Mutants Misplaced

Chapter 31

Break a Leg

The remaining journey to Windhelm was a silent one, and Mona spent most of it just looking down in front of her as she followed the others. It was almost like she had a faint aura of darkness and anger around her.

Raph was deeply worried about her, this wasn't her. Walking closer to her, he attempted to talk to her again, even though she hadn't wanted to talk the other times he tried.

"Mona… Mona, please we need to talk."

"For what reason?"

"You know what I mean. The way you acted back there, when you killed that guy."

"He didn't deserve any mercy." Mona growled.

"Trust me, I agree on that, but it's how you've been since then. All angry and withdrawn, almost like..."

"Almost like what?"

"...almost like when we first met, back when you only lived for revenge. Hunting for those that attacked you. I don't like this."

"What do you mean by that?"

"After we took you in, you became so much happier, especially after we found and killed all your attackers. And after you and I fell in love, you have almost beamed with happiness, but now, everything about you is just so… dark. I'm worried for your sake."

"You don't have to worry, I'm perfectly fine."

"I don't believe that, and I know what you're thinking. You're planning to go after this bandit leader and his gang, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?! Those sons of bitches murdered a family! They will pay with their lives for that!" Mona snapped, still with a low voice.

"You can't take on an entire gang all by yourself!"

"I did just fine on my own before you guys showed up, I can take care of a handful of thugs."

"That I know, but you don't know how many there are, and they might be using magic. That stuff is way more dangerous that guns and bullets. If you're not going to leave this alone, at least let me help you, once my leg has healed enough that is."

"By the time you're well enough again, their trail will most likely have gone cold. Who knows where they might be. 'sigh' But, I suppose you're right. Once we get to Windhelm, we'll make sure that you get proper help."

"And then we try to find the others, like we were originally."

"Okay, but if we find these bastards, they die. And I'll keep my eyes open."

Many hours later, sometime around late afternoon, they finally saw their destination, Windhelm. It was a fortress of a city with high and thick walls encircling it all, covered in ice and snow. The only way to enter the city was through the gates, and to reach them, one had to cross a large stone bridge almost fifty meters long. Running underneath the bridge, nearly twenty meters down, was a half frozen river nearly as wide as the bridge was long, leading out into the north sea. A dock could be seen at the base of the city's walls, with a few fishing boats unloading their catch.

"Windhelm has never looked so welcoming before." said Taashi.

"What kind of place is this city?" asked Raph.

"A hostile one." said Dro'zharim. "It is a very extreme Nord city, everyone who isn't a Nord is treated as second, or even third class citizen. The Dunmer, Dark Elves, that have taken refuge here are all restricted to living in the slums, and are often assaulted one way or another."

"The Argonians have it even worse." said Taashi. "Having to work and live on the docks for slave wages, barely allowed to enter the city. They live a far harder life than we do. This is one city that I am glad that we are not allowed to enter."

"Ugh. Charming neighbourhood." Raph muttered. "Still, they might have a doctor that can have a look at my leg."

"There is a place called the White Phial somewhere inside, they sell various kinds of medicines that might be what you need." said Dro'zharim. "We get our own medical supplies from there whenever we stop here. Just be prepared for a harsh treatment when you enter the city."

"Thanks for the warning. And before we go our separate ways, here's a little something as a 'thank you' for everything you've done for us." Raph reached for a small satchel on his belt and pulled out a few gemstones that he gave to Taashi and the other Khajiit.

They were at loss for words, they had never experienced such generosity in these lands.

"Thank you. May the sun keep you warm, even in this land of bitter cold." said Taashi.

"You too." said Mona. Then she and Raph crossed the bridge, arriving at the gate.

"Alright, that's far enough." said one of the guards, taking a few steps towards the couple. "We've told you too many times already, if you desperately have to get into the city, you take the entrance from the dock. And only with the foreman's permission."

"Foreman? What are you talking about?" said Mona.

"Don't play dumb. You damned Argonians think that-"

"Wait. These two are not Argonians." said another guard, cutting off his college. "I think they are these Saurians that everyone has been talking about. Or at least some of them."

"For real? Hmph, they still look like Argonians to me."

"But they're not." the kinder guard then turned to Raph and Mona. "Don't mind him, if you want to enter the city, go ahead, just don't be surprised if something like this happen again."

Raph and Mona walked passed the guards, giving annoyed glares to the first of them. They understood what Taashi meant by the Argonians having it worse than the Khajiit, despite having work and a roof over their heads. The way they were treated was nothing but discrimination, and the mutants were sure that they hadn't seen the worst yet, only the tip of the iceberg.

"I think I've had warmer welcomes by the Foot." Raph muttered under his breath, and Mona nodded in agreement.

Entering the city, they saw that it shared the Norse style of buildings that Whiterun had, but with more stone than wood. The city also seemed more compact than Whiterun, and had a lot of walls dividing the city into smaller districts. If someone would attack Windhelm, the defenders would have a lot of choke points to use to their advantage.

And just like with the guards outside, most of the people gave the couple annoyed or disgusted looks, avoiding them completely if they could. Only a few were friendly enough to even talk to Raph and Mona, and gave them directions to the White Phial, though it took quite a while before they managed to find those kind souls.

Walking into the market area, they saw the building with the White Phial sign on the other end of the area, past all market stalls and the blacksmith.

Inside the alchemy shop, it were much like the one in Whiterun, with many shelves behind the counter. Standing at said counter and wiping it, was a man in his thirties. He wore clay brown clothes with blue trim and a wholly hat.

"Ah, hello, welcome to the White Phial. What can I do to help?" the man said when he saw the reptile couple.

"Broken leg, do you have anything for that?" said Mona pointing at Raph's bandaged leg.

"Shouldn't be a problem. Have a seat on a chair over there, I'll get the medicine we need."

Raph did as instructed and sat down, shortly after the shopkeeper walked over with a couple of empty bowls, spoons and a few bottles with red liquids on a wooden tray.

"The bones seem to have been properly set, so there's not much that I need to do." he said inspecting Raph's leg. "How has it been feeling? Any strange sensations? Burning? Numbness?"

"No, it just hurts. A lot."

"Sounds good, shouldn't have any diseases then, and no signs of blood poisoning. Still, better be safe than sorry."

He took two of the bottles and poured a spoon full of each into a bowl and gently stirred the mix with the spoon, then gave the bowl to Raph.

"Here, drink this, it will purge your system of any harmful elements and infections, shouldn't take more than a few minutes. After that we'll mend the damage with a healing potion."

Swallowing the mixture, Raph grimaced slightly as he tasted the overly sweet and bitter taste, but it didn't take long before he could feel that it worked. His leg still hurt though, but despite that, he felt much better.

A few minutes later, the man gave Raph another bowl, containing medicine for his leg. The turtle braced himself before drinking it, but he was pleasantly surprised that it had a soft sweet flavour with a faint trace of spiciness. Shortly after, his leg started to feel hot, but the pain started to fade as well.

"That should do the job, your leg will heal nicely in no time at all. Just make sure to let it rest properly before putting too much weight on it, a few hours or so should do the trick."

"Then I think we should head to the tavern, get some food and such." said Mona. "But first, we'll pay you for the work, and also for a few of these potions for future use. I hope that we have enough."

Giving the man a few gems, Mona was a little worried that it wasn't enough, they didn't have many gems with them, most of them were still back with the others. The man examined the gemstones in his hand, then he walked behind the counter and came back with a couple of smaller bottles with medicine.

"There, this should last you a while." he said when he gave Mona the potions. "I hope that you have better luck from now on."

"Thank you."

Leaving the alchemy shop, Raph and Mona made their way to the tavern, Raph still using the crutch for additional support. Once they had rested a bit, they would see what they could do to find their friends again.

One group has arrived at their destination, and Raph has finally gotten some help for his leg. Though, this might be the last we see of the group of Khajiit, rather sad actually. But what awaits the others, and what will Mona do? She seems hellbent on tracking down the bandits.