#aodhfin

[thediscollective]

Approach. Perhaps all of my time here can finally be put to good use. I won't hold my breath, though, it's been too long. ~The Ashen, Aodhfin.

[halforcsmash]

“Why do the gods give with one hand and take with the other?”

His face was covered in bandages, and he couldn’t see. He could, but everything was fuzzy and hard to reach for. But reach he did, finding Aodhfin’s hand and pulling her down to the blankets with him. 

“I heard you won.” He mumbled into her chest, “I’m so proud of you.” 

With that, Korgul pulled the blankets up so that no one could see him, crying into Aodhfin’s shirt. His bones hurt, healed or not, and his eye was gone. This wouldn’t come back, wouldn’t heal. His eye was gone, and his face was ruined. He wrapped his arms tighter around her, howling with pain and loss as hot tears fell from his eyes, mingling with blood as they stained his bandages. 

[halforcsmash]

Her own events had all finished by afternoon so Aodhfin had been able to watch Korgul compete in the archery and axe on foot. Despite the wins, it was obvious he was in a foul mood. If it had been anyone else she would have let him deal with it himself but since it was him she grabbed two drinks and took them over. "Brought you something," she handed him a bottle with a half-smile. "Want to stay here, drink and argue with people or come somewhere less crowded with me?"

He grunted, sour at first as he took the bottle she handed him. He stewed for a moment, glaring in the direction of his mother, who was glaring back at him just as hard. Finally, he stood up from where he leaned against the bar, wrapping his arm around Aodhfin. 

“Between everyone here and you, I’m goin’ to pick you everytime darlin’.” He bent down a little bit, giving Aodhfin a quick kiss. “Let’s go. I just wanna be with you for a little while.” 

[nextsummersseeds]

As the day before the Companions would leave for Chorrol came to a close, Kodlak asked for each of the members who were to compete to gather in his room. Once there, he looked at each of them with a subtle hint of pride in his eyes before slowly rising from his seat.

“I know you have all trained hard for this, and I have no doubt you all will perform with honor, whether or not you win or lose. But to help you, I had Eorlund craft these for each one of you.”

Each amulet, forged from Skyforge Steel, featured a Nordic wolf wrapped around a miniature axe (that appeared to be Wuuthrad itself upon closer inspection), and was hung on a long, strong chain. Lengths differed slightly depending on who it was presented to, but each one was identical otherwise.

“Take these and consider wearing them while you are in Chorrol so that all of you can identify with each other. Let this give you courage in your battles and serve as a reminder that your shield-siblings stand behind you, even when you are fighting alone. I wish you the very best of luck.”

For a long moment Aodhfin just held the amulet in her hand, feeling the cold steel slowly warm from her body heat as she absorbed the Harbinger’s words. She wished she could have said something eloquent in return, to put into words how much it meant to her to know there were people behind her when not so long ago she had been ready to give up on it all. 

She fastened the chain around her neck, pleased to see it rest just below her amulet of Talos so neither would be hitting together. Judging by the differing lengths of her shield-siblings chains this had been done deliberately and she was touched by the thoughtfulness of it all.

Her fingers stroked the wolves shape as she met Kodlak’s gaze and gave a small nod. “Thank you, Harbinger. We won’t let you down.”

[nextsummersseeds]

One of the many reasons Aodhfin is so wary of getting close to people is the result of being part of the Stormcloak army and having so many soldiers she was friends with end up dying in battle beside her or after she left, which makes her feel guilty for leaving. Also in more recent times, dealing with the Silver Hand and seeing what they do to werebeasts. Every time she sees the bodies she ends up worrying that one day that could be her or someone she cares about. To her, it just means more reasons she shouldn’t get close to people.

[nextsummersseeds]

“I think when I’m back from Chorrol I’m gonna get myself a dog. I keep saying I’m going to and then forgetting. Maybe I’ll even win some money at the tourney to pay for it, either way it’ll be nice to have some company.”

[halforcsmash]

“What possible difference can I make?”

Korgul leaned over Aodhfin, resting his chin on her shoulder as he looked at the tafl board. Vilkas was gloating. Korgul didn’t like when Vilkas gloated. 

Grinning suddenly, Korgul whispered in Aodhfin’s ear about where she could move her pieces for her king to break out of Vilkas’ ring of black stones. He kissed her softly on the cheek, moving away to get something to eat. 

“You can always make a difference, dearest. Just have to look for a different angle.”

[halforcsmash]

"It's cold outside"

The snow was already falling in this part of Skyrim, and he was grumpy as he looked out from the porch of the inn. This job for the Companions had only been supposed to take a week at most, but if it was snowing this hard already, it was going to take them longer to get home. He muttered some choice obscenities at the snow. 

A moment later he felt something warm wrap around his shoulders, and the scent filling his nose told him who it was that had brought him the blanket. Taking the edge away from himself, he turned slightly to pull her close and wrap her in it with him. 

“If the snow doesn’t stop, we may be here a while.”