My Random Skyrim Stories

Noticed (3) Heartbreak

It was just after dinner, Vilkas had finally worked out in his head how he was going to ask Inga to accompany him for a dragon hunt... now he just needed to find her... but she wasn't in her chambers... surely she hadn't left again so soon...

Out on the back porch he found Farkas, but he was sitting and talking with Ria, not Inga...

Vilkas turned back inside and went out the front doors so as not to disturb them and went up to see if Inga was up at the skyforge... when he didn't find her there he began making his way back toward Jorrvaskr again, but stopped as he overheard his brother...

"Nah, it's nothin' like that," Farkas was saying quietly, "I like the Harbinger, she's honorable, an' fearsome in battle, but honestly, she's so tough, an' in the mask an' all that armor, I forget she's a woman half the time... she scares me..." Farkas chuckled quietly.

Vilkas was torn between feeling relieved and wanting to smack Farkas for saying something so uncomplimentary of Inga...

"You're not like her," Farkas continued more quietly, "you're pretty, you're friendly, you smile... I know I'm not the smartest, but my brother's an idiot..."

'Wait, what?' Vilkas thought in bewilderment as he stood behind the porch, just out of view.

"Farkas?" Ria's voice was quiet and a little shaky. "Y-you think I'm...?" Her voice trailed off and Vilkas could only guess that she looked surprised.

"Won't lie," Farkas replied in a low tone a moment later, "I was disappointed when you decided you wanted to learn bigger blades instead of heavier armor."

"Really?" Ria whispered, and Vilkas was sure her voice sounded hopeful now.

"Mmhmm..."

It sounded like Farkas was smiling, and Vilkas heard one of of them shift in their chair. He decided to leave then... he didn't want to be in ear-shot if they started kissing or something...

Vilkas backed away, trying to wrap his mind around this... unexpected turn of events...

He'd never realized Farkas was interested in Ria of all people... it seemed so out of the blue... but then they did have a bit in common... Vilkas figured it did make sense that his kind-hearted brother would appreciate a friendly woman who tended to see the best in everything...

And how was he the idiot? Vilkas wondered angrily, what did any of that have to do with him? Vilkas wasn't...

Oh... wait...

...Oh...

Vilkas stopped in his tracks in front of Jorrvaskr and clapped a hand to his forehead.

That was why Ria was still trying so diligently to master the larger blades... because it meant working with him...?

By Ysmir, he was an idiot...

Was she even still having trouble with it, or was it all just an excuse to make him step in close to correct her form again?

But before Vilkas could give that question much more thought something else caught his attention...

Inga stepped around the opposite side of the building.

She froze in place when she saw him and Vilkas's heart lurched... had she just heard that conversation too? Was she going to be angry with Farkas?

Then he realized she was trembling...

She quickly stuffed something she'd been holding into her pocket... Vilkas just barely caught a glimpse of a particularly recognizable ornate pendant with a blue gem in the center...

His heart dropped... she wasn't angry, he realized... she was hurt...

His own heart broke as that realization sank in...

She had an amulet of Mara... for Farkas.

His fears from that morning had been partly true, she was interested in his brother, not him. And Farkas, the idiot, had just unknowingly broken her heart...

"Harbinger?" Vilkas began uncertainly...

...but her only response was a shake of her head and Vilkas's heart fell further.

"Would it help if I said my brother's an idiot?" He tried again... his voice sounded pitiful and pleading, even to him.

She let out a shaky breath at that, "not now, Vilkas," she said quietly. "I... I need to go... to go kill something... I'll..."

"I've heard talk of a dragon that needs to be put down," Vilkas cut in quickly... hopefully...

She paused and wordlessly turned her masked face back towards him, so he continued...

"The guards said it killed twelve of the Imperial Legion and shattered their bones with its breath..."

"Probably a blood dragon at least..." she said quietly. She sounded abnormally subdued. Vilkas had expected such a suggestion to have her eagerly asking where to find the beast, but now she hardly sounded like she cared.

An actual pain began to settle in his chest at that realization.

"Well," Vilkas said, trying to maintain some semblance of hope in his own breaking heart, "I think you and I are worth about a dozen soldiers each. What do you say we go send that beast back where it came from?"

She looked up at the pair of full moons rising in the sky before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Alright," she nodded at last, "where are we going, and how soon can you be ready to leave?"

"I'm ready now," Vilkas replied with a slight shrug. "It was last seen near Rorikstead... Farengar thinks it's probably living in those mountains just beyond the boarder to the Reach," he added.

He was so relieved she'd agreed it almost made him dizzy.

She nodded again and took another deep breath, seemingly composing herself a little more. "Good," she said grumpily, "hopefully we'll run into some wolves or something on the planes that needs killing too."

"At this hour," Vilkas smirked in spite of himself, "I'd wager we will."