"What are we going to do?"
The question was not panicky, but filled with a sort of curiosity, not what someone else in his position would be feeling. Fortunately, he was not a normal person who would fall to pieces in such a situation.
"You know more of this world than me, so what do you suggest?"
The second question was voiced by a calmer person, but laced with the same level of curiosity, despite the flatter voice.
"Well, you would probably love to learn magic, I mean, who wouldn't?" The first voice laughed, seemingly amused by the idea. "I could learn it myself, you know how I love magic."
"We are in the ideal setting for you to try out your intended fighting style, as well. I remember something about a fighting guild, but the Fighter's Guild is dead by this time, isn't it?"
"No, no, they just don't exist in Skyrim. The Mage's Guild is the one that died off, as well as the majority of the Thieves' Guild, besides the Riften Branch, and maybe some other isolated branch. Dark Brotherhood is pretty weakened too, but that is…" The voice trailed off, the tone straining at the end. Obviously, he was not a fan.
"That's fine, we can deal with them in time, if necessary. For now, I'd rather just get out of the cold. I thought Dunmer were supposed to be weak to the cold, not Bretons." The Breton spoke, not at all enjoying the weather, it seemed.
"Not that I am aware. Dunmer are just resistant to fire. Besides, it's me we are talking about. Cold is my favorite temperature." The Dunmer laughed. "But we do need shelter…"
"Are you able to tell which way we need to go, then?" The two were surrounded by a thick forest, covered in snow.
"Well, the forest reminds me of Falkreath's region, but this thick snow either means we are in winter, or on a mountain. This body doesn't have any trouble breathing, but that tells us nothing. Either way, best way to go is north. If we hit a mountain, it's the Throat of the World. If we see a lake, we are near Falkreath. Just need to find a familiar location."
"With how many hours you poured into this world, that should be simple." The breton commented.
"True, but the difference between game-graphics and real sights is… difficult to adjust to." The dunmer frowned, glancing around. "I'm going to try climbing a tree, see if that helps."
"They are tall enough, but be careful. That body is still new to you." The Breton just did not want to touch the cold trees, not with his friend so eager to do so. It was also true he would be less likely to recognize any iconic geography that his friend would.
A few minutes after the Dunmer disappeared into the trees, the Breton heard the faint sound of crunching snow, immediately tensing his body in preparation. Despite having only arrived less than an hour ago, the two had already had to fight a pack of wolves off. It would have been more difficult if the two were actually of this world, he thought.
Instead of wolves, however, an old female walked towards him, though he did not relax. Skyrim was a dangerous place, after all.
"Are you alright? I heard howling in this direction." The woman said, though she was hardly what he would consider a threat, despite her height.
"We were attacked by a pack of wolves. No injuries, but we could use directions." The Breton said.
"We?" Right as the female Nord asked, the Dunmer slid down the tree, falling directly into the snow, before standing back up. "Oh. Well, you are about a kilometer north of Helgen. I take it you got lost?"
The Dunmer and Breton duo glanced at each other for a moment, before the Dunmer nodded. "Basically. One wrong turn, and suddenly we end up in the middle of nowhere." Not a lie, but at least less likely to be considered insane than outright stating they came from another world. Well, maybe if she were a mage…
"Aye, these lands can be confusing to newcomers. Where were you headed, then? I can give directions at least." She paused. "Ah, I forget myself. I am Matlara, of Helgen." It was only fair they gave their names, then.
"I'm-" The Breton was interrupted by the Dunmer, who suddenly exclaimed "Breyvus!" The two stared at each other again, the Breton raising his eyebrow, and the Dunmer merely grinning.
The Dunmer turned back to the woman, before speaking. "And you can just call me… Kuro Hoshi" The Breton chuckled, but shook his head. The woman seemed to have no idea of what the two were thinking, but nodded nonetheless. "And actually, we should stop by Helgen for supplies, if you are heading there. Once we get back on the road, I can navigate from there."
"Sure, I think Ingrid would love some customers, what with the war going on." Maltara smiled.
"War?" Breyvus seemed to pause. "Oh, right. Sorry, I'm a bit behind with current events."
"Many foreigners are, it seems. I suppose every province has its own problems right now." Matlara frowned. "These are difficult times, but that's why we have to rely on each other."
"A sense of honor is a good thing for a culture to agree on." Breyvus spoke. "Keeps people from betraying each other over slight grievances."
"If only" Kuro muttered, though Matlara purposefully ignored it.
"It's something all Nords strive to live up to, and it kept us alive this long, don't see why it should change now." Matlara seemed irritated by something, probably seeing the war as a breaking of honor rather than a difference in ideals.
Breyvus eyed Kuro, who only shrugged helplessly. He had hoped Kuro would explain more about Nord Culture, but it seemed he was unwilling with Matlara here.
The trio remained in silence for the rest of the journey, which only took about half an hour, mostly because Matlara had been hunting, and thus, had to bring her quarry back.
"Matlara, you almost missed the execution! Come on, hurry up." Another female nord ran up to Matlara, not even questioning who she was bringing along.
"Execution?" Breyvus and Kuro shared a glance, before Kuro smiled grimly.
"You didn't know? Ulfric Stormcloak has been captured! It only happened recently, but they rushed the event so that no one could interrupt. That's why we have so much security." Ingrid explained, still moving through the streets towards a particularly large tower.
Breyvus glanced around, having noticed the Imperial soldiers staring in his direction since he entered the village. They seemed less concerned of Kuro, but that was likely some racial difference.
Eventually, the group stopped on a porch, opposite an execution platform. One Stormcloak had already been executed, judging from the stains. Breyvus glanced at the line leading to the platform, full of prisoners, all wearing blue fur armor. Stormcloaks, obviously, but their leader was towards the back.
Well that was just a terrible decision. Or a sadistic one. Either they wanted Ulfric to see all his men die before they killed him, or the person who set this up was an idiot. Ulfric dying should have been priority. His eyes trailed the others, standing nearby. A high ranking general, judging from the armor, stood next to a rather tall, golden figure, wearing robes. Ah, Thalmor. Well, from what he knew they were both idiotic enough and sadistic enough to set this up.
Whether or not Kuro was thinking along the same lines was unknown, but from his deep frown and glare, both aimed at the High Elf, Breyvus had a feeling it did not matter. That was fine, they both knew what was about to happen.
It was only a few minutes, and only one execution in, when the dragon showed up, roared and disrupting not just the execution, but the entire village's activities. Meteors began to rain from the sky, and Breyvus began to follow Kuro away from the epicenter. He was sure Kuro knew this place better than him, even if he could recall the path. Besides, it was best to stick together, or at least know where the other was. Granted, if Kuro lived up to his name, he would be very easy to track in the future.
The two split up to enter different sides of the keep, with Breyvus going in the tower entrance. Inside, he saw an imperial soldier, panting and resting. He had seen the others fleeing, but this one seemed as if he had been left behind, or gotten lost somehow. "Hold there." The Imperial stared at him for a moment. "You were watching the execution. Ah, just a villager, or traveller. Well, it doesn't matter. There is supposed to be an exit somewhere in here, so if you want protection while leaving, stick with me. In the meantime… Do you have any martial training? I could use help, I think. I saw Stormcloaks enter from the other side."
"I have some." Breyvus mused. Kuro had been more than eager to test out his new body, but by comparison, his own was much closer to his previous, albeit certainly stronger. Probably a side effect of being from this world, Kuro had guessed before. Even so, he was certainly no novice with a weapon, or without. He glanced at the imperial sword on the wall that the Imperial soldier waved towards, before frowning. Not his ideal weapon, but it would help. "Similar to a gladius. Alright. This will be fine."
"I'm Hadvar by the way."
Breyvus nodded to the Imperial. "I'm… Breyvus." It would take a bit of time to get used to that, but it was for the best.
"Well met. Though, could be in better circumstances. Are you ready to move?" At his nod, Hadvar stood and moved to the gate, pulling the chain to open it. "Stay behind, but close."
Breyvus frowned at the terrible advice, but nodded anyway. No need to point out it was suicidal, since this was likely a trained soldier.
In less than a minute, they ran into two people. One was Kuro, grinning happily as he twirled a greatsword with his right hand. Oh god, he was really going to do it… "Hey Breyvus, Hadvar."
"How do you know his/my name?" Both the Stormcloak and Imperial asked, glaring at each other, ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"I have good hearing" Kuro lied. Breyvus had no doubt he just remembered the game well enough.
"If you two want to gut each other, we won't interfere." Breyvus prompted, more trying to get the two to realize they had bigger problems at the moment than actually getting them to fight.
"We will place bets, though." Kuro added, unhelpfully.
Both of the nords backed down, though there was still an undercurrent of tension in the air.
Several rooms later, they ran into a problem. The Torturer's chamber. Breyvus understood the reasoning they had such things, as Kuro no doubt did, but absolutely none of the group could stand the idea of it existing. Kuro, being the almost predictably emotional individual he was, had threatened the Torturer with a "Molag Bal Special", something he was pretty sure he did not want to learn about, before trying to pick the lock to a cage holding a dead mage.
He broke every pick.
Instead, he angled his sword to pull the mage as close to him as he could, before reaching in the bars and pulling out a book. A special type of book that both Kuro and Breyvus knew about. "Oh, a spellbook." Apparently, Ralof knew about it too. At least he had something resembling a brain… maybe.
Kuro glanced at the book, then his greatsword, before tossing the book to Breyvus. Only a bit surprised at his actions, Breyvus raised his eyebrow. Kuro's response was a shrug and a quick "I have my own art to master." while gesturing with his sword. That made more sense.
Breyvus smiled slightly. "Then you'll need another." Kuro nodded, a sinister grin forming on his face, not one Breyvus was used to, but one he understood plenty.
A few rooms later, the group ran into giant spiders, which Kuro vehemently refused to even deal with. Still, the other three made quick work of them, even if Ralof had been scratched slightly.
The next room held a bear, but they sneaked by easily enough. If the thing awoke, it probably did not want to deal with four people at once. Bears were smarter than people thought, after all.
The moment they finally exited the cave, the dragon that had been burning Helgen flew overhead. Kuro seemed unconcerned, but Ralof and Hadvar hid behind a rock, probably not thinking that the Dragon did not have eyes underneath its body.
"We should meet up in Riverwood, pool information before we all head out. No doubt you two will want to inform your leaders of what happened here, but you may have missed something the other did not." Kuro said, apparently trying to reason with the two, though he noticed it sounded like he wanted to separate from them until they made it to Riverwood.
"That sounds fine. I think we could all use a rest before we head out any further from there. You know how to get there?" At Kuro's nod, Hadvar sighed. "Alright, but be careful. We likely owe our lives to you two." Ralof nodded, showing he agreed with Hadvar.
Shortly after the two left, Breyvus glanced at Kuro, who seemed to understand the unspoken question. "I need another sword, and you need to learn that spell. There is a mine between here and Riverwood, perfect for practice. Filled with Bandits. I'm not sure why… But I remember at least one of them having a greatsword. And two with bows!"
"Anything magical? I wouldn't mind a better weapon, but I'd love to explore magic more." Breyvus reasoned.
"I… can't be sure. Game wise, there sometimes is, but it's a toss up here. At the very least, there is no special magical item, if there is one. It'd be a basic one, simple enchantment probably. Still worth a try. Good practice for that spell too."
Breyvus nodded, reading his book while walking behind Kuro, trusting him to not get lost. Hopefully whatever magic item he found, it would help him resist the damned cold better.