U.O.T.W. Chapter 134 Ice Wolf

• Posted by Sotek May 15, 2016 - Filed in TSC: CB Story - 999 views

   

   

  The two Companions had hardly entered the outskirts of the plains when Aela brought their journey to a halt. She quietly signalled to Sotek, waving him closer to her position so she could whisper to him instead of talking.

  He crept closer to her with an air of curiosity. He knew her signals, not the hand signals, her body. The way she moved her feet, the fire in her eyes, the intense beating of her heart. The thin yet hungry smile said it all. She could smell prey.

  “What have you found?”

  Aela lifted her head up and closed her eyes. Her ears worked overtime, listening out for every sound. Her first task was to dismiss Sotek’s own heart. If she relaxed her focus then she would all too easily home in on it and listen to the Argonian muscle as it beat in Sotek’s chest.

  “There’s some wolves close by; to the south... the mountains”.

  Sotek nodded in agreement and quickly confirmed Aela’s assessment.

  “Yess, two of them”.

  “Yes, but you’re not supposed to look at them. Stop being a mangy dog and start acting like a wolf. Try using your senses instead of just what you can see. You need to feel them, hear them, smell them. Red can, Scarface can as well. You need to tap into his instinct”. Aela opened her eyes and glanced at Sotek who was intently watching the wolves. She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh dear me, you have so much to learn. Now, keep up”.

  She broke into a sprint and jumped across the nearby stream. The very moment her feet touched the ground she was running as fast as she could, straining every muscle, giving it all she had. Sotek tried his best to keep up but the rugged terrain made it too difficult to keep his footing while Aela’s agility seemed to completely outclass his own. As if she wanted to prove the point, Aela leapt across a second stream.

  Her leap did little if nothing to break her stride. The change from flying through the air to bolting across the uneven ground was flawless. Aela landed on the other side and then she was off, running full power towards the hills.

  Sotek tried to follow suite, try being the operative word. Just as he was about to jump, his foot slipped, taking his leg from under him. If Aela leapt with the grace and majesty of a doe, then Sotek crashed into the bank with the grace and majesty of an avalanche. Noisy, chaotic and spewing out tons of snow. However in Sotek’s case it was mud and he was smothered in it.

  Aela turned around when she heard the horrendous crash just in time to see Sotek scramble to his feet. In his haste he slipped a second time and was unable to prevent himself from falling backwards. A large splash of water shot upwards but it did little to wash off the sticky foul smelling mud.

  The unfortunate Argonian picked himself up and then ran towards Aela who had left him behind.

  She expected Sotek to be less than a minute behind her but she was bitterly disappointed to find he was still a good few hundred yards away. As he got close he stopped running and slowly slogged towards her with his gaze fixed on her tapping foot.

  “Ok, what happened?” Aela’s arms were folded across her chest and she wore a massive grin which was strewn on her face. When he moved closer, she screwed her face up and held onto her nose. “You stink! By Hircine what did you fall into? You’re covered in mud. Piss off... oh my eyes, they’re burning. Sotek, scat you filthy beast. Go over there and wash that crap off”. She pulled out an arrow and prodded him with it as if he was no more than a sheep being herded into a pen.

  The stream slowed down at this particular section and had gradually widened itself, forming a river; one of which he was able to swim in while wearing the full set of Wolf armor. After five minutes or so he emerged from below the surface and climbed up the bank. Water poured down from the saturated armor but at least he was clean.

  “We’ll build a fire so you can warm up, you can’t go into the mountains in wet gear. Damn it Sotek that crap will take hours to dry off. What the hell happened?”

  Sotek glanced back over his shoulder and hissed at the bank which he had slid down.

  “I slipped and fell”. He cursed himself bitterly despite Aela’s jovial mood. He turned to face her to see she was still grinning at him. Knowing full well she would be chuckling at the event for the next hour at least, Sotek strutted off, dragging his tail behind. He gave little thought to whether Aela was following; he didn’t need to as he could hear her laughing.

  As the Huntress tagged behind him, she looked at the state of his armor. It was smothered in muddy, filthy water causing her to burst out laughing at him.

  “Damn, the one time you fall on your ass and I miss it”.

  Water still dripped from various sections of the fur and now the valley leading into the mountains lay ahead. Sotek made no comment to her ridiculing and trudged onwards towards the valley. Aela, having serious concerns about progressing, called out to him, begging him to stop.

  “Wait, we need to dry your armor. Wet clothing is bad enough but you going up there in that wet gear is stupid, you’ll freeze. Help me gather some wood, we’ll get a fire going”.

  Sotek shook his head at her suggestion. He didn’t want to delay her hunting any more than necessary and a fire would add hours to their trip. A sly thought crossed his mind, causing him to chuckle.

  “We’ll lose too much time, besides I’ve a better idea. You keep your distance”.

  He slammed the palms of his hands together in a single clap then slowly parted them as he said the words of a spell in his mind. Flames started forming around him and began swirling about. In a few seconds the intensity increased to an inferno which swarmed around him in a hurricane of fire. Aela looked through the flames and saw smoke rise up from his armor. She could feel the intensity of the destruction spell but she quickly realised that Sotek was unhurt. She also recognised the smoke for what it really was; steam.

  Sotek shouted out at her so she could hear him over the roaring inferno.

  “Flame Cloak. I’ll be dry in no time”.

  Aela stuck her tongue out at him and laughed before she carried on along the valley while he followed in her footsteps albeit several feet away so she wouldn’t get burned.

  “Smart assed reptile”.

  After a minute or so the intense heat dropped and the flames dispersed as the spell drew to its end. Sotek faced Aela with his arms held outwards in an almost god like pose while he smiled cheekily at her.

  “Taa daa. As dry as one of your cooked pieces of fish”.

  Aela growled playfully at him then sniffed his chest. She smiled as she gave back as good as she got.

  “And just as smelly. You still stink”.

  Sotek rolled his eyes at her and jestingly tutted under his breath.

  “Well no doubt you will have the pleasure of telling the others all about it”. He pulled the flask off his belt and downed half of it then poured the rest over his head. “Counterproductive, yes; but I’m hot”.

  Aela flashed her eyes at him then sped up her pace, inadvertently leaving him behind.

  “Yes, it is a bit. Hurry up you, I want to get back; can’t wait to tell them you actually fell on your ass. Come on, keep up this time”.

  As before she started running up the old mountain trail where the mountains loomed overhead. The icy wintery chill carried fresh snow which started to lay along the green grass filled valley. Just as she made a bit of a gap between them, she slowed down and turned around while she waited for him to yet again catch up.

  Sotek’s own pace seemed slower than usual. He used to snap at Aela’s tail when they ran across the plains together, right up to when Red bit him on the shoulder. As Aela watched him move towards her, she felt a wave of guilt and wondered if it was indeed Red’s fault. She had hoped by now his shoulder had healed and things would return to normal. It seemed ‘normal’ was still a long way off.

  “You used to run faster than that, so why aren’t you?” As she talked she poked him in the chest. She couldn’t be sure if it was his shoulder or not but she was determined to find out.

  Sotek sighed as he moved alongside her. He knew she wasn’t happy; he couldn’t help but notice the tone in her voice. Even her body language screamed at him. He presumed, somewhat incorrectly that it was he she wasn’t impressed with. He never considered she was angry with herself.

  “I don’t know”.

  Aela moved alongside him and tenderly stroked his arm. Her other hand’s fingers flowed over his shoulder almost as if she was frightened her delicate touch would hurt him.

  “I know I’m a faster runner, but you don’t make it easy for me; not like Vilkas and Farkas. I can beat them without even trying, but you! I know I’m faster but I can’t waste time, else you would beat me, until today. Is it your old wound holding you back?”

  Sotek sadly shook his head. He removed all doubt that it was his shoulder by thumping the joint with his fist in such a manner that a paladin of old might have done when he saluted a fellow warrior.

  “Yea, I know. I try to keep up, I know you like running alongside me. My combats off as well, I can feel it. I don’t know why though. My shoulder’s not hurting, not one little bit but since I damaged it everything feels a bit off”.

  “You go beyond the valley’s threshold like this and something will be up with you alright. There’s an ice wolf up in these hills. We’ll get the beast then head back. I’ll ask the two apes to help me put you through your paces. We’ll see what’s happening with you. Now, pay attention. The beasts of Skyrim are made of sterner stuff than most”.

  Aela sent Sotek off in front. He felt like a piece of bait being thrown literally to the wolves to draw the creature out of hiding but Aela had some other reason for making him take point. As she followed him from behind, she examined his movements which seemed sluggish. Even his pacing was awkward and disjointed.

  As they made their way along the snow stricken path which wound its way through the eternal wintery terrain of Skyrim’s mountain ranges, Aela pulled Sotek back by the arm, preventing him from travelling any further. He looked round at her to see she had a finger pressed against her lips, motioning him to be silent.

  Aela lifted her head up and breathed in deeply through her nostrils. Red’s senses fed her mind with a wealth of knowledge even men such as kings could neither afford nor understand. She did though; she understood completely.

  Aela took point and worked her way along the icy mountain pass sniffing the air with every step she took. The breeze carried the scent she was after, and only when she was certain of her prey’s location did she indicate to Sotek to fall in beside her.

  “Ok, what can you smell?”

  Sotek sniffed at the air while he tired to discretely look around at his surroundings. One thing seemed to pull at his senses as well as his stomach. He was always partial to fruit and berries and Skyrim happened to have one particular berry which he had taken a shine to. Licking his lips, he turned to Aela with a gleeful hungry smile.

  “Snowberries”.

  Aela huffed at the lack of concentration from her ‘student’. She clipped him on the back of the head by way of a reprimand.

  “No berries! Try again you idiot”.

  Sotek held out a pathetic clawed hand as he tried to meekly swipe a hand full of berries from the Snowberry bush despite it being well out of his reach.

  “I can smell river mud”.

  Aela grinned back at him and tittered in jest.

  “I said what can you smell not what you smell of. One last time”.

  Sotek’s arms fell to his side in desperation. He looked around for anything but as he turned towards the north, he picked up on a scent. Focusing his senses on the animal, he soon homed in on what Aela was on about.

  “Ice Wolf; to the north along the pathway”.

  Aela silently clapped at him mockingly but then she gave him a playful shove, pushing him forwards.

  “Well done you. Scarface would be soo proud. It’s starting to snow, the sooner we find the wolf the better”.

  Aela scanned the area where the valley had become embedded into the mountain range as if aeons ago the mountainside collapsed claiming the pass for its own.

  “He’s close, he knows we’re here”.

  Sotek just stopped where he was. It was hard enough dealing with the frustration of his own senses being far less potent than Aela’s but to have her tell him what the wolf was thinking was too much to bear.

  “Ok you bloody smart ass wolf girl! How do you know he is aware of us?”

  Aela snapped back at him like a disgruntled dog if you happened to disturb its sleep.

  “Because this ‘wolf girl’ can see the bloody thing to your bloody right. Call me that again and I’ll show you how much of a wolf girl I can be”.

  Sotek slowly turned where Aela had indicated and saw a pair of large hungry eyes belonging to a humongous ice wolf staring back at him. The creature stepped out of the bushes and growled as it slowly stalked towards the two Companions. Aela’s hand gingerly pulled her bow off her shoulder but Sotek dismissed his own bow as an option. He knew the beast was too close for him to shoot at. He wouldn’t have time to draw an arrow let alone fire it before the ice wolf pounced.

  Instead, he studied the predator, weighing up its size and strength. He faced a few sabre cats in his time in Whiterun’s territory but the ice wolf looked nearly three times bigger than the plains wolves. He had no idea whether its ferocity matched that of the sabre cats he had killed.

  “Good little doggie, stay there. Sit!” As he spoke he slowly drew his axes in preparation for the fight.

  The ice wolf knew there would be a fight as well and he didn’t waste time in starting it.

  The animal charged straight at Sotek before he could bring his axes to bear. It leapt up at him, claws swiping out at his chest while fangs clamped down around his arm. The canine teeth threatened to punch through the gauntlet’s wrist band, leaving Sotek with one hand to fight it off with. His arm which was held in a vice like grip in the wolf’s maw held its head back while his free hand wrestled with a gigantic paw. The two of them locked in a titanic struggle of life and death where only one would walk away; if the victor was able to walk at all.

  Sotek tried to draw breath to call for aid but he had the air knocked out of his lungs. His mind clouded over and all thoughts of dragon shouts escaped him. He saw movement from his side and remembered he wasn’t alone. Fortifying his own resolve, Sotek fought back harder and started pushing the wolf away. The animal resisted such a move knowing it would lose all advantage if it let its prey recover. Using its own weight, it pushed down, taking back the ground it had previously lost.

  Sotek had by now at least managed to get some fresh air in his lungs so he was able to shout. He still couldn’t focus on anything so he screamed instead.

  “Aela!! Shoot it damn you!!”

  The Argonian managed to free his hand so he grabbed the wolf by the throat, giving him some scope to move. In the corner of his eye, he saw the axe handle protruding out from the snow so he quickly snatched the weapon with his other hand and swung it at the wolf’s neck as hard as he could.

  From out of nowhere Aela’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, blocking the blow and preventing him from striking back at the animal.

  “No! Don’t cut its head off you imbecile. I want it looking good for tomorrow!”

  She swung up, mounting the wolf’s back and grabbed the tip of its snout, forcing its head back as it growled and snarled, dripping saliva onto Sotek’s chest. It tried to shake her off but she dug her fingernails into the soft flesh of the snout causing the animal to flail about, inadvertently stamping on Sotek in the process. Aela drew her dagger and thrust the short thin blade into the side of the wolf’s neck, fatally wounding the animal by cutting the artery. She threw the blade to the side and rode out the ice wolf’s death throws as it sank down to end up laying over Sotek.

  His mouth fell open and he hissed loudly as the full weight of the dead ice wolf pinned him underneath it. Aela grinned evilly at him while she was still sitting on it, adding her weight to its already significant bulk.
  “Well don’t just lay there! Get up; you got to carry it back for me”.

  Sotek fell speechless as he watched Aela swing her leg over the animal and retrieve her dagger from the snow. She glanced back at him and beckoned him with her hand telling him to get up.

  He stared to crawl from underneath the ice wolf then collapsed alongside it. He could feel the bruising across his body where he had been trampled but Aela seemed more sympathetic to the actual wolf rather than himself.

  The Huntress lit a torch so she could inspect the animal closer. She knelt by its head and lovingly patted it, thanking it for its gift to her.

  “Your spirit rests now mighty wolf, I thank you for your body. By Hircine I swear it will be honoured”. She leant over it and kissed it’s forehead before looking back at Sotek. He had now climbed up to his feet but he soon wished he hadn’t have bothered getting up at all.

  “He’s an old wolf, this is good. His seed lives on in others. Such a beast should have his blood line carried in his young. Take care of him Sotek, I want him looked after”

  Feeling somewhat surprised at her choice of words, Sotek enquired as to Aela’s meaning.

  “Thanking him for his gift I understand, but why are you telling me to take care of him?”

  Aela stroked the animal one last time while she grinned back at Sotek who was now looking rather cross. Completely unfazed by his appearance, she got up and casually walked passed him.

  “Because you’re taking him back for me, that’s why”.

  Sotek’s mouth fell open as he gapped at her audacity. He pointed at the wolf as he shouted at her.

  “I can’t carry that back! Look at the bloody thing! It’s massive”.

  Aela pointed straight at him and hollered back despite the fact that she was smiling.

  “I don’t keep a dog to bark myself. Well yes I do but! Besides, that’s what your here for. Get a move on, we haven’t got all day”.

  Sotek stepped towards her and raised a finger at her face. Her eyes narrowed and the smile rapidly changed into a snarl.

  “Now hold on. You said you wanted a wolf; not the biggest bloody wolf in existence”.

  She walked right up to his face and slapped his hand away then laid out her own threatening gesture by slamming the back of her hand against his forehead.

  “Either you get that back to Jorrvaskr like you said you would or we’ll use Scarface’s bloody corpse. Your call! Now, shut up and shift it. I’ll meet you back at Jorrvaskr”.

  Sotek stared at her in disbelief. He turned back around to look at the wolf one last time and shook his head.

  “What!!! You can’t expect me to shift this by myself”.

  “Why ever not?” As she looked at him she smiled evilly. Her hands slid across his chest and followed his torso down towards his groin where her fingers slipped inside his armor. “I thought the one who was clever and strong enough to win my heart was fully capable of getting this wolf to Jorrvaskr. If not then maybe you’re not resourceful enough for me. Your call, my bed or the bench in the courtyard”.

  Sotek gulped as he felt her grip tighten.

  “Ermm I do have my bed you know”.

  Aela pulled her hand away much to Sotek’s relief but then she waved a finger in his face.

  “Oh no. There’s no way I’m letting anyone sleep in Jorrvaskr that betrayed my trust and broke my heart. It’s this simple, you get my wolf back, in one piece or you sleep in the yard”.

  He looked at the size of the wolf laying there and cringed at the task in hand. He knew Aela wasn’t joking yet words like impossible and unfeasible ran through his mind.

  “You can’t seriously expect me to shift this by myself?”

  “Ermm actually yes I bloody do. You shouldn’t have wound me up earlier this morning should you? Now for the last time; get a bloody shift on will you”.

  She then started heading back to Jorrvaskr, leaving Sotek and the wolf behind.