It was a cloudy day above the wild woods where the girl hunted with her bow in hand.
On the ground, just about visible, was a set of prints she was slowly following. At first, it had been difficult to make out anything, but her aunt had taught her to track pretty well. There was a light wind blowing between the tall, thin trees. The girl made sure to hunt against the direction of the wind so as not to let her prey catch her scent. She scanned the trees for signs of movement, observing all around her as her aunt had taught her.
In the distance she could make out a stream and beside it a deer was drinking peacefully.
The girl got low like her aunt had taught her and slowly got closer so as to ease her view, taking care where she stepped to avoid making a sound. She pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked it on her bow. Then, just as she'd been taught, she slowly pulled back the bowstring with the arrow sliding and sitting upon her fist. She lined it up with the deer who raised its head. She slowly breathed in and out and, just as the deer turned its head towards her, she released. The arrow hit it in the neck.
The girl stood up and slowly walked over to pick up the carcass and return it to camp for skinning, but just as she got to it, she heard footsteps, and growling. She whirled around to see a pack of five wolves circling her. She slung her bow over her shoulder and drew her short sword from her back. Now it was time to use what her father had taught her through their vigorous training.
They all approached, getting ready to pounce on her. She held her sword tightly in one hand whilst in the other she prepared a fireball. One came at her from her side and she sidestepped, dodging a swipe from its claws just barely. Another approached to attack but this one she swung down her sword upon, slicing across its hide. Then they all began to advance together.
"The best defence is a good offense," she remembered one of her father's lessons… or was it the other way around?
Deciding there was no time to think about it, the girl threw the fireball at the wolves and took the chance to back up. She'd taken one out, but the others were still approaching. She held her sword up, ready to defend herself.
The remaining four, including the injured one among them, came at her together. She began swinging her sword at them to defend her ground but the wolves would dart back to dodge and then continue to push at her.
"Get back!" she yelled and swung her blade down heavily, giving the wolves an opening which they took.
One pounced on her, pushing her to the ground. She brought up her sword to block its fangs and struck it in the head. She tried to get back to her feet but they were all ganging up on her.
The injured one came at her first, ready to go for the killing strike, when suddenly, a blade came down through its head, spurting blood on the girl and onto the ground around her. She looked up to see a man with brown hair cut short, barely a finger's width long, and a big bushy beard. Several old pale jagged scars decorated his face along with some lines from his age, and he was cloaked in black and brown furs with studded armor upon them. In his eyes though, the girl saw only sadness, and rage.
The man yanked the sword out of the dead wolf's head and stood between the girl and the other three wolves. They each came at him separately, except he didn't dodge or parry, but took them straight on, stabbing them in their necks or gullets. The last one managed to get past his sword and go for the man's neck, but the man stopped the wolf's jaws with his hands, grabbed the wolf's neck and, after a moment of struggling, snapped it.
He dropped the wolf carcass to the ground, panting, before turning to pick up his sword and go to the girl where he put his hand out.
The girl reluctantly took it and pulled herself up.
"Thanks… Dad."
Nero looked down at Julia with a look that was somewhere between disappointed and concerned.
"Are you alright?" he asked flatly.
"I'm fine," nodded Julia.
The pair made their way out of the woods with their fresh kill back towards their camp; they had chosen a pretty desolate location as Nero thought it best to avoid towns and villages. In the middle of a small clearing, five tents had been erected with several logs around a fire.
As the two of them approached, they could begin to make out the three Companions currently huddled around the fire, talking about something. Hearing the footsteps quite a way off however, they all turned to see father and daughter coming to them with their supper.
"There you two are," said Aela, "where have you been?"
"I went hunting for deer and… well, I found more than a deer," explained Julia.
"A small pack of wolves seemed to be hungry too," said Nero as he slung the deer on the ground.
"Looks like they bit of more than they could chew," said Aela, noticing the extensive amount of blood splattered across Nero.
"Vilkas, Farkas, could you two get to skinning it? I got to wash this off."
"Sure Nero," said Vilkas before the twins got up and worked together to skin the animal.
Aela stood up and took a look at it, "clean shot. Nice work, Julia."
Julia smiled slightly and looked down.
Aela knew she wasn't used to too much praise these days, "what did your Dad say about it?"
"Nothing," admitted Julia, "he had to save me from the wolves."
She looked from Julia to Nero who was walking off and a sad look crossed her face.
Nero tried to wipe some of the blood off his furs as he headed towards the river.
Once there, he unstrapped his skyforge steel sword and placed it down against a rock. Then he began removing the furs from his torso until he was shirtless and placing the furs in the water. The blood seeped from them down the stream. Whilst his clothes were getting clean, he took some handfuls of water and ran them across his face.
It had been a few months since… since what happened… and they had been constantly moving ever since.
A lot had changed.
On his belt, he pulled out the pouch of ashes… of Serana's ashes… the few ashes that he'd kept in his hands after she'd faded away in his arms.
His world had changed after that day. The entire world had.
The Dragon Order had begun; Vulthuryol and his legion of dragons began their great conquest of Skyrim. They burned anyone who still had the heart to stand against them and laid waste to any major city or town that resisted their rule. Skyrim had fallen to the reign of the dragons.
Then, shortly after, they began their conquest of Tamriel with legions flying into Cyrodiil, Hammerfell and even as far as the Summerset Isles.
Though some nations were still fighting back, the dragons were becoming the rulers of the world once again.
So Nero was keeping his eyes to the skies almost constantly and avoiding towns and villages wherever and whenever he could. It would not take much for a dragon to sense who he was.
Because of this, he heard little of what was happening in the world and in Skyrim, but he thought it better not to look back. Julia was his only concern now; keeping her safe while he trains her and prepares her to walk her own path in the world was his only priority.
Holding the bag, he thought of Serana. It was still painful. The image of holding her in his arms…
The only thought that made it any easier was that he still had Julia, that she wasn't gone as well, and that no matter what happened from now on, he would keep her safe. No matter the cost.
Nero had continued to train her as they travelled and had done so in a much more serious manner than when they'd began. It was clear she missed the old him… but the old Nero was who failed. The Nero now did not intend to fail again.
Back at the campsite, the twins had skinned the animal and had now begun cutting off the appropriate parts of meat for their supper whilst Aela and Julia were sat together, talking.
The Companions had also taken steps to hide their identities; Farkas had grown a beard as big as Nero's and his hair now sat down past his shoulders while Vilkas had grown a fair-sized beard but had retained his 'warrior's wolf tail' he was so proud of, meanwhile Aela on the other hand had cut her hair shorter. The three of them weren't as likely to be recognised as Nero but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"You did very well today, Julia," praised Aela, "wolf attacks can happen, that's not a reason to forget how well you did hunting that deer."
"I know," admitted Julia, "but I know he wants me to be able to fend for myself and there are larger things than wolves out there."
"You think your Dad was a master at hunting from day one? All these things, hunting, fighting, riding, he had to learn from the ground up just as you are."
"It feels like he wants me to know all of it already, like I have to be really good at it now."
"I know… he's… we've… he just wants you to be safe Julia, above all else."
Julia tried to see things from his point of view but… all she wanted was for things to be as they were. Thoughts of her mother invaded her mind and her eyes began to tear up. Seeing this, Aela wrapped her arms around Julia and held her close.
"I miss her, Aela. I miss her so much."
"I know… I know…"
By the river, Nero let several tears of his own out as he held her ashes… then after a few moments he placed the pouch back on his belt, wiped away the tears, threw his furs and sword back on and made his way back to camp.
Seeing Julia over with Aela, Nero heckled her for their training as he made his way over to them.
"Julia, come. We have to start your training."
Julia wiped away the tears on her eyes and looked out at Nero before standing up.
Aela however stood as well and walked ahead of her to speak to Nero.
"Now isn't a good time for her, Nero."
Nero was quite surprised by Aela's stance between them but it did nothing to impede his decision.
"Julia, come on," he again pressed but Aela took a step closer to him.
"She's not in a good place right now, Nero. I don't think training is what she needs at this minute."
Nero now turned his attention on to Aela, "there are more than one pack of wolves in the world, Aela, and I won't be there to save her from them all, so she will not abandon her training."
"Missing one session isn't abandoning. She did very well hunting the deer today, perhaps she could get some time off for that?"
"Hunting is one thing. Being chased by wolves that would surely have killed her is another."
"She's not upset about the wolves, if you took some time to talk to her you would understa-"
"Don't tell me how to parent her, Aela. She's my daughter. Not yours."
Aela turned to see the brothers still working on the deer, clearly having heard the interaction and chose not to get involved, before she found that she'd nothing else to say and sighed in her defeat, "I'm well aware."
Nero considered the matter closed and motioned for Julia to join him in going off for training.
Julia joined Nero in leaving the camp site and heading off into the trees.
As they walked, Julia could sense an air of disapproval from her father.
"Are you angry with me?" she asked.
"Why would I be angry with you?" he asked bluntly.
Julia had no way to explain it and so remained silent.
"Do you want to abandon your training?" he asked.
"No," Julia replied almost instantly, "I need to know how to fight and how to defend myself."
Nero regarded her words for a moment before giving a simple "mm" as they ventured on.
They arrived at a small clearing which they'd been using as a training circle since they arrived in the area. Nero pulled out two wooden swords and tossed one to Julia who caught it pretty effortlessly.
The pair got into stance at opposite ends of the circle, eyeing each other carefully.
"Now!" cried Nero and Julia ran at him with her sword raised, going in for a frontal strike.
Nero sidestepped and tripped her over onto the dirt before backing up.
Julia shook her head before pushing herself up and again going on the offensive at Nero who would block, parry or dodge her attacks.
"Watch your feet," said Nero along with other pointers as they sparred.
Their sticks collided and it became a battle of power which Julia fought and lost fast, falling back onto the ground with Nero looming over her, victorious.
"Use your advantages, Julia. When your opponent is bigger and stronger than you, chances are they're not as fast as you."
Julia took this on board with immediate effect by rolling out of the way and throwing a side swing into Nero's leg.
Nero followed up with a swing f his own sword which Julia jumped out of the way of, rolled on the ground and quickly spun around to face him again.
This time, Nero went on the offensive, throwing swings of his sword here and there at Julia which she tried to dodge, block and parry with varying success, catching painful hits here and there that were frustrating her.
"Come on! Stop 'trying' to hit me and hit me!" cried Nero.
With a battle cry, Julia swung her blade faster than Nero's and caught him in the chest, but she didn't let up. She swung again and again, catching Nero several times before he realised that she'd lost control.
"Julia-Julia!" he almost yelled as he grabbed her with both hands to calm her down.
Her shrieking had turned to weeping and tears began to flow from her eyes, "I have to be… strong…"
Nero took her sword and set it down before kneeling down before her and looking her in the eyes.
"What's wrong, Julia?" he asked.
She stood in front of him, the walls he'd forced her to build now crumbling down, afraid to tell her father the truth.
"I.." she began several times, "I… you…"
"What is it?" Nero asked.
Suddenly however, his expression changed entirely as he heard footsteps behind and he whirled around, covering Julia from whatever unknown presence there was.
Nero saw several figures coming into the clearing; they wore differing sets of armor and weapons clearly taken from different victims, and they all looked rather unclean. Bandits.
"Why are you making that poor girl cry?" asked who Nero assumed to be the bandit leader; a skinny man with wet black hair and a patchy beard.
Nero didn't answer but cast his eyes to his skyforge steel sword that was over with the rest of his things to his right.
The leader noticed this however and motioned for one of his men to move over to it, "ah-ah."
Nero counted five of them in total; the sound of his training with Julia must have both attracted them and covered the sound of their movements.
"What's a man and a little girl doing out here in this neck of the woods, huh?" the leader asked.
"Training," said Nero.
"Ohhh, good spot for it… but you see, these woods… they belong to me."
"I don't see your name on them," said Nero.
The leader laughed, "you're a funny man… but anyone who passes through my woods has to pay a toll, see."
"I don't think so," said Nero.
The bandit to his right grabbed the steel sword and brought it over to the leader who inspected it.
"Nice blade… I've never seen one with ripples in it like this before… it's much better than my one."
"If I give you the blade, you leave us alone and get out of here," bartered Nero.
"Passage will cost a bit more than just this and... well the way I see it, now you don't have a single way to defend yourself," smiled the leader as the other bandits edged closer.
"Is that what you think?" asked Nero, not moving.
The leader smiled before suddenly fireballs ignited in both Nero's hands and the bandits backed up a bit, along with the leader.
"Take the sword and go."
The leader had a moment of genuinely considering it, before he looked a little closer.
"Wait a minute… your scars… I don't believe it… it's you…"
Nero's eyes widened a bit.
"You're the one they're looking for! You're the bloody Dragonbo-"
Nero threw both fireballs into the leader's face, killing him instantly, before throwing a barrage at the rest of the bandits who scattered into the woods.
"Julia! Stay here!" cried Nero who grabbed his sword and went after the bandits; he couldn't let a single one get away.
One turned to see Nero close the gap just before he caught Nero's blade slice across his neck and he fell to the ground dead.
The next two were running along together and one of them turned to fight only to be stuck in the stomach by Nero's sword who yanked it out and dropped him to the ground before going after the next who was still running. Seeing a chance, Nero threw his sword through the air into the back of the third bandit.
The final bandit who'd made the most distance was still running and went faster when he heard the racing footsteps behind him. Nearby a large rock grew up out of the ground like a slope. Nero ran up the rock and leapt into the air before swinging down and catching the final bandit in the back as he came down.
Nero panted for a moment before pulling his bloody blade out of the dead bandit and rose to his feet. It was done. That was all of them.
After a moment to collect himself, Nero tore the shirt off the last bandit and cleaned the blood off his sword as he started making his way back.
Julia was still stood at the same place he left her, holding her bow tightly. She laid eyes on him as soon as she heard his footsteps and made to raise her bow but stopped when she recognised him.
"Are you alright?" asked Nero as he sheathed his cleaned sword
"I'm okay," said Julia lightly, looking at the corpse of the dead bandit.
Nero noticed this and placed both hands on Julia's shoulders, "close your heart to it, Julia. It was either them or us. Don't feel bad over it, they certainly wouldn't have felt bad about you."
Julia wiped her nose, "I know… I know… I just… I've only ever seen you kill monsters before, never a living person."
"Hmm… well sometimes there's no real difference between them. But I won't always be around to deal with them. Which is why we can't abandon your training. Do you understand?"
Julia nodded.
"Alright, let's get back to camp. We've got to get packed up and moving away from here."
Julia looked surprised, "again? It's only been a week!"
"We can't be sure there aren't more of them out here who could come looking. I'd rather not get a surprise at camp in the middle of the night."
Nero picked up their training gear and the pair began making their way back to their campsite.
Once they were there, Nero noticed the deer was on the fire and the others preparing for supper.
"There they are," said Vilkas, "how was training, you two?"
"We have to get everything packed up. We're moving."
"Again?" asked Farkas.
Nero noticed the three of them were about to argue so he cut them off immediately, "we were found by some bandits in the woods and there could be more. We have to go, now."
The three of them swallowed his words before they each stood up and got to packing their things.
About an hour later they had their things together and were on their way due south. Where they were going was Nero's best guess; he still had faint memory of Cyrodiil but the south was very particularly foggy; he didn't spend much time in the south after… his father…
He moved north in his search for Gwen; it felt like a lifetime ago. A lot had changed since then.
Nero had surmised that they were close to Topal Bay in southern Cyrodiil. He was most familiar with the land out of all of them so deciding where to move was up to him. His plan was originally to take the western road south so they could maybe go to Elsweyr to try and disappear but unfortunate circumstances had prevented that; he was very famous in Cyrodiil with many looking to find and capture or kill him for the price on his head. Life of a runaway wasn't fun but he had no choice in the matter.
Still, Nero had done all he could to try and remain hidden from the dragons, even parting ways with Odahviing in an effort to avoid attention and allow Odahviing to go his own way. Besides, they couldn't use the skies anymore, not with Vulthuryol's dragons patrolling them almost everywhere. They had been lucky so far but Nero was weary their luck would soon run out.
The five of them eventually came to the edge of the woods just as the sun was touching the horizon and stopped at the sight of a town nearby; Nero noticed people milling about. He was hoping it would still be abandoned…
"Where to now, Nero?" asked Vilkas.
"Gjok… I was hoping to avoid it…" murmured Nero to himself.
"Nero?" said Aela.
He turned to face them, "there's a… lighthouse, not too far from here. If it's still empty we should be able to stay there for the night."
"Let's go then," urged Vilkas.
Nero led them all to the lighthouse night drew in and the moons appeared, shining brightly into the night. Once they were within sight of the place, he drew his skyforge steel sword and crept slowly. Approaching it, Nero noticed the moss that had grown on the outside over the years. It looked desolate and abandoned but they had to be absolutely sure. At the door, Nero took a slow breath in and out before slowly pushing the door open with a long, loud creak. The moonlight barely pierced the undisturbed darkness within but Nero's werewolf eyes saw through it; empty, without a hint of any kind of life. Nero stepped inside and almost immediately felt a wall of dust so thick he nearly coughed. This room was empty, as for the rest of the place Nero began using the detect life spell and scanned around all if it. Nothing and no one showed up; the place was completely dead.
"This room's clear," said Nero as he summoned a ball of light to stick in the room, "see if you can get a fire going. I'm going to look around the other rooms."
The others joined Nero inside and shut the door behind them as Nero ascended the steps and scanned the place for any sign of movement, for anything.
"I have a bad feeling about this place," said Vilkas as he placed his things down and got to setting up.
"I know what you mean," said Aela,"it looks like it's been abandoned for years."
"I wonder why," said Julia.
"Maybe Nero knows," said Farkas as he placed his things down.
Julia looked at him and then up at the ceiling at the sound of Nero creeping around upstairs.
Nero had cleared two rooms and came to a third; a study. The sight of it brought nothing but misery to him, but it was empty.
Finally, he checked the last room; the room that had belonged to a young boy. Opening the door, Nero was greeted with yet another wall of dust. Inside however, it looked unchanged. Everything looked just like it did when he'd left… it was all where he left it.
Several moments later, Nero returned downstairs where the others were setting up bedrolls.
"There's a couple bedrooms upstairs if any of you want to use them, it's your choice. I'm going to take the first watch tonight. Aela, you go after, Vilkas then you and finally Farkas."
They all nodded and Nero left to stand outside and watch for anyone intruders.
Nero perched himself against the wall of the lighthouse with his sword in hand. He doubted he'd see anyone. Chances were that people had come looking for valuables at the lighthouse already and all of them had to leave as there wasn't anything left of value here. No one had been here in years.
As Nero watched and waited, his mind began to drift back to memories of the place, the few good memories he had of it, almost all of them being his mother… or Gwen…
It had been a long time since he'd thought about her. About either of them.
Suddenly, almost without hesitation, thoughts of his father came to Nero's mind. Nero saw himself trapped at Gnaeus' hands, Gwen coming back covered in blood and Gnaeus… the baclk soul stone…
The way he smiled… the way he spoke of Nero… it sickened Nero to think of it…
"Good thing you're dead, you bastard," said Nero to no one in particular.
The voice of his father spoke back, "we all die around you, Nero."
Even the thought of the voice triggered Nero who swung his blade sharply and buried it in the wall of the lighthouse. It was as if Gnaeus had stood right next to him and spoken.
Nero panted, a cold sweat beginning on him and an unyielding rage that had shattered the wood to his right.
"Nero?" asked a familiar voice to which Nero jolted left and saw Aela standing next to him.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Nero gulped and nodded, suddenly realising his shift must have ended.
"Alright well it's my shift so… go and get some sleep."
Nero left Aela outside and retreated indoors for bed. He tried to quieten his mind; he needed rest.
Julia however had not slept much and, facing away from Nero, began to think of what he'd just said.
~ The Next Day ~
The Sun rose on Portus Delphini and over Topal Bay.
Nero went to awaken Julia who was still sleeping peacefully for her training until Aela stopped him.
"Will you join me for a morning hunt?" she asked.
Nero looked at her, confused, "we just went hunting, Aela."
"We've gone through that deer like wolves and you know this area better than I do."
Nero looked to Julia and then back at the Huntress, "fine."
Aela nodded before Nero went to Julia and shook her a few times, "Julia?"
She slowly opened her eyes and noticed him above her, "Dad?"
"Me and Aela are going hunting for a few hours. We'll start your training once we're back. Don't wander too far from the lighthouse until then, okay?"
Julia nodded and Nero stood up, "alright, see you in a bit."
The pair of them made their way out of the lighthouse and Julia noticed Aela give her a very quick wink before she left, to Julia's confusion.
A short while later, Nero and Aela were scanning the wilderness, searching for any fresh tracks that would lead them to an animal. After several moments of it however Nero stood up.
"Aren't you going to help me?" asked Aela.
"We both know I suck at tracking… and we both know that's not why I'm here."
Aela didn't stop tracking, "I've told you, you know this area, at least you know it better than I do."
"You could hunt a rabbit with your eyes closed, Aela. You don't need me to help you. Why have you brought me out here?" he asked bluntly.
Aela stopped scanning the wilderness and turned back to Nero with a sigh.
"Alright… I wanted to talk."
"About?" asked Nero, unamused.
"Julia."
Nero nearly turned around and left at the sound of it.
"Just hear me out, please?" asked Aela.
Nero sighed before folding his arms and facing Aela to listen.
"Nero… trust me when I say I understand that after what happened you want to keep Julia safe. But we can't keep running like this. I know why we're doing it but it's not good for her to be constantly moving around everywhere and never forging any new relationships with anybody anywhere."
"I am getting real sick of you telling me what's best for my daughter."
"I'm not saying we stop running. I'm saying we don't have to avoid everyone wherever we go."
"Do I have to remind you what is out there? Do you know what will come for us if even ONE person recognises me?"
"I'm not saying we all go sauntering into every single town, but maybe when we do see one, one of us can go there with Julia where she could meet some new people and you could stay behind."
"Out of the question. She goes where I go. End of discussion."
Aela, frustrated, slightly snapped at him, "you can't keep Julia away from the world forever! Or she'll always be afraid of it."
"She should be afraid, Aela. Now more than ever. Do you know how many people are out there looking for her? For us?"
"I know… but if she continues like this, how will she ever be able to live a real life?"
"She'll live at all, that's what matters."
"This isn't living, Nero. What you're doing, what we've been doing… this is not a life for Julia."
Nero let up against her persistence,
"You're right. She deserves better. She deserves a home. She deserves good friends. She deserves a loving family… she had all of it. Tell me how you're going to give that to her now?"
Aela could see that Nero had cornered her.
"Nero. If you don't try to move on… if you don't let go… then there'll be no point in having survived. Then Zarys should have killed all of us."
Nero went tight lipped and looked Aela straight in the eyes so she could see the fury burning within them. She knew saying his name would spark it, but she had to tell him. What followed however was the incredible sorrow she knew he felt inside and the broken man came to the surface.
"I can't, Aela. I can't move on. I can't forget what happened… what I did… because if I do, then I won't be as careful… and I'll fail to protect Julia just as I failed her mother."
Aela looked sadly at the nord man in front of her. So many times, he'd blamed himself for others actions, but it would be hard to convince him it wasn't his fault for what happened at Whiterun when he was the one who spoke the words. She could only imagine how that was plaguing him… but she hoped to turn his attention on to Julia, the last person he could still love.
Aela wanted to say more but Nero spoke first,
"Let's hunt something. We all need to eat. Come on."
The broken man retreated back inside and the cold, stoic one walked on past her.
The Huntress reluctantly turned and followed.
~ Portus Delphini ~
Julia was poking about the lighthouse, looking for anything of interest. There were several bedrooms upstairs which led Julia to believe that a family used to live here, but from the dust and moss, not for a long time. There was a study as well although there were no books at all in it. Someone had literally taken them all away. What they'd done with them was anyone's guess. The bedrooms still had some clothes in them but from the different styles only one of them belonged to a girl a few years older than Julia.
One of the bedrooms had a bed about her size. It was strange. There were bookshelves but no books. There was a bedside table with nothing in. But there was a dresser with some really old clothes that from the look of which belonged to a boy. There was also a pair of wooden swords in the corner. Julia went to them and picked them up. Her father used to wield two. They reminded her of when they had begun their training. A faint memory that made her smile.
Staring between the two blades she noticed the beach out the window where nearby there sat a circle of rocks. She went to the window to get a better look; it looked like a training circle.
"It looks just like the one Dad made…"
She felt the urge to go and see it, but then thought of her father whom she really didn't want to disappoint again. Then, as if a demon was sat upon her shoulder, she heard an evil thought, "but he's not here," along with the image of Aela winking at her. Was this why she winked?
With curiosity getting the better of her and her father nowhere around to scold her, Julia went downstairs with the swords and opened the door.
"Where are you going?" asked Vilkas.
Julia turned to see the twins sitting at a table nearby speaking.
"I'm going to go do some… early training," she said, motioning the swords in her hand.
They looked between themselves then back at Julia before Vilkas spoke,
"Alright, go on then, not too far from the lighthouse though, and be sure to get back soon, or your father will kill all of us."
Julia smiled before opening the door and quickly shuffling out.
"Are you sure?" asked Farkas.
"She'll be fine. She won't go too far."
Julia ran away from the lighthouse until she got to the circle. Minus the shapes of the rocks, it was the exact same as the one she began her training in. With the swords still in her hands, Julia got into the stance her father had once taught her and pretended that she was surrounded by enemies. Then, as if to the strike of a match, she began fighting her imaginary foes, trying to move with as much grace and fluency as she knew her father to when he fought.
"Hyagh," she struck a blade out and killed one.
"Hyagh!" she killed another.
Spinning around for momentum, she swung both out, "HYAGH!"
"Woah!"
Julia stopped instantly and backed up; a woman stood before her, a woman she'd nearly whacked with her blades upon swinging.
"Easy with the blades of chaos there," smiled the woman.
Julia stayed in stance with her wooden swords, eyeing the woman.
She looked to be in her upper thirties or early forties from the thin lines across her face and the thin strands of grey that were growing in her bright blonde hair, though she stared down at Julia with sky-blue eyes that were somehow warming. There were several thin scars across her toned muscles. She had the armor and look of a warrior, and yet… there was a warmth about her.
"Who are you?" asked Julia, still holding her wooden swords up.
The woman smiled, "my name is Julia. And yourself?"
"I'm… Julia too."
"Julia two? Haha, well in that case I'll be Julia one," laughed the woman who slowly lowered her hands, "now that we know each other, could you lower the swords?"
Julia knew what her father wanted to do… but her instincts told her she had nothing to be afraid of and so she lowered her wooden blades.
"My Dad taught me not to talk to strangers."
"Well in a lot of instances he'd be right, but now that we're not strangers, we can talk, can't we?"
"I guess so."
The blonde woman who called herself Julia lowered her hands completely, "you seem to be pretty dangerous with those things."
"Thanks. My Dad wouldn't think so."
The woman raised an eyebrow, "oh really? Here, why don't you show me what you've got?"
The woman outstretched her hand to take one of the swords. Julia was reluctant at first, but was also excited to show off her moves to someone else and handed her a sword, "okay."
The woman got into stance, the same stance as her father once had, and so Julia did the same, raising her sword up.
"Ready?" asked the woman.
Julia nodded, and in an instant, the woman was coming at her with the wooden sword swinging and Julia had to go on the defensive, blocking and parrying as fast as she could.
The woman laughed, "come on, I said show me what you got! Is this all?"
Julia smiled at the taunt and decided to seize her chance to go on the offensive, sending swings here and there at the blonde woman.
She swung one up low to go for the leg which the woman bent down to block which gave Julia the chance to go for the head which the woman just barely blocked with a gasp.
Julia laughed as they continued sparring; she hadn't felt this happy in a long time.
Eventually, they ran out of steam and the woman held her hands up, "okay, I yield. You are a very sharp young woman!"
Julia smiled; it was nice to be praised.
The pair placed their swords down and the woman placed her hands on her hip.
"Alright, well that was fun, but it's probably best you get back to your parents, I'm sure they're worried about you."
The word made Julia's stomach twist a little, which gave a change of expression quite clear for the older Julia to see.
"My Dad will be… but he's always worried," explained Julia, "my Mom's… my Mom's not here anymore."
The older woman wore a face of sympathy, "oh I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's alright, it wasn't your fault."
Julia went and sat on the sand; talking about her mother so openly was weighing on her more than she thought it would.
The woman stared sympathetically at the little girl and so went and sat down next to her.
"You miss her?"
Julia nodded, "every day," she said as a tear ran down from her eye, "but I'm not allowed to talk about her."
"Why not?"
Julia looked at the warm woman and then out at the sea's horizon, "my Dad won't let me. He gets sad when I mention her, and then he gets… worse. It's like he becomes a different person… he is a different person right now."
"Your father loved your mother very much?"
Julia wiped away some tears and nodded.
"Well… it sounds like he just wants to keep you safe now."
"I just wish he spoke to me more. We used to speak all the time, and now… now it's like he doesn't want to speak to anyone anymore."
The woman nodded, "losing someone you love can be very hard. We all deal with it in different ways."
Julia looked at the older woman, "you've lost someone?"
She nodded, "my family. They used to live here at the lighthouse."
"Oh," Julia suddenly remembered the child's bedroom, "I'm sorry. You had children?"
"One child. A son…" the woman looked out at sea.
"Where is he now?"
~ The Wilderness ~
Nero got to work skinning the deer carcass after Aela's shot, continuing in silence.
Once it was ready, Nero hoisted it up onto his shoulder and they both began walking back to the lighthouse.
When they returned, Nero began looking around for his daughter, "Julia?"
There was no answer from anywhere, and so he dropped the deer and went inside, "Julia?!"
Nero looked to the twins, "where is she?"
Vilkas looked red, "she said she was going training."
Nero's eyes went wide before in an instant he was out the door racing for the beach.
Feeling responsible, Farkas and Vilkas stood and followed Nero and Aela out the door with their weapons.
~ The Beach ~
Julia wiped the last of her tears away; it was nice to talk to someone about her feelings.
The older Julia smiled, "you're a very brave young girl."
"I don't think I'm very brave," admitted Julia, "not like my Dad is… not like my Mom was."
"Tell me about her," said the older Julia who smiled to listen intently.
Julia was about to begin when suddenly feet came crashing behind her and she whirled around to see her father, sword in hand, with an angry look on his face.
"Dad, I-"
"Julia, get behind me, now!"
Julia obeyed her father and moved quickly to behind him.
Nero raised his blade towards the woman, "who are you?! What do you want with my daughter?!"
The blonde woman said nothing for a moment. Then she stood and slowly turned around to face Nero and he laid his eyes on her.
A long moment of deafening silence passed by as the two didn't move or speak. Nero looked at the woman bewildered and blinked several times. The woman looked at Nero with a sad sympathy.
"It's good to see you again Nero," she said as a small tear ran down her face.
Nero dropped his sword; he could not believe his eyes, but there she was, right in front of him…
"M… Mom?"
The woman smiled and broke out into a few more tears before raising her arms and coming to Nero and the two embraced.
The older Julia smiled, "you've gotten so big."
Nero still utterly couldn't believe it, "I… how-… you-…"
The younger Julia looked puzzled, along with the others who were behind with their weapons still drawn, not entirely sure what was happening.
The woman slowly released Nero who still believed he was in some kind of trance, "how is this possible?"
"It doesn't matter. All that matters now is that we have some time."
Nero slowly began to leave his shocked state and just begin to leap for joy that his mother was here, and he threw his arms around her again. He felt tears coming on, but Julia was still around; he had to stay strong. Julia!
Nero released his mother and turned around to gesture to Julia, "Mom, this is… Julia. Your granddaughter."
Julia looked very surprised at that.
"We've met," smiled Nero's mother, "she's very fierce with a blade."
Julia smiled before Nero knelt down, "Julia, this is… your grandmother."
Julia looked at the blonde woman up and down, before suddenly throwing herself at her and wrapping her arms around, holding tight.
Older Julia laughed, "you've definitely gotten your father's good hugs," she looked down at Julia's face, "and his eyes."
"Your eyes," smiled Nero.
The Companions were very confused as they watched the family reunion before them, until Aela butted in, "sorry, guys, I don't mean to interrupt this as it looks very heartfelt but… what's going on here?"
Nero faced them all, "Aela, Farkas, Vilkas. This is my mother."
They all stared in disbelief.
"Your mother's been here all this time?" asked Aela.
"Well… no. She's…" Nero turned to face her, "you've been dead for years, Mom. How is this even possible?"
Older Julia wore a slightly saddened look, "I'm afraid I am dead Nero. Still. And I'll return to it soon. But I've been allowed to spend this time with you, until the sun goes down on the horizon."
Nero looked out and saw that it was just after midday, "only today?"
Julia grabbed her son's shoulder, "which is just enough time for us to talk."
Nero smiled. He didn't know what power or deity had allowed for this but he was thankful nonetheless.
"We'll uh… give you guys some privacy," said Aela, "come on boys."
Farkas and Vilkas made to follow but Julia stayed behind.
"This is so cool, I have another grandma! Dad, can I stay? I really wanna talk with her, she's so cool!"
Nero didn't know what to say before his mother went over to his daughter and knelt down in front of her, placing a hand on her cheek.
"I am so proud of you, my granddaughter. You're going to grow up into a brave, fierce, and beautiful woman."
Julia smiled, "thanks Grandma," she said before the two Julia's embraced long and hard until finally little Julia relented.
"Now me and your father need to talk, he's been waiting for it for a long time, okay?"
Julia nodded before walking off with a smile to join the others.
Nero's mother stood, watching her leave, "she's beautiful, Nero. You've done great with her."
Then she turned around and saw Nero's face before he spoke, "I've been doing badly at that recently…"
His mother looked sympathetically at him, "well we have time. I want to hear about you."
"Me? W… what's to tell?"
"Well… tell me about your life. From start to finish."
"Wha-" Nero laughed, "Mom that's gonna take a while."
"So you'd best get started," said Julia before sitting down on the sand facing the water.
Nero smiled and sat down next to her, "well… things weren't great after you… after you died."
Nero tried to find the words to explain it as he suddenly yearned for a bottle of mead, "Dad was… he… it…" Nero sighed, "things just went from bad to worse here."
"When did they get better?"
"Well… basically once I came to Skyrim."
And so Nero told her all about his life in Skyrim; learning he was Dragonborn, roaming the land and getting in adventures, slaying Alduin, stopping the war, saving the world several times, and meeting Serana. A smile came to Nero's face as he told his mother about the wonderful woman he had met, their life and adventures together, and the family they had made.
"You'd have loved Serana, Mom. She was… she was everything."
Nero told his mother about the Dragon War; about what happened when Zarys came to Skyrim, and what happened…
And then the pain that Nero had been burying for so long finally came out. And Nero wept. He wept for the woman he had loved who was gone because of him. He wept for his friends who had all shared the same fate. But he wept most as his daughter, the person he loved more than anyone in the world, he had failed by not being there for her.
"One moment she was there in my arms… the next she was gone. There was nothing I could do."
Julia listened to her son intently as the sun rode across the sky towards the horizon.
"I failed. To protect my wife. To protect my friends. To even protect my daughter."
Tears continued to run down Nero's face as he spoke his greatest shame, "I failed."
"You did," agreed his mother, "and you know what that means, Nero? It means that you're just like everyone else in this world."
"I'm not supposed to be like everyone else though, am I? I'm meant to be the Dragonborn."
"You are the Dragonborn, Nero. No failure will change that. Do you think everyone looked up to you because of the power you have? Do you think Julia looks up to you because of that?"
Nero turned to his mother, stunned to hear his daughter even still looked up to him.
"She looks up to you because you don't run from your problems, you deal with them head on. You rush into them headfirst like a true nord does. She looks up to you because you are a hero, you're her hero."
"I don't feel much like her hero now. I've been running from my problems ever since losing Serana."
"Just because someone stumbles or loses their way does not mean they're gone forever, Nero. You get back up. You rise. You come back."
Nero looked at his mother.
"And you always came back. No matter how bad thing ever got, no matter what evil you had to face, you always came back. After everything you've told me about your life, will you honestly look at me and tell me that's not true?"
Nero stared out at the horizon, thinking. Julia watched her son ponder his past actions; the things that have happened to him, and the things he has done in return.
"I don't know how to come back from this one, Mom," admitted Nero, "I want to give Julia a life. I don't know how to do that."
"Why not?"
"Wh-" Nero was confused by his mother's question, "because there are hundreds of people looking for me, for us. And if they find us, they'll kill us, or do even worse with her. I can't let that happen."
"So don't," said Julia, "go back to Skyrim and kill them."
Nero almost laughed, "you make it sound so easy. But I'm not strong enough to defeat Zarys' army."
Nero stared out across the water and sighed, "but I know I can't go on like this either. This is no life for Julia."
Julia looked at the water in thought for several moments before she spoke.
"If you stay on the run, you will never stop. The fires of the dragons will spread to every corner of Tamriel, until everyone is a slave to their will. You will continue to run for the rest of your life, until you die either at their hands or of old age. And when you're gone, Julia will have to do the same after you. And though she will remember you as both her father and her hero, she will wonder in quiet moments if things ever could have been different."
The thought was like a knife in Nero's stomach, twisting as he imagined it.
Julia then turned and looked at Nero, "if you return to Skyrim, it will be the fight of your life. I can imagine no other more powerful foe you'd have to face. If you succeed, then Skyrim, indeed Tamriel, and Julia will be free. Free to live a life of happiness and love. You may fail… but you would fail knowing that in the end you chose to fight for freedom rather than run away in fear. If you go to Skyrim, you could save the lives of many millions of people, including your daughter's. But if you go to Skyrim, it may well be the last battle you ever fight."
Nero stared out across the water for a long moment.
"If I fight alone it will be my last fight, but my chances with four more aren't all that better."
"If you return to Skyrim, you may encourage others to return and fight."
"I already had one army fight for me and die. I don't expect any others will retu-…"
Suddenly, an idea popped into Nero's head, just as the Sun was going down.
"What is it?" asked Julia with the hint of a smile on her face.
Nero said nothing for a long moment as the idea stuck in his head and slowly began to grow.
Nero turned to his mother with a small smile of his own, "I think I have an idea."
Julia smiled just as she felt the last of the Sun's light on her body and she began to shine. Nero noticed and looked from her to the Sun going down, "oh no…"
"It's time," said Julia who slowly got to her feet.
Nero quickly clambered up and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.
"Please don't go," pleaded Nero.
"Go?" asked Julia who gripped Nero's cheeks and looked up at him smiling, "Nero I never left. I'll always be with you. There is nowhere you can go that I won't be with you."
Nero smiled as tears ran down his face, "I love you, Mom."
Julia held a hand on Nero's cheek, "I love you too, my son."
Nero watched as his mother lit up, shining so brightly that he had to cover his eyes, before slowly the light faded away and she was gone.
Nero looked sadly at the ground where she stood before turning his gaze out to the water.
He closed his eyes. And slowly, he smiled.
Then, after about five minutes, Nero opened his eyes, turned around and raced back to the lighthouse. A moment later, Nero crashed through the door into the place to the shock of everyone inside who all turned to look at him. They were confused at first, especially at Nero's expression. He was smiling.
"What is it?" asked Aela.
"I have a plan," smiled Nero.
Julia smiled in return; her father was back.
All listened intently as Nero began explaining his plan broadly. There were quite the few somehows and eventuallys in it but he got it out from start to finish. Once he was finished, the whole room drank it up for several moments. No one changed expression, they just seemed to exchange glances. At least the Circle did; Julia remained smiling at her father.
Nero looked around the room, "this is usually when you tell me how insane and asinine my plan is and what an idiot I am."
"So, we barely got out of Skyrim alive and you want us to go back?" asked Farkas.
Nero looked up as he made a display of going through the plan in his head before he replied, "yep."
"Sounds pretty… fun actually," said Vilkas, "I'm not suited to this running away business."
"I'm in," smiled Farkas.
"Me too Daddy," smiled Julia which earned an emotional smile from Nero after hearing her call him that again.
"Hold on," said Aela, "you realise this plan has quite the few ifs in it, don't you?"
"Five by my rough count," agreed Nero, "which are: if we can all get back to Skyrim in one piece, if we can recover the Elder Scroll, if I can use it to travel back in time, if I can learn the first word ever spoken, and finally if I can return to the present to use it. That just about sums up my plan."
Aela weighed in, "you're forgetting a few; if this word of power even exists and can really bring people back to life, if we can even defeat the dragon army once we have our own, and if we can get all the way there with Julia in one piece."
"Alright, so there are quite a few ifs in my plan-"
"This is no plan, Nero, it's a suicide mission."
"You know what? You're right," agreed Nero who began slowly pacing around the room, "going back to Skyrim will probably mean our collective demise. But you know what? I would rather die fighting my enemies than slowly die running away from them. You were right. This isn't living. I've led us down this path and it's slowly killing me just as I know it's been slowly killing all of you. No more. I'm done running."
"If we do this, how do we know it'll end any different than it ended before?" asked Aela.
"We don't. Maybe it'll work. Maybe it won't. Maybe even if it does it won't be enough, but I know this most of all: at least we'll give the fuckers a fight!"
Vilkas and Farkas smiled at the words of their harbinger along with Julia who nearly cheered until Nero turned around, "forget you heard that, Julia."
Vilkas stood up, "I'll be damned if I set one more foot to flee. I'm with you, Nero. To the end of it."
Farkas stood up too, "me too. I go where my brother goes, and I'll be happy to die burying my axe in their ugly faces."
Julia stood up too and took her father's hand, smiling.
Nero looked down at her and smiled back. Then they all turned to Aela who was still seated.
"What do you say, Aela?"
She looked at all of them before then straight at Nero, "you know, Nero, when I first met you, I thought you were a complete idiot…"
Nero waited for her to continue and when she didn't he questioned, "and?"
"And you are," admitted Aela to which Julia chuckled, "but I'd rather die fighting side by side with a complete idiot than face one more gods-awful day of running."
Everyone smiled as Aela stood up with the rest of them.
She smirked, "you happy? I'm standing up. We're all standing up now. Bunch of idiots standing in a circle."
"Certainty of death. Small chance of success," said Farkas, "what are we waiting for?"
"So, what now?" asked Julia.
"We get our things together… and set off back to Skyrim," said Nero proudly.
"Yay!" cheered Julia.
The next morning, after fuelling themselves up with the deer they'd hunted, the five companions were ready to set off but four were waiting on Nero who was upstairs.
"Are we gonna get going sometime today, harbinger?" called Aela from outside.
Inside, Nero was at the wash basin in his old room with a razor.
Five minutes later, Nero joined the rest of them outside. When they all looked at him though, a collective gasp went around.
Nero had shaved his beard and now looked as young as when he'd first come to Skyrim, minus the few scars he'd gotten along the way.
"Daddy, you look so… weird."
Nero laughed, "thanks Julia. I think it was long overdue."
"We're all ready when you are, harbinger," smiled Aela.
Nero smiled back and walked forward, taking one last look at the lighthouse and finally letting go.
The group set off on their long journey north, to Skyrim.
Author's Notes
Hello everyone! I've returned! Happy new year to you all! Hope it's been a good few months for you guys, it's been a bit hectic for me, but now I'm back! Back in action! Here to write the final chapters of this epic story! This was a pretty long chapter but I felt I had to show Nero and friends and what they've been up to in these past few months before they get on their way back to Skyrim!
So it's been several months since the decimation of Skyrim, and Nero and friends have been on the run ever since, going south through Cyrodiil to escape those looking for them. Let's hope their journey back through Cyrodiil to the north will go unnoticed…
We also met Nero's mother! I always wanted to have Nero somehow return to Portus Delphini and face the trauma of his past, but now he's returned with trauma also from his present! Bit much for him But the ghost of his mother appeared to console him and remind him just who he is. So now the gang are making their way back to Skyrim, following the steps of Nero's plan to defeat the dragons and save the world!
I want to take a moment just to thank you all for following me and my story this far, it's been a long time and I'm honestly so thankful for all of you who have stuck with me and are still reading what I write. You guys have made this story awesome! So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
The next chapter will be on its way shortly, definitely sooner than 5-6 months! Leave me a review to tell me how I'm doing! See you guys next chapter!