"I Would Stand At Her Back, That The World Might Never Overtake Us..."

New Blood

The rest of the week passed and Farkas saw no sign of the outsider that he and Aela had invited to Jorrvaskr. Vilkas's mood had improved a bit, but it was still a pretty foul mood. On top of that, all of the guards were now talking about the dragon attacks, which was putting all of the Companions on edge. Then the guards had started talking about the Dragonborn who had killed the dragon that attacked the western watchtower, and how the Graybeards then summoned the Dragonborn to High Hrothgar... Farkas had to go sneak a book from Vilkas's room to figure out what they were talking about. Unfortunately, Vilkas had also heard the rumors, so when he came back later in the evening looking for the same book, Farkas was caught red-handed, reading in his own room. Fortunately, Vilkas was more curious than angry by then, and Farkas was able to appease him with a bottle of mead. So instead of an argument they ended up having drinks and discussing the latest rumors. Neither of them had seen a dragon yet, but Vilkas had been outside in the yard when the thundering summons came down from High Hrothgar almost a week ago. Farkas realized that would have been the day after he'd met the new woman at Pelagia Farm on her way in to Whiterun. Farkas told Vilkas about her; how they'd met her when she ran in to help with the giant... he left out the part about how her blue eyes and golden hair had made his heart race... Vilkas was in a decent enough mood at the moment, Farkas didn't want to ruin that by bringing up feelings for women... Farkas did describe her general appearance, and how she smelled like she'd just come from being thrown in a bonfire... Vilkas pointed out that that would make sense if she'd just come from Helgen...

The afternoon the following day, Farkas had just finished a round of training with Athis and Torvar, when Vilkas stalked out into the yard followed by a woman in iron armor. Farkas watched intently. A pair of dark blue eyes glanced out at him from under the helmet as she passed and he smiled at her, to his satisfaction, she smiled back before continuing after Vilkas. Farkas noticed that without the singed imperial armor she didn't smell as much like fire, more like iron with a hint of something sweet he couldn't quite identify.
"Alright," Vilkas said once out in the yard, "The old man said to have a look at you, so let's do this. Just have a few swings at me so I can see your form. Don't worry, I can take it."
Farkas watched his brother take up his fighting stance and the newcomer drew her swords. Farkas noticed that along with newer armor she had steel swords now instead of the iron ones she'd had a week ago. She lunged at Vilkas, and Vilkas only barely got his shield up in time to deflect one of the blades. She was fast. She swung in with the other sword and Vilkas barely managed to parry in time.
"Good!" Vilkas encouraged. She swung again and this time the impact on his shield made Vilkas stagger back a little.
"There you go!" Vilkas praised and he motioned to her to stand down. Farkas was impressed, and he could tell Vilkas was too.
"Not bad," Vilkas told her as she lowered her swords. "Next time won't be so easy. You might just make it," Vilkas continued, and she took her helmet off, smiling at his praise. Farkas felt his pulse quicken, she was good, even Vilkas was being kind... and then Farkas thought Vilkas must have realized he was being too nice, because then he quickly added much harsher, "But for now, you're still a whelp to us, new blood. So you do what we tell you. Here's my sword. Go take it up to Eorlund to have it sharpened. And be careful, it's probably worth more than you are."
Farkas didn't like the way the smile faded from her face. It was replaced by an irritated scowl as she took the sword from Vilkas, and she turned to walk up to the forge without an other word. Farkas stood up as Vilkas approached.
"That her?" Vilkas asked quietly, still watching the woman.
"Mmhmm," Farkas nodded, he turned to watch her as well.
"She's impressive," Vilkas admitted, "she needs work on her form, but she's fast and strong."
Farkas just nodded as he continued to watch her ascend the steps to the forge. The fact she was now in heavy armor made him smile, it meant she'd probably come to him for training...
There was a metallic thunk as Vilkas's gauntleted hand gently smacked the armor on Farkas's shoulder.
"And she's pretty," Vilkas smirked, "don't do anything stupid."
"Hmh" Farkas chuckled.
Vilkas turned and went inside, and Farkas followed. Farkas sat down at one of the smaller tables in the corner of the dining area and grabbed a mug of ale. He had long ago perfected the art of watching and listening everything around him while looking like an oblivious idiot. Vilkas had a word with Skjor and Aela and then went down stairs, probably to tell Kodlak the newcomer had passed. Skjor and Aela continued talking quietly in the opposite corner of the room. Farkas could hear them, but he didn't particularly care what they were saying. He sat there with his mug and his thoughts for several minutes before the front door opened. A slight breeze carried a sweet scent that Farkas recognized to his nose. It was her. He resisted the urge to turn and stare and instead watched her in his peripheral vision.
She looked around the hall and then strode toward Aela and Skjor. Apparently Eorland had sent her with Aela's shield. Farkas sipped his ale while they spoke. He smiled slightly to himself as he listened.
"Farkas!" Skjor barked loudly. Farkas looked up, pretending he hadn't been listening. He got to his feet and strolled over to them.
"Did you call me?" Farkas asked.
"Of course we did, icebrain," Aela retorted. It suddenly struck Farkas that he didn't like being called 'icebrain' in front of the new woman, but he kept his expression neutral as usual. "Show this newblood where the rest of the whelps sleep," Aela ordered.
"New blood?" Farkas asked nonchalantly as he turned to face her, then with a smile he added, "I remember you, I'm Farkas. Come, follow me." He extended his hand in greeting, and she took it with a smile.
"Aylin," she said, shaking his hand. Farkas let his face show a genuine grin at that. He might have released her hand a little more slowly than he would have normally... he hoped Aela and Skjor weren't paying enough attention to notice how she affected his heart rate. As he led her toward the living quarters, Farkas felt something that was extremely rare for him; a desire to explain himself.
"Skjor and Aela like to tease me, but they are good people," he began as they got out of earshot. "They challenge us to be our best." Aylin nodded thoughtfully glancing over her shoulder at them before looking back to Farkas.
"Makes sense," she said, "you didn't strike me as an 'icebrain'." Farkas tried not to let his smug grin show at that.
"Skjor says I have the strength of Ysgramor, and my brother has his smarts," Farkas shrugged, "mostly because Vilkas is a better talker than I am."
"And you're the better fighter?" She was smirking at him, and Farkas was pretty sure there was no hiding the blush that crept up his face.
"He'll tell you otherwise, but I usually win when we spar," Farkas nodded with a confident chuckle, as he opened the door at the bottom of the stairs.
Aylin looked curiously around the downstairs hall, Farkas held back a chuckle as he saw how impressed she looked.
"Nice to have a new face around," Farkas continued in a quieter tone, "It gets boring here sometimes. I hope we keep you..." Farkas felt his face flush a little more as he realized he'd said those words out loud. "This can be a rough life," he added, somehow keeping his voice steady. Farkas glanced at her from the corner of his eye, she looked interested in what he was saying. "The quarters are up here," he continued more conversationally as he gestured to the doorway in front of them. "Just pick a bed and fall in it when you're tired. Tilma will keep the place clean. She always has." He led her to the door. "All right, so here you are," he said gesturing to the several beds that were designated for the whelps. He saw Torvar and Athis watching curiously from one end of the room and he lowered his voice, "Looks like the others are eager to meet you." He inclined his head in their direction and Aylin looked over at them and gave a slight nod. Farkas continued, "Come to me or Aela if you're looking for work. Once you've made a bit of a name for yourself, Skjor and Vilkas might have things for you to do."
"Thank you," Aylin smiled, then looked back around the half of the room Farkas had led her to. She sat down on the bed in the corner.
"Can I come ask for work tomorrow?" Aylin asked with a sigh, Farkas realized she looked tired.
"Yeah," he said with a friendly chuckle, and turned to leave, but then stopped to look back. She was starting to take her armor off and Farkas caught himself staring for a moment and then she looked back up at him. "Good luck. Welcome to the Companions," he added with a friendly smile. She smiled back, making Farkas's pulse quicken again. He turned to leave, making sure to give Torvar and Athis a stern look on his way out.