Joey Mansfield
2/11/14
creative writing
Mr. Chapman
How I became who I am
Rough draft
People ask me how I became king. Those of you who don't know me probably think I was born into power but I wasn't I started out as a peasant and this is my story. I awake in a dimly lit alley the only light was the stars and the moon in the sky. I have dirty black hair and I wear a badly torn cloak around my neck.
I get up off the ground and creep into the shadows letting them ensnare me. I'm as silent as night itself as I creep around buildings in the city hiding my presence from watchful eyes. I come to a building with an open window on the third floor. I stealthily maneuver my body up the building to the window and I creep my way inside. As I enter the building I study my environment and notice I'm in a bedroom covered in gold from the floor to the ceiling in the center of the room is a whale of a bed with an equally big man man and woman. These two people can afford all this because there the king and queen of this small town. Most people are wondering why their not well guarded its because it was kings appreciation day on this day all guards get the day off. But I'm not doing all this sneaking around for any measly gold with all the taxes on it dirt's worth more what I'm here for is to take some of there food. So as soundlessly as possible I glide over to the buildings food storage hatch. As I open the hatch a loud creek and cold blast of air come out making me shiver. What could make a place so cold I wonder as I walk down the small ladder into the room. What I see before me amazes me the whole rooms covered in a thick layer of snow. I know I cant much time here gawking at the snow so as quick as I can I grab all the food I can carry and decide to sort through it later. As I exit the giant ice box the door slams shut behind me I quickly turn around and notice the king and queen standing there arms crossed and vexed faces staring right at me. I turn around around as quick as possible and I run towards the window as fast as a bat out of hell. I make it to the window and notice its still open "idiots" I mutter to my self. I see the king and queen coming straight for me so I do the only thing I can think of I jump out of the window and use my cloak as a parachute that works as well as anyone can guess I immediately start plummeting towards the ground. Luck must be with me though because theirs a guy below me when I fall I land right on top of him breaking my fall. After landing I get up and start running towards the alley I came from I was in to much of a rush to care about some random guy.
I keep running till I reach the alley I woke up in and dig through all the nearby trash cans till I find my backpack I his here in case I needed a quick escape. I look up to see the sun rising on the horizon " if I want to leave town today I need to leave now" I think to myself. I decide even though I'm in a rush I still need to be stealthy so I slink through the remaining shadows until I reach the towns gate. I bolt through as soon as I exit it though I'm surrounded by the towns guard it was a trap the king knew I would try and leave town.
The guards shackle me up and throw me in the darkest dungeon they could find. I just lay there thinking to myself what could I have done better and I stayed in this thought until a clacking sound like the sound of a pebble hitting the ground broke me out of my trance. I turn around to see what caused that sound and I see a man standing there I know I know him from somewhere but for the life of me I cant place where I've seen him before. Until it hits me as hard as someone falling from the third floor on top of you that was the guy I fell on top of. The only thought going through my head being needing to escape I started to search around for anything to aid me in my escape then finally I found my salvation part of my cloak was hanging in front of my cell. I reached out for it and grabbed it then I yanked it into the cell. Most people wonder how a cloak can break you out of prison. Most cant but mine can I put a set of lock picking tools into the bottom hem of my cloak just in case the need for them ever arrived. Now that I had them I remembered one very important detail I don't know how to pick locks so big help they'll do me I think as I stash my cloak away. After I finished stacking my cloak away a guard came to deliver food I took this opportunity to swipe the keys off him then bash his head into the cell effectively knocking him out. As I finished with the guard I hear clapping behind me like he was entertained with what I just did. "Did two hours in jail really make him nutty as a fruit cake or was it me falling on top of him" I think to myself. "amazing performance but you could be a lot better with training maybe even better than me" the crazy man said. I turn and give him a cross look " who are you to judge me on my skills old man" I said furious with what he said. " are you really so ignorant as to not know who I am or have you lived under a rock I am Venarius the greatest thief in all of tamerial" he said with an amazed tone in his voice. " there's no way your Venarius he died over 10 years ago in a fire that killed millions of thief's and assassins" I said look of shock on my face. " well I had planned to stay dead if it wasn't for you falling on me and breaking my cover in front of the king but we can talk more about this later right now we need to get out of here" Venarius said holding the cell door open for me. After leaving the cell we both clung to the shadowy walls trying to hide from the wary glances of the guards that passed by. Once we saw the prison door we leapt out of the shadows and bolted for the door all I remember is a bright light then nothing but the inky blackness of sleep.
I awoke hours later in an entirely new place with a brain piercing headache. I look around the room I notice that I'm in a fairly basic room with a bed and side table also a holster for a torch. "oh your awake" I hear coming from the doorway I look over and standing in the doorway is Venarius. " Where and how did I get here?" I ask still trying to get rid of my migraine. "You are in the dark brotherhood I brought you here when you passed out" Venarius replied. " Well what am I doing in the dark brotherhood?" I ask still trying to wrap my head around this. "Your here for that training I offered you back in the cell" Venarius replies with a smile on his face.
It took 5 years to finish my training I spent it mastering all the techniques of thief and assassin that Venarius can teach me and I am finally done. I go to sleep that night extremely tired after those five years of hard work I awake the next morning to the smell of smoke and the warmth of fire around my room. I dart out of my bed and grab my emergency pack I made just in case something like this happened. Then I rush out of my room and start looking for Venarius but he's no where to be found so I go to the room he sleeps in I try opening the door but its blocked so I step back then slam into it with all my weight it crumbles beneath me. The scene before me still scars me even to today. In the center of the room lies Venarius dead on the ground with an arrow in his chest. Surrounding him are dozens of the kings personal guards all dead. I run over and carry Venarius's body out of the building as quickly as I can. But once I make it outside I crumble to the ground in tears for the friend and home I've lost.
I sit there slowly crying for what felt like hours when I finish I get up and bury Venarius's body in the dirt near our home. Then I just walk away travel to the far reaches of the world and do more training until I return to where my story began in that same alley in that same city.
I wait till the moon is at its highest point then I make my move. I scale the side of the kings building till I reach the nearest window I try opening it but its locked but that's ok because in all that training I mastered the art of picking locks I open the window and slink inside is look around the room and notice I'm in the building kitchen "perfect" I think to myself. I stick to the shadows in the room and creep my way towards the kings room. When I make it there I quickly kill the queen. Then I approach the kings sleeping body and slowly wake him up as he wakes up I hold my dagger over his heart when hes fully awake he realizes the situation and he says "you" before I silence his voice forever. I look out the bedroom window from where I am and notice the sun rising slowly on the horizon. I cut off the kings head and go to the highest point of the building. And announce to the people of this great city that I Alduin am the new king.