Part 2: Moonlight
Chapter 14: Love Knows No Bounds
A/N: Again, short chapter, so sorry! And sorry, because I haven't had much time to write and I'm terribly busy this weekend (birthday sleepover! Woopwoop!). So that, sadly, means that I'm going to have to make you guys wait a bit for the next chapter. But, of course, I couldn't force you to wait for the exciting conclusion to the cliffhanger! ^^ So, here it is! Enjoy! It's certainly one of my favorite chapters!
Now for the thank you's!
MissFabulous - Sorry I had to leave you with a cliff-hanger (however fabulous a cliff-hanger it might have been)! And for completely forgetting to update this earlier today! I'm so glad you're still enjoying this fic and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it as much!
mia - Thank you so very much! I'm glad my last chapter was so emotional (or whatever the right form of that word is...) anyways, the point is that I'm so glad you liked it and I knew I had to update right away! I'll be doing just about as much writing as I can so as to have more and faster updates! Thank you so so much! Enjoy this chapter!
manu - Thank you! Sorry that the last chapter was so sad, but it allows me to make this chapter all the sweeter! Please enjoy this chapter just as much! Thank you, again!
Sp1RalEy3 - Oh, my! I can't thank you enough for your fantastic review! My! It made me so happy to hear what you think about the fanfic (one that I wasn't even going to post because I thought it was so spectacular and I was certain that everyone else was going to hate it!). I've worked so very hard to write this fic, so I can't even explain to you how much it means that people are enjoying it. And yes, I am a terrible speller! Unfortunately, I am typing it all up on an iPad and that means that autocorrect is constantly changing every word I type (especially were and we're. I don't know why it has to add the apostrophe in there when it's clear I don't want it!) I would proof-read all my chapters, but then I begin to change everything. I did, however, proofread this chapter and caught a few mistakes. (I did not proofread the author's note. That will have mistakes in it.) I'll try my best to catch these mistakes (as it is my own pet peeve, ironically), but I hope you continue to enjoy these chapters! Thank you so much, again! :)
"No!" his cry turned into a roar. Veri's arms shot to her sides and her eyes squeezed shut. The sound of ripping, tearing, and clattering was heard. Suddenly, Veri was pulled forward and thrown against the floor. When she opened her eyes, she was across the room, safe from the sunlight. The silver cage had been ripped open as if it were aluminum. The sun's rays could not touch her, but turned the ebony fur of the monstrous black wolf that now stood before her into a golden skin. She grinned at him.
"Did I ever mention how much I love you, moonlight?" she laughed, "Let's show these bastards what happens when you mess with the Companions!"
The door flew open again and dozens of Silver Hand ran in with their weapons drawn. Half of them looked terrified. The other half soon would. Vilkas howled and Veri tackled one of the Silver Hand to the ground. She sunk her teeth into his neck and sucked in his warm blood.
Whenever one of his comrades tried to save him, Vilkas would attack them. When she had drained the man, her eyes, now burgundy in color, flashed to Vilkas. Her chin was drenched in blood, but he couldn't help find her attractive. Turning back to the Silver Hand, Veri transformed into her Vampire Lord form. She used her claws to slash one of them in the face, leaving only two large gashes where eyes had once been, blinding them. Then, she stabbed them in the heart with her other hand. In a flurry of bats, she avoided a silver sword and teleported behind the wielder. She raked her claws across his face and then pushed him into Vilkas who bit his head off. When they had killed off most of them, Veri transformed back into her human form, raced into the other room, and grabbed her weapons and the fragments of the great and mighty Wuuthrud. She dashed back to Vilkas and stabbed a man in the back who was about to slash at him. Vilkas hurried over to her side and quickly pulled her onto his back. With a loud growl, he scaled the wall and they escaped out the open ceiling. He raced from the fort and then they both tumbled down a hill, Vilkas now transforming back into his human form.
They landed in a snow pile and just lay there for a minute, breathing heavily. Then, Veri turned onto her side and faced Vilkas. He looked at her with adoring eyes. He sighed.
"I suppose this is the part where we-" Vilkas began.
Veri cut him off with a kiss. And he kissed back, no longer afraid.
When they broke the kiss, Vilkas asked, "Just out of curiosity, you don't have any other secrets do you?"
"Well..."
"By the nine! What else could you possible be hiding?"
"I'm the Dragonborn."
He stared at her for a long moment. And then he just laughed. "Of course! Of course! For some reason, I'm not surprised anymore. Let's just kiss and-"
She kissed him again. One human to another, allowing the warmth of their love to fill them both.
He smiled. "Really?"
"Yes."
"And you couldn't get out of that cage? I mean, you're the Dragonborn."
"Yeah, I can't go through cages. There aren't any shouts that just make me able to walk through walls."
"Well, I suppose you can't be perfect."
"But I can transform into a beast without losing my clothes." Her eyes glanced down and then back up. Vilkas was completely naked.
"I'm used to it."
"You look like an idiot."
"But I'm your idiot."
She rolled her eyes. "I'll go find a bandit or something to kill."
Once they returned to Whiterun and Vilkas had changed, Veri came to visit him. She now wore wolf armor, as if to recognize her position as part of the pack.
"The others have prepared for the funeral already. Come, we must be off," he said.
She nodded and followed him to the Skyforge where the others were all standing around, looking rather solemn. Veri bit her lip to keep herself from crying and took her place next to the others.
The funeral began with Aela. "Before the ancient flame..."
"We grieve," Veri said in unison with everyone else.
"At this loss..." Eorlund recited.
"We weep," everyone again said in unison.
"For the fallen..." Vilkas continued.
"We shout," everyone replied together.
"And for ourselves..." Farkas concluded.
"We take our leave," everyone finished. Veri choked and spoke a moment after everyone else. She wiped away a tear, still feeling guilty.
Kodlak's corpse was set ablaze. It was a true warrior's funeral. And Kodlak deserved it. All of it.
Slowly, the crowd began to disperse. The members of the circle announced that they were going to meet at the Underforge and followed the crowd away.
Before leaving, Eorlund called Veri over. "Do you have the fragments, child? I wish to remount them, like they should be."
"Oh," she pulled them out of her satchel and handed them to him, "Here."
He took them. "Kodlak always kept one fragment close to him. If you wouldn't mind, could you go down to his room and retrieve it?"
"Yes, of course," she replied, too saddened to argue that she was a member of the circle and thought that it would be a good idea to join the others. Instead, though, she went down to Kodlak's room and found the fragment. She returned it to Eorlund and then went to join the other's in the Underforge.
"The old man had one wish before he died. And he didn't get it. It's as simple as that," Vilkas was saying when she arrived.
"Being moon-born is not so much of a curse as you might think, Vilkas," Aela now argued.
"That's fine for you. But he wanted to be clean. He wanted to meet Ysgramor and know the glories of Sovngarde. But all that was taken from him."
"And you avenged him."
"Kodlak did not care for vengeance," Farkas now added. Veri crept towards them and stood with her back to the door.
"No, Farkas, he didn't. And that's not what this is about. We should be honoring Kodlak, no matter our own thoughts on the blood," Vilkas replied as if talking to children.
"You're right. It's what he wanted, and he deserved to have it," Aela admitted.
"Kodlak used to speak of a way to cleanse his soul, even in death. You know the legends of the Tomb of Ysgramor," Vilkas said.
"There the souls of the Harbingers will heed the call of northern steel. We can't even enter the tomb without Wuuthrad, and it's in pieces, like it has been for a thousand years."
"And dragons were just stories. And the elves once ruled Skyrim. Just because something is, doesn't mean it must be. The blade is a weapon. A tool. Tools are meant to be broken. And repaired," everyone immediately looked up to the door. Eorlund was now standing there with a great axe in his hands. Veri's jaw dropped.
"Is that? Did you repair the blade?" Vilkas gasped.
"This is the first time I've had all the pieces, thanks to our Shield-Sister here," he nodded towards Veri. "The flames of a hero can reforge the shattered. The flames of Kodlak shall fuel the rebirth of Wuuthrad. And now it will take you to meet him once more. The rest of you, prepare to journey to the Tomb of Ysgramor. For Kodlak. As the one who bore the fragments, I think you should be the one to carry Wuuthrad into battle," he tossed the axe to her.
She turned the blade in her hands, watching it catch the light of the torches. The intricate carving was like nothing she'd ever seen before. It was a blade older than she was but look as young as she did. She grinned, suddenly filled with new light and hope. She was going to cure Kodlak, no matter what.