Three days. It took three days for Dominae's bones to heal back to perfect health, though most of the bruises still stayed. They were healing too, though; all because of very talented healers and some vile healing potions. Dominae was never more grateful for magic and alchemy than she was now. She left a large donation for the priestesses of Kynareth and a huge tip for the local alchemist. All groups involved were pleased.
Well, except for Lydia. But there wasn't much that Dominae could do about that.
The blonde would have figured she's learned by now that Dominae didn't stand still. She always needed to move, always needed to do something, always needed to get better. Lyd demanded that she rest, but rest brought nothing good. Rest only brought her the dream she had when she first woke up.
Nothing from the dream ever changed; she only saw the same sights, heard the same words, felt the same shocks. But no matter how many times she had the dream, she was always so confused. This woman had the same face, the same body, the same name as her, yet she lived in a different time.
Dominae had tried to convince herself that maybe she was a decedent to the woman, but it wasn't possible. Something like that just didn't happen.
For the time being, Dominae just pushed the thought out of her mind. Right now she had other important things to think about, which was the training Kodlak suggested she do with the Companions. To get Lyd off her back about training after healing, she had sent the young woman back to Dragonsreach, where she suggested that she too get some training. That way, they both had a better form of defense when they came upon dragons. Dominae was the Dragonborn; there was no way that was going to be their last encounter with the scaled beasts.
Dominae made her way around the back of Jorrvaskr, luckily running into a large handful of her Shield-Siblings, most of them taking their time in training on their best skills. A few looked up to give her a hello and welcome her back. The blonde Nord smiled and made her way over to Vilkas, who was battling his target with a steel greatsword.
"My brother in arms, would you spare me a moment?"
Hearing her, the smaller twin turned around, giving the blonde woman a smile. "Of course my sister; I am glad to see that you are well."
"So, you heard of my latest battle as well?" Dominae mumbled, not in the least glad he knew. Vilkas sensed this and sent her a reassuring smile.
"Just the Circle knows about it. Kodlak told us when he and Farkas came back to Jorrvaskr. I'm glad to know that you're okay Dominae."
Dominae placed a hand on his shoulder and grinned back at him. "Thank you Vilkas. It's for my health that I'm asking you a favor."
Vilkas raised one of his dark eyebrows at her in question. "A favor for your health? What can I do for you?"
"After struggling with that dragon and staring death in the face, I know I need more training in all the fields. I'm the Dragonborn; the people count on me to kill these things, and if one can hurt me this badly, I don't stand a chance," the blue eyed woman sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "I need your training in two-handed weapons."
"Dominae," Vilkas said in his unique accent, shaking his head with a smile, "That is not a favor. All of us would happily help you in training."
The female Nord laughed. "Alright, but if you want to have a night full of mead at the Bannered Mare on night, feel free to leave it on my tab."
"That is an excellent trade!"
An hour later, Farkas emerged from Jorrvaskr after discovering that he was one of the only people left inside. Usually the dining hall had a trickle of people inside, but no one was there. He was confused for a minute until he heard shouting outside.
Pushing through the doors, he saw that everyone was gathered around the porch, looking out to the training grounds. If he had been any shorter, Farkas wouldn't have been able to see what was going on, but his head was above everyone else's and he could see the scene everyone was watching and betting on.
Dominae and his brother were circling one another, greatsword in their hands. They had sweat beading on their exposed skin, letting him know that they had probably been doing this for a while, and they both looked tired but excited.
"What's going on here?" Farkas asked Njada, the one closest to him. She only turned her head to the side for a second before looking back at the action.
"Vilkas is training Dominae and now he's testing her improved skills. It should be good. She doesn't have the war hammer to knock him down anymore."
Looking back to the battle, Farkas saw as Dominae made the first move, thrusting forth her sword in a stabbing motion, something Vilkas barely missed. He jumped back a foot and crossed blades with her, forcing the steel to rub against each other until the blades met at the hilt as the Nords got closer.
They both struggled for the upper hand, neither wanting to give up the dominance in the fight, but Dominae was forced to push back when Vilkas sent the greatsword up towards her face. Moving so fast caught the blonde off balance, tripping her and forcing her to hit the hard ground below with a grunt.
Vilkas had a lot of momentum and no place to go. His mind was quick, however, and instead of falling to the ground with his comrade, he aimed the tip of the blade to her shoulder to stab with all of his weight.
Dominae's light blue eyes widened when she saw this and rolled to the side, hearing the blade stab into the ground. Not waiting for a moment longer, Dominae scrambled up with her weapon drawn. It gave her just enough time to meet Vilkas' greatsword so they were locked in the middle.
Not wanting this to go like it had just previous, Dominae turned her body to the side, looking like she was evading the move, but focused all her energy to her shoulder as she turned, ramming into Vilkas hard enough to make the man curse and stumble back.
With a smirk, the Nord woman sent the blade towards Vilkas' exposed neck, sure that this would be her winning strike. However, Vilkas was a master when it came to sword play and knew he move and what could stop it. While he was regaining his balance, he used his metal gauntlet to block the blow to his neck, which surprised the Dragonborn.
Using her moment of surprise, the twin used his agility to move out of her way, regain control of his blade with both hands, then slide the metal along the side of Dominae's knew armor as if he had just run through her with his blade.
"And that is why I'm a master," he breathed out, his smirk audible.
With a chuckle, Dominae slowly moved away from Vilkas' sword, bowing down low to him when he finally stood at his full height. "You've beaten me this time, Master. Just remember the first time I kicked your ass."
The fellow Companions, most who had been watching the battle, laughed and cheered. Vilkas raised his fist above his head in victory while Dominae rolled her eyes. While everyone went to go and congratulate the winner, Dominae's eyes locked onto the taller and bulkier of the twins. His matching eyes found her and he smiled lightly at her.
Grinning back, Dominae made her way over to him, greeting her other friends as she passed them. By the time she made her way over to the man, he was leaning against one of the stilts with his arms crossed, not realizing how amazing it made his muscular arms look.
"I'm glad to see you looking better," he voiced, looking her over for any lasting marks on her skin. The only thing that drew in his eyes was her wide smile.
"Yeah, feeling much better thanks to the many healing potions and lots of time with the healers. I'm almost back to 100%."
"Truthfully, I'm just glad that you're back. A month would have been a long time without you. I didn't want you to come back hurt though," Farkas stumbled, feeling like an idiot, "What happened anyway?"
Dominae looked away from the man, feeling embarrassed and ashamed of herself. This was worse than when Farkas had to save her from being trapped in that Dragur burial ground.
"As the Dragonborn, I had been summoned by an ally to defeat a dragon to prove my worth. However, this was the toughest dragon I had ever faced and I got a little cocky. He played with me like a child's toy in his mouth, causing those broken bones. Thankfully, I was able to Thu'um him into submission before killing him."
"So there really are dragons," Farkas mused, never having really believed it before. He had seen her gain a word of knowledge, but he had always had a feeling that it was just a special kind of magic. But with those wounds she supported, as well as her story, he was sure of it now.
"As unfortunate as it is," Dominae mumbled, balling her hands into fists, "They're the reason I'm training right now. I'm not going to let another dragon catch me unaware."
"If I have faith in anyone to kill dragons, it's you Dominae. You're a true, tough Nord."
Dominae gave him that grin he loved to see that much and was about to say something to him when Vilkas called her name. He had both of their greatswords in his hands and was motioning her over. She was dead wrong if she thought their training was over.
"Once I'm done with your brother, do you think I could bother you for heavy armor training?"
Farkas blinked slowly at that, trying to register the fact that one of his Shield-Siblings was asking for his training help rather than his back up. It had been so long since anyone asked for training from him, he forgot that he was a master. It was only when Dominae tilted her head in confusion did he respond.
"Oh, yes. I can do that for you."
"Thank you Farkas. I'll be seeing you soon."
Looking from left to right to make sure no one was looking, Dominae leaned in and kisses Farkas on the cheek quickly, something that could have been easily over looked if they had been seen. She turned her back then, and the brute's pale blue eyes watched her leave.