Dark Waters

-vitrin’s pov-

Niruin, Cynric, and I left the Embassy not moments after Ondolemar and the Sigrid girl. We were all silent as we moved away from the Embassy, through the woods and back towards Riften. I wanted to go off on my own, go hunt down the rest of the Thalmor, and then move onto the Stormcloaks, but I felt it was right to go home with Niruin and Cynric. I knew they were both worried about me.

By midnight, I was exhausted. I couldn’t walk anymore and neither could Niruin and Cynric. We found shelter under an overhang below a road, and hunkered down for the night.

“Are you ever going to tell me what the note read that Ondolemar slipped into your pocket?” I asked Niruin as we sat under the overhang, waiting for Cynric to return with just enough brush to make a small fire.

“You caught that.” Niruin stated and I nodded, looking over at him. “It told me to watch you.” I didn’t say another word as I looked forward again, out into the night, through the trees. Expecting Cynric to return soon. “I’m not going to lie, V. This…this side of you that has come out in recent times… It frightens me.”

“Why?”

“I worry these are your true colors.” He paused, and I just kept staring into the dark night, ignoring the cracks in my heart slowing splintering out. “I worry the little girl I saved and protected all these years has died. I worry you’re in something much more dangerous than you’re letting on.” I finally brought myself to look over at him again.

“I’m being hunted down by people who are dangerous, Niruin.”

“Tell me who.” He begged, turning towards me, just a mere shadow moving against the dark ground. I wouldn’t have seen him at all if I had not of adjusted to the night myself. Knives threated to tear at my heart and I didn’t know what to tell him.

“Everyone.” I whispered soon enough, and he let his head fall back against the dirt behind him, his hood falling back slightly. “The Stormcloaks and the Thalmor, and by now I’m sure the Imperials want a sliver of my soul as well.”

“How did you get all of them on your trail-” Crunch.

“Shh.” I silenced him, and he stopped talking immediately, his eyes frozen in the dark, listening. I let my hand slip around to my dagger, but relief was soon found as Cynric dropped down from above, right between the two of us, and his hands automatically went to our mouths. Something was wrong. He took his hands away slowly, and I heard footsteps above us.

“The footsteps ended back there, we should return!” A harsh whisper met my ears, and I could tell who it was just by the tone. Thalmor.

“No, they must be this way!” The whispers continued, and anger rose from within me, and I went to jump up, but Cynric pushed me back, quickly and quietly, shaking his head. “Wait, did you hear that?” The same voice continued.

“It came from that way, go!” The other voice took over then, and the two ran over and jumped down right in front of the three of us, and started running, and I pulled at Cynric, trying to get him off. I could get two more, right here. I could wipe two more of those rodents off the face of the planet, but Cynric fought against me hard, and soon the two Thalmor Guards had disappeared through the thick trees.

“Dammit V, you cannot go picking fights with every Thalmor you see now!” Cynric scolded, letting go of me finally.

“We can’t be careless, Vitrin, we cannot afford to!” Niruin seemed to have on the tip of his tongue what Cynric did not.

“They took my only brother away from me!” I yelled at the two of them. “They murdered him and he died right in front of me! I’ve had family taken away from me by those bastards, I had a whole life stolen from me because of them, and you can’t stop me from-”

“There they are!” My head snapped over as the Guard came running back at us, and I drew my sword and darted out at them. My blade caught one in the gut right out of the gate, and I shoved him off just as the other tackled me, and my sword flew from my hand. The Altmer turned me over, a grin on his face, but it was wiped off quickly as Niruin slammed a dagger into his shoulder. He cried out and I drew my own as I pushed him off of me, shoving him down into the snow as I slammed the blade down into his chest.

With one he kept struggling, but with enough blows to take down a Mammoth, his heart had long since stopped, and when I stopped, all I was stabbing was the ground. There was nothing but a giant hole where his chest used to be. Ribs crushed into pieces, blood seeping everywhere… I left my dagger in the ground, my breathing going choppy as I sat back on his legs, staring at the mess I’d created. I could feel Niruin and Cynric behind me, staring.

“What’s happening to me?” I whispered to the air, and got off the Thalmor guard, taking a step back, my head swimming, almost making me feel dizzy. I was changing. I wasn’t sure if it was for the better or the worse, but Niruin was right. I wasn’t that little girl he saved and protected all those years.

That little girl was dead.

Cynric didn’t want to stay where we were any longer. He said he had brushed over the footprints leading to where we had been, but he worried more night follow the footsteps of the two guards. Niruin was quiet. He walked seven feet ahead of us, quiet as stone, staring straight ahead, just walking. Like it was the only thing he knew how to do. He didn’t respond when we talked to him, he just walked.

He was afraid.

“Are you afraid of me?” I asked Cynric, since we were well out of earshot of the seemingly mechanic Niruin.

“Yes.” Cynric answered me truthfully and I nodded, understanding.

“As am I.”

“I also fear what we had is gone, and I suspect I’m right.” Leaves crunched under our feet.

“Cynric, what we had wasn’t real. What we had wasn’t-” I’d dreaded the moment he brought us up like this.

“It was real enough to me.” I sighed at his words, the cold air burning my nose and lungs.

“I know, and I’m sorry I cut it off like I did.” The long needed apology I’d kept in for too long. “I didn’t mean you any harm.”

“All is forgiven.” The understanding tone in his voice made a deep sorrow wash over my bones. He didn’t understand like he should, but maybe that was for the better. “Time rots everything, I suppose.”

“Except for us.” I gently took his hand and a corner of his mouth pulled up in a smile as he brought it up to his lips and kissed my skin softly.

“I still have hope. For us.” The smile grew warm as he let go of my hand, and I felt a twinge of that hope. A hope that after all of this, I had something waiting for me. I had someone waiting for me when I got home, other than Niruin. All because of Cynric.

Just this boy I used to like. This boy I used to spend quite a good bit of time with after I finally joined the Guild. This boy that I left, but not because I wanted to, but because I felt I didn’t have a choice as anger drove me. This boy now a man, all grown up beside me. This man who has seen me kill, who has admitted he’s fearful of me. This man still has hope, not just for me, but for us, and for the time being, that’s what will keep me going.

We walked all night, and all of another day, but we arrived back at our home in Riften, slipping in under the cover of darkness. But what we found…it shattered us.

“Brynjolf, what happened?!” Niruin said the first words I’d heard in what felt like weeks as he rushed up to Brynjolf, carrying a body to a pile.

“I’ve got it.” Rune lifted the body on over onto his shoulders. It was the body of a Stormcloak.

“Goddamn Stormcloaks. They came in through the Ratway, snuck up on us and-”

“Did we lose anyone?” Cynric asked quickly, stepping forth as Brynjolf stopped in front of us. His silence scared me.

“Who?” I asked quietly, and Brynjolf took a shaky breath, looking down.

“V, they snuck up on us, we tried as hard as we could to get in there once we heard them- Vex tried to save him, she did-”

“Oh god, no.” I shook my head, pursing my lips, not accepting it. I wouldn’t.

“We lost Thrynn, the new kid, Garthar, and-”

“Don’t you dare say it!” I screamed at him, and Cynric was already sitting down on a bed, his hands over his face. “Don’t you dare!” I screamed, and Niruin turned, quickly wrapping his arms around me.

“We lost Vekel.” Brynjolf’s words met one ear, and sobs met the other, though they weren’t from me just yet, they were from Niruin. He cried harder into my shoulder, his fingers digging into the leather of my armor.

“No…no…” Niruin’s sobs broke the silence again, and I tried to grit my teeth and ignore the knives threatening my heart once more, but they hurt so badly…

“Niruin, I have to go.” I managed out, afraid to say anymore of what would happen to my feelings I held in.

“No, please, stay here, we can protect you.” Niruin begged, his voice cracking. I knew he was desperate. He couldn’t lose anyone else.

“They’re after you?” Brynjolf said and I nodded solemnly. “You’re staying here, you can’t go, they’ll find you!” He argued and I shook my head, pulling Niruin off me.

“Did any get away?” I asked Brynjolf and he nodded.

“It was a small army. A quarter ran after the fight begun.”

“I’ll go see if I can catch them on the road, I’ll be back soon.” I turned quickly, ignoring the pleas from Niruin, but as I climbed the ladder and got outside, my hand was grabbed.

“V, just stop!” Cynric’s teary voice hit me. “We’ve just lost friends, you can’t just run off!”

“The hell I can!” I argued quickly as I turned towards him, but I felt my tone soften as I caught sight of his teary eyes. “I have to do this, Cyn. I have to. They’ve taken too much from me to live now. I have to go do this.” I told him and he took a shaky breath as he thought it over quickly.

“Make it back in one piece, will you?” He asked, stepping closer to me and I nodded.

“I’ll get back in a few days, okay? In one piece.” I nodded, and smiled slightly as I leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips, something I hadn’t done in years, but before I could pull away, his body tensed, and I pulled away from him and looked down at the blade sticking through his abdomen.

“No!” I screamed, and the blade was pulled out quickly as his body fell, and I drew my sword quickly, taking a swing, and severing his head in the swift motion. I heard sound behind me and just as I turned a blade was thrust into my side, and I took a deep breath at the pain, my sword falling from my hand. I gritted my teeth at the smirk on the Stormcloaks’ face, and the anger drove me as I grabbed his hands, pulling myself along the blade up to him, and then quickly wrapped my hands around his throat, as tightly as I could, watching with a pained smile as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He fell lifeless, and I grabbed the handle of the sword, pulling it from me with a whimper, and I turned, falling to my knees as soon as I did and pulling myself the half foot up to Cynric’s face, his hands shaking at the center of his stomach, his eyes going to me as I felt the tears coming on then, and I placed one of my hands over his, the other over the wound in my side.

“It-it’s-okay. It’s-o-okay.” He managed out, his words shaking and cracking with every breath he tried to take.

“No it’s not. No it’s not.” I whispered, shaking my head with a sob.

“There’s-hope.” He said, and just as he did I heard footsteps coming from the Cistern.

“No, there’s not, there’s-”

“What happened?” Brynjolf and Niruin were on their knees next to the both of us, and I could feel my head getting too light.

“Stormcloaks.” I whispered, my breathing getting too choppy to talk right. Brynjolf was looking Cyn over, but I knew there wasn’t much hope. It had hit too many major organs for there to be hope. He had been stabbed right down the middle.

“There’s too much blood, he’s ripped too badly, I can’t-”

“Help him!”

“I can’t!” Brynjolf replied, tears in his eyes now as well.

“Hey-hey look- look at me.” One of Cynric’s hands came up to my face, and I took a hand and held it there, looking at him as I did so. “Time-time will never- rot the hope- I-I still have- for-for us.” He smiled slightly, but I could tell he was losing the struggle he was fighting too hard now, and I couldn’t muster a reply before that smile faded, and his hand fell from my face, and I gritted my teeth hard to try to keep the pain from taking over, but I couldn’t keep it at bay for long.

“You’re bleeding.” Niruin’s words were quiet. He’d spotted my injuries despite the dark of night that surrounded us. “Oh god. Brynjolf,” I fell back, breaths scarce as Niruin quickly came over to me, and Brynjolf rushed over as well, now turning their attention to me.

“Let me see,” Brynjolf took my hand from my side, lifting it up, and I could feel his fingers pulling at the edges of my leather armor, that didn’t hold very well against the sharp blade that was forced through. “Okay, okay, it’s not that bad, but we have to move her now before she loses anymore blood. I can get Sapphire to help me sew her up.” His words were watery as I fought with my eyelids, but I was too weak for the battle.

“V, don’t close your eyes. V!” Niruin’s cries faded out of my hearing, and in my moment before I fell unconscious I could feel the hope that Cynric had once given me fading from my very soul.
______

I’ve always heard that time heals all wounds, but that wasn’t true. Time doesn’t heal anything.

Time steals.

Time’s just another thief.

Time takes what it wants and leaves it’s victims for dead.

It rots through body and soul. It kills everything.

Time was just like me. If you dare cross it, it would take you by storm. But even if you dealt with it and walked alongside it, it’s still the death that waits at the end of every tunnel.

As I woke up, with Niruin sitting on the bed opposite of mine, I stared at the ceiling, only one thing going through my mind.

“He didn’t make it, did he?” I whispered, and Niruin was quick to hover over me.

“You’re okay, that’s all that matters.” I could tell it took a great deal for him to say this. He knew it was a lie though. I haven’t been okay, and I won’t be anymore.

“He didn’t make it, did he?” I questioned once more, and Niruin closed his eyes, shaking his head before opening them.

“It pains me a great deal.” He whispered, and I took his hand, falling silent. He sat down on the edge of the bed as I stared at the ceiling. I could still feel the blade in me. Cold and hard, taking a part of me I’d never get back. Scarring me with a memory I couldn’t wipe away. I felt this was something that would hold me hostage on my loneliest nights.

As I laid there, ignoring Sapphire’s words as she came around, I could still hear Cynric’s words in my head.

Time will never rot the hope I still have for us.

I wish I could still talk to him. I wish I still had time to tell him things. I wish I still had the time of day to go back to when I was sixteen, and lie in bed with him holding me tightly to his chest. I wish I could still feel that hope he gave me. But hope…it wasn’t something I had the luxury of keeping.

Time rots everything.

Even hope.