A Strong Plan

Farkas had thought she was dead when he first saw her, pale and thin in Vilkas's arms. He hadn't really been able to comprehend it, been able to feel it, but his mind had told him she's dead. The dark look in his brother's eyes as he marched out of the rubble had seemed to confirm it. I'm too late, she's dead.

Still he hadn't been able to feel anything. Shock, that's what he'd heard it called by Kodlak. The Companions saw it on occasion, when they weren't called in time to save everyone. He'd seen it when they had to inform a loved one that their contract hadn't been able to be fulfilled and their friend or family member was dead or gone.

But he had never lost anyone like this, not really. Well, he knew people who had died when he was younger, still under Jergen's care but he hadn't known that at the time. Vilkas had told them they'd gone away, or retired. Farkas had written them for years, unaware that the responses he had received had been from Vilkas until Aela had gotten frustrated and told him the truth. He'd been sad, but he had understood it was just Vilkas trying to protect him.

Trying to wrap his mind around someone he knew dying didn't seem possible. This was Everlee, his shield-sister, the first person he had realized he had feelings for. He hadn't known her long enough for her to die, he hadn't considered it a possibility.

Even as he held her limp form in his arms it didn't seem real. He frowned as he untied his horse and, as gently as he could, climbed onto its back, still cradling the Breton in his arms.

"You're going to be alright," he told her. "We're here now, sister."

She didn't make a noise as they began galloping toward Whiterun, the sun high in the sky and warming the fall air. It was a nice, sunny day. A day he and Ria might go out and visit the orchard, or he would hunt with Aela, or spar outside with his brother and Kodlak. Today wasn't a day when a Companion died, still new to her title.

Still, he couldn't get Vilkas's face out of his mind. He had never seen his brother so hollow looking, so determined and cold. It had been the opposite of what his voice had sounded like when he'd called them. Farkas had been two hall-turns away when he'd heard his brother's cries and it had shot through him, his heart racing in fear. He had never heard Vilkas sound afraid, sound desperate. His brother had always had things under his control. Vilkas didn't sound like Vilkas then. Farkas had disengaged the vampire he had been battling to sprint toward the sound of his twin's voice in the dark.

But Vilkas wasn't right about everything. He was wrong about Everlee before. He hadn't believed she'd be strong enough, capable enough to join the Companions when they had first met. He had told Farkas that she would only cause him trouble, that she wasn't worth it. But he had been wrong about those things, and he was wrong about her dying.

She could pull through. Farkas had faith in her. And she had faith in him. She was going to make it to a healer and she would come out of this.

Farkas was sitting outside the door to his room when his brother arrived back at Jorrvaskr.

"Where is she?" he demanded. "Is she..."

"She's going to be fine," Farkas said, firmly.

Vilkas looked at his twin uncertainly. "What did they say?"

"Nothing."

"Then how do you know?" Vilkas asked, his frustration building.

"I just do," his brother replied.

Vilkas growled in irritation as Skjor, Aela and Kodlak came to stand behind him. Farkas rose to his feet when he saw the Harbinger and nodded in greeting. He wanted to smile, but for once he couldn't seem to manage it.

"Farkas, is Shield-Sister Everlee in your room?" Kodlak asked.

"Yes," Farkas said. "She is with a few healers. They did not want me to disturb them."

"Then come, let us discuss what has occurred in my room," Kodlak said. "We must make plans regarding the vampires' clan leader."

Farkas nodded as the the group, all but Vilkas, turned from his door. Vilkas remained staring at the at the entrance to his room. His twin looked him over, his leg had been seen by a healer, a white new bandage wrapped around it, the familiar work of the healers in the temple. Other than that his brother seemed to bear no outward injuries. He looked smaller than normal outside his armor and Farkas tried to recall the last time he'd seen his brother without it.

Finally Farkas looked at his brother's face. It was carefully stoic, the blank dead look no longer in his eyes.

"She will be fine," Farkas said.

"You don't know that," he said. It looked as if he were going to say something else but settled for repeating, "You don't know that."

"It's not your fault."

Vilkas's face jerked away from the door to look up at his brother. Despite Vilkas's above-average height, Farkas himself stood a good head taller than him.

"Of course it isn't," he said. "I never said -"

"You don't have to. You're my brother."

Vilkas frowned and then sighed. "It was my fault. I was on watch. We shouldn't have even been there and she was only captured because of me. It is my fault."

"No it isn't," Farkas said.

"It is."

"Is not."

"It -"

"Is not your fault."

Vilkas sighed loudly, exasperated. "You should be angry at me. Even if she doesn't die, I almost got her killed, the person you supposedly..."

"Have feelings for?"

"Yes, that," Vilkas said, sounding disturbed.

"You're my brother. I know you. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I'm not perfect. None of us are, no one is," he snapped. "How can you be so...you've seen what we do. You know that it isn't as simple as this. I made mistakes and she could die for it."

"You are too hard on yourself," Farkas reiterated.

"You say that now? When my mistakes could mean we lose a shield-sister? She could die because of me."

"No. It would have been because of the Vampires," he said. "They chose to hurt the both of you, to attack us. It isn't your fault."

Vilkas said nothing, looking back at the door to Farkas's room. "I wish I could believe that."

"I do. If Everlee were to talk to you, she wouldn't blame you either," he said.

"You can't know that."

"You two! What part of 'meet in Kodlak's room' didn't you understand?" Aela called from the end of the hall.

Farkas waited for his brother to leave the door before following him down the hall into Kodlak's room as Aela shut the door behind them.

Kodlak wasted no time in getting down to business. "Our city is in danger and that is partly our fault and completely our responsibility. We have dealt with the Silver Hand before and we knew that they had pacts with a couple of Vampire clans who provided them with members to strengthen their numbers. This clan calls itself Vrognar. Their leader is their creator, Auros, a four hundred and fourteen year old Breton male."

"Seems he's taking the death of his great-grand something as something of a personal vendetta," Skjor said. "And so now's a good time to Dust the monster while he's out of hiding."

"Vilkas, can you tell us anything you've learned?" Kodlak asked. "How were you captured?"

Vilkas told them all of the illusion spell, his injury, and his incarceration. He gave them a rundown of what happened and why he believed they had not harmed him and their escape attempt. He also told them that neither of the two leaders of this group had been found among the bodies they had burned. Cairne and Brenovere had managed to flee.

When he was done, Skjor said. "We have to strike. We must take out the rest of them before they think to attack us or the city again. They murdered one of our own -"

"She isn't dead," Farkas said.

"Yet," Skjor said. "They tried to murder one of our own and would have claimed her as their own given the chance. We cannot let this go unpunished. We must seek justice."

"Skjor's right. We cannot let them live, not when we have them so close," Aela said. "Their numbers are small now. There were only a dozen traveling with the leader so they can't have more than a twenty with those who escaped the attack."

"They are a threat," Kodlak agreed. "And we must act quickly. However, the battle was not without its cost. In addition to Everlee, Athis and Ria have both sustained injuries that may take weeks to heal, even with magic. Torvar also suffers from minor injuries that would put him out of duty for the next several days. These vampires will be the oldest and most experienced and they will be expecting us. We must consider our options."

The group was silent for a moment. "We could petition the city for aid," Vilkas said. "The vampires are ravaging their hold as well. Aela informs me that many of its citizens have gone missing due to the group."

"The city is spread too thin," Aela said. "Many troops have been placed in Riverwood and other villages due to the dragon attacks. Now that Everlee is unable to aid them, they will be reluctant to part with their men since they have no way to assure the hold's safety."

"And the Stormcloaks and Legion are harassing the Jaarl at his borders, demanding he pick a side," Kodlak agreed. "Balgruuf is likely spread too thin to spare any aid."

"Mercenaries then?" Aela asked.

"Mercenaries," Vilkas said, disliking the idea. "The last time we worked with those amateurs we almost lost two of ours. The majority of that lot aren't equip to fight a skeever let alone the core of a centuries-old vampire clan. Finding the high quality sort who might be able to handle it would take too much time."

"Vilkas is correct. The only mercenary company near enough would not be able to provide men who would do more than get in the way of more experienced fighters. They would be a liability," Kodlak agreed.

"Then what?" Aela asked, frustrated. "If numbers will not come from either the city or the mercenaries, then who else could be reached in time to fight the menace?"

"Who says we need extra numbers?" Skjor said.

The entire room got quiet as all attention turned to the grizzled veteran.

"What do you mean, Skjor?" Farkas asked.

"I mean that we can handle a couple of leeches ourselves. While we sit here and discuss who we can run to with our problems, with our tails tucked between our legs, those vampires are sucking the life out of victims in order to strengthen themselves. But we have strength too, running through our veins, and beating in our hearts," Skjor said.

"Are you suggesting -" Aela began.

"The Blood. Are we not warriors? Do we not have one of the greatest tools at our disposal to fight them? The Silver Hand hunt us because of what we are, as if it is a weakness to be eradicated. But it is not a weakness, it is our strength," he continued.

"Skjor, this is not the way we were meant to be," Kodlak said.

"So you would let them win out of fear?" Skjor asked. Before shaking his head. "I am sorry. But I see no other way nor do I see why we should shy away from our gift."

"I am with Skjor," Aela said. "These vampires must be taken care of and one of us transformed would be enough to deal with several of them at once. It would provide the strength we need."

"And if we lose control? If some of the vampires' hostages are still alive?" Kodlak questioned.

"They won't be," Skjor said. "You know that as well as I do and this will prevent more from following them to their deaths."

"And we have to burn the bodies. There will be no witnesses and no evidence that would lead back to the Companions connection to the the Blood," Aela said.

Farkas watched Kodlak as he thought through Skjor and Aela's arguments, a frown on his face. Whitemane had raised them ever since Jergen had joined the war when he and Vilkas were but eight. He had known the man for almost as long as he could remember, and had come to see him as a father. Farkas knew why Kodlak did not want to become a wolf, why he fought it. Even though the Circle members had all been Blooded for many years, none could ever keep complete control over their instincts when transformed.

Farkas hadn't known that until last year. He had known that Vilkas had always seemed to struggle with the Blood though he refused to speak about the reasons behind it. It had been Kodlak who had finally told him the truth, that everyone who had the Blood was in danger of losing control of their actions and even their minds.

But Farkas had never felt that way. He had never felt an instinct to transform when he was upset, had never had to fight the urge to hunt or kill when transformed. Kodlak had seemed shocked at this, but told him that was not how it was for anyone else, and that one day that might change. The thought of him accidentally becoming a murderer was not one that he was fond of. He'd promised Kodlak to stop his transformations, and he had without difficulty which had encouraged his brother to do the same.

It hadn't been until Everlee that he had taken the form of the wolf again, and for the first time his transformation had been brought on not by choice but by emotion. Though he had maintained his mind and clarity during that time, the fact that he had lost control over his ability to Turn, even that one time, had convinced him that Kodlak was right, that he didn't want to risk becoming a monster. Especially if his shield-brothers or sisters were there too.

So he did not want to use his wolf form to take on the Vampires. He wanted people to be safe, to make sure that his family was safe from the vampires, but he did not want to endanger them to do so. Still, he would trust Kodlak and whatever he chose, Farkas would follow, completely trusting his decision.

"Aela is right," Vilkas said, shocking everyone there.

Of all the people who had struggled with the Blood, it seemed that his brother had done so from the moment he was turned.

"What do you mean, Vilkas?" Kodlak asked.

"There is no other way to eradicate the clan without casualties unless we use the Blood," Vilkas said. "And she is right that one of us would be more than sufficient to take on several of them at once, regardless of their age or experience. We would not all need to Transform."

"Go on," Kodlak said.

"We leave Njada here. We go as a group to take out the Vampires. We send in a scout to figure out their number. We then send in one of us for every ten of them. It is risky but if we attack hard, fast, and smart, we should be able to scatter them. Likely the younger ones will flee, straight into the rest of us who will be waiting to take them out," Vilkas said.

"It could work," Aela said, approvingly.

"It is a strong plan," Skjor said.

Kodlak smiled at Vilkas, accepting the compromise. "Very well then. We leave in an hour. Everyone see to any injuries you may have and that your equipment is ready."

Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, read, favorited, and has been following this story! Also welcome new story followers! I am at last out of the hospital and may soon be back to writing (it's a good thing I wrote quite a bit before going in so you have something to read). You have all been really wonderful.