a/n: Yes, I know it's pretty much the same as before, but bear with me and you will be rewarded! It gets better!
Nicole POV
I woke up on a cold, stone floor. I was in a chamber full of brass machinery. Whatever it was, it was inert and I had no idea how to activate it, so I resisted touching anything. It was fascinating, though. I couldn't help but wonder if anyone had discovered it yet. There was gas lighting, which indicated this was built sometime close to the Victorian era. Maybe Elizabethan. The machinery looked ancient, possibly centuries old, and covered in dust. I couldn't resist taking a few snaps on my phone, for proof.
Exploring the adjacent room, which seemed to have a medieval camping site, I found a metal chest. Inside was a brass dagger with decorative etchings, possibly ceremonial, and a fur-trimmed cloak. There was also a leather pouch full of shiny gold coins. I pocketed it to have them appraised when I got back to Detroit. For survival purposes, I also took the cloak. It was extremely cold in the room, I could feel it even through my quilted jacket.
I was about to walk over to the campsite and kindle the campfire when I heard thumps. Then, I looked around to see a door open and reveal something ghoulish and emaciated wearing some kind of chitinous armour and wielding a sword.
And it was charging at me!
Out of desperation, I grabbed the dagger out of the chest. Ceremonial or not, surely it would be useful in this situation.
I was able to deflect it's first strike and dodge the second, but I could already tell I was outmatched in a fair fight. The creature was stronger than it appeared, and it had a longer reach with it's sword.
Quickly, I lunged the dagger towards it's unarmoured midsection and scored a debilitating wound close to it's waist. Taking my chance, I ran.
I found a door underneath the spot where I woke up. I could already hear the creature coming after me, so I barricaded the door behind me and found a platform, circular with a lever in the middle. Just as I activated it, the creature burst in, brandishing it's sword.
The platform rose, taking me to safety. As soon as it got to the top, I exited the cage-like building that I was deposited in. The walls of this building were also made out of the toughened brass metal the dagger I picked up was made of. I couldn't believe that nobody had found this place before now, unless it had been hidden and an avalanche had unearthed it.
Not knowing if there was a way to recall the medieval elevator from below, I started to run. Since my watch was still working, I used the compass part of it to steer me north. By night-time, I still couldn't see civilisation, so I had to find a cave. How far was I blown by that snowstorm..?
It was the longest night of my life. The entire time, I wondered if Aaron was alright. His seatbelt was off, so he would've been catapulted out of the car. He could be hurt, or worse… If the snowstorm outside wasn't so bad, I would've gone looking for him. It was all I could do to keep warm on such a cold night.
The next morning…
I moved through almost knee-high snow, moving north again. At about midday, I finally found houses. But these were medieval-style log cabins. Not caring about anything other than having found civilisation, I followed an old-fashioned stone path into the quaint little village.
My first impression was that I had found an Amish community, but I noticed that the clothes the villagers wore were not the type that were commonly worn by Amish villagers.
"'Hoy, lass. You look lost." Someone behind me called.
I turned around to see a man in front of the cast iron smelter looking towards me.
"Yes, I am lost…" I sighed, "Do you know the way to Detroit from here? I'm afraid I've been completely turned around by that snowstorm yesterday…"
"…Detroit..? Is that some new village in these parts?" the man was genuinely confused.
"Where is this?" I asked, trying to find my bearings.
"Dawnstar, port of the Pale." he said, proudly, "So, does that help you find your way?"
"I'm afraid I haven't heard of Dawnstar before…" I confessed.
"That's odd. About three quarters of shipments around Skyrim pass through here at some point. Surely someone told you of this place?"
"Wait… Skyrim..?" I queried. Where had I heard that name before?
"Where do you think you are, lass?" the smelter worker nearly demanded.
"I… don't think I know anymore…" I said, tiredly.
"Why don't you rent a bed at the inn and sleep on it tonight. Think of where you can go from there." He suggested, "Do you have the gold? You should only need ten."
"Umm… will this do?" I showed him my bank notes and coins.
"No, no, no, you need gold Septims to pay for anything in Tamriel." He shook his head, "Coins like this." He showed me a gold coin.
"Oh, I found some of those!" I remembered, "Thank you for showing me. I'll be off then!"
"Good luck! Hope you find your way home." he waved.
I went to the Windpeak Inn and spoke to the innkeeper, a man who introduced himself as Thoring. Since I realised I needed more gold coins if I was going to pay to travel home, I asked Thoring if he needed an employee. He gave me a job cleaning the place and serving the meals and drinks. He agreed to pay me five gold a day and gave me a room to sleep in at night, for which I was very grateful.
During the weeks I worked there, I came to realise the situation I was in.
It seemed that I wasn't even on Earth anymore. I have no idea how that even happened. A dead giveaway was that, one night, I noticed there were TWO MOONS IN THE SKY! The bigger one was Masser, the smaller one Secunda. The star constellations I knew, such as the star signs, didn't exist in this sky. Thoring taught me all the Nirn star signs, as he called them.
Another thing about this world was that it is a world of sword and sorcery, like RuneScape. As much as magic would be cool, I'm not sure if I would ever get the hang of it…
I wish this was a world that at least had working plumbing… Ugh… I will never take toilets and showers for granted again.
During my stay, Thoring realised that I was not even from Tamriel, the continent this country is part of, so he taught me all the important things, like the names of the weekdays, months and how the years are set out. The day he taught me my last lesson was 12th Last Seed 4E 201. Strange, right? It took me a while to get used to it. The day the snowstorm happened when Aaron and I fell off that cliff was in January, the first month of the year, and yet, when I woke up, it was Sun's Height, which is actually the same month of the year as July.
Thoring was even kind enough to ask someone to teach me about some of the history of Tamriel. I agreed, as it seemed that I would never be able to go home.
Hopefully, once I have earned enough money and bought myself some decent weapons and armour, I would journey around Skyrim and try to find Aaron, earning money by collecting bounties or solving problems as I went. Together, we could make something of this new life.
O O O
At dawn on the 16th of Last Seed, I was fortunate to find that a carriage was heading to Falkreath, where there was a job hiring at the Traders.
Counting my coin, I had plenty for the 50 Septim fee to get me to Falkreath. Thoring was sad to see me go, but he understood that I needed the better pay that I would get working at the Grey Pine Traders. He even helped me come up with the name Brunhilde, which would fit better around here than Nicole.
We stopped at the Sleeping Giant Inn at Riverwood that night. I know the names of the major cities and villages. Thoring gave me a map marked with the main roads and a book with details so that I know where I am so long as I don't fall asleep in the carriage or miss signs. He really was a kind guy. I need to repay him someday…
Unfortunately, the next day was when things went in a different direction for me…
a/n: Much better than my first attempt, huh? I read through my original fic and decided to just rewrite the lot. Read and review! :-)