Chapter Twelve
One Month Later…
She was ashamed of herself.
It was the most lewd, despicable thing she could ever have witness, let alone participate in. It went against all of her beliefs, something that would make her mother faint if she knew.
And yet, Avyanna loved it.
After joining the Companions, Avyanna often dreamt of a mysterious stranger. It was always in the same place, in a meadow in the middle of a lake. Purple mountain flowers would be floating on the water, the moon above them…the perfect setting for something private.
His hands, the way his tongue ravished hers and his little dragon….she never wanted to wake up from those dreams.
It was only recently that they felt very real, and that there was a face to the owner of the golden hands. Farkas….
It was all Meridia's work, claiming that it was a small prize for doing such great work killing the Draugr and a dragon as well. Who knew killing a dragon would give you a bonus?
Avyanna moaned in her sleep slightly, the sun light hitting her eyes and she opened them. Disappointment washed over her, like it did every morning since the dreams started.
She could hear Rohan run into her room, finding her still in bed. "Anna! Wake up!"
She groaned, throwing her pillow over her head. "Go away; I'm not getting out of bed. I'm having a day off."
Avyanna heard Rohan sigh and disappear. She smiled to herself, putting the pillow back into place and snuggling into it. A moment later, ice cold water was thrown onto her and she yelped in surprise.
Sitting up on her elbows, Avyanna found a now empty bucket in Rohan's hands as he gave her an innocent smile. She narrowed her eyes and Rohan bolted out of the room, Avyanna hot on his trail.
"Rohan!" Avyanna shouted, running up into the mead hall as Rohan hid behind Farkas who was sitting at the table with Vilkas and Aela.
"Nice sleeping wear." Vilkas grinned and Avyanna frowned and looked down. Her white night gown was soaked at the top, pressing against her breasts and she quickly covered her chest, face heating up.
Vilkas and Aela laughed as Farkas grinned, standing up and handing her a blanket. She gladly took it, wrapping it around her body while glaring daggers at Rohan.
"Now that's a good way to start the morning!" Torvar laughed, fist banging on the table in between laughs. Avyanna's face was just as red as her hair, hiding it in her blanket, but Farkas stopped her, smiling warmly.
"Don't listen to them, I think it looks nice." He reassured her as she inspected her wet hair.
"Farkas, how are you not laughing?" Avyanna finally smiled, getting over her embarrassment.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't find it funny, I know from experience it's not fun to wake up with a bucket of water."
"This is what I get for staying at Jorrvaskr for the night."
After the two of them came back from a job up in Dawnstar, clearing out some Frost Trolls, Avyanna was so exhausted that she collapsed as soon as they walked into the door.
"I'm sorry Anna," Rohan said, holding out a sweetroll to her. "It was all Vilkas's idea."
Vilkas laughed. "I thought I could trust you lad!"
Avyanna smiled and took the sweetroll from him, pulling it in half and handing him one half. Rohan beamed, eating it quickly before running over to Kiraya.
With a small yawn, she began to eat the sweetroll as she felt her body become dry in no time. When the sweetroll had been eaten, she turned on her heel to go get dressed but Aela let out a sudden cry of pain.
"Aela! What's wrong?" Vilkas asked her worriedly as her face twisted in pain.
"My…my.."
"Spit it out!" Vilkas growled and Aela glared at him.
"MY WATER BROKE YOU NUMB-SKULL!"
Danica instructed Avyanna to help with Einarr's hand after Aela had brutally crushed it with her strength. Now it was Farkas who was her newest victim while the huntress pushed, cursed and screamed.
"It looks painful," Avyanna shuddered, turning her attention away from Aela's screams and focusing on healing Einarr's hand. "How are you feeling?"
"Like my hand was crushed. I forgot about this." He muttered and Avyanna chuckled.
"Did your wife crush your hand?"
"Aye, but she had claws as well."
Danica looked over at Avyanna. "I need more towels." She ordered and Avyanna nodded, getting up and leaving the room. Her ears were grateful to no longer be hurt by Aela's screams as she found Tilma. The old woman gave her two extra towels, smiling warmly at her just as Avyanna spotted Vilkas heading down to the quarters.
"Tilma, would you mind giving these to Danica? I have to check something." Avyanna handed her back the towels and followed Vilkas. She quietly followed him, watching him as he entered his room but left the door wide open.
Concerned for her fellow shield-sibling, Avyanna made her way over to his room, but stopped in her tracks when she found Vilkas looking sadly at an urn in his hands.
She covered her mouth slightly and Vilkas's eyes snapped up, finding Avyanna standing there and anger clouded his eyes, covering his face.
"GET OUT!" he shouted, storming over as Avyanna stepped out of the doorway. "YOU'RE NOT WANTED HERE! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" he roared, slamming the door in her face and she flinched.
Her heart was in her throat, fear running through her veins as she stepped back before running out of the sleeping quarters. As she ran upstairs, Ria spotted her and smiled.
"Avyanna, Danica needs you to heal—What's wrong?" Ria asked, finding her shield-sister distressed and Avyanna shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I need to be alone for a while." She muttered, running out of Jorrvaskr and towards her house. She didn't care that she was still in her white sleeping gown, the silk material all the way to her bare feet.
As she touched the wooden door handle, she glanced at the sky. Hiding in her home wouldn't do her good; she needed to be out in the open. Without a second thought, she ran out of the gates and towards the stables.
"Where's Rosso?" Avyanna asked, making the stable boy jump in surprise and then he blushed.
"You're still in your—"
Avyanna glared at him and he closed his mouth, grabbing Rosso's reins and bringing the cream colored horse to her. Not wanting to waste a moment, Avyanna quickly climbed on and Rosso took off, somehow sensing his rider's distress.
She didn't have any destination in mind, but she knew she needed to get away. Just to have a couple of hours to herself, allowing her to think about things without any disruptions.
Rosso, being the only horse in all of Skyrim that she could tolerate, found her a quiet spring, just outside of Whiterun's borders, outside of the forest that covered her tracks. She was grateful, climbing off of him and gently walking over. The grass tickled Avyanna's feet, calming her down slightly as she sat on her knees just in front of the clear spring. Her reflection looked back at her, somehow her hair staying in place as her hazel eyes filled with swirls of emotions.
Her mind wandered back to Vilkas, how angry he had been, the urn he was holding sadly. It must've been the remains of someone important to him. Guilt gnawed at her conscious, she shouldn't have looked but she was concerned for him.
How did things get so messed up? She buried her face in her hands, shaking her head slightly. Rosso kicked up a fuss and she looked up, finding a small glowing blue orb.
Hesitantly, Avyanna reached out for it but it disappeared, only to reappear on the spring. Her mind recalled something her mother once said to her when she was younger.
Avyanna gave her a skeptical look. "A wisp? They don't exist."
"Aye, they do my little spitfire," Miranna told her firmly. "Wisp only come out when destiny is around the corner. I saw one the day I met your father, it led me to him."
"I find that hard to believe." She shook her head and Miranna chuckled, playing with a strand of Avyanna's hair.
"They do, my sweet. You just have to have faith. When a child is born and a wisp appears, you know that infant is born for greatness. When you meet your true love with a wisp watching, you and your partner will be inseparable. Our fates are guided by them, the little messengers of the Divines." Miranna explained and Avyanna frowned slightly, looking unsure as Miranna placed a kiss to her forehead.
"You'll understand when you're older."
Avyanna shook her head, snapping back to reality. I guess that means Aela's child has a bright future ahead of them.
Exhaustion washed over her as she swayed slightly, only to have Rosso to lean on. The cream colored horse had decided to lay behind her, offering a warm pillow as she rested against him, falling deep into slumber.
Avyanna was awoken as Rosso let out a whine, her body still slightly tired but her mind refreshed. Sitting up, she found the source of what stirred Rosso up as Farkas climbed off of his horse.
"Thank Divines you're safe," he said in relief as she slowly stood up, Rosso along with her. "Are you hurt anyway? Do you have any idea how worried we've been?"
Avyanna frowned and looked up to the sky, finding it orange as the sun began to set. Wow, she was out here the entire day?
"Sorry, I just needed to get out." she mumbled sleepily, yawning and rubbing her eyes slightly.
Farkas sighed tiredly and held out a bruised hand to her. "Now could you fix it?"
She chuckled, her hands glowing as she wrapped them around his, healing the bruised hand. "Oh! Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A young lad," he chuckled lightly. "Screams and whines like Skojr."
A sad smile crossed her face as she kept her eyes on healing Farkas's hand. "I would've liked to have met him."
"He would've like you, seen you for the little spitfire you are." Farkas agreed and she glanced up at him, finding herself lost in his eyes. Her mark no longer appeared because Hircine was gone from the Nord and she was thankful for that. The humor disappeared in Farkas's eyes as he sighed tiredly. "Vilkas told me what happened."
Avyanna looked down at his hand, avoiding his eyes. "I just wanted to make sure he was okay. When I went to check on him, he was holding an urn and looked so sad," Avyanna looked up briefly. "Whose remains were they?"
Farkas's eyes darkened with grief. "Kodlak's."
"You mean Einarr's predecessor? That Kodlak?"
"Nay," Farkas shook his head, changing his mind about lying to her. "Anna, we haven't told you why Lassarina ran off, did we?" As Avyanna shook her head, Farkas closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them. "This wasn't the first time she's run off, Lassarina ran off before because she believed that she had caused internal conflict within the Companions. It was only three months before Einarr found her and brought her back."
Avyanna frowned. "What kind of internal conflict are we talking about?"
Farkas's eyes flashed briefly with bitterness before it disappeared. "Another story for another time."
Avyanna knew he was refusing to answer, dodging the question and her curiosity peeked but she knew it wasn't important right now.
"Vilkas must have been happy that she had returned." She murmured, still healing Farkas's hand as she felt the small drain of magicka.
"More than happy," Farkas agreed. "Especially when she told him she was pregnant."
Avyanna's eyes widened as she let out a small gasp. "Wait, she's out there by herself, pregnant?"
"I only wish that were true," Farkas clenched his free fist a bit. "Lassarina was going to stay in Jorrvaskr and get married to my brother, but she was forced into doing one last job for the Thieves Guild. She went with her Guildmaster and he managed to slice open her belly and leave her for dead, if it hadn't been for someone else being in that ruin, she would have died. Vilkas had been able to feel her pain all the way from here, he even felt when she suffered her miscarriage."
As if the last puzzle was in place, Avyanna realized what had happened. "The remains in the urn—"
"Belong to Vilkas and Lassarina's son," he finished for her, knowing she had figured it out. "They were planning to name him Kodlak, in honor of our old Harbinger."
Avyanna looked down at the ground in shame, guilt gnawing at her. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea how much Vilkas was hurting."
Farkas grabbed her face with his free hand and forced her to look up just as her hands finished healing his hand. "It's not your fault, you had no way of knowing little spitfire. Lassarina has run off because she's had a tougher time grieving the loss of their son. But for my brother's sake, I hope she returns soon."
Suddenly, the whole spring was lit up by dozens of wisp, glowing up in the trees and near the spring. It was like tiny little stars in one area, magical and breathing taking.
"Beautiful," she breathed, letting go of Farkas's hand and closer towards the spring. Holding out her hand, Avyanna watched in awe as a wisp floated into her hand, finding it surprisingly warm. "It's like a tiny star in my hand."
Farkas chuckled and she looked over at him, finding the Nord watching her with a twinkle in his eyes. She just smiled before gently placing the wisp onto the ground and walking over to Rosso.
"Come on, we should head back," She told him, a smirk crossing her face. "Last one there owes the other five septims!"
"Wait!" he called, laughing as she took off. Rosso ran hard while Avyanna was laughing as Farkas caught up to her. The two of them grinning and calling each other names as they rode back to Whiterun.
It was a tie but they didn't care as they continued to chuckle and tease each other, walking up to Jorrvaskr. As the cold night air settled in, Farkas glanced at Avyanna worriedly.
"Are you sure you're not cold?" he asked and she rolled her eyes.
"Farkas…"
"I'm just checking, looking at you wearing that makes me cold."
Avyanna laughed as she opened the door, finding the mead hall in full celebration of Aela's son's birth. Instantly, the festivities reached the two of them as Rohan bounced up the stairs and found Avyanna.
"Anna, come and see Randulf!" Rohan said excitedly, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the where an exhausted Aela laid with a small bundle in her arms.
Aela looked up and saw Avyanna standing there, smiling and gestured for her to come in. "Isn't he beautiful?"
"Yes, he is." She agreed, standing at Aela's side with Rohan next to her.
"Would you like to hold him?" Aela offered and Avyanna beamed, gently taking a sleeping Randulf into her arms and finding her maternal instincts kicking in.
"I missed this," she cooed, bouncing on her heels as she looked down at Rohan. "You were such a loud babe, crying every second. And a pig too."
Rohan laughed, as did Aela and Kiraya while Randulf opened his eyes. He had inherited the huntress's eyes and Avyanna smiled warmly, her mark slightly glowing.
"You have a bright future ahead of you, little one," she whispered, recalling the wisps. "Welcome to the Companions."
Disclaimer: I do not own Randulf, Einarr, Lassarina, Fang or Kiraya as Mirage 159 owns those nice folks :)