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| Helfer looked away, but nodded as Ubergard turned to go. "At least she didn't try to take my blade," Ubergard thought and looked back as she saw Helfer drink the healing potion. Then the Argonian turned back and returned the way she had come. | |

| For her part, Helfer was not immune to the kindness Ubergard had shown her. The potion stopped the bleeding and the pain, but it did not restore her voice, though months later she would manage to regain a raspy imitation of it. Enough to communicate with, but she would never again Shout. But for now, as she watched the Argonian retreat and cross the stream, she regretted much that she had done. | |

| But above all, she regretted that she had lost her sting. She was nothing now. She was an ant, and would be stepped on by the first person bigger than herself. With it, she could dream of equality with such as Ubergod. She could not do magic, above the very basest of spells. She could no longer Shout. She could never hope to match the Argonian physically - not with the most intensive training imaginable, even if she could find some way to obtain it. No, Ubergod was beyond her wildest dreams now, ant that she was. | |

| She wept until she could weep no more as she watched Ubergard until the Argonian was out of sight. Then finally hunger brought her back to more practical matters. | |

| She still had some skills, distasteful though they were to most. But fortunately for her, her own upbringing left no moral taint for whatever means to survive she had left. Surely in the town beside the bridge there was someone who needed... companionship. She began the walk back there. She would need to communicate somehow. She knew no letters. It would be difficult. But she still had her body, and it could speak for her until she found a better way. | |

| And as she walked, a new idea sparked in her head. The bow. The arrow. Those were stings of a sort. A sort she could learn to use. It might take years, for she would have to become_very_ good at them. But it was hope. A slight smile rose on her lips. "Maybe someday," she thought. "We may meet again, Ubergod. And maybe in time, you will love Helfer... or... not." | |

| She bore Ubergard no malice in her mad heart. Without a sting, she could not expect the giantess to love her. There could be no love, no respect, without something to equalize their stature. Perhaps archery or something similar could fill that void. And perhaps she would forget Ubergard someday. Maybe she would never rise to that level of ability. But she had hope again, and with hope there was a reason to live. | |

| Crouching to spy out the village, she saw a man working in the mill. He did not look friendly, but he did look single. And strong. Large. She cared not if he was male or female. She had skills to please either. But his bulk was... inviting. She would soon find out what he thought about female Khajiits. | |

| Since she couldn't speak, she decided to leave her robe off and let her body do her talking. She was still damp, with mud and blood still clinging to her. She mentally became a stranger, nearly drowned as she had been swept over the waterfall, her voice lost by the accident. | |

| Oh yes, it would be a hard man indeed to not be kind to such as her. As she approached, she waved to the man to catch his attention. And she began to limp... | |