Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Skyrim, the characters from the awesome mod Skyrim Romance by Maralightfeather, Kaidan 2 by livtempleton, or any other mod-related content referred to in this story. This story is purely fan-made and I only claim ownership of the character I'm playing as.

(Updated 12/2/2020)

Chapter 2: YOU'RE The Dragonborn!?

Noir's POV

Well, so much for getting through here peacefully, I laughed humorlessly to myself, using my forearm to shield my eyes from the heavy rain since it was so hard to see much of anything.

I had to rely on my hearing to figure out where the dragon was circling overhead but we all knew it was still there. And I had no doubt in my mind that it knew I was here too so whenever it came near us, I pointed in that general direction and told whoever had a bow on hand to aim their arrows that way which seemed to help a lot. I've used a bow before to hunt, but for the most part I prefer to sneak up on my prey once I finish tracking them down or using snares. Obviously, there's no snare big enough to trap a dragon though that I know of which meant we'd just have to work with what we had.

Either way, it looked like the tables had turned because now we were the ones being hunted by a creature that is much larger and more powerful than all of us combined so it was going to take all of our combined skills to take it down. Especially since it was almost impossible to see the stupid thing in this damn weather! I'm just glad I wasn't fighting it alone this time because let me tell you, it's not easy even for someone with the power to Shout back at them...

Between the heavy rain, the river, the wind, and the dragon roaring above us it was hard for me to focus on listening for the dragon itself. And to make things worse it turns out that this dragon uses frost magic instead of the usual fire so whenever it unleashed a breath attack the terrain around it became slick with a thick layer of ice. I nearly forgot all about that small detail when I climbed onto the bridge so I could position myself in the best spot to try launching myself at the dragon as it swooped past from there until I slipped on a patch of ice on the stone railing and tumbled into the river!

As the water began to swirl all around me, I couldn't tell up from down at first but caught a lucky break when I finally resurfaced just as the current slammed me into a rock. Thankfully I didn't lose consciousness from hitting my head on it since I was facing it head-on. Either way, I was definitely going to feel sore from this later once warmed up and the water wasn't making me feel so numb from the cold. By some miracle, I even managed to keep a firm hold on my daggers and used them as an anchor onto the rock, but that was about all I could do.

These Nordic daggers were a gift from my friend Kaidan and were made of quicksilver which made them very strong; more importantly strong enough to even cut through stone and dragon scales for the most part. That said I was still trapped though so I wasn't sure what to do next until suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and whirled my head around to see that Forsworn from earlier, Cael, bravely holding on tightly to a rope he had hastily tied to a nearby juniper berry tree with one hand and holding onto me with the other and I could feel his muscles trembling from the strain and the cold. And the fact that he was going out of his way to rescue me came as a total shock, but obviously a welcome one.

"Are you alright, Noir?" Cael shouted as loudly as he could while trying to be heard above the raging water as it pushed hard against our backs.

"I'm fine!" I shouted back, "But nevermind me, the rest of you should get out of here before-" I began when Cael suddenly wrapped an arm entirely around my waist, pulling me close, and called out to his red-haired friend over on the riverbank who then began pulling on the rope as hard as he could to bring us to safety.

"Hold on, just what in Oblivion do you think you're doing?! You'll be pulled in too!" I exclaimed, glancing between the two Forsworn who nodded to each other and kept struggling against the current while their female companion and the other hunter were currently fending for themselves.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping Cael save your furry hide!" the red-haired Forsworn laughed with an impish grin, "If we're going to stand a chance against that scaly monstrosity we're going to need your help since you seem to know more about fighting them than we do! So shut up and let me concentrate because this isn't as easy as it looks! Robin's got us covered for now with the help of that ranger, but we can't keep this up for long! Now hold on tight you two!"

He had a point, but either way, I was still surprised that they decided to help me even with that in mind. When I looked over and saw Cael's expression he seemed so determined and sure about his decision to dive into the river after me that for a moment I almost forgot all about the danger we were in until Cale's grip on me slipped all of a sudden and I just barely managed to wrap my arms around his waist in time to stop myself from being ripped out of his arms by the strong current. We're also lucky I didn't accidentally stab him with one of my daggers when I grabbed onto him that way.

By the time we were safely brought back to the shore, gasping and sputtering for air, when I looked up again I saw that the dragon was on the ground now angrily snapping its jaws at the other two. I also noticed a large bloody tear that ran all the way down one of its wings which the only thing preventing it from flying again. And it looks like we had our female friend to thank for that since she had this smug grin on her face as she coaxed the dragon to face her blade again so at least I knew she actually had managed to hold her own against that dragon without our help, at least for now. The ranger seemed to be doing pretty well too and managed to aim a few arrows in the small gaps between some of the dragon's larger neck scales.

But, their luck wouldn't hold out forever so I knew I needed to end this fight once and for all.

Still shivering all over after nodding to Cael and his friend in thanks I forced myself to get back to my feet, wincing when my right ankle twinged a bit. Ignoring the pain though I got into position and Shouted at the dragon with all my might before it had the chance to unleash another ice attack on the ranger when I saw that he was currently on his knees, winded after being knocked back by its tail. Our eyes met for a moment after I Shouted at the dragon, his expression unreadable, but I sighed in relief once I knew he was alright and returned my focus on the dragon.

Not long after that, the dragon roared again and began walking towards me, brushing the female Forsworn aside with its good wing like it didn't care about anyone else anymore after spotting more worthy prey. And as soon as it spoke, I had no doubt in my mind that I was its target all along-

"Hi Los Aan Mey, Dovahkiin. I sensed your presence from afar and yet after seeing you fall so easily during our battle has greatly disappointed me. Zahrahmiik Tiid, is this really all the strength you have to offer little mortal?" The dragon mocked cruelly, lifting its head into position for another attack, its fangs gleaming dangerously.

"Hey, it's not my fault you caught me on a bad day," I hissed, feeling the hackles along the back of my neck rise a bit at the insult, "But trust me, I can still kick your scaly ass just fine so you want to challenge me, then let's see how you like this!"

Without another word, or at least not in Tamrielic, I took a deep breath and Shouted for a second time to stun the dragon just long enough to use the same tactic I've been using to kill the last several dragons with by leaping onto its head and stabbing it in the temple. But before I could, that ranger surprised me by shooting an arrow into one of its eyes to draw its attention away from me again, making the dragon roar in rage and snap the end of the shaft with one wing, turning its mighty head around to glare at the foolish human who dared challenge it directly. And as soon as I realized what he was doing, that he was distracting it, I smiled back at him and took advantage of the opening he gave me.

Once the other three recovered from the shock of hearing a dragon talk they joined the ranger in drawing the dragon's attention away from me before I charged in and used one of its neck spikes to swing up onto its head. It tried snapping its jaws at me and shaking me off, but with only one good eye left it was difficult to tell where I was and by the time it finally did...it was too late.

Without hesitation, I plunged my dagger deep into its temple which straight into the brain and let go when the strength in my arms gave out since they were still sore from clinging to that rock in the river earlier. I knew I'd be able to get it back once the dragon faded away and became nothing more than a pile of ancient bones again so I wasn't too worried. That said, I was completely wiped out from the whole thing so when the dragon's flesh disintegrated into flames I put my face in my hands and braced myself for the now all-too-familiar surge of power and the dragon's memories rushing through me.

We were safe for the moment, but I needed to recover my strength quickly before something else happened. But once it was over, no one said anything for a while and just stared over at me while I was sitting on the cold, damp earth.

As soon as he recovered from his stunned stupor, Cael rushed over to their friend Robin if I remember correctly and asked worriedly, "Are you alright Robin? Did it hurt you...?"

"Pfft, takes a lot more than that to take me down! I'd worry more about yourself Cael, after all, I'm not the one who decided to dive into a raging river to save some crazy cat girl with the soul of a dragon," she scoffed, glancing in my direction and shooting me a pointed look.

But then her expression softened a little and Robin whispered a bit more quietly behind her hand, "Anyway, while I hate to agree with Anu but I think he's right about one thing we better get out of here before they send guards from Markarth to find out what on earth a dragon was doing hanging around this close to the city. And by the Old Gods, once we get home they're never going to believe we actually fought alongside the Dragonborn! I still can't believe it myself since I thought she'd be tougher than that..."

"Are you kidding? That fight was amazing!" Anu grinned, kneeling down to examine what was left of the dragon's corpse and poking it with the end of his bow. "It might not be the same dragon, but thanks to her I feel like I finally avenged the death of my friend. Say, Cael, you think the mighty Dragonborn will let us take a few bones back to the village with us as a trophy? I bet we could make great tools out of them, arrows too and who knows what else!"

"Tch, greedy scavengers," the ranger grumbled under his breath as he pointedly ignored him and pulled a few stray arrows off the ground and out of the dragon's bones then put back into his quiver.

Too tired to really care if they knew I could still hear them clearly now that the rain had let up I sighed and replied off-handedly, "Feel free to take whatever you want, it's not like I can carry a whole dragon skeleton back to town with me anyway. Consider it a gift for saving my life."

Smiling Anu nodded, "See? Isn't that nice of her? Now let's take what we can and get out of here!"

"Wait, before we leave we should-" Cael began, standing up again to approach me when the ranger decided to get in his way and snarled-

"Forget it, if you're thinking about kidnapping her to use in some bloody ritual just because she's the Dragonborn you'll have to go through me first," the ranger threatened, drawing his dagger.

All I could do was stare blankly at him because I was so confused, was this guy seriously trying to protect me from Cael? But that's stupid, Cael and his friends saved my life! Couldn't he see that? I mean I don't remember seeing him jumping into the river to rescue me...

With that in mind I shakily picked myself up again, put myself between them when I sensed tensions rising again, and tried to smooth things over before this escalated into another fight that I'm sure he wasn't actually in the mood for. Especially when we were all exhausted and possibly injured after fighting off that dragon together. Speaking for myself I'm pretty sure once I took a closer look at my own injuries I was going to discover a few new bruises after that fight, or worse, I might even have some bruised ribs which would explain why it hurt a little to breathe. Not to mention I probably twisted my ankle when I fell off the bridge. That's why I for one wanted to find somewhere to rest long enough to regain the strength to use restoration magic or perhaps find a healer in Markarth right away so I didn't have time to break up a fight between these two knuckleheads.

"Would you two please just calm down? Look, I know we're all tired, but picking a fight now is completely pointless. It doesn't matter if you're a Nord or a Forsworn because dragons are dangerous to everyone. We beat it by working together so that's all that really matters in the end anyway! Besides, neither of you had to stay and fight, let alone help me, but you did and that was very brave of you. Still, isn't it more important that we're still alive? As someone who knows all about being judged based on appearances alone why can't you put your differences aside for now and just be grateful for that without trying to pick a fight over someone you barely know?" I asked, looking between the two and blinking a few times when my vision got a bit blurry before adding, "Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered but I didn't help you guys either looking for anything in return, it was just the right thing to do."

"You are truly a pillar of strength and wisdom," Cael smiled softly at me before turning his gaze back to the ranger, briefly glancing over at his friends who were busy packing away a few dragon bones to see if they were ready to leave yet.

With a heavy sigh he added sadly, "Very well, I'll overlook the ranger's bold threats this time on your behalf Dragonborn. We've lingered too long as it is either way and must return to our village. Truth be told I would love to invite you to our village so you may rest and heal from your wounds Noir, but as chief, I cannot put my people at risk by drawing your other enemies to us as well if that dragon is anything to judge by. At least not at this moment in time, I'm sorry..."

"I completely understand that your friends and family should always come first. But don't worry I can take care of myself. It's kind of you to offer though since I'm still a complete stranger to you whether I'm the Dragonborn or not," I smiled back, tiredly.

Nodding in approval at my response, Cael then took a menacing step forward his blue eyes narrowed as he directed his next words at our mysterious ranger friend and growled in a low menacing voice, "As for you ranger, I warn you if this is some kind of a trick to get the Dragonborn alone with you and you intend to harm her in any way, rest assured that my people will hunt you down like a wild beast if we must to avenge her honor. You may think of us as little more than savages, however, even we do not forget our debts because without Noir's warning we never would have defeated that dragon alone with such small numbers. Remember that the next time you decide to make baseless threats...especially when you too are traveling alone in our land."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Now get out of here before I change my mind and decide to cut out that annoying honey-coated dagger of a tongue of yours myself, Forsworn," the ranger growled back, suddenly putting a protective arm around me. But as it turns out it's actually a good thing he pulled me close because the next thing I knew everything started spinning and before I realized what was happening, my knees gave out from under me and everything went black.