Cold. That's the first thing she was aware of was a biting cold. Where was she?
Cracking open her eyes, she winces at the sudden brightness, and pushes herself into a sitting position, letting out a hiss at the stiffness of her body
How long had she been lying there?
No point sitting around like a moron. I should find a path and follow it...maybe I can find someone to tell me where I am… With that thought, she stands up and, picking a direction, starts walking.
The sudden lurching movement causes her to jolt awake. What happened? The last thing she remembers was running into some people and then...what?
"So, you're finally awake?" The sudden voice causes her to jump slightly, and her eyes meet with striking liquid blue ones belonging to a rugged blonde man sitting across from her in a cart. A cart? When did…?
"What happened…? Where am I?" She questions, frowning slightly, her long elfin ears drooping. It's then she realizes her hands are bound. As are the hands of everyone in the cart. "What's going on?" She ignores the way the man gives her ears a look of contempt, mostly because a wave of dizziness engulfs her. She dimly registers something about a place called Sovngarde, and a panicked response from one of the other people on the cart. She's brought back to reality by a sharp noise, her ears pinning back at the sound.
"Quiet back there!" The man directing the carriage snaps, and she scowls at him, tilting her head slightly as she registers something about a man named Ulfric Stormcloak—who is sitting right beside her apparently—and a rebellion, before turning her attention to the town they've arrived in. Her mind dimly supplies that it seems primitive, but can't figure out why as, when she tries to recall the time before she woke up in the middle of nowhere, she's struck by a headache and nothing but blank space.
Soon, the carriage begins to come to a stop next to a wall, and she stands up shakily, following the others off the cart. She gazes around her, and names are called. Ralof is the name of the man with blue eyes. "Quaint little town…" her words are drowned out by one of the prisoners—the one who panicked at the mention of Sovngarde, her mind supplies—getting shot down after trying to run.
"Anyone else feel like running?" A woman in red trimmed armour asks, a threatening tone to her voice. Not particularly. Her ears twitch when they call her forward, not recognizing her. She frowns, trying to recall her name. Sa'aru'un'aa…? Star Luna…?
"...Luna. My name is Luna. I, think…" a lot simpler than the confusion she can recall about her own name. Easier to remember, too.
"Legate, she's not on the list. What should we do?" The young man who initially called her forward asks the woman, and the soldier frowns for a moment.
"Forget the list! She goes to the block with the others!" Excuse me?! What the hell lady!
"Very well, Legate" the man says, before turning to me. "I'm sorry about this…" he seems genuine enough, so Luna simply shakes her head.
"I don't blame you…" her words seem to bring some semblance of relief to the man as she steps closer to the block, now vividly aware of the cold as a sharp wind blows through the town. Winter on the way, perhaps? She ignores most of the chatter around her as she gazes up at the mountain above them, and at the sky. Something tugs at bindings wrapped around her middle, and causes mild discomfort, and she glances behind her to see feathers sticking out at odd angles, just visible over the line of her shoulder. Wings?
Soon, it's her turn, and she hesitantly steps forward, her eyes darting to the sky for a moment. Was that a roar?
"What was that?" Seems one of the soldiers heard it too, so it wasn't her imagination. The Legate growls in annoyance.
"It was nothing. Get over here, prisoner!" She snaps, looking directly at Luna, who flinches, her ears sweeping back against her skull as she steps forward, facing the block before being shoved somewhat roughly to her knees, and made to look right at the headsman, who raises his ax. There's another roar, and this time, something accompanies it, as a massive black creature lands on the tower and looks directly at her, it's blood red eyes flashing before it lets out a sky shattering roar, shaking the ground around them and sending everyone into a panic, screams of "Dragon!" echoing around her as it lets out another roar, sending her flying off the block and smacking into the ground, her head spinning.
"Get up, come on!" the voice of the blue eyes man from the cart is right next to her, and she can feel someone tugging her up. Once she's on her feet, she looks around at the chaos. Everything is on fire. "Follow me, come on, we have to get to the Keep!" Not waiting for her to reply, he darts off, and she sprints to follow him into one of the buildings.
"Was that really a dragon! I thought they were just legends!" she snaps her attention to the conversation just as another man—Ulfric, she realizes after a moment, responds calmly.
"Legends don't burn down villages." he glances at her, as if sending her attention, and scowls slightly at her ears. She frowns. What was wrong with her ears?
"No. They don't. But I think we have more important things to worry about. Such as surviving, perhaps? Rather than staring at my ears like they're a disease" The sound of her own voice surprises her, clearer now that she's not in a daze. Melodic. To her mild surprise, the man simply nods.
"The elf is right. We can worry about dragons later. Right now our priority is getting out alive." With those words, everyone starts moving, up the stairs of the tower, and she follows, letting out a startled cry when the wall crashes inwards and a blast of fire comes through as the rest of the way up is blocked. She peers out of the hole once the dragon flies off, seeing a ruined and burning building below. Taking a chance, she leaps through, and rolls into her landing. Not waiting to see if the others followed, she darts forward, down the stairs and out of the building, looking around frantically, not sure where to go.
"Still alive, prisoner?" she whips around at the voice, seeing the soldier from before, the one with the list, handing a child to another soldier. A child...his parents likely dead now.
"Yes. No thanks to that Dragon." she blinks when he motions for her to follow, and she does, seeing as she has no idea where to actually go. They go through a narrow alley, and she pins herself to the wall when the dragon lands just above her, screaming fire from its maw. It doesn't seem to notice her or the soldier she's with, and she gets a good look at it. Gleaming black scales, power rippling through the muscles underneath them as it takes off again, leaving the duo free to make a break for the keep. She sees Ralof come up with a few others, and glances between the two as they exchange heated words, and frowns slightly. She has to follow one of them, and, making a split second decision, follows Ralof into the keep.
"Here, let me cut your bindings off." he takes a knife and frees her hands, and she rubs her wrists. "You might as well take this mans gear...he won't be needing it anymore." There's a look of sadness in his eyes as he says this, and she glances at a body dressed in the same armor as Ralof. She kneels beside the body, and finds an ax and a dagger. She takes both, opting to not use the armor, as it seems far too big for her, and uses the dagger to cut at the bindings around her torso, freeing what she can now confirm to be large wings, covered in black feathers, with the large primaries and secondaries being a silvery white. She stands up, ruffling them before folding them again, glancing at Ralof and ignoring his look of shock and awe.
"Let's keep going. This place won't stay safe." As if to emphasize her point, voices sound from the other side of a gate, and she flips the dagger in her hands a couple times before crouching into the shadows of an alcove, signalling for Ralof to drive them towards her. He seems to understand, and when at least three soldiers in red burst through with cries of "for the Emperor!", he does just that, as she lunges from the shadows swiftly, acting on instinct as she jabs the dagger into weak points on their bodies, ducking and weaving around their weapons, until all three lie dead.
"Where...did you learn to fight like that?" There's a note of awe in his voice as Ralof sheathes his weapon and stands beside her as she searches the bodies.
"Don't remember." She stands up, twirling a key on her finger. "Let's keep moving." With that, she makes her way to the locked gate and opens it, not waiting to see if Ralof follows as she continues down the stairs into the keep.