A/N: I do not own Elder Scrolls. Totally wish I did, but nope. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

Aria darted around the corner and leaned against the stone wall to catch her breath. The sound of the soldiers pursuing her grew louder for a moment, then faded. She looked down at the small loaf of bread in her hand. "All this for a single loaf of bread?" she muttered.

She waited for several minutes, then cautiously emerged from her hiding place. A quick look around confirmed that there were no guards in sight, but still, the nineteen-year old girl was careful to stay out of sight as she wove her way through the streets of the Imperial City.

The sun had almost set by the time Aria arrived at the tiny hovel in the Waterfront District that she called home. The pile of broken boards and driftwood sheltered a few blankets and the few possessions that she could call her own. Aria crawled inside to put the bread away, then went to the water's edge to check the fish trap she'd set earlier. Because of the constant boat traffic, fish didn't often come near the shore, but when they did, she tried to catch them.

The water's surface briefly reflected her blonde hair and green eyes before the little fish in her trap wriggled and caught her attention. She pulled it out and used a nearby rock to kill it before bringing it back to her shack. Aside from tossed-away scraps and the occasional stolen bread loaf, she practically lived on what few fish she could catch. If one could call this living, that is.

Aria built a small fire and skewered the fish to cook. Tomorrow, she would go through the same thing. And the next day. And the day after that. In all likelihood, she would keep doing this same thing until the day she died. Aria breathed in deeply, but her sigh of resignation turned into one of appreciation as the aroma of cooking fish filled her nose.

The young Imperial retrieved half of the bread and sat down to enjoy her meager supper. This was a feast compared to her usual fare. Once she was finished, she washed her face and hands in the Rumare and sat in the doorway of her hovel. As was her habit, she watched the stars twinkle and picked out the stars forming the Thief, her birthsign. Those born under the sign of the Thief were supposedly blessed with greater luck and were more agile and stealthy than others. Aria was naturally limber and her life on the streets had made her stealthy, but the only luck she'd had so far was bad.

She lifted a quick prayer to any of the Nine that might be listening to a penniless orphan, then crawled inside. She lay awake for a while imagining all sorts of impossible changes in her life, then finally fell asleep and dreamed her favorite dream: having a family again.

The next day was just like every other. Aria woke early, ate half of a moldy apple for breakfast, then went to wander the streets of the Market District. With all of the travelers coming to buy and sell, the Market usually had the best to offer for a beggar.

Unfortunately, the day was not a productive one. After a long day of begging, being told to move along by the City Watch, and being kicked out of the way, she returned home. There was no fish in the trap that evening, so she settled for the other half of her stolen bread loaf for diner. She went through her usual evening routine, and as she gazed at the stars that night, she prayed that something would happen to change her luck. She had no idea that her prayer would be answered much sooner than she imagined.

The following day, Aria woke and headed to the Market District. She was out of food again, so it was time to either steal something or hope for a fish in her trap. Late that afternoon, she was eyeing some strips of dried meat and trying to figure out how to get some without being seen. She was distracted when someone shouted from behind her. She turned to see a Redguard running across the street, yelling for her to stop.

Aria ran. The Redguard was the shopkeeper who had caught her stealing the loaf of bread two days earlier. He had set the Watch on her trail. It seemed he hadn't forgotten about her.

She ducked down an alley and waited, trying to keep her breathing low. After several long minutes, she poked her head around the corner. Nothing. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned around...bringing her face to face with the shopkeeper.

"I've got you now," he said, grabbing her wrist.

"I don't think so," Aria said. In a quick move, she twisted her arm, breaking his grasp and ducking under his arm to come up behind him. She wrapped her arm around his neck and squeezed, choking him. She applied more and more pressure, enough so that he stopped struggling. Still, she squeezed.

At last, her grip loosened and she dropped him. He slid to the ground, eyes staring blankly ahead. Aria stared at him, then looked at her hands. She had just killed a man. Now that the moment had passed, she couldn't believe what she had just done.

I have to get out of here, she thought. She didn't remember how, but somehow she got out of the alley without being seen, leaving the body where it had fallen. As she made her way back to the Waterfront, she had the eerie feeling that someone was watching her. She turned several times to look behind her, but each time she looked, there was nothing there. Once she was back at her little shack, she ducked inside and sat on her blankets with her head in her hands.

"How could this have happened? Why me?" she whispered desperately. She had to get out of the Imperial City. The City Watch would be looking for her. It wouldn't be long before someone discovered the body. If anyone had seen her running, they could tell the Watch what she looked like. She had to get out.

Aria stood up. She pulled an old sack from the bottom of her pile of things and began packing. Two of her blankets, the ones with the fewest holes, went into the sack, along with a single book, her flints, and a spare shirt. She closed up the sack and threw it over her shoulder.

She took a moment to pause in the doorway. This shack had been her only home for the last eleven years. Now she had to leave it behind. She felt a sadness at closing this chapter of her life, but she had to leave. She had no other choice.

She left the Waterfront and headed for the gates of the city. A few guards glanced at her as she passed, but evidently, word of the murder hadn't spread yet. No one stopped her as she left the Imperial City.

As she made her way across the bridge, she thought about her next move. She couldn't live in the forest or on the plains without some kind of shelter. She had no money to buy a place to live. Her best chance would be to walk to another city and make a new life for herself there. She could go to Cheydinhal or Chorrol, or maybe Anvil. Anvil was a port town. With any luck, she could beg for passage to another part of Tamriel. Yes, she would go there. She shifted her sack to the other shoulder and kept walking.

Darkness had fallen by the time Aria made camp, several miles from the Imperial City. She had walked as quickly as possible in order to put as much distance as possible between her and the city. She lit a fire, laid out her blankets, and sat down. She had no food, but it wasn't the first time she'd gone without eating. By habit, her eyes wandered to the sky, but a thick layer of clouds hid the stars from view.

"If you can spare any help right now, I'd sure appreciate it," Aria prayed. There was no miraculous answer, so she crawled into bed, tossing and turning for a long time before falling into a restless sleep.