Some live in towns,
Lonely shacks on stones
All bluster and bustle in life.
They search for the colour you can never quite see
because it's all white on white.

-Home-

Chapter 2: Town

"M-my name is Azure. I'd like to join the Companions."

Vilkas raised his eyebrows in surprise, he quickly looked over her, the old, tattered fur armour was ill-fitting and obviously second hand. She bore no weapons as far as Vilkas could see. There was no way Kodlak would allow this pathetic excuse of a warrior into the finest clan in Skyrim.

"Do you, now?" Kodlak said as he leaned back in his chair. "Well, we do have some empty beds in Jorrvaskr. How are you in battle, girl?

Vilkas frowned at the old man, had he finally lost it?

"Master, you're not seriously thinking of accepting her?"

"I am no body's master, Vilkas. I'll ask again, how are you in battle?"

Azure fidgeted nervously and looked at her feet "I've never really been in any battles..."

Kodlak frowned slightly. For a moment Vilkas thought he would turn her away. Tell her she didn't belong here.

"Perhaps you'll have a natural affinity for it. Many Companions, past and present, had little experience when they joined our ranks. Vilkas, take her to the courtyard and test her strength."

"But I..."

Kodlak turned and gave him a stern glare, the young werewolf sighed as he rose from his seat. He frowned as he passed Azure. There was just something... Off about her. He could almost feel her large eyes on him as he led her out of the living quarters.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you my name earlier. That was rude of me." She said politely.

"It doesn't matter. Because you'll be gone soon anyway" He didn't say the last part. But a girl this fragile-looking couldn't possibly be a warrior of any sort.

She was silent as they walked through the mead hall. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Aela whisper something to Njada before nodding towards Vilkas and Azure. Njada laughed lightly before quietly talking back. Vilkas rolled his eyes.

"Women," he thought, "always gossiping."

They left through the back of Jorrvaskr to the training yard where Farkas was swinging a steel greatsword at a training dummy.

"I don't understand why you practice with people made of wood and straw," Azure said to Vilkas "They just stay still and don't hit back. But real people do. It seems pointless to me, but then again I..." The girl continued rambling as Vilkas ran his eyes over her. She was short, with long, slender limbs. Her arms were toned, but not muscular.

"A one-handed weapon would be best," he thought "A broadsword, perhaps." He continued examining her, her legs - like her arms - were long, but they bowed slightly and she stood with her feet turned in.

"... So what do you think, Vilkas?" His name brought him out of his thoughts.

"A sword, one-handed. A light metal. Elven or glass would be best."

"What... Oh! A weapon. I, um, well I was actually talking about... You know what never mind. Let's start!" Vilkas frowned at her, had she really not noticed he hadn't been listening to her?

"Right. Well, if you want an elven or glass weapon you'll have to get one yourself," he said as he pulled an iron sword from a nearby rack "You'll have to ask Adrianne though, Eorland won't make any of that fancy stuff. Steel is his speciality." He held the sword gently by the blade as he offered the grip to Azure. She glanced up at him, unsure, but she eventually took the sword in her right hand. But as soon as Vilkas dropped it the tip of the blade fell heavily to the ground.

"Umm," Azure said "it's a little heavy." She struggled to raise the sword even slightly off the ground. Vilkas could no longer hear the dull thud of metal on wood so he assumed Farkas had stopped training to watch. "T-there. I've got it now!" Azure said as she raised the sword, she was wielding it as though it was a two-handed greatsword, not the simple blade it was. Vilkas didn't care at this point, he just wanted to get this over with. He picked up a shield and blunt training sword that someone had left lying on the steps.

"Let's see what you've got." He said, as he braced himself in a warriors stance.

"B-but what if I hurt you!" Azure exclaimed. Vilkas watched her stumble clumsily as she struggled with the sword.

"Don't worry," he said through a snigger "I can take it."

"Well, if you're sure." Azure raised the sword with difficulty above her head and charged towards Vilkas. His razor sharp reflexes did all the work for him. He quickly hid behind his shield and, using his own sword, pushed Azure's blade out of the way as it swung downwards before it even hit his shield. The force of his blow threw Azure of balance slightly, as she regained her composure Vilkas readied himself for another strike. This time she tried sweeping in from the side.

The dark haired Nord simply jumped backwards, easily dodging the blow. The momentum of the heavy swing continued, pulling Azure along with it and the small girl fell face first onto the hard cobblestone paving.

"Are you done?" Vilkas asked as Azure slowly picked herself up. She sat for a few moments, getting her breath back before taking the grip of the sword that had fallen nearby. She rose unsteadily to her feet and braced herself again.

"N-no, not yet," she said quietly "not yet."

Vilkas notice a smear of blood on her face, the fall must have broken her nose. The werewolf smirked; there was no way she could win this.

"If you insist" He said.

"Vilkas, she has more than proven her bravery," The dark-haired Nord turned to see almost all of the Companions gathered on the porch, watching the two fight. Aela stepped out of the crowd and made her way to them,

"Here, let me see you," Aela looked closely at Azure's small, round face, "Hmmm. It looks broken. I'll tell Kodlak you fought bravely and you'll be more then welcome to join us." Azure looked up at the red-head and nodded, "Farkas," Aela called, "Take her to Danica at the temple." Vilkas' older brother easily ploughed through the crowd of whelps. He took Azure gently buy the arm to lead her away.

Aela turned and glared at Vilkas. "Why were you so hard on her?"

"What are you talking about?" Vilkas said turning away and began towards the Skyforge "I wasn't being harsh."

"You know full well she's green as spring grass, yet you're trying to show off with fancy dodging and swordplay." Aela countered, following him.

"I was supposed to fight her. Do you expect me to stand still and let her hit me? What if she seriously hurt me, you saw how unsteady she was with a blade." The red-haired Nord laughed at that.

"You and I both know she wouldn't have hurt you, you're just acting like a child because you've taken a dislike to the girl."

"She doesn't belong here, Aela!" He said as they climbed the steps to the Sky Forge.

"You saw how hopeless she was! Would you trust someone like that as your shield-sibling?!"

"No, not yet. But it's your job as master-of-arms to train, right?" She replied.

"You better not be implying what I think you're implying..."

"Oh! I'm not implying. I'm going to tell the old man she deserves a chance, and you're going to teach her how to fight." Aela said with a triumphant grin. Vilkas rolled his eyes.

"Fine, you do that," Vilkas turned on his friend to be greeted by her smug smile, "But when she turns out like Ria, you'll be the one to blame."

"A thousand septims says you're wrong."

"I'll take that bet any day!"

"It's a deal then." Aela smirked and ran back into Jorrvaskr, probably to gossip about his disdain for the new whelp with Ria or Njada.

"Let them gossip," Vilkas thought "What do I care?"

"What brings you to the Sky Forge, pup?" Eorland said when he saw Vilkas approach.

"I need this sharpened," Vilkas drew his greatsword from the scabbard on his back "It dulled when I was getting Thorald back from those elves."

"Bloody elves, having the nerve to kidnap my son from right under my nose, thank the Gods for you and Farkas, without your bravery, Talos' knows what would have become of him."

"It wasn't that difficult, really, and it was quite satisfying to show those snotty elves what real Nord steel tastes like." The two men laughed as Eorland pulled the forges bellows, heating up the flames.

"So... That lass this morning..." Eorland began,

"Don't tell me you saw that..."

"I have a good view from up here, pup. Who is she?"

"I don't know." Vilkas said "I've never seen her around here before, I actually thought she might be a Grey-Mane because of the hair."

"She's no relation of mine, my kin can at least hold a sword properly." the old smith said as he turned to sharpen Vilkas' sword on a grindstone. The younger man laughed.

"It's nice to know someone agrees with me."

"Yes, but don't give up on her to easily, though. She might surprise you."

"Aye," the young werewolf said as he accepted his sword from Eorland "we'll see."

"Don't keep touching it, you'll only make it worse" Farkas said to Azure as they left the training yard. The young woman kept poking at her nose and wiping the blood on her face.

"But it hurts..."

"Don't worry, Danica will fix you, she's seen worse than bloody noses with the Companions living so close. Once Vilkas came home with the bone of his arm poking straight through the skin,"

"Eww.." Farkas laughed at her reaction.

"Danica fixed him right up, though. Now all he has is a scar on his arm." They walked in silence for a few moments before:

"I think your brother hates me."

"No," Farkas said, trying to re-assure her "He treats all the whelps like that at the start. He'll warm up to you. I hope." Vilkas wasn't the friendliest of guys. Farkas knew he didn't associate much with the whelps aside from training. It was tough for him to open up, maybe because of their father, maybe because he'd lost friends before. Vilkas' brooding nature puzzled his brother.

But this knew whelp was something new. She'd appeared seemingly out of nowhere, initially looking to hire the Companions. She'd come to Aela earlier in the day and asked about a job, but said she had no money. Aela, naturally, refused her request. But then a short time later she'd returned wearing some cheap armour, looking to join them despite having no skills as a warrior. Strange indeed.

Not that Farkas was complaining. Azure was easy enough on the eyes. Her round face, small nose and thin, pink lips were unusual features on most Nords. As was her pure white hair, Farkas knew the Grey-Manes had naturally gray hair, and a lot of Nords were blond. But he'd never seen pure white before.

"Farkas?" She said.

"Hmm?"

"What happened to the tree?" Farkas turned to see her standing beside the old Gildergreen, looking forlornly up into its withered branches.

"There was a storm a while back, a lightning bolt hit the tree and set it on fire. We were lucky the whole town didn't burn to the ground. Danica's been looking for someone to help her fix the tree for a while now. No such luck though."

"...That's sad."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Farkas never thought much of the old tree, but looking at it now, it was a little sad that it had burned. As children he, his brother and their friends used to play under and in the boughs of the tree, and in the warmer seasons it would burst into life with small flowers, varying in colour from pink to red to purple. He'd given one of those flowers to Ysolda when he was thirteen and she'd kissed him. He smiled at the memory.

"-Ouch!" Azure's whimper snapped him out of his memory,

"I told you to stop poking at your nose." He said laughing as he gently pulled her hands from her face and lead her towards the temple.

It hadn't taken Danica long to fix Azure up. She took one look at her nose and knew that a simple healing potion would take care of it.

"I'll be back in a few moments, I'm just going to get a basin of water to wash that blood away." Danica said kindly. Azure lifted her hands to her cheeks, trying to find the bloody patch on her face and wipe it off. Farkas had given up scolding her. Azure ended up with two streaks of red on both her cheeks.

"It looks like war paint." Farkas said laughing.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it suits you." He joked.

"I don't believe you, war paint is for warriors and I'm no warrior."

"You'll be fine, trust me. Ignore my brother. I'll teach you how to fight if he won't." That made her smile. She had a nice smile.

Once Danica had cleaned Azure off the young girl seemed much happier. The sun was well passed its highest point in the sky, so there was no real point in heading out on a job.

"Azure, do you have a sword?" Farkas asked watching her pick a lavender plant from outside the temple

"Nope," she replied before skipping over the bridge.

"Maybe you should take to Adrianne? She could make you one."

"No," she said as she picked more flowers from under the Gildergreen "I have no money."

"I'll loan you some for now, you can just pay me back whenever you get it."

Azure turned to look at him with those blue eyes of hers.

"You'd do that for me?"

"Sure." Farkas replied, smiling "I can show you around Whiterun, too." The white-haired girl beamed.

"If you're sure, then let's go." She ran a few steps ahead of him, stopping every so often to a look at a flower growing on the roadside or to try and catch a bug in her cupped hands. Her wonder at the loud and bustling city was almost childlike.

The transaction at Warmaidens didn't take long as Adrianne was more than happy to sell Farkas an old elven sword she had lying around. Most of the Nords who made their home in Whiterun preferred going to Eorland for his famous steel and iron weapons. Though when he handed it to Azure she looked a little surprised.

"Who's she?" She asked "Is she a relative of yours?"

"No, she showed up at Jorrvaskr today asking to join the Companions. She didn't have a sword so I'm letting her borrow the money." Adrieanne glanced at Azure, who had been distracted by a tabby cat, the girl was gently scratching the cats head as the animal purred softly. Adrieanne looked back to Farkas with eyebrows raised.

"She doesn't look much like a warrior."

"Yeah, we'll have to train her up a bit."

"Hmm... It's funny though, I've never seen anyone pet that cat. It's wild as a sabercat and scratches anyone who comes near it."

"That is strange. If only she could calm my brother's temper so easily." He joked before starting back up the road.

The sky was turning orange by the time they arrived back to Jorrvaskr. Farkas had shown her all the sights of the city, from Dragonsreach to the Market square where he bought her an apple from Carlotta. He'd told her about the Companions, the Circle and the little history he knew. They'd taken their time getting home, not that it had been a problem; Farkas enjoyed spending time with the new whelps who were often nervous about joining. He'd become good friends with almost everyone that way.

The mead hall was warm from the roaring hearth in the middle of the floor; everyone was sitting around the long wooden table chatting animatedly about the day's work. Everyone that was, except Vilkas. As usual the brooding werewolf sat apart from the group with his nose stuck in a book. Farkas turned to Azure. The girl was watching his brother, the same sad look on her face as when she saw the burnt Gildergreen.

"Don't worry about him," Farkas said "He just prefers talking to members of the Circle, that's all."

"Okay," she said "Well, when you talk to him, please let him know I'm sorry for bothering him earlier, he was talking to Kodlak and I interrupted them. I think that's why he's angry."

"Yeah, will do," the werewolf said. He noticed her edging slowly towards the living quarters "Do you not want dinner?"

"No thank you. I'm, um... I'm not that hungry, just tired. I want to be ready for my first day as a Companion tomorrow so I think I'll just rest for a while."

"If you're sure..." Farkas said, as he filled a bowl from the cooking pot with a thick, meaty stew.

Azure ran through the mead hall and down to the living quarters. As she threw open the heavy doors she ploughed head-long into Aela.

"Hey, slow down," the redhead said kindly, "Did Danica fix your nose?"

"Yes, she did a good job, I'm alright now."

"Good, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping," Aela led the new whelp to the sleeping quarters "Where'd you get the sword?" She asked, she hadn't seen her with one this morning.

"Farkas saw I didn't have one," she said as she rested her hand on the hilt of the blade at her waist, "He let me borrow the money to buy myself a sword. Then he bought me an apple! I like apples."

"Don't let the other girls hear you say that," Aela joked "Farkas is a popular guy, they might get jealous." They stopped just outside a chamber filled with several beds and chests. "Here we are. Just pick a bed with an empty chest and fall into it when you're tired," Aela smiled at the new girl, "And welcome to the Companions."