Breakfast (2)

Brom traveled at a steady pace that he learned from a book in his past life, he called it the ranger's pace. It required you to ride at a steady trot for 20min then walk the horse for 10. This cycle, with a good horse, would allow you to travel almost two days straight with no actual stops besides to use the bathroom and watering the horse, and the occasional meal once a day. With this pace, he was able to make it about halfway to Winterhold then turn towards the sea and reach the Tower Stone.

The Tower Stone is one of many standing stones in Skyrim; each on grants a certain blessing or ability. The Tower Stone, in the game, allowed the player to unlock an expert or below level lock once per day. Brom's hope was that this blessing continued into real life, although he had no idea how to acquire it in real life.

Upon reaching the stone Brom set up a small camp and tended to his horse. After that he had his first meal since leaving Dawnstar and went to sleep; he had decided earlier that he would spend one day at maximum trying to figure out this stone.

Upon waking up the next morning he noticed something strange. It took him a minute of pretending to be asleep before he figured out what it was. There was the smell of…eggs and meat being fried.

He sat up and casted Iron Fist, just as a precaution. When he looked around, he saw… Erin, casually cooking over his fire from last night. He smiled; he knew how to play this so she would not get any satisfaction for surprising him. Although he was extremely perplexed on how she was here, he would not show her these thoughts.

"Hraaaah, mmm. That was a good nap. Hey Erin, is breakfast almost ready?" Brom asked this in a bored and casual manner.

"Cmon! How are you not surprised to see me?!" Erin practically shouted after showing an utter look of defeat.

"Easy, I told you to make me breakfast. So, I knew you would make me breakfast."

"But I saw you chase down that man that tried kidnapping me and kill him! You were looking for me and I wasn't there. So how are you so composed now?"

"Because you are here. Besides, if one wannabe Dark Brotherhood guy could take you alive. Then you would be of no use to me"

"Then why did you look for me in the sack anyway?"

Brom didn't have an answer to this, not one that fits the show he was putting on anyways. Instead, he ignored the question and told Erin to bring the food over when it was done. As he was getting up to go look at the stone, he saw something in Erin's eyes for the first time. He saw happiness and triumph.

Turning around ignoring her triumphant smile, Brom started studying the stone. First, he mapped the constellation it had engraved on the side. Then he wrote everything he knew about it from the game. He always wrote his noted in a code he developed in his past life, it was a very simple one and easy to remember. But people who had never used an iPhone before would never figure it out.

Erin walked up with Brom's plate of food and a wooden fork. Brom absentmindedly started eating, after the first bite he almost dropped his fork. This food was the best he had ever eaten, even on Earth! He quickly regained his composure and continued eating like this was not heaven on a plate.

"Soo, how is it?" Erin asked with confidence.

"It's passable. More importantly, tell me what you know about standing stones and how to activate them."

This sudden dismissal of Erin's cooking hit her hard. This was the one skill she was sure that would blow his mind. Yet, he acted like it was just some salted meat! Taking a deep breath she calmed herself before answering his question.

"Well, I'm guessing this is some kind of test. But, this is the Lord Stone, one of the 24 standing stones in Skyrim. To get its blessing you simply have to meditate on it until the hole in the top glows. Simple"

After her quick explanation, she looked at Brom with expectant eyes. He simply nodded and said,

"Show me"

"Uh, Okay. I've never actually attempted this myself, but it shouldn't be too hard."

Brom backed up and continued eating while watching her. She walked up to the stone and placed her hand in the middle of the constellation and bowed her head. As he observed the physical side, he could only wonder what was going through her head as she meditated on this stone. Then she stiffened and the rock glowed, confirming that she got the blessing.

"Good job Erin, breakfast was good too. For how late it was anyways,"

This slight praise from Brom was the first she had ever received from him, or anyone else as far as she can recall. Brom saw her face light up as pride swept through her. He almost smiled, but he didn't. She couldn't know he was a softy just yet.

They packed up the camp and left, the only thing Brom felt was unfinished was that he didn't know how she escaped or what the whole deal was with that guy he killed. If it was even the same one chasing her. All the clues pointed to that being the case, but something felt off. He couldn't ask her though, that would ruin his master vibe he was trying to give off; even though he was less experienced than her in this world.

They continued to Winterhold with Erin riding on Brom's horse. He made her adapt to his rangers' pace, to which she tried complaining before Brom shut her up. Along the way, he thought about how she seemed both still so young and alive, but she had still experienced so much pain. This made for a weird mix of reactions and emotions come from the elf behind him. He only hoped that wasn't completely insane yet.

Upon reaching Winterhold it was almost dark, therefore Brom couldn't make out all of the details of the town, but it looked like the general looks were the same as the game. A once great town that is now half-abandoned and has very few residents left. In its history, Winterhold was the capital of Skyrim and was the center of progress in the entire province. Winterhold lost this status after the Great Collapse when the majority of the city had plunged into the Sea of Ghosts. The Great Collapse was a series of storms that lashed out at the northern coast of Skyrim, eventually causing most of the city to erode be washed away into the Sea of Ghosts.

Now many people here blamed the College of Winterhold for this event. This is mainly in part because the college was left mostly unaffected while everything collapsed around it. This blame on the college, which is a college for mages, led to a deep hatred for magic users in this town. This presented a problem because unlike the game, to get in the college you have to be invited. And to be invited, you have to get noticed. And getting noticed for your magic prowess in a town full of magic haters was an easy yet life threating task.

Good thing Brom had the whole trip here to think of a way to get the college's attention and still save his and Erin's hide. But first they needed to rest, they had been traveling for a while. As they rode farther in town the College itself became visible. The school is known to be the center of Magicka study in Skyrim as it was the only college of its kind in the game at least. But, in this real world, it looked vastly different. It still had the bridge and basic layout, but everything was much bigger and much more befitting a place full of master mages.

As it was too dark to make out the details right now, Brom decided to look closer at it in the morning, for now, he needed to get a room at the inn. They rode to the inn and Brom tied his horse to the railing, grabbing there supply's and handing them to Erin. Then they both headed in, Erin was to wait while Brom got a room. A high elf, even a young girl one, would not be welcomed and treated fairly, due to her race being prominent magic users.

Brom got a room, although after being interrogated if he was joining the college, to which he replied he was not. Once he secured a room, he whistled Erin over, this caused them to get ugly glances from the owner who had just given him the keys. Brom simply stared back, giving the innkeeper a cold, hard stare that seemed to practically invite him to challenge Brom. After the innkeeper looked away Brom smiled and walked in the room and closed the door and locking it.

Since there was only one bed, Brom made Erin sleep on the floor. After all, he was the eldest, if only by a few years. Then he set up a trip wire on the door that would wake them if someone tried sneaking in. After they both got settled in Brom, extinguished the candle in the room and closed his eyes. This time when he went to sleep, he prayed for two things, no more nightmares, and that Erin wouldn't slit his throat as he still didn't fully trust the girl.