The candlelight flickered and danced around the room where Maria sat reading. She read through page after page, but when she heard the clanking of armour she lifted her gaze from the pages. He walked down the stairs into the Arcanaeum and smiled when he caught eye of Maria sitting by one of the tables. "Good evening," he said and walked towards her. She smiled at him, but when she saw what kind of armour he was wearing, her eyes widened. She stood up and walked over to him. She placed a hand on his chest, and let her finger graze the steel surface. "Are you a Companion?" She asked, and seemed somewhat surprised. He looked down at her and nodded slowly while saying; "Yes. I've been for as long as I can remember." She stood there, studying his armour, inch-by-inch, and smiled slightly before she asked: "Can I," she stopped herself before she lifted her gaze towards his eyes and continued where she stopped: "Can I join you?" Her question caught him off guard, but he couldn't help but smile at her question. "It's not for me to decide. You'll have to talk to Kodlak, our Harbinger." He said and looked down at her before he added: "I was planning on leaving for Whiterun tomorrow. You can come with me if you want." Her eyes lit up, and a big smile spread across her face." Sound good to me," She replied with a brief nod to verify what she just said.
He walked towards her quarters the next morning, dressed up in full armour and with a large sack over his shoulder. He entered the main hall, and found her slumped over her desk, with her face resting on a book. He couldn't help but smile at the sight before him, but he had to get going. He walked over to her, and nudged her shoulder with his free hand, and she jerked up from her desk with a confused look on her face. "What's going on?" she asked and looked around. "I'm leaving for Whiterun in an hour. Thought I'd wake you up, in case you wanted to come with me," he explained with a crooked smile. She looked at him as if she had no idea what he was talking about, then she remembered last night, and she shot up from the chair. "I," she started before looking around in her chambers. "I need to pack… No, I don't," she mumbled for herself while she rummaged through her belongings. "How are we going to get there? As far as I know there's no stable around here," she asked and turned to face him. He chuckled and replied: "We'll walk to Windhelm, and catch a carriage from there." She made an oh, I see face, and had now stopped looking through her stuff. "Are there nothing here you need to bring with you?" he asked, and found it kind of odd that she wouldn't bring her stuff with her. "No, I… I live in Whiterun. I recently bought Breezehome from the steward." She explained and looked at him with a tiny smile. "Wait, so you're this Dragonborn everyone's been talking about?" he asked and cocked an eyebrow. She simply nodded to confirm his question, and he seemed to be taken aback. "Wow…" was all he managed to say. He didn't know what to do, so he just left the whole Dragonborn thing be for a while. "Are you ready then?" he asked after a minute or so in complete silence. "I believe so," She answered and gave her chambers one last glance.
They had been on the road for most of the day, and as dusk approached quickly, they decided it would be best to set up camp for the night. They found a small little clearing in between three snow covered pine trees, where they put up their tents. He dropped his pack inside his tent, and stretched out in his full length with a pleased grunt. "Can you find something we can eat?" he asked and turned towards Maria with and tilted his head. She simply nodded and replied: "I can do that," and tossed her sack inside her own tent, before she left camp. Fenris wandered around their camp gathering firewood and tinder, and set up a bonfire at the centre. He didn't know much about destruction magic, but he managed to light the fire with the simplest fire spell. He sat down on the snowy ground and crossed his legs, just staring into the fire before him. He places his elbows in his knees, rested his chin on his palms and closed his eyes taking in al the sounds and smells around him. He sensed prey all around him, but he kept his position there on the ground, waiting for Maria to return. She hadn't been away for long when she stumbled back to camp with a small deer slumped over her shoulders. The smell of the animal's blood awakened his inner beast, and he clenched his teeth to not growl out loud. "Here's dinner," she said and dropped the dead deer close to the fire, and looked over at him. He opened his eyes and looked at her with a crooked smile, before he quickly looked away. "Is something wrong?" she asked and walked over to him before crouching down before him. He looked up at her and nodded before replying: "Yeah, I'm fine," and smiled at her. She smiled back at him, and stood up. "Need some help with that?" he asked as she sat down by the dead deer to skin it, and cut out meat for them both. She just shook her head and slashed open the abdomen of the animal. He studied every move she made and sat there smiling like a fool, before he sighed silently and leaned backwards, propping himself up on his hands glaring towards the stars above them.
They ate well that evening, and spent the rest of it talking around the fire. "What do you know about the Companions?" he asked and ran a hand through his hair before he laid down on the ground and turned his head towards her. She tilted her head and responded with a thoughtful hmm,before saying: "Not that much, really. Why don't you tell me about them?" Her face lit up like the sun, and he couldn't help but smile. "My sister and I grew up there," He began and placed one hand underneath his head and turned his gaze towards the sky once again. "Our father left us there to fight in the Great War, and Kodlak has taken care of us ever since," he explained and smiled when he paused again. "So you've been a member all your life, then?" She asked and leaned back onto her arms, watching him with a tilted head. He nodded and replied: "I hardly remember my father. The Companions are my family now, and I honestly prefer it to be so." He mumbled into the night sky. They kept quiet a long while, before he disrupted the peace, "So... Dragonborn, huh?" he said, and turned his head towards her again. She nodded and tried to put on a smile. "The Greybeards taught me many things, and the Blades too," she mumbled and fiddled with a lock of hair. He smiled at her before he returned his gaze to the stars, and when he did so she turned her face towards the sky too, to see what he was looking at. She laid down beside him, heads together, both looking up at the stars above them. They spent several minutes in complete silence, but then Fenris broke it and said: " Watch this," and sat up. He placed his hand around his mouth, and tilted his head slightly back before he let out a howl. Seconds later the nearby wolves answered his call, and howled back, and at that point he turned his face towards her with a charming grin. She couldn't help but smile back, and propped herself up on her elbows. "Try it, it's fun," he said, still smiling and looking at her. She chuckled and sat up completely before she repeated what he had done, and once again the wolves answered them. "Wow," she exhaled and laughed merrily.
They spent the rest of the evening talking about how Maria's training had been, and at some point during the night; they had crept into their tents and fallen asleep. Maria was the first to wake up the next morning, she yawned, rubbed her eyes and crawled out of her tent before she stretched out making her bones pop and crack back to place. She walked over to Fenris, and chuckled when she saw how he was lying; face down, arms and legs spread and half of his body outside the tent. She nudged his boot repeatedly and called his name, but alls he got in response was a couple of tired grunts. She shook her head, and grabbed his legs and tried to drag him out, but to no use, he just wouldn't move. She sighed and crossed her arms before she positioned herself so she stood beside his legs, and kicked his butt. He jumped around at the sudden pain in his rear end, and swore a couple of times, before his gaze caught hers, and he sat up just inside his tent. "Eh… good morning, Maria," he mumbled with a smile, and she just shook her head and turned away. He stood up, and stretched out before he turned towards her and tilted her head. "We should get going," he mumbled and sniffed the air for a brief moment. They packed together their stuff, put out the rest of the fire and continued on the road to Windhelm.
After a couple more days on the road and they reached Nightgate Inn; where they decided to stay for the night. They walked in, all covered in snow thanks to the blizzard outside. Fenris walked up to the innkeeper and rented two rooms for the night. He opened the door to his room, and dropped his pack on the foot end of the bed, before he returned to Maria, who sat by the fire in the middle of the inn. He looked at her and asked: "Is something wrong?" She turned her head towards him, smiling and shaking her head, "No, nothing's wrong. I'm just tired," she replied. He was still facing her, but his eyes ran across the room to memorize those who were there. Suddenly the door flew up, and a cold gust of air and snow filled the entrance of the inn. Three heavy armoured men stumbled inside, chatting about how their last raid went, and how much gold they would make. Maria froze, and just stared emptily before herself. He sensed that she tensed, and he turned around halfway to catch a glimpse of who seemed to be the problem. One of the smaller men caught his gaze, and barked: "Wha'shu looking at, boy?" Fenris turned around fully, just staring at the man who had recently opened his mouth. "Excuse me?" He retorted, almost snarling and tilted his head. The smaller man just laughed at him, and took a couple of steps towards Fenris, which he would soon regret. Fenris rose from his seat, and took a few calm steps towards him, and as he got closed he towered almost a head over the smaller man. "Leave," he growled with furrowed brows and added shortly after:" Now," The three men looked at him in awe, and their eyes widened when they heard the rumbling sound vibrating from his chest. "We… we're leaving, ok?" one of the other men spoke, and put his hand up in front of his chest, before he dragged the two other out of the inn, closing the door shut behind them never to be seen again.
Once Fenris sat down beside Maria again, she turned to face him. "Did you just growl at them?" She asked in a hushed tone, and she raised an eyebrow as she spoke. He looked at her, and it took him a few extra seconds before he nodded. "You didn't seem to like them being here, and being polite didn't work," he explained and shrugged, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. She shook her head and repeated:" You just growled…growled, at those men," seemingly surprised. He didn't get to answer before she spoke again: "And on the way here, you sniffed the air, tracked down prey with your nose… that's not normal," she continued, and all he could do was sit there and nod every other sentence to confirm what she said, which was all true. When she finished talking, he replied: " You're right. What I do is not normal behaviour, but what would you have me do? Sit here and watch you be uncomfortable, not able to lift a finger? No, I will never do that. I'll do anything for you, because I care for you," he explained calmly, taking his time finding the right words, not to sound like a lunatic. When he was done, he looked her dead in the eyes and added:" Never forget that." She couldn't help but smile, and placed a hand on his cheek while she said: "Thank you." He smiled at her touch and just nodded and whispered, "any time," and gently removed her hand before standing up. He mumbled something about going to bed, and he walked into the room he had rented before he closed the door behind him. She still sat by the fire, just staring into it, thinking. Eventually, she decided it would be best to go to bed too, and she closed the door to her room once inside.
He awoke in the middle of the night, tossing and turning every other minute. He ended up walking out of his room, only wearing pants, and he bought a bottle of mead from the innkeeper. He sat down by the fire and gulped down the lukewarm mead as the flames danced around casting shadows around him. Ever since the bandits had entered the inn, he had been restless, unable to relax or gather his thoughts. He leaned forward, and propped his torso onto his knees with his elbows. He didn't want to wake Maria this early, so he decided to just wait till she woke up by herself. The hours went by, and he consumed bottle after bottle. Several hours later he heard the footsteps of bare feet against the wooden floor. He turned his head towards the sound, and smiled when he saw Maria. "What are you doing up so early?" She asked, still sleepy and rubbing her eyes. " He shrugged and replied:" Couldn't sleep, been up all night," and took one last sip from the bottle he held in his hand. She walked over to him, and snatched the bottle out of his hand, shaking her head as she did so. His gaze followed her to the counter, where se bought some food for them both. She gave him half of it, and sat down beside him on the bench. "Eat. I don't want to have to spend another day on the road," she mumbled and looked at him. He simply nodded and started eating himself.
They finished eating, and she stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder and said: "Now, go get dressed." He nodded at her and when she removed her hand, he stood up and walked into the room he had rented for the night. He rummaged through his stuff, and put on his armour and boots before he walked packed the rest of his things, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. She was standing there waiting for him with a cocked eyebrow, but smiled when she saw he was ready to leave. "Let's go then," She said, and headed out the door with him close behind.
It was barely snowing outside, so when they got further and further south, they could see Dragonsreach more and more clearly. They didn't speak, not a word for several hours. He let his gaze run along the ground before him, wishing to say something, but the words wouldn't form in his mouth. She walked beside him, looking forward, and every now and they she would throw a quick look over at him. "Something wrong?" She asked as she studied him more closely than she had done before. He shook his head and replied: "No, I'm fine," and gave her a faked but reassuring smile. Once every now and then they would meet a guard passing them, and eventually they had reached the stables. He looked around him, just letting his gaze run around on everyone and everything he could see. The guard at the gate greeted them both, and wished them welcome back into the city they both called home.