Alright, so it has been such a long time since I've written..well...anything. Sorry for the long pause though. Of course, to get all the needed business out of the way, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim belongs to Bethesda, as well as all the canon characters. OCs belong to me. This is going to be the first, actual story I write. Like ever. I've only ever written one-shots up till this point, so bare with me as I learn. Let me know if you see any spelling/grammar errors. Now, here we go ladies and gents!
Much about Elisieya was a mystery, even to the girl herself. Her parentage, a mystery. Her surname, a mystery. Her past, a mystery to everyone else. Her future, a mystery. How she ended up on the back of a rattling carriage, now that wasn't a mystery. The nineteen year old Nord had been living in Cyrodill for practically all of her life. In fact, the only way she knew she was a Nord was the fact that her caretaker, Carlesis had told her about where she was born. That added to the fact that she was paler than most and her hair was such a fair color, and she was rather battle-focused. This caused a perspicacious curiosity to take root in the young, imaginative girl to daydream constantly about this land called Skyrim. It wasn't too far from the home where she grew up. In fact, she lived just a short carriage ride away from the border. She would sometimes climb to the roof of her caretaker's small cottage and gaze out at outlying mountain ahead of her, longing for something more than just this simple, quiet life. Little did she know, she was going to get her wish. She had run into some trouble back in her home town, causing for an arrest, and a rather daring escape if she did say so herself. She had fled to the safety of the border, when she had encountered something she had been trying to avoid at this moment. Elisieya had run straight into a large group of Imperials. She had been a good distance away to watch the events before her, seeing that the group the Imperials were so focused on were quietly surrendering. She could the soldiers, but who they were, Elisieya did not know. Too bad those few men and women seemed to be outnumbered. She believed that she would've gotten to see a real battle had the numbers been equal. As the men and women were bound and herded in a circle, Elisieya heard someone mention an execution. This was when she had decided now would be a good time to leave, but Lady Luck was not on her side seeing as when she turned to leave, she came face to face with an Imperial, shouting at her. She did the one thing she could do in this moment. She ran. She was caught all too soon, but she was a fighter by instinct. She squirmed and wiggled, making it very difficult for the Imperials trying to hold her down. This moment was when Elisieya became rather close friends with a pommel to a sword. Her vision darkened and that was the last thing she recalled.
Slowly coming to, the first thing Elisieya felt was cold, like they were crossing through snow and wind. The next thing she felt was discomfort. Not just from the bruise forming at her temple, but from the jumping and rattling cart she seemed to be sat in. She wasn't sure why, but Elisieya hated riding in carriages and would avoid it as often as she could, but the Imperials didn't really seem too bothered by their prisoners' comfort. A low groan slipped past the young adult's lips as she attempted to reach up and cradle her throbbing head when her left hand seemed to follow the right on its own. Her honey golden eyes, which were glancing a bit at the snowy landscape, moved down to her wrists. Elisieya resisted the urge to just outright whine at the sight. Bound again. Testing the strength of the ropes, Elisieya pulled a bit at them, wincing as the threads rubbed her ivory skin slightly. That was her cue to stop that action. She settled on looking around to try and see if she knew where they were. She was met with unfamiliar plant life, and even stranger, snow. They were definitely moving through the mountains. It was mid-Spring last she checked. That or she had just been unconscious longer than she had originally thought. Her last thought was least likely though. There could only be one explanation. She was in a new land, which she had also wanted to travel but not under these circumstances. Giving up on trying to locate herself, Elisieya set on taking in the appearances of those around her. There was one really gorgeous blonde guy nearly directly across from her, a ragged man with messy black hair to her right some, and in front of him was another male. This one was different from the other two. He was much older looking, with dark red hair, and a piercing gaze. These features were not what drew Elisieya's attention to linger on him longer than the others. It was the gag wrapped around the elder's mouth. Why did he have a gag and not the rest of them? The nineteen year old was pulled from her thoughts by an accented voice calling to her.
"Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border right? Same as us. And that thief over there." The blonde male informed her, nodding his head slightly in the direction of the ragged man whom seemed to be glaring back.
"Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine til you came along. The Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell." The thief grumbled back to the other male. Elisieya's only thoughts were, why Hammerfell? Why not somewhere nicer? Like Valenwood? She nearly jumped when he turned his head to her and for a brief millisecond, Elisieya feared he had read her mind. "You there. You and me-we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants." There was that name again. Stormcloaks. Why was that name familiar? Was that the force that the Imperials were ambushing?
"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, horse thief." The slightly annoyed voice to her left stated. The thief barely regarded the other's statement as the cart driver called back to them.
"Shut up back there!" Oh that voice alone made Elisieya just want to punch him in the mouth. They were just talking. He could deal with it.
"And what's wrong with him, huh?" The thief questioned, pulling Elisieya's attention away from the soldier and back to the thief. She followed his line of sight to the gagged man and she too, just looked at him.
"Watch your tongue. You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King." The handsomer man snapped, causing Elisieya to quickly look at him for a brief time before returning to looking at the elder. So, his name was Ulfric Stormcloak. Wait. Stormcloak? Now it was all coming back to Elisieya like waves crashed on a beach. The rumors and whispers of a rebellion in Skyrim. The rebels called themselves Stormcloaks. Oh gods, she was in a bigger mess than she had first thought. Good job Elisieya. Only you could go from running from fat prison guards, to the clutches of the elite forces of the Empire alongside the rebel force. Apparently she wasn't the only one becoming panicked because the slowly increasing in pitch of the ragged thief's voice spoke again.
"Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they captured you….oh gods, where are they taking us?" He asked no one in particular as his expression changed from agitation to fear.
"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits." The blonde answered solemnly as he stared at the path ahead of them.
"No, this can't be happening. This isn't happening." The thief nearly squeaked in terror. Okay, Elisieya was scared too, but at least she was going to keep her dignity, and her thoughts, to herself. The blonde man either felt the growing fear of the two random passengers, or he just wanted to change the subject to calm himself.
"Hey, what village are you from horse thief?" he inquired quietly, a sad calm about him. The thief's response wasn't so calm, nor as quiet.
"Why do you care?" he almost snapped. The blonde seemed unaffected by his tone.
"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home." he spoke simply. Home. A place Elisieya never really appreciated till now. She always hated that town. It was small and suffocating. She never felt like she belonged there. She was the only Nord in a town of Imperials. She never truly belonged there, but now she wanted to be back more than she ever had in her whole life. The men continued to talk, but Elisieya had tuned them out as she went through her memories of that little village. The yellow wildflowers that grew around her tiny home, the voice of her caretaker telling her to come back inside, the warmth of the sun on her skin as she splashed in the small pond near by. All of it came back to her right in that moment. Maybe this was what they meant when they said, near death your life flashes before your eyes. By the time she was pulled from her reminiscing, the cart had come to a sudden halt. The thief spoke her thoughts.
"Why are we stopping?" he asked, his nerves seeming to grow even further like an unmanaged weed.
"Why do you think? End of the line." Blondy said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but he was subtle about it. "Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us." When he spoke this time, there seemed to be some determination in his voice. This gave Elisieya some courage as well, but it was hidden by her fear, grief, and panic. As they all stood, the thief continued.
"No! Wait! We're not rebels!" he exclaimed to guards who clearly weren't listening or just didn't care. It was probably a bit of both.
"Face your death with some courage, thief." The Nord nearly growled behind her as they filed off the cart one by one.
"You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!" Horse thief kept on. Now he was just starting to get on Elisieya's nerves. It was in situations such as these that one needed to accept the reality presented to them. This reality was that their lives were about to end. They couldn't fight it, nor do anything about it. So freighting over it was futile and just plain annoying. A cold shiver ran through her, causing her skin to break out into goosebumps when a woman, no, an Imperial Captain called to them.
"Step towards the block when we call your name. One at a time." she ordered. Elisieya had to move herself some to see the woman due to the towering figure of Ulfric plus the horse thief in front of her.
"Empire loves their damn lists." The blonde grumbled to himself as he glared at the Imperial man and woman before them. Elisieya ignored nearly every voice around her as she looked around. Maybe she could run for it. She might make it if she could get behind the house to her right. It would be harder for them to shoot arrows at her. That plan was destroyed when the thief, whose name she now learned was Lokir, ran only to be shot by an arrow in the back.
"Anyone else feel like running?" The Captain asked as her eyes seemed to fix a hard glare on Elisieya. The Nordic teen could feel a cold sweat drip down the back of her neck and into her strawberry blonde hair as she swallowed a hard lump in her throat.
"Wait. You there." The man reading from the list spoke, also looking to Elisieya. "Step forward." He ordered. Elisieya's legs seemed to move on their own in a stiff manner, right up to the Captain and list man. "Who are you?" List man asked her pointedly. Elisieya took a deep breath, wanting to be sure her voice did not betray the fear she was feeling.
"Elisieya." She informed him simply, not giving him any other information. List Man nodded and scribbled on his paper as he spoke again.
"You picked a bad time to come home to Skyrim, kinsman." He looked to the woman beside him, not noticing how Elisieya stiffened slightly. Kinsman? People in her town never referred to one another that way, even if they were the same race. "Captain. What should we do? She's not on the list?" Not on the list? Did that mean she would get to go home? The Captain didn't even need to blink with her answer, crushing all of Elisieya's hopes in one go.
"Forget the list. She goes to the block." The Captain spoke firmly, waving her hand slightly.
"By your orders, Captain. I'm sorry. At least you'll die here, in your homeland." Sorry? Did he really just say he was sorry? How in all of Tamriel was that supposed to make her feel better? Sorry? Oh, please. "Follow the Captain, prisoner." Like she had much of a choice. The rest passed in a blur as Elisieya felt herself start to grow numb as her eyes landed on the chopping block. She couldn't look away from the spot where she would lose her life. Not even when a strange, almost growl like noise was heard in the sky, nor when an angry man had his own head removed there. Her stomach tightened, making her want to vomit as she stared at the blood and muscle she could see from her spot.
"Next, the Nord in the rags!" The Captain shouted, earning Elisieya's immediate attention. Her head snapped up as she stared at the Captain, eyes wide and almost pleading. The strange noise was heard again, but this time, Elisieya looked up at the sky with everyone else. What was that?
"There it is again. Did you hear that?" List Man asked. The Captain wasn't having it.
"I said, next prisoner." List Man looked to Elisieya, who was now staring at him as well.
"To the block prisoner. Nice and easy." Elisieya shakily walked to the same spot that the dead man was. They could've at least moved the body away, but the Empire was seeming less and less courteous with each last passing moments of her life. A hand on her back lowered Elisieya to her knees, and a foot laid her down more so her head was physically on the block. She could feel the warm, sticky blood of the man before her against the right side of her face. This involuntarily brought a whimper from the back of her throat as she resisted the urge to vomit and watched as the Executioner raised his axe. Her eyes left the man to stare in numbing shock at a large, black mass flew into view and landed on the tower in front of her. Elisieya stared into its vibrant, red eyes and black form as she heard the yell of what it was. Dragon! But that was impossible! They were just stories. Two roars came from the dragon after that. One brought fiery rocks falling from the sky and the other pushed things rather far from it, including Elisieya. She was pushed from the block some, her vision blurring as she became disoriented. Through the sounds of crashes, roars, screams, and fighting, Elisieya heard a familiar voice call to her. Instincts kicked in with adrenaline to fuel them and Elisieya found herself with Ralof of Riverwood, Ulfric Stormcloak, and two other rebels in a tower. The two men were talking, but she couldn't fully hear them. The ringing in her ears was too loud. At least her vision came back to clarity to see Ralof motion for her to follow him. Despite her hands still being bound, Elisieya followed after Ralof, running up the tower steps. She saw a man bending down to clear some things when the stones from the wall ahead of her burst through and the dragon's head appeared in the hole, breathing fire into the opening. Ralof had managed to get the shocked girl away from the flames and falling ruble some before helping her up the rest of the way.
"See that inn on the other side? Jump through the roof and keep going!" Ralof exclaimed to her. Elisieya didn't want to leave the few men that could fight, but she obeyed and rather ungracefully, stood on the ledge then jumped through the hole and into the inn. A sharp pain ran through her legs as she landed on the wood, causing her to fall forward some with a heavy thud. She hissed in discomfort, but forced herself up and down to the first floor where she ran into List Man from earlier. Elisieya repressed the urge to growl at him as he guided a child to safety and ordered a man to care for him. The old man spoke his name and a blessing as List Man, Hadvar, told her to stick close if she wanted to stay alive. She did not like him one bit, but she wasn't dumb. She knew her best chance was with him, even if she didn't like it. The two ran through the streets of this town that Elisieya would later learn was called Helgen.
"Stay close to the wall!" Hadvar ordered and she did just that. They were about to head up a small flight of stairs when the dragon landed on the wall they were pressed against. This unbalanced her, but not nearly as much as the shock did when its wing came within inches of her face. Her heart was now just pounding in her chest as she continued to follow Hadvar, who was ordered to the keep by the General. Elisieya ran faster than she ever had before to stay up with Hadvar just to see him slow and stop. "Ralof, you damn traitor! Out of my way!" he shouted and Elisieya looked to the man he shouted at.
"We're escaping Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time." Ralof snapped back.
"Fine! I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!" Hadvar spat back before running beyond Ralof and calling to Elisieya to follow him. But, Ralof shouted the same as he ran to a different pair of doors. Not even needing to think about who to go with, Elisieya bolted after Ralof, entering the keep with him. Elisieya was panting heavily, just wishing for this day to end so her life could get back to normal. Little did the poor girl know, this was just weird day number one in her soon to be very crazy, very chaotic, and very dangerous life in her dreamed land of Skyrim.