The relations between Auras, Semblances, and Magicka are complex. Every living thing is born with at least a drop of Magicka, even if they shun the Cunning Craft. All those with Souls possess Auras – even those with White Souls. However, only those with Black Souls – Man, Mer, the Beast Races, and Daedra – possess Semblances, and one's Semblance says something about one's very essence and destiny. The relationships were muddled for so long because there are some Semblances that grant greater power or control over Aura and Magicka.
"Hadvar? What are you doing here?" A blonde, bearded man carefully put down his tools and stepped away from the forge and started approaching. "Are you on leave from–" He did a double take at his nephew's condition. "Shor's bones, what happened to you, boy? Are you in some kind of trouble?"
"Shh. Uncle, please. Keep your voice down. I'm fine. But we should go inside to talk."
"What's going on?" He looked up at Yang and Ruby who stood to one side. "And who are these?"
"They're friends. Saved my life, in fact. Come on, I'll explain everything but we need to go inside."
"Hi, I'm Yang." Yang waved.
"And I'm Ruby."
"Okay, okay. Come inside, then. Sigrid will get you something to eat, and you can tell me all about it."
The two Huntresses followed Hadvar into his uncle's home. Yang glanced around the cozy home and saw a little girl in her nightgown, almost ready for bed, getting up to see what was going on.
"Sigrid!" Alvor called. "We have company!"
A red-haired woman ascended from a staircase in the far corner. "Hadvar! We've been so worried about you! Come, you three must be hungry. Sit down and I'll get you something to eat." She walked to the pantry and gathered some ingredients before walking to the stew pot as the others seated themselves.
"Now then, boy, what's the big mystery? What are you doing here looking like you lost an argument with a cave bear?" As Alvor spoke, the little girl moved closer and sat on the nearby bed.
Hadvar took a deep breath, and let it out. "I don't know where to start. You know I was assigned to General Tullius's guard. We were stopped in Helgen when we were attacked by...a dragon."
"A dragon? That's ridiculous." Alvor replied incredulously. "You aren't drunk, are you boy?"
"We saw the dragon too." Yang added.
"And we're not drunk." Ruby said proudly. "I drink milk."
That brought some snickers from everyone assembled, Yang included.
"Husband." Sigrid chided, "Let him tell his story."
"Not much more to tell. The dragon flew over and just wrecked the whole place. Mass confusion. And then the panic drew in whole packs of Grimm. I don't know if anyone else got out alive. I doubt I'd have made it out if not for my friends here. I need to get back to Solitude and let them know what's happened. I thought you could help us out. Food, supplies, a place to stay."
"Of course!" Alvor replied with more force than might have been necessary. "Any friends of Hadvar's are friends of mine, I'd be glad to help however I can. But I need your help." He looked towards Yang and Ruby, "We need your help. The Jarl needs to know if there's a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenseless...You need to get word to Jarl Balgruuf to send whatever soldiers he can. If you do this for me, I'll be in your debt."
"You can count on us!"
"Yeah! But, uh, where are we sleeping? I only see two beds."
Sigrid chimed in as she started placing bowls of what smelled like venison stew on the table. "You might have to stay at the inn. The food is good enough and the beds are warm, but there's not much else to say about it."
Apparently the little girl could not contain herself anymore and burst out, "Hadvar, did you really see a dragon? What did it look like? Did it have big teeth?"
"Hush Dorthe, don't pester your cousin."
"Yes, Mama."
"So," Alvor began as the group ate. "What brings a pair of Huntresses all the way from Cyrodiil? Not often we get visitors in Riverwood."
Ruby tried to talk with her mouth full, but was unintelligible, so Yang answered, "Ruby graduated early from the Imperial Hunters Academy and now she wants to join the Companions. Dad and I are so proud of my baby sister!"
Ruby finally swallowed her mouthful and stuck her tongue out, then added, "Yang's going to try to join the Companions too, but she wants to travel the world and decided to start with Skyrim."
"Yang?" Dorthe sounded confused.
"Yang Xiao Long," she smiled at Dorthe. "I have some Akaviri ancestry so my parents gave me an Akaviri name. It means 'Little Sun Dragon.' Weird coincidence with what happened today."
The rest of the meal passed in silence, and the duo gave their goodbyes as they left the house and turned towards the inn, known as the Sleeping Dragon.
"You didn't spend all our money on sweet rolls again, did you Ruby?"
The girl in question rolled her silver eyes. "No more than you spent on your hair."
"Sounds fair. We should still have plenty for rent then. Come on."
Yang opened the door and swaggered in. Ruby followed somewhat awkwardly a moment later, until she was distracted by the scene in progress at the bar.
"Orgnar." The speaker walked out of a room, revealing a woman with short hair and a blue dress. "Orgnar! Are you listening?"
"Hard not to." The barkeep gruffly replied.
"The ale's going bad." She paused, apparently waiting for a reaction. "Did you hear me?"
"Yep. Ale's going bad."
"I guess you don't have potatoes in your ears after all. Just make sure we get a new batch soon."
Yang and Ruby walked up to the bar as the woman walked away to work at a nearby alchemy station, giving them a suspicious look.
"So how much for a room? And do you make strawberry sunrises?"
"I'm just the barkeep, and there's no strawberries this time of year in Skyrim. Ask Delphine if you want to stay, she's the innkeeper."
Orgnar gestured to the woman who'd been talking to him when they came in.
The woman didn't look up at them as they approached, but Yang could've sworn she saw a slight change in her posture, a hint of readiness, but she shrugged it off as a figment of her imagination. "Hey, we hear you're the innkeeper, and we'd like to stay the night. How much is it for a room?"
Delphine replied, "Ten Septims and it's yours for a day. It'll be the one on the left."
Yang counted out ten coins and handed them over. "Go on Ruby, I'll be there in a minute." Sensing that neither Delphine nor Orgnar were conversationalists, but that Delphine wasn't very friendly, she walked up to the barkeep while her sister went to their room.
"So, any interesting gossip around town?"
"Well, we have something of a love triangle: Faendal and Sven, both vying for Camilla's affections."
"Ooh, anything else?"
"Lucan, the owner of the local store, said his shop was broken into. Oddly enough, he said hardly anything was stolen. That's it for local news."
Yang thought about investigating the theft, but then she yawned and realized just how sleepy she was. Fighting off a horde of Grimm was tiring work. And besides, telling the Jarl about a dragon attack definitely took priority. She thanked Orgnar for his time and went to her room, where Ruby was already curled up and sleeping. She smiled at her baby sister and snuggled up with her. Ruby murmured something about sweet rolls, and Yang giggled before falling to sleep.
They woke the next morning and purchased some apples for the road before heading out, and took a moment to check on Hadvar.
"Good luck to you both. And if you do decide to join the Legion, I'll be sure to put in a good word for you when I make it back to Solitude."
The got to bridge out of town when Ruby smiled at her sister and asked, "Race to Whiterun?"
"Only if you don't use your Semblance." Yang smirked when Ruby stuck her tongue out in lieu of protesting.
They broke into a sprint, and stayed about even as they disappeared into the lightly wooded area along the path, but soon slowed to a speedy jog as they admired the scenery.
Dappled sunlight filtered through the leaves of many trees illuminated individual cobblestones, and to Yang's amusement Ruby made a game of only stepping on what was lit up. To make things even better, it seemed that all of the local Grimm had been drawn away by the dragon attack, and so the route seemed completely safe. A few deer ran deeper into the forest as they passed, and a few wolves shrank back into the shadows, but there were no real threats.
As the sun rose higher in the sky and the path curved once again, they slowed to eat some of their apples and talk. Or rather, Yang started to talk. Her big sister senses were tingling and they told her that something was bothering Ruby.
"So, don't you think it's weird that we saw a dragon yesterday?"
Ruby nodded while chewing on an apple. That was a dead giveaway. Happy Ruby spoke with her mouth full.
"Ruby… c'mon, tell me what's wrong. Did you leave a cute boy behind in Cyrodiil?"
That made her sister almost choke on the apple and snort with laughter. Much better.
"Yang!"
She laughed freely at her sibling's embarrassed denials. But Yang sobered quickly when Ruby spoke again.
"I was thinking about Mom again."
Oh dear. That wasn't good.
Summer Rose had been a wonderful mother to Ruby, and had loved Yang as if she'd been her own child. She had also been an amazing Huntress, which made it all the more baffling and distressing to everyone when she accepted a routine mission in Skyrim and then never came back.
Yang extended a comforting hand and Ruby leaned into it like a touch-starved puppy.
"I just… after I saw the dragon I started wondering, what if Mom tried to fight it and that's why she's…"
Ruby couldn't finish and Yang pulled her into a hug as they walked. Yang reached into one of the few satchels she had not dedicated to ammunition or her hip-length hair and pulled out a lavender handkerchief and used it to wipe away Ruby's tears.
"Remember Ruby, she loved us and would want you to be happy. And Dad and I will always be there for you. Always remember that, okay?"
On the last word she made sure to squeeze her sister extra hard.
"Pleash Shtop," Ruby croaked, so Yang let go, and Ruby made a show of taking a deep breath.
"You know what else I remember Yang?"
"What Ruby?"
"That we're having a race!"
And then she darted off at top speed in a cloud of rose petals.
"Hey! We said no Semblances!"
Yang ran after her, feigning anger, but pleased that Ruby was happy again. Ruby would know she wasn't truly angry because her irises hadn't turned red.
As the sun moved from it's zenith to the west, they took a short break to appreciate the sight of the waterfall and the White River. From this edge of the path it was possible to see Whiterun on the hill, picturesque farms and windmills just outside its walls dotting the landscape.
"Come on Ruby, we'll get to the city before dark if we hurry, and then tomorrow you'll get to meet the Companions!"
Ruby's broad, childlike grin was its own reward and the two young Huntresses set off down their darkening route, until finally stepping out of the treeline onto the flat plains of Whiterun Hold.
The route from here was much clearer. They turned to the west, the bridge leading towards the Rift behind them, and passed the Honningbrew Meadery. Yang was beginning to think she'd have enough time to ask someone at the inn about – flying fence posts?
The sisters glanced at each other after a second one flew over their head and fired their weapons down, launching themselves high enough into the air to see what was going on.
There was a giant on one of the farms just ahead, and it was currently trying to keep a trio of warriors at bay by ripping out parts of the fence and throwing them like spears.
They were about to propel themselves forward when they were almost hit by another fence post. They decided to land before rushing in to help, so they'd be lower than future projectiles.
Ruby was off like a shot the moment they hit the ground, trailing her trademark rose petals, and Yang struggled to keep up with her sister's super speed. She saw that her sister stopped by a small stone wall and positioned Crescent Rose in it's rifle form to begin sniping the giant.
No longer a speck on the horizon, the creature was at least twenty feet tall, it's pale grey skin contrasting the brown furs and yellowed bones it wore. Yang heard the telltale sound of Crescent Rose firing it's high impact rounds, but after the first one narrowly missed its head the giant used its enormous club – apparently a mammoth's femur – to block each shot.
This allowed one of the three warriors they'd seen to rush in, sword and shield raised, but her war cry alerted the creature and as it blocked another of Ruby's shots it pivoted and swung it's club, slamming it hard against the shield. The impact created a thunderous boom and a gust of wind that nearly knocked Yang off her feet.
Still trying to steady herself, Yang saw the second warrior – a tall man in heavy armor who carried a greatsword – leap into the air for an overhead slash. The giant saw the strike coming and raised its club to block it, but the force nearly made its legs buckle, and the shield-maiden knocked the club from its hand, allowing her comrade to get a devastating strike that made the beast's Aura visibly flicker and caused it to stumble backwards. It tripped over a fence and fell into an enclosure containing a cow, kicking up a cloud of dust.
As the dust almost cleared, the giant appeared, holding the cow by a leg and threw it at the warriors. The shield-maiden leaped in front of her comrade, but the force of an entire cow still struck both of them, causing all three to tumble across the ground.
By now Yang looked back to see why Ruby wasn't shooting and saw that she had moved to cover the fallen fighters. When she looked back, the third warrior had jumped into the fray.
A woman with fiery red hair and fearsome warpaint leapt over a clumsy swipe of the giant's hand and fired arrow after arrow at it, but each one bounced off the creature's Aura. Yang jumped at the creature and prepared to cave its ugly face, but the giant caught her leg and looked at her almost incredulously. Upside down and infuriated, Yang fired Ember Celica directly into its face.
This was a mistake.
The giant began pounding her against the ground, moving its arm in a rapid figure-eight motion, alternately smashing her back or front against the earth. Yang felt her anger rising, but also felt herself getting dizzy. Moments later she suddenly heard explosions and went flying, crashing into something.
Helping the two warriors disentangle themselves from the cow, Ruby heard Yang leap at the giant and assumed all would be well. Then she heard Ember Celica fire without the accompanying impact of a fist and knew something was wrong, looking up in time to see the giant abusing her sister.
"YANG!"
But before she could react, the red haired archer was already acting. Nocking several arrows that Ruby could see were infused with red Dust, she fired several near the giant, and one at its elbow, drastically reducing its Aura and forcing it to let go.
The archer was about to rush in despite being out of arrows, but assured of her sisters' immediate safety, she called out "Wait!"
"You do know the giant is about to kill her, don't you?"
Ruby shook her head. "Yang gets stronger the more hits she takes. That's her Semblance. The giant just needed to let her go."
As Ruby spoke, dust, cabbage, and wood went flying and the giant suddenly flinched away from something bright.
As Ruby had predicted, Yang had activated her Semblance. Her hip length hair was now ablaze with golden fire and her normally cheerful lilac eyes were blood red and full of rage.
Yang stood up to see the giant shrinking back from the intensity of her anger, but on seeing that she was alive, it swung a fist at her.
Yang punched the oncoming fist and the giant stumbled back, looking shocked. With a primal scream of anger she leaped forward and began pounding every part of the creature she could reach. At first this was just it's legs and knees. Then it dropped backwards from pain and she could reach its torso and head. She became a flurry of fists, gunfire, and empty shells of used ammunition until finally she pulled back and swung with all her might.
The force of her punch sent the giant backward, carving a trench in the ground, through a large rock behind the farm and through a tree until it collided with the hill beyond. It would not be getting back up.
"That takes care of that," said a firm, feminine voice.
"Yang, are you okay?" asked a more familiar one.
She turned her gaze to Ruby and the three warriors, and she felt her eyes change to their normal color. It was an odd, but comforting sensation. Yang nodded as she took a calming breath.
The warrior with the greatsword looked from Yang to the destruction caused by her punch to the giant, and back again.
"You seem strong. Come to Jorrvaskr, and be a Companion!"
Ruby gasped, "You three are Companions?"
The shield-maiden nodded and replied, "I'm Ria, the newest member, and these two are members of the Circle. Farkas," she gestured to the man. "And Aela the Huntress," she gestured to the woman.
With each word Ruby's grin got bigger and bigger, until finally the excitement was too much for her to contain.
"Can I have your autographs?"
Author's Note: No mods to highlight this time, just some scenery, some emotion, and another fight scene. Please let me know what you think I did well and what you think I did poorly, that way I can improve in the future.