That Part Chapter 31: Vigor

This is a Skyrim/Alan Wake 2 fic. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

This chapter has been edited due to content. If you want to see the unedited version GO HERE.

JASH

I put the cup of coffee down on the table near to Alan. The liquid had a pleasant scent, was warm, and the caffeine put more energy in me. It was a pleasant treat from a far land and I didn’t want to have to give it up when returning to Skyrim.

“I can see why you like this.” I told Alex. “The people of Skyrim would kill for such a beverage.”

Especially as the Last Dragonborn championed it.

“You don’t have any coffee where you come from?” Alan asked.

“Not that I know of, bard.” I replied. “And I have traveled the length and width of Skyrim. I’ve seen more of the land than most. My eyes have seen the hidden places that few have been to. If there was a secret group that brewed coffee in Skyrim, I would have found out by now.”

“Then where are you going to find coffee beans?”

“Tamriel is a large continent and I’m sure someone must have figured out how to grow coffee beans. It’s just that no one has been able to grow it in Skyrim.”

I looked down into the cup of coffee and found myself thinking of Hammerfell. The thick, unyielding scent and flavor reminded me of the Redguards. Like the coffee they were a force that would never back down.

“You’ll need to plant it in Goldenhills Plantation.” Alex said.

“Because it’s close to Rorikstead.” I agreed.

“What’s important about Rorikstead?” Alan asked.

I looked at Alex with a smile and then back at Alan. It would be an adjustment for my love to adapt to Skyrim, but it could be done. If he could plan about such simple things it made sense for him to be able to prepare for more.

“The leaders of Rorikstead made a deal with a Daedric Prince.” I explained. “This has ensured that ever since the deal, the soil of Rorikstead is richer than it should be. There is always a surplus of crops and no harvest has ever failed. If there is one place in Skyrim that anything can grow, it is there.”

I didn’t bother mentioning to Alan that the deal in question saw every mother dead. Sissel had lost a mother and she wasn’t the only one. I hadn’t yet told her about why her mother was no longer in Mundus.

“What will you call your coffee?” Alan asked.

“It is not ours to have picked out a name yet.” I admitted. “It would help us to have a sense of direction before choosing a name.”

“Foreign Shores? You aren’t in Skyrim and we’re close to Cauldron Lake.”

Alex let out a sigh and we turned to look at him. His face seemed to struggle with not calling Alan’s suggestion dumb in extremely explicit terms. The confrontation with the bard had helped out with my love’s feelings even though he didn’t appear to be one to be clear with such things.

At least not in the way Scouts-Many-Marshes wa-had been.

“Don’t keep us waiting.” I said with a wry grin.

“Your race has a long history.” Alex said. “I don’t think you should give that up just because you came to Earth and liked coffee.”

“Jash wouldn’t be giving that up.” Alan argued. “If he’s going to grow coffee in Skyrim the name should be based on where it was discovered.”

“That’s the point. Jash will be the first ever to successfully grow coffee in Skyrim. Not you. Not me. Not a human.”

“My race has been enslaved by everyone in Tamriel, bard.” I explained. “I think what Alex is trying to point out is that since a Saxhleel will be the first to grow coffee in Skyrim, that the name needs to remind people of my race’s accomplishments.”

Alex nodded and I thought about what I would call my brew. I agreed with my love that the name needed to remind people of my race’s accomplishments. If I grew coffee in Skyrim then it wouldn’t just be me that would have credit, it would be another sign that my race didn’t deserve our dark history.

But which accomplishment from Saxhleel history should I remind the people of Skyrim of? The fact that it was the Saxhleel who had been the greatest force against the opening of the Oblivion Gates? Or the fact that we had been created to be the most perfect combinations of both men and mer?

No. The name of my brew must combine every accomplishment of my people.

“I’ll call my coffee Saxhleel Vigor.” I told the two dryskins. “My brew will have the strength of my race.”

I snapped my head towards the window and Alex followed my movement a moment later. Without looking, the cup was in my hand and I used Arniel's Convection to heat the coffee to a boiling point. It wouldn’t be an effective weapon but it could buy us time.

Alex had gone to the window while I stood in between the window and Alan. I could quickly turn and attack anyone that came from a different direction but, currently, the window was the most likely path of attack.

“FBI!” Alex shouted and took out his gun.

“Give us the writer!” A human voice yelled back. That dryskin must be a member of the Cult of the Tree. “We don’t want anyone else!”

“Let me guess. If we hand you Alan Wake you’ll just leave us alone.”

“Yes!”

“**** off!”