A/N: Welcome back even though it is only the next day. Anyway, this chapter is a semi-filler chapter, if you want to skip this chapter, just know that Alduin had developed some small affection for the Argonian. This chapter will focus on what Alduin did when Janice left the estate to kill those pesky Blades. This is a humour focused chapter through the use of hurt, viewer discretion is advised.
All characters, place settings and other items belong to their respective copyright holders, Bethesda/ZeniMax Media Inc.. Characters that do not appear in the original content of The Elder Scrolls (OC, or original character) that bears a name similar to other popular story character names and/or character behaviour and attitude are purely coincidental.
Semi-filler Chapter 3: The Grieving Black Dragoness
"No… They didn't inflict a lot of damage before I killed them." was all Alduin heard before she got hit by a wave of sadness, sadness that she had never experienced before since Miraak begun killing off the dragons in rebellion. She was curled up on the cold stone floor near her bed, too weak from the intense emotions to pull herself up onto the warm, fuzzy, pelt-covered bed.
"They don't deserve to be turned into armour! They didn't attack any town unless I told them to!" Alduin complained amidst her tears.
Woken by the noise the dragoness is making, Derkeethus had thought that an intruder was in the house and slipped on his Dragonscale armour, picking up his Dragonbone Bow and the huge stack of Dragonbone Arrows his wife had crafted and given to him (A/N: I don't know where to stop torturing Alduin really, probably after this). Sneaking quietly to the door leading into the small house from his bedroom upstairs, he did not see anyone other than a quivering black, spiky ball at the other side of the bed, the side nearest the entrance. Moving closer, he saw that it was Alduin sobbing. Seeing nobody else around him, he asked softly, "where is the intruder? And are you injured?"
"There is no intruder!" Alduin snapped from her emotions, the tears still flowing freely from her eyes.
"I see, then why were you-" He never got to complete that question before Alduin started wailing like a kid who got left in the kindergarten on his first day.
"Oh, right…" Derkeethus said after realizing what Alduin must have seen as he stow away his weapon and ammo into an invisible bag.
"Come on Alduin, if it makes you feel any better, I could ask for a change in weapons." Derkeethus said soothingly as he hugged the dragoness in a gentle embrace.
Startled by the act, Alduin just froze up, not exactly sure how to deal with such a situation. "Come on, she didn't kill that many dragons… I remembered I only went with her to kill dragons for their souls in powering up her shouts. Other than that, she didn't really went out of her way to hunt them down to make armour, these were just the remains of those battles and battles where the dragons were trying to kill her, trust me." Derkeethus said, trying to calm the dragoness.
"That still… doesn't explain the... large number of arrows you are carrying, surely she must have... hunted to craft that many." Alduin said shakily, having calmed down enough to talk.
"Okay, maybe she had been hunting them without me, I wouldn't know." Derkeethus said, still gently rubbing his hands on her back in a calming gesture.
"Don't you ever check her store of materials?" Alduin said.
"I don't know where she keeps them, she has quite a number of houses you know. I've been to all of them, but never had I seen her opening boxes to put dragon remains before." Derkeethus said, not daring to let go.
"Do you know where she craft items? Maybe that would help." Alduin said, trying to ignore the feeling of sadness once again.
"In Windstad Manor, she puts a lot of crafting materials in the cellar." Derkeethus said, trying not to alarm the dragoness.
"Just exactly how many dragons did she kill when you were with her?" Alduin said, trying very hard to fight back the new tears that is already welling up within her eyes.
"You might not like that answer. I would say it is in the hundreds…" Derkeethus said went into a whisper at the end.
"Surely there must be more", Alduin said as tears now starting to flow freely down her neck.
"I think it is better that you don't ask for more information." Derkeethus said.
"Alright, but I need to know to know soon to properly perform their rites even if it is without their bodies." Alduin said as she finally hugged Derkeethus back, putting her wings around the skinny man's waist and laying her head on his shoulder.
"Where is Janice anyway?" Derkeethus asked when he finally noticed that Janice wasn't up cooking.
"Who?" Alduin asked as she retracted her head to looked at Derkeethus with a questioning look.
"You know, my wife, the Dragonborn? She hadn't told you her name?" Derkeethus answered.
"No, she hadn't. Is this normal?" Alduin asked.
"Yes, she didn't even tell me her name until we were finally married." Derkeethus said in a sad tone.
"Anyway, I need to go prepare breakfast now, the kids will be up soon. Feel free to explore the house a little more, but whatever you do, don't go into the trophy room at the back of the house1." Derkeethus warned.
"Why?" Alduin said as Derkeethus leave the small house.
"You don't want to know", Derkeethus said.
"You probably just fanned my curiosity further, you know", Alduin said as she follows Derkeethus.
"Right, so what do you want for breakfast? That was a huge sack of food she brought home." Derkeethus said.
"Are there meat pies? Could do with some warm pies", Alduin asked.
"Strangely, there is no such recipe for meat pies, would apple pie suffice?" Derkeethus asked as he opened the door to the kitchen.
"Can't you just stuff some minced beef into a pie casing?" Alduin asked.
"I'll try." Derkeethus said as he knead the dough.
Seeing Derkeethus will be busy, Alduin walked out and nearly got frightened when the bard asked her what she wanted to hear. Just dismissing her with a wave, wondering how she had gotten over the shock she had displayed the night before. Shrugging it off, the bard just sung "The Dragonborn Comes". Hearing that tune had been so infuriating many months ago when she was spying an inn, but now it just reminds her of how hopeless her situation had become. Ignoring that sad tune, she strode up the stairs, ignoring the fact the steward is still sleeping.
Looking through Janice's chests in her room, she discovered an assortment of books, weapons and gems collecting dust. The weird part was that there wasn't any worthless items in there like she had expected, most of the weapons were items that had held significant value back in the day or was otherwise named uniquely or had special enchantments. I wonder why she doesn't use them, especially that Chillrend sword, she thought as she fished it out to examine it closer. Wonderfully crafted, seems to be made from high grade Stalhrim ore2, wonderful tempering as well. No wonder Janice's armour is nearly impenetrable, she must be very good at smithing. Putting the blade aside, she dug deeper to find a broken steel sword. What is this piece of crap doing here? I must make a note to ask her later, she thought as she chuck it to one side of the strangely spacious chest. Looking at the pile of books stacked against the left wall of the chest, went through it quickly, dismissing books of no particular importance. The Lusty Argonian Maid Book 1, Book 2, Oblivion Crisis, Alduin is Real… she grinned slightly at the last one before noticing a black book with a silver coloured dragon logo on it. The Book of the Dragonborn, this should be interesting… She thought before hearing Derkeethus announced breakfast is ready.
Walking down the stairs with the book tucked under a wing, she went over to her plate; a steaming warm pie sat on top of it. She looked around to see that all the inhabitants sat around the table, each with a pie in front of them. The kids were hurriedly trying to gobble up their meal while Derkeethus, the bard and the steward just calmly eating their fill. Meeko, the adopted dog, is still wary of Alduin as he scooted over to the other side of the dining table, bringing his food along. Seeing everyone is eating, she decided to start enjoying her meal. Biting down on the pie, she was instantly met by the pie exploding in her face, covering her snout and the area immediately around her.
"Derkeethus!" Alduin screamed in anger.
"I tried, but it seems that some magic won't allow me to create meat pies. You are lucky that the pie did not explode when you went near it. That was the fifth one I tried to make!" Derkeethus responded quickly as he finished his last slice.
"Alright, but this dough you made is really good", Alduin said as she licked the remains of the meal surrounding her lips.
"Aw, the little dragon suffered an accident!" Sofie exclaimed as she finished her meal.
"I AM MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD, I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!" Alduin protested as Sofie wrapped her arms around Alduin's waist to bring her to a bath tub outside of the house.
How is she so strong? Alduin wondered as she stopped thrashing, the book left forgotten on the floor when she dropped it among the thrashing.
"Here you go!" Sofie said as she dropped Alduin into a tub of cold river water.
Scrubbing her scales with a stiff bristled brush, Sofie asked, "Do you like living here, Alduin?"
"I would if you give me the brush." Alduin said in a clearly annoyed tone.
"Alright, be like that! You're no fun." Sofie said as she tossed the brush into Alduin's wings and left to chop some firewood for some reason.
Alduin sat in the tub, rolling the brush absentmindedly in her wings. Why are these people being so hospitable to me even though they had knew I tried to enslave them just a year ago? Alduin thought with a shudder of realization that she was being treated as family instead of an outsider ever since Janice took her under her wing. No, Janice had slain many of my kin, she must be up to something. Alduin thought as she proceeded to clean herself with the brush, not noticing Sofie had placed some firewood around the tub to heat up the water to a nice temperature. The air was still quite damp and cold from the rain, but at least the dragoness was comfortable in her warm tub of water. This water is quite nice and warm… Wait what? She thought as she finally realized the rise in temperature. Looking down, she saw some flames licking the sides of the tub.
"Sofie!" Alduin shouted to the girl who was tending to the chickens around the estate.
"Yes, Alduin?" Sofie said, still scattering some seeds to the chickens.
"Did you do this for me?" Alduin asked in a gentle tone.
"I figured that you must be cold if you stay in the cold water for too long, so I lit a small fire for you." Sofie said monotonously.
Just like your adoptive mother, she is just so detached sometimes, Alduin thought before saying, "Thanks, Sofie."
"No problem, would you like to play later?" Sofie said, now looking at Alduin in interest having finished feeding the chickens.
"I've got some... things to do and I still need to settle down here; besides, don't you have to be practising your sword skills?" Alduin asserted as she climbed out of the tub; she had remembered that Janice had said that the children were supposed to practise their combat skills after breakfast.
"Way to go to kill the mood," Sofie said as she stormed off.
Reentering the house, Alduin made a beeline to where the book laid opened in the small house. She picked it up to read it.
"... The last wheel turns upon the last Dragonborn", Alduin mouthed as she finished reading it.
Chucking the book under the bed in anger that the prophecy she had seen before the Dragon War had came true down to the last detail, - okay, maybe it was wrong on the last part about her dying by the Dragonborn's hands - that she regretted not paying any attention to it when she had the chance. I wish I could travel back in time, wait, my father could do it! Though I doubt he would want to help me now, she thought as she hung her head low in shame.
Wanting to get rid of the painful feelings, she went back to Janice's room to look through her closet. Upon opening it, she immediately wished she had not as she saw a set of Dragonplate armour and a set of Dragonscale armour. Shaking in mental pain and a new feeling - anger -, she yanked the two armour sets out and inspected them. A label was attached to each set. "Oh, come on!" She groaned as she read the labels; apparently both labels bears the name of the children, the Dragonscale set for Sofie and the Dragonplate set for Blasie.
May whoever's remains this is rest in peace. She thought as she chucked both of them in the back of the closet in disgust. Looking at the rest of the armour sets in the closet, she recognised most of it as being the attire from the various factions in Skyrim. What's this? She thought as she pulled out a folded set of worn out leather armour that was missing the arm guards. Unfolding it, she immediately recognised it as the armour Janice had worn when she escaped Helgen, she had caught a glimpse of the two survivors exiting a cave entrance when she had finished destroying Helgen. Why did she keep this set of armour with her? This offered little protection against anything she must've faced other than wolves. I should ask her later, and probably ask her why she have so many dragon related items, she thought, the last one bringing back some of the intense anger in her eyes as she faced off against the Dragonborn on the Throat of the World.
Walking to the dresser, she pulled opened the drawer to be immediately assaulted by the same smell that fills the tombs of the nordic dead. Not minding it, she peered in, carefully balancing herself on her hind legs. My priest masks are not meant to be trophies! She mentally screamed as she saw her dragon priest masks that she had bestowed to the leaders of the dragon cult placed on busts inside the drawer. She will pay for this! First killing off MY kin for crafting materials then killing off my priests again to collect their masks as trophies is not something that should be FORGIVEN SO EASILY! She mentally screamed in rage. Trying to vent her anger, she went outside, not wanting to scare the kids that had shown nothing but hospitable intentions towards her.
[A few hours of intense profanity laden destruction of a nearby tree behind the house later]
"Alduin! Where are you? Lunch is ready!" Derkeethus shouted from the front door.
"Ah!" Alduin jumped in surprise before tumbling down the cliff towards a necromancer practising her craft.
Seeing her chance to nab an undead mini - dragon, the necromancer lunged at Alduin with her dagger. "Help!" Alduin screamed as she tries to take off, not knowing that her tail was stuck under a root.
Hearing her scream, Derkeethus ran down the slope leading down to the lake, pulling out his bow. Reaching the scene, he saw the mage firing firebolts at her, most of them missing their mark. Sniping the mage in the knees to make her fall over, Derkeethus ran over to Alduin to unhook her tail before the mage recovers. Taking the opportunity, she flew off towards the estate as Derkeethus cuts off the mages head.
Unsteadily flapping her wings, she hovered at a safe distance, still unsure what just happened that had prompted the man to come to her rescue. Walking towards her, her saviour grabbed her just as the adrenaline wore off and forced her to succumb to her pain.
"Here, drink this, it will make you feel better", Derkeethus said as he took out a bottle of red liquid and stuck it in her maw gently.
"Thank you for saving me", Alduin said as she regained some strength.
"Let's go inside, you need to rest." Derkeethus said as he walked towards the door.
Settling Alduin on her bed, Derkeethus fetched her lunch and brought it to her. Eating it slowly, she did not notice Derkeethus taking out a scroll of Grand Healing and begun reciting it.
Feeling the sudden surge of energy, Alduin looked up from her steak to realize Derkeethus had used a healing spell on her as a piece of paper disintegrated from his hands. Feeling less weak than before, she quickly finished her meal and tried to get up before being grabbed by a hand.
"You still need to rest, my skill in magic is just a tiny fraction of the power Janice possesses, so you need to take it easy." Derkeethus said as he picked up the plate and stood up.
"Thank you for everything Derkeethus", Alduin said as she stretched herself out and lay her head on the pillow.
Inside, Alduin was fuming furiously, angry at herself for being so easily submissive during the encounter. But soon, another feeling wormed its way into her mind. The only other time the dragon had found love was the first dragoness her father had created to give her some company other than her close brothers, namely Paarthurnax and Ohdaviing. Recognising this feeling, she quickly dismiss it as a spurred moment of infatuation towards the Argonian. Letting her eyes close, she drifts off into a deep slumber.
A/N: Sorry for the relative late-ness, my father deemed it fine to drag me around the malls we had lunch and dinner in for the next few hours. Also, I may have to do some minor edits to the previous chapters to correct some small mistakes and to correctly change the name of the Ghostsword to Ghostblade.
1. The layout of Lakeview Manor is small house, main hall, children bedroom on the left, kitchen on the right, a cellar and a trophy room at the back.
2. This is the best possible theory of mine as to how the Chillrend blade is blue instead of green like a normal glass sword. Also, the high grade of the ore allows it to be shaped into a much finer blade than the normal stalhrim sword which looks like it was just a shard attached to a handle.