F I N A
It was much colder outside than Fina had anticipated. She shivered against the chill. There was a rustling behind her and then Arik settled a cloak around her shoulders. She glanced back at him and saw that it was his own - he now stood in a simple black robe.
"Thank you."
Arik gestured forwards, and Fina followed the direction he pointed. In the middle of the icy courtyard, stood four cloaked figures. As she drew nearer, she could make out Arngeir but the rest were unfamiliar to her.
"Fina," Arngeir gestured for her to join them. "Are you ready to begin?"
She nodded, self-consciously drawing Arik's cloak closer around her as she looked from Elder to Elder. The cloak was still warm from his body heat.
"Elder Borri will grant you the first word of the Thu'um, Unrelenting Force." Arngeir said, and one of the Elder's stepped forwards. "Stand in the centre of the circle."
Fina did as she was told. Elder Borri closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his mouth, a word unlike anything she had ever heard tumbled from his lips and to the ground as a ball of light. As it hit the stone, the ball of light burst, leaving behind jagged symbols that Fina recognised as dragon language.
The word, Fus, reverberated loudly against the stone walls, causing the very ground to shake as it landed. It was so loud that Fina had to fight the urge to cover her ears.
"Touch the word." Arngeir instructed.
Fina bent, tentatively placing her hand against the glowing symbol. As she did, a bolt of heat shot through her arm and up. She gasped, tumbling backwards onto her ass. In her mind, she could now clearly see the symbol, as if something had been unlocked in her memory. She felt inside for the power she'd received when she killed the dragon Mirmulnir and his soul had inhabited her body. Somehow, she sensed that she could activate Fus using this power. She pulled at it, and felt something click into place in her mind.
"Good. Now that you have learned the shout, you must learn how to use it." Arngeir waited while Fina got to her feet, and then indicated a straw dummy across the courtyard. "Aim your Thu'um at the target."
She took a deep breath, moving so that she was squared in front of it. Closing her eyes, she summoned the Thu'um in her mind, and then opened her mouth and let it forth. In a voice that sounded completely foreign to her own ears, she shouted at the dummy.
"FUS!"
The dummy spun on its stick, shaking wildly. The snow shifted on the ground and several nearby bushes trembled. Fina covered her mouth and gasped, shocked at what she had just done. She took several steps back from the dummy.
"So, the Dovahkiin has indeed returned." Arngeir stood beside her, looking pleased.
"I -" Fina swallowed. "I can't believe I did that."
"You will do that and more, Fina." He responded. "There are two words remaining to complete Unrelenting Force and bring it to full strength."
Fina turned to look back at the others, who all were smiling at her. Elder Borri stepped up to her and again dropped a ball of light to the ground. It formed two more distinct words. She found herself looking at him for confirmation, and when Borri nodded Fina knelt and placed her hand on the symbols.
This time, she was ready for the impact. She braced herself, letting the sensation of fire course through her. When she finished, she felt at the new words. They had melded into one and instinctively she knew that the shout was complete.
"You will need to test the full shout."
Fina nodded and stood up again.
"It will be much more powerful this time, so step over here." He indicated a spot ten feet away from the edge of the cliff.
"Ready yourself."
She did as she was told.
With a wave of his hand, Arngeir summoned a spectral giant. The translucent blue beast stood before her, a cry of rage building in its throat.
Fina had not been expecting this. As the creature turned towards her, it raised its great club, and took a step towards her.
Behind her, the Greybeards retreated out of the way.
She barely had time to think. The giant swung his club and, as if in slow motion, she watched it on its path towards her head.
"Now, Dovahkiin!" Arngeir called.
Fina pulled the energy from her core, and opening her mouth let forth the Thu'um.
"FUS RO DAH!"
The giant was ripped off its feet and flung backwards off the cliff. It soared straight for what must have been thirty feet before it vanished in a puff of blue smoke.
Fina sunk to her knees, panting. It felt as though the energy had been completely drained from her body and she was left weak and breathless.
"That will become easier with time." Arngeir offered his hand to her. She accepted and let him help her to her feet. "When you have consumed more dragon souls and learned more shouts, your body will adapt."
She nodded, almost afraid to open her mouth and speak again lest she accidentally shout.
"We will train you in our ways, Dovahkiin. Today you should rest - you will still be weak from your injury." Arngeir turned to Arik and gestured him forward.
"Show Fina to the bathing room, it will do her body good to be cleaned."
Arik nodded, and turned back towards the doors. Fina followed him, still with a hand locked over her mouth. She had felt so ready to take this on when she had left Windhelm. Her Uncle had held a feast in her name, telling the people that their saviour had come. He was so certain having the Dragonborn on his side would win the war that she couldn't help but believe it, too.
Now she just felt small and unprepared.
Inside, Arik lead her down the hall opposite of the bedrooms. He turned a couple of corners, and then pushed open a broad wooden door. Inside, there was a large washtub beside the largest fireplace that Fina had ever seen. Over the hearth, on a giant frame, hung a huge pot with steam rolling off the top of it. Arik walked over to it and pulled on a lever attached to the side of the frame, which tipped the pot, pouring hot water into the washtub.
Fina had never seen anything like it. In moments, the entire tub was filled with steaming water. At home, it would take trip after trip after trip with the kettle to the washtub, and even then the tub was only ever half full.
"I -" Fina froze, hand back over her mouth. She stood still, waiting for the walls to collapse around her and the ground to shake at the sound of her voice.
Nothing happened.
Arik shook his head and pressed her arm, pushing it down and away from her mouth.
Fina laughed nervously. "I was worried...I mean...I…"
Arik tilted his head down, and their eyes met. Fina hadn't realised that he was several feet taller than she was, and yet, she felt such a tenderness from him, like he was the most gentle creature she'd ever laid eyes on. Fina forgot her current train of thought and looked away, back towards the wash tub.
She cleared her throat. "I've never seen something like that."
He moved past her, taking a blanket-sized cloth from a shelf and setting it by the edge of the tub for her. He also got a bar of soap and a washcloth.
Fina watched Arik walk towards the door, feeling something in her chest seize up and squeeze tight. She felt brimming with emotion and was entirely overwhelmed by her current situation. She wished that Arik could speak to her.
"Oh, Arik." He stopped at the door and look back at her.
She stripped off his cloak and walked to him, handing it over. "Thanks again."
Once he was gone, Fina set to work undressing. She stripped away Arik's tunic, her breeches, small clothes, and finally her bandage. The wound was hot to the touch and she knew this meant it was healing. She carefully climbed into the tub, hissing as the hot water leached into her, shaking the cold from her bones.
She lay back, dunking herself and staying there for as long as she could hold her breath. The heat felt amazing on her aching body; she must have been covered in bruises from when the troll had jumped on her. Fina could remember the pain of hitting against the stone steps.
When she surfaced, she reached for the soap and cloth. She scrubbed at her filthy skin and then set to work on her knotted hair. She combed through it with her fingers as best she could, smoothing it out until it felt like silk in the water.
Fina stayed in the tub until the water went cold. When she climbed out, her fingers and toes looked like horker skin. She dried herself off and changed back into her clothes.
Back in the hall, she half expected Arik to be waiting for her but there was no one in sight. Fina hoped she would remember the way back to her room. She remembered that they took a couple of turns, but she had been so wrapped in her thoughts on the way there that she didn't know in which direction.
After a few minutes of wandering, she came across a large room that seemed to be some sort of temple. She walked in, looking towards the statue of Kyne tall and regal on an altar. Kneeling before the statue, Fina closed her eyes, silently praying to the Divine for strength.
Her mind was drawn to Whiterun. When she thought on it, she could still feel Mirmulnir's soul soaking into her body. Everything had felt so unreal until this point, but with the power of Unrelenting Force burning in her gut, there was no way for her to doubt the reality of the situation.
There was a shuffling to her left, and Fina looked up quickly. On the wooden bench in the first row sat Arik. He must have been there the whole time.
Fina shot to her feet. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were here." She was embarrassed to have been caught, worried she wasn't meant to be there.
Arik patted the bench beside him, and she was reassured that it was okay.
A R I K
He watched her quietly walk into the room and sink to her knees. Arik could smell the soap she had used, and subconsciously took a deep breath of it. He realised that she hadn't seen him yet, so he waited, observing.
She seemed to be praying. Her hands clasped before her and her eyes squeezed shut. He could see the fear and uncertainty on her face and he ached to relieve her of it. After awhile, he purposely shuffled his feet about to alert her of his presence.
By the way she snapped up immediately, Arik knew that she was a guarded being. She had been wearing Stormcloak blue when she arrived, and he wondered if she had been part of their army. Her build, although slender, was muscular enough that it would suggest a history of fighting.
There were so many things that he wanted to ask her. Not for the first time, Arik felt a strong sense of frustration rise within him...and something more. Yearning? All of his training, all of the meditation he'd done, the entirety of the past three years of his life had been geared towards control of his thoughts and emotions. Control was key and something you had to have a firm grip on before you could even begin The Way of the Voice. Even with all of this, something about Fina completely undid him.
He patted the bench beside him, and she came to sit. She clasped her hands, wringing them nervously in her lap.
Arik, of course, remained silent and watched her, willing her to speak to him. After so long without hearing a voice, hers was like fine music.
"Are you happy here, Arik?"
He hadn't expected that question. He took a moment to consider it before he nodded.
"It must be hard to be away from you family." She mused. "Do your parents write to you?"
Arik shook his head. If only I had the words!
"Hmm. You are a puzzle." Fina sighed, tucking some of her wet hair behind her ear. "What if you were to write your answers? Would that be allowed?"
He thought about it, he felt, logically, like that should be fine. He wasn't truly speaking and he wasn't going to do any damage. Still...some part of him felt like it was something to be kept secret from the others. Regardless, he nodded.
Arik felt her eyes on him as he stood and walked to a door on the left of the temple - inside was Arngeir's study. He took a sheet of parchment, an ink pot, and a quill from the desk.
Fina smiled as he returned. He sat on the floor facing the bench so that he could use it as a writing surface.
I was raised in an orphanage just outside of Whiterun. He wrote.
"I'm sorry." Her look softened, and he felt his heartbeat pick up. "That must have been difficult. Weren't you adopted?"
Arik shook his head.
"I can see why you would be happy here, then. It seems like a very serene place."
Arik shrugged. It is an honour.
Fina seemed to be pondering that, because she looked away and bit at her lip. "An honour." She echoed his words. "My Uncle said that same thing to me when I left Windhelm to come here."
You called for him the night I found you.
She nodded. "I think I was hallucinating. When I felt like I couldn't go on any further, he came to me and helped me."
You must be close.
"My father - his brother - died when I was young. Ulfric was like a father to me."
Ulfric? Arik's brows knit together and he looked at her questioningly. Surely not Ulfric Stormcloak?
Fina laughed, guessing his thoughts. "Yes, that Ulfric." She turned sideways on the bench, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them. "He is a good man."
Do you fight alongside him?
"Yes, I'm part of the army. I'm not sure if you receive any news here, but we were captured. A month back, the Imperials captured my Uncle and I and a dozen more Stormcloak soldiers. We were to be executed." She looked distant.
What happened?
"A dragon." Fina smiled down at him. "My neck was on the executioner's block and a dragon attacked. It saved my life, in a roundabout way."
Arik nodded for her to continue, curious.
"We escaped separately. I followed a fellow soldier to his home in Riverwood. The people there asked that I alert the Jarl of Whiterun of the dragon attack. While I was there, another dragon - Mirmulnir - attacked the western watchtower." She paused, seemingly lost in the memory.
"When we felled the dragon, I took its soul without knowing such a thing was possible. When the Greybeards summoned me, I went back to Windhelm to find my Uncle. He trained here in the past, and so he knew what this meant. To be Dragonborn. I had never seen him so excited. He is certain now that we can win the war."
That puts a heavy weight on your shoulders.
Fina opened her mouth to respond, but stopped when they heard someone clear their throat. Arngeir stood at the entrance to the temple.
"Perhaps," He said with a pointed look at Arik, "You should show Fina back to her room. After that, I believe you should be meditating."
Arik jumped up, the paper in his hand. Fina stood. "I'm sorry, I was lost and ended up here."
Arngeir didn't respond to her, instead he gave Arik a stern look and snatched the paper from his hand. He crumpled it and tossed it into a burning offering urn before the altar. The paper was consumed by fire in a matter of seconds. Arik swallowed the lump in his throat.
Fina didn't speak again as Arik lead her from the temple and back to her room. He felt chastised, and his cheeks were burning with shame. Arik didn't even allow himself to meet her searching gaze once they reached her door. He just turned, and hurried to his own room, shutting himself off from her.
Kyne grant me strength. He leaned against the door, sliding down it until he sat on the cold stone floor. Arik held his head in his shaking hands.
Hello everyone! Happy Canadian Thanksgiving. :)
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