Cearbhail:

It's finally here! A whole day later! The Chronicles of Ruby! Yaay! Going to be a fun time as I'm sure you will realize by the end of the chapter. I'll mention down lower what this story will be about. Ruby is finally 16 and now...everything will become chaotic. How will Ruby handle it? I don't know!

Oh...and enjoy. ^^

Dear diary,

Today is 4e 207 8th Evening Star. I can't believe it's been two whole years since the stuff we did back when Alduin was alive and trying to kill us all. And since then, I've shot up a whole 12 inches! I'm now 5'9". That's almost as tall as Lydia…just a few inches shorter. I'm like an adult now. I can't wait until Maleek comes back from his assignment that's kept him busy for the past year. Once he got back from his Orc stronghold annihilation quest, he left with his father to take back Black Marsh to take it back. I've gotten letters back from him once in a while telling me that his war is going just fine, and that he wished I could be there, even though the plants in the marsh would kill me with any mistakes I made walking around. He should be back in a few months, and when that happens, I hope he notices how taller I've gotten. Too bad my height is the only thing that improved. I'm flat-chested. I hope he will still love me.

Cecilie is a year-old now and four months. Her birthday is on 4e 206 17th Heartfire . She's just the cutest thing around. There was a slight side-effect to having Lydia exposed to magicka so strongly while being pregnant to Cecilie, however. She's a bit…intelligent may not be the word…um…aware might be a better one. Let's just say she doesn't coo and pop her diaper like a one year old would. She acts more like a three year old; talks a lot, knows enough words to hold conversations…and like all mages, teleports her poo from diaper into Uncle Fiirnar's face when she wants a laugh. I think it's hilarious she will one day go back in time and date him…when she's throwing poop in his face right now.

Other than being a good sister and keeping an eye on her so that Lydia and Asger could sleep, I haven't really been up to much. Just getting my guildhall ready for the day I turn sixteen. I hope it's soon. I'm getting impatient. Dad said he'd come visit on my sixteenth birthday so…there's that. I'm just waiting for him now.

Nisha Ruby Stonearm.

…

The Crystal Palace was a wonder to behold. Towering white pillars with a massive frozen lake to skate on outside the palace courtyard. The massive keep itself was amazing, but pretty simple in respects for the other holds. It wasn't a longhouse, but it sure wasn't the Blue Palace either. It just looked…modern. I can't call it anything else. It looked more like an Ayleid castle with the white pillars and Cyrodiilian statues of the gods around the garden…including Talos. All of Winterhold was a sight to behold. Once we cleared away the destroyed buildings and stretched the town out along the giant cliff that led to the sinking of Winterhold in the first place, we had a nice respectable town filled with several shops, a giant Tamriel Alliance Legion base: Fort Septim; named after Martin Septim, the man that gave his body to the gods to defeat Mehrunes Dagon and save the world from Daedric conquest. It was run by Commander Rikke, who ran her troopers like a true general. Attached to the fort was the Aldmeri Alliance counterpart and headquarters, run by Elenwen, Fiirnar, and Nrillia the Corpsemaster. Using her insane ability for necromancy, Nrillia was in charge of healing the wounded that came into the infirmary. And no one ever died on her watch. I was kind of envious of her ability as a healer.

My job around the castle was pretty simple. Whenever Lydia needed a nap away from Cecilie, my job was to…entertain my sister. There, simple. And when leaders of the other nations stopped by to talk to us about forming an alliance for our war on the Aldmeri Dominion, my job was to put on a pretty dress and be with the family. I didn't say much during these meetings but I was still part of the family. Asger had gone and allied with almost everyone, excluding Black Marsh and Valenwood…as well as High Rock. The Orcs were not going to side with us anytime soon, and neither were the Bretons for that matter. Cyrodiil was still under Dominion control so they were out as well. So…we had an alliance with Elsweyr, Hammerfell, Morrowind was still iffy. But I hear House Redoran would be more than glad to help us fight when we needed help. And they were the massive family of Morrowind so…that was good that we had them on our side. And then there was the whole meeting with the Akaviri Alliance…jeez…a lot of alliance named groups around here. That was a fun day. It pretty much went like this.

Three leaders walked into our court. The lizard snake thingy was rude but accepting of joining us, the half-cat/half-lizard wanted nothing more than to have Asger's blood so that he could turn into a dragon, and the monkey threw poop in my face during dinner, completely ruining my apatite by the way. But at the end of the day, we got them all to join the alliance. So, we had almost every nation but the ones I mentioned earlier. I was beginning to wonder when the Dominion would begin their war. They know the minute they act, there is no going back and every nation will go against them. Maybe that's why they refuse to attack; they know what will happen if they try. Meanwhile, they're trying to find a way to bring Dwemer back to Tamriel…and from what we were hearing from Legate Nrillia…they were failing so far to create a resonator capable of breaching the level of Aetherius they ended up in.

So, it was already late into the afternoon and I was resting in my room. Ok…so unlike my room back at the Bards College…my room is pretty big. I had a nice huge bed big enough to fit three of me…and Maleek whenever he gets back. Instead of some small dresser, I had a full walk-in closet with rows and rows of dresses I had to make myself. I learned how to make rabi dresses and obtained silk from the caravan when it came to town. I actually made my own rabi dresses, tops, and skirts now. I figured…why not? I had to…finding Khajiit clothes in Skyrim was hard and the caravan isn't here all the time. Besides my massive closet, I didn't have much else in my room except plushies, a weapons rack, and a full crystal altar filled with massive pillars of crystals almost as tall as me.

"Wooby!" I heard Cecilie call from the hallway. "Wooby, I'm hungie." The little child that barely came up to my knees ran into my room, her shoulder-length dark brown hair flailing madly as she ran into my room. She ran right into my bed, not even stopping as she grabbed on and flipped over on top of my mattress, laughing as she jumped up and down. "Feed me, feed me, feed me!" She screamed as she bounced on my bed.

I grabbed her mid-jump and scooped her into my arms. "Ok, Lilly. Let's get you something to eat." I carried her out of my room. She screamed in joy of having someone feeding her. "Where's mom and dad?"

Cecilie looked up at me with her big hazel eyes. "Mommy is twaining…Daddy is…I forget the word. Mmm…doing bawdic battwe with Mr. big kitty." Big kitty? We didn't have any big kitty here.

"What's Mr. big kitty's name?" I asked her but she only shrugged. "What did he look like?"

She puffed out her cheeks, saying, "Really big puffy face full of fur, owange wike you. He dwesses wike the mages from the cowwege, only the wobes were bwownish…with a hood. Tawked in third person. I thought it was funny." She laughed. "M'aiq came to visit Wooby…" She attempted to imitate the voice of whoever she was thinking of. And then it clicked. She said M'aiq… my dad was back!

I smiled as I carried Cecilie over to the kitchen, which was massive. Our personal chef, Berner, was around here somewhere, so I just had to call him. "Hey, Berner! Get in here. Feed my sister!"

"Right away, Ruby!" I heard Berner calling from the bathroom. "Just creating my own recipe… I'll be a few minutes."

"I'm hungie now!" Cecilie called from my arms.

So I rolled my eyes and set her up on a counter. Once I had her sitting, I smiled and grabbed a pan. "I'll make you something. What do you want?"

"I want curry!" She said. "I wove Wooby's curry." So, I pulled out some ready rice and my already premade curry sauce. I loved curry a lot, and I love making it too. It was a very traditional Khajiit dish and I must admit with the right moon sugar…it was tasty. So, I always had some ready. I poured the curry into a pan and began warming it up underneath our cinder cooking pit while I started heating up the rice as well in a separate cauldron. While they warmed up, I pulled out my favorite flavor of moon sugar, Rimmen Pop, and pulled out my 'clouding' device. I started whipping up some moon clouds for her and me while the food warmed up. Be the time the food was warm enough for Cecilie to eat, I was just finishing up the moon clouds.

It was around this time that I heard a flush and Berner washing his hands. "Nope…this recipe was too runny." He replied to me. "It would never work." Yuck…I didn't even want to know if he was being serious when he said that. It was a disgusting thought. But at least he washed his hands when he was done and wore sanitized gloves while he prepared food. He walked out of the bathroom, drying his hands on a rag. Once he finished he tossed the used rag in a dirty laundry chute where our maids washed our used clothes in the basement and brought them back up to us when they were cleaned. They usually checked every day or so for clothes to clean. Berner walked up to us, checking my cooking curry. He nodded at it, smiling. "I'm glad to have you here helping me, Ruby. This place is just too big for one chef alone to feed it."

I smiled back at him. "Well…chefs from Chefs United have to stand together." I held up the baker's sign: my pointer and pinky finger extended while curling my two inside fingers together. "Besides, you've been a great friend, Berner. I don't know what I would have done last year if you hadn't fed that dragon that came by looking to eat someone."

He nodded. "And to think…he would have eaten Commander Rikke if we hadn't fed him your moon sugar stash." He shook his head. "Well, I would like to continue chatting, Ruby, but I have to prepare dinner. Unless you feel like helping out?"

I had to shake my head at that. "Nah…I really can't. I just found out from my little sister that my dad has come back home."

She looked up at me. "Dad is awways home." She said.

I looked down at her. "I have two fathers. M'aiq…the big kitty you saw daddy fighting with…he's my other father. The one that helped create me."

Cecilie nodded like she understood. "Oh…ok. So, Mr. big kitty is Wooby's daddy. Ok."

I looked at Berner. "Will you keep her company while she eats? I want to go see my dad."

Berner nodded. "Have no fear, Berner is here." He said as he prepared Cecilie's plate of curry. He picked up Cecilie and carried her over to the table. "Want to hear about the time I helped feed an entire town of pigmy Orcs?"

"Yay!" Cecilie cried out. "Stowy time!"

I left the kitchen, hanging up my apron as I quickly jogged to the courtyard. And once I pushed past the main door, I could see Asger battling dad; both of them with their hands out in a bardic challenge. I could feel their individual souls screaming out, trying to push the other soul down so that this contest could be concluded. Standing near the doorway was Ksaan, who stood there with his arms crossed. He looked a little taller than I remember, just as tall as me. He was dressed in bright red and yellow robes that looked rabi-ish in design. When he saw me, he smiled. "Oh…hey sis." His eyes widened as he looked at me. "Wow you've grown. Still skinny as a fox though." He poked me in the stomach. "Do you even eat?"

I nodded. "Yeah, probably more than I should but…having heightened reflexes due to my Blades training sped up my metabolism. I can eat as much as I want…my stomach can keep up with me." I looked back at dad and Asger fighting with each other. "Ok…so…why have you guys come to visit?"

He reached into his pouch and pulled out a wrapped gift. "Happy birthday." He said. "It's your sixteenth if we're not mistaken."

"What? Really?" I said as I took the gift from him. "It's my birthday?" I had completely forgotten to ask dad about it. And it was my sixteenth at that! I'm a full adult. And more than that…I can finally start my own guild. I ripped the gift open and there sat a small ring with a malachite embedded into it. "Oh, thanks. What is it?"

He held up his own finger. "It's a…well…a negating ring. He blocks your…you remember when I told you about the Sen'la'gar?"

I had to think about it, but I remembered it. It was a thing that he did that made him invincible or something like that. "Kinda. It's a spell, right?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. It's a bloodline. You have one too, and I saw you use it once when you fought alongside Maleek. Tell me…what do you remember of that fight you had on the ship?"

I really had to think about it. "Um…I felt alive…really alive. And then all I remember was Maleek holding me, telling me the fight was over. I didn't really remember anything at that point. Just tired…like my muscles were screaming at me to stop."

Ksaan nodded. "It's a gene in our blood that makes us insanely strong and impervious to pain. The only problem is that we can't really control it very well, at least now while we are young. We go blood-crazy and pretty much kill anything that gets in our way, anything we perceive as a threat at least. And…well, I don't need to tell you what happens when you lose control of your actions, right?" I'm not sure I understood, but I nodded. "We lose the ability to judge appropriate battles and underestimate our chances of walking out of a fight alive. Many fighters with our bloodline died in battle because they fought someone too hard…and with this…there is no defense, just pure onslaught." He looked at me. "You are better off keeping it contained while you can."

So…that's what it was. It was a berserk mode for Khajiits…but only certain Khajiits of the same bloodline. "Ok…so…how come I haven't gone and killed the whole village?"

He shrugged. "Have you been fighting things past your fifteenth birthday?" I shook my head. Apart from the hungry dragon, we hadn't fought anything in the past year. Just me watching my baby sister. "That's when it normally starts up…around your fifteenth birthday, and it's caused by stress or a threat to yours or others' safety." He shrugged. "Without that stress, your blood won't come to a boil. And when you wear this ring…you won't have to worry about shredding your family members over some stupid argument."

I nodded and looked at dad. His soul was pushing bravely against Asger's and I swear this fight could go on forever, so I had to do something about it. "Hi, dad!" I screamed to him. And just like that, he broke the eye contact and Asger's soul crushed him. Dad cried out in pain as he crumpled underneath Asger's soul. He lied there for a few seconds while Asger pulled his soul back into his aura, taking a calming breath as he walked away.

He stopped a few feet away from dad and smiled. "Almost got me M'aiq. If Ruby hadn't stepped in…you might have beaten me." Oops…I think I just caused my father unneeded pain. Yay! Asger walked up to me, gave me a hug, and said, "Oh…happy birthday, Ruby." He walked past me and into the castle. "Make sure to tell Lydia the good news. You're officially an adult."

And now that I was an adult…there was nothing stopping me from starting my own guild. Well, I did need two other founders of the guild to start it up. And they both had to be at least sixteen as well. Oh well, I'd deal with that later. Right now, I should at least see my dad and my brother. Who knows…maybe they'll co-sign with me on the guild. I looked at Ksaan, pouting. "Will you help me start up a guild?"

He shook his head. "Can't. I'm a firedrake now…I can't join any guilds outside Elsweyr. I need to be ready for when the Mane needs my magical assistance. But…I will come hang out and help you if you need it. Once you get it started, I guess I could be an honorary member, but I can't be a founder." Well that sucks. I already had one person who would co-sign: Samantha. She lived here in Winterhold. She was a member of the Tamriel Alliance Legion, or TAL soldier (tall) as we call them. She came to visit often, but she was normally out fighting Falmer whenever they poked their nasty heads out of the caves nearby.

I walked up to dad, who was just picking himself out of the snow. "M'aiq must say…" He looked around. "He likes the frozen wonderland of your castle. Even the white marble…it speaks to M'aiq."

I hugged him close. "Welcome back, dad." I wanted this moment for a while now, and it was finally here. I couldn't ask for a better birthday present. I looked up at him. "Is today really my birthday?" He nodded and then I stepped away, crossing my arms. "Why couldn't someone have told me?"

He shrugged. "M'aiq thought it would be best to wait for her sixteenth birthday to tell her. And, M'aiq must share something with her." He grabbed me by my shoulders. "All Khajiits have bad luck on their first month as adults. We call this time our birthday trial…and Ruby's will begin shortly. M'aiq thought he'd warn her ahead of time so that she may be prepared to face the worst. Did she receive her ring from Ksaan?" I nodded. He sighed a relief. "Never take it off…no need to put Ruby in more danger than needed. Be mindful for the next 30 days Ruby…she will need to be." He turned to leave.

"What? You're leaving already?" I shouted to him as he turned to leave. I looked at the ground and picked up a wad of snow. I packed it into a snowball and threw it at him. It launched off my hand incorrectly and smashed into a pine tree packed with snow. The tree wobbled and before I could react, a massive wave of snow crashed on top of me. I found myself buried in snow. Ok…that was weird. Was this the bad luck my dad had warned me about? A hand suddenly grabbed mine and pulled me out. It was my dad's.

He smiled. "Not at all. He just wanted to take a step back in case something happened." He helped pat off all the snow off my body, saying, "She needs to be careful. Stuff like this will be normal for the next 30 days. Do not ask M'aiq why…it just happens." So…stuff like this was going to happen to me for the next 30 days? What a rip!

"Ok, so is bad stuff going to happen to my friends?" I looked at dad for an answer.

He only shook his head and turned around. "No, the bad luck is only Ruby's to share. If Ruby is wondering if her friends will get hurt by her bad luck, they will not. It's only against Ruby…but be mindful…sometimes bad things happen around Ruby. Do not be surprised if a wall falls down around her because construction workers are fixing a leak or something of the nature. And her guildhall…it should not be ventured into until her trial is over. Ruby would be very unlucky to lose her guildhall already."

"So…I have to wait a month before I can start up my own guild?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Bad luck to start a guild during this period, Ruby. She may start her guild on the 9th of next month to be safe. Until then…just be careful." He walked away from me and over to a giant cart filled with stuff. "M'aiq brought Ruby some gifts. My, my, how much she has grown. It is a good thing Lydia told M'aiq how tall his little Ruby had gotten." He walked up to me and placed his head to mine. I was almost just as tall as my dad! Finally, I'm truly an adult! He handed me a few giant presents. "New rabi for Ruby, latest trending dresses for women Ruby's age." He smiled and rubbed my head. "M'aiq will be staying here for Ruby's trial. Ksaan will be going home."

Ksaan looked at me, nodding. "It was nice seeing you sister, but I don't really have time to chat. The Mane is expecting a skirmish with the Dominion mages soon, and all firedrakes are needed to defend the capital of Elsweyr. And since I'm a Sen'la'guardian…I'm very special to him." He turned to leave. "Wish I could stay and chat though. Have fun and try not to worry…my trial wasn't that hard." With that, Ksaan left with a hug and started going to a rented carriage. He was probably going to take the carriage back to Elsweyr instead of a ship. He gets horribly seasick.

Dad lifted up a couple giant suitcases and headed for the door to the castle. "Where is M'aiq going to be staying?"

I had to think about it for a second. Where could he stay? "We have guest rooms, sure…but…" I scratched my head and then a candle lit over my head. "I know…" I grabbed onto his hand and dragged him with me. I was pulling him away from the castle, so he looked confused but he didn't fight me too hard. "Just…trust me!" I growled as I pulled him away from the door. I led him out of the courtyard and down the road. As we walked down the road, I couldn't help but look around at all the shops. We had a full smithy run by one of Urag's sons, Voluung, and one of his daughters, Tuva, served as his assistant. They were pretty cool, I'll give them that. They lived in the stronghold just outside town. You could see it was just a mile out. It stood like a huge city on its own. Right past the smithy was my guildhall. Yeah…it was that close. It was a pretty big guildhall constructed of the same material stone that the Crystal Palace was built out of. And it was also the same stone the Ayleids used for their now ruins. They used crystals in their time, so I thought there might be a connection between the two.

I pointed to my guildhall, looking at dad. He only nodded before saying, "Ok…what is this place?"

"This is where my guild will be started. The Crimson Blades. Samantha hangs out here with me a lot and we have a lot of fun decorating the place for the moment we can start the guild. But…it looks like we have to wait for a month…and a third signer." I leaned closer to him. "Can you do it?"

He shook his head. Shab! I have the worst luck…go figure. "Liars cannot join guilds, Ruby. It is a fate the Liars have to live with." I opened the door for him and he walked right past me. "Where are the bedrooms? M'aiq does not want Ruby inside her guildhall while she is cursed. Might fall down around her. Or something valuable may break." My luck was already bad…how much worse could it possibly be?

"What bad luck?" Samantha asked as she walked up. She was my best friend; a red-headed…more like crimson-headed Breton with brown eyes and hair that went halfway down her back. She always had it pulled back into a ponytail though. She was a little taller than me. She dressed in full TAL heavy armor, which looked more streamline than the Imperial Legion armor. That's because it's crystalline. I made it…with Voluung's help. He made the base metal and I introduced the crystal element. Upon searching the ancient tomes of shamanism…I found out how to fuse crystals and metal together without trying to smelt them. I fused their entire being and spirit to the already indestructible metal of orichalcum. It was perfect and shined like opalite. It looked great in contrast with her navy blue leather underarmor. Her diamond sword hung on her hips, which I also made. Let's face it…I'm not letting these TAL soldiers go into war without some protection. They bring me crystals…and I use some to help them. Everyone wins.

M'aiq looked back at me and nodded to Samantha. "My daughter Ruby has entered her birthday trial."

"Birthday trial?" Samantha asked. Then something in her mind clicked. "Oh…I heard something about that. Khajiits develop a month worth of bad luck on their sixteenth birthday…right?" She looked at my dad and he nodded. She smiled and grabbed my hands. "This is wonderful news!" She screamed to me, which made me arch an eyebrow. "Ruby?!" She screamed to me. "It's your sixteenth birthday! We can finally start that guild!"

I sighed. "We still need a third person to join us." But she was right; we could start it any minute. We just had to go to Lydia and request a form to sign that would start our guild. It would say stuff like: Name of the guild; Purpose; Requirements for joining; Three Founding Signatures; and Date of Creation. And just like that…we'd have our guild. But only once we had that third person to sign. "Do you think anyone in the TAL would join?"

She shook her head. "No one is worthy of being a founder, Ruby. You are the original shaman…and I am a nightblade. This guild is supposed to be about the study and practice of crystal shamanism, right? We're the only two who are not the High King and Queen of Skyrim that can even do something like that. The ones that are belong to the College up the road…and I'm sorry to say this but they're a bunch of snobs. There is no one like us in this town."

I sighed as I looked down at her hands clasped on mine. I wasn't the original shaman. I was taught everything from my friend Ashana. But…I hadn't seen her in years now. I hadn't even heard anything about her. I don't know if she was even alive. And the mages up in the college were snobbish. Faralda was nice but the other ones were just…I won't call them weird. That would be an insult to weird people. And when I mentioned my shamanism, they looked down at me saying that old magic such as mine was what was keeping magicka from developing and prospering. "I guess you're right. I hope someone comes by later who's interested. Keep looking around, ok?"

She nodded. "Ok, but…I'm just glad it's finally coming together." She walked away from me over to my dad. "I'm guessing you're staying here then?" He nodded and Samantha took one of his suitcases from him. "I'll show you to the massive sleeping quarters downstairs." She looked back at me and winked. "Sorry, Ruby, but I can't let you in until your trial finishes. Don't need any crystals vibrating so high that they explode." She said it in a joking way but I couldn't help but think she was hinting at something I didn't know.

Once dad got his stuff in order, I walked back up to the castle. It was time for dinner and we were having roasted boar. I stayed out of the dining room, where Lydia and Asger were waiting for me to enter. Lydia looked up at me, smiling. "Ruby? What's wrong? Aren't you going to join us for dinner?"

I hesitated before I looked at her and Asger. "Um…it's my sixteenth birthday."

She nodded. "I know. What's wrong?" She started to stand up. "You're not moving out are you?" I shook my head and then she looked from me over to Asger, who chewed his food slowly. He already knew why I wasn't entering the room. "Well…I don't understand. What's going on?" She looked from me over to him.

I sighed. "I'm kinda…cursed for the next month." I said to her. "Every Khajiit…when they turn sixteen…they have a birthday trial that lasts exactly one month. So…for the next 30 days…I'm cursed."

She scoffed at the idea and waved me to the table. "Nonsense. Either way, we won't keep you from the table. Come sit down and enjoy some dinner." And I did. I walked up to the table and sat down. Right as I reached for a plate and a carving knife to cut something from the massive boar, the boar let out a squeal and jumped up. Just like that, our food was up and moving like it was alive. It squealed and charged right off the table, throwing mash potatoes everywhere as it did so. The boar rushed right over top of me, charging past me and out the dining room doorway. I sat there completely stunned. What had just happened?

Asger started laughing as he stood up from his chair. "This will be a fun month." He said as he waved to Aela, his housecarl. "Aela…go kill our dinner and throw it back in the oven." She nodded and took off. He looked down at me and smiled. "Ruby…do you mind if we have some of your leftover curry?"

"Yay!" Cecilie called from her high chair.

Cearbhail:

Well, that's the first chapter. What did you guys think? Back to the humor of the Chronicles world. Random stuff going on, random hilarious conversations, and...well...next chapter you'll see. Things are about to get crazy for Ruby and her friends. Let's just say...her guild will become very useful soon enough and it will test her knowledge of resonance. The events following the happenings at the college in Winterhold will finally break out. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you'll figure it out soon enough. Enjoy the ride. It shouldn't be a very long one, but that all depends on how long I need this story to be.