AN: Sorry for the wait I've been seriously busy of late so I haven't had much time to write

When Vilkas and Amaliea got back to Jorrvaskr she was proven right, the second they walked in the door everyone turned to look at them.

Ria was the first to speak "So Amaliea are you a werewolf or not cause I tried to get the twins to explain but they make no sense?"

The twins in question were looking at Amaliea apologetically as she looked to Ria and stated "I'm not."

She was privately glad that this had not come up before Ysgramore's tomb because she would have hated lying to Ria.

Ria then turned on the twins and said "See now how hard was that!"

Jon and Jhan looked indigent at Ria's comment and Farkas looked like he was trying very hard to keep a straight face while watching the twins. Amaliea couldn't seem to bring herself to look at the others to gauge their reactions.

It was Njada who finally asked the million gold question "So how'd you end up getting bit by one anyway?"

That was the question she had been dreading ever since Dustman's cairn, but even so, she had to say something.

"Childish stupidity." Is what Amaliea finally decided on praying to every god she could think of that she wouldn't have to elaborate.

It was not to be Athis was the next to speak asking "So how does childish stupidity get you attacked by a werewolf?"

"It's a long story," she said quietly

At that Vignar called from his spot in the corner "Well then get to telling it, cause we all want to know!"

Amaliea's shoulders slumped in defeat it seemed the time to reveal her tale had come, she just hoped she didn't look a fool in the telling. She took a breath and began

Amaliea's tale

"I was ten when a group of necromancers set up a base in a cave, near the village I grew up in. We had village guards, but they weren't trained in how to deal with necromancers. So the Village Elders sent a letter to the Companions for help and my Pa was sent to Falkreath to meet whoever they sent, then guide them to the village. After he left I kept hearing the adults speaking in whispers about necromancers. I didn't know what they were so I asked but no one would tell me, so I got the idiotic idea in my head that I would find out for myself. I kept listening waiting for a clue and I finally got it, the necromancers were camped in a cave to the southwest of the village, I decide to go talk to them. My Ma had told the Twins, Briella, and I to stay in the village, so I decided that the best way to go about it was to sneak off at night and tell no one.

That night I waited until everyone was asleep then snuck out. I darted between shadows while in the village but as soon as I reached the woods I began to run. The moons were at their peak by the time I reached the cave and I could see the light of the necromancers' fire through the trees. I stopped and caught my breath before approaching, at first the necromancers seemed pretty normal but the way they looked at me made me nervous. But it wasn't until after I asked what they were and they answered that I got truly scared.

I started to back away back into the trees but I was stopped by a hand grabbing my arm, then their leader said something that echoed in my nightmares for years

"Don't leave now little one. You're exactly what we've been looking for, our latest experiment needed a test subject."

The hand on my arm tightened as I jerked and fought. I was carrying a dagger my Pa had been teaching me to use since before remembering I grabbed it from the sheath on my belt and stabbed the man holding me."

Amaliea took a breath and paused to quell the shadows of terror that rose up whenever she thought about the events of that night. For the first time since beginning her tale, she felt Vilkas' hand on her arm and noticed that Farkas and her brothers had moved to stand near her.

That's when the ever irrepressible Ria asked "So where did you stab the guy?"

Amaliea answered nervously thinking that this was not something she wanted to go over "Let's just say that if he had survived much longer, he still would not be having any children."

Njada nearly choked on her ale and started laughing along with Ria. Skjor and Aela exchanged an incomprehensible look. Kodlak chuckled quietly and Vignar frankly looked stunned, while Athis just smirked.

Torvar slurred out "why'd you stab him ther an' not his gut or somethin?"

Jon and Jhan grinned answering in practiced unison "If you're fighting someone bigger then you, aim for their weak points eyes, throat, stomach, or groin."

Everyone turned to look at them and they finished "At least that's what Pa always says."

They had gotten that lecture from their Pa before every weapons lesson when they were children. And as dumb as it was the interruption and laughter calmed Amaliea enough to go on so she continued her tale.

"Needless to say, the guy let me go pretty quickly and I took off running through the woods. Making a beeline for home. That's when the werewolf started chasing me. Bosmer may be fast and designed for moving quickly through the trees but a werewolf in their beast form is a lot faster. Still, I knew those woods, I had gotten close enough to home to see the glow of my Pa's forge before it caught me and dragged me back to the necromancers' lair. Before long I was locked in a small cage in a cavern where I stayed until the next day when the necromancers' death screams started to echo about the caves. The werewolf came in and opened the cage and smirked before turning. Then he attacked, his jaws were going for my throat and I threw up my right arm to protect my neck. I lost count of the number of times his teeth closed about my arm. I was trying to fight back using a flame spell and that's where Kodlak found me. He killed the monster then spoke to me, afterwards I passed out when I woke I was back home. Kodlak had been injured fighting the beast and stayed with my family for a while. While he healed he told me stories of the Companions, and my life's goal became to become a Companion. Kodlak was the first to place a full-sized sword in my hands. I told him about my parents' blades and he told me to come to Whiterun and seek out the Companions once I could wield them. So when the time came that I had learned all I could of combat from the people of my village I came here, and well you all know the rest."

When Amaliea finished her story she noticed that she was gripping her right arm, she quickly released it thinking that it the first time she had been able to tell the story without having a complete breakdown. It was well after dark and she was hoping everyone would be too tired to ask anything else. As she looked around she noticed that Torvar was passed out at one of the tables. Athis was watching her while Ria and Njada were swaying slightly on their bench.

Then Njada asked, "So Kodlak you knew Amaliea before she got here?"

"Aye, though I did not recognize her until after I was already planning to have Vilkas test her arm." Kodlak answered bluntly.

After that, the conversation changed into one of everyone telling tales of their misadventures and fights. Not long after they all drifted to their beds, though in Torvar's case Jon and Jhan picked him up and hauled him downstairs to dump on his bed.

The next day dawned clear and cold, Amaliea had once again risen early and was in the training yard practicing her bow when Farkas came out with Ria and Njada trailing after him.

When he spotted her he called "Hey Amaliea you up for a job!"

She didn't think about it as she quickly called back "Where, When, What, How much, and any shield siblings?"

Njada was glaring daggers at Farkas not that he seemed to notice while Ria was grinning like an idiot.

"Eastmarch, within the next hour, two giants, 300 gold each, Me, Ria, and Njada!" He called back grinning

Amaliea was glad Farkas was getting used to her shorthand way of going through the details for a job. The first time she had done that, it threw him thru a loop now he answered without a breath.

She thought for a moment then answered, "Give me a few to get my pack and I'll be ready."

At that, he grinned and she hurried past them into Jorrvaskr, heading down the stairs. Once there she proceed to shove a couple changes of clothes, a handful of healing potions, some other necessities into her pack. Then she grabbed her tent and bedroll before racing back upstairs, where she met the others getting provision from Tilma.

Coming up behind them she asked Farkas "So what's the plan?"

He jumped slightly then answered, "Take the coach to Windhelm, Get the details from the Jarl's steward cause the letter was vague, then go find the giants."

Amaliea nodded then accepted a bag of provisions from Tilma saying "Thanks."

By the time they got off the coach, Amaliea's entire body was stiff from a long ride on a very hard bench, and her ears were numb from Ria's endless chatter not to mention the fact it was freezing. She quickly made note of the fact that Windhelm in winter is not a place she wanted to be, It was as bad as Winterhold. Thankfully the guards at the gate gave them little trouble about entering the city.

Though as Amaliea was walking by, one of them scowled muttering "Watch yourself elf." and she barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

She hadn't been expecting a warm welcome from a bunch of Stormcloaks, but seriously come up with something better, that was just lame. Ria got given a suspicious glare that she didn't notice as she seemed too busy going on about how gloomy this place was compared to Whiterun. Once they were inside the gate they ran into more unpleasantness. This time in the form of a pair of nord men, who reeked more of ale then everyone in the quarters combined after a revel which was saying something, harassing a dunmer woman. They had a whole spiel going about polluting the city and imperial spies.

That was until Farkas walked over and crossed his arms growling "Is there a problem here?"

The two men had to look up to meet his gaze and it seemed that they were a lot less outspoken when they were outsized, the pair hurriedly mumbled something Amaliea didn't quite catch and left. Amaliea quickly decided that this place was obviously not friendly to elves and it might be a good idea if she kept her head down.

Then the woman turned to the four companions and asked "So what about you do you hate the dark elves too?"

"No in fact we all have a brother that's a dark elf." the moment Amaliea said it she realized that it had sounded a lot less stupid in her head.

The woman was staring at Amaliea surprised and looking slightly confused while Ria snorted with laughter and even Njada smirked a little.

Farkas ended up having to explain "We're Companions from Jorrvaskr I'm Farkas and these are my shield sisters Ria, Njada, and Amaliea. One of our shield brothers is a dunmer man called Athis."

The woman nodded in understanding and said bitterly "Well you've certainly come to the wrong city then. Windhelm is a haven for predigest and narrow-minded thinking."

After that encounter they ended up splitting up Farkas took Njada to get the rest of the details for the job, while Amaliea and Ria went to the inn to secure them some rooms for the night. Thankfully both pursuits went well though there were only two rooms available. The group spent a quiet meal at the inn planning for the job, the giants had been causing some trouble at a place called Mix Water Mill that was only about an hour's ride by horseback, which is how everyone but Amaliea agreed was the best get there. Afterward, Amaliea went to bed full of dread and wondering how she was going to make it through the next day because while she knew the theory of how to ride a horse she'd never actually been on one. She was positive this was not going to end well.

The next morning Amaliea awoke to Farkas' snoring coming from the bed across the room from her. She stood and stretched before walking over to the small window and looking out, noting that it was dawn and they needed to get a move on if they were going to get anything done. She strolled over to Farkas and shook his shoulder saying his name until he finally half-opened his eyes to glare at her as she told him

"It's time to get up we've got a couple of giants to slay."

He groaned and grumbled, "Damn morning people it's too early to be cheerful."

She rolled her eyes laughing and headed for the door at least he was getting up. After closing the door behind her she walked down the hall to knock on Ria and Njada's door. A bleary-eyed Ria opened it and the first thing Amaliea noticed was Njada was nowhere to be seen.

"It's time to get up, where's Njada?" she asked

"Last I saw her was at the upstairs, right before I went to bed." Ria answered sheepishly

"Just get ready I'll go find her." Amaliea said thinking that she was going to have a headache before the day was over.

Amaliea left Ria returning to her room while she headed upstairs hoping that Njada was just passed out at a table and not something worse.

Thankfully Njada had just had one too many drinks and passed out at a corner table. Amaliea quickly woke her while keeping out of arm's reach, due to the fact she was still armed. Njada's response was to grumble about a hangover while glaring at Amaliea and reach for a partially full bottle of mead. Amaliea didn't know where Nords got the idea that the best way to deal with a hangover was the hair of the dog but all it did is postpone it.

Needless to say, Amaliea took the mead away before Njada could drink it saying "We're going up against giants today you'll need all your wits about you."

She started to protest, but thankfully Farkas had come upstairs in time to hear Amaliea's comment and back her up by saying "She's right in a fight I'd rather have you pissed and sober, then happy and drunk."

Within the hour they were at the stables arranging to rent some horses for the day. When the stable master said there were only two available Amaliea got hopeful that maybe they'd walk instead. But Farkas shredded that hope by renting the horses deciding they would just ride double cause it would still be faster than walking. She knew he was right, but she would still rather ride a horse for the first time when she not going into a giant's camp. He and Njada hurried to mount and Ria quickly swung up behind Njada leaving Amaliea to ride behind Farkas. Which would have worked better if it wasn't for her looking like an idiot getting up on the dang thing.

Njada sneered at her awkward efforts and sniped "What never been on a horse before."

Slightly embarrassed at her poor showing Amaliea cautiously answered "In all honesty, this will be the first time."

Farkas twisted around to look over his shoulder at her grinning and asked "So have your brothers ever ridden horses before?"

"No why?" Amaliea asked suspiciously

"Cause ridding is a skill all Companions need to know so I guess we'll just have to teach you. For now, just hold on and don't fall off."

With that, he went back to looking forward and urged the horse into a ground eating pace with a snickering Njada not far behind. Before long they were arriving at their destination to the sounds of the giants' bellows.