Somewhere in the plains of Whiterun…..
Why? Why? Why?
Why was Vilkas here? And what was he doing by himself?
As the dragon soul flew into her, the dragonborn saw Vilkas's eyes widen in awe and astonishment.
"By the Gods," he whispered.
"You get used to it," she said in a deeper tone than normal.
It was a good thing she cast an illusion spell on herself to disguise her voice. When it was clear the dragon was dead, she quickly cast the spell before he noticed.
They were closer now and it was apparent he was assessing her. His eyes scanning her form, not in lust, but in memorization. He was taking in her attire, the weapons she used (her conjured sword was still in one hand), and the cowl on her face.
For a brief second, his eyes met hers and she was worried that he would recognize her solely by their color.
"Ahem," she coughed and to her surprise the surly companion looked away abashed. Is Vilkas, the mighty warrior, actually blushing? It was very amusing and she would have teased him for it, but she still had to be careful with how she acted around him.
She covered her amusement by dispelling her sword and walking over to the dragon corpse.
"I believe those trinkets are yours," waving a hand and indicating the few sparkling gems on the ground near its bones.
"I couldn't," Vilkas stated and she noted his voice was a bit shaky. He was probably still embarrassed for staring at her earlier. "Those are yours, I just-"
"Helped?" she interrupted and was surprised to see an expression of shock on his face.
"Only a little," he replied and she had to stifle a chuckle from leaving her throat.
Blushing and being humble? That's a side of Vilkas she hadn't seen and didn't know existed.
This is turning out to be quite the day, indeed.
"Helping me take down a dragon is no small feat," she stated. Even if you got in the way at times. "I believe you earned those."
She bent down and took the gems in hand. Then she took an empty coin purse from her belt and put the gems inside. Once they were secure she turned and tossed the coin purse to Vilkas who easily caught it.
"I…thank you," Vilkas said and looked down at the coin purse in thought.
"Thank you," she responded and when he looked up she bowed. "Farewell, warrior."
She walked back to her horse and saw it was chewing on some grass as if nothing happened.
Lucky beast, the dragonborn thought as she reached for it's reins. Wish I could have sat back and saw the whole thing go down too!
"Wait!" Vilkas called out and he startled the dragonborn from her thoughts.
Weren't they done? Please let us be done! I don't know how long my spell will hold out!
Briefly, she debated on ignoring him and pretending she didn't hear him call out. But her horse nickered and looked over at the dark-haired Nord.
Oh now you notice your surroundings? She looked at the beast, but it only nickered again and nudged her towards Vilkas. Traitor!
She turned around and asked a little too tersely, "Yes? What is it?"
"My apologies," he said and began fumbling with the coin purse in his hand.
He was silent for several moments and the dragonborn wondered if he was going to say anything else. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited. For the first time since she known the man, she silently willed him to say something. Anything.
She needed to end their meeting and be on her way. Before his senses returned and he started realizing who he was really dealing with.
When the silence became too awkward, she was going to tell him sorry, but I need to be on my way
But then Vilkas spoke and blurted out the most confusing thing-
"I was wondering where you were going…"
It was a good thing she had a cowl on. Not just to conceal her identity, but because she would have openly gaped at the man. What an odd thing to say. He sounded like a child who was sad to see their beloved hero walk away.
She tilted her head and regarded him. Wondering what in Nirn could have motivated him to say such a thing.
"I…that is…I was just wondering if you always travelled alone…" He looked from her to the ground as he stated his thoughts. "It's dangerous. I mean…I know you can handle yourself, but…"
He let out a sigh and frowned. He seemed to be struggling with his words.
"It's better if someone was around to watch my back?" she finished for him.
He glanced at her and nodded, seemingly relieved that she didn't snap at him for sounding foolish.
The fabled dragon slayer was quiet for a moment. Thinking on what he said. It touched her that he was actually worried about her. Most people were too busy pushing their own agenda on her. Trying to curry her favor and get her to complete some menial task.
It was nice hearing someone openly expressed their concern for her, for a change.
Not you. She corrected herself. His concern is for the dragonborn.
She felt angry, but couldn't explain why. Of course Vilkas would care about another fellow warrior. Especially the dragonborn. So why did that bother her so?
She snapped herself out of her thoughts when she felt his eyes on her. Now is not the time to think on this.
"You are right," she continued after what she hoped was a brief pause. "But I would rather not worry about the life of someone fighting at my side. No matter how capable they are in battle."
Her last statement was meant as a soft blow. Vilkas was a proud man and a fine warrior. He trained diligently to be proficient in any weapon he could handle. Which he was, but she couldn't risk him getting the idea to offer her his services.
"I see," he nodded. The dragonborn could see a bit of hurt present in his eyes, but he accepted her words without question. "Then allow me to at least wish you safe travels."
The woman wanted to let out a breath of relief. At any moment her illusion spell was going to wear off.
"Same to you, warrior" she stated as she mounted her horse.
"Vilkas," he mumbled out before she turned her horse to leave. "Of the companions of Jorrvaskr."
She wasn't going to chance saying his name. She cursed it far too often in his presence.
So instead, she said the only thing that came to mind.
"I'll remember that," she nodded and internally panicked at how her voice caught at the end of her statement. The spell is gone!
Not taking any more chances, she waved farewell before nudging her horse to canter away. When the mare was far enough not to kick dust in his face, the dragonborn urged the horse to break into a gallop.
She didn't dare look back. She knew his eyes were following her path. She only hoped she did enough so he didn't recognize it was her.
Only one way to find out. She thought as she rode over the hills. I have to go back to Jorrvaskr.
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A/N: This is actually an import of my story on AO3, I'll be working on copying the rest of the chapters onto this site. This is my first time posting anything to this site so I apologize in advance for any big mistakes. Once I get use to this system, I'll correct them. Any comments, suggestions, or constructive criticism welcome!