18+ Legends: Beginning with an End.

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Valin Oakthorn

Vagabond Extraordinaire
"He warned me. I chose to ignore him. Now I've lost almost everything, and it's time for revenge."
For years I sat on throne of my pack. I formed the Tall Trees Wolfpack, I made it a success, I brought us into an age of joy and relaxation. We had no worries. We were untouchable by the Silver Hand and each struggle that we faced only seemed to make us grow stronger. It was perfect, and now it has come crashing down.

Hircine told me that I could not live this life much longer. It went against the very embodiment of the lycan. "Hunt by night, and be hunted by day." Those are the words. I chose to ignore the very being that gave me this power. Now there is little hope for us. Revenge seems like the only option, or am I just too blind to see another? Like I was too blind to see all this coming?
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Well this is a fanfiction that I have been thinking up and planning for quite a while. With the development of Specter of Death's roleplay and fanfiction series/group, I had a great opportunity to finally start.​
I've also decided to create a Character Sheet for the Tall Trees Wolfpack. With each new character of the pack/related to the pack being introduced, I will place a post for them in that sheet. Those posts will range from quick description for minor characters to full Character Cards for those that are quite important.​
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This story will follow the perspective of Valin Oakthorn as he leads his pack through times of strife, joy, failure, and victory. I haven't written a ton of first person, and I am hoping to build my skills in that area with this fanfic. So I apologize in advance for any slip ups that I make.​
Constructive Criticism is welcome.​
 

Valin Oakthorn

Vagabond Extraordinaire
Chapter 1
9th of Mid Year, 4E 224
The rain is dripping rather quietly now. It's muffled by the canopy of leaves that grows above my head. I'm reclined on a platform nestled into the highest branches of a giant tree. I remember when I had stumbled upon this tree. It had been such an amazing discovery, perhaps it was the bright outlook of my youth, but now it seems hardly different from the rest that surround the clearing. Other members of the pack are on their own platforms beneath me on other clusters of branches on the tree.
The rain is starting to die down. It had started as a storm, interrupting some sort of celebration that we had been having. It's an odd life we live. No where else in Tamriel have I seen people start a celebration just to start one. It's too perfect. It goes against the very fundamentals that Hircine had relished in during his creation of the werebeasts.
Lightning cracks nearby, and I count the seconds until I hear the roar of thunder. The storm is getting farther away.
Tonight things are calm. The rain always seems to cause an aura of relaxation among the pack. The only chatter I can hear is Ardell and Arlas, the twins. Those two seem to always be talking though. I imagine everyone would be asleep if they weren't such night lovers.
I glance down and to my right. My wife Cylnia is sleeping next to me. That was years and years ago. Wolf blood keeps her looking young, younger than I look. To most she would appear early twenties, while I'm more in my late twenties. She's attractive, in a natural way. It probably has something to do with her nature magic. She's beautiful like a flower in bloom, a beauty in essence. Not like the altmer women with all the "perfect" features. It reminds me of the way that a nord woman's beauty is in her strength rather than how red her lips are.
Cylnia has almost pale skin, and long brown hair that has slight curls at the end. She wears a lot of vines, or flowers in her hair. She has light blue eyes that are highlighted by dark eyelashes.
It seemed to be the perfect night. The rain had stopped now and the smell of melichor is in the air. Maybe it is just how perfect the night is that made it such a surprise. Every single person was surprised, no, that's not strong enough. A surprise is when someone jumps out from behind a corner and makes some odd noise. This is different, it's a feeling of fear rushing into your mind so fast it disables every thought or action you could possibly do, and every pack member felt it when the fire started.
 

Valin Oakthorn

Vagabond Extraordinaire
Chapter 2
9th of Mid Year, 4E 224
Complete shock is covering me. I grab Cylnia and we begin to make our way down the tree. She will be next to useless in this fight. I remember he explaining it to me once, something about not being able to draw her magic from dying plants. Fire is roaring all around us. I hear what seems only to me as war cries but I can't find the source. Then they show their faces.

There is at least three dozen of them. They're Silver Hand. They don't have much influence out of skyrim, and I wonder how they are able to pull this off. Most of them are the warrior type, but there are a few archers and mages spaced around the now battlefield of a clearing.

About a dozen of, from what I can tell, the younger pack members are already in their wolf form. They know their not skilled enough without changing. I want to scream out as I see more changing, but I know that they can't hear me. They won't stand a chance.

A small wolf tackles a large warrior. It knocks the man to the ground but not without a sword entering it's stomach and coming out the other end. As it is rolled over and the man stumbles to his feet, I see what looks like burns on the wolf's stomach. The silver armor they wear will burn any lycan at the touch.

I don't know what to do. Cylnia isn't by my side anymore, and more and more of my pack is changing. I'm beginning to panic. Nothing like this has happened before. I'm watching everyone I know get slaughtered. I tell myself to focus, but I'm getting dizzy. These people look up to me, and I'm just watching them die.

I'm brought back to reality by an unhuman, unwolf, scream. Like a great storm destroying a town one of my closest friends begins to charge into battle. Alrix. He's a khajiit, Cathay-raht to be exact. His black fur is getting doused in blood as his large ebony greatsword begins to tear through the silver armor of the warriors. He cherished the sword. Says that he stole off the guard captain for the lord that made Alrix a slave years ago.

I suddenly realize something. Silver burns, but it's weak. Before I even forge a plan I'm acting one out. I am loosing arrows into the weakest spots of their armor. One, three, five, six, nine down. I'm running out of arrows. I jump down from the branch I've been standing on. A couple of warriors charge me now and then but they just give me the perfect opportunity to jab an arrow into their jugular.

We're winning. I guess we really haven't won anything but maybe we haven't lost that many. There are only a couple people left. A smile is actually beginning to come across my face. I shouldn't smile right now, so I surpress it. I see a large shadow and look up to see a large werevulture soaring over the clearing, a wizard type in it's talons. It's Dar'Nasien. A khajiit dagi who appears older than most in the pack when infact he is one of the youngest. Only sixty-eight. He was always a humorous man. He had worked as the packs scout. Flight mixed with great abilities in climbing make an amazing combo.

Then, like a flash of lightning, a giant noise erupted in the forrest. About two dozen bolts found their way into Dar'Nassien's body. Around eight dozen various silver hand came from the trees surrounding the forest. The first attack had been a distraction to allow their troops to surround the pack.

These warriors are different though. They are all armed with crossbows, shining with the silver that was undoubtedly laced in the bolts. It was over. My thoughts of success disappeared like they had never even been there. We can't win now.

I see people fall all around me as I hear the click of bolts leaving a crossbow. I look for the people closest to me. I am just in time to watch my two daughters hit the ground. They must have been together during the fight. I just lost a part of me. We need to leave, and now. I can't lose anyone more.

I feel drowned by the sound of bolts. I see my son running towards his fallen sisters and I reach him just in time to move him out of the way of a bolt. I ignore the silver clad men running toward us. I manage to let out some sort of scream that my son somehow recognizes as a retreat signal. I nod at Alrix, who is next to Cylnia. He gets the message and pulls her away.

Almost in sync eight wolves are dashing out of clearing. I'm one of them. We run hard, and fast. I know we're heading north but I don't know where we're headed. We are a fair distance away from the enemy in a few minutes, but we don't stop. We just keep running. I don't want to stop because if I stop then I will think about how much I just loss.
 

Valin Oakthorn

Vagabond Extraordinaire
Chapter 3
9th of Mid Year, 4E 224
It is hours before we stop to count our losses. We gather at a spring near the border of Valenwood and Cyrodiil. There is only eight of us left alive after the massacre. We are scattered about around this small pond, trying to get a grip on everything that has happened in the past eight hours.

The eight is made up of me, Cylnia, Alrix, my son Aradell, the twins, and Aradells two children. We have all lost the majority of what we have in life within a couple of hours.

I watched as my two daughters fell to the ground, Mindra and Usa. I remember them growing up, having children. None of their children were at the massacre. They both had Cylnia's beauty. The look in my son's face still lingers in my memory.

My son, Aradell, always so strong is now but a pile of rubble sitting on a fallen tree. He lost his wife, his sisters, and a son. Tavan was the name of the son. He was only sixteen. The youngest in the pack. Sixteen feels like it never happened to me. That was before lycanthropy even was something that played a part in my life. To die so young feels like a punishment none should receive.

Aradell's other kids are nearby. Connor, his son, is standing against a tree with his knuckles bleeding on his right hand. He had punched with full momentum as soon as we changed back. His face is buried against it. Connor lives by a strict code of honor, but his emotions are his downfall. Cass is next to the tree. Lying with her back on the ground, palms digging into her eyes. She lets out quite whimpers every now and then.

Alrix is the only one who seems to have everything together. He didn't lose anything besides friends, and I'm almost jealous of him. Had he not been there we might not have won the initial fight.

The twins have only lost friends as well, but they are much more social than Alrix and had a lot more of them, and a lot closer ones. At least they have each other, had one of them died I don't know what would have happened to the other. Sometimes I think that they are connected by more than blood.

I spot Cylnia sitting in a small flower patch. I don't doubt that she made it herself. She loves to do that. I remember how she would always brighten up the clearing with different flowers on certain occasions. I make my way over and sit next her. I sit close to her but more distant than usual, everyone needs their space right now.

"What are we gonna do now?" She asks me. Her voice is a little shaky like she is holding back tears, or possibly anger.

"We need to get contact with Cogan, Sithia, and Alrarik." I reply. Their the children of my daughters, they all missed the tragedy that has just occurred.

"Alarik and Sithia will come but do you think Cogan will? It's been at least twenty years since he left. He must be around forty or fifty now. That's almost more time away then he spent with us." She says. Years ago Cogan left the pack after a girl he had fallen in love with stabbed him in the stomach, literally. She had turned out to be silver hand and he left. He had been twenty seven at the time.

"He will come."

"How do you know?"

"Because he has spent a long enough time away that he is no longer the Cogan that was our grandson. He will be different. He has covered his emotional wounds with something, and he will be eager to show us just what that something is."

"Once again how do you know?"

"Because that's what I did."
 
Awesome I felt realy immersed into the story the way you tell it I can almost visualise it good job
 

Valin Oakthorn

Vagabond Extraordinaire
Chapter 4
12th of Mid Year, 4E 224
The next couple of days feel like a dream. As more time progresses, mourning continue. We are heading to Arenthia to send a message to Cogan, Sithia, and Alarik. We are moving at a very slow pace now that we are in our human form and are not running for our lives.

When we get there the town isn't very active. I tell the pack to try and not cause too much trouble. All of these emotions can't be left bundled up in a wolfpack for long. I am planning an opportunity to send a message to the Silver hand, but now is not the time.

I make my way to the local courier service and send an identical letter to each of my grandchildren.

Theres been an issue with the pack. Meet me in skingrad in a fortnight.

I don't explain much, they need to hear this in person. I also don't ask them to meet me, it's rare I so bluntly command someone, but I doubt Cogan would come if I didn't, he may have some issues but he will understand the severity of the situation.

I'm not looking forward to telling them. I don't know how they will react. They are all very well behaved children, although I haven't talked to Cogan in years, and Sithia is reluctant to speak of him these days. I think something has happened to him, but I need to see him to be sure.

I whistle loudly as I reach the gate and within a minute the pack is with me and we are traveling north. Alrix speeds up his walk to catch up to me.

"So where are we headed now?" He asks, his voice lifeless as if he was punched in the gut.

"Skingrad." I reply.

"Nice town. Lovely wine, rich people, low crime, why are we headed there."

"Vampires."

"The count?" He asks. The fact that the count of skingrad is a vampire is thought to only be known to the mages guild, but supernaturals keep track of others.

"Not necessarily. Considering he is so quiet about his gift, he will probably never leave the castle. I'm thinking more of the large population nearby."

"What about them?"

I lower my voice so only Alrix can hear. "It's no secret the pack needs to let off some steam. Once all twelve of the remaining members are together we are going to do just that. If the silver hand is willing to kill us like animals, we will act like animals. I'm hoping that the vampires will show up and provide some fun that the civilians can't."

He doesn't react immediately and I think I wasn't clear enough. I didn't say exactly what was gonna happen but I think I explained it well enough. Then a smile almost reaches his face, but he suppresses it and we continue our walk on.
 

Valin Oakthorn

Vagabond Extraordinaire
Update: Added dates to each chapter for an idea of time passing and relevance to CC's, and changed font to Georgia because it looks awesome and is also slightly smaller which will allow for more posts per page.
 

Valin Oakthorn

Vagabond Extraordinaire
Chapter 5
26th Mid Year, 4E 224

We are on the gold road, two weeks after I sent the letter. We're coming up on Skingrad, and so should the ones I sent the letter to. No longer is the pack mourning and sad, but angry and looking for revenge. A couple of highwaymen stopped us along our path and I had just began to speak when the twins both grabbed one and snapped their necks, not even caring to feed. The twins aren't usually like that but they are very emotional and they are probably struggling to not rip their own heads off.

We make our way over the last hill and Skingrad is in view, only about a mile away.

"There it is. Welcome to wine country!" I announce to the rest of the pack. I try to sound upbeat but my words choke coming out, I have to stay strong, and it is killing me.

Cylnia gives me a smile. She isn't one to show her emotions, but the flower in her hair tells it all. It's a rather interesting concept. I used to always tease her about not being able to tell what she is thinking, so she put this odd druid spell that causes whatever flower she wears to change colors best on her emotions. Right now it is pale blue for sadness and has red stripes covering it for anger.

We pass through the gate and soon we are crossing the bridge. It's not my first time here but it was never one of my frequent stops when I was a poacher. We travel through the clean streets down to a bit of a poorer part of town, its more fitting for our mood.

We make our way into an inn that seems to be the most popular in town. People are gathered around the fire dancing and singing along with the bard, but never without a drink. We all sit down at a circular table in the corner. It is large enough to hold elven, perfect.

"How are the young ones going to find their way to this place?" Aradell asks.

"I left little signs along the path, they're young but not dumb." I reply. In truth, I don't know that they will find their way here in time.

I wave the waitress over and order all of us meade, at first the pack is reluctant but eventually we are all drinking, and before long we are all much less tense.

The door opens, and two people walk in. Ones a strong but short nord looking fellow, with elvish ears. He has long, dark, dirty hair covering his head. He has a dark cloak with leather reinforcements and a steel mace at his hip. It's Alarik. Alarik wasn't a part of the pack for quite a while. My daughter Usa, had relations with a nord and had abandoned the child. Alarik was adopted by the companions and when I found him in skyrim I was able to bring him back to the pack and train him. He was thirty two at the time and is now about sixty, making him the oldest of my grandchildren. Next to him is a girl with dark black hair and a small but intimidating frame. Sithia, Cogans sister. She is quite the interesting girl, lived about the same life as Aradell's children but tends to leave the pack on various adventures. She's developed quite the attitude and humor. So very different from her mother that she took after. They spot us and approach the table, taking seats, leaving only one empty.

"Where's Cogan?" I ask. I expected him to be with his sister.

"Hell if I know." She says. Getting a laugh out of Alrix. The two can't be more physically different but they're very similar mentally.

Cylnia looks at me. I can tell what she is thinking. She is worried Cogan won't come. I begin to doubt myself, but then like a crack of lightning in the inn the door slams open, and in he walks.
 

Valin Oakthorn

Vagabond Extraordinaire
Chapter 6
26th Mid Year, 4E 224

Things don't go as poorly as I expected. Cogan's different, but he doesn't seem all that angry. Along with this surprise, is another. Edward Hawkwing. Cogan's partner in crime I guess. I ask how they met, but he dodges the question. I don't ask again, but I'm curious what he's hiding.

It's not long before we're all drinking even more. No body wants to bring up the real reason the young ones are here, so we don't, but things like that don't hide forever.

"So, uh, where is everybody else?" Sithia asks, silencing the group. The atmostphere quickly changes from joyful to tense and nobody knows what to say. I decide that I have to deliver the bad news.

"They, uh," I begin, "They're dead. All of them, the people sitting at this table are the only ones alive in the pack." I say. I didn't mean to be that blunt but alcohol can do that to a person.

A few odd noises come from the pack, and the youngest ones are in shock. They don't seem to fully realize what happened, except Cogan. He just stares at me, grief, anger, hate, all bubbling up inside him. He looks ready to explode. It's odd to see Cogan like this, I don't know that he ever got angry before he left.

I suddenly remember my plan and figure that if I'm going to get the pack to slaughter half a town that I need to evoke some emotions.

"Yea. Silverhand. They slaughtered the rest of the pack like animals. Cruel, without mercy. I like at each member and remind them of each person that died. I've done it, I've made them angry, although I'm pretty sure they're mad at me for being so rude. "But, my friends. It's our turn. If they are going to treat us like terrible monsters, then that's exactly what we will be." I say, pausing for a moment. "So tonight, we feed on the people here and if we're lucky some vampires might come up and join in on the fun." I say. At first the pack is shocked, but that is soon replaced by excitement.

Before we're out of our seats and the inn full of innocent people is suddenly turned into complete and utter chaos.
 

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