Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
All the Ends of the Earth
Chapter 1: Burning Day
Hi world! This is a co-op between Lady Pryde and Mkeeg91. We've been debating this one for some time before finally agreeing to write it. We hope you enjoy!
Our attempt at writing our own version of Skyrim the game. We're hoping that some people enjoy it even though this story has been overdone. This is one of Kitty's role play female Nord's who has a rather sad past, which will greatly affect her through her travels and decisions. As we go further, we're hoping readers will give opinions of quests, locations, followers, etc that they want included that will fit the flow of our story. We may not take your idea, but ALL ideas will be considered and debated off screen. We do warn that she is rather anti-Thalmor as you'll learn early on, so she will not join the Empire no matter what. Whether or not she joins the Stormcloaks is unknown at this point because honestly Mkeeg hates Ulfric even if he likes the Stormcloak's stance. Kitty personally doesn't care much for him either, but she is less of a Stormcloak fan as well.
Warnings of mature talk (no sex though, only roughly mentioned). Talk of blood, death, beatings, abuse and rape are (abuse and rape past tense and won't actually occur in the story itself). You have been warned!
This doesn't belong to us. Only Kitty's character(s?) belongs to her along with her (their?) past(s). The rest we're merely playing with and warping to fit my slightly altered storyline. Expect to see other characters that we've both made (don't worry, not all of them because Mkeeg alone has made over 15 by now and Kitty at least half a dozen… we're thinking no more than three or four will show up, so if your favorite quest line isn't done by Kate, then maybe one of the other's may do that quest line instead.
Please forgive if the lines aren't 100% correct… or even close in some cases. For some scenes I'm writing the lines ab memorium.
Hope you all enjoy!
A cart was rattling down a road through the wilderness of Skyrim. A man wearing brown and red armor sat in the front seat, guiding the horse pulling the cart. In the back were four people, all with their wrists bound, though one was also gagged with a cloth. The first was a rather average looking man in a simple, yet tattered tunic. The second was also a man wearing a brown leather-like armor. It appeared to have a chain mail under layer if the poking out sleeves were any hint. Over top of the leather was a blue cloth like material that wrapped around the man's neck and down his chest diagonally. Leather straps crisscrossed his chest. The locals knew the armor as the standard armor of the Windhelm Guard, but more significantly as the armor of the Stormcloaks. The third man was wearing fine garments that were also armor plated. Both shoulders were covered by fur, which he wore like a coat over the armor. It was also noted that his mouth was stuffed with a cloth.
The final person was the only female of the group. Wearing similar rags as the first person, except for one significant difference; hers were ripped in parts, and blotched with stains that looked oddly like blood. If the others had been able to see her back, they would have noticed the torn fabric looked as if the wearer had been flogged in the past. This was partially due to the long, thin gashes in it… and the blood stains to match them. The woman looked like she might have been attractive at one point, but at the moment, she looked only like a shell of her former self; her right eye was bruised from getting punched there only days before… for making a meal that was too hot. She had deep, red hair in a ponytail in the back. On either side of her head, her hair was braided, and framing her face were a few strands of loose hair. Her body was covered in dirt, grime, and blood from lack of bath and proper care. She was practically skin and bones, extremely skinny due to the small amounts of food she had been given for the past few years. Her back, arms, and legs were covered in scars from blades and whips for mistakes she may or may not have made while in the 'care' of her last Masters.
That's correct, she had been a slave of a Thalmorian Agent and his five Justiciars only days before when she had escaped… only to be caught up in an Imperial Ambush of a Stormcloak Squad. The Imperials didn't even stop to consider how differently she appeared than the Stormcloaks before one bashed her behind the head with his shield. She had been knocked unconscious and hadn't woken in the two days since due to her already sickly nature. She was currently still unconscious.
The cart was rattling down a road through the wilderness, which seemed to jar the woman awake. Looking around, she noticed her company just as the man in the uniform, noticed her awake.
Hey! You're finally awake?" he paused for a second, but the woman said nothing. "You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there?" the woman shook her head.
"I've been here already for a couple of days before I was caught with your group," she replied quietly. "I just happened across your group trying to… start anew," she said frowning and turning slightly away from him. The Nord Stormcloak chuckled.
"Typical Empire," he said, before the thief broke in.
"Damn you Stormcloaks," he growled. "If they hadn't been searching for you, I could have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell by now…"
"We're all brothers and sisters in bonds now, thief," replied the Nord once more, before lapsing into silence.
The woman looked around. She didn't recognized these woods, but they were better than the ones from back 'home'. She mentally scoffed at calling that place home! Home was where you were loved and felt safe. Not a place where you felt fear and anger; a place full of pain from beatings, lack of food, and… abuse. She shuddered trying to forget the nights when her Masters would use her for their own gratification as she tried not to cry. As she looked wistfully up at the trees knowing that no matter what happened she would never be their slave again, the thief's voice broke the silence.
"What's wrong with him, then?" he asked, jerking his head toward the gagged man.
"Watch your tongue!" spat the Stormcloak. "You are speaking of Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King!"
"Wait, Ulfric Stormcloak? Jarl of Windhelm? If they captured him, then… Oh Gods—where are they taking us?" cried the thief, terror seizing his heart.
"Be quiet back there!" yelled the Imperial driving the cart.
No sooner had he spoken then the tower of the keep, Helgen rose above the tree line. It was not long afterward that the cart rolled through the gates, which were sealed behind the caravan, and pulled to a stop.
As the cart stopped, so did the woman's heart.
'An executioner… so from slave to prisoner now to the chop block… well at least if I die here, those Thalmor bastards won't get the satisfaction of being the ones to kill me,' she thought morosely already mentally preparing herself for her coming death.
The prisoners rose solemnly, descending from the cart one by one as another Nord, an Imperial, checked them off a list. The woman heard that the Stormcloak from her cart was "Ralof, of Riverwood."
Suddenly there was a commotion, and the thief pushed through the line of people. "You've made a mistake! I'm not one of them, I'm not a rebel," which fell on deaf ears. Seeing no alternative, he decided to make his escape, "
You won't kill me," he cried, running as quickly as his bound hands would let him in an attempt to reach the gate.
"Archers!" yelled the Imperial Captain, a Redguard woman clad from head to toe in Imperial heavy armor. As one, the archers turned and shot towards the thief, who was lucky enough to not be hit by one arrow, but the second caught him in the back causing him to fall and lay still, bleeding out on the road. The Captain turned back, eyes flashing, she looked at the rest of the prisoners. "Anyone else?" No one moved or answered.
"You there," said the Imperials' list keeper. "You're not on the list. Who are you?" He gestured for the woman to step forward.
"I am… Kitty, but please call me Kate," she said, hating the pet name the Thalmor gave her. She stood with her head held high, knowing that there was little chance of surviving this, but not as scared anymore as she had been upon first arriving. "I crossed the border into Skyrim this week to escape slavery," she said not bashful or embarrassed in the slightest having long gotten over her position as a slave.
The Nord looked sadly at his kinsman. She had been beautiful in the past; her face was shallow yet not unattractive even in her thinner than healthy shape, her cheeks flushed with anger, her eyes shining determinedly with a bright shade of green. He believed her story; she was not wearing Stormcloak armor, nor did she even look capable of wielding a weapon, she was so skinny… and weak looking. Heck she barely was standing without wobbling! He turned to look at the captain.
"Captain, what do we do? She's not on the list," he said.
"Forget the List! She goes to the block with the rest of them," growled the Redguard, staring into Kate's eyes. Kate was of course angry with the woman, but she had already known that there was no hope for her anymore. The Empire was almost as bad as their Thalmor puppet masters as she had learned over the years.
"I—I'm sorry," murmured the Nord. "At least you'll die here, in Skyrim." Kate nodded slightly and turned to follow the Captain at the orders of the Nord. She stood among the group of Stormcloaks.
As Kate stood in the lineup listening to the priestess of Arkay prattle on about death and Sovngarde, an otherworldly sound echoed across the sky.
"What was that?" asked an Imperial.
"It was nothing. Continue on," said General Tullius, the Imperial commander in Skyrim, casting his eyes about the town.
"For the love of Talos!" cried a redheaded Stormcloak, "Shut up and let's get on with this." He stormed up to the block and stood before the executioner. The Captain placed her foot on his back and forced him down onto his knees before placing his head on the cutting stone.
"My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperial. Can you say the same?"
A moment later, the sound of metal hitting stone rang through Helgen and the man's body tipped over slowly, his head falling heavily into the basket on the other side of the block.
"You Imperial bastards!" "Justice!" "Death to the Stormcloaks!" cried out the voices of the villagers.
"Next, the skinny Nord!" bellowed the Imperial captain. Kate just walked forward as if she was going to town. With her head held high, she walked straight up the executioner and looked him in the eye. If she hadn't been paying attention she would have missed his next words: "Just think of this as putting you out of your misery. I can tell you've had it rough."
She looked back at him and oddly enough, her eyes shown her gratitude to the man who was just doing his job.
The eerie sound echoed through the mountains again, and the earth trembled slightly. It was much closer this time.
As Kate laid her neck on the block, still damp with the blood of its previous victim, a deafening roar rent the sky and the ground quaked.
"What in Oblivion is that!" cried General Tullius. The Imperial captain called to the men posted atop the keep.
"Sentries, what do you see?"
But her question was answered a moment later when a hulking black beast soared over the mountaintop and crashed down atop one of the towers.
"A dragon!" someone screamed unnecessarily.
~STRUN…TOR…SHUL!~
Seconds later, dark clouds began to form and giant rocks fell the sky, striking some of her unlucky companions, Imperials, and villagers without pity or care.
Kate rolled off of the rock to her left and right into the body of the executioner who lay dead beside her. She noticed his axe beside his body, so she quickly shifted her hands near the blade and started to saw her bonds back and forth against it, freeing herself.
Turning to the executioner, she closed his eyes and looked around before hearing the dragon shout:
~YOL…TOR…SHUL!~
Flames erupted from the dragon's mouth. Kate saw women and men alike set alight. Quickly grabbing the executioner's axe, a small iron dagger, and his coin purse, she scrambled into one of the stone towers and found herself in the company of a few Stormcloak soldiers, including Ralof, from her wagon, and the Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak.
"Jarl Ulfric," said Ralof, "what is that thing? Could the legends be true?"
"Legends," said Ulfric darkly, "don't burn down villages."
Kate looked around and noticed the only female Stormcloak laying on the ground holding her stomach in pain and the ground was quickly becoming covered in her blood. Another Nord was trying to comfort her in her last few minutes; there would be no survival for her without proper potions.
Another Stormcloak was standing off to the side looking lost and confused. Ralof rushed over to her with a look of surprise yet glee at the giant axe in her hands though he quickly looked up to her eyes.
"Let's head up stairs and try to escape," he said. She nodded her head and proceeded to slowly climb the steps in her weary state. She used the axe to help support herself. Just as she reached the halfway landing, the wall was blasted in and the dragon was there!
~YOL…TOR…SHUL!~
The unlucky Stormcloak who was standing there caught the blast straight on and was dead in seconds before the dragon flew off.
"You'll have to jump! See the building next to us? Jump down to it and make your way to the street. Hopefully we can use the confusion and run for it!"
Kate stood before the hole in the tower, staring down at the burning inn below. She wasn't sure if she would make it with her current strength, but nodded her head.
"I'll follow you, but I have to make sure my men get out," Ralof said, urging her forward.
Shaking her head at his answer, she tossed the axe down first and was happy to see it make its way into the inn hopefully far enough away so she wouldn't land on it on accident.
She then launched herself across the gap, landing on the second floor of the inn. She felt a quick, sharp pain on her wrist and noticed that she hadn't quite cleared the flames. Her wrist was burnt badly and she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. The jump had also caused her ankles to throb in pain, but she stumbled through the flames, picked up her axe with her good hand, and dropped to the first floor. She quickly hid behind a wall and looked out on to the street. An old man in iron armor, the list keeper, and a boy were all hiding behind a building just as the dragon burnt another person. The dragon flew off and the group made a run for the Imperials.
Kate knew this was her chance, so she limped out onto the street and ducked behind the remainders of a house and hid. Luck was against her as the dragon landed right above her, but fortunately it didn't notice her as it was looking at the soon to be dead Imperial right in front of it. Right before her eyes, yet another person was burnt alive. She hugged herself and dropped the axe next to her as she slid to the ground, trying to rid herself of the need to throw up at the sight of the charred body only a dozen feet in front of her.
The dragon's vicious roars snapped Kate back into reality and she stood up, picked up her axe, and with ankles still sore, she ran toward the keep, where she ran into Ralof once more.
He looked delighted to see that she had survived and said "Follow me, in here! We should be safe for the time being."
He grabbed her hand and she screamed out in pain since his fingers brushed her burn. He quickly looked down and let go of her wrist. He looked at her in concern knowing she was definitely not in the best shape for this sort of thing. He wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her walk towards the door. He shut it firmly behind them and caught his breath.
Catching sight of a Stormcloak sprawled on the ground, he walked over to the limp figure, checked for a heartbeat, then stood up once more.
"We will meet again in Sovngarde, sister," he murmured, so softly that Kate had to lean forward to hear. After a brief moment of prayer, Ralof turned to her.
"You might as well take Naela's armor," he said. "She won't be needing it anymore…" Quickly Kate removed the woman's armor as he kindly turned away to protect her modesty. She thought that was sweet of him, but after all those years as a slave, her care for modesty was next to nil. She quickly removed her rags and slowly donned the armor. She started with the thin chainmail under layer, before adding the leather components and then wrapping the belt around her waist. The blue cloth was part of the leather it appeared, so she did nothing about it. She then grabbed the fur gauntlets and boots putting them on. She shredded the hated rags and tossed them in the corner. Then picked up the iron war axe and after attaching it to the loop on her belt, she looked to Ralof, while picking up her larger axe off of the ground slightly leaning on it.
"I'm decent. Lead the way," she said.
He nodded and said, "now lets find a way out of here. Hopefully along the way we can find some potions for some of those wounds and your burn". He looked at her in concern and she just smiled tiredly in return.
"Thank you for your concern, but I've had worse," she said with complete honesty. Ralof only shook his head, but quickly straightened up with the sound of metal hitting rock from behind them. 'Footsteps!' With a finger over his mouth, they quickly hid on either side of the small gate.
"Open this gate!" cried a very familiar female voice. Kate smirked at her good fortune and held her executioner axe in two hands, ready for use.
"Yes, Captain!" cried out a second voice Kate recognized.
'The list keeper!' she thought with concern. The gate opened and the two ran into the room. Kate quickly moved up behind the Captain and said, "Why did you order my death? Just because it gives you the jollies? Or worse? Do you get off on other's pain?" she asked with a fake sweet voice and smile.
The two Imperials turned around and the male quickly diverted his face as the blood of his commanding officer splashed on him.
Kate had swung her axe diagonally when the Captain started to turn decapitating the woman with a sick glee she didn't know existed. Ralof looked on with shock and a little envy at the power behind the axe.
The remaining Imperial quickly dropped his sword and shield before raising his arms. "Please don't kill me! It's hell on Earth out there and I'm just happy to have escaped alive! I won't act against either of you if you let me live. I'll even help you both escape!"
Kate looked to Ralof who shrugged nonverbally saying it was her show.
Kate huffed and thought, 'men!'. With a shake of her head she turned back to the Imperial.
"What's you name?" He looked a little confused, so she continued. "I don't want to call you Imperial if I'm going to be working with you," she said with a small smile and mirth in her eyes. She was surprised that for the first time in her life she felt alive and happy with the chaos and fighting. She knew then and there that no matter what happened, she would probably spend the rest of her life fighting.
Realizing he wasn't going to die… at least not yet, the Imperial looked at her with a small smile in appreciation and said, "Hadvar of Riverwood".
I think this is a good place to stop right now. Kitty disagrees, but I've been told I like abrupt endings… I guess this helps prove that point haha! So far, our hero… is closer to an anti-hero than a real one. She enjoys killing it appears and has a less than stellar past. Kitty make her about twenty-three years old. Ralof and Hadvar are both in their upper twenties in this story, not that it will matter too much.
We have questions for our readers: what types of quests (radiant and main) do you want to us to follow? We may not do it if we have a good reason, but chances are we might be able to make it work for her. She will NOT be an Imperial and she will NOT be a Stormcloak. She will be a Shadowraven or Shadowhawk (please tell me which name you like more or come up with another for a shadowy group). They are pro Elisef since she is the legitimate ruler of Skyrim by order of succession, but hate the Empire and want Skyrim to rule itself. They like the Stormcloak views, but don't trust Ulfric and believe he has ulterior motives.
Also let me know which light armors she should use (or heavy, but that one requires more explanation since she will be running around Skyrim a lot and light armor makes more sense for this). Oh, and should she get a horse? If so any ideas on that since neither Kitty nor Mkeeg use horses… we fast travel, which Kate won't be doing in this story.
Also if you have any comments about the writing style, plot, etc please let us know what you think. We want to know, but please don't write it in the form of a flame; rather write it as a critique if you don't like it. Thank you!