Skyrim RP series...Danifae (Chapter 11) Remembrance

  • 'It doesn't hurt then?' asked Danicka, staring at Danifae's face intently.

     

    'Not any more. Galathil did a good job, or at least what she could do' said Danifae.

     

    'May I touch it? Your face I mean?'

     

    'Go ahead.' said Danifae, clasping Danicka's hand and guiding it to her cheek. Her touch was warm and gentle and Danifae closed her eyes and let her touch soothe her.

     

    'It's quite remarkable. No wonder I didn't recognise you when you tried to get in to speak to me! What about your eye?'

     

    Danifae took out her prosthetic eye and showed it to her. Danicka studied it for a few minutes and handed it back. 'Remarkable! I'd heard of the abilities of the Chirurgeons but to actually see their work for myself...'

    Having put her false eye back in place, Danifae explained that Galathil apparently had trained under them for a while and that the procedure she had went though to change her face was painful and took a few hours. However, her time under Ancano's torture meant she had grown used to pain so was able to bear it stoically. Danicka held Danifae's hand during her explanation and when she was finished they both smlled at each other.

     

    'I'm sorry I startled you when I came in but I didn't want anyone to realise it was me. That's why I hid Nettlebane until I put it on your table'

     

    They both looked at the wicked looking knife lying on the table, the one which had cut the Eldergleam. Danicka looked at it with disgust and said 'I never want to touch or see that thing again!'

     

    Danifae picked up the knife and stowed it in her backpack. They had used the knife to help spread the Eldergleam sap over the roots of the Gildergleam. Danifae had touched the tree during the procedure and she felt the tree slowly waking up, whilst Danicka spread the sap over the roots and used some healng spells. Eventually, the tree had 'felt' stronger signs of life so the two of them had went back into the temple to rest. Danicka told the acolytes that Danifae was to be allowed in at any time to see her. Danicka had went over to a cupboard and brought out a bottle of wine. 'I keep this for medicinal purposes but I think a drink is deserved after healing the tree' she said with a grin. Danifae grimaced and brought out a bottle of mead 'I prefer this' she said, so the two of them had a drink whilst discussing what Danicka had discovered about Danifae's 'special' blood.

     

    'I was able to freeze your samples in ice wraith teeth and that preserved them. The problem is when I go to work on the live samples, they quickly deteriorate and are then useless, but I was able to determine that your metabolism, when you're injured, speeds up greatly to heal you.'

     

    'So what does that mean exactly?' asked Danifae

     

    'It means that you need to eat and drink to keep up your strength when you're injured, or you'll pass out'

     

    Danifae remembered back to her time in the prison and the lack of nourishment, and her escape when she couldn't eat or drink because of her restraints and the gag. She had always felt weak from the constant cutting and scarring and then her black out on the outskirts of Whiterun after her escape. She had felt parched and starving so was this her body trying to heal itself and lacking fuel? She mentioned this to Danicka and she nodded her head in understanding. 'Yes. as long as you get plenty to eat and drink you'll heal quickly'

     

    'Anything else you've noticed?'

     

    Danicka thought for a minute then said 'It's difficult to work with so it's slow progress. What with my other duties I haven't had much time recently. I'll do my best'

     

    Danifae took her hand and said 'Don't overtax yourself. Do what you can to heal the people and take care of your other duties. I can find out things on my own'

     

    Danicka smiled at her friend and said 'You were right about one thing when you were last here. You said you'd be a changed woman. I can see that in more ways than one'

     

    The pair realised it was getting late so Danifae decided to head back to the Bannered Mare, where she had left her friends. As she passed the Gildergleam she lightly touched it. A feeling of contentment filled her, so it seemed that the Eldergleam sap was doing its job. With a spring in her step she walked briskly down to the Bannered Mare and entered. Her friends were seated round the fire, so she bought a mead and joined them. They all remarked how happy she was looking and she explained that the healing of the tree went well and she was feeling happier than she had been for many days. She decided to get up and play a few tunes on her flute for the patrons and they all joined in singing and clapping. Her happy mood seemed to fill the room and it was late when the last of the patrons decided to head home. Danifae decided to spend the night and head out for Windhelm in the morning.

     

     

     

     

    The next day dawned with a mist and a slight chill in the air. They decided to get into their fur clothes, seeing as they'd be heading into the colder regions of Skyrim. So, packing their horses, they left as early as they could. They travelled for a few hours and were about halfway to Windhelm when clouds gathered and a furious snowstorm blew about them. Travel was slow going due to the blizzard and they decided not to risk going any further until the storm passed. They found a clearing in amongst some rocks, set up the fur tents and the campfire. They cooked some soup and sat huddled in their shelter for several hours. The snowstorm eventually cleared up, so they packed up their belongings and continued on their way.

     

     

     

     

    Darkness had fell by the time they got to the Windhelm stables. There was no sign of anyone outside the stables so Danifae knocked on the door. A shout of 'Go away we're closed!' greeted her through the door. She pounded on the door until it eventually opened and a middle-aged man looked out at them 'I said we're closed!' he shouted.

     

    'So you don't want my generous donation to your coffers to look after our horses then?' said Danifae, jangling a pouch of coins in her hand.

     

    The man's eyes went as round as saucers.'Well, er, it's late but we can make exceptions' he stuttered, reaching for the coin purse. Danifae held it up away from him and said 'Our horses warrant the best of attention. I'm paying you good money. See to it. If the horses are in any way mistreated, I will let certain people know about it', giving him her best stare. Zora also joined in with the staring contest and the man was first to blink.

     

    'Yes ma'am. Of course ma,am' said the man, finally getting the coin purse. He called out for his stablehands and they came running to tend to the horses.

     

    Once they had been carefully tended to, the four companions walked into Windhelm. It was a cold place, made even colder by the stares they got from many of the resident Nords, especially on Danifae and Larkspur. Mutters of 'Damn pointy eared bastards' and 'Invading our homeland' met their ears. They also came across a Dunmer being accosted by several burly looking Nords, who were accusing her of being a spy. Seeing the four companions approaching, they made off in the other direction. On asking the Dunmer what that was all about, she told them it was a common occurance in Windhelm and the Argonians at the docks were also treated with disdain. The Dunmer were forced to live in the Grey Quarter and apparently Ulfric Stormcloak was either too busy or didn't care about the racism inherent in the town.

     

    With a sigh, the four made their way to Ulfric's palace. Approaching the doors, the guards blocked their passage and asked their business.

     

    Danifae said 'I'm here to speak to Jarl Ulfric'

     

    One of the guards shook his head and said 'The Jarl will not be seeing you at this hour. Come back in the morning'

     

    'Is there a place to stay?'

     

    'Candlehearth Hall is just down there' he said, pointing. Thanking him, they decided to explore the town further before turning in. They walked around the market, went down to the docks, where they saw several Argonians unloading ships and then passed into the Grey Quarter, where the Dunmer were forced to stay. They had a look in the Gnisis cornerclub, which was run by Ambarys. He turned out to be quite talkative and told them more things about the city. Apparently the guards didn't patrol this side of the city as much as the other quarters. They had a few drinks in there and then decided to head to Candlehearth Hall.

     

     

    On their way there, they came across the same group of Nords who had been annoying the Dunmer earlier. This time they blocked their path and started calling them names like 'Dark Elf lover!' 'you have a stench about you' and other not very nice things. Zora got called names abot her scars and even Lydia wasn't immune, saying that she was a traitor to her kind cavorting with elves. As they didn't want to cause trouble, they turned round and tried to go another route. But another group of thugs appeared behind them. They were trapped in between the two groups and were getting jostled and pushed around and stones started getting thown at them. Danifae started to feel her anger build inside her and gave out a mighty 'FUS' at the group in front. They staggered and fell over. The group behind got even angrier and this time weapons got drawn and something flashed in the air towards Danifae. Lydia got in the way of the object and her armour deflected the object into a nearby barrel. Turned out it was a dagger which had been thrown. By now, things were turning very ugly and the group which had been knocked over started shouting 'Witchcraft! We've been attacked!' and ran off down the street. As the four companions drew their own weapons and were poised to defend themselves there came a shout down the street from the direction the thugs had run off in.

     

    'HALT! DROP YOUR WEAPONS, ALL OF YOU!'.

     

     

    A group of Windhelm guards had come running and surrounded the four companions. The other group of thugs backed off and did as they were bid. One of the guards stepped forward  and asked 'What is going on here?'

     

    Before Danifae or any of her friends could respond one of the thugs (he looked like the leader) spoke up. 'They attacked us with magic. Didn't you hear that shout?'

     

    The guard said 'Yes we heard it round the corner and then a group of people came running towards us, so we came to investigate'

     

    Danifae said 'Those people who were running attacked us first with stones and someone threw a dagger, which hit Lydia...'

     

    The guard said 'Is Lydia wounded?' Lydia said that she wasn't so the guard said 'Fine. Enough of your excuses. You 'people' come here and end up causing trouble everywhere you go. And you've only been here a short time. Well, it ends here. You four will be coming with us to the jail. Disarm them, men, and put them in irons!'

     

    So their weapons were taken from them and they all had their hands bound behind their backs with iron shackles and marched through the city. The thugs dispersed with smiles and laughter and the four companions got some angry looks from the townspeople, but others were sympathetic. They were marched into the palace and then down the dark stairs into the cell block. On the way Danifae asked to see Jarl Ulfric and was told that she'd see him soon enough. Each of them was escorted into a different cell before their shackles were removed. Danifae was locked in last and as the cell door was being locked she said through the bars 'Ralof! Ralof knows me! Please, can you send him a message that Danifae is here!'

     

    The guard leader said with a smirk 'Ralof isn't here. He's away on a mission for the Jarl. Now be quiet or you'll be in there even longer'

     

    Danifae sank down onto the bed and held her head in her hands. Being back inside a jail cell certainly wasn't going to help her nightmares after what Ancano had did to her in the abandoned prison...

     

     

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Comments

6 Comments   |   GailOlm and 3 others like this.
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  July 17, 2018
    Prison has to bring back some memories for Dani, no doubt. Part of me hopes one of her friends hid a lockpick in a "jail pocket" :D
    • HaggisHunter
      HaggisHunter
      Karver the Lorc
      Karver the Lorc
      Karver the Lorc
      Prison has to bring back some memories for Dani, no doubt. Part of me hopes one of her friends hid a lockpick in a "jail pocket" :D
        ·  July 17, 2018
      Oh it brings back memories alright, none of them good...:(
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  May 7, 2017
    Being back in prison wasn't something I foresaw. Hope Danifae will be ok. Still she has her friends with her.  
  • HaggisHunter
    HaggisHunter   ·  April 26, 2017
    Thanks guys. I have a general idea of how it's going to play out but it will be an emotionally tough one to write...:(
  • Caladran
    Caladran   ·  April 26, 2017
    I wonder how they get out of the prison. I also like Gildergleam part. :)
  • GailOlm
    GailOlm   ·  April 25, 2017
    I like your description of how Danifae and Danica healed the Gildergleam tree. Though now we have a cliffhanger and I'm concerned about how Danifae will fare in the prison...