Aoife watched curiously as Kaidan darted to the left into a bush and crouched down, drawing his war bow. She was confused by the hand signals he threw her way, but crouched alongside him, following his eyesight until she saw the doe half-hidden behind a tree not a hundred meters away.
"She's beautiful," Aoife whispered in awe, seeing the doe's lashes glint in the early dawn as she blinked. Kaidan shifted slightly, notching an arrow before drawing a breath; the silence of his held breath was punctured by the release of the bow string and the cry of the doe as she was struck through the chest, collapsing instantly. Aoife flinched as it fell, and Kaidan stood, making his way over to the kill to field dress it. This was the part that Aoife hated the most, but it put food in her belly, and kept Kaidan from complaining about eating rabbit for the third night in a row. Personally, Aoife preferred fish and fruit over the game they hunted. Sometimes the animals were too divine to her.
The doe had been gorgeous, and so innocent. She hadn't even known her fate was sealed the moment Kaidan had laid eyes on her. She probably hadn't even felt the moment the arrow pierced her heart, such was his skill with a bow.
With the kill dressed, Kaidan began breaking down the carcass into meat, and Aoife finally approached, pulling some clean cloth from her pack to wrap the meat with. She purposely avoided looking at the pile of innards, instead focusing on the task ahead of making sure their food was kept secure for the next hours before they found a safe place away from the scavengers to set up camp. The smell was almost overwhelming.
"This ought to keep us fed for the next week," Kaidan muttered, placing the meat into the waiting cloth for Aoife to fold. She hummed in agreement, her face paling slightly at the warmth that seeped through the cloth. Kaidan glanced at her, seeing the nausea plain as day. He was tempted to laugh at her squeamishness considering they had slain more than their fair share of creatures and people in the last few weeks they'd been travelling together, but he didn't. He had heard Aoife's whispered comment as he'd been preparing to take the shot, but he hadn't had the time to feel guilty before releasing the arrow that would feed them.
She'd been right though, the doe had been beautiful.
Finally done with the kill, Kaidan stood, flicking his hands free of blood and sinew. Aoife had stored the meat, and unscrewed the top of her flask so that he could rinse his hands. As clean as they could be, he grabbed a slightly dirtier cloth and dried them before bending down to wrap the pelt. When they camped, he'd hang it to dry. First, he wanted to find a stream to clean himself properly. There was one not too far, and Kaidan took the lead, already familiar with the area they were in from his life with Brynjar. Aoife followed dutifully, shouldering the extra weight with caution.
Kaidan worried about her unsteady gait sometimes; it had been some time since they had been free of the Thalmor, and yet she still had moments where she would trip or move in an awkward way, as if there was an extra weight she should be carrying that was no longer there. She moved better with a backpack though, so he didn't begrudge her when she wanted to take the heavier pack between the two of them. It meant he could move quickly when needed, and with how much trouble they'd gotten into in their time together, he'd already had to put his oath into practice more than a few times.
As they approached the stream, Aoife kept an eye out for any marauding bandits so that Kaidan could properly clean himself. It was a task she was good at, and more than once she had saved their lives with her watchful gaze; she only wished she could extend the skill to tracking animals – at least then Kaidan wouldn't be on his own with spotting game.
Aoife knew how to set snares, and she could fish, but Kaidan's tastes differed from her own, so more often than not she left the hunting to him. It only seemed fair, she thought, that he got to eat food to his taste when he was the one working harder out of the two of them; especially as he had spent what little coin he'd had at the start of their partnership for a set of light armour and a decent pair of boots. He had reasoned it would be easier for them to get work if they both looked the part, but she was still self-conscious at the fact any money had been spent on her at all – especially after he'd already given her his shirt.
When they settled down for camp that evening, Kaidan with his bow in hand keeping watch, Aoife broached the subject she'd been thinking on for the day.
"Kaidan?" she asked quietly. He hummed in response, turning to face her as she approached with a bowl of venison stew to give him. He accepted it gratefully, appreciating the warmth it brought for the cold night. Aoife shuffled nervously and glanced at Kaidan's bow, the weapon that had saved her life more times than she cared to count, and kept them fed consistently.
"Would you possibly be able to teach me to hunt larger game?" she continued. Kaidan stopped with a spoon halfway to his mouth and glanced at her out the corner of his eyes. Aoife fidgeted at the delay in response but didn't rush him for an answer. He continued with his stew for a while before answering.
"Aye, I can give you a lesson or two," he replied, and Aoife smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear before sitting next to him, eagerly watching. Kaidan rolled his eyes at the impatience and continued eating at his normal pace, knowing she would wait.
It was odd, Kaidan thought, how impatient yet patient she could be. She would gladly wait for him to finish any business he set about in town, but when they entered shops, she clearly had in mind what she wanted, and if she didn't see it, she'd be out the door in seconds. She wanted to know immediately how to hunt big game after him agreeing to teach, but would sit in silence for him to finish his meal first. If he was injured, she'd heal him immediately, but wait for her magicka to return without complaint before turning it on herself.
Eventually, he finished his stew, placing the bowl on the ground to be rinsed at the river nearby at a later time. Aoife's leg was bouncing and she watched him with rapt attention.
"Before we start, I need you to know it took me a decade to even get decent enough to feed myself," he stated, trying to set her expectations. At this, Aoife deflated slightly, looking put out.
"Oh," she replied, her mouth tugging down into a frown. Kaidan wanted to laugh at her expression, but he was also very curious. He shifted on the spot slightly to turn towards her.
"Why the interest all of a sudden?" he asked. Aoife shifted her weight in discomfort and bit her bottom lip.
"I just thought it would help lighten your load," she replied. Kaidan's eyes narrowed in thought as he examined her expression. He already felt that she did enough on her end; sure, the fish wasn't his favourite, and rabbit usually tasted disgusting, but she turned meals into something enjoyable, making sure it was balanced. He'd been pleasantly surprised by her jerked rabbit- the seasoning had warmed his mouth delightfully and he had even gone back for seconds – and every time she started making a stew, no matter the game he knew he'd be in for a tasty surprise. And that was just the cooking. If Kaidan had all the time to think on it further, he'd still be pressed to shorten the list on how many times her restoration magic had come in handy.
"I'm happy with what I do currently. You don't have to do more," he told her gently, but Aoife shook her head, stubborn.
"I'd at least like to try," she stated, her mind obviously set. Kaidan's lips twitched into a small smile before setting into a serious line.
"It's not all about the bow, you know. There's other things: like tracking, identifying if the game is ill, making sure you won't spook it when you're staking it out," he relayed, ticking off his fingers. Aoife watched and listened with rapt attention, nodding at each point.
"You give me hand signals sometimes. What do those mean?" she asked, fully engrossed with the idea of learning something new. Kaidan turned his attention to her, his eyes going wide. He hadn't even thought about Aoife not knowing hand signals.
"Divines, you are not shooting that bow until I've taught you the basics," he tried to joke, but still shaken he'd been travelling with someone with so little knowledge of fieldcraft. Aoife looked more put out at his response now.
"Right, okay," she pouted. Though she understood the reasoning, it made her feel smaller that she didn't know the basics. She had thought she'd known enough – travelled alone enough – to have gotten the bare essentials down, but apparently there had been rules and actions she had been completely blind to.
So they started with hand signals.
Aoife watched his hands carefully, how they would change into simple signals that could do anything from indicate their position, to warn of an enemy ahead. Kaidan's fingers crafted the signals elegantly, and more than once she felt her attention drifting as she became lost in the movements. When it was her turn to try, her movements were blocky and untrained. Kaidan seemed to have expected this, and carefully manoeuvred her hands into the correct position. Aoife couldn't help but notice how warm his hands were, even in the cold of the night, and she had to force herself to concentrate several times. Eventually though, she got the signals down and had memorised them all.
"Thank you, Kaidan. You're an absolute font of knowledge!" she praised, still feeling ecstatic that she had learned a new skill. Her smile was blinding, and her nose crinkled as she grinned. She missed the way Kaidan blushed in the firelight.
"Aye, well… this sort of stuff keeps you alive longer," he mumbled, coughing lightly and facing away from her so that she couldn't see the crooked smile making it's way across his face. He tried to force the blush away, but it still remained when his watch ended and Aoife took over, practising her hand signals in silence.