The Blood Of The Wolf

Chapter Sixteen

AN: I just want to start this chapter by saying thank you to everyone for reading and supporting my story, you all inspire me tremendously. Though there are four people I want to thank individually:
Iamawesome360
Balgruuf
SweetDevil32
And Catn777

They always comment and encourage me with their favourites and i am so, so, so Thank full to them and everyone else and I really hope you are enjoying this fan fiction so far If there are any more that you would want me to write, message me or leave a comment.

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The odd trio of the companion, the nightingale and the bear had stopped for the night on the shore. They had hoped to go strait to Winterhold but after the incident with the ice, they thought it best not to travel in the dimming light. Maris had found a place far from the fire to perch herself upon. Broul sat beside the fire with his head in Vilkas' lap. This bear just didn't seem to want to leave him alone. Stupid animal. He glanced up at Maris, who was sat crossed legged atop a large boulder that jutted out from the hill. She was reading, as always. Maris glanced over the rim of her book and peered down at Vilkas, raising an eyebrow. Vilkas quickly looked away and back to the fire. Maris looked down at her book but found herself reading over the same line over and over. She was quite distracted by a different thought. It had been a while since she had fed and the concentrated blood essence just want the same. It left her irritable. She sighed and put her book down.

"I need to go and kill something." She said, standing and brushing the dirt off her nightingale armor.
"Kill what?" Vilkas asked.
"Something with blood." She hissed. "Why else would I want to?"
"Just don't kill anything human!" Vilkas growled. 
"Oh,  so I'm allowed to kill you?" She sneered.
"Very funny nightwalker." Vilkas snarled.
"Stupid mutt." Maris hissed back.
"Weren't you leaving?" Vilkas asked. Maris turned on her heels, her black Cape spinning with her and trailing behind her. Within seconds she had disappeared into the forest.

Vilkas huffed and stood to stretch his legs. His eye wondered over to the book that Maris was reading. She always seemed to read such odd looking books. Though this one... seemed familiar... He flicked through its pages, skimming the words. It was a copy of 'a dream of sovngaurd.' A book he had read many times in his youth... A book that he had given away... It must be a coincidence that Maris happened to come across a copy, it couldn't possibly be the same book... Though it did seem old enough. He dared not even look. He held his breath as he turned to the last page. It fell open in his hands. He found himself looking down at a small, faded paw print beside a hand print of similar size and faded paint. Vilkas scowled. Why would she have kept this? And from so long ago... those prints seemed much more sinister then before. The paw, a symbol of the wolf and the hand, a symbol of the dark brotherhood. That's not what they had meant when they were children, they were just playing around with paint but now, it seemed to have a very different meaning. How could his Maris turn into such a monster...

Maris breathed a sigh of relief as she stood over the body of the sabre cat, blood dripping down from her fangs. She pulled her hood down and looked up at the sky. It was pitch black with soft stars scattered across it. The night air was cold and crisp. Maris was in her element. The cold and the dark and the blood. She could stay there for the rest of eternity and be free and be happy. The thought of not even going back crossed her mind but only fleetingly. They were thoughts for feral Vampires... and besides, she had made a promise to Vilkas and if anything, she was a woman of her word. She gave one last, long, lingering gaze on the vast expanse of the forest before turning to go. 

When she had finally returned to the camp, It was quiet. Vilkas had fallen asleep beside the fire and Broul was laying beside him, his head on Vilkas side. Maris couln't help but smile at the image. She pulled off her cloak and dropped it over a rock. She gave the fire a wide birth and went down to the shore to wash her face. When she returned, she went to grab her cloak, As she pulled it, she heard something drop. She looked down to the ground where her book was laid. She had forgotten to put it away before she had gone to hunt. She picked it up and ran her hand down the cover. She didn't know quite where she had gotten the book but was something she couldn't stand to part with. She had had it since before she had become a vampire so she doubted that she would ever remember it. She flipped to the back of the book and looked down at the prints.She couldn't work out where or why they were but she knew the hand was hers. It had the same prints. though who or what the paw print belonged to, she hadn't the foggiest idea. She always had animal companions at her side. A wolf or a bear pup maybe? Though it looked a little differen't from any other print she's seen. It was more like a werewolf's, just far too small. She knew that she's encountered a werewolf when she was a child. It was how she acquired the scars on her shoulders. She pulled her gauntlets off to show the matching set now on her wrists. They were still tender and open but they would most definitely scar. Maris glanced over to Vilkas. could he be?... It would explain why he always said strange things like with the war paint... and why, when they had first met back in the dungeon, he knew her name... No, No that was nonsense, it couldn't be him... he would have said something wouldn't he? No, she refused to believe she would have ever associated with such an oafish mutt.

"What are you doing?" Came a voice from behind her. She spun on her heals, putting the book behind her back. Vilkas had sat up and Broul had moved his head down to his lap.

"Oh... Nothing." She said, slightly taken off guard. She mentally punched herself as soon as she had said that. She should have asked him about it... "Just got back..."

"Are you okay, you're acting a little... strange?" He asked, pushing his hair back. 

"Is that concern I hear in your voice mutt?" She hissed.

"pft, when horkers fly." Vilkas growled. Maris turned away and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm going to sleep." She said. She found a tree close by and pulled herself up into its branches. The leaved where thin but she still seemed completely invisible.

"What is with you and tree's?" Vilkas asked.

"What's with you and that stupid warpaint!" She hissed back.

"I already told you why." Vilkas growled.

"But you never told me how i was involved!" She sneered.

"And i told you it doesn't matter!" Vilkas yelled. Maris let out a long irritated groan.

"Just forget it, i don't even care anymore." Maris muttered.

"Giving up so soon bloodsucker?" Vilkas asked, raising an eyebrow towards the tree. "There must really be something wrong with you. Suddenly, an arrow flew from the leaves and embedded it's self into the tree beside Vilkas' head.

"Ahh! what in Hircine's name are you doing!" He exclaimed. 

"That was a warning shot. Piss me off anymore and one goes in your throat." Maris snarled. 

Vilkas and Broul exchanged quizzical glances. Stupid Nightwalker...