Spinner of Webs

by WelcomeToEstalia

Her name is known by few, and those that do know it, speak it with fear and reverence. In her wake, kingdoms fall, thousands die, all while the gods laugh within the shadows. She is Arlene Volkihar, Dragonborn, Listener, Nightingale, Mistress of Vampires, Champion of Mephala, Boethiah, and a dozen other Daedric Princes, and she has come to Remnant to play.

5. Chapter 5

Whiterun Hold, Skyrim…

Arlene huddled around her small camp fire as she laid beneath the moons of Masser and Secunda. It had been a full day since she had returned the Golden Dragon Claw to Lucan and his sister and she left Riverwood for the road to Whiterun.

Travel along the riverside road was safe enough. As a Bosmer, most of the local fauna treated her more as a curiosity to be avoided, and the many patrols of Whiterun Guard kept the bandit and raider population relatively low. In fact, she had only been accosted once by a highwayman, a Khajiit bandit who annoyingly had been able to get the drop on her. Khajiit were truly blessed by Nocturnal as their skills in stealth impressed even her.

After a full day of travel, she had made it about halfway between Riverwood and Whiterun, and decided to camp for the night. Surprisingly, sleep came easy to Arlene for someone who had fought a dragon, giant spiders, and the a daugr warlord in the span of two days. Perhaps it was the exhaustion that made her embrace sleep so readily. Regardless, the Wood Elf awoke at dawn's first light, with nothing eventful occurring overnight, and continued her journey forward.

After a little more walking, Arlene saw the city of Whiterun appear in the distance. Standing above the flat tundra of Whiterun Hold, Whiterun City was built on a bluff that allowed it to overlook the majority of the surrounding plains. The hill was protected by thick, stone walls topped by wooden palisades, simple but effective in design. At the top of the hill, Arlene could see the palace of Dragonsreach, an ornate, beautiful structure that looked three stories tall, built like a combination of a stone keep and an ancient Nordic longhouse.

However, as she looked at the magnificent palace, a rocking impact shook the ground with an audible thud. Turning her head towards the source, Arlene focused her elven senses on the origin of the sound. Looking at a nearby farmstead, Arlene's eyes widened as she saw a creature she had never seen before. It was a giant, a 12 foot tall, grey skinned actual giant.

Then her eyes were drawn to the small figures running beneath it. Humanoid warriors, armored men and women who attacked the giant with sword and bow. Two warriors, a heavily armored Nord with sweeping brown hair and black eye paint, charged with a steel great sword, cleaving great chunks from the giant's front, while a lighter armored Imperial woman with a steel sword and shield flanked around the back. All the while, a red headed huntress fired off arrows from a distance, each one impressively hitting their marks.

Looking at the battle, Arlene considered what to do. Her first instinct was the run, to keep a wide berth with the battle, ignore it, and just get into Whiterun. Then she watched as the Imperial woman was smacked back by the giant's club. It must've been only a glancing blow, as she was only knocked off her feet instead of being shot into the sky, like she heard giants were capable of.

Biting her lip down hard, Arlene eventually drew her bow and charged. She tried not to wonder why she was getting involved, and instead just ran forward while loosing several arrows. The first arrow landed on the giant's chest, sticking into its thick, wiry muscles, while the second lodged itself in its face. The giant roared out in pain, bringing its hands to its countenance as the warriors turned their heads briefly at Arlene's interruption.

"Now, attack!" The Nordic man roared as he returned his attention to the giant.

All four present complied, slashing swords and loosing arrows until the giant finally fell to the ground. Once the giant was well and dead, Arlene allowed herself to holster her bow, only now realizing how hard she was breathing.

"Well fought stranger!" the red-headed huntress called out as she approached Arlene with a smile.

Arlene had to focus hard on her attractive face, decorated with blue war paint, instead of allowing her eyes to wander over her fit body and shockingly skimpy armor. How does one brave the cold of Skyrim with her thighs and back exposed like she does?

"You handle yourself well!" The woman spoke again, drawing Arlene's attention. "You could make for a decent shield-sister!"

Arlene opened her mouth but didn't speak, trying to formulate her response. Eventually she said, "It was no trouble. You just seemed like you needed help." Arlene then extended her hand. "I am Arlene. Travelling scout and sellsword."

The woman gave a wide, almost feral grin at Arlene's words. "And I am Aela. Those two are Ria and Farkas." She gestured to her allies behind her. Ria gave a wave while Farkas only grunted. "And we are the Companions, an order of warriors, brothers and sisters in honor who solve problems for coin. And with the way you helped with that giant, I'm sure you'd be welcomed into our ranks!"

Arlene nodded her head. An organization of mercenaries. Sounds almost exactly like the old Fighters Guild. As well as exactly what Arlene was looking for, a place where she could stay, lay low, and earn some steady income. "That actually sounds great. I have to speak to the Jarl first, some important business, but how do I join your Companions?"

"Well we don't take any milk drinker who stumbles in." Aela then slapped Arlene on the shoulder with a grin, "But I think you have what it takes. Once you finish your business with the Jarl, seek out Kodlak Whiteman in Jorrvaskr, he'll see if you can make the cut."

"Sounds good." Arlene smiled.

The Companions then said their goodbyes as they moved to loot and scavenge the giant while Arlene moved into the city gate. The guard watching gave Arlene a hard time about entering, something about the city being closed to visitors, but a quick explanation that Riverwood was calling for aid was all it took for him to let her in.

Arlene was rather shocked to see how busy Whiterun was. In all honesty, she had expected the many cities of Skyrim to be rather small, nothing more than villages compared to the warmer, and more populous cities in the South. But Whiterun was a sprawling as any Cyrodilic city she'd been to, save the Imperial City itself.

Hundreds of people walked the streets of the Plains District, moving from homes, to market stalls, to various stores. And it wasn't just Nords walking around either, though they were the majority. Imperials, Bretons, Redguards, and even several Dark and Wood Elves all called Whiterun their home. Arlene couldn't be sure how many of the more uncommon races were milling about, the Orcs, Argonians, and Khajiits, but she was sure there must've been at least a few.

Arlene noted several specific locations which she would make sure to visit later, namely a smithy called Warmaiden's and a tavern called the Drunken Huntsman. But she would have to save her shopping for later, as she had a job to finish. Moving through the rest of the Plains District, Arlene had to hike a good distance, going up zigzagging stone roads to reach the Wind District. In the same way the Plains District was the commercial sector of the city, the Wind District looked to be where the majority of the city lived. Hundreds of wooden homes sprawled throughout the district, packing together to form tight subroads and alleyways. There were a few larger manors as well, most likely belonging to the wealthy nobles of the city.

And within the center of the District was a town square, where at its center was a large, white tree that appeared dead and burnt. Arlene couldn't help but feel an intrinsic sense of sadness while looking at the tree, disheartened to see it in its current state. But fixing the tree was not Arlene's job nor was it something she currently had time for.

Besides the tree, a few other buildings here caught her sight. She saw the mead hall Jorrvaskr standing atop a small hill underneath the shadow of a stone bird monument. She made a mental note of its location so she could go look for work there later. Arlene then made her way to the entrance of the Cloud District, a long winding stone staircase that made its way up to the peak of the bluff, where Dragonsreach lay.

Rapidly climbing hundreds of steps, Arlene made her way through a series of vaulted arches to the entrance of Dragonsreach. Pushing the great doors open, Arlene saw dozens of heads turn to her, mostly guardsmen, along with a few nobles who sat at a great table at the foot of the Jarl's throne. In an instant the guards all moved towards her, headed by an angry looking Dark Elf with auburn colored hair.

"Halt!" the woman shouted while drawing a sword that glowed with slight blue energy, marking it as magic. "What is the meaning of this interruption!? The Jarl is not accepting visitors!"

Arlene already had her hands raised, thinking that she probably should've had one of the guards outside announce her arrival. "I have news from Helgen, about the dragon attack!" Arlene succinctly said, as beating around the bush here may earn her a sword in the gut.

The Dark Elf's eyes narrowed on Arlene, before she nodded and sheathed her sword, the guards around her doing the same. "Is that so. Alright then, you may say your piece to Jarl Balgruuf, but mind yourself in his presence, or you will find yourself on the wrong end of my blade."

Arlene mutely nodded, knowing not to say anything to aggravate the violent Dark Elf. Briskly, Arlene made her way to the Jarl's throne, pointedly ignoring the looks of the bureaucrats, nobles, and advisors who were crowding the great hall. Once she reached the throne, Arlene examined the great Jarl of Whiterun. He was a middle aged Nord with fair skin, and blonde hair, and a body that suggested a great and powerful youth with strength that had waned once he had taken the throne.

"Well. I trust you have something vitally important to tell me. Important enough to interrupt me in the middle of my council?" Jarl Balgruuf gruffly said.

Once again, Arlene decided brevity to be the best choice here. "A dragon destroyed Helgen. Alvor is afraid Riverwood is next."

Arlene watched the Jarl's eyes bulged out of his face as the other nobles in the room began whispering as well, only to be silenced when the Jarl raised a hand. "Alvor? The smith? Reliable, not prone to flights of fancy… and you're sure Helgen was destroyed by a dragon? Not some Stormcloak raid?"

Arlene huffed and crossed her arms, annoyed that the Jarl seemed to be dismissing the day of trauma she had to endure. "Yeah. Had a great view while the Imperials were trying to cut my head off."

Raising an eyebrow that was confused or amused, Arlene couldn't tell, the Jarl responded, "Well, you're certainly… forthright about your criminal past. But it's none of my concern about who the Imperials want to execute. So, Irileth was right. Well then, Whiterun must prepare for this new foe. I'll have Irileth send a contingent of guards to reinforce Riverwood, as well as increase the number of city guards and fire watchers. Well done friend, you have done my city a service, and have earned a small token of my esteem."

Arlene smiled. This was what she was waiting for. Reward for a job well done. The Jarl motioned to one of the guards. To Arlene's disappointment, they brought her out what looked like a set of Iron armor, with some minor enchantment she'd have to look over later. While Arlene didn't let the disappointment show on her face, she couldn't help but ask herself why they couldn't give her a set of enchanted leathers, or a bow. It's not like she looked like a knight who used such heavy armor. Regardless, now that this was done, she could leave and get away from all of this business of Jarls and dragons.

"Now then." The Jarl continued, heedless of Arlene's internal monologuing. "There is another thing you could do for me. My Court Wizard, Farengar, has been researching dragons and such rumors for some time, and has told me he needs someone who can help him with his research. Aid him, and I will see to it that you are rewarded."

Arlene thought on this. While she wasn't keen to have the Jarl keep such a close eye on her, work for a sellsword was sometimes hard to come by, and being a retainer for a noble would provide a steady source of income. At the very least, she could see what Farengar needed, and say no if it was too much. "Sounds good to me." Arlene shrugged. "My Jarl." she hastily added on after a second.

Jarl Balgruuf smirked and excused her. Taking her leave, Arlene then moved over to a small study attached to the great hall. Within, she could see all of the various accoutrements needed for any professional mage. Soul gems, various alchemical ingredients, and tools used for enchanting and alchemy.

Standing within this room was a mage that fit the stereotype to a T. Long black robes, messy brown hair with long sideburns, a large hood that covered his pale skin. Working with Farengar was easy enough. He wanted her to retrieve a tablet from Bleak Falls Barrow called a Dragonstone, which apparently had some information of what happened to the dragons after they disappeared. Fortunately for him, she had already procured said tablet during her sojourn into Bleak Falls Barrow for Lucan and Camilla.

And to Farengar's amazement, Arlene could read the Dragonstone tablet. Right then and there he offered her a hundred gold pieces and some novice spell books, namely Sparks and a Lesser Ward for her to stay and translate some ancient texts. Arlene agreed, greedily taking the gold and magic knowledge, and spent the next few hours translating for Farengar.

Unfortunately for Arlene, Farengar had a plethora of dragon related notes he needed her to translate. Arlene had arrived at Dragonsreach in the morning, and besides a small break for lunch, they had worked until the late afternoon. While the work was interesting at first, it quickly became monotonous and Farengar's unquenchable thirst for knowledge only served to aggravate Arlene. At this point, Arlene wished she could be doing anything besides staying in this magical study reading dusty old tomes.

"Farengar! Farengar come quick, you are needed." Arlene heard a yell behind her.

Oh thank the Gods, Arlene thought to herself as she stood from the table and began walking for the great hall to see what all the commotion was about. Farengar, despite his scholarly obsession, also began moving.

The messenger was in fact Irileth, the Dark Elf housecarl to Jarl Balgruuf. "A dragon's been sighted nearby." Arlene suddenly felt all excitement leave her body as she cursed the Gods. Irileth then looked at her, "You better come too, you've seen the dragons first hand and we'll need all the help we can get."

Arlene cursed her greed as she berated herself for not leaving earlier. She really didn't want to go out and fight that black scaled dragon, knowing it was tantamount to suicide. But she also had a feeling that Irileth would probably stab her if she didn't help as well. With no good choices, Arlene sighed as she walked with Irileth and Farengar.

Joining the others in the great hall, Arlene listened to a guard recount his story of how a dragon was circling over the Western Watchtower in Whiterun's plains. The amount of fear in the boy did not surprise Arlene, nor did the fact that Irileth was already mustering some of Whiterun's forces to meet the dragon.

Then Jarl Balgruuf turned to Arlene, who was trying her best to appear invisible through the conversation. "My friend, Whiterun needs your help again. I want you to go with Irileth and help fight this dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons than anyone else here."

Were it literally anyone else, Arlene would've told them to stick their orders up where the Sun doesn't shine, but she couldn't do that to the Jarl. Getting on the bad side of the local nobility was never a good idea.

"I can help Jarl Balgruuf, but I will say, I did not fight at Helgen, just survived. And I am no great warrior, but as sure with a bow as any of my kin." Arlene admitted.

The Jarl nodded his head, "I will take whatever aid I can get. At the very least, one more archer means more arrows in the hide of that beast. Now go, and Irileth, Arlene, remember this is not a death or glory mission. I need to know what we're dealing with, and I can't get that if you're dead."

"Of course, my lord. I am the very soul of caution." Irileth gave a small bow before turning to Arlene. "Come one, let's meet with the men by the main gate."

Arlene didn't bother arguing as they ran out of Dragonsreach and into the streets of Whiterun. Truth be told she was planning on fighting. The Jarl had asked her to fight so she would fight. That being said, if the battle started heading South and it looked to be a sequel to Helgen, she was planning on cutting loose early.

The two elves swiftly reached the front gate, meeting roughly a dozen guardsmen, all armed with swords, shields, and bows. The men were nervous, weapons gripped tightly and faces frozen forward, but they held their positions. They would fight and die when called upon.

Irileth began some kind of inspirational speech for her men, but Arlene only half paid attention. She called on them to fight for their homes and families. For honor and glory. None of which held any particular attraction for the mercenary vagabond who had only arrived in the city today, and had thrown away all concepts of military honor years ago.

Soon enough, the impromptu squad left through the gates and began marching to the Western Watchtower. They were silent in their march, tense but focused, ready for anything. As the sun began to set across the horizon, they reached the watchtower, the structure partially collapsed and the surrounding wall destroyed, all still burning from the dragon's attack. However the dragon itself was not in sight.

"No sign of any dragon right now, but it sure looks like he's been here. Everyone spread out and look for survivors. We need to figure out what happened." Irileth commanded.

The guards plus Arlene all accepted the order and began moving, looking for survivors by the broken stone walls and burning carts. The few corpses that were found were grisly indeed, some burnt to char, while others were shredded by the dragon's sword-like fangs.

Quickly Arlene moved towards the tower, opening a wooden door that was half knocked off its hinges. Inside, she almost jumped as a man screamed at her.

"No! Get back! It's still here somewhere!" the man was a guard, obviously young. His clothing was singed and burned, but he himself looked more or less fine. Arlene surmised he hid in the tower once the dragon attacked, a strategy she probably would've used herself.

At the noise Irileth was quickly upon them. "Guardsman! What happened here? Where's the dragon?" She barked out, not caring for the man's whimpering.

"I don't know!" the boy cried out. At his shout, everyone flinched as they heard a dragon's roar above them. "Kynareth save us, it's coming again!" the guard then kneeled down, curling into a ball.

Irritated, Irileth grabbed the youth by his chainmail and yanked him up. "Kynareth will have to save you from me if you don't get out there and fight!" she snarled as she grabbed an unused bow and shoved it into his hands. "Here he comes! Everyone, find cover and make every arrow count!"

Arlene, Irileth, and the reluctant guard all filed out of the tower and looked to the sky, searching for the Dragon. And out of the clouds, flying far faster than any creature of its size had any right to, the Dragon swooped down and passed over them. Arlene's eyes widened, not because of the sight of the dragon, but because it was a completely different dragon than the one that destroyed Helgen.

Immediately, Arlene and all of the guards who had bows opened fire. The volley flew through the air, but out of the mass only a handful of arrows hit their mark. And unlike against the black dragon at Helgen, these arrows seemed to sink into its scales rather than bounce off.

Recoiling in pain, the dragon paused to hover, flapping its wings as it looked at them. "Thuri du hin sil ko Sovngarde!" the dragon roared out, shocking all that it could speak. Then it shouted. "YOL TOOR SHUL!"

The dragon then released a spout of flames at the archers beneath. Arlene dove behind some rubble that protected her from the fire, but two guards were not so lucky, and screamed their lungs out as the flames consumed their flesh.

Arlene and the guards picked themselves up as the dragon flapped its wings above them. Knowing they stood no chance if the dragon kept to the sky, Arlene whispered a small prayer to Y'ffre and loosed her arrow, aimed directly for the thin membrane of the wings. Arlene and a few other archers struck true, and the dragon once more roared in pain, its wing recoiling, forcing it to land.

"Brit grah. I had forgotten what fine sport you mortals can provide!" The dragon spoke once more, crouching low like a lion on the ground.

With the monster grounded, two guards charged at it. The massive reptilian head looked at them, before rearing back as it breathed in and shouted. "FO KRAH DIIN!"

Diving once more behind her stone wall cover, Arlene watched in horror as the dragon breathed not fire but frost, freezing the two guards in place, their bodies shattering as they hit the ground.

Without a second thought, Arlene then knocked another arrow and loosed it, her unerring Elven accuracy allowing her to land a hit right into the dragon's eye. The dragon howled a massive screech as it turned its head and focused right on Arlene.

Oh no… was all Arlene could think as she pivoted and began sprinting away towards another guard carrying a sword and shield. She made sure not to look behind as she heard the dragon turn to pounce after her. But before the dragon could attack, Irileth charged and swung her enchanted blade at the dragon. The steel sword cut into one of the monster's hind legs, hamstringing it. Snarling, the dragon then whipped its tail and smacked the Dark Elf, sending her flying several feet.

However, the moment's distraction Irileth provided was enough for Arlene to knock and loose another arrow, this one sinking into the dragon's throat. Recoiling in pain, the dragon glared at Arlene, and reared its head back while taking a deep breath.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

Immediately Arlene dropped her bow and raised both hands to channel a Lesser Ward. The magic barrier protected her for several seconds, before burning out her magicka and breaking. Burst of fire hit Arlene, knocking her down and setting her alight. Arlene screamed as she quickly rolled on the ground and put out the blaze. She felt all of her skin burn, but she was still alive.

The guard who happened to be standing next to her wasn't so fortunate however, as he was completely set ablaze, screaming as he tried to pat the fire out, before dropping to the ground and rolling as well. Her body wracked with pain, Arlene could only watch as the dragon slowly approached them. The rolling guard was then put out as the dragon crushed him underneath the palm at the joint of its wing. Stopping to lift its wing and look at the gore underneath, the dragon then turned back and walked to Arlene, rearing back its head to no doubt eat her.

Before it could however, another volley of arrows launched from the surviving guards pierced its hide. As it roared out in pain, Arlene watched as out of nowhere Irileth reappeared, lunging at the dragon once more and stabbing it in the ribs with her sword.

The dragon howled once more, flailing above her in anger and pain and threatening to crush her with the slightest misstep. With her adrenaline pumping at its highest, the sight in front of her was merely too much for Arlene to handle and she began screaming as well. Screaming in a combination of rage, terror, and any other adjectives of extreme emotions as she then drew her sword, ignoring the pain she was in and drove it deep into the neck of the dragon. She kept screaming as she withdrew the blade, draconic blood pouring onto her, and she stabbed again. And again. And again. Arlene lost track of how many times she impaled the dragon, and didn't even notice as everyone around joined in, hacking and slashing into the dragon's body till it was covered with hundreds of cuts and gashes.

It wasn't until the dragon collapsed, completely drained of energy as it died, did they stop. Arlene looked the dragon in the eye as it did, and despite its animalistic, reptilian head, she could see fear.

Soon its body began to break apart, burn away into ash as it spoke its last words, "Dovahkiin? NO!"

The flames and embers then spread across the dragon's corpse, until it coalesced and flew right into the body of Arlene. Arlene felt like she was blasted back as the energy went inside of her, her vision blurring and head pounding. She almost stumbled over until one of the guards caught her.

"I can't believe it! You're… Dragonborn!" the guard exclaimed as he fished out a healing potion and handed it to Arlene

Arlene greedily swallowed the contents of the vial before she bothered asking. "Dragonborn? What in Oblivion is a Dragonborn?" she asked as stepped out of the guard's grasp, now standing with her own power.

"It's one of our oldest tales, back when there were still dragons in Skyrim. That the Dragonborn would slay dragons and steal their power. That's what you did right? Absorb the dragon's power?" the guard asked.

"Dragonborn?" another guard asked, this one a female. "You mean like Tiber Septim?"

"I never heard of Tiber Septim killing any dragons." a third guard said.

"Well that's because there weren't any dragons back then idiot. They're just coming back now." The original guard who caught Arlene snapped. He then looked at the elf. "There's only one way to know for sure. Try to Shout, like the dragon did. According to legends, only Dragonborn can Shout without training."

Arlene thought about this. She tried to remember what the dragon yelled when it breathed fire or ice, but she couldn't recall the words. She thought upon the words she read with Farengar, and while she could remember them, she didn't feel any power from them. Then, one word came to her. The same word that seared itself into her mind when she found that Word Wall in Bleak Falls Barrow.

"FUS!" Arlene shouted, sending a few guards stumbling back with her telekinetic words.

"By Shor, that was Shouting!" The female guard yelled. "You are Dragonborn then!"

"Enough!" Irileth shouted. "I don't know all this Dragonborn business, but I do know we just killed a dragon. Not with magic shouts, but with steel and arrows. With strength of arms rather than legends and tales."

"You only say that because you ain't a Nord Irileth." The first guard countered, respectfully of course.

Irileth sent him an annoyed glare before she turned to Arlene. "Regardless of all this Dragonborn business, that was a hairy fight and you helped us get through it. I'm going to stay here and see to the dead and injured, so I need you to go report what happened to the Jarl."

Arlene nodded her head, accepting the task. "Okay. I'll-"

"DOH VAH KIIN!" a shout echoed from across the evening sky, louder than even the dragon's shouts that caused everyone to drop in fear.

"Was that… the Greybeards?" The female guard asked, looking up in wonder and awe.

Shaking off the shout, Irileth looked at Arlene once more. "As if we don't have enough problems. Go! The Jarl needs to hear about this."

Nodding, Arlene turned around and began sprinting for Whiterun, downing a stamina potion on the way. The gate guards, recognizing her, let her through as she then continued her way through the streets of Whiterun, now empty on account of the sighted dragon.

Swiftly, Arlene reached Dragonsreach, exhaustedly pushing both of the massive wooden doors to the great hall, and for the second time today causing all eyes to look at her.

"You're back." The Jarl stated with a calm, firm voice. "And alone. What happened at the watchtower?"

"We slayed the dragon." Arlene got out. "Irileth sent me ahead of the rest to tell you. And all of your men seem to think I'm something called Dragonborn."

That sent a wave of whispers amongst all of the Nordic court members in attendance, which only stopped when the Jarl raised his hand. "Dragonborn? What do you know of the Dragonborn?"

Arlene shrugged. "I know that when I killed the Dragon I absorbed some kind of power from it, and it let me shout magic words."

The Jarl's eyes widened at Arlene's words. "Then that means it was you the Greybeards were summoning!"

"The Greybeards?" Arlene parrotted. "I heard one of your men mention them."

"The Greybeards are the masters of the Way of Voice. They live in seclusion on the high slopes of the Throat of the World. And as Dragonborn, you have a unique talent with the Voice, allowing you to use the Thu'um or Shout. They can teach you how to use your gift."

The Jarl then stood and began walking to Arlene, and to the shock of everyone in the Court, placed both hands on her shoulders, almost in the same way a loving father would. "If you are Dragonborn, like the Greybeards believe, then you have been given a great destiny, Arlene. You must head to High Hrothgar, climb the 7000 steps, meet with the Greybeards, and learn what they can teach you. The fate of Skyrim may be in your very hands."

Arlene's jaw dropped. She was so overwhelmed by everything Jarl Balgruuf just said, that she had no idea what to say in response. Unfortunately for her, the Jarl took her silence as acceptance.

"Very good then!" The Jarl then patted Arlene on the shoulders before returning to his throne. "In addition to this, I still need to reward you for a task well done. By my right as Jarl, I name you Thane of Whiterun, the greatest honor that's within my power to grant." the Jarl then turned to one of his aides. "Go fetch Lydia, and the Axe of Whiterun!"

While the aide quickly scampered away to do his duty, the Jarl continued talking. "With this, I assign you Lydia to be your personal Housecarl, and a weapon from my armory to serve as your badge of office. Lydia is one of the most talented shieldmaidens in all of Whiterun, and she will protect your life like it is hers. Now go. Get your rest, as you will need it for the journey ahead of you."

With that, the Jarl and several other court members decided to retire for the night. All the while, Arlene stood dumbfounded in the hall for several minutes, until two figures walked up to her. The first was a tall, muscular woman wearing fine steel plate armor, sporting shoulder length brunette hair, wielding a sword and shield. And the second was the aide, who carried a large, double headed steel battleaxe. Arlene didn't even have the strength within her to complain about the fact she was given another battleaxe as the aide handed the weapon to her before leaving.

"It's an honor to meet you my Thane." Lydia bowed as she greeted Arlene. "I am Lydia, your personal housecarl. I am sworn to your service, and shall guard you, and all you own,with my life."

"Huh… neat." Arlene was just so tired that Lydia's words were barely registering. "I uhh… I think I need a drink, after that battle."

Lydia nodded her head. "I'm sure many of the guards shall be celebrating as well. We can head to the Bannered Mare, where most of the drinking in town is done."

"Good… good." Arlene sighed out as she exited Dragonsreach, Lydia trailing behind her.

The two walked in complete silence as they descended the stairs down the Cloud District, the sky now having shifted to full night as the two moons came into view, and soon enough, they reached the damaged form of the Gildergreen tree.

Finding the silence somewhat awkward, Lydia decided to try and make some conversation. "So, I have to say, I am quite excited to escort you and meet with the Greybeards. It's an honor very few get, even rarer for those who aren't Nords." Lydia smiled at her Thane, as she was honest in her desire to climb the steps to High Hrothgar.

To her surprise, Arlene froze in place. Confused, Lydia tilted her head to the side as she tried to see what was wrong with her charge. When she saw Arlene's hands gripped into tight fists, shaking at her sides, she stepped forward and asked, "My Thane, are you alright?"

"NO!" Arlene shouted as she snapped around to face Lydia, the shieldmaiden almost jumping back at how sudden the movement was. "I… I'm… no, I'm not alright!" Arlene stammered out as her breathing picked up and her eyes widened. "What in Oblivion is going on!?" Arlene shouted to no one in particular.

Lydia, having literally just met the woman, had no idea what to say as Arlene ranted and raved.

"Greybeards! Dragonborn! WHAT!? That… that is not why I came to Skyrim!" Arlene yelled as she turned to Lydia. "All I wanted to was to make some fucking gold, and now I'm some ancient Nordic hero!?"

Arlene ran her hands through her hair as she started hyperventilating and tears poured down her face. She was here to become a sellsword. To make money, laylow, and get drunk in taverns. Now here she was, in the middle of a foreign city with no friends or family, filled with all these fucking humans who are calling her the incarnation of fucking Talos. How in the name of Y'ffre's leafy balls did she get here? No longer able to handle the stress of the situation, Arlene leaned back on Gildergreen tree and sat down, where she began quietly sobbing into her knees.

Lydia stared at her Thane, at an extreme loss of what to do. The legendary Dragonborn, who had literally just slayed a dragon, was a sobbing, mess of an elf in front of her. She had no idea what the best thing to do in this situation was. How does one comfort the Dragonborn? But looking down, Lydia did not see a legendary warrior, an incarnation of Ysmir. She saw a scared woman who didn't know what was going on.

Sighing, Lydia then took a seat next to Arlene, and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. Arlene flinched initially, but then accepted the hug as she wrapped her arms around her housecarl's waist, and quietly cried onto her.

"Shuush, it's okay my Thane." Lydia said in a comforting voice that reminded her of her own mother.

"I…" Arlene hiccuped as she tried to get her tears under control. "I don't want to see the Greybeards." she weakly mumbled.

"Then we won't." Lydia whispered to her as she patted her back. "How about we just go to the Bannered Mare, and get that drink?" she asked with a gentle smile.

Arlene looked up at her smiling housecarl, tears and snot running down her face. "Yeah, I'd like that."

---

Present Day…

Blake Belladonna crept forward, staying low in the brush as she examined the trees in front of her. The way forward wasn't well traveled at all, but there were still certain paths between the trees that were easier to move through than others. Double checking her compass, she turned to her teammate Weiss beside her.

"Hey Weiss, can you bring out the map. I wanna double check our heading." Blake asked the heiress. If you had had told Blake a year ago that she'd be working side by side with the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, she'd have called you insane. And while Weiss has been rather abrasive thus far, Blake found she could at the very least be professional enough to work with her.

"Here." Weiss replied as she pulled out a large, foldable paper map. The map was actually hand drawn by professor Volkihar, and had, to the best of Blake's knowledge, an extremely detailed layout of the Emerald Forest where team RWBY was currently scouting through.

And while Blake and the others spent a good amount of time in the Emerald Forest during initiation, that was a rather quick adventure and they hadn't had the time to really learn the landscape. Not to mention that Professor Volkihar had sent them miles deep into the Emerald Forest, much further than they had been last time around.

The task the Professor had given them was simple. Each team was given a map that had the location of a "treasure" on it, located somewhere in the Emerald Forest, and each team had to make their way there with only the map and a compass. Looking at the map, Blake used the lessons the professor had given to try and recalculate the group's azimuth, but soon found that she wasn't entirely sure as to where they were within the forest.

Turning around, she looked to Ruby and Yang, who were currently on Grimm-watch. "Hey Ruby, do you mind heading up one of these trees and looking for some landmarks nearby? You have a rangefinder with your sniper, right?"

Ruby nodded. "Yep, I can do that. Pass the compass here?" As Ruby extended her hand out, Blake gently lobbed the compass to her leader. Deftly catching it, Ruby then vanished in a cloud of rose petals and flew up a nearby tree.

While they waited for their leader to make the necessary observation, an awkward silence landed upon the group. They were still a rather new team, and found working together to be somewhat difficult, especially with Weiss's aggravatingly confrontational nature. At the very least, she seemed to be doing better after her talk with Professor Port.

"Why are we even out here?" Weiss asked, her tone annoyed.

Blake shook her head. Speak of the Brother of Darkness and he shall appear. "Because Professor Volkihar told us to." Blake flatly answered.

Weiss huffed. "I'm just saying, I already had to get my dress dry cleaned after the Initiation. This forest is not good for my wardrobe."

"Don't you think that's more on you for making your combat gear a white dress?" Yang poked with a smirk.

"Hey, it's not my fault that my family has a theme." Weiss defended, crossing her arms.

"At the very least you'll be our best scout if we're lost in a snowstorm." Blake teased as well.

"Hmph." Weiss pouted as she turned her head, until her facade broke and she began snickering.

At that Yang and Blake also started chuckling, when suddenly Ruby dropped down from the tree. "Okay, I got some references and- hey! Are you guys having fun without me?"

"Don't worry about it Ruby." Blake said with a smirk as she looked at her map. "What do you have?"

Ruby frowned a bit at being left out, but soldiered on. "Okay. To the East there's a set of ruins, same one we got the chess pieces for initiation from, about 1 kilometer away. Directly West, I saw a river about 600 meters out, and to the North, at a heading of about 350 degrees, I saw a pond 800 meters out, which the river feeds from." Ruby explained as she tossed the compass back to Blake.

Catching it, Blake was able to triangulate their relative position on the map, and from there she was able to get a new heading of what direction they needed to travel to reach the treasure marked on the map.

"Alright we're good. Let's go-" suddenly Blake was cut off but the ringing of all their scrolls.

That was strange. Immediately all of the girls pulled out their scrolls, in case this was some school wide announcement or emergency. It wasn't, as instead all of the girls had gotten a text from Professor Volkihar saying, Summoning up a Lightning Dust storm. Pick up the pace if you don't want to get drenched.

"What? How can the professor create a storm with Dust this far out?" Weiss exclaimed in disbelief.

Then Blake heard… something. It sounded like someone yelling or shouting, but it was far enough out that it was difficult to make out the details, even with her enhanced Faunus hearing. Then the sky grew darker, blackened clouds filling the sky as raindrops began falling.

It started off light, nothing more than a drizzle, but it soon rapidly picked up pace, within minutes the sky going from a regular, cloudy day to a full on torrential downpour.

"Oh are you kidding me?!" Weiss cried out as she made her way to cover under a large oak tree nearby, plodding through the rapidly forming mud.

Blake looked at the tree that Weiss was walking towards, moving to shelter from the rain there as well, when something caught her eye. It looked like some kind of circle, hidden in the mud. The obviously geometric shape made it stick out amongst the natural forest surrounding it. It didn't take long for Blake to quickly piece together that it looked like the same kind of snare she used to catch wildlife on Menagerie.

"Weiss, wait!" Blake shouted as she stuck out her hand.

"Wait, nothing!" Weiss snapped back. "I am getting out of this rain and that's fi-"

Weiss's complaints were cut off as the circle of rope instantly triggered when she stepped in it. The snare coiled itself around Weiss's ankle, pulling her feet out from under her and yanking her to the ground. The rest of team RWBY watched in shock as the rope from the snare started moving up the oak tree as some kind of counterweight on the farside fell. Weiss was then dragged against her will through the mud, and then up the tree foot first, until she was hanging upside down.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang all gaped at Weiss, who was now completely covered in mud, strung upside down like the Hanged Man, all while getting increasingly red faced as she tried to keep her skirt from falling up.

"Don't just stand there you dolts! Cut me loose!" Weiss shrieked.

That's when Yang burst out laughing, falling to her knees at the sight of Weiss.

"Don't worry Weiss, I'll get you!" Ruby drew her scythe and looked to Blake. "Come on Blake, let's get her down."

Blake glanced at Yang, who was still wheezing on the ground laughing, and rolled her eyes. "Alright. Let's go save the princess."

---

Standing atop of the Initiation Cliff, Arlene let out a heavy sigh as she used Beacon's many hidden cameras to watch her students make their way through the Emerald Forest. The task she gave them was simple, she would give them each a map, and they had to use it to go find some "treasures" she had spread out across the forest. She even made sure to teach them how to read the map beforehand, so the fact that so many of them were hopelessly lost did nothing to stop her frustration. They'd been in the forest for half an hour already, and only team CFVY and team JNPR were making a decent pace.

Perhaps they needed some more motivation. A little life or death terror should kick them into high gear. Pulling out her scroll, she sent a message to her class. Summoning up a Lightning Dust storm. Pick up the pace if you don't want to get drenched.

A bit of a lie. Arlene actually hadn't learned how to summon a rainstorm using Lightning Dust yet, but it's not like she needed it. Based on the distance, she was probably far enough that none of the students would hear her shout.

Taking a breath, Arlene shouted. "STRUN!" The first word of Storm Call. Strong enough to create a heavy downpour, but not so strong that it would create enough lightning that a student might get hit.

Suddenly the sky above became dark with clouds, and the wind picked up. Then drops of water fell from the sky, starting slow but rapidly picking up pace. Soon it turned to a full downpour as the sky, and the students beneath within the forest began scurrying for cover to avoid dealing with the rain.

Arlene smirked as she watched team RWBY run to a large oak for cover from the rain with Weiss leading the way. As she approached the massive tree, something seemed to catch Blake's eye as she called out to her teammate. Weiss didn't seem to hear, either she was outright ignoring her or couldn't hear over the downpour. Which was unfortunate as Weiss then stepped into one of the many snare traps that Arlene had set up throughout the forest.

The snare wrapped itself around Weiss's ankle while the counterweight fell, dragging the heiress off her feet and into the mud, before she was then dragged up the tree, hung upside down by her ankle. Weiss screamed, likely obscenities at her team as she tried to keep her mud stained skirt from falling upwards. Yang seemed to fall over laughing, while Ruby and Blake started climbing to cut her teammate free.

Scenes like this were playing out all across the Emerald Forest. The woods were a veritable hotbed of hidden traps. Snares that pulled targets up trees, carefully hidden pitfall traps, tripwires that launched jars of tree sap at students. Arlene had set up all of these and more to make accomplishing her task of finding the treasures more difficult.

Over her scroll Arlene watched Jaune of team JNPR fall into a pitfall while leading his team to a nearby cave for shelter. When Pyrrha Nikos tried to bend down and pull him out, the ground gave way and she tumbled in afterwards. Meanwhile team Chucklefuck had gotten caught underneath a net, the four boys struggling to escape. Arlene raised an eyebrow at that one. She hadn't prepared any falling nets, but from the size of the net, as well as the fact that it was weighted and made of metal, it looked like it was meant to capture Grimm, meaning it probably belonged to Professor Port.

The rain slowed the already painfully slow progress of the students even more, but at least now it was more entertaining to watch. And as a bonus, the students were actually forced to use their usually empty heads to coordinate their movements more, the students who were on point more efficiently communicating with the navigators holding the map so they could find their treasure faster and get out of the rain sooner.

Unsurprisingly, team CFVY succeeded in finding the treasure first. Within the body of a downed oak tree, Arlene had hidden a small strongbox. And within that strongbox was a spare, golden Elven dagger. The treasure in hand, team CFVY quickly made their way out of the forest and to the top of the cliff to dry off.

Both teams RWBY and JNPR got lost a handful of times, usually getting turned around by the weather or delayed by traps, until they found their own treasure boxes, an Elven sword and bow respectively. Eventually the rest of class, including team Chucklefuck found their own treasures and slowly made their way back to the cliff. By the time everyone was assembled, the students were all exhausted, soaked, caked in mud, but had succeeded in their tasks.

Nodding her head, Arlene looked to all of them. "Well I will be damned. Looks like you're not all useless after all. Congratulations on completing today's lesson. Now that you all know what it's like to navigate during shit weather, you should all have no problem navigating with a map in favorable weather." Arlene watched as several students brightened up at her praise. Best to bring them back down with a bit of reality.

"Now then, everyone leave the golden weapons here, those are mine, not yours. As for homework, I want everyone to read the next chapter on making fires. Next class we're going to go over how to start a fire while freezing to death." Several students groaned at this. "Shaddup. Now go on, get out of here and get yourselves cleaned up. Some of you are filthy." Arlene had to hold back her smirk as several students walked away, glaring at her but not willing to talk back to her directly.

With class over, Arlene now has some free time to herself. She had planned on going to the cafeteria with Serana for dinner to observe the students for potential recruits, but that still wasn't for another few hours. While she could go to her office and fill out some lesson plans like a responsible teacher, she had some more important business to attend to. She needed to speak to Ozpin.

Calling upon a spell she hadn't used in quite some time, Arlene cast the Clairvoyance spell, and saw a psychic, prescient pathway that would lead her towards the Headmaster. Arlene wasn't particularly a fan of this spell, she found it clunky and more often than not it just led her in circles. But for simple tasks, such as locating a single individual in an enclosed space, it worked wonders for saving time.

Unsurprisingly, the spell led Arlene to Ozpin's office. Using her superior hearing to listen inside, she could hear the headmaster on a call with someone, talking about some banal topics like acquiring more training drones from Atlas and preparations for the Vytal Festival later in the year. Arlene waited for the call to finish, not wanting to annoy Ozpin more than necessary by interrupting his conversation.

Once he was done, Arlene knocked on the door to his office. There was a pause, most likely Ozpin checking his security camera before calling out, "Please, come in."

Arlene confidently strode into his office like she wasn't intruding unannounced. "Professor Ozpin. I wanted to speak with you."

"Arlene." The headmaster nodded. "Pleasure, as always. How are classes going?"

"As good as they can be." Arlene shrugged as she took an unoffered seat. "Little tykes are actually doing better than I thought. Spunky little bunch."

Ozpin smiled at that. "They are talented and hardworking students. Your class has presented them with a challenge and many have chosen to rise up to meet it. But regardless, that's not why you're here. So what can I help you with Arlene?"

"I want to meet the mage under the tower." Arlene gave a bright smile.

"No." No toying, no word games. A single rejection delivered as flat as Ozpin's face.

Arlene couldn't help but be surprised at how direct Ozpin's rejection was. Normally Ozpin enjoyed a verbal spar with her, polite double-talk while they probed each other for information.

As such, Arlene elected to drop the games as well. "Fine. How about a trade? You let me meet the mage beneath the tower, and I can give you something only I can give." Arlene then leaned forward with a salacious smile.

Ozpin's flat face only morphed into a stern frown. "What exactly are you insinuating?"

Arlene smiled and leaned back in her chair. "I can help restore some of your magick powers."

It was slight, but Arlene saw Ozpin was shocked. Despite his best effort to hide it, his eyes widened, his breath hitched just slightly, all before he returned back to normal. Taking a drink of coffee out of his mug, the Headmaster took a second to collect himself before his eyes narrowed on Arlene, looking for any sign of deception.

When he couldn't find any, he finally spoke "How?"

Arlene's smile stayed bright as she explained. "Serana and I could sense your magicka is waning. We've only been here a few weeks but can sense it. Let me guess, you can no longer regain your magicka as fast as you once could? Or the total amount of magicka you have has been reduced?"

Ozpin was silent. Internally though, he acknowledged she was right on both accounts. Ever since he created the Maidens and gifted others with powers, Ozpin's total magic power reserves were permanently reduced, and spells that once took him minutes to recover in his first life would now take hours, if not days.

That silence however, was all the answer Arlene needed. Waving her hand, Arlene called upon her requip magic and summoned a bronze, circular amulet with a triangle icon on its face. "This… is called an Amulet of Julianos, a God of Magic in my world. Wearing it will help increase one's magical reserves."

Ozpin eyed the amulet carefully, considering her words before he spoke. "And you believe in this Julianos?"

Arlene stored her amulet away in her pocket dimension, causing Ozpin's eyes to slightly widen. She fought off a smirk as she said, "All the Gods exist in my world in one way or another. Some have different names or representations in different cultures, but they are there."

"And which of these Gods do you believe in, Arlene?" Ozpin asked. Both Arlene and Serana were sparse with details about their world, and he would get whatever information he could.

Arlene was silent for several beats, her fox-like smile faltering a bit as she adopted a more neutral expression. "I serve many deities. But I would say the one closest to my heart is Boethiah." And Mephala, Arlene mentally added, but she thought Ozpin would appreciate her even less than Boethiah.

"And what does this Boethiah represent?"

Pausing to collect her thoughts again, Arlene finally said, "It's complicated." Ozpin only raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. "Some would say she's the Goddess of deceit and conspiracy, someone who seeks revolution and chaos. But I see her in a different light. I believe she is the God of Choice. To those who feel as if their fates are controlled by others, she offers freedom."

Strangely enough, something that Arlene said had triggered another reaction out Ozpin. One of the words in her statement meant something to him, but she wasn't sure which.

"Is that what you desire? Freedom?" Ozpin asked.

Arlene pursed her lips, and as was becoming pattern for this conversation, paused. She then elected to answer Ozpin's question with one of her own. "Tell me Professor, do you believe in destiny? In fate and prophecy?"

Ozpin looked at her with eyes much older her's. "Yes, I do." He said heavily.

"As do I." Arlene said as her smile returned to her face. "But I damn well won't accept it without a fight. But regardless, you still haven't answered my original query. The amulet for a meeting. Yes or no?"

Staring at her for a good, long while, Ozpin considered his options. Arlene was fanciful at the best of times, and chaotic at the worst. And both she and Serana had proven to be severely untrusting of others, despite all of the goodwill he had shown them in the past few weeks. But he saw no deception in her in their conversation, and she had finally given him some insight into her goals and beliefs. Perhaps this is what he could use to build up more trust between the two of them. And the chance to reclaim of his lost magic was not something he wanted to miss out on.

Standing, Ozpin began walking to his elevator and gestured for Arlene to follow. When they entered, he asked Arlene a simple question. "Tell me, Arlene, have you had a chance to study Remnant's fairy tales?"

---

Arlene rode the elevator down Beacon's Tower, beneath the ground floor, and into the subterranean levels of Beacon. Arlene had to suppress a bit of a shudder, as riding an elevator to a deep, underground location triggered her unpleasant memories of Blackreach, the massive Underground Dwarven city that had far too many Falmer, Charrus, and Dwarven automatons for her liking.

After a few moments, the elevator dinged open and revealed a massive, underground tunnel, tinted with green lights.

"Welcome to the Vault, Arlene." Ozpin calmly stated as he walked forward into the grand hall.

Arlene merely nodded her head and followed him forward. The walk was silent, until the duo finally came upon the end of the hall, where a giant machine lay. It was there, within a glass coffin, she saw the mage under the tower. A young woman, with light brown skin and short cut brown hair, and a pretty face covered in severe burn scars.

"This… is Amber." Ozpin gestured to the woman.

Arlene sensed the magic power within her, but didn't even need to use any restoration magic to know that she was dying. Moving forward to inspect the body, Arlene asked, "What happened to her?"

"I believe I only agreed to introduce you to Amber, not that I would tell you what happened to her." Ozpin smiled at his own words.

Frowning in annoyance, Arlene glared at Ozpin. "That is true." she conceded with a shrug.

However, when Arlene glared at the old wizard, she saw something in his face. His smile wasn't one of smug condescension, as it would've been on her face, but instead a gentle smile of a teacher, trying to impart some kind of lesson. Arlene realized that he wasn't trying to go back on his words, but more testing her somehow. Arlene rolled her eyes, as she had an idea of what he wanted her to do.

Ignoring the old man, Arlene focused on the body of Amber within the stasis pod. There were burns upon her body, mostly her face, and looked to be either chemical or fire in nature, she wasn't sure which. Amber was wearing a medical white tube top and skirt, but when Arlene looked closer she saw bandages wrapped tightly around her torso, most likely to treat some kind of wound.

Not seeing too much more on the physical side, Arlene casted a Detect Life spell. Amber's soul became visible to the vampire, in fact both souls within her body were visible to Arlene. One, the orange Aura of Amber's own soul, combined with a second one, an ochre-golden Aura, which Arlene saw as wounded, crying out in pain. She then turned back to Ozpin, and saw that his own green colored soul was massive, far larger than any single soul had any right to be. Saving that information for later, Arlene deactivated the spell.

"The girl is wounded, as is obvious." Arlene began. "She was attacked with the intent to kill her, I assume, for the second soul within her." she surmised based on what evidence she could find.

Ozpin, slightly surprised by her assementment, nodded his head. "We call that soul the Fall Maiden. You see, magic in this world can only be used by women called Maidens, who like you have seen, get their magic powers by obtaining the soul of the original Fall Maiden." Ozpin then walked up and sadly looked at Amber's body. "Amber, the free spirit that she is, was travelling on her own when was attacked. Someone tried to forcibly rip the power of the Maiden from her. One of my agents, a huntsman named Qrow, stopped them."

"But they were partially successful." Arlene said, not asked as she cocked her hip.

Nodding his head, Ozpin sighed. "Yes. Half of the Maiden's power is gone, and in order to prevent the other half from going to the thief, we are keeping her alive with this machine."

"How are these powers normally transferred?" Arlene asked, now cocking her head too.

"Normally, the powers would transfer to the last person the Maiden thinks of, given that they are a young woman. If the person they think of is too old, or a man, the process is then random."

"And you're afraid that the last person that she'll think of is the person who tried to kill her." Arlene surmised.

"That's what we're afraid of." Ozpin confirmed.

"We?" Arlene parrotted, giving Ozpin an amused smirk.

The Headmaster froze for a beat, before explaining his words. "Indeed. Myself and some of my colleagues have formed an order dedicated to protecting the Maidens. To keep them secret so the Kingdoms do not try to use them for war. The same protection we want to extend to you and Serana."

"In exchange for our magic." Arlene said bluntly.

Ozpin shook his head. "No. In order to keep both you and the world safe. It's as you said, magic, when uncontrolled, can be devastating."

"Hmm." was the only response Arlene gave, as she tilted her head towards Amber, thinking of this meeting. "Well, thanks for explaining everything, Ozzy. I'll think about what you said."

The Headmaster cocked an eyebrow at the nickname as Arlene reached into her pocket dimension and summoned the Amulet of Julianos. She then tossed the jewelry at Ozpin, who deftly caught it with one hand. Ozpin could feel magic coming from the amulet, but before he could ask any questions, he saw that Arlene was already leaving.

Looking back at the amulet, Ozpin then decided to put it around his neck. Instantly, Ozpin almost dropped as he felt his magic power enhance. His jaw dropped as he felt more powerful than he had in years. The last time he felt this strong was two lives ago, when he was still the Warrior King Osmund of Vale during the Great War, before he gifted magic to Qrow and Raven.

He then looked back at the elevator and saw Arlene was already gone. Collecting himself, this only furthered his resolve to get Arlene and Serana on his side. If they could return some of his magic to him, what else could they do? He had suspected that they could be the necessary allies to tip the balance of the war against Salem, but this only confirmed it. He will have them on his side, regardless of what it took.

---

A/N, 3/27/21: Another chapter! More adventures of Arlene in the main quest, followed by some snippets of Arlene as a teacher. Both versions of Arlene, the terrified reluctant hero and the manipulative villain are just a lot of fun to write.

Review Responses:

Jctherebel: Thanks!

Mpyrkh: Not a bad list. And making Cardin a literal human cattle would be hilarious.

Tronmaster5704: Dealing with Cardin is always fun in fics. And yeah, I like to see it as Glynda wasn't wrong in that Arlene probably shouldn't have beat a student, but she also wasn't right at Arlene's point of the literal army of child soldiers she was helping make.

Hamilton406: Glad you're giving it another chance. As for Aura on the Dragonborn, I always saw Aura as something that any character can unlock as long as someone can unlock it. But I also like to monkey around with the canon of whatever crossovers I make, and will make changes to the canon if I feel like it's necessary.

Chryseum: Yeah the fact that Cardin never gets any kind of punishment in canon is pretty messed up if you take it at face value, as it shows that the staff didn't seem to care about intervening in racial discrimination.

Sentinel053: Thanks!

NlaEid: I'll be honest, the first half your review had me nervous lol. I'm glad you enjoy my story so far, and thank you for recommending this fic to others as well!.

Jnautking: Thanks!

Inquisition77: Interesting theory!

Amity: I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! Arlene is a character I am finding myself having a lot of fun writing, so I'm happy you like her as a character as well.

Xyrennn: I update this story every now and then so people know it's still alive. I don't plan on abandoning it anytime soon, I'm just trying to finish my other stories first before committing more time to this one.

DarthAzrain: I'm glad you find it interesting. As for multiple champions and guild leaders, at least she's not the Arch Mage of the College lol. I mostly just let it go since it is possible to do it in the game, and I can internally justify it as each Prince would seek out a powerful mortal like the Dragonborn or Nerevarine to mess around in the mortal plane since they would use their gifts to the fullest.

With that, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!