It had not in hindsight, been a good idea to chase the chickens.
Chasing chickens got you lost, captured by a bunch of Imperial guards, very nearly be-headed and ultimately ruins your day.
Yes, it had not been the best move on her part but Thaylen had little time for such regrets, especially when she may have precious little time left to live.
Feet hitting the ground like pistons, breath rising raggedly in her throat the nord woman awkwardly dodged an explosion of splinters and rubble. Her hands were tightly bound in front of her, making movement difficult. The small hold of Helgen was currently occupied by scores of screaming people, about a dozen beleaguered soldiers and a smattering of escaped rebels. .
Oh, and one very scary, very pissed off, dragon.
The crackling roar of flames filled her ears as Thaylen skirted around the piles of dead bodies, seeking something or someone that could undo her bonds. It had started out a perfectly normal day; she'd woken up at the crack of dawn, had breakfast and started her daily chores on the farm back in Cyrodill. Things had gone belly up when the chickens appeared.
The feathery buggers had it in for her, she was sure of it, eating her crops, waking her up with their raucous cawing and other bird like activities. Today, they'd topped it all off by getting her captured. One thing she'd not been expecting was for a mailed gauntlet to haul her by the scruff of the neck into a wagon stuffed full of rebels.
A short cart ride later and Thaylen had found herself on and eventually off the chopping block. Courtesy of one bloody huge reptile that seemed to appear out of thin air. She scrambled over fallen masonry and ducked into a half collapsed keep. Breezing past a bunch of men in blue uniforms, she climbed the steps two at a time. She'd never known that she could move this fast. There was a blackened scorch mark on the ground and gaping hole in the wall. Not wanting to think of the poor sod who'd copped the brunt of the flames Thaylen bunched her legs up and leapt into the small house that lay in the keeps shade.
She landed on her side and lay winded for a moment before a roar from above galvanised her into action. Downstairs she found exactly what she needed, a steak knife lying on the kitchen table. With some difficulty she managed to sit down on the floor and wedge the weapon between her legs. In a few tense seconds, she had the bindings off and was scurrying out the back door, knife in hand.
Thaylen crept through the thick layer of smoke that blanketed the ruined city, seeking escape. She succeeded in finding a hole in the wall and skittered over the fallen masonry before racing to the forest line. The charred remains of Helgen slowly dwindled into the distance.
She never looked back.
The branch swung back and hit her in the face.
"Mph, crap!" she screeched, holding her hand to her cheek.
She shot the offending tree a wary glare before pushing through the forest. All of Thaylen's pride would not let her admit to herself that she was lost. She'd decided to keep off the main path, not wanting to run into any more Imperial soldiers but after traversing a large loop to avoid a slumbering bear, she had lost the path. So she'd continued on, hoping to at least find a hunting trail, but her frantic search had yielded nothing but more trees. Glancing up, she saw the sun beginning to dip under the tree tops and her stomach swooped.
She needed shelter fast before the wolves, or worse, descended. She didn't bother gathering wood for a fire; it would only attract unwanted attention. Wiping sweat from her face, and cursing as she brushed her already swollen cheek, the exhausted Nord trekked through the forest, seeking a place to sleep.
The sky was dark by the time she found a decent sized overhang. She let her green eyes rake the forest once more before huddling up against the back of the rock wall. Fingers clutched around the hilt of the knife, she brought her knees up to her chin and fixed her eyes on a gap between the trees, watching the stars as the night closed in.
Her dreams were drowned in screams and wreathed in smoke.
She woke to a snarl.
Thaylen's eyes flew open and assessed her immediate surroundings. The forest stared back, silent and foreboding. She stumbled out from the overhang, sure to keep the wall at her back. She stood there, body tensed and alert, searching for the sounds origin. Adrenaline born from fear coursed through her veins. It heightened her senses. It was those senses that saved her.
First, her ears as the grass rustled and branches snapped. Next, her reflexes as she whirled to the right and brought her knife up in a feeble attempt at defending herself. Finally, her eyes as they beheld the sight of a charging mass of black fur and yellow fangs.
Maw agape, it launched itself at her, knocking the breath form her lungs and sending both of them sprawling to the ground. There was a wet tearing sound and intense pain flared up her arm. She opened her eyes and found herself staring straight into the wolves. She watched as something in its feral amber depths fade and its dead body slumped against hers.
Her arm felt hot and…slobbery and Thaylen realised with disgust that it was lodged in the beast's jaws, the knife thrust through the back of its skull. She pushed the wolf off her body and beheld her arm with horror. Gore and blood from both herself and the wolf splattered her arm.
The adrenaline left her body and she began to shake. There were puncture wounds in her forearm and her shoulder felt like it had been run over by a horse. The wolf had left a present for her, one curved incisor lodged in her limb. Gripping the tooth, she fought the bile that rose in her throat and yanked it out, giving a garbled shriek as she did. She trembled as she rose to her feet.
She nearly gave up then, mind clouded with despair, she wondered if she would ever make it out of these damned trees alive. She ripped a length of cloth from the bottom of her grubby shirt that she'd been wearing since tending to her farm and formed a makeshift bandage. Ripping the knife from the dead wolf and holding it in her left hand this time Thaylen made up her mind. She would get out of these trees and to civilisation or die trying.
She just hoped it wouldn't be the latter.
"Finally!" the word slipped from her lips as the woman broke out from the forest.
She could see a bunch of ramshackle farm houses and breweries to her right and further on in the distance the walls of a great city. Hysterical laughter bubbled in her throat but was quickly drowned as she felt a disturbance in the ground.
The black haired nord looked around, searching for the sound. There it was again, a slight tremor that shook the ground beneath her. Small rocks began to shake and jump, causing Thaylen to back out onto the open plain. The tremors shook her legs and she realised them for what they were: footsteps.
The trees parted and there it stood. A giant, fourteen feet of towering muscle and rage, holding a club easily as big as the woman that it glared down at. Thaylen gulped, backing up a few metres wondering if the thing was going to attack. She found out three seconds later as it opened its mouth and yelled some sort of garbled language at her. Hefting its club from its shoulders, it prepared to crush the life from the puny being standing in front of it. It was then that Thaylen noticed the arrows sticking from its shoulders. Great, shed' just run onto a pissed of giant that someone's been hunting.
Best day EVER.
Without a backwards glance Thaylen took to her heels and ran.
A.N: Right, considering that this authors note is being written as I'm writing out the tenth chapter I can certainly tell you that It gets better than this :L A lot longer too. Basically it's an OC story revolving around a woman who was, like the dragonborn, similarly caught in the crossfire between the imperials and the stormcloaks. However, Thaylen is by no means the actual dragonborn, that's one of my friends OC who will be popping in and out of the story. I'd also like to stress that this isn't your average 'OC falls in love with the main interest in the first ten chapters' fic, Thaylen is no warrior and will clearly struggle in this world :)
So please enjoy ^^ And press the review button :)
