Chapter 3: Trust in the Unbreakable and Untethered Hyena-Spider
The trio were making their way through the gardening fields outside the town. Emilia couldn't help but admire the vast valley Whiterun was located in.
Even a cold, freezing country could still have beauty in it.
However, when they tried to enter the town, one of the Guards walked up to them.
"Halt! The gates are closed to outsiders!" The Whiterun Guard stopped them at the gate, decked out in minimal armor, mostly just leather and a metal helmet. "State your name and business."
Ralof stepped forward and confronted the guard. "I am Ralof of Riverwood. I seek an audience with Jarl Balgruff regarding the Dragon attack. Riverwood is defenseless, and I came to bring assistance in protecting my people."
The Guards looked at each other before they opened the gate. "Very well then, one of us will accompany you to the Jarl. You better not try any funny business."
After entering the village, Subaru and Emilia looked around and took in the peaceful atmosphere. Citizens walking around, children playing, nothing seemed off.
Subaru examined the village he was in. "Hmm… nice place you got there."
The tracksuit-wearing man had to admit, this place was… cozy.
Villagers going to the central well for water, merchants were selling their wares in their wooden stalls, and in every corner street, there was a bowl spewing fire, acting as the Nordic equivalent of a street lamp.
If Subaru had to describe the place, he'd say it was like Berk from the How to Train Your Dragon movies, only inland instead of on an island, it was cloudy all day long, and, of course, there were no Dragons. At least, not at the moment.
But other than that? Practically the same.
"Now remember, Whiterun is not under Stormcloak control yet, so I ask that you keep the information of my allegiance a secret for now," Ralof explained.
"My lips are sealed," Subaru said, as he made an unfamiliar gesture of rubbing his index finger and thumb across his mouth. "Ziiiiip!"
Emilia affirmed Subaru's statement. "You don't have to worry, Ralof. We won't say anything."
Ralof nodded as he followed the guard to Dragonsreach, the Jarl's palace in Whiterun. "Good. I will speak to the Jarl about sending troops to Riverwood. In the meantime, feel free to explore Whiterun."
"Alright, peace!"
After parting ways with Ralof for the moment, Subaru and Emilia begin to explore the peaceful town. The town itself was bad, but the people… were a bit colorful.
For example, a random guard passing by Emilia and Subaru said, "You two adventurers? I was an adventurer once, until I took an arrow to the knee."
"Uh… Neat," Subaru said, as the guard moved on. "Okay, note to self, crazy homeless people still exist in this world."
"Subaru!"
"What? He just walked up to us unprompted, assumed something about us, said something kinda weird, and then walked off! That's basic NPC behavior right there!"
"En… pee… sea?"
"I'll explain later. You… really wouldn't understand."
The silver-haired girl just sighed, as she looked around the village. It was… nice. Certainly different from the one back in Elior Forest, with cobblestone streets instead of dirt roads, the homes were on the ground instead of built into the trees, and only one tree at the center of the public square.
But it was a pretty fancy red tree, so it had that going for it!
"It's rather small for a city, I think it might be only a little larger than a village back in Lugunica." Emilia noted.
"This ain't no city, it's a town, at best," Subaru corrected, having seen similar town sizes online in his old world. "Size matters in cases like these."
"Still…" Emilia looked around her, and saw a few people, mostly men, staring at her. "I can't say I'm not surprised that some people are staring at me."
"'Cause of the ears and hair?" Subaru asked, as he pointed at all of her.
"I... don't think so. If anything, they seem to be looking at my body?" Emilia said, looking down on her clothes, which didn't do much to hide her figure.
"Your body? Why…?" Suddenly, Subaru's face went pale. "Ohhh…"
Emilia looked confused. "What is it?"
"C'mon, let's go get you some bigger clothes. The climate's too cold for you." Subaru's tone made it clear that it wasn't a suggestion.
Emilia, again, was confused by Subaru's sudden change in behavior. "Are you sure? I mean, the cold never bothered me –"
Subaru grabbed her hand, and the two of them began searching around the town.
Eventually, they reached the outskirts, and still nothing in terms of clothes shops.
"Subaru, I understand why we would need better clothes, but I don't think we have enough money to afford it," Emilia said.
"Money is our second least concern, our biggest one is to find a store in the… first… place…" Subaru suddenly got distracted by something else. "Holy hell, is that Patches?"
Subaru ran off ahead of Emilia, to one of the local law enforcement who was grabbing at a bald man. Emilia couldn't hear what he was saying, but Subaru approached and then talked to the guard, who then left, leaving Subaru alone with the bald man.
Emilia ran up to the duo, catching the tail-end of their conversation.
"...you always had a knack for getting out of sticky situations!"
Subaru smiled at the bald man. "You said it, Patches!"
"Wait, this is Patches?" Emilia asked, as she approached. "As in the guy that sold you out?"
Subaru realized he hadn't introduced either yet, as he was too busy catching up with his buddy. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Emilia, this is Patches. Patches, this is Emilia."
The bald man, now identified as Patches, walked over. "Hmm? Oh, hello there —"
WHAM!
Before Patches could continue, Emilia immediately kicked him in the nuts, causing him to fall over in pain, and causing every male in the vicinity to wince in phantom pain.
"Ooo! Right in the schunjillies!" one of the local guards said.
"That was for selling out Subaru," Emilia said in a huff.
"OHHHH—!" Patches squirmed around in the dirt. "That hurt! What are you, crazy?!"
"A little," Emilia said, before she helped Patches back onto his feet. "Then again, I suppose I wouldn't have met Subaru if you didn't rat him out, so thank you for that."
Patches smiled. "Once again, the greed of men is the catalyst for good things happening…"
Emilia gave the bald man a death glare. "Don't make me kick you again…"
"Hey, hey… no worries… I'm more than willing to let bygones be bygones…"
With that out of the way, the Half-Elf asked, "So, why are you here?"
Patches puffed up his chest in pride. "I'm simply here to help people!"
"Then why did it look like you were about to be taken to the slammer?" Subaru asked with his eyebrow raised.
"Subaru, you of all greedy people should know how I help greedy people!"
Subaru and Emilia simply stared at Patches with blank expressions.
The bald man simply gave them a cheeky smile. "What?"
"Is he always like this?" Emilia asked Subaru.
"Smug beyond compare? Yeah, that's classic Trusty Patches alright."
As if on cue, Ralof came up to the group. "There you two are, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find you."
"Hey, Ralof! Guess who we found?" Subaru presented his bald friend.
Ralof then took notice of Patches. "Who... might you be?"
"Why, I am none other than Trusty Patches!" the bald man smiled. "Also known as Patches the Unbreakable, Patches the Spider, Patches the Hyena, and Patches the Untethered!"
It wouldn't be long before Ralof came to a conclusion. "You are the man who sold Subaru out to those Imperial scum?"
Patches merely chuckled in response. "Hey now! It was either him or me! And I knew that Subaru would be fine!"
Ralof narrowed his eyes and silently placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, before saying, "Then give me one good reason why I should not remove your head from your body right this instant."
"Probably because, as an Undead, I'll just keep coming back over and over. You'd have to kill me every single time while I only have to kill you just once," Patches smiled.
Ralof did not back down. "True, but killing you would give me some satisfaction, as I'm sure wasting multiple lives and deaths trying to kill a single man will be infuriating to you."
"Aight, that's it! No one is killing anyone!" Subaru stood between the blond rebel and the bald thief. "Patches, leave him alone, he's not greedy! Ralof, knock it off, he's not worth it."
"...Very well, Subaru," Ralof says as he takes his hand off his sword.
Subaru asked the most important question at the moment. "So… you said you did it?"
Ralof nodded. "Yes. Troops are on their way to Riverwood as we speak."
"Troops?" Patches asked, intrigued. "Whatever for?"
"The village we were about to be executed at was attacked by a Dragon, allowing us to escape," Emilia explained. "It flew over where Riverwood is, but we haven't seen it since."
"So, we're sending troops over to check it out," Subaru finished up, before turning to his rebel friend. "Say, Ralof, are we heading there ourselves, by chance?"
The blond man shook his head. "No. We cannot afford to hunt down a beast that can fly faster than we can move. We will make our way to Windhelm."
"What's over there?" Patches asked.
"It is the home of the Stormcloak rebellion, and I must be making my way back to my Jarl. Luckily, there should be a carriage over by the entrance of the Whiterun. The driver will take us to Windhelm in less than half a day's time." Ralof explained.
"Lovely! I'll come with you!"
Emilia leaned over to her nasty-eyed friend, and whispered, "Subaru, is that a good idea?"
Subaru simply whispered back, "He may be a prick, but he's a trustworthy friend. Just, keep your pockets with any valuables away from him, and you should be fine. Probably."
Ralof sighed in response. "Very well, but I warn you. Make trouble in Windhelm, and I will not be responsible for what the Jarl and guard decide to do with you."
"Right! I'll follow behind you!" Patches said, as he grabbed his trusty spear.
After stocking up on supplies for the road, the group make their way to the carriage to take them to Windhelm. However, a sudden change in the wind occurred, something Emilia took notice of.
"Huh?"
Subaru looked over at his companion. "Something happened?"
Emilia looked back at Subaru. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's just... it's like I felt the wind change just now."
"Ehh? So what?" Patches said, only semi-interested.
"ROOOAAARRR!"
Out of nowhere, a great roar echoed throughout the Whiterun and the valley it resided in. To the three who were in Helgen, it sounded familiar, and yet it was different at the same time.
Subaru already knew where this was going. "That's a Dragon, isn't it?"
"Most assuredly," Ralof said, as he took out his sword.
Meanwhile, Patches grabbed his spear.
And right on cue, coming from the east, a Dragon descended from the sky, raining fire around the village before swooping around.
"TAKE COVER!" Subaru shouted.
Immediately, Emilia created an ice barrier to protect her and the group from the fire.
FWOOM!
"Alright, does anyone have a game plan?!" Subaru yelled over the sounds of destruction. "I mean, I could come up with one, but my ears are always open to suggestions!"
"We must lure it away from Whiterun! There's a tower to the west we can take advantage of!" Ralof yelled out.
"Alright, I guess I'm the bait!" Subaru said, preparing to step out into the chaos.
"Wait! Are you sure, Subaru?!" Emilia asked in concern.
"Yeah, monsters are really attracted to me!" Was all Subaru said.
Ralof nodded in acknowledgement. "Subaru, use any long ranged spells to gain the Dragon's attention and lure it to the tower, then we'll ground the bastard and finish it off!"
"Right!" Subaru said, as he rushed off towards the Dragon.
Emilia yelled to Subaru, "Be careful, Subaru!"
All right, time for me to go all-out! Subaru jumped up towards the flying reptile, using his pyromancies and sorceries to get the fire-breathing monster's attention.
"OVER HERE, YOU DINOSAUR-WANNABE!"
"ROOOOOAAAR!"
"Make way to the tower! Now!" Ralof yelled as the group ran in the direction of the tower.
As the group runs to the tower, Emilia keeps looking towards Subaru, worrying that the dragon might hit him. However, as she looks at the Dragon, she realizes something.
"That's not the one…" Emilia said on instinct.
"What do you mean by that?!" Patches shouted over the chaos.
Emilia elaborated, "That's not the Dragon that attacked Helgen! You can tell by looking at its scales!"
"She's right," Ralof agreed with Emilia. "That's not the same Dragon."
Patches could care less, though. "What's it matter?! It's still a Dragon!"
"Not this kind! These kinds of Dragons haven't been seen for over three hundred and fifty years!" Ralof said, recognizing the species in books and ancient depictions. "Why are they suddenly back now?!"
"ROOOOOAAAR!"
BOOM!
"AAAAAAAAAAA–"
Right as they made it to the western watchtower, everyone looked up to see the Dragon shaking, before throwing something off of it. Said thing turned out to be a screaming Subaru, as who had crash-landed right in front of the group.
BAM!
"Ow…" Subaru groaned, getting up. "Well, I definitely got its attention."
Subaru was right about that, as the Dragon took notice of the group, and prepared to dive down, with the intention of burning all four of them to ashes.
"ROOOOOAAAR!"
"Okay!" Subaru looked over to everyone else. "What's the next step of this plan?!"
"Emilia! Ice barrier on my mark!" Ralof instructed.
The Dragon swoops down, and unleashed its fire attack, right as –
"NOW!"
"HUMA!"
Emilia creates another Ice barrier, protecting the group once again.
FWOOM!
"Ha!" Patches proceeded to throw his spear past the ice shield, and managed to strike the Dragon right in the eye. "Yeah! Score one for Patches the Unbreakable!"
"SKREEEE!"
The Dragon roars in pain, losing his balance and crashing to the ground below.
BOOOOOM!
"BLAST IT WITH MAGIC!" Subaru shouted at the others.
Emilia and Ralof fire off multiple El Huma icicles and a powerful El Goa, neither letting up for a moment.
"EL HUMA!"
"EL GOA!"
"LIGHTNING SPEAR!"
KRAKLE!
Subaru, meanwhile, proceeded to shoot the Dragon with lightning miracles capable of peeling the scales of a Dragon, while Patches provided moral support by cheering him on.
Ralof saw what Subaru did, and asked, "What kind of magic is that?!"
"Miracles! Courtesy of Gwyn!" Subaru answered, as he summoned another one.
Ralof turned his attention back to the Dragon. "Questions for later, understood!"
The three of them proceeded to blast the Dragon with even more magic, until eventually —
"AL HUMA!"
SHUNK!
"SKREEEE!"
Emilia launches a powerful Al Huma! The ice struck itself deep into the Dragon's torso, and after a few seconds, the beast fell over, dead.
Subaru and Ralof breathed a sigh of relief, while Patches tried to ransack the corpse.
"Sweet! Dragon bones and Dragon scales and... a hundred and eighty-three gold?" Patches examined his loot. "Weird, but I'm not complaining!"
Ralof merely glared at the bald man. "Scumbag…"
Suddenly, the Dragon's flesh began to disintegrate, as if turning to ash. At the same time, some kind of ethereal energy seeped its way out of the Dragon's corpse and went to... Emilia?
"Uhh… well… that's new," Subaru deadpanned.
The ethereal energy began to be absorbed by the Half-Elf, who didn't know what was going on. After a few seconds, it stopped, and the skeleton of the beast was all that remained.
"What... just happened?" Emilia couldn't help but ask as she looked at herself.
Subaru gave his best guess. "I think you consumed its soul…?"
Emilia looked at him, confused. "Huh?! But I'm not an Undead!"
"Well, we don't know that for sure! We'll have to check your chest for any sign of the Dark Sign, just to be sure…" Patches said, as he lecherously looked towards Emilia's bosom.
Emilia glared at Patches. "Don't even think about it."
"Emilia, you are... sure you're not an Undead?" Ralof asked.
"I'm very sure." Emilia confirmed.
"Then you're probably something else entirely. Like some kind of Dragon-eater, or an Authority user, but specifically for Dragons," Subaru gave his two-cents on the matter.
Ralof looked in thought at the comment Subaru made. "Dragon-eater...? Strange…"
"Hmm…?" Patches looked over at the blond man. "Got something to tell us?"
Ralof did his best to remember. "I'm not sure... I remember a tale my mother used to tell my sister and I when we were young. It was about a great warrior, who could use the power of Dragons... That was a long time ago, but if I remember it correctly, such warriors were called-"
"Dragonborn." Everyone looked towards Subaru.
Ralof looked over at the black-haired Undead. "You've heard of it?"
"Kinda. I've been around for a long time, and there were stories of a type of people that could do what you described. We called those types of individuals "Dragonborn,"" the nasty-eyed man said.
"So... you know what's happening to me?" Emilia asked, concerned about what this could mean for her.
"Based on what I know, I believe that every time you kill a Dragon, you'll gain their powers. Kinda like how an Undead gaining souls of their enemies, or an Authority user gaining the powers of the last one after the previous user bites it," Subaru explained.
"So... I can use the power of Dragons? How do I use it?" Emilia asked.
Oddly enough, Patches was the one with an answer. "Your mouth."
"What?" Ralof simply stared at the bald Undead.
"What do you mean "what"? Dragons use their breaths as weapons, it stands to reason you can do the same," Patches explained his reasoning to the others.
Ralof facepalmed at the "logic". "That has got to be the idiotic suggestion I've ever heard."
Patches sneered at that. "You have a better idea, ugly?"
"Well, Patches is... kinda right," Subaru said, shocking Emilia and Ralof.
"Excuse me? I am not that ugly," Ralof attempted to defend himself.
"Not that, I mean about Emilia using her power. I don't know much, but the Dragonborn harnesses their power with their voice. By speaking certain words in the Dragon language, they can manifest their will into reality. From what I heard, this power is called the "Thu'um", or "Shout"."
"Excellent news! Do we happen to have a language translation book on us?"
Subaru gave Patches a deadpanned look. "Why would I have needed one until now?"
Patches gave Subaru a look and said, "Gee, I wonder why, Flugel."
"Don't call me that!" Subaru snapped, his face uncharacteristically mad.
Surprised by Subaru's sudden aggression, Emilia and Ralof look at each other questioningly.
Ralof cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the others. "I believe I might have an idea. There are certain... ruins scattered across Gusteko with carved words of the Dragon Language, and the closest one…" Ralof pointed to ruins sitting on top of a mountain directly south of them. "...is right up there."
"Great, let's go! Right now," Subaru said, trying to change the conversation.
"Exercise caution, that place is Bleak Falls Barrow. It's recently become a place of thieves," Ralof explained.
"Perfect, Patches will fit right in," Subaru joked.
"What?" Patches looked offended. "I am no thief!"
Subaru simply started at the bald Undead.
"Let's go. We need to find out about this Dragonborn stuff as soon as possible." Emilia said, as the group made their way up the mountain, ready to uncover the mystery of the "Dragonborn".
Author's Note: And with that, the first official party member has joined, barring Subaru and Emilia! And it's none other than Trusty Patches himself!
(And before anyone asks, no. Ralof will not be joining the party. He is already committed to the Stormcloaks, and being in the party will divide his attention. However, that doesn't mean we won't be seeing him again.)
Anyways, it's now time for the comments!
5queso: Don't forget, that much like Deadpool, this version of Subaru is also using comedy as a mask to hide the grief and tragedy of his life! I'm glad you like how this story is turning out, and we hope that you like our future chapters!
Alifchy: Glad we have you hooked! The more readers, the better!
OST_Enjoyer: Cards on the table, only Infinite played Skyrim, all I know from Dark Souls is through YouTube and the wiki, so you're not alone. Hope you enjoy it!
arthurrei (Guest): Yeah, Subaru is on par with a few bosses by now.
Gomy_el_camaleon: Trust me, Subaru has way more off-hand comments that no one in this world can understand. Far more than anyone can imagine.
Counterguardian235 (Guest): Glad you find our work so hilarious.
SenSlice: I hope this chapter answered your question. When it comes to consuming the souls of Dragons, that goes to Emilia. Even if Subaru was closer to the darn thing, he wouldn't consume it. And in terms of summons, well… that's some spoilers right there.
drAgONi187: Glad you find this awesome! Prepare for more in the future!
DubiousWaifu: Funny fact, a lot of my in-progress works simply prevent Emilia from ever contracting with Puck, mostly by having both Fortuna and Geuse sticking around and being good parents. And as for what sort of Elf Emilia is… that's a surprise for later. And, yes, Subaru is a rizzmaster. He's had four hundred years of experience. (And I'm sure he has attracted a lot of unwanted attention from other women.)
Kifhjoofff: Yeah, it's pretty obvious at this point who Subaru was in love with long ago. But your other questions are pretty valid. Without spoiling much, let's just say that Subaru didn't have just Reid and Volcanica, along with Shaula and maybe a few other canon characters, helping him seal away Satella, and because of that and a few other things, he's been keeping a low profile for a long time now… (And for good reason.)
Chibi_fiddle: Me, personally? I didn't agree with the outcome of the Death Battle, but that's probably more because I'm a fan of Dark Souls rather than Skyrim. (As for me, I do believe the Dragonborn is much stronger than the Chosen Undead, the real question is a battle of attrition, something I notice Death Battle doesn't take into account much given how fast their fights are.) That being said… Ben 10 should have beat Green Lantern. (Definitely)
DDronewar: Thief? Nah, Subaru's too mystical to be a mere thief class. Besides, they now have Patches for that. Also, I had no idea warlock was an option until I read your comment. So, Subaru is a mage build, but not one with paper bones, or whatever. (Sorry, we've already got it set in stone.)
Anyways, it's time for the weekly shilling!
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That's all for today, thanks for reading, and we'll see you next time!
- Ernalore and Infinite the Celestian