Chapter One: It Begins
The sun was just beginning to rise when the sound of an odd concussion struck against the air like a drum.
Ula twitched awake because of the sensation that swept through her as a result: tiredly opening her shimmering amethyst eyes and staring up at the sky, she blinked like an owl that had been woken up much too early and yawned. She felt groggy and rather confused, since she really couldn't understand why she'd fallen asleep outside... but then, there was another concussion, and she twitched a second time. It had been a lot fainter and lacked the jarring impact of the first, but something about it made her hair stand up.
However, the sound didn't come again: only the chirping of the birds could be heard.
Ula sleepily blinked again before her eyelids slowly drooped and slid closed: she was extremely tired and didn't want to wake up just yet.
The bark beneath her almost seemed to have molded to fit the shape of her body... it was almost as soft as her bed, maybe even more so.
She was currently lying on a branch in an enormous cherry tree near the edge of Darkwater Village: her silver hair was fanned out across the bark and in some places it hung openly in the air, rippling in the breeze like strands of liquid moonlight. Early morning light was playing across her pale skin in the dapples made by the leaves hanging overhead, making her feel somewhat more awake. The last thing she could recall was coming here to count the stars, so she must have fallen asleep without realizing it.
That's when another far-off concussion split the air, making her eyes fly open in confusion.
After sitting up, Ula winced when her head spun.
Her hair slid over her skinny shoulders when she touched her forehead.
Cherry Blossoms had bloomed around her body again… there were beautiful pink flowers growing out of twigs all around her.
Letting out a small sigh, the girl leaned close to the flowers and inhaled the scent of green and growing things. Then she glanced at the brightening sky and realized that it was most likely time to start helping in the tavern kitchens. Eyes widening, the girl hastily climbed to her feet and clutched the side of the tree before looking at the branches lying thirty feet below her with calculating eyes; completely mindless of her dirty dress, the girl lifted her arms out to the sides and started running along the limb she'd been sleeping on. Then she leapt down to the next branch and caught her balance before repeating the nimble jumping process.
Soon she came to a spot she'd missed in her inspection: it was too far to reach by merely jumping.
Cocking her head in a puzzled manner, the girl eyed her options even as another, much closer, concussion split the air. Using a bit of improvisation, the white-haired girl managed to slide off the branch she was crouching on and clasped the limb. Then, after steadying the position of her legs, the girl carefully swung her body a bit to the left before letting go and dropping twelve feet to the branch below her. She landed with a wince since a twig cut her foot, but aside from that, she was fine.
Getting down after that was easy, and soon she was on soft grass.
Dusting herself off, the girl made her way back down the rocky bluffs towards the village. As she walked, she took stock of her surroundings: there wasn't much to see, really, just massive, mossy trees and low-lying ferns heaped amongst the craggy recesses… but beyond that was the beach and the lake.
Ula had always been fascinated by water for some reason.
When she managed to make it down to the village, two dark-haired children ran out of a nearby house and nearly crashed into her. The two of them were laughing and giggling about something that only children could understand, but her eyes softened a little as she watched them happily run off towards the edge of town.
The older village children often teased her mercilessly over her different coloring… her almost-colorless skin and cloud-white hair were a stark contrast to the majority of the people in Skyrim, who had ivory skin and platinum blonde hair at the very lightest. Not to mention she had always been bullied for having pointed ears… lots of people, even a few adults, sometimes called her the Elf girl.
And since elves were highly disliked for some weird reason, it wasn't all that surprising to see hostility being directed at her.
Several people had already started wondering what manner of being the girl really was, especially since she didn't resemble any of the known factions in Skyrim.
There were a few who said she was most likely some form of hybrid elf, but then again... Ula just didn't fall into that category.
She was... of a different sort.
For example, wood elves had a very queer pigmentation: their skin tones ranged from different shades of peach, orange, and vermillion, and nobody had never seen one with such clear, light eyes. More often than not, their eyes were very sickly looking, with yellowed whites and unnatural irises. The Thalmor... or in other words, High Elves... had skin the color of yellow wildflowers: it didn't matter the shade, their skin was always yellow. Dark elves were completely out of the question since their skin ranged from different shades of blue and grey... and while Ula was abnormally pale, she still had a somewhat humanistic tint to her skin.
No one knew where Ula was from.
In fact, nobody was even sure what her real name was, and since she couldn't tell them... she'd decided to let them name her what they wanted.
Some believed she'd fallen into the lake since she'd just washed up on shore one morning. Others also wondered where she was from since her appearance was so strange. In reality, there was a lot of speculation about what had really caused her to show up the way she did… but nobody knew the truth of it. Eventually, most people simply decided that it didn't matter where she'd come from or what sort of being she was.
Ula was Ula, and her home was in Darkwater Crossing: that was what mattered the most.
However, despite that resolve... many of the townsfolk had grown worried over the years since she'd been showing signs of wielding some sort of strange, powerful magicka. Whenever she was sad, melancholy, or depressed… the sky would darken and it would rain until her mood improved. Whenever she was angry, fierce storms would spring up out of nowhere, bringing a barrage of savage lightning and hail that pelted Darkwater Crossing mercilessly. Many villagers even claimed to have seen flowers blooming in the path of her footsteps when she was happy.
However, Chief Rain had addressed these issues as nothing more than coincidences.
After all, Ula was young: what harm could one fifteen-year-old girl possibly do?
She was inclined to agree, since she didn't really think there was anything special about herself... she wasn't special at all, really.
Still, despite the early morning hour, everyone was already working hard.
Men were heading for the mines to haul in ore, women were baking and selling things in their shops, the local blacksmith was mingling together with her father and helping him with forging specific tasks, and children were playing with each other and their dogs. Ula paused when the sun suddenly slid over the horizon and filled the world with morning light, shielding her eyes from the harsh glare. However, once her sensitive eyes had adjusted, she beheld a gorgeous pink and yellow sunrise.
The sight of it had her smiling, eyes sparkling like they always did when she beheld the beauty of her home.
In reality, Darkwater Crossing was a beautiful place to live: there were always specific types of music in the world around her, the different essences of life… many songs of existence that constantly intermingled with each other. The silver mines afforded a difficult, but very pleasant life: ore would be retrieved and chores would be completed, but when all was said and done, friends and family would gather to talk and laugh around the fires in the tavern. Perhaps she'd even get to dance with Kai again… he'd asked her to dance a few times in the past, but the most recent one had been very different.
He'd danced with her like a man, not a boy: there had been a fire in his eyes when he'd looked at her.
A fire that had reminded her of her sister's warm home, of happiness, of joy...
It had been a beautiful feeling.
Kai was an eighteen-year-old Nord with black hair, copper skin, and bright amber eyes: he'd been friends with her ever since the day she'd washed up on the lake shore. He had a chiseled figure and firm muscles from all the work it took to be a woodsman and a miner, and he had also become undeniably handsome in recent years: his looks had already drawn the attention of several village women. He was also an extremely cheerful young man: his existence was practically a miniature sun.
Kai was always spreading the light of happiness wherever he went.
Ula, on the other hand… well, she was his polar opposite.
She was like the moon: quiet and gentle, but still spreading light wherever she went.
The sound of a nearby dog growling made her turn around in surprise.
Ula immediately froze, shivering violently and huddling down on herself: the Imperials were back again...
Everyone glared at them when they strode through the village as though they owned it.
Then she spotted her sister, Svena, walking out of the tavern with her arms full of potato sacks, obviously finishing up her shopping for dinner.
Svena was nineteen, and unlike the majority of the women in their village, she had kept her curly hair extremely short since it was difficult to maintain... but almost as if to make up for not having long hair… she'd developed a very womanly body that usually had male heads turning all over the place. Her sister had also discovered on her sixteenth birthday that she had a strong talent for the use of curative magicka, which is why she'd become an apprentice healer.
In the eyes of the villagers, Svena was flawless: a classic beauty.
Ula blinked a few times when Svena turned around and headed her way. The silver-haired girl's pink eyes lit up and she stood on her tiptoes in order to wave at her sibling, trying to catch her eye. When the blue-eyed Red Guard noticed her, she instantly smiled and waved right back in a cheerful manner, hefting her sacks in order to do so. However, it was in that moment that a thunderous sensation slapped against the air, sending a wave of sand and dirt flying up the streets from the direction of the Inn.
Ula's long hair was blasted forward by the gale that assaulted her from behind.
In fact, she even stumbled a little bit from the force of it.
After a moment of coughing and sneezing, the silver-haired girl rubbed her stinging back with a whine and slowly turned around, looking down the street in total confusion: she really didn't know what had just hit her. Likewise, nobody else seemed to know, either: everyone had stopped talking and was now looking down the street with startled eyes, trying to figure out what had caused the gust and the odd sensation of feeling thunder without the sound.
"Ula!" Svena called, hefting her satchels before running up to her and putting a protective hand on her shoulder. "What was that? Do you know?"
The albino merely looked up at her and shook her head to signify that she didn't.
Both girls turned to face the street yet again when a man in blue bolted around a corner with his sword drawn... then more people in blue, all of them fair skinned, tore after him with frantic expressions. Among them, shockingly enough, was the Jarl of Windhelm: Ulfric Stormcloak himself. Svena dropped her potatoes in shock and Ula's mouth fell open in surprise: it was a rare sight to see a Jarl leave his castle, and even more so to see one wielding a weapon.
Then the soldiers darted out from some nearby buildings and cut down three of the people wearing blue.
Several of the villagers screamed in horror when blood began to paint the earth red, and Svena let out a gasp of horror; when the Jarl turned and opened his mouth, a wall of deafening blue light exploded out of his throat and knocked the people in red clean off their feet. The sight had Svena letting out screech of terror: she instantly grabbed Ula's arm and dragged the stricken mute girl away from the men who were now headed in their direction.
Before she could even begin to realize what was happening, Ula was running for her life.
All around her, men in blue and red were hacking each other to pieces and painting the earth with fountains of crimson.
There were clashing people all around her: ahead of her, behind her, on either side… all around was madness. The imperials were in the lunatic rage of combat and hungry for murder: they didn't discriminate against the ones in blue or the villagers, for they were thirsty for the blood that was drenching the sand. Not their own, of course, never their own… because no fool ever goes to war believing he'll be the one to die. Ula jolted and her mouth fell open in a silent scream when a sword-wielding imperial ran Svena's Grandmother, a sweet old woman named Rita, through the stomach and gutted her.
"NO! Gran!" Svena screeched, instantly trying to bolt towards the woman; Kai was suddenly beside them, gripping their arms and preventing them from moving... not that Ula had any such intent. She had been frozen, eyes large, mouth open with horror as she tried to let out a scream that would never come. "NO! Kai! Let me go! Let me go! That's my Gran! He's killing my Gran! Get off of my grandmother, you horrible bastard! Get off her!"
It was too late: the woman's bonnet fell off as she flailed on the imperial's sword, grey hair tumbling down to her shoulders.
Then she went limp, and the man jerked his sword free of her body.
However, when he turned his eyes on them, something in Ula's mind sparked with fright: eyes flashing around, the girl's gaze fell upon a nearby mace resting beside a fallen corpse. Shuddering violently, the girl hastily tiptoed around the body and snatched the weapon before jumping back in front of Svena and Kai: her hands were shaking and her mouth was trembling as she held the weapon in front of her.
The sight was pathetic, and it made the imperial laugh.
"What's this?" he sneered in a thick Nordic accent, eyeing the girl when Kai started dragging the sobbing Svena away. "You'd better put the weapon down, little girl, otherwise I won't be lenient with you. Drop it and put your hands in the air, otherwise you'll be arrested for treason."
Ula hissed like a wildcat, pink eyes shining with terror.
"Go get the swords!" another villager shouted from far off. "Get the women and children to safety!"
Ula twitched when another concussion unexpectedly split the air, sending another wave of wind roaring up the street: the guard immediately went flying onto the wall and smashed his head against the stone. Ula flinched and felt her stomach churning, suddenly wanting nothing more than to vomit; however, just when the world started spinning, Kai grabbed her arm and tried pulling her away from the corpse.
"Ula!" the boy shouted, struggling to jerk her away from the chaos in front of them. "Come on! We have to get out of here!"
No...
No, that's not what she wanted to do!
She couldn't just run away!
She had to do something!
She couldn't just sit here and watch as her home was destroyed!
She couldn't leave her friends and family to die!
However, she had no skills... she couldn't fight, she didn't know how to use a sword, and she was terrified of everything going on around her. Already, more imperial soldiers were battling with the vastly outnumbered men and women wearing blue: currently, they were battling like warriors and the townsfolk of Darkwater Crossing were going down one by one. Eyes widening in horror, the girl slipped out of her best friend's grasp and ran down the street towards a few villagers who were cowering against the wall. Kai instantly tried to go after her, but sometime during the chaos, the town had caught fire and he was cut off by a falling tree.
"ULA!" Kai shouted, amber eyes widening in horror; his copper skin gleamed in the light of the flames. "Ula, come back!"
The girl ignored him and kept going until she made it to a nearby house, clutching the mace with shaking limbs. Her breath came in short little pants as she pressed herself against the wall and peered around the corner. Svena had bolted in a different direction after the first initial shock of losing her grandmother: she could hear the screams of nearby men and women locked in combat. After looking across the road, she spotted six young children hiding in an alley and crying their eyes out.
Her eyes widened when two imperial soldiers at the opposite end of that same alley came into view and spotted them.
However, the poor girl's heart nearly stopped when they hefted their swords and started advancing on the little ones, who screamed and started backing away in terror, wailing hysterically. Several of them were crying for their families, and others were simply bawling from the fear... but regardless, those men were going to kill them... she could see it in their eyes. Ignoring the shakiness in her limbs, Ula forced her throat to work and let out her very first shriek.
"RUN!" the girl wailed, voice echoing all around; she charged forward even as she issued the command, lifting the mace above her head. When the children scattered in every direction, one of the guards attempted to lunge at them from the side, but the silver-haired teen swung the bludgeon and hit the man clean in the side of his helmet, knocking him over and stunning him. When the other guard tried to attack her, she stumbled backwards, then took off with a terrified expression.
"Get back here, wench!" the Imperial snarled, hefting his sword with a fierce expression in his eyes; he then charged after her, which frightened the girl out of her wits. "Stop running you little shit! Halt! I said HALT!"
"Ula!" Svena suddenly wailed, watching with horrified eyes as she sprinted back down the street past countless battling people. "Ula, run! Get away from him!"
She didn't need anyone to tell her that much: she tore back down the street with her long hair flying, the mace awkwardly being held in her hands. She flew past several houses and trees, weaving her way between alleys, but just as she was coming around the corner that led to the town bazaar, she bore witness to a horrifying sight: several elderly people she saw on a day to day basis were trapped by a circle of Imperial guards.
And like monsters, the men in red moved in and started cutting down everyone she loved.
Inez... Benita... Thorolf... Nicoli... she watched in horror as they all fell to the ground, one by one, screaming as they were murdered by the laughing imperials.
The silver-haired girl's face paled and the mace fell out of her hands, tears already streaming down her face from the horror.
No! Ula silently screeched, heart flying into her throat. Get up! Please, everyone, get up and run! It's not too late! Please!
However, she was wrong... and the girl burst into tears when nobody moved.
The clear morning sky was slowly turning dark with thunderheads.
However, Ula didn't see the Jarl of Windhelm until it was too late: he was on the other side of the bazaar, but his mouth was open and he looked angry.
"Fus..." an ethereal voice hissed, making the girl's pink eyes widen, "ROH DAH!"
Ula's large eyes went blank and she squeaked only a split second before the wall of deafening light collided with her body, sending her flying. She was knocked clean into the air, flipping six times before she landed hard on her side and rolled clean into a building. She came to a halt on her back, long hair splayed out and thoroughly stunned in more ways than one: she could barely breathe... her entire body hurt. She tried to take a breath, but started coughing and choked since she wasn't able to.
Just as she was getting up, the guard who'd been chasing her leapt around the corner and smashed into her upper torso, tackling her back onto the ground.
Ula let out a silent yelp and started flailing around when the man grabbed her shoulders and attempted to pin her down. Svena shrieked and jumped into the fray, ducking and dodging arrows as she fought to get to the girl. Ula kicked her legs and pushed at the dirt with her feet in an attempt to buck the Imperial off of her.
Struggling to make her throat work, the mute girl let out a silent wail and strained to keep the man's sword away from her.
Ula's pink eyes jolted wide in horror when her hands slipped; the next thing she knew, the man's blade was in her shoulder and a searing agony was exploding in her muscles. It felt as though she had just gotten burned AND bit by a horse, which was something that had actually happened to her once when she'd been younger. Her pupils instantly contracted and she let out a silent scream of pain, flailing her free arm and clawing at the side of his helmet in an attempt to get his sword out of her shoulder.
Right around that moment, Svena lifted her hands and let out a shriek, palms glowing bright orange: seconds later, two jets of fire exploded out of her fingertips and engulfed the man's head; then she turned it on the approaching guard, burning him almost completely to death. Screaming, the psycho dislodged his sword from the mute girl's shoulder, and before he could recuperate, Svena leapt forward and started stomping on his head.
"STAY DOWN, DOG!" the woman screamed, black curls thoroughly disheveled and blue eyes frenzied. "STAY OFF HER! STAY OFF HER! STAY OFF HER!"
"Svena, stop fighting and run!" Kai angrily bellowed, leaping down from a nearby rooftop. "We have to get out of here!"
He was right: their home was falling apart and nothing could save it at this point.
Children who had just been playing were crying their eyes out. Women were screaming and pressing themselves against the nearest walls. Men were shouting, trying to get everyone to safety. The imperials were still cutting down the innocent as well as the strangers in blue, leaving none behind. And worst of all... there were still men, women, and children who were being subjected to this horror. Houses were on fire... memories were going up in flames.
Blood was everywhere.
They were all in the most immediate danger, but the girl's blood turned cold when she realized that nobody knew what to do.
The pale, undersized girl clutched her bleeding wound in agony, already crying her eyes out: Svena worriedly fawned over it, then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and smacked the wound with both hands. Ula undulated and writhed only a split second before the woman's hands started glowing gold: light ensnared the rent flesh on her body, sewing sinew and muscle back together seamlessly. The pain immediately began to fade... but since both Kai AND Svena were too busy focusing on her, they didn't notice the Imperial man sneaking up behind them with the club in his hands.
Ula's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to warn them, to do something, but then the club came down and agony erupted on her forehead.
The last thing she remembered seeing was Kai and Svena running away from her in opposite directions... leaving her behind.
So it begins again... a male voice whispered sadly, breaching her fading mind with a glowing yellow light. The endless cycle of eternal return.
Ula's eyes closed and she slipped into unconsciousness, tasting blood with ringing ears.