Chapter Eleven: Alik'r Confrontation
"Wow!" Svena gasped, running to the edge of the bridge leading out of Riverwood and gazing at the stream with rapturous blue eyes; she instantly turned to Ula and waved the girl over with a huge smile. "Ula! Look over there! Fish are jumping out of the water all over the place! Ooh, and look at the size of that mountain! I can't even see the top of it from here!"
"Svena," Kai chuckled, looking at the Red Guard with a quirked eyebrow, "there's no need to get so worked up. This is a typical view."
"Typical?!" Svena squawked, bouncing over to the other side of the bridge and looking downstream with amazed eyes. "We've never had a reason to go outside of our Village, Kai! Aside from that trip to Windhelm a few seasons ago, this is the only time I've ever seen any part of Tamriel aside from our home!"
"Well, true, but it's still nothing to get worked up over," Kaikeeryn laughed, watching with soft amber eyes as Ula happily smoothed her dress with wiggling ears; after that, she walked forward and took Svena's hand again. "If we ever want to get to Whiterun, though, the first thing to do would be walking there. We'll never get going if you stop to gawk at every rabbit we pass along the way."
Ula let out a delighted gasp at the prospect of seeing more bunnies.
Then, with an excited expression, Ula snatched their hands and took off down the road so quickly that they stumbled.
She was in a much better mood than when she'd first woken up.
"She's more energetic than usual," Svena snorted, rolling her eyes in amusement when Ula let go of them and happily skipped ahead; she followed the girl with a watchful eye. "I wish she could sprinkle that energy on me... I still feel half asleep."
"I'm simply glad she can act this way after everything she's been through," Kai sighed, smiling a little as he watched the white-haired girl skip and dance ahead in a carefree fashion. "I still can't believe everyone's gone... it feels like a nightmare."
"I know," Svena murmured, smile gone in an instant, "but... we have to stay strong. Ula needs both of us, and we need each other."
Both of them fell silent when the white-haired girl suddenly halted and crossed her suddenly-wide eyes to look at a butterfly that had unexpectedly landed on her nose. She blinked several times before her eyes crinkled and she giggled silently: then the beautiful creature fluttered off of her, and Ula lifted her hand to try and touch it.
Sadly, it was out of her reach... but then, the clouds parted for a moment and the girl was bathed in sunlight.
Svena and Kai slowly stopped walking when a gentle wind swept through the grass: when Ula lowered her arm, her eyes had saddened immensely and she looked close to crying for some reason. After a moment, she clasped her hands between her breasts and slowly turned to look at them, long hair drifting behind her in the breeze. The Nord and the Red Guard froze when they saw the lost look in her eyes. For a long moment, something about her face seemed very, very fragile... but then, the clouds drifted over the sun again and the fleeting fragility they'd just witnessed faded away.
Ula, however, immediately loped over and clung to the front of Svena's dress.
The Red Guard blinked when Ula buried her face against her chest; then she wrapped her arms around the younger girl's shoulders.
"Ula?" Svena murmured, rubbing her foster sister's back with gentle motions. "Sweetheart, are you okay?"
Almost immediately, a glowing light started emanating from the girl's throat.
"Sora," Ula unexpectedly whispered, sending that same rumbling echo through the air around them. "I am Sora..."
Svena twitched when the air vibrated, resounding with the sound of Ula's soft voice; then she looked down to see a set of desperate pink eyes staring up at her. For a long moment, the two of them merely stared at each other... but then, the white-haired girl's long ears began to droop and her expression saddened again. Svena swallowed before tapping the albino's nose, which made her blink like an owl.
"Ula," the dark-skinned girl sighed, making the white-haired one flinch, "you need to understand something. We love you no matter what your name is, and in truth, it'll be hard for any of us to adjust to calling you something else after years of knowing you as Ula. To us, you will always be the Jewel of Dark Water Lake. We love you no matter what, okay?"
Ula squeezed the front of her dress and buried her face in it again... but then, she sighed and nodded before pulling away.
When she danced off again with a little less pep in her step, Kai and Svena watched her with dazed eyes. In truth, her actions caught both of them off guard from time to time: there were moments when she seemed a lot younger than fifteen, and her innocence was actually the trait that everyone found endearing.
It made her seem very pure, somehow… especially since the world around them was so hostile and threatening.
Then there were moments, like just a second ago, where something in Ula's eyes would shift without warning.
They would fill up with an unidentifiable sadness and copious amounts of fear. Nobody knew why, of course, and in the end they probably never would: Ula simply understood things that others never even considered. However, when Svena's attention was drawn to the signs resting at the end of the bridge, her eyes widened and she gasped.
"Wow," Kai muttered, looking up at the immense amount of signs sticking out of the wooden poles; he immediately fished around in his pockets for the map that Gerdur had given them, and with probing eyes he scanned the names on the signs. After that, he made a note of where everything was and let out a sigh. "Sheesh... I'm gonna need to start memorizing every village and town we see if I ever want to start reading a map properly."
"That sounds like a good place to start," Svena murmured approvingly. "Just out of curiosity, though, how far is Winterhold?"
"See for yourself," Kai snorted, shifting the map and tapping the top of it. "Right now, we're just outside of Riverwood... but Winterhold is all the way up there. It'd take us weeks to get there on horseback, and on foot, it would take months without a doubt."
"Shor's blood," Svena muttered, running a hand through her shoulder-length curls. "It's a frightful long way off."
"Yes, it is," Kai confirmed, putting the map back into his pocket with a sigh. "Hence why we should get going and think things over."
"Well, okay," Svena chirped, looking at the two roads in front of them: they seemed to be heading off in completely different directions, however, and after a moment, the Red Guard bit her lip. "Still, since I don't know which way to go, I'll let you do the walking."
"Sounds like a plan," the muscular youth chuckled, rolling his eyes before he glanced at Ula. "Oi! Sora! Time to get going!"
The girl's ears shot up and she glanced at him with enormous eyes: then a grin split her face in two and she tore down the road with her hands in the air, grinning in delight. Svena, however, winced when they started off on the road to the right: she didn't really know if it was the right direction since the signs had been bent askew, but she was hoping Kai's decision was correct. Her curly hair bounced as she walked along the cobblestone road with Ula and Kai.
After only ten minutes, though, the cobblestone started fading into a dirt path and Ula's footsteps halted in confusion.
"Something wrong?" Kai lazily inquired, large hands interlaced behind his head. "Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"
"Probably because the road faded," Svena replied, rubbing her eyes. "I'm really nervous about getting lost, too, you know."
"Have faith in me," the black-haired boy sighed, patting her shoulder. "Even if I make a mistake, we can always ask for directions."
"That's reassuring," Svena sourly muttered, averting her large blue eyes with a huff of annoyance. "Anyway, let's keep going down the trail until we find another sign: the sky is starting to cloud over, and I don't want to get rained on."
"Well, as long as we keep going in the right direction," Kai grunted, hefting his pack before nudging Ula forward; after that, the two of them continued walking behind the tiny albino, "I'm sure we'll make it to the city of Whiterun before nightfall."
The two of them continued walking in silence after that, but unlike their slow paces, Ula was jogging around since she was actually feeling fairly cold: her arms were completely exposed to the elements, and as they trekked farther down into the wilderness, she soon had to wrap her own arms around herself just to keep warm. Svena didn't seem to be any better as far as the cold went, so she eventually ran over and huddled up close to her side. Kai, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the increasingly cold air despite the fact that he didn't have warm clothes on.
But hey, that was a Nord for you.
The three adolescents walked down the road for nearly an hour and a half before the clouds darkened into a misty gray overcast and it slowly began to snow: Ula looked up at the descending flakes with a mournful expression, wishing she'd been given a winter jacket instead of a few dresses. In her own opinion, pretty clothes were useless if they didn't serve any other purposes aside from making a girl look cute.
"You should be careful around this part of the road," Kai warned, stopping both girls from walking around a sharp bend that rapidly started descending towards an enormous waterfall in the river. "Gerdur warned us about this area: the ground is unstable, and many a traveler has fallen prey to the river."
"Shor's blood," Svena murmured, blinking uneasily before glancing at the ground in front of her. "Let's be careful, Ula."
The tiny albino nodded and hesitantly tiptoed her way around the mossy stones with Svena close behind; the two girls let out sighs of relief when the road finally turned and began descending away from the river. Ula looked at the scenery with mesmerized eyes as she walked, taking in all the birds that were flying in the air and the odd-looking squirrels chattering up in the trees. Quite unexpectedly, she came face to face with a deer after moving aside a branch that stretched across the road: her resulting wheeze of surprise caused the animal to bolt away and trot into the undergrowth.
"Did you see that?!" Svena yelped, looking at Kai with an open mouth. "Ula almost kissed a deer by accident!"
Kai's only response to their shock was to let out a howl of laughter that made Ula flush bright purple with embarrassment.
After that particular incident, however, the three of them continued through the mountainous forests, following the road downhill and observing the breathtaking landscapes as they went. However, the farther down they went, the warmer and foggier it became: Ula soon had trouble seeing anything, and she stuck close to Svena and Kai so the three of them wouldn't get separated in the mist. Then came the time when she spotted something in the trees as they were walking. Moving shadows… then the sound of rough, mean voices.
"Halt!" a male voice shouted, making the girls jump and Kai stiffen in surprise. "Who's there?!"
"U-um, nobody!" Kai called back, looking extremely on edge when two silhouettes emerged from the mist. "Just some travelers!"
"What are your names?" the first form called, stepping forward into view. "Speak!"
"I'm Kaikeeryn the Brash," Kai called back, glancing at Ula in dismay, "son of Ysvalan the Brave."
"I'm Svena Rossetti," Svena added loudly, then put a hand on Ula's shoulder before adding, "and my sister's name is Ula Rossetti."
Ula blinked when two dark-skinned men walked out of the mist, especially since their eyes widened the moment they saw Svena. Almost immediately, they rushed forward and grabbed the girl's arms, holding her in place. Svena squealed in surprise when their grips tightened, blue eyes widening in horror.
"Hey!" Kai shouted, amber eyes flashing. "Get off of her!"
Ula's ears pulled back and she twitched when he leapt forward and grabbed one of their arms; in the blink of an eye, the man Kai grabbed whirled under him and sent his fist straight into the burly Nord's gut. His amber eyes bulged and he choked, clutching his stomach just before his knees buckled. He went down on all fours and pressed his forehead into the dirt, struggling to take a breath and completely failing at it.
"Let go of me!" Svena shrieked, kicking her legs when the Red Guards lifted her off the ground. "EEEK! HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!"
Ula's muscles tensed up in anger when one of the men clamped a hand over her sister's mouth, and with an angry hiss, she leapt forward and clamped down on his arm. Then, with an enraged expression, she sank her sharp teeth into his wrist; when he let out a shout of pain, the girl retracted her canines and leapt away with sparking hands.
"Get... OFF!" Svena spat, lifting her free arm and conjuring a ball of fire; the remaining Red Guard's eyes widened with a jolt of alarm and he leapt away from her. "Stay away from me! I swear, if you put your hands on me OR my family again, I'll melt your ugly face off!"
When the two Red Guards retreated somewhat, Ula took the opportunity to dart in front of Kai and Svena.
Then, with her sparking fingertips outstretched, she waited for them to speak. She wasn't going to let anything happen to the only hope she had left: out of everyone she'd loved, Svena and Kai were the only two still alive. Ula had already decided after traveling through the Barrow with Faendal that she would never let anything happen to them. They were her only remaining family, the only thing she had left.
"What... in the name of Akatosh..." Kai angrily wheezed, slowly lifting his head and looking up at them in fury, "is wrong with you people?!"
They seemed extremely uncertain for a moment, but the first man soon move brazenly past Ula and thrust a finger in Svena's face.
"Listen, wench, we're on to you," he snarled, making the girl blink. "We know who you are, so you'd better come with us right now!"
"Excuse me?!" Svena snorted, folding her arms with a disbelieving expression. "No way, you horrid little skeever butt! I don't know who you think I am, and I really don't care, so leave me alone!"
"I don't have time for this foolishness," the man barked, brown eyes sharpening. "Come along quietly and we won't have to get rough!"
When he tried to take another step forward, Ula stretched her arm out and barred his way with a threatening expression.
"For your own safety, I wouldn't even think about trying to get past my little sister," Svena stated nervously, making the man stare at her with narrowed eyes. "Actually, it would probably be wise not to mess with her."
The other Red Guard paled when the mark on Ula's neck was once again illuminated, since her eyes started glowing bright blue.
"Brother," he hastily stated, moving forward and leaning close to his ear; he regarded them with wary eyes. "I think they're telling the truth..."
"I'm not going anywhere," he snarled, then looked down at Ula, who drew her lips back and hissed like a wildcat. "Back off before I do something drastic!"
"Brother," the other one whispered, gesturing at Svena. "She doesn't have the scar, and her eyes are blue."
"What?" he asked, looking rather startled when he glanced Svena's eyes; then his gaze flicked to her chin. "Oh... you're right. Well, it appears we've made a mistake. Move along before these attitudes of yours gets you into trouble."
"I beg your pardon?!" Kai roared, stumbling to his feet with a red face and a bulging neck. "You're the ones who'd better move along, you filthy son of a Jackal! The way I see it, you're ALREADY in trouble! Next time you're looking to pester someone, make sure it's the right person!"
"Don't trifle with us, boy," the Red Guard sneered, narrowing his eyes in Kai's direction. "Unless you want to live, that is."
The moment he put his hand on his sword, however, Ula froze and had a mental flash of the Imperials grinning at Lokir when they'd put their hands on their blades: another mental image of the man lying motionless with arrows sticking out of his back roared through her mind, shocking her insides.
Almost instinctively, the girl thrust her arms out with a terrified expression and a brilliant violet flash exploded from her palms, sending the two men flying off their feet. Svena and Kai both screamed in horror when they landed, because the electricity continued to explode out of the small girl's hands: Ula, however, looked totally shocked.
I can't stop! the girl suddenly realized, eyes widening and ears sticking straight out in horror. Oh, Gods! Svena, HELP!
"Ula, calm down!" Svena shouted, leaping forward and wrapping the girl in a glowing golden embrace. "CALM DOWN!"
The albino tossed her head back and forth since the power exploding from her body had become uncontrollable: she didn't know how to make it stop anymore. It was literally just roaring out of her!
"SORA!" Svena shrieked, making the girl's heart skip a beat. "STOP IT!"
Almost instantaneously, the lightning exploding from her palms ceased and the girl's knees buckled.
"Gods above!" Kai squeaked, hurrying over to the motionless men and kneeling beside them. "Oh, Gods... are they dead?!"
Ula twitched and froze, heart flying up her throat.
She watched with blank eyes as Svena hurried over to the two of them and felt around their throats.
"No, they're merely unconscious," Svena sighed, shaking her head before looking at the decimated trees that had been shredded by Ula's destructive energies, "but still, that was a very close call. Ula, do you know what just happened?"
The albino girl fearfully shook her head and looked at her hands with stricken pink eyes: for a moment, she hadn't been able to control the energy skyrocketing out of her, and that fact alone had terrified her. She started shivering violently and swallowed, not even noticing when Svena came over and closed her dark fingers over her pale ones.
Ula looked up when the woman smiled at her.
"You only knocked out some idiots who were threatening us, that's all," the woman explained, lifting a hand and gently brushing a strand of snowy hair out of her eyes. "They'll be sore once they wake up, but aside from that, I couldn't sense any major injuries: they didn't even hit their heads. This isn't your fault... but I need you to make me a promise."
Ula blinked and shakily nodded, turning her head without breaking eye contact to show that she was listening.
"I want you to promise me that you won't use anymore Magicka until we get to Winterhold," Svena stated calmly, waiting for the younger girl to nod in confirmation; she held out her pinkie and smiled when the albino clasped it with her own. "I have a feeling that what you just did wasn't on purpose, and that... that's not a good thing. It's actually very dangerous, and you need a real teacher to guide you through all of this."
"We should get going before they wake up," Kai grumbled, rubbing his bruising stomach when Svena helped Ula to her feet. "Okay?"
"I agree," Svena sighed, pulling them away from the unconscious warriors. "Let's get out of here."
Thus, the three of them continued on.