"So the Knight, is he mute?" Emmet asked as Lucy dragged him... somewhere, he hadn't been paying too much attention when she said where they were going.
"He says he's not, but none of us have ever heard him speak," she answered.
"Then why use sign if he can talk?"
"For safety reasons, I guess- his own, if not ours. He's told us he'll show us who he is someday, when the fighting is over. But while the war is still going on, it's a bad idea."
"Why? Is he some sort of criminal? Or maybe royalty in disguise? I mean I suppose that makes sense, not wanting everyone to know you're royalty when you're trying to put someone else on the throne-"
"I don't know, Emmet, and nobody really wants to pry. All that matters to us is that he's a good leader, and he cares about us."
"Okay," he accepted, and looked around. "Where is this?"
Lucy fought the urge to roll her eyes. "The arena, remember?"
"What are we doing here?"
"I'm going to try to teach you how to defend yourself, so we don't have a repeat of what happened in Solitude. Somehow I get the feeling those masked weirdos aren't going to be the last people to try to grab you. I hate to think of what a bunch of daedric cultists might do with the blood of a Dragonborn..."
"But I don't like fighting..."
"I know," Lucy said with as much patience as she could muster. "But we're going to be facing a lot of people who do like fighting, and are very good at it. I'm going to teach you how to avoid getting hit, and how to escape if someone does manage to grab you again. Once you get the hang of that, Kitty will help you learn some spells." Emmet made a face at that. "Not all magic is of the Destruction school. She can teach you how to cast wards, how to heal yourself, how to stun or startle someone who's attacking you, how to hide yourself, and even how to summon atronachs to fight for you if you can't get away by any other means."
Emmet sighed, and nodded. "Okay."
"Good. Now go grab one of those shields, the first thing we're going to do is teach you how to block." He nodded, walking over to pick one out, and came back.
"Um. Can you show me how this thing goes on...?" Lucy huffed a quiet laugh and helped him get the shield adjusted.
"We'll have to see about getting you some proper armor, too."
~* *~
Sirius decided he'd had enough of bedrest only a couple hours after waking up again. He was honestly feeling better now, after having eaten every bite of the meal Jenny had brought him under Watevra's watchful glare (even if it did get difficult to swallow it all down about halfway through), and complained until he'd annoyed them enough to let him up. Jenny only laughed when he made a beeline for the door and let himself out, following him into the hallway. She caught up to him quickly enough and looped her arm through his, startling him with the friendly gesture.
"You're going to be keeping a closer eye on my eating habits now, aren't you?" he grumbled.
"Certainly," she chirped in response. "Now that we know it's going to be a problem." She reflexively hugged his arm when he tried to pull away, his posture tense. "Sirius?"
"Let go," he hissed, tugging harder. She released her hold on him, giving him a worried look.
"Did I say something wrong?" He clenched his jaw as he stalked away, intent on ignoring her for as long as possible. "Talk to me," she pleaded, hurrying after him. "I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."
"You're all alike!" he snarled, whirling back to face her. "Thinking you know what's best for me! Everybody's gotta control what Sirius eats! He's too fat for the elves, and too skinny for the humans!" Her jaw dropped.
"...I see," she murmured softly after a while. "I take it you've heard those words before." He only snorted in response. "For what it's worth, Watevra really is only concerned about your health. I mean come on, you passed out. That scared the crap out of us! Like it or not, you're half human. You're never going to fit their standards, no matter how much you starve yourself, or hide behind your magic, or behave like an arrogant asshole like every other Thalmor we've ever met." He stared in dumbfounded shock. He'd never heard her curse before. "And honestly? They're not worth that effort anyway. Maybe they're nice enough to your face, but you should ask Penn about some of the conversations she's overheard while out on missions. They don't care about you, Sirius, you're only an asset to them, and they'll keep stringing you along as long as they can make you believe you're important to them. I know it's an uncomfortable truth to face when that life is all you've ever known, but it is truth."
He clenched his fists, glaring down at her. She only stared calmly, if sadly, back up at him, until he couldn't look anymore and had to turn away. He really didn't know how much longer he could stand staying with the rebels. Compassion was such a strange, alien thing to him. It had merely annoyed him at first. It was a weakness, something to be exploited. But now... he felt he might soon succumb to their persistent caring, and it frightened him.
He had to get out of there before he passed the point of no return.
YOU ARE READING
Murphy's Law
Fanfiction[Skyrim Crossover] As if Skyrim wasn't already hectic enough, with its inhabitants fighting both the Aldmeri Dominion and the Empire. Now there's dragons, too, and Emmet finds himself unwittingly roped into the whole mess. What else could go wrong?
