Kravos Redwind had done much in his fifty-two years of life.

He slew Alduin, quelled a civil war, and crushed the Forsworn under his boot. He'd fought the Thalmor and the Silver Hand, bring them both to heel. He'd become a Thane several times over and always did his best to serve the people of his holds. He'd conquered the Labyrinthian and tangled with over half-a-dozen Daedric Lords, coming out on top nearly every time. He'd defeated Lord Harkon of Clan Volkihar and overcome the First Dragonborn with the power of his own Thu'um. He'd even learned to write poetry and sing prettily in three languages.

He'd adopted and raised up ten children so they were proud and strong, working hard to ensure that they'd grow into better people than him and praying every night that they'd never need to spill or shed as much blood as he had. And, in Kravos' own admittedly bias position, he's succeeded rather spectacularly.

Alesan had become a sea trader and now had himself an entire fleet of ships under his command, in addition to a beautiful Redguard wife by his side. Runa was an honored member of the Companions and best friends with Aela's daughter, Berengaria the Bear Spear, though Kravos often felt the two were something more. Blaise became a wealthy farmer, owning wide stretches of fertile lands with many workers under him. Sofie had perhaps been elevated the highest by wedding Emperor Titus Mede III's second son, though it was unlikely she'd ever hold the title of empress the fact remained that men and mir alike bowed before her. Hroar opted for a simpler life as a hunter, running a prosperous butcher's shop in Whiterun with his family.

Sissel followed her passionate talent for magic to the College of Winterhold and Kravos was sure she'd be a fine Arch-mage one day. Samuel was now a decorated Legate in the Imperial Legion and married to the grand-niece of General Tullius. Lucia, who could sing like a lark, studied rigorously at the Bard's College and eventually became so renowned that she was called to courts all over Tamriel, catching the eye of many admirers. Francois had, with a heavy heart, decided to return to Cyrodiil to search out any signs of the parents who had abandoned him at the Honorhall Orphanage, though he never found them he eventually made the decision to stay and study in Leyawiin. Kravos was even proud of Britte, his most difficult child, who'd made herself a comfortable life as a blacksmith.

From these ten amazing children, he'd also been given thirteen wonderful grandchildren that he thanked the Nine for every day for them. He cherished each one and looked forward to their visits, which were fewer and far between these days. As every one of his children endlessly commented on, Kravos was a doting grandfather and admittedly spoiled his grandchildren whenever he saw them, if for no other reason than there was little else to do with his vast wealth these days.

Yes, the Last Dragonborn lived a good life… A fulfilling life… A life to be content with.

But, by the gods, he was so bored with it.

Kravos had only been nineteen -just a boy barely able to grow anything more than a patchy beard- when he was revealed to be the Last Dragonborn, when he first saw Alduin, when he slew Mirmulnir, and, after so many years of adventure, the peaceful life he'd once welcomed eventually turned stale and tiresome.

Eventually, he took to working as a healer and it was good work. He felt pride whenever he was able to save mother and babe in the birthing bed or bring a young soldier back from the brink of death. Still, it wasn't enough.

So he trained future generations of soldiers, bred dogs to create the greatest companions Skyrim had ever seen, preformed his political duties with the utmost seriousness, answered every question curious young aspiring author showed up to his doorstep with and watched his all those he knew grow old around him -Balgruuf was gone now and his eldest son ruled Whiterun, Kravos hoped to meet his old friend in Sovngarde when the time came- while he looked for something to alleviate his boredom.

And that is what brought him here.

Of course, where exactly 'here' was remained a mystery for the moment.

Kravos didn't recognize the small island his manor had landed on, nor did he recognize the settlement he could scarcely make out on the mainland that he estimated to be about two miles away. Though that might because of the thick fog that loomed over the town and sat atop the water.

'To any other man, this would probably seem quite strange,' Kravos admitted to himself. But he was no ordinary man and his life had long since led him to stop questioning such magical events. So, after attaching his favorite sword to his hip and slinging a quiver over his shoulder with its respective bow, he set off to explore what would presumably be his new home for a while.

A few hours later, which the sun just on the cusp of setting, Karvos had come to the conclusion that the island he landed on held nothing of particular interest; it was small, less than a square mile, and was actually more of an islet. He noted a few small animals that looked similar to the birds and rabbits he was familiar with, but they all looked...odd, sickly, and made him very grateful about the hefty supply of preserved foodstuffs stored in his manor.

'I'll export this one last area, then turn back,' he decided, setting out towards an outcropping of rocks that lined the inner east edge of the islet.

Notching an arrow, he made his way through the small maze of boulders; most only came up to his waste but there were a few piles that cleared the top of his head by a good four feet. Picking through the grass and rock, Kravos managed to find a few interesting plant and stone samples but mostly he just found more nothing. Somewhat disappointed, he turned to leave… only to stop when he heard the faint yet very distinctive sound of someone exhaling a held breath.

He pulled the bow taut. "Show yourself," he demanded, voice caring loud and clear through the outcropping. "Show yourself and I will not harm you; I swear that I have no ill intentions to anyone!"

Everything was silent...until there was a feeble sob and small figure emerged from what appeared to be a little 'cave' created by boulders stack and pressed together just so.

A child- small, filthy, and painfully thin.

"Please don't hurt me," she sobbed, tears leaving clean streaks on her dirty cheeks.

The grandfather in Kravos urged him to immediately sweep the sobbing child into a hug and comfort her, but the father of many adopted children in him was reminded of how guarded and frightened they could be. It reminded him that he should approach this carefully.

Re-shouldering his bow, he crouched so he was at eye-level with the girl. "It's alright child, I mean you no harm. Come out please, I can't see you."

Kravos kept his voice low and soft with one hand extended towards the child but the girl just shook her fiercely. "Alright, alright. What about your parents then? If you tell me where they are than I can go get them."

Another head shake. "Mama… Mama is gone and Papa doesn't… Papa doesn't want me anymore."

Kravos' heart ached with a pang of understanding and anger. "Are you hungry? If you come with me I can get you something to eat."

The girl seemed conflicted but eventually looked up at him with cautious green eyes, "I can't walk. I hurt my ankle."

"Oh, is that right? I can carry you then if you don't mind."

Another conflicted silence before he eventually got a small nod. Giving his gentlest smile, he went to pick her up but the second his fingers touch the girl back, she winced hard with a loud yelp.

He pulled his hands away immediately, "What's wrong?"

"My back, it burns!"

Kravos went to soothe the girl when he noticed a clear, sticky fluid on his fingers. 'Pus,' he realized. Giving the child a better once over, he took notice of the half-a-dozen large, swollen blisters that dotted her upper right arm and the damp circles on the back of her ratty, sleeveless shirt. 'Blisters, the ones on her back must have popped.'

"I'm going to try and pick you up again, alright? But I want to avoid hurting you so can you tell me if you have any blisters on your lower back?"

Wiping the pained tears from her eyes, the girl shook her head, "No, just on the backs on my shoulders and arm. But they all really, really hurt!"

"I imagine," Kravos nodded sympathetically. "Once we can get to my home I can clean them and wrap them up so they'll heal up much quicker.

"You can do that?"

With another nod, he carefully slipped an arm around her waist from her left side and lifted her up so she was balanced on his hip. "Better?"

He was rewarded with a small smile before the girl buried her dirty face into his shoulder. 'Still, small blessing,' Kravos considered even as he registered the unnatural amount of heat the little girl was generating.

'A fever as well? Poor child.' he mentally sighed as he started back in the direction of his house, quick as he cool. It wasn't like the extra person slowed him down at all; the girl scarcely weighted more than a sack of flour.

The first thing Kravos did when he got home after plopping the child down on an armchair and locked the front door was to get the poor girl a drink. "Here you go," he said, hand her the cup.

She took it but didn't drink, giving the glass a dubious look. "Is it safe?"

'What an odd question, she saw me get it out of the barrel.' But rather than voice the though, he just gave a reassuring smile, "Yes, I always purifying my water before drinking it."

He didn't even get to finish what he was saying before the girl began gulping down her drink so hurriedly that about half of it slipped down her chin. "Hey, hey, be careful! Small sips, sweetheart, otherwise you'll get sick."

The girl pulled the now-empty glass from her mouth with a gasp. "Can I have more please?"

"Of course," Kravos reassured, smoothing a hand over the girl's head, fighting a wince when his fingers caught in the tangled mess that was her hair. "It's in that barrel there, have as much as you want. I'm going to go prepare a bath for you; we need to get you cleaned up before I can treat those blisters."

He only got a nod from the girl but it was good enough. He went to the back room of the main hall and retrieved the old wooden tub he used for when his grandchildren were particularly small. Kravos had a far nicer, proper bathing room in the cellar but figured trying to take the girl down there would probably frighten her something awful, so this was an ideal compromise.

With the right mixture of spells, he filled up the tub with steaming-warm water. Sprinkling some crushed Blue Mountain Flower petals into the water both for their pleasant scent and healing properties, he left the water to settle as he went to gather up some items. Going from room to room, he grabbed two bars of lavender soap, a few washcloths, a large towel, a hairbrush, the smallest nightgown he could find with a matching pair of slippers and smallclothes. From his alchemy tower, he retrieved clean bandages and a clay pot with a spoon that he set by the lite fireplace to heat what was inside.

Once all was ready, he returned to where he left the girl. "Are you ready for a bath? I promise the water isn't too hot."

"I like hot baths," she mumbled, even as she allowed herself to picked up once again. Still, she perked up in his arms when she saw the steaming tub. She began stripping down once he sat her on the ground but Kravos stopped her when she was about to take off her shirt.

"Your shirt is stuck to the open blisters on your back," he explained. "It'll hurt when it is removed but I'm going to do it as quickly as possible."

The girl looked afraid but steeled herself and gave a sharp nod. Smiling at her grit, Kravos set at cutting off the child's shirt, pulling the stuck cloth from the skin and trying to ignore the pangs of sympathy hitting is gut whenever she winced in pain. Once that was done, he scooped her up and placed her in the warm water, mindful of her ankle. "Here," he said, handing over a washcloth and one of the bars of soap, "you wash your legs, privates, and front while I get your hair and back."

It was quiet work, cleaning the dirty, sickly child. Kravos had bathed many children in his life and knew what he was doing but this was different; he didn't know this girl, not even know her name, so there was definite awkwardness to bathing this poor, strange child. Gently he washed the open, oozing blisters that festered on the girl's shoulder blades as he took in her visible ribs, prominent tailbone, and the knobs of her spine.

'She looks only a few days away from starving to death.'

Kravos massaged soap into the girl's hair and then slowly, carefully brushed it out; the dirt and grime coming away to reveal hair the color of copper that was brittle and thin. "What is your name, child. My name is Kravos Redwind."

"I'm hungry," the girl said shortly, refusing to answer his question.

'Alright, that is fair' Kravos though. "We'll have supper after your bath. I'll have to be something light, otherwise, your stomach might not be able to handle it."

"Okay."

Once the bath was finished, Kravos wrapped the girl up in the soft towel, leaving only her blistered back and arm uncovered. He picked up the clay pot, taking off the lid to relieve the thick salve made of blisterwort and corkbulb. "I'm going to apply this salve to your blisters; it will feel very hot, but I promise that it will not burn you."

"Will it hurt?" the girl asked.

The old Dragonborn paused; he didn't want to frighten her but he also knew that children remembered lies far longer than fleeting bouts of pain. "Aye, it will likely sting, especially on the open blisters. But the pain will be brief and, after that, the medicine will dull the pain and help them heal."

"Okay, I'm ready."

Methodically, Kravos spooned a dollop of the hot salve onto each blister, wrapping each with bandages as the girl hissed in pain. Still, once he was done, she turned to him and smiled, "Thank you for telling me the truth."

"Of course, sweetheart."

"Ashe," the girl stated. "My name is Ashlyn, but I like to be called Ashe."