Y'know I said in the 6th chapter that the story was coming to a crux? Yeah, I lied. I don't know what made me decide that this was going to be a long fanfiction, I never planned it to be but I guess my characters had more things to do and say ;p. The story won't be finishing any time soon, there are still many more journey's to be had, so sit tight and enjoy. Reviews would be nice ;).
The next morning I was last to wake up, I pulled myself out of bed, dragging my heels and rubbing my eyes with tiredness. I pulled on my armour and noticed that Aela's bed was vacant. I yawned and pulled on my boots, making sure they were tight. I made sure I had collected all of my belongings before leaving the room and sitting in front of the fire in the main hall of the Inn. Jonna gave me a loaf of bread and a tankard of ale for breakfast.
The Inn was still fairly quiet, the Orc bard sat quietly with his lute in one corner of the Inn, plucking at random strings and drinking. Another, strange man with dark hair was on the bench opposite me; his was bulk in his steel plate armour and wore an iron helmet. The others were nowhere to be seen, but this did not surprise me. Aela was most likely wandering around the town and the twins were somewhere doing the same, soon they would come back to me. My stomach knotted as I remembered last night, and now I had to be in the same vicinity as Vilkas how could I ever cope. I couldn't help but feel awkward. The door to the Inn slid open; a cold wind blustered inside sending shivers up my spine. Vilkas and Farkas walked in, Vilkas stumbling as our eyes met.
"Good morning," He croaked, feeling just as nervous as I was. I smiled nervously at both of them and offered them to sit down. Farkas sat down first, on my right hand side, taking a bite from my loaf of bread and sipping my ale, "What kind of day is it?" I asked, making small talk after we fell into an awkward silence.
Vilkas stood in front of the fire, warming himself and looking around the large spacious room. Jonna was stood behind the bar, wiping the wooden surface. I watched as Vilkas relaxed, his posture slackening. He stood strangely, his feet shoulder width apart and his arms outstretched towards the fire, the orange glow licking at his face. His dark hair was pushed out his face, slightly greasy and more tousled than usual. His armour clung to his powerful body; it glistened in the fire light. I ripped another piece of bread and chewed on it harmoniously.
"How did the hunt go last night Farkas?" I turned to Farkas who was staring into the depths of the orange fire. His face was wider and stronger than his brothers, his hair longer but the same dark thick brown that curled and flicked at the ends. His shoulders wider and his arms broader and stronger filled with more muscle.
"We killed a few bandits in the marshes," He replied in a gruff voice, deeper and more accented than his brothers. Farkas never mentioned anything more on the subject, keeping himself to himself. I looked over at Vilkas again who hadn't moved, I waited in anticipation for Aela's return.
I was left to own my thoughts as the twins remained quiet. I turned my attention to thinking about before I became a Companion. My home, a forgotten campsite in the Pale tundra close to the sea, what had become of it now I did not know, a Stormcloak campsite or Imperial, who ever controlled the Pale now controlled my old home. It had been such a long time since I delved too much into thinking about it, it was a painful subject, I had fond memories and also disturbing ones.
I hadn't lived there since I was fifteen; since I left I had taken myself to the city of Dawnstar, a small town that lay on the edge of Skyrim. Wrapped up in hide skins I hitchhiked on the back of carriages finally ending up in Whiterun, I never regretted it. I welcomed the warmth of the plains of Whiterun, the cold had since become too foreign and reminded me too much of the past. Being in the region of Hjaalmarch reminded me of home, one step over and I would be in the Pale. I could even travel north and find what had become of it all, ask around for my parents, my brothers and see what had happened to all of them. I suspected that they had joined the war and were now fully fledged soldiers, maybe they were even dead. I pulled myself back into reality and looked around the Inn; it was busier now but still relatively quiet. It was wrong to think about the old times, I was different now, I was a werewolf, and I didn't even miss any of them.
We left the Inn as soon as Aela came back; we headed south getting back onto the main road before travelling west deeper in the Hjaalmarch. The snow lay thick on the stone road, but we trudged ahead. The thuds and estranged noises of stray giants could be heard up ahead. We climbed together up the wintery moors and back down again crossing the river via the bridge. As we descended off of higher ground the snow began to melt and the tall grass returned, growing in swamps and I watched my footing in case the thick watery mud sucked me in. The trees grew denser and mist started to settle, and I could see deer tether together and gallop through the trees, dancing between the trunks and eating the thick wet blades of grass.
It wasn't long before the howls of wolves could be heard and I watched as three wolves hunted a lone deer that was drinking from a small pond hidden away through the clumps of trees. The deer, startled, galloped away chased by one wolf and the others circling around the poor creature to make sure it never escaped. The first wolf pounced and slashed at the deer's hide, causing the animal to falter and cry out in pain as blood dripped from the lacerations the dark wolf had made. The other wolves pounced, one leaping onto the deer's back and digging its jaws into the animal's neck and the other at the belly of the doe. The deer collapsed in a heap and the wolves quickly devoured the carcass. We left by the time they had set their sights on another kind of prey.
The long road stretched out ahead of us and I was already tired of travelling. The ferns grew taller and blotted out the sun, leaving us to run in the cool, shaded from the protruding light. Off from the road I barely made out a small shack that was run down and falling apart. A man stepped out of the ajar door and tended to something on the floor, a bark of a dog startled me and I let out a small yelp. The man turned in our direction and raised his hand in a wave and smiled, I could not refrain myself from smiling back at him. The others didn't seem to notice the man, I asked them to slow down and I would catch up with them after digressing to the small shack off the beaten track.
"Good afternoon," The Nord man smiled, rubbing the belly of a grey shaggy furred dog. The dog sat on its haunches and stared up at me with bright black eyes and its pink tongue drooping from its mouth.
"Hello," I smiled to the Nord, "May I stroke him?" I reached my hand to the large dog who sniffed me first, its wet nose cold in my palm. The dog whined as I stroked him, ruffling the fur behind his ears and grinning like a young girl, "What's his name?" I asked.
"Meeko," The Nord beamed, knowing his dog was enjoying the attention, "I hope you're taking care in these old woods," The man said, his voice friendly and calm. I looked up at him whilst stroking his dog.
"I'm with a few others, we haven't come across much wildlife here," I had noticed that these woods were strangely quiet, only the faint echo of a wolf howl and the rustle of leaves and branches as the wind carelessly blustered through the forest.
"Do you need any supplies?" The Nord asked running his thick cut up fingers through his thinning dark hair, moving to his doorway. I stood up and smiled down at the dog who playfully barked at me.
"No, no, I couldn't," I replied holding up my own torn up hands wrapped in black gloves and dirty bandages, "I should catch up with the others." I turned to leave, listening to the dog bark behind me.
"We don't get visitors here much," The Nord said reluctantly, his voice saddened and lonely.
"But it's a very beautiful place," I smiled and waved feeling guilty that I was leaving the poor man alone in these woods, trotting off after the others leaving the lonesome shack in my wake. Perhaps I would come back soon and make sure the man is okay.
The others hadn't run far ahead and I caught up with ease. Ignoring thoughts of the loneliness of the Nord I focused on the journey ahead and as nightfall approached, we stood on the outskirts of a hamlet called Dragon Bridge. The moon was low and crescent in the sky and the large stone bridge sculpted in the shape of a dragon, the large stone pillars hooking into the middle where the head of the beast loomed over travellers. The sight was breathtaking; we crossed the bridge, the rushing of water beneath us, crashing into fallen boulders and sloshing against the river side. The Imperial guards that wandered the small streets eyed us nervously as we approached the sleeping village, the moon large, clung low in the navy sky, each star blotted out by the overcastting clouds.