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Huric didn’t like his fathers shop much.Even with the forge outside the smoke still somehow always managed to permeate their house. It would get into the floorboards, curl low around his kitchen even when the fire wasn’t going and invade his nostrils making him cough. He didn’t like the smell of smoke. He didn’t like anything much, his father would always joke. And it was partly true.But in Hurics humble opinion there wasn’t really much to like in the first place. Outside was never much better, there weren’t any other kids in Falkreath so he was usually stuck playing by himself. The adults weren’t much fun either.As he aged he got increasingly aware of just how not fun the adults actually were. They were strange, they would linger in corridors, whisper when they thought he wasn’t listening and most just ignored him. Even the ones that were pleasant enough had an odd energy about them. Shifting eyes, hushed words, warnings not to near certain paths. Whatever that meant.But Huric had keen ears and a tendency of eavesdropping. There wasn’t much else to do really. His father had tried to teach him how to forge once or twice, he was a skilled smith and really did try to get his son interested. But when the hot coals first licked his face he quickly lost interest. The stories he would hear around town were always far more interesting. Stories of vengeful spirits, trolls, cursed swords, everyone seemed to have one it seemed. Even if he always got scolded for listening in. “Not suitable for such young ears” they would say.For his 12th birthday his father had gifted him his first dagger. “Just in case” he had muttered with a far off look to his eyes. Huric had never understood that look. But he appreciated it just the same. His father had said he was becoming a man. Huric had argued a man would be allowed to explore Falkreath woods by himself, as many a hunter would do. And to Hurics shock for the first time in his life his father had actually agreed. A dagger wasn’t worth much if there was no wariness worth gifting it for.The woods had always been a bit of a hotspot for the town's superstition. As a young child he’d always been dragged away from playing there for one reason or another. Even supervised.“It's getting too cold to play outside, little cub. Come inside”“For Talos’s sake Solaf said there's been a bear prowling around in there. Get out of it before I tan yer hide.”“The woods ain’t no place for a youngling. Someone will mistake you for a deer and before you know it you’ll be hung upside down by yer ankles.”The warnings had been irritating to young Huric. But he had always listened. He was a practical child. There was no point in risking a week's grounding to the house just for a few minutes of play out there.But now the forest was all his to explore. He was becoming a man. He had his very own dagger.And explore it he did. From that day on, exploration became like a game. It made him feel like a real adventurer, to mark out every winding path, find the gullies, once he even found a hollowed out tree stump with arrows in it. An old target practice for bandits, he liked to imagine. Gradually he got bolder, but he’d never stray too far. No point in getting lost and barring the only interesting thing he had to do all summer.The warnings of course didn’t stop just because he was old enough to be in the forest by himself. Everytime he left the house his father would still fret.“Don’t forget to come home before sunset little cub. Wolves come out after sunset.”“Don’t go swimming in the lake now, waters are still freezing this time of year. The current will take you too.”“Stay on the paths. Don’t stray now, I heard the guards spotted a troll near Riverwood.”But they were just the usual anxieties any parent would have for their child. Huric had always assured him he’d be okay. Although the caution around the lake was new.Huric had forgotten Falkreath even had a lake until his father accidentally revealed it to him in his passing words. Something about it made Huric take interest.The lake would be nice this time of year.Now he wasn’t about to go running at it headfirst. He needed to be clever about this.That day was one of the rare instances he decided to stay back in the forge, much to his fathers delight who was more than enthusiastic to let him help out. As much as it pained him to have smoke in his eyes all day and go back and forth from fetching things to cooling every component in oil in a repetitive process he found hair-tearingly tedious, he worked hard. Hard enough to convince his father he had enough interest in the craft that he should at least earn a little pocket money from his labor. To which his father proudly agreed.The next day Huric went straight to the general goods store, coins jangling cheerfully in his pocket and bought himself a map. Just like a real adventurer. He was pleased to find his father had indeed been right, there was a lake.“Lake Ilinalta.”He had traced the lines of the lake over and over again, comparing his own notes on nearby paths. About as meticulously as his 12 year old brain would allow. It would only be an hour and a half trek north west, compared to the walk to Riverwood it was nothing. But still, it was further out than he had ever gone before.The next morning he had everything prepared. He decided to take his father's old leather satchel and spare waterskin. As a last minute thought he also slipped in a few slices of goat cheese and bread as well as his dagger. Just in case. Satisfied he left the house, luckily his father did not comment on the extra luggage and simply told him to stay safe as he usually did.The walk to the lake was less exciting than he had been hoping for. He made it there in about an hour and 20 minutes following the well-worn path as well as making a few cuts through the brush.But the lake was well worth it.It practically gleamed in the early morning light, the sky reflected perfectly off its surface and was only broken up by the gentle current rippling through the water. If he was younger perhaps he would have thought it may go on forever. And the divines it was peaceful. Huric sighed, and sat himself on a sunny rock. He nibbled at his bread and watched a few salmon fight against what had at first looked to be a weak current.He had been reaching for his dagger, perhaps a makeshift fishing spear would get him some easy dinner, when a sudden snapping of a twig had snapped him away from his thoughts.“I know you’re there.” Huric stated bluntly. Even as he kept his gaze trained on the salmon he was no fool, he knew what footsteps sounded like. Especially those of someone clearly trying to be quiet. He himself had been guilty of it a few times.The rustling had stopped in its tracks. Huric stood up and glared as best he could in the direction of the sounds.A head peeked out behind the treeline. Pale hair gave the figure away almost instantly. He knew it, someone was watching him. This only made Huric more frustrated. He didn’t like people who still hid away even when they had been caught.“Well?” He demanded. Less uncertain now.The figure paused for a moment. After closer inspection even from far away the figure appeared to be small. Smaller than a nord at least.. A bold childish voice finally followed after a tense few minutes of silence.“I ain’t scared of you.”This took Huric by surprise. There weren’t any other kids in Falkreath. So hearing the voice of one was unusual, perhaps it was one of the riverwood ones. He had met a few of them briefly when his father made trips for cheaper planks.This admittedly gave him a bubble of excitement. It had been a while since he had gotten to hang out with another kid. Even if this one was acting like a bit of an ass.“I never said you were. I said that I know you’re there. So there's no point in hiding.” He decided to be plain about it. His father always taught him beating around the bush never got anyone anywhere. After a few moments of silence the pale figure came out from behind the tree and began to approach. He was again surprised.The other child in question was just as pale as a nord, maybe paler, with long thick white-blonde hair that looked as though it probably needed a good brush, with random braids and haphazard chunks taken out of it. Huric could understand that, he used to hate when his father tried cutting his hair so he started growing it out. Only to find he hated looking after long hair more than he hated having it cut. These days he kept it cropped.The other kid took it a step further too, being dressed up for the wrong weather entirely, rugged up in haphazardly put together furs tied together with loose leather in the middle of summer. And even stranger still was as he got closer Huric realized he had two long pointed ears sticking out of that mop on his head.When the pale elfling finally reached him, he just scrunched up his nose, looking over at him as if he were some kind of unfortunate animal he had found in the grass. “I wasn’t hiding or nothin’. I was just watchin’”Huric just stared at him in shock. “You were watching behind a tree. That’s called hiding.” He responded, finally gathering his bearings.“Is not.”“Is too.”“Is not.”“Is too. Is too, times oblivion and forever after.” Huric said and smugly watched as the strange elf frowned in confusion at his retort. Trying to come up with something but failing to do so. He had learned that one off his dad, and it usually made people shut up pretty quickly. After a while the pale elf just huffed, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah? Well my mama said I ain’t allowed to talk to you, cos you eat rocks and mud.”“Well you’re talking to me right now aren’t you?” Huric snided.The elf looked furious at that.“I’m only talking to you cos you’re talking to me!-”“Because you were watching me. It's creepy. You’re a creep.” Huric snapped right back. This weird kid was seriously frustrating him, but at the very least it looked like the frustration went both ways.Huric had never met an elf kid before, he wasn’t quite sure why but until now he had always assumed they came out full grown. He supposed that was a little silly now.But now he was glad he hadn’t met an elf kid before because this one was on serious thin ice. When he realized he didn’t have anything to retort to Hurics reasoning he only seemed to grow more frustrated. But Huric knew he was right, he had technically started it.The elfs pale face went so red and Huric was worried for a moment the kid would try to tackle him or something. But instead he just let out one final huff of frustration and kicked rocks at Huric’s legs before storming off back into the treeline, hopefully going back to wherever he came from.Good riddance. Huric thought. And his dad always said he was the one with the bad temper.
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Huric had gotten home earlier than usual.At the dinner table Huric had vented all his frustrations to his father about the strange elf boy he had met.“- And then he was just watching me. He said he thinks I eat rocks and mud.”“Well I did catch you putting rocks in your mouth a few times when you were smaller.” His father spoke between bites. Smiling tiredly at Hurics frustration.“-That was a long time ago. He looked so weird too. It’s summer and he was wearing furs.” He huffed and leaned back into his chair while his father reasoned.“Sounds like his family is probably from Summerset. It's much warmer there than it is here. He might just not be used to the cold like we are. Even in Summer, it can be cold here.”Huric sighed. If his father was right and the kid was from Summerset perhaps it made a tad more sense why he was so strange. He’d only ever met one high elf from Summerset when he was little. She had talked with a funny accent and Huric had thought he saw her washing her hands after his dad had shook her hand. Regardless, his father had made her a custom blade. Just as slim and beautiful as she was, bejeweled at the hilt.He didn’t like her much. But the kid he met didn’t really have the same accent she did. It sounded more nordic. Like how those far northerners talked in windhelm yet harsher.He decided not to ponder it for too long. From what he had heard, elves were strange and fickle creatures.For the next week and a half he had almost completely forgotten about the lake. There had been rumors going around of more sightings of a troll wandering near Falkreath. It had already slaughtered two of the nearby farms' cattle. And the jarl was offering 50 gold to anyone who could locate it for the guards. 100 more if they could slay it themselves.Huric had read all about trolls, they were stupid and slow beasts who hobbled around and snatched children from under their beds. He figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find the troll then, if it liked gobbling up children. 50 gold was nothing to sneeze at. He’d be able to buy a real fishing spear with that, and maybe even a bow. He could even buy as many salted herrings as he’d like.His father found it rather odd how his son never seemed to enjoy sweets as much as the other children, he was always far more enthusiastic about salted foods. It had gotten to the point that when he was little he had to hide the salt barrels from him because he kept taking tablespoons.But Huric felt confident in his abilities to track down this troll. He had mapped out the surrounding Falkreath woods, He was quicker than a troll, and he was smarter than a troll. He even had his own dagger. Perhaps his adventurer fantasy would finally come true. Maybe he wouldn’t be stuck in a forge forever as he had dreaded.He made another plan of course, and decided the best place to start looking would be the lake. He reasoned the beast had to drink after all. So without telling his father he snuck out of the house before the sun had a chance to fully come up.Back at the lake he snooped around, looking for footprints, dung, fur maybe. Like a true monster hunter. Just when he was getting into it he was interrupted yet again. He didn’t need to turn around when he heard those light footsteps again to know who it was.“You’re still a terrible sneak you know?”“...What are you doing?”“Hunting. You’re talking to me again.”“.....”“What are you huntin?”Huric sighed deeply. He didn’t have time for the elfs childish antics anymore, he had a beast to hunt down. He turned around to face him, noticing the kid was still wearing the same furs as last week. He had the decency to look more sheepish than the last time they had met at least. “You probably shouldn’t be out here this early. Didn’t your mother tell you there was a troll around?”But the elf persisted. “...So you are huntin’ trolls then?”Huric rolled his eyes at the other boy's guess and brushed the mud off his pants. He noticed now with the elf standing so uncomfortably close to him that he was just a touch taller than Huric, this only served to irritate him more than it should have. So he did what he should have done the week before and ignored him. Of course this only confirms the elf's answer so he presses on.“Can I help? My mama says I'm a good tracker.”“No. You’ll just get eaten. Go home.”“I won’t. I won’t. I’ve killed a troll all by myself once.” The elf insisted, his tone was more playful this time. And much to Hurics irritation he kept following him.“Did not.”“Did too.”“Did not.”“Did too. Did too times… the whole of… of… the world.”Huric snorted at the elfs re-use at his own comeback. “You know it doesn’t count if it isn’t true. I bet you’ve never even seen a troll.”The pale elf looked considerably more smug and still kept up with Huric much to his distaste.“Oh I have. I’ve seen a ton of em’. Whole caves full. Pests. And their meat doesn’t even taste too good either.” The elf expresses with a large gesture of his hands.“Shut up. No one likes a lying Lorkahn. I’m trying to concentrate here.”To the pale elfs credit he did finally shut up, but he certainly didn’t leave Huric alone. He Trailed behind him and watched him pick around the water's edge for clues with those creepy blue eyes of his. After about 30 minutes of this the other boy appeared to get bored of this.“You’re lookin’ in all the wrong places you know?”“No I'm not. Trolls live near water. If you don’t care to follow me you can go bother someone else.” Huric brushed him off, his gaze straight ahead. He knew he was right about this.“Well… I don't care.” The elf stopped in his tracks. He thought for a minute before pointing out. “But you are still doing it all wrong. You haven’t even found anything yet.”He was really getting on Huric’s nerves now. He snapped at him. “Why don’t you go and track it down yourself then? If you know so much about trolls?”The pale elfs face went red again. He scoffed. “Maybe I will. Maybe I'll even bring its pelt back for you.”“Fine then.”“Fine.”Huric seethed quietly. There was no way that boy was going to find the troll before him anyways. Especially if he was from Summerset like his dad said. They don’t have trolls there do they? Either it would get him off his back for a while.After about 30 more minutes searching the lakes edge alone and finding nothing he started to feel a little bit bad. The kid could’ve gotten lost for all he knew looking for that troll and it’d be all his fault he got eaten by wolves or something. So Huric ceased his search for the moment and started to look for the elf boy by turning back around.The soil was soft from the night's rain before but he couldn’t find any boot tracks that didn’t belong to him oddly enough. That was of course until he found a trail of a few broken sticks leading back into the underbrush, no doubt from the other boy's careless boisterousness, so he continued his search. Calling out to the boy occasionally and getting no response. Eventually it led him up to a jutted out cave. He did find muddy footprints on the rock, but they were much larger than any shoe he had ever seen.Had the elf taken shelter in the cave? There was a clear rancid stink coming from inside that filled Huric with unease. He poked his head into the darkness with a very quiet..“Hello?”His voice echoed off the walls and came back to him in an unnerving chorus. The smell seemed to only get worse. Before he had the chance to turn back he heard thumping footsteps coming up from behind him, he turned praying to see the elf only to be met by a wall of mangy gray fur. His gaze traveled upwards until his eyes met 3 very unhappy black ones.Oh gods.The troll let out a bellowing cry that shook him enough to topple him over, he just barely caught himself on his elbows. He began scrabbling backwards reaching frantically for his dagger only to realize it was not in its scabbard but rather 5 feet away. He felt like he may cry.The troll lunged for him, ready to tear him to pieces when it suddenly let out an ear-splitting yowl. Huric was frozen in place, tears stinging the corner of his vision while he watched the pale elf hanging onto the damned things back, a small hand axe lodged deep in its shoulders. It screeched and frantically tried to buck off and grab at the boy on its back.“Run!”The elf roared which snapped Huric out of his frozen trance and caused him to rise on shaky legs and make a bolt for it.He had run straight back to the village in just barely over an hour. The guards had rushed to him while he attempted to frantically tell them about the troll and the boy who had lodged his axe into it. Even through his panicked explanation they had been able to gather most of the story and location, and hurried off to that cave while Huric caught his breath.He had lost his dagger and his father was none too happy to hear about what Huric had been up to. The guards returned later that evening to inform Huric they had found a lot of blood outside the cave but no troll and no elf. His father had grounded him of course after a very, very long scolding but when he had seen the boy cry he cooled down and gave his son a tight hug.The guards promised him they’d keep an eye out for an elf child and tell him immediately if they found anything.
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Huric stayed mostly indoors for about a week after that, helping his father with the forge to keep his mind off what had happened and a week later when he was allowed out of the house again he went straight to the lake.He searched for the other boy for a while only to give up and sit by the water's edge and stared into the water. He hoped he was okay.For 3 straight days he’d come down by the lake and stare at the water for a bit. Half hoping the elf would pop his head up again, half contemplating. What if he really was dead? Had Huric unintentionally caused his death? He shouldn't have gone out that day. He kept thinking about the elf's face, ferocious and splattered in blood. Like a true warrior. Not like whatever he pretended to be.On the fourth day of throwing stones into the water he heard the clunky sound of boots. He didn’t dare turn around however, just in case he really was imagining things. The footsteps came to a stop and sat down next to him.“You look more glum than a giant's left toe… twice as ugly too.”
“...You’re still as sneaky as ever.”Huric snorted dryly, and turned to face the elf next to him. He felt relieved, and angry. But mostly relieved. The pale elf looked completely fine, there wasn’t so much as a scratch on him. Of course there wasn’t. Nonchalantly the elf pushes Huric’s dagger towards him. It was pretty scratched up, but still good.“You dropped something. I was goin’ to keep it but then I remembered how bad at monster huntin’ you are so you probably need it more than me.”“...Thanks.”Huric took the dagger and slid it into his belt. He wasn’t quite sure what to say really. So they both sat in silence for a while staring at the lake. Until finally he gathered the courage to say something. Ask anything really.“....So… where are you from?”“Here.”“Here?..”“Here.”The pale elf just shrugged at Hurics slightly confused look and threw a rock into the water. He grinned at the splash it made and added.“My village is pretty small. Not many people have heard of it. I reckon.”“Oh?... Well I'm from Falkreath.”“Never heard of it.”This just made Huric more confused. How hadn’t the pale boy heard of Falkreath before? Especially if he lived so close to it. Maybe he was just messing with him. Regardless Huric picked up a rock of his own and threw it into the water and tried not to sound too suprised.“Really? Well- what's your name? You never told me.”“You’re not gonna steal it are you?”The pale elf said very seriously all of a sudden staring at him intensely. Huric was beginning to think this kid was weirder than he thought with his sudden paranoia.“No…. Why would I steal it?”“Fine. But I want your name first.”“Well fine then. I’m Huric, son of Lod.”“Huric? That’s a stupid name.”“You’re a stupid name.”Huric snorted, and stared at the other boy expectantly. The pale elf’s eyes shifted away in mild frustration. A name for a name. The elf mumbled something and Huric raised an eyebrow.“Sorry, what was that?“I said my name is….”“What?”“.....Leif.”“....Just Leif?”“That's what I said wasn't it?”Leif bristled at Hurics obvious amusement at his name.“What? Did a 90 year old nord woman name you?”“Shut up.”“I haven’t heard that name since my father made me read the first Atomoran poems.”Huric was unable to stop himself from giggling at the elfs expense while Leifs face seemed to just get redder and redder with anger and embarrassment.“No way you can read.”“What?”“I said there is no way you can read. Unless you’re some kind of stupid sun priest.”Huric looked slightly baffled at this insult. He laughed it off a bit.“No, I can read. Most people should be able to under imperial law. My father said you have to know how to read so you can pay your taxes right and don’t get sent to prison.”“I don’t believe you.”“....Can you read?”“O’ course not. What's the point? It won't fill my belly, it won’t warm my heath and it won’t build me a shelter. Normal people don’t read…. Well I guess maybe you do read. But you eat rocks and mud too. So I guess there's not much sense in anything you do.”Huric is even more confused by this boy's statement. He couldn’t read? Hadn’t his Mama taught him? He didn’t think anyone should read. He thought elves loved reading with all their… magic stuff. And before he could pick at this strange elfs brain more Leif stood up. He looked around, his expression growing anxious for the first time since Huric had met him.“I gotta go. My mama’s callin’ me.”“...But I don’t hear-”Just like that, Leif was gone.“...Anyone.”