Hey everyone!
Sorry I've been gone for a long time, but I had a lot of things to do in school which was keeping me from my story creation time.
Hope you all can understand.
I like to thank Darkyshana, Patchwork Knightness, and my other followers! Also ShoutFinder for the awsome reviews! I love y'all. :)
Now without a further ado, Chapter 6 is ready to entertain your brilliant minds of fiction!
Disclaimer: I don't own Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.
Two Dragonborns!
Marine's POV
When Glacier and I walked through the large doors of DragonsReach, we gazed our eyes around the large exterior while walking up the large stairs of the Grand hall. I had to admit; everything in here was bigger on the inside than the outside or the game for that matter. I looked over at Glacier, who was taking her attention to the design and exterior of the Grand Hall, to see how she was coping with being in the Jarl's home. She didn't look fascinated at first, but when she turned her attention to Irileth's dark elf structure; her eyes grew wide and mouth dropped with amusement. I was trying so hard not to laugh out loud and disturb Jarl Balgruuf and Proventus' conversation about something; I'm guessing it's about the destruction of Helgen or something else.
"Marine," my twin whispered to me while I turned my head to her "what the heck is the extraordinary creature in blue?" I looked over to Irileth then back to Glacier.
"That's Irileth, the Jarl's housecarl. She's a dark elf or Dunmer as Nords would call them." I explained. "We should go over to Jarl Balgruuf and tell him everything that has happened in Helgen." I suggested as my twin nodded before walking forward. Then like in the game, Irileth saw us walking forward, she sheathed her sword and stalked towards us.
"What's the meaning of this interruption? Jarl Balgruuf is not receiving visitors." She told us with narrowed red eyes and a deep tone. I looked over to Glaze as she was about to speak.
"We came here to inform the Jarl about the dragon attack at Helgen." Glacier told Irileth. Irileth's visage was unreadable, but I think she believes us.
"Well that explains why the guards let you two in. Come on then, the Jarl will want to speak to you girls personally." Glacier and I nodded our heads before Irileth lead us to Jarl Balgruuf in his thrown.
"Irileth, who are these young girls and why are they here?" Jarl Balgruuf questioned her.
"These girls say they were at Helgen, where the dragon attacked." the Dunmer said as Jarl Balgruuf was silent. When Glacier and I were in front of the Jarl, he began to question us.
"So, you two were at Helgen? You saw this dragon with your own eyes?" He asked us with astonishment.
"Well yeah, the dragon we saw completely destroyed Helgen!" I spoke out. "And the last time we saw the thing it was heading this way." the moment I said that, Jarl Balgruuf's visage went from calm to shocked.
"By Ysmir Irileth was right!" He said before turning his attention to Proventus. "What do you say now, Proventus? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?" At the moment, Irileth spoke up.
"My lord, we should send troops to Riverwood at once." She suggested, which is another thing we came for was. "It's in the most immediate danger, if that dragon is lurking in the mountains..." that's true, but that dragon is Mirmulnir not Aldubastard. Then Proventus began to speak.
"But the Jarl of Falkreth will view that as a provocation! He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him!" As in the game, he was speaking the negative side. "We should not..." He was cut off by the Jarl.
"Enough!" Balgruuf snapped causing the Grand Hall to be silent. "I'll not stand idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people." He then spoke out a command to his housecarl. "Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once!" He commanded.
"Yes, my Jarl" She pounded her heart in respect before carrying off her duties. Haha duty.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties." Proventus told Balgruuf. I swerved my eyes over to my twin to see her doing nothing but stare at the Jarl. I'm a little surprised she hasn't asked me any question during this long conversation.
"Well done. You young girls have sought me out, on your own initiative. You've have done Whiterun a service and I won't forget it." He complemented us and I shot him a wide grin.
"Aw, it was nothin." I said with glee as I heard Glacier let out a sigh.
"Hahaha, let me give you girls something as a token of my esteem." He called forth to the guard on his left and whispered something to his ear. Once he was done, the guard ran out through the door of DragonsReach.
"Where is that guard going Jarl Balgruuf?" Glacier asked him.
"He is going to the blacksmith's market to buy you two some armor for your service, despite how young you girls are and such." He answered her question.
"Thank you Jarl Balgruuf." I thanked him. "Is there anything else you want us to do?" what am I talking about of course there is.
"There is another thing you girls can do for me. Suitable for someone of your talents. If you girls are willing that is." I turned over to my twin for an answer.
"Glacier, are you willing to do this?" I asked her with concern, which causes her to give me her 'really' face.
"Marine, what the hell makes you believe I'm not willing?" I raised my hands up in defense.
"Okay okay, I was just asking. God damn." I returned my attention back the Jarl. "We'll do your task." I told him.
"Very well. Marine and Glacier correct? Come, let's go find Farengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into the matter related to these dragons and...rumors of dragons." Balgruuf informed us before getting off his thrown and motioning us to follow him.
"That's cool!" I said randomly to him, but he decided to ignore me. Once we entered the court wizard's quarters, Farengar working at his desk; probably about the dragons or something else. But as we came in, he turned away from his work to look at us.
"Farengar, I think I've found some people who can help you with your dragon project." Balgruuf said to his wizard. Farengar then turned his eyes onto me and Glacier, but he didn't seem too happy about it though. "Go ahead and fill them in with all the details." the Jarl demanded before leaving us with the dragon obsessed mage.
"So the Jarl thinks you two can be of use to me?" He stated to us.
"Yes sir, he said that you were working on an important matter." Glacier said.
"Oh yes, he must be referring to my research into the dragons." Oh my god, this taking too long!
"Do you want us to do something for you or not!" I yelled. Farengar narrowed his eyes at me as my twin rolled her head and dropped jaw at me for my rudeness.
"Yes, I need you girls to fetch something for me." He said, not liking my rude outburst. "Well, when I mean fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there." Secret-Fire informed us. I know what he's talking because I played this game, so I'll ask him a question just for the fun of it.
"What the hell does this have to do with the dragons, Harry Potter?" I asked plainly. He gave a questioned glare before it swiftly disappeared to his regular visage.
"Who's Harry Potter?" Glacier was about to answer that question, but he cut her off. "Never mind, that's not important at the moment. You see, when the stories of dragons- blah blah blah- many dismissed- blah blah blah- fantasies, rumors. Impossibilities. One- blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah- anything that falls outside- blah blah blah blah- impossible. But I- blah blah blah blah blah- about dragons- where had they gone all those years ago? And where were they coming from?" thank god he finished talking. I was so close to falling asleep after his boring explanations.
"So what is it you want us to do, Mr. Farengar?" It always has to be my cousin to ask the question I know the answer to.
"I, ah, learned of a certain tablet said to be housed in Bleack Falls Barrow- a 'Dragonstone', said to contain a map of dragon burial site." He says.
"Are you talking about this?" I went over to Glaze's backpack that was strapped to her back and reached for the Dragonstone. Once it was in my hands; I pulled it out, closed Glacier's bag, and placed the tablet on Farengar's desk. Farengar's face was priceless, literally.
"H-h-how did- you girls...g..get this?" He was shocked and amused at the same time.
"We went into the Barrow yesterday to retrieve a claw for someone and we came across this stone. So, surprise!" I shot him a wide smile as he stood motionless.
"This is remarkable! Hahaha, seems that you two can cut above the other brutes the Jarl sends my way." He seems very happy about the Dragonstone, as expected.
"Um, thank you sir. What's ne-" She did finish her question because one of the Jarl's guards came in and cut her off.
"Excuse me," we all looked at the Whiterun guard. "I'm here to give you girls a gift from the Jarl." He then reached into his back pocket to give us our armor.
Out of his pocket were two sets of armor, both were light weight armor. The first one was studded fur armor with the steel plate on the right side. The second one was leather armor with no studs in it. The guard handed the studded fur armor to me as he gave Glacier the leather armor. I wonder if there's a place where we can change out clothes. If there is I call first.
"Thank you." we said in unison as the guard left us and Farengar.
"As I was saying, what's next Mr. Farengar?" Glacier asked the mage of Whiterun.
"That is where your job ends and mine begins. The work of the mind, sadly undervalued in Skyrim." He replied before continuing. "My...associate will be pleased by your handiwork. She discovered its location by means she has so far declined to share with me." He finished.
'Irileth should be coming right about-' the sound of running footsteps were heard coming behind me. 'now.' I pondered.
"Farengar!" Irileth cried as she ran into Farengar's office, panting. "Farengar, you need to come at once. A dragon's been sighted nearby." She demanded the mage before switching her attention to Glacier and I. "You girls should come too." Irileth said.
'Yea! Mirmulnir, one of Alduhoe's loyal bitches are here. Let's throw a party!' I thought sarcastically.
"A dragon! How exciting! Where was it seen? What was it doing?" Secret-Fire asked the Dark elf woman.
'Where and what Mirmulnir was doing? Oh, he was doing what any dragon would do. Fly over the tower, destroy the tower, eat the guards, and shit out glitter and rainbow like Nyan cat!' I though sarcastically again.
"I'd take this a bit more seriously if I were you. If a dragon decides to attack Whiterun I don't know if we can stop it." Irileth ran out of the room with me, Glacier and Farengar behind her. "Let's go!" we ran up the flight of stairs that lead to the war hall. As we made it up the stairs, Jarl Balgruuf and a Whiterun guard from the tower were standing by the doors to the balcony outside.
"So, Irileth tells me you came from the western watchtower?" the Jarl inquired.
"Yes, my lord!" the Whiterun guard replied to the Jarl. I motioned Glacier to come over to Jarl Balgruuf's side to see the conflict, which she obeyed.
"Tell him what you told me. About the dragon." Irileth demanded to the guard.
"Uh…that's right. We saw it coming from the south. It was fast…faster than anything I've ever seen." The guard explained to Balgruuf.
I felt something tugging on my arm and was curious to what it was. I looked down to see that it was Glacier's hand tugging on me. My sapphire eyes switched over to Glacier, who was looking back at me.
"What?" I whispered to her.
"The dragon, Mirmulnir, the one you mentioned moments ago. Is he the one they are converting about?" Glacier asked me.
"Yeah." I said before we turned our focus back on the Jarl and the guard.
"Good work, son. We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it." The Whiterun guard bowed before heading down stairs. Jarl Balgruuf looked over at Irileth to give her directions. "Irileth, you'd better gather some guardsmen and get down there." He instructed, but Irileth was already ahead of him.
"I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate." She told him.
"Good, don't fail me." The Dark elf pounded her heart in respect. Then Jarl Balgruuf turned his attention to me and my twin cousin. "There's no time to stand on ceremony, girls. I need your help again." He proclaims to us.
"You do not need to tell us, Jarl Balgruuf. We'll do anything we can to help you and your city." My twin tells him with her placid voice.
"Hell yeah, we will! There's nothing too difficult for us to handle, even a dragon can't take us down! So just say the word and kick that bitch's ass back to the mountain tops!" I raised my fist up to the air to prove my point. Glacier let out a small giggle at my warrior intuition as Balgruuf gave us a smile.
"Thank you, Marine and Glacier. It means a lot to me." He spoke before getting serious again. "I want you two to go with Irileth and help her fight this dragon. Both of you have survived Helgen, so you two have more experience with dragons than anyone else here." He pointed that out. "As a token of my esteem, I have instructed Avenicci that you girls are now permitted to purchase property in the city, even thought he was against it for you two are young. And please accept this gift from my personal armory." Jarl Balgruuf handed me and Glacier two sets of iron armor and damn they are heavy.
"I should come along. I would very much like to see this dragon." I heard Farengar say to the Jarl.
"No. I can't afford to risk both of you. I need you here working on ways to defend the city against theses dragons." Jarl Balgruuf demanded his court wizard. Farengar was disappointed, but didn't dare show it in front of his Jarl.
"As you command." He said plainly before walking back down the stairs.
'Hmm…maybe I should get a snapshot of Mirmulnir up close and show it to him when we come back.' I suggested mentally.
"One last thing, Irileth. This isn't a death or glory mission. I need to know what we're dealing with." Balgruuf stated to his housecarl.
"Don't worry my lord. I am the very soul of caution." Irileth replied before turn her attention to us. "Come girls, we must stop this dragon before it destroys the watchtower." with that said she rushed down the stairs with me and my twin in tow.
4 minutes later
Minutes later, we arrived at the Whiterun gates with Irileth. Four Whiterun guards were already stationed near the gates waiting for the Jarl's housecarl. They were confused to what was happening here, but I think they were mostly confused to why two teenagers were following behind her (Glacier and I).
"What's going on here?" asked one of the guards.
"A dragon is attacking the Western Watchtower." the Dunmer answered, shocking the guards.
"A dragon?!" said the aghast men.
"You heard right! I said a dragon!" Irileth said again, but more aggressive. "I don't care much where it came from or who sent it. What I do know is that it made a mistake of attacking Whiterun!" a guard took a step towards her.
"But housecarl, how can we fight a dragon?" he inquiries.
"That's a fair question. None of us have ever seen a dragon before or expected to face one in battle. But we are honor-bound to fight it, even if we fail." she tells them.
'Which we're not.' I pondered.
"This dragon is threatening our homes...our families. Could you call yourselves Nords if you ran from this monster? Are you going to let me fight this thing alone?" she ask her loyal guards.
'If they were pussies, then yes.' I snicked at the thought.
"No." they answered her.
"But it's more than our honor at stake here. Think of it- the first dragon seen in Skyrim since the last age." Irileth states the guards.
"Technically, it's not the first dragon we've seen." Glacier whispered to me, which I smirked.
"The glory of killing it is ours, if you're with me! Now what do you say?" the Dunmer shouts to the men.
'We're fucked! Hahaha!' I held back my laugh, so that I could hear more.
"Shall we go kill us a dragon?" she encouraged her team.
"Yeah! Damn right! Go kill the fucker!" they cried with pride and spirit.
"Let's move out!" Irileth commanded her troops as we all followed her out of the gates of Whiterun.
Once we were outside the gates, we ran down the stone walkway out of Whiterun's barrier. Irileth was ahead of us by a few feet, as for the men they were behind me and Glacier. I would want to us my speed agility to get us to the watchtower quicker, but as my twin said I have to be cautious of people might think about it. We ran pass the Whiterun stables then made a right turn to the tower. While we were running, I took the time to look up at the sky. The sky was bright blue with some cumulus clouds floating away like boats in a river. I turned my attention back on the road to see that we were getting close to the watchtower, and it looked exactly like it was in the game; burnt, broken down, and debris everywhere. Irileth stopped behind a rock and we followed afterward.
"No signs of dragons right now, but it sure looks like he's been here." Irileth stated. "I know it looks bad, but we've got to figure out what happened and if that dragon is still skulking around somewhere. Spread out and look for survivors. We need to know what we're dealing with." Irileth commanded before the men went on ahead to the tower. I unsheathed my dual swords and was about to run towards the tower with Irileth, till I heard Glacier humming behind us.
"What is it, young one?" Irileth asked Glaze. Glacier was quite for a few second before answering Irileth.
"The guard back at Whiterun said that he saw the dragon coming from the south, correct?" Glaze asked the dark elf.
"Yes, why do you ask?" she asked Glacier.
"Well, it's just that...there are no mountain in the south side of the tower, but on the west side. And as I can recall in mythical terms, dragons love living in the mountains which is west because they are less likely to be noticed and/or seen by citizens." Glacier was doing hand motions while explaining her observation to the housecarl.
"What are you getting at, child?" she questioned her.
"I'm saying the dragon that attacked the tower was coming from the west not south. Because the way the colossal stone pieces and flames are positioned, it's obvious it attacked from a one hundred-twenty five degree angle within appositely forty-five point five seconds exact. The guard must have said it come from the south because he was probably standing on the east side of the tower." Glacier stated.
"Hmm, clever observation Glacier." Irileth praised her.
"However, since we came here a few seconds earlier it will approximately come here in about thirty-nine point thirty-three seconds. So we better head to the tower before it appears." Glacier suggested to the Jarl's housecarl.
"Agreed, let move!" she commanded us, which we obeyed. Once we come to the broken tower a survivor come out of the tower entrance toward the other guards.
"No, you must go back the dragon is still lurking around somewhere!" he warned us.
"Glacier, how much time?!" Irileth shouted to Glaze.
"Eleven seconds!" my counterpart answered.
"How the hell do you know?" that was the question I wanted to ask her.
"Perimeter calculation, duh." she answered, being her smart ass self
"Roar!" Mirmulnir road which caused the guards to shake with fear, but they shook it off and pulled out their swords.
"Five...four...three...two...one!" me and Glacier counted down. Right on queue Mirmulnir flew through the air to the crumbled tower.
"Glaze get your bow out!" she nodded before getting her bow and arrows ready. "Now shoot his ass out the sky!" I yelled out.
"I know what to do!" she shouted at me, damn I'm just saying.
The guards, Irileth, and Glacier proceeded to shoot Alduin's bitch with arrows while I was throwing iron daggers at him, but the problem was our weapons weren't effecting him at all. Mirmulnir flew around the tower one time before he stopped in front of a guard, who temping to shoot him down. The was about to fire another arrow at him till the dragon shouted out flames from his giant maw. When the poor soldier was consumed by the flames, Mirmulnir took off again but over the tower this time.
"Damn it, that dragon is taking our arrows like it's nothing!" one of our soldiers cried out.
"Keep firing men, its strength is draining!" Irileth demanded. I proceeded to throw my iron daggers to the red bastard, but to my dismay I was out of daggers.
"Yo Glaze, I'm out of daggers!" I informed to her as she gave me a spectacle look.
"Use another weapon, if you're out!" she suggested before shooting another arrow at Mirmulnir, who was still flying in the air.
"I only have my swords with me! How the hell am I supposed to hit him if-" I was cut off by my twin.
"MARINE, LOOK OUT!" Glacier cried to me before tackling me to the ground. While I was complaining about my shortage of daggers, I failed to notice Mirmulnir was going to land on me. Lucky for me Glacier saw it coming or else I would've been crushed.
As we were getting off the ground to face Alduin's ally, Mirmulnir turned his whole body around to face us.
"Kill it!" Irileth commanded us.
"Yol...Toor Shul!" He shouted 'Fire Breathe' at us, however we dodged it in the nick of time.
"Marine, I'll take Mirmulnir on his right while you take his left!" she demanded as she switched her long bow for her duel maces. With a little nod, I pulled out my swords and started slicing at the bitch.
Glacier and I were making a little progress with Mirmulnir, don't get me wrong we're doing our best here. But this guy...this dovah is taking our hits like a G. Yeah that sounded kinda ghetto, but he is acting like it's nothing.
"Glacier!" I called. My twin was casting a spark spell on him at the same time slashing him with her mace. "How you doing over there?" I asked while dodging Mirmulnir's teeth.
"How the fuck do you think I'm doing?!" Glaze said rhetorically. Then Irileth charged at the dragon and sliced at his face with her sword.
"Girls focus! His strength is failing, keep at it!" Mirmulnir used his fire shout at her, but it did little effect on her.
His blood was pouring out of his scales and lost his enthusiasm to fly. I guess the divines are with us. I swung my sword at Mirmulnir's wing on more time before he died, but before he did he shouted.
"Dovahkiin! NO!" was he last words before he fell flat out dead on the ground.
"The over-grown lizard is dead!" a soldier cheered.
"Marine, we did it! We killed it!" Glacier cheered as we collided into cheerful hug.
"Wait, something is happening to the dragon!" Irileth announced making everyone including us to look at the dragon.
I knew what was happening; its scales and skin is burning off, it will become a skeletal dragon, and the best part about this...someone here is the Dragonborn. And that would highly be me or Glacier. Only Akatosh can foresee who's worthy to be the Ultimate Dragonslayer.
"Everyone get back!" All of us ran away from the burning corpus on different sides, I'm on the left and Glacier's on the right.
Here it comes the moment we...I mean Skyrim has been waiting for. The appearance of the Dragonborn! I looked over to Glaze and her face was telling me that she had no idea what the hell is about to come. My sapphire eyes turned back to the decaying body that was now burning bright like a flame and multiple rays of light were shooting out towards me. However, when I looked back into the light, I saw half of Mirmulnir's soul was getting transferred not to me... but to GLACIER'S BODY! I was shocked like fuck as was the other soldiers. When the lights died down, my counterpart was staring at me like a hawk.
"Marine...what just happened?" she inquired me as she walked over to my side.
"Uh..." I could not answer her, I was just as shocked as she was.
"I...I can't believe it, you...you two are...Dragonborn!" a soldier exclaimed.
"Dragonborn? What's that?" Glacier asked the man.
"In the very oldest tale when there were still dragons in Skyrim, the Dragonborn would slay dragons and steal their power." He explained. "That's what you girls did wasn't it, absorb the dragon's power?"
"Um...I'm not sure what we did? Marine?" I was frozen like ice to even speak.
"There's only one way to find out." He spoke.
"How?" Glaze asked and I snapped out of my shock faze.
"Try to shout." My twin only stared at the man like he was crazy.
"Excuse me?" She asked.
"Shouting is the only way to prove it. According to the old legends, only the Dragonborn can shout without training like the dragons do" He said to her before he got into a conversation with another soldier about us being Dragonborns.
"Marine, are you all right?" I nodded. "Good, now explain to me what he mean by 'shout like a dragon'."
"He means that we have to shout out the word of power with Mirmulnir's soul." she tilted her head in confusion. "Remember that word wall we saw back at Bleack Falls Barrow and the glowing dragon word 'Fus'?"
"I do." she says.
"Well since we killed Mirmulnir and absorbed his soul, the soul will allow us to shout out the word 'Fus' which mean force. Does that make sense?" there was an awkward silence between us before she spoke.
"Minimum." was all she said.
"Okay how about this, we shout the word 'Fus' to prove what I mean." she agreed with a small nod. "On my mark, one...two...three!"
"Fus!" we shouted in unison. As I expected, two blue transparent auras popped out of our mouths and pushed a guard back six feet.
"Sorry." Glaze apologized to the guard.
"See what I mean now, Glacier?" I questioned her and she nodded.
"So it's true, you two are Dragonborn. Those that were with the dragon blood in 'em. Like Tiber Septim himself." the guard said. Then another guard came over.
"I never heard of Tiber Septim killing any dragons." He said.
"There weren't any dragons then, you idiot. They're just coming back now for the first time in...forever." The other guard said. Then there came another guard...uh.
"But the old tales tell of the Dragonborn who could kill dragons and steal their power. Yet, there are two Dragonborns here, so do they absorb half of the dragon's power?" the guard spoke.
"What do you say, Irileth? You're being awfully quite." a guard asked with concern. Irileth looked at the guards for a second, then at us for five seconds, then back to the men.
"Hmph. Some of you would be better off keeping quite than flapping your gums on matters you don't know anything about." Irileth spatted. "Here's a dead dragon, and that's something I definitely understand. Now we know we can kill them. But I don't need..."
I couldn't listen to them bickering anymore cause it was so boring, it's like listening to a teacher giving a lecture about college instead of the main subject. Without them noticing; I walked over to the corpus of Alduhoe's ally, took out my IPhone 5, and took a quick snapshot of Mirmulnir's bones. After that I looked inside the skeleton to look for items like in the game. The items I found were valuable; 3 dragon bone and scales, one garnet, a few iron arrows, a Whiterun guard outfit, and some steel arrows. After I collected the items, Irileth was demanding Glacier and I return to Whiterun.
"Jarl Balgruuf will want to speak to you both about what has happened here. Now get going." We nodded to her before we took off to Whiterun.
"So cousin, what will occur next?" Glacier inquired me.
"Well what will happen is-" I was cut off by what happened next.
"DOV...AH...KIIN!" the Greybeards shout from the mountain causing a heavy earthquake and making us lose our balance.
"What the hell was that!?" Glacier shouted at me.
"Calm the fuck down! The Greybeards were just shouting for us!" I yelled. All she did was stare at me for a few seconds. "The Jarl will explain it to us when we return to DragonsReach." I said.
After receiving a nod from my twin cousin, we continued out advance to Whiterun and DragonsReach.
Yeah chapter 6 is finally complete!
Again I'm sorry for being gone for so long, I had too many things in school to deal with. Not to mention the Gateway.
Lucky for us it Spring Break and while that's happening, I might be able to make chapters 7 & 8 this week.
BTW, since I made this story last year I want to make into a 2013 version or something. That way my OCs will have like an upgrade or something and it would be more entertaining for you all.
I hope you liked this chapter and that I get a good review from y'all.
-PM619 out! Happy Spring Break!