Chapter 7 Acceptance.

Before we begin, I want to say, thanks for the one who gave me a correction about the dragonborn Martin Septim, NOT little Timmy Septim. So thank you for correcting me on that.

And I forgot to mention, but I don't think I need to tell anyone this, but the 'Slow time' shout is going to be the same as Gio's time stop shout- Actually this was pretty stupid for me to explain. You should all know this by now!

"ZA-WORLDO"

Time screeched to a halt. Nothing was moving. The water was still, and the other mortals stood motionless in charging at Gio, as Gio was laughing maniacally.

"(Maniacal laughing) FOOLISH MORTAL! Let this be a permanent lesson to NEVER cross paths with Gio Grando!" Gio laughed and turned to Hadvar's position and saw that an arrow was flying at him.

"Pathetic. Seven seconds." Gio spoke counting down as he plucked the arrow and snapped it in half.

"Six seconds." Gio counted as he turned to me and began walking twirling the dagger in its hand.

"Five seconds." Gio said as he then was going to hurl the dagger at me.

"MUDA-MUDA-MUDA-MUDA, MUDAA!" Gio shouted as it hurled the knife at me, and it slowed down to a stop as it was mere inches from my throat.

Oh, and if you guys were wondering how I am able to see all of this, I am not actually frozen in time. I am just faking. As a matter of fact, I almost moved from the sudden attack, but it took sheer will not to move. Don't even ask me how, I don't even know myself.

"Three. Two… one." Gio smiled as it returned back to its original position upon the broken rock. "Zero."

Just before the time resumed, I had quickly grabbed the knife and shouted.

"GUYS! BE CAREFUL, THIS DRAUGR IS NOT NORMAL!" I shouted to everyone.

'?!' Gio stood stunned as to see that I grabbed the knife.

Ralof was about to go for a jump attack on Gio, as I was going to try to distract him by charging at him, and Hadvar is going for another shot with his bow. There should be a cooldown for the time stop shout, but hopefully-

"ZA-"

'GODDAMN IT!'

"-WORLDO!"

Time stopped as Gio suddenly moved to me. I was trying my damnedest NOT to move a single muscle. He got closer and closer to me, five meters. Three meters. Three feet. He was right in front of me as he was giving me a death stare as he reached out for my face.

"You are too dangerous to be left alive, mortal… I will kill you now."

At this point I was struggling to keep the farce going any longer, and I decided to make my move by leaning forward and slashing at the throat. But to my surprise, Gio maneuvered away and held me by the arm that held the dagger in the air. He also held a smirk as he confirmed something.

"So I was right. You are somehow unaffected by my time stop shout. Tell me, how you are able to move?" Gio said while crushing my wrist.

I quickly tried to kick Gio, but he blocked my kick, and landed a solid punch to my gut that hurt like hell. I dropped the dagger when the punch landed.

[PUNCH-CRACK]

I felt something shook inside of me, but the pain was too great to really care about.

"You think you can stop me, Gio, with a simple tactic of trying to slash my throat to prevent me from using the strongest shout? YOU FOOL!" Gio threw another powerful punch to my gut. I cried out in pain.

[PUNCH-CRACK]

"You honestly think that you, A simple mortal, can even dream of killing the strongest Draugr?! DON'T BE SUCH A NAÏVE CHILD! MUDA!" Gio threw another punch that was stronger than the others.

[PUNCH-SHATTER]

With each punch, I felt pain flares raise with increasing vigor. My pain tolerance was shattered when the last punch was thrown, and I felt a weird feeling start to flow, but all I can think about was to get away from him. I WANT TO GET AWAY FROM HIM!

Just then when I tried to swipe at him, I felt that something opened in between us.

A void like space was torn open, and Gio immediately jumped away in surprise, dropping me in the process.

But as I dropped, I fell through the space. And before I realized it, I was a good few meters away from him.

…What the fuck just happened?!

Gio looked perplexed at me as he then started to laugh.

"HA-HA-HA out of all the things I have seen, who would have thought that you would have an ability that I don't even know about, maybe this fight will be interesting after all!" Gio gloated as he then grabbed the ice enchanted greatsword that was next to the smashed boulder.

"Let's tango." Gio sadistically spoke with a crazed smile.

As the time once again resumed, he immediately ran at me with an overhead power attack.

"What do you mean-wait, how did you get over there so fast?!" Ralof said perplexed at the sudden shift in positioning.

I was too focused on Gio to really care to answer the question as he tried to slash at me, but I dodged right for the sword to come being partially embedded into the ground. I ran from Gio up to the upper shrine because I didn't have a weapon, meeting Ralof and Hadvar half way, with Hadvar shooting arrows at Gio, who was blocking or dodging the arrows with ease.

"Ralof! There is no time to explain! Give me the mace." I rushed Ralof.

"What? Why?" Ralof asked.

"ZA-WORLDO!" Gio shouted again as time once again stopped.

I took matters into my own hands and snatched the mace out of Ralof's hand and went back into battle. Gio was about to slash at the time frozen Hadvar with the greatsword, but I jumped in and swung the mace upward with all my might to counter the greatsword. With a deafening 'clang' I had knocked away Gio's sword that left him off balance and wide open for another attack.

"ITS OVER GIO!" I shouted as I prepared to end this all with one more attack.

"NA-NANI?!" Gio cried in surprise at my counter attack.

With one powerful strike that I didn't even know I had in me, I smashed my mace into the throat of Gio that sent him flying across the shrine. But what was clear to me, is that I had effectively disabled his time stop shout as I saw that a bit of his throat was decorating the mace.

When Gio landed on the other side of the shrine, time resumed, and he was still alive. What he said was inaudible, but it was clear that he was hurt badly as he got up and limping away to the hall of stories.

I was about to chase after him, but fatigue overwhelmed me as I dropped, falling over the stairs.

"…Ow…" I muttered.

"Jester! What in oblivion is going on?!" Hadvar asked as he was looking around to find Gio with Ralof joining, picking me up.

"Its… He is over there…" I panted, pointed at the now limping Gio who was heading towards two unopened tombs. "Finish him off."

Hadvar looked over to where Gio was and got out his sword and rushed to where Gio was. Ralof settled me down next to Nora, which I didn't like very much due to my current opinion about this group.

"Hey Jester." Nora spoke to me.

I lazily turned my head and expected to hear the usual berating responses.

"…Good job out there." Nora smirked as she got up steadily.

"…Wait, am I dead?" I looked at Nora like she was crazy.

"Asshole." Nora regretted being nice as she walked away from me.

Just when Hadvar got over the bridge and about to reach Gio, Gio already reached the tombs, and forcibly opened them, revealing 2 draugr.

Two Draugr stepped out of the tomb, and Gio pulled out a dagger and gloated about something, but it was inaudible for Hadvar to hear, but it was clear that Gio was laughing as they all were about gang up on Hadvar.

"Hadvar!" Ralof called out worriedly.

Nora immediately dashed off to get to Hadvar.

But out of the doors of the hall of stories, came a big green figure wielding an Ancient Nordic greatsword. He rushed over and slice one of the three draugr in half, much to all of our surprise. Hadvar cut away at the other regular Draugr and cornered an annoyed looking Gio.

'TROK!' I felt relieved at the thought that he is still alive.

"GA-GOLGO!" Gio tried to do his shout, but all that came out were gurgles.

Once Gio realized that he could not do his shout, the look in his face fell into despair, as he fell to his knees, accepting his fate.

Trok took the offer and embedded his sword into the chest. Seeing the blue eyes fade back into darkness.

I immediately got up, still fatigued, but I rushed to Trok.

But what I failed to realize was that Hadvar held his sword at the back of Trok.

"Don't make any sudden moves bandit."

"HEY, Leave Trok alone! He is good!" I shouted at Hadvar.

"Jester, as much as I want to trust you, how can we trust that he won't just turn on us the moment we let our guard down."

"He saved me when I should have gotten my tongue cut out. He defended me when I should have gotten badly injured and killed by even the spider Daedra bitch. He is different than the others. He can be a changed man-er…Orc." I argued.

"…" Hadvar contemplated on the decision.

Nora just crossed her arms looking annoyed, but it seems that she had accepted on him living.

Ralof came up to me. "Lad. Are you sure that he can be trusted-" I interrupted him.

"I will fight all of you if I have to, just to prove my damn point. Give him a chance, as you gave me back in Helgen, and I can prove that not everything is just black and white or good and evil as you Nords like to stereotype others. Trok saved my ass twice over, and I will damn well do the same for him ten-fold." I reinforced my argument.

"…What about you Orc, what do you have to say?" Hadvar asked the orc while lowering his sword a bit, but still pointed at his back.

"Trok understands that you don't trust Trok. Trok would most likely do the same in your shoes. Trok doesn't care if you tell Trok to leave after this is done." Trok stated while standing up turning with his hands up, making direct eye contact.

"But do Trok a favor and protect the puny human from the dangers of this world, he is much too good for the cruel lands of Skyrim. Even willing to offer a bandit like Trok another chance at life again."

Hadvar looked at Trok for a good while and sighed.

"Fine. This hasn't been the first time that I trusted a weird person, (mainly Jester). You can join us until Riverwood. But one false move, and I will cut you down. Do we have a clear understanding Trok." Hadvar said while sheathing his sword.

"Perfect understanding." Trok said while lowering his hands.

I limped over to Trok, and took off the wolf pelt I had on, as I was already done with it.

"Thank you Trok. I am giving this back to you."

Trok took the pelt. "Did pelt keep you well warmed?" Trok asked.

"Heh, it was a bit smelly, but it did a great job retaining heat." I smiled.

Trok chuckled, putting on back his wolf pelt.

"Now with that being done, we need to find that Dragonstone. If I recall, it should be somewhere near the original coffin of that powerful draugr. After we find that, we can get out of this shit hole." I said reminding them of the mission.

Nods of the heads followed, and we all went to find the Dragonstone. And to our luck, it was in the coffin. We looted the chest and found a small fortune of 300 gold septims, a few 'worthless' enchanted jewelry that is basically more money, and even a sapphire gem, which I quickly claimed for myself.

After using the secret entrance that I forced everyone to go through, we made it out of the tortuous labyrinth that is Bleak falls Barrow. The light was just about to go away in a few hours, but thankfully we found nearby abandon campsite. We repaired it using minimal equipment and resources to have a big enough setup for us all. We caught some fish, cleaned our gear while the fish cooked. We were just about ready to hit the hay and get to Riverwood tomorrow…

Except someone is going to have to be a lookout for night security.

"I'll take first shift." Nora volunteered.

"Woah-woah-woah, Nora. you have done enough already. You took out most of the bandits, been healing everyone, and not to mention, took most of the damage from the fights…You need to take a well-deserved rest!" Ralof countered.

"I'm fine. I'll take the rest once you guys get some sleep." Nora selflessly replied.

"Fine, But you at least need one of us to look after you." Ralof responded.

"What are you implying exactly, that I am weak? I know my limits, and I can handle a few more hours of not sleeping." Nora quipped.

"Lass. That is not what I am implying, and you know it, you did the most out of all of us, so you need to rest the most." Ralof followed up.

"I'll look after her." I suddenly spoke, breaking the conversation as I gained everyone's attention…except for Trok, who was still occupied with eating his fish on a stick.

"Jester, as much of a bad idea that is to even joke about. Why, in Oblivion, would you want to take the same shift as Nora, I thought you hated her?" Hadvar asked me with Ralof nodding, wanting to know too.

"Oh I do hate that bitch." Ralof and Hadvar's eyes widen at the mention of the B-word and immediately looked at Nora in suspense… just for her to not really care. "But I do have to talk to her about something. Don't worry, I won't make Nora scream for bloody murder at me. I just want to have a talk with her about something."

"…Ooooh, I see now…" Ralof said while raising one of his eyebrows and winking at me, like he figured out the puzzle.

Nora just looked away from the group, probably in annoyance.

Fuck you Ralof.

"Alright, just don't kill each other… Or keep everyone up all night with any screaming. Jester, I am talking to you.

"Yeah sure, whatever. Get to bed so I can kill myself sooner." I retorted, to which Hadvar snorted in amusement.

Wait, did Hadvar just laugh?

[30 minutes later….]

After Ralof, Hadvar, and Trok were soundly sleeping. Nora was sitting by the fire and was holding a distant look. Like she was remembering something.

"Nora."

"Hm?"

"I have a few questions, but I think I already know the answers to them. But I want to be sure, but that will be the last question I will ask. And if that turns out to be the case, then you need to know the responsibility of what that entitles." I asked Nora in a serious voice while taking a seat in front of the fire, opposite side to her.

"…Go ahead?" Nora unsurely said while paying attention to what I am about to say.

"First off, I want to know… Why did you not say anything against Trok joining us? I thought you hated bandits." I asked Nora in confusion

"I do. And we had already settled this back in the barrow." Nora replied, tossing another log into the burning campfire.

"Yeah, and I lost, so why?"

"…" Nora remained quiet as she stared into the fire and sighed.

"…Nobody has really ever stood up to me with such determination for a bandit. And by the fact that 'you' of all people did it. Still makes me wonder, where you get that unfounded strength from."

"…I am also wondering that too…But I think I do have an answer for that. Let's say that many people DO have the choice and strength to do as they wish. Even though they have the choice and power to forge their own destine path, they often choose not to and deviate, or avoid it because they are usually too scared, or too lazy to take the path they have to take. Which results in poorly made choices, and many regrets…"

"…And I have been pushed around so many times back when I was younger, I often secluded myself to hide and deal the pain on my own. I am… Afraid of going back to where I once was. Being alone and pitying myself over something that I could have prevented if I just stood up for myself. Many things would have been different if I just stood up for myself back then." I reminisce about the past.

"…" Nora remained in silence as the soft crackle of the fire sounded.

"Speaking of which… There is something that you have to know. And I am not talking about anything small like you have to use your powers wisely...wait…" I paused to think about my word choice as Nora raised an eyebrow at me.

"Actually yes, that is exactly what I want to talk about." I corrected myself.

"What are you talking about." Nora said in confusion.

"You Nora, are the last Dragonborn."

Nora just looked at me with an unreadable expression.

"You are joking, aren't you?" Nora turns her head slightly in amusement.

"You heard the words from the wall of power, didn't you? Back at the shrine. And don't even try to lie about it or deny it. I saw the look on your face when you were looking at the glowing word 'Fus' or Force."

"How do you know that it was glowing?" Nora looked surprised.

"I just happen to know a lot of things. And you wouldn't believe me if I were to tell you everything. Hell, I am still having trouble believing everything I am going though now." I confessed.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Nora asked.

"We will save that question for after you kill your first dragon. But I will tell you that you will have a significant impact on everyone, and everything you will come across. You will be one of the most sought-after mortal after your name gets out. And it is important that you know how to keep a level head and choose your allies carefully."

"Jester…" Nora tried to get my attention.

"People and gods alike, can, and will use you however they like when given the chance for their own personal gain."

"Jester." Nora said more sternly.

"And I will do my best to guide you on who to trust-"

"Jester!" Nora nearly shouted at me as she got my attention.

Stirring could be heard from the tents nearby, Hadvar shifted in his tent, Ralof mumbled something about mead and Trok was just lightly snoring.

"…Sorry." I apologized.

"Its fine, and thanks, but I already know about how people can use others for their gains." Nora replied.

"It's not just that you know. Let me give you one piece of advice that you should hold close to your heart."

Nora listened carefully as I said my next words.

"With greater power, comes greater responsibility. And never let that power blind you from your goals or foundation of who you once were, and you strive to be..." I said almost ripping off one of the most famous movie quote, but adding more to it.

Nora looked like she thought about my words for a good while.

"Well, that is all I wanted to say, I'll be heading to bed now." I stretched and yawned as I headed off to my tent.

"Oh? I thought you wanted to stay up, look after me, and have a little chat?" Nora had a playful tone in her voice.

I smiled and turned to Nora.

"Bitch please, when the fuck do I ever want to 'willingly' talk to you about anything? I fucking hate you! You treat me like shit, you owe me a white cotton t-shirt, and you always have something condescending to say to me. Goodnight dragonbitch." I waved off Nora as she giggled.

"(Isaiah… You really are a loveable asshole…)" Nora whispered to herself as she resumed to watching the fire.

[5 minutes later…]

As I went to bed, I can't help but feel to go over what exactly happened earlier today.

I was apparently unaffected by the time stop shout (I think), and I used some sort of weird power that got me out of the grasp of Gio…

As I envisioned what I did, I did a slashing like motion, and a rift opened up. did I always have that power? Or did Gio activate something that was sealed when he repeatedly punched my gut?

I turned face up as I tried to reenact what I did with Gio.

I raised up my arm above me, and I brought it down with a bit of force to see that…

…Nothing happened…

(Tch…) I clicked my tongue as I frustratedly gone back to sleep.

Looks like I am back to being useless once again…

[Authors notes]

Hello again y'all! Sorry about the short chapter of only 3.6k words, but I wanted to end it off at a good point instead of cliffhangers… like the past few times.

Anyways, this point ends the golden claw arc, Trok temporarily joins the party, and onto the dragon hunt arc. And I am excited to say that I have good ideas to pass around to others. So let me know in the reviews on if you love the story so far, and what you think about this part of the story.

Now moving on to the questions and speculations about Isaiah's powers, well… one of them is self-explanatory, and the other one is more or less a double-edged sword passive ability. And you all can take a guess and speculate about what it is because I am not saying JACK SHIT, until we get to a certain part of the story. And it is going to be fun to see many reviews pop up pondering what it is… IF you guys decide to leave a review…

Plz leave reviews so I can brag to my friends…

SO before I go and end this author's note, I have a request if you are true fans of my work! I am currently working on other stories, so if you have time, would you please go over and read my other newer stories here.

-A Forerunner's Burden

-For one's 'Entertainment'

I am a developing author, and I am looking forward to see how I can improve my other stories and future ones. I am considering restarting one of my other stories, A Rising of a Jester' (The Shield hero one), which was really popular at one point, but due to my past experience, I was unable to really stretch my imaginary brain because of personal limitations and standards, but the more I think about it, the more I want to have a go at a third chapter.

But I am rambling at this point. Thanks for reading this far and supporting me with views and keep in mind, I have a Discord, RedTokyo95#4424. If you want to talk about stupid shit or what I can do better or get started on, hey, I won't turn down a conversation. But with that being said, this is RedTokyo95, Signing off.

[Transmission End]