Disclaimer: I only own a copy of Skyrim.
Summary: Oneshot: No feelings on the battlefield. Ailith learns the hard way that her father's old saying was true for a reason as the Stormcloaks make the journey to the Battle for Solitude.
Rating: T
Inspiration: Based on a scene from the 2009 live-action Mulan movie. Soon as I saw this scene between Mulan and Wentai, I immediately saw the Dragonborn and Ulfric. Immediately had to write this. Great movie, go see it!
Pairings: DragonbornxUlfric Stormcloak
Warnings: Death, ending that's open to the imagination
Other Notes:
"It is risky for us to travel as one with our large numbers," Ailith argued with Ulfric. He raised an eyebrow at her, raising a hand to prevent Galmar Stone-Fist from protesting or making a comment on her suggestion. She smiled at the motion and continued, "We need to have you and a group of men traveling a few miles in front of us if we're going to take so many soldiers to Solitude."
Galmar shot her a glare, but Ulfric took this suggestion quite seriously. He stroked his small beard, observing the map before them. He ran a finger down the route they went over and planned before motioning to the marked Imperial camps.
"But, my dear Storm-Blade, if you look at the route I have planned, you see that we pass nowhere near any Imperial camps. It is best we stick together, we fight better as one," Ulfric replied.
"No doubt, my dear General, that they would be waiting to ambush us," Ailith reminded him with a smile. "It's quite obvious we plan to attack Solitude, and the Imperials are not stupid. They know to prepare the city, and yet perhaps scout and take down as many men before we reach the hold. If you scout ahead, we would avoid losing many men in case of a surprise attack. Not to mention, my group could carry the supplies to avoid them being stolen or destroyed. All you need to do is send a man back to warn us of an ambush and whether or not we should push ahead to give the Imperials a real surprise."
"You are a bright one," Ulfric chuckled, smiling softly. "I must admit you're beginning to win me over."
"Think of it this way," the female Nord replied, giving another smile back. "We're keeping our best men safe until the Solitude invasion."
"You convinced me," her superior told her, looking down at the map again. "The Imperials might have even set up camps my men know nothing of yet."
"Exactly," she grinned, leaning on the table and propping her head up with her elbow.
"I do not like the idea of you traveling separate from me though," he thought aloud, frowning some. "You are one of my best Storm-Blades, and you plan to travel my other best men. I do not like having the best of my men, and women, traveling and fighting out of my sight."
"Don't become too attached to us," she teased lightly. "My father used to say that we must not have feelings on the battlefield."
Ulfric smiled softly at the statement.
"Your father was wise to say that," he sighed, glancing at the clock. It was nearing midnight. "Go rest. We must leave early tomorrow."
Ailith nodded and gave a respectful bow before retiring to her room.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Ailith teased her old friend. Ralof jumped, but smiled at her.
"Just can't wait for this war to be over," he told her. He was clutching a small painting in his hand. It was on a small, thin piece of wood on a string that he normally wore around his neck along with his iron soldier tag. He had shown Ailith the picture before, the painting he made of his wife before he left to join the Stormcloaks. She knew it was so hard for him to leave her, and that although he loved fighting for Skyrim's freedom, he was anxious to go home. Everybody was.
"Same," she replied softly. He didn't comment, just tucked the small wood back under his shirt before putting on his breastplate. If Ulfric was correct, this would be the last major battle. Most of the soldiers could return home, including Ralof. He would be able to go home to that wife.
"What do you plan to do after this battle?" Ralof suddenly asked, buckling the steel armor into place. Ailith thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.
"Perhaps stay in the army more," she half-guessed. "I do not have much else planned. Alduin is gone. My destiny as Dragonborn has been fulfilled."
"Maybe once things settle down, you may settle down yourself," he suggested. Ailith glanced at Ulfric, who was standing with Galmar and talking as they went over the plans once more.
"That is always an option," she agreed.
"Ailith!" Ulfric called out. Instinctively, she abandoned Ralof and walked over to him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Galmar will travel with you. I have my group of men ready. We're leaving now, follow the path I set for us in a half hour. If we run into trouble, I will send a man to warn you and with further instruction."
"Sounds good," she replied, smiling. He gave a small smile back. "Talos be with you. Travel safely."
"Talos be with you," he repeated back to her. He broke away from her to mount his horse and called out for the men following him. A few on horseback and several on foot followed his form as he slowly faded into the distance.
Ailith sighed heavily, rubbing the back of her neck before turning to the rest of the men doing last minute sword sharpening, putting their final armor pieces on and finishing breakfast.
"We leave in a half hour!" Galmar's voice boomed at them. "Be ready!"
Before she knew it, Ailith found her and Galmar in front of the ready group of men. Galmar was shouting the last-minute instructions Ulfric gave him, Ailith becoming deaf to his words as she drifted off. It wasn't until Galmar lightly smacked her arm that she snapped back into reality.
"Are you ready?" he asked, sounding irritated at having to repeat himself. She nodded, and he gave her one more glare before turning his horse around. Ailith shot a glare back before turning Frost around and following Galmar.
Frost shook his mane and Ailith lovingly patted his neck. She looked back at the soldiers following her, all cheerfully chatting, making jokes and sharing worries as they traveled. Ralof noticed her look and smiled, giving a thumbs up from his position as driver of a supply carriages. She gave a weak smile and waved to him.
"Storm-Blade Ailith! Storm-Blade Ailith!"
She snapped her attention the front of her as a man on a horse rode rapidly towards her. It was a fellow Stormcloak. She stopped Frost, Galmar and everybody else stopping as well as the man slowed down as he approached her.
"General Stormcloak was ambushed as we scouted ahead!" he told her as the horse stopped near them. "He orders you to remain here to await his command and guard the supplies."
Ailith froze. An ambush, just as she had predicted. She fiddled with the reins, looking at Galmar who was nodding at the men.
"Very well, we will-"
"Ralof!" Ailith suddenly called out. The man slipped out of the driver's seat and jogged up to her. She looked down at him, biting her lip. "You and the other supply drivers, and all the men on foot stay and guard the supplies!"
"Yes Storm-Blade," Ralof abruptly agreed, nodding his head and running back to his carriage.
"Every man with a horse, follow me!" Ailith called aloud, pulling her sword out. The man who brought the message, along with her own men, followed her as her horse began to gallop along the path.
"Storm-Blade! Ulfric said to wait here for his command!" Galmar yelled after her, but his voice was deaf on her ears.
She urged Frost to gallop hard, and they quickly saw Ulfric's men take on a group of Imperial soldiers. She recognized Legate Rikke as the one Ulfric was having sword-to-sword combat with. Upon seeing the soldiers coming to back up the first group, the Legate's eyes widened some.
"Retreat!" the Legate yelled. "Fall back!"
She immediately broke her combat from Ulfric to gallop away on her own steed. Her soldiers finished their fights before running behind their leader's retreating form.
"Don't follow!" Ulfric's voice shouted at his own army. "Do not chase them!"
Ulfric was breathing heavily when Ailith rode up next to his horse. He was busy staring off at the Legate, giving her a chance to sigh in relief. He was alright. He showed no serious injury. Ulfric jumped slightly in surprise upon finally noticing her, before giving her a glare when he also noticed the rest of his soldiers and no supply carriages behind him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked coldly. She shifted uncomfortably under his look.
"I was worried about you," she responded softly. He gave her another hard stare, glancing back at the rest of his men. The wheels turned in his head as he worked out exactly what his Storm-Blade did before he gave a panicked look.
"Let's go!" he roared, completely turning his horse around and weaving through his men to dash back to the supply carriages. Ailith followed his lead, as did the rest of the soldiers. The female Nord noticed smoke, and instinctively forced Frost to gallop ahead.
Half of the men were carrying out supplies from burning carriages, the other half lying dead or wounded. Ailith's breath got caught in her throat at the scene. She left Ralof here, she left one of her dear friends here.
"Storm-Blade Ailith! We were ambushed!"
She ignored the man's yell and dismounted Frost.
"Ralof!" she cried out. "Ralof! Ralof were are you?"
The Storm-Blade rushed through the bodies, checking each for Ralof's familiar face as she yelled for him. She finally found him, lying next to a fellow soldier. Dropping to her knees, she examined the arrows lodged deep into his chest and shoulder.
"Hang on, Ralof," she cooed softly. "Hang on. You have a wife waiting at home, Ralof, hang on."
Ralof's eyes slowly opened and smiled gently at her. She cursed never learning magic, it would have been more useful now than ever to her if she just learned enough magic to heal.
"I'm sorry I failed to protect the supply carriages," he croaked. Ailith smiled back weakly, biting her lip again.
"I'm sorry I made a foolish move and asked you to stay," she replied, voice cracking. He pulled his soldier tag from his neck and handed it to her. She slowly accepted it from his hand before setting it on the ground next to him.
"Give it to my wife personally," he requested.
"You could still make it, just hang in-"
"She lives in Riverwood with my sister," he interrupted. Patting her cheek, he relaxed his muscles, sighing. "Make sure she knows that I am sorry I did not return, and that I will see her in Sovrnguarde."
Ailith grabbed his hand and lightly smacked his cheek, but had no response. His breathing slowed down into nothing. He had died.
She undid his breastplate and took off the wooden picture from around his neck. Clutching this and his soldier tag, she slowly stood and dragged her feet over to Ulfric. He and the rest had dismounted, and he was giving her a hard, furious look.
"You do not need to say it," she spoke before he could begin to scream at her for her idiocy. Her voice cracked again as she sniffed back tears. "It is all my fault. It is all on me. I should have obeyed you."
"Why didn't you obey me is the question," he growled. She let a tear fall down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away. It was her fault Ralof would never go home to his wife, that the rest of the men would never see their families again. A stupid move.
"I was terrified," she admitted slowly, looking down at her hands. "I was terrified you wouldn't return. I lost so many brothers since I joined the Stormcloaks…I couldn't bear to lose you."
He put a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. Ulfric didn't look as furious as when she first approached him, but he was still quite angry.
"We cannot have feelings in battle," he repeated her father's saying to her. She bit her lip.
"But if it was me…wouldn't you have come?" she wondered softly.
He looked surprised at the hypothetical question, but his eyes narrowed. Her lip was beginning to drip blood from biting her lip so hard.
"I wouldn't."
With that, he turned away from her and walked away to talk to Galmar. She was taken aback by his answer, even more by the seriousness of his tone. The Nord turned to again look at her fallen brothers and sisters. She felt a nudge against her shoulder and looked up to smile at Frost. Her constant companion.
Throwing her arms around the horse's neck, she let herself sob softly. Sob over her dead brothers and sisters, her stupid mistake and Ulfric's reply.
"I think it is best if you head home with the injured."
The words were spoken lightly, but the statement itself was a low blow. Ulfric was still angry with her mistake.
She couldn't bear to argue with him though, so she instead nodded. An hour later, she found herself driving one of the repaired carriages back to Windhelm. Once there, she made the heartbreaking journey to Riverwood and cried with Ralof's widow when she was given the wooden picture and tag. It was there, she first heard of the Stormcloak victory. The news had spread like wildfire that Ulfric Stormcloak beheaded Tullius himself and that Galmar gutted Rikke. When she returned to Windhelm, she made her way to the Palace of the Kings, where Galmar was waiting. In his hands was a soldier's tag.
Ailith froze within feet of him the moment she noticed the blood-coated tag. Galmar did not have to explain who it belonged to when he handed it to her.
"Not yet," he replied to her unasked question. "He collapsed from his battle wounds on the journey home. It's unlikely he will make it, so he told me to give this to you when I found you. Ulfric told me that I was to tell you that he lied, that he would have come to you. Said you'd know what he meant."
She just nodded, accepting the tag and brushing her hands over it, ignoring the blood that was beginning to stain her hands. If she had not made that stupid mistake, many more would have been able to help Ulfric into battle, including herself. Because of her, many died and were injured. They lost so many men before Solitude because of her feelings, feelings that didn't belong on the battlefield. If only...maybe Ulfric wouldn't be so close to death from wounds she could have prevented.
"May I see him?" she asked hopefully.
"The healers said no visitors," he replied. She nodded, holding the tag tightly in her hands. Tears were threatening to spill.
"Let me know when they will let me see him," she spoke in a hushed tone to prevent Galmar knowing just how close she was to crying. He nodded, and she brushed past him, running for her room.