Chapter 10: Mounts
Dirt and grime clung to the corners of the dingy bar. Less than reputable men nursed their ales in the low light of the dying hearth fire while listening to a bard strum a slow, meandering tune on his lute. The door to the tavern swung open, drawing the gazes of the gathered brutes. A man clad in black armor stepped inside. The newcomer's hardened gaze swept over the occupants, evaluating them. The second to enter was a small pink-haired girl dressed in leather armor. An odd pair to be sure, but these men lived in the shadows and had seen far stranger. Strange like the third person who attempted to enter the bar. Attempted being the key word. The fine clothing of the final blue haired girl pointed to higher status than her burden implied.
Said burden being a massive pack twice her size currently stuck in the doorway. Tabitha pulled and pulled, but that pack was good and stuck. She pushed down the fleeting thought of leaving the pack outside. Louise had entrusted her with this task to become stronger, she would not stop until she was relived of the duty. Besides, it just felt wrong to put the bag down.
Louise and the Dragonborn paid Tabitha and the curious glances of the patrons no mind as the strolled into the bar. Choosing a particularly surly looking man, the Dragonborn sat down across from his target and slouched back. "Hey... You hear anything about those Tristains? Man I sure hate those guys. I wish our king was plotting their downfall." Cracking a terrible fake smile the Dragonborn sealed the deal. "I sure would like to get in on the action." The Dragonborn looked around, terribly hiding his expecting eyes. When nothing happened his expression fell. Then, with renewed vigor he lightly elbowed a man next to him. "Right? Right?" Again he looked to the bewildered man in hope and again his expression fell when all he received was a disgruntled shrug.
Arms crossed, Louise cocked her hip and asked, "You really suck at this don't you?" It still surprised her how this man was legendary at some things... and then failed this terribly at others.
With a childish pout the Dragonborn glared at Louise, "You be quiet. I told you I never leveled my speechcraft. Now its pretty much impossible to." Giving up, the Dragonborn sighed. "Fine, you try." Throwing up his arms, the Dragonborn stepped aside.
Louise paid no mind to the multiple patrons watching their display with mixed levels of bemusement. Instead she made her way over to the barkeep. The slightly rotund man looked to the little girl with mild curiosity. "What'll it be. I've got some stew if you're hungry." At the mention of food the girl's stomach growled, marking her as a customer.
Yet despite that growl Louise declined, "No thank you. I'm not injured." Again her stomach growled and again she willfully ignored it. Near the back of the bar Tabitha renewed her efforts to get inside. Leaning in, Louise looked the barkeep in the eye. "Who around here is in the know?" She dug her hand into her pouch and with drew an ecu; placing it on the counter.
A gloved hand reached forwards and took the coin before the bartender could. "That'd be me." Louise turned to meet eyes with a cloaked figure, his toothy grin gleaming in the shadows of his hood. This shadow ignored the annoyed huff of the barkeep and began to play with the coin. "But information about King Joseph? Now that'll be costly." The coin glinted as he flipped it along his fingers.
Placing a pouch upon the table, Louise met the man's eyes as gold spilled out the top. "Where can I find him?" She spoke plainly, not having the patience for this man's games.
Greed filled the man as he snatched up his prize and placed it within his pack. "Now for that? I'll give you the preferred customer treatment." The man withdrew a map and placed it upon the table. Then, with a flash a dagger appeared in his hand and he slammed it down into the map. "You'll find the king there. He keeps to the old fort to avoid prying eyes." A knowing smile crossed the rogues lips as he dipped his head to his latest customer.
After writing in her journal Louise spun around in her stool and hopped off lightly. Nodding appreciatively, he asked, "Did you focus on the speechcraft constellation?" If she did that was mistake, who needed those stars anyway?
Louise simply shook her head, "No, I'm just that much better than you." She wasn't about to choose her next constellation yet. Blocking, one-handed, and light armor were obvious, but she still felt she could focus on another without sacrificing specialization. It was strange, looking up at those stars... There was something more up there. Clearing her thoughts she smirked triumphantly as she passed the Dragonborn and made her way toward the door just as Tabitha finally pulled herself inside. "Come Tabitha, we have a new waypoint."
Tabitha stood stuck still as the Dragonborn followed after Louise. "I just got in..." Her soft words went unheard. With a sigh of reservation, Tabitha made about getting back through the door.
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The three strolled out of town in their usual formation. Louise and the Dragonborn born up front bantering while Tabitha trailed behind under her burden. Yet now after travelling under the weight of her pack for so long Tabitha knew she could keep up just fine. In spite of this she still lagged behind, her eyes fixed on Louise's back. That comment about food back at the bar worried her. Tabitha had noticed signs that Louise was taking her imitation too far. Just what was Louise sacrificing to gain power. With a deep breath Tabitha resolved herself. It was that power that allowed Louise to save Tabitha and her mother, so she would do her best to support Louise.
Unaware of her loyal follower's thoughts, Louise turned and eyed the Dragonborn suspiciously. The big lug had not stopped grinning for some time now. "Why are you so happy?" She had expected him to pout about his speechcraft for far longer.
The Dragonborn's grin only grew as he held up a familiar looking pouch filled with jingling gold. "Guess what I got." He nearly sang mischievously as he shook the contents.
Recognition filled Louise's eyes. "My bribe!" She exclaimed with delight. Leaning in she returned her familiar's grin. "You dog!" She cheerfully jeered, then held out her hands expectantly.
The Dragonborn held the bag to his chest protectively. "No way, I stole it fairly. It's mine now." He danced away when Louise made a grab for the pouch.
Metal clanked as Louise chased the armored man around the road. "It was my bribe though. Give it back."
"No!"
"Give it!"
"Never!"
After several minutes of sprinting around in circles the two slowed to a stop. Panting, Louise mildly threatened, "Don't make me use my door opener."
The Dragonborn took a deep breath, recovering his stamina. "Please, I will shout that right out of your hands." The two playfully glared at each other. "Soooo... How about a bet? Winner take all?" He shook the bag.
Thinking for a moment, Louise cautiously nodded. "What did you have in mind?"
Making a show of thinking thoughtfully, the Dragonborn turned and pointed off into the distance. "How about a race to the waypoint? First one there wins." As usual he did a poor job of hiding his smirk.
Despite knowing the Dragonborn had something up his sleeve, Louise still accepted. "Deal. No using weapons though." Whenever that man held a weapon his familiar runes gave him ridiculous speed. It would just be unfair for her own magic to work against her. Without that advantage Louise was sure she could outpace the heavily armored man.
With nod and a smile, the Dragonborn readied himself to run. "On my mark." Louise stretched her limbs out and got settled into a running stance. "Mark!" The two were off in a flash, leaving a dumbstruck Tabitha behind to scurry after them. Step after step Louise fell in right beside the Dragonborn. How was this man keeping up in heavy armor?! Louise nearly slapped herself. She knew who she was dealing with. If he did not believe heavy armor would slow him down then it wouldn't. Even still, Louise wouldn't lose. As if to mirror her thoughts, the Dragnonborn slowed, his hand glowing. That... couldn't be good. Louise nearly tumbled when the Dragonborn held his hand forth, summoning dark flames before him. "Arvak!" He called, greeting his old friend. Louise nearly tumbled when she stopped to gawk at the sight. The Dragonborn was mounting the animated skeleton of a horse wreathed in purple flames.
Cloaked in wind, Tabitha leaped up and over the Dragonborn, sailing through the air before landing before Louise, ready to defend her master from the abomination. "That..." Louise uttered. Tabitha tensed. "No fair!" She called as the Dragonborn rode around them.
Cackling madly, the Dragonborn called. "Arvak isn't a weapon!" Waving to the two girls, the Dragonborn rode off toward victory. "Good luck without a mount!" His taunt delivered, the Dragonborn laughed along with Arvak's ghostly whinny.
Stomping frustration, Louise sighed and fell into a pout. That cheater. Before she could consider uttering any profanities she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to Tabitha, Louise found a deeply compassionate smile waiting for her. Completely misreading Tabitha's worry, Louise nodded. "Thanks, but I really should have expected something like that from him." Placing her hand on Tabitha's, Louise missed the blush and looked up and beyond her familiar. "You moved pretty fast with that pack didn't you?..." A dangerous, frightening smile crept across Louise's face. Tabitha swallowed and tried to retract her hand; only to find it caught in Louise's grip.
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The Dragonborn had always been a cheating man. He'd cheated death at Helgen. He'd lost count of how many daedric lords he'd tricked into giving him their collectibles, er, artifacts. Heck, thievery was his favorite pass time. So using Avrak to win a race was just in his nature. He estimated that right about now Louise would be... right next to him?
Wait, what?
Blinking his eyes the Dragonborn checked to make sure what he was looking at was real. There to his right at eye level was Louise, crouching atop a brown pack. "Onward Tabitha!" The pinkette cried out to her mount. Looking down, the Dragonborn took in Louise's 'mount.' Wreathed in as much wind as her magic could maintain, Tabitha bounded across the plain like a deer. A deer with a massive pack of loot being used as an improvised saddle by a crazed mage.
A ghostly huff emanated from Avrak as he glared at the competition. Tabitha was stressed, conflicted, and all around exhausted but that did not stop her from pouring on a bit more speed in response to her fellow mount. She would not be outdone by some skin and bones horse (sans the skin even!)
Dew danced from the grass as the two figures raced faster and faster. Each pushing their mount as hard as they could. Around and over boulders, down hills, and through brush they charged. There! They could see the finish line! One hundred feet; they leaned forward. fifty feet; they grit their teeth. Ten feet; breath held they reached for victory.
The grass ruffled as the two mounts slid to a halt. Panting, Tabitha met Avrak's glare with her own cold gaze. Louise hopped off the pack/saddle and landed upon wobbly legs. After pausing a moment to steady herself, she turned to the unmounting Dragonborn, "So what, a tie?"
Nodding, the Dragonborn shrugged. "Guess so. Then what do we do with this?" Lifting the bag once more he shook it about.
Cupping her hand to her chin for a moment Louise thought aloud. "Well, we didn't do most of the work. In fact, someone worked really hard to be a real winner." A knowing smile upon her lips, Louise continued as Tabitha perked up. "I think its only fair that this special someone get the prize."
Thinking in an equally exaggerated fashion, the Dragonborn nodded. "A fine idea. Truly, such loyalty and diligence should be rewarded even if the reward is paltry gold." Tabitha tried to hide her growing blush. Sure she was in no need of gold, but for her efforts to be appreciated as such. She was still unused to such praise.
In unison Louise and the Dragonborn turned with brimming smiles. "Congratulations!" The called out at the top of their lungs, holding out the prize to Avrak.
Jaw hanging open, Tabitha watched with dumbstruck shame as Louise and the Dragonborn went about patting the skeletal horse and offering praise. "Way to go buddy. You won by a nose." The Dragonborn shoved the bag of coin into the horse's rib cage where it burst into ethereal flame and faded from existence. Was that horse... blushing? Tabitha was sure of it, the horse was blushing! Brimir damned horse! That was her prize!
Completely unaware of her followers growing despair, Louise thought out loud. "So why were we here again?" As if to answer her question the sky was split by lighting. Storm clouds gathered in the sky, stealing away the light. Lighting flashed again behind the massive decrepit stone fort behind them. An almost palpable aura of menace emanated from the eerie stone parapets. "Oh right!" Louise planted her fist in palm once she remembered.
A slight drizzle signaled the start of more showers to come. "Ugh, I hate rain..." The Dragonborn sighed put before looking to the skies in irritation. "Lok Vah Kor!" He shouted the storm away as one might shoo off a fly. Instantly the clouds parted and let the sun through once more. Birds began to sing and a rainbow briefly shone behind the vastly less intimidating fort. Sizing up his objective, the Dragonborn began to limber up in anticipation of a fight. "So, shall we?" He motioned with a flourished bow.
Before Louise could respond with enthusiasm, she felt Tabitha grab her shoulder. "Not Gallian architecture." The fort looked old, but she would have known of a foreign fort within her borders. Something did not smell right. "Trap." She cautioned.
Rather than responding to Tabitha's caution with any sane amount of sobriety, Louise's eyes lit up with excitement. "You think?" Turning to the Dragonborn she tensed with anticipation. "That could be fun!"
After chewing on the idea for a moment the Dragonborn found himself nodding alone. "It's a good twist alright." More than his anticipation of the quest the Dragonborn was proud that Louise was finally finding her love of quests. Loot, experience, and combat were all great side benefits of questing; but without love of the quest itself it was all for naught.
Tabitha's stress redoubled when she was forced to trail after her master. Traps should be avoided, not needlessly sprung. Still, this was just another bit of sanity sacrificed for Tabitha. She would just have to do her best to protect Louise.
The halls of the fort would have been a bit creepier if bright sunlight wasn't shining in through the windows. Three sets of footsteps plus one set of hoof-clops echoed off the walls as the group of four wound their way through the maze-like structure. "Hello?" Louise called out, failing to hide her excitement. "I sure hope nobody ambushes us! We should be extra sneaky!" Her eyes darted about expectantly, completely unaware of Tabitha's deadpan stare.
When the four entered the center of a large lobby they looked about. Even in this grand room, from the railed walkway above to the vast empty landing they stood on, there was not a single decoration. It was all bare stone. No art, no curtains, not even carpets. After a moment of waiting, Louise sighed. "Did we do something wrong? This all looks long since looted." She had been expecting more darn it.
Yet before the Dragonborn could return the sigh a multitude of voices cried out. "Ah ha! Surround em' boys!" Men poured out of the hallways, filing out and around the four. Clad in beaten leathers and hodgepodge armor, these sinister looking men fit the bandit stereotype to a tee. "You fools walked right into our-"
"Trap!" Louise interrupted excitedly even as twenty matchlock muskets were leveled at her.
Only slightly put off, the obvious bandit leader regained his momentum. "That's right girly. Now, fork over all the gold you got if you wanna live." He held out his hand as a sinister smile crept up his face. "Now don't do anything rash, you can't put a price on life." he eyes the armored man and the obvious magical familiar. One of these folks was a mage, but his men would open fire long before any incantation could be finished.
Furrowing his brow, the Dragonborn gave a pitying smile. "One thousand gold."
It was the leaders turn to furrow his brow. "You ain't bartering here buddy. You walk out of here with nothing but the your skivvies or you don't walk out at all." He readied his musket for any stupid heroism.
The Dragonborn simply shook his head, further pitying the man. "No, the price of a life is one thousand gold. At least that's what I have to pay when I murder someone."
All the eyes locked on the Dragonborn shone with a hint of fear at the dangerous sentence spoken completely frankly. All save Louise that is. "One thousand? Doesn't that seem low?" She wondered if she would ever get to see Skyrim.
The Dragonborn shrugged. "I don't make the rules. I just break them."
Not liking being disregarded, the lead bandit tensed and shouted. "Stop trying to stall! Your money now or we shoot!" All around his men took aim.
Louise smiled and looked down her nose at the man threatening her. "So what? Those old muskets wont kill me outright. Then I'll heal up and you'll all be dead." She rested her hand on the short sword strapped to her waist.
This girl thought she could take twenty musket shots and just shake it off?! She was likely the mage, no one else was that proud or stupid. "We will shoot you in the head." The leader gave her one last chance. Mage or not he did not want to kill a young girl if he could avoid it.
Tilting her head, Louise looked to the Dragonborn. "Should that matter?" Behind her Tabitha began to panic and prepare.
The Dragonborn's shoulders were beginning to ache from his many shrugs. "Not really. Why would getting shot in the head matter? Hell, they might miss aiming for that." Thinking back he smirked and turned to Louise. "I remember this one time I was fighting a mage and he put a icicle as big as my arm right through my head." Smiling fondly at the memory the Dragonborn chuckled and shook his head. "Idiot, using ice magic on a Nord. I murdered him good."
That was the last straw. The bandit leader knew he had given these dangerously insane buffoons enough slack. "Fire!" Twenty triggers were pulled and twenty match cords came snapping down. Yet twenty billows of smoke did not exude death upon their victims. Instead they found twenty bits of ice covering their powder produced by one significantly stressed Tabitha.
Surprised that the men fired so rashly, the Dragonborn turned back to the bandits. "So, are we done talking then? Cause Arvak only waits until-"
The blur of bone and fire rushing forth signaled that yes, the conversation was over. The three bipedal adventurers watched in mixed horror and amusement at the carnival of death being dealt out by the horse. "Oh god!" A bandit tried to run, only for his feet to be yanked out from under him. His fingers clawed at the ground as he was dragged back into the tornado of hooves. "That's not supposed to bend that way!" Another called in terror and pain.
"Wow." Louise uttered, unable to tear her eyes away.
Nodding in satisfaction, the Dragonborn pulled an apple from his pack and began to munch on it while he watched the spectacle. "Yup." Something better left censored flew across the room. "Arvak kept all his mercy in his flesh. Now all that's left is loyalty and bloodlust." Really, Arvak was a great horse. One of the best quest rewards he'd ever recieved.
A man came running from his death and clung to the Dragonborn, his eyes begging for mercy. "Please help me!" Desperation cracked the man's voice.
Then, just as Arvak's teeth closed around the man's shirt to pull him back the Dragonborn looked down with cold eyes. "Neigh." He denied and the man was pulled away, never to be heard from again.
Louise's palm found her face. "Really? Puns?" This familiar of hers... by the founder.
Crossing his arms, the Dragonborn turned away. "I like them." His childish pout was mostly overshadowed by the death scream in the background. Signalling the last to fall before Arvak. The murder-horse trotted back cheerfully, his task done.
Exactly what Arvak left behind will not be described for the sake of our younger readers.
Holding out his apple core, The Dragonborn fed his faithful steed. Furrowing her brow at the action, Louise thought for a moment before slapping her face once more. A skeleton of an apple for a skeleton of a horse. This familiar and his sense of humor.
Cracking her neck, Louise got down to business looting the corpses and was quickly joined by the Dragonborn. "Hold this." Louise absentmindedly said a she stuffed more and more bloodied armor and weapons into Tabitha's pack. Already exhausted from running for so long and performing a triangle class ice spell Tabitha could feel her strength leaving her, but she held fast even as the Dragonborn stuffed a bundle of muskets into her ever expanding pack.
Once all the loot was safely tucked away, Louise planted her hands on her hips and looked proudly upon her ailing follower. It was a good haul to be sure, still she was slightly saddened. "Still no new sword." She wistfully declared. This old one was going to have to do for a while longer.
"That," A new voice declared, drawing Louise's attention to the railing of the second floor. "Is the least of your worries." A cloaked woman stood wand at the ready, her face shrouded in the shadows of her hood. Or would have been if the sun wasn't shining brilliantly through the windows.
Squinting, Louise made out the face of the woman. "Miss Longueville?" She didn't quite believe her eyes. "Why is a secretary out here..." No... that wasn't right. Something at the back of Louise's mind was fighting against the notion of Miss Longueville.
The cloaked woman smirked. "Ah, so much for that." Pulling her hood down, she smiled full of victory. Said smile was diminished by the bags hanging under her weary, crazed eyes. "Miss Longueville was always a detestable alias. Do you want to know who I really am?"
That was it, Louise realized. The name was what was wrong. this woman's name was... Her name was... "Matilda?" She guessed.
Matilda missed a step and nearly tripped. "How the hell?" Then, quickly recovering she relied, "My name is Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth!" Despite that Louise clearly read Matilda. Weird. Continuing before the subject of her true name could be pressed, Fouquet explained, "I am the greatest thief in the world. Fouquet." At the Dragonborn's scoff she turned her hate filled eyes on him. "And you stole my mark: The Staff of Destruction." She bean to pace, her eyes never leaving the Dragonborn. "I knew you were good so I followed you. I watched you. I put every bit of my information network to the task of ensnaring you in this," She gestured all around, "perfect trap." Pointing to the ground before her enemy, she commanded. "Now place the staff there, leave, and know that I am the better thief. If you don't I will kill all of you and enjoy every moment of it." The woman's smile begged the Dragonborn to deny choose the second option.
Something he was happy to do, muffling a laugh as he did. "Lady, I don't know what you are going on about, but did you see what my horse did to your men." He pointed to the pile of unmentionable gore pretty flowers.
Fouquet's crazed eyes gleamed. "Oh, they served their purpose. I just needed to keep you in one place long enough to concentrate all the willpower I've been pouring into this castle for weeks to this room." She gestured about. "You are in the middle of my first square class spell." With cruelty leaked from her soul into her voice, "So I can do things likethis." With but a flick of her hand the stone beneath Arvak shot up and pierced straight through the ghostly horse clean through. The horse barely had a chance to cry out before the same magic that summoned it appeared to erase it.
The Dragonborn merely quirked an eyebrow. "So? I'll just summon him again." Really, this lady was crazy stupid, not crazy dangerous. A very important distinction.
Unlike the Dragonborn, Tabitha was not about to underestimate the new enemy. She tensed, readying herself to fight. Something Fouquet did not miss. "Fine then." With another flick of her wand she commanded the earth once more.
In the instant it took Tabitha to recognize she needed to dodge, the earth below her had already formed a spike and driven through her heart. "Urhhhh..." She tried to cry in pain, but only a strangled deflating breath escaped her lips. This was? She looked to her red hand in wonder as her vision swam and her knees buckled.
Time crawled by as Tabitha fell. Louise slid underneath her, catching the girl in her arms. Her anguished cry was muffled to Tabitha's failing ears. The warmth leaked from her body and her mind clung futilely to the vision of Louise leaning over her. She couldn't leave Louise. Not yet. Not now...
Looking down upon those she hated, Fouquet gestured threateningly to where Louise knelt. "One more chance before I kill again Mr. Second Best." She knew this man's power, but that was all for naught when she held his master's life in the palm of her hand. All this time of stalking and planning, it had finally paid off. this is why shewas the best. Not this buffoon.
Said buffoon simply smirked and shook his head. "Two things. First," he jutted his thumb toward the ailing pack mule. "She's essential. And two," He let out a long breath, feeling sorry for the woman before him. "You are really underestimating how much we've grinded Louise's magic." Suddenly Fouquet worried she was focusing on the wrong threat.
Burning rage filled Louise as she looked down on Tabitha. This was not okay! Whatever rules she needed to break, change, or altogether ignore she would. But for now, now she would deal with the immediate problem. Louise looked up to the stars, completely ignoring the ceiling in the way. She found what she was looking for as if it had always been there. A constellation that wasn't. A great emptiness filled with the hungry voids left behind by dead stars. This was her constellation. She poured all her soul into it, every thing she had held back before was forced into this new constellation.
Laying Tabitha down, Louise turned to Fouquet. Her eyes met the hesitating gaze of the green haired woman. Fouquet flicked her wand the instant Louise gripped her own with both hands. Earth sprang up, but was instantly eaten by the flaring power emanating from Louise's wand. Pure power pulsated at the end on Louise's wand, consuming the air around it, the magic in the stone, and the very fabric of reality. "Explosion!" Louise named her spell's form.
The resulting flash of white crushed through stone and magic like so much tissue. The earth was torn asunder, the air screamed its last, and the Dragonborn cried out, "Awesome!" Even as a boulder half the size of a horse collided with his gut.
It took longer for Louise to catch her breath in the settling dust of the obliterated castle than it took for her to level said castle. Looking about the newly created wasteland of rubble, Louise found nothing left standing to destroy. Rubble shifted about, drawing Louise's attention to where the Dragonborn popped out from underneath a boulder. "By Talos Louise, getting into the quest is one thing, but you do know Tabitha is essential right?"
Louise failed to imitate her familiar's usual enthusiasm. Looking down to Tabitha, Louise tracked the girl's shallow breaths. "Yes... She is very important." Brimir damn it, she had gained this power to protect people she loved.
A gauntlet rested on Louise's head and ruffled her hair. "Idiot. She's not important." Before Louise could spin angrily on the man he continued, "She's essential." Hope ignited in the Louise's heart. "Now, I'm guessing from your reaction that Halkeginia fails in this respect as well, but people important to quest-lines can't die." He shook his head in disgust. "Seriously, you people don't even properly follow the laws of nature right. How many of your great tales ended because some quest giver kicked the bucket?" Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.
Louise needed no convincing to pour all her being into believing the Dragonborn's words. Sure enough as she looked down on Tabitha the girl continued to breath despite having stone right through her heart. Tabitha's eyes fluttered open full of confusion. How was she still alive. Any attempt to look to her wounds was stopped when Louise pulled Tabitha's head to her bosom, locking her follower in an embrace. "You are not allowed to die. That's an order." Louise commanded stubbornly.
The sound of rubble shifting drew Louise's attention from Tabaitha to where Fouquet had just finished digging herself free. "You..." Fouquet uttered in anger, raising her wand. "This earth is still my earth. This changes nothing!" Tabitha looked up to Louise as her master stared off toward the enemy.
Rolling his eyes, the Dragonborn decided enough was enough. "Zun Haal Viik!" At his command reality obeyed and Fouquet's wand was wrenched from her hand. Staring dumbstruck at her empty hand, Fouquet felt fear well up inside her. Said fear redoubled when the Dragonborn place his elbow on her shoulder and leaned against her. His eyes looking to the empty hand Fouquet was so interested in, the Dragonborn smirked with pity and said, "You know, if it was anybody else I'd have murdered them good right about now." Fouquet gulped and failed to work up the courage to turn her head to the man. "But you are a thief who takes pride in your work. I can respect that. So, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do." Pushing off the woman, the Dragonborn strolled forward and spun on his heel to face Fouquet. "Your problem is you tried to prove you are the best thief by fighting me. You should have done it bystealing from me." He shook his head sadly. He understood the impulse; hell, whenever he was noticed on a stealth mission he had the terrible habit of murdering everything in sight. Not exactly stealthy. "So lets resolve this like respectable thieves. First one to steal everything the other has is the better thief. You win you get your staff and I don't murder you. I win and your life is mine." Danger gleamed in the Dragonborn's eyes.
As the alternative was death, Fouquet could only nod in agreement. She was well versed in magical and mundane methods of stealing. She just had to keep this man in sight, maybe wait for him to sleep... Why was he crouching? Suddenly Fouquet felt a draft. Confused, she looked down to see no robe. No, gone was her cloak, her robe, her pouches and even her shoes. "How..." She uttered just as she started to realize she was now standing in just her undergarments. "What!" She shrieked in embarrassment, futilely covering herself with her arms as the Dragonborn dropped all her possessions on the ground before her and held up his hands in victory.
Looking around at a nonexistent crowd, the Dragonborn nodded satisfactory in approval of his magnificence. "And once again I am the undisputed best thief in any world!" Turning back to Fouquet, the dangerous gleam returned to his eyes.
If anything, Fouquet could face death with some dignity. This man had shamed her in every way. her guile, her magic, and even her mundane skills had failed in the face of this affront to reason. "Just let me finish dressing, let me at least die clothed." She sighed, pulling on her robe.
When Fouquet pulled her head through her hood she found not a bare blade waiting for her, but a confused looking Dragonborn. "Why would I kill you? I'm making you my follower. Your life is mine now." Stunned, Fouquet could not believe how easily this man was forgiving her for trying to rob and kill him. "It has been really fun training Louise, but she has no interest in thievery. So I figured I'd try that with you." He planning to teach her? This paragon of thieves? Fouquet couldn't believe it, but she was actually feeling hope blossom. "First things first though, you took way to long to put on your clothes. Next time try for half a second, tops." He trailed off, mentally mapping out how he would teach his new follower.
Still surprised that she had kept her neck, Fouquet nodded mutely. "Just let me get my wand and..." She spotted where her wand fell, or rather where Louise had picked it up and was waving it around with a big grin. Holding out her hand, Fouquet asked, "Could I get that back?" She tried to keep her tone polite with the girl who apparently could level castles at will.
Louise childishly held the wand to her chest. "This is mine now." There were some awesome bonuses on the wand, no way was Louise giving up her first real good loot.
Now, Fouquet had stolen that wand from Tristain's greatest wand maker and she was rather fond of it; but not fond enough to argue with the castle-buster though. She had a spare anyways. Turning back to the Dragonborn she noticed a dangerous gleam once again hiding in the man's eyes. "Now," he began with a smile creeping up his face, "we can talk about using that information network of yours later. First thing on the agenda is testing a theory." Feeling fear creep up her her spine, Fouquet gulped. "It is my understanding you Halkeginian followers double as mounts..."
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Tabitha sat atop a massive stone golem. Each step of the great construct shook the earth with low crashing rumble. Then the slow arcing feeling would fill her stomach as the golem's shoulder slowly sailed forward. Turning to her left, Tabitha looked to the stressed Fouquet. "You tried to kill me." Tabitha stated plainly.
Fouquet turned and met eyes with the girl whose heart she had pierced, "I blame him." She glanced up to the top of Tabitha's pack where Louise and the Dragonborn sat, arms in the air.
"Whoooooo!"
"Weeeeeee!"
Tabitha glanced up, then back to Fouquet. After a moment she nodded in acceptance, "Fair enough."
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A/N: I do like puns. It behooves any reader of mine to laugh at the Dragonborn's pun until your throat turns horse.
Also yes, Louise's void perk tree is a bunch of black holes. It felt apt.