Between Worlds

by Romantic_Khajiit

Summary:

Eagle-Eyes Part 2

Chapter 1: “There’s Madness In Every World”

Notes:

It’s been a little while…

It was dark— nearly pitch black as Vilkas sprinted through the forest. He'd long since lost track of where he was but he kept running anyway. It felt like the clouds above and trees behind him would close in and swallow him if he stopped.

The cold air stung and random tree branches slapped at him as he ran past. He had to get home... home to his family... to Katie... to their children... they needed him... he had to hurry...

That gnawing, nagging feeling kept him running in spite of how tired he was. His legs burned, his lungs ached, and still he ran...

But he realized something was horribly wrong... these woods smelled different... and he couldn't smell his family in the distance anymore...

He stopped suddenly, trying to turn back, trying to catch Katie's scent on the air again, but he was suddenly met with the startling sight of Masser and Secunda rising over the mountain peaks instead of the single, more distant moon he'd grown accustomed to...

Vilkas felt his blood run colder with dread... even the wedding band on his finger began to feel cold... like the enchantment had gone out of it...

He turned quickly back to the dark trail in front of him— maybe if he just kept going...

But he stopped suddenly as another person suddenly appeared in his path... for just a moment, his own face, a few days unshaven with tired steel-blue eyes, stared seriously back at him.

Farkas, Vilkas realized with a gut-wrenching pang of emotions... he'd missed his brother so terribly, but he couldn't come back to Skyrim without his new family... he had to get back to them somehow...

"There's madness in every world," Farkas said in a blunt tone, snapping Vilkas from his thoughts, "he'll take y' back if y' ask 'im right."

Vilkas cocked his head in confusion... "what?"

But Farkas just smirked at that and replied, "try cheese."

Then very suddenly, Vilkas felt like the ground dropped out from underneath his feet and he seemed to fall straight out of the world again.

He didn't land hard like he did when he was actually teleported from Skyrim to the world Katie had come from, but it did feel like he fell back into bed just as something cold and wet pressed to the side of his face.

Vilkas sat up with a start, looking frantically around before breathing a heavy sigh of relief. He was still exactly where he was supposed to be— in his bed beside his wife, in the cozy little log cabin he'd helped her build up the mountain trail, near her favorite overlook. And their dog had come over to the bed, nosing at him in concern.

It was just a dream.

They had no children yet —only the one, large, sweet dog— but children seemed to be a recurring matter in Vilkas's dreams lately.

The sky out their window was an inky black, smattered with bright stars that just barely lit the room well enough for him to see the mostly black dog looking up at him with her pale eyes.

"It's alright girl," Vilkas said quietly rubbing the dog's head. He thought he'd just get himself a drink of water and get back to bed, but Katie stirred as he began to get up.

"What's wrong?" She grumbled blearily as she blinked up at him and then looked from Vilkas to the dog in confusion.

"Nothing," Vilkas shook his head, "just a dream... and apparently Sky got up to check on me. Sorry we woke you, love."

"It's ok," Katie sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. "Did you wanna talk about it?"

"Aye, but not now, you should rest," Vilkas replied with another shake of his head before he leaned in to kiss her on the forehead.

"What... time is it?" She asked with a yawn.

Vilkas looked back out the window. "Looks like there's still—"

"Oh shit," Katie swore suddenly and lunged out of bed, startling the poor dog as she dashed for door clamping her hand over her mouth.

Vilkas followed in concerned alarm as she ran to the kitchen and promptly threw up in the sink. Vilkas hurried to hold her hair back as she heaved.

Actually it was mostly dry-heaving because that early in the morning there was very little left in her stomach for her to actually throw up. She continued for a concerning while though. Even Sky seemed to be watching anxiously.

"Ok," she groaned finally, leaning against the sink to catch her breath once she was done, "I think you were right."

Vilkas paused and raised his eyebrow at her. "About what?" He asked as he handed her a washcloth, "that you shouldn't have eaten the pizza David left out yesterday or...?" He trailed off hopefully as he went to the cabinet to get her a glass for water.

He'd noticed a few weeks ago that her scent had changed, and they'd already discussed what he hoped that meant…

They'd been actively trying to get pregnant for at least a year now, but the stress of trying to settle back into a world that was so much more complicated than Skyrim taken a toll on Katie. Her body had been cycling irregularly for the last two years. So while she'd also hoped he was right, she hadn't wanted to get excited yet...

Katie wiped her face and then looked back at him with a tiredly raised eyebrow, but she couldn't keep the soft smile from her face. "Both," she replied flatly.

Vilkas's heart jumped and he couldn't help but grin.

"Don't get excited yet," she added quickly, "I'll drive down to the store and buy more pregnancy tests in the morning."

"Alright," Vilkas nodded, still grinning. "You should get back in bed till then though," he said gently, "that's only a few more hours from now."

The kitchen window faced eastward and Vilkas could see the eastern sky was much lighter than the western sky.

Katie just nodded as she filled her glass and drank it. Then she pet the dog reassuringly as well before she went to the bathroom and then headed back to bed. Once Katie was out Vilkas went to the toilet to relieve himself as well since he was up.

Indoor plumbing was something Vilkas had certainly gotten used to. Their cabin was rather remote, a couple miles' hike from Katie's parents' lodge, but they had a well and a septic system set up, as well as a few solar panels to provide the electricity. Vilkas still hadn't really gotten used to the electricity and he rarely actually bothered turning the lights on, but he did have to admit the existence of their small refrigerator and freezer was useful.

 

Back in their bedroom, Katie looked like she was already asleep, but Sky was standing by the bed waiting for him. Vilkas pet the dog once more before he got back into bed beside Katie, and Sky trotted back to the foot of the bed and flopped into her large dog bed on the floor. Vilkas put an arm around Katie and kissed the back of her neck as he settled into bed. Katie hummed contently and shifted closer to him. Normally this made Vilkas comfortable and sleep found him easily ever since he'd been cut off from Hircine's call, but now, Vilkas's mind just wouldn't settle.

The idea that Katie could finally be pregnant had him excited of course, but it was actually his dream that was troubling him... was it just a dream? Or did Farkas's words actually mean something? Was there actually a way they could go back? And if there was, was he willing to leave the life they'd built here?

Chapter 2: Since Arriving

It had been almost three years since they had first arrived back in Katie's world. Settling in had taken much longer than Vilkas had anticipated. He realized now why Katie had been so worried about needing time and he'd gotten much less impatient about things.

Everything was more complicated than it was in Skyrim— even simply earning money was complicated. And money seemed to be a necessity for every aspect of life here, more so than it ever was in Skyrim. It was complicated, but they had finally settled into something of a normal routine about a year ago.

They'd gotten legally married by her country's standards— a concept Vilkas and Katie both thought was absurd, but it apparently made things with money easier. The thing that had actually meant something to Katie was when they had their marriage blessed by her church and then let her family hold a wedding reception for them.

Getting Vilkas actually registered as a citizen of the country had taken some creative lies that Vilkas hadn't been that comfortable with or really understood the purpose of, but it had worked, so he didn't complain.

They'd been worried with the rumors and such about people being lost in video games that names like Vilkas and Greymane would draw too much unwanted attention, so Vilkas agreed he'd need to come up with something at least slightly different.

Greymane was easy. Vilkas and Katie agreed to simply shorten it to Grey. Mandy had tried to talk them into going with a more interesting last name, but Vilkas hadn't seen the point. He had spent most of his life not going by his legal last name in Skyrim, and even avoiding being known by it— he didn't expect that to change now. Besides that, Katie pointed out, they were trying not to stand out. Vilkas thought Grey suited them just fine— he still called Katie 'Eagle-eyes' about half the time anyway.

His first name was more difficult. He and Katie sat down one evening with Katie's old computer and she gave him a list of names to read that would sound more normal in that world. Vilkas spent at least an hour reading up on name origins and meanings before picking one that didn't sound too off to him...

He chose Victor. He considered several different options, but ended up focusing on the V names because he couldn't see himself going by something so different. He'd almost gone with Vincent, they essentially meant the same thing, but he liked the origin of Victor a little better.

So legally now, at least by the US records, they were Victor and Katelyn Grey. Of course no one actually called them that— he was still Vilkas and Katie was still Katie.

It only actually mattered if they had to venture into the atrocity that Katie called civilization down the mountain.

Vilkas hated the large cities. Even going down the mountain to the small town down in the foothills made him uncomfortable, but that was more because he didn't like riding in the cars. He usually preferred to stay home with the dog when Katie needed to go into town, but he also didn't like her having to go alone either, so if Mandy couldn't go Vilkas ended up going anyway.

 

Life in general had settled back down at least a bit. The pandemic had passed and at least some degree of normalcy had returned... or so Vilkas was told, everything still seemed bizarre to him.

Katie's parents had moved back to their house in the city, but her Pawpaw had sold his house and moved permanently back out to the property, claiming this constituted his retirement. David and Mandy bought a house in the small town down the mountain where they could be a reasonable drive from the kids' school but still close enough to come out to the property every few days or so.

Katie had refused to go back to waiting tables and she and Mandy had actually gotten the idea to go into a bit of a business venture of their own— one that let Katie stay out in the mountains running a homestead while the rest of her family mostly returned to civilization.

It started as mostly Mandy's idea, but Katie was the primary expertise in the endeavor. They made videos about homesteading for posting online. Mandy had filmed Katie talking through and explaining the plans for most of the construction of their log cabin actually. Katie also liked to explain histories and traditions behind different styles or techniques for whatever it was she happened to be doing in each video.

Vilkas thought it was especially bizarre that such a project could actually make them money, but it seemed to be working, so he wasn't questioning it.
He did appear in several of the videos as well, usually in the background, with Katie fondly referring to him as "the husband," which Vilkas found endearing. He also noticed that working with her childhood best friend seemed to be good for Katie's mental health, so he was especially happy with that.

At first Vilkas had mostly focused his attention on actually maintaining the homestead, and periodically going hunting. They had a modest little garden that he helped Katie tend every day, and he hiked down the mountain to help Pawpaw tend the family chicken coop and milk the cow at least once a day as well. But his curiosity had eventually gotten the better of him and he had to see these apparent videos Katie and Mandy were making.

He'd mostly gotten used to the strange moving picture screens that were all around, but seeing himself on the screen, not simply looking back at him like he'd see in a mirror, but moving around and doing things was weird. The first few times he'd seen himself on video had actually made him horribly homesick because it felt like he was seeing Farkas. He actually avoided mentioning that fact to Katie because he knew it would make her feel terrible.

Once Vilkas got used to the idea of videos though, he did find theirs enjoyable. He still avoided being more than a background participant in them though. He made the mistake once last summer of taking his shirt off to chop up the firewood on a particularly warm day while Katie was filming... Katie told him that video had gotten their most views yet. He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

 

There was no magic in this world, but this bizarre concept of instantaneous communication with practically the whole world made Vilkas almost as uncomfortable as magic used to... almost. Practically speaking he knew there were many and obvious differences, but it was still unnatural.

He was slowly getting used to how unnatural this world seemed to be at times.

Katie's father and Pawpaw had found it wonderfully amusing to introduce him to guns. They'd been kind and understanding about making sure he had ear-protection, and at least tried to prepare him for how loud the shotgun would be, but it had still been highly alarming the first time he'd shot the thing. They were patient with him, and he had eventually got the hang of it, but Vilkas still preferred hunting with his bow. He did, however, like the added security of the handgun they'd given him for when he was out in woods since he didn't wear his armor much anymore.

Between the lack of dragons and bandits, and the added comfort of the gun and the dog as a near constant companion, Vilkas usually didn't feel like he needed to wear armor. He specifically put it on for a regular walks up the mountain, mostly just to make sure he would still be used to wearing it in case he ever legitimately needed to again.

 

 

Their dog, Sky, was a fine, loyal animal who was usually by his side as well. They'd gotten her as a puppy two years prior, mostly by happenstance.

Pawpaw's old dog Sammy had passed away— fortunately he had gone peacefully from old age, but it had still been difficult time for the whole family. Vilkas had been more emotional about it than he'd expected; Sammy had been a good dog who'd made Vilkas feel welcome and more comfortable as soon as he'd arrived.

A few weeks after they'd buried Sammy, Pawpaw went down to the animal shelter (another concept that Vilkas had been baffled to learn about) and picked out the largest, friendliest dog they had and named her Angel. She was almost as large as Sammy had been, but a little less fluffy, and mostly white with pointed ears and an over-all wolf-like appearance. The vets at the shelter had guessed her to be something large crossed with a malamute, but they'd entirely neglected to mention that she was pregnant.

So when Angel gave birth to her three puppies, every household had gotten one. Jacob and Elaina got first pick of the puppies. Jacob had picked the fluffy grey male puppy and excitedly named him Cumulonimbus... apparently the boy had been learning about weather conditions at school at the time. The dog ended up being called ‘Nim’ for short.

That left the two less fluffy female puppies. One of them looked almost just like their mother, Angel, so Katie's mother had suggested the name Seraphim— Sera for short. That had left Katie happily picking up Sky.

She was mostly black as a puppy with silver/grey flecks and bright, pale blue eyes. Vilkas didn't remember who had actually first made the comment that she looked like the night sky, but the name had stuck immediately.

She'd turned out to be a good dog. A little rambunctious, but Vilkas knew that was to be expected of a puppy. She was a smart animal with a good instinct for pack dynamics, and she had pretty quickly taken to Vilkas and seemed to recognize his authority— which had made training significantly easier than Katie had been expecting.

Now that she was a little over two, she was a little bigger than her mother and finally growing out of some of her puppy behaviors; Vilkas found he'd grown quite attached to the animal. She followed him for most everything he did around the property and dutifully guarded the house when he was away.

Honestly, if it weren't for the simple fact that he would have liked to be able to see his brother again, Vilkas would have said he was entirely content with the life they'd made… which made his most recent dream all the more troubling.

Chapter 3: Madness

Vilkas let Katie sleep in while he went down to the chicken coop with Sky not long after sunrise. When he got back to the house he fried up a few eggs along with some deer meat from the freezer, and when Katie got up for breakfast he told her all the details he could recall from his dream.

 

"Well," Katie mused thoughtfully as she finished her breakfast, "‘madness in every world’ seems like an obvious hint."

"Aye, that's what I was thinking," Vilkas agreed, "if it's not just a dream at least."

"I suppose it could be," she nodded, "but madness and ‘try cheese’ seems like a direct reference to Sheogorath to me at least."

"It does?" Vilkas asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably," Katie shrugged, "he's the daedric prince of madness, and I think I remember he likes cheese."

"I see," Vilkas nodded, his brow furrowing.

"You... didn't know that?" Katie asked in surprise.

"No, I tried not to get involved with other daedra," Vilkas shook his head, "Hircine was bad enough. I've heard of Sheogorath but that's all."

"Well that at least tells us it wasn't just a dream," Katie pointed out excitedly, "if there was information you didn't know, it has to have come from somewhere other than your own head."

"True," Vilkas agreed with another nod, feeling a sudden mix of excitement and concern, "the timing is terrible though. I'm much more worried about you and our child than I am getting back to Skyrim."

Katie sighed. "I guess I should get dressed and head into town for those pregnancy tests," she said with a tired frown. "But honestly that timing might be part of the key— it would be madness to try to go back now, after we're finally settled and while I'm pregnant of all things."

"Aye, madness I'm not sure I'm willing to entertain," Vilkas countered.

"But if we could go home—"

"Love, this is home," Vilkas interrupted calmly, gesturing around them at the cabin they'd built. "I miss my brother and the Companions, but I'm not willing to risk losing the life we've made here."

As he said it, Vilkas realized just how true it was, remembering the gut-wrenching fear from his dream when he thought he'd gone back to Skyrim without Katie.

Katie sighed sadly at that and just nodded again, frowning a little disagreeably.

"Not to mention how upset your family would be with me for taking you away again," Vilkas added worriedly.

Katie frowned more at that. "They would definitely get upset with the idea of me actually trying to go back," she agreed disappointedly. "I don't actually even know where my old VR is... I think David mentioned all of my stuff was in the storage section of the lodge though... but I mean, for all we know, just logging back into that game on the VR would take us back."

"You think your family even kept that thing?" Vilkas asked skeptically. He'd yet to even see the gaming device they'd all been talking about... it seemed to have been either put away or gotten rid of, and the one time Katie had specifically asked about it, her mother had very uncomfortably and dismissively mentioned that it was packed away with her other things and then quickly changed the subject.

"I have no idea," Katie shook her head. "I could at least look for it though... it might give us a place to start..."

Vilkas cocked an eyebrow at her. "Love, were you listening to the part where I said I'm not willing to risk the life we've made here?" He asked in mild exasperation, "especially not now of all times."

"But what if now is our only chance?" Katie countered worriedly, "I don't think I can handle not at least trying."

"We have everything we need here, we don't need t—"

"Vilkas," she interrupted softly, "I know you're homesick," she admitted sadly, "I can see it every time you look up at the stars before we go to bed. You try to hide it but I see how sad you look every time you see yourself in a mirror or on a video."

Vilkas blinked in mild surprise. He thought he'd been hiding it so much better than that...

"I'm generally happy here now too," she continued gently, "but I don't want to live with the ‘what if's’. We can at least try to look into it— I promised you when we first got here that I'd try and see if we could go back, and I'm yet to have a chance to make good on that."

Vilkas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I guess we can try to investigate then," he agreed. "But I want it known I'm not trying to take you away from your family again," he said seriously.

"I know you aren't," Katie smiled appreciatively, "as far as I'm concerned we don't have to tell them anything unless we find some promising means of going back and forth."

Vilkas nodded slowly. "I'm also not willing to risk the possibility of being separated from you," he added seriously, remembering the horrible moment right before they'd teleported from Skyrim... seeing his wife fade out of the world without him...

Katie got up and stepped around the table to gently wrap her arms around his neck and hugged him. Vilkas let his arms wrap comfortably around her waist and just held her to him for a moment. 

"I think at this point, we're bound by blessings from both worlds," she whispered, "I do believe you're stuck with me."

Vilkas took a deep breath, "probably," he agreed with a slight chuckle, "but I'm not willing to test that," he whispered seriously, pulling her closer and hugging her a little more tightly. "The more I think back on that moment we left Skyrim, the more it feels like sheer luck that I caught hold of you the way I did and didn't simply lose you."

"I see," Katie nodded understandingly. She sat gently across his lap and leaned into his embrace, and Vilkas just appreciated having her so close for several moments.

"We could see if I can log into my old account and download the game on my laptop," Katie suggested thoughtfully a few moments later, "and not use the VR... see if maybe we can learn anything by just logging in and poking around the world..."

"You're sure the teleportations were specific to this... VR?" Vilkas asked cautiously.

"Yeah, seemed to be," Katie nodded confidently.

"Alright then," Vilkas sighed, "we can at least look at that I suppose."

Katie leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to his temple. "I'll stop at the lodge on the way back from the drugstore," she said as she got up and pulled slowly away from him. "I can bring my laptop and things up here if I can get it working." She turned back toward their bedroom, presumably to go get dressed for the day.

"I'm going with you," Vilkas shook his head and got up from the table as well.

"You sure?" Katie asked with a raised eyebrow, looking back over her shoulder at him, "I know how much you hate the car..."

"Aye," Vilkas sighed, "but if you're doing anything with Skyrim I want to be with you."

"I mean... you could just wait for me at the lodge then," she suggested looking mildly worried.

Vilkas just shook his head as he followed her. "Maybe it's the beast's instincts," he admitted, "but I don't want to be away from you right now."

He stepped up behind her and wrapped her in his arms again as he tucked his face into the crook of her neck, taking a deep breath. Katie simply relaxed into his embrace, leaning her head to the side so he could focus on her scent. Actually, Vilkas realized, that probably was it— his mate was finally pregnant; the beast instinct was to keep her close and protect her...

...and the subtle change in her scent as of late had a tendency to distract him rather easily...

He kissed the side of her neck, making Katie sigh contentedly as his lips ran along her pulse point. Vilkas pulled her more tightly to him and kissed her a little more fervently at that.

"You're going to make it difficult for me to go get dressed, aren't you?" She smirked, glancing knowingly back at him.

"Not necessarily," he chuckled, "not unless you planned to be in a hurry..."

"I guess we could just get lunch on the way there," she smiled, turning in his grasp to drape her arms around his neck again.

"Aye, and you'll need to get out of that night dress before you can get dressed anyway," Vilkas grinned as he scooped her into his arms.

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you and those pants," Katie laughed lightly.

"I'm sure I can accommodate that," Vilkas agreed wolfishly as he carried her eagerly but gently back to the bed.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of Eagle-Eyes