Been alot longer than i intended, mostly because i have not really been able to write lately, but i hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Max stretched as he stepped out of the room he had rented, knowing he had to speak to the inn keeper about renting the room for another night. He had spent the majority of the day before exploring Riverwood. He still wasn't entirely certain how he managed to get a whole day of exploration out of the tiny river side village, but he spent most of today simply lounging in the room and reading the books provided by the inn. Most of them were poorly written adventure novels, not one really interesting him, but it had passed the time.
I wonder when exactly Ranger and his new friend will get here? He couldn't help that thought as he approached the counter.
"Hello, need something?" the inn keeper smiled warmly to him as he approached.
"Yeah, just need to pay for the room tonight."
"Don't worry about it. You told me yesterday you were going to be here for a few days. Pay me when you are ready to go."
"Thanks I guess." He nervously rubbed the back of his head, now unsure what to do with himself. Instead of awkwardly standing by the counter, he started to move to sit at one of the many tables in the tavern.
That was when he spotted a familiar green cloak march in, one of the strangest girls he had ever seen following him. He recognized her emerald green eyes from the other day, but the cloak had hidden most of her features last time. That said, she now had a recurve bow, much smaller than the long bow Ranger was carrying, and quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. Which brought his eyes back to the ranger beside her.
"Ranger!" he hollered as soon as he saw him, seeing his companion startle for a moment, giving him a wide eyed stare. "You don't need to be so jumpy miss, just breath." He added that as he purposely strode across the tavern toward them.
"Are you ready to set out?" Ranger spoke calmly and quickly, though Max was able to discern a tightness in his voice, as if it hurt to talk.
"Set out!? No! you are hurt!" his companion stepped between them, her ears and tail twitching as she stamped her feet at him.
"I'm fine M'rissi. It's just gonna hurt a little to shoot my bow for a few days." He calmly replied to her, his eyes only flicking to her for a moment.
"M'rissi does not care what you think you can do! You need rest!" she defiantly retorted that, not even giving Max a chance to speak.
"And I'm telling you I don't. Besides, that stab to your arm is a heck of a lot worse than what I got, yet you don't seem to be complaining about it." Now that Ranger had said something about it, Max noticed the off white bandages under the ripped sleeve on the half-Kajiit.
"M'rissi isn't trying to aggravate it! M'rissi needs rest too!"
"Wait, both of you, shut up for two seconds, you're both injured?" he stepped beside the girl so he could be easily seen by both of them. Though his tone was firm, he had no harshness to it.
"Yes. M'rissi got stabbed in the arm a couple of days ago by a knife, I got shot in the back by an arrow last night." Ranger spoke incredibly calmly, almost boredly so.
"Well, I'm not strong at it, but I can do some light healing magic. Maybe I could patch the two of you up?" he shrugged as he spoke.
"Would be worth a try."
"M'rissi doesn't want anyone to use magick's on herrrr! Keep it away!" she spoke as she stepped away from him, half hiding behind Ranger.
"You can trust Max, M'rissi. I trust him with my life. He wouldn't hurt you." Ranger's voice was much quieter and softer than Max had ever heard him use, almost as though he was trying to reassure her.
I'm kind of shocked he would say that… then again, he's probably trying to get her to let me treat her wounds. He was probably exaggerating the whole trust thing.
"Well, it's up to you two. That said, I agree with M'rissi, pretty name by the way miss, if you two are injured, you need to rest. Besides, Alvor said three days before he'd have something usable. Only been two."
"I wouldn't mind. Even if it just speeds up the healing a bit, punctures suck. Be nice to heal quicker." Ranger shrugged after he spoke, wincing as he likely disturbed the injury he had.
"But… Magick is bad… Don't let him use it on you!" M'rissi whimpered that out, her ear's plastered to her head, her tail hugging her leg. There was a slight tremble to her as well. Given the overly warm room they were in, Max doubted it was from the cold.
"I'll be fine. I promise." He gently squeezed the girl's shoulder as he spoke. "Delphine, is my room still free?" he shouted out to the counter, his eyes leaving the small group.
"It's still empty!" the tavernkeeper shouted that back, Ranger beckoning for Max to follow him. The trio made their way to one of the many rooms lining the walls of the tavern, Ranger opening one of the doors for them to file in. once inside, Ranger started stripping his weapons off. He winced any time he manipulated his right shoulder. Once he had his shirt off, Max could see the bandages tightly wound around his torso, a spot on his back tinged red.
Now that Ranger was shirtless, Max began to unravel the bandages. There was some sort of green paste rubbed all over the wound, Max touching the substance. "What's all this green crud?"
"It's a herbal blend. Helps stop bleeding and numbs the wound."
"Hmm. Neat. You'll have to show me the mix sometime."
"Will do. Just heal it already."
Max took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did his best to reach into his own mind, feeling what he could best describe as a burning flame, right in the core of his chest. Once he found it, he pulled a string of the flame from it and to his right hand. Light glowed in his vision, opening his eyes to find his hand glowing amber. His mind naturally had twisted the magicka into the spell he wanted, only knowing three spells himself anyway. Now that he had the magic prepped, he held his hand near the injury and opened his hand. The magic naturally bled out of his hand and toward the injury, sending a strange tingling sensation up his own arm. Before his eyes, the wound sealed, forcing the green paste and some blood in the wound out. Ranger's muscles all tensed during the process. After a few seconds, the magic seemed to stop flowing on it's own, letting Max know the injury was healed.
"There, feel better?" As Max had been working, M'rissi had moved closer, watching curiously as he had been working. Both of her ears were still flat on her head, but her tail was swishing back and forth.
"Much. Thanks Max." he was reaching for his shirt when M'rissi nearly shoved Max out of the way, gently cleaning the green paste from his back to find a neatly formed bright pink scar in place of the injury.
"You did heal him…" her voice was very quiet, almost shocked.
"Well, yeah, it's what I said I was going to do. Let's take a look at your arm." He grabbed a rag from the wash basin beside him as he spoke, gently shouldering past M'rissi to wipe all of the blood and paste away.
"I'm going to go speak with Delphine. I might even be able to get you a discount on your room Max." Ranger spoke as he stood, slinging his still stained and ripped shirt on before he stepped out of the room.
M'rissi took a step after him, one of her hands about to grab him. But she stopped herself, her ears still plastered to the top of her head.
"Well, are you going to let me heal you too?" he smirked at her as he gestured her to him.
"M'rissi doesn't like this…" she bit her lip as she took a step away from him.
"It's alright. I promise. It will sting a little and feel really weird, but I'll have you fixed up in no time!" he tried to sound as reassuring as he could as he smiled at her.
"Okay…" she stepped toward him and presented her arm to him.
He gingerly unwrapped the wound, the girl whimpering as he did so. Once he could see the wound, he summoned his magicka once more, the girl straight hissing as the magic began sealing the wound. Once the magic finished, he used the remains of the bandage to clean her up.
"There. See?" he smiled to her gently.
"She still doesn't like magic…" she grumbled that out as she rubbed her now healed arm.
"So… you didn't know your name yesterday? Did you remember it or something?"
"N-no… M'rissi can remember a couple weeks and that's it…"
"Oh… well, I hope you can get your memories back, how did you learn your name then?"
"Ranger helped me get my satchel back. It had a note with her name."
"Well, I'm glad you were able to get that back. If you need any help, I'd be hap-"
"M'rissi will be fine." She finally smiled to him. Her ears didn't seem fully erect, but they were no longer pressed to the side of her head.
Before more could be said, Ranger stepped back into the room. "You said Alvor would have something ready for you by tomorrow or so?"
"Yes." Max curtly responded to him, standing from where he was.
"Alright." As he spoke, he grabbed his satchel and pulled out a paper map. "It's going to take us about three days to get up there, we have to camp just shy of the snow line for at least two days. Otherwise, this would be a one day hike." He unfolded his map and laid it out, using a quill to point at the road leading up the mountain. The map was surprisingly detailed, but it only showed the southern holds of Skyrim.
"Why do we have to stop? I'd rather just go up there and be done with this." Max raised an eyebrow at Max.
"Alpine sickness, as some folk call it. Dad called it the rules of high places…" his voice dropped off for a moment, Max noticing Ranger's eyes starting to glisten slightly. Ranger wiped his face with his arm, trying to make the move seem casual. "Basically, if we don't stop to let our bodies adjust, we are going to have a lot of trouble up in the barrow. Takes forty eight to seventy two hours. Really, we ought to take at least three days camping, but we should be fine at two days."
"Alright. I'm not used to moving around the mountains, so I'll trust you." Max nodded to Ranger as Max responded, knowing Ranger grew up around here and to trust his judgment.
"What are we going to this barrrow for?" M'rissi's voice trilled as she spoke, her voice very quiet.
"Some stone that's supposed to be there. The jarl's court wizard called it a 'dragonstone'." Max calmly responded to her.
"Well, to be frank, I won't be too much use once we are in the barrow. I've been up the mountain a few times, so I know the way, but it's pretty tight inside the structure. I'm not sure how useful our bows will be. If we can, I'd like to get M'rissi a dagger or something from Alvor. She'll need it."
"Make's sense. Alvor said he would have a shield for me too, so If it gets too tight up there, I'll go first. Maybe I can block the hall and you two could fire over me, if we get into a fight?"
"Sounds like a pretty valid tactic. We won't know until we get up there though so."
"True. I guess we just get some sleep and worry about it when we get there." Max stood and stretched as he spoke, not having liked being crouched as he was.
"Where will M'rissi sleep tonight? M'rissi is… unsure about staying in town…" her ears had drooped down again, her slight quiver returning.
Poor girl… I wonder why she's so scared right now?
"It's safe here M'ri. We'll share this room, Delphine doesn't have another free room anyway. Besides, we can sleep in shifts again if it makes you feel better M'rissi." Ranger's voice had shifted to that softer tone once more.
"You didn't sleep last night though! You need sleep!" she immediately protested him, something she seemed to do a lot.
"you can sleep in my room M'rissi, I can pull an all nighter and sit watch at your door. Will that work for you two?" Max offered up his suggestion, more toward M'rissi than Ranger.
"Are you sure about that Max?" Ranger's voice shifted yet again, back to his normally cold tones.
"Positive. I've been doing nothing but relaxing for the past two days."
"M'rissi doesn't trust you…" M'rissi shyly spoke, not making eye contact with Max. though her quiet words could have been taken as an insult by some, it was clear to Max it wasn't meant as one. She was merely being honest after all.
"I guess that's fair. Offer's open though. I'm going to go see what's for dinner." With that, Max turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.
William marched along the trail leading up the mountain, balancing the long wooden fishing pole he had purchased from the local shop that morning in his hand. The air was considerably colder than it was down in the valley now that they were halfway up the mountains, each breath leaving a swirl of white vapor behind him as he walked.
"I gotta thank you again for getting those free nights from the inn keeper. Never thought you'd be able to get that for me." William glanced at Max beside him, seeing the shiny new steel heater shield slung on his back, as well as the simple chainmail vest. It offered no protection to his arms or legs, but it was better than no armor, and had been about all any smith could have made in a few days. he had added a thicker coat under it with a hood to help protect him from the cold. Of course, William had been the one to get the coat for him, along with a coat for M'rissi as well.
"I told you. The innkeeper and I go way back. Was nothing." William shrugged as he walked on up the hill.
"Still. You saved me nearly fifteen septims. That isn't a small amount of gold. So thanks. Really."
William merely shrugged once more, keeping his eyes on the trees around them for the moment.
"How much further to the campsite Rrrangerrr? M'rissi's feet hurt…" M'rissi mumbled that out from behind the two of them, William glancing back at her to see her staring off into the trees, her ears pressed back on her skull. The fur coat William had gotten for her was still big on her, despite being the smallest one Lucan, the shopkeeper, had in his shop. It swamped her frame, and she had been rather annoyed about having to wear it.
"two more miles M'rissi. Then you can get off your feet."
"That short?" Max was speaking now.
"Yes. You two can actually keep up with me. Taking a lot shorter than I thought it would." William hoped that was the end of the conversation, just wanting to push the last two miles to get off his feet as well. As it turned out, it was the last thing said as they trudged up the trail.
The surrounding terrain brought up too many trips of William's past to his mind, William unable to not stop at one of the trees. The clearing they had just arrived in was a yearly visit for William and his father for as long as he could remember. It was also one of the only places he could remember his mother at. The tree he had stopped at had notches cut deep into the bark, marking his height each time they had come. Dozens of other trees in the area had similar notches, his family having followed the tradition for generations. His father had a tree here, as well as his grandparents.
"This the spot?" Max gave William a curious look.
"Yes. Camp where ever you want, try to set up a tent or lean to if you can. I'm going to go get us lunch." William did his best to make it seem like he was wiping his nose as he wiped his moist eyes, keeping his hood over his face to try and help conceal it.
"What is lunch Rrrangerrr?" M'rissi pranced up next to William, despite having been complaining about aching feet earlier.
"Salmon. Maybe. They tend to be rare this time of year, may get lucky. Go help Max get some shelters set up." William tried to be as curt and crude as he could, hoping it would help urge her away.
"Fishies!? M'rissi wants to catch some fishies!" here ears had immediately perked up, a grin on her face as her tail whipped through the air.
"You'll scare them all off. Go help Max." he remained as curt and crude as he had before, speeding up in hopes that she would leave him be.
Max let out a sigh as he stood and stretched, admiring his handywork. With the trio of extra blankets he and Ranger had gotten, he was able to use one of the trees to make a makeshift shelter for all three of them. It was going to not have a whole lot of room, but Max figured the trio touching was likely for the better, as the night was going to be frigid.
"M'rissi wonder's if Rrrangerrr has caught any fishies yet…" The half-Kajiit was staring off out of the clearing, in the direction Ranger had left with his fishing pole, her ears flat on her head. She visibly bit her lip for a moment, her tail twitching back and forth.
"Would you keep an eye on the fire M'rissi? I'll go check on him." He smiled to her as he spoke, trying to sound calm and friendly.
I don't think she has any idea what's he's been through lately… Max couldn't help but notice the notches in the trees around the area, all made by humans if Max had to guess. He had also seen the look on Ranger's face when he stopped by that tree earlier.
"Okay… But don't take too long! M'rissi doesn't want to be alone!"
Max walked out of the clearing, finding the ground suddenly slopping down just outside of the clearing. From there, he could easily see a stream, Ranger down by the edge of the water, his ever present cloak on, hood up. It took less than a minute for him to walk down to him, standing by the bank as he looked into the crystal clear water.
"It's gorgeous up here." He spoke as he observed the area, the stream before him idyllically gurgling by. The air was cold but refreshingly crisp, the wind bringing nothing but the smell of clean air and pine trees.
"Always has been." Ranger was curt in his words, but there was a softer tone to his voice that was nigh impossible for Max to read. If he had to guess, it was sadness, or remorse.
"Come up here a lot?"
"Once a year."
"I can see why. Catch anything yet?"
"Couple of skinny salmon and a big ol' catfish. Haven't caught a catfish up here in years, so kinda surprised about getting him." He gestured at a rope he had wrapped under a rock, the line leading off into the water.
"Sounds like some good eating then."
"Not really. It's a big catfish for up here. Maybe a twenty pounder. Two salmon are maybe five pounds a piece. Not really a good amount of food."
"fair enough. Want me to find anything to go with them? I've gotten pretty decent at finding food in the woods." He gestured back off at the trees as he spoke.
"Some berries might be nice. Don't take the red ones though. They're poisonous unless they are prepared right. Black, blue and purple are all fine though."
"Alright. You doing okay Ranger?" Max intentionally lowered his voice, trying to be as soft toward him as he could manage.
"I'm fine Max." Ranger's voice cracked slightly, despite Ranger trying to be as curt as he had been.
"You keep saying that but you don't seem like it."
Ranger let out a soft sigh, the pole in his hands dipping down slightly. "I know I don't seem it. But I'm fine. I have to be." His voice was shaking as he spoke, wiping his face again.
"Don't push yourself too hard. Losing family isn't something you get over in a day. Anyway, I'm going to go find those berries."
"Alright. And Max, I really did mean what I said last night. About trusting you?"
"What makes you say that now?" Max gave him an amused smirk, not that Ranger would see it, staring off into the water as he was.
"You… just seemed like you didn't believe it when I said it last night. Just wanted to make sure you knew that." Ranger's voice was far quieter and weaker than his normal, sounding almost vulnerable, if Max was forced to describe it.
"Fair enough. I've got your back as long as you've got mine." He gently squeezed ranger's shoulder before he turned toward the trees, seeing M'rissi making her way down from the clearing. "M'rissi, I told you to stay with the fire!" he shouted that up to her, mildly annoyed to see her.
"She put the fire out! It's not cold enough for it and she wanted to know if we had any fishies!" her tail was excitedly swishing back and forth behind her as she continued to prance down the hill.
Max shook his head as he dropped it into his hand. "The fire was so we could cook the fish."
"Cook fishies?! Why not just eat raw fishies! Fishies are best raw!"
"Not all of us are half cat fluffbut." Ranger's voice sounded mildly amused behind Max, Max looking back to see his head shaking under his hood.
"Her name is M'rissi! Stop calling her fluffbut!" M'rissi's demeanor made a complete reversal, her tail now flicking behind her as she let out a small hiss.
"Then no fishies for the kitty." Ranger still sounded amused, but his attention was on the water before him.
"Fine! M'rissi will catch her own fishies!" she defiantly plopped on a rock beside him, her arms crossed over her chest.
With her around him, maybe he will be. She gets him to make jokes at least. Max smirked at the pair, turning away from them to try and forage what he could from the area.
D̶̨̜͖͎̣̥̈͋̓́̃̎e̴̙̤̞̾̓š̸̼͓͈̭̼̘͓͓̦̄͛̓͐̇͌͠͝t̸̨͍̟͖͌̊̏̊̌͠r̷̡̢͇̼̥͚̩̀͊̅͝o̵̧̬̫̘̕y̶͇̓̋̃̏͐̈͑̕͝ ̴̳̻̐̚ǐ̴̛̮͈̟̻̪͎͒̒͂͊̋̾t̷̛̬̺̠̣̪͈̅̏̓͛̔̕͝
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William snapped awake, a strange voice rattling through his mind that he couldn't place nor really understand. It had been forceful, powerful, almost angry in a way. Despite that, it was though he was hearing it from an extreme distance.
Eh, probably nothing. He did his best to settle his mind again, able to feel M'rissi tight against his side. They had silently agreed to sandwich her between William and Max because her tattered clothing did very little for her in the cold mountain air. All night she had been pretty well attached to Williams back. He wasn't complaining though as she was fairly warm, so it actually felt nice. And, for some reason, tonight was the first night he had managed to sleep at all during. Until now at least.
No matter how much he wanted to just go back to sleep, his body simply felt antsy. As though he had to move and right this instant. The feeling was so overpowering that William crawled out from under his cloak and the lean-to. Oddly though, he remained on all fours, somehow feeling right to stay that way. With his eyes now open, he glanced around the clearing, his mind barely registering the odd clarity to area. It was a cloud filled night after all and should have been impossible to see, and yet, he could see every tree, every pine needle, every root, all as though it was mid-day, simply dark instead of bright.
Hoping to get the antsy feeling to go away, he stretched out, nearly screaming out in fright as he saw his 'hands'. Instead of hands, he had fur covered paws, a grey wolf's paws if he recognized them properly.
Alright. I'm definitely dreaming. He chuckled to himself with that realization. He had vivid dreams his entire life, and when compared to the dreams plaguing his nights of late, dreaming he had somehow become a wolf was straight up pleasant. He took a deep breath in as he straightened up, feeling a small breeze whisper by his fur, not feeling the chill night at all.
"No… no-no… don-… don't take them… no…" M'rissi's whispered voice drew Williams attention, looking at her to see her reaching for where he had been 'sleeping' a moment ago. Her hand grasped at nothing though, the girl letting out several small whimpers that sounded vividly real.
Though he had never heard exactly what she was mumbling in her sleep, since the day he met her she had been having some sort of nightmare every time she slept. It varied in intensity, only waking her up a few times, though she never could recall exactly what was happening in those nightmares. William had learned that if he gently rubbed behind her ear it would calm her down, letting her remain asleep.
Acting on that knowledge, he padded back to the lean-to and gently rubbed the side of his face behind her ear, as comfortingly as he could manage with the form of a wolf. He knew this was nothing but a dream, but he hated seeing other people suffer, and had since he was just a little boy. So even in a strange dream like this one, he had to do something to help her. She seemed to immediately calm from his gentle touch, but her muttering continued, too quiet for William to pick out.
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Another one of the incomprehensible thoughts exploded through his mind, as impossible to understand as the first. But this one was much closer, much louder, so to speak. With it came a sudden almost primal urge to bite down on M'rissi's neck and rip or jerk it in any way that would be fatal to the small woman.
William jumped at the suddenness of the urge, shocked by it. He backpedaled several feet from the tent, his heart and breath racing. No matter how much he had fought the urge, he had let out a vicious growl in her ear.
What in oblivion was that!? I'd never hurt her! Yeah, she has an odd way of showing it, but she really seems like a kind and decent person! I could never willingly hurt her! As he watched her, she groggily opened her eyes, looking up at him with a mild amount of confusion visible on her face.
L̷͖̠̼̼̐̒i̷̧͍͑͜e̵͙͇̕̚s̷͓̰͙̽!̵̝́ ̷̧̈́́ͅD̵̛̼̥͋̌Ȩ̴̲̙̘́̉̓̔S̸̡̠͇̝̉̏Ṯ̷̨̯̥͛̈́̊͠Ṙ̷̤̈̎͝ͅỎ̸̼̺̠̽̓Y̵͙̎ͅ ̴̝͔̣̓̿̏Ị̷̛̬̍T̸͕͆̊̌ ̵̤͌̓̀͝Ǹ̵̟̦O̵̦̹̿Ŵ̷̭̌̒̃!̶̢͉̳̀̆̌͗
Where all of the other strange voices had been totally incoherent, this one was scathingly loud, as though someone had shouted directly into his ear. With that volume came the ability for William to understand it. It's short message chilled him to the bone, his body lowering itself and preparing to pounce on it's own. With that lowered stance came a low growl, William not trying to stop himself in his shocked state.
"WOLF!" M'rissi let out a terrified scream from the lean-to, the sound of her small dagger slipping from its scabbard reaching William's ears. She was scrambling out from under the lean-to, raising the weapon to protect herself from William.
What!? No! I will not hurt her! His body tried to rush forward and attack her in that moment, but he used every ounce of his will to stop himself, managing to take a couple of steps back from her.
"G-go-go away!" she shouted again, brandishing the dagger at him.
I should go… it took almost every ounce of mental fortitude to turn and run away from her. Once he managed it though, his feet seemed to naturally move for him, expertly and smoothly dodging every root and bush despite the speed he was moving at. After only moments, he slowed to a stop, standing back onto his feet as the chill of the air bit at his face. The once vivid and easy sight he had quickly vanished, barely able to make out the trees around him.
"Ranger!" he heard that shout behind him, feint yet easily recognized as Max.
Huh… guess I should head back now. This has been a weird dream… he shrugged as he began to make his way back to the clearing, forced to move at a much slower and more deliberate pace this time.