Chapter Nine

Yosa'Min let out a soft moan as she shifted and found herself above Vex, their lips still together. Vex had been shocked at first, a kiss in the rain was not what she'd been expecting after the mission, but she suddenly found herself returning it in earnest. Yosa'Min's hand that held Vex's own began to tighten, as if to assure herself that Vex was not just going to up and slap her. A cruel tease, as the imperial quite well could be.

They broke apart for a slip second, gasping in the cold rain to catch their breath, gazing at one another with wonder. When Vex gave no response other then a hungry look in her amber eyes, Yosa'Min drove her black lips back and reclaimed the imperial's pale ones. Vex this time released her own sounds of pleasure, her hips rising up to rub against the redguard's. Yosa'Min could barely contain the excitement that ran up her body at not just her affections being returned, but the way they were being returned.

Her hand let go of Vex's and ran up to caress the imperial's beautiful platinum hair, wiping it away from Vex's glistening face. The imperial's chest was rising swiftly, trying to get enough cold air into her to cool herself down. The tunic she wore suddenly felt too tight for her own good, and a hand started trying to undo some of the buckles. Yosa'Min was not one to miss such a gesture, and quickly joined in the battle against the slippery straps.

Diving back in, Yosa'Min found herself fighting her own self control, a name and a face popping up as if to stop her from continuing. Vex gripped her wrists and twisted, making Yosa'Min gasp for a second before they'd rolled and she was on her back. Vex chuckled, and the sound was like honey to the redguard, sweet and heart warming. The imperial peppered her body with light kisses, fire springing up at every spot. A heat swelled in her body, originating from between her thighs, and the redguard gritted her teeth as she felt her legs buck up beneath her from simply the kisses Vex was giving her. The cold air and rain did little to quell the fire raging within her. Very little in fact. A long moan slipped past her lips as Vex picked one spot in particular to place her lips, just under her chin, and she remained there.

Reddish brown hands roamed the imperial's body, trying to help her in removing the tunic, in reducing the barriers. Yosa'Min had just gotten one hand under the black leather when she pictured Mjoll watching her with horror and betrayal even. Yosa'Min audibly yelped, making Vex stop with her kisses and look at her with concern. The redguard couldn't meet her gaze, and forced away any thoughts of Mjoll, this was her fantasy coming true, No nord is going to stop that! But as she began to kiss down Vex's exposed neck, arms wrapped around Vex, the thought of Mjoll's anger slipped into her mind again, and she found the excitement and the desire for the current happenings dying out.

As if a determined but gentle wind had blown out the fire of her desire.

Vex began to slow down, her fingers no longer exploring the redguard's hair or caressing a reddish brown cheek to bring her closer to her. She frowned slightly, she could tell Yosa'Min's mind had wandered elsewhere. Where to however, she was uncertain. Yosa'Min looked up at her with glazed eyes, lust and confusion and pain even swirling where Vex could see. The imperial let out a sigh, disentangling herself from the redguard and stood a foot away with her back to the conflicted woman. She suddenly understood. "By the Eight I asked if your intentions were only that of the Guild." She harshly said over her shoulder, hands expertly redoing the straps Yosa'Min had nearly gotten undone. Nearly brought them to a point of no return.

A pit formed in Vex's gut at the thought of when Mjoll had carried Yosa'Min into that house during the storm. How she was lost from her grasp and left to trust the woman wouldn't do something stupid. Wouldn't muck the odd thing they had going on. Vex should have known by the look Mjoll had given Yosa'Min and the redguard's inappropriate joke on the road that there was something between them. It ate at her not knowing what had brought about the offer of the nord even joining them in the first place. She felt like a fool for just ignoring it.

"What are you talking about?" Yosa'Min croaked, struggling to her feet. They hadn't known each other long, maybe around a week, but still she felt an insatiable desire for the woman.

But now the self-acclaimed protector of Riften was getting in the way of even the Guild's romantic activities.

"Mjoll the Lioness, that is what I am talking about." Vex turned around quickly, the rain still pounding down around them but she could barely hear it. "I thought it was odd that you kept inviting her to join us even after I told you who she was. I waved it off, thinking you were just some over-friendly soft heart. That it was in your nature as a hero. But I see what it really is all about. You l-"

"I don't feel that way about her." Yosa'Min cut her off as she realized where the conversation was headed. "I mean how could I possibly want to be with a woman that I'd have to lie to her face every single day about who I am, what I do, where I'm going and why I do what I do?" She found herself shouting in the rain, her throat aching instantly from the magnitude of it. The lump in her throat vanished as she'd let it out. "I'm doing it entirely for the Guild! I'm dealing with the guilt of being a filthy liar to a kind woman who's just trying to do her best, for this damn organization! I'll take her out of the city, make you have room to work with again, I'll sacrifice my own ability to do jobs and make coin for myself so you all can! I'm pretending to be real with her when everything she knows about me other then being the Dragonborn is a lie!" Her hands had long balled into fists, her heart was racing, she could see Vex's amber eyes wide even in the din. "How dare you question me on my motives when I've had it bad for you since I first saw your face."

Vex fully turned to face Yosa'Min, suddenly feeling as awkward as the redguard had after she'd accidentally kissed her. "Yosa... I didn't mean..." Vex struggled for words suddenly, realizing just what the woman was doing. "I'm sorry, that was wrong of me. You are taking on a lot of heartache for the Guild."

"And for you." Was the last thing Yosa'Min said before she shoved her hands into the pockets of her pants and stomped away into the woods, leaving Vex on the shore in the rain alone.


When she finally began to recognize where she was, she was near the south entrance to Riften. But she didn't want to go in, the thought of facing everything within again made her stomach clench.

Turning on her heels, she started to trudge back into the wilderness when she heard someone scream in pain, and she couldn't stop a fear that that someone was Vex from pouncing to the front of her mind. Her legs reacted before she did, crossing yards of slippery and treacherous terrain without even thinking about it. When she'd gone running through the raining woods, her feet slipping every so often on fallen leaves or mud, she'd expected to find Vex being attacked by some bear or maybe the mercenaries had decided to go after them and found the imperial. The thoughts were consuming her mind, and she'd nearly lost track of where she was headed. But when she did find the source, everything she'd thought was gone.

"Mjoll..." Yosa'Min whispered, and then she was by the nord's side. The proud Lioness was on her back on the ground, hands digging into the dirt in pain, her left ankle twitching in pain as it looked twisted slightly wrong. There was a slight hill in the direction she faced away from, the ground looked extra slick as if something'd just tumbled down it. She realized at that moment that Mjoll must have slipped and twisted her ankle in the downfall, and Yosa'Min gave a slight sigh of relief. It wasn't as if she'd been attacked. Then again the sound of her pain could have attracted others, not just the overly friendly redguard.

Rolling back and forth as she tried to tend to her own wound, Mjoll seemed unaware of Yosa'Min's arrival at first. But when suddenly she lunged forward with a dagger right at Yosa'Min's neck. "Zuun!" Yosa'Min quickly shouted, only able to get one word out as Mjoll attacked with a surprising swiftness. The dagger was wrenched from the nord's armored hand, sending it spiraling into a birch. Mjoll blinked as she processed what she was had just happened and who was before her. A Thu'um wielding woman in Thieves Guild armor.

"No..." Mjoll whispered, and despite her injury to her ankle she grabbed the hood and pulled it back, revealing Yosa'Min's startled face. "Yosa!" Disgust rippled across her face, and she shoved the redguard away. "You're one of them?" Her voice pitched with disbelief that she'd been told lies by this woman. A woman she wanted to know more about.

Instantly Yosa'Min started shaking her head, lies already spilling out her mouth before she had the chance to change them. Maybe it would have been better to just let the truth come out. But the expression on Mjoll's face killed her right then and there. She hates the real me. "No! You're kidding me right?" She tried to laugh but it came out awkward. "I was hunting when the bear got agitated with the weather, really aggressive fellow. Destroyed my leathers. Then I came across a thief, and when I refused to pay up she attacked me. I didn't have any other clothes on me and I wasn't going to let myself catch a cold, that's why I'm wearing this."

Mjoll squinted at her, trying to decide if she believed her or not.

"I'm not in that rat Guild, I promise Mjoll." Yosa'Min urged her to believe her.

After a long pause Mjoll nodded her head, accepting what she'd been told as truth. "Alright... Do you think you could help me back to Riften? I slipped on my way back and well you can see what happened to me." She asked, only to get a shake of the head. "No?"

"I'm not that strong Mjoll, I can't possibly carry you in all that heavy armor back. Maybe if we take off everything put the boots I could manage, otherwise it's not possible." Yosa'Min replied, looked down at the way her ankle was twisted. Not even her healing spell could fix that, all it could do was close wounds and stop bleeding. "Are you comfortable with that? I'll come back after we get you to a healer and get your armor, is that alright?"

The look of conflicted thinking on Mjoll's face made Yosa'Min want to hug her, but at this point it might not be such a good idea. So instead she gently placed a hand on her Mjoll's hand, giving her as warm smile. Mjoll seemed to melt, and gave a nod of permission. Yosa'Min quickly set about working, being gentle with the nord to avoid rolling the injured left ankle. Mjoll took her gloves off herself, but was unable to do anything else from this position other then avoid moving. A bit of heat went up Yosa'Min's body from her fingers despite the shrill cold of the rain, and she had to focus on what she was doing before her hands got adventurous. "Well it seems I've got another chance to repay you for a kindness." Yosa'Min said as she tried to make a light conversation.

"Yosa," Mjoll groaned slightly. "you don't have to repay me for my kindness. I do those things because I care and because I want to." She glanced up at the nord and then back down again almost shyly.

Taking her expression in with one look, Yosa'Min chose to offer up something real for a change. "Did I ever tell you I was raised by my brother?"

"What?" Mjoll blinked.

"I was raised by by brother, he was a whole twelve years older then me in fact." Yosa'Min continued. "His name was Vastin, and he was literally the kindest man in our whole village back in Hammerfell." Yosa could see the story had caught the nord's attention so she kept on as she tried to undo the last of the straps on Mjoll's breastplate, her fingers slipping on the wet metal.

Naturally a question was going to fill the pause in the story. "Why did he raise you? What about your parents?"

Yosa'Min laughed slightly, a mix of frustration at her slipping fingers and the memory. "My mother was a cleaning woman for a noble when she conceived me. She'd already had three kids, my oldest brother Vastin, my older brother Gar'del and my older sister Jazbel. My father was a sellsword, and one day... He just never came back." She at last got the breastplate undone and revealed the miner styled shirt underneath. Swallowing her nerves she moved on to the pants portion, extra careful now not to injure her half exposed friend. "My mother's employer threw us out, and she got a job out on a farm that was willing to house all of us. So we took it. It had been a year after my father had left us, I still don't know what happened to him or why."

"Perhaps he got lost?" Mjoll gently suggested.

Yosa'Min laughed horribly for a few seconds, shaking her head as she began to get Mjoll out of the right leg of the pants armor. "Or he died, or found a nice redguard woman with loose legs and no other mouths to feed. From what my brother told me he was always a dirt bag, wouldn't surprise me."

The frown that crossed Mjoll's face made Yosa'Min regret her tone almost instantly. "I suppose we'll never know."

"I suppose so. Either way my older brother became the man of the house. My older siblings Gar'del and Jazbel were twins, and five at the time. He had to be. The twins also hated me because it was my fault for being born and thusly, my fault for us getting kicked out of the noble's home and onto a farm of all places." Yosa'Min sneered. "If Vastin wasn't around they'd beat me, steal my food or get me in trouble with the farmer. Mother was too tired to do anything about it. Vastin didn't realize until I was five, and he ended up fighting with them. My brother got into a fist fight and still outnumbered he outmatched them. After that he took me and just left, raised me from then on."

Listening to her share her history, Mjoll was able to ignore most of the pain in her ankle until it was accidentally nudged while the last of her leg armor game off. Instantly she sucked in a tight breath, leaving her panting in pain. "Divines I'm so sorry!" Yosa'Min repeatedly said as she gathered the armor and hid it under the roots of an overturned tree. "Here, maybe this can help with the pain." She offered, pulling a small vial out of her pockets and hoping Mjoll wouldn't make the connection of the armor being hers for real. "I'm a bit of an alchemist, trust me." Yosa'Min added at the skeptical look she was granted.

Taking it in hand, Mjoll leaned her head back even more and downed it in one go. Instantly a warm haze formed around mind, blocking out the pain of her ankle and making her feel a little light headed. "I think... That did the trick." She hiccuped. Yosa'Min smiled lightly at the words, and helped her shuffle to her feet so she could help Mjoll walk back. "The... Temple of Mara will... probably help." Her words were broken apart, the concoction made her feel odd and it slightly hard to think.

"Then I'll take you there." Yosa'Min replied, I'll take you anywhere.


"Please! Is anyone there?" Yosa'Min called out to the temple gates in the pouring rain. She had no idea what time it was, but assumed it was around early morning. After another long silence, she struggled with opening the door before the redguard entered the wooden temple. The crushing weight of the nord was growing too much for her, and before either of the two knew it they were on the ground, the injured party on top of the redguard.

"Hello?" A female voice called out, and then a dunmer woman in priest robes walked out. "Briehl, Maramal! Get out here!" She called out before she ran over to the two's sides and helped Yosa'Min escape the groaning nord's weight. Two more priests rounded the corner from their sleeping room, a nord and a redguard.

They each picked up the nearly pass out Mjoll and carried her to one of their beds, Yosa'Min's eyes frantically watching their every move. "What happened?" The redguard and head priest asked.

Yosa'Min cringed slightly. "She was out in the woods and slipped down a mud-bank. I think she sprained her ankle." Water dripped down her body, the rain hadn't let up once throughout their long and dangerous journey through the woods back to Riften. To think, what would have happened if she hadn't gotten into that fight with Vex. Where would Mjoll be right now? Passed out and at the whim of any person or beast that happened to pass her by? She shuddered at the thought.

The three priests were quick to get to work, while one removed her boots gently another rushed off for a bucket of cool water and rag, the third was gathering other supplies. Unsure of what to do, Yosa'Min slumped to in the chair beside Mjoll, exhausted from the days work. She'd left Mjoll just that morning or perhaps the previous morning, to go and join the Guild, and here she was already having done some jobs for them and sitting with their very enemy. She could only hope Mjoll had bought her lie on wearing the armor.

Speaking of which, I should probably get changed out of it. "Excuse me, are there any clothes I could borrow? A bear ruined my leathers and I pried these off a foolish thief" She inquired of the nord that was inspecting the ankle.

"Of course! But we've only got robes I'm afraid." Informed Briehl.

"Anything is better then this." She laughed back.

Dipping his head in agreement, he pointed at a wardrobe nearby. "Dinya won't mind if you use one of her older ones. Just make sure you give them back dry." Yosa'Min nodded her head in thanks and walked over. There were five of the priestess robes within, and she picked a random one that looked like it might fit. Slipping into the privy room, she got changed.

By the time she had walked back, Mjoll seemed to have woken up some, the three healers having tended to her best they could. "She'll need a week at least to rest it. No walking on it whatsoever." Maramal ordered.

"Seems like our hunting trip is canceled." Yosa'Min laughed sullenly. "Thank you." She added her gratitude to the priests who smiled at their early morning's work before slipping off to do whatever they did at this hour. Meditate no doubt. "So, why were you out there?" Questioned the redguard the moment the priests of Mara were gone.

An embarrassed blush spread across Mjoll's face, her ankle in a splint making it hard for her to move into a more comfortable position. "I was out looking... For something..."

"Like...?" Yosa'Min chuckled before she sat down on the edge of the bed, a hand idly stroking one of Mjoll's damp hairs out of the nord's face. Her eyes focused on the scars for a moment before a smirk spread across her face. "Fine, don't tell me. I'll just have to ask Aerin."

"No!" Mjoll said with a frantic tone, almost jumping out of the bed. "You cannot tell Aerin, he'll never let me hear the end of it." Yosa'Min raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Fine you thief." She joked, but Yosa'Min visually tensed. "Sorry... If you must know I got a lead on my missing ring. A woman had been seen wearing it out by the farm to the south. I was going over to see about it in the evening, but when the storm came down and I'd gotten turned around, I just couldn't seem to find my way around. Then I saw smoke billowing out from the north and started heading that way when I slipped."

"Your ring?" Yosa'Min asked, amazed that if Mjoll hadn't slipped and she fought with Vex, they very well could have been discovered. "The one you asked Brand-Shei about?"

Nodding her head in agreement, Mjoll cupped her face with reddened cheeks. "It was stupid for me to go out in that mounting weather, Aerin had warned me too."

"What's so special about this ring?"

Mjoll blinked and then just shook her head. "It's irreplaceable. One of the few family heirlooms I have left. My mother taught me how to fight and my father to hunt... I miss them. I can't afford to lose it." Her voice actually raised an octave with the desperation she felt to find it.

Yosa'Min gave her a faint smile. "Well, I'll go out to that farm and see what I can find for you while you rest up alright?"

"Not now though." Mjoll replied quickly. "It's far too dangerous, no one would be awake and-"

Yosa'Min squeezed her hand gently. "Of course not now! Besides, there is no way I'm leaving you here. When the rain stops I'll help you over into Aerin's place, and one your all settled in I'll go ring hunting." Yosa'Min blinked as her eyes drifted up and locked with the nord's. Mjoll smiled gently, her eyes closing half way with exhaustion. "Heh, you rest now..." Urged Yosa'Min as she noticed, stifling a yawn herself. Mjoll gave a small nod, and then suddenly pulled on the hand she held. Yosa'Min ended up awkwardly pressed against the nord on the bed, wide eyed and confused.

"Mjoll!"

Mjoll innocently replied, "What?"

"We're in a temple for Mara's sake!" Hissed back Yosa'Min, though it was playful in nature. She shuffled on the bed until she was laying against Mjoll, her back facing the door. She nuzzled herself against the nord without thinking, quickly getting comfortable as her tired body told her to shut down already and go to sleep. Mjoll quickly wrapped her arms around the redguard, pulling her in close and preventing any chance she had of escaping. She didn't want to escape. In fact, the thought of trying to slip away was revolting to the redguard who quickly accepted the position she was being pressed into. Arms wrapped around her waist while her left wrapped around Mjoll's chest, the other caressing the nord's cheek from beneath it. Their legs, save for the one with the injured ankle, intertwined together comfortably.

"The goddess of love." Mjoll whispered back cheekily before she yawned, drifting off to sleep with the Dragonborn happy where she was. Yosa'Min rolled her eyes and then nuzzled her head under Mjoll's chin. Within a few minutes of listening to Mjoll's deep breathing, she'd found herself drifting to sleep.


AN: Hey look! Two updates in one day!