Chapter 19
Hey guys, your patients have paid off again. Here is the next part of the story. Sorry for the wait again. I hope you still enjoy. ~Ace
~*~*8888*~*~
Kili and Farkas fought their way through the rest of the tomb. Killing the reminding Silver hand and whatever undead monster that made the mistake to break out of their casket. The air between the pair was thick, full of many mixed emotions and questions that couldn't be answered just yet, and it was taking a toll on Kili. Finally coming to final burial room the Dragonborn and the Werewolf looked around.
"For the love of the Nine there had better be something in here…" Kili muttered bitterly.
Farkas gave a simple towards her direction before turning to look at the dragon script on the wall. He knew she was irritated, and this quest was taking its toll on her; for more than one reason. So it was best for him to keep his mouth shut on the issue.
"Can you read that?" He asked flatly as he watched her walk towards word wall. The harsh carvings of words didn't make any sense to him, but he knew they would most likely make since to her.
"Only one of them is speaking to me," She answered and ran her fingers of the word.
Kili sighed as the whispers filled her ears, she would have to find time on the way back to meditate on the way back to figure out the words meaning and power. Turning around she started to ask Farkas if he had found anything when a piece of metal caught her eye.
"Farkas," she called and looked up at him, "Is that it?"
He ran up the steps and looked down at where she was pointing on the altar, "Looks like the other pieces, but at this point let's just grab it and get out of here,"
The Dragonborn nodded and grabbed the piece of metal, slipping it into her bag absent mindedly.
CRACK
The Nords looked up at each other at the sound. Both refusing to move or even say a word. When the growling filled their ears, they both swallowed and turned to face the way they came in.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Farkas muttered as his gaze met the glowing eyes of the undead.
"We really shouldn't be surprised…should we?" Kili asked sarcastically and pulled her sword off her back.
"I suppose not," the werewolf sighed and pulled his blade off his back as well, "You take the ones on the right…"
"And you take the left?"
"Mhm…"
~*~*~*~88888~*~*~*~
Kili tossed the metal shard up and down in her hand. Watching the setting sun's reflections in the silver medal as she and Farkas walked down the path towards Whiterun. He glanced at her, out of the corner of his eye, taking in the sight of her. Covered in a mix of blood, her eyes seemed to void of emotions. She had not said a word since they left the tomb, this was not what he expected.
"Kili…" He whispered, watching her hand grip the shard tightly as it landed in her hand, "You all right?"
The Nord woman swallowed, and answered with her own flat question. "What do you think?"
Farkas bit his bottom lip, thinking about the last several hours they had been thought. Finding out that the man she was romantically involved with, along with most of the people she worked alongside were monsters, watching men and woman being torn apart, fighting though the undead, and the only boon from this misadventure was a hunk of metal she could not even keep.
Farkas ran his fingers through his sweat soaked hair, "I'm not sure…"
The Dragonborn sighed, and slipped the shard into her bag, "I will be all right…I just need time to get used to all of…this,"
Farkas nodded again, "Noted…would you like to go ahead and set up camp? I figure with a new word you will have to meditate…or whatever…"
Kili gave him a small smile and nodded, "I think that would be fine….and maybe bath…"
The werewolf returned the smile and looked around the area, wanting to find a spot with coverage by a form of water, for her to do what she needed.
"Over there, that will do," he stated, and pointed off towards a small cluster of tree by a small pond, "We will make camp there."
The dragonborn nodded as she followed him over to the secluded area, "I know I should have asked sooner…but are you alright? After…after that,"
Farkas blinked, continuing to stare ahead, "More worried about what will happen when we get home…Vilkas will not be happy,"
"Why?"
"He…he didn't want you to know about this just yet…"
Kili frowned, "Do you know why?"
"Same reason I didn't want Rosen to know…It makes things complicated," he answered, "Look…I'll tell you all that you want to know after we get settled and you do Dragonborn magic, all right?"
The Dragonborn gave a nod, "Deal,"
~*~*~*~*~*8888~*~*~*~**~*~
Farkas offered to set up the camp, much to Kili's disapproval, but when the werewolf made the motions of her having more important things to do at the moments; she couldn't disagree. Agreeing to not wander too far too off Kili found a small spot next to the pound and sat down. Huffing out a sigh, she closed her eyes, and forced her body to relax, remembering the Grey beards teachings.
"It would seem you have found yourself within our presence again, Dovahkiin,"
Kili smiled as she recognized Mirmulnir's voice, "It would seem that I have,"
Opening her eyes she looked up at the first dragon she had slain, and tilted her head to the side when she noticed, Sahloknir perched beside him.
"Greetings, Sahloknir..." she muttered.
The newest dragon gave a growling grunt, "Dovahkiin..."
"I take it you were expecting to never be defeated by me...or any mortal for that matter..."
Sahloknir grunted and snorted smoke though his snout out her, "It matters not what I expected...what matters is what has happened."
Kili nodded once and looked down at the ground as she kicked dirt with her foot. "I see..."
Mirmulnir gave a grunt and straightened his back, "Speaking of...what is it you are here for, Kili,"
The Dragonborn looked up at the dragons, "I found another word...I wish to learn it. Yoll,"
Sahloknir perked up slightly at her answer, "It seems that you have found the start of becoming like a Dovah,"
"What make you say that?"
"Yoll in your tongue is; Your Fire…" Mirmulnir clarified.
Kili blinked, "Are…are you saying that I can breathe fire…?"
"Did his thu'um make you deaf, mun? Of course he's saying you can breathe fire!"
"Seeing as how I have defeated you all ready Sahloknir, and you are now part of my soul…I suggest you watch your tone," Kili stated bluntly.
The red scaled dragon gave a threatening growl after her comment. Mirmulnir gave a chuckle, or at least by a dragon standard.
"I told you she was different. Her temper is that of a punah dovah!"
The woman smirked at having Mirmulnir on her side of the issue, "Now…shall we begin?"
~*~*~*~*~8888~*~*~*~*~*~
As Kili slowly came out of her meditation, she felt her stomach churn. Gagging a few times she jerked forwards as the foul tasting liquid bubbled up her throat and out of her mouth. Even after the conversation with the dragons she couldn't help but panic a bit.
"Kili? Kili, hey! What wrong?" Farkas asked as he ran over to her, wrapping his arm around her should to help her sit up.
Kili shook her head frantically, trying to get him to move away. Sadly the liquid spilling past her lips made it impossible to speak. She knew she had to use the thu'um, and pray Farkas wouldn't get hurt in the process.
"YOLL!"
Through the magic in the word, the liquid sparked with a flame. Reacting quickly, Farkas jerked his hand back and fell back as Kili started coughing, trying to rid her mouth of the remaining liquid.
"By the Nine…You breathe fire now?!"
Kili glared at him as she tried to catch her breath, "…Seeing as how I witnessed you turning into a monster…You don't have room to talk…"
Farkas sighed and shook his head, "Fair enough…but a warning would be nice,"
Kili nodded and pointed to her bag, "Water…please…my mouth taste disgusting,"
"Can't imagine why…" the werewolf muttered, but stood up to fetch the water sack nonetheless.
Coughing a few more times, Kili slowly sat up on her knees as he handed her the water. She nodded a thank you and took a sip, sloshing the water around before spitting it out.
"You're not going to set me on fire are you?"
Another glare from Kili was good enough answer for him.
"Go hunt or something Farkas…"
"Yeah, yeah…"
The dragonborn watched her companion walk towards the thicker part of the clusters trees that was around them. Wanting to give her space, he thought it best to keep his distance for a time.
With a huff Kili stood up and walked over to her bedroll, and grabbed her journal out of her bag. She had a lot to write down…and a lot to think on as well. What to write, what not to write and so forth. Eventually she decided to write down everything, and later when her mind was clear she would choose which pages to burn if she needed.
"Good to see you can still write…" Kili jumped as Farkas' interrupted her thoughts, causing him to smirk, "Sorry…"
"…No you're not…"
"Kili…Come on now…I'm trying to help." He muttered in defense.
The Nord woman sighed and shut her journal, "I know…this is still a lot to take in…"
"I know…but I would have to guess it answered a few questions for you…In some way,"
Another sigh left her lips as she fell back against her bed roll, "Yes…it answers a few…"
Farkas raised an eyebrow at her statement before looking at the fire. She had said before that she had a dream about, but he wouldn't push the issue. If she wanted to talk about it, he would let her do so on her own time.
"How long have you and the others been this way…?" Kili's soft voice brought him back to present.
"Not knowing my true age…I would guess sixteen," He answered, "If you're next question is why we did it, I don't have an answer for you…It's just something all Companions did that joined the Circle…but only now has it become a problem,"
Kili turned her head towards him, "Problem?"
Farkas heard her heart beat began to race, "Not like life or death problem…I—it would be easier to have Kodlak explain the issue…"
"Kodlak isn't here Farkas…and you said you would answer my question," She pressed and did her best to give him a stern look.
"Something about not going to Sovngarde when we die...Hircine owns our soul for being his wolves or something..." he explained, or at least tried to, "As I said, Kodlak is better at explaining all this."
The Dragonborn gave a nod. "Explains a lot...I remember when I first came to the Companions...Vilkas and Kodlak were talking about the blood or something…"
"You remember something over a month ago…?"
Kili giggled and nodded, "Yeah...probably a curse, as I told Rosen…"
"By the nine...you two are just a like," Farkas groaned and dramatically fell back against his bedroll.
"I take it, she doesn't forget anything either?" she asked and tilted her head to the side, as she watched him.
"You have no idea..."
Kili giggled softly and nodded a few times. "I think I do. She loves you a lot Farkas,"
"Yeah, I know. I love her too, more than anything," he muttered and continued to stared up at the sky, "Get some sleep Kili. I got the watch,"
"Good night, ice brain."
"Oh, shut up,"
~*~*~*8888*~*~*~*~
The duo entered the city gates around midday, Kili quickened her paces slightly as she ran up the steps that took her closer to Jorrvaskr. Closer to Vilkas. The thought echoed in her mind as she ran up the steps past the statue of Talos, only to come face to face with her current train of thought.
"Vilkas…" she whispered and smiled up at him.
"We have been waiting you to return," Vilkas stated calmly, returning her smile with his own, "Come, the others are waiting,"
Kili opened her to speak before Farkas spoke up. "Brother...I need to speak with you for moment…"
The Dragonborn swallowed, think that it was best the Farkas spoke up before her. Her thoughts were all over the place. Vilkas of course frowned at her dropped, confused features.
"Kili?"
Shook her head and smiled up at him, "It's fine...your brother needs you…"
She watched him slowly nod before stepping around him to head inside. She knew what was to come, and she was thankful for the short amount of time that Farkas had given her. As she pushed the doors open to Jorrvaskr she heard Farkas' voice almost shamefully state; 'She knows…' before the door shut behind her. Sighing as she entered the room, she came face to face with Kodlak.
"Well, girl, I had not expected to see a such a gloomy face upon your return...were you unsuccessful in your quest?" he asked as he approtched her.
Kili quickly shook her head pulled the shared out of her back and held it out to him to take, as he took the shard she spoke, "We were successful, Kodlak...it's just…something happened,"
"I see you've been allowed to know some secrets before your appointed time." The elder warrior stated softly, catching her off guard completely, "Yes, it's true. Not every Companion, no, only members of the Circle all share the blood of the beast. Some take to it more than others."
"Farkas, he didn't mean to, he had no choice!" she quickly spat out, desperately defending her shield-sibling. The last thing she wanted was to get Farkas into trouble for events he could not control.
"Kili, at peace girl, it's all right," Kodlak head up his hands to calm her down, "I am sure there is a reason, and just cause to Farkas' actions. Neither of you have done wrong...However; I do fear that the events you have witnessed might cause a few issues for you and Vilkas...I don't think he was ready for you to know just yet,"
She nodded again, wrapping her arm around herself to grab her other arm, "What happens now….?"
"Now? Now we accept you into the Companions and celebrate this victory." Kodlak smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze, "as soon as the boys come in, we will begin,"
Kili swallowed and shifted her eyes to the ground.
"I am sure you have a great amount of questions," Kodlak stated softly, "I will answer what I can later. I can promise you that,"
She looked up at him then, forcing a small smile, "Thank you, Kodlak,"
The wooden door opened behind her as the elder warrior's hand fell from her shoulder. Kili, quickly turned around and look at the twins. Farkas' face was full of emotion, mostly guilt from what the dragonborn could tell, Vilkas on the other hand...he face was completely void of emotion. Kili's heart started to race at the sight. Was he that upset?
"Ah, there you two are, head to the court yard. I'll fetch Aela, Rosen, and Skjor, so that we may begin," Kodlak stated proudly and turned away from the trio.
"Vilkas…" Kili whispered and stepped towards him, only for him to evade her touch.
"Best not waste anytime…" the twin muttered and walked around her towards the courtyard.
Kili sucked in a shaky breath and looked up at Farkas, "It's not you he's upset with...promise."
She nodded quickly and did her best to blink back the tears. This was not what she wanted, seeing as how this was supposed to be celebration, but right now, everything was bitter sweet.