It was a peaceful morning and the sun's rays bathed the land in its light, birds sang while the insects were finally starting to move around, the animals starting to wake to begin their daily forage.
Audur had not slept that night the things she had witnessed had made such an impossible feat for now. As the forest slowly came to life her head rose to look towards it to watch as the first life of the morning began to move around the thicket but the longer she stared the more unease found her, fear of seeing a certain person shaking her.
Driven down here Audur had traveled alone, in fact it had been a long time since she had sat to talk to someone and so when she discovered kin in these lands her heart had jumped with joy and she had been eager to meet with them, talk to them, learn and the first evening she had met her it was good even if a bit strange.
The blood-kin she had met acted strangely that night but she did not mind it, overwhelmed with the joy of finally breaking the lonely circle she had found herself in. The two talked and got to know each other and that night Audur did not sleep alone, instead she had shared warmth with her kinsman once again and for the first time in a long while she did not feel the void within her.
Much later Audur had made her way back to the camp where she had stayed with her kinswoman, eager to share the wild strawberries she had found and speak more to her and learn of the Vale she hailed from. When she approached, however, there was another one at the camp, a man. She did not know him and he did not look to be one of Beorn's blood. Wary of this guest Audur moved away and hid to watch them from a distance.
When the two prepared to leave she was faced with a shocking image that she could not lay to rest. The woman of her kin shifted her form and the man climbed upon her back, mounted her as if she was a broken steed. A humiliating sight.
Anger filled her and the berries she had collected fell to the ground and a curse whispered from her as only one word entered her mind at the sight, slaver.
Audur followed them deeper into the forest, she had collected a rock that she was going to strike this man with and aid her blood to free her from his foul grip.
She remembered the stories her grandmother told of how their kin had been caught and enslaved, tortured and killed for entertainment. The blood boiled within her, this man could not be allowed to live.
When the two caught the sight of her Audur did not hesitate and threw the rock towards the man's head in hopes to strike him down from where he sat on the back of her kinswoman but despite the surprise and speed his head moved away.
Audur cursed the man and gave him a chance to remove himself with a promise that she would grant him a merciful death. Such men have no right to keep their lives, but the man refused and the kinswoman took to defending him.
Confusion was the only thing she could feel mixing into the pulsing rage that drove her at this time. She tried to find reason in these actions but none were found. Her kinswoman claimed that she desired this humiliation and it did not matter what Audur said, how she tried to remind her kinswoman of their honor and pride she refused. It was then Audur realized that her kinswoman's spirit had been broken, she had chosen a life of servitude hidden under the name of friendship.
There was nothing she could do except offer her pity and as Audur parted from them a word from the man was caught where he compared Audur to a female dog in a most impolite manner. It struck her deep, she had heard the name used towards others in an unkind manner just as he did now.
She was alone again.
Some time later while she wandered the woods aimlessly she had caught a glimpse of the two again and followed, hoping that she could find some rhyme or reason for this whole matter but instead she found something that only made her heart grow heavy.
Once again the man sat on top of the shifted kinswoman using her to joust towards an enemy they fought. Audur could feel the rage bubble up again as she heard the man shouting his commands to her kinswoman and she followed like a well trained dog.
A friend the kinswoaman had named him but Audur saw nothing but a slaver who had broken one of Beorn's blood, stripped her of her pride and now humiliated her, becoming nothing more than a simple pet. If this was friendship in these lands Audur did not wish for it.
Although she felt inclined to help the two she knew well that her rage would turn on the man and when it did she would have to battle her own, she had no desire for such. Instead she stepped away and found a place to sit. Short time later she saw them run past but neither paid her much mind.
Sat by the peaceful lake of Nen Harn Audur stared down at her own reflection. Without the wind the surface of the water was that of a mirror and she could see herself clearly, all of it. The warm tears were wiped aside and she tried to calm herself as she listened to the chirping of the birds around her.
She watched the reflection and she leant in closer once she began to see her mother in the face that sat on the water. A small smile found her, everyone had always said she looked like her mother.
Audur leant in closer and stretched her hand out towards the surface of the water, perhaps if she would try hard enough she could feel her mother's grasp one more time. The tip of her fingers met that of the reflection and slowly they sank in. The fingers fell through the surface and the cold water embraced her skin, just as had been expected. The reflection distorted and her mother's image was gone. The woman's fingers curled still hoping to grasp at something but there was nothing but the cold, clear water that parted as her fingers closed into her hand. The hand lingered in the water for a short time before the woman sat back again, withdrawing her hand and looking at it.
Alone again.
