One Shots and Short Stories

Skyrim - Farkas (part 3)

I woke up to the sound of Torvar snoring loudly. I rolled out of bed and stretched. I washed my face and braided my hair as usual. I walked back to the blacksmith next to my house to pick up my equipment. I went home to change and to gather the rest of my gear and some supplies. I walked back to Jorrvaskr in my newly repaired leather armour with my bow on my back and my sword on my hip. I walked inside and grabbed some bread and cheese, then walked out the back to sit in the morning sun. I sat and ate as the others started waking up, coming out one by one to start training. Ria greeted me and we chatted for a while before she got up to train as well. I spotted Njada she showed me a few blocking techniques. I finally spotted Farkas and made my way over to him.

"Good morning, Farkas." I greeted him cheerfully.

"Good morning, Selene." He smiled down at me.

"I'm looking for work." I said plainly.

"Oh. Well, we've gotten complaints about attacks just outside of Whiterun. Near Shimmermist Cave. Think you can handle it." He said as he sat down to eat.

"I'll be back before Lunch." I said and trotted away.

--------------- A few hours later ---------------

I walked into Jorrvaskr to find Farkas leaning against a pillar near the steps. He looked a bit on edge. He saw me relaxed a bit. I wondered why but then pushed the thought aside and walked up to him.

"The cave has been cleared." I said as I got closer.

"Well done. Every job helps. Keeps the coin coming in. Here's your share." He handed me a coin sack.

I nodded thankfully and went outside to relax a bit. I sat on the steps and watched everybody go about their business. Aela walked past me and greeted me before going to sit with Ria. Ria whispered something to Aela and gestured to Farkas, making her chuckle. I followed their gaze a saw him leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at his boots. I looked at Ria and Aela again and saw them looking at me. I frowned, but said nothing. I got up and pulled my bow off my back. I walked up to the archery target and notched an arrow. Aiming, I realised that I could stand a little further away to challenge myself. I took a few steps back and aimed again. I let the arrow loose and notched another. I continued to practice until the target started to become "overcrowded". I walked over to retrieve them and as I got closer, I noticed that they all hit the centre and the ones that didn't weren't far off. I smiled to myself, proud of the fact that I was getting better.

"Where did you get that bow?" I turned to see Aela

I glanced down at the Falmer bow that I was holding. "I pulled it off a Falmer that I had killed during a job. It's actually very strong. Much better than my last bow." I chuckled

"Very nice. You're quite good with a bow. We should go hunting sometime."

"I'd love to." I smiled at her.

She walked off and I continued to pluck my arrows out of the target.

"Selene!"

I whipped my head around to see Aela standing over Farkas, who was now sitting cross legged on the ground.

"Come here for a moment." She said as she waved me over.

I plucked my last arrow out of the target and returned it to its quiver before trotting over to Aela.

"I think Farkas wants to talk to you." She said, grinning down at him.

"Oh? What about?"

"I don't know." She smirked and backed away from the two of us.

I sat down next to him and leaned back against the wall. "Teasing you again, huh?" I turned my head to look at him.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, but it's okay. I'm use to it." He spoke timidly, without making eye contact.

"What is it about this time?" I pressed on, trying to get him to talk about it.

"Uhh... Nothing. It's not important." He said nervously, still not making eye contact.

"You can talk to me, you know. I won't tease you." I said as I inched a little closer to him.

"I know. I just don't wanna talk about it." He finally turned to me, giving me an apologetic look.

"Okay then, what do you want to talk about?"

He shugged. "How about you do the talking?"

"Oh. Well, okay then."

I started talking. I spoke about my life in Cyrodiil and how I felt that I never fit in. I spoke of my adventures before I came to Skyrim and how I ended up on that wagon heading to Helgen. I told him about the dragon attack and about finding out that I'm Dragonborn. He listened intently, occasionally asking questions or adding "Sounds dangerous". We spoke until the moon and stars came out and we were the only ones still outside, but eventually it became too cold.

I shivered. "Maybe we should go inside." I said as I rubbed my arms in an attempt to warm them up.

"Yeah."

Farkas got up then reached down to help me up. I took his hand and he pulled me up into his chest.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were so light."

I felt a little light headed from getting up so fast. I blushed when I noticed that he was still holding me. I pushed against his chest gently, letting him know that he could let go. He seemed to hesitate, but then he let go of me and mumbled an apology, before turning and trudging back into Jorrvaskr. I gave him a little space before going inside myself. I walked in and noticed him sitting at the far end of the table, drinking mead and avoiding eye contact with everyone. I sighed and made my way down to the living quarters to turn in for the night.

---------------

Torvar's snoring woke me up once again. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. I thought about what happened yesterday with Farkas and I started feeling a bit guilty. I wasn't quite sure why, I didn't do anything wrong, but I just felt... bad? I got out of bed and got cleaned up before heading upstairs for breakfast. I walked up to the large dining table and saw Farkas sitting on the far end. I smiled to myself and took a seat next to him.

"Good morning Farkas." I grabbed some bread. "Did you sleep well?"

"Morning Selene." He avoided eye contact. "I guess I slept okay, thanks."

I smiled but was slightly disappointed at the fact that he was being distant... Then I got an idea.

"Farkas?" I gently placed my hand on his, which made him look at me. "Would you like to go hunting with me today?" I asked with a smile.

He looked up at me then stared at his plate. My smile faded and I removed my hand from his, thinking that he was rejecting my offer. "Okay" I heard him say after a while. My smiled returned and I got up from my seat. "We can leave now if you like?" I said to him as I grabbed an apple from the table. He just nodded in response and stood up.

We gathered our gear and met outside Jorrvaskr. "Ready to go?" I asked as I walked up to him and slung my bow over my back. He just nodded and readjusted the bow and quiver on his back before following me out of Whiterun.

We trotted around the interior of Whiterun looking for game. Farkas hadn't said a word to me and I was starting to get a bit worried. I tried to strike up a conversation on more than one occasion, but just got one word answers. I was starting to lose interest in the actual hunting and began thinking about what to do to get him to talk to me. I stopped walking and stood atop a hill as my eyes scanned the landscape. I could see giants and a mammoth or two in the distance. I don't think either of us were ready for a fight like that. There were a few ponds with mudcrabs in it, but that would be too easy. We could probably find a deer or two, but then that would be the end of our hunting trip really. I was hoping to spend more time with Farkas. My eyes landed on a small shrub nearby and I got an idea. I told Farkas to wait at the top of the hill and I trotted over to the tiny shurb. Picking a few blue mountains flowers, I tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ear and placed a flower there to keep them in place. I grabbed a few more flowers and walked back to Farkas, who was gazing out over the landscape. I stopped in front of him and he looked down at me, brows furrowed in confusion as I gave him a mischievous smile. I reached up and paused, giving him a chance to pull away if he wanted to, before running my fingers through his long dark hair. I saw his chest fall as he exhaled silently and blinked lazily. I tucked his hair behind his ear and placed a few flowers there. I slowly retracted my hand and smiled up at him. He frowned at me first, but then his face softened and he gave me a sweet smile. I turned and started walking further down the hill towards a small mudcrab pond. I pulled my bow off my back and cleared the area of any 'threats' (if you can call a mudcrab a threat), before taking a seat on a nearby rock. I pulled off my boots and rolled up the bottom of my pants, Farkas frowning at me.

"What are you doing?" He finally asked.

I just shrugged and shifted on the rock that I was sitting on, allowing my feet to reach the edge of the pond. I eased them into the cool water and kicked them around a bit. He walked over and sat on the ground, crossed legged, next to the rock. We started talking, about nothing in particular really, mainly about life in Skyrim. I slid down the rock that I was sitting on and now had my back against it, sitting just on the edge of the pond with my feet still in the water. There was a lull in the conversation and it eventually turned into comfortable silence. I trailed my fingers over the cold water and watched the ripples radiate throughout the pond. I looked a Farkas' reflection and noticed that he was starting at me. I smiled a bit and blushed, not meeting his gaze. I looked at the droplets of water on my fingers and turned to Farkas, flicking the water into his face. He flinched, scrunching up his face and I couldn't help but giggle at the face he was making. I noticed the limp mudcrab bobbing in the water near me and grabbed it. I snapped the legs off and put them in my bag, discarding the rest of the mudcrab. I got up and did the same with the rest of the mudcrabs that I had killed. I sat on the rock, putting my boots back on when Farkas nudged me. (It was a little bit rougher than your average nudge, making me almost fall off the rock but I guess he doesn't realise that). He motioned for me to look ahead. My head snapped up, in front of us, a few feet away, was a large stag. It obviously hadn't noticed us, but before I could pull out my bow, Farkas had already notched an arrow and was waiting for me to give him permission to shoot it. I nodded and he let go of the arrow. It hit its target and I heard the soft 'thump' of the stag flopping onto the ground. We stood up and walked over to it. I stood behind him as he kneeled down and examined it. I heard a twig snap (so cliché) and a low growl behind me. In one swift motion, I spun around and pulled my bow off my back, notching an arrow. The sabre cat pounced, swatting me away before I could shoot it. My head hit the ground and my back came into contact with the ground harshly, knocking the air out of my lungs. I groaned and used all my strength to push myself up. My vision was blurry as I looked over to see that the cat had pinned Farkas down and was snapping at his neck. I couldn't shoot the cat, I might miss and hit Farkas instead, so I aimed for the its leg and shot it. It growled and turned to face me, forgetting about Farkas completely. I panicked and scurried backwards, making my already blurry vision even worse. I saw it raise its paw and bring it down on my ankle. I screamed in pain and I felt its claws sink into my flesh, but my scream was drowned out by Farkas' war cry, which was soon replaced by the sound of Farkas striking the beast. I heard the blade tear through flesh and crush bones, along with a grunt as the sword was pulled free. I heard Farkas rush over and my vision started clearing up just in time to see him lean over me.

" You're hurt." He said as he carefully slid a hand under my back, pushing me up into a sitting position.

"My leg." I choked out.

He looked down at my leg as he slid his other arm behind my knees and lifted me slowly.

"Farkas, let me walk." I started.

"No. You can't." He stated as he carried me off.

"You can't carry me all the way to Whiterun?!" I stared at him in disbelief.

"Yes I can. It isn't that far."

He carried me all the way to Whiterun. He walked with me in his arms and took me to the temple of Kynareth to be healed. Farkas carefully set me down and took my hand. I blushed and gave him a warm smile, his worried expression softened but didn't disappear. The priestess gave me a healing potion to drink while she used restoration magic to heal my wounds. Once she was done, she told me to get some rest and stay off that leg for at least a day, which prompted Farkas to scoop me up again and carry me home. He stopped outside my house and a very worried Lydia let us in. Farkas carried me up to my room and set me down on my bed.

"Thank you, Farkas." I smiled as a gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He smiled and nodded, sitting down next to me and checking my leg. "I'm sorry that we had to leave the stag."

"Don't worry about it. We can always go hunting again." He said with a smile. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thank you Farkas. You're so sweet." I leaned over and placed a sweet peck on his cheek.

I saw his cheeks turn pink and I smiled at his shy expression. He got up from the bed and walked to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow Farkas." called to him and he smiled at me from over his shoulder.