17th Last Seed, 4E 221
The light shining from the planet Akatosh had dimmed as ebony night gave way to daylight, but even in the morning sky, that distant sphere could still be viewed. The day the warrior's constellation had been seen in the night sky, all in Skyrim knew that it was the end of summer, and that winter was coming. Soon, most of the country will be preoccupied with bringing in the last harvest and storing enough for the winter months.
It was a familiar sight, almost comforting when everything else about this foreign land was strange and off-putting. For one Eddard Stark, the idea of seasons lasting mere months and not endless years was a strange one. For someone who had lived through the biting cold winters in Winterfell and the Mountains of the Moon, the brief winters of Skyrim were not exactly worrying.
It had been nearly twenty years since Eddard had come to this strange new world. Where he had first found himself captured and bound by armed soldiers dragging him with other prisoners. Then Alduin had come…
A knocking interrupted his reminiscence and Eddard turned to the door of his study.
"Come in." The door opened and a shining pair of gold eyes caught his own.
"Stargazing again, Ned?"
A tall woman with raven black hair entered Eddard's study, amusement-filled gold eyes a sharp contrast to her rather pale skin.
"Akatosh shines bright in the sky, Serana."
The vampire, Serana, rolled her eyes though a small quirk betrayed her amusement.
"Akatosh has been shining all month, Ned." Serana states. "Have you been up all night?"
Eddard looked down at his research books and nodded wearily as Serana sits down across from him.
"What have you been researching?" She asks.
"Recently?" Eddard muses. "The constellations and stars."
"You are the only one I know who looks at the stars so closely, Ned." Serana states. "Well besides astronomers, but I don't know any of them."
"It is because they are different," Eddard answers sharply. "From the skies of the land of my birth."
And that was the truth. Eddard had spent twenty years in Nirn, this strange new world. He had not even had his nine-and-ten nameday when he had been brought to this world. Which meant that he had spent more of his life in Tamriel than he had ever spent in Westeros.
"You never speak much of your homeland, Ned," Serana said warily.
The vampire's posture had changed slightly, the earlier carefreeness had worn off, and she was always one to pick up on Eddard's melancholy. He felt horrible for darkening her mood with his own.
"Today marks twenty years," Eddard said by way of answering. "Since I came to this place."
"Will you tell me of it?" Serana asked. "Of your homeland."
A cold silence fell over the room, and Eddard wanted to not answer. He had never shared with anyone the story of his life before coming to Skyrim. Before that day where he found himself under an executioner's axe, accused of conspiring with a Kingslayer and usurper. And then Alduin had come down to Helgen and all had gone to hell from there. Before long he found himself at that Western Watchtower, a sword going through Mirmulnir's eye, and the soldiers around him shouting into the air. DRAGONBORN!
No, Serana was the only one who even knew he was not from Skyrim or even Nirn itself. Most of the others had assumed he had been a Nord and Eddard had not bothered to correct them.
"I was born in a castle," Eddard finally spoke. "To a lordly father. You and I are alike in that way."
Serana's eyes widened slightly. "Was he like my father?"
Instant anger raced through his veins, and a sharp denial was at the tip of his tongue. But then he forced the anger down and thought of the question.
"Well," he said eventually. "He wasn't obsessed with ending the 'tyranny' of the sun"
Serana raised a brow at that. "But he was obsessed over something else, I am guessing."
Eddard could only nod minutely. Rickard Stark had been obsessed, and he had gotten even worse when Eddard's mother Lyarra had died of a winter's fever. He was obsessed with legacy, with the North, and with the Stark name itself.
"What fueled his obsession?" Serana did not ask what the obsession was.
"I suppose he felt ashamed," Eddard confessed. "Though he would never admit as much to anyone, only years later have I come to realize the truth of the matter."
"An obsession fueled by shame?" Serana intoned. "I am pondering whether he was into shaming you to compensate for his own shame."
"Not me," Eddard said. "I was not the eldest, not the one to attract criticism for every wrong action. I was the well-behaved child."
"You?" Serana sounded incredulous. "The Slayer of Alduin? The Harbinger of the Companions? The one who charged recklessly into a whole army of Thalmor in the Second Great War? You were a well-behaved child?"
Eddard's lips quirked slightly. "I was much mellower as a boy."
Serana snorted. "Clearly."
"My siblings could not be more different than I was."
Serana winced slightly. "Harsh reprimand for every wrong move then?"
Eddard nodded. "He betrothed them, using them as tools for diplomacy. It would have been rather normal, but he chose distant matches, from distant kingdoms. And they chaffed under the whole of it."
"It ended badly then?" Serana asked.
Eddard felt his chest tighten and he could only give a weak nod.
"My brother tried eloping with the woman he loved," Eddard said. "He was caught, brought back to our father in chains, and the girl was married off to another Lord."
Eddard had simply read that Brandon had tried eloping with Barbery Ryswell in a brief report sent to him by his father. When he had returned to Winterfell for his nameday, as he had done every year, it was to find his family in cold silence with one another. It was only then that he learned further details of the event.
"My sister…" Eddard choked on his words.
He could not utter them, even years later. Not with the uncertainty. More than twenty years had passed since that cold day in the Eyrie, where he had received news that his sister was missing. Presumed to have been kidnapped by the Prince of Dragonstone himself. Jon Arryn had used force to confine him and Robert to the Eyrie. Then they had gotten the news that Rickard Stark had been burned alive and his heir had been strangled with him. An order then arrived at Jon Arryn's court, demanding the heads of Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark. The Lord of the Eyrie raised the banner of rebellion in response to the King's command.
"I was returning home," He finally said to Serana. "I hired a fisherman to take me across the sea, but the ship was struck by a storm, and then I found myself in Skyrim."
"And what does researching the stars have to do with that?" Serana inclined her head at the work in front of him.
"This is simply the newest lead after twenty years of research," Eddard answered. "The stars and planets back home are different than they are here, and I thought that I could find out something by looking into it."
Serana hummed quietly at that. "Can that mad mage friend of yours help? What was his name? Nareth? Neareth?"
"Neloth," Eddard corrected.
"Yes him!" Serana snapped her fingers in triumph. "Does he know anything about it?"
Eddard shook his head. "I asked Hermaeus Mora himself and all the Daedric Prince gave me was a non-answer."
Serana's jaw dropped, her face set in horror. "Are you so set on returning home?"
Eddard shook his head. "It is only that I left at the worst of times. My father and eldest brother had been killed; my sister was carried off to gods know where. My younger brother is but a boy, he must have become head of our house with my disappearance. And he would have been the last of our house if the worst happened to our sister."
Serana only looked more horrified at the words. "You've… Have you kept this… Why have you kept this to yourself for so long? Why haven't you told me before?"
"I did not want to trouble you, friend," Eddard told Serana honestly.
Serana had been one of Eddard's first companions in Skyrim when he had been a stranger in a strange land. He had joined the Dawnguard after resolving the Dragon Crisis, ignoring Delphine's insistence that he remain with the Blades. By that point, he had been utterly disgusted with the Blades and followed the Greybeard's advice to simply leave their organization. He had heard a short time afterward that the Blades had attempted to kill Parthanox themselves and had been shouted off High Hrothgar by the ancient dragon. It was good riddance, as far as Eddard was concerned. He would not do their dirty work.
By contrast, Serana had a naïve and curious kindness that had attracted Eddard to her. He had even asked for Serana's hand in marriage at one point, but even after her refusal, the two had remained close companions.
"Well, why not?" Serana asked. "I troubled you with all of my family drama, you could have at least reciprocated."
Despite everything, Eddard felt his lips twitch up at Serana's sincerity. "You do not have to worry about me Serana, truly. I think I gave up on this, years ago, it is just that I reminisce about it every Last Seed and try to make an effort."
Serana looked disheartened by the words and Eddard loathed himself utterly for troubling her. He should have given up on this years ago.
"Come on Serana," Eddard said suddenly, standing up. "Don't let my dark moods bring you down as well. Come on, let us go into the town."
Serana continued frowning at him for a moment before she sighed and stood up.
"Where are we going?" She asked.
"Some hills by the coast," Eddard shrugged. "Reports say that a few trolls were in the area, harassing travelers and peddlers."
"Are you fighting trolls wearing that?" Serana asked looking him up and down.
Eddard looked down; he was wearing plain red robes. He internally thought about his 'inventory' and summoned his Daedric Armor which instantly replaced the robes. But he kept the helmet 'unequipped' for now.
"I still don't know how you do that," Serana said with a sigh.
Eddard shrugged. "Magic."
In truth, Eddard himself was not sure how 'the menu' worked either, other than it was something that he was seemingly the only one able to use. The books at the College had not given him an answer and even Neloth, who had deeply studied every school of magic, had been utterly bewildered by this ability. In the end, Eddard had simply chalked it up to being another ability granted to the Dragonborn.
"Right…" Serana said unimpressed. "Lead on then, Archmage."
Eddard rolled his eyes and went to exit his study. Opening the door, he made to go through only for the spikes on his pauldrons to hit the door frame, stopping him in his tracks.
He turned back sharply to Serana as she chortled, but his glare only made her break out into full-blown laughter. Eddard turned away, re-equipped the red robes, and stalked off with Serana following in his heels giggling. Eddard was glad he was able to cheer her up from the dark mood he had instilled.
They made their way down the stairs of Proudspire and exited to the morning bustle of the city of Solitude. Eddard had slowly gained possession of several other manors and even built a few from the ground up, but the one in Solitude was his most used estate. It was in the capital, where he could quickly learn of dangers and perils besieging the realm from the High Queen's court.
"Ah Solitude," Serana said. "How I despise you. Tell me again why you chose to live here of all places?"
"You hate all the cities," Eddard rolled his eyes. "If it was up to you, we would live in a dwarven rune."
"Oh, Divines!" Serana clapped excitedly. "I hadn't thought of that! Let's go do that now!"
Eddard sighed; he shouldn't have given her any ideas.
"Are you really alright Ned?" Serana asked suddenly, her eyes sharp and assessing.
Eddard sighed again, he wasn't able to completely distract her with his stunt earlier.
"In truth, most of the time I can keep my mind off it. First the Dragon Crisis, then the Crisis with your father, and then after that, it was Miraak. Then it was the Civil War and then the Second Great War against the Thalmor. And everything else that happened in between all of that. All in all, remaining busy with more pressing matters has helped immensely."
Serana said nothing for a moment as they continued walking.
"If, you are sure." She said finally.
"I am," He assured, voice coming out with confidence he did not feel.
They soon reached the gates and quickly left the city. Eddard summoned Arvak while Serana summoned her own skeletal horse. They made their way to the west of Solitude before cutting north to where the trolls had been reported to the Queen's court.
Serana sighed loudly from beside him as they rode together along the coast. "Where are these trolls?!"
Both riders then heard a roar and a group of some forty trolls crested the hill in front of them.
Eddard turned to his friend with feigned annoyance. "You had to ask?"
Serana only smiled with smug satisfaction. "I knew they would appear the moment I did."
Eddard dismounted, both he and his friend moving into preplanned battle positions they had used countless times in countless battles and encounters. He used a conjuring spell to summon a flame thrall, the Atronach instantly appeared and bowed its head to him. It then began lobbing fire at the incoming trolls. In truth, he had mastered the school of conjuring to the point where he could summon hundreds of Atronachs. He had done so in the Second Great War, the only time he had truly gone all out with his magic and shouts, and he had only done so he could prove a point to the Thalmor. After that single battle, the Thalmor had sued for peace, and the Empire had accepted.
But it was not exactly necessary to summon even one flame thrall for this encounter, but Eddard was always careful to leave Serana with backup in case a Daedra appeared or something. He left his summon and Serana in the rear to cover him with ranged attacks. In the meantime, he brought out a Daedric Greatsword from his inventory. It was one he had enchanted himself and was a weapon Serana referred to as 'overpowered'.
Eddard charged forward and met the approaching trolls head-on, cleaving the first one he met in two. His sword did not stop, moving on to the next enemy before it even fully cut through the first. A few trolls were intelligent enough to at least try and get around to his back, but fire and lightning from his rear stopped them dead in their tracks. Eddard continued to cleave through the trolls like they were nothing but paper.
In the end, some of the trolls ignored him entirely and tried going after Serana and the Atronach.
"Tiid Klo Ul"
Time itself nearly came to a halt, but Eddard poured magica into his muscles and moved faster than he had been moving earlier in normal time. The remaining trolls were all cut to pieces before he allowed the shout to wear off.
Serana blinked as all the remaining trolls dropped to the ground dead when time returned to its normal pace.
"Damn show off," Serana cursed under her breath. "I was only able to get a few of them."
Eddard shook his head with fondness.
"Next time," Serana said belligerently. "You get to stay in the rear while I go all out!"
"Oh," A smile played on Eddard's lips. "Very well then, I will do just that."
"You damn well better!"
Eddard turned towards his summon and wordlessly dismissed it. With the trolls defeated, Eddard unequipped his armor and equipped one of the enchanted mage robes he had made. It was far more comfortable to ride in them than it was to do so in the Daedric armor.
"Help!"
A distant cry instantly had Eddard look around, eyes examining everything around him. A detect life spell was at his fingertips in an instant, and he poured magica into it, extending it farther than the usual spell could go. He found only animals and not the one who had cried out.
"What is it?" Serana asked, as she instantly appeared at his side with a serious posture. "What did you hear?"
"I thought I heard a cry for help…" Eddard answered with a frown.
"Laas Yah Nir"
The shout revealed all the nearby life energies but again only detected animals.
"It must have been in my mind…"
"Help me!"
Eddard turned towards the sea, where he was sure the scream was coming from. He ran towards the Sea of Ghosts without hesitation and threw himself into the waves.
"Ned! Ned!"
He heard Serana screaming his name from behind but simply ignored it. Someone was drowning, he needed to save them. He swam desperately towards the voice, mindlessly casting an alteration spell to allow him breathe in the water.
"Help me!"
Eddard saw a woman flailing desperately in the water and reached her with a burst of speed.
"I have you!" He said as he held her to him and brought her firmly out of the water. "I have you!"
Eddard turned back, ready to swim back to the coast, but saw only the open sea. Neither did he see Serana, who he thought was just a hairsbreadth behind him.
He looked around carefully, sure that he was just disoriented. But he still saw the open sea, the calm waves of the Sea of Ghosts had turned into large crashing waves. Rain was pouring down from the sky and lighting lit up the darkness followed by the deafening cracks of thunder. Eddard was sure that the sky had been clear and bright just a few moments ago.
He kept looking around for the shore, but then found the distinctive shape of a boat swaying heavily in the waves. Had this woman fallen off that boat? Eddard swam up to the swaying boat, a small fishing cog by the looks of it, and lifted the woman onto it with telekinesis. He then pulled himself on board and immediately went to check on the woman who had long since fallen unconscious.
A restoration spell was immediately in both his hands as he healed the woman carefully, making sure not to miss anything. But it seemed that she had only fallen unconscious from the shock of the freezing water. Eddard took out a dry bear pelt and covered the woman with it.
This storm is bothersome…
"Lok Vah Koor"
The shout bent the storm to his command in an instant, and he immediately ordered it to clear away. The rain stopped, the wind stopped and soon the whole sky above him calmed and cleared away.
It was still dark, but with the light of the moon, he should be able to see the coast or else…
Eddard came to a complete stop as he snapped his head back up to the sky. It was a dark night when moments before it was not even noon, and there was something strange sitting in the sky. A single moon. Just the one. Akatosh was nowhere to be seen either despite having been shining in the sky even during the day.
He suddenly felt the urge to bring his hand to his face. The strangeness was the beard or the lack of a beard. Eddard felt nothing but a clean-shaven face when he tried feeling for his beard. He had been keeping a well-groomed beard for years now, hell he had not been clean-shaven since…
Eddard suddenly felt a slight pressure in his chest, and he realized that he had stopped breathing. He looked back up at the sky and again found that impossibly, there was still just one moon. Eddard looked down at the woman he had saved from drowning, she was a little familiar, but he could not for the life of him remember her name…
Wylla! That was her name! Yes, Wyla the Fisherman's daughter.
The fisherman's daughter…
The fisherman? What fisherman?
Suddenly, Eddard felt his knees buckle as he fell to the deck of the ship.
Strange… Why had he fallen down? What was he thinking about?
The fisherma…
Laughter bubbled up in his throat and he let it all out. He laughed and laughed and did not know if he would ever stop.
This is a little thing I wrote after playing some Skyrim and reading up on the lore again. I am going to update this when I can so bear with me.