Before the monster could make its escape, it swung madly after Gelina. For a terrifying second in midair, its extended talon hovered just beside her face, but she cried out and twisted away sharply, a clumsy move that denied it a handhold. Claws as long as her thighs cut through the leather at her shoulderblades and left tricep instead, the force of the blow crashing her into a wooden pillar and sprawling her onto her back. When she landed, it was with a yelp.
She rolled onto her hands and knees, pausing to regain her breath despite the ache of flexing her ribcage. She'd faced worse agony too often for the cuts to inspire tears, but they did inspire her to produce a healing potion. Her blouse was quickly splotched with red, a sight she dared not maneuver to examine, and set to merely chug her potion and try to forget all the memories her injury was resurfacing. She rose to her knees and rested her right side against the pillar, squeezing leftover dizziness out of her eyes. The others were collecting themselves, all in varying states of disarray, and while two combatants were dead, of the living she bore the heaviest wounds. An incredible outcome, despite her expectations.
She swirled her potion absently, noting how quickly it was draining. It wouldn't work straight away, so she would have to endure the pain and bleeding for a while. Good. As she pulled herself to her feet with the aid of the pillar, she noted that her collision had forced the sword out of her hand, as it sat lonely beside an upended table nearly ten feet away. The distance felt like miles, and so she ignored it for the bar counter instead. Zaveed and the other Khajiit leaned against it, each looking exhausted beyond their years.
To avoid cutting in, she half-listened to their conversation while she surveyed the Legionnaire's mangle of crushed flesh and metal. She felt no nausea in staring, instead a stirring that made her chest clench and ache.Phantom pains. Breathe. The potion grew warm as it hit her stomach, snapping her out of her brief trance.
"…more forced marches north can the legionnaires endure before someone gets the idea of a change in leadership and they ask us volunteers to pick sides? I already swore to myself I'd never kneel and I'd always come out the other side no matter what. I haven't broken a promise yet."Gelina dipped her head down, hesitant. This wasn't a conversation she should interrupt, but listening suddenly became more tantalizing than the aftermath of the fight. She glanced between the two men like a child among adults, being sure to keep her gaze no more curious than any newcomer's would be.
She rolled her shoulder instinctively to dodge the flung bottle, which smashed to bits somewhere behind her. It was hardly close, but her reflexes were still electric from the vicious fighting only minutes before."We'll get this all sorted out, my friend. I'll go see if I can't dig up that inn keeper and see if there's a room for the man who helped save his piece of shit inn from destruction."Zaveed stood, and Gelina's eyes set upon him sharply."Once I get a room, meet me tonight after everyone's gone to sleep. We'll figure out at least one of our mysteries."
Once she was sure their conversation was finished, Gelina lifted a hand up to her hip and waved faintly. "If you need a room, Zaveed, I have no issue with sharing mine." She peered at Zaveed from below her eyebrows, an expression that implied more than shyness. "I only hope the wind from the broken entrance doesn't freeze the place."
Sevari scowled slightly when Zaveed grabbed up the bottle and sucked the rest of the wine down. He watched the bottle's arc until Gelina snagged his eye. So she was alive like Zaveed said. He'd taken her for a corpse at first, but now she still just looked like the same small girl he'd dismissed back in the Jarl's longhouse. Albeit, he no longer took her for a bluff of a girl if she survived a scrap that had Zaveed bitter. When she offered her room up to share, he wondered if the invitation was wholly platonic generosity and he frowned. It was just something about the girl he couldn't put his finger on, he didn't want her in harm's way before and now he didn't trust her. No one looks like they ought to in his line of work, he'd seen twig-thin little girls shiv men in the neck without a regret and now that he looked, there was a certain hardness about her, the same he saw on Juin that first time, hiding under a veneer of meekness. He nodded at her, "Aren't you the generous one. I see I can trust you to protect our milk-maids."
He saw his way behind the counter and went through the menagerie of different means of getting piss drunk, looking for Colovian Whiskey or Stros M'kai Rum. Jehanna mead was also another possibility, something the way the brewing families did mead in High Rock tasted right. He was still mourning after his hat and his weapons, and he spared a thought for his horse now that his mind had wandered back there. His horse and the flask of Colovian Whiskey in the saddlebags. He reached for a bottle of miscellaneous mead, most likely brewed there at the Frozen Hearth and dug his teeth into the cork, pulling it free with that satisfying pop that made his mouth water and problems disappear for a while. He spat the cork away and swigged at it, leaning on the counter, "In my twenty-five years on Nirn everyone always tells each other their names when they meet. You can go first."
Zaveed grinned broadly, enjoying Sevari's ill-temperment and Gelina's generous offer. After the day he had endured, he considered both a mighty win in turn of events."Ignore my cantankerous friend. He forgot how to smile somewhere between here and Daggerfall. I thank you and accept your offer, I am sure we can figure out ways to keep warm in the event of a draft." he said with a wink. He placed a hand on her shoulder and turned to Sevari. "You should have seen her today! Quite a fighting spirit in this one, no fear where it paralyzed others in fear. She didn't flinch from what needed to be done, and as you can see, she's quite tough. A finer companion we have never had."
And just like that, Gelina's eyes lit up, her eyebrows raising, a picture of innocence. "Ah! I'm sorry, I just got so swept up in the fighting I forgot my manners." She mulled over bowing, but, seeing her audience, she doubted holding herself like a High Rock lady-in-waiting would garner much respect. Instead, she straightened out her curiass and gave Sevari a cordial nod."My name is Gelina. I was passing through town when I was called to serve the Jarl, and, well, it's been…unique."She paused to smile at Zaveed as he set a hand on her shoulder, still tense, but not entirely consciously. She acknowledged his wink with a conspiratorial smirk, before she dipped her head forward and waved her hands obsequiously. "If there is any praise, it should be for you and your party. I'm not one to collect myself and organize a plan in the midst of combat, as you did. Are either of you the leader? I won't ever be able to guess," She chuckled.
"Careful," he said bitterly, making to spit and remembering he was technically indoors, "You're off to a bad start with the first impressions. There should be a saying about flattery. Either way, you killed the monster didn't you? Don't give me the shit about deserving praise."Then he thought, fuck it, with the cold coming in, it was basically outside and spat. With the way the two were giving each other the eye he'd be a liar if he said he didn't want a bed-mate but being a hair's breadth away from freezing to death made him want to be better. It was someone he cared about that told him that's what life was, just trying to do better than yesterday and he wanted to be better for her, better for Sorosi too. Gelina asked which of the two were the leader and he gave a bitter chuckle at what only he and Zaveed knew about who called the shots for them, "No, you wouldn't be able to guess."
The smile stayed for a very fast, fleeting moment, "And no, I didn't forget how to smile, I just do it less often these days." And it was gone, "Guess we have to go to the Jarl about the titles and land, then, Zaveed. What do you think the stone-brained Nords will take to calling her for killing their monster?" He looked to Gelina, "I should buy you a drink, Little Sister, there's a future for you in monster slaying the way Zaveed tells it. You make me look like a meek little handmaiden and I have one of the reddest given-names in the Iliac Bay, believe it or not, looking at me."
He made it a point to rub at the scars lining the right side of his face under his eye as if they itched. He shook his head, all this being angry growing real damned tiring all of a sudden. Maybe he should find someone to fuck, if anyone was even in the mood after seeing what went down in the tavern. Fleshy monstrosities were rarely a good aphrodisiac. Then he wondered if it was too late to go back to Wayrest to be with Sorosi. Being with her was one of the only things that made his life good. Even if they didn't share love, at least she fucked like a demon. He pulled himself from his memories and frowned. He seemed to be doing that more often than not lately. Just he didn't find a lot of reasons to smile out here in the town or on the roads again. "Where are my manners," He said, "Sevari Sev'Ahmet. You'll know the name if you've ever been anywhere East of the Druadach mountains in southern High Rock."
Zaveed let out a bark of a laugh. "Leaders? Oh, gods, no. We might have seen one or two up close once upon a time, haven't we? Sevari and I are simple men who are trying to get by, and fate saw fit to throw us into each other's good company, and it's a mutually beneficial arrangement. Our bond was forged in the fires of battle, not unlike this, so really, stick with us and we'll fit together, like a sword, belt, and scabbard." the corsair appraised the woman's back, clucking his tongue.
"You should really get that looked at, even in the cold infections tend to happen. I can mend your armour without much fuss, I've done my share of leather mending, and even in the face of some clueless jackass Jarl, we should look professional, although I dare say the sight of blood probably makes the man queasy or he'd have dealt with the Grendel himself by now." Zaveed grinned, stepping back and resting his hands on his axe heads. He was enjoying the bonds of comradery, even if they were undermined by deception. Oh, how he longed for the simple life on the seas, where a man's motives were simple and no one ruled over him but himself. Perhaps Gelinda could be persuaded to help in Sevari and his task, Zaveed thought. It was more reassuring that some genuine bonds could be made rather than a total lie. Besides, a woman who would bed him without the exchange of coin was a rarity, like a black pearl or one of the Pieces of Barenzia."You've found some good friends amongst us two, Gelina. We'll keep you safe if you return the courtesy. I dare say we'll be untouchable, us three."
Gelina's entire posture seemed to shrink down, and her brow furrowed sheepishly. Were she a Khajiit, her ears and tail would most certainly be tucked tightly away. She made a subtle show of leaning back into Zaveed's hand. "Oh, sorry, sorry. I've just never been around so many seasoned adventurers before, I'm a little dazed. Having Dibellan priestesses and 'stone-brained' folk for company much of the time can do that." She surveyed Sevari's face through upward glances as he spoke further, perking up just a little at mention of Southern High Rock and the Iliac Bay. She did not recognize his name, though she had only ever visited High Rock for no more than three months at a time, doing work that required no knowledge of whatever…element the Khajiit was probably involved in. She would have to find out more later, away from him. Perhaps knowing of whatever adventures he'd been on would serve better than blind flattery.
Safety. It seemed so foreign, seeing as she was cut open by an abomination and nearly eaten within an hour of coming across Zaveed and his companions. But she was no stranger to death and dismemberment, and regardless that was not the sort of danger she feared most. "I'd appreciate the armor mending, thank you. And I know a bit of alchemy, this wound shouldn't cause anyone trouble."She couldn't trust any of them, not for a while. But if she could prove trustworthy and nonthreatening first, she could find her best fit among them. The latter would be difficult, seeing as they were both well aware of just how viciously she fought, but if she swallowed it down, saw opponents instead of prey…
No. You're not like them. You can rid yourself of everything but instinct. She gave Zaveed a smile. Going by their conversation before she first spoke, there were worries, if not traces, of dissent in the ranks. If she could find the lines between the dissenters and the loyal ones, put a knife between the pelt and the flesh, she could very likely find somewhere to take root. "I certainly hope so." She cast a glance over her shoulder, to the other fighters. "Are Markain and Ja'Kiefer alright? And the others from the longhouse?"
"No one's dead from my party." He let the 'yet' stay in his thoughts for Viryn. Being sentimental for the people with him may have Zaveed looking down his nose at him but he viewed what happened in the caves as a personal failure. He was shit at planning and it cost him a life. He wondered what Fa'azri would make of that, and thinking about it made him want his mentor to place her hand on his shoulder again and turn this into a lesson like she always did. He swigged at the bottle of mead again, his eyes on the ground and brow furrowed. Moon sugar, that sounded good, very good. Then he remembered, his horse was frozen dead without him. "No one's dead but we came back more empty-handed than when we left. At least there's drinks here."
He chuckled and took another drink, the last, before he put it on the counter and went back to get another one. It was a shame, really, about his horse. More than half of everything he owned was on that horse and what remained was now at the bottom of a ravine in a cave somewhere in the mountains. The hat Suffian gave him, the daggers, his sword. A real shame. He was a sentimental bastard wasn't he? He remembered how hurt he was at the prospect of losing the approval of his mentor. What he became after he lost her altogether. He spat. He opened the bottle just like the others, draining half of it before he stopped. "I'm going." He murmured, and he stepped back out into the cold.
Zaveed watched Sevari disappear, leaving Gelina and himself be. "Well, it's been a rough day all around. I dare say whatever he found isn't something he wishes to recall." he observed."Markain and Ja'Kiefer are fine, last I saw. You received the worst of it, not counting those who died.
"You said you were an alchemist? Interesting... what do you need to produce a health poultice? We can fetch all of that, and while you do your thing, I'll get your armour back up to something serviceable. It won't be pretty, but alas, you'll be more lively than the dumb bastard who crosses you." the khajiit grinned.
Gelina seemed to brighten a little in Sevari's absence. The man neither accepted nor seemed willing to mesh with her more trusted social tactics, and it was exhausting, somehow. Her heart, and shoulders, eased as he braved the icy winds outside, leaving Zaveed and herself to talk. She turned towards him more fully, burrowing her fingers into her reagent pouches. "Thank you for the offer, but I have enough to brew around…"She picked through her supplies. "…two more health potions. And I believe I could always restock at the store down the--" She paused, suddenly remembering the oil and whetstone she left on the counter. "--yes, I could restock there, no need for anyone to crouch in the mud and snow for me."
She shifted on her feet, smiling softly. "You've been very amicable, Zaveed, even to a stranger." His name came softer than the rest of the words, toying with shyness and a mockery of shyness. There came the below-the-brow glancing, even punctuated by her thumbs looping through the buckles on her bandoliers."Would you like the armor now? I don't want to rush you if you have other affairs. I wouldn't mind keeping my armor on for a spell longer."
"But of course, it's a rare pleasure to meet someone in this dismal land who doesn't automatically assume I am up to no good, which to be fair, isn't an unfair assumption." Zaveed replied with a chuckle. He raised a hand in a halting gesture. "Please, keep your armour for as long as you'd like, there's still a chance we might have to go after the beast and finish the job, or the Jarl might come whining after us any moment now, but for now, let's take the time we have and collect ourselves. Would you mind if I had access to the room for a little while? I could use a quick rest."
Gelina ran over a list of items she might have left in her room, and came up with nothing. She nodded along as he spoke. "Oh, I don't mind." She made her way over to her room, pushing a few discarded chairs out of the way as she went. She untucked the key from a belt pouch and unlocked the door, but slipped the key back into its place at her hip. She pushed the door open wider and gestured him in with a smile. "Feel free. While you rest I'll see to a few things outside." She still needed to retrieve her oil and whetstone, steeling herself for the icy winds that awaited. She plucked her sword and dagger up off the floor, inspecting them both as she braved the howling storm that shot down the road.
The general store held a quiet that felt oddly jarring, compared to the chaos of the inn just moments ago. The salty air that whipped her back mercifully ceased when she shut the door behind herself. The shopkeeper was just crawling out of her hiding place, looking disheveled and worn. "By Shor! You're covered in blood!"
Gelina pressed a hand to her face, wiping snow out of her eyes with all the energy of a Hammerfell fish in Skyrim waters. "Mmm. I am." She inched closer to the fireplace, letting all the weight on her shoulders drag them down. Her face went with them, sagging into an exhausted frown, a sharp shift from her vitality when speaking with Zaveed and Sevari. "I, um, forgot my whetstone." She gave a short laugh. "That…thing got away. With one less arm, one of the big ones." She settled the oil and whetstone into a pouch on her backpack, then turned to the shopkeeper. "Do you have any bandages?"
