A Lost Bloom in the Snow

Chapter 1: Unbound and out of nowhere, part 1

Somewhere near Vale's mountains

It was dusk. A woman strode through the lightly wooded hills by the mountains, a white traveling cloak to shield her from the weather, looking for signs of her prey while keeping an eye out for dangers. It had been a few days since she had been given the mission to hunt down a monster threatening a mountainside village, but this was not just any monster. It was a creature belonging to a family of horrors without souls that single mindedly seek the extinction of all humankind, and the destruction of their creations. They were known as creatures of destruction, the creatures of Grimm.

She had followed the tracks of such a beast. It had been erratic, going to and fro without settling for a clear direction. There were a few packs of Grimm who ran into her, but they were easy to dispatch. The further she went, however, the stronger her suspicions became: this was turning out to be a wild goose chase. And one longer than usual at that. Her prolonged absence would be worrying her husband and daughters by now. She would have to make it up to them when she got back home. Time for her specialty cookies? Or maybe a wild berries pie? She giggled under her breath at the ideas.

That was her last frivolous thought for the day, as the sound of movement ahead had her box those sweet thoughts away and immediately shift back into the mindset of the experienced fighter and huntress that she was. The earth beneath her trembled as mighty footsteps approached, and underneath the cloak her hands sought the handles of the bearded war axes that were her weapons. The Grimm was coming. Better that she was ready to meet it.

The tracks she had been following had hinted at a large Grimm, but that was that — exactly what kind of beast it was, she could not fathom. So, when it at last came into view over the tree lined hill, her eyes widened with a hint of fear. It was a monstrously huge giant of a Grimm, with long, boney arms and sharp claws, and quadrupedal legs. It's bony head resembled that of a deer, complete with ears, it's jaws lined with razor sharp teeth. The antlers atop its head seemed incongruous, which only made it more menacing.

She had read about such a Grimm, a beast so rare that they were thought to be a dark fairytale meant to frighten children into obedience. A beast that would even feast on its own kind to replenish and heal itself. Wendigo.

Out of the tree line and up close, it stared down at her with its demonic glowing eyes, as if it thought of her as a snack. Then it reeled back and let out an otherworldly screech so loud she winced and had to cover her ears; only the reflexes born out of years of experience saved her as her body felt danger before her mind did and she dashed away, dodging the jaws that clamped shut where she had been. The axes were on her hands now, and she readied herself for a battle she would never forget… if she made it out alive.

Somewhere in Skyrim, northern province of Tamriel

Sundas, 7:40 AM, 17th of Last Seed, Year 4E 201

When his consciousness came back to him, he suddenly felt a splitting headache, and the sound of horses clattering on cobblestone and creaking of wood flooded his ears.

"Ugh, my head," he grumbled as he tried to open his heavy eyes, only to be met with a blurry vision. It took some time, but eventually they became clear for him to see. He was sitting in a wagon, sitting across from a Nord rebel in binds while an imperial soldier was driving the horse. Beyond the cart, of course, was a land not too different from the northern county of Cyrodiil. They were winding down a cobbled road around piles of boulders, towering firs and cedars, along with clumps of snow berries and other shrubs. The Snow clung to shaded areas under trees and between the rocks, and the sky was mostly covered in menacing grey clouds over the nearby mountain range. He looked farther ahead of the driver to see more horse powered carts carrying more of the Nords in the same outfit as the man in front, all bound in the same manner. He, too had his wrists tied with rope when he looked down, and the question which ran through his mind was what crime he committed to deserve this. There were also other legionnaires riding on horseback on either sides of the carts, probably to make sure no one made an escape.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake." He turned away from the sightseeing to see the Nord speaking to him. "You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there." He turned his head to the direction of said thief, who was a Nord covered in dirt and wearing rags, same as he himself apparently.

"Damn you Stormcloaks," said the thief seethingly. "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 been halfway to Hammerfell." Then he looked in the prisoner's direction. "You there... You and me, we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."

Now everything was coming back to him. He remembered to be on a mission, bearing the promise to find a body and bring him back to Cyrodiil for a funeral. He had just gotten through the Jerall Mountains bordering Skyrim by taking the Pale Pass using the legal transcripts to get through. On his way to Darkwater Pass, he nearly got ran over by a thief riding a stolen horse. Then he accidentally came upon a group of rebels lead by their leader, Ulfric, by complete coincidence.

That's when it all went down.

Imperial soldiers came out from both sides and surrounded the rebels. Rather than fight they surrendered by their leader's orders. He did, too, and he tried to explain his innocence, but none would listen to him. Suddenly, even though he wore a helmet then, all it took was one swing from a Nord legionnaire to knock him out cold. Now he was sitting in the back of this cart, stripped of his armor, gear and weapons; arrested for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, for being presumably associated with a group of Nord rebels he had no affiliation with.

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief." Said the Nord.

"What have I gotten myself into," the prisoner muttered as he sighed.

"Shut up back there." The driver said in annoyance, but that simply fell on deaf ears apparently.

"What's up with him, huh?" The horse thief asked as he looked at the Nord hunching over next to the prisoner's right. He had dirty brown hair, and wore a fur lined coat as far as he could tell from where he sat. He was bound like the rest, but he was also gagged with a cloth covering his mouth.

The Nord rebel glared at him. "Watch your tongue. You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King," he scolded the thief.

"Ulfric, the Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion. If they've captured you…," his eyes began to widen with realization. "Oh gods, where are they taking us?"

"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits." The Nord said in a solemn tone as he had his head lowered and looking away.

"This can't be happening. This isn't happening." The horse thief's panic had begun to grow. The prisoner, too, was panicking inside, though he never showed it.

"Where are you from, horse thief?" The rebel asked.

"Why do you care?" He asked skeptically while still in fear of whatever was going to happen to him.

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home," he explained.

He was skeptical about it at first, but since his death was coming sooner or later, or perhaps simply wanting to humor the rebel, the thief answered, "Rorikstead, I'm… I'm from Rorikstead."

Then the rebel turned to the prisoner. "And what about you, stranger, where are you from?"

"...I'm from Bruma." He answered.

"The northern city of Cyrodiil? Now I understand where you got those muscles, Imperial." He concluded with a compliment as the drivers neared the opened entrance to a walled town.

He made to explain—

"General Tullius, sir! The Headsman is waiting!" One of the soldiers called out.

"Good, let's get this over with." The general replied.

"Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me." Loudly he prayed out, hoping desperately for a miracle, but he fearfully knew there was never going to be anyone coming to save him.

"Look at him. General Tullius, the military governor," the blonde Nord spat as he gave a glancing glare at the general, noticing that he did not come alone. "And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves, I'll bet they had something to do with this."

The Imperial prisoner looked in the General's direction, seeing three elves. Two were on foot and wearing elven armor, the other was on a horse and was vaguely female wearing a black, golden ornate robe or coat. The Thalmor. Gods, did he hate them, like many of the survivors from the Great War. They led the Aldmeri Dominion which nearly conquered the heart of the Empire, and forced them into a treaty known as the White Gold Concordat which saved the Empire to live to see another day… at the cost of banning Talos worship, and more. He did not need to guess how deeply that affected the Nordic people of Skyrim.

"This is Helgen," the rebel named it. "I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in." He was fond of those memories of the time, but then he had become more solemn in his tone. "Funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe."

The Imperial pondered on the words he said, all while he heard a boy somewhere watching the whole spectacle.

"Who are they, papa? Where are they going?" The boy asked, standing on the porch to the house as he watched.

"You need to go inside, little cub." His father ordered.

"Why? I want to watch the soldiers." He protested.

"Inside the house. Now." He ordered sternly.

"Yes, papa." He conceded as he turned away from the view and went inside the house as he was told.

"Woah!" One of the drivers said as he pulled the reins on the horse to stop and park with the others.

"Get these prisoners out of the carts, move it!" A female soldier in heavy imperial armor ordered them, and he did not need to guess she was the captain.

"Why are we stopping?" The horse thief asked with fright.

"Why do you think?" The Nord replied. "End of the line." He then turned his attention to the Imperial as the cart was parked along with the others. "Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."

Meanwhile

The white cloaked Huntress was fighting for dear life. She had already landed a few hits, but they weren't deep enough to actually cause harm. She dodged left, right, even over a swipe from the gargantuan beast. She tried going in to chop at the Wendigo's boney ankles, but she had to move out of a claw trying to grab her. For a monster of such size, it was quite fast in both reaction and movement. So she had to switch things up a bit by using her Aura to flip a switch inside her axes, rotating the blades to where the beards were pointing upwards like swords—

But the Wendigo was instantly upon her while her weapons were changing, and she went dashing backwards desperately from the slams of the beast's palms three times, each one kicking up an explosion of dirt. To her fright she was not fast enough before it then slammed its clawed hands together to crush and grab what remains of her, but what the Grimm did not realize was she had a trick up her sleeve. She ran right through the Wendigo's clasped hands, being a ghostly apparition with white rose petals flowing from her very being. It looked down in complete surprise, and that slight hesitation was enough for her to return to her corporeal form and made a jump at its chest as she stabbed under the rib cages with both of her blades.

The Wendigo yelped in both pain and surprise, though the blade tips missed its heart. It then backed up and tried to smack her away, but she turned intangible again and kept up her assault. For all its strength and speed, the monster had no way of countering her Semblance, as while Intangibility was active nothing could harm her, be it physical weapons, Dust, or Aura based Semblance, and she could simply walk through doors and people like they were not there. But it also meant she could not fight herself. She can even go through objects such as doors and people. The only drawbacks are that she cannot fight while being in this form, and since it also consumes Aura, she has to use it sparingly.

The gargantuan beast tried to back away and attack her defensively, but she kept changing from intangible to tangible as she stabbed and slashed at the beasts torso and legs. The damage was slowly taking its toll on it, but it was growing furious to the point where the beast decided jump high into the air. The Huntress looked up and widened with fear knowing what it planned to do. So instead of using her Semblance, she used her true power coming from her silver eyes as they glowed. Her power had given her the speed necessary to dash away from the crash landing that formed a crater around it, but it howled shortly in pain from one of its legs being shattered, due to being severely damaged the most by the Huntress's onslaught. His rage dulled his pain as he roared and used its still functioning limbs to lash out at her, and instantly she was back in the fray.

"No! Wait! We're not rebels!" The horse thief pleaded his innocence as they all got up from their seats.

"Face your death with some courage thief." The Stormcloak rebel remarked as they all stood in line.

"You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!" Sadly his words reached deaf ears as they all hopped off the cart, one at a time. Soon the prisoners were all off the wagons and gathered in one spot.

"Step towards the block when we call your name. One at a time." The captain instructed harshly. The soldier who rode behind them stood to her left with a list in one hand and a quill in the other.

"Empire loves their damn lists." The blonde Nord muttered in distaste at the soldiers' habit of listing in particular.

"Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm." The Nord soldier named and checked.

"It has been an honor. Jarl Ulfric." The blonde rebel said in honorable farewell.

"Ralof of Riverwood." He named and checked next, referring to the blonde rebel standing next to the Imperial, but the Imperial thought he heard his tone change subtly in resentment, as if he knew him, or maybe he simply resented the rebels. Ralof walked up with the rest of his comrades after that.

"Lokir of Rorikstead." The soldier named and checked next.

"I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" Lokir argued in both outrage and fear as he walked up to them. Then suddenly, when he believed that words were not enough to save him, he decided to book it and made a run for the exit.

"Halt!" The captain yelled but he ignored her for the sake of running for his life.

"You're not going to kill me!"

"Archers!" She ordered, and two arrows pierced into both his skull and back, killing him before he could reach the gate.

"Does anyone else feel like running?" She dared the prisoners as she turned to them, waiting for an excuse to have more of them dead much sooner than later.

"Wait. You there. Come here." The soldier asked the Imperial, and he stepped forward towards the two as he then stopped right in front of them. He could tell he had a look of confusion on his face. Perhaps this might possibly show that he was not on the list, and a flicker of hope had begun to brighten.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I am Adrien Artorius, a knight sworn to Bruma." He answered in truth.

"That would explain the armor," he remembered. "Yet you're a long way from the Imperial County. What're you doing here in Skyrim?" He asked curiously.

"I came here to find the body of Henrik Erenssen." Adrien explained. "His father requested I bring him back to Bruma for a proper burial."

"Sorry, but I don't believe I've ever heard of him." The captain replied unconvinced as she crossed her arms. The bound knight gave her a hard look, slightly aghast that she did not trust the word of a knight, and thus his hopes were beginning to falter.

"He left Bruma to join up with the Imperial Legion. A letter was sent to his father that he died in battle." He explained further, trying to convince them that he came here on good authority. "I have the letter in my satchel if you don't believe me."

"Captain, what should we do? He's not on the list." He asked the higher ranked officer, unsure of what to do.

"Forget the list, he goes to the block."

"What?! You can't be serious!" The knight argued with shock.

"We caught you red handed when you met up with the Stormcloaks at Darkwater Pass! Don't even try to lie to us!"

"A knight never lies!" He argued back as he threateningly leaned closer.

"What is going on here, what's the holdup!?" General Tullius asked impatiently as he walked up to them.

"This prisoner claims he's a knight from Bruma, and on a mission to find some corpse off the battlefield." The captain explained to him.

"Is that so?" He then turned to the knight. "You'd be hard pressed to find his body. We've buried our dead on each battlefield, many of them unmarked." Then he turned back to the captain. "So, did any of you check his belongings to see if he told the truth?"

"We… did not bother to do so, sir." She replied with both hesitation and embarrassment that they did not follow through on their duty.

"I see. We'll be talking about this after the execution. As for you…," he turned to face the Imperial, "I'm sorry, but you did walk into the border in the middle of a Civil War, legally or no, and into the proximity of the rebels. Innocent or not I can't let you go. Too much is at stake here, and I cannot let this opportunity slip away. You'll have to join with the rest." He concluded as he turned around back to the block.

"By your orders, General." Then the Nord soldier turned his head to him in sympathy. "I'm sorry, we'll make sure your remains are returned to Bruma. Follow the captain prisoner."

His head hung low in solemn defeat, his hopes of living to fulfill his promise were dashed away. He followed the captain, but not without calling out. "General Tullius!"

He turned his head to the Imperial in slight irritation. "What is it?"

"Please, will you promise me you will find Henrik's body and send him back to his father in my stead? It's all I ask." He pleaded him.

The General sighed. "I can't keep any promises, but I will try." He answered before turning his attention back to the gagged Ulfric to begin the execution. "Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like "The Voice" to murder his king and usurp his throne."

The Nord was saying something, but it was muffled from being gagged.

"You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace."

Suddenly, the sound of something otherworldly, something no one had ever heard before, resounded off in the distance, startling a few.

"What was that?" The Nord soldier asked.

"It's nothing." the General dismissed. "Carry on."

"Yes, General Tullius." The captain saluted, then turned her attention to the priestess of Arkay. "Give them their last rites."

Meanwhile

She dashed back from the swipe, but then she rolled forward under another swipe and gave one slice to its torso before jumping over another and backing away. This was going to get her nowhere, not while this thing was unpredictably more aggressive. After dodging an attack from the angry Wendigo, the Huntress soon decided that fighting from a distance was the only option for now. So she became intangible when the beast lunged for her, and she dashed through it to being far enough behind it while the Wendigo felt almost satisfied and oddly confused. Being far enough away, she returned to her tangible form and connected the pommels of her weapons, and upon activation they quickly transformed into a bow, the axe heads splitting in two to reveal its bowstring coming out from within the weapon to complete it. She pulled out a retracted arrow from her customized quiver strapped to the right side of her waist. This quiver was designed to house forty condensed Dust arrows, the arrowheads as of which were made of crystallized fire Dust. And luckily for her, fire was a Wendigo's weakness.

The Wendigo turned around after hearing the noise she made to be surprised she was still alive, and it annoyed the soulless beast as it growled menacingly with its opening jaws.

The arrow extended upon activation, and she knocked the arrow to the bowstring and pulled in one swift movement. She did not take long to aim before releasing the arrow into the beast's left shoulder spot on. The arrow exploded upon piercing its flesh, and it blew off small chunks of flesh as the shoulder was left with a ghastly scorch mark. The Wendigo shrieked in both burning pain and fear as it clutched its shoulder, but another fiery shot to its right arm made it more difficult to contain.

She fired arrow after arrow as she moved around it while keeping her distance, scorching the monster with nasty burn marks with each one she released as the monster recoiled about. But from the pain, the Wendigo's anger grew until it finally snapped and lashed out at her in desperation. The surprise attack had given her no choice but to be intangible again, and the beast wildly landed right on top of her. She went around the beast in a cloud of white rose petals to be behind it, and when she regained her form she had already knocked an arrow and ready to fire, but the Wendigo spun about to slash her downwards when she released the arrow, and she turned intangible again when the claws soon raked earth and the arrow exploded in its right shoulder. The Wendigo did not care, its rage already dulling the pain, as it went wildly attacking her.

Normally she would try her best to avoid abusing her Semblance if she could help it, but this beast had barely given her any room to maneuver. She had no other choice, she had to try and end this quickly before—

Out of nowhere, three Ursas attacked her from behind, forcing her to turn intangible again as the Grimm bears mauled at nothing but air. Then, when the Wendigo's claws continued its arc, the creature raked at two of the Grimm, mortally wounding them in the process.

She became tangible off to the side and released her arrows at the unharmed Ursa first, remembering very clearly in fear that the Wendigo has to devour its victims alive instead of dead in order to heal. She took down the first two, but she was too late when the Wendigo grabbed the mortally wounded Grimm bear and, as if it were starving, it immediately and voraciously devoured the helpless creature, chunk by chunk until there was no more. The monster's wounds were disappearing, and it turned about and wasted no time in attacking her with renewed vigor as it screamed.

The priestess raised up her arms in prayer as she spoke their last rites. "As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessing of the Eight Divines upon you, for you are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved—

"For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with!" A nord rebel interrupted, prompting her to stop as she did so while he walked up to the chopping block.

"As you wish." She replied with annoyance from the interruption.

"Come on, I haven't got all morning!" He said to hasten it, with no hint of fear in his voice or posture whatsoever. He was pushed down by the captain's hand, then used her armored boot to push him down the rest of the way. He smiled as he looked up to the Headsman, and when he spoke, it was not being directed towards his executioner. "My ancestors are smiling on me, Imperials. Can you say the same?" It was the last words he said before his head was chopped off and fell into the basket. His execution had caused a mixed reaction from the crowd, including one of the rebels.

"You Imperial bastards!"

"Justice!"

"Death to the Stormcloaks."

"As fearless in death, as he was in life." Ralof said in grim respect.

"Next, the renegade from Cyrodiil!" She pointed at Adrien.

Then the otherworldly sound had come up again, this time closer than before.

"There it is again. Did you hear that?" The soldier asked again.

"I said, next Prisoner!"

"To the block prisoner, nice and easy."

This was getting bad. She had only a quarter of her Aura left. If she used her Intangibility Semblance one more time…; not only will she become nearly exhausted but vulnerable, an easy victim for the Wendigo to kill or devour. She had to do this, she had to use the power of her silver eyes to kill it or else it was game over for her.

So she went about being up close by forming into a cloud of white rose petals, and with the aid of her silver eyes which got her to use less of her Aura, she zipped around the creature, driving it into confusion as it tried to catch her form in its burned claws. Then she gave it the slip as she went narrowly under it when it clamped its jaws, making the beast look about where she went until she was a good enough distance away.

She did a whistle to get its attention, and it turned around to see the Huntress having her bow and arrow ready, and her silver eyes shined fiercely. The Wendigo screeched and charged wildly at her when she let her arrow fly, and at the same time her eyes fired tendrils of light, reaching out and completely swirling around the fire Dust arrow until it collided with the beast's chest. The powerfully enchanted arrow exploded and burned the beast with holy light, and the soulless monster screamed with immense pain before it disintegrated into nothing, leaving it's death scream to echo through the hilltop valleys and mountain sides.

The Huntress hunched over and panted as she lowered her bow, her seriously weakened Aura a little taxing to her along with the fatigue of an immense battle. Using her silver eyes were helpful at times if she was going to be in a predicament, or if she wanted to end a battle quickly, but she had been warned since childhood never to use it excessively. Otherwise, she would be drawing some unsavory attention. While she tried to regain her breath, a small, breathy chuckle began to escape from her lips. Then suddenly she stood straight up with a cheer.

"WOOHOOOO! I DID IT! Ha ha!" She cheered up at the dusk sky in triumphant laughter as she raised her empty hand and bow into the air. Then she lowered her arms. "Summer: one! Grimm: zero~!" She counted playfully as she pumped her fist into the air on the last one.

"Oh this'll be a story for the girls when I get back!" She thought out loud gleefully as she went about using her Aura to have her weapon actively pull the string back inside as it went about reverting back to blade form before going back to being the war axes. Then she slipped them both into the straps on her sides with deft hands as she then patted them once. She brought out her compass to find the way back, but suddenly… something felt off from all around her. It was quiet… too quiet. The silence soon broke when a rumbling came from all directions, and from the hills all around she saw the Grimm. They were becoming a horde as the volume grew louder. Soon she was completely surrounded by them, with no way out to escape from.

She was troubled by this turn of events. She thought back to how it all came to this when she remembered the Wendigo screeching so loudly. It must have drawn them here, turning this spot into a death trap. She did not know whether the gargantuan Grimm was clever in the end or this was a random chance. It did not matter now, because with her Aura yet to be restored to full strength, she was a dead woman now.

"I'm sorry," she said to herself as she lowered her in defeat as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I guess I won't be coming home."

Fate, however stranger, had a different opinion as something beneath her feet opened up brightly, revealing to her widened horror some kind of hole made of foreboding chaotic energy. She realized far too late to escape, so she fell down the portal screaming until it closed up. The last thing she heard before she left her world was… laughter?

She was never seen again.

Adrien started walking forward, but his movement was forced as he took step by step toward the block. This was not how he wanted to go out, and to be killed by the very empire he served under for years shook his resolve and heart. He could have run if he had to. He could have had a better chance surviving long enough to escape this place, but he did not. He was a knight, and a knight must never give-in to the fear of death. Yet this still felt so wrong.

He was finally at the block, the soldier already pulled away the corpse of the headless rebel to make room for the next victim. He stood in front, staring down at the bloody block when the captain's hand shoved him down from behind onto his knees before being pushed all the way down by her armored boot, his head fitting over the shallow groove of it for a perfect chop. He had his head facing to the left, looking up at his executioner as he made ready his axe.

'Is this how it must be,' Adrien thought as the executioner slowly raised his axe. 'Is this how a warrior must die?'

As his killer slowly raised his axe up, ready to put an end to his life, he saw something that no one would have expected to see in their lifetime.

"What the… is that an Oblivion Gate?!" General Tullius asked in bewilderment as a portal of dark, chaotic energy, something that would make anyone believe to be a Daedric gate to Oblivion, opened up out of thin air above them, followed by a resounding boom which forced the executioner to stumble and lower his axe. Then suddenly, as the executioner looked up out of surprise, something… no someone dropped out of the portal screaming as she crashed down onto the stunned executioner, knocking him out cold. The captain and the Nord soldier had already backed up away before it happened.

"What is that!?" Asked one of the soldiers, unsure of what to make of the person.

"No questions, weapons ready!" The captain commanded as the soldiers (including the General) pulled out their weapons, with the archers knocking an arrow ready.

"Owww… what was that?" Summer groaned as she struggled to get up. Everyone was stunned but tensed up at the spectacle. Without the boot which kept him down, the knight lifted himself up only a bit as he described what he was looking at. He only caught a glimpse from her fall, but it looked like she was wearing clothes not meant to endure the cold, along with a white cloak. He could only see part of her face, but he could tell her skin was fair, and her hair was dark which seemed to gradate to dark red at the tips. To his visual guess, she looked out of place.

She stood back up, and looked around to see a very unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar faces wearing primitive armor and weapons. To everyone present watching this, they now got to see what she wore under the cloak. She wore a long sleeved black blouse with dark grey trim at the ends of her sleeves, and a black cincher with white lacing, along with a black short skirt with dark grey trim. She also wore black stockings and black belt laced combat boots. She had a belt wrapped around her waist, complete with pouches, with two weapons they barely recognize as war axes and a strange quiver. Just as the knight thought before, her clothes were not meant for the cold weather.

Back to the girl, there would be a time when she would stop and admire the classics, but there was a more pressing matter as everyone had their weapons out and ready. So she tried to defuse the situation as best she could, if only she were not so confused of the situation. Such as where she was.

"Umm… where am I?" She asked rather nervously.

"She's a Daedra worshipper, seize her!" The General barked his order out of suspicion and a hint of paranoia. She tensed up when the two soldiers were running up to her from both sides with their large swords still drawn. So she jumped back and lowered herself as she went for her weapons.

"It's no use," Said the captain with finality in her voice. "There's nowhere to run!"

But she was about to prove the captain wrong when the Nord soldier to her left came too close to her. He tried to grab her arm, believing she was distracted, but the falsely accused Summer reacted (without her weapons) with lightning speed as she grabbed his muscled wrist, yanked him forward with effort (much to her hidden confusion) and kneed him hard in the stomach. For a short girl at 5'5", He was surprised that she was strong enough to knock the wind out of him.

The captain went in to gain control of the situation, raising her sword up in hoping to knock her out with the pommel while the faux Daedra worshipper was focused on the legionnaire, but Summer anticipated the move. She used her feet to climb up on the Nord soldier, kicked him to the ground to give her that short boost as she twisted her body, swung her fist and punched the surprised captain in the face. Though she punched the helmet part of her face, it was enough to disorient her enemy as the captain stumbled.

Summer's hand was in pain to her surprise, but she had to ignore it for later as she yanked the sword from the captain's hand, spun her around to have her back facing her, and the white cloaked girl wrapped her arm around her neck in a chokehold and levelled the blade of the sword to her neck (semi heavy though for some reason), turning the legion captain into a hostage.

"Seriously, just where the hell am I!?" She angrily demanded to everyone present.

Suddenly and out of nowhere, the otherworldly sound returned, now being very close as it turned out to be a roar. The soldiers, the rebels, and even Adrien and the stranger tensed up from the noise. General Tullius looked up as he followed the noise to see a glimpse of something he had never, in his entire career, seen in all of Tamriel, flying in the direction of Helgen.

"What in Oblivion is that!?" The General asked/yelled.

"Sentries! what do your eyes see?" the soldier commanded the sentries with haste while still staring down at the assumed heretic.

"It's in the clouds!" He answered from his observation, and even he could not fathom what he fearfully was seeing. Soon this mysterious beast finally revealed itself as it landed on the tower for everyone to see it in all its terrifying glory. This monster was big, covered in scales so twisted and spiked and as black as night. It's dark, leathery wings lightly clung to the walls of the tower with their hooks for claws. What probably made him the most intimidating was its visage. Its head looked like that if a demon, with its horns grown backwards, bending inwards then out. It's eyes were malevolently red and piercing, as if promising them a painful death.

Summer looked at this thing with incomprehension, believing at first to be a Grimm, but her gut was telling her this may not be. 'What is that? It looks kind of like—'

"Dragon!" A female rebel shouted in fear, in answer to everyone's question. Then the black, demonic looking dragon reeled back its neck before it unleashed from it's maw a concussive blast which knocked many to the ground. Many( including the Huntress) were reeling from the pain and the ringing in their ears. Summer had let go of the captain and dropped the sword as she pressed her hands against her ears.

Adrien almost heard nothing but a short ringing in his ears, but what he saw next shocked him and everyone in the town beyond belief. The sky was blanketed with dark clouds swirling above Helgen, and from those clouds, fire rained down upon the town as if Oblivion had come down from the sky.

"Don't just stand there! Kill that thing!" General Tullius shouted to his soldiers after shaking out of his stupor, then he addressed to the town guards. "Guards, get the townspeople to safety!"

Meanwhile, while all this just started to happen right after the dragon made the first blast which brought down fire, the captain got out of her shock and looked towards the supposed Daedra worshipper, seeing her looking up at the darkened, fiery sky with shock. Ignoring the sky, and after hearing the General's orders, she recovered her stolen sword and left the stranger to her fate without a word, believing it would be fitting for her to be killed by a dragon. Unfortunately karma had begged to differ, as the captain did not see the meteor striking right where she stood, leaving nothing behind but flying charred remains. The explosion behind Summer gave enough force to push her down a ways.

But just as the General ordered the guards, the dragon made another concussive blast, and this time the Imperial stumbled about on the dirt. In that instant he decided that living was better than dying of fire, so he tried and struggled to get up as his legs wobbled.

"Hey, Imperial. Get up! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance!" Ralof was crouched down to hopefully avoid the falling fire. He pointed in the direction of the tower where the door was opened for them. At that point the knight quickly got his footing and ran as if his life depended on it, along with the rebel to reach the tower. However he stopped and looked back as he spotted the white cloaked stranger in front of the short tower trying to get up, but acted rather dizzy. He did not wish to meddle with a suspicious stranger who just came out of a Daedric portal from the sky, but then again the legion were being too quick to judge. Setting aside his judgement until later, he went over (even with the explosions of meteors happening all around him) and tried to pull her up from her arm with his bound hands.

"Come on stranger, get up! we need to get inside!"

"No," she answered deliriously as she resisted, "the people are in danger!"

"Forget it," he argued, "the guards and the soldiers will take care them. Now's not the time to throw your life away like this, so come on!"

For a moment she tried to fight back, but relented as she was led to the tower, both of them bravely avoiding the falling fire as they ran.

"Inside! Come on!" Ralof shouted, with Ulfric holding the door for the both of them until they were inside. Then he slammed the door shut as the flying debris hit the door and the tower's walls. Feeling safe for now, the two of them looked around to see what was left of the surviving Stormcloaks. Only two, a Nord woman and man, lied down in pain with scorch marks and bloody wounds as their comrade tended to them.

"Jarl Ulfric! what is that thing? Could the legends be true?" He asked with trepidation.

"Legends don't burn down villages," he answered, he looked around at his situation until he made his orders to his comrades. "We need to move, now!"

"Up through the tower you two, let's go!" He directed the two of them as he ran up the winding stairway, Adrien following behind without protest, but after Summer reoriented herself and her vision…

"Wait a minute," she halted as she turned to the leader of the Stormcloaks staying where he was. "What about you?" This could be the perfect opportunity for a leader such as him to live and fight another day, but the answer he returned surprised her.

"I'm staying with my comrades," Ulfric answered with incredulity. "What kind of leader would I be if I left them to die? We will meet again sooner of later, now go."

"Ulfric always finds a way. Now come on, up the tower!" Being convinced, Summer and Adrien went up the stone worked stairs behind him. They were halfway up the tower when they overheard another Stormcloak.

"We just need to move some of these rocks to clear the way," the male Stormcloak rebel said as he could be heard clearing the rubble out of the way—

The demon dragon bursted it's head through the wall, the debris crashing into the rebel, killing him in an instant from the weight and velocity. The three running up the stairs halted in shock until Ralof yelled for them to get back before the dragon breathed fire into the hole. Luckily the three of them were down far enough where the flames could not reach them. Soon the dragon stopped breathing fire, retracted his claws from the wall and flew away. That was their cue to walk back up the tower, though with some amount of caution until they reach the hole leading outside the tower.

"See the inn on the other side?" Ralof asked as he pointed down to the ruined inn. "Jump through the roof and keep going!

"Go! We'll follow when we can!" Summer was the first to walk up to the edge, looking down at the ruined inn to see a wooden pillar flat enough for her to nimbly land on, but there was a fire building up to its left. So she backed up and got ready.

"Here we go," she said allowed before she ran up to edge and jumped. She landed on the wooden pillar with one boot, then jumped off and landed successfully on the second floor. She turned around to watch the knight get ready, although he looked uncertain knowing he was bound. He took a breath and then jumped off the edge. He landed his feet on the railing of the inn, but then his foot slipped and instead he crashed on his side onto the wood floor. The white cloaked Huntress walked up to him and helped pull him up. After getting up he nodded in appreciation, and before they went anywhere, Summer took out her axe and cut his bindings off.

"Sorry about that," she apologized.

"It's fine," he dismissed before the two continued to the other side of the wrecked building until they heard a commotion.

"Get up." They both hear the voice of a boy in distress as Summer just landed on the first floor without difficulty while Mallus landed with some effort as they were soon outside.

"Haming, get over here." The familiar voice of a certain soldier called out to a boy kneeling over his wounded father. The soldier had his sword out, though he remained where he was a distance away from them. The boy was about to look up when he heard the menacing flapping, and a roar resounding throughout the sky. "Don't look up, just focus on me. You can do it." Still the boy remained where he was with his wounded father, but he did not give up. "Just come towards me."

"Get off the road boy!" Yelled an old man in iron armor as he stayed crouched down behind a pile of burnt wood.

"Get up, Papa, get up!" Hamming argued to help him get up, tears running down his eyes.

"I'm done for little cub," said the wounded father as he clutched his bloodied leg. A shadow loomed over the group watching this, and they looked up in staunch horror what was going to happen. Summer shook out of it and went into getting prepared by quickly pulling out her axes and connected the pommels together. The axe blades were facing her, but she held them away from her as the weapons soon turned into a bow. Adrien saw the development happening with surprise and awe as she took out a collapsible arrow.

'Is that weapon of Dwemer make,' he thought in wonder.

"Go… run for it!" The boy's mind told him to stay by his side, but his heart knew he had to listen.

"Haming, you need to get over here. Now!" The soldier shouted at the boy, trying to coax him to get over to him to safety. He saw Haming stand up, turned about and paced with reluctance to the soldier waiting for him.

"That a boy, you're doing great." He said, but then the dragon landed in front of the boy's father. The earth shook when it landed, causing the boy to stumble to the ground, and he turned around to see the beast in fear. "Torolf!" The soldier called out in horror.

The black dragon reeled back its head, ready to burn the two mortals in front him and let the others watch on in despair, but it did not anticipate an arrow exploding in its face as it impacted, disrupting its momentum. The fiery explosion twisted its head back a bit, and it gave the woman a small window of opportunity to run up to the frozen boy while she reverted her bow back to her axes.

"Come on, there's no time," she said with haste as she picked him up bridal style and ran for safety. The boy struggled but relented, and tears were falling down his cheeks, but he did not dare cry to his father as the distance between them rapidly grew. At least he saw his father smile weakly.

The dragon recovered and saw what was happening, and the act angered it.

"That's it son, make me proud." Torolf said his last words before he was soon engulfed in raging fire.

"Gods… everybody get back!" The soldier ordered as they went to hide behind the wrecked building, just as the dragon unleashed its fire, and the woman making it to the others just in time. The fire soon stopped and the dragon took to the sky to cause more havoc elsewhere upon the town. With the threat gone for now, the soldier looked to the others as he watched the stranger set the boy back down.

"Stranger," He said to her, though he had to raise his voice due to the screams of terror and destruction happening all around them. She stood up from comforting to the boy to look at the soldier. "You were the one who shot that arrow?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Thank you for rescuing him."

She nodded in thanks, then he looked to Adrien. "I see you're still alive, prisoner. Just stay close to me if you want to stay that way. You should come too, stranger, and… wait, where is your bow?" His eyes searched for the bowstring and even the bow itself, but...

"I've stored it away." She shrugged as she tapped on her bearded axes.

'Perhaps Dwemer? No, now's not the time,' he shoved whatever questions he had to the back of his mind for later when they were safe.

"You should bring back your bow, and keep an arrow ready just in case." Then he looked to the old man crouching next to Haming. "Gunnar, take care of the boy. I have to find General Tullius and join their defense."

"Gods guide you two," said Gunnar, referring to both Hadvar and Summer.

The trio went out from behind the ruined structure as she made her bow again, running past the now charred corpse of Torolf. The sight of his charred body made the Huntress feel sick to her stomach with guilt and revulsion.

"Stay close to the wall!" The soldier advised as they reached what remains of a burned ramp and jumped down, but right when they did, the dragon was back as it landed on the wall, just right above the trio. They did not dare say anything, and neither did she dare to shoot the dragon from underneath lest she had a deathwish. The dragon unleashed his fire upon the unlucky legionnaire, and luckily it did not notice them as it then flew off.

"Quickly, follow me!" He said as they followed him up the ramp past the charred soldier. They went through the short passage of a torn building until they reached what was believed to be the town square. What Summer saw with her own eyes both amazed and confused her as she witnessed these two soldiers wearing hoods and casting… fire from their hands. She thought at first that they had a device in their hands to cast fire Dust, but the further she observed, it turned out they did not. There were, however, a few civilians on the ground mortally wounded. She was tempted in wanting to stay and help, but she kept following the two as her mind wandered.

'Just where on Remnant am I,' she wondered.

"Just how much does it take to kill this thing?!" One of the soldiers shouted with complaint as they kept firing their arrows at the flying beast, only for the arrows to bounce off its scaly hide. From among the soldiers stood the General leading his men to desperately keep the beast distracted. Sadly, things had been going south for the legion and guards, and the civilians were being devastated by the dragon's wrath.

"Hadvar!" The General yelled after seeing him along with two other faces. "Into the keep, soldier, we're leaving!"

"It's just us now, you two. Stay close!" Hadvar guided them away from the battle, but out of complete surprise… the dragon spoke.

"Hin sil fen nahkip bahloki." The dragon spoke in a baritonal, guttural voice, and his language was unlike anything anyone had ever heard. The three did not stop in their tracks as they ran closer to the keep. Once Hadvar reached the door, he opened it and frantically gestured them in.

"Through here. Let's go!" He said. The Imperial was the first to go through, but Summer stayed put as she leveled her bow and readied her arrow. "Lady, what are you—

She released the arrow at the dragon before she went inside, believing that her lightning Dust arrow would do some damage, but sadly she did not realize that not even those did any harm to the black monster.

A/N: And here is my first chapter to what I believe will be quite a huge story. Although this chapter is rather short, but I do plan to add much more knowing this game.

You know, I was gonna say Summer Rose being sent to Skyrim in a RWBYxSkyrim crossover for the first time, but someone else had beaten me to it. Anyways, for now this is just the beginning of her adventure after her fight with the Wendigo, and I hope I did the fighting some good. I know that fully trained hunters are like OP superheroes, and I know she should have used her silver eyes to kill it quickly, but then it would not have been thrilling. As for the Dragonborn, i'm certain there may be a few fanfics that have the Imperial as a main character, although I mostly saw Khajiits, argonians, Nords and what not taking up most of it. It will be interesting to see where this Cyrodiilic knight is going to go from then on, if he still follows the path of the knight after this.

This story may take years to finish, but I still got the spirit to push forward with this until it's finished. But I am also still writing Bloodborne Twin, so the publishing of chapters will take even longer to finish, so please bear with me.

This is Kyro2009, signing off.