I hated Riften. I hated every square centimeter of grass, every ounce of water, every drop of rain that loomed over the city, daring me to step outside to run an errand before it began to pour. I hated the Bee and Barb, the only residence I could currently afford. I hated the loud laughs and the drunken belches and the gossiping Argonians. I just hated Riften.

It was a very strange feeling, hating a place. I've always been a relatively chipper individual, very eager to hold conversation, to learn the ins and outs of a person. It wasn't in my nature to feel hateful.

I supposed I was just tired and irritable. I'd been out hunting for about three days, tracking elk, skinning them, and selling their hide. That's where I felt most at home; in the woods, under the cover of the emerald leaves. My lungs filled with the thick, sweet air that emanates from The Rift. Unending, unwashed, unwatchable. I'd made a decent amount of coin with the pelts, but they required a fair amount of labor. It was a good trip, but now that I was in bed, I wanted to sleep, not listen to the thieves cluttering the bar.

The Bee and Barb was usually very quiet. It was the main reason I lived here, other than the price. It was nice most of the time, just venturing in and out as I pleased. My room was small, my bed was uncomfortable, but it was almost a home.

I yanked myself out of bed, pulled on some clothes, and stomped out of the room and down the stairs. In the center of the room, Marcurio was standing on top of a table, surrounded by drunken huntsmen and thieves. Marc was typically drunk this time of night. He usually didn't attract a crowd, though.

Marcurio was standing with his hands held in front of him, screaming as loud as he could. "Trust in me, Whiterun! Trust in Heimskr! For I am the chosen of Talos! I alone have been anointed by the Ninth to spread his holy word." He was doing his best impression of Heimskr from Whiterun. He must have traveled there recently.

I walked over to Sapphire, who was leaning against the wall near the stairs, arms folded. "How long has he been going on like this?" I asked her, hopping up and sitting on the dresser next to her.

Sapphire rolled her eyes. "Well, he's been drinking since Sundas."

"It's Tirdas." I said to her, feeling a grin stretch across my face.

"Then he's been going on like this for about two days." She picked up a tankard and threw it in Marcurio's general direction.

It hit him in the leg, but he didn't even flinch. He just turned to face me and Sapphire, then jumped off the table. He strode up to us rather quickly and got right in Sapphire's face.

"We are but maggots, writhing in the filth of our own corruption!" He screamed, spit flying all over Sapphire's face. "While you have ascended from the dung of morality, and now walk among the stars." As he said the last word, he erupted into a fit of laughter and fell on the ground. He rolled around for a minute, laughing as wildly as the drunken men at the table behind him.

I watched the Imperial flailing and laughing on the ground, then looked up at the bar. Talen-Jei and Keerava were standing behind the bar, shaking their heads. Marc was not easily controlled. He was always sarcastic, and sometimes even rude. But still, he was a powerful mage and probably their highest paying customer. They wouldn't dismiss him, just because he paid so much in rent every week. Well, he also frequently roasted people alive.

I took a few strides to stand over him. When he saw me, he stopped laughing momentarily. "Well, look what the horker dragged in." I rolled my eyes. He used that line an awful lot.

"Hello, Marc. Drinking all day again, I see."

"Please, I did some work today. I went on a run with…I don't know some lady from somewhere." He rubbed his face with his hands. His words were slurring together, a sure sign that he wasn't really talking to me.

"I'm sure." I extended a hand to help him off the floor. "How about you go to sleep or shut up? Some of us went out hunting today, and are now trying to rest."

"Catch anything good? I love the hunts—hunting." As I pulled him to his feet, he wobbled a bit. His hair had come out of its usual ponytail and was flying about wildly as he moved.

"Nope, nothing." I lied, trying to support him. Though lean, Marc was actually rather heavy.

He laughed loudly. "I knew it! I am your good luck charm." He put his arm around my shoulder as he leaned against me. His eyebrow was raised, and his face was inching closer to mine. "Admit it, you were lost without me."

I shoved him away from me, as gently as I could manage. "Of course, Marcurio. Now why don't you go to bed so I can bring you with me next time? You'd frighten away any game or gal you could stumble upon, as drunk as you are."

Marcurio groaned. "Fine, you think you can make it on your own? We'll just see about that." He stumbled off to his room, grumbling the whole way. Keerava gave me a look of thanks, and I nodded to her as I took a towel off the bar top.

I walked back over to Sapphire, who was still trying to wipe the spit from her face. "I think you got it all, Sapph."

Her brow was furrowed in anger. "Ugh, he's such a cow."

"Can't argue with you there." I handed her the towel, and she took it gratefully. "I'm headed back upstairs."

"Good luck trying to sleep with these heathens running the bar." she said to me, rubbing the towel against her face.

I climbed back up the stairs, and reentered my room. It was much quieter now, but I was wide awake. I'd never get sleep now.

I changed back into some comfortable sleeping clothes, pulled my long, light brown hair up into a bun, and laid back on my bed with a book. Surely, I would grow tired soon. I had lit some candles, trying to make the shadows dance around the room. I always grew tired when the lights began to flicker.

I wasn't four pages into my book when I heard banging from the room below me. Banging and crashing and ranting. In the name of Talos, I swear, I was going to kill Marcurio. Alright, probably not kill him, but I would definitely smack him around a little.

I jumped out of bed and stomped down the stairs again, not bothering to change this time. I earned a few whistles from some drunken thieves, but I ignored them, stomping past them to Marcurio's room.

When I opened the door, Marcurio was ripping pages out of books and throwing them against the wall. He didn't have a shirt on anymore, and he was just ranting and raving about nothing. When he heard his door open, he looked at me.

"Well, look what the horker dragged in."

"You already said that, Marc. What the hell are you doing?"

He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to focus on me. "Oh hey, Karla!" He knew I hated being called that, so he laughed. "Nothing, just a little house keeping. Not like I can read them anyway." He continued to rip pages out of books. I walked over to him and yanked the book out of his hand. "By the Eight, what's your problem? Can't a man have lil' time to clean his own room?" His room had been destroyed in his mead-driven fit.

"By the Nine, Marcurio, if you don't shut up and let me sleep, I'm going to have to kill you."

Marc's eyes widened, then he laughed at me. "Oh my gods, that was hilarious. You were almost scary for a second. If that wasn't so adorable, it would have worked. You're getting better."

I threw the book at him, hitting him right in the face. When he started to whine, I walked out of the room, slamming his door behind me. Talen-Jei looked at me from across the bar.

"That's it." I said to him. "I'm moving out."

I had packed most of my things that night in my anger. The next morning, when I woke, I felt a little remorse. Maybe I had been rude to Talen-Jei before I stomped back up the stairs. He had always been very kind to me. Talen-Jei always asked about my trips in the woods and the people I met in my travels.

I finished packing my things, pulled on my light leather armor, and I was out the door. I had a few things to do before I went off to look for a new place to stay. I thought about Honeyside, but I would go mad if I stayed in Riften for ten more minutes. Riften was supposed to be quiet, but the amount of memories and sorrow I'd felt living in that city the years that I did made me want nothing more than to escape it.

Down in the bar, Talen-Jei was sweeping. When he saw me, he stopped. "Are you sure we can't get you to stay? I'm sorry about Marcurio."

"Don't be. I'm sorry I was, you know, kind of irritable." I looked down at my feet. "No, I'm ready to go. I need to find something to do with myself. I can't keep hunting and sleeping my days away. I need to find my own place."

Talen-Jei laughed. "Alright. Safe travels to you. Come back and visit us."

I gave him an awkward smile and a nod. As I walked toward the exit, I saw Marcurio sitting in his usual spot on the bench. The dark circles under his eyes told me that he hadn't slept much.

I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed me by the arm. "Wait."

"What?"

"How long will you be gone?" Marc's eyes were sad.

He and I had been a little romantic with each other in my first few months in Riften. Actually, we were inseparable in the beginning. We were very alike, but all too different, I think. We were both loners, outcasts of society. Marc was always very negative, though, and I seemed to see the best in everything. He was too smart for his own good, and I was too quick to correct him on anything and everything. We ended things mutually, I guess. He always seemed to want something more, making a friendship difficult.

Recently though, he'd been unbearable. He started drinking a few months earlier, and I couldn't stand to be around him. He was nothing like himself when he was drunk, so with my only friend here gone, I had no reason to stay.

"I don't know. I think I'm going to head to Whiterun. I heard there's some work I can do over there for the woman at the Bannered Mare." I raised a brow at him. "Want me to say hello to Heimskr for you?"

Marc was confused for a moment, then realization swept across his face. "Oh, gods. I'm sorry, Karalissa. Was I really that bad?"

"Don't apologize to me, Marc. I would apologize to Sapphire next time you see her, though. You showered her with your spit last night."

"Divines." He looked away from me.

"Don't worry about it, okay? She'll get over it. Just get better about the drinking."

He let go of my arm. "I will. Watch yourself out there. Don't go falling into any spike-filled pits."

"Or filthy skeever dens. Yeah, yeah, I know." I said over my shoulder as I left the Bee and Barb.

Outside, I was greeted by warm sun, a pleasant change from the usual gloom that came with a visit to Riften. I made it through the gates and out to the stables without a hitch. I got to my horse, Maven, and mounted up. I could tell he was still tired from yesterday's ride.

I really wasn't sure where to go. I figured I'd start by doing that work in Whiterun, but what about after that?

Growing up with my mother in Solitude was normal enough, but I always felt out of place. The city was too colorful, too cold, and far too musical for my taste. When my mother fell in love with a bard, I was more than happy for her. If I'm being completely honest, I was actually a little jealous. I'd always wanted to fall in love and be happy. I wanted to start a family, to start a life.

Then they sent me to the Bard's College. Her new husband was the headmaster, and Viarmo made all of the arrangements to keep me there. I had thought my mother knew me better, but I supposed not. I couldn't stand performing in front of other people. I hated standing in front of a crowd, people looking at me, being watched. But Mom wanted to travel Skyrim with her new husband, and there was apparently no room for me or my brother on that trip.

No one in Solitude was like me. They loved to chatter and sing and dance around the streets in front of the Blue Palace. Even my brother didn't mind it, but he never settled for anything less than being the center of attention. I was more content off in the corner of the woods, away from people and surrounded by the rush of the hunt. I felt most myself there. The adrenaline that ran through my veins right before my arrow flew. The moment just before the tip meets the flesh of the elk I've been tracking, before I even know if it will hit. That's what I was passionate about, not singing and frolicking like a thespian.

I left my mother's home at nineteen, ready to start a life of my own. My brother had convinced me to leave with him, mainly because he couldn't stand Viarmo. The elf had always tried to convince him to court his niece, but he wanted no part of it. The two of us were always incredibly close, and sticking together outside of Solitude was way easier done than said. We were partners in the hunt for about a year, then we got separated.

I'd been in Riften ever since. No family, little money, and the only friend I had was Marcurio, and I actually didn't like him very much anymore. I longed to find the place I belonged, but until then, Whiterun would have to work.

I arrived in Whiterun not long after I left Riften. I had passed a couple of farms, but other than that, nothing exciting had happened. Maven was getting tired, I could tell. I'd been pushing him at a quick trot all the way here, and once we passed the Honningbrew Meadery, he was done. I'd dismounted him, and we were just walking together now. I'd learned a long time ago not to piss off your horse.

We had almost made it to the stable when I felt the ground rumbling. Maven and I both stopped. I knew good and well that it had to be a giant. The ground only shook like that for mammoths and giants, and the two came in pairs.

The screams came next. Gods, was it in the city? I hitched Maven to the fence near the Whiterun gate, and took off running toward the entrance.

Before I could even reach the gate, a bunch of people were running in the opposite direction as me. I turned around to see a giant looming over the Pelagia farm, right across from the gate. I could see a woman with a bow shooting arrows at the giant's legs, trying to take him down. A larger man was carrying an iron greatsword, swinging viciously. Another woman, farther out than the rest, was trying to stay away from the action. She held a sword, but she looked afraid.

I don't know what compelled me to help. I had implemented a strict "stay out of other people's business" policy for myself when I left Solitude two years ago. It had kept me out of trouble so far, but seeing the larger man swinging that sword, trying to dodge the giant's feet started the adrenaline in my veins. Everything around me was a blur.

I knew exactly where the giant needed to be hit. My vision honed in on the soft spot between his eye and his ear, right after the jawbone ends. The softest spot in the human head, with easiest access to brain. Though he wasn't exactly human, the giant was similar enough.

I sprinted toward the farm, pulling my bow from my back. I set an arrow against the string and aimed, but I couldn't get a good angle. The giant was swinging his club at the man swinging his sword at its feet. He ducked, a cow from the farm flying several hundred feet away from the farm.

I scanned my surroundings quickly, trying to find a vantage point. I spotted a low hanging porch cover on the farmhouse, and ran to it. I jumped up to greet the wood with my palms, then hoisted myself onto the top. Another jump had me on the roof of the house, and I steadied my feet, readying my arrow.

I inhaled, aiming for the soft patch of skull and flesh. My heart was beating so loud, I could hear the blood rushing past my ear lobe. I didn't hear anything but pumping and breathing, pumping and breathing. My fingertips released the arrow, the taught string propelling it toward the giant's head. I didn't move, only exhaling as I waited for the arrow to make contact.

It hit dead center, and giant's head flew back. Its legs gave way to the weight of its limp body, and it began to fall. "Move!" I heard the woman with the bow scream as everyone darted away from the shadow of the falling lump. The giant came down with a crash, squishing the crops that grew beneath him.

I lowered my arms then, my momentary bloodlust ended. I turned to hop off of the roof and run before anyone saw me, but I was too late. The small group of people stood below me, staring with questioning eyes.

I climbed down slowly, trying to muster enough courage to talk to them. My heart was still beating loudly, and they looked like they could hear it. My feet hit the ground, and I walked over to them.

"Hi." I said, unsure of what else to say.

The huntress and the large man stood in front of the woman who had never taken a swing. The woman had long red hair and a pretty face under three blue stripes of war paint. The man towered over me, and the rest of the group, with long black hair and silver eyes. The other girl was an Imperial, quiet and observant.

"Hey there." The man said.

"You took down a giant with one arrow." The Nord woman with the warpaint said, her eyebrow raised. She was looking me up and down, all around me, but not at me.

"Uh, yeah. I guess so." I rubbed the back of my neck and looked at my feet.

"It was awesome." The man said. His voice was a deep baritone, but I was so captivated by his eyes. They were so light, but so compassionate. Eyes that held a secret. Who were these people? Fighter's Guild? Whiterun Protection Program? His eyebrows were furrowed now. Wait, was someone talking to me?

"I'm sorry, what?" I said to no one in particular, looking around. Oh gods, how long had I been staring at him?

"I asked what your name was." The huntress said, a sly smile on her face.

I cleared my throat, trying to recover from looking like a complete idiot. "Karalissa." I told her.

"You from around here, Karalissa?" she asked.

"Uh, no, actually. I was just coming to do some work in Whiterun." The woman behind them rolled her eyes and wandered away. Off to find something more interesting than me talking.

"I'm Aela." she said, extending her hand. I shook it as she nodded over her shoulder at the man. "That's Farkas."

"Nice to meet you both." I said, trying to seem confident. I let go of her hand, trying not to shake for too long.

"When you finish whatever work you came for, you should head up to Jorrvaskr. It's just past the Mare. I'm sure we could find some work for you." Aela said, nodding at me.

"More fun than chopping wood, too." Farkas said to me.

I nodded to him, grinning with a crooked smile. "I'm sure it is. I'll head up there later."

"Good." Farkas said. "Ask for Aela or me. We'll bring you to Kodlak." They both turned to leave, heading back to the city gates.

"Okay." I said quietly, bursting with internal excitement. Maybe they were a clan of hunters, and I could join them. No, don't get too excited. They could just want to have a drink.

"Ahem." I heard from behind me. I turned to see Pelagia, his hands on his hips. "Are you going to remove the giant?" He gestured to the huge man, crushing his crops.

I rolled my eyes, "Well I didn't bring the giant here." I started to walk away from him, hearing him grumble and grunt as I left.