AN: Nothing exciting here, except for a disclaimer. I do not own the Elder Scroll series; that would be Bethesda!
Weeks flew by, as did jobs. As a matter of fact, I'm getting real tired of these mundane jobs I thought with a sigh.
No dragon attacks, no bandit raids; the most exciting thing that had happened in the past months was killing the occasional giant or hagraven.
As there hasn't been much to do, I had been delving deeper into destruction magic. It seemed that I was stuck. No matter how hard I tried, I could only cast the adept level spells two or three times before giving out.
At the moment, I was sitting in the entrance hall in Jorvaskr, enjoying Viranus' absence.I began swishing around the wine in my goblet absently, thinking about my magic. My enemies seems to grow with me; the tougher I get, the tougher they get. I have to do something!
I had heard whispers of the Mages' College in Winterhold, but wasn't too sure about going. I can't just abandon my duties here; especially now that my parents are finally here!
My parents and I pooled gold together to buy a good chunk of land right outside of the walls of Whiterun. My father had begun farming, and my mother used her love of alchemy to partner with Arcadia at her shop here in town. They fit right in; you couldn't tell that they weren't born here, with the way that everybody knew, and liked, them.
The opening of the front door roused me from my thoughts. I was met with the sight of a hagard Vilkas limping inside. I immediately hopped out of my seat and headed towards him.
"What happened? You look like a mess." And he did. He looked as if he had been stomped on by a pack of mammoths.
"There were more bandits than I thought." he said simply.
Shaking my head, I channeled my magic into a restoration spell and got to work on him. Three bruised ribs, and a sprained wrist; that must hurt like a bitch I thought with a cringe.
After healing him, I told him to go sleep; he looked as if he was going to keel over at any minute.
After our mission in Falkreath, Vilkas and I became a lot closer. He had slowly became my best friend, and I, his.
You just don't want to leave Vilkas my conscious hissed at me.
Of course I don't want to leave Vilkas, but he isn't the only thing I would be leaving! I thought.
Right, because the Companions couldn't take down all of the local wildlife by themselves my conscious replied.
Before I began to look like a mad woman, I ignored my thoughts and walked down to the living quarters. Before I knew where I was headed, I wound up in front of Kodlak's door. If anyone can tell me what to do, it will be him!
I knocked on the door and waited for his gruff voice to tell me to enter. As I did, I saw the large old man sitting at the table that I first met he and Vilkas.
He motioned for me to sit down. Before I could speak, he said, "There is something weighing on your mind; there has been for a while. Am I correct?" he asked in that fatherly tone of his.
At my surprised look, he carried on with a smile, "When you get to be my age, you begin to notice small things."
"I just don't know what to do. I totally rely on magicka to fight with, but lately, I haven't had enough. I'm thinking that it is time that I get formally trained in destruction magic." I began to pour out everything I had been holding in, "The only problem is that the best destruction magic teacher is in Winterhold! I can't just abandon the Companions!"
After I was finished venting, he looked at me sadly, and said, "Well, then go to Winterhold. You will never be tied down to the Companions, and you will always have a place here. You've seemed restless for the past couple of weeks; maybe this trip will be good for you. If this is what you want, then do it. You've amassed enough money to be able to afford it."
At this, I had tears in my eyes. I looked at him sadly, before standing. "This is something I have to do; I can't continue to advance my magic without a proper education for it. I'll tell everyone tonight, and leave. The quicker the better."
I got half way to the door before turning around and giving Kodlak a big hug. "Thank you." I told him with tears in my eyes.
He just hugged me back and told me to take care of myself. I dread telling the others
That night, while everyone was in the main hall, I told them the news. There were a plethora of different reactions all across the room.
Aela looked heart-breakingly sad, Farkas looked confused and wore a deep frown. Njada, unsurprisingly, looked a bit happy. Athis and Torvar both looked surprised, while Ria looked shocked. Viranus had a deep scowl on his face, but the worst was Vilkas. He had a betrayed look on his face, before storming out back into the practice area.
I followed him outside and saw him hacking away at one of the dummies.
"Hey." I said quietly.
He stopped hacking for a second, before returning at it with renewed vigor. Growing impatient, I stepped between him and the dummy.
Growling at me, he looked at me and just said one word. "Why?"
Taking a deep breath, and trying to keep my temper in check, I replied, "You know why. If I want to stay ahead of the game, Im going to have to get serious about my magic."
"Why don't you get Farengar to teach you? Last I checked he would teach anyone that asked." he said in a growl.
"You and I both know that he can't teach me anything I don't know. He and I are on the same level." I replied calmly.
I could see the tension leave his body, and a look of resignation crossed his face. "There's nothing I can do to stop you, is there?" he asked quietly.
The cool night air fogged as I replied. "No, there isn't. Vilkas, I swear that I will be back in two months. Tops. I will regularly write to you; who knows, maybe you'll have a job near Winterhold and you can visit me." I said optimistically.
"When are you leaving?" he asked me, sounding not very eager to hear the answer.
I winced. "Tonight."
His eyes widened. "Don't you think this would've been better to tell us earlier?"
"Well, I just decided this afternoon. I'm going to miss you." I told him truthfully.
I must have looked pitiful, because he hugged me. I reveled in the feeling of comfort and protection. Vilkas' scent engulfed me; sweat, pine trees, and something distinctly Vilkas.
Before I knew it, I had tears in my eyes. I tried my very best, but I couldn't stop them from falling. I just buried my head into the crook of his neck and cried.
After collecting my things and telling everyone goodbye, and that they had permission to drag me back here if I wasn't back within two months, I headed to my parents' new farm house. I knew that they would be awake; both had always stayed up late and woke up early.
They were unsurprised, and almost seemed to know that I would wind up going eventually. I told them the same goodbyes that I had given my surrogate family in Jorvaskr, and headed for the stables.
I had hired a cart to take me to Winterhold; I had been there once on a job to exterminate a bear that had gotten into a woman's home. The village was dreadfully desolate; barely anyone lived there.
I reached the stables and climbed in the back of the cart. I laid down on the cart's seat and stared at the sky. The twinkling of the stars behind the glowing auroras was beautiful. I searched the sky for the Warrior, the Thief, and the Mage. I fell asleep with the image of the Mage's constellation burned into my head.
AN: Plot twist! Don't worry, this will still definitely be about the Companions mostly, but I think that any self-respecting mage would train at the College. It just seemed like the best way to advance her magic.
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