General acknowledgements:

Thank you to Bethesda for creating the great and amazing Elder Scrolls games, and I acknowledge and respect that the game (TES V Skyrim) and all characters in there are owned by that company.

This story would not have been possible without the amazing and extensive lore Bethesda has written and provided for the Elder Scrolls game series and some great user mods building on those. My kudos also to those who write and maintain the many fan and Wiki pages; those are very useful to refresh my memory on details and canon dialog.

Characters I invented include: B'lushona, Fiona, Freya (book A only), Janina, Antonius, Mia, Irene, and a few others.

Special recognition to mods:

'Emma' on Nexusmods for her 'Companion Vilja' follower

'Smartbluecat' on Nexusmods for the mod 'Inigo' (IMHO the second best follower mod ever – my personal favorite is 'Vilja')

'Bijin Warmaidens' on Nexusmods – makes some female warriors look so much better

'Legacy of the Dragonborn SSE' by 'icecreamassassin' and team

'The Lost Spires' by 'liquidgraph1' (mod for TES IV Oblivion)

'Skyfall Estate' by 'Ld50365'

CC 'Saints and Seducers'

In addition to the stories mentioned at the beginning of book A, I found inspiration by those great stories; kudos to the authors:

'Stendarr's Dragon' by 'Midnight Coffee 64'

'Tales of the First Era: Alessia' by 'Blackvvater'

'Ancient Prophecy: Tyranny Of The Sun' by 'Alkuna'

Notes:

This story starts where the previous ended, and I strongly recommend to read the first story before you start with this one; eventually I hope that there will be a trilogy of 'Balu' books/stories.

I will try to keep chapters between 3k and 5k words, and I plan to publish a new chapter once a week initially, maybe moving to biweekly later.

Reviews are greatly appreciated, even if they just point out some errors and inconsistencies I delivered. Even short typo hints are welcome!

SPOILER WARNING: The story contains many spoilers for the main quest, the Companions, some side quests and some mods.

Chapter 1: Waking up

[21st of First Seed 4E 202]

When I woke up in a fine early spring morning, I stretched my tall body, removed the thick blanket from around me and stood up to look out and greet my two saber cats, who were up here in the attic area of Jorrvaskr with me. As I was an early riser by nature, like I had been in my previous life, too, the sun was not yet up, but the clear sky and the many visible stars promised a nice and sunny day, although the air temperature was, at this time of the day, still low and likely close to freezing or even below. My short but dense fur prevented me from freezing much, though, and I had learned last year that my Khajiit body was well suited for both cold and moderate temperatures; specifically I could walk without shoes or boots nicely even on snow and ice. How this worked out, with Khajiit being at home in and around Elsweyr with a hot and dry climate, I did not know, but maybe my Khajiit type was special. I vaguely recalled that Khajiit differed a lot in looks and size, with some even being quadrupeds, but I did not know details; except for some exposure to an Elsweyr related mod for TES IV, I had never read much about that part of the Tamriel lore. Fortunately I did not have to know such details; it was good enough to know that my body was nicely adapted to the Skyrim climate zones, at least those I had been in so far. If I had managed to cope with the icy temperatures up in High Hrothgar, I should be able to handle Winterhold, too. Last year end of summer in Whiterun and around had been much warmer, but not an issue either. Yes, Winterhold was definitely on my list of places to visit, but not quite yet. If the 'main quest' worked out as expected, like in the game, sooner or later the Dragonborn would have to go there, and maybe I could tag along.

Hanni and Nanni, the two snowy saber cats I had 'adopted' when they had been orphaned cubs months ago, were still asleep outside on the small roof terrace on top of Jorrvaskr, on the small section which I had covered with soil and grass for their convenience. Getting this up here had been challenging, but worth the effort. When they heard me moving and talking, they woke up, and we cuddled for a few minutes. My two 'girls' were very affectionate with me, and cuddling, hugging, licking and fur grooming was something which we did several times a day, whenever we found the time. When I had 'adopted' them, they had barely been the size of a medium dog, and by now they had already grown to the size of a very large dog, at least like a German Shepherd, but more massive, so that maybe a St. Bernard or Leonberger dog was a better comparison. Knowing the size of an adult snowy saber cat from some earlier encounters, they were still far from fully grown, of course. Whenever I walked around with them in the city, like in the market area, I could see some citizens looking at them warily, and I could not really blame them for their caginess. It was about time that we had a proper home for ourselves, outside of the city walls, and fortunately there was some progress with that plan.

While I donned my sturdy and comfortable reinforced leather armor, I decided that I needed to see my building construction site today once more; consequently I climbed down the narrow and steep ladder from the attic section, whereas my two saber cats took the way down the roof outside. Before leaving Jorrvaskr, though, I'd have a look around the kitchen for something to bite into, and I also used the opportunity to check the calendar on the wall. Tilma and her assistant Hranura used the calendar to keep track of important events and also for their shopping lists, and I had added the German names for the months next to the Tamrielic ones. According to the calendar, we were in the second half of First Seed, and this was 'März', March. I should have memorized that by now; after all, I had been in Skyrim for more than half a year after Akatosh had magically transported me to the cart approaching Helgen and away from my previous comfortable, but boring life in Germany on Earth, but my memory was not the best; sometimes I recalled tiny details, and sometimes important facts were gone within minutes. I was fairly fluent by now using the Tamrielic names of the weekdays, but the months sometimes still eluded me. Almost always I carried some kind of notebook with me to write lots of details and information down, and that helped a lot. Anyway, today marked the beginning of spring on Earth, at least for Central Europe; I always remembered that as it had been my grandfather's birthday.

So far, the seasons in Skyrim seemed to mostly match the seasons on Earth, those in Central Europe and other moderate climate zones that is. Temperatures were higher in the summer months than in the winter months, but the difference seemed to be somewhat less pronounced; maybe the planet's axis tilt was less than the about 23 degrees Earth had, or there were other factors I was not aware of. Hey, this was a world of magic after all; maybe there was magical influence keeping Winterhold freezing all year round and the Riften trees looking like a perpetual autumn forest, maybe like Lothlorien in Middle Earth? Not sure if the comparison was fair, but anyway. Yes, this world had magic, dragons, and much more, and I enjoyed that immensely; after all, I had been quite a fan of fantasy stories in my earlier life. This was my home now, and if Akatosh had decided to come back right now and offer to get me back to Earth, I would have declined, even considering benefits like proper showers and toilets.

On this pleasant day I'd go for my morning run around the city once again before heading to the construction site. Moving my body like this was always enjoyable, and I did this quite frequently. While I had mostly shunned from any kinds of strenuous body activities and sports in my previous life, except for hiking and swimming, the Khajiit body I had received from Akatosh as part of my new 'job' was much more suited for any kind of bodily activity, and exercising it was actually quite nice and somehow felt good. I grabbed a large apple from a filled bowl next to the kitchen rather than helping myself to food from kitchen or larder; Tilma did not like it at all if somebody else but Hranura and her took food from there, but there was always a bowl or two with snacks. Once I had my apple to bite into and had had a cup of water, I jogged out of the building and headed towards the city entrance, with Hanni and Nanni at my sides; I'd have a real breakfast when I got back. The single guard at the inside of the main city gate saw me and my cubs coming and opened the gate for me with a friendly greeting:

"Good morning Thane B'lushona! Heading out again for your morning run?"

As usual, due to my bad memory for names and faces in general, I failed to remember her name and felt bad about it, but the guards knew that and were not offended; besides, I was a Thane after all. I tried to be polite anyway in my reply:

"Good morning to you, too! Yes, indeed, it seems to be a nice morning for some exercise, not only for me, but for my saber cats as well. Don't want to have them starting to bother citizens or guards because they are getting bored!"

The Nord guard smiled and raised her hand in a partial salute when I passed, and I shouted a quick "Thank you!" for her service of opening the gate for me. After passing the gate, I kept right, jumped over the high rocks close to the entrance area and proceeded north, keeping a constant jogging speed. My two cubs danced around me, and they seemed to be quite happy about my habit to do those early morning runs every other day at least. None of my housecarls was with me today, but they knew that I could cope with all potential dangers easily that close to Whiterun. Even in the unlikely event of a dragon attack I should be able to evade and run towards either the city gate or the Whitewatch Tower where guards would help. Besides, dragon attacks were not frequent at all; I could only assume that Alduin might be waking up more of them over time, so that this might change eventually.

While I followed the narrow path west of the city, I allowed my mind to wander; once again, I found that I could consider myself lucky to be here, in Skyrim, like this. I had been able to make Whiterun my home, achieve the status of Thane in both Whiterun and Haafingar hold, and become a respected member of the Companions. I had worked with the Dragonborn a few times, but she was gone again to do whatever she needed to do, likely tasks and quests related to what I still called the 'main quest' in my mind. While I was supposed to assist and protect her, as Akatosh had clearly requested, she sometimes preferred to do some jobs with her own housecarls, Lydia and Rayya, and without me, and it certainly was her prerogative to decide whom she wanted to have around. Not that I had a problem with that, no; since I had found my two saber cats, I appreciated the chance to not run around and do all kind of quests all of the time. At some time in the future, Fiona would come back, and I was looking forward to hearing about her own experiences and adventures. She might need my help again, for parts of her Dragonborn tasks, and I was preparing myself by training both my fighting skills and my magical ones.

On the downside, the Imperial Legion under General Tullius considered both the Dragonborn and me an enemy for unknown reasons, and sadly we had to keep away from Imperial controlled holds, four out of nine in Skyrim at this time, if we valued our lives. In an ideal world, everybody should know and accept that the Dragonborn and her task was crucial for Tamriel and even entire Nirn, but for some reason the Imperial Legion, potentially influenced by the Thalmor, did not. Hopefully we'd find a way to resolve this problem sooner or later; at least Fiona sure would have to travel to some of those holds at some time. Wasn't that temple with the reliefs and such she needed to go to in The Reach? For now, I continued on the small path leading to Whitewatch Tower, and once I reached the guard post, I greeted the guards there, three in total:

"How are you this fine morning?"

"Hey, B'lushona, you made it right in time for sunrise once again; good timing."

And indeed, right as we spoke the sun started to show itself over the hills to the east, and its first glows made our armor glow and shine. As I did most of the time, I got some food out of my backpack and shared with the guards, and they got out what they had. One of the guards had kept some bones aside for my cubs, and they happily started to chew on those. Although my 'girls', as I liked to call them, were really looking quite intimidating, the guards had met them frequently enough, and Hanni and Nanni even allowed some petting from the soldiers. By now, the two saber cats had come to see the city of Whiterun and the surrounding area as their home territory, and the guards belonged to the group of people they considered their friends or at least allies, like an extended family at home. Half an hour later we were done with breakfast and chatting, and I shook the guards' hands:

"Well, have a good day, and watch out!"

"Sure, you too, my friend!"

I had to admit that I was quite happy about being at home in Whiterun and being friends with most of the guards and many of the citizens. Having small talk with lots of people was something I had not been good in at all in my previous life, but here in Skyrim, it somehow came easy to me, and I enjoyed being able to do that. Most people, excluding just a few such as Jarl Balgruuf the Greater and Kodlak Whitemane, did not expect me to engage in complex and extended conversation, but we just talked about common things, like the weather, upcoming holidays, open bounties and such, and above and beyond that Hanni and Nanni almost always guaranteed some attention.

Now I followed the small path east and down to the main road and headed south, on the eastern side of the city. The road itself was clear, but in some smaller areas mostly shaded from the sun there was still some snow. Winter was not fully over yet, although the various flowers had already started to compete with each other. Mountain flowers in particular seemed to be not bothered by cold and snow at all and had blossoms almost all of the time, somewhat similar to some flowers, like primroses, on Earth. Others, like lavender and tundra cotton, were just starting to bud at this time. Those were just the ones I recognized; there were other plants and flowers as well, and maybe I should ask Mia or Arcadia to learn more about those at some time. I had received the book 'Herbalist's guide to Skyrim' from Arcadia last years and even added some notes to it, but there were still many gaps I would like to fill. While I had been mostly deep in thoughts before, I now paid more attention to the area around me, and as I mostly did, I specifically enjoyed the abundance of flora.

I passed Battle-Born Farm and Chillfurrow Farm, and some of the farm hands waved to me. The people on Battle-Born Farm looked weary and worried today, but maybe I was just imagining this; if there was a real problem, I'd likely hear about it soon. When I got to the crossroads with the bridges across the river, I met familiar faces; a cart drawn by a horse made its way down from the direction of Riverwood, and Alvor and Faendal were on it together with some wares. I had spent enough time with the citizens of Riverwood during my first few days in Skyrim to remember their faces and names; above and beyond them, they had been key characters in the game, contrary to the many unnamed guards and soldiers. Waving to the two men on the cart I waited until they arrived, and then I greeted them:

"Alvor, Faendal, good to see you! You must have left Riverwood quite early to be here at that time!"

"Yes, that we did, B'lushona. We have wares to sell in the city, and we wanted to make sure that we can be back home before dusk."

"Riverwood is not big enough for everything you forge, Alvor, right?"

"Not, it is not. There are some travelers, for sure, but before Helgen got destroyed I had a steady demand from that area, and also from Oakwood and some farms and orchards around Lake Ilinalta. There are still occasional customers from the latter region, but not from Helgen; as nobody bothered to build up that town again, I need to go to Whiterun, and at least demand there is big enough; once a month or so Ulfberth gladly buys most of my merchandise, the ones I cannot find buyers for at home. Plus, I sometimes also take excess inventory from Lucan and sell it at Belethor՚s."

At this time I noticed that Hanni and Nanni were no longer next to me, but I heard some noise from the river, and when I turned around, I saw them jumping around. I did not understand what they were doing right away, but when I realized that there were splashes from fish quite frequently, I got it. Alvor and Faendal looked in the same direction, and the Bosmer laughed before he stated:

"Looks like they're trying to catch some salmon."

"Salmon?"

"Sure, it's this time of the year. Many of those fish seem to have the urge to swim upriver and hatch in the shallow streams around Lake Ilinalta. Naturally, various animals are eager to catch some of them, specifically when they jump to get up the various rapids on the way. Last I heard is that a number of bears are claiming their usual spots, like between Valtheim Towers and Fort Amol, but also downstream of Ivarstead. Looks like your saber cats are trying to catch some salmon, too."

I vaguely recalled about salmon and their habits from my first life, and obviously this worked in a similar way here, too. On Earth, salmon were quite special, as they were born in upper sections of creeks and rivers, migrated down to the ocean as adolescents, mated there later, and again found their way to the rivers, ideally close to where they had been born; contrary to almost all other fish, they could adapt from fresh water to salt-water and back; quite fascinating. I thought that the upriver migration was supposed to happen in fall rather than spring, but this was Nirn here and not Earth.

Paying more attention to the river area now, I could, further downstream, even see some large birds, remotely looking like eagles, trying to catch their share. Hanni and Nanni seemed to struggle, but eventually each of them managed to catch a large salmon on their own. Once they had succeeded, they both found a spot on the rocks close to the water and settled down to feed. I almost found myself tempted to join them, but I sure wasn't going to eat fish raw. Salmon was one of my favorite meals, though, and I was looking forward to seeing that dish on the menu of inns hopefully quite soon again. Sure there were going to be some people fishing and selling fish to inns? I had barely started that thought when Faendal called out:

"Look, over there, there is actually a fisherman, likely also trying to catch salmon!"

I turned into the direction Faendal had pointed to, which was south and upstream, and there was indeed a person who had both a fishing rod and some kind of net with him. Somehow that person looked familiar, and when I looked again, I recognized my Imperial housecarl Antonius. We were not in a hurry, and I decided to approach him and ask what we was doing. When he heard me approaching, he turned around and looked a little bit embarrassed:

"Oh, it's you. I thought I'd also try catching some salmon, but this is much more difficult than I had expected. They are jumping around the rocks here, but none of them even get close to my lure. I also tried to use a net, but I'm too slow for that, I guess. There must be a trick I don't know; so far I have not been able to catch a single fish, although I've been more successful in more quiet waters elsewhere, with other fish."

Hanni and Nanni had both devoured their own fish by now, and they approached us here at the rocks and rapids in the river. Both of them jumped into the water again, and only a few minutes later they had a large salmon between their jaws. My housecarl՚s own jaw almost dropped down when he saw that, specifically when both saber cats dropped their catch at his feet, looking up to him. When I saw his confusion, I just couldn't help myself and started to laugh, and a few seconds later he, Faendal and Alvor joined in. I did not forget to pet my saber cats and tell them that they had done a great job, and encouraged like this, they brought a few more fish out; apparently they had this in their genes. I was somewhat tempted to also get into the water and use my paws, hopefully also catching some fish like Hanni and Nanni had done; I had managed to do that once or twice before, but I preferred to pursue such an activity only when I was alone. We did have more than enough fish now, and I suggested:

"Tell you what; let's get all of the fish to the Bannered Mare and ask Hulda to prepare a nice lunch for all of us; what do you think?"

Naturally, everybody was in agreement, and I found an empty basket on the cart I could use for the fish. The guards at the crossroads had watched us, and when we nodded to them and turned to leave towards the stables and the city, one of them suggested:

"Hey, B'lushona, you could make some money with your smart saber cats!"

"Yes, I guess so; next time I'm around with Hanni and Nanni, we will catch a few fish for you, too!"

"Na, not for me" one of them replied; "I much prefer meat over fish."

"Not a problem, we hunt game, too, but I'm not eager to do the skinning and gutting."

"Me neither, honestly. Oh well, have a great day!"

"Thank you, you too!"

Slowly I walked next to the cart while it moved along the road west, and I asked the Bosmer:

"So, what about you, Faendal? What brings you here?"

"I'm just helping Alvor, B'lushona. Spent extra time on hunting yesterday, and the work at the sawmill can wait a day or two."

Alvor, Faendal and I exchanged a few more words, and when we reached my building site, after passing Honningbrew Meadery, some apiaries, and Pelagia Farm, we separated. The other two moved on towards the city gate, while I stayed here for now. After all, inspecting the site had been my first major goal for the day, and I was going to do this until lunch time at least; for lunch I was going to meet Alvor and Faendal at the Bannered Mare, hopefully to find a double serving of salmon with sides waiting for me.

At least, here in Skyrim I did not have to be worried about issues like excessive fishing impacting nature and such, and I was able to enjoy a salmon meal without any bad conscience.

[Author's Notes: Keep in mind that not all of the background will be explained in this story; if you have not done so yet, I strongly recommend to read the first book, 'Balu in Skyrim – awakening and antagonizing', first.]