Waning Moon

• Posted by Tae-Rai January 31, 2016 - 471 views

  W A N I N G  M O O N

  A collaboration/crossover short story written by Sotek and Tae-Rai, involving Sotek and Sun-Belly the Argonians.

  Authors Note: Some parts are of a sexual nature.

  As thunder clouds rolled over Whiterun, Sotek the Argonian stepped out from beneath the awning of Jorrvaskr and cast a for longing look into the sky, frowning as a few rain drops splattered upon his scaly green maw. It was not the rain that bothered him, oh no, for he as an Argonian did not find the rain troublesome. The fact of the matter was that the other members of the Companions, especially the whelps, would dare not step outside today.

  The doors to the great mead hall opened behind him and a collective groan rose from the Companions that ventured from it, just as a magnificent and loud crack of thunder boomed and the heavens began to pour buckets of rain down onto Nirn. In the distance, lightning could be seen illuminating the sky.

  “Great!” Farkas moaned and he is the first to turn away and head back into the mead hall to spend the day inside. Beside him, his brother Vilkas frowned and followed him, muttering about milk-drinkers. Even Skjor and Kodlak, the eldest of the guild, opted to go for some warm mead instead.

  Sotek watched them go; his brow rose in confusion but did not speak quite yet. Instead, he settled to the side upon a bar stool and watched as the younger companions donned their rain gear and stepped out into the cold sleet. Even Aela, the bravest and the only woman of the Circle, wrinkled her nose at the weather.

  “Ew,” she mumbled but donned her hood anyway and stepped out in the rain but not before snatching an apple from Sotek’s grasp. He had only managed to take a single bite before the apple's rescuer threw it high in the air and promptly drew her bow to shoot an arrow through it. It fell to the ground with a ‘splat’ as it hit the muddy ground just to break up into pieces.

  Aela then lined herself up with the archery targets as she prepared to train herself against a dummy. A bow of wood is her choice weapon and she lines up a shot, before firing precisely into the bullseye. Beside her, Sotek finds himself doing the same thing but missing the middle of the target.

  Amongst the rain pouring down, the whelps and other members settled themselves into groups. Ria, Tovar, Njada and Athis were the most experienced members here that were not in the Circle, and they in turn were sparring against each other and with two of the newest members - J’daska, a young Khajiit man with a man of fiery orange and a temper to match, and Fjorea, a young Nord whose untapped innocence and curiosity was soon being corrupted by the rest of the gang.

  To say that the group was miserable was putting it lightly. Hands trembled around weapons of iron and steel, while limbs wavered with shields were thrown up. Feet slipped and whelps were berated by their superiors to their dismay. The only relief came when the rain seemed to die for a second, only to come down twice as hard.

  Sotek could not help but spare a glance backwards towards the others, feeling as if he was being watched. His eyes quickly fixed on them but not one of them seemed to be noticing him. Strange…He thought, but then a glimmer of green caught his attention from the balcony.

  Upon the stone stood another of his kind, with green scales and splashes of purple and gold upon his young face. Unlike Sotek, this Argonian had feathers and two simple spikes before these, the plume a deep purple not unlike the colour that adorned his face. Eyes of gold were on Sotek’s back but they soon drifted to the Nord beside him.

  “Sun-Belly!” Ria called from the training grounds, which made the Argonian’s attention snap to her.

  “Yesssss?” he hissed as he walked towards her, though his tone was not unfriendly. He left his steel crossbow on the table as he easily guessed that she wanted to spar with him despite the weather. She always seemed fascinated with the longer heavier blades despite the fact that she would only use a basic sword and his steel greatsword was no exception to this rule. Although his blade didn't have the ‘grandeur’ of a Skyforge Steel blade, they all knew it was only a matter of time until he had one of his own to wield.

  The dark leather of his hide armor along with his deep green scales only added to the fear Ria felt as his features seemed to fade into greens and browns. The only distinct color she could see was his prominent purple feathers which stuck up from the top of his head despite the treacherous weather which was trying it’s best to drown them all as they sparred. A flash of lightning streaked across the sky causing Ria to jump as Sun-Belly’s face light up showing all his ferocity. Ria’s hand gripped the strap to her shield tighter as the Argonian gave a few light swings of his blade which whooshed in the air despite the rain that so easily drowned out the whisperings between the whelps.

  A clash of metal rang out as greatsword met shield. Ria’s training had begun. She timidly smiled at her opponent who smiled back. At least she hoped it was a smile. Another flash of lightning filled the sky fuelling Ria’s fears as her opponent came at her with a mouth full of white pointed teeth like a reptilian daedra sent from Oblivion.

  Aela was struggling herself with her own daedra. This one however went by the name of Sotek, but it wasn’t his ferocity which was unnerving her -- It was his lack of skill, or at least his lax in concentration which kept wandering to the sparring match going on behind him.

  Aela lowered her bow a second time without firing and just watched Sotek as he lined up his next shot. His eyes started flicking between his target and her own eyes as he became aware that she was scrutinizing him.

  “What?” he questioned.

  Aela’s bow fell to her side as her hands rested on her hips which stuck out to the side while her weight shifted to one leg as she displayed her typical ‘attitude pose’. Her mouth fell open as she blatantly glared at him.

  Two arrows shot across the training area to slam into the bull of the target however as Aela lined up her third shot, she saw through the corner of her eye Sotek’s tail twitch as if it was dancing in the rain. It flicked in a puddle and splashed her with muddy water. She slightly released the pressure from her bow and glanced at Sotek who now had shifted position so he was standing to her side. His head was fixed overlooking his shoulder as he watched Ria and Sun-Belly practice.

  Aela lowered her bow a second time as she glanced at the other whelps. It only took her one second to see how fed up they all were, except for one… Sun-Belly occasionally cast a quick look towards her and Sotek. It was only when he winked after blocking Ria that Aela realised he was actually looking at her directly. Her eyes switched to his tail which seemed to curve slightly at the tip although she couldn’t be sure due to the darkened sky and rain let alone Sun-Belly’s fluid motion as he trained.

  The Companions could tell that Sun-Belly had extensive training with his greatsword. A few whelps that had joined their ranks had previous weapon experience. Most had a little however Sotek virtually had none. Unless he held a spear… Sun-Belly however, he knew exactly what he was doing with his blade. As Aela glanced back at Sotek, she saw his eyes were burning into Sun-Belly’s face.

  “Hey!”

  Sotek turned with a start to see Aela glaring at him.

  “Huh? Sorry I was, ermm...”

  At that moment the doors to Jorrvaskr opened as their Harbinger, Kodlak stepped outside. He sighed as he watched the black depressing clouds release all the rivers of Skyrim upon Whiterun. His massive bulky arms folded across his chest as he watched the training continue in the deluge of rain until a whelp slipped in the mud.

  “Aela! Bring them in,” he ordered, with a slight smile. "No point trying for much longer today."

  Aela released one last arrow before turning to everyone in the yard. They all stopped to wait for her commend before even daring to head towards the hall. Aela’s eyes narrowed as she mentally spoke a little rhyme to herself.

  One, two, three, four... Keep them waiting one minute more.

  Five, six, seven, eight... It always pays to make them wait.

  Nine, ten, eleven…

  “Alright, in you go, get cleaned up…” she finally said, grinning slightly.

  The moment Sotek stepped towards the hall however; Aela grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “No… Not you! What the hell is going on with you, hmm?”

  Sotek took a deep breath and held it in for a few seconds before slowly releasing it. His head lifted up so he could feel the rain hammer down on his face cooling him as it always did. He slowly turned towards Aela without lowering his head as he prepared to answer.

  “I’m sorry. I was distracted… I’ll do better tomorrow, I promise.”

  Aela stepped towards him and physically pulled on one of his bone spikes literally forcing him to face her.

  “We were going for a run tomorrow… On the plains... You know… Us.”

  Sotek’s eyes closed for a fraction of a second before he nodded to her. As he went to speak however movement by the doors caught his eye. He froze as his gaze fell upon Sun-Belly who stood there smiling at him as if he knew he had caused Sotek to fall out of favour with Aela. Moments later Sun’s tail slithered across the wooden flooring just before the door closed.

  The only sounds Sotek made was a slight ‘Hsss’ followed by a loud splash as his tail slammed into a puddle splashing Aela once again with mucky water.

  Aela stepped backwards as a low snarl escaped her lips. Sotek’s own eyes fixed on his mate’s hands which quickly transformed into two fists. In an attempt to save himself from a beating, he pointed to the chairs which were under the cover of the porch roof.

  “Let’s talk there. You’re getting wet”.

  Aela rolled her eyes and stormed across the yard angrily.

  “I’m getting splashed. What’s up with you today?”

  Sotek’s only answer was to stare at her blankly while his tail curled up between his feet as if he was embarrassed.

  “I... I don’t know...”

  Aela looked down her body at the soaked and what was now quite muddy armor and shook her head at the whole situation.

  “Well I don’t know either... I’m not sitting here all day while you dither about. Come on you, I’m feeling the cold. We’ll have a bath and warm up. Maybe that will sort you out”.

  As they made their way through the hall, Farkas, Vilkas and the Whelps were all drinking away their blues. Four of the Whelps sat around the fire pit for warmth rather than drying themselves off properly but both the brothers sat at the table while droplets of water slowly started to form puddles around them.

  Aela snatched two bottles of mead from the table and gave Sotek a gentle shove with her elbow in the direction of the Undercroft. She never acknowledged the Harbingers presence and gave little regard as to who was actually in the hall. Once they descended the stairwell the two Companions made a beeline for the bathing room.

  Sotek ‘acting the gentleman’ pushed open the door to the bathing room allowing Aela to step inside first. As she did so she quickly came to a stop. She couldn’t hide her surprise when she found out that one of the baths was already occupied.

  “Oh... I’m sorry we didn’t know you were....”

  Sun-Belly’s eyes narrowed as he gave Aela a sly glance. He cut her off mid sentence as he held on to both sides of the bath and stood himself up.

  “That’s quite alright. I’m finished anyway,” The water ran off his scales and formed a trail as he walked boldly towards her, leaving his clothes behind on a stool.

  Aela couldn’t help herself. Her eyes swept along his body and finally settled on his eyes.

  “You’re… Ummm... You’re naked.”

  Sun-Belly gave a chuckle despite the fact that Sotek had now entered the room. Sotek’s face was pulled into a furious glare and his tail slammed on the ground as Sun-Belly lightly hissed in Aela’s ear.

  “I hadn’t noticed. It’s lucky you did...” He then gave Sotek a knowing smile and exited the room after slowly wrapping a dry towel around himself.

  A solitary hisss alerted Aela to Sotek’s agitated state. She turned around to him but he blanked her and just stared in the distance.

  “Oh come here... Don’t get jealous of him... “

  Sotek stared straight at Aela and growled.

  “I’m not jealous and I don’t feel threatened by him either”. As one they both turned towards the doorway to see Sun-Belly’s tail flick up in the air mischievously.

  Aela glanced back at Sotek but he had already walked towards a back and grabbed hold of a water tap. He held it for a few moments before turning it on full blast in an attempt to drown out anything Aela was saying.

  She sighed and gave the doorway one last fleeting look before she walked over towards Sotek while she unstrapped her armor. Various pieces fell to the floor as she approached his back. Sotek suddenly stood bolt upright as he felt her hands slide around his waist and her breath on his spine. He turned around to face her and lowered his head to her breasts when she pulled on his head to comfort him.

  “Sure you’re not... It’s actually cute...” She whispered in his ear seductively.

  Sotek closed his eyes and smirked to himself.

  “Well I’m not now, am I?”

  As her hands traced along Sotek’s back, she noticed the tip of Sotek’s tail start to curl up. She brazenly pulled his head off her chest and slapped him playfully in the face.

  “Ease your passion there. Mr Wolf isn’t playing tonight. Bath! The big tub, I need a good soak”.

  Muttering to himself, Sotek turned the two cogs to the big metal bath, releasing both hot and cold water while Aela sat on a stool and watched. She knew he was messing about with his ‘complaining’ due to her denying him of his needs. While his back was turned she picked up a linen hand flannel and soaked it in cold water.

  Sotek just turned around to see the flannel splat against his chest. A thirty second war razed the bathing room to the ground. Puddles of water splashed about everywhere as flannels, wraps and even towels were soaked and thrown about. Sotek claimed final victory by picking Aela up by an arm and a leg. She sprawled about but he was too strong for her to fight off.

  A tidal wave of water marked the end as she was unceremoniously dropped in the bathtub. The torrent of water spilled over the bath smothering the floor and overwhelming the drain cover. Water seeped under the door and spilled out into the corridor.

  Aela sat up spluttering while a big Argonian smirk waited to greet her. She beckoned Sotek’s face to her with a finger but Sotek refused. At least he refused initially. She smiled coyly and held her chest in her hands as an offering to him. He leaned over to her but as he neared her, she spat out a gob full of water in his face, burst out laughing, then slipped below the surface once more.

  Once Sotek joined her in the bath, she laid on top of him resting her head in his chest while he caressed her back. She felt his tail slowly start to wrap around her leg so she lifted it slightly and coiled her foot around it.

  “I could fall asleep here,” she sighed.

  Sotek chuckled as he peered down at the top of her head. “I wouldn’t do that if I was you. I’d be fine but you’ll drown and the Harbinger will blame me”.

  A loud pitch ‘hsss’ marked the fact that Aela had retaliated to his comment by biting him in the chest. He slapped the top of her head in an attempt to release her teeth but she tightened her maw even more.

  The second fight added to the water on the floor but by now the bath was getting somewhat colder and the water level was dropping due to the amount being spilled.

  Aela retreated by climbing out the bath and wrapping a towel around herself. She passed Sotek a second towel then made her way to the door, hoping across the various puddles that greeted her.

  “We are so dead when Tilma sees this... Damn it, Sotek. I was such a good girl before you came along”.

  Sotek scoffed at her remark and slapped her on the backside. “Yes? Really? So that’s why everyone is terrified of you is it? You’re a bad girl Aela. A bitch”

  She kissed him on the lips and flashed her eyes at him.

  “You love me being a bitch! Wouldn’t want me any other way now... would you! That’s a statement by the way. Not a question, a fact”

  Aela paused as she walked out into the Undercroft corridor. She was greeted by two things which craved her attention. The first was the big puddle which just marginally failed to reach one of Tilma’s rugs. Her mind slipped back to a few weeks ago when the Companions ‘training session’ compiled of sticks and a thick rope. They spent hours beating the rugs to remove every speck of dust. Even Farkas’s arms ached at the end of that day.

  The second thing was a scent. Sun-Belly’s scent. Aela cast a quick look across the corridor to his room then back to Sotek. “Mr Wolf gets to play after all”.

  Sotek lightly tipped her head to the side so he could lovingly kiss her neck.

  “Good, it’s been too long since he’s been in his ‘den’.” Aela’s face lit up and reddened as she took him by the hand and led the way to her bedroom.

  In the middle of her room were a pile of new furs which Aela promptly laid upon. She threw open her towel and pulled Sotek towards her.

  “New furs are no fun unless we break them in”.

  His own towel dropped to the floor as he half turned towards the door to close it. Aela however had other ideas and reacted by half yelling her orders at him. “Leave it alone! You’re supposed to be looking at me not my bloody door. Leave it open”.

  Sotek leaned over her and gazed in her sex hungry eyes. “Won’t we be disturbed?”

  Aela’s hands grabbed his lower back and pulled him down on top of her as her head tipped back.

  “That depends on you how loud you make me howl”.

  Over the next twenty minutes, various, seeming louder than usual howls echoed through the Undercroft. If Aela’s plan was to keep intruders away then it certainly worked as no less than three members of the Companions entered the Corridor to simply turnabout and head back upstairs forthwith. The Harbinger guessed as he watched each member in turn rejoin the others in the hall.

  Disdainfully his face disappeared beneath the palms of his hands. “Is her door shut? She seems louder than usual”

  Farkas smirked back at him and gave a coy reply which only confused Kodlak. “Same as her legs”.

  Vilkas burst out laughing having got the joke but Kodlak’s expression showed he never understood nor was he amused. Between laughs, Vilkas did his best to shed some light on Farkas’s reply. “Open. Her doors open, wide open at that.”

  He flinched forwards and the smirk disappeared as Tilma rubbed her hand after smacking him on the back of his head.

  In the Undercroft, silence once again reigned as Aela and Sotek were now just lying in each other’s arms. She pulled herself away from him and started getting dressed while Sotek rested on his back and watched her. She looked down at him and giggled.

  “Get these on. You can’t go upstairs like that. I’m starving. There’s nothing like a good soak and passion to give a girl an appetite. I could eat a horse.”

  Sotek burst out laughing as he relayed a simple fact “Yesterday you did”.

  She paused while she remembered the events of yesterday's hunt. A single bandit brandishing a sword rode at them. Red tore him and the horse to pieces in a frenzy of wanton blood.

  “That was Red, not me! Move yourself. I’ll be there in a minute”.

  Aela stopped moving around the very moment Sotek left her room. She stood there like a statue as she listened to his footsteps walk along the corridor and finally head upstairs. Once she was finished getting dressed, except for her boots, she quietly proceeded to walk barefooted towards a second room. Sun-Belly’s.

  Without even bothering to knock, Aela walked straight inside his room. He slightly jumped as his door flew open but he was quick to recover. While he sat at the small table with a jug of mead, he had heard every sound they had made. He found it hard to sit there and listen to them both. Not that he had to listen; he struggled to blot them out. One thing confused him; it clouded his mind and blinded him. The book he was reading was now closed upon his lap and his eyes turned to the Nord’s.

  He couldn’t decide if he was jealous of Sotek because of his relationship with Aela or he was jealous because he, himself was alone.

  Aela lay down on his bed and rested her head on his pillow. She didn’t look at him but instead gazed lazily up at the ceiling. Her complexion was flushed and even now there was a light panting in her breath.

  “You heard us. That wasn’t a question. You were meant to hear us”.

  His eyes narrowed giving them a snake like appearance as he questioned her motives. “I don’t understand. Why?”

  Aela turned towards him and glared back with a ferocity you would see in a ravenous wolf. The games were over, now it was business.

  “I’m Sotek’s, his mate, his friend, his soul mate. That’s how things are. We had some fun winding him up but now it stops. There will never be anything between me and you except friendship. Even if... He should die before me”.

  Sun-Belly turned in his chair so he could look straight at her. Something seemed morbid with her tone but he could sense that she meant it.

  “You speak of Sovngarde?”

  Aela paused for a moment so she could choose her words carefully. She didn’t want to give too much away yet she felt things needed to be said.

  “Ermm, yea... That place. When you love someone, really love them and then you will wait for them. There’s none of this ‘re-marry someone else’ crap. He dies before me then I will wait until death finds me and I will rejoin him in the Hun... Hundreds of halls in Sovngarde. When he dies, there will never be anyone else... Not for me or him. Love is eternal and some pathetic thing like death is no reason to betray or forget. All death is, is a journey, one we all take.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I know that a part of you wants me. Whether it’s because your feelings are genuine or whether it’s because Sotek has me, I don’t know. Nor do I care! My tail belongs to Sotek. That’s it, his and his alone for eternity. Here, catch!”

  She threw a small bag of gold towards him which he deftly caught. Even though they had talked for ten odd minutes he never relaxed his guard, even with her. Especially with her. The devil woman.

  If Aela was surprised at the speed of his reactions she never showed it. She did cock one eyebrow before she pointed to the door.

  “There’s a maid in the Bannered Mare. She has blonde hair. There are three maids there in all and they each charge ten septims for the night. There’s fifty gold in that bag. Get out of here. Breakfast is at eight, don’t miss it or you’ll go hungry”.

  Without another word Aela left his room and headed upstairs to the hall where Sotek and Kodlak were waiting.

  Upon seeing her, the Harbinger’s owlish eyes bored into her but she blatantly rested her hands on her waist and stuck her hip out at him in her full on ‘attitude’ pose.

  “What?”

  A few minutes afterwards, Sun-Belly exited the hall of Jorrvaskr and made his way to the Bannered Mare. In his hand he held the pouch of gold and he went off looking for some tails which he could claim for himself. But as he walked, he chuckled and said a few words to himself…
  
  “Damn. That Sotek is a lucky son of a bitch.”

  Fin

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