Cry entered the Underforge to an argument, which, really, shouldn't have surprised her, since everyone in the space was a Nord. Vilkas and Aela were the ones shouting at one another, while Farkas stood off to the side, looking weary. Cry walked over to him, and listened to what the other two had to say.
"The old man had one wish before he died," Vilkas said, "but he didn't get it. It's as simple as that."
"Being moon-born is not so much of a curse as you might think, Vilkas," Aela retorted, her arms crossed. Fark exchanged a glance with Cry, who lifted her shoulders. They'd begun the argument, and they could finish it. She doubted either one of them would hear what she had to say, anyway.
"That's fine for you," Vilkas said, lowly, "but he wanted to be clean. He wanted to meet Ysgramor, and know the glories of Sovngarde. And all that was taken from him."
"And you avenged him," Aela said.
Farkas spoke up, for the first time, and Cry was glad he did so, because it was a necessary point. "Kodlak did not care for vengeance," he said.
"No, Farkas, he didn't," Vilkas agreed, and he turned back to Aela, eyes narrowed. "And that's not what this is about." Here, his voice lowered, and he took a step towards Aela. "We should be honoring Kodlak, no matter our own thoughts on the blood."
Cry looked at Aela as a moment of silence grew in the Underforge, and she saw the huntress's hardened expression collapse as she turned her gaze to the ground. "You're right," she murmured, and Cry's shoulders fell. "It's what he wanted, and he deserved to have it."
Vilkas looked down at the ground for a moment, and then his shoulders set, and he glanced over at Cry. She frowned, confused by the expression on his face. "Kodlak used to speak of a way to cleanse his soul, even in death." He looked at Aela again. "You know the legends of the Tomb of Ysgramor."
Cry heard the sound of the Underforge opening, and she glanced in that direction, but saw nothing there. Frowning to herself, she faced forward again, looking at Aela.
"'There the souls of harbingers will heed the call of northern steel'," Aela quoted, sighing to herself. "But we can't enter the tomb without Wuuthrad, and it's in pieces, like it has been for a thousand years."
"And dragons were just stories, and elves once ruled Skyrim," a voice said, and Cry turned to see Eorlund exiting the shadows. The shaft of a weapon poked over his shoulder, and Cry blinked. She'd never seen a design like that. He paused in the light of a sconce, and looked around at the four of them. "Just because something is doesn't mean it must be. A blade is a weapon. A tool. And tools are meant to be broken, and repaired."
"Is that… did you repair the blade?" Vilkas sounded as though he couldn't believe it, and as Cry connected the dots in her own mind, she found that she really couldn't either.
Eorlund drew the weapon hanging off his back, and Cry blinked at Wuuthrad, amazed.
"This is the first time I've had all the pieces, thanks to our sister, here," Eorlund said, nodding towards Cry. "The flames of Kodlak shall fuel the rebirth of Wuuthrad, and now you shall take it to meet him once more." Eorlund carried Wuuthrad towards where Cry stood, and then held it out to her, having to use both hands. "You should be the one to wield it in battle."
"No, I really shouldn't," Cry said, taking a step back. "I didn't - I wasn't even here, to help defend Jorrvaskr. I have no right."
"You retrieved all the pieces, didn't you?" Eorlund asked, and Cry glanced at Vilkas.
"I wasn't the only one to do that."
Vilkas closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he gave her a nod. "Kodlak would want it that way," he said, and then he smiled slightly. "Besides, didn't you tell me that you've trained with all manner of weaponry?"
"Yeah, but this is, like, an axe that a god among men carried around," Cry mumbled. Nonetheless, when Eorlund held it out to here again, she took it, hefting its weight in both hands. She was suddenly incredibly grateful that she'd only been using a greatsword as a weapon for the last several weeks.
Eorlund stepped away again, and looked around at them all once more. "You all will journey to the Tomb of Ysgramor," he said. "For Kodlak."
As one, the three Companions drew their weapons of choice, and looked at Cry. She exhaled a breath, gazing down at Wuuthrad for a moment, before she looked at her Shield-Siblings. "To battle," she said. "For Kodlak."
"For Kodlak!" they agreed, and then she led the charge out of the Underforge, and out of Whiterun, holding Wuuthrad out in front of her.
The Tomb of Ysgramor was about what Cry expected it to be: basically the same as all other tombs in Skyrim that she had either passed by, or desecrated in her search for Words of Power. As such, when the four of them walked inside, she did not wrinkle her nose at the musty smell of the place.
She did, however, make a face as Aela and Farkas moved forward into the tomb's main room, but Vilkas stopped her before she could follow. His own expression was a mixture of regret and sorrow, and she frowned at him.
"What is it?"
He inhaled, slowly, and did not respond to her inquiry. Instead, he said, "This is the resting place of Ysgramor and his most trusted generals." He met her gaze. "You should be cautious."
Cry's frown deepened. "We should be cautious," she corrected, and Vilkas shook his head, once. "What are you saying? You're not coming?"
"I can't," Vilkas replied, lowering his gaze once more. "I didn't - I let vengeance rule my heart. I can't go any further feeling this way."
"You and I took Driftshade together," Cry reminded him, and Vilkas offered her a sad smile.
"You would not have gone about it the way we did, had I not pushed you to," he told her. He nodded towards Wuuthrad, which she'd carried with her the whole journey, and was really starting to wear on her arms. "This is why I did not argue, when Eorlund suggested you be the one to carry the axe into battle. You deserve to enter this resting place, to see Kodlak again. I do not."
"Vilkas -"
"I gave the heads to Aela," he said, not allowing her to speak. "I imagine you'll understand what to do when the time comes."
Cry gazed at him for a moment longer. "How do you know we'll be able to do this without you?" she asked at last, and he smiled again.
"You're Companions," he said. "This is what you're built to do."
Cry let go of Wuuthrad long enough to place a hand on the back of Vilkas's neck. She tugged him down, until she could press her forehead to his.
"If I die down there," she whispered, "I will come back to haunt you."
Vilkas chuckled, and she let him go, smiling. He nodded to her, and she nodded back, moving around him into the main room, where Farkas and Aela waited for her. Alongside them was a life-size statue of whom she assumed was Ysgramor. His hands were positioned in such a way that she imagined he was meant to be holding something. It didn't take her long to realize that he was meant to be holding what she was holding.
Carefully, she leaned up and placed Wuuthrad into it's appropriate space, in Ysgramor's grasp. Almost at once, a pathway opened to them. Cry pulled out her own weapon, and twirled it around, inhaling. "All right," she said, looking at her Companions. "Let's go."
They approached the tomb much as she and Aela had approached Gallows Rock, and how she and Vilkas had eventually decided to approach Driftshade. They fought together, methodically, as though they'd been fighting together for centuries. Cry watched Farkas and Aela's backs, and they watched hers, as well as each others. Together, they fought their way through the spirits of Companions that had come before them.
Unfortunately, even the bravest Companion had a fear, and Farkas's came to life as they neared a spider-web covered room. Cry sensed his hesitation, even before he actually came to a halt, and she approached him, as Aela moved to scout ahead.
"Farkas?" she asked, and he glanced at her.
"I'm sorry, Cry," he said, his voice low with shame. "But… ever since Dustman's Cairn, the big crawly things have been too much for me."
Cry smiled at him, placed a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone has a fear," she told him, "and spiders are a common one. You shouldn't be ashamed."
He exhaled, and looked at her again, smiling slightly himself. "Say hello to Kodlak for me?" he asked, and she nodded.
"You know I will. Head back to your brother."
Farkas dipped his head, and turned, jogging back the way they had come. Cry went after Aela, who did not seem surprised that Farkas had gone.
"He mentioned the spiders to me," the huntress said as Cry joined her. "I tried to tell him that his werewolf blood makes him immune to their diseases, but I don't think he got it."
"It's all right," Cry said. "We can handle the rest on our own. Let's go."
In the end, they did handle the rest on their own, although it was significantly more difficult without Farkas alongside them. Cry suffered from more than one bite from a spider, and by the end of that space, she was limping. Aela, who'd lingered in the background, where her arrows were most helpful, moved forward to support her weight, but Cry shrugged her off.
"I'm fine," she said. "We have to keep moving."
"And we won't be able to, with you limping like that," Aela told her. "Besides, there are bound to be more spirits ahead, and you won't be able to fight them if you can't stand up properly." She pulled Cry's pack free from her shoulders, and rooted around in it for a moment, searching for a potion. She came up with one, after a moment, and forced it into Cry's hands. "Drink. We can afford to take a moment for it to work."
Cry sighed, but drank the potion all the same. She felt it heal her injuries after one a few minutes, and she gingerly rested her full weight on the leg that she'd been limping on. It no longer hurt, and she exhaled a breath of relief, looking at Aela.
"Thanks," she said. "Come on."
Aela had been right; there were more spirits waiting to fight them, but after taking the potion, Cry felt rejuvenated, and they were easier to take down than the spiders had been, even. They eventually reached a long hall of sorts, with large wooden doors blocking the way further. A group of four ghosts attacked, and Aela retreated to shoot from a distance, leaving Cry right in the middle of them.
She spun in a complete circle, slashing her sword along with her movement, and managed to get hits on all four spirits, which gave her space to move away from them. She cut one down before it could recover and turn to face her, and one of Aela's arrows found another. Cry wasted no time in lunging at one of the other two, and when she turned around, she saw the last one turn to ash at the tip of an arrow.
"Good work," Cry said to Aela, who nodded in agreement, and gestured towards the double doors. Cry jogged up the stairs they sat at the top of, and pushed them open.
On the other side, they found a large chamber, lit all over by candles. In the middle of the space was a pedestal, and standing behind it was a docile spirit, his hands raised over the flame that flickered in the center of it. Cry slid her greatsword away, and approached the spirit, exhaling when she saw who it was.
"Harbinger," she said, and he glanced up. He smiled, seeing her.
"You came."
"Of course we did, once we knew that we could," Cry answered.
Kodlak gestured towards the fire. "My fellow harbingers and I have been warming ourselves here. Trying to evade Hircine."
Cry glanced around for a moment, wondering if there were other spirits in the room that she hadn't noticed. There were none, however, and she turned back to Kodlak with a frown. "There's nobody else here."
"You see only me because your heart knows only me as the Companions leader," Kodlak explained with another smile. "I'd wager old Vignar could see half a dozen of my predecessors." He looked away, his eyes settling on something in the distance. "And I see them all. The ones in Sovngarde. The ones trapped with me in Hircine's realm."
He looked at her once more. "And they all see you. You've brought honor to the name of the Companions. We won't soon forget it."
Cry remembered his journal entries, then, but she shook the thoughts away. There were more important matters at hand. "Farkas says hello," she said, "and... and Vilkas thinks that you can still be cured," She gestured to Aela. The huntress handed her the heavy bag of witches' heads.
Kodlak stared at it for a moment. "I can only hope," he said at last. "Throw one of them into the fire. It will release their magic, for me at least."
Cry made a face as she set the bag on the ground, and reached into it to retrieve a head. She grabbed it by the hair, and as quickly as she could flung it into the pedestal.
Almost as soon as the head hit the flames, Kodlak hunched over, and seemed to be ripped in two, only his second half took on the shape of an ethereal wolf. The wolf snarled at Cry and Aela, who shot an arrow into it without much ceremony. Cry smiled to herself, and kicked the wolf square in the throat as it lunged at her. The wolf yelped, landing off to the side, and Cry quickly stabbed her greatsword into its neck.
The wolf faded. Cry slid her greatsword away once more, and looked around for Kodlak. She found him standing on a raised part of the floor, looking just the slightest bit less ghostly. She approached him, and it took a moment before he looked at her.
"I think we did it," she said, and he smiled.
"You did, and so slain the beast inside of me," he told her. "I thank you for this gift. The other harbingers remain trapped by Hircine, however." His eyes rested on that point in the distance again. "Perhaps from Sovngarde, the heroes of old can join me in their rescue. The Harrowing of the Hunting Grounds. It would be a battle of such triumph."
Cry grinned. "I'd like to see such a battle," she said, "and perhaps even participate in it."
"And perhaps, someday, you will," Kodlak said, turning back to her. "But for today, return to Jorrvaskr. Triumph in your victory." He dipped his head to her. "And lead the Companions to further glory."
Cry blinked. "Kodlak -"
"Goodbye, Shield-Sister," he said to her, and then he faded, and was gone. Cry stood where she was for a moment, her mind reeling. That was it, then. That was Kodlak stating his wish for her to be harbinger after him aloud. It was real.
"Did I hear right?" Aela asked from behind her, as though to further plant the notion. Cry turned to face her, and saw that Aela's eyebrow was raised. "Did he say you were to lead the Companions?"
"He did," Cry sighed. "Does this upset you?"
Aela did not respond for a moment. Eventually, however, she shook her head, and offered Cry a smile. "Not at all," she said. "You've earned the right. Your strength and honor are apparent to all. And it's my honor to be the first to address you as Harbinger." She looked around for a moment, and just like that, the heartwarming feeling that Cry had felt was gone. "Well, I suppose that's that, then."
"Yes," Cry agreed with a small smile of her own. "I suppose that's that. We should return to Vilkas and Farkas."
They discovered an easy route, back to that first room. Vilkas and Farkas both waited there for them, and Cry thought she saw relief pass over Vilkas's face as they both entered the space.
"It's done, then?" he asked, and Cry nodded. His shoulders fell. "Good. The old man deserved that much." He sighed. "Well, then, I suppose it's back to business, once we return to Jorrvaskr. We'll need to hold a Circle vote, to decide who will be the next harbinger -"
"Actually, we won't have to do that," Aela said, and Vilkas looked at her, an eyebrow raised. Aela gestured towards Cry. "I heard Kodlak say out loud that he meant for her to be the one to take his place."
Vilkas and Farkas looked at Cry instead, who grinned sheepishly, and held out her arms. "Not that I'll take it, if anyone else would rather have it," she said. "Really. I don't think I deserve the title."
"Except that you do," Vilkas said, quietly, and Cry looked at him. He smiled, slightly, and dipped into a small bow. "There is no one I would rather follow."
"Here, here!" Farkas agreed, clapping his hands together.
"But, I -"
"Cry, you assisted in taking out the last of the Silver Hand. You killed off all of the witches of the Glenmoril coven. I can't even count the number of jobs you've done since you've joined us," Vilkas told her. "You've earned the position. Kodlak was right to give it to you. So please don't try to argue with us, because it will just make things so much more difficult than they have to be."
Cry glanced at Farkas and Aela, before she fully looked at Vilkas. He met her eyes, and, looking at him, she decided that she would take the job, Dragonborn duties be damned. If the Companions wanted her, then who was she to say no?
"All right," she said, smiling again. "I won't argue."
"Good," Vilkas said with a nod, and he looked around. "I think I'd like to stay here for awhile, I think, take a look around. Farkas?"
"You know I go where you go," Farkas replied with a shrug, and Vilkas turned to Cry.
"With your permission, Harbinger." He said this with a small smirk on his face, and Cry had to refrain from rolling her eyes.
"It would have been easier if you'd just come with us on our trek inside, but of course you can stay." She looked at Aela. "I think Aela and I have seen enough, however."
"You've got that right," Aela said, putting her bow onto her back again. "Let's get out of here."
Cry nodded, and watched her exit the tomb, before turning to the twins. "We'll see you back at Jorrvaskr. Don't stay away for too long; we have work to do."
"Yes, Harbinger," Farkas replied, cheerily, and Cry did roll her eyes this time. Farkas headed deeper into the tomb, leaving Vilkas with Cry. She began to turn to go, but Vilkas caught her arm.
She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "What is it?"
He hesitated a moment, and then he exhaled, and shook his head, letting go of her arm. "Nothing, I suppose. Apologies. I will see you at home."
Both of Cry's eyebrows raised, and he winced, seemingly realizing what he'd said. "I - you know what I meant," he grumbled, and then he stalked off after his brother.
Cry smiled to herself for a moment. She'd known exactly what he meant.
