Chapter 10

*I do not own Skyrim, but I do own Juheena and Juheena owns Farkas*

Farkas's mind was not accustomed to such heavy thinking, and he found himself with a headache as he packed his and Juheena's belongings. Of course, that could also have something to do with the ale he downed the night previous.

He was wishing that he had another when Cicero came in once again and rummaged through Juheena's bag, messing everything up. He pinched the bridge of his nose, wishing Juheena was there. She could stop him from ripping all of his hair out.

Climbing down the stairs, he glanced at the tavern wench, who was eyeing him. Suddenly, he got a wicked idea. He leaned over to Cicero, "That tavern wench over there is staring at you, Cicero. I think she's interested in you."

"Oh! Cicero shall go over and introduce himself instantly!"

"You do that." And with that, he stood back and witnessed his handiwork. Vilkas would be proud, he thought. Cicero bounded up and picked up the wench, threw her over his shoulder, and placed her in a nearby chair; all the while the woman punched at him, yelling at him to let her go.

"Cicero noticed the lovely lady looking at him, and came over to indulge the lady's…" He snickered and leaned in, "secret passions.." The wench screamed and made a run for it. Farkas heard Juheena chuckling behind him, and reached around and put his arm around her.

"Let's go, love." They left with Cicero skipping ahead of them, en route to the Sanctuary. While they walked, Juheena talked with Farkas about Babette, Gabriella, and the rest of her family.

"Babette may look young and innocent, but she's not. She's a vampire, and has been for over 300 years."

"Why am I not surprised that you're friends with a vampire?" Juheena punched his shoulder. "You're a werewolf!" She accused. "You sure are one to judge."

"All right, all right. I see your point. Please continue." He chuckled, shoving her right back. She took out

"Even though she's centuries old, she is still a child. She's mature and young at the same time. I guess that's what happens when you're bit by a vampire when you're ten. It's like she's trapped in childhood while being thrown into adulthood. Can you imagine?" Farkas couldn't. He never realized what it would be like if you were a vampire, living for hundreds, even thousands of years and never changing at all. Especially if you were a kid.

"I have a question… You said Astrid wasn't your mother. Why?" Farkas inquired.

"She was jealous. Arnbjorn loved me more than he did her. It's not like it was his fault. She treated him like a barrel of horker guts, and then expected love and devotion in return. Personally, I can't see why they are still married. He loves her, but she ignores him. So when I came along, he had a daughter that loved him as much as she loved her." This was news to Farkas. Arnbjorn was a vicious animal, completely taken over by the wolf. How could he take in a child? He voiced his inquiry.

"Well, wolves have a nurturing side. I should know." She kissed his cheek.

"What about the rest of your brothers and sisters? You said you were all a big family."

"Well there's Gabby, and Nazir, and Veezara…" She continued her descriptions for hours, and when they stopped to eat, Juheena noticed something was amiss.

"It's too quiet Farkas." They both looked around.

"Cicero's gone." Farkas realized.

"Good, maybe he was eaten by a sabrecat." She mumbled, and proceeded to pull out her lunch. She sat down on a fallen log, and bit into her loaf of bread. Farkas did the same, and rested himself in between her legs, his head laying on her stomach. Juheena absent mindedly picked at a patch of dirt on Farkas's forehead, lost in her thoughts. She knew Cicero wasn't gone. He had probably run off chasing a butterfly or a bunny. Or a mammoth, she added hopefully.

A large shadow flew overhead, and she saw it was the same dragon from the day before. They locked eyes, and Juheena suddenly realized she was forgetting something important.

"Farkas…. We are supposed to go see Paarthurnax. How could I have forgotten?" Juheena lamented, trying to figure out what to do. She scrambled in her mind, but she suddenly heard the dragon in her mind.

"Worry not, young briinah. My master understands your plight. It is the reason he wished to speak with you, for he has foreseen your mission. Continue on to the Sanctuary. Aal Akatosh Aak hin daal." And with that, he flew off.

Farkas whistled softly, realizing she was communing with the dragon. "You never cease to amaze me." She ran her fingers through his hair for a few minutes, before she saw Cicero running down the path, towards them.

"Well, that didn't last long." Farkas joked.

"Listener! Oh, Listener! Look what I found!" Cicero had someone following behind him. Two someones, actually. Someone small. Someone… young. And then a fuming woman. Juheena had a sneaking suspicion she knew who they were.

xXoOoXx

Anja refused to be left behind, so she followed shortly after they left. Of course then she got lost, so she had to find a stables and take a carriage to Morthal. When she saw Irileth stomping angrily down the streets toward her, she knew she was in for it.

"You're staying with me! There is no way I am letting you follow them on their suicidal little frolic up the mountain to speak to a dragon." Anja's eyes lit up just thinking about it. So she turned tail, and ran for the only mountain she could possibly be mentioning. High Hrothgar, home of the Greybeards.

Irileth came running after her, intent on stopping the smart-mouthed little human girl. Children, she scoffed.

But instead of running into Farkas and Juheena, they saw a strange sight. There, in the middle of the road, sat a jester. A jester who was talking to a skull he had apparently named 'Archie'.

"Oh, hello friends! Archie, say hello to the nice travelers!" The jester then moved the skull's jawbone and said in a high pitched voice, "Hello!"

Irileth was speechless. Anja, however, had plenty to say. "That's a skull, and it used to be attached to someone who I'm sure wasn't named 'Archie'. Put it down before you have an angry armada of spirits after you." She walked up, wrestled the skull out of the jester's hands, and set it gently in a bed of flowers behind a stone wall. After saying a word of apology to the dead-man-turned-puppet, she turned around. Irileth was holding back laughter and the Jester started to cry.

Anja rolled her eyes. "Cicero is telling the listener! She will slice you apart with her big nasty claws! And chew you up with her scary teeth!" The jester named Cicero sobbed.

"Please tell me you aren't speaking of Juheena…" Irileth pleaded.

"Yes! The pretty kitty!" Cicero suddenly cheered up, and jumped off the ground and started skipping down the road. He turned around and yelled, "Follow Cicero, friends!"

"I don't want to." Irileth groaned, but followed anyway. Apparently Juheena kept odd company when the Dunmer wasn't around to frighten them off. Though, this man didn't seem the type to be frightened off.

After only a few minutes, Irileth felt like jumping off of Dragonsreach tower. The man was absolutely, irrevocably, impossibly infuriating. She could see even the young girl looked agitated.

Luckily for them, she could see Juheena and Farkas ahead. She had a bone to pick with Juheena for ever have been associated with this man. Anja however, was just happy to see them.

"Juheena!" She cried out, then ran up and hugged her and Farkas, somewhat awkwardly given their position.

"Hey kiddo!" Farkas laughed, standing up. He plucked the little girl off the ground and hugged her, while swinging her in a circle. Unfortunately for Juheena, she could do no such thing with Irileth.

"Who is that infernal man? Why is he traveling with you? Why are you not headed to speak with your dragon friend? Did you finally listen to me? I hope so, that was a fool's errand…"

"Irileth," Juheena interrupted, "You are a dear friend to me. But if you don't stop nagging, I will throw you in a room with Cicero and lock the door!" Irileth knew that the Khajit wasn't bluffing, for she probably wanted to be rid of the jester as much as she did. She shut her mouth, somewhat begrudgingly, and waited.

"We had a slight change of plans. We are going to see Paarthurnax later. Right now, we have someone else to visit."

"Who?" The elf asked suspiciously.

"Oh, you're going to love this."

Author's note:

Who else is afraid of Irileth's reaction? You may be surprised! Find out next time, my lovely readers!

Thank you so much for reading, I love you all! See you next time!