Chapter 2 - New

[Chapter soundtrack: Ellie Goulding "Atlantis", The Spill Canvas "Secret Oath"]


Brynjarr and Nehenarah were running through the forests south of Whiterun, him carrying his bow and arrows and her readying her lightning bolts. It started to rain. The warm summer day turned ice cold with the wind whipping around their bodies high up in the hills. The pair found a rock shelter and huddled together to get out of the rain. Someone made a small campfire. They wrapped the thick hide of a snow bear around their bodies and shivered. Brynjarr felt the warmth of his friend's body pressed against his, and his shivering subsided.

Nehenarah woke slowly. She felt confined and overheated, despite a cold rain tapping on the hide tent above her. In her daze, she forgot where she was. The light of the campfire outside of her tent produced barely enough light to take in her surroundings. When fully awake, she realized Brynjarr had his arm wrapped around her and had covered them both with his blanket, allowing their bodies to touch. Brynjarr must have felt her stirring, because he started to move. Nehenarah heard him moan softly as he pressed his body harder against hers. As her friend's hand drifted up her body and cupped her small breast, she stiffened. It wasn't until she felt something out of place pressing against her backside that she realized what was happening, or perhaps what Brynjarr was trying to make happen.

She shot up into a sitting position and shoved Brynjarr back to his side of the tent, whispering his name. The jolt of pressure against his chest woke him from his dream. It took him but a moment to realize what he had probably done. Brynjarr look up at his friend in horror, speechless.

"What are you doing!?" Nehenarah whispered harshly.

Brynjarr's jaw lay open. "I-I... I was dreaming. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Nehenarah caught a glimpse of Brynjarr's tented hide trousers and immediately looked away. "You... you groped me!" She kept her angry voice as quiet as she could.

"I know. I'm sorry. It just happened." Brynjarr looked away from his friend and quickly covered his body with his blanket.

"It just happened?" She turned back to look at him. "Since when does something like that just happen!? It never has before!" She suddenly felt cold sitting so far away from her friend's body and no longer under any blankets. She shivered and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders.

Brynjarr looked at Nehenarah. He wanted nothing more than to touch her face, caress her skin, kiss her lips. He had no idea how to make any of that happen and it ate away at his insides.

The tapping of the rain became a harder thudding. The light from the campfire dimmed and the two teenagers heard Aela muttering curses and scrambling around. Nehenarah watched amber light outside of the hide tent glow and dim as the campfire flickered, struggling to stay lit. She was not watching Brynjarr, and could not anticipate his hand reaching up to grasp hers. The touch startled her, and her body jerked slightly. She could barely see Brynjarr. The contours of his body and the expression on his face were swamped in darkness. His hand squeezed hers. She sat there, frozen, unsure of what to do. She wanted to run out of the tent, but did not want to be soaked to the bone by the rain. Her breathing quickened in pace as her nerves got the best of her. What in all of Tamriel is he doing!?, she thought to herself.

The campfire finally died in the rainstorm and Nehenarah saw nothing but black. Her heart pounded. Aela's curses became more audible. She felt Brynjarr's hand squeeze tighter. She swallowed hard. "W-why are you saying nothing?" she asked her friend.

His hand remained clamped onto hers. "I'm not sure what to say," he said. His voice then was deeper than usual.

Nehenarah heard him move, and thought he was sitting up, possibly to be face-to-face with her, even though they could not see each other. Not being able to see him was the most terrifying aspect of the situation. She could read Brynjarr like a book – his eyes, his body language – but without seeing him at all, it was impossible to know what her friend was thinking. Nehenarah realized she would have to rely on touch and sound. Yes, she thought, I can feel his breath on my face. Her free hand grasped the forearm above the hand that held her, intent to wordlessly tell him to let go of her. Instead, he held on tighter, and she felt the muscles of his forearm ripple.

Her attention was diverted and she did not notice Brynjarr's breath on her face growing denser, closer. Before she could react, she felt her friend's lips pressed to hers, and her hand that Brynjarr held, pressed against a disturbing bulge. Nehenarah squealed in shock and pushed her body away from her friend. She immediately fumbled for the tie that loosely held the tent flaps closed.

"'Narah," she heard her friend say, "wait..." As a hand fell on her arm she pulled the tie loose and ran out into the torrential rain towards nowhere, passing Aela who had fashioned a lean-to for herself.

The huntress stood, partially immobilized by confusion. "Where are you going!?" she shouted after Nehenarah. "Don't go into the woods by yourself!" She spat out a curse and fumbled for her weapons. "Stupid girl."

Brynjarr crawled out of the tent and shouted after his friend. He looked at Aela.

"What did you do?" Aela asked Brynjarr.

He was grateful that his superior couldn't see him blushing. "Where did she go?" he asked.

"That way," she said, pointing in the general direction that she saw Nehenarah flee. "Come on," she ordered.

Haming woke when he heard shouting. He opened the tent flap to see nothing but darkness and the faint glitter of falling rain. Lightning lit up the sky and he confirmed that the camp was empty. Haming was utterly confused, and worried.

Aela and Brynjarr ran into the woods, shouting after Nehenarah. After no sign or sound of the girl, Brynjarr felt terrified that some frostspider or bear had found her. He heard the crackle of lightning and looked up, but saw nothing.

"What was that?" Aela shouted. She was looking to her left. Again, the crackle sounded, and a bright white light emerged deeper in the woods. Aela bolted in the direction of the light and Brynjarr followed.

She's there! Brynjarr thought. As the two ran through the woods they began to hear snarling and growling. Brynjarr was certain he would find pieces of Nehenarah's body surrounded by a pack of wolves. Aela stopped running, strung her bow, and loosed an arrow. Brynjarr heard a yelp and ran up to Aela's side, straining to see in the darkness. Aela loosed another arrow. Another yelp. The growling and snarling ceased.

Brynjarr thought he saw a faint yellow glow ahead, and walked passed Aela to track it down. "'Narah?" he called.

"I'm here," Brynjarr heard her say. She was far ahead.

Brynjarr ran in the direction of the voice. He nearly crashed into a boulder. The yellow glow continued and became a beacon guiding him to his friend. Finally he saw Nehenarah, her face illuminated under a rock overhang. He ran to her side and wrapped his arms around her, not realizing until he did so that perhaps that was the absolute worst thing to do at that moment, but he didn't care, and held her tight.

"I'm alright, Brynjarr, really." Her voice had a tinge of annoyance as she pushed his arms away from her.

"Why would you run off like that!?" Aela yelled at the girl. "What if I hadn't seen you? And unarmed! Wolf bait."

"I'm fine," she said. The yellow glow continued to emerge from her palm, lighting the area.

"Alright. I don't care why you ran off, just don't do it again," the huntress scolded the girl.

"I won't," Nehenarah agreed. Brynjarr thought she sounded angry. He assumed she was angry at him.

"Well come on, then," Aela said, "maybe I can get you back in one piece."

Back in their tent, Nehenarah lay on her side facing her friend with her back pressed tightly against the wall of the tent. She stared at Brynjarr in the darkness. She was still cold in her soaked clothes, even when wrapped tight in her blanket. She scolded herself for not using her Healing light to see in the dark before. She could have seen her friend, seen the look on his face and told him to stop before he went and did something stupid. She told herself she was too nervous to remember to use her skill at the time, and that she would never make that mistake again.

She slipped an arm out from under her blanket and lit up the tent. Brynjarr opened his eyes and looked at her. The yellow light glowed and swirled around her hand. "Why?" she asked in a rough voice.

"Why did you run?" he asked just as harshly.

"Because...," she couldn't find the words to say. "Because... you're practically my brother!" she spat out in a stinging voice.

"I'm not your brother!"

"Didn't your father ever tell you!?"

Brynjarr was confused by the question. "Huh? What about my father?"

Nehenarah's whisper became more soft. "He never told you... about my mother?"

Brynjarr squinted at the light. "No."

"She was engaged to your father, when they were about our age."

Brynjarr stared at Nehenarah. "What? Don't be ridiculous."

"It's true. Ma didn't mean to tell me, I think, but it slipped out one day. We could have been siblings, B'! We can't... we can't... do that."

The boy frowned, then spoke in a calm voice. "But we're not siblings, 'Narah. Not at all."

Nehenarah suddenly felt nervous. She realized that Brynjarr had changed. She tried to recall the previous years to think about when the change happened, and wondered if it was that year he stopped letting her braid his hair and later cut it short. She felt her stomach fill with nervous little butterflies. She stopped letting out the Healing light from her hand, and sighed.

"You can't just... do... that... touching and... You just can't!" She spoke in a harsh whisper again.

"I'm sorry," Brynjarr said softly. "I won't do it again."

Upon hearing those words, faced with the prospect of Brynjarr never, ever kissing her again, Nehenarah wondered if that was what she really wanted. She said nothing, however, and the two friends eventually found sleep again, laying far apart.