The Cave (Part 2)

Hadvar cautiously took the lead, guiding us through the narrow passageways and making sure to always be at the ready in case we were attacked. From what I remembered the only thing up ahead was a single bear that had probably already been murdered by stormcloaks just like the spiders.

But, it wasn't like I could actually say that out loud so I just kept my mouth shut as we made our way forward.

Now that I had already revealed my Inventory I didn't have to be careful anymore and could start collecting like the good klepto gamer I was. Of course there wasn't very much to find in the narrow caves aside from some common Alchemy ingredients like Fly Amanita and Glowing Mushroom. I still collected every bit I came across anyway because I always enjoyed doing Alchemy in the game and already knew how to make most of the useful potions.

Which I was probably going to come in handy.

Eventually the passageway widened out again into another large cavern lit with dim torches and split in half by the underground stream.

"Be on guard" Hadvar whispered "Ulfric may have left more stormcloak guards behind."

"There's no one here" Luna eventually spoke as we crept forward across the narrow stone pathway that crossed over the stream "but, there's also a lingering smell of blood in the air so stay sharp."

"There's a bear over there" Hadvar pointed towards ahead of us to a hulking shape lying crouched down in the distance. "Maybe we can sneak passed" he frowned before turning to me "Bears can be formable enemies and I'd rather avoid her if we can... of course you could try and take it out with that bow of yours if you're feeling confident mage."

That was the question wasn't it.

Gritting my teeth I decided to go for it and slung the bow off my shoulder letting my instincts take over as a quiver filled with arrows appeared on my back. Letting my instincts guide me I notched an arrow into place and silently drew the bow back and took aim. My hands shook slightly not just from nervousness but, also from the force needed to hold the arrow in place.

I knew I couldn't hold the bow like this for long and needed to fire.

Lucky for me my powers did not disappoint and gave me a vaguely idea of the path my arrow would follow. So without waiting I raised my bow and fired doing my best to aim for what I assumed was the bear's chest. It was hard to tell since from this distance and in the dark all the bear looked like was a giant ball of fur.

The arrow pierced through the air making a slight whistling sound as it flew before slamming into the bears side.

"Wahh" a feeble roar echoed out from the bear as it rolled around in agony for a moment before laying still.

"What" I questioned as this was the exact opposite of what I was expecting?

I figured I would need at least 4 or 5 arrows along with Luna and Hadvar's help to finish the bear off. Or was my shot just that good? I doubted it since the best I could do was aim at the bears center of mass and pray I didn't miss. Did I get lucky and somehow hit its heart killing it instantly?

"Somethings not right" Hadvar got up and approached the bear "Ah... I see" he commented after getting close.

"What's wrong" I asked jogging after him?

Hadvar remained silent a for a moment before giving the massive beast a kick rolling the bear on its side revealing the massive gashes that crisscrossed its body "The beast was already on death's door when we arrived your shot merely finished it off, stormcloaks must've been in too much of a hurry to do it themselves."

I remained silent looking down at the pile of guts that had spilled out of the bear I knew it was stupid to feel guilty over its death especially when I would have had to kill it anyway regardless of its injuries. So sucking it up I placed my hand on the bears thick matted fur to open its inventory to take what I could.

"Hmm" I paused as after noticing something interesting?

Aside from the regular items like its pelt and claws as well as the arrow I just fire the bear's inventory also had something else, something I'd never seen before Bear Meat. It wasn't really out of place all things considered since it was you know a bear but, I was more interested in the fact that it existed in the first place. I'd already accepted the fact that this was a real world and things would be different than I expected, I also assumed that my system or whatever you would work the same as the one in the game.

But, now it seemed like things might be a bit more complicated than I expected, and I had absolutely no idea if that was going to be a good or bad thing for me. Still I had more important things to do right now and could think about this later when I wasn't being chased down by a literal destroyer of worlds.

So without waiting any longer I scooped everything up, and in an instant the bear's flesh and guts vanished without a trace leaving only a barren skeleton in their place.

I jumped slightly not expecting that but, I guess I should have seen it coming. I did steal its flesh and skin after all though I did wonder what exactly happened to its organs? Were they included in the Bear Meat?

"Wow" Luna came up from behind me and admired the bears clean white skeleton "That was a lot more pleasant then skinning an animal usually is... hey why didn't you take its bones too? They're fairly valuable too" she questioned?

I reached back and awkwardly scratched my head after dismissing my bow "I actually can't take away it's bones for whatever reason" I helplessly answered.

"Weird" Luna pondered.

Hadvar interrupted and pointed ahead towards what looked like sunlight filtering out from the next tunnel "This looks like the way out! I was starting to wonder if we'd ever make it."

"Well what are we waiting for then" Luna grinned slapped my back painfully and rushed forward and taking point!

I sprinted after her along with Hadvar and felt a breeze of fresh air wash over me as I rounded the final corner and saw daylight for the first time in what seemed like an eternity! I was prepared to run out into the sun and leave all the nightmares and darkness behind but, someone grabbed my shoulder stopping me.

"Wait" Hadvar said " We don't know if its safe to go out yet."

And as if to answer Hadvar's call a dark shadow descended from the sky swooping over the cave entrance while letting out a booming roar that shook the earth!

"Gulp" I shivered and wiped the sweat from my brow as the giant dragon bellowed again and soared into the distance roaring in what seemed like laughter.

I'd completely forgotten about that part!

Who knows what would have happened if I blindly ran out there! Alduin might have decided to take a pot shot and burn me to ashes right then and there. Though he probably already knew we were here and could have easily killed us all if he wanted too. Why else would else would he dive down right in front of the cave like that if not to mess us?

"Looks like its actually leaving this time" Hadvar shakily let out a sigh of relief "But I don't think we should stick around to see if it comes back."

"Agreed lets get out of here" Luna glowered while glaring at the slowly shrinking figure of the dragon in the distance.

"Right" I nodded ready to hurry up and get to Riverwood so I could actually get a chance to rest.

After a moment we hesitantly left the relative safety of the cave an stepped out into the open fields of Skyrim following a narrow dirt path. The three of us sunk into silence as we walked trying to come came to terms with everything that had happened.

Luna and Hadvar both seemed to be lost in their thoughts and I could only imagine what was going through their heads, though they were probably dealing with everything far better than me.

Because while they were coolly contemplating what to do next I was doing everything in my power not to hyperventilate and have a complete mental breakdown. I mean in the span of a couple hours I'd almost been executed, watched dozens of people burn to death, and brutally murdered multiple people! And now that I'd finally escaped from Helgen and finally had some peace and quiet everything was starting to catch up with me.

The only thing keeping me from completely collapsing was... actually I had no freaking idea why I hadn't already fallen to the ground in the fetal position and started crying, maybe I was 'slightly' tougher than I gave myself credit? Either way it didn't matter right now because I had more important things to think about.

Like what I was going to do from now on? I had no money, no power, and no idea how I was going to survive from now on.

I was already reasonably sure that Luna was the Dragonborn and that I was just an extra so was there any reason I needed to get involved with everything? So what I needed to do was decide if I was going to try and help her kill Alduin or if I was going to just sit back and let her deal with it on her own.

Logically there wasn't really any reason I needed to help her since one Dovakiin was more than enough in the game. Not to mention the fact that she was a far more capable fighter than I was and probably a million times braver than me too. So did I really need to help?

…On the other hand though what if she wasn't enough? What if Alduin won? The entire world would end and there wouldn't be anywhere I could hide when that happened.

And even if I couldn't fight that well yet, I still knew pretty much everything about the games right? I could help her find powerful weapons, warn her in advance about what kind of enemies we'll find in whatever cave or dungeon we entered, and with my system there was really no reason I couldn't become a force of nature if given enough time.

"Gah" I grunted and ruffled my hair "Why did it seem like I was actively trying to convince myself to help!?"

Eventually I slumped over and sighed in defeat knowing that I was going to have to help. But, if I was going to do this I was going to need a plan. Before that though I needed to get stronger, since there was no point in getting involved if I was shot dead by the first stray arrow that crossed my path.

And now that I thought about it my first step to getting strong was just up ahead.