(AN: This is where everything starts to change: where the main characters make their first steps into the outside world...and where i realized that people might start losing their patience with them.)
Setting Out
The feasting went on until the night came and, one by one, the guests went to their rooms or collapsed in the great hall around the hearth. Eirik and Mjoll went to their beds and Bjorn had fallen asleep at his books. As for Sigrun, she was bent over the table, her head lolling with weariness. Jonna, on the other hand, seemed to be immune to the effects of strong drink. She had already gone through half a small barrel and could still articulately speak. She was idly plucking the strings of Fjolti's lute: she was not musically instructed herself, but sleep was far from her and the twanging gut-strings was a little diversion from boredom. But even this was becoming meaningless after a while. Therefore, taking the last still burning candle at the table, she brought it over to Sigrun and nudged her awake.
"Mmm, what time is it?" she mumbled.
"Almost midnight," Jonna replied.
"Then why did you wake me up?" Sigrun groaned.
"Because it's time to talk, hmm?" Jonna returned.
"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Sigrun asked.
"No, not even tomorrow," Jonna replied.
Sigrun lifted her head up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Alright, let's hear it."
"I heard you and da talking about our plan," Jonna stated. Though Eirik was not her father, no one protested Jonna calling him such.
"I didn't mean to spoil your birthday," Sigrun replied, her voice falling somewhat.
"It didn't ruin anything," Jonna replied. "I'm glad you said it." She chuckled, biting her lower lip. "It saved me the trouble of asking ma about it."
"Mmm?" Sigrun asked. "And what did she say?"
"She gave me a non-answer," Jonna returned, swaying slightly to the left and right. "But I guess that's what comes from growing up in Solitude. She said that she would miss me, that I had nothing to prove by leaving home right away..." Jonna blew a dismissive rasp with her lips, which caused Sigrun's face to fall with concern.
"But she also added," Jonna continued. "That I'm no longer a child, that I can do as I please. And that means we're leaving."
"Leaving?" Sigrun asked. A sudden concern came over her: the idea of leaving was still something far flung, a thing that would not be regarded until the 17th of Last Seed, when her 18th birthday dawned.
"Tonight," Jonna added. "Come on, help me get our things together."
Sigrun followed Jonna, moving almost as one in a dream. Jonna found two back-packs into which she placed spare clothes and a blanket each for a bed-roll. They also had for themselves traveling cloaks and warm clothes to wear for the journey. In a little pouch they stored some dried meat and some bread and took also a water skin. After this, they brought their packs down to the dining room, and then went for their weapons. Jonna took her shield and ax, and the little bag of money that Angrim had given her. For most of the time they moved in silence, until Jonna whispered for Sigrun to come over to her.
"What is it?" Sigrun asked.
"You will need a weapon if we go together," Jonna replied. Then, to Sigrun's surprise, Jonna presented to her the short-sword that Thorald and Eirik had purchased for her.
"Jonna, I can't take this!" Sigrun gasped.
"It's just for a while, sis," Jonna returned. "We'll find you a new one and I'll take this back."
"But it's your gift," Sigrun protested.
"And I'm just letting you borrow it," Jonna added. "It would be wrong of me to let you come with me without a weapon."
"Jonna, I'm not sure about this," Sigrun stated. "I mean, I know we've spoken about this a lot, but..."
"Sis," Jonna interjected. "You said so yesterday, you want to see the world outside of Falkreath. Now we're of age, we need to take our lives into our own hands." Sigrun still stood unaware, but Jonna was insistent.
"Listen," she added. "Lucia made her own choice, and we're not her. We have our own future to find: will you find it with me?"
Sigrun was still torn with indecision. Now that it came to it, she had little reason to leave home just yet. No serious attempts to arrange a marriage for her had happened, and she still felt young. The house she lived in never seemed more comfortable than it did right now, and weariness made her yearn for her bed. Yet as she looked down and saw Jonna standing there, hand held out, a calm came over her. Nothing seemed to bother Jonna, not even the prospect of leaving home and hearth: she felt that, as long as Jonna was there, unflappable in her courage and good cheer, then she, Sigrun, could endure being away from home.
With a gulp, that seemed to spell some final and unchanging fate, she took Sigrun's hand. Jonna smiled and gave Sigrun the sword.
"I don't know what I'd have done if you said no," Jonna replied with a grin.
"You?" Sigrun chuckled with surprise.
"It would be a poor thing, I thought," Jonna stated. "If I had to see all that lay beyond our hold without you at my side. Now, let's be on our way."
Jonna and Sigrun girt themselves in their warm travel clothing and their cloaks, slung their back-packs upon their backs and set their swords, axes and shields into their belts and upon their backs. Jonna and Sigrun then walked to the door, but once again Sigrun halted.
"What is it now?" asked Jonna.
"I need to leave some kind of message," Sigrun lamented.
Jonna groaned. "Be quick, then, before someone finds us."
Sigrun quickly crept to Bjorn's room, where he always kept ink and parchment. Taking these, she walked back down to the little candle and wrote a hasty note:
Dear Ma and Da,
I have left with Jonna. I will return. I will give Lucia your love if I see her.
Love, Sigrun.
This she placed on the table next to the candle, then turned around to Jonna and walked out the door: she did not look back, for she feared that if she looked back, she would not be able to force herself to leave. The two ladies opened the door of Lakeview Manor and passed out into the darkness. The night air was cool and crisp, for spring was only recently come and there was still a hint of the chill of winter, weak and feeble, upon the air. First Seed would grow warmer, but for the most part, they would be facing cold weather and so the two young women were grateful for the warm clothing. As if to further bless their departure, the moons were both out that night, giving plenty of light for night traveling.
The women had not gone more than six paces from the door of Lakeview Manor when they both had the distinct feeling that they were not alone. Sigrun looked to the left and saw the little stable, shrouded in darkness from the nearby cliff to the south of Lakeview Manor. Nothing could be seen in the shadow cast by that short cliff. North she looked, where the land sloped on down towards the shores of Lake Ilinalta, and there she saw, or thought she saw, a black shape standing upon the path that led down to the lake. She whispered to Jonna, who looked where directed and, like Sigrun, came to a halt.
It had been a long-kept family secret that there was a guest of Lakeview Manor. Eirik had told Sigrun and Jonna tales about this shadowy figure, who he had met in a cave long before they were born. In every story, the thing had been a woman and a vampire, and had often provided help to Eirik and Mjoll. Then, around the time they had settled down, the vampire woman had simply vanished. It was said that she visited Eirik from time to time, always at night, and sometimes they would disappear for a season and he would return, but she never stayed very long. When they were young girls, Sigrun once thought she caught a glimpse of the vampire woman, standing beneath the full moons, dressed all in black with hair as black as the clothes she wore. For a moment she saw the figure, and as soon as she had rubbed her eyes, thinking that she was seeing things, the figure had vanished. As with most of everything that happened with the two girls, she had told Jonna about it, but they never saw such a figure again.
Until tonight. In the blink of an eye, the black figure was now standing ten feet away. They could make out a little bit more of the particulars under the moons' light. The figure was indeed clad in mostly black, with dark hair and a black cloak about her shoulders. Though it was no taller than Jonna, the speed by which it had moved before them that brought both women to a stand-still. If it could move that quickly, they feared what else it might be able to do. There was a gleam of red-yellow eyes and a sickening smell of decay lingered about it like a cloud.
"Out for a little walk, are we?" the figure asked. It was certainly a woman, but the voice was different than how Sigrun or Jonna had expected. It sounded like a young woman, near their own age, and there was no malice in that voice. The words she had spoken, had they been spoken under the light of day and without such fear, would have sounded like a jest.
"Who...what are you?" Jonna asked.
"It's her!" Sigrun whispered.
In a moment no longer than a heartbeat, the dark figure was now within arm's reach. But it remained standing still, gazing at them. One of the black-gloved hands conjured a ball of light that it raised up to the level of the vampire woman's face, casting light upon the young girls and upon the dark figure. The face that they saw was indeed of a young woman, no older than they were, with red lips even larger than Sigrun's. There was still an unsettling quality to that young woman's face: for her skin was not pale but white like the freshly-fallen snow, and her eyes, they saw, were red and yellow.
"My name is Serana," the young woman said to them, a sly grin upon her face. "And you have nothing to fear from me. I've already eaten and drunk tonight and you're Eirik's children."
"Are you going to tell him...?" Jonna asked.
"What, that you're running away from home?" Serana replied.
"We're not running away from home," Sigrun interjected.
"Could have fooled me," Serana stated, cocking an eyebrow.
"We're going north," Jonna spoke. "To Whiterun. I asked Sigrun to come with me as my sword-thane."
"Your parents approve of this?" Serana asked, with a knowing glance.
"I'm of age," Jonna replied. "And she will be soon." She gestured to Sigrun.
For a moment there was hesitation in the face of the vampire woman. Sigrun also had a moment of consternation herself: would the vampire waylay them? She was a vampire, and therefore long-lived; surely she had been around when Lucia left. Why had she not stopped her or tried to stop her? She wanted to know and, for a moment, hoped that Serana would waylay them.
"Well," Serana said at last. "I'm not your parents, but I will tell you this. The world is dangerous. I've seen more of it than you have, and it's not to be taken lightly."
"We're not," Jonna replied. "We're armed and have provisions in case of bad weather."
"Hmm," Serana mused. "There's something about you, Jonna, daughter of Jordis. Something that...well, reminds me of myself. Perhaps you could make it. Very well, I won't say a word about your departure. Be safe and may your ancestors be with you."
Jonna nodded, then began to leave with Sigrun behind her. As they were passing Serana, Sigrun paused and turned to the vampire woman.
"Were you there when Lucia left?" Sigrun asked.
"No," Serana shook her head. "But I heard about it afterwards from your father."
"Did you look for her?" Sigrun inquired.
"Yes," Serana replied, hanging her head as if in shame.
"Did you find her?" asked Sigrun. "Is she alright? Where is she?"
"She was alive the last time I saw her," Serana said. "But she doesn't want to be found. She told me that herself."
"Why would she not want to be found?" asked Sigrun.
"She didn't say," Serana replied. Her dark head turned over her shoulder, then back to Sigrun. "You'd better get going, your sister is already on her way down the hill."
Sigrun turned to leave and took two steps. But her desire for home was still strong and she paused yet again. Again she turned and saw the vampire woman standing there, a black shadow against the staves and lime walls of Lakeview Manor.
"Should I unlock the door for you?" Serana asked.
"No," Sigrun said, shaking her head gently. There was no more hesitation in her voice, not anymore. She turned away and scrambled after Jonna. The cold night air stung her lungs as she gasped through her teeth on her way after her sister. But she savored the cold air, unafraid of the pain. That moment, in speaking with Serana, Sigrun had a revelation.
Jonna, she knew, wanted to find her name in leaving home, and she had every right to do so if that was her wish. Eirik and Mjoll had told her, time and again, that she had a place at Lakeview Manor among them. But for whatever reason, Jonna needed to find herself in the world. That was enough for Jonna, daughter of Jordis. But for her, there had been less reason to leave. She was not yet eighteen, and the desire for her to leave and find her own fame was less than for Jonna. A few words with Serana and suddenly Sigrun realized that she had another purpose, one of her own that was beyond merely accompanying Jonna as an adventurer or a helper.
She had to find her step-sister Lucia.
No matter how strong they were from years of sparring, or by reason of their Nord blood or the stock of their parentage, Sigrun and Jonna were both wholly unprepared for long journeys. For the present, this knowledge had not occurred to them of yet. Both of them had gone as far as Riverwood, which was the small village on the southern edge of the hold of Whiterun, but this only during the daylight. In summer they had once gone near Helgen, which had been rebuilt in the years following the end of the Civil War. Eirik rarely spoke willingly of what happened at Helgen, but what the girls deemed was that, for him, his return to Skyrim and the journeys and adventures he had began there, and his world also had been turned upside down with the coming of the great black dragon. Though he rarely described what happened in detail, they guessed, from what happened afterwards, that at Helgen the dragons had returned.
The only sight of dragons the girls had ever seen was on Eirik's armor, which was made of the bones of dragons. Hearing him speak of them and how he wore their remains made them esteem him as the greatest warrior they had ever known. These thoughts were well and good from the safety of home, where dragons were only a legend. Now they were leaving home, going into the wide world, where such great dangers were common-place.
The night grew deeper and darker and faint clouds passed over the pale Secunda, casting a dull shadow upon the lands below. The girls had come down the hill and reached the road that passed from Oakwood to Riverwood. By now they had cleared the trees and were assaulted by chill, nightly winds from off Lake Ilinalta. It was then that the two girls realized just how cold the nights became away from the buffering trees of Falkreath. They bundled in their cloaks and continued on the road as it meandered a bit southward away from the shores of the lake. The land began to rise and they found some protection from the chill winds with the bare cliffs on either side as the land became rockier. By now the path had left the lakeside and was turning gently southeast. By and by it rounded again back towards the north before turning east again and terminating in a fork.
They had gone on for a long way and were both cold and weary, for they traveled at night with little sleep and were not used to traveling in such conditions. But Jonna seemed the least affected by the journey: or, if she did, she refused to show it outwardly. Sigrun made no complaint, but in her heart she was yearning to rest. Only Jonna's unflappable resolve to go onward kept her from even thinking about going back. But even that was to be tested here upon the road.
It was not for any unfamiliarity with the road or unhappy accident that would test Sigrun. She had come this way before and knew that the left-hand path would take her to Riverwood. Secunda was still hidden, but in the dull light of Masser they could still find their way thither if nothing happened. Jonna seemed to have a plan in mind and turned left almost as soon as they arrived at the cross-road. But while she was walking off that way, Sigrun halted and looked down the path leading to the right. Icy winds from mountains high breathed down from that path, the path down which she had never walked. In the distance, she thought she heard an echo, like the roar of some great beast high in the air. The voice was far away and distant, like the rumbling of thunder on the other side of the country, but it made Sigrun's heart quake.
"Hey!" Jonna called out. "Are you still there?" She jogged back to where Sigrun froze. "Don't get too far behind: we don't want you getting lost."
"Is that what I think it is?" Sigrun asked, gesturing to the path that led right.
"You mean the road to Helgen?" Jonna asked. "I should think so. I've looked at maps before and your mother's friend Aerin taught me how to read them. But we're not going that way. Come on, Sigrun: you look tired, we'll rest in a moment."
"We will?" Sigrun asked, a little more eagerly than she had intended.
"Aye," Jonna said, placing her hand on Sigrun's shoulder. "And the sooner we get there, the sooner you'll rest."
As it turned out, a moment was longer than either of them had hoped. As soon as they turned left, the road began to slope downward. They went slowly, for here the land was rocky and they could hear, afar off, the sound of a waterfall. Though it was still faint and distant, they guessed that they were coming now to the rapids where the White River flowed down from Lake Ilinalta into the golden fields of Whiterun. The land here fell steeply down to the river and they feared to tumble off down to a short end of their journey. Suddenly a larger, thicker cloud passed over Masser and the land was plunged into darkness.
This turned out to be the worst part of the beginning of their journey. With the darkness thick about them, they soon lost the path that they were following. It zig-zagged safely from one side of the hill to the other until it came to the edge of the White River at the bottom; but in the darkness, Sigrun and Jonna were making a straight line from where they last stood directly to a cliff-face. At Jonna's insistence, they held hands as they went forward and did not let go: if they ran out of light, separating would be the first step to disaster. They crept slowly forward, until suddenly Jonna set her foot out into nothingness and almost stumbled forward. Sigrun seized Jonna and pulled her back onto the lip of the cliff, then stumbled back and fell onto the dirt and grass behind her, with Jonna and her back-pack sprawled on top of her.
"Gods above!" Jonna loudly exclaimed. "That was close! It's a good thing I brought you along with me, eh? Where would I be without you?"
Sigrun said nothing until Jonna had crawled off her and they were both standing.
"So what do we do?" she finally asked.
"We can try to go around," Jonna stated. "But that would take time, and I can tell you're tired."
Sigrun felt embarrassed. "What makes you think I'm tired?"
"Who knows you better than I do?" Jonna retorted. "You've never been this way late at night, I understand. I still have hope that we can reach the Guardian Stones, where we'll make camp for the night. They're pretty secluded, we should be protected from any dangers from up the road."
"But can we find them in this darkness?" Sigrun asked. "I thought we had the moons for light, but now they're hidden."
"Then we'll have to do without them," sighed Jonna. "Now, if we haven't come the wrong way altogether, the Guardian Stones should be just below us at the bottom of this cliff. But it's too wide to jump: we'll have to clamber down easily."
"Do what?" exclaimed Sigrun. "Look around! It's dark, we can't see a thing."
"Then we'll go really slowly," Jonna replied, trying to hold back her own misgivings. She then took her pack down and removed from it a small bundle of rope. "Here, this should be useful. I'll tie one end to you and the other end to me: that way we won't lose each other in the darkness when we go down."
"Maybe," Sigrun added. "Or if one of us slips, we'll both go down."
"At least we'll be together, then," Jonna jokingly replied.
In the end, they got down to the bottom of the cliff by sitting down and sliding down the cliff carefully at its shallowest points. It was very difficult, sliding down in the darkness, and they both were sporting bruises by the time they made it to the bottom of the cliff: but they were both too exhausted to care. Once they reached the bottom, they crawled forward, feeling the way with their hands, until they touched the cold stone of the Guardian Stones. They rested against the stones for the night, wrapping themselves in their cloaks for they were too tired to open their packs. Jonna offered to take the first watch and Sigrun was more than willing to oblige.
Less than a minute later and Jonna stirred from her watch.
"Sigrun?" she asked. Sigrun groaned her reply, letting Jonna know that she was listening, but didn't open her eyes. "Are you having any second thoughts about this decision?"
"Are you?" Sigrun murmured.
"We've been lucky so far," Jonna noted. "No sight or sound of wolves at all. If we make it through the night without anything happening, we'll be very lucky indeed."
"Hmm," Sigrun sighed happily. "I wonder why."
"I don't know," Jonna returned. "But I wouldn't count on our luck holding out after Riverwood."
Sigrun didn't answer, for sleep was already claiming her. Inside she had misgivings and second thoughts about leaving home, but for the present she hadn't spoken of them, especially not to Jonna. She wondered just how much jesting Jonna really was when she claimed that she needed Sigrun to go with her. It was with these thoughts mulling about in her head that Sigrun at last fell asleep.
There was a great darkness all about, like a black mist descended upon the earth and blotted out all the light. The hairs on Sigrun's arms stood up in fright; there was something about this darkness that was unsettling than even the coldest, blackest of nights under one or two hidden moons. It seemed not that the moons were hidden, but that here there was no light; that light had never existed and would never come to be. From out of that darkness there came a voice:
Seek out Secret-Fire in Whiterun. Ask him about the Secret Tower.
With that, Sigrun awoke from sleep. It was a foggy morning and the light was covered in gray mist, but the gloom of her dream was gone. As she opened her eyes, she saw the cliff down which they had clambered during the night. It seemed less imposing in the light of day. As her eyes scanned the top of the cliff, she came to a halt. Up there loomed the silhouette of a large wolf, black against the sullen gray sky. It didn't move, but she feared what would happen if they moved. Over the sound of the rushing White River from the cliff behind the standing stones came the menacing growl of the wolf above their heads. Sigrun feared that she wouldn't have enough time to wake Jonna before the beast pounced on them. With bated breath and eyes focused on the wolf, Sigrun's hand slowly reached for her sword.
Suddenly the growling ceased, and the wolf disappeared. From over the cliff there appeared a tall figure, hooded and cloaked all in black, leaning upon a tall staff. Upon reaching the brink of the cliff, it paused and looked down at the two sleeping young women. From where she lay, Sigrun could not see a face: the stranger's head was covered in a hood, and the sullen sky shone no light upon the face beneath that hood. She stirred from her place, but suddenly the dark figure turned about and walked away from the lip of the cliff. Without thinking, she rose from her place and jogged up the path that led up the cliff: the path they had completely missed that night. At the top, there was no sign of the hooded stranger: not even a faint image of one walking away into the mist. The wolf also was missing.
"Hello?" Sigrun called out into the mist. "I wanted to say thank you for chasing that wolf off. Hello? Come back!"
By this time, Jonna was awake and calling up from the bottom of the cliff, by the standing stones, eager to know why Sigrun was awake and shouting. With one wary look back at the mist, she made her way back down the path and told Jonna of what had happened.
"I don't think it was a good idea to go running off after this stranger," Jonna said.
"But he helped us," Sigrun replied.
"How do we know he meant to help us?" Jonna asked. "You yourself said the wolf disappeared and no sooner but the stranger appeared. You know, there are werewolves in the wilderness."
"Then why didn't he attack us?" Sigrun returned.
"I don't know!" dismissed Jonna. "Who knows what these creepy old wizards want, by Shor's balls! But I don't think it's a good idea to go running after every stranger we encounter, shouting after them. The farther away we get from home, the more dangerous it will be. I need you with me, alright?"
"Yes," Sigrun breathed, nodding her head in confirmation. She was still not convinced that the hooded stranger was all that dangerous.
"So, what's the plan for today?" Sigrun asked, as they began picking up their things for the next stage of the journey.
"First, we see these stones in the light of day," Jonna stated. "Then, we make for Riverwood. We should arrive there before high noon. Maybe we can get some information there at the inn. A message that needs delivering, carriage driver who needs an armed escort, a wild animal that needs putting down: at the very least, we can learn about what's going on in the wide world."
"And then where?" asked Sigrun.
"Wherever the road may take us," Jonna replied with a smile. "That's the beauty of being on our own: we can go anywhere in Skyrim. Gods, anywhere in Tamriel, if we're lucky!"
"What about Whiterun?" Sigrun inquired.
"Sure, we can go to Whiterun," Jonna said. "See the Gildergleam, the Great Hall of Jorvaskr. We might even learn more from there than we could from Riverwood. Whiterun's a proper city, and more people pass through there than in Riverwood. Once we've had our fill of mead at the Sleeping Giant Inn and learned all that we can, we'll be on our way to Whiterun."
Sigrun smiled, whispering a quiet thank you as Jonna turned about and walked over to the standing stones. One by one, Jonna placed her hand upon each of the stones, with Sigrun following after her. When Jonna came to the Warrior Stone, she placed her hand upon it and let out a grin. Sigrun placed her hand upon it and a strange feeling of euphoria came over her. Any fear she might have had about leaving home seemed faint and distant: all that she felt now, with her hand upon the stone, was a sense of strength, as though she was touching the very bones of the earth itself and drawing strength from it.
"I suppose this is as good a sign as any," Jonna added. "You ready?"
Sigrun smiled. "Last one to the Sleeping Giant buys drinks?"
"You're on!"
(AN: I had a sudden brain-storming session, and decided to make a few changes. I don't know how it will turn out [or if i'll be around long enough to finish this], but might as well go full-speed ahead.)