Chapter 7: Reunion

Izeera groaned and buried her face in her hands. It seemed that, yet again, they would be delayed thanks to bad luck. This time, it was an injury. Shame had badly sprained his ankle. Thanks to an additional illness, it took him much, much longer to regenerate his Magicka. It would probably take him about a week to heal himself. Izeera would try to be patient, but it seemed that they were stuck in Dragon Bridge until Shame had fully recovered. So they had to play the waiting game. Of course, after six days, the Khajiit became restless. She desperately wished that something would happen. Unfortunately, her wish came true. She heard a roar echo through the sky as a shadow flew over the town. Her reflexes kickin in, Izeera looked up and saw something that filled her heart with unspeakable dread. A dragon. The townsfolk were panicking. Izeera knew that, if nothing was done, the town would be reduced to ruins and the people would be killed. Could she take on a dragon? Who knows? All she knew was that she had to try. Reaching into herself, she accessed her Magicka. She chose a lightning spell this time. When the dragon landed on one of the buildings, she took aim and fired. The dragon roared as it took the damage. With the dragon's attention now on her, the Khajiit called out, "Hey! Dragon! Your mother was an iguana!"

The dragon roared at Izeera, who bolted, hoping to lead the dragon away from the village. She was fortunate that she succeeded. The dragon followed her. Once she was a safe distance away, Izeera kept firing lightning bolts at the dragon whenever it was within range. She managed to dodge its fire, but she could feel the heat of it. She was keeping the dragon away from the village, but she didn't know if she could handle it on her own. When the dragon landed and began to charge at her, the Khajiit tried to run out of its way, but she tripped. Well, she was screwed. Izeera rolled over to face her death with courage. To her surprise, that death didn't come. She could hear a woman's voice roar, followed by the dragon's roar as a warhammer was brought down on its tail. It was Hildegard! When the dragon turned its attention to the Nord, the Khajiit used that opportunity to fire several more lightning spells at the beast. She continued to fire until her Magicka reserves were low. She needed to recover. Izeera drew her Dwarven war axe. She swung at the dragon. The scales protected it from much of the damage but, bit by bit, the axe started to wear through the scales. Both she and Hildegard kept it quite occupied, but it wasn't quite enough. Suddenly, a third weapon entered the fray. It was a mace. It belonged to Shame. He appeared to still be in pain from his ankle, but he was fighting. The three mercenaries gradually wore the dragon down. Finally, Izeera swung at its face, doing a great deal of damage. She then leapt on the dragon's head, chopping and swinging until it finally went down. The relieved Khajiit slid off its head. She then walked over to Shame and punched him in the arm. "What was that for?" the High Elf cried.

"You should be in bed!" Izeera scolded. "Now you have to take even longer to recover!"

Shame grimaced, but he knew that his friend was right. Leaning on his friends, he was assisted in limping back towards Dragon Bridge, where they were met with a joyful welcome. Shame, of course, sat down right away. Hildegard was grinning. Izeera smirked and said, "Izeera did not expect to be a hero for free!"

The three were not paid. Instead, someone supplied them with a potion of cure disease, which Shame eagerly downed. With his illness gone, his Magicka was able to regenerate at its normal rate. He was then able to easily heal himself. There was a celebration in honor of the three 'heroes'. By the end of the day, everyone was tired, especially the trio. Everyone went to bed, exhausted. In the morning, they went about their usual routine when Izeera heard the guards say something about the Imperials attacking Windhelm. Immediately, the Khajiit's heart filled with worry as she gasped, "Lyall!"

She had no way of knowing whether the Dark Elf had been able to get out of the city before the attack. She knew what she had to do. Izeera quickly went over to Shame and Hildegard. "We are going back to Windhelm." Izeera announced.

"Oh, for the Divines' sakes!" Hildegard groaned.

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Izeera could not recall having made a faster journey from Dragon Bridge to Windhelm in her life. By the time she got there, the people were already rebuilding. Izeera frantically searched for her Dunmer friend. When she spotted her friend, Izeera called out, "Lyall!"

The Dark Elf grinned broadly when she saw the Khajiit and ran over to her. Lyall then wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug, burying her head in the Khajiit's shoulder. Izeera gently took Lyall's chin in her hands and tipped her head so they were face to face. "Izeera feared the worst." the mercenary said softly.

"I'm fine." Lyall said with a smile. "It's said that things are going to get better now that the Dragonborn has defeated Ulfric."

"Izeera would very much like to meet this Dragonborn." the Khajiit said with a smile. "Izeera wants to meet the person who may have led to a better life for Izeera's friend."

It was then that Shame and Hildegard finally caught up to the spellsword. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you came here to find Lyall." Hildegard sighed.

"Lyall is Izeera's friend." the Khajiit said.

"Come." Lyall said with a smile. "I'll introduce you to the Dragonborn. She's helping rebuild."

The trio followed the Dunmer woman over to a place where several people were rebuilding. One of them was a rather pretty brown-haired Imperial girl, perhaps nineteen years old, in Imperial armor. Izeera immediately recognized her as the girl she had seen near Riverwood. "This," Lyall said, "Is the Dragonborn. Her name is-"

"Rosette!" Shame gasped.

In all of her time knowing the Altmer, Izeera had never seen him more surprised. The woman who had been introduced as the Dragonborn, Rosette, turned around at the familiar voice. Her eyes widened as she let out a joyful cry of, "Edrian!"

The Imperial girl ran over to the High Elf and flung her arms around him. She fought back tears as she cried, "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"I... I thought you were dead!" Shame stammered.

"I survived the fire." Rosette explained. "By the time things calmed down and I was healed enough to walk, you were gone."

"It seems that you know Shame." Hildegard said, stating the obvious.

"I knew him seven years ago, back when he was a Thalmor wizard." Rosette said, a smile clear on her face.

Hildegard and Izeera's jaws dropped. Shame, a Thalmor wizard? With the way he was right now, it the possibility seemed so far removed from reality! "How?" Izeera gasped. "How did you know him?"

"Well," Rosette explained, "When I was twelve, I started following him around. He couldn't get me to leave him alone, so he sort of became my mentor."

"Why in the name of the gods would you follow a Thalmor wizard around?" Hildegard asked, completely astounded.

"Well..." Rosette blushed a furious red. "I thought Edrian was handsome."

Shame seemed shocked as well. That was why she had followed him around? He attempted to look anywhere but at the Imperial girl. "Isn't he a bit... old for you, even right now?" Hildegard asked.

"How old could he possibly be?" Izeera asked, giving Hildegard a funny look. "If he were an Imperial like her, I mean."

Shame rubbed the back of his head and mumbled something. "What was that?" Rosette asked.

"Forty-six." Shame said a bit louder, so they heard him. "If I were an Imperial, I would be forty-six."

Hildegard whistled before saying, "Old enough to be the Dragonborn's father!"

"It doesn't matter." Shame replied. "I was her mentor. It wouldn't be appropriate even now."

"It was a childish crush." Rosette said. "I got over it years ago."

Izeera raised a brow. She had a hunch that the girl was disappointed. "Well," Izeera said, "Izeera thanks you for making life better for Lyall."

"You're welcome." Rosette said, a blush covering her face. She then turned to Shame and said, "So, a priest?"

"Yes." Shame replied. "I follow the teachings of Stendarr."

"Now that you're a priest, I suppose that means you don't use your othe magic anymore." the Imperial girl deduced, "Aside from Restoration, presumably."

"Restoration and Alteration, actually." Shame replied. "Healing spells, wards, and armor spells."

"Shame uses other magic?" Izeera was surprised. The surprises never ended!

"Yes!" Rosette replied. "He uses-"

Shame covered Rosette's mouth and said, "They don't really need to know. I used them once, but I don't use them anymore."

"Oh." the Dragonborn replied. "Well, who wants drinks?"

"That, Izeera will not question." Izeera said with a smile.

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The entire group was laughing as they regaled stories of their travels. The inebriated Izeera had a tipsy Lyall on her lap. Hildegard was standing up, but her iron helm was sitting on the table. Rosette was sitting next to Shame. "Let me get this straight." Rosette said with a grin, "She seriously didn't know that you were a mage, Izeera?"

"Hildegard did not know." Izeera replied. "When Izeera started a fire with one of her spells, Hildegard proved that it was possible to trip over one's own feet while sitting down. She squealed like a child."

"I did not squeal like a child!" Hildegard huffed.

"You did, too." Shame slurred. "You were like, 'eeek!'"

"Oh, shut up, you drunkard." Hildegard grumbled.

"You're not exactly sober, either." Rosette noted.

"Yes, but I'm not banned from the Winking Skeever in Solitude." the Nord woman retorted.

"Shame is not banned." Izeera corrected. "He is on the establishment's 'do not serve' list. He can pay for a room for the night, but he cannot have a drop to drink."

"I'm not allowed anything stronger than water in Solitude." Shame admitted.

Not having access to alcohol was tough for Shame. He drank in excess when he was allowed to drink without supervision. This was his last drink for the night. After this, Izeera had instructed the barkeep to stop serving him. Of course, she couldn't always keep tabs on him, though she did try her hardest. At least he wasn't consciously trying to kill himself. He'd only made one attempt on his own life since he had met Izeera, and that attempt was nearly a year ago. The Khajiit's presence had been beneficial to him, but he still had a long way to go. He knew that, should he stop drinking, it would probably take many years for his reputation in Solitude for being a drunkard to go away. Was there anything more pathetic than a drunken priest? Still, he continued. Izeera had once offered to give him a special treatment, a traditional Khajiit medicine to rid a person of a drinking habit. He had never even thought about accepting it. Maybe one of these days he would, but for the forseeable future, he would continue his hard drinking. Rosette, who was still on her first drink, looked up at Shame with what could have been concern in her eyes. What was she so worried about? He was about to ask the Imperial girl, but she looked away. It must have been nothing.

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Izeera was always an early riser. When she woke up in the morning, she became immediately aware of a warm presence curled up against her. She opened her eyes to see that her field of vision was blocked by a head full of black hair. Her arm was currently wrapped around the body that the hair belonged to. She slowly pulled her arm back. As she did this, her hand brushed bare breasts. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the person in bed with her was a woman and that the woman was naked. It did, however, take a moment for Izeera to realize that she was also naked. A wonderful scent filled her nose. It was the scent of feminine arousal. It wasn't happening at the moment, but it was there. Her whiskers twitched. There was a strange substance around her mouth. It wasn't dried drool. She rubbed her face and brought her hand up to her nose. She inhaled deeply. Definitely feminine arousal. It wasn't hers. Oh, gods. What had she done last night? Slowly, her memories of the night before trickled back. Heated touches, bodies pressed together, cries of pleasure. Izeera could still practically taste her. When the woman in bed with her rolled over, it confirmed what Izeera already suspected: it was Lyall. Oddly, the Khajiit wasn't as mortified as she thought she would be. Despite her best efforts to change, she had always remained attracted to women. For several years, Izeera had been fighting her attraction to the Dunmer woman. Apparently, last night the Khajiit had, finally, set aside her inhibitions and made love to Lyall. It appeared that the proverbial cat was out of the bag now. No pun intended. Slowly, Izeera left the bed. Lyall's eyes fluttered open and she sleepily mumbled, "Izeera?"

The Khajiit froze. She had already put her underclothes back on and currently had one leg in her trousers. Awkwardly, Izeera turned to look at Lyall. The Dunmer woman had a puzzled look on her face as she asked, "Where are you going?"

"Izeera is, ah, just going to get the others." the Khajiit replied.

"You're going." Lyall said sadly. "And... you're not going to say goodbye, are you?"

The Dunmer woman paused awkwardly before asking, "Did... I do something wrong?"

Izeera slipped her other leg into her trousers and pulled them up. She sighed and said, "You did nothing wrong."

"It was last night, wasn't it?" Lyall asked. "I didn't mean to pressure you. I-"

"Izeera told you, you did nothing wrong!" Izeera snapped. When Lyall flinched at Izeera's harsh tone, the spellsword's eyes softened. Izeera then said softly, "You did nothing that Izeera did not permit."

"Then what's wrong?" Lyall asked, her crimson eyes wide with worry and concern.

"Izeera is... confused." The Khajiit admitted. "Izeera does not know what to do. For a long time, Izeera has fought this attraction to Lyall. These... feelings."

"I..." Lyall admitted shyly, "I've been struggling with the same thing."

The Dunmer woman looked up at the Khajiit and asked, "What are we going to do?"

"Izeera needs time to think." Izeera said.

"About what?" Lyall asked.

"About this." Izeera replied, making an obscure gesture. "About us. If there is an us. Izeera needs some time to figure it out."

The naked Dunmer woman clutched the sheets to her chest and looked away from Izeera. "I understand." Lyall said softly.

Lyall waited until Izeera finished putting on her clothing and gear and left the room. She then started putting on her own clothes, quiet and alone, just her and her aching heart.

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After Izeera had woken everyone up, they gathered together. Lyall had departed, presumably to go back to her home. Shame was obviously nursing a severe hangover. Rosette obviously seemed to have something on her mind. Hildegard was the first to ask. "Is something on your mind, Dragonborn?"

"There is." Rosette admitted. "I've been thinking about it and I'd like to ask you guys to come with me. To help me save the world."

"For free?" Izeera asked with a raised brow.

"Well, there will probably be treasures along the way." Rosette replied. "Besides, if the world ends, there won't be any gold left for you to earn."

Izeera nodded. That was as good of an excuse as any. Besides, it would probably give her plenty of time away from Lyall, to think about what to do next. If the world ended, it wouldn't matter. Her mind was settled. Before she could decide what would happen next between her and Lyall, the world needed to be saved first. "Izeera will go. It is anyone's choice whether they will go or not."

Hildegard folded her arms across her armored chest and nodded as well. "It will be a great honor to fight alongside you, Dragonborn."

Finally, Rosette looked to Shame. "What say you, Edrian?" the Imperial asked.

Shame seemed to hesitate for a moment. Rosette stood with baited breath for several long, long seconds before the Altmer finally answered with great certainty. "Yes." Shame said. "I'll follow you to the edge of the world and back, Rosette."

A smile erupted on Rosette's face, her eyes filled with an indescribable joy. She let out a shrill gasp of happiness. Shame immediately flinched. "Please, not so loud." he groaned. He was still very, very hung over.