"What have you got there?"

Ria was pulled out of a trance when she heard Farkas call to her from the doorway of the women's quarters. The Imperial sat on her bed in her commoner's clothes, pondering over reading the letter that was left for Kaiah the day prior by a man whom she had never met before. He had given her the letter with a wax seal and told her that a man by the name of Kematu was looking for her. She had placed the letter in her personal nightstand for safekeeping, but now she was contemplating reading it.

"It's a letter for Kaiah." Ria exclaimed, showing the curious Nord the folded paper. He cocked a brow and started walking towards his lover. Ria let out a defeated sigh, "I don't know if I should read it or not."

"Why would you read Kaiah's letter?" Farkas inquired, making a face at the indecisive Imperial. She shook her head defensively, "Because, some shady men came by Jorrvaskr yesterday looking for her. They left this letter and said some man was looking for her. I want to know who these people are…" She looked at the letter and then at Farkas, curling her lip. "Here," she shoved the letter against his chest, "you read it."

Farkas gave her a puzzled look, "I can't read."

Ria huffed, "That's right, I forgot." She looked at the letter in her hand then asked him another question. "Will you open it?"

"Sure?"

Farkas grabbed the letter and sat down next to her, opening the letter and peeling the wax seal off of the aged parchment. Ria leaned over and watched as the letter revealed an almost exquisite form of calligraphy. "What's say?" Farkas asked her, looking at the Imperial for an answer. Ria, not taking her eyes off of the parchment, gently grabbed it from her hands and scanned the contents deliberately.

"By the Gods…"

Farkas looked at his partner with a concerned expression, "What?"

"Kaiah is being blackmailed."

The room fell quiet.

Too quiet.

He could hear his own heartbeat and his blood coursing through his veins.

"Kaiah?"

Vilkas called out for his shield-sister, who had seemingly disappeared from the room they were in. 'She was just here,' he thought, 'I can't even smell her…'. He looked around the room frantically, trying not to panic. She wouldn't have just left without saying anything. He didn't even hear her leave. It was strange.

"Fuck."

The exit was gone.

The way they had once come in was nothing more than a stone wall. And the door that he had been trying so hard to pry open had disappeared as well.

"Vilkas."

"Ah!" The Nord held his hands against his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, protecting his eardrums from the loud voice that rang throughout the room.

"Vilkas."

It was a loud ringing that seemed to pummel against his skull. 'Gods, it hurts so much!' He opened his eyes and saw nothing but a dark void, himself being the only thing for miles.

"Vilkas."

"Gah! Get out of my head!"

Silence.

The agonizing torture he was feeling only seconds ago disappeared.

He sighed, relieved that the horrifying noise was gone. His shoulders relaxed, and he relished in the quiet. Though the peaceful moment ceased when he felt his senses pick up another familiar presence.

But it wasn't Kaiah.

The Nord warrior turned around and saw a terribly familiar face. One he hadn't seen in a long, long time. A face he thought he would never see again. A face that plagued his dreams for years, and one that he prayed every night would return. The man who caused so much heartache, yet, nearly drove him to tears when he saw him.

Vilkas stood frozen in place, unable to move a single muscle in his body. The warrior was transfixed, unable to look away. Only mere feet away, stood a tall and brash Nord warrior with hair and eyes the color of the dirt in the earth. His unkempt facial hair made him appear older than he really was, though he looked exactly how Vilkas remembered.

'It couldn't be?'

"Jergen?"

Quicksand.

That's what it felt like.

Seeing him there, standing in front of her, taunting her with his mischievous smirk.

His eyes transfixed in a perverted gaze that was seared into her brain.

She felt herself sinking into the floor, trapped and at his mercy.

She couldn't move.

"You thought you could run away?"

Kematu stepped closer to her, forcing her to back away, nearly tripping.

"I will always find you."

Her pace became more erratic, trying to get away from him. She turned her heel to make a run for it. Where? She didn't know. Anywhere but here.

Kematu grabbed her by her arms, making Kaiah quiver in fear. She looked up at him, terrified. No, petrified. Her stomach dropped to the floor and her hands became sweaty. She felt as though her head was burning with a scorching fever, like it would never break.

Fear.

That's all she could feel.

"You're mine."

"This isn't real." Vilkas muttered to himself, over and over again as if it would change what he was seeing.

Before him stood Jergen, the man whom he remembered from his childhood. The man who rescued him and Farkas from necromancers. The man who brought them to Jorrvaskr, and consequently made them the two Companions that they were today. But he felt no gratitude towards him. No, he left them. Abandoned them.

"Who are you?" Vilkas demanded. It couldn't have really been him, he was dead. He had to be. This was just an illusion. A sick, twisted illusion by a demented entity. It was Potema
tormenting him. Jergen stood there, silently staring at Vilkas, never looking away, not so much as even blinking. The Nord was growing impatient, quickly. "Answer me!"

Jergen stood there, silent. It was killing Vilkas. He stormed towards the older Nord, getting in his face. "You have nothing to say?" He cocked his head, narrowing his eyes at him, "After all this time, you have nothing to say?"

His silence made Vilkas' blood boil. The man was beginning to lose his temper. After so long, seeing his face, even if he wasn't real, ignited something in him. A pent up rage that he held for so many years. A resentment that he dreamt of getting off of his chest since he was a child. Vilkas turned around and walked away, only managing a few steps before turning back around to face Jergen again.

"Do you have any idea what you put us through?" Vilkas asked him angrily, "What you leaving did to us?" Jergen stared at the younger man, not a thought behind his eyes. No emotion, no feelings. Nothing.

"You left us!" Vilkas raised his voice, "You left your sons to fight in some pointless war! Farkas sat on the steps of Jorrvaskr for months waiting for you! He spent whole nights crying, praying to the gods that you would come back! And you know who had to comfort him? Me! I stayed up with him, consoling my crying brother! I sat on those steps with him, waiting with him! Did I have time to mourn? Was I given the chance to grieve your loss? No!"

Jergen said nothing.

"You are a selfish man! A selfish man who believed honor was more important than his children! You truly feel no remorse for what you did to us?"

Vilkas huffed, glaring at the man who he once considered to be his father. His eyes remained emotionless, not a single trace of his humanity could be seen.

"My greatest regret…"

The first words Jergen spoke so clearly, not an ounce of hesitance, filled the open void that the two men stood in.

"Was bringing you to Jorrvaskr."

"No!"

Kaiah pulled away from Kematu's grasp, her voice shaking with apprehension. She glared at the Alik'r warrior, attempting to stand her ground. 'This isn't real. He isn't real.'

It's an illusion.

Kaiah drew her scimitars, pointing one of them at his chest. "I belong to no one! Not now! Not ever!" She swung her blade at the man, cutting through his chest which in turn caused the illusion to disappear. 'None of it is real.' Kaiah assured herself, looking around to try and find some kind of exit from the strange simulation she was in.

"Vilkas!" She called out for her shield-brother, trying to elicit a response and hoping that she wasn't alone.

But there was nothing, and with her blades still drawn, she stood alone.

Afraid.

"Afraid of what?"

Kaiah looked around for the source of the noise that she heard earlier. The same voice, a woman's. She heard it so distinctly, with such clarity it could not be mistaken. She couldn't have been hearing things.

"Who are you?" Kaiah called out, her brows furrowed in confusion, "What do you want from me?"

"You humans are so… fickle." A sultrous laugh followed. "So weak and timid…"

The Redguard narrowed her eyes, searching for the source of the taunting voice. But there was nothing. Not a soul could be seen for miles. It was empty, as if she were trapped in some kind of realm of Oblivion.

Was she in Oblivion?

"You're lying."

Vilkas stared into Jergen's eyes, demanding an explanation. His temper burning hotter than the fires of Mehrunes' daedric realm, he could feel his beast pulling at the back of his mind. "You're lying!"

Jergen stood silent once more, staring at the young Nord warrior.

"He didn't want you."

Vilkas looked up to the source of the strange and feminine voice.

"He was afraid of you."

He shook his head, "What?"

"He didn't want to see his son turn into a beast."

"N-No-"

"A monster."

Vilkas shut his eyes and covered his ears, trying to shut out the voice in his head. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"He's ashamed of you."

"No!"

"He is afraid of you."

"Stop it!"

"That's why you're alone."

"You hurt people."

"Vilkas!"

The Nord opened his eyes to a familiar voice. His vision was blurred, and his blood ran scorching hot. The ringing in his ears made it impossible to understand what was being said to him. "Vilkas, calm down." His vision started to clear and he was met with his very concerned shield-sister. Was she real? He didn't know. Her blue eyes looked into his with a mix of concern and fear, "It wasn't real."

Sweat started trickling down his face and his hands felt trenched inside his steel gauntlets. He started to grow hair in places he normally didn't, and his senses became even more sensitive then they were before. Kaiah attempted to pull his hands away from his ears, but he jumped back. "Don't touch me!" He snapped at her, causing the Redguard to step back.

"It's been so long, hasn't it?"

Vilkas shook his head, gritting his teeth and shutting his eyes, trying to resist the urge to shift. 'I can't, not now.' He hadn't shifted since the night he attacked Kaiah in the Pine Forest, and he swore to himself he would never do it again. But the wolf was gnawing at him, begging to be released.

"Vilkas, look at me," Kaiah grabbed his wrists and pulled them towards the floor, staring into his golden eyes, "breathe."

He tried his best to maintain his composure, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm the beast. Kaiah released one of his hands and brought her own to his face, gently cupping his cheek. His skin was hot to the touch, but she didn't pull away. She maintained eye contact and breathed with him, forcing him to control his own. He went to pull her hand away but stopped himself, instead placing his hand over hers.

"Breathe…"

Vilkas felt his body temperature cool, and his excess body hair retracted into his skin. His eyes which were once a golden hue faded into its natural gray. His breathing became more natural and less deliberate, and Kaiah pulled her hand away. She smiled softly at him, "Thought I almost lost you there."

The Nord looked around the room and realized that they were in the same room they were in earlier. The way they came in was clearly visible and so was the wooden door they had been trying to open. Kaiah chuckled weakly, "It was an illusion. Someone tried to control us, I think."

'I can't believe I almost lost control.' Vilkas looked down at his gloves which had holes at the tip of the fingers, likely from his claws puncturing the fabric. Whoever it was, manipulating them, tried to sway his beast to crawl out. 'Why?'

"We need to keep moving," Kaiah suddenly said, "Whoever tried to fuck with us is still alive up there." She turned her heel and started to look for a lever or pull chain to open the wooden door. Vilkas stewed alone in his thoughts, feeling violated by whomever it was who tried to control him.

"My greatest regret was bringing you to Jorrvaskr."

The words played over and over in his head, taunting him. 'It was just an illusion.' He assured himself. 'Jergen wasn't real, none of it was real.' The words should have meant nothing. They weren't the words from a real man. However, he looked so real to Vilkas. The spitting image of how he last remembered him. 'It wasn't real.'

"It wasn't real."