Giving In

The day started out normally enough. Despite waking up an hour later then usual, Aila was very tired. That was, of course, her own fault. She had let Kathryn seduce her into a love-making session witch took up a good portion of the night. So when morning came, Aila found herself wishing she had Kathryn's seemingly endless supply of energy. Just once I'd like to watch her fall asleep in my arms instead of the other way around, Aila thought.

After putting on her armour, Aila proceeded to do what had already become routine for her. She wandered around the Cistern and the Flagon, talking with some of the members and eventually speaking with Delvin for a job. Some might think thieves only worked at night but, while many certainly did, there were still quite a few jobs that could be done during the day, provided one was cautious enough.

Aila did a few jobs that morning. They involved pickpocketing a silver ring, breaking into a house while the owner was out to steal a rather ornate goblet, and convincing a certain Breton that she would be better off without that ruby necklace of hers despite the sentimental attachment. Considering that a fruitful day of work, Aila took the afternoon off. She spent the time walking around the city, looking at the marketplace, and also met up with Kathryn a few times, an event that involved more than a few kisses. She talked to Balimund, the blacksmith, about making her a new bow. Her current one was a rather worn-out, ordinary hunting bow. She asked if he could make her an elven bow and he said he could, for a price so exorbitantly high that Aila promptly withdrew her request. But then Balimund said that he was in need of some fire salts that he had ordered from Wylandriah, the court mage. If Aila went and fetched them for him, he would make her the bow for a far more reasonable price. Aila accepted.

She had never been to the keep before, but Kathryn had been a few times to see Wylandriah for Spell Tomes and such, and she had come back with some interesting stories of the court mage.

When she met her, Aila couldn't decide whether she found her amusing or irritating.

"Hello?" Aila asked when she entered the mage's study. "Wylandriah?"

"Hmm? Oh, did we have an appointment? No? A delivery?"

"Sort of. Balimund wanted me to get those fire salts for him."

"Fire salts? What fire salts?"

"Um... the ones for the forge. He told me he ordered some from you a bit ago. He asked me to get them."

"Did he? Hmm..." She scratched her head, thinking. "Oh, of course! Silly me." She grabbed a small bowl off a shelf and handed it to Aila. "Here you go."

Aila looked down at the crystals in the bowl. She was no alchemist, but she was pretty sure fire salts were supposed to be red, not blue. "Something got you preoccupied?" Aila wondered.

"Someone actually interested in my work?" Wylandriah said, sounding rather surprised. "Amazing! Well, allow me to explain. My experimentation involves a magical construct and a reagent that will allow the construct to maintain a field of permanent harmonic energy!"

"Uhh..." Aila hadn't the faintest idea of anything that the court mage just said. "How... fascinating."

"Aah!" Wylandriah exclaimed. "So, you're a student of theoretical applied harmonics!"

"Well... actually..."

Wylandriah cut her off. "Putting aside Rolsten's universal inversion for a moment, how would approach the problem? Draw the harmonic energy into the reagent, or allow it to generate it's own field?"

At this point, Aila was already to deep into the conversation to back out, even if she had no idea what they were talking about. "Have you tried using calipers?"

The court mage stared at her, looking a bit incredulous. "Calipers? That's utterly ridiculous. Maybe long ago you could find calipers in every household across Tamriel, but not anymore."

Aila took note that she didn't dismiss it as a bad idea.

"Hold on... That gives me a brilliant idea! Just as calipers hold materials in place, a soul siphon could how magic fields in place! Genius! And I'm sure you've worked out how to completely counteract complete dimensional collapse, right?"

In an effort to not appear as a complete idiot, Aila said the first thing that came to her head. "Swallow a soul gem?"

Wylandriah gaped at her. "Are you completely insane?! Swallow a soul gem? That has to be the most brilliant and unexpected solution I've heard in a long time!"

"Wait, what?"

"Yes, it solves all of my problems and keep the field stable!" She paused for a moment. "Now if only I can remember what we were talking about..."

"Um, we were just talking about how Balimund needs those fire salts."

"Does he? Oh, well, here. Take this to him." She handed Aila a bowl of red crystals. Then she straightened and took a breath. "Okay... now where did I put those spiders?"

Aila thanked her and walked out of the keep as fast as she could without running. She returned to Balimund, who told her to come back tomorrow for her bow.

Afterward, Aila ate lunch at the inn, much to Keerava's dissent, wondering how she had managed to come out of that bemusing conversation without utterly embarrassing herself.

Eventually, Aila found herself back in the Cistern training room, practicing her aim. She had gotten very good with the bow. Sometimes, Aila would compete with Niruin over who could score the most points. Oft as not, the games would end in a draw.

Aila was aiming carefully for a small target on the other side of the room when Cynric came rushing in.

"Aila," he said. "Mercer wants to see you."

Uh oh. Aila racked her brain for something that would be cause for Mercer to call on her. Did she get assigned a job and forgot about it? Did she accidentally steal the wrong item? "Did he say what for?"

"Just that he found something important."

Aila slung her bow across her back and headed into the Cistern. Mercer was where he normally was, looking over some papers.

He didn't even look up when Aila approached. "I've run through all my contacts for information on the symbol you found in Goldenglow, but not one of them could identify it."

Aila wasn't sure how that was newsworthy enough to call her up. Or, quite honestly, how it even pertained to her. "Um... okay."

Mercer looked up at her with his usual irritated look on his face. "And now I learn that you found the same symbol in the meadery. It would seem that whoever our assailant is, it seems they're trying to take us down by splitting us from Maven Black-briar. Clever.

"Clever?" That's not the adjective Aila was expecting.

"Whoever it is, I'm impressed they've managed to stay hidden for so long. Just don't mistake my admiration for complacency. Who ever it is, they are going to pay when they are discovered. And they will be discovered."

"No doubt," Aila said. "But, uh, I don't thing you called me here just to chat, so..."

"No," Mercer said in a tone that Aila would have found hurtful if she wasn't used to hearing it so often. "I called you because our Assailant, even after all their careful planning, has made a mistake. The bill-of-sale you and Kathryn brought back mentions a Gajul-Lei. My references say that's an alias for a contact in Solitude. His real name is Gulum-Ei. Slimy bastard."

Ah, there were the adjectives she was used to. "That's an Argonian name, isn't it?"

"Yes. Go to Solitude. Find Gulum-Ei and find out how he is involved in this.."

"What?!" Aila exclaimed. "But Solitude is on the other side of Skyrim! It'd take a month just to get there! I just got back from Whiterun and now you want me to go to Solitude?"

"Yes." Unfortunately, it wasn't a request.

Aila was fuming. "Fine. But Kathryn is going with me." She probably shouldn't have said it in that manner, but Aila wasn't going to spend that long without her.

Mercer scowled at her. "As long as she brings back something valuable."

"Good." Aila turned angrily and left. Great, she thought. I just got back! Then she though of how she would have a month alone with Kathryn. Then she thought of how she would be spending that month doing nothing but doing nothing but traveling.

Aila sighed and tried to decide how long it would be until the sun would set. Three hours? Four? Ah, well. It was about time. She went to the market carrying a small basket. She filled it with venison, lettuce and bread. And quite a bit of cheese. It was Kathryn's favourite, after all. Once the basket was filled, Aila left the city and headed off into the forest.

After a few minutes of walking, she reached the overlook where Aila first saw Kathryn as a wolf. The standing stone laid at the edge of the overlook, which Aila made sure to stay a good distance from. Upon seeing it, she remembered when she had touched it and how it glowed. She sat down, setting the basket beside her, and wondered about it while she waited.

Eventually, Kathryn showed up. When she saw her, Aila jumped up and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Hey, honey," Kathryn said. "Is that food I smell?"

"Later," Aila said, giving her a light kiss. "After training. We'll be hungry then."

There was an audible sniff from Kathryn. "But there's cheese!"

"Later," Aila laughed. "Did you bring the weapons?"

"Of course." Kathryn pulled a pack off her back and opened it to reveal a few blunted swords. She took one out, weighing it in her hands. "So what did you want to train out here for, exactly?"

"Remember when I told you how I 'shouted' when I fought the dragon in Whiterun? I want to try to do it again."

"So... What? Are you going to just wildly flail you're arms about while screaming at the top of you lungs?"

"Uh, no," Aila said, trying not to picture the image Kathryn had just painted. "First I want to spar with you. That way I can see how well I do. Then I'll yell su and we'll go again and see if anything changes."

"Why su?"

"I'm... not really sure. That's what I said when fighting the dragon, I think. You know what? Thinking about it, I also said it when I was fighting that crazed man down in the tunnels under the Honningbrew Meadery. Right before fighting him suddenly got a lot easier."

"Really? Interesting. Well, do you want to get started?"

"Yeah." Aila picked up a sword and positioned herself in front of Kathryn. It would be interesting to see who would be better. Kathryn was the better magician by far, and Aila was better with the bow, but swordplay was a different matter. Back in Whiterun, Kathryn was much better than Aila, but that was a long time ago, or so it seemed.

As their sparring match began, Aila noticed two things. The first was how differently Kathryn moved from Brynjolf. Whenever Aila fought with Brynjolf, it was usually him that was on the offensive. Aila would just defend and attack whenever she thought she saw an opening. Kathryn fought very much the same way, and so there were a few moments when the two would just stand, waiting for the other to make a move.

Second, Aila realized that she and Kathryn were almost evenly matched. Neither could gain an advantage an the other. "Have you been practicing?" Aila asked at one point.

"A little," Kathryn answered. "But I mostly focus on my magic."

They stopped fighting after a short while. It was pretty obvious that they were equal.

"You've definitely gotten better, Aila," Kathryn said.

"I guess so. It's kind of weird, though. I haven't really done all that much training."

"Maybe you're just a fast learner."

"Maybe. Well, let's go again. But this time..."

"You'll shout?"

"Well, it sound stupid when you say it like that."

"Hey, that's not my fault. Go on, try it."

"Alright." Aila closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. On what, she wasn't sure, but she tried nonetheless. She took a deep breath, and yelled, "SU!"

Then she heard Kathryn say, "Whoa."

Aila opened her eyes. "What? What happened?"

"You... flashed. Just for a moment, but it was definitely there."

"Does that mean it worked?" She didn't feel any different.

"Well, let's see. Raise your sword."

Aila did so just as Kathryn swung hers. She blocked it with ease and returned with a swing of her own. Kathryn just barely made it in time to block, but then Aila pulled back and swung again. She would have hit Kathryn in the arm if she hadn't stopped mid-blow. After all, she didn't really want to hurt her.

"Geez, Aila!" Kathryn exclaimed. "How did you move that fast?"

"I... don't know. You swear you're not going easy on me?"

"I swear, really! I could barely even see it. Come on, let's do it again."

Kathryn swung once more, but Aila saw it coming a mile away. She blocked it with no trouble at all, as with the next, and the next. When Aila finally swung back, Kathryn tried to block it and failed miserably. The sudden change in skill was startling.

"I can't even slightly keep up!" Kathryn said. "It think this Shouting business really works!"

"Evidently," Aila said, still trying to understand what exactly was happening.

They sparred for a little longer and Aila continued to be practically untouchable. Eventually though, it just stopped. It was very sudden. Kathryn could suddenly keep up, and Aila suddenly had to actually work to block Kathryn's attacks. Kathryn speculated that these Shouts were some sort of magic spells. They would do what ever they were meant to do for a while before wearing off.

The couple had just decided to stop sparring and eat their supper what Aila noticed it. There was rather large boulder sitting a good distance away from their little picnic site. It was covered in odd scratches. "Oh, no," Aila muttered to herself. She made her way to it.

"Aila?" Kathryn asked. "What it it?"

Aila didn't answer. As she stared at the scratches part of them began to glow brightly. As had happened twice before, it burned into her eyes, leaving her blind.

Kathryn walked up beside her. "Aila?"

Aila reached out and grabbed hold of her hand.

"That thing's happening, isn't it? The thing that happened at Goldenglow."

Aila nodded.

It faded after a time, as before. Aila looked at Kathryn. She wrapped her arms around her and squeezed her tightly. "Kat... he's not going to stop."

"Who?"

"That strange man from my dream. He's going to keep sending dragons my way so I can kill them."

"But why? What does he want from you?"

"I wish I knew. I all know is that he want me strong. That's it. I don't even know his name."

Kathryn was silent for a moment. "Come on. It's no use worrying about it. Let's just enjoy our supper. The smell of that cheese has been driving me crazy."

Aila chuckled a bit and followed as Kathryn led her back to the picnic basket. She handed Aila some venison and and a slice of bread and cheese. Aila sat on Kathryn's lap while she ate, glad for her comfort. They mostly ate in silence, though sometimes Kathryn would make a comment to try and cheer Aila up. For the most part, it worked.

The two finished eating, and watched as the sun set over the horizon. It was all very romantic. Aila found herself feeling extraordinarily grateful for Kathryn's presence. That girl was everything to her. Without her, Aila's life wouldn't be the same. She needed Kathryn, as much as she needed food, or water. Without her, she just wouldn't know how to live. When Kathryn suggested going back to Riften, Aila refused. She didn't want to move just yet. She just wanted to sit in Kathryn's lap, wrapped in her embrace. Even as night fell, the couple stayed put. Aila leaned against Kathryn's chest, closing her eyes. She was tired from the sparring and Kathryn was contentedly warm in the cooling night air, and before she even realized it, Aila was asleep.

Kathryn listened to Aila's heart beat as she slept in her arms. It was such a soothing sound. She only ever heard it when it was quiet, or when Aila was particularly excited. She wondered if Aila would ever listen to her heartbeat. She wondered if Aila could ever even hear it. There was so many things that were different for Kathryn than for others.

She could hear a small animal, probably a fox, running around in the forest behind them. She ignored it and focused back onto Aila's heartbeat. Bum. Bum. It was always so slow when she was asleep. Kathryn wondered why that was.

A scent reached her. Deer. Quite a few of them, judging from the intensity of the smell. Somewhere off the the left of her. It made her mouth water. Kathryn shook her head and pulled Aila closer to her. She let her scent fill her nose. It made her smile. Aila always smelled of pine needles.

Kathryn wondered if Aila realized just how much she meant to her. Just being near her filled Kathryn with a sense of utter joy that she had never felt before she met Aila. She was beautiful, in her own adorable little way, with the freckles that lightly dotted her cheeks, the slight point to her ears, and her sapphire eyes. But more than any of that was simply that Aila had accepted her. After a lifetime of rejection by her family and neighbours, the simple act of befriending her meant more to Kathryn than anything in the world. How could she not fall in love with her? She had even accepted her lycanthropy. Kathryn wanted to tell her, she did, but she was so deathly afraid that Aila would leave that she just couldn't bring herself to admit it. If it wasn't for Aela... well, who knows how different things would be? But no, Aila wasn't at all perturbed by it. On the contrary, she seemed to rather enjoy it. So often would she snuggle up next to her, mumbling something about how warm Kathryn was, or comment on how beautiful she thought Kathryn's eyes were. Odd. Kathryn used to hate her eyes. But now...

Even the other night, when Kathryn had growled completely by accident while trying to get Aila in the mood. Her reaction to it wasn't at all what she was expecting. With Aila being nothing but positive toward her lycanthropy, Kathryn was finding it harder and harder to fight the constant urges she felt. The urge run through the woods as fast as she could; the urge to hunt. She was so tired of fighting them. She just wanted to give in.

Kathryn sat quietly for hours, watching Aila sleep and listening to her heartbeat. The moons were high in the sky when she made her decision. She kissed Aila lightly on the forehead and set her carefully down on the ground. She stood then, and began to unbuckle her armour. She stripped out of her armour, out of her smallclothes, setting them over Aila to make sure she stayed warm. Then she walking back into the forest. A little ways in, she leaned against a tree and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Her heart began to thud in her chest, harder and harder, until she could feel it pounding against her ribcage. She struggled not to cry out. The worst was yet to come.

She felt her ribs begin to shift and expand, to accommodate her growing organs. Her spine felt like it was being stretched apart, her hands and feet felt like they were being crushed and pulled, like someone playing with clay. Her skull felt like it was going to split in two with her jaws elongating. She held in a scream as long as she could but, after what felt like hours, she couldn't hold it any more. But instead of a scream, there was a howl.