And now for some one-on-one time with T & T. :)
"I'd highly appreciate it if you'd pick up your feet when you walk."
"I am picking them up!" Terah argued. "It's not my fault the dirt sucks here."
The pair had left the town and begun their journey to the Temple of Miraak. They spent most of the time so far bickering at each other over which route to take or where they should stop to rest, and apparently Terah didn't know how to read a map (according to Teldryn). There was still a good distance to travel until they would reach the temple and the night was beginning to creep up on them.
"This is not dirt," Teldryn pointed out. "This is ash."
After having another coughing fit, she looked around in disbelief. "This is all ash? How do you live here?" she asked incredulously.
He shrugged. "I've called Raven Rock my home for a number of years. Azura knows why," he said as he gazed out over she ashland. "It's a mess."
"Understatement," she said, rolling her eyes. "Certainly it's mostly dirt -"
"No, it's pure ash alright."
"By the nine," she deflated. "I can't breathe in this crap."
"Here." He moved to stand behind her. Confused, Terah just stood still. A black kerchief was suddenly placed over her nose and mouth, and she waited for Teldryn to tie the back. When he finished, he gave her a light pat on the back before returning to her side. "Better?"
"Much better. Thank you," she smiled with her eyes. "This really helps. It matches my outfit, too," she joked, gesturing to her armor.
"I am so stylish," he joked along with her.
She laughed. "Well I think we should set up camp soon. How far until we get to some snow?"
Folding his arms around his chest, he scoffed, "I don't wanna sleep in the damn cold."
"I don't wanna sleep in the damn ash," she countered as she placed a hand on her hip.
"Hey, if you didn't take so long chatting up the town we would've made it to the temple by now," he said playfully.
She scowled at him, "I had - OW!"
It felt like something had bit her left hand really hard. The attacker turned out to be some kind of creature that resembled an insect and was about the size of a small frostbite spider. Before Terah could even ready a spell, an Elven sword pierced straight through it, killing the little bastard.
"What was that? That hurt like the dickens!" she exclaimed as she began to slowly remove her gauntlet.
"The what?"
"The dickens," she paused, looking at him as if he was supposed to know what that meant. "Never mind, it's just an expression."
Shaking his head, he asked, "Where do you get these expressions from?"
Finally freeing her hand from her gauntlet, she let out a laugh, "Don't worry about it."
Although the wound was small, it was fairly deep and was bleeding heavily for its size. The little bastards can certainly bite.
"That was an ash hopper, by the way," Teldryn said as gently grabbed her forearm and inspected the wound. "Here, that looks like it'll be easy to heal," he raised his other hand to cast a spell. "Let me help."
"Nah, I got it."
A ball of golden light instantly illuminated from her palm, and she released it onto the wound. In the blink of an eye, it healed up with no trace of a scar whatsoever.
"Wow," he sounded genuinely impressed as he ran his fingers over her hand. "For a Nord, you have a pretty good grasp on magic. I'm impressed."
"My father was a Breton," she revealed. He slowly lowered her arm, allowing his fingers to linger for a moment.
"Well that explains why you're. . . vertically challenged."
"Hush, you!" she scolded as she slapped his arm. He only laughed at her. "I am not that short."
"Oh, no. . . of course not," he said with a hint of mischief in his voice. "Little Nord."
She just glared at him, much to his amusement. He returned to the subject, "So a Breton father, and a Nord mother, I assume?"
"Yes," she said, casting her eyes down solemnly. "They were an odd couple, but they were good parents."
He thought for a moment. Teldryn didn't like to pry, but his curiosity got the best of him sometimes. "May I ask what happened to them?"
She turned to gaze over the ash wasteland before answering, "Thalmor."
He nodded. That was all she needed to tell him for him to know that they probably died horrible deaths. "I am sorry."
She gave him a weak smile, "No need to be sorry, you didn't do it. Besides, it was a long time ago." She put on her gauntlet and pointed to something ahead of them, "That looks like a decent place to set up camp."
Not a word was exchanged between them as they made their way towards an abandoned lodge. It wasn't much, but it would at least shelter them from the ashy wind. Teldryn made a fire and was cooking some ash yams he had brought along while Terah laid out the bed rolls and casted frost runes around the lodge. Once she finished, she sat down beside Teldryn and watched him cook. She hated giving people only small pieces of information, so she decided to tell him more about her parents.
"She was so strong," she started, glancing at Teldryn. "And man, could she fight. My mother started training me with one-handed weapons the moment I left the womb," she said with a laugh as she pulled her kerchief down.
He chuckled. "It's good to be raised with combat skills. It becomes part of you."
"Indeed," she nodded, "My father, on the other hand, was a mage. A healer."
"That explains your restoration skills."
She grabbed a nearby twig and began poking at the fire. "That was originally what I came to Skyrim for, you know. To be a healer, like my father."
"You were not born in Skyrim?" he asked as he removed the ash yams from above the fire for them to cool.
"Born, but not raised," she corrected. "I grew up in Cyrodil," she said as she threw the twig in the fire.
"I was born and raised in Blacklight. Quite a city," he revealed with pride. "Moved to Skyrim the moment I reached manhood."
The fact that he had finally told her some information about him piqued her interest more than she would expect it to. This man who had bested her was more than impressive, so she found herself wanting to know more. "What brought you to Solstheim?"
Teldryn began his story about his last patron, a "traditional" Nord whom was one of the toughest employers he ever had. He explained how he and the Nord trailed a bandit for days before reaching one of the largest bandit encampments Teldryn had ever seen. Terah simply listened to him tell the story, observing every little hand gesture he made and enjoying the pleasant sound of his raspy voice.
She proceded to ask him about Blacklight, for she had never been to Morrowind and wanted to know what it was like. Teldryn went on about his time there, and mentioned how he met Saint Jiub. This caused her to perk up. "You met Saint Jiub?" she asked incredulously.
He simply nodded.
"I met him once, too. He's quite the character, isn't he?" she said with a laugh.
"Wait, you met Saint Jiub?" he asked in utter disbelief. "I think that was quite before your time. Unless you're much older than I thought you were and you know some sort of secret of how to outlive Mer."
She laughed at him. "Hey, you're the one who's old if you met him when he was alive. I met his spirit," she clarified. Teldryn just stared at her through his goggled helmet. She waved a hand dismissively at him, "It's a long story."
"You simply must tell me about it sometime."
"I will," she said with a nod. "So, how old did you think I was?"
"You want me to guess a woman's age? That's just asking for it," he joked.
She simply laughed. After a long pause with them staring at the fire, she shook her head at him, "You must be pretty damn old."
"I am not old," he said in defiance.
"Whatever you say, old man," she said with a smirk.
Teldryn just shook his head and placed the bowl of cooked ash yams between them. He proceded to remove his helmet so he could eat. When Terah saw his face for the first time, she had to do a double-take. The first thing she noticed was his black mohawk, which looked surprisingly soft in contrast with his sharp, Elven features. He had some stubble along his jaw that led to more stylized facial hair around his mouth. A tattoo trailed down the middle of his lip and all the way up both sides of his face, following the high arch of his brows. His blood red eyes simply stared into the fire as he began to eat. He certainly didn't look old, but he could've been two-hundred years old for all she knew. She was unashamedly staring at him with squinted eyes, causing him to raise a brow at her as he swallowed his bite.
"What? You act like you've never seen a Dunmer before," he said before turning his attention back to the yams.
"No, it's just. . ." she struggled to find the right words. "I didn't expect you to look so. . . scary."
He snorted, "If my ugly mug scares you so much, then I'll put my helmet back on."
She laughed at herself. "No, no. That came out wrong! You are far from ugly, I promise," she smiled, giving him a playful nudge. "You just look so. . . menacing."
"Are you saying you're intimidated by me?" he said with a grin.
"Hardly," she rolled her eyes before taking a bite of food.
He clutched onto his chest in feigned offense, "Why not?"
Giving him a small smile, she poked him in the chest while saying, "That's why."
He looked down to his chest, then back up at her. "I don't understand."
Terah stared off into the fire before explaining, "You may have this hard, tough exterior, and you may be deadly in combat, but you have a good heart." She smiled at him, "I don't know you very well at all, but I can see it. And I'm usually right about these things."
He was silent for a moment, before replying, "Well, I hope to help you keep such an opinion of me."
Silence overcame them for a while as they ate their yams. Teldryn never really took much interest in his employers, but this little Nord was far too intriguing. Her maturity and her rough appearance suggests that she has seen much and has a good deal of combat experience, but he could see a young woman underneath it all, and he began to genuinely wonder about her age. She also didn't seem to mind the fact that he was Dunmer; after the time he spent in the Gray Quarter in Windhelm, he experienced firsthand how Nords felt about "gray-skins."
Going back to their previous subject, Teldryn asked, "What were their names? Your parents, I mean."
Swallowing her bite, she answered, "Svira and Maniel Stoneheart." She snorted, "My father actually took my mother's surname, even though his heart was far from being made of stone."
"And your mother's was made of stone?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Sometimes it seemed that way, yeah," she joked. "But no, she was a blacksmith."
He slowly nodded. "Any siblings?"
"An older sister," she nodded. "About two years older than I. Her name was Tahni."
"Tell me about her."
She grinned at him. "Goodness, you are a curious one."
He put his hands up in defense, "I'm just trying to make conversation. If you don't wanna talk about it then by all means, I'll leave you alone."
"No, it's fine. I don't mind," she said before shifting in her seating position so she could face Teldryn more. "Tahni could almost pass off as my twin, except she had red hair and brown eyes," she paused before adding, "and she was a bit taller than me."
"I figured as much," he said casually.
"Oh, will you leave me and my height alone?"
He just grinned at her. "I only jest, little Nord."
She rolled her eyes before returning to the subject, "Anyways, that girl could sing! She was a pretty good lute player, too. Sometimes I'd drum with her in her performances."
He raised a brow, "You were a bard?"
Terah just shook her head. "Not really, I was just a drummer sometimes as a hobby. I can play the lute a little bit as well, but I cannot sing," she said with a laugh.
"You'll have to play for me sometime," he said, giving her an inquisitive look.
"Seriously?" she said, uncertain if he was messing with her or not.
He simply nodded.
With a big yawn, she replied, "Perhaps I will sometime." Terah suddenly noticed how tired she really was.
Noticing her sleepiness, Teldryn didn't press any further with questions. "It's getting late, so let's call it a night. I'll keep watch."
"Alright, then," she said as she stood up and stretched out her muscles. "Wake me when you get tired so I can take over."
He pointed at her armor, "I'd leave your armor on, if I were you. Just in case there's an ash spawn attack in the middle of the night."
"Ash spawn?" she said confusedly.
He smirked, "You'll see."
She just shrugged and settled into her bed roll. Once she got comfortable, she mumbled, "Goodnight, Teldryn."
Just before sleep took her, she heard him reply, "Goodnight, little Nord."
A lot of dialogue, I know, but Teldryn's pretty talkative and they're just gettin' to know each other. I'll post a new chapter ASAP, but I'm not sure how soon that will actually be.