Previously on the Legend of Varion…

Our hero met with Paarthurnax the friendly dragon and was sent on a fetch quest in order to destroy Alduin. Of course he was…

Now, back to our regularly scheduled fetch quest…


When Varion arrived back home in Whiterun, he was exhausted. He'd gotten some sleep in High Hrothgar after his trip down the mountain, but that was the limit of his rest. The monastery to Whiterun on about 7 hours of sleep was no easy feat, so much so that he barely acknowledged Lydia when she welcomed him home.

"My thane, welcome back!" she greeted warmly.

"Hey Lydia…" Varion mumbled before heading upstairs, struggling to pull his armour off as he did. His housecarl followed him curiously.

"Is everything alright?" she asked cautiously. Varion sighed.

"I've been commanded by another old man to retrieve another old thing for the sake of my destiny" he explained tiredly as he managed to get his armour off. He then literally fell into the bed facefirst, Lydia snorting in amusement at his behaviour.

"The legendary hero Varion everyone" she muttered under her breath. Varion scoffed in humour, his hearing allowed him to hear her remark.

"Even I'm not invincible, I need my rest. Besides, I've got an elder scroll to find now" he said, turning over to lie on his back. Lydia raised an eyebrow.

"I've read some very confusing books about them," she started. "Why do you need one? They're said to be incredibly powerful, is this how you'll save the world?"

"The scroll is a means to an end, apparently. I'm supposed to use it to learn this shout that can help me stop Alduin" he explained. Lydia took all that in.

"So you have a plan now?"

"Not much of one. I have the what, but not the how or where" he replied. He then sighed with exhaustion. "It's really annoying. All of this work, all this blind guessing. What if I get it wrong?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else. "I never dreamed of being a hero, not like this. All this adventure, it's been unexpected. What if I go out to get this scroll and I never come back?" he continued.

"My thane-" Lydia began, but Varion cut her off.

"I'm not afraid to die, let me make that clear. But I'm not fighting for just me anymore. The whole world is at stake now, all on my damn shoulders!" Varion was clearly getting agitated now. "All these people I've come to care about, they put all this faith in me, they follow me. What if I've been leading them to their deaths?!" At this last remark, he punched the wall, leaving a generous indent in it of his fist. Lydia took some time to think of a response, she'd forgotten about Varions more volatile temper. His edges had been smoothed out a lot since she met him, but he was hardly a tranquil man.

"You know, when you first came to Whiterun and I was put into your service, I couldn't have imagined the kind of adventure that would come out of it" she said softly. Varion glanced at her, unsure of where she was going with this. "I've seen more of Skyrim than I ever dreamed, fought dragons, seen men breath fire with their voice" she continued. "I've lived more in the last few months than I had in my whole life up to that point, and I'm sure Faendal and the others who met you would say the same". She paused, unsure of how to continue. Varion regarded her with interest, it was quite the speech so far. He gave her an encouraging nod, asking her to finish. She then took a deep breath. "These last few months have been some of the best times of my life Varion, and they were because of you and your journey. I'd follow you over and over again if it meant I was helping you" she finished. Varion sat there, silent, unsure of how to respond. Her words affected him a lot.

"I may have done this good, but I still lead them into danger, all the time" he thought. "And what's worse, the danger could be coming from me soon" he continued with dread, remembering how his dragon nature had been close to overwhelming him only a relatively short time ago in Jorrvaskr, and how he'd felt it resurface lately. He opened his mouth to reply, but Lydia cut him off.

"I'll choose to be with you until the end, Varion. Just know that" Lydia said with a sad smile before walking out of the room, leaving Varion to himself. Her unspoken meaning was fairly clear, Varion was really quite sure that she had feelings for him. However, he knew that he couldn't return them. No matter their relationship personally, he was still technically her boss, it wouldn't feel right to him. Plus, with how he was, what he'd done in the past, Lydia deserved someone less chaotic. He sighed with sadness before lying back down, making a note to fix the wall tomorrow. He'd worry about the world after a nice sleep in, if his dreams didn't plague him

X-X-X-X-X

Thankfully, Varions sleep was relatively peaceful and he awoke the next day refreshed. He grabbed his armour and cast a small healing spell on the fist that had punched the wall, wincing as he did. He grabbed his greatsword and dagger from the floor where he'd dropped them and headed out of Breezehome, Lydia following him. He'd chosen to bring along a companion this time seeing as he'd never been to Winterhold before. When he'd questioned Arngeir about the elder scrolls, the old monk had pointed him in the direction of the "College of Winterhold", the major magical institution in Skyrim that apparently specialised in "blasphemies" like the elder scrolls. He made a stop off to the companions before he left, informing the circle of what had happened and where he was going, though he left out the fact that Paarthurnax was a dragon. He didn't feel like that kind of information was something to be shared lightly. The circle were initially confused by his intention to travel to the college of Winterhold, but his explanation satisfied their curiosity. Aela was a little upset that he didn't invite her to come with him, but he reasoned that he wanted the companions around to protect the city in his absence, which thankfully was enough to keep them from questioning/nagging further. He grabbed his horse, Lydia grabbed hers, and just like that they were on their way. The ride to Winterhold was fairly standard, if not boring. They conversed a little about recent events in Whiterun, the civil war, anything to fill the time, but the majority of the ride was in silence. Crossing the borders wasn't eventful either, they decided to take an alternate route off the main road to avoid guards, passing by many interesting ruins, a few of dwarven design. Lydia had jokingly suggested making a note to explore them one day, only to look nervous when Varion began to note each one down on the map for later pillaging. "I may not be very materialistic, but I will never say no to more weapons" he noted to himself as he did so. The dwarves had amazing technology, at least from what he'd read about them. Surely they'd have some useful gear leftover in those ruins of theirs. He eventually came into view of Winterhold as night was beginning to fall, and was very underwhelmed. He hadn't been in Skyrim for over 9 years before he was arrested and taken to Helgen, so his memories of the place were a little fuzzy, and he couldn't remember if he'd ever been to Winterhold anyways, but it was still quite sad just how small the city was. Destroyed buildings formed an outer ring around the three or four that were still intact. He and Lydia rode through the town, examining what little there was to examine. According to Lydia, the city had been this way for decades after "The Great Collapse", which many blamed the college for. "Of course the nords would blame magic for their misfortune" Varion had muttered to that, getting a bemused snort from his housecarl. It was no secret that magic had a poor reputation in Skyrim among the nords especially. Varion had dabbled in its use quite a bit, knowing basic fire and healing spells were essential for any adventurer and he'd picked up some new spells since arriving, though he'd yet to properly delve into learning new magic. He was going to the college to find the elder scroll, but he saw no problem with learning more magic while he was there. A part of his mind was delighted at just how much more power he'd be able to wield, but he mentally told it to shut up. As it was getting late in the day and the college didn't seem open, Varion and Lydia ended up renting a room at the inn, the Frozen Hearth. Aside from a rather suspicious looking high elf mage and an obvious obnoxious drunk, they seemed like decent folk living in the inn. As they retired to their room, Lydia and Varion turned away from each other and began to take off their armour, getting ready to sleep.

"So my thane, your thoughts on Winterhold?" Lydia asked as she removed her chest armour, leaving her undershirt on.

"What is there to think about? It's not much of a city. Hard to believe it was once capital of Skyrim" Varion replied without looking, removing all his upper body armour and undershirt, leaving him shirtless. His ears twitched as he heard Lydia inhale a little more quickly in that one instant and he suppressed a chuckle. He gestured to the singular bed. "We sharing again? Or should I take the floor?" he asked absentmindedly, taking off his leg armour as he did so. He remembered the last time the two had stayed in an inn together, they'd only had one double bed then as well. Lydia regained her focus and coughed awkwardly.

"Oh, my thane, I couldn't ask you to sleep on the floor. I'll-" Varion cut off her rambling with a raised hand, having turned to face her.

"We've done this before Lydia. Besides, Winterhold is a cold place, the extra body heat will help" he reasoned, figuring she'd be more likely to concede to logic than simple reassurance. Lydia was a bit more red than usual, but nevertheless nodded. They each got into their respective side of the bed, deeming the sword they'd used on the first night to determine the halves a bit overkill. As Varion had predicted, the night was significantly colder than the ones in Whiterun, or even Morthal. To his mild surprise, merely a few minutes after beginning to try and sleep, he felt a weight to his side. Opening his eyes, he saw Lydia now curled into his side. She was cold to his touch, and at this, Varion grimaced at his lack of care. Thanks to Varions nordic blood and, more likely, his werewolf blessing/curse, he could deal with the cold just fine, but Lydia appeared to be shivering slightly, seeing as she was from one of the warmer regions of Skyrim. Mentally shrugging, he put an arm around Lydia, transferring more of his heat over to her.

"For warmth…" she mumbled sleepily, shuffling even closer almost unconsciously. Varion chuckled. She had a blush on her cheeks, clearly cold wasn't her only motivation for this. After thinking for a few moments, Varion breathed a word softly.

"Yol". As he spoke, warm air rushed from his mouth and over the bed, heating up Lydia and himself significantly, but not uncomfortably so. Based on the way his housecarl sighed in contentment, she was a fan of this trick. Varion had learned to do it while on his trips up and down the throat of the world. If he held back his destructive force a lot when shouting, merely whispering in this case, he could decrease the power of his shout to suit more mundane needs, like when he'd used it to light Kodlak's funeral pyre. He'd used this hot air shout/whisper to help him deal with the cold when climbing the mountain, seeing as the full powered fire breath seemed a little overkill, especially now that he had all three words. As Lydia snuggled closer to her new heat source, Varions heart sank a bit. He didn't deserve such a loyal friend, and he especially didn't deserve the feelings she had towards him. He knew he'd have to breach the topic at some point, to shut them down before they got stronger, but for now, he was content with holding her like this. He may not like her romantically, but he loved her as a friend, as much as he loved anyone. Her loyalty, her kindness, it had gotten him through many struggles, physical and mental, and he'd forever be grateful for it. He had never seen her as a servant, only a companion, and now as a friend. "It's people like her, like Aela, like Faendal, that make me want to save the world. Though I'm not going to give Faendal hugs in the night" he thought with a small bit of humour. He tightened his grip on her slightly, as if to protect her from what might come tomorrow, and followed her into sleep.

X-X-X-X-X

The next morning was thankfully not as awkward as Varion had initially anticipated. When they awoke, instead of Lydia being all awkward and flustered, she simply got up, thanked Varion for the warmth, and went about her morning routine. He just mentally shrugged and went about his morning like usual. Ten minutes later, they were walking up to the entrance of the College of Winterhold amidst even more crappy snowy weather. It took them a very short while to make it to the college, Winterhold was truly tiny. A serious looking high elf stood at the archway, and Varion looked past her to admire the building. It had been hidden by the dark the night before, but it was a truly remarkable building. Massive, with noticeably un-nordic architecture, practically radiating magical energy. "Just the kind of place to find a scroll with unimaginable power" Varion thought to himself. He motioned for Lydia to stay back while he dealt with the formalities. As he approached the high elf, her gaze sharpened.

"Halt stranger!" she called out as he reached a reasonable proximity to her. "Who are you?" she questioned. Varion tilted his head, this wasn't the friendliest greeting he'd ever had.

"My name is Varion. I'm here to get into the college" he stated simply. The elf tilted her head.

"I hope you're referring to becoming a student, because otherwise you're not getting anywhere near our college" she informed him, the threat quite clear. Varion frowned.

"You greet all visitors like this?" he asked with a side of sarcasm. His verbal opponent scoffed.

"You're a brutish looking heavily armoured nord warrior coming up to our gates, with bloodstains visible on your armour" she replied swiftly, causing Varion to internally grimace at the reminder of the Driftshade slaughter. "We haven't had very good experiences with your type, so forgive our preventative measures. We mean you no harm, unless the feeling isn't mutual" she elaborated. Conceding to her point, Varion made an effort to untense his stance.

"As I said, I'm Varion. You might know me better as the dragonborn" he offered, figuring that using his title in this instance was justified. To his satisfaction, that definitely got her attention.

"Wait, really? The dragonborn?" she asked with disbelief. Varion nodded, then turned to the sky.

"This weather's starting to bug me" he said nonchalantly, then tensed up. "LOK VAH KOOR!" A wave of energy burst into the sky and instantly, the snowy weather ceased and the clouds began to dissipate. Looking back towards the bridge guardian, she was now staring at Varion with unrestrained shock and awe. This made his lips twitch up a little, but he kept his expression mostly controlled.

"So the rumours are true…" the elf said softly, almost not daring to believe the fact that the sun was now shining on Winterhold for the first time in weeks. Varion waved his hand to bring her back to attention.

"So, can I come in?" he asked, and to his annoyance, her guarded expression sprang back up, albeit a little softer than before.

"That depends on the purpose for your visit" she asked carefully. Varion regarded her for a moment before deciding that he could probably reveal his true cause to her.

"I'm here looking for an elder scroll. I need it to help save the world. I'm also looking for some extra training in the fields of magic to become more powerful. It'll help in my previously stated goal" he explained. To her credit, the elf didn't look that bemused at this.

"An elder scroll? Well, we don't have one, but perhaps we could assist in locating one" she offered and Varion nodded.

"It's all I ask. Fate of the world and all that" he mentioned casually as if they were talking about nothing.

"As for the training, you could join the college as an apprentice. That is what the institution is for, after all" she continued. Varion shrugged.

"As long as I don't get detention for skipping class to slay dragons" he half joked and he could've sworn her lips twitched upwards.

"I don't think that will be a problem," she reassured. "I'll take you to the college and introduce you to Mirabelle Ervine, our master wizard. She'll get you settled in, and help you with your other reason for being here. Oh, and my name is Faralda. Pleased to meet you" she added before beginning to walk along the bridge. Varion shrugged, signalled to Lydia that everything was fine and began to follow her, watching his footing as they walked along the fairly treacherous bridge while Faralda cast spells at weird looking structures along the way.

"I take it this bridge has seen better days?" he asked casually whilst still following. He was glad he'd cleared the weather earlier, he didn't feel like walking across this in a snowstorm.

"You don't know the half of it. The great collapse didn't leave the college entirely untouched" Faralda replied grimly.

"Why not just fix it using magic?" he asked curiously. Faralda opened her mouth to give a response, then promptly shut it, seemingly unsure of the answer herself. The walk then finished in silence with Faralda opening the main gates and the two of them entering what seemed to be the central courtyard.

"That's Mirabelle over there" she said, pointing to a pair of people on the far side of the courtyard. Varion nodded and began to walk over to them. "Good luck Dragonborn" she called out before walking back to her guard duty. As Varion approached Mirabelle, he got a better look at who she appeared to be talking to and it took a lot of restraint not to draw his blade right then and there.

The man she spoke to was a thalmor.


A/N:Behold yet another chapter! Don't worry, not dead yet! I'm just going through a ton of stuff, so that'll slow down update rates. But, I said slow down. Not stop. This story will continue!

So, we've reached the College of Winterhold! Another main questline presents itself! How will Varion interact with this new cast of quirky characters? Frankly, no idea. Tune in next time to find out!

Please favourite, follow and review if you enjoyed it, I really like reading your feedback! Thank you for reading, see you in the next chapter!