Chapter Text
Despite having traveled to Malabal Tor, they had yet to really explore every village, which was understandable in hindsight; but even then, Bastian and Mirri were starting to regret not coaxing Wylarin south of Vulkwasten before this. It was about two months after the events of Kvatch, and after a fighter's guild quest they had decided to explore the area further. This decision would ultimately lead to Wylarin's memories to fully come back…
They weren't even a mile away from Tangelhaven when the scent of burning wood reached their noses, the smell being worse for the bosmer due to the fact that plant life was more important to her culture than her lovers'. Not one to delay fate, the redheaded elf spurred her horse on to gallop straight into the remains of the village, the villagers who were searching for anything worth salvaging stopped to look at her before reluctantly going to their previous activities. It was Mirri who first noticed the Bosmeri couple stop dead in their tracks upon spotting her lover, noting how they looked to be battling emotions before scurrying off with each other to what was likely their home...or the remains. While they didn't look any different from the rest of the villagers, it was their skin colors, facial features, and the woman's tattoos that seemed a bit too similar to Wylarin's to just be coincidences; but when she went to say something, Wylarin and Bastian were already in front of what was likely the Treethane talking to her. Once again, an unrecognizable emotion was on the older Bosmer's face when she looked at the smallest of the three but she didn't say anything when they started heading in the direction she pointed them to.
"Hey Mirri, there's a big group of the Drugblogs ahead, wanna split them up evenly between us or…?" Wylarin asked as they crouched off to the side, everyone having their weapons drawn other than the Dunmer. "Whu- oh uh yeah sure." The brunette nodded, her pale cheeks flushing a bit due to being so caught up in her head. Wylarin gave a nod before silently summoning her shadow and cloak of knives before suddenly teleporting herself to the Drugblog she had been eyeing. Bastian stayed behind for a moment to check on his other lover, "You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah...I just think maybe the people in the village know Wylarin more than she realizes." She admitted before standing up and firing an arrow at the orc who had snuck up behind the Imperial man. With a thankful nod of his head, Bastian was off in the direction Wylarin went, shooting fire, lightning, and various other spells as he did with Mirri not far behind.
It didn't take them very long to cut their way through the Drugblogs, and even shorter to defeat Thulendar and return to Treethane Dailithil's side and get their reward. Once everything was done they decided to head back to the village and see if anyone needed their help and so they began the medium sized trek back on foot. It wasn't long until Wylarin froze, her blue eyes narrowing before launching herself at a camouflaged creature, yelling out a battle cry. After that, Bastian and Mirri lost sight of her, only seeing faint movement where she had gone but were surprised when they heard unknown voices.
"WYLARIN!!!! Oh bless Y’ffre, You're alive!" A feminine voice exclaimed, her accent showing she was a native of Valenwood and the choked tone showing she was most likely crying or on the verge. The fact that the unknown people knew their love's name spurred them to run in the direction, and were soon face to face with a Bosmeri group hug consisting of three men and two women- one being a mildly bewildered Wylarin. However, after a few moments Wy gave in and relaxed into the hug, burying her face into the other four hugging her. Not long after, the telltale sound of overwhelmed sniffles came from the redheaded woman and she was suddenly clinging to the other four and crying in what seemed to be happiness as the Dunmer and Imperial watched on in mild awkwardness. When they all pulled away it was suddenly very obvious what the situation was, the four were related to Wylarin, most likely siblings if their shared looks were anything to go by.
"Oh, you're the two that we saw come with Wy, aren't you? We're her siblings." The other female explained, standing up to shake hands with them. She was promptly cut off by a barely taller male, his long brown hair pulled back in several braids and his grey eyes still glassy, "Greetings, I'm Brengolin, Rin's oldest brother." He stated with a gentle smile. Both outsiders were about to respond before the same woman from before gently pushed Brengolin out of the way, shaking hands with them as well, "I'm Mindra, the second eldest and Rinny's only sister." She said, having a more firm grip compared to Brengolin. This time, the push that Mindra received was less than gentle, though the blonde elf took it like a champ and rolled into a crouch as the other two stood side by side and tried to shake Bastian and Mirri's hands at the same time, "I'm Thoron and that's Sillas, we're Wylarin's partners in crime-" Thoron started before he was cut off by Sillas ,"- We're the older two by the way." He added, his blue eyes sparkling with joy and mischief. Mindra and Brengolin rolled their eyes, "they're triplets." They supplied and received knowing looks from the Imperial and Dunmer. The siblings continued to talk to all three before Brengolin suddenly froze, "Shit, we need to tell Mum and Dad! They think you're dead!" He exclaimed, looking down at his baby sister who seemed to soak up the chaotic energy her triplets gave off like a fish soaked up water. "We do! And I was dead for a bit, let's go!" She exclaimed, starting to sprint off but quickly came back when no one followed her, her face showing her confusion.
All four of her siblings were looking at her in utter horror, their eyes wide and shoulders tense at this sudden reminder of what they had witnessed almost a year prior. It was not that shocking that her immediate older brothers were at her sides at that, clinging to her in a way that made it obvious Wylarin was starting to have difficulty breathing. The two oldest were quick to put a stop to that, pulling the shorter two away gently. "Let's get back to mum and dad,we can ask questions later, okay?"
Unsurprisingly, Wylarin answered, her face showing her eagerness to see her parents again, "Yes, please let's get back to Mum and Dad." Her siblings were quick to nod, starting to lead them back despite not really needing to. Wylarin slowed so she was between her lovers, reaching for one of each of their hands and squeezed them. It was a silent way for her to admit she was nervous when she wanted to keep up a confident facade. Her taller partners simply squeezed her hands back, and walked a bit closer to her until they got close to the village.
The second they stepped into the village, Sillas and Thoron all but carried their sister back to where the remains of their home was, and thus straight to their parents. Needless to say both older elves were conflicted, on one hand they looked like they saw a ghost, but on the other hands they were overjoyed seeing who their second and third youngest children had dragged to them.Neither said a word as they pulled their once lost daughter into their arms and held her as if she would disappear again. Wylarin didn't mind at all it seemed, her shoulders shaking as she cried into her parents' shoulders and clung to their shirts like a little child, her words muffled so only her mother and father could hear them. Her partners and siblings gave them much needed space as they watched the reunion.
Eventually, Wylarin's parents pulled away so they could look at the two newcomers they had seen earlier, closing the distance between them in a hug each before shaking their hands. "Thank you so much for returning our Wylarin back to us. I'm Nithriel." The blonde bosmer that Mirri had seen earlier said, her grey eyes still holding joyful tears in them. The auburnette beside her nodded, his long dreads slightly mussed from his enthusiasm, "And i'm Argorn, I don't think we could ever repay you for this." He added, his hazel eyes crinkled with how big his smile was. Both Bastian and Mirri flushed a bit from the praise, but smiled at the happy parents anyways, "It was no problem, though I'd say your brilliant daughter brought herself home without realizing it." Mirri stated, though her wording made everyone besides Wylarin and Bastian look at her confused. Bastian was quick to intervene, "Anyways, we're both so happy you could all reunite, I imagine this is a weight that has been taken off your shoulders." Wylarin moved to stand between her lovers, "Mum, Dad, guys, these are my partners, Bastian Hallix and Mirri Elendis. We met in Blackwood." The introduction seemingly created more questions, but her family ignored them for the moment as they all walked up the path to the middle of what was at one point the living room and kitchen.
“Sorry for the mess, I’ve been meaning on guiding the tree back into a home shape but it needs to heal before I can do that.” Argorn apologized sheepishly, though shot Sillas a look, “I would of been able to speed up the process if a certain son of mine had made me the potion i need, but alas he went off gallivanting with his other brothers yesterday.” Though his tone was stern, his mouth was twitching into a smile and his eyes were full of mischief. Sillas rolled his eyes at his father from where he was stood leaning his arms on Wylarin’s shoulders, “Dad, I told you already, we weren’t ‘ gallivanting ’ we were conducting field research.”
“Oh? And what were you three researching?” Nithriel asked with a smirk on her face.
“...The treasure lead Bren got from his last trade.”
“And I told you two, it was probably fake and that we should of asked Mum to verify it but noooo you had to go in without thinking.” Brengolin remarked, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. Mindra and Wylarin just listened to their two brothers bicker with amused expressions, clearly being accustomed to it. It seemed Thoron was staying out of the squabble, currently using Wylarin’s lap as a make-shift table as he wrote notes in a journal; said notes being of their little expedition from the day prior. Wylarin looked down and snorted when she read what her older brother had written, “According to our local scholar here, you ended up running into a bunch of giant wasps and had to run into the nearest river for safety.”
After a few hours of the family just enjoying each other’s presence, the dreaded question got brought up during dinner. “Rinny, while we’re so, so happy you’re back, your father and I are just dying to know what happened to you. Last we knew, you had been sacrificed by that bastard Manimarco.” Nithriel was the bravest one it seemed, because everyone else was quick to quiet down, looking down at their plates politely. Wylarin swallowed the bite she had just eaten before setting her plate down in front of her, awkwardly rubbing one arm, “Well, after I was sacrificed, I wound up in the Wailing jail in ColdHarbor. The first thing I could remember for a long time was when I woke up in a cell. I was broken out by a half giant Nord named Lyris Titanborn and she explained where we were and that I was soul shriven. After that we kinda just fought our way through the place we were being held and eventually escaped. Granted I didn’t get my soul back.” She started, her tone miraculously staying mostly even. She took a drink and pointedly looked down at the area behind her family so she wouldn’t break down at their expressions, “After that I woke up on the shore of Khenarthi’s Roost without any memories of my past except for my name, age, race and birthday.”
“How long ago was that?” Argon asked, his voice thick with emotion at the knowledge of what his baby had gone through. Wylarin shrugged, “Not really sure, and after that I didn’t really have much time to really think about the months because I was going off exploring and becoming part of the Aldmeri Dominion.” This made Thoron perk up, his face showing his curiosity.
“What places did you go to with the Dominon?”
“Uh...Well for a while I stayed in Auridon, but after that I was sent to Valenwood. Specifically Grahtwood at the request of Queen Ayrene. She wanted me to meet with King Camoran Aeradan.”
Nearly everyone in her family choked on what they had been eating or drinking at that, their faces practically priceless to the redhead.
“You know the King?!” Brengolin nearly screeched, his grey eyes wide.
Wylarin actually laughed and nodded, “Yes, he even called me his friend once.”
“Alright, I’m going to redirect this before your brother faints, Rin.” Their mother stated, though her grey eyes were also showing her surprise. Wylarin nodded and silently agreed to change the subject, “I did a lot in Valenwood before I went off exploring the rest of Tamriel, doing some missions and adventures here and there before I eventually battled Molag Bal… and uh, won. I fought alongside Meridia and got my soul back when I did so that was pretty cool.”
Thoron and Sillas both looked like they were about to loose their minds at how nonchalantly their sister was being about the whole thing, though after getting stern looks from their parents they didn’t make a scene. Scene or no scene, their siblings and new friends seemed to find their faces funny enough to laugh at, especially the youngest of the siblings.
Once she calmed down, Mindra looked at her only sister and nodded at the two new family friends, “So, when did you find them?”
“I met them at a cave in Blackwood. Both were there for the same reason basically, Bastian was there to get his idiot foster-brother out of trouble, and Mirri was there because he got into trouble with something she was looking for.” She glanced at her lovers to make sure she was accurate, and when they gave her a thumbs up she continued, “After that, they helped me and another friend of mine work on stopping Mehrunes Dagon from causing trouble there so again, that was fun.”
“You fought two deadric lords and your only thing to comment on it is that it was fun?!” Thoron had seemingly had enough of her nonchalant tone and was looking a bit offended for the two lords in mention. Seriously, who fights against two of the baddest bads and calls it ‘kinda cool’ or ‘fun I guess’ ?!
“Hey, you never let me mention how I’ve met Sheogorath many times and he is both a pain to deal with and a hilarious person to be around.” She defended, but once again her triplets were naturally in shock.
“WHAT?!”
“He’s absolutely crazy, it’s hilarious. I even got to use the Wabajack.”
“Sis, You’re killing us, please tell us something that won’t make us have a heart attack.” Brengolin practically begged, currently holding both younger brothers by the backs of their shirts to keep them from having a fit. By this point Mirri and Bastian were laughing, finally being on the other side of Wylarin’s incredible stories.
“Alright, how about...wait no that was a crazy one...Oh! How-..nah that one got crazy at the end…” Wylarin started but had to quickly stop herself each time because, yeah, she had done so many wild things.
“How about the time where you came with me to track down my mother?” Mirri joked, though at the look on everyone’s faces, it was obvious they were curious. She sighed, “I was joking but alright. Wylarin chuckled before telling them the story, stressing the fact that hey, she didn’t befriend any royalty or took down a god. When she was done, Nithriel looked like she was thinking about something, “...That name rings a bell. I might have ran into her on one of my adventures.” She mused, studying Mirri as if to see if her face would bring back a memory of some kind, “I know I have, because I remember a woman who looked just like you, but I can’t recall what we did.” Argon rubbed his wife’s back while chuckling, “That’s because it was the time you ended up trying to smuggle skooma back into Valenwood, dear.”
“Mum!” All five of their children cried out in shock, their eyes wide. The blonde elf simply waved them off, “Oh shush, It was years before we had Breny.” she stated, “And anyways, I got caught so it didn’t do me much good to try anyways.”
“How’d you get caught?” Mindra asked, an amused look on her face. Her mother scowled at her before looking away from everyone when she answered, “I had a small vial in my mouth and the cap wasn’t on tight enough and it all went down my throat. The rest were poorly shoved into my clothes so it was obvious.” That caused everyone besides her and her sweet husband to howl with laughter, their children practically rolling on the floor from how hard they were laughing.
Several more hours went by before everyone eventually decided to go to sleep, Argon and Nithriel pulling out extra fur cots for the three new arrivals to sleep on before both kissed their daughter on the forehead and headed off to their own cot to sleep.