Sorry for messing with you guys last week! I just couldn't help myself! But don't worry; Iris's story is far from over!
Special thanks to Ktonicle, Inquisitek, Guest, and Manu for the reviews!
"Iris."
Murky green permeates violet eyes hidden behind blue-tinged eyelids.
"Iris."
Frigid ice chokes a flooded throat, water spewing past blue trembling lips, two hands pumping against a slowing heart.
"Come on, my love. Please."
A rough voice riddled with tears beckons to her, pleading for her return from the grasp of the turbid, green water.
"That's it. Come on."
And suddenly, Iris's world floods back to her. With a tremendous gasp, her violet eyes burst open once more, water spewing past her lips as she coughs.
"Iris, oh Gods, thank you." Brynjolf's face slowly comes into focus, peering down at her from where she lay on a rocky ground.
She opens her mouth to speak, but her small frame wracks with coughs, coughing up more water.
"Easy, love." His hand moves to her back, slightly sitting her up. "Are you alright?"
"What happened?" Her voice doesn't work, sounding more like a hiss than her usual lilting voice. She gasps in pain at the act of speaking, her hand flying to her throat.
"After you…lost consciousness, the ceiling collapsed again. I looked up and found a hole in the ceiling. I grabbed you and swam up to it and found it lead to a cave. I tossed you up into it before pulling myself up. I carried you here and—well, you weren't breathing. I thought you—I tried to resuscitate you, tried for what felt like forever. Gods, nothing happened at first. You were completely unresponsive, and your skin was so—so cold. But I kept going anyway and—" He gestures to her abdomen. "I think I broke one of your ribs by accident, but—it's like Nocturnal wanted us to survive. She opened the ceiling for us and brought you back to me."
"Don't cry," she rasps almost inaudibly, trying to hoist her heavy arm to touch his war-torn face.
"I just can't believe we're alive," he cries quietly. "I watched you drown, Iris. You ran out of air before me, and I had to watch you drown, and I couldn't do anything about it, and—"
"Shh." She cries softly with the pain, but it doesn't stop her from wrapping her arms around his neck.
He holds her violently shivering body in disbelief at everything that has happened in the past few hours.
"Where's Karliah?" He almost doesn't hear her rasping whisper. Pulling away, he touches the base of her throat.
"You should save your voice, love." He wishes he could just take her pain away.
She nods in agreement, her eyelids drooping.
"Are you okay to keep moving? We can meet Karliah at the entrance."
She nods again, wincing as he helps her to her feet. Her legs buckle at first, all her wounds taking a toll on her frail body. She notices blood caked on the side of his head and points to it.
"When the ceiling collapsed again, I wasn't the most agile," he explains, wrapping his arm around her waist and slowly but surely helping her move along the tunnel. "After we speak to Karliah, we're going to the nearest hold to get you to a healer." His eyes find the two gashes he caused, the bleeding stopped but not scabbing just yet.
She shivers uncontrollably, her wet hair plastered to her cheeks as he helps her down the tunnel.
He pokes his head out of the cave, shivering himself when he feels the frigid, subzero air and snow flurries blustering in the unforgiving winds.
"On second thought, we should probably wait here until we dry off," he tells her.
She nods as he helps her to the ground. They sit with their backs leaned against the cave wall, huddled together to keep warm.
"What about Karliah?" Iris forces her voice to ask.
"Shh, I'm sure she'll still be waiting."
Iris shakes her head, holding up one finger. "Hour," her voice rasps.
"Oh, she did say she'd wait for an hour. Then she'd come and find us, right?" He frowns as Iris nods. "I can run out there and get her—"
But Iris shakes her head vehemently, pointing at her throat.
His eyebrows furrow, trying to decipher what she wants to say.
She sighs softly, uttering two words, "Throw Voice."
"No. There's no way you can Shout, Iris. It could damage your voice even more, maybe even permanently."
She opens her mouth to protest, but he shakes his head. "No, love. I'll go get Karliah. Wait here."
She brings her knees up to her chest, watching silently as he steps out of the cave. Her mind whirls at everything that's just happened. She should be dead right now. She was dead. But, yet again, she cheated Death. Bryn was right. Nocturnal must not be done with them yet.
She closes her eyes, resting her forehead against her knees and shivering. Her throat burns, feeling raw. How long will it take for her voice to return? She hopes it's soon. She has a lot left to do with the whole Dragonborn business.
After what seems like ages, Bryn finally returns with Karliah in tow. The Dunmer looks a lot better; she must have taken some health potions.
"Iris, are you alright? Brynjolf told me what happened." Karliah crouches at the Breton's side.
Iris nods wearily.
"I'm glad Mercer's dead, but I'm sorry what you had to go through. I wish I'd have been able to help."
Iris shakes her head. "You'd be dead," she rasps.
Karliah frowns at the sound of Iris's voice. "I suppose you're right. Here." She hands Iris her fur cloak. "Found this outside. You look like you could use it right now."
Sure enough, when Iris glances down at her arm, she finds her skin a bluish tone. She nods her thanks, wrapping herself in the cloak.
"We should probably get going," Bryn says. "We need to get Iris to a healer immediately."
Iris opens her mouth to tell them that she's fine, but Bryn shushes her, gripping her arm and helping her up.
Hours later, the three Nightingales stumble into Falkreath. Iris clutches her side as she's practically pulled along, her legs no longer supporting her, but she had adamantly refused for Bryn to carry her. He only agreed because she threatened to Shout if he tried to carry her.
"We're going to take you to Zaria, the alchemist," Bryn tells her.
She nods silently, her eyelids drooping and her hands still clutching her side.
They enter the shop, Grave Concoctions, and describe what happened to Zaria, leaving out the Nightingale business, of course. Zaria takes Iris to a back room to administer some potions to help regrow her broken ribs and speed along the healing process for her throat. Meanwhile, Karliah and Bryn wander the town in search of dinner and more arrows.
Two hours later, Karliah and Brynjolf return to the alchemist, their arms filled with breads and cheeses, and their quivers full of ebony arrows.
"How is she?" Bryn asks when he spots Zaria.
"She's resting. I fixed her ribs and put some salve on the cuts on her arm and face. I need to harvest a few more ingredients before I can start on a tonic to help her voice."
"Thank you, Zaria," Karliah says gratefully.
"It's the least I can do for you, Karliah." Zaria smiles. She slips her arms into her traveling cloak before grabbing a basket. "I'll be back as soon as I find the ingredients I need."
"Do you need any help?" Bryn offers.
"You're kind to offer," Zaria smiles, "but I prefer to find them myself. They like to speak to me. That way I know which are the best." With that, she takes her leave.
"I'm going to check on her," Bryn tells Karliah.
"Brynjolf, wait." Karliah places a hand on his arm. "I meant to talk to you about this sooner, but there wasn't time."
"Talk about what?"
"You and Iris…you need to be careful. Relationships within the Guild—"
"Vex and Delvin already spoke to us, threatened to kick us out of the Guild and everything."
Karliah shakes her head. "Listen to me. My falling in love with Gallus was the cause of his death. He let his guard down. In a roundabout way, I killed him. Merely by loving him. You can't afford that to happen with Iris. Believe me when I say it tears you apart, that sort of guilt. I loved Gallus with all my heart, but I'd rather he still be here, without us acting on our love, than dead because we did."
"Karliah—"
"I want you to know the risk you're taking. I want you to be aware of what could happen. Keep it in mind. It may seem worth it now, but if Iris ends up like Gallus…it is not worth it." Karliah sighs, glancing at the door. "I need to get back to the Temple. Come stop by once Iris is well. But keep my words in mind." She dons her Nightingale hood. "Oh, and, give this to Iris when she awakens. She's going to need it when she returns the Key to the Sepulcher."
"Safe travels, Karliah," Brynjolf tells her, accepting the Nightingale bow.
"Shadow hide you." Karliah disappears into the night.
Sighing, Brynjolf rubs his eyes, processing her words. He knows she's right but…how can he live without acting on his feelings? He denied them once, thought Iris was dead, and regretted it. Now, she's alive; how can he keep himself from acting on it? He knows Karliah is right. He knows Vex and Delvin are right. He just hates having to essentially choose the Guild over her. He can only hope she understands.
He moves into Iris's room, finding her fast asleep, buried under a mountain of blankets. Smiling softly, he moves a chair by her bedside and sits, lightly touching her hand and lowering the bow onto the floor. His eyes never leaving her face, he settles in for the night.
It takes two days for Iris's voice to begin to come back. Her words are still whispered, and she still can't Shout, but it's less painful for her to speak now. Zaria gives them a bottle of tonic for the road, and the two Nightingales set out, heading back to the Guild to deliver the news. The walk back is quiet; though Iris can't fully speak, they don't need words between them to understand their feelings. Brynjolf glances sideways at her, watching her slowing steps, her drooping eyelids. He knows she's exhausted; he is, too. All he wants after this is to sleep for a very long time. Preferably, in Honeyside. Though, he knows that probably can't happen, what with the 'ban' on them seeing each other outside of the Guild and everything.
Iris and Brynjolf let out simultaneous sighs of relief when they spot Riften's gates.
"Thank the Gods," he mutters as they walk through the gates and toward the cemetery.
"Here we go," Iris whispers, pressing the button on the coffin.
He exchanges a nervous smile with her before they descend into the Cistern.
"Where in Oblivion were you two? Do I need to remind you of the consequences of—"
"Mercer is dead, Vex," Brynjolf talks over her wearily.
"What?" Vex looks between the two of them.
"We tracked him to a Dwarven ruin. He tried to kill both of us, but Iris managed to kill him first."
Vex's hard glare turns on Iris. "So, he's dead?"
"Yeah," Iris whispers.
Confusion suffuses Vex's face at hearing Iris's damaged voice.
"We nearly drowned," Brynjolf tells her softly.
Vex nods curtly. "Right. Well, we need to tell the rest of the Guild immediately."
Vex gathers everyone, and Brynjolf tells them what transpired.
"So, he's really dead? It's over?" Rune asks in awe.
Iris nods seriously. A silent laugh leaves her lips when the rest of her family erupts into cheers. She grins, making eye contact with Bryn as he smiles back. But then Vex butts in.
"We need to talk. Now."
"Why—"
"Now. Come on." Vex interrupts Brynjolf, and she and Delvin lead the two Nightingales into the Flagon.
"Care to explain yourselves?" Vex sneers at them once they're situated.
"There's nothing to explain," Brynjolf says tiredly.
"I distinctly remember telling you both that you couldn't see each other outside of the Guild—"
"It was Guild business. We tracked down Mercer," Iris whispers.
"—or else we'd have to kick you out of the Guild," Vex continues to talk over Iris's soft voice.
"Come on, Vex. This is ridiculous. Like Iris said, we were on Guild business. We tracked Mercer to a Dwarven ruin and killed him."
Vex crosses her arms. "You were gone for days. Certainly, it couldn't have taken that long—"
"We almost drowned, and Iris was severely hurt. We had to stay in Falkreath for a couple days to recover."
"Vex, it's clear that it was Guild business," Delvin says softly to the blonde. "Besides, they did us a great service by getting rid of that bastard."
Vex chews on her lip, glaring at Iris. "Fine. I'll let it go this time."
Brynjolf nods, getting to his feet. "Anything else?"
"A thank you would be nice." Iris's quiet voice doesn't go unnoticed.
Brynjolf turns, finding her in a staring match with Vex, who sighs.
"You're right. I'm sorry." She shakes her head. "Thank you. Now, go get some rest. You look like you could use it."
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