A changeling's visit to Skyrim

Fenora kept Stross in her embrace as the cart ride continued. After several minutes had passed, they noticed the landscape slowly turning from the hard soil and rushing rivers to a frozen tundra of ice and snow, even the air turned from its usual brisk cold to a frigid gale that nipped at everyone’s skin.

“End o’ the road folks.” The cart driver called back when it lurched to a sudden stop “Th’ wheels can’t get through this kind of snow.”

“I guess we’re walking from here.” Fenora stated and dismounted with her companions.

“Winterhold should be no less than a half hours hike that-a-way.” The driver pointed towards some snowy peaks in the distance “I’d hurry if I were you, the cold will get to ya faster than ya think. Good luck!”

“Must we really walk through this storm?” Luna asked, gazing worriedly at the incoming flurry of white flakes.

Fenora let out a sigh, but nodded in the affirmative. “Here, I brought along some coats for all of us.” She opened her pack and pulled out three fur-lined cloaks. One of which she wrapped around her shoulders, another was quickly accepted by Stross.

“Oh, um… that is alright. We shall manage without.” Luna said, nervously backing away as the last one was offered to her.

“You know you don’t need to prove anything to us, right? It’s going to be at least thirty below out there, just put it on.” Fenora said firmly, not wanting to deal with Luna being a show off.

“No no, that’s not it! It’s just…” Luna trailed off, finding the best way to phrase her quandary.

Fortunately, Stross did it for her, though in a much less tactful way. “Equestrians don’t like wearing clothes made from their dead critter friends.” He blurted out.

Fenora’s eyes widened. “Oh… right. Well then.”

“Ahem, yes.” Luna cleared her throat “But no matter, tis only a short walk, and a bit of inclimate weather shan’t deter this Princess of the night. Onward my friends!”

“B-by the stars! It’s f-f-f-FREEZING out here!” Luna said through shivers after only a few minutes of walking through the blizzard.

Our three heroes trudged through the snow that swallowed them up to their knees as it crunched down under their feet. The wind had only gotten colder and wetter, bringing with it a bone-chilling cold that easily sunk into your skin.

“You want that coat now?” Fenora offered.

“Nay! We s-shan’t wear the s-seamstressed sk-sk-skin of a once living b-being!” Luna yelled in all her stubbornness “W-we would be grateful if th-thou stopped offering!”

“You’re going to freeze if you don’t!” Fenora argued some common sense “Don’t you have a spell or something to warm you up?”

Luna frowned back at her. “I’ve b-been trying! F-for some reason, I c-can b-barely use even the m-most basic spells. Whatever is draining my magic must be prohibiting it!”

“Then what are we going to do?!” Fenora asked, getting very annoyed with her solutions being shot down “Either you get over the fact that is was made from dead animals and wear the dang coat, or you’re going… to… why’s it not snowing in here?” she asked when she noticed the lack of snowflakes flying into her face with their stinging cold.

Luna looked around as well. For some reason there was a strange temperate area right where they stood, the blizzard raged just outside, yet any snow or wind that entered the dome of heat was instantly melted and turned pleasantly warm. They looked to their sides and found the reason smiling up at them. Stross had cast a blazing flame from his hands, condensing it into a sphere that radiated its magical warmth around them all like a shield, bathing them in a crimson light as it sheltered them from the cold.

“Ready to keep going?” he asked.

“Stross… you’re awesome.” Fenora pulled him into a hug, Luna following suit.

And with that they continued on, the flames glowing slightly stronger as they walked.

So Winterhold... it was a very lively place.

And by that, I mean it was lively for a place built in the freezing cold of a perpetual winter, right next to a three hundred foot cliff overlooking a sea of glaciers. It was a place where you’d get frozen solid by stepping outside your front door and then eaten by a sabre-cat like some human meat-sickle, and a place that no one ever went to because what little remained of the city after it collapsed into the ocean was, by popular belief, cursed to a slow and painful demise that would be shared by all those foolish enough to inhabit it.

And yet, life in Winterhold persisted. This was obvious as a man kicked open the door to his sister’s shop and strode out into the freezing cold to go to the bar and drink his troubles and money away.

A guard gave a casual nod in his direction as he passed, continuing his patrol while wearing only a sleeveless armor set and shrugging off the sub-zero temperatures like it were a light breeze.

Inside the local tavern, aptly named the Frozen Hearth, things were much like they normally were.

“I'm sorry, could you describe the… smell?” an elf in worn out mage robes asked in a tone that made clear he really didn’t want to be having this conversation.

“It’s like some horrible monster was turned inside out, and then exploded. What did you do in there?”  the rather irritated owner told him.

“It was a minor miscalculation. I've already corrected it for future experiments.” The Altmer told him dismissively.

“I hope that ‘correction’ involves more fiber in yer diet, Nelacar.”

Nelacar gave him a sneer and promptly returned to his room, which had been converted into his private study and laboratory in the years he’d been there.

The owner of the inn, Dagur, gave a tired sigh as he wiped down the counter despite the fact that it was already clean. “Can you believe that guy?” he asked his wife, who was currently sweeping the floors “I tell ya, this is the kind of stuff that makes people hate the college.”

“At least he pays his bills.” Haran reminded him “Unlike someone else we know.” She said as the door opened and their only regular customer walked in and dragged his feet to the nearest table.

“Hey guys,” he said sourly “what’ve you got on th’ menu today?”

“That depends,” Haran told him “do ya actually feel like paying your tab this time?”

“Jus’ get me the usual. I’ll pay later.” He snorted.

Haran rolled her eyes. “Right, one Honningbrew coming up.”

Silence persisted in the Frozen Hearth once Ranimir had gotten his drink and was back in his usual depressed stupor. Haran often wished that one day a traveling musician, perhaps from the Bard’s college would stop by one day, and if they were lucky, even settle down in Winterhold. It would certainly liven up the desolate old place to have some music present. She had tried taking up the lute herself at one point, but simply failed to get the hang of it past strumming out the barest semblance of old melodies, and thus, only the crackling of the fire and the creaking of the wall boards remained to break the quiet.

That is… until a silver-haired Bosmer kicked in the front door and dragged her friends inside.

“We made it!” she said triumphantly as she slammed the door on the cold behind them.

“Thank the stars.” rasped out one of her followers, a winged woman with a severe case of frostbite.

Being the attentive barkeep that he was, Dagur immediately rushed over to help them. “My goodness, are you folks alright?” he said as he helped them to their feet and over to one of the many unoccupied tables “Ya look like you were all chewed up by ice wraiths! Is there anything I can do fer ya? Anything at all?”

“Something warm to drink,” Fenora said as she set Luna and Stross into their seats before sitting into one herself “Hot chocolate would be preferable, but I’ll be willing to accept tea at this point.”

At that moment, Stross swayed uneasily back and forth. “No alcohol… it constricts the blood vessels leading to loss of circulation in th’ blub blah blurr…” he said in a quivering voice before petering out and faceplanting onto the table.

“And perhaps a pillow or two.” Fenora added.

“Comin’ right up. Be back in a sec!” Dagur told them.

While she waited for the barkeep to return with their drinks, Fenora checked over her friends to make sure they’d be alright. After funneling a healing potion into eat of their mouths for good measure, she took the spare moment to sift through her pack and make sure she still had all her gear with her.

“Let’s see… bag of septims and a few small gems… bow with plenty of arrows… extra clothes… one blunt weapon and one edged weapon… dried meat and bottled water… hmm, I’ll need to get more mead and potions…” Fenora set her bag aside and leaned back in her chair with a determined grin.

The entrance to the college was no less than a short walk to the other end of the small town, once they got there they’d hopefully have the answers to Luna’s magic problems. There could also be information about the dragons that have been returning, like a weakness that they could exploit in the future; the last two times they’d had to fight one of the beasts it had been far too risky and unorganized; improvised at best, really. The fact they not only survived, but also won was practically a miracle.

She might even learn something useful for their travels, something to reduce the amount of walking would be nice. Truly, the elvish Dragonborn couldn’t wait to see what the mages had to offer. Yet something still tugged at her, restraining her eagerness.

Fenora looked over to Luna and Stross, smiling slightly at the way they had passed out with their heads on the hardwood tabletop. To be honest, she was pretty floored at the way both of them had so readily dropped everything to help her save Skyrim, Stross because of his kind nature and apparent love for her, and Luna out of a sense of duty to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. She couldn’t help but feel honored to be considered a friend by them.

The mages could wait. At least until morning once they’d all had a chance to rest and recover.

“Here ya are!” a cheerful voice called to them “Three hot chocolates and a pair of pillows. Anything else you need?” Dagur asked as he handed Fenora a cup of the sweet steaming drink and placed the other two between Luna a Stross along with the cushions.

“Actually yes. Do you have any rooms open? I think we’re all ready to turn in for the night.”

Dagur let out a chuckle. “Of course! It’s not like we get many travelers this far out in the middle of nowhere. The only other guests here are Nelacar and those four young apprentice mages en route to the college.” He said, happily surprised at the number of new customers as of late.

“Thank you, we’ll have thr… two rooms please.” Fenora said and handed him the septims for the rooms and the drinks “And what did you mean by the ‘four apprentice mages’?”

“Oh, that lot. A right bunch of misfits they are. They came marchin’ into town just this morning all full of bravado and goin’ on about how they’ll be the next great mages and command respect from the far reaches of Nirn and blah blah blah, only to fail the entrance exam. So they dragged themselves back to my inn, drank themselves into a stupor and crashed downstairs in the cellar.” Dagur shook his head “We threw some blankets over them and figured we’d let them sleep off their worries. They should be awake by ‘morrow sometime.”

Suddenly Dagur had a thought occur to him. “Say, you wouldn’t be heading to the college as well, would ya?”

“Actually we are.” Fenora told him.

“Then perhaps you can take that exam and show them other wannabe mages how it’s done!” Dagur gave a laugh “Well sleep tight, and let me know if there’s anythin’ else you need.”

Fenora sipped down the last of her hot chocolate, enjoying the rich taste before setting the empty mug on a nearby table. She bottled the other two, as Stross and Luna wouldn’t be drinking them for at least a few hours. “Alright, time for bed you two.” She moved over to her friends that were clearly wiped out and moving into a deep sleep.

She decided to start with Luna, slowly lifting her off the bench seat and carrying her over to one of the rooms, one hand holding onto her waist, the other gripping the arm that was slung over her shoulder. Opening the door with her signature style... kicking, she brought Luna over to the simple bed and carefully laid her down, hoping that she wouldn’t mind that fact that it too was lined with animal pelts as she pulled the covers up over the Princesses shoulders.

Luna let out a muted groan and hugged the pillow beneath her head. At that moment her hair stopped flowing in its magical breeze and fell limply down the bedside and onto the stone floor like a silky waterfall of the night sky.

Fenora let out a sigh and left the room while rubbing her temples, reappearing moments later with a pair of magika potions, their last remaining two. Hoping the Mages’ College had more for them to buy, she placed them on the nightstand for Luna to drink when she awoke.

"Don't worry Princess, we're going to get you some help."

Fenora quietly closed the door and went back to get Stross, finding the changeling right where he was a minute ago, still passed out on the table. She couldn’t help but snicker at the way his head was pressed against the wood, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and a small puddle of drool forming.

She carefully picked him up so as not to disturb his sleep. His body was much lighter than she expected, allowing her to carry him to the room with ease. Getting into the room wasn’t too difficult considering no one was just standing mindlessly in the narrow doorway like she'd seen so many people do... Lydia, I'm looking at you here.

Fenora bumped Stross’s feet against the wall a little on accident, causing little more than a small stir from him before she was able to set him down on the bed. This one was slightly larger than the one she put Luna into, and this was intentional, as she and Stross could easily share it if they slept back to back. Plus it saved her ten septims on having to get another room… smart right?

At least… that’s the excuse she made up, trying to deny her emotions as she’d done so admirably thus far.

The truth was, she wanted to be closer to Stross, if only for one night. This kind of feeling was new to her however, and Fenora couldn't figure out why she felt so strongly attached; Stross was clearly in love with her, but whether she felt the same way about him or not was a question she’d been struggling with practically since they met. It had been just over a week ago since that day at Helgen, and while she knew they’d stick by each other through anything, and she trusted him completely, and would even be willing to put her life on the line for him, she still wasn’t sure if that mean she loved him the way he loved her.

Stross clearly sought the sort of romantic connection that he’d been denied by with so many others, but Fenora wanted their relationship based more towards the bond that the best of friends and allies shared as they survived adventures and perils together. At least, that's what she had been aiming for.

Lately though, questions of whether that’s what she really wanted, and so much more had been plaguing Fenora’s mind; now more than ever, she was unsure, scared even. She looked at Stross and ran her hand across his cheek, eliciting a smile and a small purr as he slept. This caused her to smile as well, and after a moment she let out a sigh. She sat herself on the edge of the bed and weighed her options, trying to make sense of her feelings yet again.

Fenora had no doubt, Stross wouldn’t mind if she did this. The little changeling had latched onto her since day one and relished any form of contact with her. The real question was, did she want to do this? Perhaps it would be too sudden, and the timing was hardly ideal, having just endured a harsh trip like they had, with Stross exhausted and peacefully asleep, it may be better to respect his space, and not risk the friendship they already had.

But being together with him, snuggled under the blankets against the cold, it would be so easy, so nice.

"Stross... why do I love you so much?"

Fenora sighed again and got up from the bedside, walking over to the door. Maybe thinking these things wasn’t for the best, and it wasn’t too late to back out by any means, and there could always be another time. She could just walk away, close the door, get another room, and go to sleep in her own bed.

Fenora took a final deep breath as she looked at Stross’s sleeping form in the light that shown from the open doorway. Finally, she made her decision, going over the steps in her head and translated them into physical actions.

Just walk away.

Close the door.

Rent another room.

Lay down.

Close your eyes.

And fall asleep.

...

Yeah…