These people are all watching you, giant! They are all laughing at your size. They are laughing at you. They hate you. You’re a joke; a freak of nature! You’re a mistake, a waste of life! Why even walk around? Why do anything? You are NOTHING!
SHHHH. Shut up! Shut up!! Shut up!!! This is MY mind; my head - and you must listen to ME. And you WILL obey! I’m not alone anymore, I will never be alone again, just leave me alone already! GO AWAY!
WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE ALREADY?! WHY WON’T YOU GIVE UP?! JUST KILL YOURSELF! TAKE THEM ALL WITH YOU!
SILENCE. I am NOT your fool. I am not your puppet anymore, and I am not listening to you anymore right now. YOU ARE NOTHING!
After chuckling for a moment at his companion’s wordless remark toward their newly found leader, Talion’s sight and mind blurred into an all too familiar war. Though he knew how to silence the noise, sometimes he was not able to regain his grip on reality alone. Instinctually, Talion let his arms uncross and his left arm wrap itself around the she-elf’s small frame. at once he felt her gaze warm his face as she looked up at him, and her touch on his hand gradually reeled his mind back in. Gently her fingertips moved up and down his lower forearm, now crossed in her arms, and she leaned into him warmly. Gradually his vision became focused, and Talion started to regain control of his breathing.
"So let me reiterate what the plan is to my understanding thus far." Her voice hissed up to his ears, a smooth gesture toward those left followed,
"We, meaning mostly me and you seeing as the majority of these fools look useless in combat so seemingly have tagged along for no more than dinner and a show, will be taking on thousands of werewolves ourselves in an all-out battle to the death. Sounds pleasant, downright dreamy. I can't wait, nor can I imagine any other way I would like to spend my time, dying aside."
Stiffening his body in a somewhat successful attempt to regain his newfound composure from breaking into laughter, dropped his eyes to the snow-packed earth beneath his feet. Only looking back up once he was sure no more amusement begged to escape him, the surrounding group was now open to his conscious examination. The group was a fraction of its original size now, leaving only a few. None Talion cared to take notice of until he felt a heat radiate off Re’s body. Her eyes burned into a dunmer man, small and cowardly, who’s eyes instantly darted away from her form. In the moment Talion saw his gaze, he could sense his dissecting eyes picking at his companion before turning away and stammering up his name in shakes.
A cobbler?
Something sent a heat from within him, much like his partner, the fire of protection over her with contempt. Reading the man, something off-putting filled his thoughts about the mer. No being, aedra or not, would send a cobbler of all people to join or even record a mission as deadly as this.
Perhaps a disguise, one put on by a mortal more cowardly than even this ruse puts off?
"Doesn't seem to add up," he grunted under his breath,
"what god in their right mind would send a waste of breath like him to bring us all to our doom?"
The bird’s simple nod in acknowledgment toward his assertion, was all it took to put the man back at their mutual disinterest. His gaze drifted back over to the once loud and commanding altmer, who’s eyes were staring at them blankly, awaiting something from the duo. Just as Talion drew in breath to begin speaking, his inhale was interrupted by his partner’s voice.
"They call me The Bird. I am here to help, that is all you need know. I have no need to share my name, and quite frankly have no intention of doing so," she let out with a tone portraying slight exhaustion.
“I am The Bear,” he spoke gruffly, and short,
“I am here with the same intentions as my partner. You need not know me by name. And I suppose since it holds some importance to you, we are worshipers of Kyne, not that it adds to what we can offer here.”
When the Altmer woman was finished eying him and his partner she turned and mentioned continuing toward the marsh town due south, to continue discussion at the inn. A heavy sigh rushed through his nostrils, as he looked up toward the night sky, clear as crystal and illuminated by the twin moons.
“I suppose we head to camp and pack our things,” he started, looking down at the she elf basking in the warmth of his body heat and cloak,
“we can leave any extra weight and find a nice stump to stuff it in - come back to get it sometime after this merry little escapade.”
Tauriel let his arm loose, and raised her arms in a stretch, not truly acknowledging his words until turning to look up at him from the cover of the bear-skin that hid more than half her body.
“Then I suppose we meet the rest of the whelps at the tavern, and you buy me that drink you promised,” she finally replied quietly, stepping forward, and falling into his torso without thought.
“Yeah, yeah,” he grinned, and wrapped himself around her in a gentle squeeze.
-~~8~~-
The warmth of the tavern changed the Bird’s body language as they stepped through the oaken door. Now without his cloak surrounding her, Talion could practically see the cold fall away from her frame as she lead him to an empty table at the corner of the otherwise deserted room. As the two plopped down, Talion’s nose started to fill with the fragrant scents of mead and salted pork, his ears awakened with the popping of burning logs and the drunken chanting of a bard.
Without hesitation, the duo threw their packs off, and propped their feet up on the table whilst leaning into positions of comfort, wasting no time in enjoying the relaxation the two had craved after the long day. Talion let a high pitched whistle escape his lips, gesturing at the barmaid to come over to them both. As she approached their table, Talion pulled the large and heavy tankard out of his pack and set it on the table in front of her.
“Mead,” he spoke before the woman could,
“for her too.”
As he gestured with a quick tilt of his head, Tauriel threw a handful of coins onto the table with a smirk. The woman nodded her head, scooping the septims into her palm and taking the Bear’s large tankard as she retreated back to the bar. He looked at Tauriel, as she dropped the purse of coins back into his pack with a wink, before letting her head rest in the interlaced fingers behind her head.
“We’re a ‘comrade’ short,” Talion spoke mimicking her position of comfort, scanning the room filled with the familiar faces they had met at the ruin,
“the cat.”
Re chirped in a short chuckle, a small smirk growing on her face,
“now lose the cobbler, and we may have a chance at dying with some dignity.”
Talion’s chuckle was full now, not bothering to try to hide his amusement at his partner’s unique sense of humor, as nobody was near enough to hear their banter. He couldn’t help but find the job a bit funny, as the plan did appear to be a little lackluster, but they had not heard all the altmer’s ideas laid out yet. Talion expected the possibility that the plan could be more perfected and tactful, due to the commands Kyne had given them just moments before pledging their membership.
“We all might be the punch-line of a sick joke Hircine has concocted, unless our altmer friend elaborates on our course of action,” he jested, grinning back at his partner, who met his grin with her own.
As Talion turned, the barmaid returned, setting his tankard and a smaller tankard filled with mead on the table for the two to indulge on. The excited, child-like grin gracing his face was uncontrollable, as he lifted his tankard to his lips. When he started to let his mouth swell with the liquid he loved so dear, the maid began to turn away. Without taking the tankard away from his mouth with one hand, Li grabbed the maid’s arm with the other as he gulped down the last of the mead all at once, holding it back out to the woman.
“Another round, my dear,” he spoke charmingly, reaching into his pack for his coin purse,
“And a couple bowls of that stew over the fire there too, thanks.”
Talion dumped a decent pile of coins on the table with a grin, watching the woman scoop them up once more and turn back towards the bar. A silent burp escaped his mouth, as he leaned back into his chair, and returned to looking at the bird.
“Maybe once our bellies our full we rent ourselves a room and get some well earned rest?” Talion spoke, gesturing back to their high elf leader who was leaned back in a chair across the room deep in sleep,
“she looks to be okay with that idea.”
“I am in,” Tauriel spoke in a sigh, tilting her own head back with her eyes closed,
“I could use some sleep. So could you Bear, I know you had a moment earlier and if Bear doesn’t get his rest, he’ll only have more.”
“Mhm,” he replied, rolling his eyes sarcastically.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, little man,” she snarled at him in a half-giggle.
Somehow even with her eyes closed, the Bird knew what he was doing. Though this could be unsettling to most, this had always just been a common occurrence, one that Talion had unwittingly come to love. Something about her being able to predict and call him out on every little thing made him feel more secure in a way.
“I wasn’t,” he protested, not really attempting any sense of seriousness.
“I’m sure you weren’t,” she replied with a smirk, not opening her eyes.
The barmaid, along with another maid, approached the table with their tankards and two bowls filled with hot stew. Talion’s mouth watered uncontrollably, as he let his legs drop from the table, and leaned forward toward the stew. Like a mirror, Tauriel mimicked his exact movements, and as if on queue, the two of them lifted the bowls to their lips and began to devour the savory mixture of broth, meat and vegetable.
“You’re a bad lair, Li,” Re spoke, taking a break from her stew to sip her mead. Her eyes stared at him tauntingly, with an eyebrow raised at him as if waiting for a response.
Talion returned with eye contact, then rolled his eyes deliberately at her as he lifted his tankard to his lips for a gulp himself. As he swallowed he couldn’t help but let out a short giggle as Tauriel’s eyes turned to a glare. Then again, they both resumed to the stew in front of them.
Like the perfect equation, as their soup bowls became empty, so did their tankards. Talion’s body grew warm with comfort, and his muscles began to slow as he felt fatigue set in. Looking to his partner, he could see that she was in the same boat as he, if not more so.
“Shall we?” Talion spoke under a gentle yawn, looking to the Bird as she nodded, yawning in response.
“Miss? I’d like a room please.”
The barmaid hurried back over to their table with a smile,
“Absolutely my friend, that’ll be 10 septims, you two can have the room on the left.”
Talion smiled, and pulled his coin purse from his pack once again, counting the required pieces out for her.
“Could you also wake us when our altmer friend there wakes?”
The woman nodded politely, and turned away, leaving the duo to walk themselves to their beds. Talion stood up, which to his surprise, took a surprising amount of effort. He let his arms raise above his head as he reached out with a stretch, and another yawn escaped his mouth. Sleep you seduce me.
The Bear tugged his partner up from her seated position, and gathered both their packs from the floor beside them, and his over-sized tankard. Re let out a long, deep yawn, and rolled her neck to pop what seemed like a dozen times. Without any guidance, she pulled his arm and him behind her as she worked her way around the tables and fire pit toward the room. Within seconds of entering, and shutting the door, the two were collapsed in each other’s arms on the bed of the small warm room. Sleep was upon them mere seconds after that, and the Bird and Bear would only wake at the call of the barmaid which with their luck wouldn’t come until dawn.