Chapter 3: Bloodstained Snow
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Ronin lived life as a man for hire over the next three years until the age of 20, when he decided to walk a new path
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The Sky was gray, a snowstorm was blowing through the valley. Ronin strode through the billowing snow with little difficulty. He had taken a path from Stendarr's Beacon behind Riften, traveled all the way past Arcwind Point, and is finally nearing his goal. Ronin took a slight detour from the road, and paused on a ridge overlooking a wide valley. From this rock outcropping, he was gazing upon the territory around Falkreath. This was the first time Ronin set eyes upon his homeland since the tragic night ten years ago. Finding the road again, he continued his journey downwards.
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The intensity of the storm increased as an hour or so passed. Ronin again paused as he noticed a beaten path leading down and away from the main road. Unsure of whether or not it lead to the valley below, he followed it until he could somewhat see the outline of a shack. Upon further inspection, Ronin discovered it was a rather large campsite. A small shack, two tents, and a campfire was laid out. Oddly enough, a fire was still roaring as no one was to be found. Ronin turned and was met with an arrow pointed at him, inches from his face.
"Who the hell are you, and what do you want?" shouted a hooded figure. Ronin did not answer, staring into the dark hood trying to discern who it could be. "Speak, or I'll brain you with my arrow. Where are you going?"
"I don't know" Ronin said in a cold tone. Judging from the voice and general appearance, the figure was a nord woman. She held the bow for a few moments, then slowly lowered it.
"Well, if you mean us no harm perhaps you should come inside." the woman said.
Us?
She strode past Ronin towards the shack, and he proceeded to follow her. Stepping through the door she lowered her hood and looked back at him.
"Perhaps now that the tension is somewhat gone...where are you headed?" she prodded.
"I'm headed for the valley below around Falkreath. After that, I don't know." Ronin replied.
"A hunter then, or some kind of wanderer I take it?" The woman asked. "Who are you?"
"I'm just trying to live my life in peace." Ronin grumbled as he stood up and turned towards the door.
"Fine, walk out then. I was going to ask if you would stay here for a bit." The woman said without turning, taking a swig from her mug. Her tone was aimed to tease him, a hint of sarcasm.
"And why would I do that?" Ronin said in an angrier tone.
"You're a troubled man, that much is obvious. The few of us around here are the same. We live together to forget whatever was chasing us..."
With her response, four figures emerged from the whiteout. Two nord men and one woman, and a native of Cyrodil, an imperial.
"My name is Angi, and your welcome here if you have no where to go." said the woman in the shack.
Ronin's gaze shifted beyond the four standing before him, and he stared into the whiteout. After a minute, he slowly lowered his bow onto the floor, leaning it against a corner.
Angi noticed he was preparing to settle in. "You can stay in here with me since you have no tent, it will be...warmer." she said, somewhat whispering the last word. "Tell me your story.". Ronin walked over and stood across from her, then sat down against the wall.
"My name is Ronin." he stated, as he began sharing his tale with Angi. He left out the part about his final night in Falkreath a decade ago, and left out many details regarding his foster parents. However, the mood lightened as he continued. She would add in from time to time, never leaving his gaze. Ronin opened up to her as a few jokes here and there continued to warm him inside, she was very interesting indeed. His smile disappeared though as he reached the part of his tale when he left his home in The Pale. He described what little friendships where made in the travelling band of mercenaries he accompanied for a time. How he lost them to various jobs, and even mentioned the first time he killed a man. One of the band tried to make out with all of their coin, killing one of said friends in the process. Ronin's anger rose as he reminisced over the moment he plunged his blade into the heart of that murderer. Sensing this, Angi reached forward and touched his hand. Calming down, Ronin cut towards when he left, eventually arriving here. Angi then briefly described the events of her life, claiming them mostly uninteresting. She was only a year younger than Ronin. The sun had long set, and the others in camp had already fallen into deep slumber. Angi retired to her mat across the room, and Ronin lay on his. Staring up, he slowly drifted into unconsciousness, aided by the sounds of a snowstorm outside.
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The next morning, Ronin met the rest of Angi's group. The two nord men Torvald and Hogir, the woman Agnes, and the imperial Rictus. Ronin's first week with the band was a successful one. He hadn't lost his touch in the wild, and quickly scored the group a medium sized bull elk. He, Torvald, and Hogir brought the carcass back to camp. They were met with joyous cries from Angi and Agnes. Angi went straight for Ronin, standing inches in front of him, tilting her head slightly upwards to meet his gaze.
"Quite impressive young buck." She jested, poking his chest. The two had grown fond of each other over the short week Ronin had been there.
"I hope that keg of ale is still around, I plan on gorging to my hearts content tonight." Ronin said.
"Oh and indeed we will. I plan on a lot of things tonight!" Angi said slowly turning away towards the shack, her finger brushing off Ronin's chest. Ronin could tell she was feeling frisky with the arrival of his new kill.
"There are in fact, TWO kegs." Angi yelled from inside.
That night the group celebrated, gorging upon the surplus of meat they now had. By the end of the night, one keg was gone and the other three quarters full. A few hours after the sun set the others retired to their tents except for Agnes, who watched as Ronin and Angi stood and headed for the shack. Ronin followed Angi's footsteps closely. As they entered she turned her head slightly, spotting him out of the corner of her eye, and smiled. She turned around and pressed against him as their eyes locked. Ronin slowly inched his head forward, raising his hand behind her head. They kissed, and as they continued Ronin's hand brushed up her waist to her breasts. She jumped up, wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bed mat.
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Ronin awoke at sunrise the following morning. Finding himself completely naked against and equally nude Angi. She turned her head to look at him, and pecked his cheek.
"Hello stranger, quite a lovely night." Angi whispered.
Ronin smiled and sat up. A few minutes later they both threw their clothes on, and found a blazing fire already lit, the other four sitting around it.
"We're thinking of heading to town today, I want more ale and we could use more arrows." said Torvald. "I've lost a good few over my last couple hunts."
The band agreed, and set course for Falkreath an hour later after a quick breakfast of elk meat. The group neared a crossroads, with one way leading to town. Upon arrival however, a group of four nord men approached from the treeline. Two were clad in an assortment of iron armor matched with fur to stave off the cold, the other two almost look like the typical woodlands hunter.
"You know there's a toll on these roads...a simple hundred coins to support the city." one growled, stepping forward brandishing an iron sword. He was clearly the leader of the group. Upon his threat another emerged from the treeline, this one wearing assortments of fur and some kind of robe. He seemed to hold fire in the palm of his hand.
This is bad Ronin thought as he palmed the handle of his sword, and slowly reached for a dagger hidden on his thigh.
"There has never been one, and won't be today." Agnes spat as she stepped forward. She sized up rather well to the bandit leader.
The bandit swung his blade towards Agnes, which was met by a sturdy block from her own blade. The caster in the rear released his spell, causing a small explosion in the middle of both groups. Everyone was knocked off their feet. Ronin struggled to stand, in a daze staggered around. Regaining thought, he reached for his dagger. He threw it at the caster as the man attempted to conjure another attack. The dagger dug deep into the mans skull as the tip pierced his eye. The mage slumped down contorted, blood gushing from the wound. Ronin's group outnumbered the bandits, but only three of them were armed. Torvald and Agnes began to flee back up the road they came. Ronin picked up Angi, and pushed her along as he aided Rictus. They ran past the burned corpses of Hogir and Agnes, Torvald had not noticed. At this moment the remaining four bandits had regained their footing, and were in pursit of the group.
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A full moon rose as the group returned to camp. Torvald dropped to his knees howling in despair, finally having a moment to lament over his fallen friend.
"There's no time to rest, that crossroads isn't that far away. They will be here soon if they followed us. I'll keep watch, the rest of you hide in the trees." Ronin proclaimed. He handed his bow to Rictus as the three climbed up in preparation for an ambush. Ronin jogged a few yards away from camp and hid in the thicket, watching for any sign of the bandits. Only a half hour had passed before he saw them, four torches blazing in the darkness. Ronin retreated behind the shack, and prepared to set up the attack for the others. Blade drawn, he crouched and listened in on the bandits arriving to the campsite.
"This has to be where those bastards are at, the tracks end here." yelled one. "Fan out and search everything, burn it all down."
The men set fire to one, and Ronin prepared to reveal himself. As he stood however, something familiar had returned. A baleful presence nearby, something terrifying. Ronin stared back into the dark past the trees, as the others began the attack from above. Snapping back to the situation at hand, Ronin charged out. Torvald jumped down on one of the bandits from above as Rictus and Angi rained arrows upon the other three, one shot finding it's mark on a mans skull. Meanwhile, Torvald's dagger sliced open his targets throat. The leader attempted to stab Torvald while he was distracted, but Angi retorted with an arrow in his back. Torvald spun around and fell, surprised by the near miss. Rictus jumped down as the final bandit leaped in for the kill on Torvald. Landing on the mans back, they both fell to the ground. Ronin rushed in to finish him off as Rictus recovered. The four circled around the wounded leader, who was trying to crawl away into the forest. Ronin flipped him onto his back, planted his foot on the man's chest, gripped his blade with both hands and raised it above his head with it pointed down.
"Please! I have a daughter! I wouldn't have done this if I had another choice!" the man desperately pleaded.
"Perhaps we should leave him here, give him some sort of chance..." Angi suggested.
"He's probably lying, better to kill him now." retorted Torvald
"Let's give him a fighting chance in the wild, that wound will probably take it's toll." Rictus added.
For a moment, time seemed to slow. The light of the full moon slowly lit up the area around him as it peeked over the treetops. Ronin contemplated for a moment what to do, but his thoughts were quickly overridden by rage and blood lust. For an instant, he could feel the baleful presence nearby, and heard a slight howl in his mind. Ronin drove the blade downward through the man's sternum, watching him gasp as blood poured out. As the man drew his last breath, Ronin could feel something coming. Leaving the blade buried in the fallen bandits chest, he ran over to the friends. Their weapons brandished, they stared terrified into the thicket. Ronin could make out the faint glow of many pairs of eyes. His attention stolen by one in particular, a pair of blood red eyes aimed right at him. Ten figures emerged from the darkness, they were large.
"Wh-What on...This can't be." Angi studdered.
"By the gods" Torvald whispered.
That's impossible... Ronin thought as he beheld the large wolf-like animals. His mind struggled to comprehend what stood before him
Werewolves
"RUN! Somebody help!!" Rictus screamed as he turned an ran.
The pack sprung forward, one fell upon Rictus and began tearing into his torso with its powerful jaws. Another struck Angi, throwing her into a nearby tree. The werewolf jumped in for the kill, repeatedly slashing her with it's sharp claws. Two of them fell upon Torvald who swung at them despereately, but to no avail. Ronin ran over to the corpse and removed the blade. He swung at one werewolf, it appeared to cut but had little effect. It responded with a savage slash that sent him flying back five feet. The wind escaped his chest as his back struck the ground. A few gashes adorned the right of his torso and part of the arm. He struggled to stand, but was immediately pinned down by a large black werewolf, the one with red eyes. It snarled at him, then bit into his shoulder. Ronin screamed, and the werewolf stood over him. It let out a baleful and powerful howl, and with it the pack retreated into the treeline. Ronin drifted into unconsciousness, as he stared into the eyes of the black werewolf. He blacked out, blood streaming into the snow below him.
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His gaze appeared to be a hazy red. He ran through the forest, tearing apart everything in sight. People, animals, nothing mattered. The blood tasted sweet, and the feeling of tearing into flesh was invigorating. He turned around hearing a stick snap behind, a large black wolf leaped in, and all he could see was darkness....
Ronin awoke from his nightmare with a start, sitting up he scanned the surrounding environment. What he beheld sent the memories of last night rushing in. All of his friends were dead. He struggled to stand, and stumbled around as he did. He felt for the gashes that adorned his torso and arm, but they were gone. He fell to one knee and crawled forward to the corpse of Angi. Her face was still very intact, thus Ronin could Identify her. But her body was torn in many places, a massive pool of blood surrounded the body. He slumped against the tree next to her, and could see Torvald's body...or what was left of him. Rictus lay nearby missing his left arm, his back torn open.
Again...
Ronin stumbled up resting on both knees, and leaned back on his legs. He looked down and gazed at his bloodstained hands. The feeling of anger and grief suddenly overwhelmed him and he let out a savage cry towards the sky.
IT NEVER STOPS
Ronin looked one last time upon his lover Angi, stroked her cold cheek with his hand. Tears began to stream down his face, and he sprinted towards the trees screaming as he did.
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Lore update: Alright we're finally here. Ronin has been infected with the werewolf curse. After finding his first love Angi, and befriending the hunters accompanying her, Ronin has yet again had happiness torn away from him. The "terrible presence" has finally revealed itself. It always seems to appear when Ronin is overtaken by his anger. And tonight the pack finally revealed itself in a violent way. I'de like to put out something about the werewolves of THIS story in particular. For now though, Ronin is on his own in the woods, headed who knows where
-Werewolves follow a kind of wolf pack social structure. The order goes Alpha-Delta-Beta-Omega, highest to lowest ranking members.
-The color of the eyes can be affected by race and strength.
-Red: Typically a Dunmer trait, but it is also developed by very strong werewolves of any race
-Orange/Yellow/Brown: Human traits (Nord/Imperial/Breton)
-Green/Brown: Orcs
-Blue/Grey/White(rare): Elven races
-Fur color has many different variations:
-Human races
-Brown, Gray/White
-Elven races often get tan colored furs in many variations
-Orcs fur appears gray, but has a light green tint
-Black is a rarer variation among werewolves, typically belonging to very strong ones in tandem with red eyes. It is far more common to develop than start off with this trait
(Credit to NSJones creator of "Heart of the Beast" mod, and spwned "Moonlight tales" mod. These are mods I use in-game to amp up the werewolf experience. HIGHLY recommend those two at least if you are a werewolf character in game. The colors they use in these mods helped me formulate what to go for in this story to kind of organize social order and race)