Last time on the Legend of Varion…

After late night comforting and vampire attacks (long story), Varion and the other companions had Kodlak's funeral. Afterwards, they made plans to travel to the tomb of Ysgramor in one week to save their mentors soul. But until then, Varion has some time (among other things) to kill…

And now, back to the story…

"We could simply take the carriage my thane" Lydia commented, riding after Varion. He glanced back at her momentarily before replying.

"I feel more comfortable on my own mount" he replied simply. Lydia rolled her eyes.

"Never one for doing things the easy way, are you?" she snarked. She'd slowly become a bit more accustomed to Varion's lenience and her inner deadpan snarker was out in full force. When she'd first been assigned to work under this 6'5 muscular monster of a nord who could shout energy, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't intimidated. However, after travelling with him for so long, she felt more like a friend than a servant. Plus he was nothing like the awful nobles that she'd seen pester the Jarl on a day to day basis, that was something she was eternally grateful for.

"Gotta get stronger somehow" he replied simply, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. Lydia knew that he wasn't the most comfortable warrior to ever ride a horse, hence why he walked nearly everywhere. Part of her felt like he just chose to go on horseback to make it easier for her. She would've followed him anywhere, such was her duty, but trying to keep up with him as he walked to Morthal, through a nordic ruin and then back to Whiterun was exhausting. Her legs subconsciously ached at the memory, she was not inhumanly fit enough for that.

"So, why are we heading to Riften?" she asked, reigniting the conversation. He'd announced his travel plans that morning and she'd happily followed along, but he hadn't yet said why.

"These vampire attacks are worrying me" he answered. "This Dawnguard sounds like a pretty good place to start with stopping them" he replied simply. Lydia internally reflected on a past event at his words. She still remembered that night in Morthal where he'd encountered a vampire who'd tried to seduce him and apparently nearly killed her. The funeral notwithstanding, she'd never seen Varion so shaken. She wondered why he had reacted that way, but she'd been trained not to pry into her thanes personal life. However, Varion had made it clear that to him, she was a friend, not a servant. Internally steeling herself, she made up her mind.

"My thane, if I may, why do you hate vampires so much?" she asked cautiously. Varion glanced back at her again.

"I hate those who prey on the weak. Vampires do that. If I ever met a vampire who was content to just chill around and be peaceful, chances are I wouldn't kill it. But ones like that bitch in Morthal, the ones that attacked Whiterun. They're dangerous" he explained, his tone carefully modulated. Lydia assumed he was doing so as to not scare her.

"I see. I was just curious" Lydia said and Varion nodded before continuing to ride on. Lydia was worried about him, ever since she'd known him, it was like he'd been growing darker and darker. Since his conversation with Arngeir, it was like had a weight on his shoulders most of the time. He was still pleasant to be around, relatively polite to his friends (as much as he ever was) and his jokes had made Lydia laugh more times than she could count on her hands, but lately, especially since Skjors death, he'd been more restrained, it seemed. It was like he was constantly trying to hold something back, and she hated it. She missed the times when Varion was happy, enthusiastic, like when they'd gone dragon hunting with Faendal and Aela. Well, at least before he'd nearly gotten killed, but that was almost a daily occurrence for him, not that it made it any easier on Lydia's conscience. "Or my heart" she thought to herself sadly. As much as she tried to deny it, she was aware that she had developed some form of feelings for her thane, and she didn't like it. Ever since he'd met her, he'd treated her as a relative equal with the only difference being her inability to shout energy), instead of a slave like most other housecarls in Whiterun. She'd heard horror stories about being a housecarl, yet she found none of those fears applied to her situation. Varion was powerful yet caring, strong yet gentle (occasionally), and he was her thane, she was a housecarl. It would never work out, besides, he hardly seemed like the kind to want romance, especially now. "But there was Aela" Lydia thought bitterly. She remembered the shock of seeing the two of them emerge from his bedroom that morning, and the jealousy that had burned in her heart for a few moments. Once Varion explained it, somehow, that made it even worse. Like any regular person, she'd assumed they had sex, but no, they'd just spent the night in each others embrace. Varion, the most brutal and powerful nord she knew, the man who would tell anybody to shut up even if they were the emperor of tamriel, just spent the night cuddling with somebody. Pulling herself out of her sad contemplation, Lydia forced herself to focus on the present. "I am his housecarl. My duty is to serve him. My feelings have no place there" she reminded herself the same way she'd done for nights now.

"Something on your mind?" Varion spoke up, further snapping Lydia out of her daydream. He had slowed down his horse to ride next to her and his face had worry on it. He'd left his helmet in his bag, saying that he hated wearing the thing when he didn't need to and Lydia could see his concerned expression in all it's distractedly handsome glory… She internally shook her head, clearing the thoughts away again.

"No, nothing's wrong," she said, trying to reassure him. Based on his expression change, he clearly didn't believe her.

"Lydia, somethings bothering you. What is it?" he pressed further, causing Lydia to blush slightly.

"I told you, it's not-"

"Lydia. You said to me that I could talk to you about anything. That's a two way offer. You can tell me" he said, his voice gaining the comforting tone she'd heard before. She kicked herself.

"My thane, do you have…" she trailed off, not sure how to phrase it. He said nothing, not helping her hesitation. "I'm curious as to your relationship with Aela" she mumbled, though of course he heard it. Ever since he'd become a werewolf (quite the shocking revelation when she'd heard about it), she couldn't so much as whisper without him hearing something. Varion didn't laugh off her inquiry, or appear to change much in terms of expression, which didn't help her worry that she'd overstepped her boundaries.

"Aela is a strong woman, and a good friend" Varion answered, his tone seeming to be careful. Praying to a divine or two for protection, she pushed further.

"Do you have feelings for her?" she managed to get out. Once again, silence was her answer for a few seconds.

"I don't know" Varion replied eventually. Lydia raised an eyebrow. "Stuff happened a while ago Lydia. I don't know if I can ever feel that way for someone again" he said, being as infuriatingly vague as ever when discussing his past. However, the pain in his voice made it clear that this wasn't a pleasant memory, and she was the one who'd made him relive it.

"My thane, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Her apology was cut off by Varions hand.

"Don't. I'm tired of you apologising for nothing" he said without any real heat in his voice. "You had a question, I answered it. Everything's fine" he reassured. Lydia breathed deeply and nodded in reply, not trusting herself to say anything further.

"Well, that wasn't exactly a clear answer…" she thought to herself, traitorous thoughts of hope rattling around in her head.

"Did you just want me to cuddle with you for the night?" he joked and her eyes widened considerably.

"Sh- shut up…" she mumbled with a large blush on her face and Varion chuckled, a sound she hoped to hear far more from him in the future.

X-X-X-X-X

To Varions relief, the remaining trip was far less awkward. His mind was still going over what Lydia had said and he'd come to a saddening realisation. "She likes me" he thought with frustration. He wasn't that oblivious. He had caught on to her feelings, as well as those of Aela's. While the thought of two women liking them might have been the dream of some men, for Varion, it was a nightmare. He'd never had a relationship in his life, and nowadays, he was looking for one even less. "If this keeps up, those two will just have their hearts broken," he lamented. "Plus, how can they fall in love with a monster?" Having had more time to think about what happened over the course of the last month, Varion was more unsure of himself than ever. The amount of blood he'd spilled over that time, and how much he'd enjoyed it was disturbing, and that brief moment in Jorrvaskr still haunted him.

"I'll destroy everything, every trace. I'll bring down the very idea of the silver hand!"

His words from that time echoed in his head, he'd been so excited during that moment, so eager for blood, it still made him tense thinking about it. What if he hadn't snapped himself out of it? He shook his head. This wasn't the time for that. He hadn't had a relapse since then, and his near panic attack notwithstanding, he was doing far better now. "Maybe it's just the fresh air. I've wanted to see more of Skyrim" he thought. As Riften came into sight, Varion glanced back at Lydia who was looking far more at ease than she was before. "Lydia" he called out, getting her attention. "I'm gonna stop in at Riften. You can stay there if you want while I check out the Dawnguard" he offered. Lydia shook her head.

"Nice try my thane, but we're already on an adventure. You can't leave me behind" she replied smirking. Varion gave a small grin, there was the sarcasm he'd missed. They approached the city gates and stopped by the stables to drop off their horses, paying the brute of a stable manager to watch over them. As he approached the guards standing by the gate, Varions nose wrinkled. He wasn't even in the city and already he could smell the stench. It was disgusting. Ignoring it, he pushed onwards, coming face to face with the guard at the gate.

"Hold there!" he called out. "If you want to come into Riften, you need to pay the visitors tax" he explained. Varion raised an eyebrow.

"A visitors tax? What for?"

"For the privilege of entering the city! What else does it matter?" the guard said with irritation. Varion looked him over. The guy was fat, standing cockily and had the gleam of greed in his eye. Exactly the kind of guard that Varion couldn't stand.

"I'm not paying for this bullshit excuse for a swindle" he said clearly. He stood up straighter, towering over the two guards. "For a couple of thieves and con artists, you're truly pathetic" he added, making no secret of his anger. He could've sworn the guards went a shade paler before the first one fumbled around in his pocket for the keys.

"Uh, sorry sir. We'll open the gate at once" he said shakily and Varion breathed deeply. He was glad his intimidation tactic worked so well, or he'd have found himself a new punching bag. As he and Lydia entered the city, he threw one last glare at the guards and chuckled as they shrank under his gaze. Entering the city, the smell was even worse. Lydia nearly gagged while Varion himself grimaced, though they adapted fairly quickly.

"Well, that is disgusting" Lydia complained and Varion nodded in agreement, not wanting to draw breath to chuckle. All it did was make them even keener to leave. As they walked down the main street, Varion saw a big nasty brute leaning against a wooden post in full steel armour.

"Hey, big guy!" he called out at Varion and he glanced over. The nord in question was certainly big, probably as muscular as Varion himself and only a little shorter.

"You want something?" he replied.

"I don't know you. You in Riften looking for trouble?" he asked, or rather, threatened under the pretense of a question. Varion clenched his fist subtly and tried to keep the smirk off his face.

"What's it to you?" he replied challengingly, against his better judgement. He could hear Lydia's facepalm behind him, but he didn't care. The thug pushed off his pole and stood up straight, about an inch shorter than the dragonborn.

"Watch your tone friend" the man grunted though there was nothing friendly about his tone. "Last thing the Blackbriars need is some troublemaker getting involved in their business," he added. Varion raised an eyebrow.

"Blackbriar? Like the mead?" he asked. The man nodded.

"Yeah, that's them. Maven Blackbriars the most powerful woman in Riften, so you'd better behave around here if you don't want to end up in a gutter!" he growled. His tone then took a more offering one. "I'm Maul. I watch the streets for them. I can get you almost any info you want to know, but it'll cost you" he said, his sleazy tone reeking of a salesman about to overcharge for a product. He rolled his eyes, trying to hold back his desire to punch the guy. Knocking out the henchman for the 'most powerful woman in Riften' was not gonna make him a popular guy.

"How about you give me a discount?" Varion replied, not quite in a neutral tone. Maul glared at him.

"I can give you a broken jaw!" he growled. Varion cracked his knuckles.

"And I can give you a one way trip to Sovngarde. Sounds like a better deal than what you would've given me" he threatened back. The two glared at each other for a few moments before Maul chuckled.

"Been a while since I've seen someone with a backbone in Riften. You need a favour, you can talk to me" he said before walking off. Varion untensed, though was slightly disappointed at the lack of fight.

"Well that was, interesting?" he said mainly to himself.

"Is all of Riften that unfriendly?" Lydia asked, taking her hand off the sword she'd prepared to kill Maul with if need be.

"If it is, I'll just glare at it until it's nice" Varion joked, making his way over to the inn he saw, the Bee and Barb. Opening it, he was relieved that it smelled marginally better than outside and he sat down at an empty table, gesturing the free seat to Lydia. "So, I don't want to spend more time here than I have to. How about we just stay one night, head to the fort, then ride til we get back to Whiterun?" Varion asked. Lydia grinned.

"Sounds like a plan. This city is rubbing me the wrong way" she agreed. Varion then frowned as he saw someone across the bar looking at him. It was what looked like a nord with average length reddish hair, stubble, and a cocky visage. The stranger glanced away without so much as reacting, but Varion was now a little on edge. Part of him was hoping for a bar fight so he could beat up this stalker without getting in trouble for assault. His planning was cut off when he noticed a woman walk into the bar. She had a large battleaxe on her back and was fully armoured, war paint adorning her face. Varion straightened up a little. He wasn't sure what to make of her, but the look on her face didn't scream 'enemy'. Surprisingly, she walked over to him.

"Hey there. New in Riften?" she asked. Varion nodded slowly.

"Just passing through. You are?" he asked cautiously.

"I'm Mjoll. Welcome" she said. Varion offered his hand and she shook it.

"I'm Varion. Good to meet you" he replied. "What's a warrior like yourself doing here?" he asked casually. She chuckled a little.

"I'm here to slay a great beast, though not one you'd probably imagine" she replied. Varion shrugged.

"I kill dragons for a job. Surprise me" he said casually. As predicted, her eyes widened.

"You're the dragonborn? The legendary hero?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, that's me," he replied. He was quite used to the awe that people had when they first found out. "So what's your beast?" Surprised at his nonchalance, Mjoll quickly resumed flow of her conversation.

"The corruption in Riften. It's sickening" she muttered and Varion nodded, scowling as he did.

"Yeah, I've had run ins with corrupt guards and street thugs already, and I've been here for all of a day," he noted.

"See? This is what I'm here to stop. This once proud city is a mess" she lamented. "I try to do what I can to make the lives of the people better, but the Blackbriars and Thieves Guild are formidable," she added. Varion raised an eyebrow.

"The thieves guild? They're here?" he asked curiously. Mjoll scoffed.

"To call it a guild is ridiculous," she muttered. "It's shameful, a group of people who'd betray each other over coin. Even the dark brotherhood has a strict set of tenets to abide by, these thieves are just rabble" she finished angrily. Varion regarded her with interest.

"Well, I wish you luck in your beast slaying, but I've got vampires to go kill" he said. At her raised eyebrow, he elaborated. "I came to Riften to sign up with the Dawnguard. Big orc came and asked if I wanted to join". Mjoll looked curious.

"Aye, I've seen recruiters around Riften. I'd consider joining up myself, but I've already got a crisis to deal with" she said with sadness.

"You'll need all the help you can get. Maybe I can come back here and give you a hand" Varion offered. The surprise on Mjolls face didn't go unnoticed.

"Really?"

"Well, the thieves guild is one matter I'd rather not delve into until they've messed with me" he admitted. "But Maven Blackbriar, she's already rubbed me the wrong way with her street thugs. If we can get her taken down a peg, I'd be all for it" he explained in a low voice, not sure who might be listening. Mjoll had a gleam in her eye that contained enthusiasm, and she gladly nodded.

"Maven is crucial to the survival of the thieves guild. Crush her and they will fall. I hope to see you again Varion" she said warmly and Varion gave her a small smile in response. She stood up and nodded to them before leaving, though Varion noticed a man following her who gave him a not so pleasant look. The mans frown melted under Varions glare, though Mjoll noticed none of that.

"Well, that was interesting" Lydia commented, having remained quiet through that exchange.

"Her hearts in the right place. It's nice to see someone in this town who isn't pathetic" Varion noted absentmindedly. He thought he saw a couple glares thrown his way from his rather offensive comment, but he didn't care. "I've had enough. Time to sleep" he said with a yawn, and he tossed a coin purse over to the innkeeper. The weary pair headed upstairs to their room which (to Lydia's hidden disappointment) had two beds this time. Removing his armour in record time, Varion was asleep the second his head hit the pillow.

X-X-X-X-X

To say Fort Dawnguard was impressive would be an understatement. Varion rounded the corner not expecting much, and he came into sight of a massive fortress. His eyes widened and his jaw opened a little in awe. He heard Lydia gasp as well. They had walked out of Riften early that morning and headed into a place called Dayspring Canyon, and it was a remarkably beautiful place. As they approached the fort, it only got bigger and bigger. It was in relatively good condition compared to the other forts littered throughout Skyrim like Driftshade Refuge, and soon they reached the front door where a Nord stood guard. "You here to join the dawnguard?" he asked, regarding Varion and Lydia as he spoke.

"I am. Lydia's just tagging along" Varion clarified.

"Well, head on inside. Isran will decide whether you're dawnguard material, though by the look of you, I think he'll like you" the man said, and Varion wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean.

"Is it my frown? My stature? My weapon? The bloodstains on my armour? All of the above?" he thought absentmindedly as he walked inside and saw who he assumed was Isran. He was quite a large redguard with a large hammer on his back and a face possibly more stern than Varions had ever been. "Are you Isran?" Varion asked.

"Here to join the dawnguard?" he asked in his gruff voice. Varion chose to take that as a yes.

"Yeah. I want to help against the vampires. I'm Varion" he replied. Isran nodded.

"It's good to know that our recruiters are getting out there. But that means it's only a matter of time before the vampires notice as well" he said. Varion raised an eyebrow. This guy was paranoid.

"The vampire attacks on the capital cities should be enough of a wakeup call" Varion said, frowning at the memory. Isran sneered.

"I knew it would come to this one day. Sadly, so many people remain blind to the threat" he lamented. He then glanced back at Varion, sizing him up. "So what's your backstory? Combat experience?" he asked with curiosity. Varion grinned a little.

"Before coming to Skyrim, I was a bounty hunter for about 7 years. I'm thane of Whiterun which I earned for my battle prowess. I'm a member of the circle of the companions I reckon I could take almost anyone in Skyrim in a fist fight, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who can match me blade to blade" Varion said, rattling off a long list of achievements and his career choices. Isran looked at him with relative interest which was honestly less of a reaction than Varion was expecting.

"Not a bad resume. Anything more to add?" Isran asked. Varion's smirk increased.

"I'm the dragonborn" he said simply, and Isran actually reacted to that a little.

"Really?" He gave a gruff chuckle. "Well, that might be the edge we need against the vampires. I'm sorry to say that I don't have much work at the moment, we're still trying to get the word out and get more numbers. My contacts aren't finding vampires until they attack, and by then it's too late" Isran explained.

"I found a vampire in Morthal living amongst the townsfolk" Varion said, and if he wasn't so stoic, the fire in Isran's eyes would've made him shake.

"And you let this bloodsucker live?" he snarled.

"I didn't feel like butchering a member of the town until I had proof that they were evil" Varion explained, trying to placate the man, yet making it clear that he wasn't going to be intimidated. Isran sighed.

"Just add that to the to-do list. If I have work for you, I'll send a letter. Good to have another strong warrior on our side" Isran said, nodding in what Varion assumed was respect. He returned the gesture.

"My pleasure. I hope to hear from you soon. Send it to Breezehome in Whiterun, or the courier will just track me down" he replied, giving a brief wave in farewell. He left the fort and Lydia followed close behind.

"So, how was it?" she questioned. Varion sighed.

"I think I've found someone about as stubborn and angry as me" he half-joked, not fully sure what to make of his new commander.

A/N:Back into the story! I took a bit of a break over Christmas, but now we're back in the new year, new decade, and new chapter!

The Dawnguard has been introduced, and I'm really looking forward to this arc for a few certain reasons. You'll see those later on, but this quest line will be quite spread out to give a more realistic feeling of time, not to mention that the companions still have their endgame and Delphine ain't gonna wait forever.

Varions starting to explore more of Skyrim now, and that expansion starts with Riften, probably one of the worst cities in the game. It's kinda a wretched hive of scum and villainy, perfect for some fun interactions with Varion at the helm!

I tried adding in another perspective again, this time of Lydia, one of Varions closest allies! Let me know what you think of it, and think of her characterisation as well!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!