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Forgotten Seasons

Summary:

After spending years under a thrall spell, put there when she was kidnapped by a dark warlock, Joanna finally breaks free. But all is not as she remembered, which is not much to begin with, and she struggles to put together the puzzle of who she is.

Notes:

So, I swore I wasn't going to have more than two ongoing fics at once, but Joanna's plot bunny just completely took over and threw out Rosalee and Rue and demanded I start her story, so here it is. This won't be my first Elder Scrolls story, but this is the first roleplay I did when I got Skyrim special edition and started playing around with mods. I hope y'all enjoy. :)

Chapter Text

The entire cave stunk of slaughterfish, its pungent aroma hitting me in the face and seeping into my very pores. I blinked a couple of times to try to get my bearings, looking around cautiously. I stood at a table, knife in hand, slaughterfish corpses stacked in front of me. A pile of their scales sat off to the side. I must have been harvesting them … but why? I couldn’t remember. I looked at my hands, shiny with blood, and saw a foreign ring with a brilliant blue stone on my finger. Of course, the ring. I had found it in the stomach of one of the slaughterfish I’d been gutting and cleaning and harvesting from, and something about it had beckoned to me, calling out to me in soft, dulcet tones until I slipped it on.

 

Before I pulled on the ring, it was like I’d been in a haze, a walking dream. I couldn’t remember much of anything, but I knew enough to move cautiously. It seemed like it had been a while since I’d been in control of my senses, and this freedom was too precious to give up by being too brash and inviting trouble. Now that I finally had a grip on myself, I wasn’t about to give it up so easily.

 

I heard rustling behind me and froze for a moment before I heard a voice that said, “Oi, girl, hurry up with those slaughterfish scales, I need them for some poisons I’m brewing for Maven.”

 

I slowly turned my head to see an older man in wizard’s robes, hunched over an alchemy table, dutifully grinding up ingredients. Him. While I couldn’t remember much, I could remember a few things, and one of them was that he was responsible for me being here. I’d had a family, I was sure. He must have snatched me from them. Had they looked for me? Mourned for me? How much time had been wasted as I’d floundered in the haze he’d put me in? A rush of anger overcame me, and I gripped my knife tightly, my hand trembling slightly as I crept over behind him. I forced my breathing to remain calm, but I couldn’t help the soft, shaky rhythm that adrenaline dictated. I was right behind him now, knife in hand, poised to strike. I would only get one chance at this, if I failed then he would either kill me or thrall me again, and neither was a prospect I deemed acceptable.

 

Right as I was about to strike, he called out, “Joanna?” His tone was questioning, puzzled, but I didn’t let it distract me as I plunged the dirtied knife in his throat, an unknown satisfaction coursing through me as he gurgled his last breath before he collapsed on the floor.

 

My breathing quickened as I stood over his body. I trembled from the adrenaline pumping through me, my vision going in and out for a few moments before I took deep breaths and got a hold of myself. I couldn’t remember where I was from and who my family was, but first things first; I needed to get out of this cave. And I also needed to take as much as I could with me. The wilds of Skyrim were dangerous to travel alone, and I was going to need to outfit myself as soon as possible. The hooded brown robes I was currently wearing at least provided the guise of a mage or scholar, and a poor one at that, so that would hopefully deter any bandits I might run across until I could reach civilization. But I would need gold and I would need it soon if I was going to survive long.

 

And survive is what I was going to do.

 

I found a knapsack stuffed in the corner of the cave, and I emptied it of potatoes and leeks before I started loading it up with things that would actually be useful. I grabbed the dark wizard’s robes, as I could feel the enchantments thrumming through the fabric, and that would up their value. I also found a couple of spell tomes that I figured I could get a decent amount of gold for along with potion ingredients and some soul gems. The soul gems were empty, I could tell by the way they felt empty and dead in my hand, but every little bit of gold counted, and they didn’t weigh much anyway. I even grabbed the slaughterfish scales that I’d been harvesting. Every little bit I could take, I would.

 

I paused at a large chest that was sitting in the back of the little cave. It looked like there was a trap attached to it, but I’d found a couple of lock picks and set to work, tentatively working the picks until I heard the lock click and the trap was disarmed.

 

I was glad that I’d taken the time to open the chest, as there was a little sum of gold sitting there, along with some loose gems, a few spell scrolls, and an ebony dagger. My eyebrows shot up in surprise as I ran my finger along the dagger’s length. Wizards didn’t tend to rely on actual weapons, so this was a definite surprise, but it was a very welcome one as I tucked the dagger into an easily accessible pocket in the knapsack. I could have tied it to the belt around my waist, but I didn’t want to advertise it. After all, if I someone carried something as fancy as an ebony dagger, odds were that they were carrying even more fancy loot, and the last thing I wanted to do was call attention to myself.

 

I took one more cursory look around the cave, making sure I hadn’t missed anything. I didn’t want to come back here, one because I never wanted to come back to this place of imprisonment ever again, and two because this nice little location would likely be taken over by some bandits or another dark wizard in a matter of weeks, maybe even days.

 

As I stepped out of the cave, I took a deep breath of fresh air, filling my lungs with the scent of pine needles and long grass. I couldn’t stop and enjoy the view for long, though, as the sun was low in the sky. Not quite twilight, but close enough. I would need to find shelter and fast, and I crossed my fingers in hope that I wasn’t far from a city. I really didn’t want to hunker down for the night in the wilderness, I felt far too vulnerable between having no armor and the nice assortment of sellable items I carried with me. It likely wasn’t going to fetch me thousands of septims, but if I could find some good merchants I could walk out with a nice, hefty sum, enough to get some armor and maybe a more serviceable weapon than a dagger, something to really defend myself with.

 

I saw, in the distance, smoke rising from between the trees. It could be either a settlement or a bandit camp, but I rolled the dice and started walking towards it. I reckoned that the dark wizard wouldn’t place himself in an unnecessarily dangerous position close to a camp full of outlaws that would have loved to kill and then rob him of his valuables, and my assumption paid off as I walked into a settlement, a mining settlement if the look of the residents were anything to go off of. They looked hardy and sturdy, and were covered in dust and grime as they traversed the worn path between houses. Hopefully they were friendly enough and could offer shelter. If not, I could always make camp close enough to them as to be out of danger, but I preferred a roof over my head.

 

As I approached a fire pit, a woman stood up as she noticed me and called out to me. “Hello, stranger, passing through?”

 

“Um …” I paused as I looked around for a moment. I really had no clue where I was trying to get to, my goal when I got out of the cave was to just find a town. This wasn’t big enough to offer merchants to sell my wares to, but hopefully there was a place to get a room for the night.

 

“Are you okay?” she asked, taking a step toward me. Her body language wasn’t menacing, though, and her face read of helpfulness, so I took a breath as I decided to trust her.

 

“To tell the truth, I don’t really know where I am.”

 

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Whatever she had been expecting, that certainly wasn’t it. After a moment’s recovery, she advised, “You’re in Shor’s Stone, in the Rift. We’re just a little mining settlement north of Riften.”

 

Riften. The name itself wasn’t familiar, but there was something about it … or, rather, something about the letter R. I had a feeling that a place that started with R would hold answers for me, and though I had a feeling it wasn’t Riften, perhaps it could be a good starting point. If nothing else, they would surely have the merchants I would need in order to offload my goods. “About how far?” I asked.

 

She shook her head. “Too far to make it before nightfall.”

 

Drat. “Well, is there a place where I can buy a room?”

 

“No, unfortunately we’re too small for an inn,” she said with a gentle laugh. “But I have room in my house if you’d like to stay with me for the night.”

 

I was a little taken aback by her generosity, but I wasn’t about to say no. “Alright. I have some gold I can give you.”

 

She smiled as she shook her head. “For a bit of food I have plenty of and a bed I’m not using, I couldn’t. Name’s Sylgja,” she said as she offered her hand.

 

I gripped her wrist. “Joanna.”

 

Her house wasn’t but a few steps away, and she invited me in with no hesitation. It was a small cottage, but perfect for Sylgja, perhaps even a little bigger than she needed. She gestured for me to sit at the table as she stoked the fire before stirring the contents of a cooking pot. “I’ve had this stew going since early afternoon, it should be nice and tasty by now.” When she lifted the lid of the pot, a lovely aromatic smell filled the cottage and made my mouth water. At that moment I suddenly realized just how hungry I was.

 

The stew tasted even better than it smelled, it that was possible, and the ale that Sylgja offered washed it down well. I savoured it as much as I could, but I was almost halfway done by the time she finally sat down at the table with me. “So, Joanna,” she started as she blew on her spoonful of stew, “What brings you all the way out here?”

 

I swallowed a mouthful of ale, considering how to explain myself before I replied. “Well, I’m not entirely sure, really.”

 

She perked up at that. “How do you mean?”

 

I bit my lip as I moved the veggies around in my bowl. “I mean, I was kidnapped … I think a while ago … by this dark wizard. I’m not sure exactly how, but this ring helped break me out of the stupor he’d put me in. Thing is … I don’t really remember much. I know my name, and I know that a town that starts with R holds some sort of significance to me.”

 

“Riften, you think? It’s the hold capitol, so it’s fairly big.”

 

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. But, I think it would be a good starting point. I could at least unload some things I found in the cave we were in, get up a little gold, maybe get some armor.”

 

She nodded. “It is the closest. Actually …” she paused as she got up from the table, digging in a dresser until she found what she was looking for and brought it to the table. “… I have a map here of Skyrim you could use. I know most of these places like the back of my hand, and those that I don’t, I don’t really need.” She spread the map out on the table and pointed out where Shor’s Stone was located and where Riften was and where the major cities and settlements were. There were a couple of places that I mentally marked in my mind as places I wanted to visit, but Riften was still going to be my first stop.

 

“So, Sylgja, what about you?” I asked, feeling a little self-conscious as most of the conversation had been revolving around me. “What brings you out here to a simple mining settlement?”

 

She shrugged. “Oh, the usual. Just make some good money before I close up and retire in a hold capitol. Maybe find a nice woman to marry,” she winked at me.

 

I blushed a little at her admission. “You work in the mine? Really? With all the men?”

 

She laughed. “Yes, I know it seems a little strange, but as long as you pull your weight the crew here doesn’t mind too much what goods you carry in your undergarments.”

 

I couldn’t help but laugh as she grinned widely, finishing off her own bowl of stew. She told me about her parents, Verner and Annekke, who lived in Darkwater Crossing, another mining settlement further north. I’d asked her why she moved to Shor’s Stone instead of staying with her family, and she confided that the mine here, while it normally held iron ore, also had quicksilver and ebony ore veins, so she got paid better. I was a bit surprised there were only a couple of hold guards in the area because of that, but she laughed and rolled her eyes and said they didn’t care enough. I felt rather sorry for her, being more vulnerable to bandits, but she didn’t seem afraid as she drained the last of her ale.

 

Later that night, I let down my hood and loosened my robe, taking off the outer layer so I could comfortably sleep. My nerves still felt a bit raw, but I had to try to get some sleep before I started out for Riften the next day. It wasn’t too terribly far away, but I didn’t want to spend much time traveling, for fear of what I could encounter on the road. Similarly, Sylgja settled down to bed on the opposite side of the cottage, lightly snoring as she drifted off to sleep. I regarded her face in the flickering firelight. She was rather pretty, especially for a mine worker. She probably could have made a pretty penny working as a barmaid in a tavern, but then again she would have to deal with drunk patrons groping her every night, so I could understand her career choice.

 

A light rain gently pattered against the roof as I laid in bed, my mind wandering as I carefully formulated a plan for the next day, the next week, hell the next month if I was that lucky. I didn’t want to flounder forever in uncertainty, I wanted to remember who I really was, who my family was. For some reason that felt very important to me, though I couldn’t quite say why just yet. I eventually fell asleep as a light rumble of thunder rolled overhead and a log in the hearth cracked in response. Even though I had a number of questions still, for now I felt I was in a safe place with Sylgja, and that’s all that ultimately mattered.