Chapter 27

Jane had been almost completely asleep when she heard soft moaning and whimpers from the room beside her. Her eyes fluttered open and she listened quietly, recognizing Lynne's voice when she moaned Nazgurat's name, and she chuckled inwardly. Behind her, Bo lay with his arm draped around her waist, wide awake; having been woken up much sooner than the girl due to his sensitive hearing. Jane craned her head back to look at him, and was met with his alert blue eyes. He had been watching her sleep; trying to ignore the sounds from the other room, which were increasing in volume.

"They woke you too?" Jane joked quietly, laying her head back down. She admitted to her self she was envious of what was going on in the next room, and the air between her and Bo was a little awkward.

"Yes," Bo replied, and Jane gently stroked his forearm, unable to shut out the noises.

"I am happy for them, Nazgurat has finally let go of his insecurities, at least for now."

"I'm pathetic."

"What?" Jane turned her head again to look at the Orc, whose brows were furrowed in a slight frown. "Why do you say that?"

"Because, I cannot please you."

"Please me? Oh Bo…" Jane sat up slightly, and Bo removed his arm from her, replacing it back around her waist once she had rolled around to face him. "You do please me, just…not like that, not yet." She bit her lip, smiling shyly up at him.

"I don't understand myself," Bo groaned, feeling the usual buildup of frustrations bubbling inside him.

"I think- and this isn't a bad thing- you think too much about things. Sometimes that is good, you're very intelligent Bo." Jane reached up and smoothed his brow, smiling at him. "But it can also be a downfall. Not everything is meant to be mulled over so meticulously. Sometimes you have to just go with it, and not think so hard."

"I wish I could shut my thoughts off."

"No, that's not it. You just need to follow your heart sometimes. Do you know what it's telling you?"

"It's…" Bo thought for a moment, but he knew almost instantly what he wanted. "I want to kiss you."

"Then kiss me."

They lay for several moments in silence, staring at each other. Jane's stormy gray eyes stared up at him with such a warm intensity he felt like he was drowning. Jane smiled softly, placing a hand on his chest, sensing his nervousness. Bo lifted a shaky hand and cupped Jane's cheek, breathing quickly. His eyes darted back and forth between Jane's eyes and her thin pink lips, and then he couldn't wait anymore, and forced him self to lean down; unsure what to do.

Their lips touched very hesitantly, Bo was worried about his tusks, but when he finally felt her soft lips on his and Jane felt the same, a jolt of pleasure shot through both of them and Jane gripped his shirt, deepening the kiss ever so slightly but not pushing it. True, it was an awkward first kiss, neither had any experience, but Jane both nearly cried out in joy, and they kissed again, with more confidence.

Bo broke the kiss, leaning back and breathing heavily.

"D-Did that please you?" He asked, looking down at Jane. Her cheeks were flushed and a grin spread on her lips.

"Yes, did that please you?"

"Yes," he whispered hoarsely, and they both leaned forward to kiss once more, it was deeper and longer and left them both breathless after.

"Oh Bo," Jane whispered ecstatically, wrapping her arms around his waist. She burrowed her head into his chest and let out a long sigh. The noises from the next room had died down; she had not paid them any attention when Bo was kissing her. Her only thoughts had been of the softness of his lips and the feeling of his small white tusks pressing against the sides of her mouth and how soft his lips were. "I am the happiest girl in the world."

Bo chuckled, a deep rumble in his chest, and kissed the top of Jane's head, stroking her hair.

"I wasted so much time worrying about nothing," he replied.

"Well," Jane looked back up at him with a cheeky smile. "We can make up for lost time."

But Bo gently kissed her lips once more, murmuring they needed their rest, for tomorrow was a big day, and Jane had to agree.

My Jane, he thought fondly as they drifted to sleep.

Morning came all too quickly for Bo, but when he looked down at the sleeping form of Jane his heart swelled in his chest; remembering their kisses from the night before. He touched his lips, feeling like he was in some massive dream he'd wake up from and find himself in his Stronghold or back in Windhelm with his Stormcloak duties. He never wanted it to end, and was reluctant to wake Jane up, she slept so soundly; one slender arm wrapped tightly around his torso.

"Jane," he whispered, stroking the curve of her jaw. She shifted beside him, and slowly opened her eyes, a small smile on her lips. Bo growled quietly and leaned down, desperate to feel her lips again, and he kissed her several times before sitting up.

"That was a nice wake up call," Jane murmured, rolling onto her side and rubbing her eyes.

Bo threw the covers back and stood up, moving to put his armor on. Jane joined him, allowing Bo to help with the clasps, as he always did, and they headed out into the hall for a meal before they started the pilgrimage to High Hrothgar.

"Hey lovebirds," Jane greeted Lynne and Nazgurat, sitting down at the table with them. Lynne blushed, her face going bright red, and she glanced over at Nazgurat, who had a smug grin on his face.

"Er…were we…that loud?"

"Not terribly loud, but enough to wake us up." Jane playfully poked Lynne's arm, causing the older woman's face to become even redder, and she looked away though she couldn't suppress a grin.

"I'm happy for you two," Jane continued, looking over at Nazgurat, who nodded.

"Thank you Jane."

Bo came back from the counter, and sat beside Jane, looking considerably more happy than usual.

"Hang on…" Lynne leaned forward, resting her elbow on the table and pointing back and forth between the Orsimer and Jane. "Something happened last night… Bo's got a stupid grin on his face."

It was Jane's turn to blush, and she looked down at the table, smiling smugly.

"It wasn't close to what you two did," Jane retorted quietly, laughing when Lynne shifted uncomfortably in her seat though she too had a smug smile. "Bo and I kissed."

"Really?" Nazgurat slapped Bo's back, and Bo nearly beamed with pride. "That's good, Bo! We're very lucky."

"Yes, very lucky." Bo reached over and grasped Jane's hand, squeezing it tightly.

"We're getting looks from some of the patrons," Lynne mumbled to Nazgurat, "I think perhaps we were louder than what we thought."

"To hell with them," Nazgurat growled, turning to glare at one of the patrons who was rudely staring at them. The man startled and hastily turned back to his breakfast, and the group laughed.

Beside Jane Bo had lost his grin, and he let go of her hand.

"Hey," Jane whispered, leaning close to the Orc. "You don't still care about what other people think do you?"

"No, no…maybe a little bit. I…I'm being silly."

"Yes you are," Jane replied softly, nuzzling Bo's neck with her nose. She kissed his cheek, causing the Orc to blush and nervously looked around the room. They ate their breakfast quickly, eager to be up the mountain before nightfall, and once everyone was packed and ready, met outside the Inn.

Walking up the seven thousand steps was a lot harder than it was when moving a little animated person around; who seemed to climb the hills with a breeze. Jane was sweating buckets by the time they stopped for a break, and the others were in similar shape. She sank to the ground, ignoring the fact there was snow, and pulled out her water-skin, taking a deep gulp of the cold substance. Then with a groan she fell onto her back into the snow, trying to regain a normal heartbeat. The air had begun to get thinner the higher up they climbed, and she was beginning to feel light headed. Bo helped Jane up; the Orsimer was fatigued but not as much as the woman, who looked like she might collapse.

"I'm not… not fit like you guys," she gasped, feeling incredibly out of shape. Years of playing video games and drawing for a living certainly weren't paying off in Skyrim, and she was ashamed of her lack of fitness.

"Traveling helps with one's endurance," Bo replied softly. He could see that Jane was struggling with the climb, although she had not complained once since they started. "Orsimer are bred and born strong, not that human's cannot be as well."

"Well this human is weak." Jane's foot faltered on a slippery step and she fell hard, smacking her chin on the stone path.

"Jane!" Bo cried, kneeling down beside her, he gently helped her up, cupping her face, and gasped when he felt something warm and wet. He pulled his hand back and found it to be blood.

"Is it that bad?" Jane asked, squeezing her eyes shut. Her chin burned so painfully she bit her lip to try and stop her self from sobbing. Bo called to Lynne, who came jogging over, and she too gasped when she saw the state of Jane's chin.

There was a deep gash from where her chin had collided with the stair, and bit of dirt and pebbles were lodged into the flesh.

"It burns," Jane hissed. "I'm such a klutz."

Lynne led Jane over to a nearby rock and worked on getting all the debris out from the cut before casting a strong healing spell. Warmth flooded over Jane, and the pain dissipated, leaving her feeling even more light headed. A small faint scar now adorned her chin, and Jane was a happy girl. Battle scar! She told herself, ignoring the fact it had been because her feet didn't know what they were doing.

Behind Lynne, Bo watched with wide eyes, his throat constricting and chest heaving. Seeing Jane hurt was not something he could easily cope with, seeing his Jane hurt and in pain…

For the rest of their journey up the steep mountainside Bo held tightly onto Jane's hand, catching her if she slipped, and taking care to notice when she was starting to tire so they could stop a moment. Eventually Jane sank into the snow, her arm raised up as Bo still held on, but she felt so deprived of Oxygen her body felt like lead.

Then she felt hands around he waist, and a moment later was hoisted up into Bo's arms.

"No…" she whispered, weakly punching his leather covered chest. "Put me down Bo."

"I'm not going to do that. I think we're almost there."

They were nearing a part of the mountain where the trail cut through the rock itself, winding around a corner and continuing farther than they could see. The wind whipped her hair around and vision was limited as snow blown thickly around the group, but she could see Lynne tiring as well; crouched with her hands on her thighs. Nazgurat wrapped an arm around her waist to support her and the couples continued, walking much slower this time, reaching the gap.

"Looks like a cave—"

A loud roar that issued from the darkest part of the mountainside cut him off; coming from where Nazgurat had figured was a cave.

Bo knew that sound, he knew it all too well; and he froze, his hands clenching painfully tight around Jane's frame as fear settle into his mind.

"Ouch, Bo…" She looked up past her hood at the Orsimer, and saw he was paralyzed with fear.

"Troll!" Nazgurat roared, drawing his sword and pushing Lynne back behind him.

"Wait Nazgurat!" Jane called, squirming her way out of Bo's arm; he allowed her to fall down into the snow. "We need to get Bo away!"

Nazgurat looked back, saw the state of the younger Orsimer, who trembled with wide eyes in the same spot, not hearing or seeing anything but the enormous frost troll that advanced towards them.

"Run!" Lynne cried, and Jane pulled on Bo's sleeve. He stumbled forward, and broke out of his spell, realizing he needed to run. He grabbed onto Jane and the group ran, abandoning any attempt to attack the Troll, and praying that High Hrothgar was close. When they rounded the corner of the rock wall Lynne could see the blurry outline of a great building in the distance, and it wasn't very far away.

As they neared closer to High Hrothgar Jane's calves burned and the lack of oxygen was taking a heavy toll, and she started to slow down. Looking back behind her she lost her footing, falling hard into the icy snow and rocks. Bo was several steps ahead when he realized Jane had fallen, and when he turned back the frost troll had reached her first.

"Jane!" He roared, watching as the beast gabbed onto Jane's arms with its thick claws and bit down on her shoulder with its large gaping mouth full of needle sharp teeth. Jane's screams echoed all around Bo and he lost it, going into a frenzied state of berserk. Drawing his sword he swung it so hard the frost troll's right arm was cut off, spraying dark red blood all over the place, and it let go of Jane with a roar, fixing it's beady black eyes on Bo. She dropped to the ground in a pool of her own blood, whimpering and clutching her arm.

All Bo could see was red, an infuriating shade of red as all thoughts disappeared from his mind and all he could think of was killing the creature that had hurt his Jane.

Behind him Lynne and Nazgurat were catching up, the Orsimer drew his sword and Lynne jogged around so she faced the side of the troll, releasing a deadly amount of flames at the creature so it screamed and began to back away. But Bo wasn't letting it get away alive, and he drove his sword into it's chest, hearing the crunch of bone; and then pushed it away from him where it crumpled and fell to the ground, dead.

His anger left as quickly as it had come, the red cloud fading, and Bo ran over to Jane, tears spilling down his ice-cold face, freezing as they made contact with the frigid air. He howled in agony, covering his face with his hands as Lynne rolled the girl onto her back, to find her shoulder a hot mess of missing flesh and crushed bones mixed with torn leather.

"Come on!" Lynne cried, her voice faint against the screaming of the wind. She looked desperately up at Nazgurat, since Bo was in no state to do anything; extremely worried for the two. "High Hrothgar is right there, we need to get her inside right now!"