cowardly of the three.
"Stop your whining, we must be getting close to our destination by now!" Their leader Rubmeir addressed his complaining friend, if they could be called that way.
Their relationship was in decline due to their life career.
"About that... I think we're only halfway there." Zieger spoke. He was arguably the smartest of the three.
"What?" Rubmeir had stopped and turned revolted. "How do you know that?"
Zieger responded by looking right, up high, indicating the usage of the mountains height so as to measure how many of the seven thousand steps they took.
So far, it was quite discouraging.
"Hey, look over there." The rat Meur spoke, pointing at something in the far distance and drawing the attention of his comrades. "What say you to resting a bit there?"
What the three of them were looking at was a castle placed to the side of the seven thousand steps, a place which held just as much delight as plight to the three Nords.
They looked at each other. "Do we go there?"
"Fine, but if we die, I'm telling Shor it was your idea." As if any of the three of them would ever go to Sovngarde.
They were not honorable, they were the scum of the earth. They would steal and kill just to make a living, true low lives. It was by mere chance that they found some corpses which wore ebony suits of armor for them to pillage.
The three Nords had made their way across the stone bridge which connected the mountain and the keep, desperately wanting any sort of protection from the freezing air outside.
Upon enter, it was to their great relief that no guards stood guard, and to their great astonishment to see the mighty and majestic Hall of Deities.
"Holy... Are these made of gold?" All nine shrines to the Divines were made of gold, and they'd been kept shiny throughout their entire existence.
"This will surely fetch a good price on the-"
"No, no!" Meur interrupted Zieger from picking it up. "I've heard that stealing the golden shrine of a Divine would bring really bad luck!"
"Stop cowering you idiot and forget about bad luck. Gold is gold." Rubmeir had straightened him out. "But. As with any dwelling, there have to be dwellers."
The three unsheathed their ebony swords and looked to the golden doors to their left.
PART FOUR:
Hikari was suddenly rushed and pushed down by a Nord wearing ebony armor, a wicked look on Rubmier's face to see such a trophy so early on. Gold AND a beautiful woman? Had he discovered paradise?
Due to the man's complete daedranization with greed and lust, Hikari became scared out of existence, almost.
"Look at this body!" Rubmier had whistled hungrily in delight as he pushed down the defenseless girl. "Meur! Get here and hold her!"
The coward had done as such quickly, coming over to push down Hikari's arms, permitting their leader's hands to maneuver freely.
Zieger moved to the doorway leading further down, ensuring nobody else was there present.
Rubmier ripped Hikari's chest wrappings off her bosom, exposing her beautiful gigantic breasts and whistled once more.
The girl began squirming under their powerful grip, her mouth being filled with the wrappings she'd wear on her chest, eyes beginning to tear.
And could she not? She was about to be raped by three individuals she knew nothing about. If it were a friend however, it would still be classified as rape but with chances of turning it consensual.
Her body was absolutely fantastic! A work of art!
Even the rat Meur had to agree that Hikari was absolutely stunning, a true gift ripped from the heavens and left on the earth to rot. But not for long.
The three of them would soon give her much purpose...
"Fus! Ro Dah!" Zieger flew back into the forge room, landing in between the two armor sets forged for Hikari.
It made the girl very happy to hear a familiar voice, a most welcome sound.
Rubmier silently signaled Meur to keep the girl pinned down as he took hold of his sword to deal with the one who made Zieger fly.
What made him think he stood a chance?
Well, one, he knew how shouts worked, them requiring large intervals of time before being useable once more. And two, they were in a house: his opponent was bound to be lightly equipped. He might have a dagger or a sword at best, but no real armor to protect him or her from being stabbed.
Possibly. This was all assumption.
Things would only get worse if the one in question used magic of any kind, but that was irrelevant because Rubmier just didn't want to think about it.
He rushed at the corner of the doorway, then emerged with a 'leap stab'.
His efforts ended in vain as he was instantly smacked and pinned to the ground by what could very well be described as the hand of a giant.
The Dragonborn stepped forward, encased in the blue magical barrier that was the torso of a dragon standing up straight, a very pissed look on his face.
The three bandits were in deep shit, as Meur reckoned, and he pulled out his sword to threaten Hikari.
"Stop! Don't do anything to me or my buddies or she bleeds!" The Dovahkiin only turned head to look at him, and it frightened the rat.
It was to be noted that, inside the dragon of magic, light was displayed rather intensely, causing the Dragonborn to have some kind of ghostly appearance combined with a bit of monstrosity. It was very frightening, and considering what was currently happening in his house...
Meur suddenly felt himself lifted off the ground by an invisible force.
The Dragonborn had rendered him unable to be pulled by gravity and thus, he began ascending towards the roof, outside reach of harm to Hikari.
Picking the thug with the dragons right arm, the Dovahkiin then brought all three of them within the palms of his dov's hands, channeling a furious amount of magicka at them despite their cries and pleas for forgiveness.
In a second, they were gone...
Dragonword was the word of power used to give the Dovahkiin a draconic body of mana, but all the mana he had was spent in order to turn the three goons to ashes. The blue shell dissolved from around the Nord.
Hikari had gathered her arms and covered her exposed chest. The girl then pulled her feet close to the rest of her body in a form reminiscent of a cube of sorrow.
After having noticed that she was safe, the Dragonborn had approached and kneeled in front of her. He stared at the girl.
Hikari had not stopped tearing. Her eyes met those of her saviors and saw the pity in them, but without a single desire to do cruel things to her, whatsoever. It was for the very reason of 'not wanting Hikari just for her body' that he did not touch her.
She saw a gentle approach from the Dovahkiin and had received the silent message of 'I do not wish to hurt you'.
Hikari had been brought to tears even further by his kindness and had sought out the man's shoulder to support her sobbing.
To think she had such a friend...
PART FIVE:
After having searched through the Hall of Deities for any more 'guests' and having locked his front door, the Dragonborn returned to the bedroom on which Hikari was curled up in.
The girl's feet had been drawn close to her chest, her face was buried in between them while her arms ran across her beautiful framework to resemble a small cube of sorrow.
"Hikari..." He'd said her name with little thought of the fact that she'd raise her still crying visage to look at him. He then quickly came up with something to tell her.
But alas, the Dovahkiin hadn't had the time to say his excuse for the girl spoke before him: "I was so scared!" There was clear fear in her voice, but also, great happiness at the thought that it was all over.
Hikari had once more gotten close enough to use his shoulder as sponge for tears, a thing which caused the Dragonborn to mindlessly hug her in return. Unbeknownst to any of the two, his arms had become her safe haven and sanctuary.
"You are safe, no harm can come to you now."
"Promise?" The question had taken him by surprise, more than it should have.
"Y-Yeah... Yeah, I promise." What the hell was he doing? Was he swearing an oath to forever protect the girl so long as she'd be by his side?
What the heck was it? He did not know.
It was in that very moment that the complete unexpected had happened: "I... I love you..."
She'd told him.
She'd finally done it.
At long last, it was finally off her chest... And right on top of his shoulders as the revelation hit hard.
The Dragonborn was flabbergasted by it. It was a truly earth shattering confession.
Never had he seen it coming.
Truthfully speaking the Dovahkiin was physically attracted to Hikari, but more than that, he also found her personality cute and to his liking.
The girl unburied her head from his shoulder and wiped her tears away. She then attempted to adopt a figure as serious as possible.
Hikari used her newly formed visage and stared at the Dovahkiin rather intensely. This in turn caused him to partially break out of his trance.
He mindlessly whispered: "I love you too..."
Hikari was rushed with a surge of happiness at the sound of it and had drawn in close to the Dragonborn.
The two experienced a unification of lips.
It appeared as though they were fated to share that bed after all...
