Bishop and Aeyrin joined the twins in their walk towards Dawnstar in the end.
Aeyrin was not going to want to see Aela, but they just split near the city and the two of them continued east towards the tomb to see the Wall. It was a good idea to part ways already. They discussed everything a lot and it was… tiring.
With hope, Bishop and Aeyrin would get to the tomb soon enough and be able to rest there for the night. Then Winterhold was their best bet. They had been hoping to travel through the night and sleep in the carriage from Morthal, but that was no longer an option, no matter how eager they both were to get to their new destination.
It would have been a shame not to go see the Wall when it was still relatively close.
They stayed silent for the most part as they walked through the snow. It was not nearly as thick and frozen as it would be in winter, but it still hindered their progress a little bit.
They were both kind of tired of talking. It felt like everything just kept piling on and it was hard to deal with. So when they arrived at the small island at last, traversing a small ice field carefully, they were more than eager to set up camp and put today behind them.
Aeyrin located the Wall first and she instantly caught the Word.
RAAN.
When they settled into the barrow entrance, hidden under the winding stairs, she made sure to check it in her book.
"Raan… animal," she noted. It felt like this was the first time she spoke in a very long time. Maybe it was. They were enjoying the silence together. Not fighting. For once. It was nice, especially since just as one of their rough patches was all 'patched up', another started the very next day. They'd been fighting so much and it was all because they were frustrated by other things happening in their lives. Why? Fighting just made things worse, right?
"'Animal'? Is it another one of those words that put Karnwyr to sleep?" Bishop raised his brow.
"Maybe," she shrugged. It made sense.
"Why don't you try it then?" He scowled at her a little. She hadn't Shouted once since being cured. Wasn't she curious? "There were a bunch of them you learned when you couldn't use them. You should try them all out."
"Yeah… yeah… sure," Aeyrin nodded. It was the logical thing to do. She should. But…
"What's wrong?" Bishop prodded after he watched her conflicted face for a while. She looked like she didn't want to. Why? Wasn't it exciting to find out what more she could do now? Was she worried about relying on the Shouts again?
"Nothing…" she mumbled, but she knew herself that she was extremely unconvincing. Bishop only frowned more at her, but he didn't look angry. More concerned.
As if to punctuate his worries, he outstretched his arm as he was leaning on the wall below the stairs, motioning for her to move closer to him. They had their camp set up nicely, along with the traps and the food cooking on the fire, filling the place with a pleasant smell. But Aeyrin still sat too far away from him. Usually she was always snuggling up to him when they had a moment of respite like this.
She put her book away and let out a little sigh. She didn't really want to talk today anymore. But… talking was always somehow easier when she was pressed into his arms. She crawled over the ground until she reached him and she snuggled into his shoulder, curling herself comfortably. It was helping her feel better. No matter what, this was the best shelter out there.
"What's wrong, love?" He repeated the question and moved his free hand to stroke over her cheek gently, then lower to play with the loose hair falling over her shoulder.
"I just… once I try, I'll know, you know? I'll know I can Shout again," she sighed. She wasn't sure how else to explain that fearful feeling.
"I know. That's not a good thing?" He raised his brow. Didn't they want to know? To know if there was a safety net the next time she would end up dangling at a huge height or when they would get into a tough situation. Sure, Aeyrin had been proud of herself that she didn't need to rely on her Shouts. And she proved to herself that she didn't need them. But they'd already established that using them didn't mean that she wouldn't be able to make do without them, for whatever reason. It was just another weapon.
"It is… It's great. For… for everyone. I'll be able to learn and use that Shout… the man-made one," Aeyrin's voice cracked.
Ah.
Bishop felt a chill run down his spine at those words. That was what bothered her.
"It doesn't mean you'll be facing Alduin tomorrow," he started to stroke over her hair comfortingly. "We don't know how to learn the Shout yet, we don't know how to even track that asshole down to be able to kill him. And we don't know what that Shout will exactly do. We don't know if it's even possible for Dexion to somehow make sure you learn the Shout."
"That's… true," she nodded slowly. "It's just… now that everyone knows… it feels… I don't know. So real." It's always been real. She knew that all too well. But now it seemed oddly… imminent. There was more pressure. Every glance from any random person reminded her, made her aware of it all over again. She was expected to save them all. And she had no idea how. And even if she knew how, she had no idea if she was even capable of it.
"Yeah. I know," Bishop nodded. People finding out about this… it was a fucking nightmare. The attention, all those entitled fucktards thinking she was there to cater to them, jumping through fucking hoops to save them and them alone. It was infuriating.
"I know it's stupid. Trying it out won't change anything anyway," Aeyrin sighed. "I guess it was just… sometimes weirdly comforting to know that there's an obstacle."
"I get that," he nodded. "There's still plenty of obstacles though. And… this way you can at least find out if you can have more weapons in your arsenal again."
"Yeah. Yeah," she nodded slowly. It was going to be a comfort on its own to have the Shouts back. Especially that ethereal one. "I'll… try in a minute." She was reluctant to leave Bishop's embrace just then though. She felt a distance between them all day again and she didn't like it. It was an even bigger comfort to be back in his arms once more.
Letting it stew again though… it didn't sound like a good idea. Maybe they should…
"Bish," she took a deep breath. She hoped this wouldn't end in a fight again. "We got interrupted before but…"
"They were right, you know?" Bishop stopped her before she could start. "Why the fuck do we even worry about what could have happened? Why are we fighting when it's over and there's nothing we want to change. Do you wanna split up again over this?"
"No!" She gasped at him in horror. That did not even cross her mind. "But… fighting can… you know, clear the air."
"Yeah. We did that. I'm not sorry for what I did. You're not sorry for being mad at me for it. I don't know what else is there to do. If we just continue this, we're gonna end up in a place where one of us just has to concede to stop it from ruining us, even without meaning it. And what the fuck is the point of that?"
He… kind of had a point. They did establish how they felt about what happened. And it was not like Bishop would be promising to never do it again, since there was not going to be anything like this happening again. And he probably wouldn't be willing to promise that to her anyway.
It was pointless.
"It was… easy to think about, you know? Easier to be mad than…" she admitted quietly. She knew what she was doing, concentrating on her anger at his behavior instead of the other things.
"I get it," he nodded. He kind of felt the same. There were things he couldn't help but be conflicted about with her being cured.
He… he would miss it. He knew she was tormented about this, but he liked that werewolf. He liked seeing her in those eyes. He liked the challenge. He liked how it felt to have something so powerful just… obey him readily because he was able to bond with it.
He was so glad to have this weight lifted off Aeyrin's shoulders. But he could still miss it, right?
Besides, she didn't really seem less burdened now.
"How are you feeling? Really," he turned his head and looked into her eyes intently. He didn't believe for a second she was entirely forthcoming in front of the twins.
"Confused…" she lowered her gaze a bit, as if in shame. "I should be happier. I should think about how I just escaped a horrible afterlife and servitude to a monster. How I don't have to chain myself like an animal every month anymore. But I keep thinking about… about what I did. About Alduin. And… you."
"Because of what I did?" He asked. She didn't seem angry anymore, but if she still obsessed over it, maybe she was.
"No… I mean… kind of." Now she hid into the crook of his arm, trying to escape his gaze. "I feel like… I took away something you really cared about. Like you…" her face flushed in embarrassment at this. It was a ridiculous thing to wonder about, surely. But she couldn't help it. "Like you liked it better than me."
"'Better than you'?" Bishop couldn't hide the mild amusement from his voice. He did not see this coming. How could she think that? "Princess." He moved his hand into her hair and gripped it tightly to pull her head away from him and make her look at him again. "There is nothing and no one on Nirn… or beyond, that I like better than you. Even when you're fucking pissed and yelling at me, I like you more than anything," he chuckled affectionately, punctuating the point with a brief kiss on her lips. "I did like the werewolf. The… taming was a fun challenge and it just… made me feel proud of what I managed to do, you know? But thinking that I liked a werewolf I had to consider turning on me constantly is fucking ridiculous, sweetheart."
"You thought it might turn on you? You were always so convincing with how well you know it, how it would never hurt you," she scowled a bit.
"Yeah. I was pretty confident in this. But there was always that tiny uncertainty you can never get rid of. Like the night we had to spend like that with Serana there. I was really worried about how you'd react to her," he explained. "Princess, I was trying to be careful. I knew you were still dangerous. I just… fuck, is it so hard to believe that I liked thinking you were in there somewhere, fighting those killer instincts for my sake?"
She… she was. She wasn't sure if it was for his sake or hers. Maybe both.
"Whenever you let me loose and told me what to do… to stop or to come back to you or such… I remember just not wanting to make you panicked if I disobeyed. No matter how much I wanted to sometimes," she admitted.
Bishop gave her another affectionate smile and he leaned in to kiss her again, this time longer and much more eagerly.
"Whatever I'll miss, I'm just glad you don't have this hanging over you anymore, tormenting you." He stayed pressed to her with his forehead leaning against her as their lips parted. "I know there's other shit bothering you now, but… you needed this. You know that. And it's a good thing that you're cured. And we'll deal with any other shit that comes our way."
Aeyrin leaned in to kiss him in turn. It was a good thing she was cured, certainly. She needed to stop focusing on the past and the memories and all those pointless hypotheticals.
Her soul was saved and that was what mattered, right?
After a brief kiss, Aeyrin pulled herself away from Bishop's embrace. It was time to make sure.
She walked up the steps, leaving him down below there. She very carefully avoided the traps before she stood on the perch of the barrow. Bishop could see her from below like that, but she should be far enough to do any harm to him.
"RAAN!"
That sound… neither of them heard it for ages. Her voice felt like it shook the very ground, like it rang across the Sea into the horizon. She almost forgot how loud it could get.
Nothing happened though.
"That's the animal one?" Bishop called out to her from down below.
"Yeah," she retorted.
"Well… are there any animals even around?" He chuckled. It was clear now that it wasn't the same as the animal calming one – she would have used all those words. But if it meant 'animal', it probably needed to affect some animals.
"Wait! I see something weird!" Aeyrin gasped. As she looked around for some animals, she spotted something in the water by the shore. There was… a green light there. Swimming. A fish. Was it enveloped by a green aura? "There's a… fish glowing green."
"Is it sleeping?" Bishop snickered again.
"No… it's swimming," she shrugged. They would likely not figure this out now. They needed to test it more elsewhere. "I'll just… try the next one."
Alright… what else did she learn when she couldn't use them?
"FAAS!"
She wasn't even sure why she tried this one. She knew what it did. She felt the effects of this one after the horrible surprise absorption in Whiterun. It meant 'fear'.
Bishop suddenly felt his heart clench and his whole body start to shake. He wasn't sure why, even though he felt like it should have been obvious, but a horrible all-consuming fear enveloped him. He couldn't think straight. He couldn't think about why this was suddenly happening. Soon, he didn't remember where he was or what he was doing. He just had the urge to curl into himself and close his eyes to shield himself from whatever was causing this. He felt like all his hair was standing upright and goose bumps enveloped his entire Body.
"Bishop?" Aeyrin looked back at him after the Shout, only to see him sitting there, hugging his knees and hiding his face. Oh shit! She was too close. She probably needed to be more careful about the ranges. She was out of practice.
Oh no, poor Bishop. She remembered how horrible this felt. Why did she even try it? That was so stupid! She didn't need to try this one.
Stupid.
Now she could do nothing but wait for it to pass. Gods, second Shout and she already felt guilty.
It was confirmed that her Shouts were working though. Maybe she should have tried one she really knew first, but… ugh, it didn't matter. She just shouldn't have tried this one.
Bishop finally raised his head a little after a few minutes. Gods, she had never seen him look so pale. He blinked rapidly a few times, looking around in confusion, before his eyes fastened on her standing on the perch.
"Fuck…" he let out a gasp.
"I'm so sorry, Bish. I don't even know why I tried this one. I knew what it does anyway. And I didn't think I was close enough but…" she started to stammer in panic.
"Calm down," he smiled a little, but the disturbed look was still on his face. The horrible feeling lingered unpleasantly, but at least now he could think. He could remember where he was and that he was safe.
This wasn't a bad idea though. They knew what the Shouts meant, so… why not test them out properly?
"I'll… I'll try to step over to another island or…" Aeyrin looked over her shoulder to check out her options.
"No. It's fine," Bishop stood up with determination. "Do another. We can test them on me. When we can at least suspect a little what they do," he chuckled a bit.
"What? No! It's dangerous," Aeyrin shook her head adamantly.
"It's just unpleasant. Most of them don't kill people. Just don't do any fire ones. Or more lightning," he pondered.
"See?! Insane. I'm not testing them on you!" Aeyrin huffed. Of course they could kill. She knew some very dangerous ones.
"Just tell me what the other one is," Bishop shrugged. They could decide how to test them the best when they had some hint.
"Krah. It means 'cold'," she announced after a bit of pondering.
"See? I like cold," he grinned up at her. And he was kind of eager to feel something other than the lingering fear.
"No! When I tried it before, I did my frost breath. I think it might be the second Word. You remember my frost breath? Down in that stupid furnace in Solitude catacombs. Did you like that? Well you can probably double that effect for this one." He would freeze to death! There was no way.
"Fine. Just aim away from me then," he sighed. She better hurry up. He wanted to know what else was there.
Aeyrin jogged down from the barrow at least and faced the sea. This would be safer. She knew Bishop wanted to watch her, but he didn't have to see everything. Not when it might endanger him.
"FO KRAH!"
She knew it! A stream of frost sprung forth, much larger and spraying further than she was used to. A large portion of the water got covered with a thin layer of ice.
Alright. Good. Tested.
"Next!" Bishop tried to yell loudly, eager to find one that he could help her test. The fear was really passing now, but he was getting excited about the testing instead. This was fun. Like a little mystery every time. He knew that now the real mysteries would come. They didn't have even the slightest idea about the other ones, right? As far as he recalled.
"Lun. It means 'leech'!" She called back to him.
'Leech'? Huh… that… didn't sound too pleasant.
"Alright, maybe try that one over there too!" He chuckled a bit.
"Thought so," Aeyrin smirked. She had no idea what it meant, but it sounded sinister. She would find out soon.
"KRII LUN!"
Oh! It was a second Word! Of that… red aura. That had always been such a useful Shout, though she felt its effects once too when that dragon priest in Labyrinthian used it on her. It was very dangerous.
She saw a few fish again light up under the water. Now in a red aura.
Poor fishies. That had to be unpleasant for them. But it would pass.
"Was that the red one?!" Bishop called out.
"Yeah! Second Word!" Aeyrin called back promptly.
"Good! Next!"
Alright then. What next? She had to rack her brain for a while to actually recall them. She had them marked in her book, but she tended to remember them somewhat instinctively. It was just tough to tell which ones were the new ones.
Oh! Right!
"Su! It meant… uuuh… air!" She called to Bishop.
"Alright. That one can't be dangerous! Come back here! I wanna see!"
"Bish, no!" It was still risky. What was with him? He was just horrified about the horrible risk he took by assaulting the assassin, and now he was just exposing himself to the Shouts without hesitation. He had a point that it probably wasn't bad, but…
"Come on! Let me see! It's just 'air'!" He whined.
"Fine! But I'm aiming away from you," she liked sharing this with him too, but she hated that it was such an unknown. 'Air' though… it couldn't be bad, could it?
She marched atop the perch again and turned to the side, intent on aiming away from Bishop while he watched her curiously.
"SU!"
Wait! No!
She just remembered! That horrible Shout that sent the insane wind against them! It had to be it. It had to be that destructive wind. And now she just unleashed it! Oh Gods, why did she back down? Why didn't she think of this?
But there was no wind. In fact, her right arm began to tingle oddly. So oddly it made her squirm.
She began to try and shake off the sensation, but much to her shock, her arm moved with speed she had never seen before. She almost couldn't see it. Was that what the Shout did? It made her arm fast? That was… strange. What was the purpose of that?
"Wow. Imagine if you had your mace in that hand," Bishop's eyes widened as he stared at her shaking her arm like that.
Oh. That… that was a good point. This was… amazing. That was going to be so helpful in battles!
She got giddy about it. Her arm was still so fast. The feeling was a little unpleasant, but nothing she couldn't stand. Not when it was this helpful.
Wait… how did dragons use this one?
Then again, their bare arms were their weapons. Maybe it made those faster. Ugh, that was a bad thought.
"Got any more?" Bishop prodded, clearly fascinated by the latest display.
"Hmmm…" Were there any? Oh! Right. "One more. Zun. It means 'weapon'," she nodded.
"Conjuration, you think?" Bishop pondered. Conjured weapons could be nice.
"Weapon conjuration? For dragons?" She shrugged. "How and why would they conjure weapons?"
"Right. Good point," Bishop nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. Try then."
"ZUN!"
Aeyrin still aimed away from him, but as the Shout rang through, nothing happened.
"It needs a target?" Bishop scowled. "Maybe it will conjure a weapon to stab something. Go try the fish. We can get dinner out of this too," he smirked.
Right. The fish. Good idea. The red aura worked on those.
Aeyrin ran down and stood at the shore again, looking under the surface to spot a fish or two.
"ZUN!"
Hmm… nothing. Strange. There was no aura and no effect at all. Not that she could see. She only returned back to Bishop with a dejected expression on her face.
"Nothing," she sighed.
"Hmm… alright. Try me then," Bishop nodded. "Maybe it will give me a cool weapon. Or enchant one of mine. Maybe the dragons used it to get their priests all menacing for battles," he chuckled.
Those were… options. But what if it was something else? Well… if it was harmful though, it would have affected the fish, right? It always did. It didn't pick human targets. That wasn't how it worked.
Alright. It was going to somehow enhance his weapons or something. That was the most likely option. Maybe engulf them in flames.
When she nodded, Bishop looked really giddy. He ran towards his stuff and pulled out his sword from the sheath of his armor belt. Then he just stood there, ready with his weapon drawn.
"Do it."
Aeyrin took a deep breath. She wasn't sure why she was doing this. She could try on a bandit! Then again, enchanting a bandit's weapon sounded like a shitty idea, even if only temporarily.
"ZUN!"
Bishop felt an instant burning in his hand. Unbearable burning. It made his grip spring open without him even thinking about it. It was like some kind of automatic reaction. His sword merely clattered onto the ground.
Did the handle burn? That was a shitty enchantment. Enchanting the handle was just idiotic.
"What happened?" Aeyrin scowled.
Instead of answering, Bishop looked at his hand. No burn marks. And it didn't even hurt anymore. Odd. He then leaned down to touch his sword's handle carefully.
Huh. It wasn't burning. It was… normal. He tried to carefully grip it, but nothing out of the ordinary happened.
"I don't know… it burned and I didn't even realize I let go of the sword. I'm not hurt though. And the sword's normal again," he shrugged in confusion.
"Hmm… disarming effect?" Aeyrin pondered. Like a nervous spasm, since it didn't leave a burn mark. Or maybe some kind of… phantom burning. Maybe it was just in his head. There were many possibilities. But the one effect was clear. He dropped his weapon.
"Oh yeah. Makes sense," Bishop smiled. It sounded very useful. He wondered if it affected more people at once. That would be really useful. "So… any more in there?" He asked after a while.
"I don't think so," Aeyrin shrugged before she remembered. One more. "Oh. Yes. One more. The one on our way to Falkreath. It meant… 'stamina'." She still wasn't sure what to make of that.
"Right. Well… that one will probably be some beneficial one, right? Like… giving you more stamina?" Bishop pondered. It sounded plausible – like a stamina potion. It could dispel her tiredness or give her an energy boost. That sounded likely.
Aeyrin stepped away a bit again, though she knew it was not enough to keep Bishop out of her range. This sounded very likely like nothing harmful. Though she still wasn't sure why she was so careless suddenly. Bishop was like that too with her Shouts. It was as if the long time in which she wasn't able to use them made them forget how dangerous they could be. Or maybe all that time she did use them through made them overconfident about knowing their effects.
Regardless, before she could ponder on it too much, the Word left her lips.
"GAAN!"
She felt it instantly. A wave of energy burst through her body and she felt more alert and awake than she ever remembered. She saw the green light envelop her.
Good. It was what Bishop thought. That was useful.
She looked back at Bishop, but then she noticed it. The same green light was enveloping him. And while she got excited about that for a while, a moment later, he dropped to his knees in palpable exhaustion.
Oh no!
With deftness she didn't know she had, she rushed back down the stairs, jumping over the traps more easily than she would under normal circumstances. It wasn't a burst of energy out of nowhere. Did she drain it from Bishop?
She was down there in no time and she knelt down by his side. Bishop was… alright. He was alive. He just looked at her with exhausted eyes and a long-suffering sigh leaving his lips.
"Tired," he confirmed as he slowly slumped against her, letting her catch him in her arms.
Dammit. This one would need some practice. Hopefully she could target it more precisely so that she could use it in battles and avoid draining Bishop's energy.
For now though, she merely stayed like that. Her body was screaming for her to move – to jump, to run, even to dance. Just… to do something to use that energy. But she fought all of it diligently and just kept holding Bishop. She should have been more careful. But then again, they might not have found out what this thing did if she was.
Slowly but steadily, Bishop collected himself again. He still looked a little beat, but not as much as before. And she herself felt the newfound energy waning in her. At least this all didn't last long.
"You know, I'm kinda excited to fight alongside you again like this. With the Shouts," Bishop smiled wistfully after a while. It definitely made the battles more unpredictable. And more interesting.
"Me too," she returned his smile softly. Now that she tried the new ones out, she realized that she missed it. She figured this was how mages must have felt, having to think in the heat of the battle to find the perfect spell to help them and very quickly. And when she couldn't think, there was this strange warm instinct that was there to help her. She missed all that.
But it wasn't the only thing she missed.
Hopefully soon, they would rectify it all.
Things were going to be like they used to be. At least in part.
And these experiments had helped her see it.
…
"By the Gods, look at that!" Aeyrin gasped as the town spread before them and they could finally see what was going on.
They met several people on the way, rushing towards Winterhold. They weren't sure why, but nobody was stopping to explain.
And now that they were over the hill, they could see it for themselves.
There were three carriages standing there, all getting filled with people. It was like some mass deployment. Something one might see with military operations, but these were normal people. It looked like they were taking an opportunity to travel that didn't come about too frequently lately.
Bishop and Aeyrin were incredibly lucky to have arrived now. They needed a carriage. They didn't want to waste time walking all the way.
They hurried their steps a little and continued down the hill. Every single one of the carriages had at least some people in it. They would certainly not have a calm private ride. But they could survive that. It would be worth it.
When they reached the carriages, it became a little confusing. And they weren't the only ones trying to make sense of this.
"Riften?" Bishop called out in the end. He was not gonna approach each of those drivers while the carriages filled up.
"Here," one of the drivers raised his hand, indicating he would be going there.
Good. But at that, several other people around jogged towards the carriage and hopped in. Great. Now Bishop alerted all of these fuckers. He grabbed Aeyrin's hand and rushed towards the back of the carriage quickly. No chance in Oblivion he would let it get away.
They managed to climb into the back with some more room left there, but the carriage was almost full. There were six other people sitting there and they had to really squeeze in. It was uncomfortable. Aeyrin had to press herself against a guy next to her and soon, someone else hopped in and sat next to Bishop, sticking to him closely. That was so fucking annoying. This was gonna be a long ride. It couldn't even just be people from Winterhold. Maybe from the more remote villages and settlements too.
"Isn't this even more dangerous than the frequent carriages?" Aeyrin scowled. "This seems like a more attractive target for the dragons." It was so stupid. Wouldn't they just attack more likely? There was no safety in numbers when most of them were just people who didn't even know how to swing a weapon. If a dragon saw this spectacle, it would have a really easy time claiming a lot of souls effortlessly.
A few people overheard her and looked at her, including the driver. Some just looked confused by her logic. One or two nodded thoughtfully and the driver gave her a deadpan look.
What? She was right!
Then though, some gazes lingered on her.
Oh-oh. Here we go.
The whispers started right after, people with their eyes still on her, leaning to one another and whispering to each other's ears. Aeyrin only crossed her arms over her chest in frustration and tried not to pay any attention to them.
Bishop did throw them some nasty glares, though he knew it wouldn't stop the people from gossiping and speculating. Hopefully it would deter them from trying to talk to her though. Especially about Alduin.
It certainly didn't deter some from other things though. He noticed the guy next to Aeyrin staring at her and shifting on his seat to press closer to her, even though everyone was already uncomfortably close to one another. He was staring at her face only for a while before his eyes turned tellingly lower.
Ugh. Fucking people. Fucking asshole.
Bishop snuck his arm around Aeyrin's waist quickly and nudged her to move a bit, prying her off the man. Then he reached out with the other and grabbed her firmly by the hips. Aeyrin's eyes widened at him, but she didn't say anything anymore, maybe not to get more attention on herself.
Well, this would likely achieve the opposite, but he wanted her away from that creep.
"Come here," he murmured as he hoisted her up and nudged her to sit on his lap instead. She had to shuffle a bit to accommodate him and she looked a little uncertain at first, but on the other hand, when she nestled into his lap and wrapped her arms around him, she did seem much more comfortable than before. And it gave them some space. Bishop could move a little further from the guy pressing to him on the other side.
"Ooof, thanks," the man let out a relieved sigh at the extra space, though Bishop hardly did that for his benefit. He instantly threw a glare at the creepy guy to let him know exactly why he did that.
The man was still staring at Aeyrin, but when he felt Bishop's eyes on him, he did look away. Then he looked kind of freaked out and just turned his head straight ahead, staring into nothing in particular.
Good. Fucker.
And in the meantime, Aeyrin seemed much more content when she was able to hide her face into his chest.
Still, this was gonna be an annoyingly long ride.
…
"You're gonna miss," Aeyrin whispered into Bishop's ear with a soft giggle. She could huff some hot air against his ear in this position and distract him further. She felt his body shudder and he let out some barely audible chuckles as he tried to hold back. His arms were already shaking a bit from trying to suppress the laugh, but he continued to aim steadily.
There was an enormous bear there some distance away, unaware of any dangers, it kept walking around a plateau between the golden aspen trees, sniffing the ground, maybe for something tasty.
Bishop could not pass that opportunity up. He was gonna earn another earring. This bear definitely classified as a well-earned hunting trophy.
But once he dropped to the ground to take aim properly, Aeyrin dropped down right next to him and pressed herself to his side. Now she was clearly intent on distracting him properly.
"Don't you remember? I never miss, sweetheart," he chuckled in a quiet voice.
"Ah… soo… back in Blackreach, you wanted to shoot me?" She giggled again.
"That's right. My brilliant plan to have you all grateful after I rescue you," he grinned. The way she remembered it though, there was not much gratitude. Just his guilty look and all that apologizing.
"Well… what's your 'brilliant plan' for that bear when I do this?"
He heard her voice right by the side of his head again and then, her teeth sank into his ear, right below the one earring he had earned so far.
Fuck. That made a shiver run down his spine so suddenly that he felt his fingers loosen.
Shit!
The arrow flew forth and ended up lodging into a tree near the bear. Fuck. The bear got alert instantly. Now it was a question whether it would attack or run.
"Pffft. Such a crappy shot," Aeyrin tried to stifle her laugh.
Ah, fuck it.
Bishop notched another arrow quickly and shot it at the big bear. His whole point was to fell it in one shot. Perfect aim. But it kept moving around. Now he didn't care anymore. He just shot wherever – the bear was big enough to be hit by it anyway.
It did hit somewhere in its back and the bear roared in pain. Mid-roar, however, its jaws locked in a stable position, as did the rest of its body. Paralyzed. Now it was just painfully easy. Bishop wanted to make it at least a little challenging.
Oh well.
He shot another arrow into its head, where he had been trying to aim before. Now he heard the last pained roar of the dying bear. Soon, it was quiet.
Dead. Fine. He still earned that earring.
"Well, that was not impressive at all, mister 'perfect aim'," Aeyrin chuckled at him, now no longer trying to stay quiet.
Bishop threw her a glare instantly, but it was much more teasing than angry. He placed his bow aside and before she could react, he lunged at her, grabbing her wrists and pinning her down on the ground in the piles of golden leaves. He was on top of her instantly.
"Ooh, you thought I was talking about archery?" He grinned at her mischievously as he pressed his hips to hers meaningfully. His head dipped lower a second later and he nipped at the skin of her neck before whispering into her ear. "That's not what I meant at all. You know, I can hit just the right spot perfectly." To punctuate the point, he thrust his hips against her a few times, though it was hardly effective with their armors on. Still, the flush of her cheeks was a very rewarding sight.
She was well aware of that particular 'precision' of his and she couldn't help but groan a little when he bit her neck teasingly again.
"Weren't we… looking for someone?" She chuckled a little breathlessly. That was why they were here, right? And she couldn't deny that she was still very nervous about it.
But also very excited. Maybe this time things would finally be different. Finally how they were supposed to be.
"Right," Bishop raised his head a little and let out a piercing loud whistle. He was so close to her ear that she had to flinch at the sound. He had made that noise several times before, but it was not as bad when he wasn't right there.
Bishop didn't wait before he dipped his head back and continued to kiss her neck eagerly.
He continued for a while, eliciting soft gasps from her at every nip on her skin, but then, he stopped.
Aeyrin did kind of miss when she could concentrate on her heightened senses. Bishop clearly heard something as he climbed off her. She wished she could focus and hear it too.
She didn't need to wait long though. She barely managed to sit up before the rustle of leaves and panting filled her ears. And then he jumped out of the thicket with an excited smile on his face.
A very happy bark left his maw. Aeyrin squirmed in place with fear. What if he still reacted the same? What if he was still afraid of her or wanted to attack her? But… that expression… the last times she'd seen Karnwyr, he was just glaring and snarling. This filled her with so much hope.
She couldn't help but flinch when Karnwyr broke into a run, straight towards her. But Bishop didn't move a muscle as he beamed at the scene. If he wasn't worried, there was no need to worry, right? Who knew the wolf better than him?
She held still as Karnwyr lunged at her. And with the first feel of his tongue on her cheek she let out an affectionate laugh and wrapped her arms around him. Gods, she missed him so much. And it was clear that he missed her too. Despite their bond, he didn't jump at Bishop first. He was relieved to see her after all this time. It was like he thought she was gone entirely – like that person he saw before wasn't her.
Maybe he had it right. Now things certainly seemed somehow brighter when she could bury her laughing face into his soft fur.
It was a relief to see him here, alive and well. After the night she got cured, Bishop and Aeyrin decided to postpone their visit to Windhelm and head to the Rift instead as fast as possible. They needed Karnwyr back at last. They'd been walking through the forest for hours and Bishop tried whistling periodically, but only now Karnwyr must have heard him.
And now they could finally all be together again.
"See? I told you he'd be fine," Bishop grinned as he watched Karnwyr continue licking her face enthusiastically. He was impressed that she was even sitting upright as he leaned on her. He was a big wolf.
Aeyrin moved a bit to be able to look into Karnwyr's eyes. It's been ages since she'd seen that happy face when he looked at her. She grabbed the tufts of fur behind his ears and rubbed him, eliciting more pleased pants from him.
"I missed you so much, Karnwyr," she smiled affectionately and Karnwyr barked happily in response. She was really convinced he could understand them.
After a while, she let Karnwyr disentangle himself from her and he jumped up at Bishop instantly, trying to topple him to the ground playfully. Bishop only laughed and rubbed him behind his ears.
Unlike Aeyrin, Bishop had seen Karnwyr not so long ago. But it was still way too long. Way too long to be apart like this.
This was the best part of Aeyrin getting cured. Sure, there was the whole eternity not being a slave to a Prince, but this really did feel better now.
Bishop let out a relieved and satisfied smile. For once, shit turned out alright.
And maybe he would miss that werewolf. Sure, they bonded a lot. But that didn't matter.
He would hardly even have the mind to miss her when he had these two with him again. Both of them no longer plagued by all the shit the lycanthropy brought about.
"Come on buddy," Bishop rubbed Karnwyr behind his ear again when the wolf finally stopped jumping around. "Let's get going. We got a lot of adventures to catch up on," he winked.
Karnwyr barked at Bishop happily before he returned to Aeyrin's side. She already managed to get back up on her feet, but he wasn't making her more stable when he started to circle her legs.
Now they could go to Windhelm at last. Properly. Like they were supposed to be.
All three of them together again.