Disclaimer: Skyrim and all its canon content are the property of Bethesda Game Studios. No infringement is intended.

Reksadonviing and any unrecognizable names are characters of my own devising.

Notes: Fav/alert thanks to DevineWhisper16, RegalMisfortune, russub19, and Sevvyn.

"Christmas in July" - takes on a whole different meaning when one is a cashier at Walmart.

Anywho, enjoy what I managed to write during those seven days in a row of work.

Unlike the iron dagger of before, the elven dagger came loose not long after being thrust into her neck. Granted, Ria had some trouble being persuaded to work the blade free without causing further pain to her patient. She seemed reluctant to employ the barbaric fix. After watching her make a few hesitant tries, Farkas sighed, stepped in and gently pushed the imperial aside.

Reksadonviing flinched and bit back a curse as the dagger came free.

Farkas turned the blood-soaked blade over in his hand before raising an eyebrow at her. "This isn't gonna become a routine thing with you, is it?"

The grayscaled glanced down as Ria held a wad of wrapped padding to the wound, pressing gently. "Hopefully not, zeymah. Nox- thank you."

All told, Reksadonviing and Njada had not done much talking. After a brief dip in the pool to cleanse herself, the dovah had stood by, watching the nord rummage around for supplies for much of midday. It was only later in the afternoon, when the rest of the rescue party crossed the river below and climbed the steps, that Njada demanded information from more familiar faces.

After her savage display, Reksadonviing wasn't sure she could blame her. With her keen ears, the dovah overheard all of what hadn't been said to her face.

Which, in hindsight, was nothing she hadn't heard already.

"You're kidding, right? This dragon, an honorary Companion?" Njada had Vilkas by the shoulders, staring at him with abject disbelief. "Tell me you're kidding."

His tone remained as level as ever. "On the contrary, it was me who called the idea into play. Foolishly so."

Eyes lighting with realization, Njada stepped around him to stalk toward Ria. Her proximity to the dovah hadn't been lost on the scarfaced woman. "But you, whelp, it was you who thought this was a good idea?" She didn't get close. Just as abruptly, Vilkas reached out to grab her arm, which she yanked away with a growl. "What?"

"Drop the theatrics, Stonearm. You have more to answer for than her at this point. What happened?"

Her defiant glare held up for all of three seconds when pitted against such a cold, unforgiving stare. "Forsworn ambush. What more do you need to know?"

"You were here this whole time?"

"I couldn't say. After that skirmish, I was knocked out. They kept me blindfolded for a long time afterward, had me march some distances. Could've walked me all over the Reach for all I know."

"Like they didn't know what to do with you?" Farkas toed one of the charred bodies that still littered the ground. "Typical Forsworn."

"They put up some resistance, regardless," Reksadonviing commented. "Mey. As though they intended to hold onto their hostage."

"It was less a battle and more a slaughter," Njada groused, hands propped on her hips.

Vilkas glanced dubiously at the half-dismantled tent that still stood facing the pool beneath Bard's Leap Summit. It and the campfire they now gathered around were the only signs of Forsworn encampment still left standing. What grass managed to grow in the shallow soil around was now colore with a mixture of burnt black and blood. "Was it? How much did you see?"

"Enough to make me think you've all taken leave of your senses, letting this animal think herself part of our order."

Eyes narrowing, Reksadonviing felt a ripple of anger and indignation. The lack of gratitude, she could stomach, and the argument contradicting her involvement with Jorrvaskr's warriors was to be expected. But hearing the words still managed to tic all the unpleasant Dov impulses she now fought to keep supressed.

The lingering taste of copper in her mouth didn't help.

"Nothing is final, Njada," Ria spoke up. "She hasn't had her Trial."

"Nor should it," the more-seasoned warrior spat. "The idea is laughable, and a disgrace. How many of our ancestors once suffered at the whims of creatures like this?"

"None who didn't rise to battle them during the Keinsejooree," Reksadonviing intoned, levelly but through tight fangs. "If present company is any indication."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, dragon."

"You'd rather I hold to my kind's ways, then kahmaariik? Behave as a simple animal?" The grayscaled's quills flared. Ria, still standing beside her patient's neck, flinched and sidestepped to avoid being scratched. "You wouldn't last beyond the second blow."

"Enough of that, whelp."

Reksadonviing let the building snarl on her lips drop, quills folding back along her cheeks. Vilkas' simple command was a welcome rebuke to heed. Whether he intended it as such, none could say.

Njada didn't seem impressed. The scornful look did not vanish, and her nose remained thrust into the air. "Semi-trained at best," she quipped. "Kodlak agrees with this arrangement?"

"It was collectively discussed while you were busy being overpowered, or waiting for rescue. Would you rather have had been left to save yourself?"

"They kept a guard posted to watch for any attempts. All I needed was a distraction to free myself."

"Hi los valokein."

Ria's hand found the dovah's scratch-littered muzzle. Said dovah glanced sideways to see the imperial's chiding expression. "Reksa, please."

Njada made a rolling motion with her eyes, a gesture many exasperated mortals seemed to favor. "It has a name, too?"

"It's been a trying day for all of us," Vilkas surmised, continuing to remain neutral. "Shall we return to Whiterun? There will be plenty of time to talk of this later."

"Is the dragon to be our mule?"

"Should we not make camp elsewhere, then, get underway tomorrow morning?" Ria suggested. She looked uneasily to Farkas, who continued to wander about the plateau, inspecting the rendered bodies for loot. "Just because one band of Forsworn are gone doesn't mean more won't turn up here."

"A sound point." Vilkas glanced at the columns of stone above their heads. The ever-present roar of the waterfall could easily mask the approach of an ambush, even in broad daylight. "If any fled this assault, it would be to notify reinforcements."

"Camp if you will, jooree. I would accompany you back."

"On foot?" Njada snorted with a repressed laugh. "This gets better and better."

Reksadonviing flicked her tailtip, but said nothing.

"We'll need some more provisions, with another mouth around," Farkas remarked, without deference as to which 'mouth' he was speaking of. Skeptically, he regarded the blackened remains of the cooking meal which had been left on the campfire's roasting spit. "Who knows what's safe to take from here?"

Sensing the turn in conversation was final, Njada shrugged and strode back to the table beside the tent, where her confiscated weapons and armor still lay. "Let me do it, then. Killing something sounds good right about now."

No doubt. Still sitting on her haunches, Reksadonviing kept her mouth shut. Her thirst for conflict was sated, alliviating the need to channel the same violent impulses unto a verbal argument. Njada's personality was the most challenging one she had beheld in some weeks, and put Athis' biased doubts to shame. Vaguely, the grayscaled wondered if the woman's reception to her rescue would have been the same for the twins and Ria, were a dovah not part of the equation.

She rested idly while the others busied themselves around the camp, talking amongst themselves and examining supplies.

Ria, as always, stood close by. The dovah's new dagger wound had ceased to bleed. So the imperial mutely turned her attention to brushing the smears of red off of her friend's plate-sized scales.

Reksadonviing listened to the rasp of cloth for as long as she could stand it, while her green eyes watched the rest of their group move through the decimated camp, scavenging. Finally, the need to ask a new question became too much.

For Ria.

"Remind you of anyone?"

Taken aback, Reksadonviing closed her mouth with an audible click, glancing back over her ridged cheek. "Krosis?"

"Njada. If I didn't know better, she's not unlike your Keinlassrahgot."

"...True. If she's capable of making the same turn of acceptance, I suppose we'll get along fine."

"Take heed, I don't think she'll come around to that idea overnight," Ria warned. "There's no proof, but somehow I think she's more touchy on the subject of dragons than any of us."

How? Reksadonviingfrowned, deftly thinking of a more elaborate query. "Why not tell me this sooner?"

"It wouldn't have mattered. I thought you ought to see for yourself. Earning her confidence will probably be one of your biggest challenges."

"Lokaalus." The dovah's quills fluttered. While a part of her welcomed the thought, reasoning told her it would not be as easy a battle to win as the Forsworn had posed. "What makes you say that?"

"Intuition, mostly. Njada's the headstrong type, always about proving herself. While the Companions aren't in the business of dragonslaying yet, were the day to arrive - "

"That's enough." Reksadonviing drew back, carefully stepping around and away from Ria. She had heard what she needed to know. The implications were clear enough. Even if Athis had been knocked down to second-most-suspicious, nothing about the dark elf said he intended to follow through on his animosity. Njada's attitude posed more of a threat, that besides argue against the dovah to her fellows, she would literally fight the idea at the first opportunity.

For those Companions who sought fame, what greater glory was there than to slay a dovah?

She's no Dovahkiin. Still, thank Akatosh there is only one of her.

Author's Notes: Another short chapter - because I'm still not positive if the next chapter will be present or past tense. I may have a vague inkling as to where to take the rest of this story.

Ingame, like the other junior Companions, Njada doesn't give you much to draw from besides her hostile attitude toward the Dovahkiin. I'm doing my best with how she might handle the thought of a dragon comrade, or not.

But no promises I won't mess up along the way. Story needs some animosity. So Njada can provide that for now.

Dov terms/phrases:
hi los valokein - you're welcome
jooree - mortals
Keinsejooree - War of the Mortals / Dragon War (kudos to Pocok5 for the correction)
kahmaariik - braggart
krosis - sorry (one of my favorite Dov words, I admit :P)
lokaalus - lovely
mey - fools
zeymah - brother