I sprint away from Fralia, my main goal getting to Jorrvaskr. I forget that I just left Marco standing alone and trusted him to use his brain and folow me. I race up the steps, only to be stopped by Aela and Torvar.

"I heard we got attacked," I stammer. "H-how-"

"We got most of them," Torvar says reassuringly. He hesitates. "Y-you might wanna go inside though..."

"Torvar, what has happened?" my voice thickens and my stomach tightens and curls with anxiety. I feel my throat closing up and every breath is painful to take. I dig my fingernails into my palms. I will not let my anxiety get the better of me now. I have to be strong.

"We managed to defend Jorrvaskr quite well. We killed most of them and we've only had two casualties. Athis and Kodla-"

I don't let Aela finish her sentence. I pull away from the two of them and charge up the rest of the steps, Marco hot on my heels. I shove open the doors to Jorrvaskr and I'm greeted by death and chaos. There's bodies of Silver Hands littered across the room, which I try to pay little attention to. I see Athis curled up in the corner of the room, with Njada by his side. The sight surprises me a little, seeing as Njada hates Elves and hates Athis. I suppose we all unite in times like these.

But then I see Kodlak lying by the firepit, hardly moving. I feel like the world stops for a second and a ringing sound picks up in my ears. My breathing slows and I feel the world spinning around me and Marco grabs my arm and I cling onto him for support. I take a deep breath and force myself to put one foot in front of the other and approach my grandfather. I can't be weak now. Ria and Farkas are crouched next to my grandfather.

He's still.

He's dead. They killed him.

"Grandfather?" I whisper and I crouch next to him.

"I'm sorry Skylar," Farkas murmurs. I try to blink back tears. Farkas puts his arm around me and I lean into him, silently crying. I let myself cry for a few seconds and then pull away from Farkas and wipe my eyes. I have to be strong.

"Oh Gods, what happened?" Marco rubs at his eyes, trying to hide the fact he too was in tears.

Vilkas storms out from the living quarters with a face like thunder and my heart sinks. I stand up, ready to face whatever he has to say.

"Where on Nirn have you two been!?" he bellows.

"I...we had a job to do. Grandfather wanted me to-"

"Well I hope to the Gods above it was worth it, Skylar!" he shouts.

I feel my hands shaking a little. But then I realise it isn't from nerves...it's also from anger.

"Yeah? Well what were you doing? Defending Jorrvaskr? You did a great fucking job of it!" I yell. "My grandfather is dead! You couldn't protect him!"

"Careful, Skylar, before you say something you regret," Ria says calmly. "Don't say something you can't take back,"

I drop my weapons to the ground. "Don't you dare pin this one on me, Vilkas," I seeth. "If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at the Silver Hand. Be angry at the Gods for being unkind and letting this happen. But Gods above if you suggest to me one more time that this-" I gesture around the mess of the mead hall. "-was my fault...then you've got a terrible storm coming your way,"

Vilkas pauses, like he's been slapped across the face. He probably isn't used to people snapping back at him. The inside of my head is a mess. The thought of my grandfather being dead is swirling across my mind. He's gone. I can't wrap my head around it. Gone.

"Can we talk about this in private, please?" Vilkas lowers his voice.

"I want to stay with my grandfather," I say stubbornly.

"Skylar, go," Marco nudges me. "I-I shall stay with grandfather and help prepare for the funeral," he gulps back more tears and furiously wipes at his eyes. "I am so sorry. I-I-I do not usually cry this much, I just-"

I fiercely hug my elder brother. He isn't very tall either, but it still feels like he dwarfs me in height. "Hey. It'll be okay. W-we'll figure something out okay?" I pull away from him and I sniff and firmly wipe away the last of my tears. I have to be strong for me and Marco now. For sixteen years he was the strong one and now it's my turn.

I follow Vilkas into the living quarters and we turn down the corridor and into his private bedroom. He sits down on the bed and I sit down cautiously next to him.

"I didn't mean to get so angry," Vilkas sighs. "I just...I was really worried about you,"

"About me? Why?" I'm taken aback.

"Well, I mean...you're really special to me Skylar. Yesterday was amazing. And when the Silver-Hand showed up and you weren't anywhere I just panicked. I should have been more on guard, it's my fault-"

"Hey. You can't blame yourself. Look, I blame myself for not being here. Marco blames himself for not being here. Aela probably blames herself because it was her idea to lead raids on the Silver-Hand after what they did to Skjor. Njada blames herself for not sticking by Athis better. Farkas blames himself for not defending better, as does Ria, Torvar, Vignar...hell, Eorland probably blames himself for not making our weapons stronger," I cut him off. "Point is, Vilkas, we all feel like we're to blame. But we aren't,"

"Then who is?"

"The Silver-Hand. They did this. Not us. They were the ones who fucked with us," I say firmly.

"Then I guess we're going to have to take the fight to them," Vilkas's features harden. "There aren't many left of them. And I know where their lair is. They took Wuuthrad's fragments too...so looks like we're going to have to pay them a visit,"

"What about grandfather's funeral?" I ask and then a sudden wave of sadness hits me, as well as some panic. I dig my nails into my palms again and try to take deep breaths. Not now. I can't give into it now.

"They'll have it when we get back," Vilkas stands up. "Come on, Skylar, get some things together. We're going to get the Silver-Hand for what they did today,"

"What if we don't make it back until tomorrow?" I ask nervously.

"I'll explain to Aela. Come on, get your stuff and meet me by the stables in about fifteen minutes. We've got business to attend to,"

***

The carriage driver stopped in Dawnstar and Vilkas and I got out, stretching our limbs with relief. Dawnstar is one of the cities I've barely spent any time in, along with Morthal and Winterhold. It's a small, quiet little fishing town. Vilkas and I head to what we hope to be the inn and we step into the building, the warmth of the fire nearby a welcome feeling.

"What can I do for ya?" the innkeeper looks over at us.

"Just a quick meal of something hot," I say to him and he nods at us and barks an order at his cook. Vilkas and I find a table furthest away from him and everyone else and we sit down, facing away from the main hall.

"Driftshade Refuge isn't too far away," Vilkas pulls out his map. There's a dot marked 'x' which is then labelled with 'Driftshade Refuge'. Vilkas's map is marked with a number of symbols and labels. "If my map is marked 'x' it means it's a fortress or a hideout of some sorts. Orc Strongholds have the same. If it's marked 'n' it means it's an old tomb," he explains. "Don't you mark your map?"

I shrug. "I have a good memory. It's getting dark out, are we-"

"We take the fight to them after our meal," Vilkas says firmly. "If it's night then it's better. It'll give us the element of surprise,"

"Perfect," I try to stifle a yawn.

Vilkas eyes me sternly. "No tiredness. Drink a stamina potion,"

"Have you got any?" I ask him. "I only packed healing ones,"

Vilkas sighs. "Yes, I have got some. Why do you come so unprepared?"

I grin. "I like to go with the flow, I guess,"

The door opens and I glance over to see who it is and then freeze up with fear. Thalmor agents. A year or so ago I had broken into their Embassy, slain a whole bunch of them, stolen their documents, freed a prisoner of theirs and then murdered another whole bunch of them in the Ratway sewers beneath Riften. Needless to say, they don't like me.

"We're looking for the Dragonborn," the Thalmor agent announces to the innkeeper loudly. I tense up and look at Vilkas with panic. "A year ago we believe it was her who broke into our Embassy and killed a large number of us,"

"You leave the lass alone," an old man says angrily. "She saved us all from the evil of Alduin. That forgives any wrongs she's made,"

"And she's the granddaughter of the great Kodlak Whitemane," the old man's wife adds.

"News travels," I mutter to Vilkas.

"The late Kodlak Whitemane," the Thalmor agent smirks. "I heard he was slain by a rogue bandit organisation. What a pity. He couldn't have been that great-"

"What did you just say?" I jump up from the bench angrily.

"Ah. Found her," the agent smiles nastily.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. You lay a finger on me and you'll find that all of Tamriel will be rising up against you," I say savegely. Will they? Is saving their sorry hides a good enough reason for them to revolt if the Thalmor try and execute me?

"You broke into our Embassy-"

"I'm not a Talos worshipper," I narrow my eyes. "He was never one of my Divines. So, therefore, you've got no reason to be arresting me,"

The agents are quiet. The taller, meaner one scowls at me. "If we say we have reason to take you in for interrogation then we've got reason to take you in for interrogation,"

"I'm with The Companions. Any misdoing we make needs to be punished by the Jarl of Whiterun, not another independent organisation," I lie, hoping I sound convincing. "It's in the Old Tomes. Look it up, Elfy," I add the last sentence under my breath. "And, um, I have Altmer blood. So, you know, you don't want to be killing one your own do you?"

The agent laughs. "You? Altmer blood? I would've gone more down the road of Dwemer blood,"

"Thanks. I haven't heard that one before," I mutter under my breath. "So, can I go now? Independent organisations can't punish Companion members. It's been a rule for over two hundred years,"

"Can you prove you've Altmer blood?" the agent folds his arms.

"I, um-" I hadn't thought that far ahead. Now I was getting annoyed. They insulted my grandfather and now they're holding me up from avenging him. But I can't just go out an attack them. "Well, if you kill me then who will stop the dragons?"

"We can perform a blood test," the agent suggests.

"Is that code for taking me in and murdering me in cold blood?" I stand my ground.

"It'll take but a moment," the agent tries to convince me. "If you do it and prove you have Altmer blood I will let you go free,"

"Great," I nod my head.

"Skylar, what are you doing?" Vilkas hisses.

"Look, if it gets them off our backs and lets us go on our way it's worth it," I say wearily. "I just want to get on with it,"

The Thalmor agents take some blood from my fingers and they murmur an incantation to a spell and the blood bubbles a little and then turns golden, like the skin of the Altmer.

The agent sighs. "You are free to go,"

We didn't need to be told twice.

***

"Your Altmer blood really doesn't show," Vilkas says disbelievingly.

"Are you going to make another short joke?" I glare at him. I tuck my hair behind my ears. "Look. Extra pointy ears. Elf ears!"

"Don't Bretons have slightly pointed ears anyway?" Vilkas shrugs.

I huff. "These are extra pointier. Compare mine and Marco's ears to that of Belethor's and you'll get very different results. And my cheekbones too, they're higher than most other Bretons,"

"Interracial breeding always...confused me," Vilkas shrugs.

"Why? My mother was half Breton, half Altmer," Marco had revealed to me on our way back from Falkreath yesterday that Madanach was in fact my mother's half brother, rather than her full brother. Madanach was full Breton whereas my mother Colette was half Altmer. I don't think Marco knows who our grandparents are but I believe he's working on it. "And my father was half Breton half Nord. So I'm half Breton, quarter Nord and quarter Altmer,"

"The Nord and Altmer really don't show," Vilkas remarks. I playfully hit his elbow. It feels strange to be bantering after what happened earlier on today. We shouldn't be laughing right now. It's just wrong. Grandfather is dead.

"I know, I know. I suppose my short genes are stronger than my tall genes," I laugh.

Vilkas and I continue the climb up the hill to where he believed Driftshade Refuge was. When we get there, the sun has almost completely set and I can just about make out three guards patrolling the outside of the fort.

"What I'd give to have Aela with her bow here now," Vilkas murmurs. "I'm hopeless at sneaking. You?"

"Not the best, not the worst," I shrug. I frown and try to figure out a way to get the patrolling guards. Neither of us had bows and there was no way we could sneak towards him, no matter how dark it was getting. Our armour would make too much of a noise.

"So what do we do?" Vilkas asks. "I guess we could distract them somehow, get them to go to a place where we could ambush them but-"

"Perfect!" my eyes light up. "Stand back, I've got a Shout for this,"

"Of course you have," Vilkas rolls his eyes, but listens to me anyway. He stands behind a nearby tree, and I take a deep breath.

"Zul...mey GUT!"

The Shout travels to a space near where Vilkas is hiding. The three Silver-Hands are all alerted to it and they rush over to where it is, weapons in hand. Before they can get there, Vilkas jumos out from behind the tree, swinging his greatsword at them. I leap into the fight, eager to exterminate them.

"Nice work there," Vilkas wipes off the blood on his sword. I lick my lips at the sight of the blood and feel a wave of disgust come over me. Must be the wolf inside of me...but I've done a good job of ignoring the beast. My dragon soul is stronger than the beast inside of me. However, I make a mental note to eventually return to the Glenmoril Cave and retrieve some more witches heads so I can rid myself of the beast blood - and Farkas and Vilkas too. I don't think Aela wants to be cured though.

"Let's get this over with," I say grimly. "And avenge my grandfather,"

Vilkas grabs my wrist and pulls me close to him. "A kiss for good luck?"

"We don't need good luck, you soppy oaf," I scoff at him, but stand on my toes and gently kiss him anyway.

***

Wiping out the Silver-Hand shouldn't have been as easy as it was. They were weakened from their fight at Jorrvaskr and tired from the hour of night it was. They were stupidly easy prety to take on. I almost wish I had aggravated the Thalmor into a fight, at least they would have been more of a challenge. I voice these thoughts to Vilkas as we load the fragments of Wuuthrad into Vilkas's satchel.

"I suppose that's just your arrogant innner dragon," Vilkas muses.

"I do not have an arrogant inner dragon," I say defensively.

The two of us walk out of the empty (well, sort of empty. If you ignore the bodies all over the place) fortress. Dawn is just about breaking above us and the sky is a strange but beautiful pink and grey colour.

"Back to Whiterun now," Vilkas sighs. "For the funeral,"

I stop in my tracks and touch the amulet around my neck. I wear two necklaces, despite how it can sometimes be uncomfortable and awkward. I wear the family amulet that Kodlak had used to recognise me as a baby and I wear the stalhrim necklace Marco had given me.

"It's just me and Marco again," I say in a lowered voice. "I only had seven months with grandfather,"

"No," Vilkas shakes his head. "It isn't just you and your brother. You have Farkas. You have Aela, Ria, Athis, Torvar...Njada to a certain extent. Don't laugh! She's still your Shield-Sister. And me...you have me, Skylar,"

"Do I now?" a small smile spreads across my face.

"Yes," Vilkas says earnestly. "You have me...if you want me?"

"Of course I want you, you idiot," I roll my eyes. Then I sigh. "Just give me some space for now, though, okay? I don't think it's right for me to pursue a romance so soon after my grandfather's death,"

"Of course," Vilkas nods his head. "We're all in mourning, Skylar...we should really get back as soon as possible though,"

"I know," I sniff and wipe my nose with the back of my hand. "I don't want to go through with it. I don't want to let him go,"

Vilkas wraps me up in his arms and I rest my head against his cold armour. "It'll be okay. We're all dreading letting him go but we just have to be strong. For Kodlak?"

"For Kodlak,"

A/N:

Happy new year guys!  I hope you had a great winter holiday and here's to 2017 being MUCH better than 2016 was.