"Ma? I'm home!"
The door slammed shut as the small girl stumbled into the house, still trying to catch her breath from running home. She had just barely made her curfew, though she didn't know how she managed to. Evilila looked down at her mud-streaked dress and grimaced. Her mother had made this dress for her and it was so beautiful that Evilila just had to show it off today. She hadn't asked for permission, as she knew her mother would object to her wearing such a nice dress with no special reason. Evilila couldn't think of any special occasions in which she would get to wear the dress and she didn't want such a lovely dress to just hang in the back of her wardrobe forever. How she had managed to get the dress so dirty was a mystery to her, though it might've had something to do with her playing near the riverside and stomping in the puddles that had accumulated from the melted snow.

Holding her muddy, worn-out boots in hand, Evilila looked around the downstairs of the house. The small hearth that usually crackled with fire was cold and dark, and the whole house suddenly seemed empty and sullen. All at once, Evilila felt alone and even a little scared.
"Ma? Where are you?" The girl walked up the narrow stairs, causing the silent house to be filled with the resonating sound of creaking every time she put the slightest pressure on the wooden boards. She didn't want to make too much noise, just in case her mother was simply taking a nap. Her mother had recently contracted what seemed to be a bad case of the Rattles, and she needed her rest if she was to get better. Still thinking she should check on her, Evilila pushed open the slightly ajar door to her parents room to find her mother sitting on the bed; she held tightly to her chest what appeared to be a framed picture while she cried softly.

"What's wrong…?" she asked shakily, inching closer to the bed. Her mother raised her head and gave Evilila an empty smile. "Sweetie… Come here," she said gently, her voice hoarse and low. The young girl furrowed her brow and crossed the cramped room to her mother and sat next to her. She studied her mother's face, searching for a reason behind all these tears. Evilila hated to see her mother like in this state, and it was starting to make her tear up even though she didn't know why she was crying just yet.
"Your father-" Evilila's eyes widened slightly, a thousand scenarios rushing through her head all at once. As she looked into her mother's eyes, all she could find was her own reflection; it was as if her mother wasn't even there anymore, just a shell of her former self.
"Your father is dead."

The chilly air of Hearthfire blew lazily throughout the streets of Falkreath, rustling the tall pine forest surrounding the small town. The sun was starting to rise, stirring the small town from its slumber.
Evilila scrunched up her face and pulled the covers over her face with a groan as she heard the tavern below her come back to life. It's not even high noon and those drunken bastards are already coming in for a pint? Reluctantly, the elf pushed the covers off herself and sat on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. Her back ached and her neck felt stiff and sore from the hard mattress the inn had provided her. Making a silent promise to herself that she'll find somewhere else to sleep soon, Evilila got up and started to get dressed. Still weighed down by sleep, she managed to get downstairs to buy herself breakfast for yet another day of work. Even though she absolutely despised her employer, Bolund, it was the only job she could find and she intended to do her best.

"There you are, Elf. I've been waiting here for hours," he snarled. Evilila knew very well that she was on time and wanted to tell him she had a name, but instead bit her tongue and gave him a forced smile. "Here," he said handing her an ax. "Go chop me some wood so that I can fill out that order to Whiterun. And try to hurry it up, okay?" Taking the ax, the maiden answered with a simple "Aye" before making her way to the side of the mill where the Nord had laid out the wood for her to chop. And what does he do up there all day, besides sip mugs of Black-Briar mead and eat? She thought begrudgingly as she channeled all her frustration to chop the pieces of wood.

After a few long hours, she had finished. Done, finally, Evilila thought as she wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand. The sun had already set and the twin moons shone brightly above her, creating a somewhat eerie glow of light. It was always like this; Evilila working from dawn until dusk while Bolund just sat in his office reading books on the female anatomy.
Struggling to carry the large stack of wood, the women made her way back to the lumber mill and placed the lumber next to another stack. "I finished, Bolund. Is there anything else for me to do?" she breathed out, leaning against the railing. "'Bout time too. Thought it was going to take all night," he grumbled as he examined the lumber. "Humph. I guess it's late… I'll do the rest of this you go on home," Bolund said with his back to her. Evilila took his advice and went back to the inn, she was desperately in need of a pint of ale and some food. The hearth inside the inn cast a warm glow, beckoning her in from the chilly night air. With a sigh of relief, she took a seat near the warmth of the fire; savoring the flavor of the cool ale in her mug. It had been a long day, and all she wanted to do was sit back and relax in complete, utter-
"Excuse me, but is this seat taken?"
Evilila looked up to see a tall Khajiit with long, dark fur standing before her. His blue eyes sparkled mischievously in the dim lighting the fire cast, while his voice seemed calm and collected. He wore heavy ebony armor that had a few scratches here and there, but other than that it seemed almost brand new. The most interesting thing about him was his weapon. Two steel scimitars that were sharpened to a wicked blade with a black handle to match his armor.
She nodded and the cat sat down next to her, leaning back in his seat. Evilila studied him closely out of the corner of her eye. He had high cheek bones and a very strong jawline. He seemed to be in his early 20's, but then again, Evilila was always bad at guessing people's age.

"See something you like, lass?"
Evilila's eyes widened and she immediately felt heat rising to her face. "N-no, that's not it at all, I swear, I wasn't-"The Khajiit chuckled a bit and shook his head slightly. "I'm only teasing. You should learn not to take things so seriously," he purred. The Dark Elf narrowed her black eyes and gave him a cold stare before turning away from him. How dare he, that, that stupid…
"Hey now, don't be too mad. I was only kidding," He said with a smile tugging at his lips.
"I'm Do'virr. Do you have a name, lass?" Evilila looked back at Do'virr with a look of annoyance.
"Evilila," she said, not even trying to hide the exasperation in her voice.
"No need to be hostile, I just wanted something to call you. Now, what are you doing in Falkreath?" Do'virr looked at her, his expression serious once again. His eyes seemed to have an amused glint in them still, however.
"You know, I could ask you the same thing," she said, avoiding the question. Evilila had always been to herself, never really wanting to share anything about her except with those close to her. In the past, the only people she had been close to were her parents; but her father had moved to the Winterhold when she was only nine, so really the only person she could talk to was her mother.
"An excellent question, my dear," the Khajiit said with a wink. "I decided to stop in this town to gather some supplies. You see, I'm heading to Winterhold for ah... Well now, I think I've said too much. Besides, you're not interested in any of that, now are you? A pretty girl like you, I bet you have better things to do than talk to a dirty Khajiit like me." Do'virr smirked and casually took a sip out of his mug, looking back at the hearth. Evilila's mind was racing; going to Winterhold and seeing the college had always been a dream of hers, one that she had almost forgotten ever since her father…

"Wait I… I am interested," she said, embarrassed that she was asking this self-centered flirt of a Khajiit for help.
"Hm, well now this is interesting. The feisty Dark Elf is telling Do'virr that is she is, in fact, interested in traveling with him?" the amused tone in his voice was even more pronounced now that Evilila had shown an interest in him.
"I'm only interested in Winterhold, cat. Not you," she spat, blushing lightly. Evilila had to admit, he wasn't too bad to look at and his personality probably made all the female Khajiits want to crawl into bed with him.
"Well then, we'll leave tomorrow!" Do'virr put his now empty mug down and got up, turning to look at the Dark Elf. "I expect you do be packed and ready by five," and with that, Evilila was left sitting alone in front of the hearth, wondering if this was the right decision. She didn't even tell him she wanted to go with him, he had just assumed! Practically fuming with annoyance, Evilila stormed off to her bedroom to pack. After all, she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to study magic, even if it meant traveling with someone like Do'virr.

Authors Note:
Well, that took long enough! Sorry if it seems a bit rushed, I'm trying really hard to work on that. A big shout-out and thank you to Vilinturuth for helping me with this chapter and my writing overall. His Elder scroll stories are awesome and you all should check them out.
Don't forget to give me some feedback on my work, I love hearing what you all have to say about it! If you have any suggestions or you feel like I could be doing something better, leave a review or PM me. Thank you all for staying with me for this long, and the next chapter will be up soon!