The sound of trotting slowly brought me to consciousness. My vision cleared, and presented me with the image of a kind-looking male Nord, who had shoulder-length blonde hair, pale blue eyes, and a blue cuirass.
"Ah, so you're awake. I was beginning to think you were dead." he said, with a humorous tone. "Do you remember what happened?"
I thought for a moment, racking my brain for answers. "Don't rememba a thing, yo."
"That's some accent you have there. I'm guessing Common wasn't your first language. Anyways, the Imperials spotted you flying, and wasted no time in shooting you down." He chuckled. "I have to say, though, I've never seen an Argonian with wings, either."
That's when it struck me: I was captured! My leather armor and boots were replaced by rags, and my hands were bound together. Not a very favorable situation, if ya ask me.
I decided to check my surroundings, and looking to my left, noticed a man in a strange kind of light armor driving the carriage. Checking my right, next to the Nord, I found a brown-haired man in rags and bonds. Next to me was another Nord with long, dirty-blonde hair and a cloth covering his mouth. His light brown eyes clearly showed annoyance, which I assumed was because of the brunette female Altmer in rags leaning against him, sleeping and even drooling a bit on his fine fur coat. I couldn't help but find that amusing.
The brunette man snapped me back to attention by yelling at the one next to him. "Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and be halfway to Hammerfell." He then turned to me. "You there. You and me - we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."
His neighbor replied, "We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief."
"Shut up back there!" was the annoyed response of the driver. Man, can't we at least have some conversation? Really.
"What's wrong with him, huh?" the thief asked the high elf's living pillow substitute.
The Nord in blue then suddenly yelled at him with an unexpectedly harsh tone. "Watch your tongue. You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King."
The thief's eyes widened. "Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they've captured you... Oh gods, where are they taking us?"
"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits."
'Hold up, SOVNGARDE?! Oh shit, I'm gonna die!' I thought, fear and dread filling my being. The conversation continued, as the thief's words expressed what I was thinking.
"No, this can't be happening. This isn't happening."
Changing the topic, the blonde asked, "Hey, what village are you from horse thief?"
"Why do you care?" spat the other.
"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home."
He grew solemn. "Rorikstead. I'm... I'm from Rorikstead."
The chat went on, and I even joined in a little. They asked a few questions, like why I have such a strange style for my horns on the top of my head (it kind of looks like hair, spiky and jet black with a bright green color at the tips), or why I have dragon wings sporting out of my back (I know that it's surprising, but trust me: I don't know either). I answered them to the best of my ability.
Before we knew it, the carriage started slowing down.
"Why are we stopping?" asked the thief, whom I found out was named "Lokir".
The other, the one I got to know as "Ralof", replied, "Why do you think? End of the line. Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."
As we stood up, Ulfric shook the Altmer awake, and we motioned for her to follow us. She appeared confused, but still followed our lead.
Lokir tried his best to plead with the guards that filled the town we stopped at. "No! Wait! We're not rebels!" he cried, but his pleas fell upon deaf ears.
I shook my head. "Yo, we ain't gettin outta this."
Despite what I said, he turned to Ralof. "You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!"
Once we got down, we saw another soldier like our driver, and a woman in steel who appears to be a captain or general.
"Step towards the block when we call your name." she ordered. "One at a time!"
Ralof snarled."Empire loves their damn lists."
The soldier with the list started calling names. "Ulfric Stormcloak, jarl of Windhelm."
"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric." said Ralof sadly as the jarl walked over with the others near the block.
"Ralof of Riverwood." He went silently. Lokir, however...
"Lokir of Rorikstead."
"No, I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" he said, before starting to run.
"Halt!" the captain barked. When he didn't heed her words, instead yelling, "You'll never catch me!", she yelled, "Archers!", and the soldiers drew their bows, fired, and Lokir was no more. "Anyone else feel like running?" she confidently asked me, along with the high elf.
"Nah! I mean, don't look like a good day for a jog, anyway!" Okay, so I admit, I was being a bit of a pussy, but really! My wings were tied together by a thick rope that, try as I might, I couldn't break free of, and besides, wouldn't you chicken out in that situation, too?
...I thought so.
Luckily, all she did was glare at me, before letting the guy next to her finish.
"Jacob Long of...um...Eastmarch Hold." Dammit. I went with Ralof and Ulfric, not wanting to anger the captain further.
I was able to watch and listen as the soldier talked to that Altmer girl.
"Wait. You there. Step forward." She obeyed. "Who...are you?"
"Mialee Naïlo." she replied, looking rather scared.
The list-bearer, however, looked confused. He checked the list again. "Naïlo...Naïlo...no Naïlos." He asked his superior, "Captain, what should we do? She's not on the list."
The captain looked at him, replying, "Forget the list. She goes to the block."
He sighed, defeated. "By your orders, Captain." He gave the prisoner an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. We'll send your remains to the Sumerset Isles."
Mialee's green eyes widened in fear. "R...Remains? Gods no..."
"Come on, MOVE IT!" The captain yelled, as she forcefully shoved the elf next to Ralof. I spaced out as some guy lectured Ulfric, and also when the priestess started talking, but I came back to attention as some redhead wearing the same cuirass as Ralof walked up to the block.
"The divines are smiling on me, Imperials! Can you say the same?" he taunted, before the executioner hacked his head off, kicking his decapitated body to the side. I couldn't help but wince at the sound.
Yup. There he goes.
"As fearless in death as he was in life." said Ralof, solemnly.
The captain spoke. "Next, Mialee Naïlo."
The elf turned to Ralof, who kindly told her, "To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy." She shakily walked up to the block, before kneeling down, muttering a prayer to the divines. The axe rose, and brought its blade down in her neck.
There goes Mialee, too.
"Next, Jackson Long." I started walking, before a roar rung out.
"What was that?" someone fearfully asked.
"I said, NEXT PRISONER!" I couldnt help but wonder, 'Akatosh, is she always this pissed?' I walked up to the block and kneeled, feeling the warm, fresh blood of Ms. Naïlo and that man on the cold, hard rock. The axe, rose, and I closed my eyes. It looked like my time was up.
However, the blade never touched my neck, as a DRAGON crashed onto the building behind the executioner, making him lose his balance and fall backwards. The intruder roared, and meteorites showered the town.
"Hey, Argonian." came Ralof's voice, which encouraged me to get up. "You want to stay alive, don't you? Follow me!" I wasted no time in catching up to him, as he led me into a stone tower that looked rather safe.
After shutting the door, he turned to me. "Looks like we'll be safe in this tower. What's your name again? Jackson?"
"Yea, but I go by Jake." I replied. "And you're named Ralof, right?"
"Yes, I am."
"Captain, you're safe!" exclaimed a Nord, who was wearing a cuirass similar to Ralof's.
"Did you expect any less of me?"
The others' face turned serious. "Captain, you need to get out of here."
Ralof looked astonished. "And leave my comrades behind? Who will lead them out?"
"I will. You're the priority, and we need you to get out alive! If you stay, your fate will be as uncertain as that of the rest of us! A lot of us died already..." The man looked to the corpse beside him.
"Even if I WAS to leave you all to fend for yourselves, how could I escape?"
I decided to interrupt, because I loathe being ignored. "'Scuse me, but I'm still here, yo!"
Ralof turned to me, an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry. I guess I should remove those bonds."
As he cut my hand ties, I asked, "Yo, can ya free my wings, too? This rope's itchin' 'em like crazy!"
The other man's face lit up. "I have an idea! You can fly Captain Ralof to safety! This tower won't hold forever!" Right after he said that, the dragon burst through the wall a ways up the stairs, and spewed flames into said tower. "See what I mean?"
"Me? I dunno. I've never really carried anyone before. I mean, yea, my wings are strong an' all that, but-"
"If you don't, Captain Ralof will probably die!"
I sighed, defeated. "Fine." I turned to Ralof. "Ray? You in?"
The blue-clad captain replied, "Oh, alright. But first, take Gunther's gear. He...won't be needing it anymore." I assumed that this "Gunther" was the corpse, so after Ralof freed my wings, I took what he had. A blue cuirass, some fur boots, fur gauntlets, and...a war hammer! Sweet! I put on the clothes and equipped the hammer. I gotta say, blue and brown looks GOOD with my fire-red scales. Not to mention, that war hammer appeared to be powerful! He turned to his partner. "Make sure that you and the others make it out safe."
The man saluted. "I will try my best, captain!" He then exited the shelter.
"I hope he makes it out alive." Ralof turned to me. "Shall we go?"
I nodded. "Climb on." I spread my wings, he climbed onto my back and gripped my neck, and I grabbed his legs, before climbing the stairs. I jumped out of the hole, wings spread, and glided onto the roof, hitting the surface running. The end of the roof was coming up fast, so as soon as I picked up enough speed, I jumped off and started flapping my wings as swiftly and powerfully as I could.
This smoke wasn't going easy on my lungs, and I wasn't rising, but rather, slowly falling. There were scarlet flames dancing directly below, which greatly worried me. I could handle flames, being half dragon, but I doubted my Nord ally could survive it so easily. In a burst of willpower, I managed to powerfully lift us to a higher altitude. I could finally breathe easier, but I had another problem: that dragon. I needed to somehow evade his sight.
The dragon was busy torching some woman, so I used the opportunity to fly past him as fast as I could.
"What were you doing?! She just got killed!" Ralof yelled.
"If I intervened, we'd prob'ly've died, too! Yo, that dude's powerful!" I think he got what I meant, but I could practically feel his confusion as to what some of my words meant. Maybe I wasn't as good at speaking in Common as I thought. Draconic is more my language, anyways, considering it was my first.
It seemed like an eternity, but I finally managed to get to a good cruising altitude, not to mention away from...Helljen, I think he called it. The dragon flew past, and was gone in an instant.
"Hey, fly down there! To those three stones!" Ralof yelled. I looked and saw what he was talking about, though couldn't see them too well considering the height. I followed his orders and gently landed between the three as my friend climbed off of my back.
"Yo, what are these?" I asked as I folded my wings.
"Guardian stones." was the answer. "They can help in many ways, helping you learn techniques faster."
He paused, giving me the opportunity to ask, "What's the catch?"
"You can only choose one stone at a time. Choose wisely." I observed the three. The first had what looked to be a man attempting to cling to the shadows carved into it. The second showed another man in robes, giving the appearance of a Mage. The final, the one that got my attention, depicted a brave-looking warrior wielding a sword and a shield, clad in armor and battle-ready. Now THAT'S a badass carving! I walked up to the stone, and the hole near the top lit up blue, before a ray of that beautiful light shot out toward the sky. "Ah, the Warrior Stone. May it bring you victory, friend." Ralof said, smiling.
Something was bugging me, though. "Yo, I gotta ask. What's up with those dudes that tried to hack my head off?"
"Ah, the Imperials. Puppets of the Empire. They are trying to take away the Nord way of life. They're forcing us to abide by their laws, and are outlawing Talos worship!"
"So...am I supposed to know who this "Talos" dude is?"
"I guess it's only natural that an Argonian dragon like yourself wouldn't know. Talos was once Tiber Septim, the emperor of Tamriel, and the greatest one we had! In death, due to his greatness, the divines crowned him their king, the ninth divine. He was a Nord in life, so Nords everywhere worship him. The Empire, however, wants to ban our worship of him."
I was even more confused. "Why would they want to outlaw Talos worship?"
"Damn elves can't seem to wrap their minds around it. They don't like it, and since they pretty much rule the Empire, they want to outlaw it, without giving us Nords a second thought! This is why Jarl Ulfric started the rebellion, the Stormcloaks. We try to preserve the Nord way of life by driving out the Empire!"
"How do I sign up?"
There was a pause. "Sign up for what?"
"Sign up to fight for the Stormcloaks."
"Now tell me, why would an Argonian like you want to fight for us?"
"Simple. I may not believe your tale about Talos, but this is your homeland, yo. In other words, those Imperials have no right to tell ya what to do or who to worship. 'Sides, I need to get payback for them tryin' to hack my head off!"
Ralof smiled. "You go to Windhelm and tell Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak that you wish to fight for him. For now, though, it's getting late. If you want, there's a village just up ahead. It's Riverwood, where I'm from. I'm sure my sister, Gerdur, will let you stay at her house for the night."
Unbeknownst to me, that was the start of a grand adventure.
Phew. The first chapter of my first crossover is I finally done. By the way, great job making it this far! The next chapters may not be that long, or maybe they'll be just as long. Who knows? Either way, reviews would we GREATLY appreciated, especially since I worked so hard on this! If you want me to continue, let me know!