Man, even I feel bad now, and I'm the one who wrote this. But I made this bed and I shall sleep in it, as uncomfortable as it is to write it. I don't like having Ruby be this meek and scared of the world now, but it felt right after what happened, and who am I to deny my story-writing urges!

In all honesty, this story feels like it's losing its steam now. Writing it is definitely getting harder with each chapter as I can't really come up with a good plan for it. I have some vague ideas written for up to chapter 17, but vague ideas are hard to turn into chapters, and I feel like it's showing. So, depending on how I feel, the chapters may slow down even more...SORRY!

I swear, I like writing these. Making these new worlds is so much fun, but actually creating them seems to be eluding me a lot. Maybe trying to do 3 stories at once was a bit presumptuous and my creativity pool has been dried up. But, for now they'll remain once a week each, just a warning for what may come.

Though, thanks for the support everyone, we've just hit over 10,000 views, which always gobsmacks me when I see it.

Well, that's enough of that sappiness, on with the chapter...

Chapter 14

Silence followed the trio as they made their way slowly back towards the College of Winterhold. An eerie silence which pervaded everything surrounding them. There was no sound of trees rustling in the wind, no birds calling out into the air, nothing to break the stalemate of sound surrounding the group.

At their head was the Nightingale, clad in their normal shrouding clothing, concealing their identity and protecting the occupant. Following in the middle of the group was Halva, clad in his own heavy armor with his weapon slung across his back, arms swinging as he trod down the path, his eyes turning behind him to check on their third member every so often before returning to observing the area around them.

And, at the back of the group, walking at her own subdued pace was Ruby. Halva had kindly wrapped her with some cloth to cover her missing wings, but all it did was reinforce the feeling that something had been taken from her. Ruby had only experienced something like that once, when she lost her mother, and she was far too young to truly appreciate how much it hurt to lose something like that. Rolling her shoulders, Ruby let her mind wander, thoughts of home, of her family, of her new friends, anything to stop her mind from thinking about the time she spent in that cave.

Seeing the familiar stone structure of the College appearing, the Nightingale turned around to wave Halva closer to them, nodding towards the buildings and saying nothing. Throwing another glance at Ruby, Halva rubbed his chin in contemplation, trying to plan what their next step should be. From the moment Ruby was found to be missing Halva had already decided that the College had served its purpose in allowing Ruby to temper her magic, and he'd already learnt a few nice spells which he could toy with, though after weighing what Ruby had lost, Halva regretted ever bringing up the idea of magic, and wished that he'd followed his mind rather than his gut and taken them to the Greybeards instead.

Unbeknownst to the pair ahead of Ruby, Ruby had frozen at the sight of the College, her mind reeling from being in the same room she was taken from so suddenly, shaking her head at the memory of being struck over the head so violently and absentmindedly shifting the stubbed remnants of her wings in discomfort.

"H-Hey Halva?" She called, waiting for the man in question to turn and look at her. "Could you take off this wrapping? It-It's kinda stifling me now."

"Are you sure about that Ruby?" At Ruby's tilted head, he elaborated. "Do you want people to be looking at your...stumps?" He continued, wincing at the word but needing to nip it in the bud.

"O-oh." was all Ruby could say, already picturing the faces of people she'd come to know and enjoy spending time with staring at her back with sympathy and pity, a sight Ruby felt saddened by. She didn't want pity, she wanted to just forget it ever happened, already feeling tears well up that she'd never be able to glide onto Halva's shoulder again, or that she'd never be able to fly like a bird.

Almost on cue Ruby tilted her head skyward to see some native bird fly overhead, and felt a strange surge of anger well up towards Halva at never letting her fly like that, though she quickly quashed it in fear of letting it fester. Throwing her gaze back down at Halva, Ruby shook her head at him, mumbling to herself and stepping past him, keeping her vision on the stone path and not looking up for anything, instead just focusing on following the Nightingale through Winterhold, even ignoring all the whispers and stares that the inhabitants leveled at the little dragon.

And, as much as Halva didn't care to admit it, seeing Ruby so dejected and hurt had sparked something in him, and he vowed that he'd hunt down Elenwen and make her feel the same pain, and damn what anyone thought of him for it.

It was a few days after the group had settled into the College. Ruby had barely left their room, and the Nightingale that Jaune had watching them was not once seen anywhere aside from by Ruby's side. Apparently the mysterious figure had taken their failure to protect Ruby and formed it into a new purpose, to ensure that no more harm would come on their watch.

While it was comforting for Halva to see, it definitely didn't help his next words, as the Nightingale would likely oppose what he wanted to do, but it needed to be done, especially as it'd mean Ruby would be in arguably the safest place for her in Skyrim.

"We should go to High Hrothgar." Halva said plainly, watching as Ruby's face contorted in a mixture of confusion and fear, as his tone clearly suggested leaving the College, but she didn't recognise the location.

The Nightingale merely crossed their arms, shaking their head at Halva. "You know as well as I do that travelling across Skyrim to go there would be an incredibly dangerous prospect with Ruby's conditions. If the Thalmor got wind of it-" The Nightingale said, not noticing Ruby's panic at the mere word, though Halva did, "-we'd be up to our ears in Justiciars before we made it past Windhelm."

"I know that, but on the other hand, High Hrothgar is the safest place in Skyrim for Ruby to be."

Swallowing her fear, Ruby raised her head, coughing lightly to get the pair's attention. "W-What's High Hrothgar?"

"Oh right, I never explained it to you. High Hrothgar is the name of the temple the Greybeards live in. The Greybeards are masters of the voice, the Dovahzuul, language of dragons. I did promise I'd take you there some day." Halva said, unfurling his map and pointing to the mountain for Ruby. "That's where they are, and-" Shifting his finger to the College, "-That's where we are. So, as our friend here so eloquently, the journey might be a bit dangerous, though if we keep it quiet and travel in Stormcloak lands, we should be able to make it there without running into any Thalmor." He finished, wincing a little at Ruby's adverse reaction to the simple word.

"Hey Ruby, I heard you're back!" A white-furred Khajiit called, sticking his head around the doorframe to look at Ruby and wave at the assembled people, staring sceptically at the Nightingale and Halva. "So what ha-" He began, to stop suddenly when he noticed the wrappings around Ruby's body and made to step towards her, halting when the other two occupants of the room stood from their seats to bar his passage whilst Ruby just stared at him wide-eyed and breathing heavily, eyes glazed over.

"Could you watch over Ruby for me?" Halva asked of the Nightingale, who sat down with a quick nod, whilst Halva took the Khajiit by the shoulder and all but dragged him out of the room, said Khajiit allowing it for a few moments before shrugging the arm off and glaring at the man, stopped when he jabbed a finger into his chest.

"Alright buddy, here's the deal. Ruby is scared of you. I don't know why, she hasn't mentioned anything about you that might make her scared, but after seeing her reaction to you appearing like that, it's clear that only a few things could have happened. Either you've done something to make her afraid, or something about you is causing it, and to be honest considering how casually you were acting there, I expect it's not got anything to actually do with you."

Sighing, Halva patted the guy on the shoulder, looking closely into his eyes. "But, for whatever reason, it's enough to set her off, so, I'm gonna ask this once. Can you stay away from Ruby, for her sake?"

"And let you keep her as some kind of sick pet? J'zargo thinks not!" The Khajiit said, returning Halva's finger-jabbing full-force and glaring at him. "J'zargo has heard of how you drag that poor dragon around like some kind of pet, and when she vanishes and comes back, suddenly she has no wings, and is afraid? That Ruby is not the same Ruby J'zargo talked to, and this one feels like explanations are in order before he even considers letting you keep her under your thumb!"

"Excuse me?! Ruby is not some mere pet! She's probably the closest thing to a confidant I have in Skyrim, and a damn good companion in a fight. And you have the gall to suggest I keep her like a damn pet?" Halva yelled, grasping the Khajiits robes by the collar and shoving him into the wall. "Now, I may put up with a lot of things, but I'm getting mighty pissed at some of your insinuations bud. Talk. Now."

Scrabbling at his collar, J'zargo tried to free himself from the vice-grip the other man was holding him in. "J-J'zargo has heard things! He has heard that you forced her on your shoulder like some kind of damn ornament! And you confined her to your home when not expressly with you like she couldn't be trusted! If that isn't signs that you see her as a pet rather than an intelligent being then J'zargo is not Khajiit!"

"...Are you really that bone-headed? J'zargo, that was for her protection." Halva said, smirking at J'zargo's bewildered face. "Think about it. Skyrim is being marauded by dragons. If a small seemingly weak dragon were to waltz through a hold, what would happen?"

Lowering his head, J'zargo slumped in Halva's hold. But Halva didn't stop pressing the attack. "Her riding on my shoulder was both for her own comfort and safety. She's not heavy, and she'd have to expend far more energy to keep up with me, so her staying on my shoulder meant we moved faster and she wouldn't be tired if we got into a fight. Plus, she even admitted to me that she found it comfortable!"

At this point, J'zargo had all but given up on the idea of trying to argue back, as he was already rethinking everything over in his head but from the lens of helpfulness and protection rather than oppression, and seeing Halva's actions in an entirely different way. Not to say that the Khajiit trusted Halva, he trusted him as much as he'd trust a thief to leave his gold alone if he left it unattended, but he was at least open to the idea of Halva actually being a protector for Ruby. "J'zargo see's your point, though he still doesn't trust Halva."

"Hmph. I don't need you to trust me. Just leave Ruby alone, she is still quite...fragile, and I don't want her to break down because you couldn't keep your curiosity in a bag, got it?" At his question, J'zargo slowly nodded, throwing a last glance at the doorway, wishing above anything else that he could just make sure the sweet dragon who spoke to him like he was the normal one, and not judging him based on his reputation, was actually alright.

"One thing, if I may Halva. Who caused Ruby's...situation?" J'zargo said, wincing along with Halva when he said the word, though Halva shook his head slowly, causing the Khajiit to frown.

"Ruby doesn't want anybody to know. All she wants is for people to just forget about it and move on. Of course, she'll never be able to just forget about it, but we have to do our best to follow with what she wants I guess. If I told you, I have no doubt you'd try to hunt them down, and if something happened to you from it...well...Ruby wouldn't even forgive me or herself. All I can say is that hopefully soon Ruby won't be anywhere within their reach. Even if they could try and reach her here, well...you probably saw her self-appointed 'bodyguard', eh?" Halva said with a smile, sticking a hand out for the wary Khajiit, who slowly clasped it, surprised when Halva pulled him in close to whisper.

"Don't trust the Thalmor." He said, letting go of the Khajiit and leaving with a wave over his shoulder.

Elsewhere in the College, a very irate Ancano was having a rather vocal argument with an emissary sent by Elenwen.

"No, absolutely not! I shall not jeopardise my position in the College simply to sate Elenwen's curiosities. As much as I can appreciate the value of this creature, she has displayed nothing but intelligence and courtesy, and I am loathe to betray that trust. Now, if that is all that Elenwen is demanding of me, I'd recommend you turn back and inform her of this. And if she tries to steal her from this College again, I doubt the Arch-Mage will miss such an occurrence twice in a row."

With a huff, the Altmer emissary turned and stalked away from the Thalmor's quarters, leaving him sat at his desk very much wishing for some Firebrand Wine, or even settling for some simple Nord mead, when his door was slung open barely a minute later, and a rather surprising sight made its face known as a Nightingale of all things strode into his room. "Ahh, and an apostle of Nocturnal makes themselves known. Come to attempt to glean information from me perhaps?" He said to the blank, black veil of darkness covering his visitors face, frowning when they shook their head, speaking in the strange distorted fashion, a bi-product of their veils if the rumors were to be believed.

"No. I know you are not responsible for what happened to Ruby Rose, that conversation all but cemented my theory. I come to offer you an olive branch and a message. J'zargo, a student at the College, has someone gained the knowledge that the Thalmor are behind Ruby's abduction, so I come to warn you of this, lest he attempt something to you. And, Ruby Rose wished to let you know that she knows you aren't responsible, though how she could be so adamant about it without evidence is beyond me, and that she doesn't blame you. It's rather humorous in a way. Even though she is the one injured from this, she fears more for the potential hurt of another than fearing her own wounds. Anyway, she wanted me to let you know this, and that she hopes you could still be...'friends', in her own terms."

Ancano had a rare moment where pure surprise overwhelmed his mental defences, though he quickly schooled his features again. "Well, I must admit I was not expecting that. You can tell...Ruby, that she has my thanks. While I wouldn't say we are 'friends', we are still acquaintances at the very least and I would be loathe to terminate such a relationship over something like this. And I shall keep my eyes and ears up for this J'zargo, though hopefully he decides against anything too foolish."

Nodding, the figure strode back out of the room much the way they entered, barely a farewell passing from them before the door was closed and the Thalmor could relax again.

"...Friends, huh? Doesn't sound so bad."

Aww, Ancano. I didn't know you just wanted a friend.

I will be playing with him a little more, though Ruby and friends won't be staying in the College, too many things to set Ruby off, plus Halva has it in his head that Ruby could protect herself if she only knew how to shout. A simple one-word shout would have been enough to break her cage and attempt to flee.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it. Kinda dealing with the aftermath of Ruby's...incident, and setting up the next leg of the journey. Next stop, High Hrothgar! Please, tell me what you liked, what you hated, how the chapters have gone back to only being barely 3000 words.

Next Chapter:

I actually need to talk about this, because I feel like going back to my original method, and the method I use for my random stories, is a better idea than what I'm doing now.

All stories will now be uploaded at random!

That's not to say I'm going to slack off on writing, I'll just be writing more for the stories I prefer, and less for the ones I don't. I won't be cancelling any of them, but it might end up that certain stories don't get a new chapter for a month whereas another had four uploads in a week.