4E 191 Rain's Hand

Uriel learned quickly that war takes more than you'd expect. Even sixteen years on, the man would relive flashes of the war. Images of the fires along Lake Rumare as the Dominion took the capital and the sounds of men writhing in the mud, bits and pieces missing from them, only reminded him of how close he was to losing everything. Maybe it wasn't time for him to lose everything he held dear back then. Maybe that time was coming closer and closer.

In the chaos of the Great War, he did what he thought was right. Then Uriel ran. He took his family and ran. The gods could throw him in Oblivion for all he cared. Uriel wasn't losing anything.

And after sixteen years, he still hadn't lost anything. His family was safe and healthy in Anvil. For the time being they weren't being hunted for the things he refused to do during the war.

They were safe and healthy.

Those words were a mantra he repeated every morning he woke up. This particular morning was like every other; Uriel arose from his bed groggily, planted his feet on the floor, and whispered quietly to himself, "My family is safe and healthy."

When he was finished, the man turned to the figure still curled up in the sheets next to him. He brushed his wife's long hair and kissed her cheek. The woman, still half asleep, mumbled and pulled more of the blanket over her head. Uriel didn't pester her further. It was barely light outside and even he didn't have to rise this early. By now though, getting up with the sun was just a habit.

When Uriel was finished donning his captain's uniform, he slipped from the room and crept downstairs as quietly as he could. Again out of habit, he paused at the end of the hall and peered into his wife's greenhouse. The glass walled room was filled to the brim with flowering, verdant plants. Condensation from the night before dripped downwards and into the planters.

The man smiled when he caught sight of a young boy with curly red locks not too unlike his finally noticed him lingering in the doorway. Marco - as he asked to be called recently- gave him a nod before watering a nearby plant.

"I thought your mother wanted to water the plants?" Uriel muttered. He watched Marco put down the watering can he was using.

"No. Some of these are mine. I wanted to take care of them myself."

"I see." Uriel paused, taking another look at the room around him. "Is your sister still asleep?"

"She wasn't in her room when I got up earlier," Marco muttered. The boy pushed past his father and into the hallway. Uriel clicked his tongue. There was nothing left to do but follow him.

"I didn't think she'd get up this early."

Marco didn't answer. Uriel watched him disappear into the kitchen. His wife would make breakfast for everyone later that morning, but not until the sun was actually up. Until then, the man would go around town on patrol. He'd been guard captain for almost ten years now and patrolling the city streets was no longer something he had to do. Uriel went on patrol anyways. There was still something comforting about the job that put Uriel's mind at ease.

The seaside city of Anvil had been through Oblivion and back since the beginning of the Great War. Citizens fled when the Count couldn't hold the city even with the aid of the Legion. The Aldmeri sacked it and left when the war was over. By then there was nothing left for those looking for their homes. It took years to build the city up to even half of its former glory.

And Uriel was proud to have helped Anvil grow. It was his wife's home and now it was his home too.

For the time being, guard captain Uriel Hayn took the morning patrols and greeted as many people as he could. Not all of their faces were smiling and happy. Constant happiness isn't how life worked. But for now the city of Anvil was safe.

His patrol always ended at Castle Anvil outside of the city gates. He had a small office in the guard barracks. It was there that he would schedule the rest of the partols and review what had happened throughout the day. People filtered in and out of his office all day long with requests and reports.

One of the newer guards placed a piece of parchment in front of Uriel. The older man arched an eyebrow questioningly. The guardsman shook his head, "It's a request for leave. My ma's sick again. Gotta go check up on her."

"How many days off is that this month?"

"Three full days, sir."

"I hope it's not serious. You might want to take someone to see her."

The guardsman chuckled, "If I do that, I'll have to ask for more time off." The man paused, shooting Uriel a grin. "I bet you never have to worry about asking for leave!"

"Because I'm the captain?"

"No, because you're brother in law's the Count."

Uriel's heart sank. He tried to force a smile as he responded, "Not at all. My wife isn't related to Count Umbranox in any way. It's just coincidence she has the same name as the late Lady of Anvil."

"Yeah, sure, Captain. That's what you gotta say." The guardsman said nothing further and left. Uriel sighed the parchment the man left on his desk. He sighed and rubbed his temples with frustration; it wasn't as though the young guardsman was wrong.

Uriel tried not to let the comment bother him and by the time he was ready to return home, he had forgotten all about it. The front door was wide open when he returned as it usually was. His wife always had it open on warm days to let a breeze flow through the house.

His eyebrows furrowed as he called out, "Ulia? Where are you?"

A familiar, bell-like voice came from the back and Uriel couldn't help but smile. He marched to the back work room where Ulia kept her alchemy supplies. His wife was sitting at the far window, crushing a sweet smelling plant with a mortar and pestle. She glanced up and smiled when she heard him, soft brown eyes regarding him warmly. Slowly she turned back to what she was doing as she spoke. "You're back a little earlier than usual."

"I am,' Uriel muttered. He hugged Ulia's shoulders from behind and in an instant everything melted. The woman only laughed. "What is this for?"

"One of our neighbors asked for a salve."

"I see." Uriel said nothing more and watched his wife work her magic. Ulia was gifted with plants and after years of working with them, she could grow nearly everything. Uriel understood very little of what she was trying to do but he still enjoyed watching her. "Hey we need to talk about my trip," the man whispered quietly as he propped an elbow on the workbench.

Ulia's eyes and hands didn't move from her work as she answered, "That we do. I think you're right."

"About Valleri?"

Ulia rolled her eyes with faux exasperation. Uriel knew she would relent eventually. "Yes, about Valleri. You were right; she is old enough to go. I don't like it, but that girl will go off on her own eventually whether we like it or not. It's best we prepare her as best we can."

"She'll be ecstatic. Valleri's at the docks, right?"

"Yes, she's been over that way all day," Ulia sighed. Uriel was well aware of his wife's frustration with their daughter's wayward tendencies. But there was nothing they could really do about it.

Uriel gave Ulia a light kiss on the top of her head before leaving the house. He didn't have to walk very far down the street before spotting a familiar wavy haired figure carrying a basket coming towards him. In a matter of seconds, the figure waved madly at him.

He couldn't help the wide grin on his face when Valleri nearly ran into him. The girl was covered in sand and sticks and dried weeds, but the look of triumph on her face told him she had done nothing that wasn't worth it. Uriel gestured to the basket slung over her shoulder; "What did you end up finding today?"

Lights lit up in Valleri's eyes as she pulled out old bits of pottery. "Relics! I think they're from the elves." She excitedly pointed out a flowery flowing script that covered the bits of ceramics, pointing out each character. "See? Like right there! I'm gonna learn how to read it."

"You can certainly try, but that doesn't look like any Elvish I can read. It might take you awhile."

"Watch me then," Valleri dared, voice sharper than before.

"I definitely will," Uriel pestered. Valleri placed her loose bits of pottery back in her basket and followed along with her father back down the street. The two of them watched Marco in the distance delivering the salve Ulia finished working on to one of their neighbors before messing with a seagull. Valleri paused when she noticed the seagull wasn't going to stand for Marco's taunting and promptly started to chase her brother back to the house.

The girl shook her head with a blank expression, "He's never going to get it."

"What? The birds?"

Valleri tilted her head with a lopsided smile. "Yeah. Marco can try to befriend the birds as much as possible but they're not going to like him any time soon."

Uriel crossed his arms, "Who knows? Maybe if he holds out long enough, they will like him." His daughter didn't respond. Uriel stole a glance at her. Valleri was busy staring forwards, mind obviously focused on something else. "Hey, Valleri, there was something I actually needed to tell you."

Immediately, she looked up to him with a look of fear. "Is it about me skipping my work at the chapel?"

"What? No. I had no idea you were skipping out on that. You probably shouldn't let your mother know."

The grimace on Valleri's face deepened. "Too late."

Uriel sighed. "Well, in any case, it wasn't about what you're not doing in your free time. It was about my trip." The man paused and looked back to Valleri. The grimace on her face was now replaced with an expression of absolute attention. "I was able to convince your mother to let me take you with you."

"This isn't a bad joke, is it?"

The man shook his head, "No joke at all. We just think it's time you start getting out there a little bit."

He watched as the grin on Valleri's grew before she ran into the house, yelling her brother's name all the while. In a moment, Uriel saw Ulia duck out of the back workroom, surprised at the sudden yells that filled the house. The woman caught sight of Uriel standing in the front door and her eyes went wide. "You told her?"

Uriel laughed. "Someone had to!"

Ulia shook her head with exasperation before disappearing further into the house. With a contented sigh, Uriel followed after her. With each step, his mantra echoed in his mind.

For now his family was safe and healthy.

…

Ysra leaned against the window looking out of her small cottage and into the woods that surrounded her, trying no to focus on the icky feelings of trepidation that swirled around her mind. Instead she tried to focus on the view outside of the window. New spring growth was finally coming in on the plants. The greens broke up the monotonous grey that came with winter break up. But even then, the new leaves seemed tainted. As though she left something out to rot.

She bit her lip as her eyes fell on the young man packing a bag in front of her. His choppy black hair nearly rivaled her own mane. The two of them shared many traits, but after the last few summers, the young man now towered above her. She cursed his father for being a tall man.

Turning from her post, Ysra tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "You have everything there?"

Finally, the young man took a step back, lacing his arms behind his head with a sigh. In another moment, he let his arms down then turned to smile at Ysra. "It's not like I really need to take much anyways. They have normal housewares and such at Jorrvaskr. It's in Whiterun for gods' sake."

Ysra's eyebrow twitched. "Yeah, I know. I've spent more time in Jorrvaskr than you have. I just don't want you to leave anything important behind. We have no idea when you'll be able to come back."

"Mother," the young man droned on, "I'm not going to be gone forever. Besides, Whiterun isn't very far away."

"Vilkas, you know what I mean."

The young man shrugged. "I have to go out and do something eventually. Besides, I've done Companions work before."

Ysra paused, narrowing her eyes. Her son was right. Vilkas was meant for something more than just this small cottage and the natural wonders Ysra was happy to surround herself with. She loved the twins dearly, but Vilkas was the clever one and it would be a shame not to let him go.

With a sigh, she continued. "I just don't think being a Companion is something you're meant to do."

Vilkas sighed. They'd had this conversation many times before and it always ended the same way. He was about to speak when Ysra started to talk unexpectedly. "Yes, I know you've been working towards this for years now. Yes, I know each and every story Kodlak told you when you were growing up made you want to be a part of them. You've told me that over and over again, Vilkas. There is no need to tell me once again."

"Exactly."

Ysra sighed with a grimace. "It's just I'm worried what happened to your father will-"

"Happen to me?" Vilkas finished. Ysra studied him for a moment; searching for anything that resembled the wayward, zealous nature of her husband. To Ysra's relief there was little of that in Vilkas, and the thought settled her mind a little. Vilkas didn't seem to notice and continued, "I'm not Jergen. I won't fall for the same stuff he did."

"Part of you is Jergen."

"Yeah. You can say the same thing about Farkas and nothing horrible's happened to him yet."

Ysra's grimace deepened, "Don't say that, Vilkas. You and your brother are two completely different people. You two barely look like each other anymore."

Finally a smile came to Vilkas' face, easing a bit of his mother's worries. "I don't think whatever I'm going to do with my life is ever gonna make you happy and you'll have to live with it."

"I know, I know," Ysra chided, rolling her eyes. She followed Vilkas out to the front of the house and the both of them were content to watch the dirt path leading to the cottage. The path was left mostly unused since very few people visited, but that was one of the many reasons Ysra lived outside of town.

After a minute or two of waiting, Ysra noticed Vilkas perk up. "Kodlak's here."

"I can see that," the woman muttered as she finally caught sight of an older man coming towards the cottage. He waved at the two of them warmly and Vilaks went to meet him. Ysra made no hurry to follow them, making doubly sure she was anything but welcoming.

The newcomer tried to give her a grin as he spoke, "Good afternoon, ma'am."

"We've known each other over twenty years, Kodlak Whitemane. Don't think for a second flattery is going to let you off the hook."

"I figured, Ysra. I figured." Kodlak turned his attention front the glum woman back to Vilkas. "Glad you're finally able to join us permanently. Maybe this will get Farkas out of his slump."

"Slump?"

"Yeah, the lad's been down a bit. He said doing jobs aren't quite the same anymore. In any case, we should be off if we want to make it back to town before sundown."

The two of men were already walking away when Ysra spoke up for a final time. "Hey, Kodlak!"

The older man turned around and yelled, "Yeah?"

"You let my boy get stabbed in the kidneys or something and I'll skin you alive. I've already lost a husband and I don't want to lose anyone else!"

She heard Vilkas groan as he rubbed his forehead in exasperation. Kodlak only bellowed out a hearty laugh, "I wouldn't dream of it, Ysra!"

The woman crossed her arms and watched the two of them disappear down the path leading back to the main road. She knew it would take them a few hours to reach Whiterun, but after that Vilkas would be safe for a little while before he went out into the world to do what he set out to do. Ysra knew for a long time coming she wouldn't be able to stop him from doing that. The only thing she could do now was make peace with it.

By now, Ysra let out one last sigh and went back inside to ward off the oncoming chill that came with the evening.

...

Hi again! I know its been a while but I'm back for the time being. I feel like i should explain somethings real quick. For those of you who haven't read A Land Of Snow, feel free to skip this.

For those of you have, this story is sort of adjacent to the original Valleri Alastarim story. I had this AU stuck in my head since the 2019 summer and had much of the plot drafted in my head and was writing snippets like crazy. Compared to the ALOS sequel idea I was playing with, this felt much more developed. I talked it over with some friends and ultimately decided I needed to tell this story.

This doesn't mean I've completely given up on the original ALOS story thread. I'll try to write a little for that. But this is where I'll be focused. I look forward to hearing your feedback!

Happy reading and have a good winter holiday!

- Squid