Up to now, I have kept pretty much on canon as far as the main quest line goes, but for those familiar with Skyrim, I have altered the things slightly just so the story doesn't get too large, or boring.
Lyara snuggled as close as she could get to Farkas that night. His arm around her was a great comfort, but she just couldn't relax or get warm. They had no bedroll, only their cloaks, and the cold of the hard stone floor seeped into her very bones. Exhaustion must have eventually over taken her, as she finally drifted off to sleep. When she woke a few hours later, she was stiff and cramped but eager to get on the road.
The weather was unseasonably mild, for which Lyara was very grateful. There was a chill in the air, but the sun shone brightly, glinting off their armour. Lyara and Farkas passed the time telling each other more about their pasts. Despite her bad mood, he managed to make her laugh a few times, especially when he told about a fight he once had with Vilkas when they were children over a girl, and he had broke his brother's nose. He and his brother grown up in an orphanage, but had always longed to be warriors. Their father had been a city guard in Whiterun, and had died in a skirmish during a Forsworn ambush while out on patrol. Their mother had died while they were quite young from some illness Farkas had been too young to know what it was called. Kodlak had been a friend to their father, and regularly visited them in the orphanage. As soon as they turned sixteen, he took them and brought them to Jorrvaskr, where he had lived ever since.
Lyara shared some more about her time in Valenwood, and why she had finally chosen to leave. Following an attempt by her Grandparents to force her into an arranged marriage, Lyara left home at 15. Estranged from her family, and almost an outcast amongst her people, she headed north in search of her father. When she finally made it to the Nord populated town of Bruma, she asked around hoping for information, but she had limited knowledge of the man who fathered her, and was unsuccessful. She teamed up with a band of mercenaries from the Fighters Guild, after she had bested one of their men in a brawl. They taught her how to fight with a bow and steel, and how to survive in some of the more unsavoury parts of the world. They were not everyone's idea of a family, but they all looked out for each other, and it was the closest thing she had known.
"Until now that is," she added. "You, and the Companions are my family now." She beamed at him.
Farkas could not help but return the smile. It was not often he saw her smile like that, which was a shame, because it lit up her whole face. Her eyes sparkled, and some of the worry lifted from her brow. The stories brought them even closer together, and Farkas felt that he was finally seeing what drove this unusual woman into the life she now led.
Once in Whiterun, they slept in their new home rather than head back to Jorrvaskr, and headed straight back out the next morning. She slept much better that night than she had done the previous night. The bed was comfortable, and with Farkas's arm around her, she felt warm and safe.
Fresh horses and temperate weather allowed them to skirt around the bottom of The Throat of the World without too much delay, and they reached Ivarstead just before midnight. Wilhelm, the owner of the Vilemyr Inn, greeted them like old friends. He showed them to a room and promised to send up some food shortly.
Lyara was so exhausted, she just wanted to sleep, but Farkas made her wait up and eat. In the morning, Farkas woke just after dawn, and saw that Lyara was still sound asleep. They had to go up the '7000 Steps' but it would only take about an hour to get up the path, so he could see no reason why she should not sleep for a little while longer. He lay awake, with her head on his chest, happy to just listen to her breathing.
When she did wake, she quickly got ready, eager to get this over with. Arriving downstairs in the main bar area, Wilhelm offered them both some breakfast of ham and eggs. It was all freshly prepared, and the smell made Farkas's tummy growl. Lyara was going to decline, but when she heard his stomach rumble, and saw the plaintive expression on his face, she agreed. Farkas smiled a grateful smile, before tucking into his food so fast it was as if he had never eaten. Lyara ate hers, but not with quite the same gusto.
Farkas constantly worried she didn't look after herself properly, and thinking she was just picking at her food, he told her that they were not leaving until she had eaten it all as she needed to keep her strength up. She scowled at him in jest, and said that he was just trying to make her fat.
When they arrived at High Hrothgar, the silent monks inside nodded in greeting as they moved through the main hall. Eventually, Arngier, the leader of the Greybeards, appeared and asked her why she was here.
She told him that the Blades had shown her Alduin's Wall, and that it had revealed the secret to defeating Alduin was in the shout known as Dragonrend.
Arngier was immediately hostile at the mention of the Blades, and Dragonrend.
"That is just typical of those blood thirsty Blades. Dragonrend was a shout created from hate, and I refuse to teach this to you."
Lyara pleaded with him, but he stubbornly refused to listen. Suddenly, a disembodied voice boomed around the cold walls of High Hrothgar. Lyara could not understand the language, but instinctively, she understood that it was dragon tongue.
With a resigned sigh, Arngier told her that Paarthurnax, the true leader of the Greybeards, demanded to see her. Arngier led her out of the back to the courtyard area.
The wind was blowing cold and fierce, and Arngier had to shout to make himself heard. He pointed to a small archway at the back of the courtyard, which led to a path that took them to the very top of The Throat of the World. It was here that she would meet with Paarthurnax. Wrapping their cloaks tightly around them, Lyara and Farkas made their way through the arch.
Farkas was not happy. He didn't particularly enjoy heights, and the path was extremely narrow. Slowly and carefully, they made their way up higher and higher. The wind whipped up the snow about them, until they could barely see where they were going. Finally at the top, they seemed to leave the wind behind and the air became still and calm. Lyara looked around trying to spot a dwelling of some kind that the leader of the Greybeards could be hiding in.
"Get ready for a fight!" Farkas yelled.
Lyara immediately had her bow in her hand, and an arrow nocked, then looked in the direction of Farkas's gaze. At the pinnacle of the mountain, upon a large stone outcrop, was a dragon. It was covered in pale grey scales, and was much larger than the one she had fought in Whiterun. It stared at her with its large red reptilian eyes before jumping down and landing several feet away from them.
"Drem Yor Lok. Greetings, I am Paarthurnax."
