Ah, the good 'ol days...
Anyway, what I meant by it is that there's this weird feeling of disassociation to him, he seems to be treating the world as if it weren't real. Which is just bizarre.
My Older Siblings Cannot be the Dragonborn (Skyrim SI)
- Thread starter shadenight123
- Start date
Anyway, what I meant by it is that there's this weird feeling of disassociation to him, he seems to be treating the world as if it weren't real. Which is just bizarre.
- Location
- florida
Im fairly certain that's a reaction to trauma, or a coping mechanism. maybe both.
Technically, it is. Just like anyone can go up the mountain and become a Greybeard, anyone could also learn any Shout - in this case, Dragonrend - without being the Dragonborn. The problem is learning the words properly - that pesky thing where you have to have a deeper understanding of what the words mean than just the human translation. Good luck finding a teacher to give you the knowledge behind lost/artificial words, though.
Shade's taunting reminded me of that Critical Miss comic.
Well, aside from what @ilalthal said, Shade noted that if copious amounts of fire is involved, then dousing yourself in water is a good precaution (if kinda useless because dragon). And it so happens that the Shrine of Talos had open pools of water.
ohhh no, THAT part was smart. I was talking about his normal everyday performance not the odd exceptions to the rule
- Location
- Maybe?
Yeah I would be freaked out by this too, but the fact that his name is Umbra is called out early on as significant. I was wishing he'd tell them he's not really their brother, but then I realized that it's quite plausible that he actually is. Remember the entire family are OCs - it's not like Shade is muscling in somewhere he doesn't belong. Umbra was created for Shade to belong.
That or Umbra already was a Shade SI who really has memory loss. I love that theory, thanks @Woooinion!
That or Umbra already was a Shade SI who really has memory loss. I love that theory, thanks @Woooinion!
Interlude - Whiterun - 21th of Last Seed 4E 201 - Berry
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Interlude - Whiterun - 21th of Last Seed 4E 201 - Berry
She had been to Whiterun before. It was a foggy memory, of a time before the war. It had been a day in which the walls of the Imperial Army made her feel safe, as safe as one could be in Skyrim. The wildlife was wild, but not frenzied or fierce. Bears were majestic, and not bloodthirsty man-eaters. She remembered her family getting on a cart of a family friend and covering the distance at a nice pace, just a few weeks to get to it, and it had been a wonderful experience.
A few weeks away from toiling the ground, from the cows and the horses, and away from the cries of the seagulls and the salt of the sea. She had gone with her mother, her father had stayed behind to keep an eye on the farm anyway. Not that she understood things like thieves or stealing. She was just a kid.
The walls had been so big, she had barely managed to stand still long enough for the cart to stop, and then she had rushed towards them, towards the cold rocks covered in ice and had touched them.
It had taken a few minutes to get her hand unstuck.
She remembered and she chuckled, shaking her head. It had been years, but Whiterun made her remember. She wished she hadn't. Perhaps if she got hit in the head like Umbra, she might come out better. Well, if the risk was of becoming like Umbra, then perhaps she would rather not get hit in the head at all. How could he just not care about his family like that? Did he not realize the looks of worry they sent his way?
The moment he had stood up to follow her, a stranger he had met just a few days prior...the looks on the rest of his family had been of disbelief, of hurt, of...it had been the kind of looks that made her hurt twice over, because she wondered if her family would have felt that way, if she had done that, if she had ever done that before...would they feel like that? Had they ever felt like that? Had she been a spoiled child? Had they died thinking her a brat, or did they love her just as tenderly as Umbra's family seemed to love their younger sibling?
She didn't know.
Thinking about it hurt in more than one way. She was the extra, and while she had enjoyed her trip to Whiterun, it would be enough. She'd leave through the gates, quietly and without a word. She could find another camp of bandits, work her way into the ranks with the new steel sword she had bought from a nice blacksmith lady. She would make it big, rob a few rich merchants, use the Civil War to her advantage, and then she would leave the group and buy a plot of land near Windhelm.
She had it all planned out. Umbra would soon forget her, perhaps another blow to the head might take care of that, and he'd never look for her again. He was a strange and pushy guy, but that was it. This was it. Her eyes looked up at the open gates of Whiterun, and she took a last breath, readying herself to leave.
In that moment, the gates came crushing to a close right in front of her.
"Dragon!" the guards roared from the top of the walls, making the crowd all around her stop just as easily as her heart too did stop.
No.
"What!? Are you-" a man yelled back, only for the guards near the first to scream even louder as they began to rush along the walls.
"Dragon! Dragon! A Dragon is coming! Run! Hide! Get the bows and the arrows! Alert the Jarl! Run!" and then the roar arrived.
The roar made her heart shudder.
It was a roar of pure, unbridled fury. It was the kind of roar that made her clutch her chest and cry out, but her cry was hidden by the chorus of screams as the shadow of the dragon flew over her head, and that of the others.
The screaming began.
Umbra had been right.
The Dragons were real.
Umbra had said the Gods wouldn't let us part.
Had Akatosh called down a dragon of his? No, the dragon's maw opened to unleash fire, and any of Akatosh's avatars would never do that. Not that she knew what the avatar of a God would do, but she was pretty sure that Akatosh was one of the good guys, and not of the bad ones.
She didn't know what to do.
Umbra might know.
That treacherous part inside her head that told her to just turn back and rush for the man who had decided of his own accord that she was the Dragonborn was squashed ruthlessly. She wasn't going to fight a Dragon. She was no Dragonborn of legends, and she had no intention of bringing her sword to a fight like that. She couldn't even reach high in the air to strike at it. She wasn't scared, but she had to be realistic. There was no fathomable way for the likes of her to defeat the likes of such a big Dragon.
She could try, and she could die, and she would reach Sovngarde, but she did not think it would be worth it.
Anyway, for all of her bad luck, and all of the coincidences that had happened, she was pretty sure this would be over soon enough. Maybe the city had some defenses it could use, magic would work, wouldn't it?
But for it to work, the Dragon had to stay still and not simply avoid the blasts of fire and ice, the javelins of electricity that it easily dodged fizzled, even as it flew out of range of most spells. The Dragon knew its enemies.
It knew them, and Berry knew that it was toying with its prey.
They were its prey, and she gritted her teeth, clenching her fists.
She would find a place to hide and stay there, safely in wait for the dragon to leave. It wasn't going to hurt her. It wasn't. She would hide in a cellar and wait. She would stick her body inside a barrel and wait for the bad sounds to pass, for it to be over, and she would keep her mouth shut even as she heard the whimpers of her mother's dying cries...
She screamed as she rushed along the main road, bitter tears in the corner of her eyes. She was going to her death, but she would go all the same, because she knew, she just knew, that there was no other available option for the likes of her.
"Mirmulnir! Dovah!" the voice broke through the air, the wind itself bringing it to her ears, and as it did, the Dragon ceased its attack. It looked around, seeking the source of the sound, but Berry knew the voice. She'd recognize it. What was that foolish man even doing? She was fifteen, but even she was smarter than that. Even she knew better than to pick a fight with a Dragon, of all things.
And yet there he was.
Alone in the middle of the square where the Gildergreen rested with its dead branches, and holding on to his shield and mace as if those pathetic things could as much as hurt a scale of the massive beast. Yet there he stood, uncaring about the death about to come to him.
What was he thinking!? Was he mad? He had to be mad. There was no other explanation.
Only someone mad would face a Dragon head-on like that, and insulting the beast too? It was beyond having a death wish. No, she was going to wash her hands clean of it.
"Kynareth," she heard him whisper as the Dragon began to descend. "Kynareth."
If she left, she would be out-Norded by an Imperial pant-pisser.
She decided her best bet was to climb the tree and hit the dragon from up above. It was truly the best plan she could come up with, and by the time she reached the summit, she saw the dragon's neck right beneath her, the creature's snout inches away from the mad moron.
"Why am I doing this?" she whispered to herself, clutching on to her steel sword. "Why am I doing this?" she looked up at the sky, and then to the right and to the left, as if expecting some form of sign, something to tell her why she was doing something so stupid.
And then the answer came as she saw beyond the rise from the Plains districts to the square of the large tree the rushing forms of Umbra's siblings. She wanted to be welcomed into the madness that was Umbra's family, because that was what she had missed for so long.
A family.
"The Emperor Protects!"
Also, she was not going to let a cowardly Imperial out-courage her.
"SOVNGARDEEEEEE!"
She had been to Whiterun before. It was a foggy memory, of a time before the war. It had been a day in which the walls of the Imperial Army made her feel safe, as safe as one could be in Skyrim. The wildlife was wild, but not frenzied or fierce. Bears were majestic, and not bloodthirsty man-eaters. She remembered her family getting on a cart of a family friend and covering the distance at a nice pace, just a few weeks to get to it, and it had been a wonderful experience.
A few weeks away from toiling the ground, from the cows and the horses, and away from the cries of the seagulls and the salt of the sea. She had gone with her mother, her father had stayed behind to keep an eye on the farm anyway. Not that she understood things like thieves or stealing. She was just a kid.
The walls had been so big, she had barely managed to stand still long enough for the cart to stop, and then she had rushed towards them, towards the cold rocks covered in ice and had touched them.
It had taken a few minutes to get her hand unstuck.
She remembered and she chuckled, shaking her head. It had been years, but Whiterun made her remember. She wished she hadn't. Perhaps if she got hit in the head like Umbra, she might come out better. Well, if the risk was of becoming like Umbra, then perhaps she would rather not get hit in the head at all. How could he just not care about his family like that? Did he not realize the looks of worry they sent his way?
The moment he had stood up to follow her, a stranger he had met just a few days prior...the looks on the rest of his family had been of disbelief, of hurt, of...it had been the kind of looks that made her hurt twice over, because she wondered if her family would have felt that way, if she had done that, if she had ever done that before...would they feel like that? Had they ever felt like that? Had she been a spoiled child? Had they died thinking her a brat, or did they love her just as tenderly as Umbra's family seemed to love their younger sibling?
She didn't know.
Thinking about it hurt in more than one way. She was the extra, and while she had enjoyed her trip to Whiterun, it would be enough. She'd leave through the gates, quietly and without a word. She could find another camp of bandits, work her way into the ranks with the new steel sword she had bought from a nice blacksmith lady. She would make it big, rob a few rich merchants, use the Civil War to her advantage, and then she would leave the group and buy a plot of land near Windhelm.
She had it all planned out. Umbra would soon forget her, perhaps another blow to the head might take care of that, and he'd never look for her again. He was a strange and pushy guy, but that was it. This was it. Her eyes looked up at the open gates of Whiterun, and she took a last breath, readying herself to leave.
In that moment, the gates came crushing to a close right in front of her.
"Dragon!" the guards roared from the top of the walls, making the crowd all around her stop just as easily as her heart too did stop.
No.
"What!? Are you-" a man yelled back, only for the guards near the first to scream even louder as they began to rush along the walls.
"Dragon! Dragon! A Dragon is coming! Run! Hide! Get the bows and the arrows! Alert the Jarl! Run!" and then the roar arrived.
The roar made her heart shudder.
It was a roar of pure, unbridled fury. It was the kind of roar that made her clutch her chest and cry out, but her cry was hidden by the chorus of screams as the shadow of the dragon flew over her head, and that of the others.
The screaming began.
Umbra had been right.
The Dragons were real.
Umbra had said the Gods wouldn't let us part.
Had Akatosh called down a dragon of his? No, the dragon's maw opened to unleash fire, and any of Akatosh's avatars would never do that. Not that she knew what the avatar of a God would do, but she was pretty sure that Akatosh was one of the good guys, and not of the bad ones.
She didn't know what to do.
Umbra might know.
That treacherous part inside her head that told her to just turn back and rush for the man who had decided of his own accord that she was the Dragonborn was squashed ruthlessly. She wasn't going to fight a Dragon. She was no Dragonborn of legends, and she had no intention of bringing her sword to a fight like that. She couldn't even reach high in the air to strike at it. She wasn't scared, but she had to be realistic. There was no fathomable way for the likes of her to defeat the likes of such a big Dragon.
She could try, and she could die, and she would reach Sovngarde, but she did not think it would be worth it.
Anyway, for all of her bad luck, and all of the coincidences that had happened, she was pretty sure this would be over soon enough. Maybe the city had some defenses it could use, magic would work, wouldn't it?
But for it to work, the Dragon had to stay still and not simply avoid the blasts of fire and ice, the javelins of electricity that it easily dodged fizzled, even as it flew out of range of most spells. The Dragon knew its enemies.
It knew them, and Berry knew that it was toying with its prey.
They were its prey, and she gritted her teeth, clenching her fists.
She would find a place to hide and stay there, safely in wait for the dragon to leave. It wasn't going to hurt her. It wasn't. She would hide in a cellar and wait. She would stick her body inside a barrel and wait for the bad sounds to pass, for it to be over, and she would keep her mouth shut even as she heard the whimpers of her mother's dying cries...
She screamed as she rushed along the main road, bitter tears in the corner of her eyes. She was going to her death, but she would go all the same, because she knew, she just knew, that there was no other available option for the likes of her.
"Mirmulnir! Dovah!" the voice broke through the air, the wind itself bringing it to her ears, and as it did, the Dragon ceased its attack. It looked around, seeking the source of the sound, but Berry knew the voice. She'd recognize it. What was that foolish man even doing? She was fifteen, but even she was smarter than that. Even she knew better than to pick a fight with a Dragon, of all things.
And yet there he was.
Alone in the middle of the square where the Gildergreen rested with its dead branches, and holding on to his shield and mace as if those pathetic things could as much as hurt a scale of the massive beast. Yet there he stood, uncaring about the death about to come to him.
What was he thinking!? Was he mad? He had to be mad. There was no other explanation.
Only someone mad would face a Dragon head-on like that, and insulting the beast too? It was beyond having a death wish. No, she was going to wash her hands clean of it.
"Kynareth," she heard him whisper as the Dragon began to descend. "Kynareth."
If she left, she would be out-Norded by an Imperial pant-pisser.
She decided her best bet was to climb the tree and hit the dragon from up above. It was truly the best plan she could come up with, and by the time she reached the summit, she saw the dragon's neck right beneath her, the creature's snout inches away from the mad moron.
"Why am I doing this?" she whispered to herself, clutching on to her steel sword. "Why am I doing this?" she looked up at the sky, and then to the right and to the left, as if expecting some form of sign, something to tell her why she was doing something so stupid.
And then the answer came as she saw beyond the rise from the Plains districts to the square of the large tree the rushing forms of Umbra's siblings. She wanted to be welcomed into the madness that was Umbra's family, because that was what she had missed for so long.
A family.
"The Emperor Protects!"
Also, she was not going to let a cowardly Imperial out-courage her.
"SOVNGARDEEEEEE!"
Evillevi
A Pikachu for everything - Shadow Pikachu,2015
So now that we are moving on to the next act here are some thoughts.
The first one is that shade once again writes fairly interesting scenes.... and kind of stumbles at connecting scene to scene and post to post.So expanding on it my biggest gripe is that the pacing is fairly average to below average once you start going from post to post while as mentioned each individual scene is fairly well done.
While I can't suggest an actual solution, consider taking a look at Hiromu Arakawa Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood. The takeaway from that manga is that unlike 90% of most mangaka's, Hiromu did the utterly insane (in terms of workload) thing of pacing her every update to be as exciting as possible no matter how you consume her story. from scene to scene, while binging, while reading it from the collected volumes and it was even somewhat formated to make sense when you adapted it into anime.
My second problem other than how scenes are connected is that the leadup to certain scenes is non-existant. I get that you are writing for fun and want to get to the good parts quickly but the tradeoff is fairly substantial in this case. For example the scene where Umbra talk about fate would have been great... if there was any leadup to make it feel more important coming into said scene.
AnonymousRabbit
Rabbit Faced
This is the fluff I've been waiting for.
Man, Dragnor's really getting the short end of the stick in this fic. His bright idea indirectly caused Umbra's amnesia (and the near-execution they dodged), he's already become the go-to butt of jokes, he's lost Big Brother rights, and he's been under Willow's loving ministrations.
And now, he's probably gonna be replaced by Berry as the token Nord in the siblings. And it's gonna be hard to top the fucking Dragonborn.
Only half serious btw.
And now, he's probably gonna be replaced by Berry as the token Nord in the siblings. And it's gonna be hard to top the fucking Dragonborn.
Only half serious btw.
- Location
- sweden
Shade is fluff is love is shade again!
Also, umbra yelled more words than those loudly yet the two words she heard were dragon words.
I say we shouldn't completely discount the possibility of shenanigans yet.
I'm going to hold on to that hope because I find the possibility of the 11 family members all standing in a line and together sending 11 waves of unrelenting "fuck off" towards an enemy whose body most certainly was not prepared.
Also, umbra yelled more words than those loudly yet the two words she heard were dragon words.
I say we shouldn't completely discount the possibility of shenanigans yet.
I'm going to hold on to that hope because I find the possibility of the 11 family members all standing in a line and together sending 11 waves of unrelenting "fuck off" towards an enemy whose body most certainly was not prepared.
- Location
- The Medium
This gives my the image of Umbra being a Reverse!Repunzel and Berry being the Dashing Nordic Hero that saves him from the clutches of BestSister!Willow....
- Location
- Dreary ol' London Town
Yay~! Fluf and tender feelings and she just wants a family again. Best sister Willow might not agree though. Poor little brother Umbra having hit his head and gained this odd fascination with this girl, it would be completely wrong of her to invite said girl into her family because that's just encouraging him.
Raviollius
...but what happens afterwards?
- Location
- .
Hey, being a werewolf is a nice consolation prize.
They all got a good view of Umbra's crazy girl jumping on a fucking dragon to save him. She's already adopted at this point, she just doesn't know it yet.
I have discovered the truth. Berry is The Last Dragonborn. Because she is the youngest.
Umbra and his siblings are also dragonborn, as the blood of Akatosh flows in them. They just don't have a prophecy over their heads.
I hope their are enough Dragon souls to go around.
Not to mention all of the sidequests they can do!
Umbra and his siblings are also dragonborn, as the blood of Akatosh flows in them. They just don't have a prophecy over their heads.
I hope their are enough Dragon souls to go around.
Not to mention all of the sidequests they can do!
My only nitpick, and boy is it a little one, but when you're stretching out a word, the silent vowel at the end shouldn't be multiplied. Otherwise it reads like "sovngardy!"
Heh, imagine Tsun's reaction.
"You do understand that its Sovngarde and not Sovngardyyyyy right?"
- Location
- Maybe?
"This is my Sovngardy, where I keep the soulsies of the fallen Nordies."
"Get the hell out before I add you to their number."
Chapter Eighteen - Whiterun - 21th of Last Seed 4E 201 - Umbra
- Location
- https://discord.gg/z9tBvbh
Chapter Eighteen - Whiterun - 21th of Last Seed 201 - Umbra
Mirmulnir's body abruptly shifted as it spread its wings, reeling its head up and then down, sharply throwing Berry off as the steel sword remained planted upon its back. I heard her body impact against the floor as I managed to make it to my knees, the massive dragon angered beyond the point where it could be talked to. Its maws rippled with fire as the first word came to its throat, the knowledge of the flames of the Dovah, of the Dragon, spreading through the world.
Yet in that moment a blond-haired man rushed forth and slammed an ax straight into the snout of the beast, making it turn sharply to the side, a couple of arrows piercing its back, as sparks of lightning sailed and blasted through the tail, pushing their way into the skin as robed wizards chanted, their fingers crackling and dancing with electricity.
"Get him before he flies off!" a powerful voice roared, "Break its wings! I want its head next to that of Numinex!" the man who spoke was a tall and well-built Nord, who flung himself into battle with a large greatsword in both hands. The man thrust it into the base of the tail, the impact shattering and cracking a couple of scales before the tail nimbly spun, slamming and breaking the blade in turn.
A lithe Dunmer figure jumped on the back of the dragon, rushing on its back and slicing right and left with a sword as she went, coming to a halt only briefly to pull out Berry's sword from the the creature's head, before jumping away taking advantage of the dragon's efforts in retaking flight.
A meteor of iron and green skin hit him a second later on the right wing, the ebony battleaxe slicing neatly through the leathery coverage of the limb as Sharrum bellowed in pure anger, froth leaving his mouth as he spun, driving the battleaxe in an upward swing which forced Mirmulnir to scream in pain.
Blood sprayed on the ground, and as the cobblestone melted, and the heat around the ancient dragon began to increase, it was clear that the only wing he had left would suffice him to put as much distance as possible from the warriors facing him. Thus he flapped his remaining wing once, and ended up slamming his back past Talos' statue, and straight into a couple of houses.
I stumbled back on my feet, my head ringing as I reached for the spot where Berry was, her body in fetal position as she held on to her stomach, moans of pain leaving her mouth. "Berry? You still alive?" I croaked out, receiving only a groan in reply. "I'll take that as a yes," I coughed, taking a seat by her side as I watched Sharrum rush through, headed straight for the dragon while madly swinging his battleaxe.
"Your fault," Berry choked out, "pay me back when I wake up."
"Yeah," I replied with a tired chuckle, "I will." I winced at a sudden stab of pain in my back. Apparently the leather armor had failed in its job, a pair of thick wooden shards quite firmly dug in my back telling me that perhaps I should stop hitting trees with my spine.
"Umbra!" Rae yelled, the Breton rushing to kneel by my side in a second. "You're—"
"I'm still awake, she isn't," I replied, gesturing at Berry. "Take care of her first."
I hissed as I felt a hand grab my shoulder with enough strength that I was wondering if the creaking was due to the leather, or to the bone breaking a bit more. "We will talk later," Willow whispered in my ear. "You will be punished for this, Umbra." She then nimbly rushed off, an arrow leaving the quiver behind her so swiftly that the moment the tip came out, it had already been nocked and shot. The arrow bounced off the thick scales near the eye of Mirmulnir, but it had come close. It had come close, and it wasn't the only one. Other arrows, let loose by the guards and by those who could muster a bow, did the same.
"He's down! Take note, Proventus! That orc shall eat by my right side tonight!" it had to be Balgruuf the one shouting, At least, it was either him, or someone eerily similar to him. Dragnor's own tall body passed me by as he threw himself into the mettle with a battle cry.
"Tsavi, pull the splinter out," I heard Rae speak briskly, my eyes back on my immediate surroundings. Ocheeva had meanwhile propped Berry against the trunk of the tree, exhaling in relief when she neared her scaly head to the girl's mouth. "Is she still breathing?" she asked to the Argonian, who nodded quickly.
"Tsavi warns you to grit your teeth," Tsavi said with a small hiss to her words, her fingers probably the best since she had actual claws. The tug was met with a flash of pain that pushed through my back as the splinter was removed, soon followed by a wave of relief as healing magic sealed the wound shut.
"Keep pulling them out, Tsavi," Rae said curtly, "Quickly too."
"Berry..." I hissed out, hearing the roar of Mirmulnir as it stood back up, smashing its tail against the side of a house, turning into fine red paste someone I hoped wasn't a member of my family or anyone important. "I'm fine now."
"No, no you're not," Rae retorted. "I'm the one who decides who gets treated first, Umbra."
"She's the one important," I snapped back, "She's—"
"I don't care about your delusions!" Rae yelled angrily, "You're the one hurt the worst, so you get treated first!"
"There is no future for the world without the Dragonborn," I screamed back, pushing against the ground with my legs to wobble up, "Heal her, I can..." I wanted to say wait. I fell back down as someone swiftly decided to pull me from the bottom of my feet, making me lose my balance again. As I hit the ground face-first, my head rang.
"Tsavi is sorry," Tsavi said sheepishly behind me. "Should she continue to pull out splinters, big sister?"
"Yes, Tsavi, do that," Rae said, putting part of her weight on one of my shoulders to keep me pinned down. Another sharp sting of pain pulsed through my body, and that too soon ebbed away. With my face on the ground, all I could do was bend my face to the side in order to witness the dragon's fight. It was no longer the Dragon's assured victory now. Like ants, the humans swarmed around it. Arrows aimed at his face came down by the dozens, and even though he could speak, the Nords and the others had grown accustomed to staying clear of its snout.
Dozens died all the same, charred to crisp by a single word that turned the air into an inferno of fire, or frozen into place as their skin shattered due to the congealed blood. Yet like soldier ants driving the prey to madness they dug deep, long nails into the wings, and then plunged swords into Mirmulnir's chest. The Dragon roared, and then laughed. It laughed as its snout gazed upwards. It laughed sure of its swift return due to Alduin's might and power.
He laughed as his skin began to break and chip.
He stopped laughing when his soul began to shred into dozens of tiny strands under his dying gaze, which ruptured wildly across the air as if seeking someone. "Nid, Dovahkiin!" the dragon gurgled out through bolus of blood and painful, wretched gasps to its once mighty frame. Only bleached white bones and old paper-like cartilage remained of it as its soul spun angrily in the air, separating into countless smaller needle-like weaves.
They spiraled across the people gathered around the skeletal remains, the eyes of everyone on them as they sharply twisted right and left, as if trying to fight off the inevitable, reaching for where Rae was holding me pinned down, and then past me and straight into Berry's unconscious form. The girl shuddered and gasped as she opened her eyes, staring right and left in fear.
Rae let go of me from sheer surprise, but I reckoned I could have managed to push her off by myself if I actually tried. At least, that was my version and I was sticking to it. I stood back up and winced. There was another pulse of pain as I yelped, feeling my back twitch as I turned to look at Tsavi's paws, who was holding between two of her claws a splinter of wood as big as a stake of sorts and bloodied for nearly half of its length. Wait. Had that been in my back? Clearly, if I was still alive, it had to be a sign of the Gods' mercy and power.
Or perhaps it was just luck.
No, luck alone wouldn't have sufficed. The Gods were willing to extend their protection on the likes of me for a reason, and that reason had to do with protecting the Dragonborn at the very least. Why else would we have to travel together, lest freak storms happen to bar her path away? There wasn't much else that could explain this.
"The dragon is dead!" Balgruuf roared, his powerful voice easily reaching my ears. "Whiterun has prevailed! By Shor, tonight we will feast until no tomorrow! Gather the dead, let their bodies rest in the crypts for their souls have reached Sovngarde!" cheers echoed around him, and as I briefly turned and furrowed my brows, it seemed that...that nobody had seen Berry actually eat the Dragon Soul.
She had been propped against the giant tree of Gildergreen, and most of her body had been hidden by either me or Rae. While some of the fine folks of Whiterun were pointing at us and speaking excitedly, I wasn't sure I could withstand a crowd bath, and neither was Berry. The young Nord did manage to stand back up on her own two feet, but as she rested a hand against the splintered bark of the large tree, the other went to massage her head.
"What does it mean?" Berry mumbled, shaking her head, snapping her eyes shut. "Why does it have meaning?"
"Oi," I said, catching her attention. "Told you we make a good team, didn't I?"
Berry smiled nervously, shaking her head. "I've saved your life again, haven't I?"
"Of course you have, but I was counting on it. All part of the plan," I replied with a chuckle. "So, once more, since you saved my life from a big, bad dragon, how about I swear to carry your burdens and we begin our glorious task of dragon hunting? Though if you think I'm going to be a pack mule for random bits and pieces of armor, I am going to leave them to rot in ancient forgotten crypts or wherever it is we'll have to go."
"Umbra," Rae said from my side, an utterly puzzled look on her face as if she couldn't comprehend my advanced level of stupidity. "Willow was not joking when she mentioned the shackles. She did that for two months and a half last time you and Mansel made trouble in Bruma. She will punish you for this."
I shrugged, wincing as I felt bits and pieces of my skin and bones pop either due to wooden splinters or misaligned bones after the push against the tree. I had faced a dragon and survived, Willow couldn't be much worse.
The cold chill of death whispered upon my spine as I thought, quite briefly, that inane and silly crap. Because, apparently, a Bosmer's eyes can ignite with fire when sufficiently enraged.
Willow's next five arrows pinned the edges of my boots, my sleeve and most of my clothes to the side of the Gildergreen.
It is beloved by the Gods, he who dies young...
...Fuck you, Nine Divines! I want to live! I. Want. To. Live!
Mirmulnir's body abruptly shifted as it spread its wings, reeling its head up and then down, sharply throwing Berry off as the steel sword remained planted upon its back. I heard her body impact against the floor as I managed to make it to my knees, the massive dragon angered beyond the point where it could be talked to. Its maws rippled with fire as the first word came to its throat, the knowledge of the flames of the Dovah, of the Dragon, spreading through the world.
Yet in that moment a blond-haired man rushed forth and slammed an ax straight into the snout of the beast, making it turn sharply to the side, a couple of arrows piercing its back, as sparks of lightning sailed and blasted through the tail, pushing their way into the skin as robed wizards chanted, their fingers crackling and dancing with electricity.
"Get him before he flies off!" a powerful voice roared, "Break its wings! I want its head next to that of Numinex!" the man who spoke was a tall and well-built Nord, who flung himself into battle with a large greatsword in both hands. The man thrust it into the base of the tail, the impact shattering and cracking a couple of scales before the tail nimbly spun, slamming and breaking the blade in turn.
A lithe Dunmer figure jumped on the back of the dragon, rushing on its back and slicing right and left with a sword as she went, coming to a halt only briefly to pull out Berry's sword from the the creature's head, before jumping away taking advantage of the dragon's efforts in retaking flight.
A meteor of iron and green skin hit him a second later on the right wing, the ebony battleaxe slicing neatly through the leathery coverage of the limb as Sharrum bellowed in pure anger, froth leaving his mouth as he spun, driving the battleaxe in an upward swing which forced Mirmulnir to scream in pain.
Blood sprayed on the ground, and as the cobblestone melted, and the heat around the ancient dragon began to increase, it was clear that the only wing he had left would suffice him to put as much distance as possible from the warriors facing him. Thus he flapped his remaining wing once, and ended up slamming his back past Talos' statue, and straight into a couple of houses.
I stumbled back on my feet, my head ringing as I reached for the spot where Berry was, her body in fetal position as she held on to her stomach, moans of pain leaving her mouth. "Berry? You still alive?" I croaked out, receiving only a groan in reply. "I'll take that as a yes," I coughed, taking a seat by her side as I watched Sharrum rush through, headed straight for the dragon while madly swinging his battleaxe.
"Your fault," Berry choked out, "pay me back when I wake up."
"Yeah," I replied with a tired chuckle, "I will." I winced at a sudden stab of pain in my back. Apparently the leather armor had failed in its job, a pair of thick wooden shards quite firmly dug in my back telling me that perhaps I should stop hitting trees with my spine.
"Umbra!" Rae yelled, the Breton rushing to kneel by my side in a second. "You're—"
"I'm still awake, she isn't," I replied, gesturing at Berry. "Take care of her first."
I hissed as I felt a hand grab my shoulder with enough strength that I was wondering if the creaking was due to the leather, or to the bone breaking a bit more. "We will talk later," Willow whispered in my ear. "You will be punished for this, Umbra." She then nimbly rushed off, an arrow leaving the quiver behind her so swiftly that the moment the tip came out, it had already been nocked and shot. The arrow bounced off the thick scales near the eye of Mirmulnir, but it had come close. It had come close, and it wasn't the only one. Other arrows, let loose by the guards and by those who could muster a bow, did the same.
"He's down! Take note, Proventus! That orc shall eat by my right side tonight!" it had to be Balgruuf the one shouting, At least, it was either him, or someone eerily similar to him. Dragnor's own tall body passed me by as he threw himself into the mettle with a battle cry.
"Tsavi, pull the splinter out," I heard Rae speak briskly, my eyes back on my immediate surroundings. Ocheeva had meanwhile propped Berry against the trunk of the tree, exhaling in relief when she neared her scaly head to the girl's mouth. "Is she still breathing?" she asked to the Argonian, who nodded quickly.
"Tsavi warns you to grit your teeth," Tsavi said with a small hiss to her words, her fingers probably the best since she had actual claws. The tug was met with a flash of pain that pushed through my back as the splinter was removed, soon followed by a wave of relief as healing magic sealed the wound shut.
"Keep pulling them out, Tsavi," Rae said curtly, "Quickly too."
"Berry..." I hissed out, hearing the roar of Mirmulnir as it stood back up, smashing its tail against the side of a house, turning into fine red paste someone I hoped wasn't a member of my family or anyone important. "I'm fine now."
"No, no you're not," Rae retorted. "I'm the one who decides who gets treated first, Umbra."
"She's the one important," I snapped back, "She's—"
"I don't care about your delusions!" Rae yelled angrily, "You're the one hurt the worst, so you get treated first!"
"There is no future for the world without the Dragonborn," I screamed back, pushing against the ground with my legs to wobble up, "Heal her, I can..." I wanted to say wait. I fell back down as someone swiftly decided to pull me from the bottom of my feet, making me lose my balance again. As I hit the ground face-first, my head rang.
"Tsavi is sorry," Tsavi said sheepishly behind me. "Should she continue to pull out splinters, big sister?"
"Yes, Tsavi, do that," Rae said, putting part of her weight on one of my shoulders to keep me pinned down. Another sharp sting of pain pulsed through my body, and that too soon ebbed away. With my face on the ground, all I could do was bend my face to the side in order to witness the dragon's fight. It was no longer the Dragon's assured victory now. Like ants, the humans swarmed around it. Arrows aimed at his face came down by the dozens, and even though he could speak, the Nords and the others had grown accustomed to staying clear of its snout.
Dozens died all the same, charred to crisp by a single word that turned the air into an inferno of fire, or frozen into place as their skin shattered due to the congealed blood. Yet like soldier ants driving the prey to madness they dug deep, long nails into the wings, and then plunged swords into Mirmulnir's chest. The Dragon roared, and then laughed. It laughed as its snout gazed upwards. It laughed sure of its swift return due to Alduin's might and power.
He laughed as his skin began to break and chip.
He stopped laughing when his soul began to shred into dozens of tiny strands under his dying gaze, which ruptured wildly across the air as if seeking someone. "Nid, Dovahkiin!" the dragon gurgled out through bolus of blood and painful, wretched gasps to its once mighty frame. Only bleached white bones and old paper-like cartilage remained of it as its soul spun angrily in the air, separating into countless smaller needle-like weaves.
They spiraled across the people gathered around the skeletal remains, the eyes of everyone on them as they sharply twisted right and left, as if trying to fight off the inevitable, reaching for where Rae was holding me pinned down, and then past me and straight into Berry's unconscious form. The girl shuddered and gasped as she opened her eyes, staring right and left in fear.
Rae let go of me from sheer surprise, but I reckoned I could have managed to push her off by myself if I actually tried. At least, that was my version and I was sticking to it. I stood back up and winced. There was another pulse of pain as I yelped, feeling my back twitch as I turned to look at Tsavi's paws, who was holding between two of her claws a splinter of wood as big as a stake of sorts and bloodied for nearly half of its length. Wait. Had that been in my back? Clearly, if I was still alive, it had to be a sign of the Gods' mercy and power.
Or perhaps it was just luck.
No, luck alone wouldn't have sufficed. The Gods were willing to extend their protection on the likes of me for a reason, and that reason had to do with protecting the Dragonborn at the very least. Why else would we have to travel together, lest freak storms happen to bar her path away? There wasn't much else that could explain this.
"The dragon is dead!" Balgruuf roared, his powerful voice easily reaching my ears. "Whiterun has prevailed! By Shor, tonight we will feast until no tomorrow! Gather the dead, let their bodies rest in the crypts for their souls have reached Sovngarde!" cheers echoed around him, and as I briefly turned and furrowed my brows, it seemed that...that nobody had seen Berry actually eat the Dragon Soul.
She had been propped against the giant tree of Gildergreen, and most of her body had been hidden by either me or Rae. While some of the fine folks of Whiterun were pointing at us and speaking excitedly, I wasn't sure I could withstand a crowd bath, and neither was Berry. The young Nord did manage to stand back up on her own two feet, but as she rested a hand against the splintered bark of the large tree, the other went to massage her head.
"What does it mean?" Berry mumbled, shaking her head, snapping her eyes shut. "Why does it have meaning?"
"Oi," I said, catching her attention. "Told you we make a good team, didn't I?"
Berry smiled nervously, shaking her head. "I've saved your life again, haven't I?"
"Of course you have, but I was counting on it. All part of the plan," I replied with a chuckle. "So, once more, since you saved my life from a big, bad dragon, how about I swear to carry your burdens and we begin our glorious task of dragon hunting? Though if you think I'm going to be a pack mule for random bits and pieces of armor, I am going to leave them to rot in ancient forgotten crypts or wherever it is we'll have to go."
"Umbra," Rae said from my side, an utterly puzzled look on her face as if she couldn't comprehend my advanced level of stupidity. "Willow was not joking when she mentioned the shackles. She did that for two months and a half last time you and Mansel made trouble in Bruma. She will punish you for this."
I shrugged, wincing as I felt bits and pieces of my skin and bones pop either due to wooden splinters or misaligned bones after the push against the tree. I had faced a dragon and survived, Willow couldn't be much worse.
The cold chill of death whispered upon my spine as I thought, quite briefly, that inane and silly crap. Because, apparently, a Bosmer's eyes can ignite with fire when sufficiently enraged.
Willow's next five arrows pinned the edges of my boots, my sleeve and most of my clothes to the side of the Gildergreen.
It is beloved by the Gods, he who dies young...
...Fuck you, Nine Divines! I want to live! I. Want. To. Live!
- Location
- Dreary ol' London Town
Proving that best sister Willow is truly best.