There and Back Again

Rictus casually stopped reading the dossiers while looking at an expectant Mirajane. His lack of reaction apparently riled her up.

"Are you serious? I just gave you handwritten proof about Ulfric being a Thalmor asset, and you don't even look shocked! Don't tell me you already knew about all this?"

He stared at her for a moment. She had changed out of her formal party wear and into her armor. It was form fitting dark brown leather which allowed ease of movement. A mismatch of green and dark brown dragon scales could be seen interlaced and studded into the armor for additional protection. There was no real pattern, but the coloration reminded him a little bit of camo from earth and would make spotting her more difficult. Thick leather pants also had some additional scales along the thighs while tall leather boots adorned her feet. Her arms were mostly uncovered except for the leather vambraces which had 3 small dragon bones running along the top of her forearms with scales spaced along the rest of it.

The bow slung along her back and various daggers equipped on her armor gave off feelings of an experienced hunter. Knowing the scales were from dragons only added to the predatory feel of the armor. He wondered how much better it would be if it was enchanted by Morrigan. Whenever the dragonborn made her way towards Winterhold, he would have to make sure to give her a recommendation, which may or may not make things easier when he thought about it.

Finally, he spoke some of his thoughts on the Thalmor.

"I was not certain, but I had my suspicions. The Thalmor working against the empire is no big surprise. I mean, they call it The First War Against the Empire after all."

Which was the truth. He didn't know for sure if those things had actually still happened in this world or how true some of the fan theories and small-time game lore translated over to this world. Based on the dossier he just read though, Ulfric had been released from Thalmor captivity and been helped out on a few different occasions. The Thalmor were also working on destabilizing the empire however they could despite the apparent peace.

Mirajane just shook her head.

"All this political garbage is just nonsense to me. Everyone is fighting while all our strength should be focused on stopping Alduin, not killing each other. Things keep getting more and more complicated."

A comforting hand patted her shoulder as they continued away from the city. She carried a monumental burden that Rictus did not at all. He would gladly choose his abilities over the OPness of the dragonborn since his abilities did not mean he was the only hope to save the world.

The two of them had met back up after the conclusion of the party in a prearranged location outside of Solitude. Both were quite interested in what the other had experienced. Mirajane complimented his distraction but lost her humor after finding out about the assassination. She was slightly grateful for it though since it would mask her presence and get the Thalmor after the Dark Brotherhood instead of her.

Despite not showing much reaction, Rictus was very interested in the documents Mirajane had given him. It was proof of the Thalmor's deceptions. Unfortunately, there was not much he could do with it. If he tried blackmailing the Thalmor, they would just try and kill him with all their might. If he gave it to the empire, it could further destabilize everything. He could potentially leverage it against Ulfric, diminishing his support and the war effort. Nothing good would come from rash actions though, so he would think on it more before taking any action.

Once they made it far enough outside the city, Rictus summoned their ride from his inventory. While they were getting seated though, Mirajane had a request.

"Could you take me to Riften? I should probably inform Delphine, but I feel catching back up with my companions and searching for this Esbern is more important, especially with the Thalmor after him. We could stop to rest at your base, and I can send her a letter from there."

Rictus was a little torn about it. He was not really wanting to tempt fate by going near that lawless place but dropping her off and immediately leaving would probably be alright.

"I suppose we could do that instead. It won't be too much more trouble and it would save you a lot of time. Besides, I also worry about what kind of trouble Solomon and Falda will stir up without you there guiding them."

She couldn't help but laugh at his accusation before becoming serious.

"They are not that bad….but it probably wouldn't hurt if we hurried."

Rictus laughed as they took off on the giant metal bird. He really did hope the dragonborn's companions did not get into any trouble. While they both had their faults, the two of them were extremely useful in the fight against Alduin.

Time passed quickly as the miles flew by. Rictus had always been fascinated with flying. He had dreamed of becoming a pilot in his other life. He had even finally booked some flying lessons before all this happened. While he would never make it to the lessons, this type of flying was more enjoyable than he could have imagined.

They made excellent time in the air and only stopped once to sleep and rest once they made it back to Whiterun. Once the sun rose again, Rictus gave Ken a quick explanation so he could prepare some counter measures, then they were back in the air and headed towards Riften. Thankfully, the weather was still nice, although the cold airs from the north were beginning to blow south indicating a change in the season was soon upon them.

They had just passed lake Geir when they spotted smoke rising not far in the distance. Rictus was more than willing to ignore it, but Mirajane's constant pointing and nudging persuaded him otherwise. Seems their trip was going to take a little longer than planned after all.

A burnt husk of a small farm was found near a rocky outcropping and small waterfall leading to a pond. Almost everything was gone besides what must have been the giant mill stone. If the windmill wouldn't have had a stone base, then they would not have been able to identify it was a far at all. Near it, two other areas were also burning ruins. One seemed to be a kind of hidden camp while the other was one of the many watchtowers spread throughout Skyrim. They swooped down a little closer and hovered over the wreckage trying to get a better view, but nothing but destruction could be seen.

A rumbling noise broke them out of their search. The noise seemed to be originating from a large fort or small castle due south of them. Rictus spared a glance back at Mirajane who had a fierce looking smile on her face. Rictus's stomach sank a little at that look and what it most likely meant. Without warning, Mirajane moved and stood at the very front of their metal mount as a bound bow was summoned into her hands. She gave Rictus a pointed looked before turning her full attention back towards the fort.

With a bit of trepidation, Rictus started climbing higher into the air as they sped towards the fort. 'It won't be that bad. I have the dragonborn here who will do most of the fighting. This will also give me my first dragon corpse.'

Another piercing roar could be heard as they neared the fort along the river. Fires consumed the trees and wooden structures around the damaged fort. Down in the courtyard, rested the culprit.

The dragon was huge, taking up the majority of the open space down there. It appeared distinctly reptilian, with its interlocking scales a vibrant green color. It had a wide spiked frill atop its head, a dorsal fin along the spines of its back, huge sharp claws along its wings and feet, and its long serpentine tail had a leaf-like fin ending in a sharp point dyed red.

Before the dragon noticed them, Rictus decided on his attack. He aimed his eagle right at the dragon while it was still grounded. Next, he started accelerating right at the beast while cancelling the feather spell on it. As they were getting closer, he scooped Mirajane up into his arms and leapt off.

The dragon turned suddenly as it looked to the sky right at them and the incoming contraption. A loud booming sound rocked the area as the metal eagle crashed into the ground followed by a pained roar. Unfortunately, the dragon's movement caused the eagle to be off target. Instead of crashing into the beast's back, it had pulverized the left wing of the creature. While not as effective as desired, it still grounded the beast and left it vulnerable.

Rictus quickly brought them down atop the tower of the fort. Mirajane wasted no time as she fired her bow as quickly as possible at the downed dragon. While not doing huge amounts of damage, the arrows shallowly pierced the scales and were clustered around important areas such as joints and the face. The dragon turned towards them and started cocking its head back in what was most likely to be a breath attack. Before the dragon could release its attack, Mirajane struck again.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The unrelenting force slammed into the dragon. Interrupting its attack and sending it staggering. Mirajane jumped off the edge of the tower and onto the walls of the fort as she continued launching arrows at the disoriented beast. The shout had also gotten Rictus moving.

Deadly sharp ice blades began appearing around him and flying towards the staggered beast at tremendous speeds as he jumped off the top of the tower. This was the first true test of his newest Enhanced spell, Elemental Blades, and it was performing marvelously. The large ice blades punctured through the wings of the beast, pinning it to the ground. More smashed into its body and ripped off chunks of scales with every impact.

Right before he impacted the ground beside the dragon, he channeled his mana into the ground around them causing a pillar of stone to rise and meet him as he slowed his fall with feather fall. The earth continued bending to his will as more stone pillars shot up from the ground before collapsing on top of the dragon, trapping it in place. The beast began floundering about trying to free itself from its confines, but Rictus was having none of that as he kept reinforcing the impromptu cage built around it.

He spared a quick glance checking on Mirajane. He was glad he got did as he got to witness the dragonborn in action.

She threw herself off the top of the wall and directly at the dragon's head. The dragon opened its teeth filled maw as fire started belching from its throat. The attack fell flat as Mirajane let out a quick FUS while in the air, causing its head to turn and the attack to miss. The bound bow in her hands dissipated into a ghostly looking spear in her hands instead. As she was falling past the dragon's head, the bladed tip was stabbed into the neck arresting her fall. She redirected her downward momentum to swing herself around, letting go of the stuck spear, and landing on the dragon's neck. Two large bound blades appeared in her hands as she ran the last few steps towards the head of the beast.

The dragon tried looking up at her, but all that did was present the perfect target. The blades pierced down into both eyes of the dragon and into its skull. A rumbling mournful sound escaped its mouth as it collapsed to the ground.

Rictus stared in wonder at the sight he had seen so many times on a screen happen in real life.

Golden white energy surrounded the dragon as a whooshing sound was heard. The energy swirled for a moment before flowing right into Mirajane who had been surrounded by a nimbus of the golden light. The dragon's body began rapidly decomposing as its body turned into fine dust which was blown away by the wind. As the process finished, all that was left were some scales laying around the bared skeleton. Mirajane stood with her eyes closed and a rapturous look upon her face. When she opened her eyes, they appeared just like the eyes of the dragon they just killed, before slowly turning back to their original color.

She stared at him for a moment before laughing.

"Hahaha! That was amazing! If you fought anything like this on that island, it is no wonder everyone was so impressed by you. You moved the stone around like it was putty in your hands. The fact you could immobilize a dragon by yourself is something to be proud of, even if it was injured, distracted, and young."

Rictus smiled at her praise but couldn't help shaking his head at the last thing she said. If this huge creature was a young one, the elder dragons would be massive. Still, he was happy at how smooth the fight had gone. The initial surprise attack played a large role in it. The dragon was hurt and crippled before they even began their real attacks. It would have been significantly harder if the dragon had attacked them first instead of the other way around. Mirajane drew his attention as she kept talking.

"I am impressed how well we fought together against the dragon for our first fight. It is a shame not all fights could be this simple and easy. I am not sure why, but it seems as if Alduin is reviving mostly younger dragons first before the older more powerful ones. It is almost as if he is wanting me to grow in power and become stronger. Strange, isn't it?"

He had to agree with her on all points. They had worked very well together for the short fight, and it was easier than other battles he had been in. It was strange the weaker dragons were appearing first and more often though. Such a thing made sense in a game, but not here. Maybe Alduin wanted a large backing before raising the more powerful ones. He had abandoned them after all, even if it wasn't by his choosing. The younger ones couldn't put up any kind of fight against him, but the older ones could have been a slight problem. They could retaliate if they were upset at him. If enough banded together, it would be an inconvenience for the World Eater. It was something to think about at least.

"I am also impressed with how we fought together and the easiness of the fight. A lot of things went our way though so that always helps. It is a little strange how things are happening like that. I for one, am glad they are though. The more powerful you become; the easier it will be when you defeat Alduin."

She gave a determined nod at the thought of beating Alduin. The way Rictus acted like it was only a matter of time gave her confidence. Doubt clouded her mind at times but seeing the faith people put in her renewed her confidence.

"Well, you are welcome to the corpse here like promised. I will take a couple of spare scales as a little trophy if you don't mind though."

"I don't mind that at all."

Rictus smiled while thinking of the things he could potentially use the corpse for. He hoped there were some larger patches of scales left for an interesting experiment he had talked with Tolfdir about a couple weeks ago.

"We are fairly close to Riften. How about we take a little break as I bury the corpse real fast? Fixing up the eagle will take a little while, but I could always summon Billy to take you at least to the edge of Lake Honrich."

She gave his offer some thought.

"Hmm. I don't think that will be necessary. I can make my way from here. While I enjoy your company, I wouldn't mind a little alone time before getting back into the thick of things. Taking a nice ride along the riverbank and the lake will be peaceful for me."

"I fully understand the sentiment. I wish you well in your journey. It has been more fun than I thought. If you ever need anything, just contact the closest Restored base, and I will hear about it."

She gave him a smile and a nod before moving towards the broken-down gate. She stopped before fully exiting the gate to give him one last look.

"I know it is selfish, but are you sure you won't join me? I could use someone like you."

Rictus stopped and really considered the offer. Did he want to travel with her? After their little adventure together, he was considering it. It would be easy to just drop everything and join her. The cause was worthy. Alduin needed to be stopped if anyone wanted to live much longer.

"I would like to join you…but I don't believe I will just yet. I think I could better help you by growing the Restored and giving other kinds of assistance beyond just fighting by your side. If you ever need any kind of equipment or information, go to any of our outposts, and we will give you whatever we can. When something big happens or there is something you cannot handle alone, do not hesitate to call on me. I will answer with the full might of the Restored if it is needed."

He tossed her two amulets as he finished talking. One was a solid iron chain with an R hanging on it. The R had two little horns coming off the top. The other one was the same amulet he had received from the hagraven for altering her appearance.

"Show the R to any Restored and they will help you. The other one is in case you come into conflict with any hagravens or forsworn. I have a feeling you may have to visit the Reach eventually, and this will speed your travels. Good luck."

She looked over the amulets before placing them into one of her pockets. Without another word, she summoned a large wolf familiar which she mounted before taking off out of the fort. Rictus watched her go with only a small part of him feeling bad. He had been tempted to join her on her world saving quest. Such a thing was the fantasy of many boys and girls growing up. It was what many stories were based off. Unfortunately, he felt better suited to provide a different kind of support.

Not having to worry about paying for equipment or other little details like that would be a huge help. There would be times when it would be very helpful for there to be more than just a couple people helping her. He couldn't remember the exact details, but he knew there would be at least a couple times where a small army would greatly help the dragonborn. When those times happened, he would answer the call. Until then though, he would do what he could to prepare.

He smiled as he observed the dragon skeleton before him.

"This will provide some excellent materials for experimenting."

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[AN]: Oooo we finally have our first fight with a dragon. I understand it was pretty anticlimactic as far as fights go, but they did take it by surprise this time. It would not have been as easy if it was an alert elder dragon.