Cearbhail: Hello everyone! As promised, here is the in-between story for Chronicles of Lydia and Chronicles of Ruby. It probably won't be that long but hey...I always say that, don't I? Also...I've been thinking and hear me out on this. What would you say if I redid my Khajiit Battlemage and my Melencholy of Cecilie? They just seem...eh...lacking to me. The Khajiit Battlemage needs more stuff before they leave the Mages Guild, you know...making friends, attending classes, Vatu x Nexa screentime. And Melencholoy of Cecilie just seems too rushed to me. Needs to be more like the Shoutmen...speaking of that as well...I should update that too. Oh well, I'll just let it hang for a while.

[Ruby]

…

Dear diary,

I'm glad all the running around is over. Alduin is gone, Asger is the High King by popular vote of all the Jarls during the Moot, and my family is living in the Crystal Palace in Winterhold. Well, the beginnings of it at least. Right now it's pretty barren. They're living in the College while it's getting built. I however didn't feel like waiting in that magical college so I decided to come to Solitude for a couple months until the palace is at least constructed. So, I maintain my own little room inside the Bard's College in Solitude. I plan on coming here during the winter months to get away from all the snow, while taking classes on bardic combat and stuff like that. But, that's not the entire reason why. It's roomy here and I haven't had a dull moment since I got here. That and I don't have to worry about keeping up appearances. By that I mean keeping my mane tied up in a bun, or having to prance around in some ridiculous dress, always trying to be proper. That's not me. Besides, I have several new friends at the Bard's College that keep me entertained: Samantha being my best. She reminds me of my old friend: Ashana. I still miss her. I wonder what happened to her.

Speaking of people I miss, I'm sad that Cecilie's gone, but I understand why she had to leave. She told me that she can't exist in the universe as two separate persons. If she stayed, she could never be born. So, she had to leave just so that she could be born. I'll be meeting her again soon, I'm sure. I mean, it's only been a few months since we've settled in and Lydia still has some time left before that humongous belly of hers bursts open. Soon enough, I'll go back home and see that I have a brand new sister to entertain. I hear having siblings can be fun. I hear they can be annoying too. I wonder which she'll be.

There is another thing: Maleek. Ever since we saved the world and Asger politely convinced the Thalmor to invade us, I've haven't seen Maleek around. He knows he's more than welcome to come back and we still haven't fully resolved our issues with each other. I mean, we had a moment before the whole saving the world thing but that moment fleeted after Asger was crowned. Maleek went on some mission given to him from the Night Mother and I haven't seen him since. I'm getting worried about it. And there was the fact that he called me his girlfriend, but I still don't see him around. I have to go find him. I wonder what he's doing now.

Nisha Stonearm.

…

I closed my diary and sat back in my chair. I could see the sun just barely rising through the window next to my bed. My bed… I haven't had one to call my own in so long. Even when I was traveling with Lydia and everyone else, I only had a bed when I was at Sky Haven Temple. Every other time, I had to sleep on the ground. Sure, I could sleep inside my bag (most times I did) but even if I consider that bag to be my own special world… it felt nice to have a bed out here too. I hated that I considered my personal escape to be the one place I could relax. That didn't matter, though. I had this room now.

My room wasn't as big as I would have liked. It was pretty small, but it had everything I needed. I had a dresser where I kept some basic outfits. I kept my more elaborate ones inside my astral-bag. I had a nice crystal altar on the top of my dresser. I had my favorite crystal clusters in a nice harmonious setting. Beside my dresser, I had my desk where I was sitting now. Behind me I had my bed next to my window. I had just enough room to stretch out and fall into my bed. Yeah, it was that close to my desk. Good thing my chair folded up…and my desk too. Sure, it wasn't a big room, but it's all I really need. I keep my bag under my desk. I can escape any time I need. And everyone knows about its existence. So, if I'm not here, they know to check my bag before looking for me anywhere outside the college.

I'm considered a bit of a teacher here at the college, or at least an upper classman. I help teach others about making their own clothes and what to expect when surviving in a quest. Like all the random encounters. They suck sometimes. And you should always leave with a buddy. Never adventure alone. It's stuff like that that I do. I also sell one-of-a-kind clothes. I sell illuminated leather now. All those Vale deer I collected had a very stable population inside my bag now. I was lucky when I ran into them. Most of my clothes were Vale leather. I can even manipulate the glowing colors to create various outfits. I'm a genius at it. I'm the only one that knows how. I'm special.

As I leaned back in my chair, I wondered what I was going to do today. It's not like I had the type of responsibilities I had a few months ago. There was no plot to destroy our world, no plot for the Thalmor to take over Skyrim, well not yet at least. Not even a civil war. I didn't really feel like stealing things now that I had this nice room in the Bard's College, and another room in the palace, so that left out me going to Riften back to the Thieves Guild. From what I hear, Pantu is getting along great with the new Guildmaster, Karliah. She's molding him to become the next leader of the guild. Maybe I should go visit him. At least I know where he is. Well, unless he's out thieving.

I would go visit Maleek but I never know where he is. He never writes or visits. We haven't seen him since Asger was crowned High King. He and Babette left to take care of the Dark Brotherhood. I thought he'd at least come visit me sometime, come say 'hi' or something but…I guess he's a little sore about me forcing myself on him once or twice. Not saying I regret it, but I still wish he'd visit. We were just starting to get close after all. He called me his girlfriend. He acknowledged that he felt something for me. Maybe he just needs time to figure it out. Maybe some space will do him some good? I don't know. But it hurts me to think he's ignoring me after everything we've been through. Normal couples don't go through what we did. Hopefully we can be a couple without all the crazy stuff.

I sighed as I pushed myself up out of my seat. I couldn't stand being here anymore. I had to go do something. I could go bother Lydia, but…her duties as the High Queen made her so busy that I hated to distract her. That and she had to keep the High King's Housecarl busy, which I found hilarious. Aela was a fun person to be around, that much I know. Berner keeps her entertained easily enough by baking her sweet cakes. I offered to help, but apparently no one likes my baking skills. Oh well, their loss. It's not my fault the infamous moon sugar recipes passed down through our genetic code weren't given to me. It's just another thing I don't have access to…like my parents' names. The Blades were out and about, killing dragons whenever they caused a problem to society. Jarl Stormcloak returned to Windhelm to continue leading his men, General Tullius up here in Solitude. I could talk to him. Why not? He knows me pretty well.

I left my room in a light walk. Ok, I'd go talk to Rikke and Tullius. I may not know them that well, but they allowed me to spar with their newest soldiers. I am a Blade, after all. I have plenty of moves that the Imperial Army could learn from. That and I'm fast. General Tullius wants me to join the Legion when I turn sixteen. I laughed in his face and reminded him that I don't know how old I am. As far as I know, I might be fifteen, but I feel closer to thirteen. Maybe I'm fourteen? I really don't know. M'aiq tells me that I'll know when my birthday is when I turn sixteen. He smiled at that…I wonder why.

I shook the confusion from my head as I passed through the dining hall. A few of the younger bards closer to my age were too busy reading tomes of poetic verse to notice me. I would talk to them, but…honestly, they annoy me sometimes. They treat me as a bit of an idol because of the things I've done and seen. I don't like that kind of attention. But being me does have some benefits. At least no one here hides their purses or wallets when I walk around town. I have a good name for myself. Thank the gods I'm treated like a normal person. Imagine what would happen if I weren't a walking cat…I might be treated like a princess instead of a tolerated cat. Yeah, I'm a little sore about that. They don't like the idea of me being the High King's daughter. Part of the reason why I try to stay away from the politics in Winterhold right now.

As I started to leave the room, I heard one of the newer students stand up from the table. I believe his name was Samuel. "Seriously, though. I'm thinking about joining the Legion as a scribe. Imagine the history I could write if I were standing on the battlefield. Scribes get paid a lot of gold to record historical battles."

One of the older students Jessie a Redguard scoffed at the idea. "What if your party loses the battle? Who will record that?"

"Scribes actually stay far away from the fighting, observing from a distant hilltop. They record what they see and then report back what intelligence they have gathered to their commanding officers. Because they are scribes, they don't carry any weapons on them, but hold onto a special teleportation scroll that when used will teleport the scribe from the battlefield and to the central fort. It's a last resort. Scribes also deliver personal letters to the main forts back in Solitude and other provinces." The young Altmer girl named Ariel stated as she looked up from her romance novel. She was a bookworm, very smart. Then she looked up at me, which drew a smile. "Our resident hero is awake. Why not ask her?"

The other two boys looked at me, both of them glaring at me. Samuel spread his arms out in a bardic challenge. "Ok, Nisha! Time to duel! If I win, you have to teach me how to sword fight!"

Oh man…was this how I looked when I tried to fight with Maleek? Not that I had a problem with bardic combat; I still loved it, but I just wanted to relax. I've seen my fair share of war; can't I just relax for a year before I go back to doing stuff? "No." I replied. "Sam…I'm tired."

"You, tired?" Ariel asked, her eyebrows arching. "You never act tired. I've read all about your part in the Blades' war against Alduin. You were with the High King back when he was just the Dragonborn. You're one of the greatest heroes Skyrim has. Why…I think I've read almost everything there is to know about the stuff you did. And I can say with full accuracy that you're a 'Purr' personality type. A hyperactive Khajiit."

"Thanks…" I questioningly replied. Jeez, is she a stalker or something? Then again, after Asger was crowned High King, we did do a series of novels about the actual adventure that was called the Chronicles of the Dragonborn. There were seven volumes that I knew about. I wrote volume 5. "Which book did you get that from?" Perhaps she read my volume…it's what I'd expect if she knew all about me.

"The Chronicles of the Dragonborn, it's volume 4." She replied, holding up her book. "It's this one here. It mentions you a lot in it."

"What?" I asked as I walked up to her. These stories were supposed to chronicle Asger's adventures, not mine. I stuck out my hand to take her book. She handed it off to me and I started looking at the title page. Chronicles of the Dragonborn: The official history of Asger Stonearm. Written by Maleek Frazviani. Maleek? He wrote this? When did he have time? Well, I guess he was doing nothing and was just as bored as I was. So, I opened the book up. What did he write?

"Check Chapter five, it's so lovely." Ariel sang to me while twisting in her seat. She was love-struck by this book. So, I opened up to chapter five and took a look.

Chapter 5: Host Isle

Immediately after Asger destroyed the Vampire Overlord's castle, we found ourselves sailing on a Dawnguard Dreadnaught; a revamped pirate ship piloted by the Dawnguard. Soon after I found out from Lydia that the annoying furball Ruby had a crush on me, I decided to have fun with her. I would do things like walk in on her while she bathed, mocked her beloved mane. While I thought it was a lovely color, seeing her so expressive made it worthwhile. It was my actions that caused us to crash upon the shores of Host Isle. I was disrupting the crew so much that when a huge fog had fallen down around us, we had steered right into a massive collection of rocks, which ended with us running ashore on Host Isle.

We were welcomed by several Altmer maids dressed in gothic clothing, followed by a Bosmer named Red Rum. We were informed from Fiirnar that Host Isle was nothing more than a vacation island hosted by the Aldmeri Dominion. Since our vessel was ruined, we had no choice but to vacation on the island. We feasted in victory of vanquishing the Vampire Lord Harkon and saved the world from being covered in darkness. And then we all retired to our separate rooms. I was on my way to torment Ruby in her room with a bottle of fake wine (ok, I was actually going to ask her out on a romantic date) when I heard the bloody screams from the other side of the room. Esbern and a few Dawnguard soldiers had been killed outside their rooms. Well, actually Esbern was found outside Brelyna's room.

There was a murderer on the island. We put together search parties to find the murderer but we had no luck. More of us ended up dying. I was with Ruby when we found Lydia being attacked by two assassins. I was with Ruby because I wanted to protect her, well that and because she was spending all her time around Pantu. I never liked Pantu; he was always trying to find reasons to touch Ruby. When we found Lydia, she was being choked to death by a Khajiit woman named Lunar Splice. I was about to go save Lydia, but Ruby charged in first. She challenged the male assassin to a bard off and shoved a cupcake down his throat. It was a funny moment where she demanded to know the quality of her baking. He responded with 'It tastes like death.' Classic.

When she finished with the male assassin, she told Pantu and me to go save Lydia before she died. She went after Lunar Splice. Against my better judgment, I went to save Lydia. By the time I got to her and helped revive her, Ruby was already in the hands of Lunar Splice. She was dead. I felt the world come to an end at that very second. I had watched my best friend get killed right in front of me. I think that was when I learned how I really felt about her. Both Pantu and I raced over to try to wake her up instead of pursuing the fleeing Lunar Splice. I swore that if Ruby, my little hyperactive annoying furball, didn't wake up, I'd find and kill that evil Khajiit.

We had a funeral for Ruby and the other people that died that night. Heck, we had one every night before then. But this one was special for me. It was Ruby's. I'd never see her again. So, when it came time to say goodbye to her, Cecilie talked me into giving her a goodbye kiss. I was hesitant, not because of kissing a dead body, but because of what it would mean. The first and only time I would get to kiss her? It didn't think it would make me feel better. But I kissed her anyway. And then…she grabbed me and kissed me back. I was so shocked and stunned that my first thought was that she was a zombie trying to eat my face. After she stood up and announced that she had gotten her revenge, Lydia and I had found out that we were being pranked. All the deaths had been faked and it was because I was tormenting Ruby too much. Everyone wanted to teach me a lesson…and boy did I learn it. Just not the lesson they wanted me to learn. I learned that I loved Ruby.

…

Maleek. His name echoed in my mind. He wrote this? I couldn't believe it. He never told me he had scribed our adventures into a book. And…the things he had to say about me. It was so nice. So, he still cared after all. I looked up at Ariel, to see her eyes gleaming at me. "Wow…that face you just had looked so pretty. So, it's true. You love him!"

I nodded. "Yeah, I never kept that a secret once he found out. I actually planned on proposing to him…before Lydia ruined it for me." I tentatively handed the book back to her. I actually wanted to keep one for myself. "So, where did you get this?"

"In the market place." She said. "Maleek is here for a book signing. So, are you going to go see him?" When I nodded, she beamed. "Wow…I wish I could meet someone like him. The things you two have been through."

I patted Ariel on the head. She was thirteen, so she was probably younger than me. "Don't worry, it will happen. Bards all know that when you go out and do some quests that you run into your true love along the way."

"I'm too young to go on a quest. All minors are denied questing until the age 16." She said. She crossed her arms, puffing her face out. "You're lucky. You're as old as the rest of us and yet you saved the world. You'd think they'd let us go out and fight."

No, I would have been dead if it weren't for Lydia. She saved me from dying in a cave. I could barely survive on my own. I was weeks away from dying of starvation when I ran into Lydia. She really did save my life. Everything that happened after that was because I was following her. I only saved the world because I was with Lydia and Asger. I couldn't do it on my own; hell I could barely face a dragon by myself. So, I shook my head. "No, we have laws for a reason. You guys are just…you don't understand what it's like out there. I almost died a lot. Honestly, if I never fight another dragon, I'll die happy. So…please…" I looked over at Samuel. "just let me rest. I'm still cooling down from helping the High King. If you give me a month, I'll be more than happy to help you guys prepare for adventuring."

Samuel and Jessie nodded, their smiles growing even larger at hearing that I'd help them prepare for quests. Ariel leaned her head down on her hand, glancing at me. "Wow…you've changed."

"What? No I haven't." I replied. "I'm just relaxing. You face down a few dragons and dodge flaming Shouts. It gets exhausting. I still wake up in the middle of the night with nightmares of dragons breaking down my wall and eating me. I was eaten once, you know."

She nodded, gesturing to the book. "Yes. While this is Volume 4 of the Chronicles series, High King and High Queen Stonearm wrote the first two volumes. I read about how you purposely got eaten by a dragon to get some gold coins and a massive diamond." She laughed, hugging the book close to her. "I wish I was that brave."

"I still have that diamond. It's in my room on my crystal alter." I told her. "You should go see it sometime. If you place your hand on it and focus, you can actually relive my memories of that day. It recorded the event." I smiled. I found a way I could share my adventure with them. "In fact, I've been recording all sorts of events on that diamond. It's been with me the whole time. If you focus enough, you can play an event past my getting it. And luckily for you…that's pretty much anything of interest."

She stood up to go see my diamond. "Really? I can see it? Can I go into your bag as well? I've read such wonderful things about it from High Queen Lydia's recollection."

I nodded and waved her off. "Sure thing. While you guys play around in there, I'm going to go talk to my boyfriend. I'll be back soon." I watched as they stood up and ran off to my room. It was nice to be able to relax like this. A few more weeks of rest and perhaps I'll start training again. When they were gone, I quickly rushed out through the back door to the guild. The market place wasn't too far away. I could easily see Maleek in a few minutes. I wonder what I would say to him. I haven't seen him in so long.

Wow, the town was packed. I hadn't even left the guild's backyard and I could see the massive crowd of people drawing towards the market place. The line was long, and the entire plaza was packed from shoulder-to-shoulder. There was no way I would be able to shrug through all that to see Maleek. Oh well, I could wait in line to see my boyfriend, or I could exercise my apparent fame to cut through everyone. Normally, I would hate someone if they did that, but I really wanted to see Maleek. So, I started to push through the thick crowd to get to him. "Um, excuse me! Please let me through." I said as I tried to squeeze through people. "Ruby Stonearm trying to talk to her boyfriend here!" No one was paying attention to me, however, and I'm still pretty short. I couldn't get through the crowd… but I did get a handful of coins from someone's pocket. Oh well, they're mine now.

As I started putting the coins in my belt pouch, I accidentally bumped shoulders with a Redguard. It was really painful, and it forced me to trip over my own legs. I fell down and face-planted on the ground, which made my vision black out with white stars dancing in front of my eyes. Several people stepped on me as they stepped over me. I didn't even get an apology. Ah man…even when I'm famous I'm still overlooked and stepped on. That was probably for best. I left Winterhold just to get away from all the attention. Why did this bother me so much? Oh yeah…because it was keeping me from getting to my boyfriend.

"Excuse me. Aren't you Ruby Battle-Born?" The Redguard that shoulder-rammed me asked as he looked down at me. He had his hand sticking out. "Sorry for bumping into you. Here, let me help you up."

I smiled as I took his hand. "Thanks. Can you help me get through this crowd? I just can't seem to squeeze through." I said as I started looking up at the Redguard taking my hand.

He pulled me up onto my feet, nodding. "Sure. Well, actually there is one problem." He said as he started frowning at me.

Two hands suddenly grabbed onto my arms from behind. Oh no. I had just noticed that several other Redguards had surrounded me, all smiling at me and looking at me like I was a prize. The Redguard that had helped me up smiled wickedly at me as he stabbed me in the arm with a poisoned dagger. "Welcome home, jailbait." Jailbait? Oh…no, no, no!

He just barely grazed my arm with his poisoned dagger. I was about to scream out for help, but my voice was suddenly gone. One of the Redguards was whispering an incantation. Oh no…Illusion magic. He was Silencing me…literally. My head started feeling woozy, no doubt from the poison. I tried to pull my arms free but I could feel the poison taking affect. The Redguard grabbed my face, pinching my cheeks to my mouth while he glared at me. "Ranjier has been looking for you ever since your boyfriend tried to kill us. We sure were lucky when we found out from his book that you were living here in Solitude. And we knew you'd come out to visit him. Time to go, jailbait. Someone as famous as you is worth a lot of gold. Too bad Ranjier wants more than just gold from you. He wants revenge." I felt my body grow weak. I couldn't stay awake any longer. Getting slammed in the stomach with the Redguard's fist probably didn't help either.

Cearbhail: So, what did you guys think about that? I think this will be an exciting few chapters...maybe ten or so. Maybe 30...I really hope not 100. No...not for this. Anyway, enjoy the ride.