Hello everyone. I wish to start off this story by saying that this is entirely based on if the dragon born never came to the Dark Brotherhood, but certain events still progressed normally while others might have sped up. So the timeline of the Prologue isn't entirely accurate to the story line of the video game. Just bear with me. I promise it will be spectacular. Thank you and enjoy!

Prologue

"What is her name?"

"Illeya. Lady Astrid."

"She is a small thing. What use do we have for such a young child?"

"Well she needs training but you will have to admit this is where she belongs."

Illeya looked up at the female that walked toward her. She laid back her ears, holding on to the robes of her caregiver. Heeva was a tall Kajiit with black fur and brown highlights. "It's alright Illeya. She will not hurt you." Illeya still clung to his robe, hissing a little at the female that approached. Illeya was a tiny snow white kitten with deep blue eyes. As a Kajiit she was only five years old, barely able to walk and speak. Heeva had been smuggling her to Skyrim from Elswyr for weeks now.

But this was her destiny since birth.

Illeya had been born unique. Her pure white fur was so snow white it could be blinding. The only variation in her fur color was a red hourglass shape on the top of her head between her ears. But there had been portents to symbolize her importance. One portent was that she was born on a day of the solar eclipse.

"Feisty little thing aren't you? We have no time here to babysit children." The woman squatting in front of Illeya had been called… Astrid? Astrid eyed the girl with misgivings. "The portents you told me about are interesting. But I still don't see any reason to keep her here. I say set her loose. If she returns alive in a few years when she is more useful then we might take her on. But right now she is of little use."

The second portent was that she was in a litter of five, four brothers of various colors and one sister. But she was the only survivor, starting off sickly and slowly getting stronger while the others died slowly after starting healthy. "The Night Mother is here, and you will not see if she speaks to Illeya?"

Astrid looked annoyed by this man for questioning her. "Very well," she snapped with evident impatience. "We will see if the Night Mother speaks to her." Astrid turned, leading them down a set of steps. Illeya remained quiet, looking around as they entered a large area with a forge a rather big man was working at, as well as a massive wall with strange writing. There was a lovely window set near a waterfall. But what caught Illeya's attention was a clown standing near a huge thing she didn't know the name of.

She smiled happily, "Clown!"

Astrid eyed the girl, "So she does speak?"

The clown walked over to Illeya. "Well, hello there little one, you are positively beautiful. You shine like the snow of this land and are twice as bright! Ooooooh, and look how you glow with our Dread Father's mark. Oh Cicero wonders if you will be powerful. Yes, power lies within you." Illeya giggled, tugging on his pant leg so the bell at his ankles jingled. She giggled again, but then her attention moved to the sarcophagus. She walked over, staring up at the scary image without an ounce of fear.

A gruff voice that came from a man that smelled like wet dog said, "I don't know why you are entertaining these fur balls. We have contracts to fulfill."

The third portent was her mother dying in childbirth. Her blood had pooled out around her final baby, a tiny white kitten covered in blood. The blood had shaped into a hand when it dried up.

Illeya stared up at the coffin as her ears twitched. "Yes mommy I'm here. Heeva brought me! He is very nice." The entire room fell silent as they watched the kitten converse with the coffin. "Yeah! I've been playing great games to learn how to be sneaky. I even used my power to hunt. I caught a mouse!" She smiled, giggling. "Alright, mommy." She turned looking to Cicero. "Mommy says um… darkness rises when silence dies."

The jester let out an excited laugh, dancing like a madman. "She is the Listener! Oh how exciting this day is! You are the listener, you are the listener. I have pleased mother dear I have!" He laughed maniacally.

Astrid held up her arms, "Wait a moment. This little fur ball is not a listener."

A vampire child then spoke up, "But Astrid it's true. I've watched this many times. When the Night Mother chooses a new Listener those are the words the Listener must speak."

Illeya looked up at the coffin, ignoring all the grown-ups talking. The clown was a little creepy now that she watched him. She listened to the whispers of the Night Mother. Then she heard a crashing sound coming from the direction of the entrance.

"Run child. You must run."

Illeya turned as Astrid rushed up the steps shouting for them to stay there. There was more shouting though indistinct, Illeya could tell it was a man and woman. Then she heard more crashing, and watched as a barrel was shoved down the steps toward them. It had a strange shining liquid pouring out as it fell, followed by three more. Suddenly the clown grabbed Illeya by the arm, "Must hide the Listener, and make you safe. Do not come out until you can run!" He shoved Illeya into the sarcophagus with the corpse inside. The door was shut. Illeya listened to muffled sounds. She couldn't tell what it was, until she heard an explosion and people screaming. Then the sarcophagus tipped and fell backwards, splashing into the shallow pool. Water began to flow in, making Illeya mew in her fear.

Heeva cried out, "Where is Illeya? Where is she? This smoke…" Illeya heard him coughing. She wanted to shout but the water was filling up the sarcophagus fast. She pounded on the doors, but they were too heavy for a kitten.

She heard the clown shout, "Drowning with the night Mother. Oh now! Quickly, get her out!" Illeya could hear them trying to move something heavy off the coffin. Then the lid opened. Illeya mewed at Heeva when she saw him. Then the smoke flooded in and she was coughing.

Heeva picked her up. "Cicero is there a way out of here?"

Cicero looked around, "Only for her, a vent! Yes a vent will do! This way!"

The two adults rushed through the throngs of soldiers pushing burning barrels of oil into the already burning fires. Illeya was passed to Cicero so Heeva could draw his sword. Heeva took the head off one man, hissing and roaring his rage. Cicero kept running, drawing a dagger. Every attack was precise and vicious. Every movement took a life as he moved up the steps. He killed a soldier standing next to a window opening to sunlight. "Go now little Listener. Go now and survive. Run, run, and run! Do not come back until the time is right. You are the Listener, I have pleased mother dearest!" Cicero used a hammer from the burning table to break away the frame that kept the hole from collapsing. He then shoved the little kitten through the opening. Illeya wiggled through the opening, pulling herself through. She turned to the clown, and he yanked a bell off his hat. He handed it to her. "When you can fight without ever making noise in this bell, you know you will be ready. Go little one!"

Illeya shook the bell. But it was broken, there was nothing inside to make the metal jingle. Illeya rushed away from the window, gasping when she saw more soldiers. She hid in a bush, pulling a hood over her head. White fur was good in snow but she had black clothes when not in snow. She used this advantage and snuck away. She kept running for what felt like hours. Until the sanctuary was nothing more than a smoke line in the air, showing that it burned. She kept running, until even the smoke line was in the distance. She ran until the little kitten could no longer run. Then she dropped into a bush, panting heavily and shaking with fear.

The tiny kitten let out a little mew, knowing she would never see Heeva again.