Not sure how to introduce you to this chapter, soo...

Just R&R please.

Well, I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, good or bad, they all contributed to 100 reviews, so thank you.

Anyways, chapter 21!

I saw... Faces.

Some I recognized, some were just strangers flitting around me. I glanced around, trying to decipher where I was, but the scenes were always changing. I was on some plains somewhere, watching a giant and a goat walk away, waving to them.

The next moment, I was in Markarth, throwing my clothing to the floor quickly while robed people stared in utter horror. I was shouting incoherent words to them, and they seemed too much in shock to do anything.

The background faded out and then I was stumbling from the gates of Whiterun with a hooded man leading me away, laughing and chugging drinks down. They smelled strange to me, and slid down my throat like fire, burning all the way down.

I blinked, and now I was standing in a place unfamiliar with me. Torchbugs glowed, lighting the dark shadowy place. Luna moths fluttered around me, and I found myself breathless as I spun slowly. And I stopped.

In the shadows I saw a figure, slightly masked from the pale moonlight.

He stood there, seeming as taken with the land as I. It was like being in a dream, where time did not exist, and problems vanished. His dark hair was slightly messy, his shockingly blue eyes looking dazed as we locked gazes. And he smiled.

All too fast, the moment was gone, and I was somewhere else, where people were laughing and talking. A man called out something, but it didn't sound like words to me. I still turned to acknowledge him, and found myself staring at a priest, who stood by a statue of Mara. A man in armor stood next to him with his back to me, and for some reason I couldn't make sense of why he seemed familiar.

Suddenly I was being pulled through a crowded street, a hand holding mine softly but still firm to make sure I wasn't going to slip away. People slid by, not even looking up to realize I was there. I looked down at the hand, following it towards the body and just as I reached his jaw, everything faded away too fast once again.

Then I was in an inn of some sort, my hand raised to beckon someone towards me. I locked gazes with icy blue eyes, and a smirk.

I shot up in bed with a gasp, my mind flooded with images, moments, faces, voices, tastes, sounds, smells, all at once. I couldn't process any of them quick enough before another one was shoved upon me.

I clenched the sides of my head with my hands, shaking. It was too much to handle. My head was pounding, blood rushing so much I could hear it.

Stop, stop! Make it stop! Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop!

I closed my eyes tightly and opened them. There was a sudden calm. I was heaving, forcing air into my lungs. Besides the sounds of my quick, ragged breaths, it was silent. Nothing moved or made a sound.

I was in my quarters, sitting in bed alone. I looked around the room. Nothing had changed. I sighed and closed my eyes. But something in my mind caught my attention. Little memories, fleeting scenes of something.

But a few stuck with me. The pale moonlight with the man in the shadows whose blue eyes were glowing; the priest of Mara speaking with a man whose back was to me.

But the one that kept replaying over and over in my head was the image of those icy blue eyes and the smirk.

I realized why these kept sticking in my head.

It's Vilkas.

I blinked, trying to remember when these happened. I couldn't remember ever seeing Vilkas like that around me. This didn't make any sense, why can't I remember-

That night!

I sucked in air sharply, the puzzle pieces falling into place. Every single sight, sound, smell, taste; They were all part of some point in that night!

I quickly crawled from bed and hurried to my dresser, forgetting the edge of the table that sat at the foot of my bed. I jammed my toe hard, causing me to freeze up in pain and mutter curses under my breath very loudly-shouting them, really-and sit back down on the bed, rubbing my toe in pain.

Dammit, every time...

I sighed and stood back up, watching the table cautiously while making my way to my closet. I quickly grabbed out my steel plate armor, donning it swiftly and ignoring the throbbing of my toe as I shoved it into a boot and walked to the door.

I grabbed the handle when the door opened for me, almost knocking me over. I blinked and looked up at VIlkas, who seemed slightly surprised too.

"Morning."

He smirked and said "It's a little late for morning. Try afternoon."

I gaped in surprise and said quickly "Why didn't you wake me up before now?!"

The dark-haired man just shrugged calmly and answered "You were tired, so I let you sleep." He paused before an eyebrow raised and he asked "Why were you shouting like someone set you on fire?"

I berated myself mentally for being so loud and blushed in embarrassment. I replied sarcastically "Oh, you know, I was trying to shout the table to pieces without using an actual Shout."

His eyebrow never dropped as he chuckled, replying "Again?"

I frowned, saying "What do you mean, 'Again'?"

He just grinned, saying "You wake everyone up every other day when you shout curses at the table."

I blushed a little more red, muttering "Well, it deserves it."

He just chuckled again, saying "I'm sure it does."

I rolled my eyes and pushed past him, saying "I'm going to eat breakfast."

"Lunch, really." He corrected.

I shot him a look over the shoulder as I made my way up the stairs, snatching a honey nut treat off the counter and munching on it quietly as I made my way outside. I stepped out the door, seeing Ria's overly happy face and Njada's glaring one. I just rolled my eyes and took a seat next to Athis.

"So, sleeping beauty decides to wake up and eat like a normal human being?" He said teasingly.

I just punched him in the shoulder, saying "No, I didn't choose to wake up and eat. I forced myself awake so I could get back on schedule with my regular habit of shouting curses at my table after breaking my toe on it."

He just laughed, replying "It's nice to see that your new marriage hasn't ruined your sense of humor."

I blinked, saying "Marriage? Who told you I was married?" I'd forgotten to tell them yesterday like Vilkas said we were going to. We immediately went downstairs for our talk.

"Farkas couldn't stop talking about it last night. You should have seen Njada's face."

I shuddered, looking up to see the silver-haired woman practically frothing at the mouth. I looked back at Athis, sighing "Great, add her as a problem to my list."

He just grinned and replied "What number problem are you at? 100 or 200?"

I replied flatly "448."

He laughed loudly. I cracked a smile and continued eating. A cheery voice caught my attention.

"Harbinger!"

I looked up at Ria, who was beaming brightly. "Yes, Ria?" I said calmly, watching the woman practically bounce up and down.

"Is it true about you and Vilkas?!"

I asked with an eyebrow quirked "What about me and Vilkas?"

She blushed and replied "Well, are you two... You know..."

"Having sex?" I replied bluntly, to which she jumped and blushed awkwardly.

I laughed and shook my head, saying "I was joking. Yes, we are married."

She smiled, still blushing a deep red. I could hear Njada scoff. "I don't know what that man sees in you..."

I just grinned at her annoyed expression, looking back at Ria. She hadn't grown in skill much since I'd known her. I said loudly, changing subjects "Have you been practicing with a sword?"

She nodded, beaming again. I stood up, saying quickly "Spar with me then."

She blinked in shock and stuttered "Harbinger, I-I'm definitely n-n-not good enough t-to put up a f-fight..."

I shook my head, waving my hand dismissively. "Nonsense. Let's spar."

She followed me nervously as we walked out to the training yard. I grabbed two short swords off the rack, tossing her one. She caught it awkwardly, adjusting her grip so it was in her hand properly.

I stood across from her, a few feet away. I stood defensively and called "Come at me."

She nodded and stepped forward, swinging at me. I quickly blocked her advances, noting all the mistakes she made. Finally she went and swung down hard at me, which I side-stepped, causing her to fall to the ground.

I pressed the tip of the sword in-between her shoulder blades softly, stating "You hold the sword nice, yet your stances are very amateur and do not bring balance. This caused you to fall when you missed me."

I pulled the sword away and watched her flip over to face me, looking slightly humiliated. "Sorry, Harbinger."

I sighed and said "Don't apologize. Get up and fix it. I know you could be very good with a sword if you put yourself to it."

She blinked and asked incredulously "You mean it?"

I nodded, replying "If you stop wasting time sitting asking questions and start fixing your mistakes, that is."

She quickly scrambled to her feet, picking up the sword. I quickly started lecturing her and fixing her stance, showing her how it should look and how she was doing it. After a good twenty minutes, it started looking much better.

Ria was breathing heavily by the end of it. "Thank you, Harbinger." She managed to get out, putting the sword back on the rack. She continued "I'm glad you spent your time helping me get better."

I nodded and smiled, saying "You're welcome."

I put my sword up too and wiped the sweat off my face. I'd broken a soft sweat, but I was anything but tired. I was about to turn around when a voice called out "I'd like to practice with you, Harbinger."

I didn't have to look over my shoulder to know that Njada was staring at me, her voice laced with venom. I turned and smiled anyways, saying "Sure."

She scowled at made her way over, grabbing a shortsword off with a shield. I picked up two shortswords, deciding to dual wield.

She smirked maliciously at me as we faced off, saying "You don't stand a chance."

I just smiled at her, not responding. It seemed to tick her off, because she came ruthlessly at me like a sabre cat, vicious and fast.

I quickly dodged the attacks, dancing around her lightly. But she didn't cease her rampage, and managed to get a good slice in, hitting my arm hard. Luckily the swords were relatively dull, so it didn't cut me bad. I saw an opening, and swung hard, turning my blade so she was hit with the flat of it. It knocked the air from her lungs, which surprised her and gave me enough time to kick my leg out, sweeping her legs out from under her and sending her to the ground.

I pointed the swords at her, replying "You aren't focusing on attacking and letting your anger fight for you."

She growled and replied with obvious anger from humiliation "Don't lecture me."

I nodded, and she tossed the things to the ground, saying "How about we fight this my way. Fists."

I nodded again, staying very neutral about it. I put my weapons on the rack and walked back over to her, raising my fists. She immediately came swinging fast at me, catching me off-guard slightly. Her fist connected with my cheek hard, and I knew it was going to bruise.

I brought my hands up to block her, jumping away from her. She kept swinging, and I kept dodging and blocking, trying to find openings.

Her hits came hard, and I knew exactly why she was called Stonearm. But I finally saw the opening, and I landed a few jabs to her side, with distracted her enough so I could land a blow.

I hit her square in the mouth, to which she jumped back from. She spit some blood out, saying "That all you got?"

I didn't respond as I leaped forward, faking a swing at her side. She went to block and I swept at her legs, causing them to buckle, but she didn't go down.

"Think I'd fall like that again?" She said angrily.

She swung at me again, to which I jumped left and danced behind her, saying "No. But this will make you."

She didn't have time to react as reached my left arm across to her right shoulder, latching on and pulling it to the left as my right leg swept from left to right, sending her to her back.

I sighed and said "Again, you are letting-"

I wasn't exactly sure what had happened in those few seconds, but I suddenly saw Njada on top of me, pinning me down as she started swinging at me. I brought my hands up to dodge, but I couldn't do much more than block while she swung at me. Her full force weight was holding me down, and I couldn't throw a punch at her without getting hit in the face.

Shouting around us was happening, but I ignored it. Njada said with a snarl "What, you can't even try to fight back, Harbinger? You little bitch. I don't know why they even let a whore like you in anyways!"

I snarled, unable to hold back my anger at her. She'd pushed me too far this time. I growled menacingly, and I shouted "Fus, Ro!"

She went tumbling backwards off of me, to which I immediately climbed on top of her, swinging at her in blind, primal rage. Each swing was connecting hard with her, and I snarled out "Fight back, Whelp!"

She could only try to block my punches, which even with her skill in block, did her almost nothing.

I could feel people trying to yank me off, pull me away from Njada, whose face was bloodied and probably suffered a broken nose. Finally, large arms yanked me off of her, dragging me away, even though I was still swinging blindly.

"Kaera, stop!" Farkas', who was holding me back, voice shouted, but I wasn't listening. Vilkas stepped in front of me, catching my wrists and saying "Kaera, listen, listen to me. Stop this, calm down."

I continued struggling for a moment before I finally stopped, staring into the icy blue eyes of the dark-haired man. He sighed, saying "You lost your temper."

I nodded, looking around him to see Njada sitting up with everyone crowded around her, talking to her and offering her help that she refused stubbornly.

Aela turned and walked over, saying to me "You gave her quite the beating."

I sighed and said "I got angry..."

The huntress just nodded, not saying anything else. Farkas's arms slowly released me, as if worried I'll go and finish her off. I had been tempted to, but decided it was a waste of time. If she was smart, she would know her place now. I didn't expect her to like me, but at least respect my authority.

Vilkas stared at me with sharp eyes, his gaze locked onto my face. He stepped forward and touched my cheek, which I winced sharply to the tender pain that shot through it. He said "She got a few good hits in."

Nodding, I replied like I was just stating a fact "I got a few more in than she though."

Vilkas looked over at the silver-haired woman, nodding. He looked back at me, asking "Are you okay?"

I laughed and said "Don't be concerned. I'm fine. It's Njada we should be asking that."

He shrugged and answered "I'm not talking physically. Physically she took a beating, but the worst you did mentally was take her down a few notches. You, on the other hand, just lost absolute control. Which I've not seen you do. Ever. Not even on an enemy."

I looked away, saying quietly "I'll be fine. We should go check to see how bad I broke her face."

He chuckled and I smiled a little as we walked over to her, where she was cleaning her face up and drinking healing potions. Her nose was bent in a very awkward angle, which I knew was going to heal wrong and leave it in a slightly ugly position.

She glanced up at me and her lips curled into a look of disgust. "What?" She snapped at me, and I could tell I'd obviously humiliated her pride.

I answered "Good spar."

She just made a sound and looked away, not willing to speak to me. I just walked away and sat down, grabbing some food and munching down on it, touching my bruise.

That is gonna hurt tomorrow.

And that was chapter 21!

A little less about Vilkas and Kaera's current relationship, but still.

I wanted to do a fight scene with Njada. Jealous whore. :D

Anyways, leave a review and/or PM me questions, and favorite and follow if you like my story that much.

See you in the next chapter!