A/N: This chapter marks the one year anniversary of this story. I must admit that when I set out to write this, I intended to write a chapter a week. As anyone's who's followed this will know, that didn't last long at all. I wrote this chapter on the road back from Cambridge, purely to commemorate the fact that this story has been around for a year. I am rather pleased with how it turned out. Also, this story had recently passed the 5'000 views mark, something else I'm rather proud about.
Now to respond to reviews.
TheGreatJabberyJamie: As you have noticed, Ram-Ku does not do sensible, ever. I think that either the next chapter, or the one after will have effects of Whiterun's change of management in it.
Andrew D: I already have a dragonborn in this story, they don't know who they are, the greybeards don't know who they are, Akatosh knows, but he's not telling anyone. There will be hints dropped. No Khajiit, I intend to keep this lore-friendly, and seeing as how Khajiit are banned from entering any Nordic city, they would be unable to join the Companions. No vampires either for similar reasoning.
Kai: Quite right, It is not entirely Braith's fault, although she does have to take some of the responsibilities. Falin and Aela should last, I think. Also, with regards to what you said about the story being out of Ria's perspective so you won't know what else happens around it, I am considering writing a companion piece to this containing scenes that Ria doesn't see, would anyone like to see that?
On with the story.
As I ducked to avoid a volley of ice spikes from the mage on the platform opposite, I decided that in hindsight, perhaps it had not been my best idea to take Falin to Winterhold with me. The job itself hadn't been all that difficult, but we had had to take the longer route through the Pale, seeing as how Falin was unable to enter Windhelm without being attacked by hold guards. The ice wraiths on the path hadn't been that much of a challenge, not for Falin, anyway. We had taken care of the bandits in the old fort, received our payment, then set off for home. On the way back, Falin had become distracted by a large statue on the skyline that I would later discover to be the largest surviving shrine to Azura in all of Tamriel, the previous holder of that title in Morrowind having been destroyed during the Red Year.
The morning had started with an argument, between Ram-Ku and Aela. The subject had been Falin. I had awoken to the sound of shouting from further along the corridor. It appeared that Ram-Ku was concerned that Aela would end up either hurting Falin or breaking her heart. I was unsure as to which he considered to be the greater crime. He was also concerned that Aela was treating Falin as a one night stand sort of thing, something that he was apparently very unhappy about. He sounded very much like an over-protective parent to me.
Aela had attempted to reassure him that she was not going to treat Falin like a one night stand, she was not going to break the elf's heart, and that she had no intention of hurting Falin, at least, unless Falin wanted her to. At the last comment, Ram-Ku had become furious and had been on the verge of brawling with the huntress then and there until Falin had opened the door, shot him with a paralysis spell and proceeded to tell him off. It was vastly entertaining watching Falin telling Ram-Ku to stop acting like an overprotective father, that she'd had quite enough of that in Morrowind thank you very much. That she was a big girl and could take care of herself.
Aela had been watching the entire exchange with a look that seemed to be pitched somewhere between amusement and confusion. It took me a few moments to work out why that might be.
"Falin," I called, "Have you by any chance, not explained everything to Aela?"
Both women suddenly looked at me, apparently having not realised that their argument with Ram-Ku had had an audience. Falin started looking guilty when she realised what I meant.
"What do you mean, she hasn't told me everything?" Aela asked. I looked at Falin for permission, she nodded her assent.
"Falin can't speak," I explained, "Her vocal chords were crushed by Galmar Stone-Fist in Windhelm, hence why Ram-Ku killed him, and also why both Ram-Ku and Falin are wanted criminals in Windhelm."
Aela nodded slowly, "So the hand gestures are how she communicates then?"
I nodded, surprised that she had been able to work it out by herself. Then she continued.
"Well that explains why she was so quiet last night. I thought it was a comment on my love-making." Falin promptly turned blue at the comment, a growl from the floor indicating that Ram-Ku's paralyss was wearing off and that he wasn't happy about the direction that the conversation was taking.
"Too much detail Aela." I said, feeling slightly embarrassed. The huntress smirked, not looking sorry at all.
"So how do I learn what she's saying?"
I spent the next hour or so, along with Ram-Ku once he had fully recovered from the spell and come to terms with the fact that he was not going to win this fight, teaching Aela how to read Falin's sign language, gestures with meanings that ranged from 'good morning' and 'It wasn't me' through 'piss off shield-brother' and 'Azura take you', all the way to gestures that Falin insisted meant 'that was excellent sex last night', a gesture that she promptly performed for Aela.
Ram-Ku had then suggested that I take Falin to Winterhold with me on a job that he thought would be good for us.
At the shrine of Azura, we had met an older looking Dunmer who had introduced herself as Aranea Ienith, a priestess of Azura, something which had quite excited Falin, who had happily bounced across to the altar and started praying to her deity. I had to admit that daedra worship still made me feel slightly uncomfortable, and the stories I had heard of worshippers sacrificing children over fire pits in the name of their gods rose to the surface of my mind. Aranea had been quick to reassure me that the stories I had heard mainly applied to the worshippers of Mehrunes Dagon and Molag Bal, and that Azura worship had nothing to do with any of it.
I had asked her how she had known what I was thinking, as I hadn't voiced any of my concerns. She laughed, "Azura is the lady of twilight, of dawn and dusk. All things that are not one thing or the other. Part of her domain is the power of prophecy. From time to time her benevolence gifts me visions that she believes will be helpful. As a young girl she sent me one such vision preceding Red Year, warning me of the coming eruptions and commanding me to lead a group of worshippers across the border into Skyrim for safety."
I had voiced my confusion, for I knew that Red Year had happened almost two centuries ago, and that whilst Aranea was certainly older than most people I knew, she surely did not look more than two hundred years old.
Aranea laughed again, "Thank you child, I assure you that I am far older than I look in human terms. We Dunmer age between two and three times older than the races of men. Whilst in human terms I am about seventy-five, I am actually two hundred and twenty eight."
I was completely dumbstruck. Here I was, conversing with someone who was older than the fourth era. Than something else came to me. "Falin," I said, turning to my friend, "How old are you?"
She had to stop to think about it for a moment, which wasn't exactly reassuring. She then claimed to be about twenty-five in human terms, and seventy-seven years old.
I was somewhat shocked, if I had got my numbers right, Falin had been of age since before I was born, and would have been old enough to possibly have fought in the later stages of the great war.
The priestess of Azura chuckled slightly at my expression, "Shocking isn't it? Almost a century old and yet she still acts like a child."
Falin pouted, apparently put out at being compared to a child. Then she gestured for me to ask the priestess how she knew how Falin acted. I opened my mouth to voice the question, but it would appear that the priestess' visions had also included how to read Falin's sign language. "I have been sent many visions of you, Falin of house Telvanni. Azura speaks to me of how you will be of great import. She has told me that you will be her champion for this era."
Falin perked up at the mention of being champion, I had a little knowledge of the nature of daedric champions. I knew that becoming one involved the binding of your soul to the service of the daedra in question, binding you to their realm of Oblivion in the afterlife. I reasoned that seeing as how Falin already worshipped Azura with a passion, that she had probably already bound her soul to Azura anyway. Aranea nodded as though she knew what I was thinking, then again, she probably did. Then she spoke again to Falin.
"The task that Azura has set out for you, is to find her star." I was confused, Falin was being sent to look for a star? Surely stars were holes in the fabric of Mundus that allowed magicka to reach the mortal plane from Aetherius? I voiced this thought to the two Dunmer, and in exchange received a pitying look from Falin. Aranea on the other hand seemed only too happy to explain.
"You are quite correct, however, Azura's star is only its name. It is in fact an infinite soul gem fashioned in the shape of a star. It is Azura's artefact, the symbol of her power on Nirn. It has been stolen, defiled by necromantic magics," here her voice shook, "its whereabouts hidden from me with sorcery. The few visions I have of it suggest an elven mage in a fortress threatened by the waters. I suspect this to be the College of Winterhold. You must seek this mage and retrieve the star. Bring it to me here so that by the power of Lady Azura I can restore it to its former glory. Do this, and Azura will name you her Champion."
Falin seemed unsure whether to look gleeful at the opportunity to win the favour of her god, or furious that someone had dared to defile said god's artefact. She settled for an expression that combined the two, an expression that I found to be rather terrifying, it looked like she was going to murder someone and seemed rather gleeful about the prospect.
We arrived in Winterhold just as the sun was beginning to set, so we decided to stay in the local inn, fittingly called 'The Frozen Hearth' for the night, before continuing on to the college in the morning. I opened the door, to be greeted by the sight of a heavily-built Nordic man, whom I assumed to be the innkeeper, arguing with an Altmer mage.
"I'm sorry, could you describe the smell?" The Altmer had asked.
"Like some horrible monster was turned inside out, and then exploded. What did you do this time?"
"A minor miscalculation, I assure you. I've already corrected it for any future experiments."
"This, Nelacar, this is why people have problems with your college."
The Nord had then turned away and retreated behind the bar, Nelacar had sat down at a nearby table. I decided that, seeing as how the Nord had mentioned 'your college', that this Altmer was a member of the mage's college, and might know of the location of Azura's star. I motioned to Falin to follow me as I approached the High elf.
"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, are you perhaps a member of the college?"
The elf gave me a look of absolute contempt, "My days at the college are behind me, but I prefer to stay close by."
Great, an exile. Still, perhaps he might know something. "I'm looking for a mage who studies stars."
The change in the elf's demeanour was immediate, "Who sent you?" he demanded worriedly, "Was it the college? Perhaps the Jarl? I thought we had agreed that there would be no more questions."
"Azura." I replied. The mage laughed.
"You're working with the Daedra? Right. Now tell me the one about the Argonian maid and the lusty baron." He laughed again.
"You misunderstand," I told him, "I'm not working with the Daedra," I gestured behind me to Falin, "She is." Falin having apparently decided that it was a good idea to wrap her hands in the starts of her destruction spells. The high elf apparently decided that we were being serious.
"You truly work for Azura? Gods it's finally all coming back to haunt me. What do you know about soul gems?"
I was slightly confused by the change in subject, but answered to the best of my abilities, "I know that they're used for enchanting, other than that, not much." I never claimed that my abilities would be any good. The elf however, nodded.
"They are, but the gem is always consumed. They're frail. Except for one, Azura's Star. An artefact of the Daedra that allows an infinite number of souls to pass through. Some of us wanted to find out how. I worked under Malyn Varen. He sought to alter the star, to prolong his life. He thought he could store his own soul within the confines of the star, become immortal. It drove him mad. Eventually, the College exiled him. He fled to Ilinalta's deep with a few of his most loyal disciples." He paused, "Look, I don't care who asked you to find the Star, but please don't return it to Azura. She's evil, she's the reason Malyn went insane."
I smiled grimly at him, "Possibly not the wisest thing to say in the presence of an Azura worshipper." Behind me, Falin had started charging up her spells. I had begun to be able to recognise which spells she was using, currently she was charging incinerate, immensely powerful, small area of effect, a close quarters spell, or one for use with a narrow sight line on the target. "Falin, you're already barred from Windhelm, let's not get you forcibly removed from another hold." Falin continued to glare at Nelacar before eventually extinguishing her flames.
Come the next morning, we left Winterhold and returned to Whiterun, where we informed the others of our completion of the job, and also that Falin had been given a task by Azura, and that we were headed for Ilinalta's deep to complete it. Aela had insisted that she come with us, something that had made Falin quite happy. We had then set off down the south road towards Falkreath, passing through Riverwood just in time to see Sven leaving the Riverwood Trader at some speed, pursued by a broom-wielding Camilla Valerius. Upon seeing me Sven had looked furious, and Camilla had lowered her broom and waved happily at me, a wave that I returned. Aela and Falin had looked at me in askance, and I had mouthed that I would explain later.
Ilinalta's Deep sat, predictably, on the edge of Lake Ilinalta. At least, it used to. At some point the whole fort had sunk into the waters, leaving only its rooftops jutting above the surface. Inside, we were greeted by the crucified earthly remains of some poor soul who had run afoul of the ruin's inhabitants. Said inhabitants had proved to be necromancers, well versed in the usage of frost spells and unafraid of raising any fallen companions to draw Falin's fire and Aela's arrows away from themselves. Having cleared out the inhabitants of the rooms we that we could find, Falin immediately began scouring the place for anything she could use, loose septims, a couple of low value gems and a book entitled 'A Tragedy in Black' all went into her bag. Then we entered the room with the submerged floor and the necromage on the other side.
The man had resurrected the corpse of a bandit and sent it splashing through the waters to distract us, then began darting out from behind the raised drawbridge to hurl magic it as, then ducking back behind it before Falin and Aela could respond.
Whilst Falin and Aela traded shots with the mage, I exchanged blows with his zombie bandit. The man was slower than he would have been when he was alive, but he no longer felt fear or pain, so when I lopped off one of his limbs he just kept coming, smashing his mace against the blade of my sword again and again, attempting to bludgeon me in to submission. Eventually I noticed a pattern in his attacks, every time he completed a downswing of his mace, his head was momentarily exposed from above and from the right. He swung for me again, I stepped back, causing him to overbalance momentarily, widening the opening for me to strike. I brought my blade around in a devastating arc, connecting strongly with the man's dead flesh, easily severing his head from his shoulders, turning into a pile of smoke just as his master met his end on the point of one of Aela's arrows. Now we were left with the problem of how to cross the room without entering the water.
Aela grinned as she picked Falin up and tossed her easily across the room. Falin looked furious, Aela utterly unrepentant. Falin pulled the lever that lowered the bridge to allow us to cross the sunken room. She then promptly shocked Aela with low-powered magic.
"Was that strictly necessary Falin?"
Apparently it was about as necessary as throwing someone across a room because you didn't want to get wet, something that Aela apparently hadn't been complaining about two nights ago. Shaking my head at my companions antics I lead the way deeper into the fort.
A/N: The thing about elves aging two to three times more slowly than humans was mentioned in an ESO interview. I imagine this could be rather difficult for Falin and Aela's budding relationship, so I may have cheated slightly in my headcanon. Werewolves now age more slowly than normal humans or elves. Remember please review. And if you would like to see stories about the other Companions and other people in this story, then leave me a PM to let me know.