Northbound Pilgrimage II

Chapter CXIII - Control

"You sure this is gonna be a good spot? That they'll know where it is?"

Aeyrin asked uncertainly as they both scaled up the mountain near Helgen. It was surprising to hear her voice. She had been quiet for a long time now and Bishop didn't really press her to talk. He wasn't good at this shit anyway. He was good at distracting her with teasing or comforting her in his arms, but small talk on the road wasn't really his strong suit. He didn't want her to keep thinking about what happened, what she was now, but when he thought about what to say, he always came up short. Maybe it was because he kept thinking about all that shit too.

"I think so. You saw Helgen. That's not a great place to camp out," Bishop sighed. They had planned on waiting for the twins near Helgen gates – an easily recognizable place and close enough to Whiterun so that the Companions would make it there by nightfall. But when they went to make sure that the place was suitable before sending the letter, Helgen appeared to be crawling with bandits.

On any other day, that wouldn't stop them. They would clear the decimated town of its new inhabitants and maybe make use of their own campfires, but not today. Aeyrin was afraid to fight. She still had no idea how these transformations worked and it was quite possible that the heat of battle might... provoke her. She didn't want to risk any of it.

So instead, Bishop suggested camping by a nearby pass. Skybound Watch. It span from the Riverwood area towards Helgen. And the southern exit was already past the border in Falkreath Hold. The bounty was not in effect there. Well... technically, there was the exact same bounty still in effect in Falkreath. But it was hopefully still not a known fact. As far as Bishop knew, nobody remembered it in Falkreath or knew that it was him. It was possible that the twins knew, if they were so intent on catching Bishop for the money that they dug into this whole business more, but if that was the case, Bishop suspected that he would have all the Falkreath patrols after him already too. That didn't seem to be the case. There was also the option that Vilkas and Farkas wouldn't give a shit about where the bounty was in effect and that they would just try to kill him anywhere. It was a very real option.

But that wasn't their main concern now. They wouldn't allow the brothers to do anything. It was not as if those two would risk having Aeyrin attack them. And she was definitely rattled and pissed enough to snap. Was it any wonder?

But whatever would happen, their choice was made. First, after Aeyrin got cleaned up at least a little in the river, they composed the letters they wanted to send. Aeyrin wrote one to Vilkas and Farkas. She didn't let Bishop see it, but from the expression she had when she wrote it, it wasn't exactly a friendly one. In the meantime, he composed a letter to Saadia and Lydia, just like he had promised. He knew that he was insufferably vague in it, but there was no reason to worry them needlessly. He just made sure they knew that both him and Aeyrin were alright and in one piece and then he said that something came up and that they would be in touch for when the four of them could meet again. He knew this wouldn't really be a very satisfying response for them, but it was for the best.

Bishop stayed out of sight while Aeyrin went to Riverwood to find a willing messenger. Riverwood was still in Whiterun Hold so it wasn't safe for Bishop to show his face there and if they stuffed the letters in a mailbox, they would have no guarantees that they would arrive in time.

After that was done, they headed straight towards the pass. It was possible that there would be bandits inside the pass proper too, so instead they chose to climb the mountain near Helgen and scale down to the southern exit from the pass where they were set to meet the twins. It seemed like the safest option that kept them well away from Whiterun Hold and well away from potential battles. The stray wild animals were of no concern since Bishop could just take care of them quickly, but they did have to try and avoid anything that would force Aeyrin into combat.