Chapter 1
While walking on the road back to Winterhold, Wisteria stopped in her tracks as a pungent smell assaulted her senses. Trying to hold back her gags, she covered her nose with the long sleeve of her robes as she walked slowly towards the stone wall as she peaked over the side looking into the water below. Bones covered in sinew and rotting flesh stared back at her, being pounded by the rushing current.
"Skeletons…" she grumbled as she conjured her bound dagger into her right hand and attempting to cast Stoneflesh on herself with her left. Jumping into the shallow water, she was greeted with a storm drain littered with boney corpses. Luckily for her they didn't seem to want to reanimate. 'This is too suspicious for me NOT to check out,' she thought as she rolled her eyes. Kicking the bones out of the way, she lifted the rotting wooden lid to the drain and descended down the ladder into the damp, musty darkness below.
…
Finally she reached the bottom after what felt like ages of climbing. The air smelled of mildew as she took in her surroundings. The water in her boots making her every move noisier than Orthorn's whining. Following the long hallway, she walked under an open grate in the ceiling. Climbing on water soaked walls was never her specialty. She grunted before heaving herself up and grabbing the ends of the iron grate above her. Pulling herself through the grate, she looked around before realizing she was in an empty prison cell.
'What on Nirn is this place?' she thought to herself as she dumped water out of her boots, a puzzled look plastered onto her face as she took in her caged surroundings. Luckily the door was unlocked, but as she swung it open the rusted hinges creaked louder than a hagraven's screech. 'Damn it, I hope nobody heard that…' she cringed. Pulling her boots back over her feet, she snuck out of the cage and down the hallway lined with prison cells. Looking in each one, she only found dusty bones and letters from guards abandoning the keep due to bad weather. "Well that explains why it's so damp," she whispered to herself as she placed the notes back on the floor. Out of the corner of her eye she sensed movement, someone or some-thing was here with her. She crept slowly down towards the final cell and noticed a grumbling mass shackled to the wall by their wrists. Jet black hair clung to his face as he looked up at her with a look of pure hatred pouring out of his dark red eyes.
Wisteria eyed him cautiously through the bars of his locked cell door. While she tested out the heavy duty lock, he rasps "When I get out of here, I'll kill you all myself.." before shifting on his knees and making his wrists pull against the shackles. She looks up at him, scanning his badly beaten body for anything dangerous before backing away from the door with a defeated look on her face. "You're not really in any position to be making threats right now," she said, her voice full of exasperation. His eyes were burning with spite, "Tell me that again, and I'll tear your spine out of your throat," he spat out, watching her every move as she walked over to inspect a nearby table. 'Ha! Finally, a key,' she thought as she grasped it along with some bags of loose septims.
Walking back to the cell that housed the wild man, she unlocked the door and slowly approached his giant figure. 'By the Gods, what in the world is he? A half-giant?' she wondered to herself. His voice hissed at her again as she stepped closer, "Did you not hear me the first time? I said I'll kill you once I get out of here!". She threw her hands up and exclaimed "Easy with the death threats, I'm here to help you." He looked at her and knitted his brows together. "Wait… you're not with the Thalmor, are you?" Offended, she gave him a look of pure disgust as she remembered the Arch Mages' 'advisor' from the college. His eyes widened and filled with hope, "Quick, you have to get me out of here before they come back!" he whispered urgently.
She unbuckled his shackles and he fell from the wall, rubbing his wrists. She raised a healing spell in her right hand aiming it at the giant man who was soon aglow with soothingly soft golden light. She could see his cuts closing and bruises fading as she healed him. Those dark red eyes looked up at her with pure relief. "By the Gods," he exhaled, "that feels good, thanks… uh," he paused and looked up at her expectantly. She eyed the man before her as she replied, "Wisteria. Wisteria Englewood."
...
Authors Note: Hello all! This is my first published fanfiction. I do plan to add to this story, and I apologize for any grammar issues as I'm new to writing stories of my own! This is based off of the Kaidan 2 mod by LivTempleton, I do not own The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or Kaidan, just my OC Wisteria. Please leave a comment and follow for more!