Dragonborn Saga
/ Dragonborn Saga 349 A Cat's Tail of Trouble
~~~~~~~~~~
*More than three months ago*
The mountain fell on Jon. She felt the connection between her and Jon get disturbed. It was shaken and weak. Jon's life was endangered.
Despite all that, she couldn't do a thing or move a muscle. She powerlessly fell down and couldn't move.
She saw Wulfur carry her and run towards Jon's location. He put her down and started moving the rocks despite his injuries. Not having much of a chance, the Hagravens were already aiming their magic at him. Wulfur was locked in a desperate struggle between digging up a mountain and fighting the enemies with his life-threatening injuries. He did his best but she saw one of the hags stretching its disgusting hand towards her.
"Catch the Fey! Rip her core!" The hags carried on a disgusting smile as she said in a frenzied tone.
Nefertiti was still unable to move. She wanted to resist or simply vanish in the shadow world to recover but that was proving impossible. Her head was splitting from pain.
Just as she was desperately trying to do anything about it, a silver beeline flew towards the hag and launched her away. It was Wulfur abandoning his hammer to save Nefertiti. He ran towards her and pulled her up.
"H... Hooman!"
"We can't save him, we need to run."
Wulfur carried the girl in his arms and ran to the South.
"No... Jon... Hooman..."
Her weak pitiful screams kept muttering those three words repeatedly.
"No… please… he is in pain… I feel it… stop."
She could only move her arms weakly to push Wulfur away but it was impossible with the weakness that struck her. She could only look back towards Jon's direction.
Her voice turned into her original nature, it was the heartbroken meows of a cat mixed in human speech. Wulfur couldn't help but be shaken from the pained meows that she started to make, his eyes started tearing up as he ran through the darkness.
***
Nefertiti started to transform slowly into her cat form. She kept getting smaller gradually which was unnatural for her.
Wulfur has already escaped a safe distance and hid with her in some cave he found. There was a water stream beside them and both of them needed to heal.
Not knowing what got to her, Wulfur couldn't communicate with her or even cure her. Only Jon can talk with her in her cat form and she seemed weakened to the point that she developed a fever. Wulfur too couldn't resist his wounds and fell sick.
Lucky for him, he can do some healing magic but it was long since he ran out of Magicka and his recovery wasn't as good as Jon. He had to resort to the primal methods with himself and save the Magic to Nefertiti.
His spare dagger was heated on flames until it got red and he kept treating his wounds by it. He was used to the fire but still, it was unbearable.
As for Nefertiti, she would only wake up every few hours for some short minutes then pass down again. Wulfur would treat her for some time only for her fever to go back to how it was again.
Whenever they got hungry, Wulfur would go out with a wooden spear he crafted and hunt a rabbit or a wolf. They kept for three days like that until Wulfur was in better shape than before.
No one could tell where they hid until it was that day. Nefertiti woke up at night and she was not quite herself.
"I don't feel him… he is not there."
The connection between her and Jon broke and she started to sober up.
But something was not right. Not about Jon, but about her.
It was not a full moons night so why she was feeling like that.
She looked out the cave and things started to feel wrong. It shouldn't come like that… she can already resist that effect. This madness.
"Wul… fur."
She started to transform gradually. Wulfur heard her an woke up.
"Hey, you are transform…"
"R… un!"
Not sure what was happening, Wulfur backed down a few steps as he noticed Nefertiti's unnatural aura. This was not a good sign.
In such a night, Nefertiti was abnormally turning wild.
He only had a crude spear made of wood and stone to fend off himself which he was fully aware that won't stand a single chance against Nefertiti. He has not completely recovered himself too.
'Run, don't bullshit me.' Wulfur's righteous character activated and tried to approach Nefertiti to calm her but what he didn't expect happened next.
Her hand enlarged and entered the Werecat Form on its own then slashed with its claws at him. Reflexly blocking her attack, Wulfur jumped backward and rolled to absorb the shock but as he faced her again, she was fully in the Werecat Form and an inch away from his throat.
His reflexes were still high and he continued to roll backward with his momentum dodging her three times miraculously. Just as he got the foothold he needed, he kicked the ground jumping out of the cave's entrance.
His body was screaming with pain but he couldn't stop. A berserking Werecat was something he knew he shouldn't face.
Running was the only option but that meant giving up on both Jon and Nefertiti. Wulfur swallowed it in his heart and started running.
Sure as hell, the berserking Nefertiti gave a chase.
In such a dark night, her senses were much superior to his and her agility was scary. The 10 meters between them were now only one centimeter and her claws were about to dig at his back but still… someone interfered.
"Catch it! The Fey! It is here!"
A bolt of Lightning Magic descended on Nefertiti launching her a distance behind Wulfur.
"NO!"
He couldn't endure the sight of a comrade being shot like that. He already lost all his comrades and his brother. His mentality was only hanging to a thread of hope that Jon is alive. He wanted to rely on Nefertiti who can locate Jon even in Oblivion but things were going out of his way.
Suddenly, a flock of ravens flew in the night sky and landed to form an entity. A Hagraven. No, not a normal one. An Elder Hagraven.
"Hahaha! The curse worked! Now catch it!"
In that night, a band of forsworn appeared from the mountains and headed towards Nefertiti with chains hooks and harpoons. Wulfur could understand their plan fully.
"Fuck you all!"
Enraged he, to the nearest Forsworn only to be shot by the Magic of the Elder Hagraven and fall on his face. Not giving up, he shot up with all his might once again not caring for his wounds and punching the head of the nearest Forsworn turning it into pieces and looted his weapon immediately. Not that a weapon was in his hand, the titans shall tremble.
His head blanked out and all he could remember was blood and bones being crushed. Eight swords broke in his hands and the dead were all over. He reached the semi-unconscious Nefertiti and kicked her so she can fully awake.
In her Werecat Form, Nefertiti regained her frenzied state and attacked without looking. Wulfur was already far away from her and her victims were the Forsworn.
A hack and slash scene occurred while Wulfur and Nefertiti avoided the spells that were being cast by the Elder Hagraven and used the warriors as meat shields.
Wulfur wanted to take down the Hagraven but it seemed impossible. As they ran out of meat Shields, the Hagraven could finally attack them directly.
Wulfur had no choice but to pull Nefertiti's aggro on himself and make a run for it. It worked without him doing anything and he ran towards the travelers road hoping to find some aid. He was near Old Hroldan over the bridge across Karth River. Just as Nefertiti came closer, the Elder Hagraven was already blocking their road and opened her mouth to breath flame like how Jon does with the Thu'um.
The choices were limited to death from the front or death from the back but Wulfur's tenacity showed its full potential by the next move. He threw the weapon he had on the Hagraven and turned around to face Nefertiti's claws that dug deep in his arms. With that, he resisted all the pain and hugged Nefertiti then jumped with her off the bridge.
And both disappeared in the river…
***
She woke up with heavy eyes.
She could feel it… the blood in her mouth.
'No! What have… no.'
She knew it. Every time her instincts as a werebeast kick in, she would go hunt and the next day she would wake up with the taste of blood in her mouth.
This taste was different. It was human blood.
Just what did she do?
Did she harm Wulfur?
She was terrified. Her mentality was already in an extreme state let alone bearing the guilt of going wild on a comrade.
He was the last person with her… if it was him, she can never face Jon ever again.
"She woke up."
A voice broke her line of thoughts. She looked up to see a blonde Nord woman in a monk's habit looking down on her.
"Girl, are you alright? Do you understand what I say?" The woman said.
Nefertiti looked at her hand and sure she was in human form. She then looked at the woman and nodded.
"Where are your parents?" The woman asked.
Nefertiti tilted her head.
Parents?
She once had those but she can't recall them. Her mother, she is a cat in the College and her father is also another cat. Why are they important to ask about?
She only shook her head.
"Oh…" The woman put on a complicated face. "Then who looks after you?"
Nefertiti looked down and spoke with a weak voice.
"Hooman."
"Who is that? Your family? Friend?"
Nefertiti shook her head.
"He is…" Nefertiti couldn't say more than that.
What was he to her?
A Father? An older brother? No, that's how human may look at it. It was different for her.
"He is… my hooman."
That's the relationship she knew. It was all she needed.
"I don't get it." The woman made a complicated face but smiled in the end, "I suppose that you are lost right? We fished you from the river after all."
Nefertiti listened and didn't reply.
"This is a Holy Ground for the Goddess Mara, a shrine where we Priesthood of Mara do some sacred rituals so we don't live in the city but don't worry. A friend of ours will come in a few days and will take you to the city, there you will find your… that word you said." The priestess said.
"... Really?"
"Yes, really. Now rest well."
***
As the Priestess promised, three days later to Nefertiti's arrival, an old Priestess in a yellow habit came to visit the sacred ground of Mara. Despite not being a member of Mara's cult, the Priestess was treated with utmost respect being addressed as the Lady, Sybil of Dibella.
As if two spirits had a long deep connection with one another, Nefertiti and the Sybil of Dibella made a connection right away.
Even though a black cat, Nefertiti was welcomed into the Temple of Dibella whose sacred animals are the white cats. The Sybil insisted to keep Nefertiti in the Temple rather than sending her to the orphanage.
Even though not trying to get along with the priestesses, Nefertiti and the Sybil of Dibella had many conversations together that none knew of. The old lady and the little cat were almost friends.
And three months went by.
The only thing the Nefertiti cherished was her black dress and the necklace of Dwemer metal that she refused to let anyone touch.
And finally, at one night, Nefertiti heard some singing. She was drawn to it and just walked silently out of the Temple.
She kept walking in streets she didn't know and places she saw for the first time until she arrived at a tavern and walked. She saw many people gathered smiling around one man who was singing a silly song that she was so familiar with.
Yes, it was the song that led her here.
Nefertiti saw his face hidden under his hood and a surge of emotions attacked her.
But she attacked back…
With a broom…
On the head…
Screaming atop her lungs…
"HOOMAN YOU IDIOT!"
Chapter end
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