"She's coming 'round."
"Keiana, tell us what happened."
A soft moan escapes the young woman's mouth, then verdant eyes slowly open, blinking rapidly at the sudden influx of light. Her gaze eventually falls on the one who addressed her, plus two others. "Kodlak...? Aela? Vil?" Auburn brows furrow in thought, then she goes "Delvin. Where is he? I didn't...did I?"
"Calm down, Sister. The thief is fine, if a bit tired. He's laying down in the whelps room- your old bed if I'm not mistakin'," the Huntress tells her, "but considering he managed to get you here all the way from Riften without stopping, I think he deserves it. Farkas is keeping an eye on him."
Calloused fingers slowly slip through long yet dull straw locks, followed by "When your... colleague... brought you here, he wouldn't tell us much, just that an incident made you half feral in rage." Storm colored orbs look down on the exhausted female and Vilkas continues quietly, "You out of the entire circle have the most control regarding the beast blood, Ana. Rare is it that you slip... What angered you so?"
The woman shakes her head, burying her face into the male's side, taking comfort in the woodsy scent that wafted off her fellow Nord. "I don't want to talk about it, Brother."
"Then don't verbalize it." The Wolf Twin feels her form stiffen against him- not a surprising response, given Keiana's preference for filtering what she let through the link the members of the Circle shared. You have seen us all at our worst, Ana, and gave us your unwavering support. Let us do the same for you now, he tells her, their gazes locked so she would know the truth between the words.
A thin eyebrow arches slightly at his statement. Like how you wholeheartedly supported my becoming a Companion in the beginning? Keiana snorts as she gives the now abashed Vilkas a tired smile. Farkas?
A gruff voice slips into the connection. Yeah?
Have one of the whelps watch Delvin and come down, please? Preferably one he won't try to get in the pants of and vice versa.
From what you've told of me and what I've seen, I think Torvar could work, Farkas goes, his voice betraying his amusement. Five minutes, Sister.
The other Wolf Twin bounds into the room a few minutes later and perches himself on the blonde female's other side, clearly excited if the way he nuzzled her cheek in greeting was any indication. When asked about it, he just goes "I get to learn about what Ana does when she's not here, who wouldn't be?"
"It's nothing glamorous, Farkas, I can assure you of that," the woman in question goes, then sighs. "I will not be held responsible for what anyone sees during this...and Aela, I apologize in advance if this drags up your own bad memories." Before anyone can respond or ask questions, those gathered get hit by the onslaught of being thrust into a memory.
~~~***~~~
"Evenin' Boss. Got a minute?"
The Circle watches as a familiar pair of flawless emeralds peer up from the ledger they were perusing, a slight smile breaking across their fellow Companion's face. "For you, Delvin Mallory, you can have two." She chuckles softly, then goes "What's on your mind?"
The bald Breton- who had not a few hours ago brought their sister over their threshold in a sorry state- says to her as he waggles his eyebrows in a teasing fashion. "One of these days you'll want to give me more than two minutes, Ana." He moves over to the other side of her desk, leaning against it, and continues "A job came into my lap and I think you'd be perfect for it."
"The day I give in to that offer is the day you die because you're chasin' a certain leggy blonde that's not me until then. Perfect for what? The job, or your lap?" Keiana looks back down at the book, makes a small note, then stands up straight, arms crossing across her midsection. "That is a different tune you're singin' there, Del. Normally I'm the one that has to be beggin' you or Vex for a job- just because I'm the Guild Master doesn't mean I want to sit on my ass and do paper work all day. Have to keep these skills of mine sharp and all that..." A straw colored eyebrow arches just slightly as she stares into the man's eyes, then a huff escapes the Nord woman's mouth. "Fine, I'll bite. Let's hear it. First, where in this gods forsaken province is the item located?"
"A fort up in Eastmarch named Gallows Rock."
Aela stiffens besides Kodlak- this is what her sister meant in her apology. Before she can say anything, however, the Keiana in the memory cuts her brother in shadows off with a quick slice of her hand. "No. Out of the question."
"Boss, I know you aren't really keen on heading back to Eastmarch but..."
"My utter refusal on taking this job has nothing to do with that bastard sitting pretty on his throne, Delvin Mallory! My forebear's mate was brutally murdered there...all because he couldn't wait...all because Aela and I didn't get there fast enough. There's a reason a Companion never takes on jobs- especially ones like that- alone." Strands of hair cover the sides of the woman's face as her head lowers- more to cover the threat of tears in her eyes. "The Silver Hand took a good man from Skyrim that day. I haven't set foot in that place since we slaughtered every man and woman there, Delvin- it will be a scalding day in northern Skyrim before I do again."
"Not even for the Bow of Shadows?"
The Guild Master's lips set in a thin line. "You utter bastard. Way to try and bribe me to go with a bow that hasn't been glimpsed by anyone since before Red Year. By Talos, even I could only track it as far as when the Nerevarine sold it to the Museum of Artifacts in Mournhold- and that's with my calling in favors. How in the name of Oblivion did you track it down?"
The twins exchange amused smiles as they hear the exasperation in the echo's voice regarding the lack of information on something. While Vilkas was an ardent student of history, Ana was just as bad when it came to legends. Often the pair could be found debating in the hall the validity of something one of them found in some dusty tome til the wee hours of the morning. It was a shame, Farkas believed, that his brother and their shield-sister weren't mates like Aela and Skjor were- the two meshed well together.
"I'm a thief, Ana. We're not supposed to be nice. Doing underhanded things to get what we want is how we work, you of all people should know this." The four watch as a teasing smirk crosses the man's face when he tells her "So I've piqued your interest, Boss?"
"Yes, but not enough to convince me to go walking back into that nightmare. Send Karliah- I'm sure she'd appreciate the chance to replace the bow she gave me."
"She's in Raven Rock helping my brother."
"Then send Brynjolf. It'll do him some good to get out of Riften anyway."
"What will do me some good, Lass?"
They all smelled the man in question before they saw him- a tall and broad redheaded Nord, with mischievous mossy eyes and a smirk on his face. A confident male, if the swagger he walked with was any indication. Had he been like them, chances are this Brynjolf could have been an Alpha in the making.
Unfortunately for Keiana, she smelled him too, and knew from the first inhale that it wasn't right. Long fingers gripped at the table in front of her as her own eyes flash amber for a moment. "Who was she?" the woman bites out, trying to hold back the growl wanting to escape.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Lass." Lie.
"Oh no," murmurs Aela. "What an idiot."
"There's more to her anger than the lie though," Kodlak goes thoughtfully. "Let us keep watching."
"I'll give you one more chance to answer, Bryn. Who. Was. She."
A panicked expression flickered across the other Nord's face as he stops just past the middle of the cistern. "Lass, really. I have no idea..."
Before he could finish the second lie, the Guild Master vaulted over the table and in front of him, her bare hand wrapped around his throat. "That was a mistake, Bryn." The blonde leans forward, inhaling the skin her fingers didn't cover. "Not one of the usual wenches you've bedded in the past. Doesn't even smell that appealing." She meets his wide gaze directly, her usually forest orbs a glowing yellow color. "Could you not have washed before coming back to the cistern? Did you not think I'd know? I could smell each and every one of your sexual conquests for the past year, you idiot."
The Companions watch as slight changes to their sister's appearance and posture- a shifting of her feet signifying a balance shift, her normally neat nails sharpening and lengthening against the captive man's skin.
"All this time, I ignored it, though something inside was eating away at me, demanding retribution for the blatant disregard of the hints I dropped, for all the times you apologized and promised we'd speak at another time. Days became weeks, which became months. Give me one reason, Bryn."
"Ana!"
Her feral gaze shifts, her head turning to look at Delvin, who was now nearly behind her. "What."
"He can't breathe Boss!"
So wrapped up in her anger was Keiana that she didn't realize that the grip she had around her Second's throat had tightened dramatically in the few minutes, and his normally red tinged face was now turning blue from lack of air. Her eyes widen as fingers fly off Brynjolf's throat, the man collapsing to the walkway in a heap.
Keeping his hands where she could see them, Delvin moves over to her, head tilted over to the side. "Boss, let's get you out of here for awhile, yes? Is there somewhere I can bring you?"
She doesn't look at him, nor at the man breathing heavily on the floor. Her gaze is fixated at her fingers, which are still clawed. "Whiterun. Jorrvaskr. I can't... They're not..."
"Go get some stuff together, Ana. I'll bring Bryn to his bed."
Their sister doesn't respond, only starts shuffling off towards the side, possibly taking heed of his advice. The last thing the Companions hear before the memory ends is the Breton telling his brother in shadows "I told you to stop this horker shit, Bryn. More than once... Next time I'll let her have her way with you- even if that does mean she kills you."