UOTW Chapter 182 Wild Thing

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    Aela waited for about fifteen minutes then headed up the path between the two mountains but she was far from happy. Soon enough she came across the four arrows Sotek had left behind. She knew their meaning. There were enemies ahead. Four arrows meant four enemies. She picked them up from the snow laden path and cautiously continued with her bow in hand.

     

    Further ahead she saw the bandits who seemed to be waiting for her. She wondered why Sotek never killed them. He could easily tackle them even without the Whelp’s help.

     

    As she approached them, the girl called out to her.

    “Hey, are you Aela?”

     

    “Yes. Who are you?” She asked. She had some concerns now as they seemed to know her. She was well regarded throughout Skyrim but mainly by guards and the various settlements. Bandits didn’t live for long so they didn’t count.

     

    The four bandits started heading over to her. As they closed in they drew their daggers and swords. The girl had two daggers and played with them in her hands as she spoke.

    “I’m Red, I’ve no doubt you’ve heard of me; the Silverhands have. They have a contract for my head you know, I’m worth five thousand gold. As for you, Aela; you’re forfeit”.

     

    “Forfeit?” Aela couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows. Being told she was forfeit was the last thing she expected. She looked along the pass and saw Sotek’s and the Whelp’s footsteps go right past the bandits. ‘What the hell is going on?’ the Huntress thought to herself.

     

    The girl explained Aela’s predicament as she pointed her dagger straight at Aela’s stomach.

    “Oh yes. You see, your friend, you lover? He’s an Argonian you sick bitch. Anyway, that won’t matter anymore. He said you were his ‘mate’. You poor helpless cow, you have no idea do you? He paid us to kill you, you stupid slut”.

     

    One of the men came close to her and drew his sword.

    “So you fuck Argonians. Well we will show you what it’s like to be taken by Nords. You won’t enjoy it though but don’t worry. We certainly will”.

     

    Aela finally understood the whole situation; the bandit’s attitude towards her, the arrows, even why Sotek never killed them. In a blinding flash it all came together.

    “That bloody lizard paid you to kill me?” At that point she watched them slowly surround her.

     

    The girl laughed as she clapped her hands together sarcastically.

    “She gets it. Well done”.

     

    “She’ll get it in a minute” One of the men said as he started undoing his greaves.

     

    Aela smiled back at the girl. She felt surprisingly warm and relaxed. It was like Sotek was standing beside her.

    “This is one of the reasons why I love him so much. He really understands me. It’s so hard to find a man who really gets you. Your essence, you know?”

     

    One bandit looked at her like she was crazy. He took a step back from her and turned to the other girl for an explanation.

     “Her essence? He wants her head”.

     

    Aela laughed at the comment. The whole seriousness of the entire situation was completely lost to her. She knew what Sotek saw. Iron rusty swords, patched, mismatched armor. These bandits were poorly armed, poorly trained and suffered a poor lack of judgement.

    “Oh he’ll get more than my head for this; don’t you worry about that”. She giggled.

     

    The next second she howled out and dropped to her hands and knees while the four bandits looked on in shock. Aela’s body disappeared as red fur smothered her skin. Her mouth stretched out as a wolfish maw started taking shape while her limps grew in size and length. Red’s torso swelled as ribs and muscle expanded. In all it took no more than two seconds for the entire transformation to be complete.

     

    When she first started to change, one of the bandits drew their sword and ran towards her. He was barely ten feet away but even before he could thrust the tip of his sword into the female werewolf... Red attacked.

     

    With a chilling cry, Red pounced straight at the girl; ripping her to pieces in mere seconds. She fell backwards from the assault and her arms hit the ground by her sides, still and lifeless while her chest was ripped open. The three bandits started to run, separating in all directions as they screamed. Red was faster; a lot faster. She began chasing the man who tried to stab her with his sword. The weapon now lay discarded in the snow. He could hear the werewolf’s paws as they pounded along the ground towards him at frightening speed. He looked over his right shoulder but he couldn’t see her.

     

    He cried out when he felt the hot dog like breath on the left side of his neck. Red swiped at his legs tearing them to shreds as she flipped the man over. He flew upwards several feet, and fell to the snow crusted pass with a sickening bang. Blood poured out from several tears in his legs which were little more than bloodied rags. Muscles were almost ripped from the bone as he screamed in agony and terror.

     

    Leaving him be as he was neither a threat nor running away, Red set out to pursue her third target. She howled an unearthly cry and vaulted over the stricken rogue before sprinting towards a Nord who wielded two daggers.

     

    Meanwhile Sotek and the Whelp had started to explore the wolf cave, or rather Sotek did. The Whelp stayed at the entrance, petrified of what Sotek would do to her now that he had dealt with Aela in such a brutal and barbaric manner. The three wolves which Sotek happened to come across proved to be of no significant threat and were easily dealt with.

     

    The biggest problem Sotek had to face was the fact that Scarface wanted out. He had been cooped up for too long and the stench of wolf blood was driving him wild.

     

    The cave itself was little more than a few caverns with a single passageway connecting them. He soon returned to the Whelp to find her huddled in a corner holding her orcish sword as if her life depended on it. Sotek sighed in pity and moved towards the entrance as he gave her his instructions.

    “There are three dead wolves back there. Skin them and then get yourself back to the fire and warm up. I’ll wait for you outside”.

     

    She scurried deeper in the cave then paused as two horrifying thoughts flooded her mind.

    “What are... you going to do to me?”

     

    Sotek looked back at her and studied the Imperial girl. She was like a frightened rabbit. He hoped Aela would hurry up and get back before the Whelp had a heart attack.

    “You don’t know what’s going on and there are things which I cannot explain. Don’t worry about Aela. She’s fine, trust me”.

     

    “You told them to kill her! How can I trust you?” She backed away slightly as she spoke. Her eyes darted about looking for an exit in the cave. She cursed her stupidity, she should have said all this when she was at the entrance not when she was trapped inside.

     

    Sotek smiled back at her and drew his two Dragonbone Axes.

    “You have little choice Whelp but maybe this will convince you”. Without moving towards her, he tossed them on the ground and headed outside.


    She stared wide eyed at the weapons and peered into the darkness behind her.

    “What’s down there? There’s something alive; isn’t there?”

     

    “The only things living here is us two and the only dead are three wolves. Go on; skin them and get your backside to the fire to warm up. All will be clearer then”.

    Leaving the Imperial girl behind, Sotek headed outside and moved towards the fire where he patiently waited for Aela while he listened to the commotion from the pass.

     

    Above them, in Wayward Pass, the remaining brigand ran as hard as he could; trying to reach safety in the jagged mountain range. Red bound from side to side, cutting off his route first towards the east then mercilessly to the west. With nowhere else to go, the rogue ran towards the north in the vain hope of getting away. All he could hear was Red’s heavy breathing, her chilling snarling howls and the other bandit’s screams as he tried to pull himself through the snow by his hands.

     

    Red pounced forwards, knocking the man to the side. The red werewolf carried on past him and slowly turned around as she snarled in spite and hunger. She stalked her prey as he crawled on all fours, too scared to even get to his feet.

     

    He screamed out for mercy, causing Sotek to lift his head up towards the chilling cries. Red slowly stepped towards him. Her eyes filled with an uncompromising hunger. The bandit screamed for mercy but Red had none to give. Without warning she charged at him; jumping up and tearing at his throat. His arms flailed about as Red shook her powerful neck, throwing her head side to side as she bit down with all her strength.

     

    He was the first one she fed on. She clawed and bit at his chest to get to the blood rich flesh inside then she moved to the second bandit and began feeding again. Each maw full of food was swallowed in large pieces and filled her with a sense of filled satisfaction. She stared at the bandit who was crawling across the snow. His legs were torn and useless. Red walked slowly past him growling out at him as she passed by. As she fed on the dead girl, she watched the bandit struggle due to the blood loss.

     

    Only when she had her fill of the three dead bandits did she approach the dying one. He was still inching slowly along the frozen ground and with each foot he moved, he left a clear deep trail of blooded snow which was starting to freeze over.

     

    Red slowly walked up to him on all fours then she stepped on his back pining him in place. He screamed out constantly for nearly a whole minute as Red stood up on her hind legs, crushing the man’s spine in a multitude of places.

     

    When she finally tired of his screams, she dropped down on all four paws and proceeded to tear at the man’s fleshy blooded legs; while he was still alive.

     

    Once she had her fill she stood up erect and let out two almighty howls which echoed across the mountains. Sotek, only being a few minutes away head it all. Red’s howling, the bandits screaming cries, everything.

     

    He sat at the fire and smiled to himself as he heard the howling; the remnants of Red’s hunger. He cupped his hands around his mouth and howled out back to Red, calling her towards him. Within a few moments he heard the rumble of heavy paws as Red came running down the path towards him. He howled out once more and turned to see Red come to a stop.

     

    She walked upright towards him; a faithful hound returning to her master. Sotek reached into his pack and pulled out a cloth and a wooden bowl. He filled it with water from his pack then began wiping the blood from Red’s maw.

     

    All the while he spoke to her gently just like Aela did with Scarface.

    “That’s my girl. Good girl! You happy now? Hmm?”

     

    Red dropped to all four paws and Sotek held her head with one hand and gently lowered it down so he could rest his forehead against hers.

     

    Her breathing slowed down but Sotek could still hear her heart beating wildly within her chest. The excitement and thrill of the hunt left its mark on her as adrenalin poured through her. She stepped back then lifted her head right up and howled out once more, telling all manner of beasts that she was there. Sotek joined in but his howl was lost as her howling completely cancelled his out.

     

    Aela changed back and threw herself into Soteks arms; her heart was still beating like crazy as she clung on to him. Catching her breath she managed to say a few words.

    “Where’s the Whelp?”

     

    Holding Aela tightly to help her stay on her feet, he tipped his head in the direction of the cave.

    “There’s a cave back there. The Whelp is skinning some wolves inside”.

     

    She broke away from him and wiped off her face with a second linen cloth Sotek had for such occasions such as now. She was far less hostile yet the Huntresses keenness still remained.

    “Show me; and play along”.

     

    She grabbed his hand and led him off towards the cave and wasted no time in stepping into the darkness. As soon as they entered the cavern they saw the Whelp standing there half terrified. She gasped in shock as if she had seen a ghost and almost screamed when she saw the Huntress.

     

    Running forwards she threw herself at Aela and wrapped her arms around the Nord tightly, almost crushing her to death.

    “Aela! He, he... that bastard... he paid them to kill you! He…”

     

    Aela forced the Imperial girl’s hands off her and held them tightly against the Whelps body so she couldn’t grab hold of Aela again. The Huntress gave Sotek a beaming warm smile as she replied.

    “Yes, I know. That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me! That was better than when you made me breakfast in the inn”.

     

    Aela held the Whelp’s hand and practically dragged her to the entrance of the cave. She pointed outside and almost shoved the Whelp outside.

    “Go warm yourself by the fire. I need some private time with my mate!”

     

    She snatched two furs from the Whelp and shamelessly threw them on the ground alongside the edge of the cavern. Sotek softly cried out as Aela pushed him against the cave wall. Not even bothering to check to see if the Whelp had gone off, Aela started tearing at Sotek’s armor. He tried to tell her to stop but she growled at him; ceasing any resistance he might have had.

     

    She knelt down on the furs right in front of Sotek and coyly spoke while she was on her knees.

    “So you wanted my head did you? Fine by me”.

     

    From the corner of Aela’s eye she saw the Whelp run outside. Aela got back up to her feet and laughed dirtily, feeling pleased with herself.

     

    Sotek stared at her in disbelief.

    “That was a bit overboard wasn’t it?”

     

    Aela sniggered back at him and rubbed her hip against his groin.

    “Maybe but you were still hoping though; you dirty snake. We’ve about fifteen minutes. How many wolf corpses are there?”

     

    The Argonian walked in a semi trance like state towards the back of the cavern where the passage way was. He pulled out his flask and guzzled various mouthfuls of water to help focus his mind.

    “Three. There are three down there”.

     

    “That’s perfect”. Aela stated. She shoved him forwards with orders of her own. “Change; Scarface needs to feed as well as Red. Yes I know the three wolves aren’t ideal but he will be thankful for them. We don’t have long”.

     

    Sotek glanced back over his shoulder at her and screwed his face up.

    “Half an hour! Maybe forty minutes”.

     

    Aela burst out laughing and slapped her thigh with the palm of her hand. She wiped a joyful tear away and sniggered.

    “You think you’re that good a lover do you? Well... ok twenty minutes but that’s the limit!”

     

    Five minutes later the Whelp was sitting at the small campfire. She was still franticly trying to piece everything together. No matter how she looked at it, everything was beyond her understanding. She spent several minutes sitting there gazing haplessly into the fire when she heard Aela call out to her.

    “We’ve a few slices of wolf meat. We’ll cook them up then head off to the barrow. We should be in there before its dark”.

     

    The Imperial girl stared at Aela; she seemed far happier than earlier when the Whelp thought she would be fuming if she didn’t attack Sotek on sight; instead of that though she threw herself at him.

     

    The Whelp just sat there not knowing exactly what had happened or what she was supposed to do. Once Sotek cooked the meat, he passed Aela a wooden plate full of wolf meat. The two Companions sat together and laughed over one of their adventures while they ate. The whole scene seemed surreal to the Whelp who finally cracked.

     

    The Whelp looked at them both while they sat with each other. Aela was between Sotek’s legs leaning against his chest. She twisted around so she could kiss him on the lips. This on top of everything was too much for the Whelp to handle.

     

    She snapped at them both and ranted to anyone who would listen.

    “She’s totally pissed off but with no reason. You pay four bandits to kill her and she says that’s sweet of you; and to top it all, she screws you for it! Afterwards she’s happy as anything! You’re both crazy, this is fucked up! Totally!! I can’t deal with this...”

     

    Leaving them behind, she went off and walked between a group of trees several hundred yards away. She slumped down on a rock and hummed a soft melody to herself while her mind tried to restore some sort of order to the recent events.

     

    Aela gave her an odd look and turned to Sotek for answers.

    “What’s up with her?”

     

    Sotek shrugged his shoulders as he watched the Whelp sitting by herself.

    “Maybe I overdid it with the bandits. Second thoughts it might not have been the best of ideas to let her see me paying them. It’s too late now; hindsight is a wonderful thing. We’ll give her a minute then you go check on her while I pack up camp”.

     

    Aela walked up to her and gave her a slight nudge with her shoulder. The Whelp turned towards her but she never made any sort of eye contact what so ever. She just held a blank, vacant expression, giving Aela cause for concern.

    “Hey, are you ok?”

     

    “What? Yes, I’m fine. What the hell is going on with you two?” She looked up at Aela’s face then quickly broke away, leaving the Huntress standing behind her, watching her as she moved towards Sotek. “Sotek, can I ask you something? Is this some sort of test? I don’t know what to do; I don’t know what to think. I don’t know, ok!”

     

    Aela couldn’t help herself. She laughed at the Whelps misfortune and tugged her by the arm.

    “Test? Oh dear no! Come on, we got a job to do. Once we start exploring the Barrow you will feel better. There’s nothing like a good scrap to calm the nerves”.

     

    The Whelp timidly glanced at them both. They stood there looking at each other like they were completely clueless to the Whelps situation. She took a few deep breaths and regained a grip on her emotions.

    “Right! Barrow! Let’s get this over with. Aela, Sotek, please! I won’t say a word about any of this but no more of whatever it is!! Can we just deal with the draugr and head back home? Please?”

     

    Aela scrunched her face up as she answered the Whelp.

    “Yes! We go in, kill whatever’s there, get the enchant then head back home. It’s that simple. Look, you got to get a grip”.

     

    Once they headed off to the barrow Aela had a quiet word with Sotek about the Whelps ‘strange behaviour’.

    What the hell did you do with her in the cave?”

     

    Sotek tapped himself in the chest and defensively replied.

    “Me? All we done were kill a few wolves. I left her to skin them when I waited for you. If you could control yourself for two seconds I wouldn’t have had to get the bandits involved”.

     

    Aela looked back at the Whelp and found herself at a loss. All she knew is they had to sort the Whelp out before they got back to Jorrvaskr.

    “You’re blaming me? Well her nerves are shot to hell!! We can’t take her back like this”.

     

    Sotek glanced over his shoulder at the Imperial girl and sighed. He decided the best thing was to focus on the job at hand.

    “She’ll be fine once we start clearing out the Barrow”.

     

    Aela poked him in the chest and threatened him. The last thing she wanted was to have to explain to the Harbinger why a Whelp had a psychotic episode in their care.

    “She had better be”.

     

    Soon enough they found the pathway which led up to a series of stone steps. A few hundred yards ahead of them was a large stone block archway. Beyond it Ironbind Barrow lay in wait.

     

    The three Companions checked their gear one final time then, with Sotek in the lead, they made their up the stoned pathway.

     

     

Comments

5 Comments   |   A-Pocky-Hah! and 9 others like this.
  • Exuro
    Exuro   ·  March 17, 2017
    What  a sweet gift; nothing says I love you like a delivery of hired goons. Red was getting a bit cat-like (*ducks for cover) toying with her victims and to Ria, there's a reason Sheo is fond of them :-D
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  January 3, 2017
    Well her real name is Ria. You just give her a different name. :D  Quite a dark little chapter there, Sotek. Using bandits as Red fodder. 
  • Ebonslayer
    Ebonslayer   ·  December 4, 2016
    Once she had her fill she stood up erect and let out two almighty howls which echoed across the mountains. Sotek, only being a few minutes away (heard) it all. Red’s howling, the (bandit's) screaming cries, everything.



    Aela...  more
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  November 20, 2016
    Haha yea that's Ria although I don't refer to her as Ria. Way down the line her real name will come out. Don't worry though soon the Whelps will have nicknames to help differentiate them. 
    Thanks for following.
  • A-Pocky-Hah!
    A-Pocky-Hah!   ·  November 20, 2016
    Oh man. Now I just feel sorry for Ria (that's her name right?)