I couldn't stay awake long after thinking all this though as it turned out being a baby meant my awake time was VERY short. The moment the woman I was fairly certain was Grelod the kind picked me up and took me inside the wooden building that was warm it was lights out. It was hunger that woke me eventually again and it sucked so bad. Turns out being hungry as an infant was so much worse than being hungry as a kid or adult. Not painful exactly but mind achingly in your face with a desperate NEED.-
"BAAAAAAA!" I screamed while choking down the humiliation at being so helpless.
It wasn't Grelod who came to check on me however but a young girl. She looked at most thirteen with messy shoulder length ill kept pale blonde hair and a dirty face that was malnourished in appearance. She looked just as unwilling to deal with me as I was happy to need being dealt with as her golden/yellowish eyes were narrowed in annoyance. She reached over to out of my view and produced a glass bottle with milk in it and a funnel-like tip made of leather.-
I had to fight my mental disgust to choke down the warm milk and died a little on the inside when I was well overfed and did what every overfed baby did, threw up the excess. I'd like to say things got easier but that would be a lie. Between my body forcing me to sleep, shitting myself, getting cleaned up and being fed I was pretty much numb to embarrassment by the third week. I had eventually gotten free of being wrapped up so tightly when I first shit myself and needed to be cleaned up. At that time I got to see my skin for the first time on my arms. -
I was an almost ghostly white that narrowed down my potential races considerably. As far as I knew there were only five possibly races with skin color like this. Nord, Imperial, Breton, Falmer and Dwarf. The last two could more likely than not be crossed out as well. Falmer who weren't blind degenerated bat monsters were in short supply at best and on the verge of extinction at worst. Dwarves were even more unlikely since as far as I knew there was literally only one left and he was sterile due to a very specific disease.-
That left one of the three human races I had mentioned and unfortunately there was no way to tell without seeing my face or someone outright saying what I was. Judging by the fact I was in Skyrim though I was willing to bet I was probably a Nord. Not ideal if I'm being honest as the race was kinda middle of the road in terms of innate benefits. Nords racial benefits were a high resistance to the cold and cold based magics, sturdy bodies from a warrior centric culture and a higher than normal affinity for shouting.-
That last one was barely even there as to put it in perspective if all the other races who weren't dragonborn had an affinity for shouting of 1 Nords had it at 1.5. All it really accomplished was making their war cries have an intimidating pressure to them. Still I could work with being a Nord if that was truly the case as it would make learning to use that sword of mine easier. Speaking of my "gifts" I could sort of feel them within me but out of reach for now. -
Probably because they were useless to me at the moment. Still I didn't waste all my time cursing being stuck in the body of an infant while I was awake, just most of it. The other parts were trying to decipher the language everyone was speaking. It was slow going to be honest since no one was even trying to teach me which was fair enough since I was a baby and all. So far I had with a fair deal of confidence figured out the "I" word. Also felt a sense of strangeness as I learned the girls name, Vex. -
Yes THAT Vex. The master burglar in the making was at the moment assigned by Grelod to take care of me. Of course I also noticed over these few weeks that she would quietly slip out of the orphanage at night, likely to go on a thieving trip. She was "relieved" of me duty at the fourth week however as a kindly young Altmer woman showed up at the orphanage to be an assistant here. I had to admit that Bethesda had VASTLY failed to represent the Altmer race's appearance. -
The woman, Meralda, had golden yellow skin and smooth white blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. Her face wasn't that almost grotesque angular shape all of the race had in the game but was quite narrow and defined. If I had to give an Earth example it was a mix of Chinese cheekbones and African chin. Her eyes were narrow naturally like the asian races on Earth but not quite to that level. Obviously her ears were also longer than normal and pointed sharply. She was patient and kind even after being immediately told to handle me on top of handling the cleaning and cooking. -
Time flew by in the blink of an eye and soon seven months came and went. My body grew considerably larger and I was even left on the ground to crawl around under Meralda's watchful gaze. The orphanage was not a pleasant place I had to admit. Ignoring that moldering crone Grelod who made everyone's lives worse with beatings and insults as she seemed determined to break as many spirits as possible. The conditions of the place were borderline inhumane for children to live in. Fourteen tiny on the verge of breaking wooden beds with no pillows and a single thin blanket. No place for personal items, barely enough food not to starve, plain wooden walls and roof, laughter and fun were forbidden.-
Oh yeah that last part was something that I reacted VERY poorly to. It had been a fairly normal day as the other children were doing their chores for the day and a boy had laughed at something. Just once before he hurriedly caught himself and clammed up with a fearful expression. It was enough however as the crone left that room she occupied most of the day counting the charity that the orphanage got. -
I might not be able to understand the language but I would need to be an idiot not to be able to roughly guess what she said. The sadistic pleasure on that woman's face as she produced a well worn thick leather strap and used it on the boy was burned into my mind. It was at that point I decided her days were numbered. Not because I was some warrior for justice or other such nonsense but because one day that boy might be me. For now though I would bide my time and grow up as quietly as possible.