Vanis returned to Whiterun that evening. A nice ride through Whiterun hold took his mind off of last night's nonsense. Relaxed and refreshed after a hot bath, he paid a visit to his old friends at Warmaidens. Standing by Adrianne Avenicci who was sharpening his mace, they stuck familiar conversation. Both knew each other well, as he grew up with Adrianne's husband, Ulfberth.
"...then the skeever jumps at me. I block it. This rat gets its teeth stuck on my mace and I'm flailing around, trying to shake it off."
They laughed as Adrianne continued to churn the pedal. "Maybe it was a female skeever. You are quite the catch."
"My mother did want me to get married within the next decade. I'd hate to disappoint her."
"Me and Ulfberth are going to the Bannered Mare for drinks tonight. Want to join us?"
"That sounds nice. A quality wine paired with a fat steak. I'll be there. Tell Ulfberth our next arm-wrestling match is mine."
Adrianne inspected the weapons edges and handed it over. Vanis ran a gold piece on one side, scratching the coin with ease.
"Excellent work as always darling. See you later!" Vanis walked up to the Bannered Mare, when a man in armor called him out.
"Hey! Are you the Vigilant who came here yesterday?"
Vanis folded his arms. "Who wants to know?"
"I do. My brother Farkas said he was going out with a woman. He didn't mention who she was, but I heard she might have been a Vigilant. Safe to assume you know each other."
"I know her. Is there a problem?"
"Neither one has returned yet. It's getting late and I'm worried."
"Listen um..."
"Vilkas."
"Vilkas. They're adults, I'm sure they're fine. Your brother seemed like a capable warrior and Ariel can take care of herself. Now if you excuse me, I have plans tonight."
Vanis began walking away until Vilkas grabbed his arm. "If anything happens to my brother, we're going to have some serious issues."
Vanis pulled his arm away. "First things first, don't put your hands on me. Second, what could you possibly be so worried about?"
"To put it simply, I don't trust outsiders and your friend is no exception. I don't even know where they went!" he barked.
"I suppose that is a problem. Just not mine."
"Excuse me, but Farkas said he was going to Greenspring Hollow." Both men looked over to see Carlotta speaking from her stand.
Vilkas slammed his hand on the stand, "When did he say this?"
Taken back by the rude gesture, Carlotta said, "Well maybe I'll tell you if have better manners."
Vanis shoved Vilkas to the side, "My apologies dear lady. This man is clearly an asshole. However, my female friend is with his brother," he charmingly smiled at Carlotta, "and any help would be greatly appreciated."
"Apology accepted. He bought a cabbage around two and asked for a decent recipe to cook it. Said he was taking the girl on a picnic. Sounds romantic to me."
Without saying a word, Vilkas stormed off. Vanis thanked Carlotta and went after Vilkas.
"Woah, slow down tough guy. If something did happen to Farkas or Ariel, you'll need backup. Let me change into my robes and I'll join you."
"I don't need your help."
Vilkas continued on. Vanis spun him around, getting up close. "Fine, let's cut the crap. I don't trust you; I don't know you, and I don't want you, or your brother, near Ariel. I'm coming, so give me a minute. Or me and you, really will have issues."
Vilkas let out a small growl. "Hurry up." With a face of disgust, Vanis ran to get changed.
"Farkas...Farkas...Farkas."
Bit by bit, his eyes opened. Head buzzing, seeing triple Ariel. He rested on Ariel's lap. He groaned, still undressed from earlier. It hurt to move, so Ariel sat him up.
"Thank the maker you're alright."
"Where are we?" The brain vibrations made his face clench. His sense of awareness thrown through a loop. "What happened?"
"I don't know. They swarmed you and blindfolded me. I believe we're in a storage room. There's a door but it's locked.
"Did they hurt you?"
"A couple of punches to the face, but I'll be okay."
Hearing that, a rage sparked on the inside. He inspected Ariel's face to find a busted lip and black eye. He roared, charging towards the door, running into it shoulder first. He punched, kicked, head butted. Ripping skin apart while calling for the heads of whoever hurt her.
"LET ME OUT YOU BASTARDS! I'LL TEAR YOU ALL APART LIMB FROM LIMB!"
The door opened and Farkas was met with a boot the chest, knocking him flat back. A tall Nord covered in steel armor strolled in, backed up by a couple bandits. He buried a foot into Farkas' chest, making him scream.
"PLEASE STOP!" Begged Ariel.
"Quiet woman!" He barked. He leaned on the knee applying more pressure to Farkas. "Greetings boy. I'm Chief Bisco. Welcome to my humble abode. I asked your friend here who you were, and she wouldn't tell me, even after I roughed her up. Now you must have common sense, right? Spare yourself the torture and tell me your names."
Farkas breathed heavily. "I'll...kill...you."
"Wrong answer!" Bisco stomped on Farkas' chest harder, and he wailed.
"PLEASE NO MORE!" Ariel cried.
"Please no more." He said in a mocking tone, followed up with a sinister laugh. "Boys. Give her the business."
The bandits rushed Ariel, while Bisco held up Farkas in a headlock, making him watch. One restrained her arms. The other placed a dagger to her face, grinding it against the right side. Ariel cried in agony as her cheek split, drawing blood.
In a rough tone, Farkas blurted out, "Companions."
Bisco's face turned to one of intrigue. He leaned in close. "What was that boy?"
"I work...for the Companions."
"The Companions, wow. I've heard about them. A group of big shots over in Whiterun."
"We might get a nice sum of coin for these two, boss." said one of his men.
"Right, right." Bisco stroked his beard. He threw Farkas down and kicked him across the room. Bisco summoned his men. "You two stay put. I'm going to send a message to the Companions. Better hope they're willing to pay for your hides."
His two lackeys slammed the door and clink of it locking was heard. Ariel crawled over to Farkas, staying strong as she coddled him.
Vanis and Vilkas arrived to Greenspring Hollow. There was a small mess of food and clothes spread out. Vilkas grabbed the male shirt, sniffing it.
"Well, safe to say your suspicions were right." said Vanis. He spotted something on the ground. Ariel's new journal. "This is bad."
"What's bad?" asked Vilkas.
"This is Ariel's. I just got this for her. She wouldn't leave this anywhere."
"Let me see that."
"What?" Vilkas snatched the journal and began sniffing it. Vanis had never been more confused in his life. "What are you doing?"
"I'm tracking her scent."
Dumbfounded, Vanis had to ask, "Could you repeat that?"
"You heard what I said." A few more sniffs and his eyebrows perked up. "I got something. This way."
He tossed the journal back to Vanis and went east bound.
"Hold on, where are you going?"
"Look Vigilant, call it intuition if you want. Unless you got a better idea, follow me and keep up."
Vilkas took off running. Vanis shook his head in disbelief, put away the journal and followed.
Ariel stood on a ladder, beating a trap door that was above the room. It was locked as well and wouldn't budge. She jumped down to check on Farkas. He was breathing, but immobile. She felt over his chest, feeling a couple broken ribs and possible internal damage.
"Ariel..."
She kneeled over Farkas. "Yes?"
"There's a good chance...they'll kill us. I'm going to...get us out of here."
"Farkas, please save your energy. I'll find us a way out."
"Ariel...promise me something." His head rolled and eyes began to fade.
"Anything." she cried. "Anything you want! Please just stay awake."
"Please be kind. Stand back."
"I don't-"
"Stand...back."
The life faded from Farkas. Ariel began losing it. "Farkas, stay with me. Stay with m-"
His breathing got heavier, deeper. His fingers stretched, teeth got sharper, and thick hair spouted all over his body. His eyes shot open, going from white to yellow. Ariel shifted backwards, staring in horror as Farkas rolled over. His spine bent as he grew in size. Growling viscously as the transformation took shape. Hands and feet turned into claws. Right before her eyes, Farkas stood tall. Not as a man, but as a werewolf.
Ariel was wide eyed. Not even able to muster a scream. Only shaking with mouth agape. Farkas crawled towards her, giving a light sniff. Ariel scrambled to a nearby barrel, cowering behind it. On the doors other side, a Nord and Orc bandit were talking.
"How much do you think we'll get for the Companions?"
"I hope a nice amount. We haven't had much coin coming through. Too many of us for a small bit of gold to go around."
A howl echoed through the chamber.
"What the hell was that?"
"Sounded like it came from in there."
"No way."
The orc pulled a key and unlocked the door. Opening it to come face to face with a monster. The orc bandit tried to pull his axe and Farkas clawed him with the force of an angry giant. Sending his mangled body into the wall, landing next to Ariel. The nord ran for his life. He reached the remaining bandits who were hanging around.
"Run, we need to get out of here. We need to-"
Farkas jumped on top on the nord, ripping his body to pieces. Ariel hadn't budged. She heard the bandits screaming bloody murder from the safety of her hiding spot. The wolf snarled and howled, transporting Ariel back to her seventh birthday.
She covered her ears trying to block it out. "Not again. Please not again."
Suddenly, all the chaos had stopped. You could hear a pin drop. Ariel soon felt hot and heavy breaths beating against her face. She opened one eye to see the beast above her. Blood dripped from its teeth. She leaped over to the dead orc, grabbing an axe. Not again. Rising to her feet, Ariel took a battle stance.
"Listen Farkas, or whatever you are. I don't know what you're planning to do, but I am not going down without a fight!"
Farkas opened his bloody paw, holding something. She took a quick glance, not wanting to fall for a trick. There was a sparkle. It was her sapphire necklace. One of the bandits had snatched it earlier. She carefully reached out, pulling the necklace from its paw.
Farkas calmly stared, not moving a muscle. Once again, she reached out, rubbing his nose. He licked her hand, meaning no harm. Farkas, or whatever he was, saved her life. As much as she didn't want to believe it, Tyrus' words rang out true. There are good animals and bad animals. This was a good one. Their tender moment was cut off by the sounds of battle outside.
The first words she heard were, "WHERE'S ARIEL!"