Oh my god guys! These reviews are making me so happy! I'll try to make the updates as fast as I can but sometimes can't find time to write. I've been doing pretty good lately, don't you think? Really though, the reviews are crazy! Please keep them coming! I hope you guys liked the last chapter because personally I've been waiting to write that one for a really long time :)
It was over. Done. Kodlak's spirit had finally be put to rest. Ysgramor's tomb had been infiltrated, ghosts of fallen Companions being killed once again, and their Harbinger finally cured of his curse. He could now be at peace in Sovngarde. Annika had almost been injured by Kodlak's beast spirit but Aela had just barely saved her life. Yet she didn't speak a word of it. Acted as if it hadn't happened. The two hadn't spoken more than two sentences to one another since that incident in the Underforge. The kiss.
The huntress watched as her Harbinger's spirit faded away after having a brief conversation with the Dragonborn. Aela hadn't been paying attention. Being in Ysgramor's tomb was giving her vivid flashbacks and the constant feeling that she was being watched - but not in a threatening way, more in a comforting way. Like loving relatives watching over their children with pride. Her entire body felt warm. She was lost in thought and memories that she had long since forgotten. It was only when Annika spoke her name that the huntress returned to reality, blinking a few times.
"...Aela?" She sounded so nervous and worried. The huntress wasn't sure how to react to the tone, whether she should be pride because her actions in the Underforge had put her in dominance or to be guilty for causing somebody she cared for so much distraught. She turned to face the Dragonborn, even though she was restraining herself from any romantic feelings that didn't mean she could deny the beauty before her. She looked so cautious. It was only then that Aela really started to feel guilty and regret her decisions not to converse with her Shield-sister. It was too late to take it back now and the damage was done - would keeping up the ruse really do too much damage? "Kodlak said he wanted me to become Harbinger..."
The words hit her hard. It meant that surely her previous Harbinger hadn't thought she was qualified. Not Farkas or Vilkas either, the two twins he had technically raised himself. He picked the newest member of the Companions, the newest member of the Circle. Why was that? Aela shifted uncomfortably where she stood, not knowing how to properly react based on the previous history she and Annika had. Going with her gut instinct the huntress stated calmly, "Really? Well I'm not too surprised. He always had taken a liking to you." She wiped ectoplasm and frostbite spider venom off of her steel blade, averting her gaze from the sapphire eyes.
"Do you agree with his decision...?" Annika timidly asked, sounding far more nervous than she should have felt. Aela didn't plan on lying to the Dragonborn.
"I'm not sure about agreeing, but I do understand his decision making," Pausing for a few moments to think through she was about to say, she tucked some of her crimson hair behind her ear - feeling sapphire eyes watching her every move intently, "You're strong. And you're probably the most level-headed person in the Companions at the present moment. The Harbinger has to be very admirable and is looked up to by everyone... I can definitely see you fitting well into that role." Crossing her arms after sheathing her blade, the huntress forced their eyes to meet again. Clearly Annika was trying to convey something through their locked gaze but for some reason Aela wasn't catching it that time.
The silence that grew was far too awkward for her to endure for such a long time. The Dragonborn's eyes continued to bore holes straight through her flesh while she simply stood in the same spot, finally cracking her knuckles on one hand before turning on her heel and walking straight towards the exit. Farkas and Vilkas had stayed back for their own reasons. She planned on grabbing them before leaving. Kodlak was at peace. There was no point in sticking around to be lost in thought again. As she headed straight towards the nordic doorway, a soft hand grabbing her shoulder caused the huntress to be spun around before she could entirely figure out what was going on.
Next thing she knew, Aela was slammed aggressively into the side of the stone archway, her silver eyes widening as plush lips were slammed against her mouth. Making some mumbling sounds in the back of her throat in futile protest, the huntress wasn't sure how to react to what was going on. While the feeling of kissing the Dragonborn was more than magnificent, and she had wanted to do just that for such a long time, she had wanted to show Annika that she wasn't just something she could toy with. She could fight back, she could tease too. But when she felt the Dragonborn's lips on hers again, the willpower seemed to shatter all at once. Closing her eyes, one of the huntress' hands made its way to Annika's face and rested gently on her cheek. For some reason all of the resistance she had worked up over time suddenly fell apart altogether. It was too hard. Her Shield-sister was the definition of perfection.
The sound of their moving lips echoed through the ancient ruin. Aela completely forgot the feeling of somebody watching over her and all of her senses were enveloped by the Dragonborn's presence. The taste was utterly unique - mainly meat and a bit of mead from a long time before. The feel was amazing as well, soft yet firm. Her scent overwhelmed her. The forge that she now recognized as Skyforge lingered on her skin as well as blood and death from the previous ghostly combat they had endured.
Annika was surprisingly enough the first one who pulled away, the space between them barely broken as she left the huntress desperately yearning for more. Aela thought that the Dragonborn was done with the kissing but was happily proven wrong. Her beautiful Shield-sister closed in again, this time her mouth focussing on the huntress' neck. Surges of pleasure coursed through her body and made her nearly want to scream. Not wanting to draw unwanted attention to the two she bit hard on her lip, only a low moan escaping her. It was only then that she remembered the amulet of Mara again. Annika knew what the huntress felt for her and was teasing her once again. Taunting her. The warmth that radiated from her neck and spread throughout her entire body was wonderful but the huntress knew that she was giving into the lust. Clenching her eyes tightly shut Aela pushed forward with her hands, separating the Dragonborn from her. Annika's eyes opened widely and her face reddened. The huntress simply glared.
"What's going on with the amulet?" Aela asked, her glare remaining. Questioning things in her head wasn't doing any good. She had subconsciously decided to go straight to the source - the Dragonborn herself. Never in their entire relationship had the huntress seen Annika blush so much from embarrassment. She looked as if she might soon literally die from it. After not receiving even a slight response for what felt like hours, Aela added on, "You didn't think I would take notice?" The Dragonborn's mouth was open and she stammered some things the huntress couldn't understand. Becoming frustrated she suddenly lashed out, letting all of the betrayal and frustration leave her in one big flood, "You can't just toy with me, you know?! You can't just pretend that you feel something and then tote that damn amulet on your neck! You've known that I have feelings for you and you th-think that it's real funny to rip them up then put them back together again whenever you see fit!" The huntress turned her back to Annika, her eyes becoming glossy as she grit her teeth, "I've had enough. I'm done. I'll see you back at Jorrvaskr, Harbinger."
* * *
Aela sat silently at the banquet table, her eyes trained on the door. Farkas and Vilkas had decided to stay at the tomb a while longer, leaving the huntress as the only Circle member inside the mead hall at that moment. Her mind went over the words she had screamed at Annika a while before, wondering it was the proper choice or not. It had seemed so right at the time. But now she was left wondering if she had made a terrible mistake. Her hands clenched into fists beneath the wooden surface she sat at. Njada and Athis still weren't there. He continued to occupy the temple, but the huntress had heard he was walking the day before, unsteadily but it was something. Torvar had passed out, drunk in a chair a ways down the table. Ria was asleep. She was practically alone in the hall, staring at the hearth despite how much the flames reminded her of Kodlak. It was only then that the doors to Jorrvaskr were pushed open. And familiar footsteps headed her way. Her body tensed.
Silver eyes looked up while she idly took a sip of mead from her tankard. Annika stood at the opposite end of the hearth, the crackling flames and smoke making the Nord for some reason even more beautiful by the light of the fire. Aela's chest suddenly hurt from stress and uncertainty. The Dragonborn's brow was furrowed and she looked very conflicted. It made the huntress feel a similar way. Her nails dug into the bottom of the table, most likely peeling away the wood with the force she used. A silence grew. A very awkward and long one. Somehow Aela managed to hold their gaze, silver clashing against sapphire.
Annika shifted from foot to foot, her eyes averting before the huntress' did. Clearly seeming very uncomfortable her voice proved it even further, cracking on the first and last words, "...Aela... I-I want to talk to you. About what happened." In the poor lighting of the mead hall the Veteran Circle member was unable to see the newly appointed Harbinger's eyes. For all she knew they might have been glossy.
The huntress knew that she had to hold her position. No backing down from her sudden outburst, no taking it back or suddenly regretting it. If she wanted to make her point, that Annika couldn't just toy with her emotions, she would have to stand firm. Glaring at the thoughts and becoming suddenly determined, Aela stood from her chair calmly and placed both of her hands on the table. The two Companion's eyes met again. It seemed as if the Harbinger had shrunken down to the size of a skeever, looking absolutely terrified. The guilt she felt was minor but was growing with every moment of silence.
"I already said everything I felt was needed." She watched as the Dragonborn opened her mouth again, this time in slight surprise. Holding it agape, Aela felt Annika watching every move as she walked in the direction of the quarters. The farther she got, the more tense the air became. It took tremendous effort to keep walking. Part of her - the part that simply couldn't get rid of the romantic feelings she felt towards the Dragonborn - wanted to turn around and apologize. But the rest of her, the larger part, knew that would be a bad idea in the end.
"Aela!" Annika called out to her, her voice cracking. The huntress wasn't cold enough to entirely ignore her, so instead she simply looked over her shoulder. A fair hand was extended in her direction but wasn't even close to reaching her, "...wait, I..." She looked so hurt and confused. Although a large amount of the huntress' determination faded inside of her at that moment, her stony, unmoved expression didn't waver. The Dragonborn took a few steps closer, the space between them still very very wide, "...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
It sounded so sincere and truthful. And although Aela fully believed that it only changed a few things. Annika had still toyed with her like it had been nothing. Annika still had some other love interest somewhere else and she wouldn't confess it, possibly just wanting two. Their locked eyes broke apart - both of them looking away in unison. She had to stand firm. No backing down. The huntress wasn't sure how many times she told herself that in her mind before she actually mustered the confidence to speak again.
"I haven't forgotten about the amulet. Unless you can tell me who you've been seeing, we're done here." Aela retreated down the steps, her cold angry words making the Dragonborn's heart no doubt shattering. Once her own face was out of view, the huntress started to tear up herself. It was so difficult to turn Vvanderfell away like that but she knew it had been the best possible option. She made her way to her quarters and holed up inside, locking the door so she wouldn't be disturbed.
* * *
It had been an entire month. The two Circle Members literally hadn't exchanged a single word since their conversation after returning from Ysgramor's tomb. If Aela had a job to give the huntress she asked somebody else to deliver the message. If the Dragonborn ever walked into the mead hall during one of their banquets, the two might meet eyes before the huntress retreated into the living quarters. It was very difficult to do. Every night her dreams involved Annika. Every now and then she had a terribly realistic nightmare of the two getting into a fight before her love interest would walk in and murder Aela. It was only when she had a particularly mortifying dream that the huntress realized her mistake.
The dream consisted of the two getting into a minor argument. The Harbinger then got more upset than she should have and ran into the rain. Aela went after her just in time - only to see her Shield-sister get struck by lightning. The huntress remembered holding the Dragonborn's charred body in her arms. She woke up in tears, having bit her pillow in her sleep and leaving it nearly in shreds. Coughing up feathers and wiping tears from her cheeks, once she regained her composure Aela immediately left her quarters and ran upstairs into the mead hall, her entire body trembling. Once she got there her hand met Farkas' arm, forcing him to turn and face her.
"Farkas! Where's Annika?!" Now that the huntress was really trying to think, she hadn't seen the Dragonborn in the mead hall in a long time. She simply assumed that the Harbinger was caught up with numerous duties to attend to, also being the legendary Dovahkiin probably not lightening the workload much either. Her grip didn't loosen on his forearm, finding herself nearly being thrown into a panic.
"She didn't tell you?" He asked her, looking thoroughly confused. His brow furrowed and he scratched at his rough beard with his free hand.
"Tell me what?! No!" The huntress started to really get frightened then, her entire body becoming stiff as a board. What had happened? Did the Dragonborn run off to get married somewhere? Did she leave the Companions permanently? Did she get arrested, or become affiliated with another group that interfered too much with her role as Harbinger? She felt as if she was going to faint again, a familiar feeling of uncertainty overwhelming her.
"Annika left for Falkreath a week ago. She claimed she had to cross the border into Cyrodiil to return to her family..." He paused for a few moments, "...she also said she wasn't sure when she was coming back."