The Calling

by

silleevad1

Hi, and welcome to my FanFiction. This is my first, so I kind of feel like Wendy walking the plank on Captain Hook's ship. This story revolves around my female Dragonborn, and mostly takes place before the events of "Skyrim". I intend on reserving her adult exploits for another time, however, do not let this fool you into thinking that this is a children's story.

I am an experienced writer, but I haven't written anything in years. It will remain to be seen, as to whether or not, I can pull off a FanFiction piece. I hope to leave teases at the end of each chapter. I welcome any reviews, both positive and negative, to which I plan to respond via PM, but please try to keep your criticisms constructive, as that will really be the only way for the story to improve. I hope you can enjoy this, and thank you for giving me your time.

Chapter 1

Reflections and Contemplations

4E 184, 1st Morning Star...2200

The night was pleasant, as were most nights in the Cyrodiilic lowlands. Masser and Secunda were both visible this night as they made their slow journey across the night sky of Nirn. The Imperial City was bathed in their light, almost as bright as day, but not quite that bright.

At this hour of the night, there was little traffic on the streets, except for patrolling guards, and two other figures walking through the Talos Plaza, a middle- aged man and a teenage girl. They were slowly headed in the direction of the Elven Gardens. Upon closer inspection, the worn, haggard looks on both of their faces, gave explanation to their slow pace.

Despite their fatigued appearance, they were both well attired. The man, Marcus Largomarsina, physician savant, was dressed in fine dark blue robes, with an extravagant gold medallion hanging around his neck. He was short of stature, even by Imperial standards, standing just slightly taller than the girl next to him. He wore a thick mane of shoulder-length, salt and pepper hair. He was a handsome man, with well-tanned skin, finely chiseled features, a sharp nose, piercing dark brown eyes, and a black mustache and goatee, flecked with gray.

The girl walking beside him, was his sixteen year old daughter, Diana. Small and petite, she did not even stand as tall as her father. She wore a brown hooded robe, and due to her weariness and fatigue, she had thrown back the hood, to allow some invigoration from the evening's fresh and pleasant air. Her jet black hair was braided into a long queue at the back of her head, while her shorter bangs were neatly parted, and swept to both sides of her head, hanging loosely at her temples. She wore gold and garnet earrings that dangled against her perfectly tanned, smooth neck. She resembled her father a great deal, with the same dark piercing brown eyes, but instead of his angular features, her face was more full and soft, and her straight nose, was not nearly as long and sharp. She was definitely a head-turner, and her voluptuous lips just begged for some young Imperial to steal a kiss, but alas, Diana was not a flirt, and neither did she have time in her young life for romance.

As they walked, Diana took a moment to reflect on their most recent task. They had just spent over twenty-seven hours in a large house in the Talos Plaza, delivering a baby on the 1st of Morning Star. The mother and the new-year baby, were both doing fine now, so that had to be a good omen, but there was more than one occasion during the long day, when Diana had her doubts.

The expectant mother was not unlike herself, being of a slight build, and she had gone into labor when she was due, but for some reason or other, her cervix would not dilate. After countless attempts at pushing, the baby could not get through the narrow opening.

By now, the mother was completely exhausted and flitted in and out of consciousness. They could not continue to try forcing the baby out, or the mother would start to hemorrhage. If that happened, she would be as good as dead, because no amount of healing potions would be able to stop, or replace that much blood loss.

Diana's father stopped everything at that point. He calmly washed his hands, dried them off, and left the room to speak with the expectant father, while Diana stayed in the room, attempting to comfort the mother as much as possible. Diana knew the routine. Her father had become Cyrodiil's foremost expert on difficult childbirths. Marcus would counsel the father, and tell him that in order to save both mother and child, now was the time to forego natural childbirth, and implement his fairly new method of surgical birth.

Diana thought back on the many years that had brought her father and herself to this point in time. It had begun with her own birth, when her mother, Portia, had died giving birth to her. The guilt and regret to save his wife, was apparent in her father even today, over sixteen years later. Although, she could not remember any details of her first few years, Diana knew her father well enough to know that he had resolved to do whatever he could to prevent birthing deaths.

Through diligent research, Marcus had learned that Khajitti healers in Elsweyr, had an incredible survival rate for birthing mothers and their newborns, and that they would implement some type of surgical procedure that would entirely bypass a difficult labor.

On Diana's fifth birthday, Marcus determined she was old enough to travel, and took her with him on a nine-year journey through Elsweyr, covering the desert badlands in the north, and the dense jungle woodlands to the south. They visited every city and every tribe, stopping wherever there was a shaman or healer. Their stay in each location would usually last several months, as Marcus would confer with the local healers, taking extensive notes.

As Diana grew older, he taught her how to read and write. She read every book she could get her hands on. In time, her fluency advanced so far to the point, that she became his secretary and note-taker. As such, she too became all too familiar with the arts of Khajiiti healing.

Of course, Marcus' primary focus was always on how the Khajiit prevented expectant mothers and their babies from dying during labor. He and his daughter became such ingrained fixtures in the communities they visited, that they would eventually be allowed to observe, what Marcus termed, "groundbreaking surgical procedures". Over time, he was even allowed to participate in these procedures.

Marcus' next step was to establish a traveling practice, where he and Diana would visit villages that were scarce in healers or shamans. It was difficult at first, to coax the Khajiit into trusting the birth of their kittens to an outsider, but with several recommendations from the healers he had worked with, a few were enticed to trust him. Such trust usually came with a not-so-veiled threat of death, if he failed. Obviously, he didn't fail, and became renowned as the great Imperial healer, albeit, most of the Khajiit would still prefer a Khajiiti healer, over the outsider if they had a choice.

After studying the similarities between Khajiiti and human biology, Marcus determined that there were few differences between the two species, other than outward appearances, and hence, at least theoretically, the same surgical procedures could be applied to humans. Thus it was time for him and his daughter to return to Cyrodiil.

Upon their return, Marcus immediately re-opened his practice in the Imperial City. After conferring with his peers, Marcus received doubtful, and sometimes scathing ridicule whenever he would broach the subject of surgical birth. The moment soon came, however, when one of Marcus' patients needed an alternative to natural childbirth. The prospective parents were unwilling at first to let him operate, but when he insisted that mother and child would probably die if he did not, they acquiesced.

The rest was history. Word soon spread, and since that time Marcus' reputation only grew, as a one hundred percent survival rate of mothers and babies disproved his most vehement detractors. He now not only found his peers conferring with him on the subject of difficult childbirth, but referring their patients to him as well.

Diana only wished that everything involving her father could end so happily. Deep in her heart, she knew that he resented her existence, even to this very day. She had to admit that he never verbally blamed her for Portia's death, but neither did the subject ever come up. She had observed parents with their new babies, and had seen them together a year or two later, and the love between parent and child was still there. She had never had that kind of experience or loving care. Not that her father did not take care of her, but it was more like a duty or responsibility. In addition, he was almost coldly detached from her, always treating her as a professional assistant, and never as his flesh and blood. In her mind, at least, the resentment was clearly there.

Lost in thought, Diana suddenly noticed that her father had stopped, and there before them, stood the front door to their home in the Elven Gardens. Well, she supposed that didn't take very long, especially when one had much to think about.

Upon entering their home, Marcus immediately retired to his study. Diana knew that he would want to organize and comprise his notes on their latest case, written mostly by her, while they were still fresh in his mind. He would probably not eat tonight, and would most likely fall asleep at his desk out of pure exhaustion, but she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't want to be bothered with food tonight.

On the other hand, Diana couldn't ignore the fact that she had not eaten in at least twenty-seven hours. She was famished, and walked into the kitchen. She opened the pantry, and lugged a loaf of bread, a goat cheese wheel, and a jug of milk to the table. She then went to the apple barrel, and pulled out a bright red apple, laying it on the table as well. After that she took out a plate, cup, knife, and napkin from a cupboard, and sat down for a quick bite to eat.

As she chewed on her cheese sandwich, and chased it with a swallow of milk, Diana thought more about her life, and what she should do. Most girls her age were courting significant others, with the eventual prospect of marriage in their futures. Diana had not even been around single young men her age, and no doubt her father would find something negative to frown about that.

To be perfectly honest with herself, she really wanted to seek out recommendations to attend the Arcane University, and specialize in the School of Restoration Magic. She mused on this, as she reached for the apple, wiping it off with the napkin, and buffing it to a shine. She examined it closely. Still good, firm, and no worm holes either. She set it on the plate, and cut it into quarters.

As she ate the wedges, one by one, she continued thinking. Her father would never allow her to take the time off to seek out those recommendations, much less to attend the Arcane University. Diana could already hear her father's objections. He would claim that they were doing good work here, and that he needed her assistance in his practice. On top of all that, she knew that he was zealously opposed to any use of magic anyway, as he always claimed that science and medicine were the true hallmarks of an enlightened civilization.

She drained the last bit of milk from her cup, got up from the table, and put away the food. Then she cleaned up the dishes, and stored them away as well. Now that she had a full stomach, she felt the exhaustion was about to put her to sleep, so she decided it was time to walk a little bit further to her upstairs room, to get ready for bed.

In her room, Diana removed her earrings, and placed them in the nightstand beside her bed. As she disrobed, the soft candlelight in her room, gave evidence to her well-developed figure, albeit on a rather small frame. She undid her queue and fluffed out her long hair.

Diana pondered her father's disapproval of magic some more. Isn't magic just a science, that the so-called educated have failed to learn or recognize? As she climbed into bed, she said silently to herself, "Yes. I believe that is exactly what it is." That still didn't make her feel any more confident in approaching her father on the subject. Still meditating on possibilities, she quickly drifted off to sleep from pure weariness.

Coming up next in Chapter 2, an unexpected visitor, and a life-altering event. Once again, reviews are welcome, and feel free to send me a PM.