As soon as he heard the Harbinger’s cry, Sotek broke into a run and brought his axe to bear against the first target. It banged against the main post but he kept on running as his other axe sliced through the air to strike the second of the two dummies. With his eyes fixed upon the third target, he launched himself forwards, swinging both axes together, crossing them in a deadly arc.
Jumping off the edge, he flung himself into the air but he seemed to fall far too quickly and hit the ground heavily. Instead of striking the next target with an axe, he crashed into it in an attempt to prevent himself from falling over. Prizing himself away from the dummy he spun around to strike the target directly behind him. The axe head embedded itself in the arm of the target, locking the axe in place.
Dropping his other axe, Sotek drew his bow and fired off a series of arrows at the two targets which stood opposite to one another on either side of the training yard. He reached down and snatched his axe from the floor but in his haste he tripped up on the bow and fell forwards, sending up a cloud of dust as he slammed into the ground.
The Argonian slowly pulled himself up and averted his eyes from Aela and the Harbinger. He didn’t need to look in their direction to know what the pair of them were thinking. As he dusted himself off, he inadvertently glanced behind himself and saw that he actually missed the second of the two bottom targets entirely.
He recovered his weapons and dejectedly returned to the step where Aela was gawping across the yard at him. Kodlak never said a word, Aela’s screaming was bad enough, he didn’t need to add anything to her barrage.
“What the hell was that? You took bloody ages to get that far?”
Vilkas and Farkas forgot their temporary feud and just rolled around laughing. Farkas couldn’t help himself and jested at the unfortunate soul who sat before him.
“Get the old Sotek back. Hell, we’re supposed to train them not make them bloody worse”.
Aela was seething with anger over Farkas’s comment. She grabbed Sotek’s arm and started dragging him across the yard to the starting line. Kodlak was about to say something to her but the intense glare she threw back at him silenced him all too easily.
When they neared the ramp, she shoved him in the back sending him sprawling forwards into the wall. She yelled at him, drowning out Heimskr the preacher who was giving his usual sermon by the statue of Talos. Even the daily buying and selling in the city’s market came to an abrupt stop as Aela’s voice hollered across the whole of Whiterun.
“Get your bloody arse over there and go again!!!”
Danica, the priestess, was currently seeing to the sick in the temple of Kynareth. She jumped with fright right in the middle of casting a healing spell and struck one of her aids full in the face with the spell instead of the wounded Imperial soldier who was currently resting at the temple after a skirmish with some Stormcloaks. The aid, now temporarily blinded, backed away and knocked over a medicine trolley, spilling healing herbs and potions across the floor.
Ignorant of the carnage her mouth had caused, Aela carried on with the training regime and pointed up the ramp towards the Skyforge. Without even waiting for Sotek to properly prepare himself, she yelled back at the Harbinger, starting off Sotek’s run.
“Now!!”
Sotek grabbed hold of his two axes and ran towards the first target while Aela screwed her face up more and more with every step Sotek took. She knew his time was terrible as she had silently counted while she watched him tackle the course. One thing she was thankful for was the fact that he had at the very least managed to hit each target with more than his body.
When he crossed the finish line, Aela picked up one of his axes which he inadvertently dropped. She stormed over towards the two brothers who were sitting at a small table, laughing away like a pair of jackals and slammed the axe head into the wooden table top between them both. She turned to the Harbinger, snarling like a demented wolf.
“What was his time? And don’t lie to me”.
The Harbinger calmly walked over to her and pulled her away from the small table lest she tried to recover the axe.
“His time was one minute twenty-two. I know it’s slow but that gives you no right to kick off like this. What the hell is up with you?”
Aela yanked her arm away from him and angrily pointed at Sotek as she yelled in the Harbinger’s face.
“Up with me? It’s supposed to be the path of the huntress not the path of the bloody moron”.
The Harbinger nodded at her although he made sure to include a warning about her temper.
“You have a point but try to calm down. The whole reason we’re out here is to see why Sotek’s fighting is off, not listen to your mouth and see how loud you can yell at him. Anyway, I think I know what it is. Farkas, I have a job for you”.
He then lightly pushed Aela away so he could talk privately with Farkas. Within moments Farkas headed inside the hall, leaving everyone except the Harbinger wondering what he was doing. After a few minutes, Farkas returned carrying Soteks old trousers, shirt and boots.
The Harbinger took them off him and threw them at Sotek’s feet.
“Get that armour off and put these on! We’ve seen this before”.
As if he never had a care in the world, Sotek stripped off all his armor where he stood and placed it on a table which he just so happened to be standing next to. The Imperial Whelp covered her eyes while Tilma cast her gaze over the wall and stared at the Throat of the World Mountain.
“Tell me when he’s finished. How am I supposed to turn that girl into a lady while she hangs around with this uncouth rabble of a man? Have you no shame young Sotek?”
Sotek paused for a moment and took stock of his actions. He apologised or at least he tried to. His words were full of sincerity until he saw Aela’s mouth drooling as her eyes fed off his body. Her thoughts were soon knocked out of her mind by Kodlak who slapped her on the back of the head.
“Aela behave yourself and as for you Sotek; get dressed”.
Aela hissed back in her ‘Argonian’ voice which was something she quietly worked on during the late evenings when Sotek stayed in her room overnight.
“You told himss to sstripss, not me. Hssss”.
Sotek threw on his trousers and shirt before the Harbinger could turn his hand to him. When it came to his boots, he sat on the steps so he wouldn’t fall over as he pulled them on his feet. During this time, he questioned the Harbinger about what he had said.
“Harbinger, you said you have ‘seen this before’; seen what before?”
While Kodlak replied to him, he pointed at Aela and the pile of Wolf armor.
“Your sloppy run. Aela tried it once when she wanted to have a set of Wolf armour. It was a good few years back mind. She wanted to be one of the ‘in crowd’ I think”.
Sotek cast a puzzled look back at Aela over the remark. He couldn’t see her trying to fit in with anybody yet the Wolf armor did give the Companions a fitting uniform.
“What happened?”
Aela laughed as she turned around to face Vilkas.
“I had more fun threatening them than I did trying to join them. Wol... girl power. I wanted my own set, but I couldn’t move in it. Harbinger, Sotek’s far stronger than me though. Would it affect him that much?”
Eorlund joined in the conversation and gave his own opinion into Sotek’s ability to wear armor.
“He’s fast on his feet and fast with the axe. The armor’s restricting him; it can’t keep up with his movements. You’ll see a big improvement this time around I’d wager”.
Farkas shook a bag of gold at him while Sotek moved towards the starting line.
“Wager? How much gold Eorlund?”
Before Eorlund could give Farkas an answer, Kodlak shouted out, starting Sotek’s third run.
Sotek sprinted up the ramp, swinging his axe into the first target as he ran up to it. Then, a few seconds later, he lashed out at the other two, tackling the pair of them at the same time. Without showing any signs of slowing down, he leapt into space and plummeted towards the ground. His last run, the weight of the armor caused him to stumble but this time he landed on his feet perfectly. His axe swished as it cut through the air, thudding into the dummy on his left before he span around, striking the second post with both axes in a lethal barrage of blows.
He wasted a few seconds by sliding an axe in its harness but he was determined not to leave any weapon behind. With the second axe handle held between his teeth, he drew his bow and fired off two shots at the targets which stood opposite one another before breaking into a run, heading towards the two ‘enemies’ which waited for him at the end of the training area.
He had to fire three shots at the furthest dummy due to him firing as he sprinted across the ground but despite this, the third arrow hit it in the head, claiming it as a kill. He knew he was too close to the next target so he pulled the axe from his mouth and brought the weapon down in a devastating blow, slicing into the post’s ‘shoulder’.
Finally, he ran past the last target, landing a blow against the chest armor as he came alongside it. Even as he crossed the finish line, he knew he never came close to Aela’s score but he was fully aware of the difference in his performance.
Aela shouted out, applauding Sotek and congratulating him on his run. She didn’t wait for the Harbinger to call out the time, she didn’t need to; the difference in Sotek’s whole fighting stance and his running speed told her all she needed to know. The Nord threw herself in his arms, almost screaming out triumphantly.
“Yesss! That’s the Sotek I remember! You did great, you really did!”
The Harbinger smiled as he watched the electricity between them. Such a sight caused old memories to come back to when he was younger, drinking from a lover’s cup and revelling in loves intoxication. He snapped back to the present and jubilantly called out Sotek’s time.
“Forty seconds! Well done Sotek, a massive improvement I must say”.
Sotek’s mood changed along with his tail which suddenly lifted up and thudded down on the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust. The Argonian shook his head and literally demanded that his time be scrapped instead of being noted down in an old tatty ledger which Kodlak kept the Companions times in.
“That doesn’t count! I’ve no armor on so the time isn’t fair to everyone else”.
Kodlak gave back a loud false laugh and resumed noting the time in his book.
“It’s not about beating times Sotek. It’s about pushing yourself and trying. You will probably never beat this time with armor on... but I know you my lad. You’ll certainly try to though. No, your time stays and it counts”.
Tilma picked up one of Sotek’s Wolf gauntlets and felt the weight of it in her hand. She gave him a quick once over, taking in the fact that he wore only basic clothing.
“Tsk, he’ll need some sort of armor though. He can’t go running around like that Kodlak”.
Eorlund joined in and thought about various different armors which might be more suitable for the Companion. Without thinking he glanced over to Aela and used hers as an example.
“What about Aela’s armor?”
Sotek looked down her body then roared with laughter. He slapped her on the backside and shook his head.
“No chance! She looks as sexy as hell but I’m not wearing a bloody dress for anyone”.
The two brothers creased up in hysterics as they pictured Sotek wearing Aela’s Ancient Nordic armor. Aela joined in and jestingly gave Sotek a shove.
“Oh go on! Make him wear a dress”.
Sotek raised a clawed finger and pointed straight at Eorlund. His voice was serious but despite his best efforts, Eorlund kept staring back with a wicked smile on his face.
“Don’t even think about it”. Sotek did his best to ignore them and, as a way of blanking the laughter, he went to the table where his Wolf armor lay and picked the chest piece up. As he studied it, he turned to the Harbinger and said. “I didn’t notice it was so restrictive. When I first wore it my shoulder was bad so I had always put my lack of skill to that. What the hell am I going to use?”
Now that she had calmed down a bit, Aela stepped up and tried to help out with a suggestion although it wasn’t as good as what she had initially thought.
“How about leather? That’s what I have isn’t it?”
Sotek shook his head at her and rejected her idea. Despite being a hunter, he knew there were fundamental differences between their fighting styles.
“Aela, that’s not strictly leather, besides; you’re an archer, you don’t or rather shouldn’t get into close combat, but I do. I use range then move in close. Leather won’t give the protection I need”.
Eorlund came up with a suggestion of his own. One which he knew would be suitable.
“I’ve still got your old Nordic Carved armor somewhere. I’ll sort that out for you tonight. After all it was only when you changed to Wolf armor that you started having problems. Not surprising actually as Wolf armor is heavi.....”
Whether Sotek meant to or not, he raised a few questions in Eorlund’s mind concerning his Wolf armor. The blacksmith toyed about with the chest piece for several minutes, even to the point of cutting off a small patch of fur from the inside of it.
“I don’t get the weight... how can this be heavier than...” He pondered on the problem for a few moments until Sotek interrupted him.
“Ok, I’ll use that until I come up with something better”. He then wrapped his arms around Aela and began shuffling her towards the hall. “Let’s go eat; we haven’t had anything since last night”. Everyone else besides Eorlund, who started heading towards the Skyforge, followed Sotek’s lead.
As they all headed inside, Tilma approached the two brothers and reminded them of something they had inadvertently forgotten about.
“Not you two, you need to get our gold. Off you go!” On cue, Farkas and Vilkas stared at each other then they started bickering between themselves once again.
Aela and Sotek were sitting on their step, sharing a plate of food when Farkas came over and dropped the two bags of gold on Aela’s lap. He added a snide comment; just a few whispered words to give him satisfaction over his loss of money.
“I hope Red is quieter when she’s tucked up warm with Scarface that you are when you’re with Sotek. Please don’t tell me Red is worse”.
Aela had been dreading such comments for the better part of the night. By now she was passed the point of concern. Instead, she threw back in his face the fact that she knew what he got up to. Her only regret was she had to whisper it.
“Oh go get another notch in your bedpost. And if she is then I’ll move my room to one next to you”.
She topped her assault with a raspberry, leaving him almost speechless.
“What? What did you say?”
She played the role of the innocent bystander perfectly, adamantly refusing to divulge anything she had only just said.
“What? Me? No, I never said anything. Are you ok? You’re looking a bit flushed”. Then she and Sotek burst out laughing and watched Farkas try to stay in control while he quickly walked away and headed back to the table.
Meanwhile, Eorlund was trying to solve a riddle. When he finally came across the answer, he felt it was important enough to involve the Harbinger. Without wasting any time he headed down the ramp and entered the hall of Jorrvaskr. The various conversations were interrupted when he walked inside and beckoned the Harbinger to follow him.
Kodlak had initially asked him what it was about but he refused to divulge anything until they were well away from the hall so no one else could hear them.
“I was going to make Sotek a brand new set of Nordic Carved armor.....”
Kodlak readily approved of the suggestion and swiftly said so.
“That would be a splendid idea. I’m sure he would appreciate such a gesture. His armor is a bit worn and frayed in the straps”.
Eorlund nodded back at him although he knew such a feat wasn’t so simple.
“I know. The trouble is... I don’t know how to!”
Kodlak stopped on the spot and looked at him with wide confused eyes.
“I’m sorry?”
Eorlund proceeded up the ramp then showed the Harbinger exactly what he meant.
“One thing puzzled me, Sotek’s Wolf armor!”
“What about it?” Kodlak asked. He looked across to the side of the forge where Sotek’s old Nordic Carved armor lay alongside a second chest piece of the same type. Next to that was Sotek’s Wolf armor. “Is there something wrong?”
Eorlund shook his head and passed to the Harbinger, Sotek’s Wolf armor chest piece.
“Not wrong exactly, more ‘strange’ than anything else. Weigh this! See for yourself”.
Kodlak held the Wolf armor in his hands but he couldn’t tell if anything was wrong or not.
“Eorlund, what about it? It feels the same as mine. A bit lighter perhaps but he is of a smaller build”.
The blacksmith rolled his eyes and snatched the chest piece out of his hands and blatantly tossed it to the side.
“It is the same Kodlak. Here, hold this; it’s the Nordic Carved armor I was going to give Sotek”.
“It’s a fine piece of workmanship. Whatever is wrong with it though?” As he took it, he nearly dropped the armor due to the weight. It wasn’t unduly heavy for him, but he certainly expected it to be far lighter than what it actually was. “By the nines, Eorlund! Sotek can’t wear this! It’s twice as heavy as Wolf armor and that was too much for him”.
Eorlund clicked his fingers, snapping them together as he passed the Harbinger Sotek’s Nordic Carved armor to weigh.
“Now you understand. Weigh this piece”.
Kodlak braced himself for the two Nordic Carved chest pieces were identical at least to look at. He gasped in amazement when he lifted it with ease though.
“Talos give me strength.... This is as light as leather! How come? What did he do to it?”
Eorlund shrugged his massive shoulders and held his hands up in defeat. It was hard for a blacksmith of his mettle to admit such a thing yet he had little choice.
“I don’t know. Different base metal maybe? Yet the color’s spot on. All I know is the armor’s lighter, and it’s not as strong. Now don’t go flapping your arms about, it’s a good piece of armor. Strong, dependable but it’s not a Nordic Carved piece. It served him well and I expect it will do so still”.
Kodlak sat down by the forge and rested his forehead in the palm of his hand. He knew of many skirmishes which Sotek had taken part in while he wore such armor and Kodlak couldn’t push out the thought of it failing when Sotek needed it the most.
“Has he compromised himself with this? Is it likely to falter and crack?”
Eorlund shook his head and put Kodlak’s fears to rest with a simple fact.
“If I thought that then I’d have him standing here and not you. He’s made a light armor variant; I just wished I knew how”.
“I’ll have it sent to his room tonight. He’ll do far better in that than he would in Wolf armor that’s for sure. Tomorrow I have to see Jarl Balgruuf about a few pending contracts. They draw a certain Companion a bit too close to Windhelm for my liking”. Kodlak then proceeded to stroll down the ramp at a leisurely pace so he could think about things more.
Inside the hall itself, Aela was busy counting out her share of the winnings from the bet they had earlier. She passed Sotek his bag of septims and became curious when she remembered how much gold he actually had when she peeped inside his wardrobe and happened to come across the chest.
“So what are you planning to do with the king’s ransom you have?”
“What, my money? Ahh, well hopefully I’ll have enough to buy some land south of the lake near Falkreath. There’s a nice patch overlooking the water there”.
“Pardon? What on earth are you going to do with that? Become a farmer? Hahaha”. Aela shuffled around, spinning on her backside so she could face him.
Sotek chuckled back at her and replied.
“Farm? Me? No, I actually want to have a house built there”.
The amused expression was wiped off Aela’s face faster than when Tilma ordered her to help with the clothes wash day. The trolls fat and ash stank while her hands felt horrible for hours.
“What? Why? You’re not moving out are you? I... I thought you liked it here?” As she talked, the desperation in her voice and her words themselves became more and more noticeable. Sotek tried to explain but she wasn’t prepared to let him speak until she done everything in her power to maintain the status quo between them. “Don’t talk, listen to me. Sotek, don’t go there. Stay here with me. Ermm, we can see about that room next to mine! Maybe join the two rooms up? We’ll turn mine into a bedroom for us both and have the other room as a living room. I know we live in the hall here but. You don’t have to move out”.
Sotek gave Aela a hug and reassured her with a kiss to the top of her head.
“Oh I’m not moving out but I do need a few places dotted around Skyrim. You know this, we talked about it. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to have a place we can go to? Just the two of us? It’s only a den really, I got stuff stored in your room, my room, the Harbingers let me use a spare room, and I’ve overstepped my boundaries there, I’ve actually been using two rooms. Stop worrying, come on. Besides, you like having your own space. If I moved to that other room by yours then you’ll be pulling your hair out within the hour”.
Aela blinked rapidly while her mind ran away with itself from the worry of her world being pulled apart.
“Well as long as you’re not moving out”.
Although he know knew the waters he was swimming in were far hotter than what he liked, Sotek thought he would still dip his tail and test out the temperature. As a passing thought, he asked Aela about her future.
“Wouldn’t you like to move out one day? A place for just the two of us”.
Aela shook her head at him and set her feet along with her roots firmly within Jorrvaskr.
“Nope, we are fine here. Everything we want is here”.
Sotek grinned back at her and raised his spiky eyebrow as he whispered.
“No everything we need, the beds are downstairs. Let’s call it a night, you have Omega’s funeral to face tomorrow and we haven’t had much of a sleep as it is”. Without even giving her a chance to argue, Sotek took her by the hand and led her downstairs.
The moment Aela entered her room; she collapsed on the bed on her belly and stretched out. Each of her hands and feet took up a corner of her straw mattress, her limbs spread out. Sotek took it upon himself to strip her armor off and laid it out on the table along with her boots. When he lay alongside her, she coiled up in a ball, tucking her back against him.
He gave her a light nudge with his elbow, causing her to groan. Sotek paid the moaning little attention and persisted with his digs.
“I know you’re awake”.
“I might not be”. She said amongst a fit of the giggles.
“How well do you think I done today?” Sotek asked. He stayed lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, unaware that Aela had turned her head around to face him.
“You done well, really well. We’ll sort out some armour for you then you will be fine”.
“You sure I did well?”
Aela sat up so she could look at him properly. She lightly pulled the side of his face around so he was looking at her rather than the roof beams.
“Yes, you really did”.
With a playful howl, Sotek pushed her down on the bed and started trying to bite her neck.
“Get the hell off!” She screamed while she laughed at his advances.
“No, because you said if I did well then I’d more than a kiss tonight”.
She slapped him in the chest and tried to deny such a conversation ever taking place.
“What? You’re mistaken. I never said that!”
“Yes you did, this morning”.
Aela grinned mischievously and nodded back at him.
“Fine, but it’ll cost one hundred gold”.
Sotek shot up in the bed and stared at her in disbelief.
“What? For the whole night?”
She screwed her face up at him and waved a finger in front of his face.
“Nope, one hour only. A hundred gold and you can abuse my body for an hour”.
Sotek snapped back his answer before she could add any conditions to the proposal.
“Deal”. In a flash, he jumped out of the bed and threw a bag of gold on her bedside table.
Around an hour later, she got up to store the gold away. As she checked her own pouch, she noticed something was amiss. At that moment she realised she had been tricked.
“You bastard! You paid me with my gold”.
Sotek chuckled as he watched the naked form of Aela scurry around her room in the darkness.
“Well you said a hundred gold, there was no mention as to who’s gold it had to be, was there?”
“Oww!!” Sotek screamed out as Aela jumped up on the bed and straddled him while she playfully attacked him with her boot.
The sounds of their antics carried across the corridor, disturbing a certain Companion. Farkas shouted out at the top of his voice.
“Oh, by the Nines; their up to it again!”
Aela dropped the boot on the floor as the pair of them creased up laughing.
Comments
Fixed... One day I'll have a blog post that's error free. Then Ning will crash and no one will ever know...
Sotek might be Dragonborn but Aela's voice is stronger.
Thanks Lissette, my trouble is I'm stubborn. Much prefer Nordic CARVED armor to basic steel. least I ... more