I loved the feeling of the earth between my fingers. I laid out the small roots I had dug up to dry while I took a break to eat my lunch. I wiped my dirty hands on my skirt and pulled the shiny, red apple from my bag. I reclined slightly, using my left arm to support myself as I munched on my meal. The sweet, grainy meat of the apple was a wonderful contrast to the slightly bitter, smooth skin. I used the time to take in my surroundings. I had been gathering ingredients since the morning and had made my way quite far from Whiterun towards the northwestern flat lands near the hold. I could see the mountains that surrounded the area and the river that ran below them.

I watched as a pair of deer made their way across the river at a low point and slowly make their way over the rocky edge to the grass. The male's antlers were large and he showed them off proudly while he watched his mate come by and flick her tail in the air. I chuckled to myself. She knew who really ran the relationship.

I was watching the clouds drift by slowly when the sound of footfalls behind me alerted me that someone was approaching. I reached for the small dagger I had hidden in my boot, trying not to appear to be straining.

"Nice weather today." Farkas called and I instantly relaxed.

"Yes." I pushed myself up from the ground and turned to face him. "Perfect for gathering."

"I imagine so." He smiled at me. "I brought you some lunch; I thought you might be hungry."

"I just finished my apple." I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Well, I brought you some bread and cheese." He held out a piece of cloth wrapped around a small wedge of cheese and half a loaf of bread. "And some new cider I found in the market."

"Thank you." I reached out and took the cloth and small bottle with a cork pushed into the top. I returned to where I had been sitting, but this time facing him.

He sighed and sat on the grass himself. He placed his lyre on the ground next to him and leaned back.

"Are you mad at me?" He finally broke the tension that had been building between us.

"No. I thought you would be mad at me…" I confessed, sheepishly.

"Why would I be mad at you?" He pulled his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Because I chose to be a wolf, without talking to you first." I turned the bread over in my hands. "I wasn't sure if you were okay with it."

His face didn't change, but I could see the concern in his eyes. "Dyre." He breathed. "I don't want you to think what we have is something it isn't."

My heart leaped into my throat. '…something it isn't?' My heart began to race; what did he mean? Was I expecting too much from him? Was what we had not what I thought it was. I began to panic.

"I don't want you to ever feel like you are chained to me. You are free to be who you are and do what you please. Just know that I will follow you wherever you go, even to Sovengarde itself."

I relaxed.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I don't want you to think that you need to become someone you are not or be something you are not for me." He fiddled with a piece of grass he had picked up.

"Farkas." I breathed, my eyes were beginning to fill with tears.

"I know you have felt as though men always wanted something from you and I want you to know that all I want is to be near you."

I smiled at him. "Thank you."

"What were you doing when I interrupted you?" He asked, smiling again.

"I was looking at the clouds." I blushed at having been caught doing something so childish.

"You should continue." He smiled a sly, boyish smile. "I have a surprise for you."

"Oh, okay…" I raised an eyebrow at him before leaning back again, this time lying on my back to watch the clouds go by. I could hear him pick up his lyre.

"I don't know if you know this…" He tuned it slightly. "But I like to write music."

"Hmm…" I hummed. "I didn't know that."

"I wrote this for you."

He began to strum on the lyre. The tune was simple and upbeat.

"Well people may have told you that they think I am good.
And I've always tried to do the things a good man should do.

But before you expect me to be your solid ground,

You ought to know it's the good men that will always let you down.

Yea, it's the good men that will always let you down."

His voice was a wonderful tenor. I never would have thought that he would have been able to sing like that. I closed my eyes and listened as the melody unraveled and filled my thoughts.

"I haven't been around long enough to understand what love is.

And when I do the one thing you can be sure of is;

That before you expect me to have the love you need,

You ought to know with a good man your heart's still going to bleed.

Yea, even with a good man your heart's still going to bleed."

The melody slowed.

"I can understand if you want to break down,
If you want to jump ship,

If you want to skip town.

But there's something you ought to know.

Yea, there's something you need to know."

He paused and the music stopped for a moment.

"I'll be coming right after you.

I'll be coming right after you.

I am coming right after you."

The song slowly faded, I could hear him set his lyre down and join me on the ground. His hand found mine and we lay there, staring at the clouds.

"I will follow you Dyre, wherever you go."

I closed my eyes and let the tears roll down my face.


I apologize for the length of time it took me to produce this small installment. :) I was feeling a bit uninspired, but I have recently rekindled my love of writing this series and I plan to continue to write more regularly. The song in this chapter is an Aaron Lee Martin song called Good Man, you will quickly find that his songs have greatly inspired these stories.

I hope you enjoy reading about Dyre and Farkas, because I plan to write more with the two of them.