Cearbhail:

So, things have been happening. I mean... a lot. You'll see by the end of the chapter. And I'll explain below. Enjoy.

Also, because I'm late into writing this chapter, I leave you with a decision to make. It will affect how I will continue to write this story. Reply fast, I will sit on this for a while, while I work on the other stories I have. If no one decides by the end of the month mark, I will decide for you.

=^^= ...

Bloodstain's journal…

I have no time to write an entry, so I'll just think one up and write it after I'm done bashing in some heads. The dark bloody sewers the Khajiits and the Argonians call home have not improved since my last visit. I always knew there was a risk for the beast races to live in this squander, but I could never free them from it. Even if I were to get them out of the sewers at the time, they would have ended up serving their elven overlords. It was only now that I could solemnly free these people from their cursed lives. But, even now, they suffer at the hands of fate. In desperation to find food to survive, the beasts have taken to eating from the corpses of the dead, an act that many consider an omen. Eating the corpses of elves and man is said to drive anyone insane, to strip away their soul and replace it with one from Hircine. I've never believed much in the gods, seeing the kind of world they let us inhabit, but from the looks in the eyes of the raging Khajiits and Argonians, I have to put some stock in ancient omens. They truly have lost their sanity.

But I am Bloodstain; I am a Thane of Skyrim. I am a Shoutman; and I am a human. I will not let these people suffer any longer. I will free them from their curse, one way or another. For now, I will try to take them alive. We have a nice Bosmer girl who wants to cure them with her plant cures. We will see what will become of our beast races, but I still have to get them out of here alive. And I'm no fool. I will not let myself be killed by a swarm of beasts. I will defend myself accordingly, but I will not kill unnecessarily. But for now, it's time to create at least one…

Bloodstain…

…

I had time to think that up as I cracked the tip of my baton into the head of a foaming-at-the-mouth Khajiit racing right for me. His sharp claws slashed out at my sleeve but he wasn't fast enough. I knocked him hard enough that he crashed into the wall. Blood splashed from his broken muzzle over the walls of the already bloodstained tunnel. I didn't have time to prepare myself for the assault of several other Khajiits racing towards me so I kicked the downed Khajiit into them, bowling them over.

The old Indra jumped into the herd of Khajiits, slashing them with his claws. I thought he was going to go easy on them, but I guess taking down blood-raging Khajiits is not something to do lightly. I couldn't stop to watch him knock the Khajiits out because that wave of fur and scales was still rushing us. Even as I stepped forward to fight the oncoming wave, Indra was being swallowed by snarls and waves of claws. I didn't have a chance to back up either. More Khajiits fell upon me. I felt crushed under their soggy bloodstained fur. I felt their claws slash at every possible spot, biting down on all my limbs. Thank the enchanters of the past; this coat could take any piercing, any slashing. And my armor could take just as much. Even my mask could take the punishment of a few hundred Khajiits raking me. It didn't help me get up; it didn't help me push them off. And it didn't help me breathe when the swarm of Khajiits started smothering me, pushing me into the sewage, drowning me in the waste of Solitude's slime. Knowing that I was going to be surrounded with every piss and crap this town's ever taken, as well as the blood of the ancient killed enemies of the Thalmor, really gave me motivation to get these snarling Khajiits off me.

Having no other option other than taking a deep breath and letting my head plunge underwater while raving Khajiits tried to rip me to shreds, I opted for using whatever martial arts I had in me to take my multiple foes out. I tried to stretch my hand away from the slashing Khajiit holding it down, trying to draw it to my mouth. It was a struggle, but once I had my hand near my mouth, I took as deep a breath as possible. I tried to think of how I was always taught to summon my Thu'um. The Thu'um came from inside me. Learn the dragon language; learn to draw out your inner dragon. That was what I was always taught. I was never able to tap into my inner dragon, never able to Shout properly. I always had to put some amount of magicka into my Shout to make it work like it should. And ever since I Silenced the world, cutting us off from the natural flow of the energy of world, our magicka has been strongly affected. With no real magicka to work with, I cannot replicate a Shout, even a measly one. Even so, I could still use my Thu'um. If I concentrated enough.

So… With a wave of flurried slashes against my body and face from hissing, biting Khajiits; my body being pushed under the foulest smelling liquids and semi-solids ever known, I had to concentrate really hard just to find my inner sanctum. But, when I found it, it wasn't so hard to stay in it. I could feel the tiny fire from my inner dragon. He was looking up at me, a tiny thing but still there, still waiting for me to call upon him. I reached for his power, thinking of a dragon word. Fus. I just had to Shout it. That was all I had to do. Once I thought up the word, my inner dragon seemed eager to act. He knew what he needed to do. So, I made sure my hand was to my mouth, trying to draw in as much magicka as I had. When I felt a numbing, burning sensation in my hand, I knew I accomplished something in my meditative state.

I released my breath, Shouting Fus as forcefully as possible. The Khajiits pushing down on top of me were met by a punch to their souls. Next thing I knew, they were off me, so I rushed to my feet as fast as I could. I pulled out my second collapsible baton, knowing that I would need two to make it through this nightmare. Just as I readied the new baton, I started feeling woozy. There was a thick smell of willow and lavender in the air. The Khajiits and the Argonians were smelling it too, I realized. The ones that flew off me were unconscious, and others were already starting to fall over too. I think it was because of my mask that I didn't notice it earlier, but now it was hitting me like one of the Thalmors' freight trains. The world spun around me and I found myself falling down on top of some sleeping ragers.

…

"Hey." A familiar voice called to me as I opened my eyes.

The first thing I did was sit up, looking around the room. I wasn't in Solitude anymore; I was in Winterhold: the capital city of old Skyrim, more specifically the Crystal Palace. I wasn't with my normal friends either. I was surrounded by the heroes of the past, the older Shoutmen. Standing in front of me were several Shoutmen I'd heard about, but never have really seen. The ones I noticed the easiest were my great-grandfather Dragonwing, the Seer, and Graybeard, who later became my teacher. The Seer, being the leader of the Shoutmen, was looking down at me with curious blind eyes. She looked a lot younger, like a teenager again.

When I looked up at her, she smiled. "Bloodstain, again." She turned to look at Dragonwing. "Your great-grandson is here."

Dragonwing, perhaps the oldest Shoutmen of them all, shook his head. "But why is he here?"

The Seer smiled some wide ridiculous smile that flashed all her teeth. "He tried to use a Shout during a massive Silence and had to meet his inner dragon to do anything. And now… tapping into his inner dragon has led him here… to us."

I struggled to stand up, but the Seer stuck her leg out, gently pushing me back down with the pressure of her foot. "You shouldn't stand yet."

"Why am I here?" I looked around the place, looking at the Shoutmen. I didn't see all of them, more like six or seven at most. But, as with all dreams I seem to have with the Seer in them, I had to guess there was something important for me to know.

And, as I had guessed, the Seer turned to look at me with a frown on her face. "Bloodstain. You know I have a child, right?" I nodded. "And my descendant is Vivian, correct?" I nodded again. Seer cringed for a second, like she was contemplating something. "And…if you hadn't guessed… everyone has descendants. The one you travel with, the Khajiit, she is a descendant of Ahmbra, the sister to the founder of the Crimson Blades: Ruby. And… if heroes of the past have descendants, it is very plausible to think that… even our worst enemies have descendants as well. Even Nrillia and Fiirnar."

That made my blood run cold. I never thought that Nrillia would have children of her own, but it made sense. I knew Fiirnar had his sons, but most of them were killed during the final war between Skyrim and the Dominion, not to mention when the Shoutmen invaded Solitude a few weeks ago, basically killing all the Dominion leaders in the process. The thought that Nrillia could have her own children… that was something I needed to consider. And the following thoughts as well: were they as evil as Nrillia, or just as powerful, or something else entirely? Would they follow their mother's example, or would they be their own person?

"Are you saying…"

Seer shook her head. "I say nothing; I can only speculate. That being said, you should really watch those around you. Nrillia was a powerful Altmer necromancer, and you currently reside in a town built around Altmer ownership. Any Altmer you meet might be one of Nrillia's old children, as well as Fiirnar's. Your influence in the town, the creation of this… republic, or whatever it is, has set in motion a course of events that may end up leading to the destruction of your new town. You have done what no one has sought to do before… share power. And I doubt there are others who will willingly share what power they have with others. Any agent of the Thalmor, or in relation to the greatest necromancer ever, will use this system to get what they want. I want you to beware, Bloodstain. Things are…changing. And you cannot stop it now. The train is in motion, the only thing you can do is divert the path to a safer one. "

I could not believe the Seer had been watching me this whole time. Or… it could all be just a dream. This wasn't the first time she's shown me the future, or warned me of the dead coming back to life to fight me. So, for her to say these things, I could not just dismiss them as a crazy dream. "Ok. I have a question." When she nodded to me, I looked around the room. "What happened in that little nightmare of ours? When Fiirnar killed you?"

She smiled weakly. "You see, Bloodstain…" She paused as she looked around the room. She looked over at Dragonwing. "Please… leave us to talk in private."

Dragonwing nodded. He turned back to the other Shoutmen. "You heard her, back to training! Storm, Pyro, and Flasher! I want you to meet up with the Blades, and see about doing a scouting mission to Dawnstar. I want to know if the rumors are true of a necromancer nesting in those old ruins." The three nodded and hurried off to complete their assignment. Dragonwing looked over at Graybeard. "And you're with me. It's time I teach you the Ethereal Shout. Might save your life if you ever get blasted off a really high cliff." He looked over at me, smiling. "Even though you don't have enough dragonblood to form your own Shouts, you'll always be a Shoutman in my book." With that, Dragonwing and Graybeard left the room, leaving me alone with Seer.

Seer wasted no time at all. As soon as the door shut behind Dragonwing, Seer joined me on the floor, sitting down next to me. "So, that was not just a dream I had then."

"What?" I looked over at her. "You were dreaming that too?"

She nodded. "I'd assume I'm dreaming right now too, but…" She looked over towards the doorway. "There is too much life going on right now to be a dream. Too much realism. I've learned the hard way that there are always slight differences between the dream world and the real world. And I have experienced travel through time even when I slept. There have been times when I slept and dreamt of the past… and times I would actually visit the past. Sure… I could also travel through time without sleeping, but… those times when I would sleep travel, I could not control where I went, when I came back, or anything else. Even death was nothing more than a way to come back to my body, even though it still hurt like oblivion and frankly scared the crap out of me."

"Ok… so…. Are you saying I'm visiting the past?" When the Seer nodded to my question, I had so many more forming in my head. "Wait… I have somehow traveled back in time? How?"

She chuckled weakly, shaking her head, blushing at the very thought. "How… that is a question I've learned to ignore. After a while, it's fun. Go back in time, meet your dead mother, hang out with her… fall in love with the idea of having a family. Then… remind yourself that you can never have that. Remembering the reality you face upon your 18th year… to know that no matter what you do, what you say, or how you act… you'll always end up at the point where an evil vampire waits to rip out your throat and kill all your friends around you." She sighed as she leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. "There comes a time when one just has to accept their fate… that no matter what you do, you can't change it."

I grunted. This was exactly what I was afraid of. I was sitting down with the Seer, and I was already hearing that vital thing that made her mortal… that one thing that changed how I would think of her forever. Sitting beside me was a defeated girl, one that I had learned about in all my research of the past. I knew she met her fate to the vampire, but I never knew she resigned herself to it. "You won't fight it at all?"

She laughed at the thought. "All I've done my whole life is fight. I fought my dad, fought my sister, any assassins the Dominion sent my way. I've lost everyone: Mom, Ruby, Veselle, Dad, Mom… Grandpa…" She finally looked down at me. "And it's not going to get any better. Soon enough, I'll start losing even more of my friends. I can't keep this up for much longer. The Dominion is making its presence in Skyrim known. I don't know how they did it, but there are these… Orcish Shouters."

"The Inquisitors." I nodded. "I remember hearing about them." Ethereal was one of the survivors of the experiment. He used to tell me about the experiments that led to the destruction of the Orsimer race.

She nodded. "I can only see bits and pieces of what's to come, but I know they're coming. I don't know when or where they'll strike, but I can already feel the echoes of their first assault. Creating the Shoutmen was something I could do to help prevent that from happening, but it's still coming." She paused as she looked over at me. "Sorry, I got sidetracked. Here I am… meeting one of my heroes, and I'm going on and on about my little problems." I was one of her heroes? I never knew that. With that slight pause lingering in the air, she sighed. "Anyway, if you've traveled here in dream form, I'm guessing you're stuck here for a while. My first trip… I was 7, I think. I was stuck back there for a week. You might be here for a while."

"Is there anything you can tell me? A way to get back?" I asked as I started to stand up.

She shook her head. "You'll either have to live it out until your soul decides it's time to go back or… well… you could kill yourself. But it won't be pleasant. Trust me… I've died so many times by now, facing my real death is becoming no problem at all." More of those things that told me just how mortal she really was. The image of my hero was beginning to fade away. She seemed to sense my disappointment because she shook her head, smiling. "Wow… never thought you'd look at me like that. I'm not the only one that idolizes people to a fault, am I?" She started to stand up, brushing off her crystalline armor. "Look, Bloodstain. I'm not perfect. I'm not." She spun herself around. "I'm wearing armor and a crystal circlet that keeps me from going crazy. I guess… you thought I was some great person? Does history reflect that?" She looked very hopeful. I could not tell her the truth.

"To the Shoutmen, you are a legend. I've heard stories about the great Seer, the High Queen of Skyrim that stood against the Dominion against all odds…"

"And lost everything?" She finished my thought. "How is that a great legend? What I will do… the things I will bring upon this land… my entire existence will do nothing more than create a giant darkness that will spread across the land. The day I was born was the day this world died. And I thought it would stay that way… but then I dreamt of you." She pointed over to me. "In the darkest of days, one little flicker of hope and light would begin to shine. The only Shoutman to stand up to the darkness, against everything being thrown at him, would ignite his world in such a way that the darkness would soon dissolve. You know how many times I wish I could do what you have done? Wash away the Dominion as you have?" As I have? I haven't done that yet. I've only liberated half of Skyrim and Solitude.

Seer seemed to catch her mistake because she covered up her mouth like she was a child. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

I grunted. "It's ok. It's good to know that even though we're struggling to correct things in Solitude that we'll improve this world."

She nodded too quickly. "Yup, Solitude. Forgot that you were still in Solitude." She looked away for a second. "Well, Bloodstain. If you want, I can kill you and send you back to Vivian. Let you continue your thing."

I shook my head. "There is still something I want to know before I decide anything. I've always wondered one thing, one decision you've made." When I paused, I could see the thoughts beginning to turn in her head. Would she give me the answer I would want to hear, or would my expectation of who she really was ruin my image of her forever? Did I really want to know, or just speculate her reasons? I had to know. "You've resigned yourself to death. You know you can stop it, but you don't. Why?"

I saw a small smile grow in the corners of her mouth. "And you wonder why I idolize you." I could see a small tear starting to roll down her cheek. "You never give up. You never question yourself to the point where you stop advancing. You just push forward, sure that things will eventually work out. That you can fix whatever you break. You are not cursed with the ability to see time, to see the events that will occur. To know that even if you push the boundaries of what can occur, what should occur, and what won't occur… to know that even the slightest mistake can make the future worse…" Seer shook her head. "Bloodstain. I have not given up. I never will. I will continue to fight, but not for my future. My future is set in stone. My fate is sealed. If I don't die… you will never be born. My death will spare the rest of the Shoutmen, and my daughter. If I run, I will be chased. And so will the Shoutmen. Fiirnar will find me wherever I go. If I run, he will kill us all. If I die here… the Shoutmen will escape, and there will be a chance to save the world… just not during my time. I'm planning the ultimate strategy; I just can't be the general."

So… that was the real reason. She sacrificed herself to make sure that the Shoutmen could exist. So that I would exist. It was hard to believe that the person I thought was so powerful, powerful enough to save our world, would willingly give her life in exchange for mine. She believed that I would save our world. From what it sounded like, she already knew I was going to save the world. "If you can travel through time, why don't you help us out?"

She smirked. "Who says I haven't? Your friend Madanach survived the magicka cannon. I believe I took care of healing him a couple weeks ago. And…well… I won't spoil it. Not yet." Did that mean she was going to get involved again? I wonder if she already has and I just haven't met her yet in the future to see her do it? She knew I would save the world, perhaps she is there to see it happen. I could feel my respect for her strengthen as I looked at her. She was still fighting, even if she was resigning herself to her own death, if not only so that I could finish her fight. And if she had already gone ahead and helped me fight to dissolve the Dominion, she had already seen the fight to the end. She was more of a legend than I could have given her credit for. If there was ever a hero for me to respect, it would have to be her after all.

"I believe you underestimate yourself, Seer." I tipped my hat to her. "From where I'm standing, you're as much an inspiration to me as I am to you."

She beamed at the compliment. "To hear that from you…" She blushed and looked away. "So… should I kill you now?"

I shook my head. "If you believe in fate, then perhaps I have come back for a reason. Do you mind if I just wait this time dream out and see what I learn?"

She shrugged. "If you insist, I won't try to stop you. Truly, I never expected you to visit me in your past. That's weird. Almost Sheogorath territory weird."

"Who?" Who was Sheogorath?

That made her pause. "Wait…oh, crap…" She covered her mouth. "I forgot." Her face turned very red, and I think I broke her because she just stood there, wide-eyed, looking over at me.

"Who's Sheogorath?" Her face only turned darker red as she stood there. Man, she had some issues with blushing. I remember Vivian turning that very same shade of red when we had sex for the first time.

"The fuck is going on in here?" That was weird. It sounded like that shade I talked to earlier. The voice came from the window, and as I turned to see who it was, I could see that vampire girl Babette hovering near the window, glaring in to look at us. "Cecilie, you ok? You look like you've embarrassed yourself again. What… did this guy do something to you?" She glared over at me. "Should I get rid of him for you?"

The Seer didn't say anything; she was still too busy trying to keep her mouth shut. Babette took that as a challenge and flew into the room. "Ok, you bloodmask. You thought you could just barge in, harass my best friend, and then get out of here alive? I'll fucking kill you!" I didn't have time to react. She was suddenly in my face, stabbing me with a curved knife. Next thing I knew, I had a knife stuck in my face. The pain was intense, but it didn't break the mask. That didn't stop me from stumbling back, tripping over something behind me.

"Babette, don't!" The Seer screamed as Babette landed on top of me.

The vampire girl didn't seem to notice the Seer scream at her to stop attacking me. "You fuck with my friend, I'll fuck you right back!" Again with the fucking. What is wrong with this eternal 11 year-old girl? "Get ready to meet Sanguine, you perverted fuck basket!" Another name I'm unaware of. Sanguine; Sheogorath? Why do they sound so familiar? She pulled up my mask and shoved the knife right into my throat. I wish I hadn't let her catch me by surprise, but by the time I brought up my arms to fight her off, the knife was already drawing a line across my throat. The pain was searing; unimaginable to anything I've ever felt before. I felt like I was really going to die.

I watched as the Seer jumped over to us, tackling Babette off me. "He's a friend!" She screeched before turning to help me. She placed her hand on my throat, and I felt Restoration begin to feed itself into my neck wound. There was a lot of blood building in my throat, and it was beginning to travel down into my lungs as well. My vision was beginning to blur. Was I really dying? As my vision faded, I wondered what would happen to me. Would I wake up here in the Seer's past, or would I wake up back home?

Cearbhail:

Here's what's going on. I have left things on an edge. Cecilie is fighting to bring Bloodstain back to life so that he can reside in his dream walk. Now... here's the decision. If you so decide, I will let Bloodstain wake in Cecilie's bed, where he can go on and adventure in her timeline for a couple chapters and meet the other Shoutmen, as well as learn how to Shout properly. That means that he will meet Parthuunax as well as the other Crimson Blades. At the expense of these chapters, the actual storyline will be pushed back a bit.

If you decide that Bloodstain should awaken in his timeline, all that will be ignored. He'll wake up and the story will continue like it was originally planned. But, even so, Bloodstain has already tapped into his inner dragon. He can Shout now, but even so, he still can't do it very well because of the Silence. Neither of these decisions will deeply impact the story, it will just either sidetrack us with a few character cameos and backstory, or just push us back into the storyline that involves Bloodstain trying to save his town.