Chapter 17: The Dragonborn at school
[5th of Second Seed 4E 202]
After I had found Fiona again, I had escorted her and the friends back to Whiterun, and on the previous day she had told me part of what she had experienced since we had separated early in the year. The story was quite long, and we had agreed to continue on the next day. For today, though, I had promised to try to talk her into going to school with me, as Minolewen had asked me to do. So, after my morning training and breakfast, I waited under the Gildergreen until the Dragonborn was ready, and once she showed up, I suggested:
"Fiona, would you be amenable to visiting school today before we continue to talk about your recent adventures?"
"There is a school here?"
"Yes, there is. It's like an elementary school, and I have been there a few time already. They have two teachers, an Altmer and an Orc, and they mostly alternate, but sometimes also teach two different age groups. The kids seem to like me, and I have been told that they would love to meet you. After all, you are the Dragonborn of legend, you know."
"Well, I have been barely out of school myself; as a matter of fact, I never got to complete it back in Villach; I would have needed another year or so for my 'Matura'. So, yes, this might actually be fun; show the way, please!"
Lydia tagged along with us and Fiona's wolf followed, and a few minutes later we arrived at school. Minolewen saw us coming when she looked out of a window, and she waved us inside right away. Most of the kids knew me quite well, but they did not know who Fiona and Lydia were, and so I did the introductions:
"Fiona, this is the Whiterun school, and the teacher is Minolewen. Everybody, may I introduce Fiona, the Dragonborn, her housecarl Lydia, and her wolf Nymeria!"
There was silence for some time. The kids had clearly not expected this, and maybe some of them had assumed the legendary Dragonborn more looking like a hero, tall and athletic and all. Also, the kids might be somewhat intimidated by Nymeria, who kept very close to the Bosmer. Contrary to Hanni and Nanni, Fiona's pet was not used to kids, and she kept her distance and tried to avoid getting too close. Eventually Mila stepped forward, looked at me first and then at Fiona, and asked:
"You are the Dragonborn? Really? You don't look like a dragon at all, but if Balu says that's what you are, I believe it; I trust him and I know that he does not tell lies."
Fiona giggled and explained:
"You know, as Dragonborn I am not supposed to look like a dragon, but have a dragon's soul. I can also shout like a dragon."
"Shout like a dragon? Like spitting fire and such? No, I don't believe that! That's not possible!"
That was Thomas, one of the older boys, and I understood his skepticism. Fiona was ready for that and asked:
"Would you want me to demonstrate this?"
Almost all of the kids yelled and shouted, but Minolewen begged:
"Not in here, please!"
Fiona nodded and headed outside; the yard was partially walled in, and one side was the sturdy city wall. I helped by collecting some lose wood and grass and piled it into a heap close to the wall. A couple of city guards were on patrol close by, and I warned them:
"The Dragonborn will use one of her shouts as a demonstration to the students; please do not be alarmed."
They nodded and decided to watch as well, and once all kids were outside and standing well behind her, Fiona shouted 'YOL!' against the wall. This was only the first word, but the noise was loud enough, and a long tongue of fire shot off from the Bosmer՚s mouth, easily covering the distance of more than five meters and hitting the wall. The stones got scorched right away and the wood on the ground was in flames in an instant.
I had positioned myself in a way to enable me to watch the kids, and some of them literally had their jaws hanging down after the impressive demonstration. There was silence for some time, and eventually Thomas, who had voiced his doubts before, uttered:
"Well, it appears that you are the Dragonborn indeed! Wow!"
The two guards started to applaud her, and the students joined in. Fiona turned around and bowed, and once we had made sure that the fire on the ground was properly extinguished, we went inside again. For some time many of the kids were asking questions at the same time, and Minolewen had to calm them down first. There was general agreement that Fiona should tell about herself, but she was not really ready and willing to do that in an eloquent way in front of an audience. Lydia decided to help out:
"My Thane, if it's all right for you, I could tell something about your adventures?"
"Oh yes, Lydia, please do so!"
Fiona found a seat in the midst of the classroom, so that the kids could group around her; Nymeria kept very close to her, and the kids admiring the Dragonborn kept some distance, as the wolf started to growl when anybody came too close. The housecarl went to the front, where Minolewen usually stood, and placed herself behind the lectern. From there she started to tell how she, Lydia, had first met the Dragonborn, after the fight against Mirmulnir. She skipped the scary and sad part when they had tried to get up to High Hrothgar first and Freya had been killed, and she mad sure to only cover some of the highlights, circumventing the more violent sections. Lydia was a decent storyteller, and the kids sometimes looked at her, sometimes at Fiona, and sometimes also at me. As a matter of fact, due to Fiona's diminutive size and her petite body, she barely stuck out between the kids, and a few of the older boys were actually taller than her. She also wore simple clothes today and neither armor nor weapons, and it wasn't long before a few of the girls tentatively touched her hands. Fiona started to smile, and some of the kids moved closer to her, showing something like adoration on their faces. Some other kids, specifically Mila, spent their attention on Hanni and Nanni; I had brought the two saber cats with me before, and they enjoyed the attention and fur scratching they were getting. While Lydia was still talking, Fiona encouraged the kids close to her to also touch Nymeria, and while the wolf was more shy than my two saber cats, she did eventually allow being touched and petted with Fiona being close by.
Lydia kept talking for about one hour, and the kids listened with rapt attention. Finally, when Lydia had told the episode of the dragon kill close to Kynesgrove, underlining Fiona's contribution to that and the absorption of the dragon soul, Minolewen chimed in:
"Now, thank you, Lydia, that was great telling! Maybe we have time for a few questions?"
Lydia got the hint and found a chair, and Fiona looked around to see if there were any questions or comments. Lars Battle-Born started:
"How does that feel, absorbing a dragon soul? Does it do something inside of you? Can you talk to it?"
The Bosmer smiled at him and replied:
"No, I cannot talk to it, but I can feel it inside of me. Somehow I also get a little bit stronger with each dragon soul I take in."
Braith was the next:
"With you having a dragon's soul, why can't the dragons be your friends?"
"Oh, that would be nice, indeed. However, they obey Alduin, and he's something like their boss. As long as Alduin is alive, I probably won't have a chance to become friends with any dragons, as much as I'd like to."
Fiona had not met Paarthurnax yet, so she did and could not know yet that there were exceptions; there was also this special dragon in the Soul Cairn, called Durnevir or similar. Maybe I could eventually help her to meet with both?
"So, what about that wolf of yours here? Is it your pet, like Balu has got Hanni and Nanni?"
"Yes, she is, and her name is Nymeria."
"Wow, how did you get her?"
"Well, this was kind of a coincidence. Recently, I spent some time in The Reach, and while I needed to be careful to not be seen by legion soldiers, I did explore the environment. On one nice day I saw a small group of wolves fighting against some soldiers, and only this one here survived, barely able to limp away. Somehow she had been able to escape, and I quickly stepped in, grabbed here and brought her to safety. In order to make sure that she does not bite me I had used a dragon shout to calm her down, and once I was in a safe location with her, I used my healing spell and also fed her. After that, she was grateful and stayed close to me. I named her Nymeria, and she is a very good friend."
"Is she an adult wolf?"
"No, I believe that she is still growing. Also, I don't think that she is a normal wolf; she must be a special species."
Indeed, somehow Nymeria looked different from a normal wolf. I had not been very much interested in her so far, but her body was slightly less slender and more muscular than that of a normal Skyrim wolf, and if she was indeed still growing, she might end up being larger and more massive, too; interesting. I was going to ask the Bosmer later on about more details.
There were a number of more questions to Fiona and also a couple to Lydia, but eventually school was over for today, and the kids were sent home. While Lydia was going shopping, Fiona and I got lunch at the Bannered Mare, and once we had eaten, I guided her to a location close to Pelagia Farm today, so that we could continue to talk. While we were walking there, Fiona said, with a smile on her face:
"This was actually quite a nice experience at school. Back in Villach, I told you that many other students used to look down at me, both literally and figuratively, and I was never popular there. Yes, I had decent grades, but not many friends. Here, I am older than the kids, but some of them are already my size or taller, and they actually seem to like me."
"Well, you are the legendary Dragonborn after all."
"It's not just that. I can tell the difference between awe and respect on one side and liking somebody for themselves on the other side. It's almost like I fit in, not despite of but because of my small size, too."
"You may have a point here, Fiona, and yes, it appears that they indeed like you; it's not just your size, but you do have a way with people. I believe that Skyrim may allow you to unfold and develop your very own personality much more and better than Europe could ever have done. Maybe you'd also make a good elementary school teacher. Whenever the kids don't behave, you can always threaten to shout at them."
The Bosmer giggled and conceded:
"Yes, maybe. I never thought about that before, but once my Dragonborn business is over, that's a line I might consider to pursue, actually. I wonder if there's a variation of the 'KAAN' shout which calms down school kids and makes them behave?"
We both laughed, and the Bosmer had another question:
"How does school work with having only a single classroom?"
"I guess that they don't have a choice; there are just not enough school kids to separate the grades. Remember that people are not obliged to send their kids to school at all. The teacher just has to try to keep some kids busy with their own work while teaching others, and this is just like the school the children from Bullerbü go to."
"Bullerbü? Ah yes, of course! You read that, too, right?"
"Of course, most books of her."
"So did I, not just Pippi Langstrumpf."
Well, that was another thing we had in common.
By now we had reached the location I had had in mind, and when we were seated comfortably, I picked up the storyline from the day before:
"So, you mentioned how you met Ferwen and that you traveled south, first to Shor's Stone. There's nothing exciting there, I guess.
"No, that's not quite correct. In Shor's Stone we met a female Nord miner who is a daughter of the miners in Darkwater Crossing. Apparently, they visit each other from time to time, and the distance between those two locations isn't that great, after all. We stayed there for the night, and before we moved on in the morning, we even went into the mine there and cleared it. It had been infested by spiders, and while I am not very fond of those creatures, my warrior ladies took care of that. The locals were happy, and we moved on following the main road south. We passed through a large fort held by Stormcloaks, but they did not bother us, and in late afternoon we arrived at the Riften north city gate."
"All right; so, was one of the guards trying to collect a special visitor tax from you?"
Fiona giggled and replied:
"Yes, they did, and you should have seen Rayya՚s and Janina՚s reaction. The guards quickly gave up on the idea and let us enter the city; the two Redguards did not even have to say something, but the expression on their faces was enough to convince the guards; the two of them can look really intimidating if they want, and I am so glad that they are on my side. So, inside, we first headed towards the local inn, or the major one at least, the Bee and Barb. Food was all right, and I was surprised to see the inn being run by two Argonians. Those races here are really amazing, and I may have stared at the two a little bit. I was surprised about myself, I have to admit, but somehow I like them. I mean, back home I was never afraid of lizards and snakes and such, and human sized scale covered lizards are odd, but fascinating. I guess that the races here in Tamriel will never stop to interest me, in a positive way. But anyway, can you imagine, when we had eaten, there was this very attractive male Nord passing our table, saying something like 'Never done an honest day's work in your life for all that coin you're carrying, eh lass?' - what about that?"
"Oh, that must have been Brynjolf. Arrogant, reddish hair, self-conscious?"
"Indeed, Brynjolf. I probably had my mouth open and did not know what to say, but Janina told him in very stern words that this was none of his business at all, and he left. After lunch, we strolled through the market area they have in the city, and guess who is my favorite merchant there?"
"Brynjolf?"
"Come on, he's not really a merchant, and I don't think I like him much. No, Madesi!"
"The Argonian?"
"Yes, indeed. See, some of the others are quick telling you to make up your mind and either buy something or leave, but Madesi was, even when we met for the first time, polite, asked how I was doing, and not pushing or anything. When we met again later, he even admitted that he spent his nights in a place called 'Beggar's Row' and that he did not own a home, and I felt pity for him. But anyway, he is a really nice person and clearly my favorite vendor there."
"He is, really?"
"Yes, he is, indeed. His color is mostly green, and he has those interesting horns on his head, plus some reddish feather like extensions, and more. His thick tail sticks out from his backside and is quite a view, I have to say. But it's mostly about his character and way of speaking; I have a suspicion that he is way too polite and good to people, and that's why his business is struggling."
Madesi, the Argonian; wasn't this one of the people involved in the first quest for the Thieves Guild, the one where the player was asked by Brynjolf to steal a ring and plant it in somebody else՚s pockets? Had Fiona started with that?
Fiona giggled and added: "When I first talked to Madesi, he asked something like 'If anything pleases the eye, don't hesitate to make me an offer', and I almost said that he pleased my eye and what my offer for him should be. Can you imagine that?"
She giggled again and added: "I guess that it was just me first really looking at an Argonian, and he does look so much better than the two at the inn. Anyway, he is easy to talk to, and from that day on he became my favorite vendor, and maybe I even have just a tiny little crush on him."
This was a little difficult for me to understand, as I could not easily imagine having those kind of feelings for an Argonian; I nodded and asked:
"Now, I am curious about Brynjolf; did he try to pull you into a scheme or so?"
"Oh yes, he sure did. When I had started to ask around about places where somebody might hide, the Nord approached me and suggested something like 'Help me out and I can add to yours'. He made it clear that he had some information which might help, but he wasn't going to tell me for free. I pretended to be unsure and asked for details, and he suggested: 'Simple... I'm going to cause a distraction and you're going to steal Madesi's silver ring from a strongbox under his stand. Once you have it, I want you to place it in Brand-Shei's pocket without him noticing.' I had no intention at all to go along with that, not just because Madesi was going to be involved, but I replied that I needed time to think about it. He nodded and just replied: 'You want to make some coin, come find me.' As if!"
"Yes, this totally sounds like the Brynjolf in the game, too. Hey, look, it's been a long day, with the school visit and all. Shall we continue talking tomorrow?"
"Yes, sounds like a plan!"
We separated, and I slowly ambulated back to the city on my own, well, with my saber cats of course. One of the guards at the main gate told me that Jarl Balgruuf the Greater wanted to talk to me about something, and I decided that I'd head up to Dragonsreach tomorrow morning.
[Author's Notes: What do you think of the housecarl swapping?
The books being mentioned related to "Bullerbü" are the world famous children's books from the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, which I loved to read as well (and sometimes still do as an adult).]
