Frozen In Place
Main Character: Ariana Iceblade
Pairing: Ariana x ?
Summary: A treasure hunter by trade, the young Nord Ariana Iceblade finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place – where will she go? Who can she trust? What will she become?
Thu-thu-thud, thu-thu-thud, thu-thu-thud…
The woman opened her eyes at the familiar sound of horses' hooves pounding heavily on the earth. In the pre-dawn light, the horses seemed to fly past – their riders shouting encouragements to the beasts, urging them to go even faster.
'Divines, someone must be in a hurry,' she thought to herself, 'The sun isn't up yet. What is so important that they can't wait for a few hours? Is there some sort of race going on?'
The woman sighed. With all of that noise, there was no way she'd fall back asleep. Groggily, she started to sit up in her sleeping bag, intent on preparing for the day ahead, only to jolt at the distinctive clang of steel on steel. Making a split-second decision, the woman scrambled to hide herself and her things in the branches of a nearby tree as sounds of battle became increasingly louder. She barely dared to breathe as more men on horses rode by - this second wave of riders went at a slower pace than the first, no longer pursuing, but combing the woods. They were obviously searching for something.
'But what?'
From her vantage point she scanned the area, trying to discern what was going on. As a shadow approached, she leaned forward to get a better look. Unfortunately, that small shift in weight was the straw that broke the camel's back – or in this case, the movement that broke the tree's branch. The young tree was unable to support the combined weight of her pack (which contained her armor, weapons, and tools, among other things) and herself. This sent her crashing to the ground, drawing the attention of whoever was in the immediate vicinity.
"Hey! I've found another one, sir!" called an unfamiliar voice. "Over here! She was hiding up in the trees, and tried to launch a sneak attack. Unluckily for her, she seems to have picked the wrong tree. Seems to have taken a nasty fall. Might be going into shock."
"Hmm. That may be a problem. Heal her enough to speak – we may have some… questions for her later. Bind her, and put her with the others. Oh, and make sure to keep an eye up in the trees. Who knows how many more of these damned Stormcloaks are lying in wait? Double the guard around the prisoners."
"Yes sir, General Tullius!"
As unfamiliar, imposing forms converged on her from all sides, she seemed to shrink in on herself. Overwhelmed and confused, as well as hurt from the fall, it came as a welcome relief when darkness swept across her vision.
A/N: Hooray! After years and years of reading other people's fics, I've finally gone ahead and written my own! Unfortunately, I do not have a beta, so I will just do the best that I can and try to make this sound coherent.
This will be mainly focused on Ariana's adventures. No pairing has been decided yet, though I do have a few (male) characters in mind; I'm thinking of making a poll, but I need more suggestions! Through this story, I want to try to explore the characters of Skyrim and go on a journey of my own into the world of writing. It may be boring in the beginning, but I plan to switch up some things to make it a bit more interesting. If you have any questions or suggestions, please review and share them with me! :)
Much love,
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