"So hold on, your not even that good at enchanting?" I asked defeated.
"I'm afraid not. My specialization was destruction and history. If your looking for an actual tutor, your best bet would be the collage of Winterhold. Or, if that isn't an option, trial and error. The basics of most magics are intuitive. It's only as one approaches master that the learning curve becomes more difficult."
I sighed sadly. I didn't have time for such a long venture. Maybe I could later, but it was a day's journey by carriage to Winterhold. Not to mention all the time it would take to actually learn. I was looking at a months time table at best.
"Well, thanks anyway Farengar." I said as I started walking away.
"Oh, it's no trouble. Stop by if you need anything else, young mage."
This day wasn't turning out to be as productive as I had hoped it would be. If only I could learn enchantments as easy as I learned spell tombs. And then it hit me. Like a brick in Detroit.
Skill books! I hadn't even seen one yet, but I was willing to bet they existed. And if I could learn new spells just by reading spell tombs, why couldn't I gain new skills by reading skill books.
It was at the very least worth a look. The payoff far out weighed the risks. But where would I find an enchanting book.
I racked my brain, trying my hardest to drag forth memories from months before I even came to this world. But I had been playing Skyrim for the better part of a decade. And it was then I remembered that an enchanting book was right here in Whiterun!
It was in Carlotta's house. The woman who sold vegetables at the market.
As I descended the stairs outside Dragonreach, I tried to formulate the best way to get it. I could just ask, but that came with the risk of her saying no.
The same with offering to buy it. I suppose I could just break in and steal it. Worst case scenario I was caught and claimed immunity due to my status. I had a feeling it would piss off Balgruuf, but I don't think he would revoke my status…wait a minute.
I'm being an idiot.
I'm a noble now. Even if I don't own land, or participate in court.
I could just demand the book and offer compensation. Walking down the road towards market, I'm now met with another problem. I have no idea what the book is called.
Shit. Well, what now. I can't very well walk up and say "I want a book from your house. A special book. I have no idea what it looks like or what it's called. But I need it. Gimme gimme."
That would make me sound like a crazy asshole who was power tripping.
So instead, I guess I would just break in. A perfectly reasonable alternative. I circled around the market, up to the cloud district. Fuck you Nazeem. I do go here.
I think I vaguely remember her house being on the left row. But all of these houses looked relatively the same.
Then I saw a small mark on the side of a house. It was a circle, encompassing a rectangle. The rectangle had lines within it. I think I remember that meaning the house had loot in it.
See, the thieves guild used these marks to inform their members of things discreetly.
So if the lines in the middle of the rectangle were there, that meant it was full? Or was it empty?
Wouldn't it make more sense for it to be empty, since you couldn't undraw lines?
But my brain was definitely telling me lines meant loot. I circled around back, to where the water streamed along the back wall. There was a door here.
It was just a bit passed noon if the sun was any indication. It was just slightly over it's zenith. Checking once again for anyone around and seeing nobody, I gently opened the unlocked door. I wasn't even sure if this was the place, but a have forgotten memory told me it was. So I would just have to trust myself.
Inside was dark. As in no candles were lit. Which sucked. But it also meant nobody was home. Light streamed in from the cloudy glass windows, and I could see the outlines of everything with that. I carefully made my way through the home.
I remember the book being in one of the bedrooms, and if I was a betting man, I would assume it would be in the master bedroom upstairs. After all, why would a little girl need a book about enchanting?
I slowly crept up the stairs, being careful not to make too much noise. The bedroom was behind a set of French style double doors.
They opened with a squeak that had me wincing. I stilled and listened for any movement. I heard some birds, children playing outside, and people going about their business.
When nothing happened, I entered the room. Seeing as it was dark, I had to feel around for the book. When I didn't find it between the night stand and the bed, I tried searching deeper beneath. Eventually my hands fell on something hard and rectangular. I pulled it out, but I couldn't identify it at a glance. It had a thick layer of dust on it.
Suffice to say this book hadn't been opened in years. I was confident that she wouldn't miss it. Still, I left a coin purse of 50 septims under the bed. Just in case she ever went looking for it. With the book stored in my Oblivion, I began my escape.
My hopes are she would assume she misplaced it and be happy with the gold.
I crept down the stairs and opened the door, hoping for a clean get away. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side. I bumped in to a large body, and as my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw it was the bard from the Bannered Mare. I think his name was Mikael. I would have recognized him sooner, but his nose was still swollen and he had a black eye. Gifts from Lydia after he got feisty and slapped her ass the night before.
"And just who are you!" he screamed outraged. Before I could even begin to lie, he jumped to a conclusion. "Another of Carlotta's side lovers no doubt!" He shoved his finger in my face and I backed up back into the house. He followed me as he continued his vitriol. "You here me this! Carlotta is already mine! She just doesn't know it yet!"
He was screaming at this point, and I considered this the worst case scenario. But of course, I was wrong. Because at that moment, the front door opened.
Mikael and I were illuminated by the open door way, and in it stood Carlotta. She took one look at us and immediately started screaming for the guards.
"Guards! Guards! Please! Someone has broken into my home!" I panicked and froze. My usual response in this situation was violence, but I couldn't do that here. I guess I was going to have to try to talk my way out of this. Probably use the thane card too.
Three guards made their way inside, and drew their blades. Two faced us in a wall to protect Carlotta, while the one in the back spoke with her. "What seems to be the problem miss." He asked her.
"This man broke into my house!" she said gesturing at my direction.
Time to bullshit. "I can explain." I started to say, but I was cut off.
"There's no need to explain. I know exactly what's going on here." I winced as I knew it was all over.
"That damn bard broke into my home with plans to sexually assault me!"
…
...
What?
"WHAT?!" Mikael screamed, his face red.
"It's true officer. Just ask anyone around the market or the mead hall. They'll all tell you. He's said over and over that I belong to him, as if I was just a thing to own. He's bragged about how he would 'conquer me as any Nord conquers any harsh beast.' That's an admission of guilt. If not for the thane who must have followed him in, who knows what might have happened! Right thane?"
I snapped to attention, seeing an out. "O-of course. Just, doing my duty." I lied with a smile on my face. Mikael looked at me aghast.
"But, what? No! He was here first. I walked in on him!"
One guard walked up to who I assume was their superior.
"Sir, she's telling the truth. On my nights off I've heard this bard say that and more about this woman."
Mikael saw where this was leading and panicked. "No. No! I swear it! He was here first! To seduce Carlotta! I saw him."
Carlotta had a look of disgust on her face.
One of the guards moved behind Mikael and placed him in cuffs.
"Uh huh. Now tell me the one about how a saber cat ate your taxes. Come along. Don't resist"
Mikael was dragged out screaming denials, but nobody believed him. I walked outside to see him being dragged to the jails.
Carlotta stood outside her house as well watching. "I'll sleep so much easier now that he's not out and about. I shutter to think what would happen. I have to thank you again. Thane." she had a look of genuine relief, and I wanted to say I felt guilty. But…I kinda…didn't.
I mean…Fuck that guy. And also I got away with it all. Talk about lucky. I looked back to the woman, and she was looking at me contemplatively.
"Oh. Um, no trouble. Screw that guy right?" she let out a short laugh at that.
"Ha! He wishes! But, that reminds me. You deserve a reward. I don't have much money, but maybe, this might be enough?" then she kissed me on the cheek. It wasn't sexual or anything. I mean, she was my senior by almost a decade. It was more like a kiss from a family member.
I blushed anyway. "uh. That's...Thanks. I guess." I said awkwardly. Not sure what else to say. Stupid 20 year old body. It gets embarrassed by literally nothing. So damn emotional.
She snickered. "I'm afraid that's all you get. I don't have time for men in my life. I have a daughter to raise and a shop to run. Have a good day, my thane."
With that, she locked up and left. And I just stood there wondering if I was lucky, or if this was going to come back to bite me.
But eventually, I had to get a move on. Walking down an alley, I pulled the book out. I blew the dust off to see what was on the cover. It read Enchanter's Prime.
Upon opening it, I was brutally mind fucked by a borage of information, muscle memory, and magic theory.
But once that was over, and I stopped crying, I headed back down towards the gate. Step one, iron daggers. I was gonna need a ton. Hopefully, this was a unpatched Skyrim. Because after the daggers, came enchanting.
I couldn't wait.
Aerana:
After profusely apologizing for Lydia breaking Vilkas's nose, we were given our first mission. Give the Smith master a blade to sharpen. Joy. And after that? Deliver a shield. At least that Aela woman praised Lydia. You would think it was the word of god from how she preened. It seems Aela was a hero of hers.
Go figure.
After that, they were given beds, and told to report to a man know as Skjor.
Skjor was a balding man with one blind eye. But he had the air of a seasoned warrior, and his presence demanded respect.
"Listen up welps. You just happen to be lucky enough to join at a good time. We've had word that a fragment of wuthrad has been found. A trusted scholar gave us this information. Problem is, it's guarded by a group of silver hand. Before you ask, they're bandits who think they have a cause. Think Vigilants of Stendarr, but none of the restraint. Impressive given those uppity chuckle fucks don't have much to start with. Your mission is simple. Do what Farkus says. Kill the silver hand. Get the fragment. DO NOT FUCK UP. Normally, we wouldn't bother giving a new recruit this mission. But everyone else is either too busy or too lazy. And there are two of you. I expect results. Come back with that fragment or don't come back at all. Got it?"
It was a chore to keep her mouth shut, but she realized he was just a hard ass who didn't want to work with incompetents. The only thing to do was to prove their worth.
So they headed out.
Thankfully, the location was just northeast of Whiterun. Farkus guided them around the giant camps, and the trip was mostly spent in silence. He had explained that they were his 'shield-sisters' for this venture. And that as she suspected, this was their proving.
It was as they approached the carin that Farkus spoke up.
"Don't worry about Skjor. He's like that with everyone new. He's a good man, he's just seen a lot. Between him and the old man, my brother and me were practically raised in the companions. Once you get to that age, I guess you get tired of seeing fresh meat die. But I'm sure you two will be fine. You've both proven your strong warriors. Nice job bringing Vilkas down a peg by the way. His head was getting too big for his shield to block. I'm glad it was you two and not the old man. If that had happened he would have more broken than just his nose."
"Oh, it was nothing. Wait, no. That is to say, I don't mean he was unskilled. I meant to say that he shouldn't have been open while he spoke. No wait that's-" Lydia desperately tried to struggle her way through small talk with someone she admired. Aerana thought it was very different from her usual personality. It was cute.
Farkas burst out laughing at what she had said, and Lydia's face became the shade of a tomato.
His huge arms slapped her on the back forcefully as he laughed. "Ah, don't worry about it. He should of shut up and done his job instead of mouthing off. He'll get the third degree for a few weeks and then we'll all act like it never happened. Skjor will have him polishing armor until you can see a reflection." He laughed like a bear at the thought. Aerana wondered if this was normal for brothers to find humor in each other's misfortune.
"Trust me, you two will fit right in."
Aerana hoped so. These people seemed right up her alley. And she didn't recall ever seeing Lydia smile so much. It was nice.
They reached their location as twilight pushed away the sun. A few magic bolt from her, and arrows from Lydia, and the sentries inside the first chamber were taken care of. In fact it was exactly like killing bandits, the only exception being the weapons.
For some reason, these people used silver weapons. As in, forged from pure silver. Aerana didn't know much about metallurgy. That was, for some reason, Sheo's department.
But she did know from handling silver, as well as her childhood alteration classes, that silver would make a poor weapon. It was soft, and didn't stay sharp.
It was a weird choice, but oh well. They couldn't break her ebony armor, so she didn't care.
Things continued for a while, systematically dismantling whatever defenses were set up.
The flow of it all was interrupted when they came onto what looked like a ritual chamber. A quick scan of the area noted that the way forward was barred. But, both Lydia and Aerana had been dungeon diving with Sheo before for word walls. It was simple enough to locate the switch lever.
But a test tug produced no movement from it. She tugged again, a bit more forcefully.
It budged a tad, but just reset to it's original position.
"Damnit." She swore. She looked over at Lydia who was examining the wall carvings. "Lydia, can you help me?" she asked.
Lydia walked over, and after demonstrating her problem, Lydia agreed to help. First she tried to turn the lever herself. And while she had more success than Aerana, it wasn't enough as it snapped back. Lydia narrowly avoided losing a tooth from the action.
Now, with both of them pissed off at this lever, a silent agreement was formed between them.
"Ready?" Aerana asked?
"Ready." Lydia confirmed.
"One-"
"Two-"
"'Three!'"
They both pulled with all of their not inconsiderable strength.
The lever gave with a mighty thunk. Both girls fell to the floor in a crash of armor and pained groans. A loud slam was heard as a large iron gate closed behind them.
And yet neither noticed any of that, as Aerana had fallen so that she straddled Lydia's waist. Their faced were inches apart, and they could feel each others breath on their skin.
So close. If she wanted, Aerana could just lean in a bit closer. She thought Lydia could see that too. So tempting. Lydia licked her lips, and then parted them slightly. Was that an invitation? Could she? She leaned in, Lydia closed her eyes, and she did the same.
Then someone wrapped on the gate door, and then she was shoved off violently. Her heart pounded. What was that? She had never felt like that before! She had so many questions!
"Look what you managed to do. Got yourself stuck huh?"
Farkas was on the other side of the gate, completely oblivious to what was going on between them. It was then Aerana noticed what she held in her hand. It was the lever handle. It seemed the old wood had given out under their combined might.
"Shit! Farkas! How do we get out!?" she panicked.
Lydia saw what she had in her hand and her flushed face rapidly paled.
Then that ass! He laughed!
"Hahaha! Don't you two worry. I'll get you out of there. Just sit tight. I'll find the release."
It was then several silver hand entered the room. Farkas drew his great sword, but they outnumbered him 10 to 1.
"Its time to die, dog!" One of them raged.
Another asked which companion he was.
A woman smiled before responded something about armor. But from this distance the two couldn't pick up their conversation. They surrounded Farkas, and he assumed a defensive stance. Several tense seconds passed, before one man lunged.
"Farkas!" Aerana cried. But just as the man charged the warrior, Farkas's fist shot out and grabbed him by the face. Aerana and Lydia were shocked to see it was covered in hair and contained razor sharp claws.
He splattered the silverhand's head over the floor, before his companion wolf armor began to break upon the seams. Aerana noticed that it seemed to release in such a way that seemed intentional.
Farkas's face elongated into a long snout, and his black form towered over the silver hand.
The next few seconds were nothing but slaughter and carnage. And yet, neither woman could close their eyes. When the last man was disemboweled, screaming for mercy as it happened, the beast at last left the room.
The gate opened a few moments later, and both girls carefully stepped out.
Farkas walked back into the room. He wore nothing but a torn loin cloth. He spoke as he quickly and methodically began putting his armor back on. As if he a lot of practice in doing so.
"I hope I didn't scare you." he said. Refusing to meet Aerana or Lydia's eye.
Before she could think better of it, Aerana opened her mouth.
"What was that?!"
Farkas seemed glum, but resigned. Firm in his conviction. "Its…a gift. A blessing even. Given to some of us. We can be wild. Fearsome. Free."
He placed the last piece of his armor back on himself. "Are you ready to go?" he asked, clearly trying to avoid the subject.
But then Lydia suffered from the same problem Aerana had, and spoke before thinking. "Are all of the companions werewolves? Are you going to make us Werewolves?!"
Aerana grabbed Lydia as she shook. It seems her hero worship had all come crashing down at this revaluation.
Farkas snarled his teeth, then caught himself. It seemed that he at least had self control.
Then he sighed, letting his aggression go. "No. Only the Circle have the beastblood. And only if they choose it. Prove your honor to be a Companion. That's all that matters right now. 'Eyes on the prey, not the horizon.' As the saying goes. Look, we should keep moving. Still the draugr to worry about."
They both nodded. The rest of the day was spent in a haze. They killed draugr, got the shard, and returned to Whiterun.
Nobody spoke. It was an uncomfortable silence that nobody was willing to break.
As she laid in the companion bed, she wondered if Sheo had any idea about any of this.
Then it clicked. "Have the option to become a furry." She laughed bitterly at that.
"Of course that idiot knew." Lydia said. It seemed she had been thinking along the same lines.
Nobody else was in the barracks at the moment. Just the two of them.
Aerana sighed. "Hey Lydia?" she asked.
"Yes, my thane." Her voice was strained. But she remained respectful. It was off-putting at first, but she had gotten used to it.
"Do you think…we should?" The object of the question was obvious. It was all the two of them were thinking about. "I mean, there are strong benefits to it. When you think about it." The enhanced strength and speed were nothing to scoff at. And if Farkas was an example, they had control of the transformation.
"I…may I speak freely, my thane?" She sounded conflicted. And hurt.
"Of course, Lydia. Always."
There was a pause as Lydia gathered her thoughts.
"I…find myself…disappointed. All my life, I had two dreams. To be assigned a worthy thane, or to join and become a companion. As a little girl, my father would tell me stories about how brave, and strong, and courageous they were. The first in the fight, and the last out of the mead hall. They were this…unreachable pedestal. I won't lie my thane. Being with you has been wonderful. Even with the idiot. But when you decided to join the Companions, and you wanted me along side you? I felt such joy! It was the combination of my dreams. To have my cake and eat it too. I was so…happy. But…after today. I don't know how I feel. I feel as if I have been lied to. Deceived. And yet still a small part of me, it wants to grasp for that forbidden fruit. To join this circle. To be part of the greatest of companions. Even if it means becoming a beast. And I am disgusted by that part of myself."
They laid in silence, contemplating it all. Then Lydia spoke up once more. "But, I know this. More firmly than anything else. I will follow you. Always. If it is your choice to seek that fruit, I will follow you. Without fear. This, I promise."
Aerana reached her hand across the narrow space between the beds. She found Lydia's hand, and grasp it firmly. "Lydia." She said softly. "Thank you."
Lydia's response was to squeeze that hand. Soon, the physical and emotional exhaustion caught up with them, and a dreamless sleep ensued.
A/N
So I got this out quickly, because I have literally nothing else to do right now. My PC just kinda melted. So, trying to fix that. I'm having to format an old hard-drive and install windows on it just so I can figure out what is wrong with my SSD. I might write another chapter tomorrow. No promises. It all depends on if my PC is cooperating. This was written on mobile. In fact, most of these chapters are written on mobile. Can you tell? Lol. Happy day after new years everyone.