Fate's Games
Savior
She had crawled as far as she could possibly go before the pain and blood loss overtook her. She collapsed and sobbed in agony. The entrance was only two more chambers away. She should have made it, could have made it. Oh divines, what had possessed her to enter that Dwemer ruin alone? Now… now she would pay with her life. Divines, pity her, help her.
ES
He had heard the stories. A young woman, an adventurer, travelling through Skyrim. She had asked about a certain ruin, dwemer. Foolish young girl. Stupid to think she could make it even into the second chamber. Foolish like so many others. Foolish as he was for following her. It was a body recovery, nothing more he told himself, but in the middle of the night he could have sworn a voice spoke to him, commanded him to go and find this woman. Who was he to disobey?
He found her in the third chamber, near death, beyond help. But to look upon her… He felt something that day that he had never felt before, only heard tales of. Tales, he believed, that belonged only to children. He heard the dwemer creations coming. They were after him, after her. But he wouldn't let them have her. Wordlessly he drew his weapon and attacked with strength he never knew he possessed until each one lay destroyed. He had picked the woman up and carried her from the ruin.
ES
She didn't know where she was. She felt warm. She felt safe. Could she be dead? She felt no pain no fear. Her eyes fluttered weakly open and fell upon a young man tending her wounds with such tenderness she could only assume the hands of some deity were upon her. "Who are you, immortal one?" she weakly questioned.
He looked at her, startled. He blinked then smiled softly. When was the last time she had seen such a gentle look? "Lady, I am no god," he stated. "And you are not dead. Not yet."
"But the ruin…" she began.
"Shh, shh," he soothed. "You're safe."
"How?" she asked.
He was silent a moment. Finally he answered, "A voice spoke to me in a dream and told me of a young adventurer who had wandered here. It commanded me to pursue her, to protect her. Why it chose me is a mystery. I am not a fighter, milady, nor a warrior. I came after you, as directed."
"What is your name?" she asked him curiously.
"Aerin," he answered, continuing to tend to her wounds. "And you?"
"Mjoll," she replied, unable to look away from her savior. Could words even describe how grateful she was?
As if sensing her uncertainty he smiled. "Say nothing, Mjoll. There is no need. I did what I felt was right," he assured.
"Thank you, Aerin," she replied, closing her eyes again. She wouldn't deny she was exhausted.
ES
She had never left him again, you know. Or had it been the other way around? He followed her, completely devoted to the adventurer. She allowed it, she invited it, and when that had changed… The Dragonborn had returned her Grimsever. The Dragonborn had invited her to go with him. The Dragonborn had sensed her fear and had confronted her about it.
She had her blade back, she no longer should feel as uncertain as a newborn. Why did she now? She knew… Oh how she knew. He wasn't there. Her savior had begged her not to go. He had pled for her to remain with him in Riften. When she had refused, he'd let her go… He'd let her go without protest. He hadn't tried to stop her. He had set her free. Ever since they had parted, Grimsever did nothing to assure her, nothing to make her feel as safe as the mortal she had once mistaken for a deity… Grimsever had failed her when he had not, and she knew the source of her helplessness. She feared whenever he was not near.
The Dragonborn let her go, let her return to Riften, and she had never run so fast in her life. She had never wept as much as she did when she threw herself into Aerin's arms, shivering for reasons she couldn't fathom. He had never held her as lovingly as in that moment when in front of the whole town square she had confessed her only weakness. She had never felt so much like a woman as when he placed the Amulet of Mara into her hand and asked loudly, so all could hear, if she would marry him. He promised to follow her across all of Tamriel, and she knew he would do just that until their dying day.
(A/N: Quest referenced, Grimsever's Return.)