This chapter had a ton of errors in it when I first wrote it (it was way past midnight and I was wide awake so my mind was half turned off) so I would like to thank my beta reader again for all the help, thanks again LadyDragon1316.
Resh POV
"Are you okay? That sort of hit should kill a man," Lydia asked with a worn out voice and a partial but now fading lustful look in her eyes from the rushing blood of the fight.
"I'm not as weak as men," Resh replied trying to avoid any subject that might show he wasn't human.
"But-"
"I'm fine." That blunt statement stopped the conversation there, much to the annoyance of Lydia.
The only thing he wasn't fine with was the snow. Each step higher Resh climbed the colder and weaker he got. 'I hate this place. Why must everything be so freezing?' Even using his magic to keep warm he could still feel his blood hardening.
"What about you? You came off worse than I did," he questioned her, changing the subject away from him. Resh found it weird that he was willingly carrying on a conversation that had essentially stopped. But believe it or not, he actually wanted to talk to his follower rather than walk through the cold in silence. Anything was better than that.
"That?" Lydia asked looking down at the gash in her leg. Resh nodded. "It's just a flesh wound," Lydia felt herself swell with pride that Resh was finally taking an interest in her.
"I have to say, that's the first time I've seen you fight. I'm impressed. Very few people can fight like that. I'll have to teach you how to finish a kill more effectively though. Even so, if you can keep fighting like that we're going to get along."
"Thanks." That was the only thing Lydia could think to say back, as she was so embarrassed at all this attention he was giving her. Lydia brushed her hair back as a natural response to all his kind words, trying to draw attention from her blushing. Little did she know Resh had seen and noticed the marks on her hand she had given herself last night.
"What's with the red marks on your hand? They weren't there yesterday, and the troll didn't swipe at your hand."
"What? Oh… those… err…," she hesitated, awkwardly turning red at the mention of her bites from the stifling of her Resh-focused orgasm from last night.
"Seriously, what are those?" Resh asked taking her hand, "Are those bite marks?" Confusion was running through his voice.
"It doesn't matter," Lydia all but snapped whipping her hand from him.
It shocked Resh that she was so proud she didn't want to be helped. But, on the other hand, he was exactly the same. 'Me, the same as a human? That'll be a story to tell,' Resh smirked at that thought, and then turned to the now dark red Housecarl.
"On another note, as I was saying earlier, when we get to this temple I'm going to teach you how to finish off something larger than you properly. That thing managed to get a scratch on you, which could have been fatal if it had had a bit more luck on its side."
"How do you plan on doing that? You can't just tell me. We'll need another troll to practice on and I doubt that those monks will allow us to drag a monster into their monastery." The other problem she thought of was actually getting it there in the first place.
"Isn't it obvious? You're going take a few swings at me, and I'll show you how easy it is for an unarmed opponent to overthrow you. Especially one who's a lot stronger than you."
"No offense. Even though I'm sure you're a good fighter, I don't think you would last very long without a weapon," she laughed, obviously underestimating his skills.
"You'd be surprised how well I can use my hands. Unlike some, I know what to do with them," he replied with a smirk. Resh hadn't expected her to be so overconfident about her abilities. He liked her enthusiasm though, and that's what brought on the crude joke. It had been a while since he had been happy enough to actually enjoy a conversation. There was only one other who brought that side out of him. Just thinking about her though returned him back to his usual mood.
Lydia noticed this. Even though she had only seen a glimpse of him she liked happy Resh. And she was sure he would probably prefer to stay happy.
"Why are you always so angry? Even when there's nothing going on to spite you, I can always see the annoyance in your eyes," Lydia tried to put on a tone of understanding but she didn't think it sounded very genuine.
"You already know the main reason. Everyone I was close to is gone," Resh replied trying to dismiss the subject.
"Don't lie to me!" Lydia shouted annoyed at the fact that he was lying to her. "That's not the real reason. That would make you sad, not pissed. Now just tell me!"
Resh was affronted by Lydia's sudden outburst and could feel rage building up inside him.
'How dare she talk to me like that. I'm her superior. Does she have no respect?'
He considered just killing her on the spot for the disrespect but then realised he deserved it. He had lied. He'd broken his most binding tradition. In his own land it may have even been him that would be killed, regardless of whether or not he was her superior.
"No. I'm sorry for lying but just stop talking. And don't you dare try to command me again," Resh spat the last bit with venom, an unspoken threat rolling from his mouth. He hated the idea of a human having power over him. Humans having power over anyone was never a good thing and he wouldn't let it happen to him.
"Or what?" she snarled trying to draw an answer out of him using his own fury as a tool, "What are you going to do about it?" She hoped that by poking the bear she would be able to get an answer. That, however, was not the case.
Resh had now gone deadly silent and was staring right at her. She could see a fierce look of pure rage flash across his eyes and realised she may have gone too far. This was the first time Lydia had ever felt true fear in years, as it seemed like Resh was actually going to kill her.
Seeing red, Resh took a step towards her, his hands clenching. Lydia, who was retreating a few steps back and keeping a hand on her sword hilt, had no doubts now that her goliath of a Thane would be able to defeat her with just his hands. Only now, she didn't want to be around to see the demonstration. Despite the size difference he seemed a lot more imposing than the troll she had killed as he approached her, looking like he was going to rip her to shreds. She wasn't so far from the truth. Thinking of the only thing she could, Lydia tried to jolt him out of his anger.
"Look! Temple!" Lydia yelled, snapping him out of his approach and causing him to turn and see how close they were.
All other thoughts of anger towards Lydia faded and were now replace with his hatred of being the dragonborn as the temple of High Hrothgar came into site. A magnificent shard of architecture jutting from the snow and retreating clouds. 'Maybe here I'll be able to find a way to be rid of this curse.'
Surprisingly this wasn't the only thing on his mind when, to him, it should have been. The other thing nagging at his mind was what he was about to do to Lydia in his fury fuelled haze. The truth was, he didn't know. Turning back to the woman who was now crouched down away from him as if he would have killed her, which he probably would have. Unclenching his hand and taking a step back, Resh turned away. It disgusted him the he would go so crazy in a fraction of a second for no reason. He was no better than the humans he hated.
"Let's get going then, we're close," Resh said as if nothing had happened, walking towards the temple. And, although Lydia was sworn to follow him, this was the first time Lydia had thought about leaving him. It would have been a mark on her honour but, then again, cowering in fear from her Thane was as well. So she decided she might as well stay.
Lydia POV
It had been two days since Lydia and Resh had arrived at High Hrothgar and Lydia was starting to get the feeling that Resh was avoiding her. She knew that he had never been a very talkative person. But now, ever since he went silent and almost killed her, he seemed to be going out of his way to make sure she never had a chance to even try to start up a conversation.
Whenever she entered a room he left it as soon as he noticed her. And whenever she tried to talk to him, he would just tell her he had things to do and that he had to talk to the Greybeards even though he never would.
Also, it may seem like the pettiest thing to be annoyed about but Resh hadn't got round to teaching her how to fight to a standard that he deemed correct. And Lydia was actually looking forward to that. She thought that he wouldn't be able to beat her when she had a weapon and she could show him that they were equal and she was a match for him.
Despite all her annoyance at this, Lydia still felt touched at the fact that he was angry at himself and showing some form of emotion because of her. It meant, on some level, she was more than just a lackey to him.
Resh was having his daily two hour sleep to keep warm. Unfortunately for Lydia, as they were in public place, he wasn't naked outside but instead asleep in a chair by the fire. The perfect chance to sneak up on him without him realising and fleeing from the room.
"Resh? Resh?" Lydia asked leaning over the back of the chair before shaking him lightly to wake him.
His eyes snapped open and darted across the room to see what woke him. Looking up he saw his Housecarl looking straight back down at him as if she wanted something. His eyes narrowed in anger when the twos gazes met. But, not wanting another performance like the other day, he bottled down his anger and sighed.
"What?"
"You said you would fight me barehanded," she told him.
"No," he growled, just wanted to get back to sleep. He wasn't even tired. He just wanted to find a way to stay away from her.
"But you promised." There was no arguing with that, and there was no way he was going to lie and break a promise to the same person.
"Fine. Do we have a blunt sword for you to use?" he asked, seeming less annoyed than before. It seemed that whenever the topic of fighting came up Resh seemed to calm down and stop being annoyed. Lydia took note of this. Maybe it could be a bridge between them.
"I don't think so," she told him checking the supply bag next to him, "Is that a problem?" She didn't want to accidently kill him just to prove that she could fight.
"No. Just take a sharp one. I doubt you'll get a good enough hit to seriously wound me," he replied before leaving the building and going into the courtyard. Lydia followed shortly after, choosing Resh's blade, the longer of the two swords, so she could put distance between them. She still didn't like the idea of fighting someone who was unarmed. But after his insult laced remark, she couldn't care less.
Lydia almost dropped the sword she was carrying in shock the moment she saw Resh outside waiting for her. He was no longer wearing his thick plated armour but was standing in the cold with nothing but a loincloth to cover parts of his body. Understandable, really. If he needed to move quickly, armour would only weigh him down. Even so Lydia hoped the giant, muscular and, most importantly, naked man in front of her wouldn't be too much of a distraction.
"Are you going to start this or what?" Resh asked, jolting her out of her staring.
"What if I injure you?"
Resh snorted in derision, "I'll be fine."
The fact that he had so little respect in her abilities annoyed Lydia perhaps more than it should have and she swung without any control towards him. It was a badly coordinated swipe since she didn't want to hurt him. But still, with a sharp sword it could do a bit of damage.
She knew it wouldn't be a blow that made contact, but she expected him to step out of the way. Not do the complete opposite and throw himself at her. Within the space of a few seconds he had one hand on her sword arm holding it away and the other on her neck.
"You're dead. Try again. Better this time. You were distracted." There was condescension in his voice.
Taking her time, this time Lydia lunged towards him driving the sword at his chest. Taking a step to the left, he only just dodged its point, narrowly avoiding blood. She drew her sword back and swung at him again but, before she had a chance to reach him, he smacked the edge away from its intended arc with one hand, causing a large spray of blood to splatter onto the floor and then squeezed her wrist with his other hand, making her drop the weapon.
"Are you okay?" she asked, even though he was clearly the victor of the fight.
"I'm fine. You're the one who's dead," he replied smugly removing his hand from her wrist, grabbing her breastplate and lifting her up by about a foot, and away from any opportunity of picking up her weapon.
"Why would you grab a moving sword? Your hand's bleeding now." Lydia knew using a sharp sword would only be a bad thing.
"And? I still won. I can use my size and strength to my advantage as much as can most other larger creatures you will fight. Like that troll which still fought back when you had thought you could finish it. You cut me because it didn't matter. I can afford to be cut and injured a bit, and still carry on to win. You, however, have no such advantage. If someone much larger than you, such as myself, hit you, you would be dead," Resh instructed her, whilst using magic to heal up his blood soaked hand.
"Let's do this one more time now. Remember: don't give me any chances. Be prepared to hurt me. I can take it. Make sure I don't have an opportunity to grab you. And most importantly, try to get me on the floor it'll be harder for me to fight back, so aim for the legs. Don't let your guard down, though."
Once again, Lydia took her time before striking out, having one long breathe to calm herself before the fight began. Lashing out at him and pulling back quickly so he couldn't disarm her like he had done before she tried to ignore the voice in her head telling her not to try and kill him.
The first swipe he had expected and ducked out of the way, but he didn't expect her to kick him in the face when he went down low, breaking his nose and causing a little bit of disorientation. He ignored the pain and stepped back so she wouldn't lunge again. It was a ruthless attack and risky. But it worked, so she had his respect there.
Wiping away blood, Resh decided to attack this time. So he dove at her, ready to smack her sword away and tackle her if she tried to hit him with it. Taking into account what he said though, Lydia knew that he was willing to get a minor injury to come out on top. So instead of engaging right away, she darted away to his right to avoid him and then spun around a swung backwards as he went past causing a shallow gash and a stream of blood. Lydia smiled. She was getting the hang of this now.
Before she could react, Resh threw himself backwards at her without looking, tackling her but at the cost of making the cut bigger as her sword was now being pressed into it and against her. They were both on the ground now scrambling to get up. Lydia was up first but only for a second before an incredibly powerful punch to the back of armour brought her back down. 'That's going to bruise tomorrow,' she thought, getting up again and dodging out of the way of another strike from her Thane.
She retaliated by slashing in a relatively large arc at his chest. An arc that could be easily countered. Realising her mistake, she stopped the sword dead in its tracks, then lifted up her armoured heel and drove it into the knee of the man who had been preparing for the sword but not the foot. Resh repressed a shout of pain as he could feel his leg fracture and he fell onto one knee. He looked up ready to continue the fight, only to see Lydia looking down at him with a smirk and a sword to his throat. She thought all had gone well and she had won until he swept her leg felling her as well. Lydia mentally slapped herself as she forgot to heed his warning about letting her guard down.
Lydia was now on the floor with Resh draped over her with a large hand by her neck about to tell her she was dead. Again. She wasn't going to let him win a third time in a row, so, as quickly a she could, she brought the edge of her sword up to his neck, ready to kill him if they were really fighting, and with the smuggest voice she could possibly muster said:
"Dead," Repeating his own words just to grate him.
"More of a stalemate, really," Resh grumbled rolling off her and unsteadily rising, saddening Lydia that she no longer had 'half naked Resh' on top of her, and brushing the dirt off his skin and healing his multiple scrapes and more serious wounds.
"So much of a stalemate, your blood would be spraying from your neck before you could even blink."
"Yeah, I guess so. But you were the one with a weapon," he laughed helping her off the floor, wincing from his knee whilst he did it.
'Wow, he is a really different person when he fights," Lydia thought. She was going to say something along those lines but was interrupted when one of the Greybeards walked over.
"That was a remarkable fight. There aren't many Nords who could do that," said Arngeir with a knowing look after having watched the entire scene. "Come, we have waited long enough and have much to discuss, Dragonborn." Resh hissed at the mention of his title, but decided against taking any action, knowing that the old and peaceful man had meant nothing by it.
Seemingly ignoring her skill in the fight, Arngeir left silently with Resh following so he could get answers. The only sound came from Resh taking a bad step on his leg and cursing out loud to all High Hrothgar. Lydia smirked. She had definitely won that time.