Author's Note: Hello. My name is harari24. A Sword Named Shadow is my first Elder Scrolls fanfiction.

This is an Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion fanfic, following the Main Quest, the Thieves Guild (not that much), the Mage's Guild, the Fighter's Guild, and an eventual, original arc.

This prologue is a test on its reception.

Now, I've kept you long enough. Go on ahead and read.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or its characters in any way. All I own are the original characters. And the arc that will become the main focus in the future. Enjoy.

A Sword Named Shadow

Prologue

The whereabouts of one called a hero, the thoughts of another destined to become involved, and the fate of a cursed soul...

One hit with Sunder, five with Keening, and Wraithguard to wield them. That was all it took to finish it all. That was all he needed to do to end Morrowind's plight.

Well, that, and to get the hell off of Akulakhan to make sure that it was, indeed, finished.

Which it was, thank the Nine, but still...

Those events, however, were a long time ago. The Nerevarine wasn't even in Morrowind anymore. He left about five years after the end of the Blight, the slaying of Almalexia with Trueflame, and the Bloodmoon prophecy.

So where was he? According to rumors, he apparently "went on an expedition to Akavir and has not been heard from since." A different continent, rife with snake-like people that have had an eternal hatred for mankind. Surely, he must be dead!

Alas, that is not the case. The Nerevarine is very much alive, healthy, and most certainly not in Akavir. Those are what they are. Rumors. In fact, they're rumors that he himself started.

It was a simple endeavor, really. He was only escaping. He just wanted his fate to be forgotten, his name, his actions...all he wanted to do was to leave it behind. Starting a rumor to direct the attention of those who revered him somewhere else was the perfect distraction. Now, after years of being referred to with the title of a prophesied hero, he would be called by his actual name once more.

Everything was back to normal, and Ansgar could now return to Whiterun in secret and peace.

At least, everything should have been back to normal. But it wasn't, since the hobbies of fate include turning around and biting significant people in the ass. By the time he reached Cyrodiil, more of his destiny would be revealed by certain events.

The Nord would find himself in the Imperial City Prison again, caught in events that would dub him a hero once more.

Bravil. Similar to any other city in Cyrodiil, having inns, homes, beggars, and stores within city walls. Perhaps the only true distinctions between Bravil and any other city (excluding the Imperial City, of course, since it's different from all of the cities.) is the higher rate of petty crime, the river underneath that acts as a sewer, and the fact that it is home to the Skooma Den, whose inhabitants would be more than happy to unknowingly disturb you in their drug-addled state of mind. (A good example would be not putting the bottle down while engaging you in conversation.) These are very notable distinctions and it is only natural that many would dislike it, including (but not to anyone's surprise) Alessia Ottus, the author of the well-known guidebooks to each city in Cyrodiil.

To put it simply, Bravil could be classified as "the ghetto of Cyrodiil."

But there were also people in Bravil who just didn't care about it enough to really have an opinion on the matter. Among these people was a Dunmer thief (holds the rank of Footpad in the Guild) and savant by the name of Iveru Sarys, who was currently reading a book on the second floor of her house, which, mind you, didn't even belong to her. Upon receiving the key to the house, her friend informed her that it had belonged to a now deceased Bosmer.

Really, the only reason that the Dunmer even lived here was because her friend's family was here. Well, that and there was another Doyen here, but that was beside the point. Her friend did, after all, get her the house that she was now living in. In her friend's absence, the Dunmer "took care" of her younger siblings, if lending them money could be considered as "taking care" of them.

Speaking of her siblings...

"Iveru, we've been wondering for a while. Where did Lys go?"

The Dunmer looked away from her book at the two, the teenager being half-Nord and half-Breton, and the child half-Bosmer and half-Breton."When did you two get here? Your house is on the other side of Bravil!" she exclaimed.

Neither of the two responded to her question and Iveru sighed before closing her book and putting it down. "In all honesty, I really don't know where she went. I'm sure she's okay, Eiruki. And Lielle, it's almost midnight...Eiruki, why isn't she asleep?"

Eiruki, the one who is part-Nord, sighed and sat down on a crate in the corner of the room, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat. "She refuses to go to sleep whenever I tell her to. I don't get why she only listens to Lys."

"Lysara is basically Lielle's mother. It's only understandable. Besides...you have to be the big girl while Lysara is gone. Problems like these are bound to happen."

"She wasn't arrested, was she? I mean, if the Imperial City Guards found out that she was Listener..."

"I'm pretty sure she wasn't...at least, for that reason. I don't know. I plan on going there soon. You know, Thieves' Guild business and stuff." Iveru stated as she stood up and opened the door to "her" room. Ambling over to the front of the bed, she knelt down and began rummaging through a chest, removing from it an Elven bow, almost 100 steel arrows, leather armor, and a silver dagger.

There was no harm in putting the armor on in front of them. After all, Eiruki wasn't even looking and Lielle had seemingly passed out on the table at some point during the conversation.

After closing the chest, Iveru stood up and made her way to the sack next to the cupboard. After going through its contents, she produced a medium-sized coin purse and gave it to a yawning Eiruki. "Here. This ought'a cover you for a week. Both of you should head back now. I'm locking the place up."

Eiruki quickly took the purse, lifted a sleeping Lielle onto her back, and gave her a piggyback ride to the front of "Iveru's" house. Iveru followed them outside, and the door was soon locked up.

"I'll see if I can get any info on Lysara. Check with either S'Krivva, Luciana, Cosmus, or Aia in a few days. If I found her, they will know. Both of you, be careful while I'm gone, okay?" the Dunmer stated with a hint of worry. They were like family to her, too.

Eiruki nodded and Lielle just slept on. "You be careful as well, Iveru. It's a long walk that you're about to do."

"You know me. I always make it out alive, even if it kills me!"

Eiruki simply raised an eyebrow at this before smiling. "Talos be with you." she whispered before turning left and disappearing behind the building.

Iveru stared at the direction where the two siblings left before silently making her way to the city gates. Pressing on large doors, she heaved them open, stepping into the Nibenay Valley with only one thought in mind:

Lysara, did something happen to you?

Vindasel. How many know of its past uses? Few, if any, one would assume. Of course, the lack of knowledge on the matter is justified. After all, the Men, Mer, and Beastfolk of now aren't directly affected by it, anyway. But perhaps their views would change if they knew what it used for long ago. How would they react if they found out that it was once used by the Ayleids as a torture chamber for disobedient slaves?

Of course, this was back in the First Era, many, many centuries ago. After the Slave Rebellion in the Third Century, Vindasel went to ruin, like all of the others. Most of the Ayleids were gone, exiled if not massacred. It didn't have anyone to use it for its original purposes.

There wasn't much in the Ayleid ruin. Several unreasonably over-sized rats inhabited it, just like any old piece of architecture that managed to survive and still have a door. However, the noticeable lack of undead roaming the ruins would have certainly raised questions.

If there were any in the past, they were definitely gone. After all, there was someone among the living who now took refuge in the Ayleid ruin: a Bosmer clad in ebony armor who found it more fitting to wallow in regret than to repent and start over. In her past, she learned from one, challenged much, and killed too many. She lives in Vindasel only to prevent more deaths from occurring. Of course, should the need arise, the Bosmer was ready to defend herself.

Which was exactly the case just a few moments ago. Someone had entered the ruins, accidentally setting off both traps in the ruins. The person's voice could be heard throughout the halls, yelling as they attacked the rats. It wasn't long before the person finally reached the room that the Bosmer was in.

The person was a female Breton. Judging by the Breton's shocked expression, she was not expecting to see the Bosmer. A few seconds passed, but that was enough for the Breton's attention to shift from the Bosmer to the Bosmer's sword.

Once again, someone is caught in its net, never to escape its demands.

"Neat sword you got there." the Breton said. She did not know of the sword, the Bosmer, or the truth, but the sword called to her. It was not long before the Breton unsheathed her own sword, engaging the Bosmer in an epic battle.

A time passed as they both fought with all they could. But now, the regretful Bosmer lay at the feet of the Breton woman. The Breton only wore measly Iron armor, not even a full set since she was missing a helmet, yet she had defeated the Bosmer so brutally, so easily, so...magnificently. In a way, the Bosmer was relieved. Someone had finally bested her in battle. After years of killing unreasonably, the Bosmer was happy with this Breton.

It was now that she noticed the Breton bending down to pick up her own sword, casting aside her iron shortsword in the process. That sword...the dark blade that had stolen so many lives in the past, bounding their souls from Aetherius to be eternally damned in the realm of Clavicus Vile...it was now in possession of the Breton. The said Breton stared down at the blade with a look that the Bosmer could not quite describe. What she did know was that something in the Breton changed the moment her hand grasped the sword's hilt, whether or not the Breton was aware of it. Something in the Breton went dark.

"Breton..." the Bosmer whispered out without realizing it. Said woman turned to the Bosmer who lay on the ground before her. "Thank you..."

The Breton nodded silently without expression before turning on her heel and making her way to the doorway of the spacious room. She stopped where she was when the Bosmer called out again, "Wait..."

The Breton turned around. "You...you should...g-get rid of t-the sword..." the Bosmer breathed out, the pain of speaking beginning to cloud her vision. Raising and eyebrow at her words, the Breton turned around fully to face the dying figure. "G-give it back t-to...C-Clavicus Vile...b-before it's...too late...before...you're caught in too deep..."

The Breton knelt to make eye contact with the Bosmer a bit easier. "Hey..." the Breton began, "what's your name?"

The Bosmer was taken aback at her question. "U-Umb-"

"Your real name."

"...L-Lenwin." she replied weakly. Her vision refocused itself momentarily, showing the Breton saying something else.

But the Bosmer couldn't hear her.

She couldn't feel.

She couldn't move.

She couldn't understand.

All she knew now was a cold yet peaceful darkness, forcing her vision to fade into nothingness.

Author's Note:

Okay, I'm going to be honest: I sort of rushed this prologue. I really wanted to put this up, but the first part of it was proving to be a huge bitch. Therefore, I just put some words in the first part and put it up. I do like the other two parts, though...

The prologue was meant to be rather uninformative. If you want some explanation on when some of the events happened or other things, just say so in the review. I will put it at the end of the next chapter if anyone asks for it. I seriously doubt you would want any explanation, but just in case...

There's also a pretty good chance that the next chapter will be shorter and will suck in comparison to this.

More info on the story and character(s) will be up on my profile later. Be sure to check in a while, maybe a day if there's any delay.

Reviews and constructive criticism would be most appreciated. If there are any mistakes in punctuation, spelling, grammar, lore...please, let me know.

Now to come up with a reason why Ansgar and Lysara are in prison...