A Thief's Ascension, The story of Jak's life from small beginnings Options

[BretonBlood]

I am by no means a writer, in fact I am horrible but figured I'd post a story I wrote on the Bethesda Forums here. I fully expect to be picked apart for my bad writing, this was also written about 2 years ago. I also like to include pictures to somewhat show what is going on since it kind of helps take away some of the burden of creating the scene through writing.

Chapter 1

"Oh wait, aren't you going to eat something before you go to work?"

"I can't I slept in, sorry mom." Jak said as he quickly rushed out the door to head to the Riften Docks.

Once at the docks Jak got to work quickly with the daily chores he was assigned when he got the job. Luckily he had been doing it for so long that even starting late he could get his work done in time, and after a few hours he took a break to relax watching the lake. It was peaceful for awhile until...

"Hey Jak! What are you doing?" The young Breton came up from behind and sat down beside Jak.

"Hello, Fina..." She stretched her legs out across his lap. "Alright then... well I am on my break, I got all my stuff done and before I get back to work I wanted to relax over the lake."

"Oh, that sounds like fun, I mean I can't imagine working here is all that fun."

"It isn't bad, it can get boring but it pays okay. Plus I get to rest here every now and then and take in the view and fresh air."

"It is beautiful, isn't it? "

"So what are you doing here, Fina?"

"I don't have anything to do since I haven't gotten any jobs from the Jarl or anyone, so I decided I would come see you today."

"Lucky me." Jak smirked and Fina smacked his arm.

Jak eventually stood up and explained he had to get back to work, so Fina hugged him and said good bye. Once the sun began set Jak finished up his remaining work, and headed home where his mother cooked a meal while he recovered from another day of working for the Riften Fishery.

As usual Jak worked a long day at the Riften Fishery and decided to go to the Bee and Barb for an afternoon drink. He sat the bar drinking several mugs of mead trying to take the edge off.

"By the gods, Fina? Is that you?"

"Marc?"

"That's right. Wow it has been years, what are you doing in Riften?"

"I live here, in fact I just got back from a job the jarl gave me to go take care some smugglers. What about you?"

"I have been travelling Skyrim looking for potential patrons, and ended up here. It is great to see you, want to get a drink?"

"Umm, sure." Fina and Marcurio headed to the bar to order some mead when Fina noticed Jak sitting at the bar and walked up to him.

"Jak, how are you?" She stood beside him at the bar and Jak nodded his head as Marcurio walked up to the bar. "Marc, this is Jak... Jak this Marc, he is an old friend of mine."

Marcurio greeted Jak, but Jak gave a quick hand gesture and took another drink of his mead. "Jak are you drunk?" Fina asked.

"Not drunk enough." he replied.

"I'm going to change out of my armor. Marc watch him for me and make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Marcurio laughed and agreed to the request.

"She is great isn't she?" Marc gave a sigh, "It's been so long since I've seen her."

"Yeah, she is great..." Jak replied.

Marcurio leaned forward onto the bar, "So what's the story between you two? Are you?"

"We're just good friends." Jak explained.

"Oh. Interesting."

Marcurio began small talk with Jak and explained how he knew Fina from when they used to study magic in Cyrodiil when they were younger. Then he began to rant about how he was a master of the arcane and his skill in battle was unmatched. He also hinted that if Jak ever needed him he could be hired. Jak didn't pay much attention, he instead noticed the coin purse he had hanging from his belt. After a couple minutes Jak went to get up from the bar, but stumbled and Marcurio caught him before he fell.
"I think you have had enough to drink, at least until Fina gets back."

"Fine. Maybe you are right, I'll just go home now. Tell Fina I said bye." Jak made his way to the door, "Sucker." Jak smirked and put the coin purse in his pocket.

[BretonBlood]

Darkness Eternal: Thank you Darkness Eternal, my back is better but still not 100%. But I appreciate the concern.

And yes, I think everyone could see where the situation was going once Hulda said there was only one bed, everyone except for Jak that is, he is very naive and doesn't know much when it comes to women. Arissa is his first companion who isn't just a friend.

Acadian: Arissa isn't a joke, she is tough, and could kick Jak's ass if she wanted to, she is one of the bravest people he has met.

Thank you, I had just found that ENB before starting Jak's story, I have of course switched since then because I had to do a completely new install of Skyrim, so I lost everything because it was all on a hard drive that got messed up.

And thank you, my back is better, but still recovering.

Chapter 8

Jak awoke in the morning with Arissa cuddled next to him. He woke her and they got dressed and left the the Bannered Mare, they moved through Whiterun passing by all the people who run stalls in the market and eventually they made it out of the city, down the hill, and to Honningbrew Meadery. They entered to find a man somewhat frantic as he cleaned some mugs before noticing them.

"Hello, is something wrong? You seem to be a little on edge." Jak asked

"Of course there is something wrong. I have a pest problem and I'm supposed to have the Captain of the Guard come do a tasting this afternoon. I have some of the best mead in Skyrim, but I will be in ruins if he finds out about my pest problem."

"Perhaps we could be of some assistance."

"I take it you wouldn't do this out of the kindness of your heart?"

"Well, payment isn't necessary, but we won't turn it down."Jak replied.

"Since my assistant Mallus has disappeared I suppose I don't have a choice but to accept your help, and I'll even pay you for your troubles. In fact, I'll give you half of the payment if you get the job done quickly right now."

Jak agreed and Sabjorn gave him half of the payment, the poison and the keys to the Brewery. The two of them left Sabjorn and entered the basement where they found an already dead skeever, and upon looking at the other end of the basement found another wandering around. They sneaked closer and closer and Jak killed it, and turned to find another caught in a trap so he put it out of its misery and they moved forward. They came across lots of skeever and even some spiders, much to Jak's displeasure as he had grown a dislike for spiders after his last encounter with them. Going deeper into the caverns they came to a room with several skeever and even a man, who the skeever seemed friendly with. Jak killed one of the skeever alerting the man and other skeever and a battle ensued. They killed the remaining skeever and the man hurled bolts of fire at them, Jak narrowly dodged the firebolts and moved in closer with Arissa until finally he was close enough to impale the man in the chest with his dagger.

Jak placed the poison in the skeever nest and the two headed up into the Boilery. Once inside Jak made his way to the second floor and opened the mead vat and poured the poison in, and so the two grabbed the key next to the door and let themselves out to return to Sabjorn. The Captain of the Guard had arrived already and so when Jak arrived he gave Sabjorn a nod letting him know the job was complete. Sabjorn had been stalling the Captain so with Jak's return he went ahead with the tasting, he went to the Boilery and got some mead and returned. Sabjorn eager to have the Captain taste his mead handed him a mug and allowed him to fill it. He took a sip and began coughing and demanding to know what Sabjorn was up to, much to his confusion, and after saying a few threats to Sabjorn the Captain approached Mallus and gave him ownership of Honningbrew Meadery and then hauled Sabjorn off to Dragonreach's dungeon.

Mallus thanked Jak for his assistance and told him to put in a good word with Maven, however, Jak was not finished and asked to have the key to Sabjorn's room to check for business transactions. With the keys they headed upstairs and unlocked the door. They looked around and found nothing until Jak checked the dresser, where he found a note to Sabjorn.

"Huh? This is strange. This is the same symbol that was on the Goldenglow estate deed. There is something going on here."

"Then we better get back to Riften." Arissa chimed in.

The two of them left the Meadery with the information they needed and headed straight for the carriage paying the driver to take them back to Riften. When they arrived they were greeted by an orc who was asking them to join a group of vampire hunters, they told him they weren't interested and he mocked them telling them not to come crying to him when a vampire is ripping their throat out. They moved on and went into the Bee and Barb to meet with Maven.

"I've completed the job you sent me on." Jak said as he handed over the note he had found in Sabjorn's desk. "Good, I was beginning to worry I had sent someone incapable of completing the task." Maven replied and then began studying the note. She became angry at what she read as she couldn't figure out who the symbol belonged to. Jak mentioned he had seen that same symbol before and Maven told him to check in with Brynjolf as he may have some knowledge. Jak and Arissa left Maven's company and headed to the Guild, selling loot to Tonilia was the first stopp and then Jak turned his jobs into Vex and Delvin. Both Vex and Delvin also gave Jak two more jobs, one in Solitude and one in Windhelm, it seemed they were adamant about Jak regaining the Guild's foothold in the capitals of the Imperials and Stormcloaks.

"Word on the street is poor Sabjorn has found himself in Whiterun's prison." Brynjolf gave a sly smile. Jak smirked and made a witty comment about how he may be responsible, but it was all good for business. Brynjolf agreed and when Jak asked him about the symbol he told him Mercer had actually asked to see him for that very reason. He also mentioned not to waste any time as he had never seen Mercer so angry before, so with that the two of them parted ways.

"You wanted to see me, Mercer?"

"Ah yes, there you are. I believe I may have found a clue that may help us identify our mystery buyer." Mercer went on to explain how he found an alias of an old Guild asset by name of Gulum-Ei. He talked about Gulum-Ei's backstory with the Guild and how he wanted him to go to Solitude to question him about this buyer. Mercer also mentioned that Brynjolf may be able to provide more details on Gulum-Ei. With his new assignment from Mercer, Jak went to Brynjolf again and asked about Gulum-Ei and shared how he wasn't sure if he was ready to go to Solitude and confront him.

"Don't worry, lad, just like with Goldenglow if you aren't ready for it just wait and do a couple more jobs until you're comfortable. However, you can't take too long because we need to know what is going on after all."

Jak was relieved to know he didn't have to rush to get the job done, so he and Arissa left and returned to his home. Lanier was surprised to see Arissa again, but was happy nonetheless and so the three of them cooked dinner and talked while they ate. After dinner Jak and Arissa went outside on their porch where he showed Arissa how he used to watch the stars at night on occasion after a long day of work at the Riften Fishery. He then explained how it was relaxing for him and it was always fun trying to find the constellations.

The two of them were laying on a rug on the porch staring up at the sky. "I like my idea of fun better." Arissa put her leg around Jak and kissed him.

"Oh really? Well, you are the guest I suppose." Jak smiled and the two began kissing.

They woke up late the next day, and Jak got ready so they could leave to complete the two jobs for Delvin and Vex.

"Jak, I don't want you leaving yet. You don't look so good, after all your travels you probably picked up something. Are you sick?" His mother asked.

"I do feel a little weak today, but I figured that was from my lack of sleep the last few days."

"You should go to the temple of Mara and see if Lady Mara will get rid of your sickness before you leave."

Jak began saying something before Arissa cut him off, "I agree with your mom. Why don't you go to the temple while I finish getting my stuff together and I'll meet you over there." Jak agreed, and so he was off to the temple. He felt out of place upon entering, but the priest and priestesses were welcoming, and so he stepped forward and prayed at the shrine of Mara. His prayer was answered as he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his chest and he was no longer weakened, so he got up and thanked the priest and left the temple.

"Jak?" he turned to find a surprised Fina, "I'm so glad I found you. We haven't talked in awhile and I really wanted to tell you something. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened in Windhelm... I feel awful."

"I was a bit upset by what you did, I am not going to lie. I just wanted to make sure you were safe, and you treated me like the bad guy."

"I know, I overreacted because... well you know how I am." She gave a light laugh, "I'm really sorry, I just want us to be how we used to be. You're my closest friend Jak, and I don't know what I would do without you. Please forgive me."

Just then Arissa came from behind Jak, "Are you feeling better?" Arissa kissed Jak on the cheek and looked at Fina, "Who's this?"

"Arissa, this is Fina she's... a friend."

"Oh. Well, I'll just let the two of you catch up." Arissa could feel the tension between the two of them and walked away.

"That was Arissa." Jak paused and gestured back towards her, "We met in Windhelm, and are sort of in a business relationship."

"A business relationship? That seemed like more than just business."

"Well, I mean sort of... I guess we are more then that." Fina stepped forward and hugged him, "I'm...I'm happy for you Jak." As she pulled away Jak noticed a slight glisten in her eyes, and she walked away towards the temple of Mara.