Chapter 1:

A shiver fingered its way down Arriane's spine as she trekked through the terrain of one of Skyrim's many unforgiving forests. For what felt like at least the tenth time she glanced over her shoulder at the towering trees behind her and saw nothing, but that didn't stop the hairs on the back of her neck from standing on end.

"What are you doing, Arriane?" She mumbled under her breath.

Her green eyes scanned the trees as a soft breeze caressed her cheek, she swiped a few annoying golden strands of hair from her face. Something wasn't right. She could vaguely hear her brother's voice whispering his teachings in her mind; Trust your instincts. Quickly she pushed the thought from her mind No! I will not think about him she firmly told herself as her heart ached. All Arriane wanted was to be back at home surrounded by those cold and foreboding stone walls of the city, the glittering gold of the Dwemer ruins that made up Markarth, curled up by the fire with Vorstag as he told her stories of their parents and what life was like in the great city of Solitude. But that was impossible, Vorstag was gone and she was no longer welcome in the city because of it.

Ignoring the bleak feeling that was clawing its way through her stomach, she fiddled nervously with the straps of the supple leather armour that clung to her slender frame before she quickened her pace and moved on. She needed to do something, anything! With a deep breath she made the split second decision to go hunting.

After a few hours of unsuccessful foraging and quick glances behind her, she found a place to set up camp for the night. It was a little clearing surrounded by the thick trunks of towering pine trees. Once she'd wondered around and scavenged enough resources for a fire, the blonde crouched by an old log, long eaten out by termites. She crammed her hand inside, dragged out as much muck as she could and slid her ebony bow inside it before heaping leaves around the precious weapon to conceal it further. Sighing heavily, she dropped to the ground and tucked her arm underneath her cheek, she needed a rest desperately.

It was a cold grey dawn in Markarth when Arriane shuffled weakly towards the huge golden gates of the dwemer city. Thoughts of the nights horrible events plagued her, flashbacks of blood, people's faces, her brother, everything, swam across her vision causing her to stumble. Arriane whimpered softly as every step she took caused pain to rip its way up her side strong'just a few more steps Arriane'/strong she told herself when the great golden doors to the city blossomed into view. But just as the thought crossed her mind her legs gave out, thankfully one of the ever vigilant guards had rushed to her aid and caught her before her head cracked against the ground. After that her mind went black.

Slowly Arriane began to wake from her slumber only to find the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Through squinted eyes, she shot a drowsy glance around the clearing to find nothing out of the ordinary. With a growl of annoyance, she rolled back onto her side, scolding herself for being stupid. That's when the hand clamped itself around her mouth.

She felt the weight of someone crouching over her, pinning her arms to her sides with their legs. Without thinking, she screamed, only to find her voice muffled by the hand that was not only cutting off her voice but her oxygen as well.

"Hush now, it's not like anyone will hear you scream," A man hissed in her ear, his hands releasing her mouth only to swiftly shove a wad of material between her teeth. She felt him tug something that she assumed was the knot, behind her head and the gag tightened securely. "Now be a good girl, will you?"

That mocking voice made her struggle and thrash merely to find her hands and feet had been bound. A malicious laugh filled the unusually quiet night air somewhere off to her left, she cocked her head in the general direction before her attacker sauntered into her view. Arriane stared; he was tall and quite muscular, his amour, which clung to his body, was dyed red and black; the favoured colours of the Dark Brotherhood. Of course to top off the complete murderous ensemble; he wore a hood that was pulled low over his head to hide all of his facial features, with the exemption of his lips, which were currently curled in a feral sneer.

"Mmhhhmm muhmm!"

He chuckled."What was that sweetie? I couldn't hear you." Arriane glared at him, her eyes burning with hate and what she expected was quite a bit of fear. "Oh, don't look so unhappy, I'm being quite civil here. Let me prove it." He told her as he undid the gag.

"Bastard!"

"Tsk tsk, that's not very lady like. I can put it back on if you like?"

What a smartass!

A soft growl escaped Arriane's lips. She forced herself to look into the black shadows of the man's hood. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" To her credit, she sounded braver than she felt, which…Well wasn't very brave at all.

He chuckled again. "What do you think?"

"I think you should let me go." She hissed. The assassin cocked his head, as if listening to the wind, and stared at her as a break in clouds allowed a sliver of moonlight to escape and light up her face. Was he actually considering letting her go? "Hello? I deserve an answer about why you're going to kill me!"

But the assassin didn't hear her; instead he threw his dagger with such force that it pierced into the ground, and stormed into the forest. Arriane stared after him in confusion for a few minutes before remembering the fallen dagger. Quickly she scrambled towards it through the thick undergrowth, ignoring the branches and stones that scuffed her face and bit into her leather armour, manoeuvred the blade until she had finally managed to cut through her bonds.

Silently she rubbed at her wrists where the ropes had rubbed at her flesh and glared into the now unwelcoming forest, a burning hate budding inside her, she still had her amour and now she had another weapon; she made up her mind. Silently she stalked towards the old log, grabbing her bow from its nest of leaves and darted off into the darkened forest, hopefully hot on the heels of her attacker.

She didn't know how long she'd been running for, her body ached and begged for her to stop but she pressed on, she wasn't going to stop. At least that's what she thought until she heard a soft thud and seconds later felt a searing pain shoot through her thigh.

"Ah shit!" She cried as her leg gave way and she collapsed on the ground; dropping the stolen dagger she had clutched in her hands. Her teeth latched onto her bottom lip in a lame attempt to muffle her whimper of pain as she glanced at her leg, seeing a steel dagger protruding from her leg whilst blood gushed from the wound, staining the forest floor with a pool of deep crimson.

"You should be careful about who you decide to follow, especially when it's someone as dangerous as I am." That stupid voice called from behind her.

"Fuck you…" Arriane snarled as the assassin revealed himself yet again and just as cocky as he had been back in the clearing.

"You have quite the temper don't you?" He asked and flashed a smile, like a streak of white lightning crackling through the night sky.

"I wonder why?" She asked sarcastically. "I mean of course I'll use manners around the man who threatened to murder me, then ran off while leaving me tied up and then put a dagger through my bloody leg!" She glared at him. "Wait...Are you laughing?!"

"Well yes, it's not every day I get a contract as fiery as you," He stood there thoughtfully for a second before continuing. "In fact, I don't think I've ever had one stupid enough to chase after me when I've let them live." He finished simply, his words clearly implying that he thought she was a complete moron.

"I'm not stupid!" She shouted only to earn yet another laugh from him as he turned and walked back into the trees. "Oh no you don't." Arriane hissed as she pulled her bow from her back and notched an arrow. Taking a deep breath she pulled the string taught and aimed. Hold it, steady...steady, NOW! The arrow sliced through the air, only to miss him by mere millimetres, and thump into a nearby tree. Arriane watched his entire body stiffen before he whirled on her; even though she couldn't see them she could feel his eyes boring into her skull.

"Oh shit…" She muttered. Desperately she tried to scramble away as best as one could with a knife sticking out of their leg. But there was only so long she could delay the inevitable. It wasn't long before she felt his arm snake its way around her throat, holding her in a chock-hold as his muscles slowly began to constrict, making each breath harder and more pained.

"Don't. Move. A. Muscle." He hissed. "Because I could snap this scrawny little neck of yours, you little bitch."

Arriane squirmed, not that it did any good. In fact, he just tightened his grip until her face began to turn an odd shade of purple and she closed her eyes, whimpering softly.

"Good. Now tell me, why would you try and shoot me after I've been so generous?"

"Because I'm scared." She managed to choke out.

"I didn't quite catch that."

"I said it's because I'm scared!" She snapped, spit spluttered from her mouth as she choked against his arm. Shockingly, she felt the muscles in his arms and body relax slightly, loosening just enough for her to breathe with ease.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He whispered in her ear, it was so soft that she nearly missed it.

"Wh-what?" she stuttered in disbelief. "Why? You said-."

He cut her off, his voice harsh. "I didn't say I was going to kill you! I just needed...information." Slowly he released her and got to his feet. He dusted himself off with a soft huff of annoyance before he stared at her until she began to feel uncomfortable. "Let me fix your leg."

It was the only warning he gave her before he wrapped his hand the leather wrapped hilt of the dagger and yanked it out with a simple jerk of his hand, causing Arriane to scream in pain. He made it look so easy so simple, as if he did it every day…Well, being an assassin he probably did, ninety nine percent sure that's his whole job description, Arriane. Stab, kill, retrieve said stabby tool and repeat. Painfully she watched as the man dressed her wound, so many questions formed in her head; what information did he want? Why did he leave without trying to get it? Or did he get it? Was he trying to trick her into trusting him? Was he just going to let her go? And if not how was she going to escape? And what about the whole WHY ARE YOU LETTING HIM HELP question. Though that's for me to answer, not him. Don't actually ask that to him, gods.

"Ow, ow! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm trying to stitch it together, I don't know any healing spells so it's the best I can do."

At the mention of stitches the blood drained from her face. By the gods she hated needles! With a shiver she turned away, trying not to gag at the sight of the thin piece of steel being threaded in and out of her flesh

"Done," he announced proudly. Arriane watched as he stood back smiled at his handy work as if it were some sick piece of artwork. "And I think we should camp here for the night."

"We?" She asked suspiciously. "Who said I want to stay with you at all?"

"I did. Do you want to be fed to the wolves? Because if you stay here by yourself that's exactly what will happen." He said.

Arriane wanted to argue with this mysterious annoying man but deep down she knew he was right; she wasn't in any state to survive by herself now that she was.

"Oh fine," She hissed grudgingly as she saw him flash a small smile at her.

Alright, before anyone asks, yes, this is a re-uploaded story. I'm revamping all of my fics, if you want more info feel free to read my account info or message me. Feel free to comment and such. I'll try to upload chapters as often as I can but please bear in mind life can get busy so if a chapter hasn't arrived after a few days don't panic, just wait it out.

Just for the sake of covering my ass, Bethesda owns everything except little Arri. She's all mine.

P.S. This was such a pain in the ass to edit, I honestly don't like it. The first upload was edited to my taste but screwed up majorly so please forgive any editing mistakes.