Summary: Life after Grelod's death was easier, simpler, yet it was not enough for Aventus. At the age of thirteen, he convinced the other eight orphans to escape Honorhall Orphanage once and for all. Young and naive, they did not know their destinies had already been written in the Elder Scrolls. War and dragons will ravage Skyrim, and none will be spared. WARNING: Contains graphic violence and implications of sexual abuse.
Rating: M for graphic violence and implications of sexual abuse. You've been warned. Don't like, don't read.
Pairings: Aventus and Lucia, Samuel and Runa Fair-Shield, Blaise and Sofie (don't worry, I'm aging them up throughout the story)
Cover Image: The cover image is titled "The Bulk of the Empire VS The Son of Skyrim" and it belongs to LordHayabusa357. You can find it on DeviantArt under his profile. For some reason, the Doc Manager isn't letting me put in a direct link to it.
Author's Note and Disclaimer:
I don't own Elder Scrolls or anything in its universe. The Elder Scrolls universe is the property of Bethesda Softworks, and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this, nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.
As a head's up, I am taking the liberty of altering a few things, including altering the races of specific NPCs to match their race with their names. Such NPCs include Aventus Aretino, switching from Nord to Imperial; Francois Beaufort, switching his race to Breton; and Blaise, switching his race to Imperial.
In addition, the Dragonborn will be a male Nord and he will side with the Stormcloaks. So, if you hate the Stormcloaks… I'm sorry. And while I, personally, sided with Imperials the only time I've played through the Civil War, it makes the most sense for a male, Nord Dragonborn to side with the Stormcloaks. Naturally, the Dragonborn, the Listener, the Arch-Mage, the Harbinger, the Nightingale, and the Vampire Hunter (Dawnguard), will all be separate characters. The PC characters will be diverse: some will be serious, others goofy, and others… interesting. However, they will act as background characters, not main characters. Still, their interactions will reflect the Player, as well as make references to Skyrim's gameplay.
I am also expanding the Civil War to make it more realistic. Holds will be taken, lost, retaken, and fortified. Some sieges will also fail.
Skyrim will also be much larger.
I'm also changing the language slightly to give it a more "medievaly" feel: removing contractions (unless it's spoken by children or individuals with little to no education), altering modern day phrases to fit the time period, and making the vocabulary more formal.
Also, it bothered me that a newspaper and the invention of the printing press was present in Oblivion, yet 200 years later we do not have such a service. That's changing.
Finally, I am altering the timeline slightly. This includes making the Listener slay Grelod the Kind prior to the attack on Helgen; the Civil War will take five years to resolve, not a few weeks as played in Skyrim; and the other orphans throughout Skyrim have been picked up by Honorhall Orphanage and have also experienced the unspeakable atrocities committed by Grelod the Kind.
Be warned, this story will contain graphic depictions of violence and have implications of sexual abuse. Despite Skyrim's gameplay and limited storyline, the Civil War will destroy lives.
This is my first work I'm revealing to the public, so constructive criticism is encouraged to help me refine my writing style. I may or may not answer questions, depending on time or if it reveals spoilers, but I will try to read every comment. I do ask that you do not complain about my interpretation of lore, pairings, or the Dragonborn siding with the Stormcloaks. Again, it makes the most sense.
Please rate and review. If people seem interested in the story, I'll try to post a new chapter, ideally, every week; but due to life, it might be more like every two weeks or so. Sorry, but college, work, a social life, reading, and video games also inhabit my life. If people don't seem interested… I'll still post the chapters, but in a less timely manner.
TLDR: Contains graphic violence, implications of sexual abuse, Dragonborn siding with the Stormcloaks, more realistic Civil War. First public work, so please rate and review, but don't complain about my interpretation of lore, pairings, or the Dragonborn siding with the Stormcloaks. If you don't like the concept, or if you LOVE terrible, vanilla Skyrim, don't read.
I hope you enjoy the story!
Chapter One
"Sam… Sam… Sam! Wake up!"
Head still foggy from his dream, Samuel swung a punch at the old woman standing over him. His fist failed to connect to a solid object and he fell out of bed with a loud THUD.
"Nice going, impbrain. You want to wake the whole city?" Two hands pulled him up by his right arm. Recognizing the voice, Samuel realized the individual was not Grelod the Kind, but his best friend, Aventus Aretino.
Samuel roughly pulled his arm away and blinked, attempting to adjust his eyes to the darkness of the night. "You're the one who woke me up," he grumbled, "Why are you even awake at this hour?"
"I'm leaving." Aventus stated.
"WH-"
"Shut up!" The dark haired boy clamped a hand over Samuel's mouth.
There was a shift of movement in the other room. Both boys froze, their minds regressing to when Grelod had dominated their lives, to when the boys wished they had never been brought into the world. Sam found himself counting, by the time he reached five, Grelod would have stormed out of her room and screeched like a vicious hagraven. He reached three hundred and no sound had emanated from the room.
They were safe.
When Aventus finally released him, Samuel hissed, "What in Oblivion has possessed you to even think of that!?"
"You're coming too."
"You jest." Samuel prayed to the Eight Divines he was kidding.
The other boy shook his head. "No. You, me, and everyone else is getting out of here. Tonight."
"Aventus, that's… crazy. Why should we leave? We have everything we need: food, water, a bed, friends. We don't need to go anywhere else."
"But it's not home, Sam."
Shaking his head, Samuel tried to argue, "Once we get adopted, we'll all have homes."
"Separate homes. We'll be separated, Sam. We'll never see each other again. Luci, Al, Hroar, Blaise, Sofie, Francois, Runa, they'll all be gone."
"Okay, so we act as the worst kids ever. Make it so no one will want to adopt us. And even if they still want us, we'll refuse. We'll wait three more years and then we'll be sixteen, then we can all leave."
"Not everyone cares about what a kid wants."
"Constance cares."
Aventus' tone shifted dramatically, his voice trembled with rage. "Did she 'care' when Grelod poured boiling water over the girls to 'purge Dibella from their souls'? Did she 'care' when Grelod beat our faces in until our eyes were swollen shut? Did she 'care' when Grelod forbade our adoptions? Did she 'care' to do anything to prevent Grelod from hurting us?" He fell silent.
Neither spoke a word until the silence began to ring in their ears. "Sam… we have to make sure all of us get out of here, now, while we still can."
"There's no changing your mind, is there?"
"No." Something shone in Aventus' eyes… the same thing that was present when he had left Honorhall the first time… right before Grelod the Kind disappeared.
Samuel nodded. "Let's wake the others then." He approached the bed beside his and placed a hand on Runa Fair-Shield's shoulder. Aventus began to exchange excited whispers with Lucia and Alesan.
"I heard," the girl sat up in her bed and looked up at Sam. "I'm glad we're getting out of this dump." Her voice was steady, but Samuel knew Runa well: she was frightened. Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, she began to pack her few belongings.
As Aventus roused Blaise and Sofie, Samuel shook Francois' shoulder. "Francois, get up. We're leaving."
The other boy waved Samuel away.
"Francois. C'mon. It's time to go."
"Go where?" the Breton groaned.
"Out of Riften."
Francois rolled over and glared at Samuel. "Mummy and father are coming back for me, they said so."
"You've been saying that for a whole year! Face it, horker-breath, they're not coming back." Runa sneered, crossing her arms.
"THEY -"
Aventus rushed past Samuel and silenced Francois. "Don't ruin this for us, Francois. Pack your things and let's go."
The Breton boy scowled at the Imperial but said nothing.
When everyone had gathered their belongings, Aventus and Samuel exchanged a look.
It was time to wake Hroar.
"Hey, Hroar," Aventus began, tapping a hand on the Nord's back. "It's time to wake up."
The boy murmured incoherently and rubbed his nose.
"Francois." Samuel whispered, getting his attention. The pair crept toward the solid oak doors and examined them. Several chains and bolts kept the doors locked from the outside, but one lock was set from the outside.
Grelod had kept the lock in place to ensure the orphans could not escape. When Constance became the new caretaker, the children thought the doors would be unlocked, however, she claimed ruthless thieves walked the streets of Riften at night and she too locked the door to "protect" them.
The key would be with Constance, but Samuel did not want to test their luck. Instead, he asked Francois, the aspiring mage, a very simple question, "Can you unlock this?"
Placing his hands on his hips, the boy growled, "If I could, don't you think I would have opened it already by now?"
"Yeah, but you thought your parents were coming back for you. You didn't have a reason to leave." Runa sniped.
"The question still stands. Can you or can you not?" Samuel kept his voice lowered, they were so close to Constance's room… She may have been nice, but the children were not sure what to expect from the woman who had stood by, watching, as her superior tortured them.
Francois shrugged. "I might be able to… I can try." Runa and Lucia began to undo the inner locks, careful not to clatter the thin chains or snap the bolts too quickly.
As Samuel nodded, Hroar's voice called out and was quickly muffled. Aventus shushed the Nord and hauled him out of bed.
"You may want to hasten your efforts." Samuel suggested. Aventus' hand was clamped firmly on Hroar's mouth and somehow he managed to drag the taller boy across the room. However, Aventus seemed to be losing his grip as Hroar struggled and flailed.
Francois began to turn away from the double doors. "Do you realize how difficult this task -"
Pointing to the lock, Samuel snapped at the other boy, "Quickly!" He turned back to Aventus and Hroar, the latter's thrashing slowed by the former.
"Hroar, you iceskull, stop or we won't feed you!" Runa snarled.
The blonde boy's eyes widened in fear and his efforts to escape ceased.
A CLICK reached Samuel's ears, followed by Francois' voice. "Success!" Aventus pulled one of the doors in and ushered the other eight orphans out.
As his friend shut the door, Samuel ran his gaze over the streets of Riften. The fire from Balimund's forge burned dimly, barely illuminating the western side of the market. The stalls in the market circle were locked and abandoned for the night.
Several guards garbed in Riften purple stood vigil by the Temple of Mara and Mistveil Keep. Other guards trudged through the streets, pausing occasionally to converse with one another. To Samuel's relief, none had noticed the group of children.
Samuel began to turn back towards his friends when two glowing eyes froze him in place. The head appeared behind the low stone wall obscuring the stall owned by the Argonian merchant, Madesi. Two cat ears pierced with golden earrings sprouted from the furred head, the dark amber eyes locked onto the children as a famished Sabrecat gazed at a deer.
"Sam? What's -" Aventus never finished his sentence.
As the group of children noticed the Khajiit, another head peered over the low wall. The pair stood. Metal almost as black as the night itself covered the male Khajiit, silver edges gleamed bright in the moonlight. The other was a female, clothed in dark leather. Samuel could barely make out white fangs jutting out of the other's lower jaw, identifying her as an Orc.
"Thieves!" Sofie breathed in fear.
The color drained from Samuel's face as he saw long claws retract into pawed hands. Perhaps it had not been wise to leave the orphanage.
Without warning, the Orc leapt over the low wall, jumped onto the wooden balustrade overlooking the lower area of Riften, and sprang forward. She landed silently at the top of the stairs, leading down to lower Riften, adjacent to the orphanage.
Before the children could react, she approached, crouched down, and asked in a hushed tone. "What're you kids doin' out here at this hour?" The heavily armored Khajiit ran to catch up with his partner.
Samuel noted her strange accent and began to wonder whether or not they should call the guards. She was a thief, or at least garbed as one… yet it seemed impractical for a thief to associate with someone in heavy armor. And if Samuel called the guards, they would be back in Honorhall.
"I'm wondering how long we will be crouched like this," the blue Khajiit whispered. "It is not good for the knees."
Laughing slightly at her companion's comment, the Orc turned back to the children. "Let me guess, you want to get out of Riften."
Samuel glanced to Aventus. The dark-haired boy hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Right, leave it to me," the Orc woman stood up straight, towering over the orphans. She waved at the children, urging them to follow, and strode towards the gates. On either side of the open gate stood a pair of guards.
"What are you doing," Aventus hissed. "You're leading us right to the guards!"
The Orc smiled at the orphans. "Don't worry about it, c'mon."
"Do not worry, young ones," the Khajiit reassured, "She knows what she is doing." He ushered the children forward.
As they neared the open turnstile, the torchlight illuminated the Khajiit's face. His fur was a deep blue, his mane black, and Samuel was not sure if the white on his face was fur or war paint. Three bright red slashes marred the Khajiit's nose diagonally, and beneath his right eye were three more scars, rived vertically. A tiny gash cut the corner of his right eye as well. Samuel blanched, his mind spawning several horrific scenarios in which the mighty cat would have been involved in to have defaced him so.
Waving in greeting, the Orc walked past the guards. One man simply nodded in return and stated, "No lollygaggin'." The children hurried past the purple armored men and women and Samuel stared in awe as the adults barely noticed the group.
When they exited Riften, a cart came into view. Several men and a woman, each armed to the teeth, loaded a several large crates and tents onto the cart. A crimson Argonian in only black and red, spiked greaves, boots, and gauntlets barked orders, "Hurry it up guys! We don't have all night!"
The Orc thief approached the shirtless male. "Hey there, Gah-Thux. Miss me?
"What is it, Uglush?" His eyes did not meet the woman, focusing instead on the cart and the warriors loading it. His accent was outlandish, though it matched the Orc's.
"I need you to deliver something for me."
The Argonian snorted and shifted his yellow eyes to Uglush. He opened his mouth to speak, but then his gaze flashed to the children. Snapping his head back to the Orc, he glared, "Using children as smugglers. And here I thought your antics couldn't get any worse."
"I'm a thief, you're a mercenary," she raised her upturned palms into the air and shrugged. "We both do the things we do for money."
"I'm a Companion," Gah-Thux corrected, "I am not a common mercenary. I have morals." Several warriors narrowed their eyes in disdain at the Argonian's comment.
The woman folded her arms across her chest. "Look, you're going to the Throat for Marise, right? All I need you to do is drop them off at Ivarstead. It's on the way."
"And what would I be 'dropping off'? Moon sugar? Skooma? Stolen goods? Amulets of Talos?"
"You'd be dropping off nine orphans who have nowhere to go."
"What?"
Uglush's voice lowered to a whisper and Samuel strained to hear the exchange. "Look, you know how bad Honorhall is, you've read about it. Heck, Conor told us about it."
Yellow eyes gazed briefly at the children. "These are the kids?"
"Yeah."
"Which one…"
Samuel was unable to detect anything else. After several more seconds, the Argonian finally nodded and snarled at the mercenaries as they loaded the last crate. "Change of plans! Restack the crates, we've gotta make room!"
As the mercenaries groaned in outrage, Uglush smiled at the children. "You'll be on your way soon. Gah-Thux'll take care of you. You can make your way to wherever from Ivarstead, right?"
"We'll manage," Aventus nodded. "Thank you."
The thief rustled through her bag and handed each orphan a loaf of bread, a slice of cheese, and a chunk of salted meat. "This should hold you over for a little. When you get hungry or thirsty, make sure you get him to feed you, no sense in getting you this far for you to starve to death."
Each child thanked Uglush, save for Hroar who stuffed his mouth and scarfed down the small meal.
Laughing, she added, "And one more thing," she knelt down to look each of them in the eye. "Steal only what you can carry. If you don't need it, it's not worth it. Got it?"
As they nodded, Gah-Thux approached the group. "Right, we're all ready. Are you?"
The other eight orphans looked to Aventus. Fire burning in his eyes, he said, "Let's go."
For those of you who did not get the reference, the blue Khajiit was none other than Inigo the Brave. He's an awesome follower mod available on the Nexus, and you should definitely check it out… unless you like vanilla Skyrim…
I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter, feel free to PM me or submit a review to let me know if it's something you'd be interested in.