The next morning, having woken somewhat later than usual, Kodlak entered the hall from the Undercroft to find the Whelps eating breakfast. His eyes gazed across the room in the search of one particular female Companion. Upon failing to see her, and noticing that the step by the fire pit was empty, he asked the pack sitting at the table of her possible location.
“Has anyone seen Aela?”
Farkas guzzled down a mouthful of mead to clear his throat and pointed to the yard doors with his flagon.
“She’s in the Yard with Sotek. They have been out there since dawn”.
Kodlak raised an eyebrow; he couldn’t help but wonder if they slipped out last night after everyone had settled down. On the table by Kodlak’s chair lay a plate with a linen cloth over it. ‘No doubt Tilma had already set out breakfast’ he thought to himself. Leaving it untouched, he left the Whelps and Companions to eat and instead headed straight to the training area.
He opened the doors to see Sotek sprint past the porch and run along the length of the yard with a bow held firmly in his hand. He was trying to load an arrow as he ran but he kept dropping it. Behind him, a trail of arrows marked his route. Aela had him running around the entire circumference of Jorrvaskr in an attempt to get him to load and fire the bow while running.
The Argonian saw the Harbinger in the corner of his eye and tripped up. A loud thud along with a metallic bang irked Aela once more. She stormed over to Sotek while he was face down in the dirt and kicked him in the side of the stomach while she ranted at the unfortunate soul.
“Now you’re falling deliberately! Get the hell up you flea ridden slime ball”.
Sotek groaned then climbed up to his feet and rubbed his side where Aela had kicked him. She snatched his bow off the ground while he turned to Kodlak and sarcastically waved at the Nord.
“We’re training”. He stated with a big exaggerated grin strewn across his face.
Aela marched angrily towards Kodlak and started yelling at the Argonian. The fact that he was the current Harbinger was lost to her.
“No we’re not training. We’re not training because this moron can’t bloody load a bow and aim while he’s running. Three Hircine damned hours we have been out here! I’ve seen him land on his ass more times today than I did when we first took him to the training area. Yes, I said Hircine... Hircine, Hircine, Hircine... What you going to do about it huh? What? I’m sorry, I’m a little stressed”.
Kodlak sighed over the choice of wording during Aela’s rant and gently prised the bow from her hand. He rested it on a nearby table and pulled the girl close to him. Stroking her back, he softly spoke, trying to calm and settle her emotions while pointing out a fact which the she-wolf had forgotten.
“Aela, the only one to master running and firing off a bow has been you. Are you asking too much from him?”
Upon hearing those words a quiver was sent flying across the porch to slam into the doors. Arrows spilled out across the floor as a frustrated, hissing Argonian joined in on the conversation.
“What the hell do you mean she’ss the only one to master running and firing off a bow? That bitch had him out here for bloody agess trying to masster this crap!”
Kodlak weakly smiled at Sotek and gave Aela a light encouraging shove, pushing her towards her mate’s arms.
“Well before she started sleeping with you, she slept with another; her bow”.
Sotek finally understood just how much training Aela spent with her bow. It was a part of her, an extension of her spirit, her will.
“She used to sleep with her bow? Oh for the love of; Aela how the hell is he supposed to do this?” As he almost screeched back at her, a thought lay deep inside him. He turned towards the Skyforge and dismissed such matters for a later time when he could put his full attention to it.
She stormed over to him and hit his chest with the palm of her hand.
“I know what you can do and what you can’t so shut the hell up. It’s this bloody stuff you’re wearing. I’m telling you that’s what’s doing it! When are you going to get a proper set of light armour? When?”
Sotek sighed and longingly turned towards the Skyforge. Some old feint memory stirred inside over the loss of a weapon he used to wield in Morrowind. Putting such memories temporarily aside, he returned to the present and replied to Aela’s earlier question.
“Soon, I just need a few more dragon scales then I can start to make myself a set; very soon in fact. Don’t forget you promised to help me make it when I’m ready”.
Aela pushed the side of her cheek against his torso and eagerly replied.
“Yep, personally I can’t wait to get you out of this armor”.
Kodlak chuckled over the choice of Aela’s words. He creased up laughing as he watched the young Companion’s cheeks redden.
“Aela, you should have some control. You spent the night with him as it is”.
Sotek laughed as he watched his mate blush. She scrunched her face up and snapped back at Kodlak defensively although her choice of words granted her no favours.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I meant him stripping off... ermm oh shut up the pair of you”. She stormed over to Sotek and snatched the bow from his hand and yelled at him.
“Get those idiots out here and move your bloody backside”.
Sotek jestingly growled back at her and pointed his finger at her chin. He smiled wickedly as the tip of his clawed finger rested just below Aela’s bottom lip.
“Don’t be so insubordinate! Get your tail to my room for disciplinary punishment”.
She glared back at him then her mouth darted forwards and her teeth slammed shut, just missing his finger by no more than a few millimetres as he had just managed to pull his hand away in time. Aela grinned wolfishly and licked her lips before snarling back at him.
“Next time you poke me, you’ll lose it”. Then she went inside giving both Sotek and Kodlak a moment to share glances without having the Huntress’s shadow bearing over them. Such looks soon turned to ones of fear and concern when they heard Aela shouting from within Jorrvaskr.
“Kit inspection outside in the yard. You have three minutes. Farkas, Vilkas, that means you two apes as well”.
Then the doors flew open, nearly knocking into Kodlak. He looked down at the she-wolf who glared back at him for getting in her way. As she yelled, she stuck her hip out, as a way of intensifying her attitude.
“What!!”
Kodlak decided to say nothing, instead he thought about his position. Sotek was now the temporary Harbinger so he decided to let the Argonian deal with the Hircine spawn known as Aela. ‘After all’ he thought. ‘She is your mate... Harbinger’.
Sotek growled at her, warning her not to approach him. Whether she noticed or not made little difference. She pointed to the table and started tapping her foot impatiently.
“What the hell are you looking at? Go get your bow”.
He just shrugged at Kodlak then picked it up off the table. As sarcastically as possible he held it up and pointed at it, showing Aela that it was now in his hand.
A fist rapidly formed at the end of Aela’s wrist, giving Sotek reason to back away and run for the safety of the hall on the pretext of hurrying along the Whelps. As soon as he entered Jorrvaskr, he made his way to the table and rudely barged past two Whelps to reach a jug of water. He poured some in a flagon and guzzled down the precious liquid, quenching his thirst. No sooner had he emptied the tankard did he start refilling it.
Between rapid breaths he apologised for his rudeness.
“Sorry, thirsty!”
Two shadows loomed over him as the two brothers Farkas and Vilkas flanked him from either side, forcing the Whelps to scatter.
“What the hell is up with her this morning? You, you bastard and that bitch owes me a bed!” The tone in Vilkas’s voice was harsh and unforgiving like the mountain winds of Skyrim.
Such icy winds however were unmatched against the Red Mountain of Morrowind and that was precisely how Sotek was feeling. Hot and irritable, just like Aela except he was coping far better than she was.
Until now.
With a loud growl, catching them both off guard Sotek slammed the flagon down on the table, spilling out some of its contents.
“Yess? Aela’ss temper? It’s the time of the month! You know? Sun and Moons? Aela’s right, you’re both morons!”
Tilma interrupted by pouring another tankard of water out and pushing it towards the Argonian.
“Sotek, drink another flask, it will do you good. You Whelps get outside before Aela screams the place down and take Sotek with you”.
Vilkas tried to work out what Sotek was trying to discretely explain until it dawned on the Nord as to Sotek's meaning. He came to the one possible conclusion although even he himself knew it to be wrong.
“Time of the month? Aela’s is around the... Tilma, what the hell is Sotek on about?”
The maid tutted loudly and smacked the back of Vilkas’s hand as a way of reprimanding him.
“Sotek told you both; the sun and moons? It’s a new moon tonight. You know she gets anti for a few hours when there’s no moon governing her emotions. Sotek’s feeling it too. I can tell; his color’s off. Not much but enough. You two stay out of their way or you’ll regret it”.
Farkas scratched his head as he peered at the doors.
“Wait! Aela’s emotions are governed? I thought they just ran wild”.
Groaning at the comment his brother made, Vilkas turned towards other matters like the replacement bed he was hoping for. Unfortunately, Tilma was right. There was no way Aela would even consider discussing the subject let alone coming to some agreement with him. His mind trickled off to an incident long ago and turned to Farkas as a means of a possible solution.
“Farkas, you owe me one over the two wolves and that goat. It’s long overdue and about time you paid up. Have a word with Aela about my bed!”
Farkas gulped and shook his head, point blank refusing to tackle their sister.
“The mood she’s in? Like hell I will. I know, we’ll send some Whelps. You reckon three?”
Tilma chuckled at them both and tittered as she made her suggestion when Vilkas’s words haunted her.
“The mood Aela’s in? I’d send the lot. Wait a minute... what two wolves and what about the goat?”
With the sharing of a slight nod between them, both siblings ran for the yard to escape Tilma and her questions. Before they reached the safety of the threshold though the doors flew open and they inadvertently jumped from the pan, being Tilma, into the fire which formed the shape of a certain female Companion whose hollering shout caused them to buckle and separate for safety.
“Why the hell am I still waiting?”
Farkas jumped to the side and fled the hall while Vilkas found himself trapped between her and the exit. He held his hands up in submission and stealthily walked sideways like a mudcrab working its way around her.
Farkas passed Sotek on his way to the middle of the yard but as he moved alongside, he whispered in a hushed voice.
“Bannered Mare; 10 gold for the whole evening. Don’t forget the blond. She said she would spend the whole night as a first night special with you. I’m just saying”.
Gulping loudly as he watched the door for his mate, Sotek had one single thought.
‘If Aela hears that... I’m dead’.
The she-wolf joined everyone in the yard and glared across the porch at Sotek. He reacted with the same gusto as she had and retorted her before she could say anything.
“Don’t start on me again. I’ve been punched, kicked and slapped. One word!”
The Nord gritted her teeth, screwed up her face then blatantly strolled past him while giving him a rejecting ‘humph’. Snatching his bag from the table, she wrenched it open and began checking the vials and potions, hoping to find him short.
Dejectedly she tossed the bag to the side and growled in contempt. Having found nothing missing, she proceeded to start on one of the Whelps until Vilkas took over, leaving her to stew in her own temper.
Once all the kits were checked and where necessary restocked with potions, Sotek directed them towards the main gate. However the one who he didn’t send was Aela. He deliberately asked her to stay behind where they could talk.
“Right all of you head out to the main gate. Farkas, Vilkas, lead them to the plains fringes but keep them in a single group”.
Once they headed off, Sotek walked up to Aela who looked as moody as sin and put his arm around her. He gave her a slight hug although she never returned the gesture. Instead her arms dangled by her sides, refusing to latch on to him.
“Why don’t you stay here? You aren’t up for this are you?”
Aela peered up at the sky and politely refused.
“No, I’ll be ok. It’s just... that time”.
Her mate held her tighter and stroked her back before running his clawed fingertips through her hair. He spoke in a soft, empathetic tone, understanding completely why she felt the way she did.
“Yes, you always have a bad day at the end of the luna month”.
Aela pulled herself away from him, snapping as she did so.
“What the hell do you know about it? I’m tired of everyone knowing how I feel, who I am”.
Sotek rolled his eyes at her and smiled.
“I’ve had enough of this”. All of a sudden he gave her a shove; just enough to put her off balance and send her falling to the ground.
She span as she fell and hitched up a knee, allowing her to land on her feet and the palms of her hand while being in such a pose that she could lunge forwards to attack. Like a wolf she snarled back, showing her teeth and wolfishly glared at him.
Launching forwards with her nails slashing through the air, she pounced with her maw wide open. She collided into him and they both went over where Sotek landed on his back. He looked up to see Aela’s crotch six inches from his face. Pain caused him to hiss as his shoulders were pinned down by her legs. She pulled back one of his bone spikes causing him to look up at her.
“What the hell did you do that for snake?”
Knowing this was far from any game, Sotek used the one thing Aela forgot about; his tail.
It whipped up and slashed her across the back then wrapped around her neck. In a second he pulled her off and forced himself on top, turning the tables upon her.
He got up on his feet then calmly replied to her as he offered his hand in friendship.
“So you would shove me back”.
Aela glanced over to him than grabbed his hand and lurched herself up, tugging on his arm in the process.
“Well that’s stupid”.
He just gave her a smile and casually walked along the pathway, making his way around the outside of Jorrvaskr while the patter of footsteps trailed closely behind him as Aela followed his route.
“That depends; do you feel better now?”
She gave her pace a spurt of speed to catch him and grabbed hold of his tail, pulling him back a bit so she could come alongside. Her reply still had the typical ‘Aela is angry’ tone to it but she never looked at him. Instead her eyes were everywhere, looking at every soul in the city in judgement as they slowly made their way to the gate.
“Yea a little but you shouldn’t make me vent my anger onto you”.
“It helped didn’t it?” Sotek stated in a low matter of fact tone. He looked relaxed unlike his mate who was struggling far more.
Aela snapped her head back at him and she looked coldly into him, almost gazing upon his heart beating slowly in his chest.
“Yes but…..”
Sotek quickly interrupted her and tried to bring such matters to a close.
“Then it’s fine”
“No it isn’t, I shouldn’t take it out on you”. Despite what she said, Aela’s heart still beat with the fury of hell, pumping aggravated beast blood through her, fuelling every muscle and organ with its tainted beastly powers. Such feelings kept her anger topped up to near bursting point.
Sotek lazily glanced around the market which was still a few hundred yards ahead. The traders were busy selling their wares while the local tramp tried his best to hassle Carlotta for some fruit. Sneaking a quick peek at Aela, Sotek allowed himself a slight smirk while she wasn’t looking.
“What? You mean there’s another Argonian hidden somewhere for you to shout at? I feel gutted now”.
“What? No I only shout at you. No that’s not what I meant, I... oh shut up”.
Sotek laughed at her as she became flustered. Spinning her around, he pulled her into him and kissed her on the top of her head. She looked up at him as he held her cheeks in the palms of his hands and he leaned over to her and whispered in her ear.
“It rained last night. You’re standing in a muddy puddle!”
Aela groaned and looked down just as Sotek flicked his finger upwards, catching the Huntress lightly on the nose. The ground where she stood was dry as a bone. She twitched her nose and rubbed it while Sotek leant back against a wall and chuckled.
He had hoped Aela would join in and laugh which to his relief, she did; but only after she punched him in the stomach.
Comments
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