With each current roll, the boat rocked gently under us, a low creaking hum. Cold wind bit across my skin, sharp and bitter with salt, but I didn't shiver. Not like I should've. My muscles ached, my lungs still raw from earlier, but my skin? Warm. I guess, given my snow elf plus teen wolf blood finally settled. I mean, what else could it be then?
I glanced to the side. S'lani sat near the stern. He hadn't said much since we'd drifted away, just gestures and low murmurs about the current and wind. I wasn't sure if he was quiet out of shock, or if that was just how he was. I shifted on the bench, grimacing as wet clothes clung to me, stiff and useless. The chill in them would creep in.
I looked down at Arnovia. She was curled in the middle seat, still and pale. Hair matted across her face, thin fabric clinging to every ridge of her shivering form. Her lips had a bluish tinge to them. Her fingers were drawn close to her chest.
Shit. I dropped down beside her. "S'lani," I called, voice low but firm. "She's not going to make it like this. Im going to do something, but don't think weirdly of me." He didn't look back, but his ears twitched. There wasn't time to feel awkward about it. I pulled her clothes away as gently as possible; rough fabric clung to her limbs, but I got it off. I stripped out of everything I had left on, down to nothing but skin.
I crouched down and pulled her in close, wrapping my body around hers and pressing her against me chest-to-chest. She was ice cold. "Don't die on me, I didn't save you just for you to die," I murmured. My arms folded around her back and waist, locking her in place. I let out a slow breath, forcing my warmth into the space between us, feeling her skin begin to leech it from mine like a sponge.
"Interesting choice," S'lani commented mildly, though his tone wasn't mocking. "Clever. This one approves."
I huffed a breath and settled back against the boat's interior wall, keeping Arnovia tucked against my chest. Her body had stopped trembling. Not a good thing. She wasn't warm yet, just… running out of energy to shake. I rubbed slow circles along her spine and arms.
She murmured once, something soft and unintelligible, before falling quiet again. The boat groaned softly as it rocked over a swell. S'lani moved with surety, adjusting the sail and using one oar to steer. A slow rhythm settled over us. The sea's hush, my breathing, Arnovia's faint heartbeat. I could feel her body slowly responding, skin less clammy now, the faintest flicker of warmth blooming in her.
I had a dumb idea, if I remember, in skyrim when someone used the fire spell, it stayed in your hand, would that help warm us up? I conjured the fire. It took effort, more than I'd like to admit. The spell flickered alive in my palm.
A small tongue of flame rested just above my hand. And gods, it helped. The heat spread slowly, steadily. I kept my arm curled around Arnovia, shielding her from the wind as best I could. Her bare skin pressed close to mine.
The flames danced low, crackling quietly, casting flickers of light across the worn wood of the boat. S'lani, hunched at the front, didn't say a word about the spell. He just glanced back, ears twitching, and gave a small nod of approval. Then he turned his attention forward again.
"You're lucky," he murmured after a while, voice soft under the steady lap of water. "This one has seen stronger men freeze and die after only minutes."
"I'm warm-blooded," I muttered, trying to smile.
His whiskers twitched, but he didn't laugh. He just nodded again, ears angled toward the open sea like he was listening for trouble. The silence stretched. The boat drifted slowly under the stars, the sail limp now that the wind had died. The water looked black, endless.
"You said we're going to Skyrim's capital?" I asked quietly, voice half-lost to the water. S'lani didn't look back this time, but his tail flicked once in confirmation. "Solitude," he said. "High cliffs. I have some friends over there who owe me a few favors."
I leaned back against the side of the boat, exhaling slowly. That fire still hovered in my hand, close to my chest now. I could feel my muscles finally relaxing like the cold tension was leaking out bit by bit.
"You're gonna be okay," I whispered.
S'lani grunted. "This one would advise against promises. Skyrim does not care about your plans."
I smiled. "Yeah, well... I'm not good at listening to advice."
The boat rocked gently, creaking like it was tired too. I leaned my head back, staring up at the stars. They looked different here. I mean I know it should but its not something I think id ever get use too.
After a while, the fire in my hand began to flicker. My magic was running low. I could feel the drain behind my eyes, that familiar pressure like a headache. I let the flame die with a hiss and rubbed my hand against my thigh, trying to wake the numbness from my fingertips.
Arnovia stirred slightly at the loss of heat, but I held her tighter, pressing our bodies close. My skin was warm enough now that it seemed to help. Her breath remained steady. S'lani muttered something I didn't catch. I looked up. He was scanning the distant shoreline. A faint outline of mountains sat against the horizon now.
"We'll follow the coast," he said without turning. "Avoid the inlets. This one knows a path through the fjords that brings us near Solitude without drawing too much attention."
"Alright, I'll trust your lead," I murmured. "I've had enough attention for a while."
As the night wore on. I ended up dozing off now and then, head against the hull. Each time I blinked awake, S'lani was still watching the sea. Hours passed. The stars shifted. The moon dipped lower.
"Dawn," he whispered.
I sat up. The horizon blushed orange, pale light creeping over the edge of the world. Birds circled in the distance. I reached down and gave Arnovia a gentle nudge. "We're close."
She was still asleep, and I willed a flicker of flame in the palm of my hand. I sat, my legs tucked under me, clothes laid out in a crumpled, wet pile across a flat rock I'd dragged closer to the boat's mass. My cloak was still waterlogged and heavy.
The fire flickered in my left palm as I waved my hand slowly over my tunic and trousers, the heat rising enough to dry fabric. It was working. A few feet away, S'lani crouched, taking a moment to rest, facing outward with his back to us. I appreciated that. Even for a Khajiit, he had some sense of privacy. Or decency. Maybe both.
"Fire magic is difficult for you, yes?" he asked without turning.
"Not the easiest thing," I muttered. "But this isn't really combat magic. Just a flame. As long as I don't touch myself, it's fine."
S'lani's ears twitched, and he just nodded. Slowly. It helped that fire magic felt familiar in a strange way. Eventually, my clothes were dry and I could wear them again. I shifted, reaching with one hand to grab them, careful not to jostle Arnovia. She stirred again as I slipped them on one piece at a time, my free hand hovering low near the inside of the fabric to make sure it stayed warm. Carefully, I helped her sit up just enough to dress her.
"Ellehish," S'lani said quietly, stepping back into the boat and pushing off with a grunt. "You did well back there. With her. With all of this. This one owes you his life."
I looked at him, uncertain how to reply. Praise felt weird. Especially now. "I did what had to be done," I said instead. We pushed along its edge of the land, the boat drifting with the steady rhythm of S'lani's oars and the occasional push of the wind.
After a while, though, he did speak. "This one was not aware you knew magic. This one wishes to know if you know a lot?"
"Barely do," I muttered, glancing at the flame as it shifted in my hand. "Just this. And a handful of other spells."
"This one sees. Still, fire is a good choice. Very practical." He adjusted the tiller slightly. "Especially in Skyrim."
I looked out over the water. It should have been beautiful. We drifted, the wind growing stronger as the landscape shifted. Snow-laced trees gave way to open stretches of rock and sparse grass. A castle.
It sat on a small island. It wasn't a ruin, nothing broken or crumbled. The towers were intact, the walls well-maintained. The architecture was elegant, maybe even beautiful, but something about it made my skin crawl. I could see movement in the windows.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to make sense of the shape. "That place looks… weird."
S'lani glanced up. "Probably the estate of a noble. This one suggests we do not stop to find out."
"Yeah, no argument here."
The longer I stared at it, the less I liked it. The way the person in the window stared down at us, I couldn't make out who it was, but it gave me the chills. Even the water near the bluff moved more slowly.
We didn't say anything more until the castle was far behind us. The wind picked up as we turned into a riverbend. S'lani grunted quietly at the tiller. His ears twitched once before he spoke. "We are close."
"How close?"
"This one would say… very." He pointed ahead with one clawed finger, where the river narrowed slightly before opening again. Solitude. The capital. I'd seen it once before, from the screen of the game back in my old life. But no image could have prepared me for how big it looked in person. This actually looked like a city.
Buildings stacked near one another. Banners fluttered from high balconies. Walls wrapped around the city; from what I could see, there were walls within the city. "Welcome to Solitude," S'lani said.
I glanced at Arnovia, who was now awake but quiet. She'd said nothing since whispering about her sister. Her legs were curled up, arms crossed over her chest. She looked tired, but not in the way you could fix with rest.
"Think they'll let us in?" I asked.
"This one has an acquaintance. A dockmaster."
"Helpful kind of friend," I said. "Long as he doesn't try to screw us over."
S'lani just gave a toothy grin. "This one is too pretty for that to happen."
I snorted and looked out toward the city again. The boat had begun to slow, and the docks were coming into view now, clustered houses, wooden buildings, trade stalls around a stone wall. Outside the gates, the port was alive.
As we reached the docks, I leaned over the side. Fish darted away under the water, except for one long, nasty-looking thing with jagged teeth.
"Careful," a small voice beside me said. "That's a slaughterfish." I blinked and turned to look at Arnovia. She was peering over the edge, her short hair sticking to her cheeks. Her voice had that airy rasp to it, like she wasn't used to talking.
The boat creaked as S'lani tied us off at the dock. He gestured for us to follow. We stepped onto dry land together for the first time since escaping the Wild Hunt. I stepped forward with Arnovia close behind me. She had my cloak draped over her shoulders. It covered most of her.
S'lani was already speaking to a broad-shouldered man near the dockmaster's office. They exchanged a firm handshake. Then came the laughter. After a few words, the dockmaster handed S'lani a small sack. Probably coin's.
We followed him through the port, my stomach starting to growl loud enough that Arnovia glanced at me and smiled.
"This one believes we should eat," S'lani said.
"No arguments here."
He led us to a food stall where grilled fish was sold on sticks. I didn't ask what kind of fish it was; I was too hungry to care. As we ate, I got a better look at him. The bright mane of brown fur, flecked with gray around the ears. His tail had deep claw marks in it, old and mostly healed. And he stood easily a head taller than most of the people around us.
His fur might have made him look wild. Then I looked down at Arnovia. She was small, shorter than me by maybe four inches, but she held herself upright now. We sat there eating while the sounds of the dock filled the air, bells ringing, carts moving, sailors shouting.
"Is there some kind of event?" I asked, noticing the upbeat chatter around us.
"They celebrate the new year," S'lani replied. "Today is the start of 4E 1."
I stared at him, fish halfway to my mouth. "Right… right…"
My mind spun. The timelines in my head, what little I remembered from the game, were blurry. I only really played Skyrim, and even then, I'd skipped a lot of the lore. But something bad was supposed to happen this year..... Well whatever it was Im sure id be fine. Id take a moment to look around.
Solitude was massive. Bigger than I imagined, even when I tried to picture it outside the game. Ships of every shape and sail were anchored at the piers, some flying banners I didn't recognize. People from all corners of Tamriel moved around us.
I stuck close to Arnovia, letting S'lani lead the way. The outer district had fishmongers selling from wooden carts, kids darting between legs, guards in shining steel leaning against stone walls, watching for trouble. Smoke curled from chimneys, and hanging signs swayed in the sea breeze: "Ironbridge Armory," "Portside Inn," "The Salted Sabre."
As we climbed a gentle slope toward the upper district, the stone under our feet changed from cobbles to smoother brick, cleaner alleys, and lanterns instead of torches. The buildings were nicer. Not rich, exactly, but well-kept.
A Large tavern, its wide windows aglow with lanternlight. A hand-painted sign swung above the doorway: a bear pawprint beside a tankard. "The Bear's Rest." Warm light spilled from the open door, chasing the cold from my skin even before we stepped inside.
S'lani paused before the threshold and looked back at us.
The moment we entered, I was hit by the heat, blazing hearths in each corner, warm bodies crammed into benches and stools, food on plates, mead in cups. The air was thick with the scent of roasted meat, pipe smoke, and spiced honeywine. People were singing, arguing, toasting, some halfway to falling off their chairs.
We made our way past the crowd, and as we did, a shout rang out from behind the bar.
"You bloody cat bastard!" a man bellowed, though his grin ruined the insult. "To what do I owe the pleasure of such a cursed visit?"
S'lani grinned, sharp teeth flashing. He strode over to the man, and the two locked arms with the kind of pressure. They laughed, loud and deep, before separating with a smack to the shoulder.
"This one calls in the favor," S'lani said simply.
The barkeep, a broad-chested man, raised an eyebrow and looked past him at us. Me and Arnovia.
"These two?" he asked. "They look like they've been through hell."
"We have," I muttered.
"Fine," he said after a moment, giving S'lani a tight nod. "I'll honor it. But only because you saved my ass in Blacklight."
He jerked his chin at us. "They'll work. Help on the floor. Meals, room, and some pay, in exchange."
S'lani turned toward us and knelt slightly, claws resting on his knees.
"This one must go now. There is little safety for those like me in this city. But you will be safe here."
"Wait, you're not staying?" Arnovia said, her voice rising slightly.
He shook his head. "This one has debts to repay. And business to settle."
"Good luck," I said. He touched Arnovia's shoulder gently, then gave me one last look and disappeared through the door, the chill wind closing it behind him.
The barkeep waved us to follow. We were led through the thick of the tavern, past the hearth, past the kitchen, into a narrow hall at the back. He stopped at a plain wooden door and opened it.
"This'll be yours."
The room was small. Cramped, even. A bunk bed pushed against the wall, a rough wool blanket, a cracked mirror above a crooked shelf. There was a small chest near the end of the bed, probably for clothes or anything we managed to keep.
"You'll start tomorrow," he said. "Serving. Cleaning. Whatever needs doing. For now, rest, you two look like you need it, that and a good hot meal." After checking out the room, we were starving.
Me and Arnovia dragged ourselves back through the kitchen hall into the main room of the tavern. I caught sight of the barkeep motioning us over, already setting down two bowls of steaming stew on the far end of the counter.
We sat. We devoured. Neither of us talked for a solid minute.
Thick stew, mostly potatoes, carrots, and something that might've been goat, it was good. I let the heat from the bowl soak into my palms while I chewed, watching the room shift and settle around us.
The Bear's Rest wasn't just full, it was loud. People were clapping, talking, and shouting over each other. It was the kind of place where you'd get kissed, robbed, all in the same night. And probably in that order.
A group of women by the corner table, seven of them, all in matching dresses that left very little to the imagination. Low-cut, tight at the waist, long skirts slit high on the thighs. Lace and velvet, each one a different color.
They were circling a few soldiers, Guards, judging by the armor at their feet, and one woman in particular was doing very well for herself. She leaned over the table, laughing at something one of the men said. Her cleavage was practically a weapon. Honestly, if I had a rack like that, I'd probably be doing the same thing.
Arnovia noticed me staring. "She's got good tits," I said bluntly, taking another bite of stew.
Arnovia almost choked. "Wh—What?"
"I said what I said," I smirked. "I'm allowed to appreciate good design."
Her face went red. That brief moment of peace was shattered by a sudden crash. Someone had knocked over a table. Tankards went flying. Chairs scraped. Shouts exploded like firecrackers.
A brawl.
One guy, big Nord, shirtless and red in the face, threw a punch at a leaner man in a blue vest. It missed, barely. Then another guy leapt in from the side and tackled the vest guy into a bench, sending plates and stew flying.
I watched with a sigh. "Well. That escalated."
A barmaid ducked past us, arms full of untouched mead. "Just another Sundas," she muttered before disappearing into the kitchen.
I kept eating, casually moving my bowl a few inches further from the chaos.
The shirtless Nord threw a stool next. It hit a support beam and shattered, causing half the room to flinch. Arnovia flinched too, but I grabbed her bowl before it spilled and slid it back toward her like nothing happened.
"By the Jarl, you better stop fighting, else I'll have you both dragged to the dungeon." Spoke the man in a thick Nordic accent while they pushed their way through the crowd. Both guards moving to separate the fighters. The Owner made his way to our table and pulled a chair to sit down. while a woman with deer horns motioned for Arnovia to follow her, which she did. While the Owner nodded.
"So, any Skills, be it fighting or anything else?" he said while he pushed his hair behind his pointy ear. "I've had some practice with a spear. Not an expert, but I won't stab myself with it." I said. " Plus some basic magic."
"Well, I'll have to test your spear skills at some point," he said with a smile.
" Why would you help us?" I asked cause it was weird. " S'lani saved my life," he said pointing to his scars on his upper shoulders" pulled me right out of the Claws of extinction of a harpy, though he did say you saved his so in a way I'm paying him back through you." leaning in as he spoke. " note to self don't believe any speak of potions that will break curses," he said sheepishly.
He explained that he would teach me the basics of spear work and maybe magic but since I had said I knew some spells he would have to ask for someone who has more experiences in that. He had said that I would have to work here in the morning, since even if I did save his friend, nothing was truly free. Which I totally understand. it would be strange to offer everything for free just because someone helped you or your friends.
After speaking with the bartender for a few hours. I was tired as hell, and I made my way to the shared room with Arnovia who was already there and asleep. I removed my salty clothes and climbed into my bunk and fell asleep.
[[sorry about the slow updates, but I am trying lol for whatever that's worth]]