Hello! Back again with a revised version of my second chapter. This one is pretty much the same, just a little less stiff. (At least that was my intention.) I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can! Enjoy!
I unsheathed Dawnbreaker, the daedric artifact given to me by Meridia. Vilkas' eyes widened at the gleaming sword. "Where did you get that?" he gasped.
A smirk grew on my lips at the priceless expression on his face. "I've been around."
After a short moment of more gaping, he quickly straightened, his tone more solemn than before. "Okay, now. No funny business. No spells, no magic. None of that. Just pure brawn." He grinned evilly as his eyes scanned my body from head to toe. My blood ran cold. I wasn't the biggest person ever. Bretons hardly were in the first place. But me? I inherited the elfish trait more than the Nordic. So here I was, standing before a great burly man a whole head taller than me. "Good luck." The tone of his voice implying, "you're going to need it."
I squinted my eyes and held up my blade. The balance of it was utterly perfect. Heavy enough to hurt the enemy, but light enough to feel a part of me. The Companion charged at me with a snarl on his face. I jumped to the left, opting for an evasive approach to the battle. If he wasn't fast enough, he couldn't hurt me. The heavy armor he wore made him stumble past my combat-ready body. Someone near the porch laughed. I allowed myself a quick second to steal a glance at the source. A tall man, nearly identical to Vilkas, leaned against a wooden column with his arms crossed, a broad grin stretched across his face. Our eyes met and he lifted a finger that was resting on a surprisingly toned forearm to point behind me. My head spun to witness Vilkas finally moving toward me. He charged again and I sidestepped... again. "Aghhh, stop doing that!" he snapped through gritted teeth.
"You just said no magic," the man against the coulmn murmured to another on-looker. His deep voice was obviously very much incapable of whispering.
"Stay. Out. Of this. Farkas." Vilkas swung his giant sword at me with every pause. I countered each swing with my own, my arms tiring at an alarming rate. Out of the many battles I had been through, I had never faced an adversary who stared into my eyes with so much contempt. Truthfully, I hadn't done much at this point of the battle, but I could tell he had expected me to completely crumble by now. In an attempt to catch me off-guard, my component spun around expeditiously. His sword neared my midsection and in a panic, I pushed with my legs off the stone beneath me. My body sprung into the air like a popped cork from a wine bottle. The steel greatsword clinked against the bottom heel of my boot. I landed with every limb in tact and an incredulous grin on my face.
"Holy shit," Vilkas' twin breathed, arms dropping to his sides. Inside my chest, my heart beat fiercely at the swiftness of it all. Vilkas himself wasn't so happy. He rebounded nimbly, his blade held overhead by thick muscled arms. A heavy foot rose from the ground and kicked me square in the chest. My body flew backwards and my head met the ground with a horrid sound.
"Hey!" a woman whom I didn't notice called. "Vilkas, fight fair."
"Quiet, Aela," he hissed. I couldn't breathe. The blow forced all the wind out of me and I couldn't seem to find it again. My opponent wore a dangerous smirk that sent a chill up my spine. The steel sword still hovered above him. Fear consumed me, pinning me to the ground. This was supposed to be a trial. Just a test. This wasn't supposed to cost me my life. I tried again to roll over, to slide away, anything to avoid the lunatic's sword but something kept me anchored to my spot.
Our spectators shouted.
"Vilkas, stop!"
"Calm down!"
"Vilkas!"
Voices overlapped one another, but I was too concerned with meeting my demise that I didn't notice the words being said. Neither did I hear the footsteps that neared my head. Before I knew it, a strong hand gripped my arm and pulled me up from the stone ground. "What's gotten into you?" The man who leaned against the wooden column held onto me like his life depended on it.
"Ow," I mumbled, breaking my silence.
"You're interrupting her test, Farkas!" shouted Vilkas.
"Her test?" my savior- Farkas apparently- nearly shouted. "You were about to kill her!"
"Ow," I repeated. My fingers worked furiously to unlatch his from my arm. He didn't budge.
"This is none of your business!" Vilkas stared into Farkas' eyes, steel clashing with steel.
"I won't have you killing anyone out here so you could just test their might! Companions fight with more honor than that!"
"Ow!"
Vilkas snorted. "Don't speak to me of honor, brother!"
They were at it. Worst of all, I was stuck in the middle of it all. Farkas held his grip on me like his life depended on it.
"Let go, please!" I pleaded in vain. Tempted as I was, I managed to refrain from Shouting the brothers away from me.
"HEY!" My head snapped up to find a sturdy red headed woman where Farkas once stood. "Farkas, let go of her. You're going to rip her arm off."
"Oh, uh..." My captor let go and I fell to the ground. A warm rush of blood ran down my arm. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Vilkas, what in the name of Hircine were you doing? You cannot kill new recruits."
Rage melted away from his eyes as he met those of the woman scolding him though a solemn look stayed on his face. Even though she rebuked him no further, he let his fight with me go. "Have Eorlund sharpen this," he growled at me as he pushed his greatsword into my arms. "Whelp," he added with a sneer before stalking off.
The red-headed warrior glanced at me with a smile. "Gave us a good scare there, new blood. Thought Vilkas was going to attack the whole town with the amount of rage you invoked."
I shook my head. "I didn't mean-"
"It's fine," she responded with a stern voice. "Welcome to the family, whelp." When she said it, the word didn't drip in distaste. The woman walked away, likely to discuss what happened with a sulking Vilkas.
Farkas turned to me, eyeing the greatsword in my arms. "Eorlund works at the Skyforge up there." My eyes followed his pointing finger to the perched forge. I nodded, spinning on my heel to complete my first task as a Companion whelp. "Uh, you sure you'll be okay?"
I cast a glance at him over my shoulder with a smirk. "I've faced worse," I said non-chalantly, ignoring the genuine fear I had felt only moments before. Again, I began to walk away from the tall man when he stopped me.
"Oh yeah?" He hesitated. I pivoted to face him once more.
"Farkas, right?" He nodded. "Thalia Monet," I greeted with a smile.
"Uh," he stuttered. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise. I should take this before Vilkas attacks me again," I laughed.
He nodded again. "Uh, welcome to the family." With an awkward smile, he left me with alone with my task.