Whoooooooo, yeah I know I'm not dead. I just stopped playing Skyrim for a while and so my inspiration faded. Not to mention school has always been kinda hard for me because I'm lazy and I procrastinate...a lot. I've actually had this written for a while but I just didn't know how to continue on after this chapter. However I have found my muse again, so without further ado, here is the long overdue chapter 3.
Chapter 3:
It was a few weeks before Eli returned to Jorrvaskr to hand in her assignment. Night had already fallen, and most of the companions were sitting around the table eating dinner when Eli strolled in through the door. She was baring a new scar across her jaw line, and her axes looked well sharpened. Farkas rose to greet her, meeting her at the bottom of the stairs.
"Eli took care of the problem in the rift." Eli said crossing her arms. Farkas nodded.
"You seem to have a knack for this kind of thing. I'll make sure people in charge know." He said with a small smirk, patting her on the shoulder before handing her a pouch. Eli took it with a smile and headed past Farkas to sit at the table beside Aela. She pulled off one of the pouches from around her waist and emptied the coin purse into it.
"That's a lot of coin you have there Khajiit." Vilkas remarked as he stopped behind her.
"Well, dead bandits have no need for coin." Eli said smoothly, closing the bag swiftly. She tied the bag back to her waist. "Is there any more work to be done?" Eli said turning her attention to Farkas suddenly, ignoring Vilkas. Vilkas huffed at her rudeness before stalking off outside.
"Yeah as a matter of fact, we've gotten a letter about someone needing some muscle right here in Whitrun hold." Farkas said. "I don't know what the fight is about, and that's not our business anyway. I just need you to go out there, look tough, and scare this milk drinker in submission, I don't want to hear about a killing, understand?"
Eli stood and nodded. "Sounds easy enough, Eli will be back soon." She headed towards the door and slipped out, only to run straight into Vilkas. She practically bounced off him, but he caught her and set her straight before she hit the ground.
"What do you want?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"Nothing from you." Eli replied, going to side step around him. He stopped her however by grabbing her arm firmly. She turned to look up at him.
"I love my brother, but his brains are not his strongest suit. Now, he trusts you, but I know better. Nothing good comes from trusting a Khajiit, so you better watch yourself around here. I know for a fact you can't earn that much coin off a few bandits."
Eli stared back at him hard.
"You're just like everyone else, just because Eli is Khajiit, you think she is nothing more than a thief. Eli earned this money and she will spend it how she pleases." Eli pulled her arm from his grasp and walked away. Vilkas watched her go before heading back inside.
Eli returned, successfully, not to long after midnight and by that time she was exhausted from travelling and working. She collapsed into her bed and was asleep almost instantly. The next morning she woke alone. She looked around the bed hall before wandering out into the mead hall. Ria and Athis were sitting together on a bench, talking about their latest missons. Skjor was warming himself in front of the fire, chatting to Aela who was sitting on the end of the table eating some bread. Vilkas and Farkas had taken up residence at the table as well, their backs to the stairway that Eli had just climbed. A she made her way down, Ria noticed her.
"Morning sister!" The imperial greeted, revealing her presence to the two brothers who turned to look at her.
"Good morning." Eli greeted before taking a seat next to Farkas.
"How'd that job go?" Farkas asked her, as she bit into a piece of salmon.
"Good, all sorted." Eli said with a smirk.
"Great, I'll go get your gold." Farkas clapped her on the shoulder as he stood and headed off down to the living quarters. They ate in silence for a few minutes before he returned and paid her. He sat back down again between Eli and Vilkas.
"By the way Farkas, Eli would like to ask you something."
"What is it?" Farkas asked, turning his attention to her.
"You see, Eli has this...this thing she has to do and she needs some help and she was wondering if Farkas would come along with her."
"Sure I'd be happy to-"
"I'll go." All eyes turned to Vilkas as he stood up and looked down at Eli. "I'll go with the whelp brother."
"Aren't you needed here though?" Farkas asked, looking up at his brother.
"You, Skjor and Aela can last a few days without me. It shouldn't take too long, should it whelp?" Vilkas asked looking down at Eli.
"Well um, it depends on how long it takes to get to Morthal." Eli admitted shying under his cast iron eyes. Vilkas sighed.
"You will have to last without me for a few days." He looked at his brother. "You'll be fine." Patting Farkas's shoulder gently, he turned and headed towards the living quarters. "We leave in half an hour whelp, be ready." He called to Eli before the door slammed behind him.
"Wow, Vilkas is pretty strung up. Wonder why he doesn't want me going with you." Farkas said, watching the seat where his brother had just been.
"Vilkas does not trust Eli yet like Farkas does. Perhaps this will be good chance for us to get to know each other better. So far all we've done is glare and argue." Eli suggested with a shrug before she stood and wandered down to pack her stuff.
Half an hour later, on the dot, Vilkas and Eli were being waved off by Farkas.
"We'll take a carriage to Morthal, we should arrive there just before dark." Vilkas informed her as they walked through Whiterun towards the gate.
"Do you not trust Eli with your brother?" Eli asked looking at Vilkas. He kept his eyes straight ahead, clearly thinking for a moment.
"It's not that, it's just that I hear whispers about you and I feared for his safety while with you." Vilkas admitted, hoisting his pack higher onto his shoulder.
"Eli knows, bad things seem to convene around her." Eli sighed and rushed ahead to speak to the carriage driver as Vilkas threw his things in the back. He climbed up and sat down near the driver. Eli paid the driver before hoping up the back as well, sitting down opposite Vilkas.
The ride was long and boring. But Vilkas was right; they stopped at Morthal just before sun down. They unloaded their things quickly. Vilkas picked up his things and turned to look at Eli, who had already wandered down the street always to look at a burnt down cottage. He sighed and followed after her.
"Where to now Khajiit?" He asked. Eli glared at him before pointing towards the end of town.
"There's a tomb out in the marshes, it's known as Ustengrav."
"We're going tomb raiding?" Vilkas asked as Eli started off.
"The greybeards asked this of Eli and she's happy to oblige but draugr terrify her. She did not want to bring her housecarl, as she is no help in tombs, always gets scared by noises. She is a good girl but she's useless in this situation." Eli shrugged and continued on.
"Wait slow down. Greybeards? Housecarl? Just who are you?" Vilkas questioned.
"Eli is a Khajiit with many friends and that is all you need to know." She stated, glancing back at him. After an hour of trudging through the marsh, they finally reached Ustengrav.
"We should rest before entering, Eli has no idea of what to expect inside."
Vilkas looked at the small Khajiit woman and could only wonder what she was doing when she wasn't at Jorrvaskr. He set out his bedroll before the entranceway, placing his sword down next to him carefully. He was prepared for attack at any given moment. Eli however simply threw her roll down and collapsed onto the ground, using the entire roll as a pillow.
"Won't you be cold and uncomfortable?" Vilkas asked as he sat himself down on his bed roll.
"Eli is used to sleeping in less than hospitable environments. The first night she slept at Jorrvaskr was the first night in a long time that she slept in a proper bed that belonged to her." Eli admitted with a small grin as she curled into a ball, her tail swishing gently around her.
"You're strange, Khajiit." Vilkas said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall.
"Eli has a name, and she would like it very much to be called by it." Eli said with a small frown as she looked at him.
"I'll think about it." Vilkas said, showing a small honest smile. Eli smirked back at him, before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep. When she woke the next morning, Vilkas was already awake and fishing out breakfast from his pouch. They ate in silence before packing up their things and storing them in the chest near the door. Eli reasoned that they would be out before nightfall again and that their stuff would still be there as she had locked it. They then headed inside.
They took a few steps in, walking down a short corridor, Eli suddenly hid down behind a staircase that lead to a platform.
"What is it?" Vilkas hissed as he ducked down next to her. Eli pointed to up ahead where a few necromancers were milling around the dead bodies of bandits. Silently she pulled out her bow and took aim. Three arrows later the necromancers lay dead. Eli stood back up and slung her bow back on.
"Aela showed Eli a few tricks," Eli said dismissively when Vilkas looked at her. They ventured forward to see that the necromancers had been using the bandits to dig the entrance way out from a cave in.
"Aren't we lucky." Vilkas remarked as Eli lead the way forward pulling out her axes. As they ventured deeper, they came across more necromancer bodies, along with draugr bodies scattered around the place before coming upon more fighting. Eli pushed Vilkas back into the shadows, waiting to see who would win. They watched the draugr slaughter the necromancers before Eli dived in with a few well timed swings to kill the remaining draugr.
"Remind me again why you wanted Farkas to come along with you? You seem perfectly capable on your own." Vilkas said, as he followed along behind her. Eli glanced back at him.
"Eli can handle a few draugr, but many and she will be dead." She said before continuing on. The next room found them facing off against a few more draugr, Vilkas finally finding reason to draw his sword. Once they lay dead, Eli led on onto the second floor where they found the door that lead on into the depths. Eli hurried along, leading Vilkas down onto a pathway that overlooked an underground cavern.
"Thats...thats...wow..." Vilkas commented as they walked. Eli suddenly stopped them.
"Be careful, the floor is trapped," Eli warned before she carefully made her way across the tiled floor, avoiding the flames that threatened to burn her. Vilkas followed after her carefully. They rounded the next corner, and passed through the next few rooms quickly; killing any draugr they came upon. Finally they came back out into the cavernous area they had seen earlier. They made their way down, Eli picking off the few skeletons that lingered around. She stopped to look over the side before grinning.
"Brilliant!" She cried heading for a precarious path that lead down to what looked like a strange wall. Vilkas followed after her, wondering what was going on. Once at the bottom, Eli turned to Vilkas.
"You want to see something?" She asked excitedly, practically bouncing with excitement. Vilkas crossed his arm.
"Like what?"
Eli continued to grin as she approached the wall. She could hear the chanting in her ears. Vilkas watched in amazement as thin tendrils spiralled out, as the scripture on the wall began to glow bright blue. The tendrils wrapped around Eli as she closed her eyes. There was a soft boom as the tendrils suddenly receded, leaving Eli standing there. She let out a soft sigh, and collapsed onto one knee gently. She took a few moments to stand back up again.
"What was that?" Vilkas asked, astounded.
"That is a word wall, and it just taught Eli a shout." Eli said, sounding excited.
"A shout, you mean a like a thu'um?" Vilkas asked, his mind winding back over the moment.
"Yes, Eli can shout like a dragon. She is what you nords call, ah, Dovahkiin or Dragonborn."
"Dragonborn? But that's impossible..."
"Not impossible, just improbable because Eli is a Khajiit," Eli smirked at him before heading around him to continue on through the tomb. Vilkas could only wonder, just who was this woman.