Find Out Who Your Friends Are

Sivanna fell on her bed sighing tiredly. Can this really be happening?She had left Farkas and Vilkas outside, both of them wore dumbstruck expressions on their faces. She wasn't sure what to do now, but she did need some time to herself. So much had happened already, it was all she could take.

Just then she heard a knock, "Sivanna?" Aela peeked her head through the doorway.

"Yes?", Sivanna said through her pillow.

"Is everything alright? I heard a lot of shouting out there..." Aela sounded concerned.

Sivanna lifted her head, "No one got hurt," Sivanna thought for a moment,"I have a bruise but that's all." The last thing she needed was a repeat of Farkas' reaction.

"I see, and where have the twins gone?"

Sivanna cocked her head, "They left?"

"It would seem so." Aela said.

"I'm afraid I do not know, but I wish to...take a nap for a while. If I may?"

Aela nodded and left, off to find the brothers, she thought. Sivanna lifted herself from the comfort of her bed and blew out all the candles. Darkness swallowed the room as Sivanna began to undress. She wanted to feel the fur on her skin, it always comforted her. As if she were cuddling with a live animal, a beast who cared for her. Pieces of armor fell to the floor, making clinking noises as the clasps hit the ground. It was nice to be in her own skin, although she had always complained about not having clothes...she was very used to being nude.

Sivanna pulled back the furs and crawled under their warmth, curling herself into a ball. She stared at the wall in front of her. Could my love really have lied to me? She wondered. The Dark Brotherhood was a group of assassins who worshiped the god of death and pain...Could Arnbjorn really be with them? Yes. Yes he could and I was a fool for believing him. Pulling the blankets closer, she of when she had met him. He had seemed so kind...

Sivanna had been begging on the streets of Dawnstar, starving and half frozen from the snow.

"P-Please" her teeth chattered hard as she pleaded with a guard, "I only n-n-need a small bite to eat-t. Or m-maybe a s-small b-bit of fur to keep me w-warm." She was young then, eleven years old and very alone. Her face was dirty and the rags she was wearing offered no protection from the cold.

"Get outta here ya little urchin! I don't even have enough fur for m'self, I don't need you takin' what little I have!", he yelled as he shoved her away roughly.

Sivanna walked away, knowing there would be no help for her. She came to a mine on the far side of town, and huddled next to its smelter. If she got too close, the metal oven would burn her. Multiple scars adorned her hands and feet from trying to warm herself by it. Sivanna had tried to enter the mine, thinking the cave would be a good shelter from the sleet and snow...but workers had kicked her out.

"What is a young girl like you doing out in the cold?"

Sivanna lifted her face to see a young man standing above her. His hair was pure white, a shaggy mess that fell just past his ears. Brown eyes stared at her kindly. His body was muscular and strong. Protection, she thought. Sivanna was sure he was speaking to someone else, she looked behind her but saw no one.

"Are you well?" he asked, "Where are your mother and father?"

"I d-d-don't have any." she said softly.

The man squatted down so he could see her face, "Would you like some venison stew? And maybe a better dress?" He gestured to tattered and ripped cloth she wore.

Sivanna's heart dropped, "S-s-sir, I don't have any g-g-gold to pay you with...not even a s-s-septim."

"I asking for no gold." he said with a wink.

"B-b-but you're a s-stranger, what if you throw me in a p-p-pot?" she asked

"Hm," he squeezed her arm softly "Not enough meat on your bones to make anything worth eating." He smiled.

Sivanna giggled. "My name is Sivanna."

"Pleased to meet you, Sivanna. My name is Arnbjorn."

He was always so kind back then, how could he be with the Dark Brotherhood? Tears started to slide their way across the bridge of her nose and onto her pillow. How am I to live, if I cannot trust anyone? A deep sadness grew in her chest, heart was aching and her body was going numb. Everything she had ever known, or thought she had known, had been a lie. Lies from the one person she thought she could trust.

"I loved him" she cried silently, "Why would he do this to me?"

Just then she heard the door open, "Aw shiiit! Someone blew all my candles out!" Sivanna recognized Torvar's voice.

"I got it." Ria, Sivanna thought. She had met Ria this morning with Farkas. Ria was a nice girl, but then again, Arnbjorn had been nice too.

The two walked in, Ria was holding a torch and Torvar was holding a large sack.

"All this new armor will be very useful! Watch out women of Skyrim, here comes Torvar the Lady Killer!"

"Oh sure!" Ria laughed "More like Torvar the Buzz Killer!"

"Oi," he said, "That's not funny."

Great, Sivanna thought, how do I get out of here? All my clothes are on the ground! She was going to just hide there until they left, but it seemed there would be no peace for her today.

"Have either of you seen Sivanna?" Farkas' rugged voice reached her ears.

"No.", they both said. Yet of course, his werewolf nose sniffed her out.

"There you are," he looked down and saw her armor on the ground, "Oh. Um, I thought you might need some privacy." He said awkwardly.

Sivanna turned her face to him, "Then why are you here?"

"You won't be left alone in here.", and with that he scooped her up, fur and all and walked through the door.

"What are you doing?" she squeaked.

"Taking you to where you can be alone." he answered.

Farkas walked down the hallway, and opened one of the many doors. It led to a smaller hallway with a door on either side. Farkas pushed through the one on the right, it was a bedroom. Only one beds was in it, she could smell Farkas' and Vilkas' scents.

"Is this your room?", she asked.

"Yes."

"Then what are you thinking? I want to be alone, not in bed with you!"

"I know, no one will bother you in here." he said, as if it were normal to carry a naked woman into his room so she could "be alone."

"What about my armor?"

"I'll go get it later, you won't be needing it."

Sivanna snorted, Who does he think he is? Waltzing in and scooping me up like that, and taking me to his chambers! The nerve! Doesn't he know what others are going to think? She stopped that thought, You didn't mind when Torvar was going to tell everyone you were sleeping with Vilkas...

"I want to apologize for before. Vilkas and I are not like that. I just...when I saw the tear streaks on your face...I lost it. And then that bruise, I thought he was really trying to hurt you." Farkas set her down on his bed. He sat down on a chair next to her. So much for being alone.

"Do you really believe that I don't like you?" he looked hurt.

"I-I don't know. I'm not sure what to believe." she said.

Farkas looked away and nodded. "Well for what it's worth, I do like you. You're one of the only people that doesn't make fun of me."

"Make fun of you?"

"Yes, the others say I'm slow because I'd rather let my fists do the talking."

"That doesn't make you slow," Sivanna said, "It just means you need help being around people."

"So do you." he turned to look at her. "You've been crying again, anything I can do?"

Sivanna sighed,"Farkas, it's been a really long day, and it isn't even half over yet."

"I can keep people from bothering you, if you want."

"That would be nice, thank you." Sivanna was so confused, was Farkas trying to use her? How was she to know if someone was lying to her? Farkas left her alone, she heard him pull up a chair and sit in front of the door. Just like a guard dog, he seems loyal...but can I trust him? Can I trust anyone?

Alright, so yeah I changed the way Arnbjorn looks, but only because it is supposed to be ten years in the past. I didn't want him to be some creepy old man hitting on an eleven year old O_o

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