Author's note: I know it's been far too long! I'm so sorry to those of you who have been waiting patiently for more of Katlyn's story. I was originally going to have Saarthal be all one chapter but I decided to split them up and go ahead and give you guys the part that was finished.

Chapter 9

Over the next week and a half Katlyn and the other Novice students attended classes with Tolfdir. They had gone over several more spells and Katlyn was finally beginning to feel comfortable in the college. Classes were held morning to midafternoon with a lunch break in between. Later in the afternoon was usually independent study time where students could more deeply study what had been taught in class that day or explore other subjects on their own. In that time Katlyn had made huge improvements in destruction magic. The Flames spell now worked every time she tried casting it and she was beginning to get the hang of Sparks and Frost, however her magica reserves were still nowhere as strong as Onmund's the other students whom she was now more or less on friendly terms with.

J'zargo's constant bragging about himself got on her nerves some days but she suspected his bravado was more or less an act for the other students to mask whatever insecurities he may have. He seemed to be much more interested in furthering his own abilities than in making friends, so Katlyn mostly left him be. Thus far he seemed to have the skills to back up his bragging but Katlyn had to wonder just how long that would last.

Brylenna was nice though much more reserved. She was reluctant to talk about her past or family but Katlyn sensed that she was under a lot of pressure to excel in her studies of magic. If she would be willing to open up a bit more Katlyn would have loved to ask her about Morrowind, but that didn't seem too likely. Honestly Katlyn didn't mind her fellow students being standoffish, she was here undercover and the less people she had prying into her personal life the easier that would be.

The one exception however, was Onmund. From day one he had been very interested in forming a friendship with her. Katlyn assumed it was because she was the only other Nord student at the college and perhaps he felt a little more at ease around one of his kinsmen. He asked her a lot of questions about herself and her past which she would have found more tiresome if he wasn't so genuinely nice a person. If the questions were innocent enough she would answer honestly. There was no harm in him knowing clam chowder was her favorite food. However, anything about her past, or things that would reveal her identity as the Dragonborn she would either dodge the question or, if she had to, lie entirely.

At the moment she and Onmund were in the dining hall eating breakfast and going over a few notes before class. Katlyn was scanning over a passage from one of their Tombs chewing on a piece of buttered bread when Onmund's voice cut through the silence.

"So do you miss your family at all since you've been here?" Katlyn froze. She took a moment to swallow the bite of bread and take a sip of milk before she answered.

"I don't really have much family." She said with an affected air of casualness carefully avoiding his eyes by looking over the papers on the table between them.

"Oh." Onmund said a bit awkwardly. The way she was avoiding his gaze made him wonder if he'd accidentally touched a nerve and was afraid to inquire further in case he offended her. Taking advantage of his silence, Katlyn used the opportunity to move the focus of the conversation off her.

"So what about you, is it hard being away from your family?" she asked reaching for an apple. Onmund made a sound almost like a scoff.

"Not at all. I consider it a blessing. My family was convinced coming here was a death sentence, or worse. I took years of insisting that this is what I'm meant to do."

Onmund then spend several minutes telling Katlyn about his family. She learned he was the youngest son of a farmer in Falkreath. He had two older brothers who had picked on him for most of his life for his lack of interest in things they considered befitting a true Nord. Katlyn listened without interrupting; it was the first time she had ever heard him talk about his family and it made her feel strange. Katlyn had been doing fine on her own since losing all memory of her past, she had learned to fight and look after herself and had found a family with Brynjolf and the Thieves Guild. Her life had never felt like it was lacking anything but some part of her deep down ached to just to know what having a proper family was like. It was strange to hear the man sitting across from her talking about how he had actively run from the one thing Katlyn didn't know if she could ever have. Her attention started to drift from what Onmund was saying, turning inward on her own thoughts. Unconsciously her hand slipped up under the fabric of her hood to where Brynjolf's necklace hung. She ran her fingers over its smooth surface suddenly missing him.

"So, what about you? You never told me where you were from." Onmund's question brought her back to the present moment. Katlyn bit her lip as she thought of a suitable answer. She considered Riften her home, but that response was too close to her real identity considering every citizen there knew her face. In truth she had no idea where she came from, but she wasn't going to tell Onmund that. She answered with the next thing to pop into her head.

"Helgen." The place had been burned to the ground in Alduin's attack and was no longer inhabited by anyone. It was perfect.

"This one is from Helgen?!" J'zargo's voice broke into their conversation. "This was the place attacked by a dragon a while ago, yes? Were you there to see the dragon?!" he asked excitedly approaching the table. Onmund looked at Katlyn not quite believing the audacity and insensitively of their fellow student's question. She lowered her head slightly removing her eyes from view, but Onmund thought he saw her jaw clench. After a moment Katlyn answered.

"Yes. I was." Katlyn replied shortly her voice edged in steel.

"What was it like?!" the Khajit asked completely missing Katlyn's tone. She didn't answer but merely looked up at him her green eyes glaring daggers. Onmund however didn't miss a thing. "Oh my gosh!" He thought to himself, "Her family must have all been killed in the dragon attack and here we are poking into what must be a horrible memory. No wonder she didn't want to talk about her family!" He stood up and exhaled exasperated.

"What do you want J'zargo?" He asked interrupting the Khaajit. J'zargo looked affronted.

"This one was merely curious. No need to get upset." The intensity of the green glare still directed at J'zargo was making even Onmund a bit uncomfortable. "Anyway I was just going to say it is nearly time for classes to begin."

"Oh, I guess it is." Onmund felt instantly sheepish. "Thanks J'zargo."

Without a word Katlyn shoved her books into her bag and stalked off towards the Hall of the Elements. Beneath her hood a satisfied smirk crept across her face. She hadn't really been angry at J'zargo. Annoyed, sure, but secretly she was pleased how things had turned out. If the others wanted to think she was a poor girl whose family had all died in a traumatic dragon attack, it was fine with her as long as it got them to stop asking questions.

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A short while later the four mages were standing in the Hall of the Elements waiting for Tolfdir to begin his daily lesson. Onmund kept trying to catch Katlyn's eye but she was staring solidly at the floor ignoring everyone around her. His stomach twisted uncomfortably. He hoped she wasn't so upset that she would refuse to practice with him today. Katlyn was the only person at the college he felt he could reasonably call his friend and he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that. Onmund was still looking at Katlyn when Tolfdir spoke up.

"I think perhaps we're ready to begin exploring some various applications of magic throughout history." Tolfdir remarked. That honestly caught Onmund by surprise. He was beginning to think Tolfdir would never let them do anything practical. "The College has undertaken a fascinating excavation in the ruins of Saarthal nearby." Their professor continued, "It's an excellent learning opportunity. Let's all head there now and see what we can discover."

Katlyn felt her mood lift as the others started to follow Tolfdir out of the hall. Exploring ancient ruins sounded right up her alley. "Finally, something other than just blasting magic back and forth at each other," she thought to herself.

The group followed Tolfdir out of the Hall and across the bridge and through the town of Winterhold. Katlyn breathed deep enjoying the crisp cold air and the chance to get out and really stretch her legs again. It was the first time she had been outside the walls of the college since she arrived and hadn't realized till now how cooped up she had been feeling. The Dragonborn wasn't one to stay in one place for very long.

"You seem to be in a better mood." Onmund commented falling into step beside her.

"It's good to be outside again." Katlyn shrugged then a thought occurred to her. "Hey do you have any idea what sort of place Saarthal is? I've never heard of it." Which was really saying something considering how much of Skyrim the Dragonborn had traveled in the past year. Onmund shook his head.

"I dunno. Tolfdir said it was a ruin. Maybe it has something to do with the Dwemer?"

"I really hope it's not a Dwemer ruin." Katlyn muttered darkly. The last Dwemer ruin she had visited was Irkngthand with Brynjolf and Karliah after swearing the oaths that had made her a Nightingale. Even though their mission to end Mercer Frey had been a success, she still had nightmares about the place.

"Why do you say tha-" Onmund started to ask but let the question fizzle when he saw Katlyn was no longer paying attention to him. She was watching Brylenna who was shivering violently, her brow furrowed with concern.

"Are you okay Brylenna?" Katlyn asked.

"It's just so c-cold here! I d-don't know how you Nords s-stand it" She complained hugging her arms tight against her chest while her teeth chattered violently. It was true, Onmund thought. He wasn't bothered by the cold at all having grown up accustomed to Skyrim's harsh climate. There wasn't much he could do for her at the moment though.

"Here." Katlyn handed her a small bottle from the small bag she wore over her robes. "This should help. Make sure to save some for the journey back."

"Thank you Katlyn!" Brylenna gratefully took the potion of resist cold and almost instantly her shivering stopped. Katlyn just nodded and brushed off Brylenna's gratitude with a wave of her hand and a slight blush. Onmund eyed Katlyn curiously. He knew that potion was worth at least 100 gold pieces if not more and she just gave it away like it was nothing.

"And here we all are." Tolfdir led them up to the entryway of Saarthal. "We're particularly interested in problems of magical seals placed on the tombs here." Katlyn was no longer aware of what her teacher was saying as she looked around the place he had brought them. Her stomach dropped slightly. While it wasn't a Dwemer ruin, Katlyn realized they were standing outside an ancient Nordic barrow. In her experience barrows guaranteed one thing: draugers. Her breath caught in her throat. She wondered of Tolfdir had any idea what peril he could potentially be leading his students into. Draugers were no problem for Katlyn the Dragonborn, she could take a hundred in her sleep, but at the moment she had to be Katlyn the Novice Mage. As she followed Tolfdir into the tomb she felt uncomfortably vulnerable. She had no weapons of any kind and without the familiar weight of her armor she felt completely naked. Using her Thu'um was out of the question as it would instantly reveal her as the Dragonborn. At the moment, all Katlyn had at her disposal were the most basic destruction spells and her fellow students. This was going to be tricky.