Chickens
In the weeks that followed I regained the rest of my strength. It was a period of calm and relative normalcy – no Thieves Guild quests, no vampires with personal vendettas, and no strange little men with dead mothers. I frequently took jobs with Farkas and Ria. I noticed that the Companions seemed short of the other Circle members (Aela, Skjor, and Vilkas). Farkas then informed me they'd taken out-of-Hold jobs.
One day after Farkas had finished a training session with Jared, Farkas grinned at me and motioned me over toward the wall that overlooked the land outside Whiterun to the east. I approached, looking over the plains at the mountain the Grey Beards occupied that was just visible in the distance.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked. He'd gotten into the habit of asking me that every day though I had told him I had recovered perfectly several days prior.
"I'm good Farkas," I said.
I wasn't going to tell him to stop asking, I knew he wouldn't. And after not informing Vilkas how unwell I was during the hunting trip, I couldn't completely blame him for that.
"Good," he said.
Then Farkas reached out and grabbed my hands in his. Instantly I tensed up, barely managing to not pull away from him. I trusted him, but my instincts were not easy to overcome. I smiled nervously at him, my brain going to the talk Ria and I had had the other day. What was it I was feeling? My heart was beating fast but where did I want this scene to go? Before I could think about it, Farkas continued.
"How about we -" Farkas began.
Then his head turned up, focused on someone behind me. He let go of my hands and I turned around to see Vilkas standing there, covered in weeks worth of dirt with crusted blood on his armor.
"Vilkas," Farkas said, his voice only indicating happiness at his brother's return.
My cheeks were burning, my whole face hot. I felt the need to make an excuse about the hand-holding, though I wasn't sure why. I had already informed him that whatever happened between his brother and me was not his business. Still, I felt relieved that he had interrupted before anything else could have happened.
"Farkas, Kodlak has called a Circle meeting at Skyforge," Vilkas said.
Without waiting for a response or looking in my direction, he turned from Farkas and me and made his way toward the forge. I looked back at Farkas, searching his face to see if he had any inkling why such a sudden meeting would be called. Vilkas had clearly just returned from some long trip and had not even had the time to enter the Meadhall to wash up or eat before the Circle was being collected.
"What's going on? Are we in danger?" I asked, the word 'again' coming to mind.
"I do not know," Farkas said honestly before turning his face back to mine. He smiled, "I'm sure he just wishes to discus his quest with us before washing up. He prefers to get business out of the way first."
"And you don't know where they've been all this time?" I asked.
Farkas shook his head, his brow furrowing. "No. I asked Kodlak and he said that he didn't know."
I frowned. "Right, well, that's not suspicious."
"I'm sure whatever it is they're doing needed to be done quickly and that's why they left suddenly. We will find out soon," Farkas said.
"Well, you will. I'm not in the Circle, remember?"
"Not yet," he said, smiling. "I have to go now to see what my brother wishes to talk to us about."
I nodded and Farkas reached for my hands, squeezing them once more before going after his brother. I looked back out over the horizon. 'Not yet,' he had said. Did that imply that they still accepted new Circle members, that they would dare consider a new recruit, let alone one who had brought so much trouble to the guild already? Or was that just Farkas being his normally optimistic self? And what did becoming a Circle member entail? Did they still believe in making Circle initiates into werewolves?
I tried to put the thought out of my mind and enjoy the unnaturally warm evening when Ria came to lean against the wall at my side. "I hear Vilkas has returned. I think Farkas was starting to worry about him."
"He didn't say anything to me about it but I can see that," I said.
"I wonder why they left all of a sudden? It seems that Kodlak didn't approve of it, whatever they were doing. He seemed quite upset after Skjor came to speak with him just now."
"I think Skjor is naturally upsetting and unsettling," I said without thinking before turning to look behind me. No one appeared in the training yard but Ria and me, and I went back to staring out over Whiterun.
"He is, but not to the other Circle members. I've never seen Kodlak so upset," Ria said. "Did Vilkas say anything to you?"
I snorted. "After the ordeal with the Vampires he hasn't spoken to me much."
I thought back to the first day I had woken up, how at times there had been breaks in his normally hostile demeanor toward me, how I had heard him laugh despite everything we'd been through in the weeks prior. But in the weeks that followed he had avoided me, not something difficult to do given my lack of mobility at the time. And as soon as I could walk half-way decently he had gone off with Skjor and Aela.
"He doesn't talk to anyone much except the Circle," Ria said. She looked up toward Skyforge. "Do you think they'll tell us what they're talking about?"
"I doubt it."
It was oddly quiet at dinner that night as none of the Circle members were present. With little else to do, I turned in to bed early with an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
The next morning I was helping Jared in the yard training when I heard someone approach from behind. "We have a job to do, pack a bag."
I took a deep breath, turning to face the broody twin behind me. "Does it involve giants or vampires?"
"No. We leave in an hour," Vilkas said, beginning to turn away.
"I didn't actually accept the job," I muttered mostly to myself. I turned back to Jared, "Hey, sorry. Farkas said he'd train you this afternoon but I'd make sure he's still available at breakfast and if not go to Ria or Aela?"
"Ok. Just – be safe alright?" he said. I nodded. "Good because if he gets you in trouble again I'll make sure he regrets it."
I laughed, "And how would you do that?"
"Lynn taught me things, itchy sneaky things," Jared said. "See you later, Ever."
Jared continued to practice with his bow as I turned around and headed back to Jorrvaskr. As I was about to open the door, Farkas exited, grinning at me.
"Everlee, I was looking for you," he said. "How are you doing this morning?"
"Still fine Farkas," I said, smiling back at him.
"Good. Well last night I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out tonight after training with Jared," Farkas said. "I thought maybe we could go to the winery. As a date."
Luckily I didn't have to come up with an excuse about why the Thieve's Guild friendly brewery was a bad place for me to be or contemplate what dating Farkas would mean or whether I was ready for such a step because I already had an excuse that Vilkas himself had provided seconds before.
"I can't. Vilkas says he has a job he needs my help on today. He didn't say when we would be back or what it was, I was actually wondering if you knew."
Farkas's eyebrows rose. "He didn't say anything to me about it."
"So it doesn't have anything to do with the Circle and your meeting last night?"
"No," Farkas said. "Well, maybe some other time when you two get back."
I nodded and reached for the door handle, my heart still beating fast. Farkas had asked me out on a date, and it was more than a little suspicious that his brother seemed to have prevented it mere moments before his brother had come to ask about it. I let my hand rest on the door handle, turning my head back to Farkas who had begun to move toward Jared.
"Farkas?" I called, and he stepped back.
"Yeah?"
"Did you tell Vilkas that you were going to ask me on a date?"
"Yes, last night after the Circle meeting."
I nodded before heading inside.
"So what is this about?" I asked Vilkas after we had been on the road for a half hour.
It turned out whatever this quest was that he needed help with was something that two people could handle as it was just Vilkas and me.
"On our way back to Jorrvaksr we heard of some mercenaries hired to burn down farms around Rorikstead. There is some sort of family dispute going on and the local authorities are reluctant to get involved," Vilkas said.
"How many mercenaries are we looking at?"
"A handful, at least four, no more than ten. The reports aren't clear," Vilkas said.
"That's sort of a big difference. Four men are easily dealt with, almost a dozen -" I began.
"Which is why I might need your aid, shield-sister," he said.
I said nothing for awhile. "So, is there a particular reason you chose to take me instead of one our other Companions? You always seem to have a reason behind your choices."
"Yes, if you must know. It's been some time since your injuries healed and you've yet to take any challenging jobs. I thought it possible that fear was getting the better of you and thus decided it was best to take you quickly from there to unknown odds to test your mettle," Vilkas said.
I stopped walking, angry heat building within me. "You're telling me after everything that you think I'm a coward?"
He stopped walking, slowly turning around to meet me. His yellow eyes piercing into mine. "It would not be uncommon or unreasonable to fear battle after everything that happened. But as a Companion you must -"
"If I remember correctly it was you that was always preventing my jobs before you ran off with Skjor and Aela, saying that I wasn't ready to return to full duty. And then when you left we were restricted to Whiterun and the nearby areas by Kodlak because it seems no one knew where you three ran off to, leaving a bunch of minor jobs in the area unattended," I said. "I am perfectly willing and capable of facing danger and unknown odds."
"Good, then you won't need to ask any more questions," he said, turning about as if the subject were closed.
"Tell me Vilkas," I said, walking a few steps behind him. "Is it a Circle concern about my heroics or a just a personal one?"
He didn't answer.
"Or maybe this has nothing to do with my courage at all and everything to do with the fact that your brother was about to ask me out on a date."
Vilkas's pace faltered for a moment before he caught himself. If I hadn't been walking behind him I doubt I would have noticed.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Vilkas said.
"Yes, you do. Farkas told you about wanting to ask me out last night and at the crack of dawn you just happen to beat him to it," I said. "I think you still don't trust me with him."
"Farkas can take care of himself. I'm not worried about your childish flirtations," he responded.
"Then it's just a coincidence that you asked, no, told me I was going on a quest with you seconds before Farkas -"
"This conversation is moronic and I will not continue it," Vilkas said.
We walked the rest of the way to the farms near Rorikstead in silence.
It took us most of the day to track down the mercenaries who were holed up at an abandoned giant camp. There was only three of them, standing around the remains of a large firepit which they had made camp around. Two of them appeared to be Nords with typical light skin and light hair, the third was a tan-skinned Imperial. They all seemed scrawny, with long limbs, and they looked like they hadn't eaten in some time.
It was easy to surround them. With our bows trained on them, Vilkas announced us.
"Halt," he barked out.
The order instantly froze all but the tallest Nord, a man with a ragged fox-pelt draped over him. He went to grab for his sword nearby but I shot an arrow that went right between his fingers.
"The next one won't miss," I said.
He stopped moving. "What do you want?"
"Are you the leader?" I asked.
The man nodded. "I'm Bryant."
"You have been burning down Augustus's farm. Why?" Vilkas asked.
"His cousin said he'd killed his livestock," the other Nord said. Bryant shushed him.
"We aren't telling you anything," Bryant said. "We got a job to do. Same as you."
"You're burning down farms, homes, and endangering lives. Whatever he's paying you clearly isn't worth it," I said, nodding toward their measly possessions.
"We get paid more when the jobs done," Bryant said. "Besides, the Swifts see their jobs through."
"Then we shall run you through," Vilkas growled.
I looked at him, and then back at the men. "What is the pay you expect to get from this?"
"We aren't -" Bryant began.
"Thirty silver," the Imperial said.
"I can double that and all you have to do is walk away," I said.
Vilkas looked at me disapproving.
"Come on man, we need to eat, let's just take the deal," the nord who had interrupted said.
"We won't even have to work for it, easy money," the Imperial agreed.
"No, we finish our jobs," the leader said.
"Bryant -" the Imperial began.
But before anyone could argue with him, Bryant had taken a dagger he'd stowed in his armor and thrown it at me. He clearly had no experience using it as a ranged weapon (though I doubt he had much experience with it at all) as I didn't even have to dodge the wide miss. Vilkas had shot him clean through his throat with the arrow as soon as the dagger had left his hands.
"Please, please don't kill us!" the Nord begged. "I have a family, a little girl. And Hallen here is only seventeen. We were starving, please."
I looked at Vilkas who didn't lower his bow, his face unreadable. Finally he said, "We can take you to the farmer who hired us where you can work off your debt or go to Whiterun prison for arson. The choice is yours."
"We'll go with you! Here take our weapons, just don't kill us," the Imperial said.
Vilkas motioned to me to gather up the weapons as he tied their hands behind their back with some rope he kept in his bag. Once they had been tied, the two prisoners walked between us, with Vilkas and I both holding on end of the rope. We walked the rest of the way back to the farmhold as dusk settled in. The farmer took the men who had been stablehands for his cousin, assuring them they'd be treated better with him.
When that was settled he offered us a place at his private dinner table, which Vilkas accepted. Once we were seated and the meal had begun, I asked the man, "If I may ask, what was this feud over?"
"It started when my cousin, second cousin actually, Wilford and I were sixteen. He had this fat chicken, just absolutely gorgeous, and I may have butchered it without asking and ate it."
I waited patiently for more of the story but it appeared that was it. I looked at Vilkas, whose jaw was once again tight and tried not to burst out laughing. I forced myself to not think about the ridiculous source of the feud, but rather all those who had been hurt in it since. Other farmers had lost their crops, servants had lost their lives, and all over two cousins fighting over a long-dead poultry?
When we were finished with our meal, the farmer offered us use of his spare bedroom for the night but before I could speak, Vilkas refused it, saying we ought to be headed back despite the fact that it was dark and we clearly couldn't travel much further that night. I was miffed that he hadn't asked my opinion about taking the room, but he hadn't spoken with me since that morning, so I wasn't surprised.
We were forced to make camp twenty minutes later. It was a warm night again so I laid ontop my bedroll, the blanket folded at my feet in case I needed it later. Vilkas was a few feet away from me, checking his equipment and unfurling his own bedroll.
"I'm glad I was here," I said, staring up at the starry sky. "I mean, I have no idea how you could have handled three underfed farmhands alone."
Vilkas growled, muttering something under his breath as he got down on his knees.
"All over a chicken," I said, sighing. Vilkas still said nothing as he arranged his pack at the top of his bedroll as a makeshift pillow. "Still not talking to me?"
He said nothing.
"Are you really this upset over the possibility of me dating your brother?" I asked, trying to be gentle.
Finally he turned to me, still on his knees. "He will make his own choices and you have made it quite clear that it is none of my business."
"I get that you're worried about him but do you still think I'd hurt him?"
"Not on purpose, no," he said, sitting down. "But it doesn't change what he is, what we are."
"What you are isn't who you are. Farkas and I have fought alongside each other many times and he has never harmed me."
"But he could. He could lose control."
"Like you lost control with the vampires?" I asked.
I didn't expect Vilkas to answer that but instead he answered, "Yes."
"They were enemies, and they outnumbered you. It's not the same as with your fellow Companions. We were trapped in a cage together for two weeks, and not once did you lose control."
"You're wrong," he said. "You were the only living thing in that room and I almost turned and I would have killed you."
I took a deep breath, not realizing how close to death I had come. I felt my heart beating faster, fear filling my chest unbidden. He had warned me he was dangerous, him and his brother and the rest of the Circle. Still, though he had often intimidated me, I never once had felt unsafe in his presence. I sat up so that I was looking him in the eyes, the waning moon over our heads casting an eery glint off of his yellow eyes.
I should be afraid of him, and part of me was. But part of me had been afraid to come to learn archery, to come to Skyrim, to join the Companions. I didn't want to be afraid, and what was more, sometimes facing the fear was worth it.
"But you didn't turn," I said.
"I was halfway there," he said. "I wanted to kill you."
"But you didn't."
"It doesn't matter. I could have, I wanted to, that's what we are," he said.
"It does matter, actions matter, who a person is matters. You could have killed me and you didn't. And you could have killed those farmhands instead of walking them back to that farmer and you didn't. So stop being so difficult," I said, lying back down.
"I didn't kill them because you didn't want me to," he said. "The job wasn't to babysit them. They got innocent people killed."
"I didn't say I didn't want them killed."
"You're not that hard to read."
"Right," I said.
If I wasn't so hard to read then why couldn't I get a good grasp on myself? Was I warrior? A thief? Something in between? And what about Farkas? I still couldn't get a read on my own emotions about whether I felt something more for him, something worth risking our friendship over. Vilkas seemed to believe he had me completely figured out but how could he when I had been wondering what I would have said to Farkas's date proposal all day?
Vilkas laid down on his bedroll finally. "We can't change what we are."
"That's ridiculous. People change all the time," I said.
"I mean about being werewolves. There's no cure," he said.
"Then learn to live with it. It's not who you are, it's just one part of you."
Vilkas didn't say anything, before asking. "So, do you have feelings for my brother?"
"You already asked me that," I said.
"And you never answered."
"You didn't let me answer."
"You're avoiding the question."
I laid in silence for a moment, wondering what the answer to that was myself when I saw a flash of movement in the dark. I sat bolt upright, Vilkas following suit.
"What is it? What did you see?" he asked as he began to stand.
"I'm not sure. I -"
Before I could finish the sentence, as if I had an extra sense, I felt the path of the dart in the darkness, I threw myself in front of it, stopping it from hitting Vilkas though it pierced the back of my neck instead. I fell forward into Vilkas's arms, my vision already dark.
"Run," I whispered before I fell unconscious.
Author's Note: So obviously my hopes that updating would be more frequent sort of went by the wayside. Luckily, my November school schedule is pretty relaxed (barring a couple of larger projects I've been working on) and it is also National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and I have decided to dedicate this month to my fic. The goal in NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words by the end of November, so that should definitely allow me to stock up on new chapters so that my updating will be more regular. I don't know if I'll finish the story this month (I have an outline of the story but I also let it go where the characters take me) but I plan on making the 50,000 words and if I reach that then I'll write as much as I can before final papers and tests come about in the first week of December. Anyway, hope everyone who celebrates Halloween had a good one, and wish any of you wanting to participate or who are already participating in NaNoWriMo good luck and happy writing. If you want to participate in NaNoWriMo, go to (I believe there is another site for those who are under 18 as well so feel free to look that up if you fall in that category)
