I will not lie, I've kind of quit following the two times play through the song and move on, and I just write until it gets to about the right length on most of them. Just had to get that out of the way before I got to the actual plot.
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
Pairing: Aela/Dragon(FemOC) with just a tiny bit of Farkas/Carlotta that may or may not even be legit.
Universe: Elder Scroll Series V: Skyrim
Warnings: Probably some language, it is focused on the Companions after all, sexual references but no real sex scenes, etc. Not gonna lie, Farkas and Aela are both kind of OOC and Dragon kind of seems a little Bi-polar.
Rating: T
Other: So this is probably gonna be a lot different than BTTNM. Just Saying.
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
1. Song: Sally's Song from The Nightmare Before Christmas, sung by Amy Lee
This was not going to go well. I could feel it in my gut, and as Companion, I had learned to trust my instincts, in more ways than one.
Sure, the Silver Hand needed to be taken down, one way or another. They were prejudiced, murderous and cruel. The term monster was more fitted to them than it ever would be to any of the companions. Even so, what we were doing, picking them off one by one in secrecy was not going to end well. I don't know if it's because we were keeping it so tightly under wraps and not informing Kodlak of any of our activities, or because of the way that we were doing it, or even if it was just the plain and simple fact that we were doing it at all that had me feeling so ill-at-ease about it. All I know is that it's important, whatever it is.
But how am I supposed to explain that to the others involved? If I was lucky, they would only think I was a paranoid, foolish coward if I tried to stop our project simply because I felt "bad" about it, and that was the best outcome I could probably expect. The worst, I suppose, would be if they killed me, kicked me out of the companions, sent me to the silver hand themselves as bait, or any combination of the three. And what if this feeling doesn't even mean anything? What if it's nothing more than my conscience deciding to be a douchebag in the weirdest situation, or what it I was losing it a little, or any number of other things that could be causing me to worry over nothing? Let's be honest, I'm pretty sure I'm not all out psycho, but my grip on reality is probably not as good as the next gal's, if you know what I mean.
So, I'm just going to go ahead and keep doing whatever Aela tells me to. More important than the other reasons, I was not going to disappoint her. I won't lie, I crave her attention and approval, I have since I met her when I helped her and Farkas take down that giant outside of Whiterun, and that desire has only increased. I guess I have something of a "crush" on her, as my friend Carlotta's daughter Mila would say. It makes sense in more ways than I care to acknowledge, though I have very little doubt that she most certainly does not see me in that light. Sigh.
Still, even with all of the factors working against my will to speak up, I certainly do hope that it turns out to be nothing. I'll never be able to forgive myself if someone gets hurt because of it.
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
2. Song: We're Young And Beautiful by Carrie Underwood
I had had too much to drink and I knew it, and I would probably regret everything tomorrow. We were in the Bannered Mare... or was it the Drunken Huntsman? Or were we even still at whatever inn it was? I couldn't remember, and I didn't particularly care where we were or even who was there. Not when I was sitting on the lap of a not nearly as inebriated huntress. I wasn't quite intoxicated enough that I was unaware of the fact that the room was bound to have other occupants, so luckily, I wasn't making quite as much of a fool of myself as I would be if I were trying (failing) to give her a lap dance, but I would definitely be hearing about this around Jorrvaskr the following morning. And most likely for weeks afterwards as well.
Doesn't matter, though, because the hand on my thigh and the arm around my waist were Aela's, and she wasn't pushing me off or getting pissed at me or anything else so life was good. Maybe she likes me like I like her?
Or maybe she just thinks of me as her clingy, drunk little friend/sister and this won't even affect how she thinks of me. That idea made me frown, even though the little, tiny, itty-bitty part of me that still had any sense of caution was sighing in relief, the rest of me, the totally wasted part of me, was displeased. I don't think I like being written off like that. No, not at all, actually.
So I should make sure that she knows that I think she's amazing and wonderful, as well as totally hot. Yeah I should, before I go back to being a coward. But how should I do it?
A cat-like grin spread across my face, which was buried in her shoulder, as a candle was lit in my head. "Aela..." I sung as I pulled back from her shoulder to look her in the face, though my slur caused it to come out more like "Ay-la".
She looked back at me with an eyebrow raised in amusement, most likely at my drunken state. "Yes, pet?" I grinned wider and, instead of answering, slammed my lips against her. She'll definitely know where I stand with her now.
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
3. Song: U + Ur Hand by P!nk
Aela had gone to get drinks for the three of us, Farkas because he was injured and myself because I pouted until she gave in. Farkas laughed and called "whipped" after her when she finally agreed and got up to go get some mead. I was facing mostly away from the stairs, which was part of the reason why I didn't expect that hand on my shoulder from someone who definitely had no wolf blood in them.
I turned and looked over my shoulder, causing the hand to immediately fall off, my gaze immediately morphing into a glare as I realized who I was looking at. It was that stupid bard, Mikael, or something like that, give me what I assumed was supposed to be a charming smile but most certainly did not have that effect. I could smell the alcohol on him easily. This couldn't be good.
"Soooo I finally figured out why you wanted me to leave that whore Carlotta alone..." The man slurred. I rolled my eyes, though he was apparently too drunk to see it, clenching a fist at the whore comment made about a great woman who was also a very good friend to me. He continued, apparently not even taking note of the death-inducing glare that I was giving him, "You want me for yourself, don'cha?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise and disgust at his assumption, not even saying anything because I was pretty sure that anything I said, he would take to mean something else anyway. I was simply going to turn around and ignore him until he went away, until he decided to "make his intentions even more clear".
"How about it pretty lady? We could go upstairs, I'll even pay for the room. Trust me, it'll be the best night of your life." He grinned even wider and put his hands back on my shoulders. I tensed, clenched my fists and gritted both teeth at the contact, doing my best not to transform and tear his stupid ass to pieces. I'm not a touchy person as it is except with people I know well, and that certainly didn't include this moron. Farkas, obviously knowing what was going through my head, said lowly, "If you want to keep those hands, you'd better take them off of the lady." The bard, instead of taking the intelligent advice that he had been given, laughed, "And who's going to do something about it? You? What are you, her lover?"
He laughed again, but was cut off by an obviously seething voice. "No, I am." Aela growled lowly before suddenly the hands were gone and the bard was being held up against the wall and whisper dark threats that all in the room could hear because of their superior wolf hearing. The pathetic man looked like he was about to faint when she let him go, and he nearly flew out the door when she did.
When she turned back around to us, she didn't seem as livid as before, but she still looked pretty mad. I was surprised when she walked back over to our table and it looked like she was just going to sit down, until she pulled me up, sat down in my seat, and, before I could protest at the seat stealing, pulled me down to sit on her lap. "Mine." She claimed as her arms wrapped around my waist.
"A little possessive, then, are we?" I grinned, "I like it."
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
4. Song: I Can Hear The Bells from Hairspray
I couldn't seem to get my face to go back to normal. My mile-wide smile seemed to be stuck, despite the fact that my cheeks were legitimately starting to ache. It was probably because I was sitting in front of the full length mirror in what I would, in less than an hour, be married in. It was a beautiful dress, full length and very flattering if I must say so. The colours were silver and red, something that I had to fight the whole way for, since most of the people who helped us plan the wedding had insisted that the bride was supposed to wear a white dress. I'm not sure what the deal was with the difference between myself and the woman that I was marrying. I'm not sure if it was because if we stereotyped our roles in our relationship to fit a heterosexual marriage, she would be the man and I would be the woman (yeah, I'm not in denial, if we're playing it like that, I'm definitely not the dominant one), or if it's because I just seem like I would be more of a pushover (which I kind of am), because Aela said that she wasn't wearing a dress and that was that, no questions asked, but they insisted that I wear a dress and when I agreed as long it wasn't white (I like to be a rebel and I look awful in white), they threw a total fit. Luckily, we found this one, because if this one wasn't so perfect, they would have kept pushing and I probably would have given in eventually.
In addition to the beautiful dress, my hair was left down and brushed so that it was devoid of all tangles (and believe me, that took forever and probably won't last any longer than the I do's, if even that) and cascaded over my shoulders and down my back. I had opted to wear no makeup. AUGH! I feel like such a girl, sitting here, staring at myself in the mirror and thinking about my outfit. I don't like it, but at the same time, it makes me feel really giggly, bubbly and happy on the inside, so I can deal with it just for today.
"Well look at that. You look so feminine, it's almost like you're a real lady." A teasing male voice called from the doorway, and I recognized it to be Farkas before I even turned around to look at him.
"Oh, hush up you, she looks amazing and you know it." The small (in comparison to Farkas, at least) woman brushed past the nord, carrying a medium sized bouquet of multiple purple flowers, which I knew was to be mine. She set the bouquet on a small table and walked over to me, her purple bridesmaid dress fluttering around her feet as she did so.
"I never said that she didn't, I just said that she looks unusually girly." Farkas smirked as he spoke. Carlotta rolled her eyes at him, and I did the same thing, though not for the same reasons. I just couldn't even tell what was going on with the two of them. I would definitely try to set them up, except I wasn't quite sure whether they were bantering like siblings or if they were legitimately flirting. Oh well, if they were actually flirting, it won't be long until one of them acts on it. Neither of the two are particularly patient.
"Are you ready?" Carlotta asked me without bothering with any pep talk. None was necessary for me at this point.
"Absolutely." I grinned at her and jumped out of the chair that I had been fidgeting in for the past half an hour since I had finished getting ready.
"Hold on, sister, you have ten more minutes until the wedding is supposed to start, I just wanted to come and check on you and make sure that you weren't going to get cold feet at the last minute." I half glared at her and half pouted as I sat back down, knowing that it was going to be the slowest ten minutes of my life.
"Oh don't give me that look, it's only ten minutes. Just daydream or something for the ten minutes, it's go by before you know it."
A total lie, by the way. She was wrong and I was right, the ten minutes took freaking forever to pass by, but they were ten minutes that were totally and completely worth it.
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
5. Song: A Whole New World from Aladdin (Disney)
After several moments of just lying on the grass together, not touching, but only just barely, simply sharing the night and basking in the afterglow of the hunt, I realized that we were both naked. It, surprisingly, didn't startle me or bother me like it probably would have this morning, and probably tomorrow, if not in a few hours. After running with someone as a werewolf, you just achieve a whole new type of intimacy that you simply can't reach in human skin. It explains how all of the "inner circle" are so close to each other.
"You gave us even more trouble than Farkas did on his first transformation." I could hear the grin in her voice without even having to see her. "The first time is always the most intense, and your's far exceeded any of our expectation."
"Is that a good thing?" I asked, partly out of curiosity, partly to keep her talking." She laughed at what I said, shifting just slightly as she answered.
"The very fact that you're alive is a good thing. You had us worried that you had become a wolf permanently, with how long it took you to shift back. It does happen occasionally, not very often and it hasn't happened since I have been a companion, but I know for a fact that it can happen." There was a short, surprisingly comfortable pause before I spoke again.
"So I guess this means that I'm a werewolf now?" I asked, staring up at the infinite starry sky in wonder.
"You have the blood of the wolf in you." She answered indirectly, "But it will be a while before you can become on again, you'll need at least a day to replenish your strength." She began to rise, and I copied her movements.
"So what are we going to do now then?" I asked as we both began to don our clothing and armor. She smirked when she replied.
"Now we're going to take down the Silver Hand."
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
6. Song: I Can't Help Falling In Love With You by Elvis
It's not particularly mushy, like most love stories that you hear about. There are no romantic love letters, no possessive lovers to be dealt with, no impossible obstacles to overcome, no moonlight serenades or romantic dates, nothing of that sort. I'm totally fine without any of that, though.
We're pretty much perfect for each other. When we fight together, nothing can stop us, not with how perfectly we work together, how completely aware of the other and synchronized we are. Our conversations are never dull, our personalities complement each other, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle. She is strong in areas where I lack, and what little she lacks, I am strong enough to make up for. Neither of us needed formality, or any of that mushy crap that so many other couples require to "keep their relationship alive". Not to mention the amazing sex. If the Gods have ever crafted any two people to be together, it was us.
Oh, but look at that. First I say that we aren't mushy, romantic idiots, and then I turn around and spout off like one. The point is, our relationship isn't lovey dovey, like some, but it's perfect for us. She means the world to me, if you'll forgive the excessive sentimentality. She's always seems to know exactly what I need when I'm upset or in some way discontent. By that, I mean she knows when to take me down to the bannered mare for a drink, when to get me to talk about whatever it is, when comfort sex is required and when I just need to be left alone. She's actually kind of sweet, in her own unique way. I can't tell you how many gifts of freshly killed game I received at my home before we began to live together, even though I had no trouble hunting for myself.
Best of all, we understand each other. I had another lover, long before I even came to Skyrim. That relationship didn't work out primarily for one reason, which was that she couldn't stand how much I traveled. I am an adventurer and she was not, and she couldn't understand why I couldn't just stay at home with her and help her run her store or something, and she kept pushing for us to hurry up and start a family right then. I was barely seventeen at the time, and nowhere near ready for that kind of commitment, nor did I want to be stuck inside a store all day. I'd rather be out hunting or battling my way through a dungeon or something. That was actually the reason why I came to Skyrim. Aela, however, understands the need that I have to be out doing something, having that same need herself, and she also doesn't take it to that other extreme that I've seen occasionally where you can't spend more than maybe a day in a city and you never see your lover, if you even have one. She and I are exactly where we need to be for everything to work out for us.
So as I said we are perfect for each other in most areas. I would give my life for her, and I know very well that she would do the same. It's really no surprise to me that I fell in love with her.
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
7. Song: Can You Feel The Love Tonight from The Lion King
A dark haired imperial merchant sat at a small table with a large nord warrior. The two were sharing a drink together and rolling the eyes at their two friends.
"I wish that they would stop dancing around each other and just go ahead and get together already! I am so tired of watching them practically hump each other in here every single time they get drunk and then listen to Dragon insist the next morning that nothing else happened and that they're definitely not together. It was kind of funny at first, but now it's just annoying." The imperial woman, Carlotta, practically ranted at the male.
Said male laughed and soothed, "It shouldn't be much longer now. I'm not sure about Dragon, but Aela's not exactly the shy, avoids her feelings type, and she's not oblivious either. She'll probably do it soon, and, honestly, it's probably going to be the most blunt, unromantic confession in the world." He laughed again, imagining how Aela might go about the matter. Carlotta rolled her eyes at the thought.
"Well she better hurry up and do it soon, because we all know that Dragon's completely the shy, avoids her feelings, oblivious type. I swear, Farkas, if she hasn't done it by next week, I'm locking the two of them in a room together until they do!" The annoyed woman eyes the two they were discussing, who were sitting in a chair in the corner of a room, though they were anything but obtrusive, what, with the smaller, woman curled up on the auburn haired woman's lap, being petted like the small pet cat that she most definitely resembled at the moment. She was obviously so intoxicated that she probably wouldn't be able to walk in a straight line, if asked. The other woman, Aela, was a lot closer to sober than Dragon, but she was still drunk enough to be letting it happen, so that probably didn't mean overmuch.
She was still looking at the pair, when Dragon, who had been nuzzling Aela's shoulder up until then, suddenly jerked backwards to look the other woman in the face, a mischievous grin on her face as she practically sung "Ayla" which was obviously meant to be "Aela". "Yes, pet?" The taller woman humored, obviously amused by the half elf's state. She was completely unsurprised when Dragon basically lunged forward and just barely didn't smack their heads together as she kissed the other woman. It was bound to happen eventually.
She did grin, though, when Farkas laughed again, casually threw an arm around her shoulder and said, "Looks like you won't have to."
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
8. Song: Past The Point Of No Return from The Phantom Of The Opera
"Surely you recognize Aela even in her wolf form." Skjor said as I took in the beast in front of me. The werewolf was fairly tall, and would probably need to crouch in a normal size room. Is that why Jorrvaskr is so freaking tall? But that is so not what I need to be thinking of right now. Her fur was dark, not the colour of her hair like I had thought it would be, the same colour that Farkas' was when I saw him as a wolf. There was a pretty nice looking six pack on her that made me wonder whether that was a result of being a wolf or just because she had it as a human (which I knew she did). Honestly I probably wouldn't have known that it was her, or even a female at all if Skjor hadn't said it, but I suppose that that's not exactly something that I should say about the woman whom I had such an epic girl-crush on, again, as my may-as-well-be niece Mila would say.
"This is what binds the inner-circle together, what makes us stronger. To become a part of the inner-circle, you must drink the blood of a wolf, one of your shield siblings, and become one with the wolf yourself. Aela has volunteered to be the one to initiate you into our ranks." Skorj explained, reminding me a just a little bit of the head of some weird cult with "initiations" and animal sacrifices and other necessary weird cult activities. Again, probably shouldn't say anything about it.
Then, without further ado, he took out a dagger and cut Aela's palm deeply and let the blood pour into the weird altar thingy, and that just completely made the cult-like picture. "Once you drink this blood, you will be one of us." Skjor finished afterwards, obviously not noticing my uncertainty or the odd thoughts that were probably showing on my face. I like how he doesn't even ask me if I actually want to be a werewolf, he just assumes that I do. Oh well.
I walked up to the bloody pool, staring at the blood, which was obviously darker than a human's. Do I really want to do this? I glanced around, seeing all of the familiar faces, and Aela's not so familiar one, staring at me in anticipation, and noticed that Skjor was subtly blocking the only door leading out of the tiny room.
Eh, may as well. I mean, even if I don't like it, there must be a cure or something, like with vampirism. I was a vampire for a couple of weeks in Cyrodil, but after the first few weeks, I decided that I kind of liked the sun and the taste of real food, so I went ahead and broke into the castle in Skingrad and stole the cure from the count there, who is still a vampire, btw. Yeah, he caught me, but I chugged it right then and there, and obviously he couldn't get it back from me after that. Besides, he had at least seven bottles of the stuff, so he can suck it. After that, though, he chased me all the way out of Skingrad, and the only reason that he didn't kill me when he caught me was because he realized that I was the granddaughter of the woman who had gotten him all of the bottles in the first place. Yay heritage.
No, seriously Dragon, that is so not what you should be thinking about right now. Stop rambling.
Anyway, as I was thinking before I so rudely interrupted myself with a story, there's probably a cure or something anyway, so even if it totally sucks, I can probably just find myself a cure. Whatever.
So, ignoring the thick, warm, somewhat uncomfortable feeling that it caused, I dipped both hands in the blood, cupping them to hold the liquid, and drank. Then my world went black.
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
9. Song: Oogie Boogie's Song from The Nightmare Before Christmas
I was most definitely not intimidated, nor was I particularly impressed, regardless of the fact that I was chained to a chair in a cell in the very heart of the Silver Hand headquarters. The head of the organization himself was standing in front of me, taunting me through the bars of the cell even as he stood at least the length of his leg away from the bars, as if I could somehow get him from the very back of the cell while currently chained to a sturdy metal chair with silver chains which, by the way, kept me from being able to shift at all and hurt like hell.
Speaking of which, I wondered if that would leave a scar. Where the chain was touching my bare skin (which was pretty much everywhere that it was touching me at all since I was in my small clothes), some smoke was still slowly rising off of my skin and the skin was either bright red or black depending on how hard the chain was pressing into my skin. I'll have to ask Aela later, whenever I get rescued, because I know that I will be. She knew where I had been going to steal those plans, and when I don't show up back at Jorrvaskr within a few days, she'll definitely come and save my sorry ass. We are kind of mates, you know? I have faith in her.
"-invade Jorrvaskr and slay or capture all of your monster friends, especially that red headed woman you seem so fond of." That actually caught my attention, since I had completely tuned out his moronic threats on my personal safety and whatnot. "And you won't be able to stop it, you pathetic beast. I'll kill most of them, but don't worry, I'll make sure my men specifically keep her alive. I'll even put her in the cell right next to yours so that you'll be able to hear her screams. How generous of me, right?" The sick smile on the bastard's face as he noticed what had caught my attention, and my eyes widened then narrowed as a surprisingly animalistic growl ripped itself from my throat at the thought of this… trash even attempting to hurt my mate. And they're going to attack Jorrvaskr? Fuck.
That totally would have been on those plans that I was supposed to be stealing if I hadn't gotten caught- Honestly, I've been part of the thieves guild for years and I get caught now of all times. Fuck.
If looks could kill, the man would be on the floor right now, but sadly all it did was freak the fuck out of him, my eyes probably flashing gold as I tried not to turn, knowing that it would only make the silver burn more and accomplish absolutely nothing. He quickly walked away after that, and I put my head down, breathing deeply to calm myself down as I tried to figure out what to do.
No idea how I'm gonna pull this off, but hey, I killed Mercer fucking Frey and I'm Brynjolf's right hand in the guild, so I'll figure something out. All I know is that I have to get out of here before these morons decide to put their plans into actions. There's no way I'm letting anyone get hurt because of my idiocy.
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
10. Song: Nothing's Gonna Harm You from Sweeney Todd
Another nightmare. Great. I would hope that I didn't startle Aela awake with my shooting up in bed, again, but I would be surprised if I hadn't, since she's such a light sleeper. And it's pretty obvious that I did, in fact, wake her up because of the arms that just wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me back down so that I was lying on her chest. Again. And did I mention that this has happened before?
About six times, to be precise. And this is not counting the two nights that I spent in the temple of Kyne being healed by the priests, and those two nights I was in a medically induced sleep, so there was no activity from me whatsoever on those two nights. It's the same nightmare every single night- I would suddenly wake up, back in the chair all alone in my cell with silver still burning into my skin. Aela had never come for me, and my being rescued was all just a hallucination caused by dehydration, lack of sleep, hunger, and everything else that came into the equation. In the dream, it was even darker than it had been on in the cell at night and even I couldn't see anything. I screamed, for Aela, for Farkas, for Brynjolf, hell, even for Karliah. I cried out for anyone who I thought had ever care for me at all, for what felt like hours, but no one ever came. I struggled to escape from my prison when my throat began to bleed, but the only thing that I could ever accomplish was rocking the chair until it fell over. Every single night I felt the ground rushing upwards to meet my skull, and every single night I woke up inches before impact.
Yeah, I know it probably might not seem so terrifying to most people, but I swear, after being in that cell for thirteen days, alone for three, waiting and waiting and praying with everything that you have for help that you know probably should have arrived already if it was ever coming at all... Wondering whether your mate, that you absolutely adore and would trust above anyone, even yourself, is hurt, dead... or had left you to suffer and die alone. And then you realize what a horrible person you are, because you can't decide which one you would prefer. Fuck it, I can't even think about it anymore right now.
The hand calmly running itself through my hair was soothing, as it was intended to be, and even though it was pitch black in our shared room, the strong, steady beat of my mate's heart against my ear was immediately calming. Even though I'm sorry that she has to put up with my insecurities and my childishness, I'm really glad that she's here. I probably couldn't handle this myself. Of course, if she wasn't here, I would either have never joined the companions, never infiltrated the Silver Hand headquarters, or I would have died in that cell if the other two things had still somehow happened, though they probably wouldn't have.
But none of that particularly matters. The what-if's and whatnot. What good does it do any of us to brood over what could have happened? I don't need to be thinking on any of that right now, so right now I'm just going to enjoy the feelings of being loved by another and feeling completely safe.
FF won't let me have a page break line so this is what I'm using in its place
As always, I hope you enjoyed, and I will hopefully see you in another update. Until next time, my lovelies!
