Chapter 17

Bonding

It was the following morning when Hiccup awoke in comfort for the first time in a while. He was in his new bed in his more permanent Skyrim home: the smithy of Emeralda. It must have been over a week, maybe two, since he last slept in a bed. In fact, the last bed he'd slept in was back in Berk, in his own hut with Toothless sleeping nearby on his stone slab and his father below.

Turning his head to the right, he saw that it was only similar to home in little ways. Toothless was fast asleep on the stone slab Rahm-Ku and J'Kiir carved out for him, the sun shining on his ebony scales from the hole in the roof that would be used as the Night Fury's main entry. Unless rain came, then it would be closed and the Night Fury would have to use the front entrance.

Sitting up, Hiccup remembered more of the events of the previous day. More importantly, on how they found Renee's dragon, Bane. Looking to his bedside table, the Viking took notice of the notes he had made of the Juggernaut the previous night before he went to bed. By far, he made notes on Bane's body structure, which included sketches, and speed. While Bane looked like he'd belong to the Boulder or Mystery Classes, Hiccup's gut was telling him that Bane belonged to the Tracker Class. He would have to learn more about Bane before he could confirm it.

His mind shifting, Hiccup found himself frowning at what day it was. It was the second day of Renee's curse by Namira, the Daedric Prince of Decay. That meant there were five days left before Renee would forever become a cannibal. Unless she were to eat the heart of her village's murder, Dralsa Nethrend.

No matter how he looked at it, Renee was in a lose-lose situation. He hoped that he and their brothers could help her get rid of the curse before the end of the seventh day.

His stomach growled, telling the Viking to stop thinking and get something to eat. Hiccup found it surprising that his stomach wanted nourishment while he had been thinking about his sister becoming a cannibal. He settled for getting up and opening a nearby barrel, where he had stashed some vegetables and began making himself stew. He also placed a basket of fresh fish Renee delivered outside his door that same morning and set it next to Toothless. The smell of the fish was enough for the Night Fury to wake and devour the fish feverishly.

After breakfast, both Viking and Night Fury exited the home and went about doing their own thing. Hiccup went to the forge and began making nails and other building supplies for his brothers while Toothless left to check on Bane, who was sleeping in the center of the town.

The Night Fury sniffed at the sleeping Juggernaut, catching a whiff of the medicine J'Kiir had applied the night before. It smelt terrible to the dragons, but the Khajiit informed them and the others that the concoction would clean the wound of any harmful substances that could make the Juggernaut sick. While it was appreciated, it still smelled terrible.

Toothless stood on his hind legs as he heard Rahm-Ku coming out of the general store. He was dressed in dark brown pants and leather boots but left without a shirt on. The Night Fury debated on two things regarding the Argonian's appearance: that he slept that way or he was going to work in that outfit. His ears perked again as he heard J'Kiir coming out of the inn, dressed in a similar manner.

Yawning, the pair spoke as they passed the dragons.

"Morning."

"Morning."

They then approached Hiccup, who was finishing up with some of the nails.

"What's today's agenda? Take it you are going to spend time with Renee and Bane?" J'Kiir asked.

Hiccup nodded as he got to work on another set of nails.

"When Renee gets back from hunting, we're gonna tend to Bane a little bit. Once he's fed and resting, then we'll help you two with the wall."

Hearing this, the brothers proceeded to wait until Renee returned. She came back with four baskets of fish and a deer over her shoulders.

Seeing her brothers, she spoke.

"Morning. Got today's meal."

Seeing the deer, J'Kiir groaned.

"Venison and fish again? I swear that's all you eat."

Renee narrowed her eyes at the Thief.

"Hey! There aren't exactly wild cows in Skyrim and I have yet to see any boars thus far! Eat what you can get and quit complaining, you milk-drinker!"

J'Kiir's fur bristled at his sister's attitude. Not in anger, but in surprise. And he wasn't the only one caught off guard by the Nord's sudden hostility. The Viking and the Argonian jumped as Toothless raised his ears.

Realizing what she had did, Renee rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"Sorry about that. I don't know what came over me."

"I have an idea. It's one of your curses. Question is 'which one?'" Hiccup explained as he got back to work.

It was then that Rahm-Ku stepped in. "Why don't you go feed Bane? He should be stirring soon, anyway."

Renee didn't say anymore, but obeyed as she set her catch down and walked over to Bane with one of the baskets of fish. Toothless "purred" as he smelt the fish and approached Renee. Seeing the Night Fury, Renee gave a grin.

"Sorry, Night Fury. These are for Bane. Didn't my brother feed you?"

Toothless gave off his usual "laugh" as Renee approached the awakening Juggernaut and began feeding him.

As he continued working in the forge, Hiccup kept an eye on Renee. And he wasn't the only one. His brothers approached him as they got to work on the deer.

"It's the second day and Renee's already agitated. It has to be the werewolf curse." Rahm-Ku whispered.

"Yes. But then again, she could be cranky because her palette is changing from animal to mortal." J'Kiir added his two bits.

Hiccup sighed as he set aside another bag of freshly-made nails.

"Or maybe it's because she is stressed because of the time limit. Add the punishment we're giving her for defacing Namira's shrine, possible lack of sleep, and the side effects of the curse and you've got a massive cauldron of emotion ready to explode."

The Mage and the Thief cringed at their brother's response. They hadn't considered the amount of stress their sister was going through. Upon hearing this, J'Kiir turned to the deer.

"How about I take over the hunting until this whole thing blows over? I'm just as much of a hunter as Renee is."

"But she needs to tend to her wolf's blood, too." Rahm-Ku argued as he handed Hiccup the deerskin.

"Yes, but with the training and such, we need to fill a larder if we're going to stay here. Besides, I need to get out of town for a bit." The Khajiit added as he stretched his muscles.

"And get out of work at the same time." Rahm-Ku added his suspicion.

Hiccup groaned as he intervened his brothers once again.

"Look. You both have good points. Renee needs to quench her blood thirst and we need to have a full larder. But what we have now for food will have to be enough until we have someplace to put it and a wall to protect the town."

As the brothers argued among themselves, Renee sighed as she feed Bane. Despite their attempts to be quiet, she could still hear her brother's whispers. Bane saw the Nord's saddened look and gave of a rumble from his throat, gaining the Nord's attention. Realizing that the dragon was calling, Renee shook herself from her stupor and brought out another fish for Bane.

"Oh. Sorry."

But Bane didn't take the fish. Instead, his gaze was focused on the Nord. A look that she was able to interpret it as "what's wrong?" and possessing legitimate concern. Renee sighed. There was no way she wasn't going to keep quiet with Bane. Especially if he was to help her with her vengeance and whatever else came in the future.

"Sorry. Things have been going to Oblivion for me lately."

Bane tilted his head in confusion, but motioned for Renee to continue. Seeing this, Renee sat down, her fear of the dragon mostly gone. For some reason, she felt like she needed to pour her heart out to this dragon.

"Well, when I was little, I lived in this very village with my family and many other villagers. What everyone, including me, thought was a plague came and killed everyone except me. Because of the symptoms, everyone pointed the finger at Namira: the Daedric Prince of Decay."

Bane let out a growl, alarming the Warrior for a moment, before she spoke again.

"I take it you know of the Princes?"

The Juggernaut gave a nod, for it was not uncommon knowledge, as he motioned Renee to speak more.

She did.

"For ten summers, I've blamed Namira for the death of this village. Then two years ago, I did something extremely foolish. I got drunk and vandalized her statue."

Bane gave a confused, yet surprised growl before turning into one similar to what her brothers gave her when she told them. Holding up her hands in defense, Renee continued.

"Hey, hey! I've already been lectured by my brothers! Besides, I'm already being punished for it."

Bane snorted, practically demanding Renee to explain. She continued.

"I didn't find out until two days ago that Namira wasn't the cause. She made the weapon that killed everyone, yes. But she wasn't the killer. It was a Dark Elf that had been passing by. He was a lecher who saw an 8 year-old girl as a bride. And he secretly made the girl immune to a poison he released shortly after. He did this so he could take the girl along with eleven others. Thankfully, he doesn't have her. You know why?"

A moment of silence came, causing Bane to become more and more curious. Renee sighed again.

"That girl was to be me."

Bane reared back his head in surprise. The story this female was telling him was not only morbid, but tragically honest. He wondered what other hell did she go through and motioned for her to continue.

"I ran at my parents' urging. I left the village before I was to be collected. I joined a traveling band of mercenaries and became a powerful force. I've joined a warrior's group called the Companions. Shortly after joining, I was tested to receive a 'gift.' A gift given to members of the upper hierarchy. To be 'blessed' as a werewolf."

Bane had encountered werewolves before, but never confronted them. They never bothered him, though he never wondered why. He remained silent to continue to hearing the story.

"Afterwards, after my brothers and I received 'special training.' We've discovered we were Dragonborn after a battle southeast of here and had to go up the Throat of the World to master our Thu'um."

Once again, Bane was caught by surprise. It was common among Tamriel-born hatchlings to hear stories of beings known as Dragonborn. Mostly it was to scare hatchlings into behaving. But there were few dragons that believed that the Dragonborn was not to be feared, but to be respected and that some dragons can sense when a mortal was Dragonborn. Perhaps that was why he felt the need to go with the Nord female. Bane's thoughts became silent as Renee continued.

"As we began our final test, I asked that we'd stop here to confront my demons. I never knew until then that my village was murdered by a mortal, or that it was the latest in a string of murders involving certain mining villages. Namira approached us here, told us the story. Then, gave us an objective: to kill the mastermind of these crimes. But not before having her vengeance on me."

Renee then removed her new gauntlet, revealing the spider mark. It was as red as the night it had been branded into her skin. Bane sniffed the mark, only to cringe at the smell of decay emitting from it.

"This is my curse from Namira. I have a week…well, five days now, to find the murderer, kill him, and…eat his heart. Otherwise, I'll be forced to become a cannibal and eat my own kind."

Now Bane couldn't help but feel pity for the Nord. She had endured hell and was still experiencing it. But that led another question to enter his mind. What of him? Seeing the question in the Juggernaut's eyes, Renee once again became honest.

"There's more. Namira said a dragon could help us find the madman responsible for this. Her spiders were at your cave. We suspect you may be that dragon. But we won't force you."

Once again, Bane was curious. What could he contribute to this? And what did she mean by "we won't force you"? It didn't take long for him to figure out the latter. The female was giving him a choice rather than forcing him to do her bidding. A part of him wanted nothing to do with the Princes. But he couldn't ignore the female's plight. Especially since she and her brothers were Dragonborn. Perhaps he would find out what he could contribute to this other than his strength.

Bane remained where he was as he placed his head on Renee's legs, like a dog would to his master. It took a minute for Renee to figure out what Bane's answer was. With a relived smile, Renee stroked the Juggernaut's snout, earning her a purr from him.

"Thank you, my friend."

Nearby, Hiccup watched with pride as he witnessed the situation. He gave Rahm-Ku and J'Kiir the materials needed to work on the wall a while ago when he saw Renee conversing with Bane. Setting the leather he was working on aside, Hiccup approached his sister and her dragon while Toothless left to check on the Mage and Thief. "You're doing great." Renee turned her attention to Hiccup as she spoke with confusion. "What are you talking about?" Hiccup answered her as he handed bandages and medicine to Renee.

"You and Bane will work together if the two of you have a bond. That way, you two will trust each other more."

"Like Shield Siblings?" The cursed Nord asked.

Hiccup nodded, having been explained about Shield Siblings before.

"That's right. In time, you two may become a formidable team. Especially since you both have great strength."

Renee cracked a smile as she removed herself from under Bane's chin and got to work replacing the bandages.

"I guess you're right. You are the expert, after all."

As Rene changed the bandages, Hiccup took measurements of Bane's torso, causing the Nord to become curious.

"What are you doing?"

Hiccup answered as he took notes.

"The rest of the week, I'm going to train you how to ride a dragon. And before I can do that, I need to make Bane a saddle."

Renee didn't argue. Having ridden horses before, she knew the importance of a saddle.

"Mind if I help you when I'm done? I'm looking for a saddle that can handle a lot of weight, yet be light and comfortable for both Bane and myself."

With a nod, Hiccup resumed his notes as Renee aided the wounded dragon.