They rode north of Windhelm, to the flat open area that overlooked the Palace of the Kings. Their horses’ hooves kicked up a spray of the ankle-deep snow. More would probably fall later, but for now the air was clear, and unusually still. The tops of the mountains were shrouded, as always, in cloud, and their breath steamed in front of their faces.
“This will do,” Ulfric declared. They left the horses behind them, not wanting to frighten the creatures into bolting.
“Why exactly are we doing this?” Dyce asked, as they walked through the snow.
“The battle for Solitude is coming,” Ulfric said. “This will be no mere skirmish. I will lead our forces personally, and I want to feel your Thu’um now, before the battle. I want to hear the voice of the Dragonborn.”
“Kinky,” Dyce said.
Ulfric didn’t dignify that with an answer.
“I think it’s more than that,” Dyce continued. “You want to test me. You want to know if your Thu’um can beat mine if you need it to.”
“Can you blame me?” Ulfric asked.
“Not really.”
They stood facing each other about ten feet apart. Ulfric inclined his head, “After you, Dragonborn.”
FUS!
Dyce grinned as Ulfric struggled to stay on his feet in the cloud of snow his shout had raised. Ulfric snapped his head up, and Dyce caught his eyes blazing briefly.
FUS RO DAH!
Dyce was knocked right off his feet, and ploughed a six foot long trench in the snow. He tumbled and scrambled to his feet.
FUS
Breath. Don’t let him catch his breath.
FUS RO DAH
This time it was Ulfric’s turn to roll in the snow. Dyce grinned, scrambling to his feet, and casting aside his bow and quiver of arrows; if he was going to roll around, they’d risk being snapped.
And roll he did, for the next time Ulfric Shouted, Dyce was ready for him, and rolled out of the way, shaking the snow out of his hair and Shouting back.
For raw power, Dyce could not be matched. Even using all three words, Ulfric could do no more than send him skidding away across the snow. When Dyce managed to hit Ulfric, however, the Nord was sent flying, landing feet away in a puff of snow and scrabbling for purchase. But Ulfric had control; Dyce’s Shouts took all the air out of his lungs, and he had to wait to Shout again. Ulfric needed to wait only half as long, a fact he cannily hid from Dyce until he got a clear shot at him in an unguarded moment and faceplanted him into the snow.
The pristine blanket of snow was scuffed and trampled and churned as they circled each other. Dyce grinned like a maniac; this was far more fun than when the Greybeards did it, while Ulfric was concentrating on his breathing, allowing only brief, satisfied smiles when he managed to make the thief tumble.
“Give up?” Dyce called, his hands on his knees.
“Hardly. I think-” Ulfric broke off as a shriek echoed down from the nearby mountains.
Dyce and Ulfric exchanged a glance and waited to see if the sound would be repeated. They didn’t have to wait long. With a scream of challenge, and with the sun gleaming off its bronze scales, an elder dragon wound its way out of the clouds still hanging around the peaks.
“I suppose we were making a lot of noise,” Ulfric said. He drew his axe, and watched the dragon approach.
It circled them once, and Dyce could tell it was confused to have heard two voices Shouting below, but was keen to challenge them both, arrogant in its age and power. It opened its massive jaws and great gout of frost poured from between it’s gleaming teeth. The two men turned and ran, kicking up a spray of snow with every footstep.
Ulfric Shouted, battering the dragon slightly, while Dyce cast about. The dragon circled around for another attack. Dyce took a deep breath and Shouted it off-course, the force of his Thu’um sending it out of control briefly before it unfolded its wings and stabilized.
“Shit shit shit shit.” Dyce cast about, kicking at the snow as they ran again from the dragon’s icy breath.
“What are you doing?” Ulfric yelled.
Dyce shook his head, someone finding the breath to wheeze out a laugh. “I can’t find my bow. We made too much of a mess.”
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timeasmymeasure
What's a Thief to a King? M!DB/Ulfric 17/??
Date: 2013-02-10 07:07 am (UTC)“This will do,” Ulfric declared. They left the horses behind them, not wanting to frighten the creatures into bolting.
“Why exactly are we doing this?” Dyce asked, as they walked through the snow.
“The battle for Solitude is coming,” Ulfric said. “This will be no mere skirmish. I will lead our forces personally, and I want to feel your Thu’um now, before the battle. I want to hear the voice of the Dragonborn.”
“Kinky,” Dyce said.
Ulfric didn’t dignify that with an answer.
“I think it’s more than that,” Dyce continued. “You want to test me. You want to know if your Thu’um can beat mine if you need it to.”
“Can you blame me?” Ulfric asked.
“Not really.”
They stood facing each other about ten feet apart. Ulfric inclined his head, “After you, Dragonborn.”
FUS!
Dyce grinned as Ulfric struggled to stay on his feet in the cloud of snow his shout had raised. Ulfric snapped his head up, and Dyce caught his eyes blazing briefly.
FUS RO DAH!
Dyce was knocked right off his feet, and ploughed a six foot long trench in the snow. He tumbled and scrambled to his feet.
FUS
Breath. Don’t let him catch his breath.
FUS RO DAH
This time it was Ulfric’s turn to roll in the snow. Dyce grinned, scrambling to his feet, and casting aside his bow and quiver of arrows; if he was going to roll around, they’d risk being snapped.
And roll he did, for the next time Ulfric Shouted, Dyce was ready for him, and rolled out of the way, shaking the snow out of his hair and Shouting back.
For raw power, Dyce could not be matched. Even using all three words, Ulfric could do no more than send him skidding away across the snow. When Dyce managed to hit Ulfric, however, the Nord was sent flying, landing feet away in a puff of snow and scrabbling for purchase. But Ulfric had control; Dyce’s Shouts took all the air out of his lungs, and he had to wait to Shout again. Ulfric needed to wait only half as long, a fact he cannily hid from Dyce until he got a clear shot at him in an unguarded moment and faceplanted him into the snow.
The pristine blanket of snow was scuffed and trampled and churned as they circled each other. Dyce grinned like a maniac; this was far more fun than when the Greybeards did it, while Ulfric was concentrating on his breathing, allowing only brief, satisfied smiles when he managed to make the thief tumble.
“Give up?” Dyce called, his hands on his knees.
“Hardly. I think-” Ulfric broke off as a shriek echoed down from the nearby mountains.
Dyce and Ulfric exchanged a glance and waited to see if the sound would be repeated. They didn’t have to wait long. With a scream of challenge, and with the sun gleaming off its bronze scales, an elder dragon wound its way out of the clouds still hanging around the peaks.
“I suppose we were making a lot of noise,” Ulfric said. He drew his axe, and watched the dragon approach.
It circled them once, and Dyce could tell it was confused to have heard two voices Shouting below, but was keen to challenge them both, arrogant in its age and power. It opened its massive jaws and great gout of frost poured from between it’s gleaming teeth. The two men turned and ran, kicking up a spray of snow with every footstep.
Ulfric Shouted, battering the dragon slightly, while Dyce cast about. The dragon circled around for another attack. Dyce took a deep breath and Shouted it off-course, the force of his Thu’um sending it out of control briefly before it unfolded its wings and stabilized.
“Shit shit shit shit.” Dyce cast about, kicking at the snow as they ran again from the dragon’s icy breath.
“What are you doing?” Ulfric yelled.
Dyce shook his head, someone finding the breath to wheeze out a laugh. “I can’t find my bow. We made too much of a mess.”