Disclaimer; I own nothing.
The Outcast Hero
Introduction
By: Akuma Usagi
AN: This is a slightly dull chapter, but it is needed to show the characters known history and the idea of the story. Let me know what you think, If the majority thinks "This SUCKS!" I won't write anymore. The first chapter should be following soon after this intro but don't hold me to that. Anyways, enjoy!
The life of an orphan isn't the easiest. On top of that, the life of a freak is worse. My name is Cilia Redwater, friends and family call me Cil, and I am half argonian. The other half? Imperial.
My mother was an argonian, a rare kind with black and red scales. The trait was passed down through her clan for generations. After her brother died she was the only one left. These strange genes gave me a weird…mutation. When I am touched by water I become argonian, when I am dry I am a Imperial. My eyes, however, were always that of a lizard. My mother said it was a survival instinct, my father said it was something else. Like he knew, but he would never tell me.
I mentioned the orphan thing before, well my parents were robbed when I was a child and the thief panicked and killed them. He couldn't bring himself to kill me I suppose, being only 4 years old at the time. I had to live on the streets of Skingrad for a while, hoping for a scrap of food to fall. When I was blamed for a robbery that I didn't commit they didn't throw me in jail. No, no they threw me in a cart with a bag over my head and we rode all the way to the Imperial city. They dropped me in the river there and yelled that I should stay there and become the monster that I was. I tried to climb back out of the water and they shot arrows at me. So I did the only thing I could do; I dived in to the icy, cold water and swam.
I was eight years old.
I swam for awhile before I realized I'd been hit. I went to shore and saw a hunters camp far off. My vision started to go blurry, and I managed to crawl halfway to the camp before my vision went black.
That is how Marcel found me. A kind redguard with black hair and brown eyes, he'd been a hunter for awhile. But he never saw something like me. He found me as I was beginning to dry; as scales turned to skin, fins turned to hair, and claws turned to fingers. He was amazed so he took me home and nursed me back to health.
Marcel has been like a father to me, for all intent and purposes he is my father, but still I keep the faded painting of my family.
Marcel showed his dedication to me in the greatest way five years ago, when I had been with him for six years. We had kept my transformations secret for all that time. However, one day an old beggar saw me go for a swim. She ran to tell authorities about my situation. Marcel bribed her, saying he would give her a hundred gold and, eventually, a place to live. After that he decided we had to move.
Cities were too dangerous, so we started a secret project. We hiked around the general area of Imperial City until we found a hill with an odd rock formation. Than we began our work. Always by torchlight in the night, protected by the hill, we began by moving the rocks. The hill itself was slightly horseshoe shaped and quite large. Not that it needed to be for our purposes. We maneuvered the rocks to create an archway with a six foot tall rock in the middle. We hollowed out the rock and dug inside for the entrance. Finally we rigged the rock to a chain and put our entrance in. People who knew about it only need push the rock in all the way to a snug outlet past the first tunnel. When inside they would pull a chain and the rock would be pulled back in to place.
Next we began constructing the tunnels, always six feet tall with a ribbed wooden support to eliminate the possibility of cave-ins. The first tunnel went all the way to the back of the hill, where we dug out a small set up of two bedrooms and a living, cooking, and relaxing main room. Than we went back and dug out another room directly at the tunnel with storage. Finally we built a third tunnel, with another set-up like ours for the old beggar woman. With a few doors added in and some decorations the place felt like home. After a little less then a year we had a place to stay, away from prying eyes, but still close enough to the city to make a living.
The old woman, Alva Greenwood, was brought a few days later. She loved the idea, and finally revealed her secret. She was a master magician, a sorceress, learned in all the schools of magic. She was a prime member and leader of the Mages Guild, until a grave misunderstanding led to her being kicked out. After that she couldn't get a job, even the Arena didn't trust her. She thanked us, apologized to me, and helped with a few last minute touches. With her help she reinforced the tunnels, and in-fact the entire hill to make sure no cave-ins would occur in any future tunnels. She hid the door, making the rock too heavy unless a counter spell, a password some would say, was uttered. The small complex was complete.
Than the word got out, underground that is, and soon more people joined us. Mabrel, a Breton who was too weak to work, joined us after only a month. We helped build her a one room area, but after that we made an official "you build it yourself" policy on those who were able. The entire point was to live on your own after all. After that came Dro'Ba and his son J'Dato, after a year, and the two Khajiits had no problem digging their own living space. They even offered to help with future tunnels.
After the original six of us seven more came; Godrel, Braste, and their twins Joldi and Haaki. Siltal came by herself, a young seamstress with only her skill and needles and thread to her name. Yazgar Mughar and her husband Bogamu Shug came last, the orcs needed a larger space but they are nice enough.
The whole community got along well. They could work in the city when they needed, buy what they wanted, but never had to pay to stay with us.
We keep two store rooms for everyone to use. One for food, plants, herbs, medicines. Another for weapons, scrolls, clothes, armor, and everything needed for defense. We even dug out a practice area for weapons and magic. Bogamu gives me hand-to-hand training just about every week. Bro'Ba trained me to use the bow and arrow, and Braste is still teaching me to use the sword.
Our lives ran well, at least for a little while.