Author's note: I know this is a bit late... in fact, where I am, I'm cutting it a little close to tomorrow. No matter! At least it's done, right?

This is the companion piece to Chapter 21, my request character chapter. It is the last of the two parts of this character request, courtesy of a champion of justice (yes, that is their username). Thank you, a champion of justice! This was actually really fun to write, once I got started, and I might not have had the motivation if it were not for you. Best of luck in whatever your current endeavors may be, and thank you once more.

I'm not sure if I did mention this, but yes, you can request chapters. I take prompts, your OC's, prompts about your OC's, prompts about my characters, you name it! Drop me a line if you want, and I'll do my best.

I am a beta, so if you need those services, again, drop me a line!

That's pretty much it! Thank you all for reading, I appreciate it.

Please review, it makes my day.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

A shout, loud and ringing echoes through the camp.

"WAKE UP, YOU IDIOTS!"

The travelers rub their eyes, gritty with exhaustion. The grey light of morning filters through the trees, illuminating the remnants of last night's dinner. Pieces of cookware lie scattered about, and the charred pieces of wood from the fire are still warm. The horses are still tethered, and are lazily eating at the grass. The tall woman surveys the scene with thinly veiled disgust.

"I told you layabouts to clean up when I left for water! And it still looks exactly as I left it. Just what were you doing all this time?"

Taz, the small blond girl gives a sheepish grin.

"...Sleeping, Miss Leader Ma'am?"

"Don't call me that. It's not my name" The tall woman snaps, and turns to the rest of the travelers.

"You should all know better. Taz gets a pass, since she's a kid," A noise of protest from the girl in question. "But that doesn't mean the rest of you are allowed to lie around and pretend you're at home doing nothing."

The small camp springs into action as the last words leave her lips, and within minutes all are ready to hit the road once more. As they begin the journey, the small girl falls back to where the tall woman is riding along.

"Um I hate to be a bother, but… will you ever finish that story?"

The woman sighs, looking down.

"Fine."

Lydia didn't see him again for a long while after that. At the end of the first week, she wasn't too worried. After all, the mountain was a long way off, and there were many enemies to fight along the way. At the end of the second, she was still unconcerned. At the end of the third, she began to wonder. A month was a little more than necessary to reach the mountain and return, so maybe the three weeks wasn't so bad. However, it was possible that he had been delayed. Perhaps by a storm, or bandits. Maybe even an injury. But when the fourth week came to pass, she found herself becoming increasingly more worried for his safety. The man couldn't have been that delayed. So she sent a runner to Ivarstead, with a message containing a few choice words on just how late the damn man was. He returned empty handed.

The messenger informed her that her charge, the blasted Dragonborn had headed to some city to track… assassins? She didn't even want to think about it. The messenger was harried enough, and had left the message with the woman who ran the local inn. Apparently the town had been rumored to be haunted or something, and Walden had done everyone a favor by clearing up the rumors. And had killed more than a few bears. Again, she didn't want to think about it.

Unfortunately, the runner informed her, the city that Walden was heading off to was more than a month's journey on foot, and there might be destinations past that. To prove his point, he had pulled out a map and shown her the exact distance. She had sworn up a storm, slammed a dagger next the the poor man's hand, and had stormed out of the room.

For the next month and a half she had busied herself by cleaning. Cleaning all the time, fixing weapons, making sure to murder any bandits within a mile of Whiterun, and the like. But in her free time, she worried. And so she kept busy.

Then, a messenger came. From the town of Ivarstead. And he bore news of the Dragonborn, or so the guards at the gate said. She had sprung upon the man like a cat to mouse. He had almost squeaked in fright, but still handed her the message. Tearing it open, she had found news not much to her liking. Walden would be gone for far longer than she had anticipated, and was also tied up in the civil war. So Lydia sighed and went back to work. She scouted out guard posts, fought more bandits, managed all of Walden's financials, and still nothing.

She took up arms the next week.

The world outside Whiterun was harsh, and traveling by foot wasn't always a good idea, but she quickly learned how to make her way through the country. Walden wasn't with the Stormcloaks, or the Imperials, and everywhere she went he seemed to be just ahead of her. Rumors of his deeds spread like wildfire. People said he was amassing an army of his own. Others said he was to join the Stormcloaks. Or the Imperials. Some thought he was going to stay in the shadows, perhaps as one of the Thieves Guild, or… she refused to even think the name of that shadowy , though, she caught up with him. The ruins under Markarth, perhaps, weren't the greatest place to have a reunion, but they had to do.

He almost sent her home.

But her stubbornness prevailed, and he gave in.

And so, they waged war on those who stood between them and peace, even up until the final fight. For Alduin was no pushover, and while they managed to slay him, it came at a great cost. The Dragonborn was slain, and with him, the last hope for peace in the Empire.

With no balancing force in the civil war, and no army to rise up from the shadows and defeat both of them, the conflict lasted for over ten years. The land was laid to waste, and across the land people collapsed. Systems of government fell, ancient treaties were broken, and brother turned on brother. But throughout it, there was always one figure who stood above the rest. She strived to bring peace to the land, and in place of the man she served so faithfully, she brought the fight straight to both the Stormcloaks and the Imperials. In both cases, the leaders were either slain or forced to surrender and flee; she preserved their honor by telling no one of their exact fates. And with the power and experience she had gained from traveling with the Dragonborn, she pushed others to establish new systems of government. And when her task was done, she faded into obscurity, choosing to live a life of adventure in the wilds rather than lead. After all, to lead was always the job of the Dragonborn, not the ones who served him.

So now, though the land remains ravaged, and the people still savage at heart, the land is once more becoming stable, thanks to the fight of both her and her Thane.

The younger girl, Taz, blinks back tears as the story closes.

"I knew he had died for us, but why did he have to leave people like her behind? Why couldn't he have stuck around a little longer, just to see the land that he fought for become whole once more?!"

The woman smiles, softly.

"It was not his destiny. But it was hers to help the land, and so she did. We may all learn from their sacrifices. Lydia almost lost her goal in life when he died… But she found it again when the land needed her. And Walden, he completed his goal with the defeat of Alduin. And those others who loved him, all the people he had helped, they found a new destiny. One to continue the fight of the Dragonborn."

Taz looks up at her elder.

"How do you know that?"

"Because," the woman fixes her stare on the horizon, "I am Serana. And I was one of his companions… in more ways than one."

And with that she spurs her horse to the front of the group, leaving the girl to stare after her.