This is a new fanfiction I recently started, I finally got back to playing Skyrim and some of the dialog from the characters got me thinking. What if races mixed? So this is what I came up with it not up to it's full potential yet but I'm working on it. I really appreciate feed back.
Pronunciation
Nivsi - Niv-see Jo'avi - Jo'ave Adansari - Adan-sare
Dorret - Door-ret
Eisrek - Es-rek
Ormfnir - Orm-f-nir
Through the walls of our house I hear wolves howl in the distance. I hear fish jumping in the lake near by. I hear the wind rustling the leafs.
On nights like these, I wish I could have Nord hearing but instead I have the piercing hear of a Khajiit.
Able to hear things yards away from me without even trying.
I roll over trying to get into a more comfortable position. Father's promise ringing in my head. "We'll leave tomorrow, at dawn we'll head out. There's more for you than hiding away from the world and I'm going to show it to you." And also, his warning. "But there are going to be people who won't like you from the beginning because of who you are. Don't let them bother you. And don't forget what I taught you. Use your skills."
I let out sigh as I roll over again. And again. But I still can't settle down and sleep. I squeeze my eyes shut before sitting up and look around my room. It's not too hard since I'm half Khajiit I can see in the dark... At some points. Some times it seems like my vision weakens but that's fine.
I stand and walk over to the lantern, lighting a match, then the lantern itself. I run my hand through my hair careful not to bump my ears. I sit at my dress and peer into the mirror as myself. I'm different. Instead of Nord ears I was gifted with the furry and pointed Khajiit ears. Instead of Nord eyes I have slightly slitted bright emerald green eyes. Instead of nails I have claws. And the bonus? I have a tail.
I let out a whine as my ears flatten against my head.
Too many differences. Too many things to not like.
I look over at my map of Skyrim. Our first stop is Helgen. A small village, with nice enough people. Or so my father says.
Father was wrong, wrong beyond belief. We made it to the trading Post of Helgen when the uproar began. Children stared at me, one even asked to touch my tail and ears. But all the adults glared at me, some said I should be but down. As if I'm some kind of animal. But I held my head high and ignored them. Until the carriage cam in. Two carriges came rolling in. All of the men and women wearing the same thing. Except for one. A short man wearing rough spun cloth. He tries to run claiming to be wrongly accused. They skewer him through with an arrow.
Then people start to point me out. "Take this one to the block." "Take the halfling."
Guards hold my father back as an executioner begins chopping off heads. As the first head rolls I feel like I'm gonna be sick. I can't look. So I turn my head and as I'm about to close my eyes I catch the eye of a man, with a cloth other his mouth, long golden blonde hair hanging down his shoulders with piercing blue eyes. He's watching me... He must not like me either. I feel my ears flatten against my head as I hear someone calling me out.
"You, Khajiit half-breed, your next." I hear my father yelling that I've done nothing but one of the guards holding him punches him in the gut sending him to his knees.
I begin to step forward when a ear splitting roar fills the sky. I want to cover my ears but my hands are bound so all I can do is try and ignore it and flatten my ears to muffle the sound. "Next prisoner!" I hear a female yell while spectators question the sound.
Large wings flap through the sky.
They are headed in this direction.
Maybe this is our salvation.
I walk up to the block and turn to my father. His eyes are wide as he watches them shove my to the ground. I feel the blood of the last guy rub on to my neck as I'm pushed down onto the block. I look up at the executioner and see a... a dragon fly towards us. "I hope you all burn." I yell. And just like that the dragon lands on the tower behind the executioner. A deafening roar fills the court yard and everything goes to shit. People are running and screaming as rocks fly from the sky and fire breaks from the dragons mouth. I roll away from the executioner's block until I bump into someone. I look up to see my father looking me over. "Come on, we've got to get moving!" He yells over the chaos. I roll on to my knees and run after him into a tower across the court yard where all the prisoners are hiding. We run in and the man from before slams the door shut.
My father turns me to him as I watch the others and cuts away my ropes.
When he turns around he looks all of the others over before turning to one across from him. "We need to get out of here."
"I'll head to Riverwood, my sister resides there. I'll rest then return to your side my Jarl."
The Jarl nods his head before turning to my father and I. "You shall follow me or go on your own. Either is fine but speak now before we move " I look up at my father and notice for the first time that he has a head wound.
To my surprise he's looking down at me. "You decide."
Turn to the Jarl and nod my head. "We shall follow you."
"Before I ran in here I noticed some of the outer wall was knocked down, we will escape through there once we are sure it is safe to go. It's best for us if we split up. Kelatr, Ralof the collapsed wall in front of this watch tower is fine. Follow it to the underground caverns and escape, It will lead you towards Riverwood and Whiterun. Dorret, Eisrek, and Ormfnir you three and those two will be coming with me." We all nod and gather ourselves before the door is thrown back open and everyone is running again. We follow the Jarl through the door and the hole in the wall, running as hard as we can away from Helgen.
We spend most of our time running from Helgen and that bloody dragon but once we're far enough I can't hear it anymore the Jarl begins to slow down and eventually we come to a walk our small group still silent.
I wait a bit before speaking. For some reason I feel if I open my mouth the dragon will appear again and kill us all. "How is your head father?"
A chuckle come from beside me and I smile. "I am fine child, just a little sore from the fall." I nod my head.
"And you?"
At this I fall silent.
"Nivsi?"
"I'm... I'm fine father." Is all I can muster.
One of the men from the Jarl's group turns around, walking backwards, and begins to speak. "So, what are you exactly?"
"Ormfnir!" One of the two females yells before shoving him into a tree. "You are a complete idiot."
The second female slows down and falls back next to me. "What our friend meant was, who are you?"
My tail flickering behind me is the only tell of my aggravation as I keep my face straight. "My name is Nivsi Jo'avi Adansari Sovern-Hid but you can call me Ada." I offer as I take a step towards my father. "And I'm half Nord, half Khajiit."
"I'm Dorret The Untame and she's Eisrek, my sister, my little sister." I nod my head as I shake their hands.
"The name Sovern-Hid rings a bell..." The male says as he catches back up with us. "By the way names Ormfnir."
"That would be my brother."
I look up at my father as his words register in my head. "Brother?"
"Yes, I'm not an only child; sadly. His name is Dregas Sovern-Hid. While I was mourning your mother's death my brother went against our mother's wishes and joined the Storm Cloaks." I can tell there are some sour memories with his brothers name. "She came to me to try to 'talk some sense' into me so I could then in turn go talk some sense into my brother. But she would not change my mind."
"Change your mind about what?"
He turns to me look almost twenty years older. "You."
I feel the weight of his words settle on my shoulders and slump a bit. "Everyone has a problem with me."
"Not everyone kitten." He offers before flicking my ear.
I let out a whine as I jerk away. "Father!" I hiss as I cover my wounded ear. "You know how much that hurts."
He let's out a chuckle. "It's not that bad. I used to do it to your mother."
A warm look enters his eyes and I can't help but smile. The rest of the walk is in silence. When we stop we're in front of what looks like an abandoned house. "We'll stay here for the night then head for Windhelm." The Jarl states as he leads us to the front door. I look at my father only to see him follow the others inside.
"Stop!" It is sharp enough to get everyone to stop, hopefully not sharp enough to warn our enemy bellow. Everyone looks back at me, the Jarl and his people reaching for their weapons. "Someone is down stairs. I hear them." I whisper as I slowly lower myself into a crouch and slowly move forward passing the others toward the stairs checking each board to see if it's safe to step on. I look back at my father. I can see the question in his eyes.
How many?
I close my eyes and listen. Someone's muttering. And there is only one person breathing in the room. I look back and hold up a single finger.
Everyone else seems to catch on. The first one to is the Jarl. He simply stands up and clears his throat. "Hello?" He calls out and I quickly dart away from the stairs so I'm hidden in the shadows.
"Who's there?!" A gruff voice shouts as the stairs begin to groan and creak.
"Just a common fellow looking for shelter from the coming storm." He offers. I almost want to laugh as the drunken bandit, a wood elf with pale skin and greying hair comes up the stairs. A small dagger in hand. Until my vision strengthens and I notice a coating of something on the blade.
"Sure, sure just let me help you... DIE!" He yells, suddenly lunging forward. But I'm on him before he takes a second step. I grab him by the hair and sling him around before throwing him down the stairs. I watch him fall down the stairs and crash into a heap on the floor. It's silent as I check myself over for any nicks or cuts that could have been inflicted without me noticing. Once I'm sure I'm okay. I bend down and pick up the knife, carefully. I hold it out to the Jarl. "It is poisoned don't touch the blade."
He simply nods his head. "That was very impressive."
I nod my head as I stand up. "That's the only one I can hear."
"But where there is one there are more." My father finishes. "I will take first watch you need your rest."
I nod my head and turn to the stairs. "I will stay up with him and wake you two up half way into the night." Be says to Dorret and Ormfnir.
"Yes my Jarl." They say in union before we all head down the stairs avoiding the body. Out of the corner of my eye I see Ormfnir check the man then drag him under the stairs. I look around to notice that there is only one bed. But five bear skin rugs. "So how is this sleeping arrangement going to work?" Eisrek asks. "And I swear Ormfnir if you say even a single perverted thing, I will slit your throat while you sleep." She growls.
I can't help but laugh. "What about the bear rugs?" Everyone looks to me then the rugs. "Beat them off well enough and put them close to the fire to beat of the cold."
Dorret nods her head. "Not a bad idea Ada, I like you already." She says patting me on the shoulder. "Let's get to work then." We all begin to pull the rugs together but as we do I hear a slight whisling from behind me but when I turn around nothing is there but an empty bookcase. Shrugging it of I help the others finish and lay down on one of the mats before the fire.
(P.O.V Switch)
When the noice settles down below us I peak my head down to see everyone laying on bear skin rugs near the fire using clothes, they must have found, as pillows. I smile before heading back to the table where Ulfric sits. He's a silent man. But I can feel he wants to say something. "You have a problem with people fighting in the war?" There it is.
I shake my head as I sit down. "No, just don't think my brother should of done it the way he did."
He nods his head and it is again silent.
"Your wife?"
It's a loaded question and I can tell he means it that way. My wife was a different race? A Khajiit? My wife is dead?
"Yes she was a Khajiit that never mattered to us. She died thirteen winters after Nivsi was born." I answer smoothly.
"Sickness?"
"No."
He falls silent as he looks away. "Imperials?"
"Yes."
He gets a confused look on his face as he looks back over at me. "Then why not fight." He lifts his tankard to his lips and drinks.
"Nivsi." I reply as he sits up straighter. "Not everyone is okay with a... a halfling. Most people believe them to be unworthy of living. All of the halflings I have heard of either kill themselves or get killed before they turn sixteen. If I could keep my Nivsi from that fate then I did my fight."
Ulfric seems to except this answer.
Once again it's silent as we sit and drink some mead found on a near by table.
"You may continue to come with us to Windhelm, and I will give you sanctuary there when ever you need it." I can't help but look up at him in surprise. "We recently had a murder solved and the house of one of the families has been given up. Too many painful memories I guess."
"Thank you Jarl Ulfric such an offer is greatly appreciated."
He simply nods his head in acknowledgement. Ulfric opens his mouth to speak again when thundering steps reach my ears. I spin around in my chair to see Nivsi, her eyes wide in fear. "There's more!" I'm up and to her before my chair hits the floor. More thundering feet and the three others appear.
"Breath, tell me what you heard."
She takes a deep breath before beginning. "I heard whisling earlier but I couldn't discover it's source, until everyone fell asleep and the fire started to go out. Then I notice a light coming out from beneath the bookcase. I hear voices, so many voices, and they all echoed."
"Focus on one thing okay?" She nod her head before sitting down, back against the stairs railing, and closing her eyes and relaxing. "How are we going to deal with this?" I ask turning to Jarl Ulfric.
"We could always bar the door shut." Eisrek offers.
Ormfnir looks at the girls. "Why don't we just go fight them?"
"Right now we all need rest not another fight. Find a way to block the door and get some rest, we move out at dawn."
"Yes Jarl Ulfric." Then, one by one, they disappear down the stairs.
As the second one begins to disappear I kneel in front of Nivsi. "Nivsi?" I ask and her eyes flutter open. "Better?"
"Barely."
I nod my head. "I'm doing my best."
"I know."
I stay in front of her as she starts to focus again but once my legs begin to hurt I know it's time for her to go to bed. "Nivsi, go back down and try to get some sleep." When she opens her eyes she seems to be fighting to keep them open. "Oh yeah. You need to get down to bed." She nods her head before pulling herself up and disappearing down the stairs.
"For a single father you do well."
"Thank you Jarl Ulfric."
And that's it. Please follow and review and I'll be posting soon.
Yours truly,
StoryBookGirl
