Disclaimer: This is a story I have been working on for some time. Please be kind in the reviews as this is my first time writing. I do NOT own Skyrim or any of its characters, this is just my imagination. I do however own The Bard and any other OC characters that will appear in this story.
The Heart of a Bard
Prologue
On the 13th of Frostfall 4E 185 just outside the small town of Riverwood which stood near the center of the vast and majestic land of Skyrim, a baby girl of Nord blood was born. She was a seemingly normal girl, but there was something special about the girl, what it was no one could tell but being in the presence of the girl was soothing and uneasy at once. No one would know for years why it is the girl is this way, but the day it would be learned would change the fate written in the Elder Scrolls forever.
The tale begins on the girls twelfth birthday, her ma and pa had earned enough gold from working the family farm to buy her a new dress. Her younger brother having forgotten her birthday, being the typical four year old, made her a mud pie which she accepted with reluctance. The children of Riverwood, not knowing what to get her, decided on the next best thing, a small purse filled with their savings, amounting to twenty septims.
The girl placed half the septims away with her savings, the other half she took to the Riverwood Trader to hopefully buy a sweetroll. When she arrived at the store however something else caught her eye, a lute. "Excuse me, Mr. Lucan, how much is the lute?" the girl asked. Lucan, an Imperial, looked down at her and replied, "I believe it is a bit out of your price range girl." "How much?" "One hundred septims." "That is almost all of my life savings…" "I'm sorry, but I can't sell it for a septim less." The girl took a few seconds to think then replied, "I'll be right back." She then rushed out the door of the shop back to her family home just outside Riverwood.
The girl ran inside the house right to her bed. She reached under the bed, pulled out a small box, opened it, and pulled out a bag of septims. The girl proceeded to run back to town before someone else had the chance to buy the lute. She returned to the Riverwood Trader as quick as she had left. Having used most of her energy running to the farm and back again, she used what strength she had left to place the bag of septims on the counter just before sitting herself on the floor of the shop.
"Tired are we?" Lucan asked as he counted the gold pieces. "Yes, I am," the girl replied while trying to get her breathing under control. "It's hard running the distance of my farm and your shop two times at once." "Of course it is. Well, you have one hundred and forty-eight septims here, more than enough. Here is what is leftover and you may pick up the lute when you are ready to stand up."
When she regained her breath, the girl stood up, picked up the gold, and walked over to the lute which was just a little bit bigger than normal for someone her size, only when she picked it up did she realize it. Taking care not to drop it, she carried it out of the shop. The girl went to the Sleeping Giant Inn and strolled over to Orgnar by the bar to buy a sweetroll for ten septims, she then settled into a table closest to the bar that Orgnar was now wiping down. She took a bite out of her sweetroll, sat it down, and started plucking the lute strings. After a few minutes of slowly eating her sweetroll and plucking away at her lute, the girl was interrupted by the loud sound of the other children. A small group of the children in town all tried to enter the Inn at once, when that failed they all rushed forward and fell over each other in the doorway.
The innkeeper, Delphine, heard the racket and quickly walked over to the child avalanche. She stood above them, "I will have to ask you all to be quiet from here on." Not wanting to anger the intimidating woman the children timidly replied, "Yes, Delphine." "Good, come on in." The children all got up and rushed over to the girl who was still playing her lute.
"Wow, your good at that", yelled Frodnar, the nine year old son of the mill owners, who just loves pranking people. Dorthe, the eight year old blacksmith's daughter, curious about the girl's natural skill at the lute, asked, "How are you playing so well when you never had a lesson?" "Who cares?" Frodnar butt in, "I like it, and maybe we should give her a nickname!" "Like what?" a third voice, belonging to an eleven year old Imperial boy named Burlone. "How about, the Bard?" Frodnar suggested enthusiastically. "The Bard, huh?" said the girl, finally breaking her silence. "Why not? It's a name that is easily remembered, and I have heard of every bard in Skyrim, none of them have The Bard for their nickname, it's free game!" "Alright then, The Bard it is." So that was the name that the girl would use from that point on, the Bard.
About four years later…
The 17th of Last Seed, the Bard was a ways up the Throat of the World, sitting on a ledge overlooking Riverwood. She is quite short for a Nord, standing at five feet three inches, with a round face, light blue eyes, and shoulder length dark blonde hair. As the Bard sat she played her lute, after a bit though, she stopped. There was a noise coming from behind a tree, "I know you are there…" No response, so the Bard sat her lute down, stood up and slowly walked over to the tree. Then, "BOO!" a hooded person jumped out from behind the tree only to be met by a kick to the shin.
The person fell over in pain but quickly got over it when he saw his scare victim getting ready to kick him again. The Bard stopped when the person took his hood off to show the face of her best friend, Burlone. He stands at five feet five inches, has a square shaped face, grey eyes, light skin for an Imperial, and brushed back light red hair. His friend having recognized him, Burlone took a few moments to breath before saying, "By the Divines! Bard, if I knew you kicked so hard I would have went without the hood." "Don't sneak up on people and nothing will happen, you're lucky I didn't use my lute as a club," the Bard replied.
"Fine, I won't do it again. Can I sit here with you," Burlone asked. "Sure, I was just about to play an actual song instead of the usual random notes," Bard replied. "Cool, I like hearing you sing." Bard sat back by the ledge and picked her lute up. She then thought for a moment what song she would play, then she started playing it.
"Our hero, our hero claims a warrior's heart. I tell you, I tell you the Dragonborn comes. With a voice wielding power of the ancient Nord art. Believe, believe, the Dragonborn comes. It's an end to the evil, of all Skyrim's foes. Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes. For the darkness has passed, and the legend yet grows. You'll know, you'll know the Dragonborns come."
As the song ended, Burlone was clapping and started to say, "Once again, you proved how great you are with playing a lute and singing. I'd bet a years' worth of septims you already know every lesson the Bard's College has to teach." "Flatterer," Bard replied with a slight smile on her face. "You know I only tell the truth, Bard." "You can't blame me for noticing the 'truth' sounds like another attempt at courting." "No, no, no, you made it very clear the first time, the answer is 'no.'" "Yeah, I did. Sorry about that by the way." "Its fine, a healer happened to be in town at the time." The two laughed for a moment, then turned their attention to the now setting sun.
The two watched as the sun slowly disappeared behind the mountains, after a while Burlone broke the quiet, "It's getting late, we should start heading back to Riverwood." "Sure, let's go." The two then stood up, the Bard picked up her lute, placed it on her back, and they both then started down the path back to town. Shortly after they arrived Frodnar ran up to them with his pet dog Stump following closely behind.
"Hey! Delphine wanted me to send you to the Inn, said someone asked for you," Frodnar told the Bard. The Bard curiously asked, "What is their name?" "I don't know, I'm just the messenger. I got to go now, Dorthe's ma and pa invited me for supper, see you later!" "I wonder who this stranger is and what they want with you," Burlone thought allowed. The Bard replied, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to meet the person, Delphine seems to trust him otherwise she wouldn't have let him stay, let's go." With that, they changed direction to the Sleeping Giant Inn.
The two arrived at the Inn and looked around for the stranger. "You want the room at the far end on the left," Delphine said, knowing who they were looking for. "Thanks Delphine, Burlone, please try not to annoy Orgnar," the Bard told her friend, already knowing what he would do. Not happy by her underestimating him Burlone replied, "Relax, Imperials are known for keeping people calm." "Just please be normal, I'm sure Orgnar doesn't want to hear your pet skeever story again." The Bard then walked to the back of the Inn and stepped into the room Delphine pointed her to.
"Shut the door behind you and have a seat," the stranger told her. She shut the door and sat in a chair on the other side of the small table the stranger was sitting at. "Hello, sir. I'm…" the Bard tried to say before being interrupted by the stranger, "Don't talk just listen. There is a darkness that plans to destroy Tamriel, perhaps all of Nirn. You are the key to it, you will have to leave Riverwood with me tonight." Not exactly sure what she heard, the Bard asked, "Leave Riverwood? What darkness?" "I cannot tell you at this time, to many eyes and ears. But I promise I will tell you everything when have reached where we are going." "But I can't just leave, what about my family, my friends, and my life?" "I am sorry girl, but this is too important. Just gather a few bare essentials and we will be long gone before anyone notices. Do not worry, Delphine already has a cover story, everyone will have their closure."
"Okay, I'll go. I want to say goodbye to Burlone at least," the Bard replied sadly. "Of course, just make it quick," the stranger ended with that as the Bard walked out of the room. She looked around the Inn but did not see her friend. "I offered him a free sweetroll if he stopped bothering Orgnar and waited outside," Delphine surprised the Bard. She replied with sadness in her voice, "Oh, good thinking I guess." "Sorry kid, but if he stuck around for a goodbye around than half the town would have heard about you leaving." "I understand." The stranger walked next to the Bard and asked, "Ready to leave?" "Sure." Without talking, the stranger put a hand on the Bard's shoulder and she immediately turned invisible, "Let's go, be quiet and no one will know."
The two were quiet as they walked out of the Inn. The Bard saw Burlone talking to Embry and she was very tempted to call out to him but did not as she thought it was better that he not know. The two companions were quiet until they were far enough away from Riverwood, then the Bard broke the silence, "My name is Bard. What's your name?" The stranger turned to face Bard and said, "Syndig Kriger." They continued down the road unaware they were being followed.