Northbound Pilgrimage - Second Book Extras

Missed Opportunities

Author's Note:

So, since the last main fic chapter (chapter LXXVI, 76, for those of you who are not there yet), I can actually post this little extra story I wrote for the SRMC Valentine's fic event. I didn't want to share this for everyone before I shared the main fic chapter to avoid even tiny spoilers, but still, this short story is not canon. It wouldn't make sense with the main fic timeline and some of the events (like Bishop's bounty in Whiterun Hold and the White Phial quests – none of these happen the way they portrayed or ignored in this short), but the sentiment is kind of applicable to the overall story anyway ;)

That's that, I hope you enjoy this little story and I'm excited to share more of the main fic soon as well.

Thank you for reading <3

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Bishop slowly twisted the ring between his fingers, watching it glimmer in the early morning light.

He wasn't sure what prompted him to fish it out of its hiding place again in order to look at it. He had been doing that more and more often lately. Yesterday he did that again in the middle of the night when he went looking for his waterskin. And a few days ago too, just when he was rummaging through his shit in the middle of a Gods-damned dungeon.

It'd been on his mind constantly. He wanted to just ask already, but barrows filled with undead and filthy caves didn't feel like the best of places to do this. It should be something special, right? He would be able to tell, wouldn't he? He would be able to find a good opportunity soon.

Maybe he was just overthinking this.

He could just do that anytime, couldn't he? What was the big deal? The place didn't matter, the whole 'right moment' shit didn't matter.

He could just do it right now.

That thought filled him with a strange anticipation.

Could he? Should he?

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

He could just...

"Are you ready to go?" Aeyrin's voice suddenly interrupted his pondering.

He didn't even think about it – he clutched the ring inside his fist in an uncontrollable bout of panic, desperate to hide it. Why? He was just about to do it, wasn't he? This was just ridiculous!

"Yeah. Sure. Yeah," he nodded a little more frantically than he ordinarily would have, but fortunately, Aeyrin didn't seem to notice his poorly hidden nervousness just then.

Shit. Why did he just get so nervous anyway?

When Aeyrin turned on her heel to head out at last, he quickly stashed the ring back and slung his pack onto his shoulder.

One of these days, he would do it.

There had to be an opportunity eventually.

...

The whole city of Whiterun was covered in a light fresh layer of powdery snow, but it was still as bustling as ever. People were parading around the marketplace, perusing the countless cheap trinkets that the peddlers were yelling about, while a few children kept constantly running around, playing their own games.

Aeyrin and Bishop weren't there to stay long – they only briefly visited Lydia and Saadia and then purchased some supplies for the road. Now they were heading toward Jorrvaskr for a while to see if the Companions had any profitable contracts they could spare. Money was getting tight again after getting the necessities for the road.