Reborn ~an Alduin Love Story~

Lose Yourself

Quite a few hours passed since they left Riften but they still had much ground to cover if they hoped to reach Whiterun within the next couple of days. Alduin wanted to get there as soon as possible to find a bed to sleep in. He spent one night in one and didn't know how he ever rested before without them. Sizaa however was in no such hurry. She was so curious about the new terrain around her she stopped for almost everything she could get her hands on.

"When you get past the cold, the rabid wildlife, and the unbelievable number of questionable individuals along the pathways Skyrim is actually kind of beautiful, wouldn't you say?" Sizaan smiled as she plucked a dragon's tongue from its roots and stuffed it into her satchel. The small bag was getting crowded between her potions, her alchemy ingredients, their gold, and the map. She would have to get a bigger one soon.

"I suppose." Alduin didn't care for the appeal of the nature around them. His thoughts were centered on what the thief had told them.

'Figure a plan soon. It's far too easy to lose yourself when you're wandering without direction'

'Lose yourself...' The idea perplexed him. Hadn't he already lost himself?

"Pruzah sul (A good day*)." Sizaa's words seemed happy but he didn't know what she was saying.

"I beg your pardon?" Sizaa turned to him confused.

"Pruzah sul?" She repeated herself. The lack of comprehension in his eyes perturbed her. She turned away and returned to her course down the path.

It took a moment for his mind to register Alduin had no idea what she was saying to him. She spoke dov as fluently as any dovah he had met and now even more than he. He wasn't unaware of the fact that with each passing moment the characteristics that once defined him were fading into nothing. He was cold, no true dov felt the chill of frost when dragon fires fueled their being. He was sore, no true dov knew the definition of aching limps when strength was their birthright. He was tired, no true dov felt the exhaustion of travel when a few wing beats could carry them half way across the realm.

The worst part of it all was it didn't bother him. And that bothered him. He was so accustomed to his rage and hatred he knew he should yearn to feel it again. He should crave to slip back into the familiar scales of the beast that was so powerful he could shake the heavens and devour the souls of the dead. But he didn't. And he knew why. He felt nothing. Nothing but the cold and the damp in his joints. Nothing but the weariness and hunger in his bones. Nothing but the sense of calming Sizaa brought him.

From the second they met it all came back to her. When he woke up alone and confused at the entrance to the Throat of the World he was Alduin, the World Eater. He was no different then what he had died as even though he had come back to life human. He was spiteful and ready to destroy Paarthurnax for betraying him all those milennia ago. Then he saw his brother and for some reason his loathing dissolved to culpability. The sword in his hand he didn't recognize or know how to use until Paarthurnax decided to attack him.

He was so overwhelmed by a sudden plethora of human emotion Alduin had no idea what to do with himself. He felt like a newborn breaching the comfort of its shell and trying to make sense of themselves with no one to guide him. Until Sizaan arrived and all became still. Alduin realized that his physical reincarnation as inexplainable and mind boggling as it was meant nothing. He hadn't truly been reborn until Sizaa stumbled her way into his life. And in return he ruined hers.

He got her thrown from all she knew and forced to accompany him despite the hatred he thought she felt for him until he found his purpose. He didn't know how he'd do so but he would. Not for his sake, but for hers so that one day she might be welcomed into her home once again.

He was so wrapped up in his internal conflicts he didn't notice Sizaa wasn't walking anymore and her bow was drawn though her arm was shaking. In their way stood two figures, both clad in black cloaks embroidered with red thread that seemed oddly familiar to Alduin.

A/N: I apologize for this chapter being slightly shorter than others but I'm honestly exhausted cx I hope you guys enjoyed though ^~^