"I Would Stand At Her Back, That The World Might Never Overtake Us..."

Silver Hand

A scholar had come to Jorrvaskr with reports of another fragment of the legendary axe that their founder had wielded, Wuuthrad. Skjor wanted Aylin to retrieve it as her official trial to join the ranks of the Companions... and he wanted Farkas to be her shield-brother for the mission. It shouldn't have surprised him, he was the one handling most of her training and jobs... he was excited, and a little nervous when she came back from a brawl that afternoon.
"Skjor was looking for you, earlier," he told her after giving her her payment for the job.
"What does he want?" Aylin asked in surprise.
"You'll have to ask him," Farkas shook his head. "He said he needed to talk to you before you do anything else. I don't like making him angry, but there is some work for you if you want it."
"Alright," Aylin nodded apprehensively. Farkas watched as she walked across the hall to greet Skjor. He didn't pretend not to listen this time, and he didn't try to keep his eyes off of her. He was happy to see she looked excited when she made her way back to him.
"I hope you've readied yourself," he said with a smirk.
"You're going to be my shield-brother?" She asked. The excitement in her voice made Farkas's heart pound even more than normal interactions did.
"So I'm told." He attempted to keep his voice nonchalant, but he couldn't keep the smirk off his face. "Let's see if you impress," he added with a wink. He was excited to finally be going out on a mission with her. All of the clients were always pleased with her, and he knew how she handled training, but this would be the first time he'd see her in real action...
Aylin spread out her map on the table in the corner and cross-referenced it with the information Skjor had given her.
"When do we leave?" She asked, looking back up at Farkas. He loved the excited gleam in her eye.
"As soon as you're ready," he shrugged, he tried to sound nonchalant, but he'd had his gear packed and ready to go since that morning.
"Alright," she looked back to the map, "if we leave soon, we should be somewhere near here by dark." She pointed to the map, and Farkas thought she was over estimating how much daylight they had left, but he just nodded. He knew they'd need at least one night of camping, and he didn't mind if there was more.

She was ready to go a little quicker than Farkas expected, and they were walking out of the Whiterun gates only about a half hour later. To Farkas's surprise, once they passed the stables she pulled her map back out and studied for a moment, comparing their surroundings and the sky. Then she rolled the map and put it away before turning back to Farkas with a smile.
"Short cut," she said pointing out across the plains toward the forest. Farkas thought her smile was practically mischievous... he just nodded as his mind began to go through a few appealing scenarios of the two of them camping alone in the forest. He followed her wordlessly across the plains, trying to get his thoughts back under control.
She had an uncanny sense of direction, and she moved quickly, Farkas was amazed when they were close to the spot Aylin had predicted by the time the sun was setting. He was starting to understand how she always made it back from jobs in a single day. They found a functional spot to set up camp against small section of boulders and Aylin built the fire while Farkas cleared spots for their bedrolls... he might have put the spaces closer together than he would have if he were camping with anyone else... if Aylin noticed she didn't comment.
They made small talk as they ate the food Tilma had packed for them, and Aylin offered to take the first watch, but Farkas told her not to worry about keeping watch.
"I'm a light sleeper," he explained, "nothing'll sneak up on us."
The night passed without issue. Farkas slept as well as he ever did... which was terrible... but for once, his wolf wasn't urging him to get up and hunt... it wanted him to crawl over to Aylin's bedroll... to hold her in his arms... to make her his... he settled for listening to her heartbeat and appreciating her smell... the leather of her armor was losing its 'new' smell, and she had sweat, dust, and campfire smoke from the day, but there was still that unique sweet smell that seemed to just be particular to her. Farkas was coming to find he loved that smell.
As soon as the sun began to light the sky he got up and began stoking the fire back up. Aylin stirred once the sun rose, and Farkas watched from the corner of his eye as she stretched and fixed her armor. She glanced over at him and caught him staring, and Farkas heard her strong heartbeat pick up speed. He didn't bother hiding his smile as they packed up camp.
They ate breakfast as they walked, and reached Dustman's Cairn by midmorning.
Something seemed off to Farkas as they approached the ancient tomb, but he couldn't put his finger on what. As they entered he immediately noticed the ground seemed too recently disturbed.
"Looks like someone's been digging here. And recently. Tread lightly," he advised. Aylin nodded, drawing her swords and carefully stepping through the passageway. Farkas followed closely. The passageway opened up into a room and Aylin proceeded straight in. "Be careful around the burial stones," he warned, "I don't want to haul you back to Jorrvaskr on my back." She looked back with a smirk, like she was about to say something smart, but then a draugr burst from one of the sarcophagi. Aylin jumped, but her frightened reaction was to slash at the thing with both swords, and it was dead again before Farkas could even react.
"See," she said with a nervous smile, "no problem." Farkas let out a chuckle but didn't say anything. When nothing else moved, they began to search the room. There didn't appear to be any way out except for the one they'd come in.
"Oh, here we go!" He heard Aylin say suddenly. There was a loud clang and Farkas spun around with a start, only to relax a little as he heard Aylin's voice again, "oops... or not..." she said quietly. Farkas walked up to see what she'd done; she'd pulled a lever that she'd expected would open a passageway, but instead it had dropped a gate, trapping her in a small alcove.
"Now look what you've gotten yourself into," he teased. She just looked back at him in embarrassment and tried the lever again. It didn't budge. "No worries," Farkas chuckled, "Just sit tight. I'll find the release."
He turned to look for another hidden alcove but was suddenly aware of movement in the room... it wasn't drauger. He smelled flesh and blood... and... silver...
He drew his sword as five Silver Hand members rushed in, and he heard Aylin swear and draw her bow.
"It's over dog," one of the Silver Hand said with a sadistic grin, "we knew you'd be coming here!"
So it was a trap, Farkas thought angrily. He sized up his opposition... she might try with her bow, but Aylin wouldn't be any help behind that gate... it was five against one... he didn't like those odds, but he'd seen worse...
"Which one is that?" Another Silver Hand asked.
"Doesn't matter," the first one snarled, "he wears that armor he dies!"
They'd seen her with him, so they wouldn't spare Aylin if he fell... he couldn't risk that... five to one odds didn't look good... for a man... Vilkas and Kodlak would understand... he just hoped Aylin would too...
"Killing you will make an excellent story," another Silver Hand taunted him.
"None of you will be alive to tell it," Farkas growled. His mind made up, he dropped his sword, and let the wolf out.
The shocked Silver Hand members barely stood a chance. His claws and teeth cut through their armor as if it were fabric. In a few short minutes they were all dead at his feet. Farkas took several deep breaths in his huge wolf body before he turned his head to glance back at Aylin. She'd lowered her bow and was just staring back through the gate at him, he couldn't read her expression, but he could certainly hear her heart pounding.
Farkas took a few more deep breaths and began willing his body to turn back. He felt his fur beginning to recede when he suddenly realized he was about to be a naked man, standing in front of Aylin. He snatched his discarded armor and dashed for the side of the room out of her view.
He composed and dressed himself as quickly as he could. After that it only took him a minute to find the other lever. He heard the gate slide up with a loud clank as he pulled it. With another deep breath he turned back to face Aylin. Once the gate opened she slowly approached, staring at him uncertainly, he could still hear her heart racing.
"I hope I didn't scare you," he said a little sheepishly. He heard her let out a soft sigh, and she put her bow back on her back.
"You didn't," she replied quietly looking up at him. "What was that?" She asked.
"It's a blessing given to some of us," Farkas decided to go with Skjor's explanation. "We can be like wild beasts. Fearsome."
"Fearsome," she repeated looking down at the corpses of the Silver Hand. "And who were these unfortunate bastards?" She asked, nudging one of the bodies with her boot.
"Silver Hand," Farkas replied darkly. "Bad people who don't like werewolves. So they don't like us either."
"So, the Companions are werewolves?" Aylin asked thoughtfully. Farkas still couldn't read her expression and he didn't like that, but her heart rate had gotten a little calmer.
"Not everyone, but all in the Circle are," he explained. "It's a secret to everybody," he added meaningfully. She nodded again, and to Farkas's relief she looked back up at him with a hint of her familiar smile.
"Don't worry," she said, "I'm good at keeping secrets... especially for people I like." That made Farkas grin, he thought about several things he wanted to say; about how he liked her too... about how relieved he was that she wasn't scared of him... but he settled on;
"I'm glad," and after another moment's pause he added, "we should keep moving. Still the draugr to worry about."
"Right," she agreed.

The lever Farkas found had opened up another passage and they made their way through the crypt. There were a handful more Silver Hand lurking, and a few more draugr, but Aylin took the lead and showed Farkas she really could handle herself. She was definitely passing her trial, Farkas thought with a smile.