Eyes Opened

Madness Becomes Her

You stood next to her. Your wife. Your darling wife. Her hand had moved to hold yours, of course you scooped it up warmly. It was terribly cold up here, after all. Your face was stoic in the sights of an old white dragon. They spoke together, it was not the first time. You listened intently but things had been swirling around in your head. The time wound was up here. A rip in the time that would supposedly make it safe for her to read the scroll. The whole ordeal made your stomach churn horribly. There were legends of people reading elder scrolls that went completely insane. She was stronger than that, sure, yet that did not stop the tilt-o-whirl that made it's home in your lower torso. You looked to her as her attention moved to you, that soft ever so present smile on her full lips. If you'd spoken your words would have hitched in your throat. "Well. I'm as ready as I ever will be." She sounded nervous. You glanced to the dragon before looking into her eyes. Your placed both hands on her arms, leaning in a bit.

"You are the strongest woman I know. Possibly the strongest one in all the lands. You always were. Kodlak was right when he met you. It's the strength of your heart that's remarkable." You gave a confident nod. She just seemed confused.

"But, Vilkas..." Her head tilted to the left. "You are my heart." Corny as ever, this woman. The sentiment made you chuckle a little. "Wow... even I think that was too much." She joined in laughing at herself with you. After a moment her eyes looked into yours. "Thank you."

"For what?" You scoffed.

"For believing in me. It always did make me try a bit harder. Finding my family with you in that hall. Even when I left it- something I still regr-" You placed a finger on her lips, the woman looking up to you.

"Shhh. What's done is done. We can't change it, there's no reason to worry over it. What matters right now is that we're together." You smile to her, she giggled.

"So I'm rubbing off on you."

"A little." You admitted freely before moving to her back. You pulled out the elder scroll, carefully handing it to her. She moved to the appropriate spot, pulling the scroll open. You watched her start to read it, still nervous. After a few minutes, your eyes still firmly on her. The woman's eyes glazed over, she stared at the scroll with a blank face. You stood there with your hand on her wrist, unsure of what to do. "Come back to me, My love." You kissed her cheek softly. If was a few more minutes after that, she blinked rapidly. "[Y/N]!" You smiled as she looked to you, a new found determination in her eyes.

"Vilkas. I know. They..." She shook her head. "They couldn't beat him either, the blades of the past. He never died, they sent him into the future. And-"

"And?" Your voice was a whisper.

"I can bring him down." You both smile at one another even through the wind kicking up. She looked up into the sky, your eyes following hers. The large black dragon that's haunted you since that day hovered close. You immediately pulled your axe.

"Is that a promise?" The dragon's voice was deep, pouring right into your soul. Your bones shook with the power of his voice.

"Alduin..." She whispered. "Vilkas, get ready."

"But, love. I can't throw my axe that far." Your worry was set in your voice. She however laughed.

"I know... just be ready." She didn't wait for the dragon to stop boasting, she worked faster than you've seen before firing off a volley of arrows at him. You separated from her, trying to keep a good spread so he couldn't hit you both at the same time. After a short while you noticed her on top of a rock, standing tall, eyes trained on Alduin. She sucked in a big breath before jumping up, releasing a devastating shout. Alduin was hit, the dragon being knocked off kilter. You watched with amazement as it looked as his wings no longer worked. He faltered, before crashing into the ground.  You grit your teeth, before rushing into his back, swinging your heavy axe. She had dropped the bow, then jumped off her high ground to strike at him with her own two handed sword. After a while you saw her wince in a pain that hurt yourself a little. You swung harder, gaining the attention for the dragon himself.

You were knocked on your back as Alduin jumped back into the air, taking flight once more. You heard his scoff as you hit the ground, watching the dragon fly off swiftly, speaking dovah. She rushed over to you, holding out a hand. You took it quickly, pulling yourself to your feet with her help. "Vilkas, are you okay?"

You nod slowly. "Yes, don't worry about me. That was amazing!"

She was red faced as she looked into your eyes. "I uh... It was... just a shout. You've seen it before." You wrapped your arms around her, holding her close. "Vilkas?"

"Don't sell yourself short." You whispered. "What did he say?"

She shook her head. "He's going to go lick his wounds. He'll be back, but we can follow him, surprise him. He said something about his safe place. I couldn't quite make it out."

"Then we should have one of his take you to him." You look to Partharnax, with a raised brow. "Trap one of the dragon's he's raised. They can tell you where..."

"Can't you?" You were a little curt, but he was pissing you off. He was a dragon as well.

"Not me young one. I've outlived my usefulness to him, nor do I have the will to fly again to slaughter your kind." You grit your teeth, biting your own tongue. If it had not been for her you would have lunged at the old dragon as well.

"How the hell am I supposed to trap a dragon?" She was clearly troubled as she stroked her chin.

You cleared your throat. "Dragon's reach..." She looked to you, marveling at your response. "The castle is a fort as well, it's why the stormcloaks have yet to drop whiterun. Olaf of the one eye captured a dragon in that very palace. History states that there is machinery built into the stone balcony that will trap a dragon." She stared at you, her lips tugged into a deep smile. "A... ah... what, love?"

"Nothing it's just... You're... magnificent." You raised a brow. "Only you would have read that much, to know where I can go next. Only you would come up here with me to make sure I didn't go crazy... Only you gave me the courage to be what I am now."

You laugh. "Are we not sure you've gone crazy? We're talking about trapping a dragon in Whiterun. Putting everyone we know and our family at risk. Not to mention with the implication that we'll have to convince the Jarl to do the same."

You smiled as she hugged you. "We can do it. There's nothing we can't do together. We got this, Vilkas." You nodded. "Yes... let's head back after dinner and some rest. I'm sure Farkas will love seeing us again." She nodded in agreement.

"Yeah..." She looked up to you with that excitement in her eyes. "No matter how hard we have to work, or how long, I'm going to finish this so everyone is safe. I may not have wanted this but it was thrust upon me and I'm going to take it seriously. If I'm the only one that can I sure as hell will. No matter what. Even if it..." You look into her eyes. "Kills me."

You shake your head, pulled her deep into a warm embrace. "I will never let that happen." You whisper, the woman shivered in your arms. "Ever. I can't lose you, I won't. If you're going down then I am going down with you. The heat of battle, next to the love of my life. No better way for a Nord to go out." She was blushing, which gave you a bit of a smile. "Alright..." You chuckled. "Let's go rest up for the climb down. We have a lot of work to do." She nodded in agreement, both of you heading down to the graybeard's waiting for you at the foot of the throat.