Vigilante Hunters (Ivan)

[Anna Winter-Wolf]

Tracking the Vigilants of Stendarr had proved far easier than expected. It was rather easy to sniff them out, especially since most of them carried around wolfsbane... Her entire body trembled at the very thought of the toxic plant, she had previous run ins with it before and had read about it's effects on the werewolf body. Just the touch rendered the bones of the wolf brittle, the muscles withered away, and the veins closed up... Though the powers of the beast blood were great, the fact that she was now so vulnerable to a stupid plant was rather terrifying, which is exactly why she had called in some back up. Although... Anna hadn't told Ivan why, exactly, she was going after the Vigilants... she kept it very vague, along the lines of: They randomly attacked me, so let's go after them!

Through the winding snow packed paths of Winterhold she had stalked them, silently, from the shadows... To most of them, Anna appeared to be just another Nord woman, but word of her other form began to spread among the Vigilants and they had begun to try and track her down. Recently, they had gotten a bit too close for comfort. Anna had a run in with a couple of Vigilants and other monster hunters in The Pale a couple weeks back while she had been out hunting. It was a heart stopping experience for her, the first that had really slapped her out of her little perfect fantasy world and made her realize that life wasn't as simple as she thought. She rubbed her shoulder, still a bit tender from where the first arrow had struck her flesh... this time Anna decided against using her beast form and brought her dwarven armor and battleaxe instead.

Anna's pace slowed as she thought back to the encounter again and how she had to kill most of her attackers. The guilt plagued her... sure they had attacked her but they were living beings, with families and friends and lives... A sad sigh escaped her lips as she thought of her own father, who had recently fallen ill. Anna had faith that her father would be fine, but couldn't help but wonder... No... Rather than think about it any longer, she glanced over at Ivan and couldn't help but smile a little bit. They had known each other for awhile and Anna considered Ivan to be one of her closest friends... yet she always felt her heart flutter a bit when she heard his voice. To be quite honest, Anna had sort of decided to go out to hunt the remaining Vigilants that knew her identity mostly so she could spend more time with Ivan. She felt stupid for it, but her feelings greatly disappeared with her rational thoughts. How could a guy like Ivan ever even consider a shabby girl like herself? Either way, Anna wasn't willing to risk their friendship over some stupid little warm and fluffy tingle in her heart that told her to go after him. She rolled her eyes and tried to stop thinking about it.

The Vigilants headed into a cave once it started getting dark out. It was almost tempting to just let them go... Anna didn't particularly want to kill anybody else, let along drag poor Ivan into it all. It would have been more fun to just set up a little camp and sleep under the stars, even though it was freezing outside. Anna was used to the cold, but wasn't sure how Ivan would handle sitting out in the snow and freezing wind all night. Stopping to think, Anna took her helmet off, tucking it under her arm, and shook out her red mane of hair. She ran her fingers through it, clearing it out of her face and turned to Ivan.

"This was a bad idea... Maybe we should head back?"


((HORRIBLE START D: But it's something I guess lol Kind of just rambled soooo... hopefully you'll be able to manage a reply, if not I can redo it or something xD))

[Ivan Novikov]

The wind was sharp up here, whipping through the mountaintops and slicing through anything in its path. The sound was almost howling and the sheer cold of the air bit into Ivan's lungs with every silent inhalation. He didn't shiver, he was far too strong for that, but every inch of his skin was complaining at him for following the girl so far up for so little. He usually didn't travel farther north than Morthal, but when she looked up at him with those big puppydog eyes... he didn't want to admit how quickly he had agreed to it. He lifted a gloved hand to his face and rubbed his skin for a moment to bring the feeling back, focusing his vision in on the men entering the cave.

He never had much problem with people like them, just more killers pretending they were the ones on the right side. Everyone needed a reason, and some needed a reason more than others. Ivan understood that perfectly, the only thing keeping him warm being the black and red leather he wore underneath his mismatched set of leather and fur. He knew about killing. He turned his head to look at the girl for a moment, hidden under a mound of brassy dwarven plate. He never could understand how she managed to carry it all, let alone why a girl like her had the job she did. He of all people knew looks were deceiving, but he felt like he knew her well enough to be amazed every time she swung that axe of hers.

He hated that he had followed her here, dragged along by some odd desire to protect her. He had to force himself to turn away, those wild eyes of hers seeming to mesmerize him whenever she caught him in her gaze. He tried not to think of it, fighting back the odd tingle in his stomach to sharpen his wits and focus on the task at hand.

"Don't be silly. We came here to kill these men and that's what we'll do. All they've done is back themselves into a corner." he said under his breath, voice rattling slightly due to the cold air. "Just keep your wits about you. Don't panic on me if we get into some resistance." He added, standing up slowly and looking down at her. He almost felt like he was dragging a child onto a battlefield, her face so oddly youthful. He cleared his throat when he realized he had been staring at her, turning back to face the cave.

"Now or never Anna. We stay out here much longer and my bones are going to freeze solid."

[Anna Winter-Wolf]

It was difficult to decide on what to do. Even though the Vigilantes had backed themselves into a corner, they were still just as dangerous. Anna knew she needed to decide quickly, Ivan looked like he was going to freeze to death right then and there. It made her feel even more guilty now... she should have just come alone and did the deed herself. Anna stared down at the ground as she thought, it just didn't seem fair to her that Ivan had absolutely no idea why they were after these people. She wanted to tell him, she really did, but Anna couldn't shake the fear of him turning against her. The Nord was in too deep in their friendship to even think about that sort of an outcome...

She shifted her axe around, leaning it against her shoulder laughed softly when Ivan started to preach to her about getting into a fight. Anna rolled her eyes in a playful manner, he obviously didn't think very highly of her skills if he felt the need to tell her what to do. Approaching him with a mischievous smile on her face, Anna stared him strait in the eyes for a moment then put her dwarven helmet back on. Now Anna had every intention on showing Ivan that she wasn't just some weak woman that can't do anything for herself. His words sparked a fire of determination in her heart and it too every ounce of willpower to not just charge right in after Stendarr's Vigilants and rip them limb to limb. But revealing her other form probably was not wise, yet Anna knew that she was at her most powerful while transformed.

"Ivan... I'm not a child or some little pathetic girl... I've been a Companion for awhile now, so I can handle myself in a fight," Anna told him with confidence. Turning back towards the cave, Anna gestured for him to follow. Even though she didn't exactly have a plan of action, Anna was ready to get their show on the road. Anna just hoped that she wouldn't need to transform because it would be difficult to do so in a timely manner. Turning into a werewolf while in armor would have... less than favorable results, so she'd definitely need a temporary distraction if it came down to it. Glancing back at Ivan, Anna readied her ebony battleaxe for a fight. "Lets do this..."

[Ivan Novikov]

He nodded and managed to pull one corner of his thin mouth into a half smile. His boots made no sound as he made his way through the thin coat of snow on the ground, eyes focused in on the light of the cave. He kept part of his attention focused in on Anna, almost painfully aware of the loud clanking the joints of her armor produced with every motion. Silence wasn't going to be an option for long, so he had every intention of using it to his advantage.

"Hang back a bit... We'll see if I can't pick one or two off without being noticed before running in." He said to her, pulling the fabric of his cowl up over his nose and sliding his long orcish dagger from its sheath. He took one last look at her before falling into a crouch and moving quickly into the entrance.

This was where Ivan was at home. Absolute silence. The howling of the wind outside seemed to fade instantly, muffled as he listened for the sounds of footsteps and breathing. His own heartbeat was only a distant thudding in his ears, drowned out by the heavy bootsteps and movement of chairs, the rustling of papers and occasional conversation. With every quiet noise his focus sharpened in, now completely unaware of his companion and fully trained on the positions of the men nearest him. He moved like a shadow down the long entrance corridor and pinned himself against the wall, a lone guard nodding tiredly at an old wooden table catching his eye.

He waited to creep up behind, the blade sparkling in the firelight for only a moment before he pushed it up through the guard's jaw, muffling his confused gurgle with a hand before gently setting him down on the table. He turned and grimaced slightly when he realized that beyond the only door in the room the rest of the men were very awake. He stood up straight and went to the tunnel to gesture Anna in, setting his dagger aside and pulling his long orcish longsword out in its place.

"Let's do this quickly. I'm guessing there's at least seven men inside, surprise is our only ally." He murmured, eyes still flashing with the slight adrenaline of a silent kill.

[Anna Winter-Wolf]

"Wait, what? No...." She hissed, eyes following him into the cave. Her hands balled into fists and she let out a quiet, but grumpy sigh. Anna didn't want to be left out of the fun, especially since this was her ordeal and not his. "... Damn it..."

Anna absolutely hated the thought of lingering behind, but she caught onto his plan rather quickly. She was built and ready for heavier combat while Ivan favored stealth and quick kills. Warrior and Assassin, two very different fighting styles which were unlikely to work well together in this situation. The Nord was half tempted to take off her armor right then and there so she could go and help him... but Anna knew she couldn't pull off a silent kill. Anna preferred to give her targets a chance to defend themselves, even though it put herself in significantly more danger. Perhaps it was because of her sense of honor, but it just seemed wrong to kill a man without giving them a fair chance.

She waited impatiently while Ivan went inside to work his magic. Anna's heart raced while he was away, her body tingling as her beast blood begged her to change. She couldn't transform... not yet anyways, no matter how much it struggled against her. The muscles in her chest tensed as she resisted, Anna cringed and leaned against the rocky wall of the cave to steady herself. Her skin crawled and her eyes grew wild for a moment. But Ivan's voice stopped everything cold. It felt like an eternity before the Redguard appeared, even though she heard his voice already, and Anna breathed a sigh of relief. Relief not only to see Ivan come out unscathed but for the temporary stop to her impending transformation. Anna turned her full attention to Ivan and smiled, even though he wouldn't be able to see it through her helmet. Even though she knew Ivan was really good at what he did, Anna still couldn't help but worry. Everything about a battle was uncertain and things happened at a moments notice.

Nodding, Anna tried to cover up her shakiness by moving a bit. Yet she could not rid herself of the feeling. For a moment, Anna didn't respond as she thought about a plan of attack. Anna set her ebony battleaxe off to the side and took of her helmet, quickly turning away to hide her eyes from him. Then she realized that there was no point in hiding if she was planning to transform before him anyways. Setting her helmet and gauntlets on the ground, Anna began to take off the rest of her armor. Underneath, all she wore was an old shirt and pair of pants so the metal wouldn't rub against her bare skin.

"Let's make it a good surprise then," Anna told him with a smirk. If the sudden stripping down of the armor hadn't given something away, the dangerous undertone of her words certainly did. "I'll be too slow in my armor with that many around... Don't freak out because of what i'm about to do, okay?" Anna gazed into his eyes fondly and smiled, hoping that it would assure him of the plan she had come up with. When she thought about undressing the rest of the way as to not ruin her clothes, Anna blushed furiously and trembled again. The chance of Ivan seeing her naked was definitely not something she had anticipated... but it seemed to be the only way to make things go smoothly. Anna waited for Ivan's reply before doing anything else.

[Ivan Novikov]

Ivan stared at her blankly, his cold expression screwed up slightly in confusion. He lowered his blade slightly as he tried to understand, the fervor of impending battle dissipating as he watched. "What... in Oblivion are you talking about? You're going to go in there and fight in... that?" He snapped, almost insulted at the notion. She seemed so small and normal without the armor on, just a Nord girl lost and helpless, though he knew that wasn't true.

He narrowed his eyes slightly when he noticed the hairs on her arm standing up, the slight trembles going up her arms almost making him growl in disbelief. She wasn't scared, was she? This was HER fight, and she was going to stand there shaking like a leaf in no armor and smiling like an idiot? Though he couldn't help but try and think about her, and know about that Nordic fire in her blood that kept her from fearing almost anything. No, it wasn't fear... something else. She was hiding something from him.

Those eyes of hers almost seemed wilder than before, and the bestial flash made the slightest sting of unsureness go through him. He had known Anna for months now, but never seen something so aggressive in her, like an animal hiding under her skin. Perhaps she was some sort of spellcaster in secret, or had some sort of bloodlust she hid until the time came to release it? He wasn't sure, but under the layers of mistrust he still felt a pang of closeness to her, wishing she could just tell him and get it over with.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, crossing his arms and looking away slightly, not liking the way his eyes wandered when she wasn't wearing her heavy armor. "I don't understand you. If you have some sort of plan it had better be good, I don't want to see you cut to ribbons over how heavy your armor is." He muttered, the slightest bit of fondness slipping through his disdain. He turned back to the door and pulled his blade up again, creeping close and putting his ear for a moment before grabbing the handle. "Don't get hurt." He hissed, kicking the door open and running in with his sword raised on the attack.

[Anna Winter-Wolf]

The tone of his voice sliced her like a knife. Anna had been hoping that Ivan would trust her, even if just for a moment, but that seemed less and less likely every moment. With a sad sigh, she stood there for a moment looking genuinely hurt and quickly turned away from the Redguard with a huff. Anna just couldn't stand the way Ivan was looking at her, as if she was some stupid, helpless little girl that needed to be protected. "Just trust me...", her whisper was barely loud enough to hear, hell, Anna didn't even know if Ivan heard a word she said. It didn't matter, he would find out what she was doing in a matter of seconds.

She darted off to undress behind a tree, the sudden rush of adrenaline flooded through her entire body. That was all it took to set her beast blood loose. As powerful as Anna suddenly felt, the pain was more intense than anything else she had ever had to endure. Her heart pounded faster, swelling drastically in her chest as her entirely body began to shift and change. Anna cried out as her muscles tore themselves apart and knitted back together bigger and stronger than before. Her skin darkened, sprouting thick fur all over as her body continued to transform. Her skull split and painfully reshaped itself, ears lengthening along with it. A tail sprouted from the base of her spine as her legs reformed and grew in length. It was much longer after that before Anna had completely transformed into her werewolf form. Right as she gazed around the tree, Anna watched Ivan head into the cave and quickly followed.

Anna wasted no time flying right past Ivan and lunging at the first man in her path, immediately digging her jagged claws into the man's armor and flesh and pinning him to the ground. Her powerful, snapping jaws clamped down upon the man's jugular before he could react, twisting and pulling as she tried to tear it out. With one more swift yank, Anna tore the Vigilant's throat out and spat it out before flying towards the next closest person. At this point, Anna was completely focused on taking out as many of the Vigilants as possible and hoped that Ivan wouldn't turn on her once he saw her for what she truly was. She wasn't prepared to deal with Ivan, if he were to attack... Anna knew she wouldn't be able to hurt him... but she really just hoped it wouldn't come down to that. There was definitely no way he would ever like a werewolf though...

[Ivan Novikov]

Ivan was busy kicking a man off of his blade when the mass of dark reddish fur exploded past him, barely even noticing the creature at first. A silver blade clattered sharply off of his orcish metal and he whirled, the wickedly sharp point biting through thin armor and into flesh. As he moved his eyes fell on the furious whirling mass of teeth and hair, body going rigid and mouth opening in shock.

He didn't have much to worry about as he froze, the Vigilants focused on attempting to take down the monster and failing miserably. Ivan's knuckles blanched white around the grip of his sword, muscles burning for action as he watched the creature shredding the men like tissue paper. He was not weak, but the sheer viciousness of the scene almost turned his stomach, blood and viscera splattering across the floor and bones crunching under the weight of its jaws and hands.

He stared for a moment more, mind wheeling about what he should do. Let the beast run its course and kill it after? Or jump in and destroy it before it could get too lost in bloodlust? Would he be able to kill it? He felt a sensation that had almost entirely disappeared from him, the creeping chill of fear locking his feet in place and preventing him from acting. It was then that he found his eyes drawn to the color of the creature's fur.

He had seen a werewolf once before, on a job with another member of the brotherhood. He was certain they weren't usually so red... He narrowed his eyes and shook his head slightly, taking a step back and only barely reacting in time to cleave a stray spellcaster in half, frost battering his side and burning his flesh as the spell smashed into him. He groaned in pain but found his attention drawn to the creature yet again, looking it over with wide eyes.

"A-....Anna?"

[Anna Winter-Wolf]

The task had proved to be easier than Anna had originally anticipated. Her presence there had distracted the Vigilants and immediately turned their focus on her, rather than Ivan. It was a rather ego boosting experience to say the least, Anna got to show off her might while slaying those who had hunted her previously. The fabric of their robes didn't stand a chance against Anna's curved, blade like claws and fangs as she retaliated and avoided their weapons and spells. Anna was getting rather confident in her attack, the temptation to put on a show for Ivan distracted her a bit. As she worked on tearing open the belly of a man, another vigilant rose before her and bashed her upside the head with his mace. Anna sat there, stunned for a moment, then turned her violent gaze upon the man. A deep rumble erupted out of her throat as she tore into the man, ripping the arm that swung the mace right off. After slicing open the man's abdomen and spilling his innards, Anna gazed around and admired her work, not looking particularly shaken up over the destruction that she had caused.

"A-....Anna?"

She turned slowly as to not scare him, believing that any fast movements might set Ivan off. Anna wagged her tail happily but let out a submissive whimper, in hopes that Ivan would know she meant him no harm. She lowered her head, ears swiveling to observe every sound around them, and very carefully approached Ivan. Anna nudged her nose against his hand gently and rubbed up against his side affectionately. Gazing directly into his eyes, Anna gently licked his cheek despite the fact that blood was still dripping from her muzzle. Squirming a bit, Anna moved past Ivan and headed back to the entrance of the cave so she could change back into her human form and get redressed. Anna trotted out of the door and headed back over to her little tree, where her clothes were still located. The process of changing back was still painful, but far less than when she had originally transformed. Anna shivered as she stood there naked, but was quick to get dressed.

Anna immediately went back inside to check up on Ivan since he seemed pretty banged up right before she left. The moment she reached Ivan's side, Anna began to look him over, almost looking a bit panicked. On one side of the spectrum, they had won... but on the other side, Ivan had gotten hurt. Anna instantly felt guilty... she should have never dragged him into her stupid mess... With an apologetic sigh, Anna gently grabbed his chin and tilted his face a bit, looking it over.

"I should have... t-told you before..." whimpered Anna, her large watery eyes over flowing with sadness. Without asking him, Anna whipped out her healing spell and started to fix Ivan up absentmindedly. "I-I'm sorry... And I completely understand if you don't want to be... f-friends anymore..."

(My eyes are kind of burning so there are probably lots of spelling mistakes and all sorts of loveliness, so I apologize in advance XD)

[Ivan Novikov]

As he watched the creature finish the last of them and turn, his insides clenched up with cold fear. For a split second he was sure he could see the same burning hunger, but it faded as the wolf approached him. He looked into her eyes, hands shaking and blade clattering to the floor as he felt her touch. His hair stood on end from a combination of shock, fear and confusion, lifting one hand to touch her head lightly. As she pulled away and bounded out of the cave he wiped the blood from his cheek, the adrenaline in his blood dying down enough to bring the pain in his arm and side to his attention.

Being alone amongst the carnage seemed to last an eternity. He looked around and tried to take it all in, the stench of blood filling his nose with each breath and his body splattered with gods know what. Despite it all he couldn't get her eyes out of her head, those big sweet eyes the same despite the massive beast surrounding them. His knees shook slightly as his mind raced, the questions only fought back by the agony slowly throbbing across his body.

The footsteps returning made him jump slightly, nerves still shot as he saw her and relaxed slightly. She looked the same as always... but somewhere underneath she had a monster waiting to be unleashed. He wasn't sure if that bothered him, or if he was worried by the fact that it didn't bother him. He listened to her talking as if in a fog, watching her and trying to piece together his thoughts as she healed him and looked him over. Her hand on his face brought him back to reality with a jolt, the look in her eyes making his heart lurch sickeningly.

"I... you're...." He shook his head and swallowed, pulling his arm away from her when he felt it was healed enough. "No, I... I don't care. I... understand why you would have kept it a secret..." He looked down for a moment, bending to pick up his blade. "I just... really didn't expect that. You were like a tornado, you just ripped right through them..." He found his eyes wandering across the bodies again, swallowing back his disgust silently.

[Anna Winter-Wolf]

Despite the fact that Ivan really didn't seem that... bothered by her secret, Anna's heart sank when she saw his facial expressions. Just looking around, there was enough blood and viscera festering to make anybody sick but the Nord didn't seem to think twice about it herself. Of course, Anna was horrified at herself because of it, not because it bothered her, but it really seemed to disgust Ivan. She tried to swallow the ball of nerves that had clogged up her throat as she stared at him, dying for any sign that they could still be friends... or at least acquaintances again... Her giant, watery eyes pleaded with Ivan for forgiveness and she trembled with uncertainty. Now more than ever Anna was afraid, not so much that Ivan would want to slay her, but more so for their friendship which was fairly new as it was. Anna had never truly had a friend like Ivan, he was the first man who didn't find her the slightest bit attractive and tried to pursue a relationship of the romantic verity. Or perhaps she was just too oblivious to see it... To be quite honest, Anna was kind of glad, in a strange sort of a way. As much as Anna desired something beyond a friendship, the Nord didn't want to ruin anything. In her mind, a life long friend was worth more than a temporary lover.

Anna wiped the rest of the blood off of her face, bright eyes still locked on Ivan. She was half tempted to make some sort of a stupid joke to ease the tension, but it seemed rather inappropriate to do so. With a shaky hand, Anna reached out to touch his shoulder but she pulled it back in shame. "I-I'm s-ssssorry..." She saw his eyes wander again, looking back at all of the mangled bodies and she took that chance to get out. Anna briskly headed back to the entrance, quickly putting her armor back on, almost as if to hide herself. She felt like a normal person in her armor, hell, people often thought she was a man because she was completely covered and treated her better for it... but it gave her a strange sense of security. Being exposed, especially in werewolf form, had really rattled Anna and she felt more vulnerable than she ever had before. Anna put her helmet on as fast as she could to hide her teary eyes. As tough as the Nord woman appeared to be, she was definitely a softy on the inside.

Picking up her ebony battleaxe, Anna immediately trotted away so that she could find a quiet place to think everything through. As much as she trusted Ivan, Anna had just revealed her biggest, darkest secret to him and his reaction was, well, to be expected but was certainly not what she hoped for. Was he supposed to praise her for such a wicked killing spree? Of course not, Anna shook her head, feeling like an absolute fool. What was she thinking?! Stupid... stupid... stupid! But something stopped her, Anna glanced back at the cave for a moment then sighed. She lingered there for a moment, hoping that Ivan might come chasing after her, but she didn't stick around long enough to give him a chance to. Anna should have know better than to let her godforsaken Nordic pride get the best of her. All she wanted to do was prove to Ivan that she was capable of defending herself, but she had ruined everything... Anna turned her gaze back towards the North and kept on going... Ivan wasn't likely to follow her since he nearly froze to death on the way there.

[Ivan Novikov]

The sound that signaled Anna's leaving barely registered with him, his movements heavy as he picked his way through the carnage to grab a sack of gold from the table. He did have to eat after all, even if he didn't really want to after seeing this. He pocketed it and slowly walked through to the door, not wanting to bother looking for anything else of value. He was focused on his own thoughts when he realized he'd made it to the entrance of the cave and she was nowhere to be seen.

"Anna? Damnit, where did you run to now?" He snapped, arms raising up to rub at his sides from the cold. He spun, trying to see if she had just walked a short way, but he couldn't pick up any sign of her in the cold wind. That was it. He'd ruined it. Damnit, he should have been... something other than he was. More supportive? He cursed under his breath and paced, one hand on his forehead and slight panic setting in. As much as he knew now she could defend herself, he hated the thought of just leaving. Even the notion of it made his stomach clench up in an uncomfortable way, his whole body protesting the idea. He gritted his teeth and began to search the area for her, shivering lightly from the cold.

It was many minutes before he found her trail, the lack of daylight obscuring even her heavily armored tracks. He felt some smattering of relief inside, that he would be able to find her in the slowly rising snowstorm. He walked with her tracks, eyes glued to the ground as he walked as quickly as he could force himself to go. His hands and feet were already numb, face burning from the icy wind slapping his body and the wounds on his side only aggravated by the cold.

He felt himself stumbling before long, his legs not responding the way they should, numbed and throbbing. He kept moving, not even really sure why he was chasing after her anymore, but knowing that turning back would be even more pointless. His mouth was dry, tongue sticking as he wheezed for air. "Anna! Come back! Please... I... Didn't mean it!" He cried, not even sure if the sound was out loud or in his head, swallowed out by the whirling snow that surrounded him.

[Anna Winter-Wolf]

The sound of his voice drifted on the wind, just loud enough to be heard as a faint whisper. Anna wasn't sure whether she was actually hearing his voice or if her mind wanted her to hear it, but she stopped dead in her tracks. Through the narrow vision of her helm, her oddly colored eyes scanned the area that she had just trudged through. She saw little to nothing beyond the constant flow of snowflakes that fell from the sky, but something deep down begged her to go back to Ivan even if it was just to check on him to make sure he was still okay. Anna followed her exact tracks back to the cave and they became increasingly more difficult to find, she knew she had to find her way back quickly otherwise they would be separated until the storm blew over. Anna didn't think that Ivan would be able to handle the cold like she could, even though she herself was starting to tremble and slow down. The joints in her armor tried to lock up on her if she ever stalled a moment and it frightened her. To be stuck in the middle of nowhere, frozen into armor... it sounded like a story that the bards would tell to get people to laugh.

And then, just when Anna had started to give up on finding him, there he was. Ivan wasn't too far away from her now, but Anna moved as fast as she could. Her whole body was tense with shame as she stood before him, but Anna didn't waste any time and grabbed his hand and began to lead him back to the cave. Even though the cave was a mess, it would be far better than freezing to death, and Anna felt like it was her responsibility to keep Ivan alive. It was her fault Ivan was out in the blustering storm and Anna had every intention on correcting that as best as she could. But the trail to the cave suddenly became so unclear and Anna felt incredibly lost. She gawked around, left and right, hoping to see something that she could remember, but it was practically a white out and Anna could barely see her hand in front of her face. Her grip on Ivan tightened when the wind changed direction and she caught wind of the carnage. A flicker of hope set them off in the right direction and Anna kept dragging him along as best as she could. Between her armor, her battleaxe, and Ivan, Anna could barely move yet somehow managed. Perhaps it was the adrenaline rushing through her veins or sheer determination, but she got them back to the cave.

She led them inside and immediately dropped her battleaxe. Her whole body ached and her skin crawled when the cold air whipped at it again. With a shaky hand, Anna closed the door and started to take off her armor. It was too impractical to wear now, her skin nearly freezing to the metal plating, so she took it all off and immediately went to the fire pit afterwords. Anna desperately looked around for supplies to start the fire, since she knew only basic healing spells. When she finally found what she needed, Anna sat in front of the fire and did her best to get the fire started. At first, it was just a tiny flame, but it grew in size as she fed it with the remaining firewood and books she found laying around. When the fire was big enough to maintain itself, Anna gestured for Ivan to come sit with her so they could warm up. Her big, sad eyes stared up at him and practically gazed into his soul. Anna would have said if she could have thought of the appropriate words to say... nothing seemed right... nor did anything she thought of amount to a proper apology.... so she let her eyes do the talking.

[Ivan Novikov]

Oblivion is cold. Ivan was barely aware of his body as he trudged through the snow, not even sure if he was actually moving or lying face down in the thick white blanket all around him. His eyes were shut, the freezing wind burning them most of all when his limbs and face had gone numb. He stumbled again and barely caught himself, swaying as he stood there, lost in a torrent of blistering cold and alone. A moment of clarity struck him as he began contemplating laying down, images flicking in his mind of his own corpse curled up pathetically under a snow bank, never to be seen or thought of. Anna... she'd be fine. She was a Nord, after all. His knees shook slightly and he felt himself leaning to one side, no longer having the strength to keep himself standing.

The sudden snap back to awareness was triggered by a hand on his, eyes opening just enough to see the slight reflection of armor through the snow. His heart seemed to kick-start itself, pounding and desperately flooding his tired body with enough adrenaline to follow her, holding her hand like a vicegrip so he wouldn't lose her. He wasn't sure what he was thinking about, every fiber of his being focused on continuing to walk, not falling, holding his footing for just long enough to make it to wherever they were going.

His mind raced when he thought he could see the faint glow of torches, looking like ghostly faeries dancing in the wall of white. When they went in the comparative warmth of the cave hit him like a ton of bricks, every inch of his body aching as his blood fought to warm him back up. He let her go and stumbled loudly into the front room, the one with only one corpse, and leaned against the wall. His breath rattled out of him and he shivered violently, not even capable of getting him to somewhere warm.

He blankly noticed when she gestured for him, taking a moment for her identity and meaning to process in his mind. He walked slowly over to her, falling to his knees and wrapping his arms around her to keep from falling into the fire. He buried his face in her skin, as much thanks for saving him and to steal what warmth she had from her thicker armor. It was quite some time before he could manage to speak, lips still blue. "A-a-ann-na.... w-why did y-you run awa-y....?" He murmured, body still wracked by harsh shivers.

[Anna Winter-Wolf]

Anna's heart stopped when Ivan wrapped his arms around her. She sat there, completely still as his face nuzzled her skin and her cheeks turned the deepest shade of red possible. It would have been easy to mistake her rosy cheeks as just cold, but Anna knew better. Her entire body suddenly felt warm and uncomfortably tingly at his touch, her heart suddenly springing back to life. Anna was afraid that Ivan would hear it pounding away at the back of her ribs, but she didn't care... all that mattered was keeping him warm. The Nord's mind was conflicted as she tried to do what to do, but there really only seemed to be one way to warm him up. He looked so close to death and it instantly erased any doubt in her mind. Anna took a deep breath and let it out before pulling Ivan closer. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, keeping Ivan as close as possible so he could absorb her body heat.

"I... thought you hated...- Y-You just looked so disgusted with me..." she whispered into his ear, her voice sounding nervous and unsure. Anna couldn't help but nuzzle his neck gently, her lips lightly brushed his skin before she caught herself. She pulled her face away from Ivan and just sort of stared at him awkwardly for a moment, trying to decide if he noticed what she did or not. Anna's heart fluttered about nervously. Her eyes wandered again, too embarrassed to look at him any longer.

She felt like she needed to talk some more to distract him, so she desperately tried to put coherent thoughts together in her mind. "S-Shouldn't have run away... or d-dddragged you out here in the f-first place..." Anna glanced at the fire, just to make sure it was still going strong, then scanned his face again, looking for any sign... anything to let her know how he felt. "T-This is probably really.... awkward b-but I don't want you to freeze to d-death..."