Blood and Honor

Disclaimer: I do not own Bethesda or The Elder Scrolls series at all. This is just a fanfic ^.^

A sort of peace fell over Remus Damon as he watched the moons, Masser and Secunda, watch over Nirn. He had been traveling for days, from Solitude to the southern border of Skyrim, leading to Cyrodill. He had decided to make the journey after his adoptive mother, Ceria Elion had passed away. All his life, Remus always hungered to know who his real family was, and where he came from.

So, before she died, Ceria told Remus of how she found him in the forest, as a baby sleeping among a pack of feral wolves. She called on the guards to chase the wolves off, and she took him into her house, to raise him as her own.

On her deathbed, she told him that, to find the answers, he must head for the southern border. It was there, she said, that his destiny would begin.

Remus didn't know what she meant, but vowed to make the journey.

A single mother working at a fruit stand in the city center, they were always poor, scraping by on what they could, when they could. Remus could still remember all the nights he spent going to bed hungry. He remembered how Ceria would always give him her food when there wasn't much, just so he would be content.

He loved her. She was the mother that he never had, but was determined to discover who he was, and where he came from. For her. So, after her burial, he packed his things and left, at the age of 19.

Remus traveled on foot, trekking through the dark woods near Falkreath in silence. His pack was slung over his back, and a measly iron sword he had bought in the market was strapped to his waist. He had some skill with a blade, since he always watched and mimicked the guards who practiced by their barracks as a youth. A gold medallion with an inlaid depiction of the sun and moon hung at his neck. It belonged to Ceria, and Remus wanted to keep a piece of her with him.

The icy wind raged against Remus's body, but he kept going, grinning to himself. "I'm from Solitude," he thought. "It's going to take more than this little breeze to freeze me."

As he neared a fork in the road, he noticed a small spring of water to his immediate right. "Guess I should refill my water skin before I move on. There's no knowing how long it'll be before I find another water source this far south."

He looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched, and cautiously turned his back to kneel by the spring. As he filled his water skin, he examined his reflection. The young Imperial had pale skin that shone in the moonlight, contradictory to his neck length coal black hair. His sea green eyes glittered sadly at him. His face looked gaunt from the long journey, and his hair was a shaggy mess. His clothes were stained and dirty, and his leather boots were caked with mud. He sighed, and stood up. Then, he froze as he heard yelling close by.

Remus gripped his sword, but stayed still, lightening closely. The yelling wasn't far from him, and he could hear the clashing of swords accompanying it. "A battle," he thought. It sounded like it was just up the hill past the spring. Remus looked to the fork. The left road lead to the border, and he knew he should continue on his way, to widen the gap between him and the violence breaking out…but his curiosity won out. "Just a peek," he promised himself. "Then I'll run faster than old M'aiq."

Remus quickly dashed up the hill, making sure to stay low to keep from being spotted. Once he reached the top, he got down on his stomach and marveled at the sight in front of him. Two large groups of men and women were locked in a vicious fight. On one side, Remus quickly recognized the uniforms of the Imperial Legion. Solitude was always the home of The Empires main forces. Remus would always watch in awe as the soldiers routinely marched past his home every week. The unified sound of stomping boots lulled him.

On the other side of the battle, there was a small army of people Remus couldn't recognize. They wore fur armor with blue fabrics, and most donned scaled helmets. It wasn't until Remus saw the bear banner over them did he finally recognize them. "Stormcloaks," he thought.

Lately, Skyrim was buzzing with the news of a rebellion trying to push the Empire out of Skyrim, led by the Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak. Living in Solitude, Remus had never gotten a chance to see a Stormcloak in person, but the Imperial soldiers would always tell stories of the savage rebels who wanted to destroy Skyrim's only hope of stability and peace.

In front of him, Remus watched a female Empire soldier, who Remus judged to be a nord, with a simple steel sword. She was facing off against a Stormcloak wielding a hulking two handed war axe. By her full, steel Imperial armor and helm, he could tell she was a high ranking officer. The Stormcloak swung his axe sideways at her, yelling a vicious battle cry. Remus was sure she would be cleaved in half, but at the last second, she jumped back to avoid the attack, and lunged at the Stormcloak, her sword extended out. Before the man could maneuver out of the way, the woman's sword ate its way through the Stormcloaks armor and flew right through his body until the end was sticking out of his back. The man gave a gurgle like cry, and then collapsed. The woman pulled the sword free from the corpse and then thrust the bloody weapon in the air, screaming a victorious war cry.

"Okay, time to go," Remus finally told himself. But as he started to move backwards, his feet bumped into something hard behind him. He turned back slowly to see a grinning Stormcloak standing over him, with an unsheathed sword in his hand.

"Well now, what do we have here?" the Stormcloak said. "An Imperial scout? Watching over our little scrap to report back to those damn elves? I think so. I guess I'll have to send those tyrant bastards a message of my own." He raised his sword to stike Remus.

"Move," a voice said in Remus's head. He gladly obeyed and rolled out of way, just as the sword plunged itself into the earth where he had just been. Remus kept rolling fast until he had enough room, and then scrambled to his feet.

"Slippery son of a bitch, aren't ya?" The Stormcloak laughed, pulling his sword out of the ground. Remus then remembered that he had his own sword, and drew it out. "Oh, got a little fight left in you eh? Well then, come on!" The man charged with bloodlust in his eyes.

"It's over," Remus thought. He closed his eyes and stuck his sword out, preparing for his end. The only thing that saved his life then and there was a rock.

The Stormcloak charged so quickly and confidently, that he didn't see the large rock right in front of him. He tripped, and gave a startled yell as he fell onto Remus's extended sword. The weight forced Remus to the ground, knocking the breath out of him, with the Stormcloak crushing him on top, and his sword poking out of the man's back. Like the Imperial woman had done.

"Oh gods," Remus gasped. With a grunt, he pushed the body off of him, and then quickly scrambled to his feet. He stared down at the man, whose wide, surprised eyes stared unblinking at the moons above. His mouth was slightly open, with blood trickling out of it. A pool of blood started to form around the body, with the sword still in his chest.

Remus just stared uncomprehendingly at the body. "I just," he muttered. "I just killed…oh gods."

The battle still raged in front of Remus, but he couldn't move. He felt like he was going to throw up. He would have stayed there all night, but a noise to his left jarred him out of his stasis. Remus only had a second to see the same Imperial soldier from before bashing the pommel of her sword into his head. Remus fell, and his world went black.

Okay that's chapter 1 done. I apologize that Its not all that good. I'm awful with starting out a story. Please read and review. Constructive criticism is something I can take so bring it on!