A/N: I just couldn't resist, alright! Major spoilers for Skyrim ahead...
Prologue
Below the cliffs of Solitude,The Katariah was setting sail under Azura's morning light. Everyone breathed with relief- the assassination of the Emperor's decoy was too close for comfort. And not everyone believed that the Dark Brotherhood was truly dead. After all, the band send to destroy their sanctuary never came back, either…
But that was all over. For the few days at sea, they could relax. The Emperor would be safe, at least until they reached their homeland. Cyrodiil didn't lack assassins, of course, but it would still be good to be on familiar ground.
Everyone was so caught up in their sighs and wine that no one noticed the shadow that slipped into the Emperor's cabin.
No one heard sound of an enchanted blade entering an old man's heart, nor his final breath, nor the quiet thud as he hit his desk.
And if they didn't notice any of that, then of course no one could have possibly seen the figure that stepped out onto the balcony.
The woman leaned onto the rails, and took a deep breath, reveling in the cold, salty sea breathe. She had a few minutes, she knew, if not hours. And it wasn't often that she got a moment to enjoy the satisfaction of a beautiful kill. The pleasure of adrenaline. The high that was better than any imported drug.
"I killed the Emperor," she sang quietly to the skies. "I killed the Emperor!"
The woman broke out in silent laughter. The blood dripped from her hand into the water.
The message was sent, the Night Mother was honored, and now, she could finally go home...
No one on board heard the quiet splash caused by her dive.
Somewhere on the other side of Skyrim at the exact same moment that the assassin plunged into the water, a man emerged from a cave.
He stood on the rock beside it, viewing the scene with a grin. Magnificent thing: those mountains. Tall and towering, white and ivory, the peaks getting lost somewhere in the clouds. Surrounded by white blazed trees, with snow lightly showering from above, adding motion to the peaceful stillness.
Beautiful. Completely worth the journey, the man nodded to himself. And such an interesting one at that! His first day in Skyrim, and he already walked into an ambush, put his head on the executioner's block, came within a moment of death, and then was saved by a bloody dragon attack. Lost his favorite axe, walked though a burning fort, killed giant spiders and an even larger bear, and then finally came out behind Ralof out into the freedom of the mountains and a stunning view.
"I think I'm going to like it here," he grinned, his mood almost impossibly high for someone who just faced death and survived not once, but at least five times within the last hour.
Then again, Bruma never had any dragons.
"And I think Skyrim will like you," Ralof called from the trail. "Come along now, before that dragon comes back to knock you off that horse!"
The man laugh, sheathed his new (looted) great sword, and strode after the Stormcloak.
Forwards, onto the adventures ahead!