I had never been the type of woman to simply swoon over a man no matter how profound his declirations of love or interest. It didn't help either that I knew it was uncommon in Skyrim to marry for love and more of a vague attraction. It wasn't that Mauls kiss didn't do anything for me, but it was easier than it should have been to place my hand on his chest and push him backwards. Perhaps a little too forcefully, considering he landed out of the water and on dry ground directly on his ass.
I moved to the edge and heaved myself out of the water to give myself a once over. The spidery bark like skin ran over the entirety of my body. Licking my lips I felt it run across half my bottom lip and resisted the urge to bite at it. At some point I felt more than heard two different bodies move closer to me; Kari on my left and the Spriggan on my right. I crossed my arms over my body self consciously and refused to look up at either of them, my eyes kept on the ground.
I couldn't stop myself from flinching as Kari put her hand on my shoulder and spun me around to face her. For all she knew, or I for that matter, knew I could be a Daedra and I half expected her to try and kill me on the spot. When she didn't and the silence stretched on I gritted my teeth and looked up at her. She looked down her nose at me with a hard unreadable expression asking the silent question of what are you? I found myself ashamed that I had no answer.
Keeping her silence she raised her head and looked past me. With a blink and twitch of her whiskers I watched her face turn blank and she took an automatic step back. Turning to look even I was startled at the thirty or so Spriggans that had congregated behind us. There were only four of the deep violet Spriggans, the rest ranging from brilliant green to sunset orange. Two of the violet ones stepped forward, one holding out a deep emerald folded cloth and the other three necklaces.
Stepping forward with a softly mumbled thank you I gingerly took the cloth first. As it unfolded it took more than a minute to realize it was a dress and not much of one. It looked almost like Nocturnal's dress except the sides were covered down to the hips but the front was the same and the back was left open. My eye twitched as I wondered what this was suppose to protect me from but either way I didn't want to seem rude so I ripped what was left of my clothing off and slipped it on. Maul looked away but Kari and even Mjoll kept their scrutinizing and guarded gaze on me. Next I took the necklaces and noted they were made of still living Spriggan wood.
"They will allow us to speak with them." One of the Spriggans, I'm not sure which, murmured almost tentatively. "It will allow us to explain what has happened here, and what you are My Lady." I said that I understood but it sounded more like a surprised question than anything else. I turned to Kari and Mjoll first holding out the necklaces at arms length and clearing my throat.
"She said these will let you talk with them if you wear it. They want to explain what all of this is." For a moment neither moved and then Kari almost huffed at me.
"You're afraid of me right now," it wasn't as a question and I answered a steady yes.
"As far as either of us knows I could be a Daedra or some form of one and we both know what people do with Daedra in Skyrim." She contemplated that for a moment and with her head held high stepped forward and took the necklace quickly putting it on. I realized that it was her way of showing she trusted me either way and I couldn't help but smile up at her in relief. Whatever this was I couldn't handle losing her friendship and being alone in this harsh place. Mjoll, in an unusually quiet manner, took small steps forward and donned her necklace as well. I couldn't think of a way to reassure her and only managed to nod in her direction.
With a soft sigh I turned towards Maul but he was already next to me, head down and hand out stretched. Guilt immediately washed over me and I grimaced. It wasn't that I didn't care for or like Maul, I just wanted to know and care for him a lot more before he found it acceptable to put his hands on my person. Stretching up on my tiptoes I put the necklace around his neck for him which made him turn his face upwards to look at me.
"What the fuck?" was what I blurted out first and quickly followed it up with "How old are you?". He went from hurt to confused in an instant and slowly told me he was twenty nine years old. I knew when I first met Maul that the scars, deep set lines, and prominent veins that had outlined Mauls face had to have made him look older than he was but I had still estimated him to be around thirty five or so. The man before me now looked barely over twenty. Every scar that had sat so distinct on his face were completely gone. It was as if every incident that had aged him beyond his years had never happened, leaving behind what this man was supposed to look like before Skyrim had withered and warped him.
Silently I gestured to the waters edge where he kneeled down and peered cautiously over at his reflection. His gasp was audible and profound. The Spriggans that had silently watched us until that point decided to speak.
"It seems as the healing spring not only saved you but awoke you to your true self, you extended that power to heal your friend. It is well within your ability to heal or save any one you wish to now, using the energy that pulses through the ground as we do."
"How? Is she Daedra or...?" I heard Kari ask in an almost distant voice.
"Would you kill her if she was, old Khajiitt?" You could feel more than hear the Spriggans amusement as if the fact she had to even ask was funny to her. Kari thought it over for only before offering only a resounding "No" rang with truth but did not allow for an explination. The Spriggan seemed oddly pleased though with herself or Kari I couldn't tell.
"Many lifetimes ago, even before your life began old one, there was a goddess that watched over this world and others. She protected, cared for, and shaped it as she pleased. As she aged and watched the world change repeatedly she became weary of her duties and began to create others to help her. She created us to watch over this earthly plane, and protect her world.
However, as man grew and entire generations warred and killed each other she became weaker and began to take long slumbers deep within the earth. In between these slumbers as man rose up again she hand picked those she thought fit to assist us in guiding man and other beings into more peaceful state of being. There are nine in total, Talos being the last, though all of them have lost their voice in the world. I believe you call them The Divines; they called her Goddess.
After Talos was picked while he was still young and alive she slipped silently into a deep slumber where no one could find or wake her. She should have woken long ago but something very strong kept her soul apart from her body and she could not wake. It seems however that she has awoken at last."
I turned to stare up at her as she spoke, disbelieving and dumb founded. Unbeknownst to me as every one else watched on, vines had begun to grow from beneath, growing forth with blooming violet flowers that creeped across the ground and tangled around my feet as the earth its self held me securely to its chest.