CHAPTER 46: A CHANCE ARRANGEMENT
"You'll be so much easier to rob when you're… aaaarghh!"
A small grin crossed Natsu's face when the bandit man, fully clad in heavy iron armour, was engulfed within roaring flames. The blood-stained greatsword slipped from his grasp and clattered against the cobbled stones. Screaming as his flesh seared, the bandit plunged to the ground and rolled as a desperate effort to put out the flames. It was in vain. Even the iron plates of his helmet began to melt, and soon the man went still, and very quiet.
Natsu turned his gaze from the dead man to the other five brigands on the other side of the destroyed trading cart. The bandit he just killed had been their leader, and for a moment they seemed to ponder if they should run for their lives, or stand their ground and fight for the gold they had come to steal. Fear flickered in their eyes, but then they joined into a battlecry, clasped tighter on their swords and maces, and charged.
To them, gold was more valuable than life anyway.
A gleaming arrow flew right past the fire mage and found its target in a bandit's neck. The woman, dressed in boiled leather, gasped for breath and lifted her hands to the wound. As she saw the blood bursting from her neck, she collapsed on her knees, but none of her friends stayed back to help her. They circled past her, two of them locking eyes with Lucy, who had remained at a distance to heal a wounded merchant. Natsu glanced over his shoulder. Now, the merchant lay in the snow with closed eyes. Lucy stood there with her summoned bow and a fierce, angered look on her face. The sight just made Natsu's grin widen before he turned his eyes back to the combat ahead.
It was an early afternoon of 8th of Sun's Dusk, when Natsu and Lucy had happened to be present when a trading cart full of goods, probably on its way to Riften, was ambushed by a group of bandits. They had ridden past them and gained some distance when they heard the screams. Knowing something was wrong, they had dismounted the horse and ran to the scene, only to find most of the merchants already dead. Even the horses drawing the carriage were slaughtered. One man had tried to flee, but got an arrow to the back, and Natsu didn't know if Lucy had managed to save him or not. But as eyewitnesses of this brutal crime, the bandits had no intentions to let them walk out of here alive.
Unfortunately to them, they knew not who they were up against.
Natsu enveloped both of his hands in flames, overcharged the spells with explosive energy, weaved the threads of fire until he felt the heat on his face. He held the readied fireballs for a second while he aimed, predicted the movements of his enemies, then he launched them. The left one hit, the elven bandit screaming as he disappeared into the blaze, but his right missed when the second foe dodged the devastating spell. The bandit spun around on the ground and was back to his feet in no time, swinging his blade at the fire mage.
He had gotten closer than Natsu had assumed, and knowing he had no time to prepare another set of fireballs just yet, he drew the daggers from his belt. Agilely avoiding the strike of a slow, heavy greatsword, he circled behind the man's back and jumped. As he came down, he struck both daggers into the crack between the man's helmet and armour, the blades sinking deep into his flesh. The bandit let out a dying squeal and fell on his stomach with the mage still clinging onto his back. When the man thumped to the ground, Natsu straightened himself and pulled the blades out, blood spraying from the wounds to his sleeves and boots. Grimacing, he stepped away from the bleeding corpse and quickly glanced around, trying to catch a glimpse of Lucy.
Natsu heard her voice from the distance as she drew another arrow and released it with an angry roar. The other bandit who had chased her was now dead on the ground with a magical arrow poking out of his eye, but the second one had gotten closer to her. Too close, Natsu thought, but before he could even set a spark on his palms, Lucy switched her strategy. Running backwards with her eyes locked with the bandit approaching her, she dispelled the bow and begin to pour flames straight on the enemy's face. Natsu couldn't help but smile. As the bandit's fur armour was set ablaze and the man began to run away, screaming and frightened for his life, Lucy put down the flames on her fingers. Then, she cast a frozen spike between her both hands and threw it into the man's back. Blood burst from the man's mouth when he died.
As silence fell to the scene, Lucy panted heavily in exhaustion and shock, eyes searching for the fire mage. Natsu was still smiling when her gaze met his – he was so incredibly proud of her that it was difficult, or even impossible to put it into words. She dealt her share of the situation, pulled it through without trouble. But knowing it was better not to get enraptured by her progress yet, since there could still be a bandit or two hiding in the snowy bushes, Natsu turned away and walked over one of the brigands to make sure they were dead.
The snow had melted over the street where his fire had danced, the last remnants of flames eating up the dry grass or splintered wood. The grin on Natsu's face withered finally as he counted the corpses. Three bodies in the trading cart, the supplies and goods now ruined in blood and guts. The last merchant, who had attempted to flee, lay still on the ground, too still to be alive. None of the bandits lived either. Silent footsteps neared him, and Natsu knew those were Lucy's.
"Well, what a way to start a day," Natsu sighed and glanced at her. The danger was over, yet his heart still pounded within his chest. He wasn't sure what to do in a situation like this. Were they supposed to report this to the Jarl? Or would they be charged for the crime if they did?
"Wonder if they have an outpost somewhere nearby. Should we try to track them down?" Lucy said, her gaze locked in the destroyed carriage. The bandits had wrecked the wheels with their axes, killed the horses, then killed the merchants. "I kinda had a theory about frost magic I would like to try out…"
Natsu lifted one brow while still staring at her, surprised. "Really?"
Lucy shrugged and turned her eyes to him. "We should probably just hurry to Riften, though. Let's… Let's just keep going. Nothing left to salvage here."
Natsu agreed. At least they had tried to help them, but sometimes help arrived too late. They had many bitter lessons about that lately.
"Well, want to talk about your theory?" Natsu asked, following Lucy when she began to walk away.
Side by side, they went back to the horse they had left behind, but instead of mounting it, they decided to keep walking for a while. Lucy took the reins into her hold and gave a few soft strokes to its head, calming it down after their sudden leave to the fight. The blood on Natsu's clothes made it slightly nervous, so it was better to let it get used to the smell before trying to ride. Besides, travelling on foot for a few hours wouldn't be bad for a change. It was a cloudy, dark day, and for once his head didn't hurt.
It had been four days since they left Ivarstead. They had gone there after sleeping through the night in the alchemist's shack – Natsu was still grateful that he had gone there instead of marching straight to the village. It had been a foolish idea to begin with, but he had needed to be alone for a moment. He had tried to tell himself that Clavicus was lying, but… what if he wasn't? As the initial shock faded, he realised that the damned Daedric Prince might've been telling him the truth that no one else ever did.
What if Zeref did poison his mother?
All his life, he had lived in the belief that his mother didn't want to have him. He had grown to think that she never loved him the way a mother was supposed to love her son, that she had just accepted his existence when the efforts to get rid of him failed. But if it had been his brother, Zeref, all along… that changed everything.
His mother never even talked about it; Zeref was the one who told the story to him. Natsu didn't think he had preferred to be the only child. The brotherhood between them had always felt warm and genuine, fun until the day Zeref left home. It was more likely that Zeref had been simply experimenting. He was the eccentric one, a boy who lived inside his head, wanted to delve into magic in a way no one had seen before. Poisoning a pregnant woman with nightshades just to see what happens to the baby?
That was just like Zeref.
Perhaps the worst thing about it all was that he could never learn the truth. Mother was dead and gone, Zeref lost without a trace, and father… well, according to Clavicus Vile, also dead. But that, that one Natsu couldn't believe. The grumpy old bastard wouldn't die so easily, and not without letting his children know. If he had finally died of Rockjoint, someone was bound to deliver the message. He'd probably do it himself, appear as a ghost in his dream just to tell him that he wasn't his son, one more time. That had been what father had shouted after Natsu when he walked out of the door, as a final insult, as a final attempt to hurt him.
Sometimes Natsu wished he could've left home at better terms, but considering what kind of person his father was, and who he was, perhaps that was the best what could've been. No matter what Natsu did, he never really got along with his father. Without mother, they would've torn each other's throats out long ago. And after they buried mom, in the backyard among the snowberry bushes, leaving was the only choice he had. Denying him as his son, even if it had been just an outburst of anger, was the final nail in the casket. That day, Natsu had decided he'd never go back there.
Let the old man die alone, just as he wished.
But, after leaving the shrine of Clavicus Vile, Natsu had briefly considered paying a visit to his father one day, to ask a few questions. Even more than he hated his father, he wanted to know what his mother had been like before he was born. Was she already insane or did the poisoning do that to her mind, as the Daedric Prince suggested? As burningly as he wanted to know what truly happened, it didn't take him too long to realise that he was still too damn bitter to ever set foot in that house.
Let the old man take his secrets to the grave, as well. Natsu had more important things to think about.
Those hours he had spent alone, walking down the mountain path under the starlit sky, made him realise why his brother had appeared in his dream. Zeref had asked him to follow him into the darkness, into the endless night, and only now he knew what it truly meant.
The darkness was the only thing left in Zeref's world after Mavis was gone.
Natsu had initially dreaded the thought of his brother being a vampire, but now it… it made sense. Zeref died the day he found Mavis dead, her soul stolen and sent into the desolated void of Soul Cairn. He might be alive, he didn't truly live. He just existed, still trying to find a way to save Mavis. And as a vampire, he had a whole eternity to keep searching. And Natsu understood that. Who was he to judge? If that would happen to Lucy…
…he would probably do the same thing.
When he had realised that, he had been walking below the stone gates where the mountain path ended, where the forests of Rift began. The insight made his legs freeze in place. It had repeated within his mind, over and over again, and even if he couldn't fully comprehend what it meant, it just made sense. Just like in his dream, when he had been lost in the darkness, Lucy had been his only light. And when she had died, the light died with her – and that's where he had found Zeref. That's why Zeref had said what he had said.
You're following right after my footsteps, my brother.
And in the echo of those words, he understood how foolish, utterly moronic it had been to let her go to the alchemist's shack alone. Yes, she had been pissed, but he had been stupid. Zeref had only let Mavis go to the garden, and she still got ambushed and killed. Dread had filled Natsu's heart as he thought what might've happened to Lucy on that mountain path. A Dragonborn she might be, but Mavis had been a powerful sorceress too, and died all the same.
Every thought about his little deranged family had disappeared, every hint of regret caused by the slaughter at Ivarstead vanished when he had been sure to find Lucy plundered and raped by a bandit group, or torn apart by frost trolls just like Romeo's mother… The list of possible worst-case scenarios had just gone on and on until he was crying and running as fast as he could in the dark. Relief had washed over his worry-wrecked soul when he found Sagittarius tied to the tree, smoke rising in the chimney of the cottage, and Lucy alive and well within.
There was something that just felt right in his heart when Lucy wrapped her arms around him, pulled him into an embrace and stroked his hair until all the pain was gone. He still struggled to admit how much he had craved it, longed for warmth he had always lacked. Before her, Natsu used to drink himself to sleep, when the world was too cold and dark and lonely. Even with Igneel, it had been like that, but not anymore. He could barely remember how he had once needed a mead or two to fall asleep.
And he never said it out loud, but that night he had sworn to himself that he'd never let her out of his sight again. Not for too long, at least. In times like this, a minute could be too much to lose it all.
And Lucy was something he couldn't ever bear to lose.
"… so, I have been thinking if it could be possible to combine Krosulhah's frozen scales with ice spikes, for example," she explained as they walked down the road. There weren't other travellers in sight, so they could talk openly about this, but Lucy still kept her voice down.
Natsu blinked, for he hadn't been paying attention in a while. Pretending that he had, he nodded in agreement and asked, "The regenerative ones? You mean fortifying the frost spells with dragon scales?"
Lucy smiled briefly. "Exactly," she answered. "Gray taught me that it's possible to create anything from ice with magic. Spiders, spikes, walls, swords… Unlike fire, ice can be shaped like clay. The problem is the brittleness. Ice shatters too easily. Gray's spears couldn't get through the dragon's scales… but what if I added those into the weapons?"
While the theory sounded logical, Natsu had to knit his brows. "Wouldn't you have to be in that… state, with Krosulhah's soul overtaking your body for that to work? What's it even called?" he wondered, then grinned at his own idea. "Dragon Force?"
Lucy chuckled and glanced at him, her brown eyes sparkling. "Dragon Force? Seriously?"
"Yeah, why not?"
She sighed and looked down, but the smile stayed on her lips. "Actually… I was able to talk to Krosulhah last night."
Even if that didn't come as a surprise to Natsu, shivers still ran down his spine. Last night had been one of a kind, indeed. Everything had been as usual until right before the dawn, when Lucy had begun to cry in her sleep. That hadn't surprised him either. In fact, he had started to wake up every night on his own before she went into one of those… episodes, which had been more frequent than they needed to be. Last night, it had been different. She had screamed as if she was in pain.
It had been the way one screams when being burned alive.
Natsu remembered what Lucy had said to him in Labyrinthian: in order to delve deeper into the frost dragon's memories, she'd have to survive through its death. She might've attempted that again. As she screamed and cried, she kept hitting her arms and trying to roll around as if trying to smother invisible flames on her skin. When Natsu had tried to keep her still, she fought him, managing to blacken his eye before he locked her into a tighter hold. And by the time she calmed down, her eyes had turned blue, and frozen scales formed on her skin.
Natsu had tried not to be afraid – somehow, he had a feeling that he'd just need to get used to that – while he waited for Krosulhah to speak again. This time, it didn't. Lucy eventually stilled in his arms and just stared right past him with those frozen serpent's eyes without uttering a single word. It had been even scarier than the time when the dragon had spoken to him. That must've been when Lucy had the conversation with Krosulhah. Natsu knew not how long it had lasted. An hour, maybe? Then she had closed her eyes, the shivering of her limbs had ceased, and she had fallen back to sleep.
As Natsu forgot to answer, confused by her words, Lucy spoke up after a small silence. "You said that fire knows if you're afraid of it, and how it chooses who can wield it without burning themselves. I tried to believe that," she started quietly. "I tried to trust in your fire just as I trust in you, form a covenant with it, and… I think I pulled it through that way."
Natsu turned his eyes from the snowy horizon to her. She was talking about having to go through the frost dragon's death, having to experience it herself… and that thought terrified him. He still remembered how the dragon had opened when his flaming spear had hit its lungs, how it had been raining dragonblood, and now, she had to feel that pain. It was a haunting thought. Natsu nodded, letting Lucy continue.
She swallowed, as if a lump was forming in her throat. "Of course, it hurt. It hurt a lot. But when I… When I struck Erza's sword through the dragon's skull, the pain was over." She chuckled dryly. "You know, it's extremely strange to see yourself getting killed by you."
He didn't even want to imagine that. "What happened then?" Natsu asked.
"I entered a dome of darkness," she answered. "The same place where I first met Krosulhah… or what's left of her now. She congratulated me, said that she's… impressed by my progress."
"Well, I'm impressed too."
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, making her avert her gaze. "She doesn't know how Alduin was defeated, alas. She wasn't there that day. She just said that it was the Tongues, the ancient Nord heroes who did that."
Natsu had hoped for another kind of an answer, but well, this was what he had expected. "Guess it would've been too easy if the keys to slaying the World-Eater were right within your own memory, after all."
Lucy shrugged. "Maybe. But Krosulhah said she could help me in other ways… if I'm worthy."
"And what would that mean?"
"I don't know," she said. "It could mean borrowing her powers in a battle. This morning, I've been thinking about combining dragon scales with frost-made weapons, and it just feels like that idea might've been given to me by her. I'm still not quite sure where to start with testing that out."
Natsu grinned. "You know, it has been a while since we've actually trained. What would ya think of leaving this horse on its own for a while and heading out there for a little match? Ice against fire. That could be fun."
Lucy smiled, but shook her head. "I don't want to test that on you. I might not be able to control it, and I don't want to hurt you." She glanced at the bruise around his left eye. "And sorry… about that."
Natsu snorted. "I think this was the longest time I had gone without a black eye. It's nothing," he said. "So, you'd rather test that against some bandits? Wouldn't that be more… risky? Waltzing into a bandit lair full-on Dragon Force would most likely cause some… doubts about your identity."
"No, if we kill all the witnesses."
The grin on his face withered as he halted, staring at her blankly. Just… what did she say? Lucy held her expression contained, until she turned to glance at him, and then she cracked into laughter.
"Nah, just kidding."
Natsu nodded as he held back a nervous chuckle. "You meant that, right?"
"That was just an idea. But, well, maybe the first attempt to do that shouldn't be in real combat. I was thinking about testing that to those bandits, but things always escalate too quickly. I just did what I already knew, not wasting time figuring out something that might not even work."
"You did great," Natsu answered, still slightly shocked that Lucy had, even if jokingly, planned on killing some bandits just to test her theory out. That wasn't like her, but Natsu didn't want to linger on that, so he moved on. "Switching from bow to flames, and then to ice spike was awesome. It confuses the enemy when you don't stick to one type of magic."
"Hearing that from you is kinda funny," Lucy said.
"Well, I might be a bit predictable, but fire is quicker than a bandit's brain."
"Yeah, if they get burned to death before predicting your next move, guess that works just as well," Lucy answered. "And you can always surprise them with two daggers to the neck, right?"
Natsu glanced at the crimson stains on his sleeves. While the dagger technique was fast and effective, he hated that. It always made a mess. Burning was much… cleaner. No blood, no guts, just fine grey ashes. At least he didn't get any strange desires from the smell of blood anymore, which was a relief. He had enough side-effects remaining from sanguinare vampiris to begin with. But it was even stranger to hear that from Lucy, when she had been vomiting on all fours when she first killed a human being. It was chilling to remember what he had said to her afterwards. You'll get used to it. And now, it seemed that she had.
"You know, you've said some pretty violent shit today," Natsu mumbled to her. "What's up, Lucy?"
Lucy shook her head gently. "Nothing, I'm just…" as her words died in her throat, she lifted her eyes to his, and started talking about something else instead. "We've been walking since morning, and I'm getting quite hungry. Should we take a break soon? Or keep going straight to Riften?"
Slowly, Natsu nodded. She didn't want to talk about it, but maybe it had something to do with her conversation with Krosulhah. He had to keep reminding himself that since finding her in Helgen, the souls of two dragons had taken a residence within her own. That tended to change a person, but Natsu hoped she wouldn't change too much.
"A break sounds good, indeed," Natsu admitted.
Lucy grinned mischievously. "If you eat the last sweetroll, I'm gonna –"
Already knowing what she'd say, Natsu lifted his hands into a mock surrender and laughed. "Yeah, yeah, you can have it! I didn't want it anyway…"
It was five days now since they had been back to Ivarstead. After venturing the mountain path for almost the whole night, they had been so exhausted that they had slept in the alchemist's shack until it was midday. Lucy hadn't had nightmares then, so it was confusing for Natsu to wake up so late. However, it had been ever more confusing to find Lucy still sleeping against his back, her arm wrapped around his waist, her fingers interlocked with his. Natsu had stayed like that for a moment before waking her up.
They had reached the village late that evening and headed straight to the inn. The innkeeper and other villagers recognized Natsu as a hero who defeated the beast, but he had failed to receive their appreciation. They offered him gold, but he refused to take that. It felt too wrong. He just wanted to know what would now happen to the boy. The villagers told that Romeo was being taken care of by his neighbours until the situation would settle. Before sending him off to the orphanage, they wanted to wait if his father would return. And then, Natsu told them the truth.
Natsu had explained how Romeo's father was turned into a troll by the Daedric Prince and kept trapped in the cave until that fateful day. He had to leave his part out of the story – publicly telling you had contacts with one of the Daedra was a certain way to get executed, again – but at least the boy now knew he shouldn't be waiting for his father anymore. The kid had been sleeping at the moment, but one of the villagers promised to tell him this once the time would be right. Natsu was thankful for that.
Perhaps Lucy was right. If he'd go straight to the boy, telling the whole truth to him, that was the same as rubbing salt to his wounds. Natsu would have to find his own redemption elsewhere. He and Lucy had been talking that if the boy was going to be sent to the orphanage in Riften, then they probably should check if things were as bad there as Aventus Aretino had said, and see if there's something they could do about it. How was that orphan doing, anyway? Natsu didn't have high hopes for him, alas. Hopefully, he wasn't still performing the Black Sacrament…
"I can spare the taffy treats for you, though," Lucy said, smirking. The road had now led them to a great lake, and they could see the outlines of Riften on the distant shores.
"I don't even like them," Natsu grimaced. It was annoying when those got stuck to his teeth, especially now, when he had fangs. "You know what I'd want? Honey-roasted chicken. If I pretend that you didn't spend all our gold to some fucking sweetrolls at Ivarstead's inn, I can almost taste that."
Lucy squalled as a retort and playfully punched him to the side with her elbow. "I didn't!" she snorted. "I bought us both clothes from the tailor! Because we've been freezing our arses off since leaving Morthal!"
Natsu laughed and dodged another soft hit. "Yes, clothes and fifteen sweetrolls!"
"Hey, I was starving!"
'You don't look like you are,' Natsu thought but didn't dare to say it loud. He didn't want to have another black eye.
Back at Ivarstead, the only reward he accepted for 'saving the village', as they kept saying, was a warm meal, and a warm bed. Upon his request, the innkeeper fetched him and Lucy a bowl of tasty meat stew and spiced ale. Lucy ended up giving her bottle to him, and he hadn't complained about that. Her tolerance to strong drink was nonexistent, and he absolutely didn't want to handle drunk Lucy again in the nearby future.
For that evening, they had finally gotten their well-deserved rest. They had eaten as much as they could, then slept long into the next day and eaten some more when they woke up at noon. Before they left the village, they used the rest of their gold in buying warmer clothes to wear underneath their robes and enough food to last them for the rest of their journey to Riften. And out of those fifteen sweetrolls, only one was left, and Natsu swore he hadn't eaten them. Lucy would probably cut off his fingers if he tried to steal one.
"Well, we'll probably have to pick a job at Riften if we want to eat," Natsu said then.
"Why not let that stranger who stole the Horn buy us some food? Just for the trouble of getting there. I think they owe that to us. We would be back to High Hrothgar already without this little detour."
Natsu shrugged. "Speaking about that… Do you have any idea where that Ragged Flagon is? Sounds like an underground tavern or something."
"No, but maybe someone in the town can help us out if we just ask," Lucy said.
"I've just heard that Ratway is a term used for the cisterns and sewers underneath the city. That's where the lowlives, beggars and thieves are nesting. Ever heard of the Thieves Guild?"
She shook her head. "Not much."
"I don't know a lot about them either, but have a feeling that the guy who stole the Horn has something to do with the Guild. They are professional thieves, right? And they wanted to meet in Riften's Ratway?" Natsu explained and glanced at her. "Quite simple math."
Lucy nodded. "Makes sense. I still don't understand why anyone would do that."
Natsu had been thinking the same. Someone wanted to contact the Dragonborn, and it was extremely suspicious that they knew they'd be after the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. It had to be someone who knew the traditions of the Greybeards, and there weren't too many of those people in the world.
"I've got an idea…" Natsu started. "What if we told them that I am the Dragonborn they were looking for?"
A faint smirk crossed her face. "… what?"
"Listen, it makes sense. We can't know if we can trust them yet. They could help us, but they could also harm us. It's safer if we let them know that I'm the Dragonborn, at first, so that harm would come to me."
"But if you are the Dragonborn, what am I, then?" she answered, still smiling.
"My companion, of course," Natsu answered and grinned. "And after we've got the Horn, we can either fuck off or stay a while, depending on what else they've got to offer and if they can be trusted. They probably had a reason for going through the trouble of stealing the Greybeard's thing."
Lucy fell silent for a while, but then she nodded again. "You've got a point. But first, we have to actually get into that place," she said. "And you know, I'm still starving." Lucy pointed towards the river that was running at a small distance. It set into the lake, which was partly frozen already. "Should we stop there for a little snack?"
Natsu nodded. It had been a while since they had eaten, indeed, and he was slowly getting hungry too. "Absolutely."
Lucy smiled at him. "I can give you the half of the last sweetroll so you won't feel bad about it," she said with a teasing tone.
"Thanks, because I was going to cry," Natsu snickered. "Did we have any bread left? Or did you eat it all, too?"
Lucy nudged him again, laughing – as long as she didn't do that with Dragon Force, as he had just named, that would be just funny. He might not have realised it yet, but he liked it when she touched him, even if it was just a playful hit to the side – and that was good enough reason to keep teasing her.
No matter what would happen, he didn't want that to ever change.
They stopped in a clearing of the forest by the river, sitting on snow-covered rocks as they ate the little they had left: half of a sweetroll for both of them, and taffy treats that tasted like burned butter and honey. After having a full meal in Ivarstead, Lucy had felt just hungrier than before. Homesick, almost. While she had enjoyed travelling, she missed the foods her mother used to make. Missed not having to starve every day. She just hoped that after bringing the Horn back to High Hrothgar, they could finally head back to the College of Winterhold.
Lately, Lucy and Natsu talked about the College on the fire mage's initiative, as if he was trying to spark some hope within Lucy's heart. Lucy had been there so little time that she barely got used to the place, not to even mention properly starting her studies. Joining the College of Winterhold had always been her biggest dream, but nowadays she forgot she was a mage from the College. It just didn't feel like it. But now, as they were finally close to reaching Riften – only a few hours away – she dared to dream that maybe, just maybe she'd one day be able to continue her study of magic, pursuing the title of an acknowledged wizard.
Perhaps she was being too optimistic.
Natsu had told her little about the lessons he used to have there. For some reason, he hated Alteration classes, usually kept by Tolfdir. Lucy had liked the old man. Tolfdir had been an empathic, kind-hearted teacher, and Lucy would've loved to learn more. She would've loved to get to know other apprentices, other scholars, read every book in the Arcanaeum, explore the secret chambers and tunnels with Natsu, brew potions and enchant items. Some nights, when they had talked about everything there was to talk and just sat there in silence, Lucy dreamt about the life she could have at the College.
After all of this is over, she kept telling herself. Once before, it had been her parents who forbade her from living her dreams. Now it was her destiny – there was an irony in life that never stopped punching her to the guts.
When Lucy had eaten her share of the treats, she licked the cream and jam from her fingers and reached for her waterskin, only to find it empty. "Do you have any water left?" she asked from the fire mage, who sat on the opposing rock, still eating, as if lost in thought.
Natsu didn't seem to hear at first, but then he shrugged and untied the waterskin from his belt, testing its weight in his hand. "Nope."
"I can go fill them," Lucy answered. She stood up and took it from him, sensing his hesitation. Lucy glanced at him over her shoulder as she began walking to the river. Sagittarius was already there, happily drinking from the stream.
"Be careful, then," he said.
Lucy smiled. "Of course."
It wasn't like she was getting out of his sight, but she appreciated his concern. It meant that he cared. Lucy knew how he regretted letting her thread the mountain pass alone all the way to the alchemist's shack, even if nothing had happened to her. She still hoped he could trust in her ability to handle situations herself. In fact, he got into trouble more often than her when he was alone. Lucy still remembered fairly well when Natsu went to take a piss and got attacked by a novice assassin. Or, when he went to the inn for a drink and almost got enthralled by a vampire, catching sanguinare vampiris in the progress…
But, considering the way the world was now, it was good to be careful. Straying too far could be fatal, at worst. They had learnt that by now, and always had each other's backs – that way, the world might never overtake them. Lucy was certain of it. It was good to know that she could always count on him, especially now.
She was still shaken by the dream she had last night, could still feel the fire burning on her skin, but she had pulled it through. Most often, she couldn't remember her dreams, but this time she did. Krosulhah had given her another chance to taste the dragon's knowledge, at the price of surviving through her death. She had decided to take that chance, and succeed in it. Succeed in dying.
And what she had learned, she was still trying to put together, but the fragments of knowledge seemed to slip through her fingers. The only thing she knew was that the knowledge paved the path to nothing but destruction, would it be of hers, or the dragons? It would consume, it would destroy, it would corrupt. Maybe in time, she would find a way to connect the pieces, arrange them in the right way. All she had within her mind was an ugly, bloody mess.
When all of this is over, she thought, once again, maybe I'll feel like myself again, find the little shards of me that I've lost. Maybe there comes a day when I don't have to be the Dragonborn anymore, when I can be just me, live the dream I once believed in. She didn't want to give up on that dream – she hadn't given up for all those years she had lived as a caged bird, so why should she now? Sometimes, she just needed a little help to remember that there would be life after this. She was grateful to Natsu for that – daring to dream for her when she no longer did. Holding up a light, a beacon to shine at the end of this night, like the breaking of dawn.
Lucy felt his gaze lingering on her as she walked to the river. When she reached the waterline, she glanced back to the fire mage, who finally turned his head away and focused on eating instead. Lucy chuckled by herself. He was being more paranoid than he probably needed to, but somehow, she found it sweet. She disappeared behind the leafless birches that lined the riverside, watched her step on the small, rounded rocks that had turned slippery by the snow and frost.
Sagittarius had now drunk enough, and was scooping the snow to find some dry hay below it, trotting along the shore. Lucy had once learned that if a horse was drinking the water, it was safe for humans to drink, too. Lucy crouched by the running stream, opened the waterskin's cork and began to fill it. When it was full, she did the same to the other one, then she stood up.
But before she could even turn around, she squalled when someone grabbed her from the shoulders.
"Alright, hand over your valuables," said a man's voice, somehow familiar, but it wasn't Natsu's. Something sharp was pressed against her neck. "Or I'll gut you like a –"
"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF HER, YOU GODDAMN THIEF!"
It happened too fast for her to understand. The hands that had just grabbed her were now gone, pulled away and thrown to the ground. Out of nowhere, a hooded man in black leather had appeared and caught her perfectly off guard. Lucy turned her shock-stricken body towards Natsu, who was now holding the man from the neck, rage blazing in his eyes. Just how fast had he come to save her?
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" the man whimpered in fear. He dropped the dagger, raising his hands beside his face. "I wasn't gonna kill her or anything, just figured such a fine lady would at least have a necklace worth a few septims…"
"Listen here you little shit, I've already killed three bandits today and I'm not afraid to make you the fourth!" Natsu shouted to the thief and tossed him away like a ragdoll. "Leave her the fuck alone and fuck off, or I'll kill you. Do you understand?"
Keeping his hands up, the man crawled backwards on the snow to gain a little bit of distance. This one seemed different from the bandits on the road. He was alone, and had given her a chance to hand over her valuable items. Most bandits just killed their victims straight ahead, then took their stuff. Natsu walked to her to make sure she was alright. As she kept nodding, she turned her eyes to the thief. Only now, she could see his face properly.
And she could swear that her world came to a stop at that moment.
"Lucy?" the thief muttered when their eyes met. "By the gods, Lucy, is that really you? You're alive!?"
Her chin began to tremble as she forgot to breathe, as if her chest was simultaneously exploding from sudden joy and strangled by disbelief. Tears welled up in her eyes. She recognized his voice, his face, his wild ginger hair that partly showed below his hood. He might've just tried to rob her, but suddenly, it didn't matter at all. The thief rose to his shivering legs, staring at her as if he still wasn't sure if it was her.
Then, she jumped to the man's neck.
"Loke!" the name escaped from her lips like a blessing, jubilant and ecstatic. She couldn't recall the time she had felt happy. It had been a long, long while. "I thought you were dead!"
Loke wrapped her into a tight embrace, threw her around in the air and then placed her to the ground just to look at her face again. Lucy had known him her whole life, but never seen him smile so widely. His eyes glistened with tears as he kept shaking his head. "I'm not dead, not at all! Just… By all the Nine Divines, I can't believe this! I was sure you were dead, too!"
Even if she shivered like a leaf, her cheeks hurt from smiling. She laughed from relief, laughed from happiness – she had truly thought she'd never see him again, but here he was, alive and well. However, Lucy's smile withered when she felt a gaze on her back. Slowly, she glanced over her shoulder to see Natsu standing behind her, staring at both of them, staggered as if kicked in the teeth. Natsu had just been prepared to kill the thief, but now he turned out to be Lucy's long lost friend, who was supposed to be dead.
"Natsu," Lucy said to him, struggling to keep her tone even. "This… This is Loke. My friend from Helgen. I've talked about him, remember? Gods, I… I'm just so surprised that I don't know what to say."
Natsu glared at Loke, nodding faintly. There was no joy in his eyes, just distrust that hadn't gone anywhere. Lucy could sense how he didn't know what to do, or even what to think, and Loke wasn't stupid. He sensed that, too.
"Hey, wait a moment…" Loke started, answering the mage's stare, his gaze locked on Natsu's hair while he combed through his memory. "You're one of the prisoners who were getting executed when the… when the dragon attacked." Then he turned towards Lucy. "Just… Just what in the world are you doing with a death-sentenced criminal?"
"He saved me," Lucy answered, taking a step closer to Natsu, standing in between them now. "My home got destroyed, and I was trapped under the collapsed wall when he found me. We've been travelling together ever since." Suddenly, she felt blood rushing to her cheeks. What was she getting embarrassed for? Why did it feel like she owed an explanation to Loke for being in another man's company? "And he's not a criminal, that's just… Gods, there's so much to explain."
"Not a criminal, huh?" Loke answered, brows knitted together. "He would've been executed for a good reason if he was going to the block at the same time with Ulfric Stormcloak."
Natsu snorted, his voice as sharp as a dagger when he spoke, "And who are you to say anything? You just tried to fucking rob her."
"Man, I didn't know it was her!" he defended. "Of course, I wouldn't have tried to rob her if I knew she's my Luce!"
The raging flames in Natsu's eyes were stoked upon Loke's words. The happiness in her withered into nervousness as the atmosphere around her grew tense. Had it been the old nickname Loke had called her? Lucy wasn't sure, but she swore she could feel the utter loathing radiating from the fire mage as he glared at the thief. And then, the word was left to echo in her mind.
Thief?
"Loke…" Lucy started as she realised what was going on. "What's… What are you doing now?" Someone was missing from his side, too. "Is your brother…?"
"Guess there's a lot to explain from my side, too," Loke sighed, crossing his arms on his chest. It was strange to see him armoured in black leather, when Lucy had only known him wearing a lumberjack's apron. "Haming's alive, but he's… He's crippled. He lost a leg. We couldn't get work from the Black-Briar Meadery because of that, and so… well, I found a job from elsewhere."
"And where might that be?" she wondered.
Loke looked down for a while, then finally muttered the answer. "Thieves Guild."
Lucy's heart fell with the silence. Why'd he claimed Natsu as a criminal when he had now become one? Well, there was this one Nord proverb: that dog yelps to which the stick hits. Shaking her head in disbelief, Lucy walked back to Natsu's side, drawing small comfort form his presence. When she looked at Loke, she felt like she had never known him at all, despite being friends since they both learned to walk.
"So you…" Lucy began, but Loke interrupted her.
"Look, after escaping Helgen, we went to Riverwood," he started, dread echoing within his voice. "I carried my brother all the way to there, where his life was saved by a healer Whiterun's Jarl had sent with the guards and soldiers. After a while, we hired a carriage to Riften, in hopes of starting a new life there as I once planned. But well, it didn't go as planned." Loke sighed again. "Me and my brother, we were starving, homeless, and desperate. I tried to break into the Guild's vault to steal some money. I got caught. Instead of getting my hands cut off, the guys in there were… impressed. Said they could use hands like mine."
Lucy nodded, feeling Natsu's gaze on her. He didn't seem to believe this story – he rarely trusted in anything, or anyone, anyway – but Lucy did. She looked back at him, as if trying to tell him to hold back his anger for now. Because Lucy just got an idea.
"I've got to ask you a question, then," she said, turning towards the man who was nothing but a shadow of the one she once knew.
"Well, what is it?" he answered.
"Do you happen to know a place called Ragged Flagon?"
Loke smirked, a hint of his old humour in his voice when he said, "I happen to live there these days."
Lucy glanced at the fire mage again. She could already tell what was going on in his mind. Don't even fucking think that, he most possibly thought. He even shook his head, his eyes begging for her to not say that aloud, but a small smile crossed Lucy's face as she looked back to Loke.
"Good," Lucy said. "Because you're gonna take us there."
A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE! I hope you're enjoying your holidays. I decided to drop this chapter as a present for all of my wonderful readers. It's not the special Nalu chapter I promised, that's two chapters away because Clavicus Arc exploded slightly... but it's still a chapter!
So, you were probably expecting this reunion for a while, and now, NOW it finally happened! What'd you think of it? Already sensing the looming presence of brilliant jealousy-filled love triangle? This was one kind of those "hanging out with your boyfriend when a wild ex appears..." moments, lol. But, people have changed, so will anything be the same as it was?
Next up: A Cornered Rat
