It didn't take long for Vilkas and Hope to find a decent size river, Vilkas didn't expect it to because they were in the forests of the Rift after all. "You go a head and go get cleaned up, I'll build a fire so that when you're done you can dry off properly." He said while already gathering up dead branches on the ground.
Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him as she watched. Vilkas felt her stare and noticed her feet weren't moving. He picks up one more branch and then looks up at her with a questioning raised eyebrow. "What?"
"I'm not going to bathe with you this close to the river." Hope said with her arms crossing over her breasts. Vilkas kept his eyebrow raised at her as a half grin spread across his face. "Why? Don't you trust me?" He asked teasingly.
"It's not a matter of trust, it's just...it'd just be weird to bathe with you so close." She told him with her face turning away from him. Vilkas slightly tilted his head at her with his smile remaining. "You think I'll watch, don't you?" He asked.
"Ha!" She laughed out awkwardly as she turned her whole body away from him with her arms remaining crossed. "Can you blame me? Why else would you set up camp this close to where I'll bathe?" She muttered.
"Well sorry to break it to you, but you don't really have anything I want to see. Or at least haven't seen already." He said with a snicker which made Hope quickly become tense. "What? So you're saying you don't want to watch me bathe?" She questioned while turning back around to face him.
Vilkas tilted his head again with another cocked eyebrow. "Do you want me to watch you?" He asked with a smirk. Hope's eyes widened as her cheeks flared up. "No!" She shouted loudly. "You sure?" Vilkas asked again as he stood straight back up. "Because I could use the entertainment while I eat." He said with another smirk.
Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him as a frown spread across her face. He watched her cheeks flare up more but this time it was more out of anger than embarrassment. At least that's what he guessed because after his words left him, she started to unsheathe her sword.
"Okay, alright I get it." He spoke quickly, making her slide her sword back into it's sheathe. "I'll go set up the fire over there behind those bushes." He told her while turning his back to her and then making his way over to the said spot.
"If I catch your eyes peeking through the bushes!" Hope shouted.
"I'm not going to peek!" Vilkas shouted back. "Like I said, you don't have anything I want to see."
"Hmph." Hope exclaimed with a frown as she watched him disappear behind the tall bushes. Once she was sure he was far enough away from her, she turned around and approached the large river.
Before getting undressed, she stood at the edge of the water and looked into it. It was clear and moving at a slow pace, she saw a few fish swim by but they didn't stop. Which was a relief because she didn't really want to take a bath with fish swimming around her.
So after letting out a soft sigh, she puts down her bag and begins to undress. She started with her heavy boots by kicking them off and not caring where they landed. Then she reached behind her and started to unbuckle the thick uncomfortable straps that were attached to her iron chest-piece. After letting it fall to the ground she then starts to remove her chain-mail, which slides against scrapes and bruises she got from their fight earlier. She slowly lifts the heavy material over her head while letting out a few groans and sharp hisses when she moves an arm wrong or when the chain-mail bumps against a bruise. Once it's off, she lets it hit the ground just like the iron chest-piece and she couldn't feel more relieved to have it off of her.
After letting out relieved sigh, she starts to untie her leather pants and then slides them down, also letting out sharp hisses when the tight material slides against bruises and scrapes. She had no idea what kind of shape she was in until now. It must of been the adrenaline during the fight that kept her from noticing her injuries.
Finally after getting off all of her heavy armor, her body gives off a small shiver from the cool Skyrim air hitting her bare skin. The Rift seemed to be a bit warmer than the areas around Whiterun hold but just barely. It's air still had a bit of a chill to it.
While staring at the clear water, she reaches back behind her and starts to untie her top undergarment. She starts with the back tie and then finishes with the top tie that wrapped around her neck. Before letting it fall off of her, she holds it close to her chest and slightly turns her head around to see if Vilkas might be peeking. But he wasn't, she wasn't sure if she felt relieved or disappointed by that.
With a sigh leaving her, she lets go of the thin cloth covering her breasts and lets it fall to the ground. Then she quickly pulls her bottoms down and steps out of them, now she was completely nude and felt very vulnerable. Especially since Vilkas was only a yard away from her. She quickly crosses her arms over her exposing breasts and slowly walks into the river. The cool waters coming into contact with her bare skin causes goose bumps to rise on her body and a sharp gasp escape from her.
She rushed into the river the rest of the way so that her body would quickly get used to the cold water. She stopped once she reached the middle of it, it's waters just barely reaching the bottom of her breasts. So she keeps her body turned away from view, that way if Vilkas actually did peek all he would see was her bare back.
So with a content sigh leaving her, she begins to wash all of the dried blood off of her which ended up being more than she expected.
A sigh leaves Vilkas as he begins to create a small fire out of branches and dried leaves. He can't help but tense every time he hears Hope drop her armor on the ground. She was doing it one by one and it was creating a mental image inside Vilkas's head that made him become...uncomfortable in his clothing.
Once the loud thuds and clangs that came from her dropped armor stopped, he started to envision what she would look like without all of that heavy material on her. First he imagined she would be in nothing but her undergarments and then in his mind, he imagined her slowly slipping out of them. The moment her nude body-or at least what he thought her nude body would look like-came to his mind he heard water splash around and then a surprised gasp afterwords.
That small, sharp gasp made other things come to Vilkas's mind. Things he tried so hard to push away because if they were to over take him then...well, he just might take off his own cloths and go join her in the river.
What would happen if he did? He wondered if she would be furious at him and call him ugly names for thinking he could get anywhere with her, but maybe she wouldn't. Maybe she would only become embarrassed and turn away from him, to let him proceed because just maybe, she wanted him more than he wanted her. What would he do if that were true? Just how would he approach her?
He knew she had never been with a man before, the only man she's ever kissed was Brynjolf-if he even counted that as a kiss, which he didn't-so she would be completely new to...everything. He would have to be careful, he would have to do things slowly which meant approaching her slowly.
The first thing he would probably do would be to place his hands on her sides, on her curves. Then he would slowly bring them forward to her stomach and rub water on the smooth surface. He imagined she would become tense at first but then after a few seconds, relax against him and allow him to proceed.
After she would become comfortable, he would slowly slide his hands up her stomach until they reached the very bottom of her breasts. What would she do then? Would she hiss and quickly move away from him? Or would she tremble under his touch and whimper for more?
The image was so clear in his head that it made him sure it would happen. So sure in fact that he unconsciously stood up and began to make his way over to the river. But after taking the first step, he stopped and was brought back from his dirty thoughts.
What made his feet come to a quick stop and his mind to clear, was Hope. It was the way she looked in the water, but not in the perverted way. All he could see was her bare back after all. It was the way her face looked, the expression on it.
She was looking down at the water with her hands out in front of her just barely being above the rivers surface. The water around her had turned into a muddy color from the dirt and dried blood that had just washed off of her. She was watching it swirl around her but it wasn't the dirt she was watching, it was the blood. It was the lives she had taken that day and it was the faces that looked at her just before they fell to their deaths.
Vilkas's heart clenched and his chest tightened. Seeing Hope look down with such regret and despair in her eyes made him feel like a villain for thinking he could make certain advances towards her. She was in obvious pain, pain she covered up just a bit ago, pain Vilkas thought she could put behind her so she could move forward. But he was wrong, the way she was looking down at the blood around her made him think that she would never forget.
And one would think that wasn't a bad thing, but it was. If she were to keep it with her forever it would only build on top of other guilt's and regrets, which would weigh her heart down to the point she would feel like she was drowning. It was something he or maybe Kodlak would definitely have to talk to her about later.
He unthinkingly lets a sigh escape from him, which makes Hope's ears twitch. He quickly tenses when he sees her start to turn around and he tries to move back behind the bushes but he's just not fast enough. "I knew it!" She yelled with one hand covering her breasts and her other pointing a finger at him. "I wasn't looking!" He yelled back while quickly moving back behind the bushes.
"Yeah right!"
"I only needed to stretch my legs, I swear!"
An hour had passed since they reached the river and Hope was now sitting around the fire drying off while Vilkas got cleaned up. She was stuffing her armor into her bag while eating some dried meat. She didn't bother putting it back on, she just slipped on some casual cloths since they were only going back to Riften to collect their reward and then go back home.
"You almost done?" She called to Vilkas as she tied her bag closed. "I didn't rush you, don't rush me." He replied with splashing water being heard afterwords. Hope rolled her eyes as she stuffed the remaining dried meat into her mouth and then held up both of her hands over the fire.
A few more minutes pass by before Hope hears approaching footsteps. She looks up and sees a fully clothed, damp Vilkas walk through the bushes. He too had decided to just wear casual cloths instead of his heavy, dirty armor. He let out a content sigh as he sat across from her and held his hands up to the fire.
"I think this is the first time I've actually seen you completely clean." Hope remarked. Vilkas only rolled his eyes as he started to slip on his boots. "You definitely smell better, you usually smell like dog." She teased, even though it were true. Vilkas quickly cleared his throat with his eyes moving to her bag. "Can I barrow your brush?" He asked, changing the subject.
Hope reopened her bag and dug through it for a moment before pulling it out. She stood up and reached across to hand it to Vilkas. "Thanks, Liah." He said while pausing before saying her actual name. He saw her arm tense when he took her brush from her and couldn't help but smirk. "Problem?" He asked with his smirk remaining. "N-no." She stuttered while her hands starting to fiddle with the bottom of her shirt. "It's just been a while since anyone's said my actual name out loud." She muttered.
"So you don't mind if I say it then?" He asked with an eyebrow raising. "I guess not." She replied with her arms crossing. "Just don't say it too often, especially in front of the others."
"Right." Vilkas muttered with his eyes rolling. Hope furrowed her eyebrows down at him for a moment and then began to walk past him. "Where you going?" He asked with his head following her. "I'm going to go to the bathroom, it's a long walk to Riften." She told him while continuing to walk away. "Oh." Vilkas said softly as he began to run her brush through his wet and tangled hair.
Hope walked until she was no longer in Vilkas's view. She stumbled and nearly tripped several times over large roots sticking out of the ground and rocks that were just big enough to twist an ankle. Finally after walking through yards of thick brush, she found a couple of large bushes she could hide behind and go to the bathroom.
A relieved sigh leaved her as she rushed over to the bushes. Once she was behind them she quickly started to untie her pants and begin to squat down. But something stopped her, a noise in the distance made her snap her head up and her fingers stop untwisting the knots that kept her pants from falling off of her waist.
She stood still in her place with her hands remaining at her waist. She looks out in the distance in front of her, but it was hard to see anything. The forest was just too thick, so for all she knew that noise could of came from a bear.
She slowly swallowed hard while letting her arms fall to her sides. She shifted her eyes around her but she was still seeing nothing. Maybe what she heard was just a rabbit snapping a branch or a fox running by. She lets out a small sigh as she brings her hands back up and begins to untie the knots on her pants again. CRUNCH!
Another noise, possibly the same as the first one but she wasn't sure. The first time she heard it, it wasn't as loud so she can't know for sure if it was coming from the same place or not.
Hope furrows her eyebrows as she begins to take a couple steps forward. Her head is slightly tilted and her eyes are wondering around her surroundings. CRUNCH, MUNCH. It gets louder as she continues to walk forward.
She can feel her heart start to race and a feeling of panic set in from the unknown of the situation. For all she knew she could be wondering into a bears den or worse, a sabers. She swallows hard again as she knows she's getting closer to the source of the noise.
In front of her just a few feet away, was another set of tall thick bushes that had loud scratching and crunching noises coming from behind them. Hope stopped just in front of them and took in a deep breath, preparing herself for what she might see. Then after a moment of holding that breath, she quickly steps through the bushes and gasps loudly at what she finds.
It was not a bear, nor a saber. No it was much worse. It was a carcass that belonged to a large elk with a couple of foxes eating off of its remains. But it wasn't the body that shocked her, it was its condition. The way it was cut up and the way its body was sliced open. Her mouth hung agape as she slowly moved her eyes across the body and examined the large slashes across it, they were so large that the elk's guts were just spilling out.
She slowly lifts a hand to her face to shield her nose from the awful smell while she kept staring at the carcass with wide eyes. She only knew one creature, one monster that could tear up something like this and to think about it made the scars on the back of her leg burn.
She bent back a bit and rubbed the sore tissue as she slowly backed away from the body. She stops just before backing into the bushes and takes one last, long look at the dead elk. She blinked hard a couple of times, just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her and when she was sure that what was in front of her was real. She quickly spun around and ran from the tore up carcass as fast as she could.
'I can't believe it.' Is what kept going through her mind as she ran through the thick forest to get back to where Vilkas was. She could see the smoke from their fire rising in the air from the distance and then soon she could see Vilkas's back come into view.
He was packing up his armor when Hope came running through. He jumped and then quickly looked up with wide eyes, he was surprised to see her already sitting down. He moved his eyes to her face and saw that the color in her skin had faded, then he saw sweat beads running down her forehead and noticed how hard she was breathing.
"What's wrong?" He asked with concern showing in his voice. "Nothing." Hope answered quickly. Too quickly because when she did Vilkas cocked an eyebrow up at her. He examined her for a moment and then shifted his eyes down to her legs when he noticed that she was rubbing the one that had an old injury on it. One he knew too well.
That's when he furrowed his eyebrows down and quickly looked back up at her. "Did something happen to your leg?" He asked. "No. Why would you ask me that?" Hope questioned rather defensively. Vilkas lifted his eyebrows up as he was taken aback by her response.
"Did something happen while you were going to the bathroom?" He asked more. "No, stop asking me stupid questions." Hope snapped as she started to rub the back of her leg faster. "Alright." Vilkas sighed as he quickly got up his to feet and then approached her. "Tell me." He said with his arms crossing.
"No." Hope replied with her eyebrows furrowing. Vilkas lifted an eyebrow up at her. "Why?" He asked. "Because nothing happened." She answered while quickly looking away from him.
She wasn't wanting to deal with being called crazy again, so she was going to keep what she saw to herself. She could only imagine the things Vilkas would say to her if she told him what she thought attacked her and that elk. Something she got made fun of back at Jorrvaskr.
Vilkas stared at her for a moment longer and then finally let out a defeated sigh. "Alright fine." He said as he turned around and continued to pack up his armor. Once he was done, he stood back up straight and turned around to face Hope again. She was looking away with her arms hugging her knees close to her chest. "You ready?" Vilkas asked, snapping her out of what ever thoughts were flowing through her mind. Hope quickly looked up at him and gave him a nod.
It took them a moment to get the fire out and to get their things gathered, but once they were sure there wasn't an ember left in the fire and their belongings were on their backs. They hit the road, making their way back to Riften.
The Afternoon rolled by while they walked down the road, the air between them was mostly filled with silence but occasionally Vilkas would be able to get some kind of small talk going.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, they reached Riften and walked right through the gates without the guard giving them a problem like the other day. "Maven will be at the tavern waiting for us." He tells her, breaking the silence. They both come to a quick stop in front of the doors to the Inn. "If you want, you can wait out here. It shouldn't take me long." He said with his head turning towards her.
"I'd rather wait out here to be honest." She said with a nervous smile. "Thought so." Vilkas replied with his own smile. He grabs the door knob but before pushing it open, he turns to Hope one more time and says. "Once I'm done in here with Maven, we'll leave Riften and take the carriage back to Whiterun. Hopefully this time the driver will be able to take us all the way. So if there's anything we're low on, go a head and pick up because it'll be a long drive home."
Hope gives him a nod in response and then watches him walk into the tavern with the door shutting behind him. She lets out a small sigh as she starts to make her way to the Marketplace that was behind the Inn, at least she guessed that's where it was because of all the noise.
To her liking she was right. The Marketplace was just behind the Inn and it had a good variety of stalls. She looked out at them all with wide eyes, the only Marketplace she'd ever been to was Whiteruns. So to see one this big really threw her off.
"Fresh fruit and vegetable!" One stall owner shouted. She looked over to them with a relieved smile and approached them. That was exactly what she was looking for and it was a relief to her that she didn't have to go through several people to find them.
"Hello there young lady, can I interest you in some fresh produce?" The stall owner asked with a smile. "I'll take a few apples and potatoes." She told him while handing him coin. He gave her nod and then turned around to prepare her order.
"You sure don't want something more interesting than produce?" A smooth voice from behind says right into her ear. She jumps with a gasp leaving her, then she quickly steps forward and turns around to find it was just Brynjolf.
She quickly wrinkled her nose up at him and then looked away. "What do you want?" She asked with venom in her voice. Brynjolf laughed in response while taking a step towards her. "What's the matter lass? I thought after last night we'd become friends." He said with a sly smile.
"Why would you think that?" She asked with her head moving back towards him and her eyebrows furrowing. Brynjolf's sly smile turned into a grin as he tapped his lips with his index finger. Hope watched him with a light blush appearing on the sides of her face. "One kiss doesn't make pick-pocketing okay." She muttered as she moved her eyes away from him.
He chuckled in response and then grabbed her arm to pull her closer to him. The movement surprised her and she tried to yank her arm out of his grip, but he was faster than her and before she knew it her body was held against his with his arms wrapping around her. "Then how about two kisses?" He asked with a crooked grin.
Hope quickly scoffed at him and then pushed him off. "In your dreams." She muttered again as she dusted her cloths off. "It's always more than a kiss in my dreams lass." He said with a wink, causing her face to quickly flare up.
She then looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows as her arms crossed over one another. "What do you want Brynjolf?" She asked with her face remaining a red color. "I already told you, don't you want something more interesting than produce?" He asked with his sly smile remaining.
Hope lifted an eyebrow up at him in question. "Like this elixir here." He said while lifting up a tall, red bottle. Hope curiously looked at it and eyed it's fancy design. "Take one drink of this and you won't need food for days."
"Ha!" She laughed at him. "Does that line honestly work for you?" She asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Sometimes, but then again I don't always use the same line." He replied with his smile remaining as he slowly lowered the tall bottle back down. "Thought so." She said with her eyes rolling.
Brynjolf can't help but chuckle at her. "Nothing gets past you does it lass?" He asked in another chuckle. Hope looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows again, she couldn't tell if he was being insulting or not.
"You know..." He starts to say with a hand rubbing his chin. Hope lifts an eyebrow up at him, waiting for him to finish that sentence. "I think I have a job that you'd be perfect for." He said with a grin. "A job?" She questioned with her eyebrows furrowing.
"That's right." He said with a nod. "Come this way." He said with a wave from his hand. Hope watched him turn and walk a few steps away from her before she followed after him. He came to a stop just a few feet away from a stall that had a Dark Elf working it. "You see that Elf working?" He asked.
"Yeah." Hope replied. "Okay, now do you see that Argonian over there?" He asked again with a finger pointing to another stall that was across the Marketplace. "Yeah?" She said with an eyebrow raising.
"I need you to break into his lock box and take a ring." He starts to explain, making Hope quickly look at him with wide eyes. "Then after you take his ring, I need you to slip it into that Dunmer's pocket."
Hope quickly scoffs and replies with. "Are you kidding?"
Brynjolf turned to her with a lifted eyebrow. "Do you see me laughing lass?"
"You want me to...steal from someone and then plant that stolen item on someone else?" She questioned in bewilderment.
"Sounds easy right?" He said with a sly smile.
"No!" She slightly shouted. "I'm a Companion not a thief! I follow the law not break it!"
"But breaking it is part of the fun." He said with a grin.
Hope quickly furrowed her eyebrows down at him in question. Brynjolf quickly takes her hand and pulls her away from the Marketplace with his grin remaining on his face. "And I can tell, you crave fun." He said.
"Trust me." She said while yanking her hand out of his. "I've had enough fun for one day." She muttered with her eyes moving to the ground as the lifeless bodies from before came to her mind. Brynjolf stares at her for a moment, recognizing the look in her eyes.
He slowly placed a hand a below her chin and brought it up so that she was looking him in the eyes. "Well trust me when I say this, my kind of fun is...less bloody." He said with a small smile. Hope looked at him shocked, it was almost as if he read her mind but she shouldn't be surprised. Brynjolf could read people like she could, so she should of known that it would be easy for him to read her emotions and thoughts.
"But it's dirtier." She said with her eyebrows furrowing. "That's true." He replied with a nod. "But a little dirt is always fun and if you like...I can show you just how fun." He said with a grin spreading across his face.
He watched her face flare up again and that sent waves of delight through his body. To make a young beautiful woman like her become flustered so fast always put him in a better mood. "So, what do you say lass? Want to have some fun?" He asked in a whisper.
Hope blinked at him a few times, she wasn't sure if he was still asking her to do the job or if he was asking her to do...something else.
She stared at him for a moment longer before slowly opening her mouth to reply. But loud charging feet followed after a yell cut her off. "Hey!"
It was Vilkas, he had just began to look for Hope and to find her in the arms of Brynjolf again just enraged him. "What do you think you're doing?" He shouted when he reached them. He quickly grabbed Hope's arm and pulled her away from him, making her stand right behind him so that he stood between her and Brynjolf.
"Well we were about to have some fun until you showed up." Brynjolf replied with a smirk. Vilkas sneered and growled at him as he unconsciously tightened his grip on Hope's arm. "O-ow!" Hope yelled before giving his arm a hard punch. Vilkas jumped and then quickly let go of her. "Sorry! I didn't mean to." He apologized while turning around to face her. "So he says, but does he mean it?" Brynjolf said with another smirk.
Vilkas quickly turned back around to him with another mean sneer on his face. "Shut it!" He yelled.
"Or what?" Brynjolf replied, earning another growl from Vilkas.
Hope watched them both stand there, glaring into each others eyes. Vilkas had a sneer on his face while Brynjolf had a grin on his. It seemed that neither of them scared each other but the tension they were creating was frightening the citizens around them.
"Alright break it up." A nearby guard shouted as he approached them. Brynjolf and Vilkas both turned their heads and looked at him with lifted eyebrows. "You two hounds are disrupting the peace." The guard said.
"Hounds?" Vilkas questioned. "That's right, because from where I was standing you both looked like a couple of male mutts fighting over a bitch in heat."
Hope's jaw dropped open as Vilkas quickly glared at him. "You got a problem with what I said?" The guard challenged.
A growl leaves him as he starts to take a step towards the guard but Brynjolf quickly stopped him with his arm extending out in front of him. "No need to get in trouble with the law over something like that, lad." He said with his own eyes burning into the guard.
It surprised Hope to see Brynjolf stop Vilkas like that, it was almost like he cared but she knew better than to think that. Vilkas snapped his head to Brynjolf and gave him the same mean glare he gave the guard. Hope watched the three of them stand there like that for a while before someone awkwardly clearing their throat from behind interrupted the intense silence.
Everyone including the guard turned and looked. It was the produce sales man and he was holding out a tied bag with an uncomfortable look on his face. "You're um." He cleared his throat again as he handed the bag to Hope. "You're order is done." He said quickly before turning away and leaving the uncomfortable scene.
An aggravated sigh leaves Vilkas as he quickly turns and storms off. "Come on Hope, we're leaving." He said with anger showing in his voice. "That's right, walk away." The guard said, making sure it was loud enough for Vilkas to hear. Vilkas stopped walking for a moment, trying to decide if he should turn around and give the guard a good beating.
But Hope placing a hand on his arm calmed his nerves and made him change his mind. "Come on, there's no need to stay in this gods forsaken city any longer." She whispered. To hear her say that made relief spread through him. Because just a moment ago, when he saw her in Brynjolf's arms it almost looked like she would want to stay here...with him.
Vilkas slowly turned his face to her, showing her the relief in his eyes and then gave her a nod. Then without wasting any more time, they both leave the city as quickly as they can.
When they both left the city, they immediately walked to the stables and were relieved to see a carriage sitting there. Vilkas approached the driver, making the driver turn his head towards him. "You folks looking for a ride?" He asked. "Can you take us to Whiterun?" Vilkas asked. "Sure can, that'll be forty gold." The driver said while holding his hand out, waiting for coin to be placed in it.
Vilkas rolled his eyes as he started to dig into his bag for his coin purse, once he pulled it out he opened it up and started to count the coin. Hope watched him pull out the exact amount of the coin the driver had asked for and then hand it to him. "Go a head and climb on." The driver said while stuffing the coin in his pocket. Vilkas turned to Hope and gave her a nod, giving her the go head to climb into the carriage.
They both walked around and Hope was the first to climb on and then Vilkas followed after. They both sat down across from each other and then at the same time, let out a relieved sigh.
They both looked at each other with lifted eyebrows but soon after meeting Vilkas's eyes, Hope moved hers away from him. Vilkas watched her for a moment as the carriage started to pull away and then move down the road. He could see the regret and despair he saw in her eyes earlier return.
He cleared his throat to break the silence and then asked. "Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Hope replied with her eyes moving back to him.
"I know you're still bothered by what we did at the bandit's strong hold earlier." He said.
"And why wouldn't I be?" She questioned with her eyebrows furrowing.
Vilkas stared at her for a moment and then cleared his throat. "I uh." He paused for a second. "I get it."
"Do you? Because for some reason you can't seem to wrap your head around it." She snapped, making Vilkas furrow his eyebrows down.
"We killed people Vilkas." Her voice starts to break. "I killed people, Vilkas."
"They weren't people, Liah."
"They sure as hell looked like people when I stabbed a blade through their gut and shot an arrow in their eye."
A heavy sigh leaves Vilkas as he leans forward with a hand rubbing his forehead. He wanted to try and make her feel better, he wanted to say something that would make the guilt go away, but nothing he would say could. Only time would be able to help her with that or maybe if they were lucky, Kodlak could.
"Just get some rest." He said with his upper body leaning back against the carriage. "It's been a long day."
Hope stared at him for a moment, reading what she could off of his face. Then she slowly lays down on the carriages bench and rolls over so that her back is facing him. She places her bag under her head to use as a pillow and then relaxes against it. Or at least tried to, a hard bench on a bumpy carriage wasn't exactly comfortable.
She slowly shuts her eyes and tries to rest like Vilkas suggested, but she couldn't. She couldn't because of the thoughts that came to her mind, because of the images that flashed behind her eyes. The images of the faces that belonged to the people she killed and the image of the torn up carcass she found in the middle of the woods. A lot of things have happened that day and she can't help but wonder what else was going to happen and if she was going to be able to get through it.
