Chapter Twenty: A Blossoming Love
Anjaarra awoke to the sound of birds singing outside the window, rays of sunlight pouring in through the open window. She blinked her eyes rapidly before slowly sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of them. She yawned quietly and stretched, her tail stretching out as well. The cat-woman licked her lips as she looked around the cabin, her body aching slightly. She had no idea why but she didn't dwell on it. Pushing off of the floor, Anjaarra stood up slowly and brushed dust off of her borrowed night gown.
The cabin was empty, even Hulgar was gone. Anxiety started to fill up in the Khajiit's chest but she soon heard his booming voice from through the window and her body visibly relaxed. She had thought that he returning was only a part of her bizarre nightmare. Her mind quickly thought back at it, her tail flicking slightly as she wondered what all of it meant. With a slight shrug of her lean shoulders, she walked over to the window. The cat-woman leaned over the windowsill, looking out over the yard.
The yard was muddy and full of puddles. A line stretched from the house to a tree, all kinds of fish hanging from it. Anjaarra smiled softly, thinking of how many more fish had been washed up on the road from the slight flood. Anjaarra looked about and saw bits of wood and some of the mill's logs scattered about. The bright orange eyes spotted Hert and Hulgar pushing a log back towards the main pile, both cracking jokes and teasing each other. The smile on Anjaarra's face drooped slightly, a sigh escaping her lips.
Anjaarra leaned out of the window and looked over at the Amulet of Mara. It still sat next to her pillow from the night before but did she really want to put it back on. She knew that Hulgar hadn't noticed it and even if he had, it's not like he would have mentioned it. His Nord pride was too bright to ask such a lowly creature like a Khajiit to marry him. She sighed sadly and walked over to the pile of borrowed clothes that Hert let her borrow.
The cat-woman slipped out of the night gown and slipped on the plain red dress, tying a matching sash around her waist. Her mind wandered back to the night before when she opened the door and found Hulgar standing there. A soft smile crept across her face when she remembered the hug he gave her. That was the last thing that she had expected of him and it obviously caught her off guard. But that's not such a bad sign, Anjaarra thought as she pulled on her boots and walked over to the door. Maybe there really was a chance for a lowly creature like her for such a prideful man like Hulgar.
The cat-woman pushed the door open, blinking her eyes a few times to get used to the bright sunlight. She shook her head slightly before stepping into the puddle covered yard, closing the door quietly. Hulgar and Hert had managed to push the log back onto the main pile and were starting to grab another one. The Nord man glanced over and saw Anjaarra standing by the door, waving over at her.
"Good morning, Anjaarra." He called over to her. She smiled and waved back, walking over and closing the gap between them.
"Good morning, Hulgar. Morning Hert." The cat-woman said, Hert smiling back at the Khajiit.
"Morning. Did you sleep well last night?" Hert asked. Anjaarra paused for a moment, thinking back at her nightmarish visions. She chewed on her lip before speaking.
"Um, of sorts. I actually had a very odd dream." Anjaarra said to the Nords. The Hert and Hulgar stopped and stared at Anjaarra, listening to her as she went on to talk about her dreams of fighting the Imperials and seeing Hulgar fight with the Dragonborn and fail. Then she went on to speak about how she was in Bloated Man's Grotto and the final battle with the Dragonborn and winning. Hulgar stared at Anjaarra grimly through the recantation of her dream.
"Wow… That's, um, bizarre…" Hert remarked after Anjaarra finished. The Khajiit nodded slightly, glancing over at the Nord man. His face was pale and he rubbed his hand over his stubble covered chin. His eyes seemed to be staring off into space. Hert nudged his arm and he cleared his throat before looking Anjaarra.
"Y-yeah, that is really odd…" He finally said, staring into the Khajiit's bright orange eyes. She nodded slowly, looking between the two Nords.
"But how could I have dreamt of all that? I just met Hulgar and he never talked about any of that, if what I saw was true." Anjaarra said, glancing between the two of them. Hulgar looked over to Hert. The Nord woman looked back at him before sighing softly.
"You had waked us up last night and Hulgar and I were talking about it. I think that when you touched the soul gem in that creature you were battling, the soul inside it transferred all of its memories into you and that was what you were witnessing last night. So, whatever you had seen in your dreams had happened sometime ago." Hert glanced over at Hulgar. "But I would suspect it was probably a close comrade of yours if he had such close contact with you." The Nord woman added. Hulgar glanced down at her before nodding slowly.
"Yes, he was one of my closest friends. His name was Balfhe. He was really my only friend that I could trust and rely on." Hulgar explained, looking over at Anjaarra. "That battle you were talking about, the one where we defeated the Dragonborn, we had actually lost that battle. The Thalmor had overrun us and the only thing that we could was surrender. By that time, though, there were only four of us left. It was just me, Balfhe, and a few other comrades." Hulgar explained, his voice filled with bitter sadness.
"There wasn't much that we could do after that point. The Thalmor took us into custody and they were shipping us off to the North Embassy to be interrogated when Talos saved us. Well, most of us. A dragon attacked the Thalmor convoy that we were in and it allowed me and another comrade of mine to escape. Balfhe wasn't so lucky. I hadn't realized that he wasn't behind me while I was running and by the time I looked behind me, I saw that he was nowhere in sight. Even the comrade who had escaped with me had up and disappeared…" Hulgar said sadly, his gaze lowering to the ground. Anjaarra stared at him sadly, her ears and tail drooping in sorrow.
"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that Hulgar…" Anjaarra said quietly, looking up at the Nord man. He only nodded grimly before looking away.
"It's alright… From that point, I tried to search for a road but instead I stumbled upon a camp full of Thalmor. They had seen my tattered clothing and saw that I was still bound and knew that I was an escapee. So I ran from them as they shot arrows at me and flung their lightning bolts at me." The Nord said, his eyes glazing over as he recalled the memory.
"It had started to rain and it was coming down hard as I ran through the plains. I had never ran so fast in my life and I knew to stop would to give up to the Thalmor, whom still shot their arrows and magicka at me. I didn't think I would survive until I took a tumble down a short cliff and stumbled across some streams. I don't know how but I just barely escaped from the Thalmor that night. But my body kept running and running… Until I came upon your home." The Nord said, looking at Anjaarra, a faint smile on his lips.
"I thought I had just imagined it but there it was a cabin in the middle of nowhere. And inside was a lonely Khajiit farmer who was kind enough to save me…" He said in a hushed tone, a slight smile playing at the corner of his lips. Anjaarra stared at him and flicked her ears back in embarrassment, covering her face to hide her embarrassed smile.
"It… I… I was only helping, was all," She stuttered out, noticing Hert's soft smile as she quietly backed away from the pair. Hulgar didn't notice as the Nord woman snuck away, his plum eyes looking back over at Anjaarra.
"Well, if you weren't there, I'm not sure where I'd be now." Hulgar told her, Anjaarra's embarrassed smile growing slightly wider as she turned away from him. The Nord grinned at her and softly touched her arm. The Khajiit looked back over at him, noticing how close he was suddenly standing next to her. Her bright orange eyes grew wide as she felt his hands rest on her arms and his body close against hers. Anjaarra looked up just in time to see Hulgar lean forward to kiss her. Her orange eyes opened wide as the Nord's lips gently touched hers. She hadn't imagined what it would have felt like to kiss him but if she had, she wouldn't have imagined his lips to be as soft as they were. The Khajiit closed her eyes and enjoyed the kiss.
After a few seconds of holding the embrace, the pair slowly pulled away. Hulgar's plum eyes looked into Anjaarra's orange ones. A soft smile crept across his face as Anjaarra's ears flicked back slightly and slowly pulled away from his arms. Her tail flicked about excitedly as she lowered her eyes from the Nord.
"I, um, it…" She paused and cleared her throat, looking for the right words to say. "That was… N-nice…" She finally stammered out, a smile creeping across her lips as she looked up at Hulgar.
"Just nice?" He said softly, his smile still soft on his lips. Anjaarra looked up at him before smiling and shaking her head.
"No… It was great." She quickly stepped forward and nuzzled against his chest. Hulgar tensed slightly as he felt a rumbling against his chest. He looked down at her and realized that she was purring, her tail swaying happily behind her. The Nord smiled and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.
"Yeah… It was." Hulgar said back. Anjaarra smiled and flicked her tail around behind her before pulling back slightly and looking up at the Nord.
"But… How did you know?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. Hulgar looked down at her and smiled.
"Nobody wears an Amulet of Mara for fun, cat." He said teasingly, softly stroking her cheek when her ears flicked back in embarrassment and her bright eyes looked away. "But I connected the dots and figured that I was the one that you were trying to attract." The Nord added, smiling softly when the cat-woman looked back up at him.
"I… I just didn't know how you felt about me and I didn't know how you would react if I tried to tell you." She said somewhat nervously, her tail quickly flicking behind her. "But I figured that a strong and proud Nord like you would answer the call of an Amulet of Mara. So I figured I'd try and see if it would work." She said with a soft smile, a quiet purr still rumbling from her throat. Hulgar smiled down at her and cupped her cheek in his hand.
"Well, you certainly got my attention." The Nord man told her quietly. Anjaarra smiled softly and closed her eyes, leaning into the Nord's hand. They both stood close together for a few minutes more, relishing in the moment before a sudden shout startled them.
"Hey! If you two are done standing around, I'd appreciate some help with these blasted logs!" Hert shouted over to them from behind a large log. Hulgar's cheeks flushed slightly and chuckled slightly as Anjaarra smiled in embarrassment and looked down in embarrassment. He patted her shoulder softly.
"Come on, let's go help her before she complains some more." The Nord man said, leading the Khajiit over to the Nord woman, both of them smiling wide.