Cearbhail:

Welcome to the new and improved Khajiit Battlemage. More like Khajiit War Mage, but I'm not changing the title. I should though... hmm, I'll think about it. So, what to expect, and why to expect it. Let's begin with this... I finished this story 5 years ago. It's the 5 year anniversary revision of my first real fanfiction. Now, a lot of stuff has changed, in both this story and in following ones like Rogue Shadowblade. Yup, another title change. The reason for this is simple: when I started this story... there was no sequel planned. The universe that was created in Rogue Shadowscale and Chronicles of Lydia... had not been established. Shadowwraiths, shadowblades, and all the like also did not exist. Nor did the immense war building in the background. This universe that sprung later affects this story, and it's finally showing. Not to mention characters that have evolved in later stories, characters that I wanted to have more involvement later on...

So, this is my chance to allow this story to be as great as my other ones. So, each chapter is a lot like it used to be, only... well, I hope it's better. There still might be some grammatical and spelling errors. If you encounter one, please let me know through messages. I will go back and fix them. Please let me know how you like the revisions.

Anyway...

=^^= Enjoy...

[Vatu]

The gates to the Arcane University were pretty impressive. The gates stood polished, glowing gold and silver dragons adorning the handle grips. I had to admit… I was a little intimidated. The Arcane University was one the best places in all of Cyrodiil to learn how to use magic. Anyone that's serious about becoming a mage comes here eventually. All of us have different reasons for coming to the Arcane University, but for me the reason is quite simple: I want to fight evil. I want to hunt Daedra. I want to provide my sister with a nice home, and I want to be able to protect us from the horrors of our world. The same horrors that took our parents from us.

All that being said, I can't believe we're finally here. For the past year, my sister and I have gone from guild hall to guild hall gathering recommendations from every Mages Guild, all in order to gain entry to the Arcane University. In order to get a recommendation, you first have to join the Mages Guild, any charter really. In order to join the Mages Guild, you have to either have a very vested interest in becoming a mage (by invested interest, I mean you have to be rich), or you have to show you have some amount of natural ability to become a mage. So, knowledge of spells, or vast quantities of money. Well, my sister and I had no money. We were destitute; living on whatever we found day after day. Even after joining the Mages Guild we've had to take small jobs and whatnot in order to keep our heads above water. It's been easier since we joined the Mages Guild. Meals were cheaper than at pubs; we get some amount of training just by talking to other mages. I mean, sure… we're kids, but we're still treated like any other member… ones that don't go out questing anyway. And if we do, we usually follow an adult. And they usually take the brunt of the payment; and I usually make due with some few looted items from whatever location we're at. Mages don't seem to loot much, and they seem to forget even small goblets have some amount of value. About a loaf of bread value.

So, if my sister and I did not have an invested interest into becoming mages… the only other way we could join the Mages Guild was to have some amount of natural ability as mages. Well… I won't say 'ability' like we're gifted with magic; we were cursed. You see, here's how that story started. Five years ago, Mehrunes Dagon destroyed a great portion of the Imperial City. My house was among the ones hit, and my parents were killed by Daedra. Now, I hate Daedra, but that's not the whole story. That's just the major part of my motivation to moving to the Arcane University, and to become a battlemage. My sister and I were basically homeless after the Daedra killed our parents, and we had to find ways of obtaining money. No one really cares about two Khajiit cubs running the streets starving to death; but they do care when those same cubs start stealing, so… that was off the table. So, I decided to go adventuring for our livelihood.

I'm careful; I'm stealthy; I have a great sense of smelling, hearing, and sight; and I have a healthy fear of anything that can kill me. So, when it came time for us to start risking cave raiding, we found out early that what people love to buy more than anything is magic stuff. Ayleids love their magic crap. So, we spent a lot of time looting old necromancer hideouts and Ayleid ruins. It wasn't just me and Nisha though. We had another person with us, an Argonian named Jowinpan. He was a Shadow user, an Argonian that had the ability to manipulate their dark matter energy found within their body. He was able to do this like teleport and create small balls of exploding dark matter. He was a great help in the ruins we raided. We would mostly collect some of the small magic-hording glowing stones. The ones that recharge your magical essence, or something like that. The mages at the guild explained them as magical replenishment stones. They smelled like mint so… that's all I cared about. That and they put money in my pocket for food for me, my sis, and our friend.

So, one day my sister and I were traveling through this one Ayleid ruin. It was a big room with lot of bed slabs lined up like a medical ward or something. In the middle of the room was this giant pillar with a floating black crystal. Right next to it was a whole stack of the glowing profit crystals. So many that I knew Nisha and I were going to be well-fed for a long time. I thought nothing of the floating crystal, even though the giant white ones about the same size would shoot lightning from time to time. I thought the black crystal was deactivated or something. I thought it would be worth the risk. So, I went to collect the stones, making my sister stay back.

I carefully sneaked up to the stones, keeping my eyes on the giant floating dead crystal. It didn't make any sound, didn't suddenly spring to life. I managed to reach the stones, and I started grabbing as much as I could scoop into my arms. 25 gold, 50, 125… I just kept counting the money forming in my claws. An inn for my sis and me for a week, hot food, milk. Everything. Even Jowinpan could have something nice of his own. Or… save it, buy a small area of land, maybe a house? The three of us could stick together, be a happy family. The three of us were orphans after all; we needed each other. We're the family. If I collected just a little more, and if Jowinpan found something just as nice today, we could probably afford a house in the Waterfront District. It's a bad place to live in but it's a place. A home. A roof without spawning enemies trying to kill us. Like a base of operations while we continue to find more stuff to sell.

"Vatu!" Nisha suddenly screamed, running at me, her eyes wide and fearful. I could suddenly hear the whirring above my head. I snapped my head up, seeing the black crystal spinning around, glowing with dark magic. I stood up, tried to run; I screamed at Nisha to stay away, and for her credit, she listened to me. She turned and ran. Not fast enough. The crystal shot black lightning at me, slamming me right in the back. The stones I carried exploded, not just hitting me, but consuming the whole room in black electrified magic dust. My sister was caught in the explosion. I opened my eyes sometime after. The room was filled with thick black dust, and it was soaked into my fur. Nisha was convulsing on the ground, having a coughing fit. As I started breathing again, I could feel the magicka dust tingling in my lungs. I started having a coughing fit too, but as I started, my eyes blacked out again.

I don't know how long we were on the ground. We continued to lay there for perhaps a day or so, maybe only a few hours. A few explorers found us; mage student from the nearby Anvil Mages Guild. They felt some kind of magical disturbance and came to investigate the Ayleid ruin for any abnormalities. They found us and took us back to the guild for healing. When I came around, I felt… weak. Angry. I made a stupid mistake, put my sister's life at risk, and almost got us both killed. All those magic stones were gone… all that profit destroyed. That week at an inn… the hot meals… the possible house for my sister and me… gone. And I almost got Nisha killed. I'm the worst big brother ever.

We stayed at the guild for a day or two. The healers wanted to make sure Nisha and I were ok. No one ever gets hit with welkynd stone dust like that and walks away without some kind of magical-related illness. I didn't want to make them feel like we were helpless or ungrateful for their help, so I offered to help work off our debt to them. The mages were kind; the service was on the house. As the two days dragged on, the healers kept finding more and more wrong with us. Well, not wrong but… different. Atronachs. My sister and I were both Atronachs, people with the ability to absorb magicka, but not able to create it. When we were in the ruin… the explosion of the welkynd stones should have done something to us. It was because Nisha and I were Atronachs that we were able to absorb all that raw magicka dust. We managed to survive because of our birthsigns. Boy, are we lucky. Even though that was good to know, the black lightning did something to us as well (which we also absorbed into our being), but the healers and mages weren't able to figure out what… only that I had a dark energy inside me, one they couldn't determine. And one they couldn't expel with any magick healing they knew of. By the second day, my sister and I were showing signs of being mages. Lightning crackling at my clawtips; Nisha too. We had natural magical abilities. We were offered apprenticeship at the Anvil's Mages Guild. We accepted. Warm beds, warm meals… and new ways to make money. And I hated Daedra. Which means I had a purpose. A destiny. Find and destroy Daedra… all black magic. Like the one that almost killed me and Nisha. If I had been smarter, stronger, better at magic… stuff like this wouldn't happen.

Our training since then has been a bit sporadic. I picked up a Flames spell, and I've been playing with raw magicka. I mostly keep the lightning and the fire as my offensive form, attaching the elements to my claws and slashing people. I learned how to use raw magicka in enchanting weapons, and how to make magicka take specific forms for whatever I need when enchanting things. It's supposed to be a battlemage thing. Magicka-weaving or something. I met a battlemage in Anvil, she was one of the ones that rescued Nisha and me. When we joined, I asked her about becoming a battlemage. She told me all about the program for children like me at the Arcane University. So… I thought about the recommendation route, but before that, I studied with her. She taught me all about enchanting, some basic fighting moves, and some basic combat spells. She even gave me a way to make money: magicka-weaving items and selling them to the Battlemage Contingent. Battlemages were always in need of supply, and often than not, were too busy to make their own. Every little bit counts. And it added a lot of counting to my coin purse.

As for Nisha and her training. She has been relying on the more… Illusion-based stuff, as well as Alteration, and her alchemy. She has no interest in fighting like I do. She wants to help people another way. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure my sister even wants to be a mage at all. She just wants to be with me and just follows whatever lead I have. As long as we're a family, she's happy. I just hope I'm making the right decision for her. She's pretty good at Illusion though, so I guess she'll be a good mage one day. She can create these pretty lights that put people to sleep. Besides her Illusions, I already mentioned her Alchemy. She creates some of the wildest potions, and she makes about as much as I do when I sell enchanted things. Together, the two of us have built up enough to start learning at the Arcane University. Room and full first semester. That's all we need so far.

So, that's how we ended up joining the Mages Guild; it was a lengthy side-track from the bigger story, and we'll more than likely go further into the story of the black lightning, the spinning black crystal, and whatnot later, but that's not the main focus right now. Back to the recommendations I had to deal with. So, in order to even reach the Arcane University, you have to obtain a recommendation from each major guild hall in each major town. That's a lot of carriage fees. And in order to get a recommendation from the guild master, you have to do them a favor to show your dedication to the craft. Normally, it's a display of magic or whatnot, but some guild halls just like to see you do work. I had to do some of the dumbest things for the Mages Guilds around Cyrodiil. "Fetch me this ring… by the way, it's underwater." Or even "I need ingredients for my new potion I'm working on. I'd order them myself but I conveniently need to stay here and watch this fire grow, and you need something to do in order to get a recommendation…by the way, there are trolls guarding it for whatever reasons…"

Bleh! I hate water and I sure hate trolls. Why on Nirn would trolls be guarding nightshade? Why on Nirn would a mage wearing black leather need nightshade anyway? At least my sister had easier and safer assignments. While I got to go fetch nightshade, my sister got to play with a new Illusion spell that would make weapons invisible or undetectable, all for the same Argonian mage wearing the dark leather robes. While I swam underwater, gasping for breath, she was helping the Argonian formulate a new potion for limb reattachment. My sister figured out how to attach limbs with a very potent healing brew. She's a genius at Alchemy. She seems to have a natural affinity for gathering herbs, knowing what they're good for, remembering it for later on, and then whipping up new potions for whatever she needs whenever she needs it. Even when I was cave raiding, her small mixtures helped keep me going somedays. Sometimes, our lunch was whatever plants she mashed together. She's just as important to our survival as my cave raiding was. She was a lot younger than me, but we were never separated from each other, and if we were it was not for very long. After what happened to our parents, we never allowed ourselves to get too far away from each other, just in case we lost each other too. We were all we had, and that was probably never going to change. So… we do everything together; we take care of each other.

Sometimes, I think of our parents. It's usually whenever I put my head down to sleep for the night. They died when Mehrunes Dagon rushed the city, but that wasn't the whole story, though. It wasn't like the house getting knocked down killed them. It took more than a falling ceiling to kill a healer and … I'm not sure what Mom was. She cooked, I know that much. She was the standard housewife. Still, she was Khajiit, born warrior. We were about to sit down to dinner, when we heard the yelling outside the house. Dad urged us to go to our rooms. The wall leading to the street fell down. We could see Daedra storming the streets. A few Daedra cried, raising their weapons, charging our house. Dad started spraying whatever Destruction he knew at the Daedra. They charged in and our father held them off while our mother urged us down into the basement. My sister and ran for our lives. I was11 at the time; Nisha was 6. I knew of a small crawlspace that led into a smaller room, near the sewers. I pushed Nisha into the crawlspace, crawling in after her. We just barely made it to the other side when I heard Mother cry out; a Daedra warrior laughing as he cut her down. I knew both our parents were dead.

I held Nisha close to me, clamping my claw over her mouth. If she screamed or cried too loudly, they could hear us, tear down the wall… kill us. I pushed the crawlspace door shut, locking us away from the other Daedra on the other side. They didn't see us, or they didn't care. I heard the growling, the heavy breathing outside the wall, the heavy footsteps of the Daedra as they walked out of the room, returning to the massacres outside the house. I could hear the screams of people above us, outside. The heavy slamming as the massive Daedra Prince tore down buildings, stomping his massive feet on the ground. I held my sister close to me for as long as I could. We didn't sleep, didn't talk, didn't move for hours… maybe even days. It's hard to tell when you're in the dark, listening for any signs of combat. The invasion went on hours, but it grew silent as there was a massive roar, a ground quake that shook the whole house. I felt the world shift so hard that my sister and I were thrown into the air by a single impact. And then we heard the roar… the roar of what I could not even know at the time.

We dared not move, dared not speak after that. We had no idea of what happened above, no idea if the Daedra killed everyone or if they were defeated. The large ground quake with the roar… it was inhuman. I could not think it was done by anyone like us. And since that was the last thing we heard… it had to be the fact that the Daedra won. So… my sister and I decided to stay in the room until we knew for certain. Nisha spent most of her time crying, wrapped up in my arms. I tried my best to find ways for us to get food, comfort… stuff. We survived in the crawlspace for a week before we dared to climb out to see what had happened. I would venture down to the sewers to find something to eat. We used each other as blankets and pillows. Well, Nisha used me mostly as a pillow. I used my shirt as my pillow.

When we did leave the crawlspace, we saw just how messed up the town was. I saw the giant statue of the dragon in the temple my father used to work in. That's when I heard the Hero of Cyrodiil tell us how the titan was killed. It was magic that got rid of that giant. It was not swords, not bows; it was magic. Martin Septim, our just found emperor, used an amulet to transform himself into a towering dragon. From there, he did not only cook it with divine magic, but also bit its head off and gorged on the exploding corpse. I wish I could have seen it for myself. I don't know how he did it, but somehow, without a dagger or bow, Martin Septim killed Mehrunes Dagon. Swords and bows did not destroy the evil destroying the town… it was magic. I never forgot that. Laying in the Mages Guild beds, I imagined me standing in the town as it happened, protecting future families from the same horror I lived through. No more orphans. No more evil. Only strong mages like me. Families allowed to live without being torn apart… Something I wasn't allowed to have anymore.

That's why I urged Nisha to come with me and gather the recommendations to gain entry to the Arcane University. It's the only place that can prepare me to become a Battlemage: a warrior mage trained in every method of magical warfare. The ultimate force of good in a world full of evil. I could study the way of the battlemage, and Nisha would be able to study whatever she wanted to. We'd still be together, living at a university. We'd still do small jobs to earn a living; me, I enchant weapons and small trinkets; Nisha does her alchemy thing. We make good money. Enough to afford our travels from town to town, as well as our payment to the Arcane University for our classes and whatnot. That and we had a little help from the Arch-Mage and her husband, one of the University's Head Professor. He's also one of the few remaining councilors.

The two of them kind of… adopted us when they met us in Kvatch's Mages Guild. It was the last guild for Nisha and me, the last recommendation we had to get. While we were getting our recommendation, the Arch-Mage and Councilor Ernard were there helping out the guildmaster with a small task. Something involving a vampire cult: a cult we helped brew potions and enchanted weapons for the Mage's Guild's operation. That was our recommendation task: help create supplies to use against the vampire cult. That's also how we met the Arch-Mage and Councilor Ernard. That's kind of how we got adopted. They're both going to be waiting for us inside the university, if they're back from their mission anyway. I'm not really all that excited to see them though. We have parents now… and it's been just me and Nisha for so long. Having a new mother might make that partnership break apart. I'm excited for Nisha, who's more than ready for a new mom. Me… I'm happy the way we were, and… while this might be great for us… it might be bad for us too.

I was suddenly brought back to the present, standing at the gates leading to the Arcane University. This was the central point in all of Tamriel where magic is studied and carefully practiced under the watchful eyes of wizened mages. It was here that I could begin my training to become a battlemage. Countless days of practicing magic, studying different ways of detecting magical abnormalities, and of course training for military service… I couldn't wait to begin.

I grabbed Nisha by her shoulder, pulling her in for a side-hug. "Well, we're here."

She glanced up at me, almost smirking, but I could see the hesitation in her eyes. "So… we're done then? No more running, no more moving?"

I nodded. "Yup. We're done running. Done sleeping in haystacks. Done working to find a bed for the night. Done running from wolves, ogres, trolls, and imps."

I saw a small smile form on her muzzle. "So… should we go find Mr. Ernard? I bet he'll show us to our beds. And a bath!" A bath… man it's been almost three days since our last one. The carriage from Kvatch to here wasn't as fast as I would have liked, and even before that, the bath at Kvatch's Mages Guild was one of the crappier ones we've been in. I get that the guild hall is new, and that funds for the guild are still pretty low, but a dug-out pit in the basement is not a proper bath. It wasn't even properly sealed. No one in the guild actually lives at the guildhall, so no one ever really needed a bath in the guildhall. Nisha and I were the first ones to request a bath when we came by. We almost stayed at the inn because of it. And the baths at the inns are disgusting. Changed out perhaps once a week, sometimes not even warmed. And Khajiits, no matter who runs the inn, are required to self-clean (which means licking our fur) before entering the communal bath. Don't want loose fur floating around the bathwater. Sometimes there's a 'special' bath prepared for just Khajiits. It looks like a moss-covered swamp, if the moss was fur. Guess whose responsibility it is to clean the fur out. Go ahead… guess.

I heard a light chuckle from behind. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing a teenage Argonian with light blue scales with two pink lines outlining a single white line heading from her eyebrows leading to the top of her head, leading down the spines of her back. She had two sets of these lines, one on each eyebrow, perfectly symmetrical as they went up her head an back down the backside of her neck and back. She had pink feathers that turned slightly blue at the tips, tips that were as glittery as her scales. She seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. I've seen a lot of Argonians, and their scales can get as crazy as our fur can. But I've never seen such definite changes between the light blue, the pale pink, and the white bordering separating the two colors before. Beyond the obvious scales, she was wearing the green robes of apprentices. A lot of students wear them in the Mages Guild. Kind of like a school uniform.

"Whoa…" I said, looking at her pink lines. "That's… that's really cool."

The Argonian kind of smirked, looking away from me as she scratched her beak. "Um… thanks." She looked at my face, and then down at Nisha. "I like your stripes. Tiger breeds?"

I nodded. "Yeah. She and I both inherited our grandmother's stripes. At least… that's what Mom used to say. We're Cathay… if you couldn't tell."

She crossed her arms. "Little short for a Cathay. Sure you aren't Suthay?" She said it in a joking manner, but it still caused my tail to flick annoyingly. It also reminded me of a joke my old friend used to say to us. He lived in the wilds with us for a while… until we got hit with that dark lightning anyway. I'm not sure what happened to him though. I hope he's ok.

"No… I'm pretty sure I'm Cathay." I replied back to the Argonian looking down at me. I know because I know the different scent between the other races. That and… well…I'm not lanky. I have actual muscles that aren't as lean as other Suthay-raht.

Nisha glanced at the girl, scrunching up her nose. "Wait… there's something different about you."

The Argonian looked away again. "Oh?" She started rubbing her arm.

Nisha nodded. "Yeah. Your scales are really shiny! How did you do that? Is there a way I can do that with my fur?"

The Argonian shrugged. "Um… I went to a Hist tree… requested a… makeover. And… I got to redesign my scales, among other things. I'm still getting used to it." Still rubbing her arm. "I'm not sure if Khajiits can do it though."

My mind started blanking over. There was a way she said it… some kind of context I was missing. I shook the blankness from my mind. I was being rude. I stuck out my hand, offering it to her as a handshake. "I'm Vatu."

She took my hand, shaking it. "Pra'ja Vanderma. I can see you're new." She looked down at my old robes. Looking around, I could see that everyone was wearing robes that looked brand new, including hers. Each one had a small patch on it of the Arcane University's crest on the right shoulder, and another patch on the left shoulder. Some of them looked the same, some of them looked different. The one on Pra'ja's shoulder was that of the Imperial symbol, Akatosh, with a background of the Mages Guild's Eye of Knowledge encompassing it. It was the crest of the Battlemage Contingent. I wonder… is Pra'ja a battlemage student like me?

We ended our handshake, and she bowed to me. "I meant no disrespect, Vatu. I simply meant… I haven't seen you here. I'm new too, but I started last semester. I just got home from Black Marsh. Meeting with the Hist I mentioned earlier." She smiled. "Anyway, I can see that you two are exhausted. I would show you around, but…" She pointed over my shoulder.

I glanced back over to see Adam Ernard standing right behind us, on the other side of the gate. "Vatu, Nisha. So glad to see you two." He pushed the gate open, Nisha and I moved out of the way as he glided through the doors. He wrapped us both up in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you two are safe. Sorry you couldn't travel here with me."

I looked at Nisha, who looked lost in her own world as she hugged him tightly. She was enjoying the moment, that's for sure. I tapped Adam on the back a few times as my reply hug. I guess this wasn't so bad. I mean… it's nice. I haven't been hugged from anyone but my sister in five years.

Adam broke our hug apart. He planted his hands on both of our shoulders. "Right, let's show you to your rooms. I bet you two just want to take the night off. Classes don't start up until Morndas the 14th." Since today was the 12th, and Loredas, that meant we had tonight and tomorrow off. That's time to socialize and whatnot. I glanced back at the still-watching Pra'ja. I guess I have a friend now.

I looked back at Adam. I nodded. "It would be nice to put our luggage down." I forgot I was wearing all my stuff in a rucksack on my back. I was carrying most of Nisha's stuff too.

Nisha was quick to hug my arm. "Brother… bath! Now!" Man, she really wanted to take a bath. Still can't blame her though. We're both in need of one.

I looked back up at Adam. "Is there a bath nearby?"

He nodded. "The girls and boys share separate bathhouses in each dormitory. There are also other bathhouses around if some are too busy. Each dormitory has their own shower room that leads into the bathhouse. We ask that everyone use the shower before entering the bath." He frowned, regretting it as he said, "Especially Khajiits. We ask that they groom properly before entering the bath. Sorry."

Well, I couldn't blame them. "It's really no problem. Please tell me at least there isn't a 'Khajiits only' bath tub."

He shook his head. "No, not at all. It's just the fur. I'm sure you understand."

I did. It wasn't the best news, but it was far from the worst. "I understand. Fur sucks. I know that all too well." But still, I'd suffer a long shower with a grooming brush if it meant taking a nice long hot bath.

Nisha couldn't wait. "Brother, I need my grooming brush!"

I was about to reach for it, but Pra'ja was already ahead of me. "It's the long-toothed thing, right? The purple one?" She asked as she undid the top knot to the rucksack.

"Yeah…" I replied. How did she know the kinds of brushes we had inside our rucksack?

She dug around the rucksack, pulling it out. "I'll take your sister to the bathing house. You should take your stuff up to your room. You look exhausted."

I may be exhausted, but I also really wanted my own bath. "Thanks for the offer, but I need a bath just as badly as she does."

Pra'ja smirked, looking over to Adam. "Still, you should go find your room. I'm sure Adam can show you to the men's bathhouse." She hugged Nisha close to her. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets a nice hot bath."

That's very disconcerting. Adam nodded to Pra'ja. "A fine suggestion." He looked over to me, waving at me to follow him. "Come, Vatu. The dormitory is over here."

I glanced back at Nisha. It felt weird leaving her like this, especially to a girl I just met… and I could see the same look in Nisha's eyes as we parted ways. She took a final look back at me before squeezing her grooming brush tightly in her hands, following behind Pra'ja as she started heading towards the bathhouse.

I turned my attention back to Adam as he led me through the courtyard. I could see several older mages all dressed in dark green robes, and a few ones in azure blue. I could see a couple youngers ones closer to my age hanging around in circles. My sharp ears were quick to pick up conversations about some ship restaurant/inn experience they went on a few nights ago. It seemed like it could be fun; I might have to try it one day.

I looked around at all the various towers. Students, teachers, and acolytes alike were rushing in and out of the buildings; some were carrying books, some were carrying alchemical supplies. Some people were standing outside the Chironasium, completely in awe of their new robes. I saw a few students talk to each other, pointing at their robes and discussing the enchantments on them. "What's with the robes?" I pointed to the excited students.

Adam smiled. "Ah, to be young. The Arcane University has specialty programs that you can study. You know this, being signed up for the Battlemage Pre-Training program. Well, the robes and textbooks you will acquire will be tailored to your specific program. I believe the Battlemage Robes are enchanted to give you more vitality, absorption of magicka, and to allow you better use of your raw magicka to use for flexibility. Most robes follow the second two enchantments however. It's usually the tag-ons like the vitality enhancements and whatnot. Each robe is enchanted ahead of time and identified by the program's specific crest. General Studies has a typical mage robe enchanted for clarity, magicka control, absorption, protection. You get the gist. Your sister, who signed up for the Alchemical Engineering program. Her robes will have several enchantments that will protect her from accidental explosions, poisoning… stuff like that."

Wow, more went into this than I thought. "This place is awesome." I couldn't stop the smile growing on my face. This was exactly what I wanted. And this was our home now. All we had to do was work to keep coming here. That's all that matters now.

We walked on towards the mages quarters. Adam continued to fill me in on the university and all it had to offer. The Praxographical Center for making spells; the testing grounds for testing any spells you make, or enchanted items; the Mystic Archives, where all the tomes were collected and dispersed; and the Lustratorium where Alchemy was studied. I'm guessing Nisha will be spending a lot of time in there. I kept looking over to the Imperial Watchtower where I could see a few battlemages entering and exiting. A couple of them were hanging around, goofing off with each other. One was clearly one of the leaders. She looked like a Breton woman, a bit shorter than the others, almost as short as me. She stood there with a quiet authority.

Adam drew my attention away from her back to him. "And this is the mages quarters. Follow me." He led me into the massive building. We walked up a flight of stairs. "Since you and your sister are a special case, and we do have those, we opted to put you two in the family quarters. Most students come here alone and end up having a roommate in the same program as them. We usually end up with vacant rooms, which we deem the 'family quarters'. It's for cases of parents traveling with kids and other special cases like siblings living together. And that's your case. You and your sister. We didn't want to split you two apart, so…" He stopped by a door marked 219. "Here you are."

He waved his hand over the doorknob and I heard it unlock. He pushed the door open, gesturing me inside. I bowed in thanks to him and entered the room. It wasn't too big, but I didn't care. Nice white walls, two windows with blinders. There was a small table with two chairs, two desks, and most importantly… two beds. The beds had everything: pillows, sheets, comforters. Just what we needed. Bookshelves in the corner of the room near the windows. This was great.

"Wow…" I looked back at Adam. "Thanks."

He couldn't help but smile. "Welcome home, son." Son… still not sure how I feel about that. That might take some time to get used to. At least I know where my room is now.

"Ok, so… the bathhouse?" I set my rucksack down. I couldn't wait to get rid of all this crap in my fur.

He backed out of the room. "Follow me."

Cearbhail:

As of right now, the story is still in revision mode, but I was getting tired of not posting things and wanted to give you guys something to work with. I'm posting the first ten chapters tonight, on April 1st... also known as April Fools. But make no mistake... this is no joke.