My body ached, my muscles burned from fatigue and overuse. Restlessly I turn about in my bed, attempting to grasp the sleep that ever alluded me.
Sighing, I pushed my self out of bed, it had been only about a week since I had joined the companions and they, well Vilkas had made it there priority in life to make me crack.
The days were long and hard and consisted of mostly running around taking odd jobs the rest of the companions deemed beneath them, and every night Vilkas challenged me to a spar to "hone my strength". As much of a pain in my ass it is, I do feel as though I've actually made an Atom of progress. Besides, having a bit more coin in my pockets was never a bad thing in my humble opinion.
I exited my quarters and began making my way upstairs into the mead hall, the muscles in my thighs creaking and groaning. The hall was empty, the lit candles only offered a modicum of light into the barren Jorrvaskr.
As I stepped outside I was assaulted by the chilling air nipping at my skin. A quick once over revealed that the rear patio of the mead hall was already occupied. Aela, the mysterious huntress was perched on an adjacent wall, staring emptily into the milky depths of the full moon. The lone huntress looked ethereal, bathing in the moonlight that seemed to melt into her fair skin.
Aela was one of the few who didn't treat me like scum on the heel of her boot. An Ice Queen she may have been, but she never denied me extra supply, or scoffed when I asked for lessons and that had put her in my good books.
"Cant sleep?" I asked, my voice echoing around the empty pavilion. She craned her neck to look at me, an unreadable expression donned her face.
"Hardly, Im just enjoying the peace this place so rarely has." She replied, looking back up to the cosmos. "I'm suprised, most whelps are out cold after a spar with Vilkas."
I sauntered over to where she was perched, sitting down against the wall,
"Vilkas certainly has a way with people, in all honesty I'm surprised the woman of Jorrvaskr aren't carooning over him and his lovely personality." I drawled, letting some spite over my treatment spill into my words
A small smirk had perched itself upon Aelas lips, "Vilkas is a good man, he may be rough on you, but don't take it heart. He would gladly lay his life down for any of us." Her gaze not leaving the moon that floated above.
"So, uh, you seem really into the moon." I internally cursed, "Your really into the moon?" How could I get any lamer? To my surprise however; this Illicted a chuckle from the Huntress,
"Yes your very observant," she said with a mocking tone, "I guess you could say that I am "into" the moon. It is beautiful, it represents nature, its blind and driven forces, the passing and return of its seasons. Even after we're long gone the will be there, a tranquil guardian overseeing the world."
I followed her gaze up to the milky orb in the sky, "Wow, I mean I've never thought about it that way, I've always just thought of it as a hunk of rock that floats in the sky."
A sharp laugh ripped from the huntress's mouth, "You truly have a way with words new blood, have you ever thought about becoming a Skald?"
I rolled my eyes at the obvious mockery, and together we sat in silence. I'd never appreciated the landscape back in my own world, but I had began to form an appreciation for the natural beauty of the landscapes that surrounded me. The jagged arching peaks of the mountains seemed to stretch infinitely into bleary cloud dotted sky. The vast lush grasslands that surrounded Whiterun were a mixing pot of various beautiful fauna and flora.
Looking to make further conversation I looked back up to Aela,
"So, I was wondering, where do you come from? What did you do before joining the companions I mean." Aela looked down and locked her viridescent green eyes onto mine.
"I was a huntress by trade as a lass, making a living by hunting and selling pelts, I learned to live off the land and survive on my own. As for why I joined the companions..." she trailed off and turned her gaze back to the night sky in contemplation.
"I lacked a purpose, I merely survived and that wasn't good enough for me. Here I have a purpose, even if I have to deal with ignorant, thickheaded brutes all day, I would trade the world for it." She finished and looked back at me,
"And you? You are kind of an enigma around here. The only thing I know of you is your name, and that you can swing a sword. Where do you hail from?"
Shit, how do I say I'm actually from a different world, and that her entire existence exists simply from a video game?
"Uhh, I'm not from Skyrim, I actually come from pretty far a way. It's not a place many people know about."
Aela looked at me with a curious expression in her eyes and I continued,
"I never meant to come to Skyrim actually, it all started with a freak occurrence and now I'm here, trying to get by each day and, maybe eventually return home."
Aela nodded, but a look of confusion danced around her face, "You make it seem as if you can never go back? What "freak occurrence" is keeping you from your home?" I sighed, it wasn't easy making up a cover story on the fly, in front of an such intimating, if peaceful presence that aela commanded.
"It's a long, confusing story that I'm not too sure I have the energy to explain right now." I let out. Aela looked pensive to my statement, she probably knew I was withholding information but didn't press any further.
After another period of comfortable silence Aela swiftly arose from her perch and gracefully hopped down from the wall. She turned to me, "I fear I must leave, I have something important to attend to. Get some sleep New blood, a warrior needs rest if he is to perform in battle."
I nodded in aknowledgement and watched her form retreat into the shadows of the pavilion.
"Ha, she doesn't know that I know she's totally a werewolf, not complaining though, werewolves are sexy."
