[ATTENTION: BEFORE YOU READ THIS. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY READ THIS. KNOW THAT THERE IS MORE WRITTEN. I TOOK DOWN THE PILOT BECAUSE I HAD NOTICED THAT I WROTE A DIFFERENT NAME FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER AT FIRST AND NOW, FEELING BAD I HAVE DECIDED TO ADD 1400 MORE WORDS TO THE STORY! IF YOU HAVE READ THIS ALREADY, PLEASE READ FULLY! THANK YOU.]
[Author's Note: Alright, so this Pilot has been in session for around four months. I have been meaning to publish it since I created it, but I wanted to write more, not having enough time, I forgot about the project and now I am publishing it since its just a story sitting there in my Archives. Even if one person actually is interested in this story, and you feel the need for me to continue it, then I will gladly do so. I do want to do this story because I really like the concept that I want to portray, at this point, the story starts off slow, but after this pilot, a lot of things will happen in brief moments. As well, if you have any opinions on things for me to make far more accurate, or if you want me to add a character that you have in mind (be it cannon or one that you created) then I will gladly like to add them into this story.]
Pilot: Recovering Truths
Everyone in town had been talking about it; it filled the walls of Markarth like a cold bite from an Icewrath. The gossip leaked from the very bricks of every house in this wretched City of Stone; she detested it. The very city that had taken her in when she was most vulnerable was now leaching at her. She felt at guilt for the circumstances; but she knew that it was not, the slightest bit, her fault. Walking from the Temple to the market and back always felt like a long journey. Although she wished to hear solely her footsteps and her huffs of breath as she walked to the temple, that was not the case; the murmurs and whispers of the people haunted her mind; like wild beasts attacking an Elk, hoping it will not be their last meal.
Huffing loudly, she had finally reached the Temple; the only place where she found safety. The stone walls seemed to radiate with peaceful atmosphere; it enclosed her in a sort of warmth she could never find anywhere else in the city. Setting the produce in a near by stone table, she could not help to notice the beautiful statues of the goddess Dibella positioned in pairs at both ends of the Temple's main room.
"Anastasia, did you obtain what I had asked?" Priestess Senna called to her.
Anastasia turned to face the other, her blue eyes darting her way. "Yes ma'am, I have brought what you wanted."
"Good..." Senna trailed as she smiled sorrowfully.
Anastasia had not noticed it at first but as the smile lingered a while longer, she realized that Senna held heavy-heartedness within her gesture. "What seems to be bothering you, Senna?" She inquired with a puzzled look.
"Oh Anastasia... I've been thinking... I've..." She paused as if to rethink her statement.
Anastasia watched the other carefully, fearing that Senna would begin to talk about it... what the city kept buzzing about...
"Would it not be lovely for us to have children, you know, if we were not Priestesses of Dibella?" Senna clapped her hands together with a cheerful yet dissatisfying grin on her face.
"Yes, it would be such a wonderful gift from Dibella to allow us to bear a child." The blue eyed young lady sighed in relief.
"Well, you know, there is a way to have children..." Senna spoke in a low tone, so that the other could not hear.
"Umm... Well, what do you mean? I thought we were only able to live our whole lives in worship of Dibella." Anastasia questioned as her voice held concern as she was dumbfounded.
"What I mean to say is... that... not all are called to be Priestesses, but are brought without choice of Dibella." Senna quickly responded to the confused lady.
"What do you mean?"
"You know Anastasia, its getting a bit late, and we need to cook a meal for the High Priestess. Come along now, I'll teach you my famous Cooked Stew Recipe." She gestured for the other to follow her, of course bringing the produce with them to the inner chambers.
What did she mean that not all of us are chosen? What was she hinting at? Did she find out that I've secretly wanted a different life? I mean, I do love Dibella and what she has to offer, but I feel as if this is not truly for me, I desire a stronger life, a challenging one, Anastasia thought to herself as she walked down the steps leading to the inner chamber. Slowly, Senna opened the pine-wood doors and soon showed the wonderful hall before them. High Priestess Hamal greeted them upon their arrival, and gestured to help them in their cooking.
"So Anastasia, as you have noticed, word around town does not greet you well. There has been some speculations that you had had some problems with Priestess Osla right before she left for her voyage to the Throat of the World. A job that was originally bestowed upon you, but in contrary she had taken it. I know that you may not be tied to what occurred to her poor soul, but I feel as if it should be your duty to retrieve her from where she has been left." Stated High Priestess Hamal.
"I understand, I will leave early in the morrow, so that I have a shorter voyage." Responded Anastasia with a saddened voice while staring at the ground, trying to avoid the High Priestess' older face.
Just as she had said, at the peak of dawn, Anastasia began to pack for her journey and was ready to leave but was quickly stopped by the High Priestess.
"Oh my dear Anastasia, you do not need to leave in such secrecy and humiliation. I understand your feelings and your duty, and therefore I have decided to pay five guards to escort you in your journey to take you and bring you back from your long voyage. Do not fret my child, this will only take a couple of hours, and with these guards, you will feel safe." Assured Hamal with a kind tone in her voice.
"Thank you very much High Priestess! I really appreciate that, I will see if I can pay you back for all of this!" Anastasia exclaimed in cheerfulness.
"Don't you worry child, you have always paid us with your presence." High Priestess replied with little to no tone.
As Anastasia walked down the Temple's steps, she noticed that even in the early hour, many where still out and gossiping. Being her last minutes in Markarth, she would have thought they would have been different, maybe in agony, sadness and pain, but now, she noticed that even thought she was not happy to leave, it did not sadden her much. Yes, she would miss the laughter of the children playing in the streets, the busy market noises and the constant sound of the beautiful waterfall. Passing the city walls, Anastasia saw her carriage and guards awaiting her. She felt so honoured, so important, to be privately escorted by five guards and a carriage simply for her. A guard approached her and soon began to converse with her on their way to the carriage.
"Are you the one that is called Anastasia?" spoke the Guard Captain in a sharp tone.
"Yes, I am her. Priestess of Dibella. Will you be escorting me on my journey today?" Anastasia responded affirmatively.
"Alright, excellent. Now that we have that sorted out, we can go on our way." Stated the Guard Captain.
Feeling ignored, she began to think of her past memories. Once the carriage began moving, I decided to look back on the city one last time. I took note of its beautiful architecture that many deemed 'uncultured' and 'poor' and decided to draw myself a simple sketch, it was not much, but enough to bring me melancholy thoughts of my childhood, being raised in a Temple was joyful, but not truly a fun experience. While I had to meditate, the other kids were outside playing tag or hide and seek. The Priestess barely allowed me to adventure out of the city walls since they were afraid I was to be taken, by who? by what? I dont think anyone or anything around here would even bother to take me, someone of no importance. Even now, the High Priestess did not need to hire a private carriage and guards simply for me. This journey could have easily been done by foot, yes, it would have taken me some time, but it would be extremely cost efficient- Anastasia was suddenly stopped in her thought process. The carriage had been suddenly halted and the she noticed the Guard Captain was speaking to some Imperials on the road. He then stopped, and as the Imperials passed them, the Guard Captain neared her.
"It appears that there has been some rumours of a few bandits near by. If we take any shortcuts, we may be ambushed, but we are able to arrive to Helgen at a quicker time. Staying on the road may be safer but it should take longer to reach our destinaton. It is up to you, we are able to defend you from a couple of bandits, but nothing more then a group of five." Spoke the Captain.
"Hmm, I believe it should be safer to follow the road. Yes, it may take us time, but I want us all to arrive safely." Assured Anastasia.
"As you wish, ma'am." Replied the Captain, "Alright men, in your positions." Commanded the Captain to his Guards.
Back into her thoughts, Anastasia began to wonder about what could have happened to Priestess Osla on her journey to the Throat of the World, and how she ended up near Helgen. Yes, a path to the Throat of the World was of south, and quicker but not the safest. She began to have some conversations with the Guards, asking about their names and stories. She was mostly intrigued by the Captain and his life.
"So, how old are you Captain...Sir?" Asked Anastasia.
"Well, I have recently celebrated my birthday, just turned twenty-four on this 12th Middas." Responded the Captain.
"Oh is that so? I do not think I have seen you around Markarth, am I correct?" Inquired Anastasia.
"Yes miss. I am actually from Dragon Bridge, your High Priestess hired me since I appeared to be the best fit for this job."
"Oh so you are from Dragon Bridge. I have never wandered outside of Markarth. Tell me, how is it there?"
"Well, it is nothing much. We are a simple town with a Dragon Bridge which is where our town's name come from. It is mostly farmland, and we have a Penitus Oculatus outpost. It was because of them that I decided to become a Guard, my parents thought it was a silly idea, they wanted me to run the mill, but I did not have interest in such affairs. I wanted more, to see the world, and work for others as a private guard. My parents understood, and helped me raise funds to live in Solitude, to join the guards there. In Solitude, it started out hard, with barely any time to sleep but I knew I would soon rise up the ranks-"
She then signaled with her hand to the Captain to stop speaking. He was confused and quiet offended by her gestures. Anastasia soon ordered the rider to stop the carriage and began to step off. She slowly walked towards the Shire of Dibella near the Old Hroldan Inn and decided to begin to mediate to Dibella. The Captain was now a bit understanding of her gestures, but was still angered by them. He gave her her time in her meditation and once she was done, he helped her up into the carriage once again.
Now leaving The Reach's territory, her carriage began to enter the sweet pine forest of the Falkreath Hold. Anastasia was in amazement of this new found area of Skyrim. She had not traveled this far and even thought the journey scared her, she felt at peace with the forest. The trees filtered the sunlight with their leaves and she could spot some rabbits and foxes running about in the woods. The trees towered over the carriage as if hiding them from the sun and the birds high above. She breathed in and huffed a big sigh, the forest was lovely. She could hear the birds chirp and all that was good in the world. Maybe she could build a little cabin and live there. The woods seemed to be so lovely, yet at the same time, they seemed to beckon her into something more. It was as if trying to tell her a secret. The forest was truly different from Markarth, she now understood why everyone detested that city, Falkreath was far more gorgeous then The Reach, over there, there was only rocks, mountains, and water everywhere, but here, there was more life. The trees danced with the wind, the birds, singing lullabies and a herd of deer running through, as if they could fly. Her train of thought was now paused as the carriage began to slow down to a stop.
"What is happening?" She peaked out the window and checked the front of the carriage asking the rider.
"Into position men, get off your horses and line up." Ordered the Captain.
Anastasia was now worried at the scene, she did not understand what was occurring, was it an ambush? A step up?
"Do not fret, ma'am, it is simply an inspection; nothing more and nothing less." The captain noted the worried look on the female's face.
With the simple understanding of the situation, she sighed in relief and was also ordered by the Captain to exit the carriage.
The Falkreath Guards began to check the whole carriage, her belongings and food. She felt somewhat violated but the Captain assured that it was a simple procedure for entering the city, nothing that was targeting her. He then told her to gather more supplies since they were running out for the round trip. Therefore, she began to walk into the new city. This one was different from Markarth, it did not have any mountains directly near it; it was simply surrounded by pine trees, everywhere. The people here began to note the new stranger, they looked at her and began to murmur about her odd clothing, the simple robes suggested that she was Priestess, but of what Aedra? Mara? Kynareth? Dibella? She felt the pressure again, the murmurs, did everybody know of what she took fault in? She may have been miles away from Markarth but the feelings came back, of being the center of town, where everyone just gossiped about, she wanted out, and now. She quickly bought the supplies that the Captain had asked for and scurried her way towards him.
"I do not like it here, people are talking of me and I came here to have a good time, but I honestly feel like I am being attacked." She told the Captain.
"What are they saying of you? I mean I do not find anything wrong with you."
"They're murmuring, just like they were in Markarth. I hate it." She muttered.
"Come with me." The male ordered as he grabbed a hold of her hand gently and she followed after him as he returned to the village.
She mimicked his steps and entered like he had, head held high and a strong walk, okay, she was not exactly copying him, but she was close enough. The people began to whisper again, they never really saw strangers in their city often.
He made his way to the blacksmith and ordered for his sword to be sharpened.
"Have you ever held a sword?" He looked towards her.
She averted her blue eyes from his gaze and watched as the blacksmith sharpened the sword. "No, though I have always wanted to. Us priestesses cannot dream of ever wielding a sword either way." Her shoulders were lifted in a shrug.
"I could buy you one, if you would like. I know that it is forbidden within the priestesses, but you must be able to protect yourself from any harm when it approaches you." He winked.
"You could be right." She let her lips curl into a smile and he nodded.
"Exactly, then I must be able to teach you the basics before we part ways."
"Thank you."
"Hmm." The male gave a short nod and laughed lightly as he was handed his sword. "I would also like to purchase one."
"Of course." The blacksmith nodded and led them into the shop, where he had some swords.
"Which one would you like?" The captain asked.
"The cheapest." Anastasia mumbled.
He looked upon the swords and even held some in his hands. "Now that I think of it, how are you going to hide a sword in the temple?"
Anastasia blinked a couple of times and sighed in defeat. "Then I guess I cannot own one." She had never thought of that.
"I shall get you a dagger then." He smiled and did just that. It was not the cheapest, but neither the most expensive one, and he even bought her a sheath.
They began walking back and he started by showing her how to hold the dagger. "You see, you want to wrap your fingers around it tightly, but have your thumb facing the tip, against the grip; Understood?" He demonstrated and she nodded. He handed it to her so that she could give it a try.
Upon holding the weapon, she became fascinated and first inspected it, the Captain could not help but laugh for she looked like a little child. Doing as the Captain had instructed, she held it in her hands.
"Holding it this way gives you more of a grip, but of course this is just a basic grip lesson." He shrugged, knowing that his explanation was not entirely correct.
"Mmhmm." She nodded lightly and by now had forgotten that people were staring her way because she was so caught up in the dagger.
He was smiling as they left the city and entered the carriage once again.
"We will reach Helgen shortly, ma'am."
"Captain...Sir, I don't exactly know your name..." She spoke so lightly that he would have not heard if it weren't for them being close.
"Oliver, ma'am, my name is Oliver." He nodded after closing the carriage door and leaving her alone inside.
As the carriage began to move out of the city it lead her to her thoughts. At this point, the sky began to near dawn, and the trees began to give off a dark scene, she began to feel a bit uncomfortable, but was feeling assured of her entourage. The soft galloping of the horses, the sound of the breeze going through the trees all allowed for her to feel at home, in the safe keeping of the warm temple. Falling asleep, Anastasia began to ponder about what had occurred to her friend near Helgen and drifted off to a dream.
"WATCH THE BOWMEN! KEEP THE CARRIAGE SECURE!" Commanded the Guard Captain to his fellow Guards.
Anastasia was woken up by such order. It all came to her in an instance, the horses were whining, and the carriage windows were covered in blood. At this point, Anastasia was in mental turmoil, all she could hear was the Guard Captain shout out commands and hear fighting outside her carriage. Just as her mind was trying to cope with what was occurring; a sudden arrow was shot through her front window, thankfully missing her neck by mere inches. A bandit was now trying to enter the carriage through the broken window and as Anastasia began to fear for her life, she quickly grasped her dagger and was ready to attack the bandit only to see him bleed from his chest.
As the bandit fell to the floor, Oliver-The Guard Captain-peeked into the carriage "Ma'am! You must leave now, we are under attack by seven bandits and I feel as if you may not be safe at this point. Please, get on a horse and-"
"Sir! Behind you!" Screamed Anastasia as she saw a bandit approach Oliver with a sword dripping with blood.
As Oliver was fighting off the bandit, Anastasia quickly took in the scene. There were two guards and three bandits dead near the horses, the other two guards were fighting off bandits as well and the Captain was taking a toll from the remaining bandit. All Anastasia could think of was to escape such horror scene, and was ready to free the horses. With her back to the Captain she turned around and saw that he was struggling.
"Oliver-I mean Sir! Please hurry up, I do not want to stay here any longer!"
"Ma'am, I am terribly sorry by as you can see-" The bandit's blade made a quick attack and nearly beheaded the Captain, making small grunts, the Captain was able to injure the Bandit and swiftly end him.
"Pardon me for that interruption Ma'am, but as I was saying, I feel that-"
Again, the Captain was interrupted by the chaos.
"Sir! Get M'lady to safety, we can handle these three bandits! Just get on a horse and leave!"
As the Guard finished his statement, Oliver was then shot by an arrow through his shoulder. Anastasia began to fear for her life and was scrambling through her satchel to give him a Health Potion. As Oliver took the health potion, he got on his horse and they galloped away from the battle. Looking back, Oliver could see his men struggle with the bandits but was feeling assured to their abilities.
"Oliver-I mean Sir, are you alright, do you need more potions?" Anastasia said as to make the Captain forget about ordeal that was occurring before them.
"No thank you Ma'am, I think I am feeling better with the potion you gave me just now, and please, call me Oliver from now on" Replied the Captain with a slight smirk.
Reaching Helgen, the Town's Guards quickly went to their aid and helped the Captain step of his horse.
"Oliver, please stay in Helgen till I return. My friend is just a few meters away from Helgen and I can get there alone safely"
"No, I cannot leave you alone, my job is to keep you safe and that is what I intend of doing. I must stay with you till we return to Markarth."
"But please! Oliver, I do not want you to die from this mere injury in this harsh weather"
"As I have said Anastasia, I am here to protect you every step of your journey."
Feeling defeated, Anastasia agreed to allow the Captain to venture with her out into the snow forest of Helgen. Looking to her left, she could see the Throat of the World towering before her and began to feel insecure about her friend's occurrence. Leaving Helgen on simply a horse made her feel insecure and she could see that the Captain was now beginning to sweat.
Nearing their destination, the Captain began to cough and Anastasia was beginning to feel weary of him. For what Anastasia could not see, was that the Captain was now coughing blood. Even thought the Captain was trying to keeping it subtle, he now began to feel intolerable pain and fell off his horse. Anastasia quickly saw the Captain's sudden fall and raced to his rescue. Being a bit knowledgeable about medical procedures, she began to treat his wounds and gave him a few health potions. Oliver then took notice of a dead body behind her and signaled for her to approach it. Anastasia then turned around and fell to her knees, began to cry and placed her hands on her face as to cover the tears. The reason for her tears were not for pity of the dead body that was before her, but because of the fact that it was her friend, Priestess Osla. As Anastasia cried her heart out, the Captain tried to confront her but by doing so, Anastasia felt a kind of violation and pushed him away from her, towards the floor. She then turned to him and was about to ask for forgiveness until she was stopped at her movements.
"What are you doing over there?" A harsh voice blurted out from behind her. It was an Imperial Guard, leading two cargo carriages of war criminals.
"Oh! No, its not what it looks like, It is a mis-"
"ARREST HER SOLDIERS. This lady has clearly killed her friend and is currently trying to kill this guard!" Signaled the Guard to his fellow Guardsmen.
In seconds, before Anastasia or even Oliver could explain, she was arrested and Oliver was taken to an Infirmary. As he tried to explain, words could not escape from his mouth. In agony he began to cry for the fear that was coming before him, about his injury, and Anastasia's possible future execution. Stripped from her clothes, she was only given rags and forced to get on the second cargo carriage of criminals. Trying to explain herself, an Imperial Soldier hit her in the head and knocked her out. Before she could close her eyes, she saw Helgen again, but this time, the town was not welcoming her.
[Author's Note: So, I am not sure on how you liked it, I hope that you enjoyed reading this pilot, again, if you liked it, just give me a review and I will certainly keep it going. Pardon me if it was a bit boring, this was the hardest piece to make since I wanted to give you all a good idea on how the character sees things on Skyrim and how they will interact. As well! Thank you for reading!]