A/N:

Edith [Ee-dith]

Edi [Ee-dee]

I'M YOUR HUCKLEBERRY

BETA: ATHOS-ARAMIS

CHAPTER 1

CATHARSIS

Edith was, completely and utterly, a mischievous shrewd.

She couldn't deny that her astute parts may have come from birth. The sharp wit coming from a game as a child, "Come dear, tell me, why should I give you this toy?" Her parents had been like most parents; hell bent on making their children the best of the best. Her family had been well-educated and well-spoken; interesting, for they were not of cosmopolitan Nibenese, either. She was, however, their incredibly molded child, and never hated them for it.

Or, that intelligence had developed at school, with others equally aware of their talents, pitting children to accept their nature. She had been one child in a sea of many that grew up listening to tales about her people; remarkable discipline here and wise skill there. Even at such a young age, her seniors would pick favorites and scorn the regular. If a child had been below even that, well, it was best that the child not leave the house, ever.

In this case, it also could have been the gang of misfits she called friends as a teenager that made her what she was; teasing other children with their heightened awareness - especially poking fun at the politically interested long sleeves that stuck up their noses to the poorer class. She'd shown more promise than the others in school. She had been faster, cunning, persuasive, and demanding. This had landed her in a private crowd of rebellious academics. Her peers hadn't been the source of her insubordination; it had been her mentors. Inferior as they were. Inferior as they all were.

Or, her intuitive grasp of the world had been, just because she had been.

Edith also couldn't deny that all of those experiences lead her to a malicious, but playful, side. She expected no less, coming out of that pit full of vipers - Cyrodiil. She had expected no less after waving the red flag in the faces of her elders; they didn't deserve the title. She had expected no less after deciding that living without a smile lead to a dull life - she'd seen too many of her people with a lack of laugh lines; she was going to be different. She had expected no less after crying at the door of her home because it remained locked after a night of tomfoolery; they refused to understand her neglect of birthright. She had expected no less once she was mocked for failing to be what she should be. She had expected no less when they recoiled in horror as she got up and barked in their faces, for she was exactly what they wanted her to be - oh, yes, because she was so much more.

She was, without any question, Imperial.

The Imperial of Imperials for that matter.

Contrary to belief, being an Imperial did not immediately qualify Edith as one of the many racially obsessed fools that decided to place ground in Cyrodiil. 'Did not immediately' wasn't a way to evade her miniscule observation in physical form and mental capacity. It would be foolish to ignore that particular advantage, which classified many people as foolish in Edith's nonexistent book called 'Forms of Stupidity'.

It wasn't an apartheid judgment; it was a winning judgment. Thus, she had very little to say about the beauty behind the Khajiit roughish accent, the Altmer golden hue, the Bosmer forest smell, the Breton sagacity, the Dunmer ruby eyes, the Orc equality, the Nord physique, the Redguard flawless chocolate skin, or the Argonian chromatic scale. She gave notice, but it wasn't in her line of work to appreciate. It wasn't in her line of work to care.

But, this lack of appreciation did not make Edith as emotionally inept either. Rather, she thought it made her more aware of what she was fighting to keep around. She wanted to see the dark lines of the Redguard and she wanted to hear the suave voice of the Khajiit. Nothing gave her quite the amount of incentive as the people she continued to meet in the land of Skyrim. She had friends and she had acquaintances; there was no need to avoid it. Cyrodiil was home, but it wasn't where her heart was.

Sum and substance - she had a heart.

She had lost it, though, sometime between losing her life-long friends at the border of Skyrim and waking up on that Imperial wagon headed toward eternal rest. She frowned because of the disheartening memory - when she witnessed the murder of her traveling gang of robbers; the group she had known for so long, grown up with, the exact 'merry band of misfits she had called friends as a teenager'. It wasn't something that plagued her mind, Edith had learnt her lesson, but the thought never dulled in pain. If it ever had, she'd have lost all respect for herself, for she would have lost it in them.

Because, if her slain friends were anything, they were of great esteem.

"Wolves?"

"Yes."

"Sabre cat?"

"Yes."

"Bear?"

"Yes."

"Giant?"

"Sure."

"Troll?"

"No."

"What, seriously?"

Edith groaned at her companions chat. The quick answers had been going on for hours, and had begun to take its toll. Walking the Darkwater River upstream, she couldn't decide which was worse - the undesirable amount of chit-chat or the lack of marks on the path.

"Edith! Baa'Dar is afraid of trolls, what say you?" said Antoni.

Turning her head up the road to her friends, she groaned loud and long, "I'd say he had some right. Trolls are a macabre type of nasty." A concealed shudder up her spine caused her to realize just how cold it was under the duet moons. This had no relation to the fact that she hated trolls with every fiber of her being, every damn miniscule fiber.

"Thanks, Edi!" Baa'Dar purred back, sharing a face with Antoni.

The moon shaded night, and the mist of Darkwater River lightly touching her face, added a sense of peace to the walk. The mountain trees were wild, green, and large, bending into the road. Wide leaves with beautiful veins stretched outward, fanning out in all directions. It was thus, obvious, that this particular path was rarely used to Edith. The wildness made it hard for travelers to see what was ahead, and occasionally asked for them to push back tree arms to continue. The water to her left rushed against the walls of the river bed, and sang to her. The lack of lull and the constant repetition was comforting. Edith was no Bosmer, but she could appreciate the art behind the greens and the browns. From her place on the path, she could see a mountain peak afar, beautiful and white. She was a small pawn, a very small pawn.

Humbling was an opportunity to feel something other than uncertainty. Edith wondered if the Nine, or Eight by definitive law, wanted her to recognize something. Omitted by most people of religious standard, the Aldmeri Dominion could kiss her mace, by invitation.

The emotion of union rolled in her stomach after a thought and mutated into something far from the origin. Excusing her want to stop and run a hand in the soft waves of the water and the equal telling her to jump in and hide, Edith nipped at her lip and focused on the road.

"Trouble?" Sili whispered at her side, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Uh," Edith said with some wonder herself, "No. I'm just feeling a bit weird. Perhaps it's the lack of sleep?"

Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, Edith felt Sili lean onto her. "Probably. We'd all benefit from a night's sleep."

Edith grumbled as he leaned his head down and closed his eyes in a mock sleep.

"Hey now, no fair." Edith nudged.

"All is fair in oblivion and Oblivion." He said, leaning a bit less.

"Good one." Edith said, walking a bit slower. She sighed in appreciation as he returned the weight and continued to keep his arm about her shoulder. "So, why Riften?"

"Other than the money? Space, adventure, scenery, opportunity, identity, Nord woman." He whispered the last vehemently in her ear.

Suspicious and intrigued, Edith scrunched her noise

"Tell me about it."

"About Riften?" He scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Sure. We have the time." Edith opened her arms to show how alone their cartel was.

Edith turned her head fast enough to catch Sili's eye roll.

"It's perfect. Imagine with me, a city half built on the shore of a lake, tall wooden houses and temples weaving around the water under the bright day. Each wave lapping at its dock caring a white mist that flutters at the feet. The sunny city is alive with people and merchants; rich, poor, or floating between both." Edith watched as Sili exaggerated with his hands in excitement. "And, the center of the town is bustling with coin being traded back and forth, leaving hands at each look. The clank of a smith's forge and anvil, the sway of water, the wooden panel creaks beneath your feet, people calling the attention of others, the stumble of a drunk man; it is alive."

Sili's romantic voice had caught the attention of the group, much to Edith's amusement. She could hear the silence around her deepen, as the group came closer to hear more. Antoni and Baa'Dar had become quiet, Quann and Kiseen had come from behind.

"At night, the city quiets and lets the water ease them into sleep. Lanterns hang all over to keep the weary from a tumble. The lights themselves are blurred by a haze that picks up from the waters all around. The boats moan from the docks, swaying back and forth waiting for adventure. The moonlight praises the city, and gives it a beautiful hue. And," Sili smiled at them all with a sly eye, taking his sweet time, "most important, beneath the wood and the water hides something in the dark. Sneaky creatures who live on the thrill of life through stealth and entertainment. The shadows support them, color defines them, and allure molds them."

Ahead of her, Edith heard Baa'Dar smack Antoni's armor, "Ten septims says skeevers."

"Pft, deal." Antoni nodded.

Edith smirked as Kiseen scoffed from behind; her friend's Khajiit ears had picked up on what she had also heard. "Don't they know you don't actually speak of creatures?" the cat directed at Sili.

Quann barked a laugh, "You mean, 'Don't they know they can't hide their near lax homosexual relationship.'"

Next to the slim cat, Quann's mouth twitched, fighting. Edith grinned at the two behind her, getting two wide ones back.

Cute. Edith closed her eyes and ran over what Sili said. Dark, sneaky, entertainment, shadows, allure, stealth; they all reminded her of Sili himself. Though, Sili possessed all of these things but combined couldn't even gap the bridge he had in the art of persuasion. Hell, he could have made any line segment sexually attractive.

"You speak of thieves," Edith said while holding back her own personal laughter.

"You give them no chance to guess!" Right, like it was her fault it was painfully obvious.

Not really feeling sorry, she shrugged, and let the statement pass.

"Idiot, you owe me ten," Antoni boasted.

Edith laughed. They were so adorable that it physically made her cringe with lack of understanding. What she and Sili had was equivalent to fond siblings. Once, in their younger years, they had tried to be more. That relationship died the same day it began, much to their amusement. Antoni's and Baa'Dar's relationship on the other hand gave the group something to observe. If not, something to make fun of.

On that, Edith thought her entire group was pretty laid back for what they did. She didn't spend her time with fools, that was fact. They hadn't survived for this long, as alone as they were, because they had an easy prey pool. Edith could easily point out outstanding qualities in her partners, and each one resulted in a jointed survival. Sili was superior in the art of manipulation for example.

Actually, to Edith, Sili was superior at everything. Strong, intelligent, cruel, sly, interesting, a leader, a supporter, he was simply fantastic from all corners. Ironically, Edith saw herself as his equal, which made her that much more satisfied with herself.

Their band of merry men, and two women, were good. They were damn good and Edith wouldn't deny it. They had to be, Edith wouldn't be what she was if they weren't. Much like parents, Edith adapted to their needs and gained similar traits. In her case, Edith would argue that she gained identical traits. They had been good teachers, and she had been an eager student.

Of course, she made sure to pick up the better of their halves.

Edith was sleepy and dreamy and she dragged down the path. An easy sacrifice for the blades on her back. But, she wondered if her sanity was beyond repair at this point. Edith wanted to laugh at herself for wondering more than she should. But, she was too tired to care.

That was, until Baa'Dar stopped walking and barred his sharp feline teeth.

Edith stomach contracted as she, along with the rest of them, froze. Something was very wrong as she watched Baa'Dar's feline ears rotate about the top of his head. Edith worried as she watched their movement, because they made a full rotation around the group. She picked up on his ear's repeated flicks in particular areas surrounding them. His whiskers bounced in her view, twitching about his face, sensing something. And, to Edith's remorse, that 'something' was all around them.

Within seconds, she crouched to the soiled ground, hand at the mace to her side and the other digging into the ground. Her eyes scanned the area around them. Trees everywhere and the river to her left. Her teeth clenched as she saw how the trees folded into the road, causing a type of road block. She had been unobservant, and it made her heart skip a beat. Edith heard the soft unbuckling of weapons from her companions as her hearing was drowned in the beating of her heart.

She felt the strong thump of her heart in her chest, heavy and solid. Somehow, she could feel it in her ears, the same smack of a drum. Her Imperial blood was running fast, ready to fight at any moment. Eyes near wild she scanned the trees as best she could, tightening her grasp on the staff of the mace.

It was then, that she heard the release of an arrow. The slap of the serving reverberated in her ears. Quick as possible, she slammed her body to the ground while keeping an eye to the sky looking for an arrow. She saw the iron tip of the arrow in the moonlight, gliding through the air like a snake.

It took less than a second for the arrow to pierce the back of Baa'Dar's neck and nearly escape out the front. Nearly.

The arrow had stabbed though his beautiful body and half protruded out of his cheek. She watched as he stumbled forward in painful grace then fell to the ground unmoving.

A moment of heartache to rage, Edith watched in horror as Antoni rushed to their fallen comrade's side. From the foliage, men jumped from the shadows and rushed at them with aggressive yells. Edith pushed off the ground as most of her friends struggled to fight with the amount against them. It was a nightmare, as the numbers kept coming from the bushes, and her friends became over powered.

"Sili!" Edith yelled in panic as a few men in armor jumped at her with swords and shields.

She swung her mace in an arch, halting their intentions to keep the spikes from plastering them. With skill, Edith grabbed a small knife at her side and threw it with her left hand. It imbedded itself into her aggressor's neck.

As the man brought up his arm to remove the blade, Edith threw a strike at his arm, palming his elbow in an upward motion. The pitiful man, with his own hand, had forced the blade deeper, successfully ending his life. She'd only given him a nudge in the right direction.

Pushing the dead man onto her other assailant, Edith had a free swing at his head. Helmet or not, no one was going to survive the blow landed at his temple.

A hand came from behind her, grabbed her chest buckle and threw her into the river.

Gasping from the sudden confusion and rush of cold water against her skin, Edith growled at her near amateur abilities at the moment. She hadn't been expecting this, just as much as the raid itself.

"Swim, Edith! Go!" Sili said between blocking blows and landing a few of his own. In shock, Edith pulled herself up enough to notice Antoni's lifeless body not far from Baa'Dar's. Kiseen was battling two men on her own, fighting for the safety of Quann who looked severely injured on the ground.

They were going to die.

And, she was wadding in the river, watching them.

"Go!" He growled at her, causing her heart to feel heavy. It weighed on her, at the worst time.

Suddenly, from the other side of the bank, new yells came. She flicked her wet head toward the hills and saw a group of men with weapons above their heads with frantic calls of justice.

She wasn't going to die in a goddamn river. She wasn't going to die at all if she had anything to say. She didn't understand what was going on. Truly, this time she had no answers or guesses. There were to many parties, and abruptly too many people fighting. Who were they? Had they been waiting for them?

"Damn it all, GO!" Sili grunted as he tossed a shield at the men swinging at him. She watched as he proceeded to grab his dagger from the ground and run to the river. He jumped in behind her and quickly came to the surface. "Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim."

Swim she did, but not before looking back at the small area of chaos. She couldn't see any of them anymore. Kiseen, Antoni, Baa'Dar, Quann, all gone. All that was left was complete and utter uproar. Confusion that imbedded itself into her brain and seeded out to all receptors. She was confused for one of the first times in her life and she hated the lack of control in it.

Control - she needed it more than anything else in the world. She thrived on it, and used it to her advantage. Even as a child she had more than she did at this exact moment. The situation was out of her grasp.

"In the river! There are two in the river!"

And, there it was, the foreshadow to her last moments on Nirn.

The sound of heavy steel boots running along the bank to their position got closer and closer.

Suddenly, Edith felt a sharp blow land to her face, snapping her head to the side. Warmth and unconsciousness greeted her, slowly helping fade the sounds of metal on metal, yells to growls, and the easy to distinguish sound of death.

Darkness. Nothingness. Weightlessness. Wonder. Peace. Death. Loneliness. Completeness. Restlessness. And, to Oblivion with it all, the growing headache that would not go away.

And, by Talos, the fierce amount of pain that was raping the bone under her right eyebrow.

A weak groan came from her mouth, though she hadn't realized she'd opened it. By the Princes, she couldn't think. She couldn't quite open her eyes yet, too.

However, she didn't need eyes to know that her location had changed.

"Hey, you. You're finally wak-"

"Edi!"

Occasionally, Edith would wonder if it would have been nicer, death that is, in comparison to the level of darkness she was living now. Dragons, bandits, stupid people, dragons, errands, fucking Ice Wraiths, and more dragons. If she wasn't living a hell, she wondered what the Nine would have in store for her. She had grown accustomed to hell, though, and it had become a welcome companion. She would outrival it all, she would never fall prey to weakness again. It was no longer an option.

Edith had said goodbye to her life before becoming a fully reliable Dragonborn. This life, the one she had now, was the one she wanted. The one she knew she could handle. Without any doubt. It was what woke her up in the morning, and kept her from sleeping at night.

Edith was, completely and utterly, a mischievous shrewd.

But, she hadn't always been one.