Rayla stirred from her deep slumber, but she didn't have any idea of what time of day it was. She could hear the storm still raging outside.

'How long have I been asleep?' she wondered.

"Sleep well?"

Rayla looked sleepily over at towards the table near the firepit and saw Farkas stoking the fire. "You shouldn't be out of bed, yet..." She yawned and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes, the blanket slipping from her shoulders a bit.

Farkas chuckled. "I'm fine, thanks to you." He gestured towards her body. "That's a good look for you."

Rayla looked at him confused, then glanced down at her body- her face erupting with heat as it turned bright red. She quickly pulled the blankets back around her body, turning away to hide her embarrassment.

"Why are you hiding?" Farkas asked.

Rayla, from beneath the blanket, felt tears welling her in eyes. She didn't know how to answer his question.

She cared about him a great deal, and had even considered what an intimate relationship with him might be like, but Velanus had raped her and abused her sexually over the years. With that being her only experience with sex or anything sexual, Rayla felt utterly ashamed of herself and thought no other man could want her knowing that she wasn't "pure" anymore. In her family, it was always considered to be wrong to give yourself away to anyone before you got married, and she had been saving herself for the right person. But then she was married off to a cruel man who took that choice from her and constantly told her- as he forced himself on her and dominated her time and time again- that she was barely even worthy of a man's presence in her bed.

Farkas could sense she was on the verge of tears and sighed, having a good guess as to why she was hiding from him. He stood and went to sit next to her on the bed. "I'm sorry, Rayla..."

Rayla remained silent as she struggled not to cry.

"I know this must be tough for you, given everything that has happened to you." Farkas reached up to wipe away her tears. "I shouldn't poke fun like that."

Rayla sniffled and turned to stop Farkas when he made to return to his seat by the firepit. She didn't know why she did, or really what to expect would come next, but she wanted him to stay with her.

Farkas seemed to understand what she was trying to ask and simply nodded, moving to sit with his back against the wall as he pulled Rayla into his lap and wrapped the blankets around them.

They sat there, quietly watching the flames dance and flicker as tiny breezes of wintry wind slipped through the cracks in the wall. Eventually, Rayla had fallen back into a deep sleep- still exhausted from casting the healing spell hours before. Farkas gently lay her down onto the bed, adding more wood to the fire.

'Rest well, little mouse.'

Sometime later, Farkas had rejoined Rayla in bed and it wasn't long before he fell asleep. Rayla, however, woke from her slumber and got dressed again before going to the bookshelves to see if there were any other tomes that she could read and learn from. Unfortunately, there were no other tomes, but luckily, there were plenty of books on alchemy and potion making.

Rayla sat reading for a while, wanting to learn more about healing in every form that she could. She was tired of feeling useless and she wanted to be of more help to Farkas than she had been.

At one point, after nearly three hours of pouring through book after book, Rayla noticed the wind outside had died down and she stood to take a peek outside. As she looked through the linen window covering, Farkas stirred and saw her standing by the window. He slid out of bed and came to stand behind her, his hand coming to rest on her hip.

"The storm has died down." Rayla said, ignoring her blushing cheeks as his hand slid over her hip.

"So it has." Farkas scanned the landscape and sensed no danger nearby. "We should leave while we have the chance and try to make it to the next village."

"I'll pack our things."

Farkas let Rayla slide out from his grasp and kept watch while she gathered their things together. When she was ready, he took the lead and began trudging through the thick snow- all the while keeping her hand in his.

It took them a couple of hours to even make it back to the road, but by then the storm was resuming its rage and took up to battering the land once more. Needing to seek shelter as soon as possible, Farkas tried to smell the air through the stormy winds for any sign of which direction to go. Luckily, he caught the scent of a campfire not too far away and led Rayla towards the source.

Rayla clung to Farkas' hand as they traversed the frozen landscape, afraid that she would fall behind or lose him in the snow- especially when the storm picked up again. She was starting to lose her strength, however, and collapsed onto her knees.

"Rayla!" Farkas checked her forehead for a fever and scooped her into his arms, picking up the pace as much as he could to reach the campfire. "Hold on, little mouse..."

As the storm blew through their camp, the Stormcloaks stationed in Falkreath Hold went about their business as usual until a strange man carrying a young woman stumbled into their camp. He called to the nearest soldier, asking for their help and a safe place for his companion- stating that she had a fever and he worried it was getting worse.

The soldier jumped up and led the man to the healer's tent, instructing him to set her down on the open cot. As he busied himself with grabbing an extra blanket and some potions to bring down her fever, the man set about removing her wet and frozen cloak. When the soldier turned back to the man and saw the woman's face, he immediately knew who she was.

The man sat back, letting the soldier give his companion the potion, then thanked him when he took his leave. He sat by her side, making sure that she was tucked under the blankets, his brow furrowed with worry.

It wasn't long before a different soldier came into the tent and stared in disbelief at the woman.

"Is she alright?" he asked the man.

He nodded. "She has a fever, but she should be fine soon." He eyed the soldier for a moment, trying to process his scent as it was very similar to his companion's. "Who are you?"

The soldier looked from the woman to her companion. "My name is Jondric Blackthorn. I'm Rayla's older brother."

Farkas explained to Jondric everything he knew of Rayla's situation as they sat waiting for her to wake up and her fever to break. He could tell that Jondric was blaming himself for not being able to protect his sister from such hardships.

"She's been worried for months, you know," Farkas said, "about whether you were even still alive."

Jondric sighed. "I wanted to write her, but..."

"Why didn't you?"

"I was undercover, trying to infiltrate their ranks and gather intelligence." Jondric began explaining. "I couldn't risk the enemy finding out about her." He sighed. "I shouldn't have joined the Stormcloaks... I should have been there to protect her..."

"It wouldn't have matter, not if your father is as bad as he sounds." Farkas looked over at Rayla. "Besides, she would have insisted that you go anyway."

"I know... she's always been like that..." Jondric reached over and smoothed her hair from her face. "She's always tried to put everyone before herself, always tried to make everyone else happy..."

"I've noticed." Farkas chuckled at that and watched the siblings for a moment.

"Thank you, Farkas, for looking after her."

"I would have whether she hired me or not." Farkas replied. "She needed help and I wasn't about to let her go off on her own, not knowing how much danger she was in."

"How could Father marry her off to someone like that..? Even if it would restore the family's name, how could he possibly let her be with a man as cruel as Velanus..?"

Farkas made to reply, but Rayla stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes. "You're awake."

Rayla looked at him wearily as she forced herself to sit up. "Where are we..?"

"You're at the Falkreath Stormcloak camp."

Rayla looked over, her eyes widening a bit when she saw who was seated next to her. "Brother..?"

Jondric nodded, offering her an apologetic smile. "It's been a long time, sister."

Rayla's eyes teared up and she reached forward, touching his cheeks to make sure he was really there. "Jondric... it's really you..." She wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "I've missed you so much..."

Jondric returned her embrace. "As have I."

Farkas stood, leaving the tent to give them some time to catch up. He wandered the camp, wondering if all of their camps were like this. It was a simple but functional camp, filled with the essentials to support roughly ten soldiers at the most- including those who were injured.

As he stopped at the front of the camp, Farkas looked to the skies and wondered if this was going to be the end of his journey with Rayal now that they had found her brother. He knew she'd be safe with him, with the Stormcloaks, but he found that even if that were the case, he didn't want this to be the end of their time together. He had grown accustomed to her company, to how calming her scent was, to how accepting she was of him. He had grown fond of her smile, her timid but kind and helpful nature, her willingness to help those that she can. He wanted to keep protecting her.

'In the end, all that matters is what is best for her.'

Rayla was bedridden for another day or two, but when she was ready to get up and about, she searched for Farkas throughout the camp.

"Jondric, have you seen Farkas?"

Jondric looked up as his little sister approached him at the grindstone. He sighed, standing and pulling a letter from his coat. "He asked me to give you this."

Rayla took the letter, her heart sinking as she read through it.

"I'm going back to Whiterun. You'll be safer now that you have found your brother.

It's been a pleasure travelling with you and I wish you luck, little mouse, on the rest of your journey.

Divines guide you and protect you.

Farkas"

"He didn't even say goodbye...?"

"You alright, sister?"

Rayla looked up at her brother. "Why would he just leave without a word?"

Jondric reached up, wiping free the tears that slipped down her cheeks before he pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Rayla..."

"What do I do now...? Velanus is still out there..."

"You're safe here, with me, with the Stormcloaks. I promise, that man will not touch you again."