sorry about the long wait. I was working on a timeline before I began posting all willy-nilly. 
also, golf and school made finding time to write slightly difficult. (I pretty bad at time management)

but now I'm back and feeling slightly inspired so hopefully, I will update more and often.

(some info about Momo's past. Not everything was perfect for our pretty little piglet.)

~ ~ ~

Magic was easy. Or, at least it was for Hirai Momo.

She had been born into a family that practiced the art every day. Momo’s mother was an extremely talented mage, so talented that she had been given the title of court wizard back in Momo’s home town. Momo’s father shared his wife’s passion and could perform a few spells here and there. And the Hirai family was by no means poor. They lived in Cyrodiil in one of the wealthiest cities in the region. Mrs. Hirai would work out of the jarl’s palace while Mr. Hirai stayed home to watch over his two daughters. Hana had never shown much interest in magic and instead took alchemy. Momo was the complete opposite.

Every day, little Momo would wake up to just her and her father. Hana would rise early to wander through the city to collect ingredients for potions, and Mrs. Hirai always left early to go to the huge building where the jarl lived. All the members of the court had a soft spot for little Momo and offered her treats and toys whenever she came to see her mother. When Momo began practicing magic she was a natural. Her mother trained her from a young age to control the six different types of magic skills: destruction, restoration, conjuration, illusion, alteration, and enchanting. By Momo’s thirteenth birthday she had almost mastered destruction magic. She had complete control over both fire and ice magic, however, lighting was proving to be more difficult. Even her mother had not mastered the art of lightning magic so she had to watch as her youngest daughter pushed herself to her limit. At the age of 15, Momo was known all throughout Cyrodiil for her natural ability to wield all six magic skills. Momo’s own mother had even told her that there was nothing left she could teach her. However, lightning magic still alluded her.

One day Hana had planted the idea in her little sister’s head to travel to the neighboring country where the famous College of Winterhold was. When she told both her parents, they weren’t very excited about the idea. They were scared to send their youngest daughter over to another country alone. But after a few days to think over Momo’s proposal, they gave in and provided the 17-year-old with enough gold to pay for the trip. Momo left the next day excited for all the new discoveries she was going to make. The trip was relatively uneventful. Again, Momo had become a bit of a celebrity in Cyrodiil, so when the city folk heard about Momo’s departure they created a going away party. Her walk through the streets of the city was very joyful and colorful as residents hung banners and gifted her food for her journey.

Once out of the city, Momo used the transportation money her parents had given her to purchase a steed. The chestnut horse was very well trained and the two easily made the trip to the border. Once they had safely made it to the edge of the country, Momo was surprised to see the large numbers of guards. She knew of Helgen but she never expected that the small town near the border would be so heavily armed. She trotted her way down the hillside looking out across the new places she had yet to explore. The chill of the land was immediate. Cyrodiil was cold but it was nothing compared to the temperature here. The cold reached all the way into Momo’s bones. She just hoped that Peko, her horse, was not too cold as well. The two safely made it to the small fishing town of Riverwood by nightfall. Momo had paid for a room in the Sleeping Giant Inn then began mingling. She spoke with the Innkeeper, Amber, and learned that Riverwood was a frequent stopping point for travelers on their way to Whiterun. When Momo told her how she was traveling to Winterhold, Amber suggested that Momo should make a stop at Whiterun and purchase food and water there. Momo thanked her and retired for the night.

Momo tried her best to sleep that night but the excitement running through her veins was too much for her body to hand and the young mage didn’t fall unconscious until late in the night, or early in the morning. All that mattered to Momo once she woke up was making the rest of the trip to Winterhold. But first, she followed Amber’s advice and made a pit-stop in Whiterun. Well, even before that, she was distracted when making it into the actual city.

As Momo and Peko trotted by one of the many farms littering the land, a great commotion caused Peko to become fidgety and uneasy. The horse had a right to be wary for a group of mercenaries, or so Momo assumed, had surrounded a giant and were in the middle of forcing it off some crops. It swung its cleaver, which was an uprooted tree, at the men and women surrounding it. Large craters could be seen where the giant had smashed its cleaver in an attempt to squish the attackers. Those closest to the giant would dash in and slash at the giant’s legs while another woman stood further back firing arrows at the giant’s head. It seemed that the group of humans had the advantage until the giant slammed down its cleaver, knocking over everyone who was close by. Just as it was about to swing its weapon down onto one of the men, Momo jumped off Peko and launched a fireball out of her hands straight towards the giant’s head. The huge creature stumbled backwards blinded from the heat of the spell and fell onto its knees. One of the fallen mercenaries quickly scrambled up to her feet and plunged her longsword into the giant’s abdomen.

The giant collapsed lifeless onto the soil and the group of men and women cheered loudly with joy. As the group celebrated and Momo returned back to Peko, the woman who struck the killing blow on the giant called out to her.

“You handle yourself well, you could make for a decent shield sister,” the woman leaned against her longsword as she spoke with Momo. The whole image this woman gave off was intimidating. Her armor had wolves engraved along the chest plate and gauntlets, even the boots gave off a wolf vibe. Her long straight platinum hair and sharp fox-like features made 17-year-old Momo shiver in her robes.

“Stop it, Hyojin. You’re scaring the poor girl,” another woman had left the gleeful group and had an arm wrapped around the platinum blonde. She was also adorned in the wolfish armor but instead sported a head of umber brown locks that ran past her shoulders. She was the single archer that Momo had seen hanging further behind but still assisting in the battle.

“I am doing nothing of the sort, Hani. I just asked her a simple question.” Hyojin forcefully removed Hani’s arm around her back and pushed the other away.

“Thank you… I guess, but what is a shield sister?”

“An outsider, eh? Never heard of the Companions?” Hani dusted herself off and threw a glare at Hyojin before continuing, “we are an order of warriors, brothers, and sisters in honor.” The archer flashed a greasy smile down at Momo.

“We show up to solve problems if the coin is good enough,” Hyojin scoffed and began cleaning her longsword of giant blood.

“Sounds interesting but I am not looking to join a fighting guild anytime soon. I am on my way to the College of Winterhold,” Momo politely declined the two warriors with a smile and a bow.

“Alright then, but if you change your mind about the Companions you should speak with our Harbinger, Lee Sunmi, up in Jorrvaskr,” Hani pointed up towards the high stone walls surrounding Whiterun at a large wooden shape that could barely be seen over the bricks.

Momo bowed once more before mounting Peko and continuing up towards the city. Her stop was quick, she only wandered around a few busy streets before purchasing all her necessity’s from the plaza market. And she was off once more. She returned back past the farm where she had last seen the Companions, but now only the giant’s corpse remained. The wildlife would be quick to clean the mess left and then the farmer would be free to do as he wished with the giant’s skeleton.

As Momo continued north, the weather became colder and colder, if that was possible. She eventually had to cast a heating spell in her hands that she used to rub over Peko. The steed was very appreciative of Momo’s attempt at keeping them both warm and pushed throw the ever-thickening snow. The sun had begun to set as the pair shakily walked through the once proud city of Winterhold. Winterhold was the northernmost city in the land and bordered the edge of a large ice cliff. Angry whitecaps below pounded against rock and ice while stinging winter winds constantly blew through the city. Why anyone would live here Momo has no clue, but she guesses isolation is better for the study of magic. Not everyone is as open with the art as the Hirai family is. But in the meantime, all she could do for Peko was lead her steed out of the snowfall and under the overhang of Winterhold’s lonely inn.

After an easy decision to spend the night inside the warm tavern, Momo finds herself with a steaming bowl of stew and a few slices of bread. Of course, she feeds Peko a few carrots she had asked the grumpy innkeeper for before scarfing down her own meal. The young mage was about to get up and ask for seconds when the front door or the tavern burst open. Two snow-covered figures scurried inside out of the heavier snowfall towards the fire in the middle of the room. They greeted the innkeeper who just grunted in response as if this was a normal occurrence. Momo slowly chewed on her stale bread as she took in the two newcomer’s appearances. They wore blue and grey robes that had a slight glow to them, proof that they were enchanted. Both also wore an enchanted piece of jewelry, the man a necklace and the woman a ring. Momo smirked as she identified the two as college students. They must have come down for a drink or something.

“If this letter is not here then you owe me a bottle of alto wine,” the young man shook his head to dry his brown locks.

“Don’t worry, Yerin never misses a day,” the woman held her sleeves over the heat of the fire to try to dry her own wardrobe.

Momo unintentionally stared at the curious pair. If they were mages at the college, why wouldn’t they simply cast a warming spell and dry their robes that way instead? Maybe they didn’t know that spell yet. Momo giggled to herself and slurped a spoonful of stew. The other two seemed to have heard the giggle, or the slurp, or both, but now it was their turn to stare. They looked between one another as if asking the other to speak the first word. The young man finally spoke once a strong elbow was sent into his side.

“Ahh! Yah- umm, I mean… excuse me, who are you?”

“Smooth Hoseok, real smooth.”

“Shut it SinB.”

Momo airily laughed at the two before standing and introducing herself.

“My name is Hirai Momo and I’m assuming you both are students at the College?”

“Uhh, yeah we are. I’m Jung Hoseok and this is Hwang Eunbi,” Hoseok politely smiled at Momo as he introduced the two.

“Everyone calls me SinB though,” SinB had finished wringing out her sleeves and moved down towards the bottom fringe of the robe. Momo politely bowed at the two and then flicked her wrist. A jet of heat shot out of her hand and instantly dried up SinB’s robes.

“Woah! How did you do that?” Hoseok’s jaw dropped as he took in the now dry set of robes SinB sported.

“Simple warming spell,” Momo shrugged and leaned against one of the many wooden pillars around the room.

“You’re a mage?” Hoseok asked, still awestruck by the simple spell.

“Yep, just arrived from Cyrodiil.”

“Hold on, you’re from Cyrodiil… and your last name is Hirai? No way! You’re the daughter of High Court Wizard Hirai aren’t you?” SinB, now dry, walked up to Momo and reached out for a handshake.

“I guess… is that what she’s called here?”

“Woah… your mom is known for her mastery of all six skills. That’s no easy feat, I’m working with destruction and conjuration but I’m having trouble with just those two,” SinB gawked at Momo, slightly jealous that she had come from such a skilled family of mages.

“Yeah,” Hoseok had sat down on one of the benches near the fireplace, “alteration and destruction are already difficult enough but six… Woah.”

“My mom is something else I guess,” Momo didn’t want to tell the two how her mother had trained her in all six skills because Momo never liked bragging.

The three continued talking into the evening until the grumpy innkeeper came over to the three and handed SinB a letter while mumbling under his breath for the two to leave.

“What’s up with him?” Momo asked once the innkeeper was far enough away.

“He doesn’t really like us or anyone from the college at all really. He just tolerates us because we come in twice a week and always pay.” SinB said as she quickly tucked the letter into the pocket of her robes.

“Why doesn’t he like you?”

“Well, you’ve heard of the Great Collapse right?” Momo nodded her head. “Well, he’s one of the many that still blames the College for the incident. And, as SinB said, the only reason he lets us in is that we pay. And now that you’ve been all chit-chatty with us, he probably doesn’t like you either.” Hoseok explained as he tidied up their dishes.

“Oh,” Momo had read about the Great Collapse, read how more than half of the great city of Winterhold crumbled over and plummeted into the crashing sea below. She never expected the backlash to last this long, but according to Hoseok, the grouchy innkeeper was one of many who still acted sour towards the College and any affiliated with magic.

“So, you said you’re here to attend the College? Why would you come all the way here when your mother is such a powerful mage?” SinB ignored the innkeeper's grumbles and continued nursing her tankard of ale.

“My mother did teach me a lot, but she had never mastered lightning magic. That is the only skill that alludes me and I wish to change that,” Momo informs the pair of college mages. “I came here in hopes of learning anything I could.”

“Lightning magic is one of the most difficult destruction skills. There is a mage up at the college, she’s new just like you are, and she spends all her time in the library. I’ve never seen her perform a spell but from what I’ve heard around the college, she’s pretty talented. Maybe she could help you out when you get there,” Hoseok smiled across at Momo after he finished his last bite of stew. He pulled out a small coin purse and left it next to their pile of dishes before standing up. SinB followed suit and the two cleaned up their area.

"Yeah, If you know who doesn't make her join his gang before that." SinB's voice dripped with anger. But she remembered where she was and cleared hoping to fix the now tense atmosphere, “Goodnight Momo, it was a pleasure to meet you,” SinB waved goodbye as she pulled on her enchanted hood.

“We will see you tomorrow, hopefully,” Hoseok throws a glowing smile back at Momo and the two college mages exit the inn. Leaving Momo and the moody innkeeper as the only two awake. Momo bid the innkeeper a goodnight as she walked up towards her room for the night. Her interaction with SinB and Hoseok only fueled her excitement for what tomorrow would bring. Unlike her trip to Riverwood, Momo’s travels had actually drained enough of her energy that she ended up falling asleep. Her dreams were filled with magical hallways and friendly faces.

One thing Momo had read when researching the College of Winterhold was the entrance exam. Well, it was more of a skill check. The gate guard would ask the hopeful a few questions and then task them with performing a spell. Momo was positive she would pass, but she didn’t want to be cocky. So the next morning as Momo ascended the stone ramp up towards the giant suspended bridge, she came face to face with a fiery-haired mage. Solji, the gate guard, scanned Momo and asked the young mage why she wished to cross the bridge.

“I wish to master destruction magic. I have trained in magic all my life but one skill still evades me,” Momo was straight forward with her answer for she wished to start as soon as possible.

“I see. That power certainly exists, I assure you. But before you can wield that power, a simple task for a mage of your skill… Hirai,” Solji smirks knowingly at Momo as she takes a step back and gestured at the design carved into the stone below them. “Conjure a flame atronach on the college seal and I will take you across the bridge.”

Momo had not given her name to the fiery-haired mage which let the young mage slightly flustered. Momo had always been exceptional at reading others, but to have been so easily read by another mage was something new for her. Never one to back down from a challenge, Momo summoned a spinning violet orb in her palm. With a flick of her wrist, the orb stretched and widened. A floating figure of flames rose up out of the swirling violet portal and took its place in the center of the seal. The light snowfall atop the stone railing melted away from the heat the atronach was giving off. Momo’s eyes never left Solji’s during the whole display.

Solji smirked and nodded her head. She turned around then began across the thin magical bridge. As Momo fell in step behind Solji, the flame atronach followed Momo, a trail of glowing embers scorched the stone as they came closer and closer to the large metal gate. They screeched open with a simple wave of Solji’s hand and the two continued into the courtyard. Students could be seen walking around the top of the courtyard on the circular walkway above. Two familiar faces were sat on the edge of a large shimmering fountain and waved at Momo once they finally saw her.

“Momo! You made it across. I hope Solji didn’t give you too much trouble.”

“I am just doing my job Eunbi, good morning Hoseok,” Solji flicked SinB in the forehead then flashed a sweet smile at the other young mage. “Since you both seem to know Hirai here, you can take her to see the Archmage. He’s been expecting this one for a while now.”

The two students nodded and bowed to the gate guard then lead Momo inside the large stone building at the edge of the courtyard. Hoseok bragged how he was Solji’s favorite while SinB socked him in the arm. Momo laughed at the duo’s antics and they continued further into the building up a spiral staircase. She could feel the stares of onlookers as she exited the staircase out into the library. SinB mentioned something about getting the key from the librarian but Momo was too busy squirming under the judging gazes. Momo knew that her family name would make it either easy or difficult to make friends at the college. There would be students like SinB and Hoseok who were friendly no matter her background. Then there would be others who were jealous of her natural talent. Momo knew she couldn’t be friends with everyone.

One group in the corner caught her eye. The cluster of students were mostly High Elves, Altmer, while a few were human. As a race, Altmer are among the tallest of the humanoid races, taller than most humans and much taller than other mer (Elves). Their skin maintains a very pale gold hue and they are slender, with prominently pointed ears and almond-shaped eyes. High Elves are well known for their noble countenance and are arrogant or disdainful more often than not when addressing humans. But it's not like they didn’t have a reason for their dislike towards humans. The Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion, an alliance of Elves, fought in a war. It was called the Great War and there were many casualties on both sides. The Empire saved itself from total destruction only by negotiating the White-Gold Concordat, a treaty which seemed to heavily favor the Dominion. The White-Gold Concordat enables the Thalmor to move freely throughout the Empire as well as explicitly outlawing the worship of the Man-God, Talos. This has angered a majority of the country’s denizens. The fact that people are being taken out of their homes or off the streets by the Thalmor with little to no evidence of actual Talos worship indicates that the reason of stamping out Talos worship may just be a front, with the real intention of sabotage and/or demoralization.

But Momo knew there was a large pool of Altmer who emigrated to become alchemists, enchanters, and mages. She just hoped that those who she made eye contact with not involved with the Thalmor. When SinB came back dangling a key in front of her, Momo was happy to leave the library and get away from all the glaring students. The three continued up the spiral stairs as high as they would go until they were met with a dark door. While SinB struggled with the lock, Momo leaned back and whispered with Hoseok.

“Why were all those students staring at me down in the library?”

“Were they all staring? Wow, I didn’t notice. Umm, SinB and I may have been a bit… loud, about meeting you last night and a few of the students probably heard us say that a Hirai was going to attend the college.”

“Oh, that’s not a bad thing is it?”

“I personally don’t think so but there are a few High Elves that like to stay at the top of the school. Your presence might make them a little nervous. But they are all pretty nice, the only one that you need to watch out for is Ancano. He’s very open and proud of his heritage and how his great grandparents fought in the Great War.”

Momo nodded at this information but she couldn’t ask him anything else because SinB had finally gotten the door open. The trio quickly filled through the doorway and into a large circular room. A man stood facing away from them and was tending to a few colorful flowers in the middle of the room. The Archmage’s quarters was truly a sight to behold. Years and years of magical history that had been passed down as a new Archmage came to be filled shelves and hung on the stone walls. The large tree in the middle of the room lit most of the entire floor. One-third of the room was dedicated to alchemy while another was littered with enchanting items. The Archmage’s personal items were hidden from view by a large stone wall behind the garden and tree. The man in the middle of the room turned and faced the three with a smile.

“Ah, Hirai Momo, good to see you finally made it. Thank you Hoseok and SinB for bringing her all the way up here but if you could give us some time alone.”

Both Hoseok and SinB bowed to the Archmage then gave a small smile and wave to Momo before descending back down the steps.

“I’ve been expecting you miss Hirai.”

“Good evening sir, umm… how did you know I was coming? I didn’t tell anyone where I was going except my family,” Momo jumped straight to the point but still tried to be polite with the Archmage.

“Please, everyone here calls me Park Jinyoung or JYP, and as to how I knew you were coming,” Jinyoung pulls a letter out of his blue cloak, “a worried mother sent a forewarning.” Jinyoung winked down at Momo and motioned for her to come join him at the group of chairs along the stone wall.

“My mother sent you a letter? What did she say?” Momo sat across from Jinyoung as the Archmage unfolded the parchment and handed it over to her.

“Just a heads up that you were traveling over the border with hopes of joining the college. Along with a list of your… habits.”

Momo quickly scanned over what her mother had sent. She was only a few sentences in and her cheeks were red from embarrassment.

“Can eat half a mammoth if you let her, doesn’t like the taste of water so she prefers tea, tends to fall asleep during long and important lectures, needs to sleep hugging a pillow, gets very cranky in the morning if she doesn’t have breakfast.” The list goes on but Momo chose to stop reading there.

“She also mentions how you came here with the hopes of mastering destruction magic.” Momo looks up at the Archmage with wide eyes.

“Yes, that is true.”

“Well, lightning magic is very difficult to master, I can’t even call myself a master for I still struggle with the skill. But, I will still offer my services as a tutor. That is, unless you wish to figure this out by yourself.” Jinyoung leaned back in his chair and waited for Momo’s response.

“I would like that very much sir- Jinyoung.” Momo folded the letter and gave it back to the Archmage.

“Then it’s settled, after you required weekly lecture, you will meet with me here.”

“Thank you, Park Jinyoung. When will I start as a student?”

“Now of course! I’m sure you did your research before coming here so you know that those who attend the College of Winterhold are free to learn at their own pace. If you wish to learn all you can a quick as possible then you are free to do that. And vice versa, if you wish to learn a single skill, you may take as long as you need to. The College of Winterhold provides mages with everything they need to study magic. We only have two requests: attend the lectures given in the Hall of Elements and no necromancy.”

“So I can start now?”

“Yes, Momo, you can start now. But first I want to leave you with a warning. Some of the students here will not appreciate a fresh mage walking onto campus and knocking them off their top spot.” Jihyoungs voice turned steady and serious.

“I don’t wish to knock anyone off of anywhere.” Momo quickly defends.

“I know you don’t, but they won’t. All I can tell you is to be careful with who you call your friends.”

~ ~ ~

The first few weeks of school didn’t go as Momo had first imagined when traveling.

Students that were jealous of her natural skill made school life difficult. They would knock books out of her hands, freeze her meals in solid blocks of ice, burn her essays, and constantly tell her to go back home. What really ticked her off was ow the students would also bully Hoseok, SinB, and anyone else who was nice to Momo. After a week or two of torture, Momo called it hell week, the bullying died down. Not as many students were willing to keep up the constant aggression against her that seemed to have been ordered.

After a while, the students at the college became tolerable, but there was a clear difference in skill. As she grew up, Momo believed everyone was able to wield magic as easily as she could. But now that she was here, it was difficult for her to watch students who didn’t know how to cast two different spells at once or struggle with transfiguration. She tried her best to not show off, however many of the lectures she attended were teaching skills she already possessed. The lectures also didn’t help her keep a low profile either; the professors would always ask her to demonstrate proper technique and form for students that continued to struggle.

Thankfully, Hoseok and SinB didn’t seem to need that much special attention from the professors and the three would often spend their time in the library or along the corridors eating snacks. This was where she first encountered Ancano and his gang of top students. Momo had been lounging in the cushiony library chairs with a book open on her lap. She was waiting for Hoseok and SinB to return form the local inn where they had first met because SinB had received another letter. The letters were from SinB’s special someone. This discovery was made when Momo and Hoseok were making their way down to the Hall of Elements. Hoseok accidentally mentioned something about a woman named Yerin and how SinB was really looking forward to next weekend.

When the door to the stairs burst open, Momo looked up from her reading hoping it was her friends but was instead met with the amber eyes of Ancano. He had a few others with him; Estormo and Elenwen, both Altmer and both powerful mages. There was one more member of his “gang” but she was not Altmer. She hung further back near the entrance of the library. She glared at Ancano as if she were angry with him but she still followed his orders.

“Hello there Hirai,” Ancano smirked down at her.

“Good evening Ancano, what can I do for you.” Momo stayed calm while eyeing the stairway entrance hoping for Hoseok and SinB to make their appearances at any moment. She didn’t want to be alone with the one person she had been told over and over to avoid.

“Cut the niceties, Hirai. You have a lot of nerve showing up in this school. What exactly are you even here for, huh? You already know the six skills.” Ancano flicked his wrist and the book in Momo’s lap flew closed.

“I’m here to learn just like you Ancano.” Momo was now standing. Altmer were the tallest of all the elves so Momo looked minuscule standing in front of the three.

“I’m not here to learn, I’m here for power. Do you even know the secrets this school hides?” Ancano’s amber eyes flashed with anger.

“No, that’s not why-“

“Don’t lie! I know why you’re here Hirai. You’re going to take all the power that I have been searching for. But you and your six skills won’t stand in my way.” He pushed her back down into the chair and looked over at Estormo and Elenwen. “Hold her down”

“What? No! Ahhh, let me go!” Momo struggled to slip out of the elves strong grips.

“As long as you’re here, I’m going to make your life hell. You don’t belong here, Hirai. This is my school and you're not going to ruin everything I’ve worked so hard for.”

Loud bangs on the wooden stairway door echo into the library. Hoseok and SinB’s voices could be heard on the other side.

“Mina! Make sure no one gets in.” The human by the door looked between Ancano and a struggling Momo. “Mina, do it now!”

Mina schooled her features to show no emotion then nodded at Ancano. She left her spot against the wall and cast a spell against the door and all the banging sounds stopped. Ancano bent down and grabbed Momo by her hair. He pulled out a knife then made direct eye contact with Momo. He slashed the blade through her long dark locks over and over until Momo was left with a messy bob of unruly hair. Ancano sheathed the knife then snapped his fingers. The mass of dark locks of the caught fire and all of it burned until nothing remained.

“You may have more skill than me Hirai,” He bent down once more and firmly grabbed Momo by her hair. Tears were streaming down her cheeks while Ancano forced her to look up into his glowing, evil eyes. “But I will always have more power than you ever will.”

~ ~ ~

I love you Momo! I'm so sorry for what I've done to you *crying face emoji* 

(just imagine What Is Love hair for Momo).

thank you for reading my word dumps.

tell me what you think in the comments, it's very much appreciated