Ch. 3: Moving forward
'Now then... what kind of story will you tell me kid..?' the guard captain looked at the back of the teenager while the distance between them kept increasing
The leader didn't run after him, instead deciding to take a slow stroll back to the exit, as he started examining the dead bodies he saw along the way
*Groan*
One of the draugr he walked up to and started inspecting let out a groan and started getting up, its eyes lighting with deathly azure colour, before being promptly interrupted by a stab and a twist in the neck
"Gave me a scare, bloody draugr..." muttered the guard captain, deciding to stab all the draugr he found all the way in vital areas, just in case
Volfir was long gone from the mine system by the time he finished killing of the sleeping draugr, but most of the guards, including himself understood that the boy was probably taking the body in order to bury or cremate it
And that's exactly what the guard captain saw when he walked out of the exit, the teenager was crouched down in front of a pile of wood, holding down the torch he threw away earlier, trying to set the pile on fire, while the disfigured body lay closeby
"You are doing it wrong kid" the guard spoke aloud, trying to get the teen's attention, but was ignored
*Sigh*
He walked off to a nearby wooden pole which had a piece of paper sticking to it with a knife
'Property of Ironwielder bandits huh...' he read the contents of the paper, finishing off with a chuckle to himself
The guard grabbed both the paper and the knife, before pulling it out, then folded the paper a few times and went off to search for some dry sticks
-A few minutes later-
"Why is this shit not lighting up?!" Volfir's patience was running thin, making him exclaim, his voice rasp and filled with an unsatisfactory tone
"I told you that you were doing it wrong" a rough and middle aged voice made the teenager snap his head back to the figure that walked up to him
'Quite scary eyes', "Hahaha, don't look at me like that boy" said the guard captain while crouching down to place down the dry sticks he found
Volfir continued to stare at the man, but didn't say anything, the guard, undisturbed, continued his actions by taking the torch away from the kid and lighting up the paper, then carefully placing it atop of the dry sticks, followed by him creating a triangular shape of firewood above the now-lit fire
"Go bring more firewood, this is too little to cremate your friend"
Volfir continued staring at the man for a little while longer, before getting up to search for more fuel to the fire
The guard changed from a kneeling position to a relaxed sitting one, moving his head to stare at the beautiful night sky
As the fire crackled and a soft autumn breeze, the man himself started going down a memory lane, remembering all he has lost and all he has gained
The life in Skyrim is harsh, fickle and unforgiving, it is also mostly dull and unrewarding, that's why Nords mirror their homeland's ambiance
The man stopped gazing at the stars and moved his head in Volfir's direction, the boy was steadily picking up whatever he could find that burns, clearly the kid is malnourished and has been mistreated, but even though he was dirty and his eyes seemed dead, the captain acknowledged a certain stubbornness to damn the whole world and continue living
'What a scary milk drinker, I bet the Companions would make a great Nord out of him...' mused a middle aged man who no longer had any aura of authority, simply a man who lived through enough life to feel old
"Fuuh..." he tiredly exhaled 'But with his past he probably will become a criminal if he doesn't die...'
By the time the man finished contemplating, Volfir returned with his hands full of different sized sticks and branches, not wasting any time, he started laying them down in a rectangular shape, fit for Ravund's body
-A few minutes later-
The captain was standing, his hands grabbing the corpse's feet and Volfir was holding his friend under the armpits, as they both moved the body over the fire, before carefully settling him down and moving to the side
Volfir watched intently as his dead friend's body caught fire, the smell of burning flesh spreading throughout the area
"What was his name?" asked the guard captain, his aura of authority returning to him
"Ravund the musclebrain" answered Volfir after some thinking
"Then I commence the start of the 'sjaund'... since the dead has been prepared beforehand, I declare the 'veizla' finished" the man reached inside his pouch, taking out a palm full of berries
"...so we move on to the 'erfi'" as he finished his statement, he turned to Volfir in order to give him half of the berries, only to notice a mead bottle in his hands
Surprised, but undisturbed, he reached out his hand and gave the boy his portion of the 'feast' and so they started eating in silence
When they finished, Volfir tried to open the corked bottle of mead, but was unsuccessful in pulling it out, making the captain intervene with the intention to help. Volfir let go of the bottle and the man skillfully removed the cork, passing the bottle back to the kid
Volfir didn't waste a second, instantly taking a swig of the mead he found in the overseer's room. The captain felt amused, but he didn't comment or disturb the sacred ritual of the last rites, so the silence resumed, only to be interrupted when Volfir drank half of the bottle and passed it to the man
With a smile, the man finished the bottle and settled it close to the raging fire. He then unsheathed his axe and held it close to his chest
"With the completion of the 'erfi', we celebrate Ravund the musclebrain's ascend to Sovngard. Let this 'haugbui' be blessed by the divines, as warriors welcome the deceased in the sacred feast halls!" exclaimed the Nord guard captain, beating his axe against his chest
"As fearless in death, as he was in battle!" exclaimed Volfir, slightly intoxicated from both, the mead and the atmosphere that the older Nord had set during the ritual, tears once again gracing his face, but they were no longer of sadness and loss, but of happiness that his friend will find peace in the afterlife
As hours passed by, more and more whiterun hold guards exited the mine and joined the funeral ceremony, none saying anything, just waiting for the fire to die out while holding their respective weapons to their chests
When it finally did, some of the guards went back into the mine and came out with iron shovels, giving one to each of the present, so that they could start digging a grave
After a few more hours, the men placed the burnt down corpse inside the grave and each had a turn in throwing a handful of burnt ashes and soil down the grave, after which everybody resumed their work in burying the dead, all the while saying nothing
When they finally finished, the guard captain brough a moderately sized rock and put it down at the head of the grave, after doing that he crouched down and started inscribing a series of runes
One of the guards who went with the others to get shovels actually came out with a stashed crate of more mead, so now he went around giving everybody a bottle
After everybody was set wth a drink, they all uncorked the bottles and the captain raised it high with the words, "To the fearless Ravund the musclebrain!"
""To Ravund!"" followed the toasts, with sounds of gulping down the divine nectar and soon loud conversations set in between the guardsmen
Volfir all the while was sitting across the stone symbolising the grave of his dead friend, drinking his third bottle of mead when the man who helped him set the ceremony up walked up and sat next to him, a bottle of mead in his hand (A/N: As it should be!)
This time however, it was Volfir who started the conversation, "What do the runes say?" he questioned
"To the dead, but remembered" answered the captain, savouring the drink in his hand "What are you going to do now, boy?"
"I have a name old man..." replied the boy
"Hah! So do I" said the man with a smile, making the teenager turn his sleepy gaze towards him
"The name's Volfir of Helgen" the boy said after a couple of seconds of contemplation
"From Falkreath Hold are you? Hm... I guess you don't have a home to return to?" questioned the man to which Volfir returned a nod
"My name is Erikur of Riverwood, I am also the captain guard of the Whiterun Hold guards stationed there, how about you come with us to the Whiterun capital?" the man continued, interested in the boy's reply
"I'm not interested in going to jail" immediately refused Volfir
"Bahahaha!" Erikur let out a boisterous laugh "Don't worry brat, I doubt you will do jail time for being forced into labour, as long as you will explain exactly what occured in that mine and how you came to be there" reasoned the captain
Volfir felt like he wasn't against the idea, but had no idea about what he should do moving forward, as he had nothing to his name besides the the skills to garden and swing a pickaxe, so he decided to voice his concerns
"I only know how pick weeds and swing a pickaxe, what am I even going to do there..?"
"You say that as if any other city will have something for you to do with that skillset... You could try apprenticing to an alchemist in town or work for a farming family"
"No... I need to become strong to live safely and peacefully..." answered Volfir wistfully, while swirling his now-empty mead bottle
"You ain't joining the guards, the legion or the Companions being that skinny and sickly, there's also your age, but that doesn't really matter" countered Erikur, "You can get treated in the Temple of Kynareth and earn enough septims by working in the fields to get a sword instructor or something" he then reasoned
'That... doesn't sound bad...' thought Volfir while gazing at the stars
Erikur decided to give some time and space for the kid to think about his future, so he got up and rejoined his subordinates
"Cap'n, you have no idea what it looked like down there, good thing there was booze to numb that down" immediately called out one of the guards
"Yeah... I heard that it looked like a plane of oblivion came into existence" answered the captain
"Saw something just like that once, wasn't in a mine though, some poor adventuring souls went dungeon hunting, my search party only found their dismembered remains, a grim sight, that's why the draugr are so dangerous" started talking an older looking guard with a grim expression
"Not a sight for a milk drinker to see, that's for sure" added another while looking in Volfir's direction
"I plan to bring him to Whiterun, he will definitely explain what happened here better than us combined when we report to the commander, not to mention he needs to get healed" continued Erikur
"Ah, you plan to take him to the Temple of Kynareth?" asked the older guard, to which the captain nodded
"Might be a problem, the temple is full of wounded from the escalating skirmishes between the Legion and Stormcloaks" the older man explained his opinion
"Ulfric is a madman, how can he even think of fighting the Empire just after we lost to the knife-ears?!" raged a drunken guard, making those close to him hold him down before something happened
"Ulfric is indeed a madman, but war changes us, you all should know" chimed in the older guard again, his tone grave, making the raging guard settle down and bringing a sombre mood to the group
"I will go with you" a kid's voice made everybody's head snap back to Volfir who walked up to them unnoticed
The guard captain nodded and turned back to his subordinates
"All right then, pack up, we are going to Riverwood first, get some rest, then we travel to Whiterun"
"Aye"
"Understood"
Some guards gave vocal affirmations, while the rest simply started going about their business
Volfir noticed that the backpacks that some of the guards are carrying seemed much more stuffed and full, understanding that they probably took some spoils he took a mental note to also get himself a travelling backpack, after all he couldn't grab a lot of things he wanted from the overseer's room, only what could fit into his moderately sized pouch
"Here kid" Erikur grabbed Volfir's attention by giving him a full backpack, "Help us taking it to Riverwood and half of the contents, as well as the backpack itself will be yours"
Volfir nodded but wasn't enthusiastic about the order since he noticed that this was the backpack of one of the bandit traders he was looking for back in the mines
'Whatever I guess, don't have to buy a backpack and get some more septims into my pouch from selling half of the contents is at least something' he soothed his dissatisfaction
"Alright men, let's move out!"
-A couple of hours later-
An armed group was walking along the main road between Whiterun and Falkreath, torches out in the chilly autumn morning darkness, they were relaxed but not carefree since the main roads could still be as unpredictable as any other
"You ever been to Riverwood brat?" asked one of the more energetic guards
Ever since the march, Volfir got to be acquainted with all of the guards in the group, but that didn't mean he became on speaking terms, generally only verbally answering the captain, much to the group's dismay and Erikur's amusement
"Never" Volfir gave a curt reply, but that seemed to only boost the lively guard's mood since he finally got a verbal answer
"Really? Well... there isn't much to do here, but it's a good settlement!-" the guard started rambling before getting interrupted by the captain
"Leave the kid alone Vosnyak, he is only a talker when there's mead in him hahaha" he commented, making others lightly laugh aloud
"But captain, I feel bored as oblivion, none of you all want to talk to me~" Vosnyak changed his tune to one of complaining
"The kid said he was interested in becoming stronger, teach him something about hunting then, that will get his attention" replied Erikur
Vosnyak looked at Volfir inquisitively, expecting the boy to be ignoring the conversation like before, but found his eyes to be locked with the boy's dead blue ones
"Ehe~ Well, I guess I can teach him some archery! Tell me kid, do you know how to use a bow?-" Vosnyak became even more lively, but was once again cut off from his rambling
"By the divines Vosnyak, shut your trap, we already see the Riverwood gates and it's still dark... Do it tomorrow!" complained the older guard
"Tsk... whatever old man" replied the lively guard, turning his head towards Volfir who he found looking straight ahead, no longer paying any attention to him
"Geh... Old man Gerd, you made me lose the brat's focus" and once again Vosnyak started talking and complaining nonstop
"You should work as hard as you flap your mouth idiot" commented Erikur as the gates were opened for them
"Working is boring, I was seriously thinking joining the bard college once, you know?-" before he could start rambling again, the captain gave the order to disperse and get some sleep, leaving only Volfir and himself by the gates
"Come with me kid, I'll show you where to get a place to sleep"
"Are we going to an inn?"
"We are, have you ever been in one?"
"No, how much is to stay for a few hours of sleep?"
"Depends on whether you are local or a traveller really"
Volfir showed a confused expression, so Erikur decided to explain some things regarding the services the boy will be using in the future
"Some Riverwood residents get kicked out of their homes by their wives, happens quite often to be honest ahahah"
Volfir became even more confused and started looking at his feet as they kept walking as if he was solving a divine mystery
"*Cough*, what I wanted to say was, ehm... well the Riverwood citizens will for example pay 10 septims a night, but a traveller will pay from 20 to 40, depending on the services they require"
"What kind of services are there?"
"Food, drink, what type of bed, there are other optional services that needs to be paid for, but you don't need to know that yet" said Erikur, as he opened the door to the Riverwood inn
"Oh! Erikur! Haven't seen you in a while, want to share bed or is it some other drink you desire?" greeted a volumptious woman with a dirty grin before becoming frozen with shock
"You have a kid?! Why is he so dirty?" she exclaimed, making other residents turn their heads in the duo's direction
Volfir's dead stoic expression while looking at Erikur made the man sweat bullets, so he didn't waste any time clearing the misunderstanding
"Aha... you must be joking, *cough*, ehm... nothing for me, my men and I found this brat along the way and we took a liking to him... ANYWAY, get the kid into a bath and a bed for sleep, no need for food or drink" he said while looking at Volfir with squinted eyes
"And I'll go get him some clothes, is that alright with you?" he turned his attention back to the woman who was in-turn inspecting the kid infront of her
'Geh... he looks sick, will have to scrub the tub after him...' she thought, "Suuuure... 20 septims for the bath, 20 for the bed" was her verdict, highly surprising Erikur
"Huh..? Why so expensive..." he started speaking aloud, but then he noticed that Erikur did look very sick and infected with various deceases
"Well... can you give him the bed for 10? He's with me after all" he tried to bargain
"No" was the curt and final response
Erikur looked at the kid whose gaze was wondering all over the inn, completely unconcerned with the talk happing about him, right infront of him
"Here..." he said defeated, pulling out and counting 40 septims from his belt-pouch
"Follow me kid" the woman said, turning around and walking off
"I'll get you some clothes Volfir" added Erikur, walking out of the inn, leaving the boy standing in place, looking at the back of the woman walking away from him
'Well... whatever I guess...' thought Volfir with a shrug and started slowly walking towards the woman who stopped and was looking at him impatiently, waiting for him to catch up