Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter XII - Pack of Wild Wolves

Aeyrin looked over the road ahead.

She was exhausted and every inch of her body felt strained and achy.

No wonder... after a night like that.

She hated leaving him again. She hated to see that pained look on his face, to see the exact moment when she shattered all his hopes yet again.

But she didn't see any other way.

She was afraid.

She was afraid of her own thoughts winning over her feelings. She was afraid of the things that she was not ready to deal with, overwhelming her, pressing down on her with him as the only one around as her punching sack. She feared ruining every feeling that was still between them by growing resentful over his role in her current state.

This was for the best. Time would help heal this. It just... had to.

But she knew that she couldn't only rely on that.

She needed to at least try to make things right. She needed to feel like she could live again.

She needed to finally stop running away from everything.

And this would start now.

She could start slow, easing into things back again, instead of frantic bouts of denial in between her haunted days and nights.

She needed to start with something small, to reclaim the life she was hiding from.

She stepped onto the road with determination.

Whiterun was just a day away. She could get there by nightfall. To see her friends again.

The Companions provided shelter and home before. They provided security. They would do so again, she was sure of it.

...

"Aeyrin!" Aela rushed over to her the instant she appeared at the door of Jorrvaskr.

Her excitement made Aeyrin feel a bit guilty. She had thought that Aela would be at least a little upset about Aeyrin leaving the city so suddenly when she was supposed to meet up with her about something important before. But she did ask Lydia to relay the message. Maybe it wasn't such a big deal.

Aela gave her a brief hug while Skjor approached them too.

"Good to see you back. You haven't been here for a while," he looked her over thoughtfully.

Aela scowled at that: "True. Your friend came to see me when you left the last time you were here. She said that something important came up and you had to leave the city."

"We heard about the bounty the next day," Skjor nodded knowingly.

They heard? So the Jarl really did spread the word. She wasn't even sure – she never stayed in the city proper after that incident. She only practically snuck in once to get her armor from Breezehome.

And... what did that mean for the Companions? She knew that they hunted bounties. Would they actually bring Bishop in if they ever saw him somewhere?

"I mean... a Thrice-Banished? Damn... they are like bandit legends. I wouldn't have expected Bishop to actually be one of those scum," Aela furrowed her brows fiercely. "Did you... know about this?" She studied Aeyrin curiously.

Well... that kind of gave her enough of an idea about their attitude to the bounty.

"I... uhh... I found out only some time before... that day," Aeyrin stammered uncertainly. Their judgmental looks made her very uncomfortable.