Note: I do not own Skyrim or its characters, only my own. everything that is not part of the quests is plot of my own creation
The cart rumbled and pale eyes opened, an ache on the back of her head. She had been crossing the border out of Skyrim, heading to the capitol in Cyrodiil. She had simply been crossing on her horse, heading towards greener, much less snowy pastures. She was trailing behind a party of Stormcloaks when the Imperials had attacked. They had shot her grey gelding out from under her. Her horse had panicked and had jumped off a small ravine. The last thing she remembered, she was flying out of the saddle and the ground was fast approaching. Now her leather armor had been stripped off and she was dressed in rags. They had stolen her bow and her swords. All her potion ingredients, all her gold, all her gems.
She grumbled low in her throat, looking at the other prisoners around her. A blond man with bulging arms sat across from her, and another nord with dark hair in rags, with circles under his eyes. To her right sat Ulfric Stormcloak, the man who had killed high king Torygg. It was his fault that Skyrim had been plunged into a bloody civil war, turning neighbors and even brothers against one another, all over such a silly thing as being allowed to worship a god. She had been tossed into this damned cart because they were hunting Ulfric.
She hadn't been paying attention to the men across from her who were talking until she heard 'end of the line', looking up at the blond nord. "End of the line? The block then…" she said, frowning. Here she was, trying to leave Skyrim and head to the capitol, trying to find a way to make her fortune, and she was headed to the chopping block for a crime she didn't commit. Sure she had pinched the occasional apple, but for the most part, she had kept her nose clean.
The carts pulled to a stop, and they began to shuffle out of the cart. She hopped down, standing behind the rest of the men. Here she was, contemplating her imminent death when the horse thief from Rorikstead decided to make a run for it. At the signal from the archers, he was shot down. It looked like there was no hope of her making it out of here alive then. The first man was marched to the block, and he barked at the priestess of Arkay for her to shut up. Evidently, this man of Talos didn't want her only blessing him with eight divines. Within moments, his head was sitting in a basket and the block was stained with his blood.
"Next! The nord in the rags!" came the cry from the captain of the guard. A ghostly echo passed over the canyon, and everyone looked around. "I said; next prisoner" the captain called. She bowed her head and shuffled to the block, another echo passing through the mountains before she was shoved down to her knees. She turned her head and stared up at the headsman. A warrior should stare their killer in the face, and she was a warrior. But in her field of vision, a black monstrosity swooped from the sky, landing on the tower behind the headsman, the thundering crash knocking him down.
It was a dragon, huge and black, with eyes glowing red like two hot coals. He opened his mouth and words poured out, words that made her heart tremble as flaming rocks began falling from the sky. A stone struck her on the head, her vision swimming as the dragon took flight once more, letting out a bone chilling roar. Out of the fog, she heard a voice calling her, and she looked up, scrambling away from the block, her hands still bound. She blinked, trying to steady her vision as she followed him towards one of the towers. They had managed to get their hands free, but she was still tied up. She leaned against the wall and caught her breath.
"Come on, up these stairs, maybe there's a way out…" said the blond nord. She nodded, her vision clear now as she ran up the stairs with him. They were knocked back when the dragon took out part of the tower, gouts of fire streaming from its maw, burning the men who had been trying to clear the rubble. As quickly as it had come, it had also gone, and the blond told her to jump down to the burning inn below. "Are you mad?" she said, shaking her head. "It may be your only chance, now jump!" he said. She scowled and backed up, taking a running start, hitting the inn below with a grunt, almost twisting her ankle in the process. She jumped down to the lower floor and ran outside, seeing one of the imperial guards leading a boy to safety.
"Still alive prisoner? Follow me if you want to live…" he called, beckoning her to follow. Sure, the imperials had been trying to cut her head off, but she wanted to get out of here as badly as he did. It wasn't much further before they were in the keep, and the imperial turned to her, holding a knife.
"Come here, let's see if we can get these bindings off" He said, cutting off her bindings. She stepped back and rubbed her wrists, looking at the imperial soldier. "I'm Hadvar… I know the captain would want me to arrest you, but we have to find a way out of here together... look in the chests, see if you can find some armor…" he said. She rummaged through the chests, pulling two of the iron swords off the wall, tugging on the armor, strapping the sword to her hip. She focused for a moment, golden light swirling around her as she cast a healing spell, feeling the wound on her head close up.
"That's better…" she murmured to herself, turning to look at him. "I'm Ilena… and I didn't belong on that cart… I've done nothing wrong, I was just trying to make my way to Cyrodiil…" she said, summoning her magic and letting flames dance along her fingertips. "Now let's get out of here…" she said, looking at him before heading for the door, pulling the chain and walking through, drawing her sword.
They cut through a few Stormcloaks, as well as frost spiders and a bear. By the time they were out of the caverns, they were far from Helgen. They had pretty much passed all the way through the mountain, and they ended up near Riverwood. She had picked up a bow and some arrows along the way, the bow slung across her back. She was much more relaxed with a bow in her hand, even if it wasn't the best. "Thanks for getting me out of there…" she said, looking over at Hadvar, who nodded.
"Follow me to Riverwood, we'll see about getting you some supplies, since the soldiers raided your gear when they captured you… I know it hasn't been the best impression, but if you reconsider, the Legion could use good soldiers like you…" he said, extending his hand to her. She looked at his hand for a moment before shaking it briefly before they started the walk to Riverwood. She had lived in Falkreath her whole life, and hadn't traveled much, she figured it was time to get out into the world. She'd fought off bandits, but there were dragons on the loose now. She would travel Skyrim and make her way here instead.
As they reached the three standing stones, she looked between them. She already was a warrior, but bandits could always hear her coming. She tended to charge in and attack head on, which wasn't good since she favored a bow. She placed her hand on the thief stone, hoping this help from the gods might keep her from alerting every bandit she came across. Hadvar shook his head, and she looked back at him narrowing her eyes, but said nothing as they continued on the path.
Once they explained to Alvor what happened, Ilena was on her way to Whiterun, Hadvar staying behind to rest. She walked along the road, looking around her. It was a shame that she hadn't spent much time outside of falkreath, but she would change that. She was still young, only 21, and she had time to change that.
Thanks for reading, I'll update soon!