Chapter 13

Final Tests

Hiccup awoke to a new day and as a new man. After all that training with the unfinished Unrelenting Force shout, he never felt so happy to curl up in his bedroll. He remembered all that happened the previous day, in particular the fact that his traveling companions; Renee, Rahm-Ku, and J'Kiir; were in fact his siblings by the dragon blood in their veins. Even after discussing it with them, it was an amazing discovery all together.

He looked to find Toothless starting to stir beside him. In front of him were Rahm-Ku and J'Kiir, fast asleep, although it wasn't so surprising with his Argonian brother. The Mage took up most of the night asking so many questions to Master Arngeir that both the Viking and the Khajiit had to pry him away in order to give the Greybeard some sleep. Never before had Hiccup seen a more enthusiastic scholar other than Fishlegs back on Berk that he had to have a private laugh to get it out of his system.

J'Kiir hardly did anything unusual other than work on potions and counting the coin. Eventually, the Khajiit grew bored enough that he had begun to count the hairs on his body before falling asleep.

There was only one person missing from their little group and that was Renee. Knowing her, she most likely got up early to practice her combat skills outside the monastery. The only other possible option was that she had gone out hunting game to keep her werewolf blood under control. Perhaps once they have a chance to get away, they should return to Whiterun and have Renee return to the Companions for counsel.

But for now, it was time for the Viking to get up.

Upon standing, he made his way to the kitchen as quietly as he could and began breakfast. This particular morning he decided to make a stew that Renee was telling him about the previous day that had apples and cabbages for ingredients. He never heard of having apples in a stew, so hopefully he would get the recipe right.

After juicing about four cups of juice from some apples, Hiccup opened a sealed container of salt-cured cabbage that stank to high Asgard. After ridding the cabbage juice, he placed the cabbage in the pot. He then took a small knife and cut up three apples into little bite-sized chunks and added them to the pot.

Once that was done, he let the stew simmer for a few hours. Thankfully, he was early enough to make the stew without a couple of fussy brothers who would complain if they didn't have anything to eat. While he waited and stirred the stew, Hiccup ate some of the bread that was packed with them and once it had been about four hours, continued to cook.

He then diced up one last apple and added to the stew and waited another 30 minutes before he added a pinch of salt to taste. He took a chance and tried a spoonful of the stew and found it pretty tasty. It had a sweet and sour flavor to it and the Viking found it better than what he'd normally eat on Berk.

"Note to self: thank Renee for the recipe."

As he at the stew, he spotted Rahm-Ku and J'Kiir coming from their sleeping spots and joining him.

"That smells good." Rahm-Ku gasped in delight as he poured himself a bowl.

"I'll say." J'Kiir agreed as he got himself a bowl.

Sitting across from his brothers, J'Kiir noticed someone missing.

"Where's our sister?"

The Viking shrugged his shoulders as he voiced his thoughts on the location of their sister.

"She's either training or hunting. We may have to stop at Whiterun once we are done here."

The Thief and the Mage looked at each other with knowing glances before returning to their meal.

Just then, a snow-covered Renee entered the kitchen, her stomach growling loud enough for the trio of brothers to hear.

"Well, that leaves out the wolf's blood." J'Kiir muttered as he ate.

The Nord set her sword and shield down as she in turn took an empty bowl and began to serve herself.

"Thank the Divines. I walked all the way down to Ivarstead, investigated their local barrow, and had to hike back up with what I had collected down there during a storm."

This caught the brothers by surprise.

"How early did you wake?" Hiccup asked. "I've worked on this stew for four hours."

Renee ate a couple of spoonfuls of stew before she answered.

"I hardly got any sleep last night. I'm…twitchy as of late. Took that 'walk' an hour after midnight to see if that would help."

"And it didn't?" Rahm-Ku asked.

Renee shook her head.

"The only thing it did for me was made me hungrier. And I have already used my wolf's blood on a couple of dragons and a stray mammoth."

The word 'dragons' caught the boys' attention.

"You fought a couple of dragons? On your own?" J'Kiir asked, not paying attention to the stew that was falling out of his gaping maw.

Renee took another bowl of stew as she answered.

"There was a word wall down by the hot springs. Map said it was called 'Bonestrewn Crest.' Practically next door to the Eldergleam Sanctuary."

She then pulled something out of her pocket.

"Here. I read and unlocked this word. It is 'Fo.' Tested it out and found that it is some sort of frost breath."

She then pulled out a larger paper and handed it to Rahm-Ku.

"Figured you'd want to see this. It's a rubbing of the Dragon Script. I also circled Fo in there."

Rahm-Ku nodded and took the rolled-up parchment before setting it aside as Renee went for a third helping. Seeing this, Hiccup spoke up, hoping to do some good for their sister.

"Uh, Renee? Don't you think that's enough? You said you had a mammoth, right."

Seeing this, Renee placed a hand to her face and rubbed her eyes.

"You're right. I should be full by now. I ate a full grown mammoth," she paused to gesture to her northern brother. "…that's about as big as a house."

The trio nearly choked on their stew when she said that. Rahm-Ku looked to the Nord and spoke.

"Ok. When we are done here, we are definitely making a trip back to Whiterun."

Renee waved a hand and spoke.

"Aela said I would have a gigantic appetite for a couple of days. If I just keep my eating under control, it should go back to normal."

The three didn't by it but agreed that they should get Renee back to Whiterun after the lessons were over.

After the four had finished eating and Hiccup fed Toothless a basket of fish Renee provided, the pair waited in the courtyard as instructed from the previous night. At the end of the day, Arngeir told the four to wait for the Greybeards outside. The kept warm with the aid of Renee's fire Shout as they waited. They stood at attention once the heard the stone and steel doors open.

Greeting the four students, Arngeir proceeded to speak.

"Good morning, young ones. Today, we will see how you learn a completely new Shout."

He then looked to Renee.

"Young Renee, I could not help but hear that you have learned the first Words of Power for Fire Breath and Frost Breath. Once we finish teaching you and your brothers the first Word of Whirlwind Sprint, 'Wuld,' I would like your assistance in the immediate lesson."

Renee nodded as she joined her brothers in a semi-circle with one Greybeard facing them. Arngeir spoke to the man.

"Master Borri?"

Borri nodded and proceeded to project the word, Wuld, onto the ground. As easy as can be, the four learned the first Word of Whirlwind Sprint. However, they had to wait until the Greybeards unlocked the Word for them before they were told to practice.

"Now we will see how quickly you can master a new Shout. Master Wulfgar will demonstrate Whirlwind Sprint. Then each of you can take a turn."

The quartet and the dragon followed three of the elders to an area with an iron gate and two small columns a few yards away. They halted at the columns while Borri walked to the side of the gate. The four students stood a couple a feet away from Arngeir and Wulfgar as the latter waited for some sort of signal.

A nod came from Arngeir, causing Borri to Shout at the iron gate.

"Bex…"

Just then, Wulfgar Shouted Wuld, which to the amazement of the Dragonborn, sent the Greybeard to the other side of the gate at an incredible speed just before Borri finished his own Shout.

"Nah…Kest!"

The last of the Shout closed the gate as Arngeir turned his attention to the trio.

"Stand in line next to me. Master Borri will open the gate. Use your Whirlwind Sprint to pass through before it closes."

Each Dragonborn practiced the Shout at a time. Due to her "size," Renee was the first to use the Whirlwind Sprint. This was followed by Rahm-Ku and J'Kiir respectively. When it was Hiccup's turn, he performed well. But where his siblings were able to stop, Hiccup slid right into the Trio, causing them to fall onto their backs, or tails in certain cases.

"What was that?" J'Kiir asked as he started to stand up.

Hiccup looked down at his legs and found what the problem was. He groaned as he spoke.

"It's my metal leg. It's too smooth for me to stop. On the snow and ice."

Renee stood up and started to help her Viking brother up.

"Guess that's something we'll have to attend to when we get the chance."

After the four got up, they walked over to Arngeir, who seemed to be a bit astonished.

"Your quick mastery of the Thu'um is…astonishing. I'd heard the stories of the abilities of Dragonborn, but to see it for myself…"

This stirred the curiosities of the siblings as J'Kiir spoke.

"At least as far as I am concerned, I don't know how we did it. It just…happens."

Arngeir answered his Khajiit student.

"You were given these gifts by the gods for a reason. It is up to the four of you to figure out how to best use it."

Arngeir then motioned Renee over to his side, the latter obeying.

"Now, it would be best if I teach you how to teach each other the Words of Power you had discovered. Breathe the Word's power and will it to a hard surface when you Shout."

He then motioned Renee. Getting the hint, Renee focused on her Fire Breath Shout and took in a breath. Her eyes on the stone beneath her feet, she uttered the word.

"Yol…"

Much like with the Greybeards before, the foreign lettering appeared on the ground, glowing. And like before, the boys learned the new word.

Remembering a discussion with Arngeir from the previous day, Hiccup used the soul of the Red Death he found he had in his body and used it to unlock the new power. Moving away from his siblings, teachers, and dragon, Hiccup practiced the Shout.

"Yol…"

The moment he said the Word, fire came out of his mouth, not harming him at all.

He was now able to use the same terrible Shout the black dragon used to destroy Helgen.

Arngeir nodded in approval as he spoke again.

"You are all now ready for your last trial. Using the knowledge given to you, retrieve the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, our founder, from his tomb in the ancient fane of Ustengrav, just north of Morthal. Remain true to the Way of the Voice, and you will return."

Upon bidding the Greybeards farewell, the Dragonborn once more flew on Toothless and made their way down the mountain. Once again, Renee disliked the entire ride.

Upon reaching the soft, warmer earth of Whiterun below, the quartet dismounted Toothless and Hiccup got the map out of the dragon's saddlebag. After unfurling the map, Renee pointed to a sigil that looked like a Celtic knot.

"There's Morthal, the capital of Hjaalmarch hold. Hjaalmarch holds the largest marsh in all of Skyrim. It is a preferable place to find Deathbell flowers as well as various lichen and all sorts of herbs and fungi."

J'Kiir took particular note of that. As Renee was about to point where Ustengrav may be, she hesitated. Seeing their sister freeze, Rahm-Ku spoke.

"Renee?"

Curious, J'Kiir took a look at the map and found what Renee was staring. At one point on the boarder of Whiterun and Hjaalmarch was a faded symbol of a town, its name barely legible.

Emeralda

Seeing this, J'Kiir motioned his brothers to the spot. Hiccup could barely read it, but Rahm-Ku could. Once he saw it, his feathery crest drooped a bit. He then looked to Renee, who was staring at the spot with longing and sadness.

"Renee? How about we stop at Emeralda first? You said you needed to go there, anyway. So why not have it be our stop for the night?"

Renee looked to her brothers, who now got the gist. Even Toothless understood. She still had her inner demons to conquer. And it was in her hometown that she needed to do so.

"Are you sure? What about Ustengrav?"

Hiccup spoke up, catching his sister's attention.

"Renee, you are not only our best fighter, but our sister. Not only do we need you to be at the top of your game, but we also see that this is important to you. I won't mind making the stop."

Toothless gave a low rumble as he nuzzled Renee's side. Apparently he thought the same thing.

"Same here. From what I can see, I can always walk to Hjaalmarch if we need the plants there. So I won't mind the stop." J'Kiir spoke.

Renee raised an amused eyebrow.

"No looting. Got it?" Renee asked.

J'Kiir mockingly placed a hand over his heart.

"You wound me, sister. Really. You do."

Rahm-Ku placed a hand on Renee's back, knowing what to say due to experience.

"It's your call, Renee. I don't mind the stop either."

A single tear of gratitude fell from Renee's eye, falling onto the faded image on the map.

"Thank you…my brothers. Thank you."