Uncle Solthieas, or as I called him, uncle Sol, was an amazing alchemist. It was an honor for me to watch him work when ever he came to Solstheim from the Imperial City in Cyrodiil to come visit me and my father, he said it was a good place for dunmers like us to live because there's so much diversity there, my father refused the idea though. I would always watch from the docks to see whenever uncle Sol coming into port, he would send me a letter ahead of time telling me what day to wait. Sometimes father would wait with me and sometimes he wouldn't, when he did it was mostly just to watch over me, him and uncle Sol didn't get along very well, I always thought it was because father wanted him as a brother but he was my momma's kin. She died giving birth to me, me and father prayed for her every day to thank her for giving her life for mine.
My father told me when I was seven that uncle Sol only came to see me and not both of us, I told father that maybe he should try pretending uncle Sol is his brother and they could get along better. For some reason that made father really mad, he took his hunting gear and told me not to wait up before leaving. I waved and called goodbye to him before I went to go wait by the docks for uncle Sol again, I was unaware that was the last time I would ever see my father.
When I went home from the docks convinced that the ship was not coming today there was another dunmer going through my father's things, so I did what father told me to do if there was a robber and grabbed the nearest weapon I could find, which was a mace. But when I swung it at him my clumsy feet alerted him and he grabbed then threw it to the side before grabbing me by the arm. He told me he found my father's corpse outside of town, that some bandits had shot him with bow and looted his corpse. I screamed and hit him with my free arm at him trying to get him to let go but he just took the arm he already had ahold of and twisted it and I instantly went to the ground. Then he let go of me and I looked up to see his fist coming and strike me on the right side of my face. I groaned and tried to get up before he put his foot on me and told me to stay down like the obedient dog I was soon to become.
That's when I heard a grunt from the man holding me down and a huge thud followed by the sound of what seemed to be two people scuffling around. I put my arms over my head and curled into a ball, I didn't know what was going on but it didn't sound good. The sound of dishes crashing and all my father's equipment hitting the floor was so loud it almost drowned out the voice of the two men fighting.
A yelp escaped me when I heard the familiar sound of destruction magic being cast and I curled into an even tighter ball. Smoke began filling the room, something definitely had caught caught on fire, the crackling of the fire was accompanied by the sound of footsteps running back and forth. A horror greeted me when I looked up and saw the fresh corpse of the man who attacked me now laying next to me as the flames slowly made their way towards us. It was very unexpected when someone jerked me up by the arm and ran me out the entrance.
Me and my rescuer both coughed vigorously when we got out and fell over to the ground. When he fell next to me he also dropped a cloth filled with items that I recognized from my house. Some of my clothes, some food, and my father's lucky dagger, and my mother's ruby necklace. I looked up at my rescuer knowing there was only one person who would realize how important that dagger and necklace were to my family. My body pretty much flung itself at the other dunmer and I wrapped around his waist while his shoulder length white hair blended in with my own and his arms pulled me into his lap and tightly against his chest, "Thank you uncle Sol..".
My father's funeral wasn't long, and I honestly I didn't even remember it that well when uncle Sol took me to the docks to board back to Cyrodiil, the memory of everything I know ending in one smoking moment was still pretty fresh in my mind. Uncle Sol lived in the Temple District of the Imperial City. I was not used to seeing so much diversity and culture when I moved in, not to mention it was so quiet and friendly, when living with my father there was at least one mugging a night, but here there were guards everywhere, it made me feel kind of uncomfortable though.
After I was finished getting moved into my room my uncle had provided for me I made my way downstairs and to the kitchen. Uncle Sol was wearing a fancy white shirt and a pair of black pants that were pretty wide at the bottom and a worn white apron, his hair was also tied into a high up pony tail with two thick threads of it hanging in the front. He was cooking what looked like venison with some kind of small red fruit. He must of heard me coming down because he turned around and beckoned me over. Slowly I made my way over with my hands held politely in front of me, when I got over to him I glanced over at the red fruit, "What're those Uncle Sol?" I asked him. It seemed like my question took him aback, he pulled one of the threads of hair in the front behind his ear before answering as if to take a moment to think about the question, "You've never seen a strawberry before Arinzi?" he asked, I shook my head which made him proceed to hand one to me. Naturally I was hesitant at first, father always taught me not to eat anything that couldn't be found in our land, but I could trust uncle Sol, so I took a bite. It was the best thing I had ever tasted. The red flavor seemed to dance across my taste buds and when I swallowed it left a nice moist and tasteful feeling in my throat, so I quickly ate the rest, "That was amazing!" I gasped, he proceeded to smile at me, amusement dancing in his eyes, "Can I have more?" I asked, "No little one, this is for after you finish your dinner, this and a piece of sweet cake." I tilted my head, "Sweet cake?" at this he dabbed the cooking ladle against the pot before turning to me, "You're father didn't let you try anything did he?" he asked, I nodded.
A moment passed before I continued with my next question, "So when are you sending me to an orphanage?" I asked. His eye widened and he knelt down to my eye level, "Arinzi what makes you think I'm sending you to an orphanage?" "Well, when other kids where I lived parent's died they were either taken away to be used as servants or sent to an orphanage. Am I your servant?" He shook his head and reached forward brushing my messy hair out of my eyes, "Arinzi you are my sister's son. We share the same blood, you are my family, therefore I will raise you as if you're my own child, you could think of me as your extra parent. Do you understand?" he smiled when I nodded and then ruffled my hair before going back to cooking.
About a year later when my birthday came around uncle Sol made me a sweet cake with many wonderful strawberries. He coughed all over it and dropped it on the floor, and then apologized before going to make another, he was getting sick. So while he was making the cake I decided to go out and look for alchemical ingredients, he'd been teaching me alchemy since the day he took me here, and I was more than willing to learn. I made a simple healing potion for him with aloe vera leaves and lavender sprigs. He was having a hard time holding the potion down I noticed while eating the new sweet cake he made me. He was very good at hiding it, but I was better at noticing, the sweating, his hand constantly over his mouth, a deep breath every so often, these were all things he had taught me to notice so I could watch out for someone that might be sick. So once I finished my sweet cake and he went to grab the plate I told him to go to bed and I would take care of it. Uncle Sol didn't protest, just another sign he was getting sick, he never went to bed before me.
Over a couple of weeks his condition continued to deteriorate. Now uncle Sol had started having weekly visits from a priest of Mara, he tried to convince me that they were just discussing the sale of his potions, but even he could tell as the lies rolled off his tongue that I was more than aware he was dishonest.
Once I convinced uncle Sol that his attempts to hide his mysterious illness from me were in vain he started letting me help him more. Every day we had the same routine it seemed, I got up around 4:30 to retrieve a cold washcloth and place it across uncle Sol's burning forehead, then I was to get a bath ready for him which required me to run from our house to the nearest well to get water then run back and pour it into a wooden tub he'd commissioned someone for, I had to run back and forth at least fifteen times. I was to then help him to the tub and after he'd finish washing make breakfast. I can't count the number of times he apologized at breakfast, he said, "I'm sorry, I should have given you to a nice healthy family to live with, I'm sorry you got stuck with me." to which I replied, "I'd rather be with one who I share the same blood with with a stranger." is what I would always reply.
The afternoon was easier, I just had to help him into the living room and set him on the couch then bring him the latest edition of the Black Horse Courier. After I did he let me do what I want until around 3:00 or 4:00, I usually went to the Arcane University, where I was happily welcomed because of uncle Sol's amazing reputation as an alchemist, the fact that he did his studies there helped too. They let me collect ingredients from their gardens as long as it wasn't rare, so I brought them home and practiced my alchemy. Practiced, practiced, and practiced, until I heard uncle Sol fold his newspaper up followed by the sound of fire crackling against paper. When he throws the paper in the fireplace, that means it's time to start dinner.