Chapter 1:

Unintended Consequences

The Elder Scrolls Series is property of Bethesda. Familiar of Zero is (currently) property of Media Factory (I believe)

"Talking"

"Thoughts"

"Powerful (Dragon/Daedra/etc.) speech"

"DOVAHZUL"

Line Break

"BO NAH GUT, I grow tired of this pointless discourse."

"VAHZAH, I invited you here to rest and meditate, not dredge up WUTHGLOZ."

"RUTH! I say that this is important. For too long the subject has MAHLAAN IREID. We finish it, now!"

"Shut up, the lot of you!"

At once, Durnehviir, Paarthurnax, and Odahviing turned their heads, frowning at their Thuri (or Prustiik, in Paarthurnax's case).

"My apologies, Johan, I had hoped this might have been a peaceful endeavor. Evidently, our soskiin do not share that desire," Paarthurnax groused from his perch.

"I do not have a problem," Odahviing indignantly stated, "It is this GOLAH BOZOK that ILIIS NEBEN REYTH."

Durnehviir roared, "You dare! FO KRAH DIIIIN!" he roared into the sky, turning the already frigid air into ice, raining down upon the three dragons (and one dragonborn). He levelled a smoldering glare at Odahviing, "Count yourself fortunate that we never met during Alduin's reign! I would have devoured you KOSIL LOKRAANRO PAS!"

Odahviing hissed, stalking forward; Durnehviir did the same. As they stood scant feet from one another, growling and glaring, puffing up their chests to prepare to shout the other down.

"JOOR!"

A wave of light blue energy washed over the dragons, causing them to cry and out fold their wings inward in an attempt to wave off the incomprehensible dread that washed over their souls.

Paarthurnax snaked his head up, nodding at Johan, "DII KOGAN."

Johan nodded in turn, "Of course. Now, can we get back to meditating?" he directed the question at the two irritated dragons.

Odahviing scoffed, turning away. Durnehviir, though, sighed, "As you wish, Thuri; I can sense my time growing short, so I shall spend it here, with you."

Johan smiled, returning to his meditation pose; which was less 'cross your legs and clasp your hands together,' and more 'cross your legs and levitate a Mage Staff in the air,' but it cleared his mind all the same.

Paarthurnax joined him, Durnehviir following soon after. Even Odahviing—though still somewhat grouchy—joined the group.

The mountaintop soon reached a relative sense of quiet (relative due to the fact that a near eternal snowstorm raged just below the peak). Eventually, Durnehviir rose, "My time has come," he intoned.

Johan pulled his staff into his right hand, standing to meet Durnehviir's gaze, "Until tomorrow, old friend."

Durnehviir nodded, and with a quiet gasp, disappearing in a swirl of black and purple mist.

Odahviing sniffed as the mist wafted upwards, "Even after all these years, I cannot stand the stench of the Soul Cairn."

Johan cocked a brow, "Can't be any worse than burnt flesh?"

"Bah, that is as Bormah intended. The Soul Cairn is an aberration upon Lein."

Paarthurnax chuckled at the exchange; he then let out a panicked yell.

Odahviing and Johan whirled around, eyes widening in alarm at the sight of a green portal sucking in the residual mist.

Johan immediately jumped backwards, barking out the command, "BO!"

Neither dragon needed to be told twice; however, while Paarthurnax gained sufficient height, Odahviing found himself stalling in the air for a moment, before slowly getting pulled towards the portal.

Odahviing roared in distress, shouting "SU GRAH DUN," surrounding his wings with air, allowing him to beat them faster. But to no avail.

Jonah sucked in a deep breath, steadying himself. Once at maximum lung capacity, he shouted, with all his might, "FUS RO DAH!" aiming at Odahviing.

The wave of power knocked into the dragon, forcing him sideways and away from the portal. He landed in a heap, dizzy, but alive.

Soon, all the mist from Durnehviir's exit had disappeared through the portal, and things were calm. Until the portal doubled in size, and once more Odahviing moved towards it, only stopping when he locked his jaw around a boulder.

Johan took another deep breath, only for it all to leave his lungs as he was lifted off the ground, towards the portal.

"Johan! Odahviing!" Paarthurnax cried.

Johan, who'd managed to grab ahold of a large rock, replied, "Stay away, Paarthurnax! Get to safety!" As he said this, the portal's pull grew stronger yet again, and Odahviing roared as the rock he held cracked apart at its base.

Johan simply lost his grip and fell screaming into the portal alongside Odahviing.

Line Break

Professor Jean Colbert pulled out his handkerchief, wiping his brow, "Excellent display. And a fine familiar as well."

The student, a brown-haired boy of average features, thanked him, leading his familiar—a floating eyeball—away from the center of the field and, presumably, to show off his new familiar to his friends.

He performed a quick headcount, frowning as he noticed that one student—a rather infamous one, through no true fault of her own—had yet to perform the ritual.

"Mademoiselle Louise Françoise de La Vallière, could you please step forward," he called out to the sea of students.

Within seconds, the petite, fair-skinned, pink-haired heiress strode forward, and within seconds, her peers flung all sorts of crass, demeaning insults at her—calling her 'talentless,' 'a waste of noble blood," and, most commonly, 'Zero'.

To her credit (earning no small amount of Colbert's respect) she did not waver in her step—nor did she ever—only narrowing her eyes as she continued forward, stopping just a few feet in front of Colbert.

He gestured to the center of the field, "Mademoiselle, if you would?"

She took a deep breath, tightening her grip on her wand. She then turned on her heel, aiming her tool forward. "My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe. My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call. I wish from very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!" Colbert hummed; a bit dramatic, but it was nothing compared to Monsieur Garmont's short monologue.

At once, an explosion burst to life from the center of the field, followed by dark gray—and strangely enough, purple—smoke, and a biting cold.

Colbert surreptitiously summoned a flame from his staff, warming his body. Perhaps she had summoned some sort of ice creature?

Yet, after such a violent beginning, there was a lull; the smoke neither cleared, nor disappeared, but nothing exited it.

Louis's stone visage started to crack, and some snide mummers started to crop up from the sidelines.

Before Colbert could say anything, however, there was another explosion of cold—followed by snow, actual snow! —and a booming thud.

The smoke dissipated, and revealed the most intimidating dragon Colbert had ever seen (and he'd seen quite a few in his days as a soldier and instructor).

For one, it only had two proper legs, hindlegs; the forelimbs were much like a bat's, wings with claws at the tips. Red scales lined its face, horns, body, and legs, and black spikes ran across its spine; but unlike the smooth, graceful scales of the other dragon on the field—Mademoiselle Tabitha's, he recalled—these were thick, obviously meant to guard against heavy blows. The wings themselves were, curiously, not wholly like the rest of it, but smattered with pale white and dark blue—almost as if it had been stripped away in battle.

But by far, the most distressing part of this beast was its size. Though crouched—and a little dazed, by the look of it—Colbert could tell that he would barely come up to its knees. And based on its toothy maw, could at least bite off the top of his entire upper body, should it feel so inclined.

Then, it's eyes snapped open, revealing an appropriately reptilian yellow eye, but what struck Colbert was the rage that smoldered within.

It growled, the sound reminding Colbert of a rockslide, and rose to its feet.

It roared. Roared so loud that Colbert was certain Commoners miles around would gaze upon the sky and wonder why it thundered on such a clear day.

Then, to his mounting horror, it reared its head back, chest puffing outward, wings extending to their full length.

Immediately, he gripped his staff in both hands, recalling a number of water spells, and a few earth spells, that could mitigate the damage this dragon would incur.

Suddenly, a ball of fire crashed into the beast's face.

Colbert's heart stopped, dreading to know which of his students was foolhardy enough to attack the dragon in a vain attempt of stopping it. However, an elderly voice yelling, "Hold!" scant seconds after the fireball exploded put that fear to rest—another staff member, then.

But that thought was quickly dismissed as a figure walked through the remaining smoke. It was an older man, perhaps as old as Headmaster Osmund, but with a much shorter—but no less kept—grey beard. Thick, grey eyebrows rested above old, wizened blue eyes, which rested upon a somewhat wrinkled face of light complexion. In his hands, he held an ornate copper staff, with rings encircling an orange stone atop it. He a wore long, dark robe, with some sort of buckle sewn into the middle.

This mage was obviously powerful—or perhaps simply fearless—given the way he turned to the dragon, lightly rapping its knee. "It won't do if you were to attack what are obviously children," he said to the dragon.

The beast snorted but lowered its head and folded its wings back up against its body, standing parallel to the ground. It let out the breath it held, warm, foul breath assaulting Colbert's (and a few others, given their cries) nose.

The man grunted, turning to faze upon his surroundings. His eyes were sharp, flitting back and forth rapidly. Colbert immediately recognized the man as a soldier—perhaps not currently, but then, age never really plagued a mage like it did a commoner. He then cleared his throat, resting both his hands on his staff, "I say, young man," he had an accent Colbert couldn't place at the moment, "could you tell me why me and my friend have appeared here?"

Colbert stood straighter, meeting the man's gaze, "You," he quickly shifted his gaze to the dragon, which eyed him with, shockingly, a degree of intelligence, " are at the Tristain Academy of Magic."

The man hummed, lightly running his hands along his beard, "I'm afraid we are far from home, old friend," he loudly muttered at the dragon.

"U-Um, Professor Colbert?" a young, feminine voice called form his side.

It was then that Colbert remembered that Louis had summoned the dragon before them…and the elderly man as well.

He put a hand to his chin; this was unprecedented. Never before had a human being been summoned along with an animal. Sure, there have been times where a student would accidently summon multiple animals—he recalled his own schooldays, seemingly a lifetime ago, when one of his peers summoned an entire family of chipmunks. And a student some ten years ago that summoned a cat that was in the middle of nursing its litter.

"Professor?" Louis asked once more, somewhat forcefully.

Colbert shook his head, "Of course," he smiled at Louis, "Forgive me, I was simply taken aback by this strange turn of events." He gestured for her to move forward, which she did with gusto.

At this, the man held up a hand, "Excuse me, what are you doing?"

"Oh, well you Monsieur…." he trailed off, realizing he'd yet to hear the man's name.

"Johan," the man supplied, "Johan…Stormcrown

Colbert nodded, "Johan. I'm Jean Colbert, a professor at the Academy. Mademoiselle Louis seeks to bind the dragon before us as her familiar."

There was a brief pause. Then, Johan chuckled, eyeing Louis, who paused under the man's gaze. Eventually, he smiled, showing off an immaculate set of teeth, "Then by all means, child, go ahead."

Louis frowned at Johan's teasing tone but strode forward nonetheless. "Pentagram of the five elemental powers," she began, stepping ever closer to the dragon's snout.

Just then, the beast inhaled, and Colbert tensed, a chant ready to burst forth from his lips. Thankfully, it did not breath fire, but the resulting exhale was strong enough to knock Louis onto her back, shock clear on her face.

The dragon huffed repeatedly—laughter, Colbert realized—and raised its head, roaring into the sky. Extending its wings to their full length, it beat them once, twice, three times; rustling the grass, the trees, even the banners atop the walls.

Within a minute, it had lifted into the air, high above the academy. It banked to the left, away from the sun, and flew far, far away, until it was not even a speck in the distance.

A throat cleared to his left, and Colbert turned to see that Johan has walked over to him, "I say, Professor, might I get some food, or at the very least, a place to rest my feet?"

Colbert blinked, "Oh, of course! Let me lead you to the mess hall," he shook his head, that's what happens when he lapses back into his training, "Er, the cafeteria."

Johan nodded, and walked forward a few steps, before pausing. "I say," he began, "This is a school, is it not?"

"Yes."

"And this was a school sanctioned activity, correct?"

Colbert frowned, wondering where this was going.

"So, where are all the students?"

Colbert's eyes widened; he whirled around, cursing his tunnel-vision for blinding him to the fact that the majority of his class had disappeared.

"Would you like some help gathering them all up?"

Colbert shook his head, "No, thank you for the offer," he said sincerely, "but this is my folly. Besides, you do not know the property as well as I." He pointed to a door, leading inside the Academy, "Just enter those doors, and there should be a servant nearby that can lead you to the cafeteria."

Johan smiled, nodding at Colbert. Then, with a spring in his step seldom seen in a man his age, he entered the Academy.

Colbert sighed, scanning the field and analyzing all the possible routes his students could have taken. Only for his gaze to fall on Louise François, who was still on her back, staring disbelievingly at the sky.

His breath caught in his throat, and a heavy weight settled in his heart. But, such were his duties.

He walked forward, offering his hand to the heiress, which she slowly accepted.

After giving her a moment to dust herself off, Colbert said, "Mademoiselle Vallière, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

Her face scrunched in confusion, but it soon smoothed as cold realization swept over her. She paled, "No, no, no, no," she murmured helplessly.

"I'm afraid," he began, "that your failure of the Summoning Ritual has forced the Academy's hand."

She shook her head fervently, "B-B-But I performed the spell! I summoned a dragon!" she shouted desperately.

Sadly, Colbert shook his head, "Completing the Ritual means both summoning an animal, and binding it as your familiar. Unfortunately, you failed the second part."

She spluttered her next few words, before dipping her head down, eyes firmly planted at her feet. "…I understand, Professor Colbert."

His heart wept at her blank voice, but he would not allow personal feelings to impede his duties, "You will have until sundown tomorrow to empty your things and take a carriage home. Shall I send a letter to your family?"

"No, I shall." With that said, she quickly brushed past him, heading for her dorms.

Colbert sighed as she disappeared into the building. A terrible thing, expulsion; especially for someone who—despite lacking talent—was studious and determined.

Still, hers would not be the worst fate to befall a young woman. As a daughter of the Vallière family, she would be married off to a decent man—no one would dare mistreat Karin 'The Heavy Wind' Vallière's child—and provided for until her death. Still, to waste such a mind…a terrible shame.

A/N: I'm going to put translations for uncommon words after my A/N's. Some are collected from a list of phrases, others from a Dovahzul-to-English translator (may not be completely accurate, but eh, what'll you do). Also, in case you couldn't tell, things might end up a little different than most FoZ crossovers. How different? Wait and see. Be sure to leave a review. Later.

Translations:

-BO NAH GUT: Fly Fury Far/ Leave (in an irritated sense)

-WUTH GLOZ: Old Grudge

-MAHLAAN IREID: Fallen aside

-PRUSTIIK: Student

-SOSKIIN: Siblings

-GOLAH BOZOK: Stubborn Bull

-ILIIS NEBEN REYTH: Hides Beneath the Trees

-KOSIL LOKRAANRO PAS: Within a Bird's Flap

-DII KOGAN: My Thanks

-LEIN: The World