Chapter 24: Herbs and bandits

[11th of Second Seed 4E 202]

With Fiona back in Whiterun, I had spent some time with her to learn about what she had done since we had last met, and I had shown her my efforts to build a house. Jarl Balgruuf had insisted that the house must have quarters for the Dragonborn, and I had willingly added that to my plans. While I was reasonably certain that I was never going to be romantically involved with Fiona, she was a nice person and a good friend, and it would be good to have her around from time to time. The Bosmer, knowing that the Dragonborn tasks and such would not allow her time to pursue similar plans on her own, at least not any time soon, had liked that a lot, and she had added her own ideas to get a small tower added to the building. When we had modified the plans, a Dawnguard recruiting team had passed by and told us that the vampire menace was growing and the Hall of the Vigilants had been destroyed by those creatures, fitting the beginning of the Dawnguard questline in the game. Besides, we had also gone mammoth hunting and solved the issue with the Whispering Door.

In the last night I had suffered from another nightmare, and I was very happy when the attention of my two saber cats woke me up and I realized that I was back in my attic room instead of the dream. I had no clue where those dreams came from, and I was very happy about not having them more frequently.

Today I did not feel like jogging around the city, so that I went down from the attic and started to do some training in the Jorrvaskr backyard. Irene joined me soon, and we did some practice fights; I always enjoyed sparring with different partners, as this extended my view on various fighting techniques and how to potentially counter them. Fighting still did not come to me easily, but my body seemed to soak in practice and develop some instincts, which helped, and so I spend at least an hour or so exercising with the Breton. Eventually we decided that this was good enough; we were both getting hungry and grabbed something to eat inside. During breakfast I asked her about her sister Wulfryn and why I saw her so rarely. Irene replied:

"My sister prefers to be on her own most of the time. I told you that she works as a barmaid in the 'Drunken Huntsman', but I wonder if this is the right place for her. She is more of a loner, and I expect her to move on at some time."

"Where to?"

"I don't have a clue. I guess that she will travel around until she finds a place which appeals to her, wherever that might be. I doubt if she'd even tell me if I asked her."

"Does she have any special skills?"

"Besides magic? I mean, we are both Bretons, but even for Bretons we are gifted and probably above average in our magical skills; got to admit that my sister is probably better than me, too. Above and beyond that, Wulfryn has always kept most of her thoughts and feelings for herself, and I don't really know what place might be best for her."

I nodded, and it was not really my business to dig deeper. I only wanted to know at least the basics about the people close tome, although I usually forgot most of those details soon enough, unless I wrote them down in my notebook. Neither Irene nor Wulfryn related to any NPCs in the game I was aware of, but that did not necessarily imply that they were not important. However, I was not an overly curious person, and I had no ambition to dig into anybody's secrets unless they really wanted to talk about them.

When I strolled through the city after training and breakfast, I decided to stop at Arcadia's Cauldron to greet the ladies. While I was not usually somebody who liked to do small talk about anything, maybe just for socializing, there were some I found it quite easy to talk to, and Mia, Arcadia's assistant or actually more like partner, was one of those few. When I entered the Cauldron, the proprietor just nodded in my direction, but young Mia hugged me briefly, and she told me with some excitement in her voice:

"Balu! Look, we have another person to help now!"

Indeed, there was another person in the room, and she was currently studying the potions and poisons on the shelves, having her back to me. When she turned around, prompted by Mia's statement, I saw a female Breton, or at least I assumed that she was a Breton, and Mia did the introductions:

"Balu, this is Muiri; she arrived recently from Windhelm, and she is going to stay with us for some time. With the war now also in our hold, we can use all the help we can get; the demand for healing potions and such is getting higher and higher. Muiri, this is B'lushona, Thane of Whiterun, with his saber cats Hanni and Nanni."

I bowed my head towards the Breton and said:

"Pleased to meet you, lady."

"Likewise, sir."

She called me 'sir'? Did she assume that this was the proper way to address a Thane? I quickly replied:

"Oh no, I do not go by 'sir'; my name is good enough. So, you arrived recently?"

"Yes, I used to live in Windhelm, but… ran into some trouble there. Came here last week, and it appears that I can do something useful here at least. I am not particularly good at alchemy, but I can learn."

Arcadia replied to that:

"Well now, at least you are better than most who come in here and claim that they are alchemy experts! Not quite Mia's level, but at least a good and reliable help."

Mia prodded the Breton:

"Come on, Muiri, tell him; he is a good friend, and he is not going to judge you!"

"No, not right now; this is too personal, Mia."

"All right, your choice."

So it seemed that this Muiri had a secret, but it would be her choice if she wanted to talk about it or not; I was a stranger to her, after all, and we had just met. Besides, I was not overly curious, and I firmly believed that I did not have to learn about everybody's secrets. Mia now turned back towards me and added:

"Balu, do you have some time today or maybe tomorrow? I need to get some special herbs which grow north, close to that bandit fort 'Halted Stream Camp', and I do not dare to go there on my own; sometimes the bandits wander around, after all."

"Sure, why not; I could use a long walk on the plains, and Hanni and Nanni would of course love to run around."

"Ready to go now?"

I briefly considered that proposal, thought about potential other plans I might have for the day, recalled that the weather was kind of nice today, and replied:

"Of course; let's go!"

So, 'Halted Stream Camp', really? I had just dreamed about that place before I had woken up in the morning, and not in a good way. Outside of the shop we met Ferwen with her Elytra pet, and she wanted to join us. So, there were three of us plus three animals leaving the city. Hanni and Nanni got along splendidly with the insect and they had some fun together, too. Once we had passed the city gate, we jumped over the low wall to the north and proceeded, finding our way between rocks and grass on that nice and sunny day. A couple of times a small group of does and elks got disturbed by us and ran way, but we were not hunting today and ignored them. Wolves were absent today in this area, but a bear showed up with her young cubs and growled; I used my 'KAAN' shout to calm them down, and all three of us spend a minute to pet the cubs, while the bear mother watched us carefully, but peacefully. While we walked on, Hanni and Nanni lagged behind and frolicked around with the small bears before they eventually followed us.

The special herbs Mia was looking for were, as she mentioned, growing close to the small creek south of the camp; the creek was fed from a couple of springs in a rock wall and ran southwest, extending into a series of small ponds, too. The rocks blocked the direct view to the bandit camp, and Ferwen and I stood guard while Mia started to pick some plants. Not quite unexpectedly a mudcrab soon showed interest in her, and while Mia easily killed the beast with flames, there was some fighting noise. One of the bandits from the camp must have heard it, or maybe the person was just on a patrol; anyway, somebody showed up and looked at the creek; Ferwen was closest and told them off, and for some reason the bandit left again. Was it that easy today, really? I had found a nice vantage point which gave me both a good view on the area between the bandit camp and the creek and a good position to use my crossbow if needed, while also having good cover. And sure enough, I was not going to be disappointed; about five minutes later a group of people started to pour out from the camp gate, like four of five, and they were already swinging their weapons. The lone person on patrol must have reported the two ladies, and the bandits obviously had decided that they were easy prey.

I had my crossbow ready, but Mia raised her hand and asked me to hold; when the group was close to her, she cast a spell, and most of the bandits stopped and sheathed their weapons. Of course, she managed to use 'Pacify', and she had used it before in my presence. The spell worked, but not on all of them. One bandit, probably the boss judged by quality of armor, looked around and seemed to be quite surprised about his people being stopped, but he did not hesitate long before he shouted:

"Casting spells will not help you! I am more than enough on my own to overcome two tiny Bosmer girls!"

Mia was indeed, even for a Bosmer, on the petite side, like Fiona was as well, but Ferwen was taller and much more athletic; compared to the tall bandit chief, likely a Nord, there was of course no comparison. I had not been visible to the bandits so far from my concealed position, but now I prepared myself to step out from cover. However, Ferwen moved forward and made a sign to me to not interfere, and she faced the bandit chief. He raised a big mace and grinned, as much as this was visible under his helmet, and when it looked like he was going to hit the Bosmer, she was not there any longer, but at his side. He could not stop his attack move in time, and Ferwen cut into his side with her short sword, finding a weak spot in his armor. He roared and turned, raising his mace again, but the Bosmer changed her position quickly once again.

"We can do this all day long if you want!" she teased him.

However, the Nord was not without options. When Ferwen evaded his mace the next time, he suddenly had a dagger in his left hand and almost hurt Ferwen, cutting into her light armor. This had been close, but she was still in control of the fight. The other bandits were idly standing around; they cheered for their boss, but did not get involved; affected by Mia's spell, they seemed to view this as some kind of friendly competition. The bandit boss missed Ferwen a few more times and had to take a few hits on his body, but suddenly he managed to perform a feint, and when Ferwen evaded to the side, the mace swung around and hit her on the chest. I could hear a yelp from her and she stumbled back, but managed to recover. With obvious effort she focused again, and after two more rounds she managed to ram her sword into the bandits body. The bandit had steel armor on him, but the Bosmer had a Dwemer sword which managed to get through easily; besides, the steel armor had a gap between chest part and hip part to allow bending, and the Bosmer managed to get her sword right into this gap, pushing upwards. The bandit dropped the ground, and a few minutes later he was dead. The other bandits got uneasy now; Mia's spell was wearing out, and her magicka pool was not large enough to cast it again yet. However, I showed myself and pointed my crossbow in their direction, Hanni and Nanni growled and the Elytra made some clicking noises; obviously the remaining bandits, even though they outnumbered us, did not like the odds, and they turned around and fled back to their camp.

Mia smiled, but Ferwen, with the fight done, looked a little bit pale now and slowly slid down to the ground. While Hanni and Nanni stood guard and would certainly warn us if any of the bandits came back, Mia and I carefully placed Ferwen on soft grass.

"I think that she got hurt after all" Mia suggested.

"Yes, once the mace got her right on the chest" I nodded.

"Balu, you will have to work on her; I think that your restoration magic is better than mine."

"But, if this is right on her chest?"

"I think that she won't mind, Balu, but she will mind broken ribs and such. Come on, she's been having her eyes on you all the time anyway."

Really? Ferwen had had her eyes on me, like checking me out or so? Well, yes, our eyes had met quite a few times, but I had not been able to interpret her looks. But now, I needed to focus, and I carefully removed her main armor. She wore something like a tunic below, and when I removed that as well, with Mia's help, there were only smalls and a breastband. Right below the band there was a big and wide bruise on her chest, and when I touched that area, she yelped. Ferwen looked right into my eyes and said:

"It hurts!"

"Okay, maybe some ribs are broken. Let me see what I can do."

My magicka pool was full, and I slowly charged restoration and had the glow move over to the young Bosmer while holding my hand right over her chest; Mia assisted and added her own magic as well. The effect moved right into the injured Bosmer, and she moaned. Naturally I could not see what was happening inside of her body, and I could only assume that the ribs were mended where needed. When I ran out, I swallowed a potion to restore my magicka, and when I was full again a few minutes later – contrary to the game, such potions did not work instantly, but took some time for full effect – I repeated the process. Just when I was done, I moved my hand towards her neck where I saw a small cut, and while my hand passed Ferwen՚s breast with the spell still active, she moaned even more, though in a different way than before. Her breastband was not transparent, but somewhat tight, and it seemed like her boobs were small, but perky and well-rounded; I found my eyes resting on that area for longer than I had intended. Suddenly I had a feeling of being watched, and when I looked up, I found the Bosmer's eyes on me, and she had sure noticed what I had been looking at for longer than I should have. I cleared my throat, offered her a potion of healing to complete the procedure, and then I helped her back into her tunic and her armor. Just before her tunic covered her smalls, I noticed a wet spot there, like she had wet her pants. Ferwen looked at me, followed the direction of my looks, saw the spot as well, and blushed. Despite her tanned skin, this was clearly visible on her face, and she mumbled:

"By the eight, what is happening with me?"

It took me a few seconds to make the connection; after all, my knowledge of the female body was limited, but eventually the coin dropped; she had been wet and hot, caused by my touches! At first, I felt embarrassed as well, but on the other hand, this was one attractive female Bosmer, and I felt something stirring in me as well. To distract myself I asked:

"Are you feeling well again, Ferwen?"

She nodded, and then she said:

"Mia, could you please continue to find your herbs so that I can have a word with Balu?"

The petite Bosmer nodded, smiled, and left, and Ferwen looked at me again. I almost expected to get scolded for touching her improperly or so, but her statement was a different one:

"Balu, I am sorry for reacting like I did. My body betrayed me, and your touches and your magic, when applied to the right place, made me react in a strange way. Would you mind doing this again, please?"

"Do what exactly?"

She moved my right hand directly on her chest, so that I touched her left breast, through her light armor, and then she added:

"Now, can you please do healing magic again?"

"Are you still hurt there?"

"No, stupid, just do it!"

I did as she suggested, and while the spell did not have a clear target now, not finding any injuries, it hovered around her chest and breasts, and the Bosmer moaned once more.

"Does this feel good?" I asked.

"You have no idea."

For a moment I was tempted to move my hand lower, between her legs, and do the same, and by the way she looked at me, the Bosmer might even have appreciated it, but I rather decided to get up from my kneeling position and look around; somehow this was getting quite personal, and I was not sure if I was ready for that, whatever it was really. I was kind of glad that Antonius wasn't here; he would have teased me for weeks at least.

Instead I got up and wandered over to where Mia was collecting her herbs and ingredients, and she had slowly moved downstream. A couple of small dead mudcrabs were visible along her path, and the girl's satchel seemed to be almost full now. When she heard me approaching, she looked at me, and to her credit she did not make any comment on what she probably had observed between Ferwen and me, although I thought that I noticed a hint of a smirk on her face, too. Rather she suggested:

"I am almost done here; what about eating something?"

"I did not pack much to eat!"

"Maybe not, but I got a little bit."

A few minutes later Ferwen joined us as well, and she had apparently calmed down now, but she mostly avoided looking at me as much as possible; may be at a later time I should ask her if I had done something wrong. We ate the little snack Mia had brought, and once we were done, I pondered the option to raid the camp for a few moments. I did not actually suggest this to the ladies, though. There might be more bandits lurking inside and there were only three of us, Ferwen was recovering from her injuries, and finally I was not really keen to visit the place I had dreamed about, in a much less than pleasant way.

Thus, we slowly walked back to Whiterun, going mostly south from here to meet the road. We did not speak much on the way back, but Ferwen and I occasionally looked at each other briefly. I had only partially understood what had happened earlier, but it was obvious that we were somewhat attracted by each other. Likely we should talk about it later, but first I needed some time to think, and the athletic Bosmer did not push it either; maybe she need to think this over as well.

As a matter of fact, I vaguely recalled that I had once read a fan fiction story about a young lady partnering up with a male orc, and when that orc had used a healing spell on her, she had reacted in a way similar to Ferwen, suddenly finding herself fantasizing and with her own hand between her legs and such. That was not, as far as I knew, a common effect, but maybe a side effect only happening for a few selected people? Naturally, I could not really know how the athletic Bosmer had experienced my healing efforts, and likely she would not tell me either, but it got me thinking. I had healed quite a few other people before, and none of them had shown a reaction like this. Was that a sign that Ferwen and I shared some kind of bond?

[Author's Notes: The way Ferwen reacts to Balu's healing is not without precedence; something similar happens, for instance, in some chapters of the story 'The Dragonborn's Keeper' by 'Zoop'; that story is IMO quite good, but unfortunately incomplete and abandoned since end of 2014, as it appears.

BTW, I have no intention to add lemons to (any of) my stories; one of the reasons being that I believe I would not be good at all writing those. If you want those, you'll need to look elsewhere. I will, though, provide occasional hints which may get the fantasy triggered...]