Thin mist engulfed my mind. All I saw was fog, obscuring my vision. My head throbbed repeatedly, what was happening? A voice. Unknown to me, unfamiliar. "Hey, you. Finally awake?" My eyes darted open, breathing heavily though it began to diminish. In front of me, hands bound was a blonde Nord. I blinked wide eyes and looked at my own hands, the ropes rubbing my wrists raw. I hissed under my breath before fearfully looking up.

"You were trying to cross the border, right?" I shuddered. I had been. But why was I here? That was roughly all I could remember right now... "Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there." My attention quickly turned to the brown haired Nord that looked rather angry. And though it was hidden well, I could smell his fear.

"Damn you Stormcloaks! Skyrim was fine until you came along!" He growled, bound hands trembling. "Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I would've stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell. You there," He looked right at me, a feeling of dread crept up to my shoulders. "you and me, we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the empire wants."

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief." The blonde Nord frowned, his eyebrows furrowed. I sighed, still not uttering a word.

"Shut up back there!" The driver snapped, not even looking over his shoulders at us. I moved around a bit only to cause the ropes to dig deeper into my wrists. I coughed and bit back a tiny whimper of pain. They'd surely be infected when we reached the prison. Prison... I was in prison a lot. It wasn't really a big deal for me. I was a kleptomaniac, could never really help myself.

"What's his problem? The thief turned to look at the man sitting next to me. Fur coat, gagged mouth.

"Hey, watch your tongue! You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true high king!" The blonde snapped angrily, glaring menacingly at the thief.

I instantly saw the thief's face turn as white as snow. And if mine could, it would've too. This wasn't prison they were taking us to. "Ulfric, the jarl of Windhelm... You're the leader of the rebellion, but if they've captured you- Oh Gods, where are they taking us?" He helped in terror, fidgeting around uncontrollably.

"I don't know where we're going," the blonde Nord sighed. "but Sovngarde awaits."

I'd never seen so much terror flash through someone's eyes in such a short amount of time. "No! This can't be happening, this isn't happening!"

"Hey, what village are you from, horse thief?" The blonde interrupted him softly.

"Why do you care?" The thief was shaking even more now. I found myself just... well, watching the show as we crept nearer to death.

"Because a Nord's last thoughts should be of home."

He was ready to protest, but instead he said, "Rorikstead. I'm, I'm from Rorikstead."

"General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!" An Imperial soldier called, obviously female. My vision had just stopped wavering, and I could now see we were in a small town. "Good, let's get this over with." A man, General Tullius I assumed, replied gruffly.

As we approached our destination, I heard the horse thief mutter, "Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh, Divines, please help me!"

The Stormcloak scoffed. "Look at him! General Tullius, the military governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him! Damn elves, I bet they had something to do with this." He looked around and sighed gently. "This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. I wonder if Vilad is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny. When I was a boy, Imperial towers and walls made me feel so safe..." Now that was just depressing. As I shot the Nord a look of sympathy, I heard a young boy's voice say, "Who are they, daddy?"

"Go inside, little cub." A man replied, the boy's father I believe.

"Why? I wanted to watch the soldiers!"

"Inside the house, now!"

The boy sighed. "Yes, papa."

My vision trailed away from them and back to the Nord. And suddenly, my stomach lurched as the carriage stopped. "Why are we stopping?" The thief cried out. "Why do you think? End of the line. Come, let's go. Shouldn't keep the Gods waiting." The Nord sighed as he stood up, followed by the others, including me. "No, wait! We're not rebels!" The thief yelled in a desperate attempt to be freed. "Face your death with some courage, thief."

I could almost hear his heart hammering frantically. "You've got to tell them we weren't with you! This is a mistake!" He wailed as Ulfric jumped out of the carriage, followed by the terrified thief. A sad smile curved onto my lips and I nudged the thief in an effort to comfort him. He paid no attention.

"Step towards the block as we call your name." The female soldier huffed, a man next to her holding a list. I nodded respectfully to the Jarl of my home. He nodded slightly back at me before facing the Imperials. "One at a time!"

"Empire loves their damned lists." The Nord growled. "Ulfric Stormcloack, Jarl of Windhelm." The man called.

"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric." He sighed next to me. "Ralof of Riverwood!" The Nord next to me, Ralof, headed towards the block. "Lokir of Rorikstead!" And in Lokir's terror stricken frenzy, he did the dumbest thing imaginable.

"No! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" He sprinted away before yelling gleefully, "you're not gonna kill me!" "Halt! Archers!" It all happened so fast. Lokir was shot in the back and the ankle, and before he hit the ground he was dead. I stared in horror. He shouldn't have done that.

"Anyone else feel like running?" She challenged darkly.

"Wait, you there." The list man pointed at me. "Who... are you?"