Thirst

The first thing Aila noticed when she woke was the sound of a wolf growling. In her sleepy state, it took her a moment to realize that the wolf was actually Kathryn, and even longer to realized that she was growling at her.

"Don't..." Aila muttered. "You'll scare away the foxes."

"Aila..." Kathryn said. Aila failed to notice the angry undertone in her voice.

"I like foxes," Aila continues, oblivious. "They're cute."

"Aila," Kathryn said again more firmly.

"But you're much cuter."

"Aila!" She shouted, making Aila jump.

"Whaaat?" Aila complained. She opened her eyes and saw Kathryn glaring at her, but she could also see the worry in her glowing golden eyes. Wait, golden? Why are they... ah, crap.

"Why are you bleeding?" Kathryn demanded.

The throbbing pain in Aila's shoulder reminded her of all the fighting she had done the previous night. She also noticed that there were no more glowing lights in her vision. Convenient. "Uh... Maybe you should calm down a bit first? Your eyes are a bit-"

"Aila, just tell me!" Kathryn growled out. "You told me you were going to go see the Jarl, so why are you all cut up?"

"I did go see the Jarl!" Aila argued weakly. "I just also took a little... detour."

"A detour? To where?"

"I may have gone to... Alva's house."

"You went there alone?!" Kathryn exclaimed. "She's dangerous Aila, you should have taken me with you!"

"I know she's dangerous, Kat, that's why I didn't tell you."

"That is literally the exact opposite of what I just said you should have done!"

"Kat, believe me, in any other circumstances I would have told you, but you're hurt. You can't fight in your state."

"I can-" Kathryn started, but Aila cut her off.

"No, you can't. I know you have a high pain tolerance, but that doesn't change the fact that fighting might make your injuries worse and puts you at risk."

"And you think walking into a vampire's house doesn't?"

"Of course not, but at least I knew you were safe and I could focus without having to worry about you. I don't need you to baby sit me, Kat, I can take care of myself."

Despite their heated argument, Aila saw Kathryn's lips briefly curl into a small smile before quickly returning to an angry frown. That, coupled with her eyes turning turning back to silver left Aila wondering what she had said to invoke such a reaction.

"What?" she questioned. "What was that smile?"

"Damn it," Kathryn muttered. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

"Of course I noticed. I'm always watching you. Why did you smile?"

Kathryn shook her head with a sigh. "Nothing, I just... I'm trying to stay mad at you, but hearing you say that makes me feel so proud."

"Proud? Why?"

She shrugged. "You just used to have such an inferiority complex. It's amazing to see you so confident. It makes me proud."

Aila rolled her eyes, but secretly, the the compliment made her feel all warm and bubbly inside. "Oh, come on. I wasn't that bad."

"Maybe not, but it really irritated me." Kathryn reached over and ren her hand lightly along the bandages on Aila's shoulder. "Well, I hope you repaid Alva for this in kind."

"Oh, uh... Actually... Alva didn't do this to me..." Aila told her hesitantly. She began preparing herself for another yelling session.

Kathryn looked at her curiously, with a hint of suspicion. "Then how did this happen?"

"Well, uh, I found Alva's dairy..." she trailed off, nervously fiddling with the sheets, not wanting to continue.

"And?"

"And it talked about how she and this other vampire named Movarth were planning to enslave the whole city and use them as an endless supply of there own personal blood bags."

Kathryn's eyes widened. "That's horrible! We have to do something!"

"Yeah... I kinda, sorta, already did..."

"You... What? What do you mean?"

"Well, when I brought the diary to the Jarl, I still don't know her name, I keep forgetting to ask."

"It's Igrod, but never mind that, what happened?"

"She asked me to go an kill Movarth, who was hiding out in a cave along with Alva and a few other vampires." Aila took a deep breath and braced herself for shouting. "And I, uh, did."

Kathryn stared at her for a solid minute before she spoke. She may have looked relatively calm on the outside, but Aila didn't fail to notice the streaks of gold reappearing in her eyes. Still, it was a step up from the yelling and screaming she was expecting. I think.

Kathryn took a deep breath. "Let me get this straight. You walked willingly into a cave packed with vampires by yourself?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"In my defense, I didn't know about the other vampires 'till I was already in there."

"That is so far beside the point it's not even funny. You could have died Aila!"

"I didn't."

"But you could have! It was an entirely real possibility! Did you even stop to think about the risks? The consequences?"

Aila's heart sank, because in all honesty, she hadn't.

"What if I had lost you? What would I do then? Did you think I would just go along my merry way and forget about you? Because I can't! I can't breathe without you, Aila!"

"I'm sorry," Aila said meekly. What else could she say? Kathryn was right. She did something incredibly stupid and dangerous. Sure, all things considered, it didn't turn out too bad, but it could have been so much worse. Kathryn had every right to be angry.

"Sorry doesn't cut I, Aila. What were you thinking walking into something like that?"

"I don't know," Aila said honestly. "All I could think about was how pissed I was for what they did to Helgi and how badly I wanted to just get it over with so I could get back to you."

The mention of Helgi seemed to calm her down so she continued.

"I saw her again last night. As I was leaving the cave. She came to me one last time."

"What did she say?" Kathryn asked softly.

"She thanked me," Aila said. "For avenging her and her mother. And she said to tell you goodbye for her."

Kathryn let out a long, sad sigh and pulled Aila into a tight hug that Aila gratefully accepted. They were like that for a while, until Aila decided to speak up again.

"Kathryn, I know what I did was selfish, and dangerous, and really, really stupid. I just need you to know that I really am sorry. Please forgive me."

Kathryn was silent for several worrisome moments. "It... It's not just that. I..." She shook her head. "Never mind. I forgive you."

Aila pulled away slightly and looked at her. "What? What else is there?"

"It's nothing, just forget I said anything."

"Kat, I don't want you to be angry with aby about anything. What is it?"

Kathryn shook her head. "It's not something I'm angry about. It's more like I'm.. jealous."

"Jealous? Of what?"

"Of you, Aila."

"Of me? What do I have to be jealous of?"

Kathryn gave her a look like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You went into a cave filled with vampires and walked out with nothing but a few cuts and bruises."

"It was a bit more than-" Aila started, but Kathryn cut her off.

"We find a dragon in the Labyrinthian and what do you do? You pull off one of its scales and stab it in the throat. What do I do? Get my ribs crushed."

"Kat, you know that's not-"

"And the one before that? You split its belly."

"You make it sound like-"

"And don't forget the first one we fought. We had to pry the sword from the inside of its skull, remember?"

"... Kat, where are you going with this?"

"My point, Aila," Kathryn began with a hint of melancholy. "Is that you've become so strong, and I'm so proud of you, but… you've left me in the dust, and I'm starting to think I won't ever catch back up."

Aila didn't speak. She had no idea Kathryn felt that way. "I… I don't know what to say." And she wanted to hit herself for it.

Kathryn have her a small, sad smile. "You don't need to say anything. It's stupid of me to feel that way. I should just be happy with your progress."

Aila didn't think it was stupid at all. She used to feel the same way. Back before she picked up archery, Kathryn was better than her at pretty much everything. She was immensely jealous of Kathryn, she just never voice her thoughts, and eventually she got better. But what could she say? 'Don't worry, I'm still the same old weak and pathetic Aila you used to know?' That wouldn't make either of them feel better. Besides, she had just thought of something much better to say.

"Kat, do you remember just before we left the Companions, when I beat Vilkas during training? Remember what he told me afterwards?"

Kathryn let out a sigh. "There's more to strength than what you can carry."

Aila nodded. "Kat, you're one of the strongest people I know, and out has nothing to do with your physical prowess. But even if it did, can you really say you're not strong? I'm the Dragonborn, remember? A mystical dragon slayer, of course if be able to do all the things you mentioned. But what about you? You're just a girl who ran away from home to search for a better life, and look at all you've done. How many people can say that they've fought not one, but two dragons and lived? You've rightfully earned your place in the Thieves' Guild with me, and every day you get better and better with magic, which by the way, I still couldn't use to save my life."

Kathryn have her an amused smile. "I bet you could if you really tried."

Aila mock glared at her. "That's not the point. Why is it that everytime I try to comfort you, you find a way to make fun of me?"

Kathryn laughed. "Aw, I'm sorry. Come here, love." She pulled Aila into another hug. "But thanks," she added seriously. "That really helped."

"I was just speaking the truth. Oh, how are your ribs, by the way?"

"Better," Kathryn told her. "Falion says I'm healing 'unnaturally fast.' I should be fine in a couple of days as long as I don't put too much pressure on my chest."

Aila raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean unnaturally?"

Kathryn just shrugged. "I'm guessing it's because of my lycanthropy, but I'm not going to tell him that, obviously."

"You guess? You mean you aren't sure?"

"Aela's never mentioned anything about accelerated healing, and I've never had anyone to compare it to before, but I don't know what else it could be. But enough about me, what about you? How bad are your wounds?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a bit sore, really."

Kathryn looked at her skeptically.

"Kat, don't worry about me. You're worse off than I am. Do you think you're ready to travel?"

"Should be. Why, are we leaving."

Aila nodded. "We've spent enough time in Morthal. We still have business in Solitude, and don't even get me started on the trip back to Riften. I really just want to get this over with."

Kathryn agreed and they decided to leave in the next hour. In a fairly small city like Morthal, word tended to travel quickly, and neither of them wanted to deal with the attention they would no-doubt receive if they stayed. So after stopping by Falion's for a few health potions just in case, the two of them packed up what little they had, picked up Frost at the stables and headed out.

Despite the delay in Morthal, they were still ahead of schedule thanks to the shortcut through the Labyrinthian. Kathryn actually walked the first day. Since she had slept the previous night, she had far too much energy to sit in a saddle all day, so walking at least gave her something to do.

It amazed Aila how scarcely she needed to stop and rest. She wished she had that sort of stamina.

Aila had trouble falling asleep that night. Normally she would zonk out the moment she entangled herself with Kathryn, but for whatever the reason, that wasn't the case tonight. She would toss and turn, Kathryn would hold her and be held, but nothing worked, at least not for long. If she did fall asleep, she would wake up shortly afterwards, according to Kathryn.

She felt oddly anxious too, though she couldn't figure out why. She kept expecting a pack of wolves to jump out at them, or or a cave bear to start rampaging, which was ridiculous, especially since they were still in Drajkmyr Marsh.

By their third day of travel, Aila had worsened considerably. Currently, she was laying belly up with Kathryn kneeling over her. She could hear her heart pounding her ears and she was having trouble catching her breath.

Kathryn placed a hand on her forehead. "Mara have mercy, Aila, you're freezing!"

"What?" Aila breathed out. "But I feel like I'm on fire."

"Really? Hmm… Maybe you have fever… But isn't that supposed to be the other way around?"

A fever? Aila couldn't remember the last time she had a fever. Actually, she could remember the last time she had been sick at all. But then, she wasn't exactly in her right mind at the moment. "I don't want to get you sick."

"I won't, don't worry. Another one of the benefits of lycanthropy."

Aila groaned in annoyance. "Lucky. Being a werewolf seems pretty appealing right now."

"Trust me, you wouldn't like that. The only sure way of turning you is to drink my blood."

For some reason, the thought of drinking Kathryn's blood sounded rather enticing. Perhaps that should have tipped Aila off right away that something was seriously wrong, but again, she wasn't in her right mind.

"Oh," was all she said.

"Well, we don't have any cure disease potions. I guess we'll just have to cuddle up and wait it out."

"Mmm," Aila murmured in agreement. Being close to Kathryn was always a good thing. "Wait, can you get me some water? I'm so thirsty."

"'Course, sweetie."

Kathryn rummaged around for a moment and held out a water flask which Aila quickly grabbed and began to drink in greedy gulps.

"Wow, you weren't kidding."

Aila didn't bother with a response and continued to drink. All too soon, the flask was empty. Aila held it upside down in front of her, trying to will more to come out. "It's not enough. I'm still thirsty."

"You can have mine, I guess. One moment."

Aila watched Kathryn intently as she searched for her water flask. Unbidden, the thought of drinking Kathryn's blood returned to her mind. What would it be like? What does blood even taste like?

"Ah, here we go." Kathryn held out another flask to her, but instead of taking it, Aila grabbed her wrist and slowly crawled on top of Kathryn so she was straddling her waist. "Uh, Aila? What are you doing?"

Instead of answering, Aila brought her her head down to Kathryn's neck and inhaled deeply. "You smell so good…" She started softly kissing her.

Kathryn hummed quietly, enjoying the attention. Eventually though, she started to push Aila away. "Aila, this isn't the time for-"

Her sentence was cut short when Aila bit hard into her neck. She cried out and pushed hard against Aila, but she wouldn't budge and inch, not even with her werewolf strength. "Aila, stop!" she screamed.

But Aila couldn't hear her. She was lost in what could only be described as pure bliss. She had never known the taste of blood could be so euphoric. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she recognized a force trying to push her away from this liquid ecstasy, so she pushed back harder as she drank.

And that's when the pain began. It started in her chest. Her heart started beating harder and harder, but she ignored it and focused on drinking. However, her beating heart soon began to greatly outweigh the pleasure drink. It was as if it had grown in size, until it began to physically pound against her ribcage. She couldn't help but pull away and scream out in pain as she clutched her chest. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was too much for her, and she was dimly aware of someone calling her name as she slipped out of consciousness.