As the evening began to set in and the chair had found its way back to its original place, the Whelps claimed the far end of the table as their own and gathered in a group around it. They each took it in turn to ask a question which the others had to answer not so much as in a ‘truth or dare’ game but rather based upon their training and experiences in Skyrim and, more importantly, of the Companions. One such question was who they preferred as a ‘trainer’.
Kodlak sighed to himself as he mentally counted out the votes. Farkas and Vilkas were close but Farkas had a slight edge as he was more relaxed with them while Aela was the worst for training as she lacked temperance and understanding. Something she seemed to feel more proud of rather than ashamed. One name was failed to be mentioned at all which the Harbinger was certainly surprised about; Sotek. Kodlak pictured the training area and realised Sotek never trained anyone. He would spend time with Aela, Farkas and Vilkas honing his own skills yet not once would he actually help train the Whelps. Kodlak let the matter drop but he was sure to take a mental note of it for the future.
After an hour or so, one of the Whelps asked a question which seemed to arouse the curiosity in all the members of the Companions. Everyone sat around listening intently as the question was passed along from one Companion and Whelp to another. During this time though, Aela kept a watchful eye on Sotek. Even the Harbinger had a hard time turning away from him. Soon the question reached Vilkas, who answered as best as he could, but then it was down to Sotek to tackle it.
Before he could say anything, the Harbinger interrupted the discussion and threw the question straight at Farkas, completely skipping Aela and Sotek.
“Farkas, what would you say was your best and your worst day?”
Both Sotek and Aela, who were as usual siting on the step by the fire pit, turned to each other in surprise. They both watched each other’s reactions, wondering if either of them would say anything or simply let the matter drop. Aela was half dreading answering the question but she was more fearful of Sotek and his own reaction as certain events had plagued him heavily in the past. Catching her and the Harbinger by surprise though, Sotek raised his hand and interrupted Farkas.
“Farkas if you don’t mind, I feel I should answer this as even the Whelps had the decency to answer as well”. He took a big swig of mead, then his eyes went into a far away stare as he gazed in the flask.
“When I first joined the Companions, I had numerous problems but my biggest problem was a ‘who’ rather than a ‘what’. Oh I was fully aware neither Farkas nor Vilkas wanted me here but they were happy to let me flounder on my own. There was one though who wasn’t happy to wait. She set out early on to push me out and she happily leaned on the other two to help her achieve this. The ‘who’ in question somewhat unsurprisingly was Aela. The Companions didn’t care for me much, my combat skills, or rather the complete lack of combat skills I had, really irked them. Her especially, she considered me to be a waste of resources and time”.
Aela had started picking at her fingernails with her teeth. Something she would do when she was feeling self conscious. She wouldn’t actually bite them but her teeth ‘chewed’ on the edge of the fingernail. Aela could feel everyone watching her and a wave of guilt flooded her emotions. With a heavy heart, she went to get up so she could leave the hall but Sotek was expecting such a move and grabbed her arm, forcing her to remain by his side.
“I have a demon which needs to be faced. Please Aela, stay with me?”
She remained sitting on the step but she never looked at anyone. Instead, her gaze was fixed firmly on the fire and it would have taken the strength of ten mammoths to turn her head. Or at least she thought.
“Sotek, I don’t like this story”. Her words carried the halls distance despite her wanting to whisper such things. Everyone heard her and those who knew of the times which Sotek spoke of understood why it affected the two Companions so much.
With a single clawed fingertip, Sotek turned Aela’s head towards him so he could kiss her on the forehead. He pulled her close to him and allowed her to disappear in his arms while he continued talking.
“My first ‘trial’ Aela saw as an opportunity to get rid of me. She came at it with her usual fury, which by now you all would have received in one form or another. That was my best day; I proved to everyone, everyone, I was more than what they could see. I outclassed them all due to my range of abilities. I, Sotek, singlehandedly beat three Companions. One of them I almost killed! You all know by now I almost killed Aela, that’s no secret. Well that was my best day. I showed them, I showed the three toughest fighters you’ll ever have the chance to train with. I showed them not to underestimate me, and at that time I could hardly hold a sword let alone fight with one. That was my best day”.
Vilkas noticed Aela had tucked her face into Sotek’s shoulder while Sotek himself had his own face buried within Aela’s hair. They reminded him of two children who were trying to hide away from the monster in the wardrobe. Except it wasn’t a fairy tale. Monsters existed; the Companions encountered them almost on a daily schedule. As he watched them comfort each other, he asked about the second part of the question.
“By the gods! If that was your best day then what the hell was your worst?”
Sotek lifted his head up, looked straight at Vilkas and answered coldly.
“My worst day? It was the same day”. He pulled himself away from Aela and approached the table so he could pour out a flask of whatever drink was in the jug at the time. He didn’t bother to check either, he just tipped back his head and guzzled down the semi warm liquid with complete disregard to his manners or how it looked in the eyes of his peers.
Once he finished the drink, he gasped for breath while he played with the flagon in his hands; slowly turning and twisting it around like it was some sort of Dwemer Puzzle Cube needing to be solved. With the utmost care, Sotek carefully placed the flask back on the table as if he held one of Tilma’s ‘special glasses’ which only came out on exceptionally rare occasions.
With a broad grin and a nervous chuckle, Sotek glanced over to the courtyard doors and spoke.
“There’s never a training dummy around when you need one”.
Kodlak joined in with his laughter, knowing full well Sotek needed that bit of support.
“I like the training dummies where they are; standing up intact in the yard thank you”.
Sotek lowered his head and smirked back at the Harbinger while his hand reached into a bowl of apples and blindly selected one.
“Maybe it’s for the best. I’ll take it out on an apple instead”. The Argonian went to bite it but he stopped with the apple just a few inches from his mouth. His stomach felt tight and a sense of nausea struck him to the point of forcing him to place the untouched apple back in the bowl. He stared at the wooden bowl then tapped on the table with a claw before returning empty handed back to his step. “This is just a reprieve apple. You’re mine later on; unless Aela throws you at someone of course”.
When he sat back down, Aela wrapped her arm around him and rested his head on her shoulder, taking care not to impale her neck on a bone spike. She lightly caressed the side of his face with her fingers as she spoke.
“Are you ok?”
Without moving, Sotek nodded, rubbing his cheek against her shoulder.
“As long as you’re with me, yes”. He pulled himself up and asserted his emotions, taking back control and burying such feelings of remorse deep within himself. His elbow lightly nudged Aela in the side as he said.
“I’m ok. Now it’s your turn though. Go on, it’ll do you good. I’m here for you, you know that”.
Aela nervously smiled back at him. In her heart she was glad he finally had those emotions controlled although she knew they still tormented him. She eyed everyone in the hall then shrugged her shoulders.
“Might as well take the plunge I suppose. I feel so vulnerable saying all this crap though. Well, where to start? My worst day, oh there’s been so many, and they are all worst days for different reasons so I can’t pick just one. There’s my father leaving for Solstheim. The Harbinger sitting me down when I was younger telling me of the death of my Mother”. She looked at the Harbinger and smiled at him as she remembered crying her heart out while he held her tightly in his arms. “Sotek’s trial, that was awful”.
She turned back to Sotek and held his hand tightly then silently watched his fingers wrap around her own before she resumed talking.
“Your trial was my fault. I hate myself for that day; evil bitch. I’m sorry for the way I..... When I was captured by the Silverhands. Not the first day mind you. At that point I thought I’d be rescued, but the second day. That was when they told me that you were all killed. I never felt so vulnerable and alone”. Sotek squeezed her hand, giving her some reassurance.
She gave him a loving smile in return and spoke directly to him.
“But as far as the best day goes, well actually it was a night; the night you destroyed that training dummy in the yard. That was my best night. That night I lost an enemy, but gained a mate and a friend. That was my best night”.
Kodlak chuckled and smiled evilly at Aela as he added more to her answer.
“An enemy wasn’t all you lost that night though was it?”
Aela’s cheeks turned bright red as she gasped in embarrassment.
“Harbinger! No!”
In fits of laughter, Sotek threw another question to everyone, while Aela turned on him like a rabid dog and started beating him up.
“Ha-ha... oww. Stop... Mercy. Here’s one that is hopefully less traumatic for everyone and one which will prevent me from getting bruises”.
Aela thumped him in the leg and chuckled at him at the same time.
“I wouldn’t count on that if I were you. Laugh at me again”.
Sotek sniggered back at her then he addressed the hall.
“What was your first kill in Skyrim? I’ll start it off...”
Before he could say any more, Farkas shot his hand up and rudely interrupted him by yelling out.
“It was a wheat bale!” The whole hall filled with laughter as both Whelps and Companions laughed at the hapless Argonian who was left to fend them all off. Even Tilma and Kodlak were chuckling at him. The maid looked across the hall as she wiped a joyful teaser from her check and apologised while she continued to giggle.
“So... Sotek I’m sorry”.
Sotek’s tail lifted up slightly and dropped pathetically to the floor. He rolled his eyes, mocking Tilma along with everyone else.
“I’d actually believe you if it wasn’t for that daft grin you’re currently wearing. No, it was actually a...”
Once again he faced an interruption although this time it was more physical. He lurched over sideways from the shove which Aela had given him along with an open threat.
“If you so much as dare say ‘a dragon’ and I will be so pissed at you”.
The Harbinger tapped his flask on the table and added a short ‘Hmm, hmm’ in order to calm Aela’s language which both he and Tilma had decided was so prolific that steps needed to be taken. He was fully aware Whiterun’s guards could hear Aela’s mouth when she was in the courtyard training with the Whelps and even Danica had approached the Harbinger about the subject.
Sotek pushed against the step to steady himself but he deliberately over compensated and ended up lolloping over Aela. He relaxed his whole body, turning its mass into dead weight, pinning her down. She took it in good humour and screamed in fits of laughter as she, albeit unsuccessfully, tried to push him off so she could move.
“Get off me you slimy reptile”.
Sotek shifted back a bit and chuckled as Aela brushed off her arms from the dust on the steps.
“Tilma, these steps are filthy”.
Tilma tutted under her breath and wagged her finger at the two Companions.
“Well I’m not surprised as the filthiest mouth in Jorrvaskr is sitting there and when do I get a chance to clean them when you both sit there day in day out?”
Sotek started sniggering while he nudged Aela in the side with his elbow.
“Tilma’s talking to you”.
Tilma dismissively waved her hand at him and instructed him to carry on with the conversation.
“I’m talking to the pair of you. Oh forget it, carry on. What was your first kill?”
Sotek watched Aela in the corner of his eye as he recalled the fight against the wolf he had come across when he first left Riverwood.
“Well it certainly wasn’t a dragon. It was a wolf, near Riverwood. I was following the trail up the mountain pathway and happened to stumble across the beast. Then again I was floundering about somewhat so it’s more than likely the animal happened to chance across me”.
Aela couldn’t hide her surprise. She had killed many a wolf being Jorrvaskr’s only Hunter, or rather Huntress but she had expected Sotek’s kill to be deer or even a rabbit as they were a good food source. She thought back to the half starved Whelp which interfered with the Companions duties when they were fighting the giant and tried to picture the Argonian back then fighting a wolf.
She knew wolves were easy to kill for a trained Huntress such as herself but to someone who was poorly armed then such animals were a serious threat.
“The beasts of Skyrim are a lot tougher than most. I’m surprised you didn’t get hurt, or even killed. You weren’t much of a fighter back then. Hell you’re not at the moment either. Why didn’t you stick to the main path? What the hell were you doing in the mountains anyway?”
Sotek semi consciously rubbed his arm where the wolf had happened to tear it in the initial attack. He knew Aela was right. They would often come across some poor souls half eaten corpse where they had wandered too far off the main pathways and succumbed to the creatures that inhabited the area.
“Yes, you‘re right of course, but then I’m wiser now and savvier with my surroundings; I’m learning to be anyway. As to why I was there, I was heading to Bleaks Fall Barrow”.
Farkas’s flagon nearly slipped out of his grasp. He had to quickly grab it with his other hand to prevent its contents from spilling out over his lap. He fumbled about for a few seconds then sat the tankard down so he wouldn’t drop it then looked over towards Sotek with a somewhat startled tone in his voice.
“Did I hear you right? When the hell in Oblivion did you go to Bleaks Fall Barrow?”
Sotek’s head titled sideways while his tail flapped around. He studied Farkas’s features and found the Nord to be just as confused and puzzled as Aela and even the Harbinger was over Sotek’s journey to the burial place.
“Oh that was before I first came to Whiterun. It was from that tomb that I headed to the farms”.
Vilkas looked at Sotek with disbelieving eyes. He tried to picture the Argonian in such a haunted and deathly place but he struggled with every part of it yet somehow he knew Sotek’s story to be true.
“But you couldn’t even wear a sword let alone fight with one! What the hell were you doing there?”
Sotek gave out a laugh as he recalled the sensation of waking up when he fell unconscious in the water along with visions of the giant spider burning in the tomb. With a deceptive snaking of his tail, he cast a wink at Vilkas and replied.
“I was swimming”.
The Harbinger glanced across the table at Sotek with a raised eyebrow. He knew Sotek was holding things back and he was fully aware of the dangers the Argonian must have faced in such a place let alone survive there. Kodlak wondered about Sotek’s ingenuity and what had actually happened in the ancient Nordic burial tomb.
“Well obviously there’s more to the tale. Maybe one day you will tell of it? Perhaps?”
Sotek’s tail lifted up and thumped down just the one time then fell still and silent. His reptilian eyes bore into Kodlak with an intensity the Harbinger had not often felt from the Argonian; one with purpose and a will which Sotek had now earned a reputation for. There were a few forces in the world which couldn’t be stopped. He was one of them.
“Definitely, one day I would love to tell that tail. Tale sorry. I have some ermm unfinished business there first. Business which needs to be.... How shall I put it? Concluded”.
Aela was drawn to him by his words, not that she needed an excuse to include herself with his plans. If she wanted to be a part of them then all she would have to do was ask so ask she did.
“Will you need some help?”
Sotek slowly shook his head in response. A cold chill crept down his spine when he thought back to the trader who had long since skipped town when he gave the alarm at Whiterun about the trader being in league with the bandits. The last Sotek heard was that the man and woman had fled into Cyrodiil. One day he would have his reckoning, one day.
“No, but I’ll be taking it regardless”.
A sultry smile formed on Aela’s lips from the knowledge that she knew full well he meant her. The warm glow she felt carried with her words when she took everyone back to years before when she was younger.
“My first ‘kill’ as such was when I helped mother catch a rabbit. She gave me a dagger and told me to kill it then she taught me how to gut and skin them. Do you remember Tilma? You cooked it for me?”
Tilma frowned at the young Companion although there was an air of light heartedness to it as she talked about the rabbit.
“Oh what a pain she was. You’d think I was going to steal it. Every step I took, she was there following behind me. I cut it up and she had to stand on a stool and watch. She even sat in front of it and waited while it cooked”.
Kodlak stroked his beard as he thought back to that occasion. Aela never realised at the time but her actions made a lasting impression on the Harbinger, a memory he would never forget.
“I remember that day like it was yesterday. By the Nines was it really all those years ago? Let’s see now, twenty two? Five? Seventeen years ago... yet I can still picture it as clearly as yesterday. Tilma brought up the plate of rabbit meat and sat Aela at the table but I have to say Aela, I never expected for you to do what you did. Do you remember?”
Aela laughed as a memory of a little girl who walked around the hall with the plate of rabbit.
“Yes, I gave everyone an equal piece of it. There was... oh hell I don’t remember but everyone had some. I even made sure Tilma had a piece, I gave her hers first. Then ma, father... Hehe, I even ran up the slope to the Skyforge and gave some to Eorlund”.
Kodlak chuckled and gave a proud nod to her.
“Yes and then what did you do?”
Aela’s mind fell blank, she could remember giving out the rabbit although the memory hadn’t popped up in her mind for some years but the rest of it was a blank to her.
“I don’t know, I can’t remember”.
Kodlak beamed with pride as he carried on with the tale.
“Your story doesn’t end there. You pulled up a chair next to me and ate the tiniest morsel of rabbit from your plate”.
Aela gasped as a long forgotten memory came swirling back to her. She pointed to the Harbinger excitedly and cried out.
“You cut your piece in two and gave me half. Oh Harbinger, I remember that!”
Kodlak nodded to her but he wasn’t quite finished. He then flummoxed her by asking a question about that day.
“When you finished it Aela, you lined up your knife and fork on your plate and said something to me. Can you remember what it was?”
Aela opened her eyes wide as she strained to recall what she said. All she could remember was saying something to the Harbinger which gave him cause to stroke the top of her head. Try as she might though, she just couldn’t remember what it was.
“No, I don’t. I said something to you Harbinger but I don’t know what it was”.
Kodlak glanced around the hall, taking the time to look at everyone for a few moments and fought back a tear of pride as he slowly spoke so everyone could hear what he said.
“She said just five words to me. She gazed around the room at everyone then turned to me and said with so much pride in her voice. She said, ‘Harbinger, I fed my pack”.
Aela’s eyes misted over from the memory of that day but even now she couldn’t remember saying it.
“You made that up”.
Kodlak looked at her straight in the eyes and pointed to the two brothers as well as Tilma.
“Ask them. That’s what you said and I will never forget it. You were barely five years old. Harbinger, I fed my pack. There were only a few times I’ve ever felt so proud of you Aela as I did that day. Not that I don’t often feel proud of you girl, of all of you; but that day was special”.
Aela’s eyes started swelling with pride. She wiped a single tear from her cheek and buried her face in Sotek’s chest to hide her embarrassment. A weak voice whispered back to the Harbinger as Aela tried to speak.
“Thank you”.
Farkas scratched his head as he tried to recall his first kill but as he couldn’t remember, Kodlak told the tale instead.
“The story with these two isn’t I’m afraid anything as grand as feeding everyone. The time they claimed their first kill they were with me. We were heading along the trail of one of the pathways around the Throat of the World Mountain when we were beset by a troll. Vilkas stepped out in front of me and drew a greatsword, an iron blade. Although it was indeed a great sword Eorlund had crafted it to be somewhat lighter so the lad could wield it. Farkas had a short sword and a shield, again both iron although his own weapons were of their typical weights. Between them they boldly stepped forwards and engaged the troll. I have to admit I was surprised at the fortitude and communication between them both. Farkas here, he bore the blunt of the troll while Vilkas attacked from its rear. Their tactics and strength really impressed me. ‘Tis a shame they took over ten minutes to kill the bloody thing”.
Vilkas piped up with an excuse as he vainly tried to defend his and Farkas’s actions.
“We never had fire did we? That trolls healing power was incredible”.
Kodlak nodded and gave them both deserving praise.
“Yes yet you both stood your ground and wore it down. Once it was too weak to fight back you both pushed hard and killed it. It certainly wasn’t a quick kill Vilkas, but it was a definite kill and neither of you took any chances or got hurt. You both had done well that day”.
Sotek studied Kodlak and wondered about the warrior who even now was fully capable of slaying trolls and all manners of such creatures with ease.
“What about you Harbinger? What was your first kill?”
Kodlak shrugged his broad shoulders as a sign of ignorance regarding any possible answer.
“Sotek, I’ve lived many a year in Skyrim and many a year outside of it as well. When I came to Skyrim I was already a seasoned warrior, one who had killed many a man and beast before I even set foot on this land. Whatever it was, I’m sure they deserved it”.
Tilma chuckled and tapped herself proudly in the chest.
“My first ‘kill’ was a skeever. I was somewhat younger then mind you. It was a sunny day when I was walking though the market after I just bought a new broom from young Belethor. He was just starting out with his shop then. Oh it wasn’t his shop as such; he was renting it from Proventus until he could make enough money to buy it outright. One of the stallholders screamed and we all flocked together to see a large grey skeever scuttle towards us. The guards reckoned it came in via the river. Without thinking I bashed it over the head with my broom; several times. Oh how it screeched. By the time a guard had drawn his sword and approached us, the skeever was dead”.
All the Companions and Whelps looked at the maid with a new respect while Kodlak singled out two specific Companions.
“So heed this warning, Aela, Sotek; beware Tilma’s broom”.
Tilma tutted and carried on with her chores.
“My broom? The little critter was lucky I didn’t have my mop”.
Both Companions exchanged wary and fearful glances then slowly looked across the hall with a new found respect for Tilma and her broom of death.
Comments
I was particularly fond of Aela's "fed the pack" moment.
That will make one interesting conversation in Jorrvaskr. Tilma Dragonborn...