Cerise didn't know how old she was. She didn't know anything besides her name. Several years ago, she woke up on the side of the road, hungry, cold, confused and with no memories but that of her name. She didn't know where she was, how she got there or why she was there at all.
With nothing to lose, she picked herself up and began walking down the road, eventually finding her way to a town called Riften. She survived there for weeks by pickpocketing gold, stealing small bits of food and finding the warmest place to curl up during the nights. Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched and was approached later by a man named Brynjolf. He has her do some quick thieving work in exchange for some coin, and just like that he asks if she wants to join his guild. A guild of thieves.
And hey, she thinks to herself, being a part of a group of people that were just like her, wouldn't judge her for her actions and would help her make some coin along the way? That's not such a bad idea. If it provides a warm place to sleep and to live, those are just bonuses along the way.
For a few years, Cerise goes on as a thief. She takes jobs, steals things, earns herself some decent coin and eventually, it's enough for her to buy the house that's up for sale in Whiterun. Not a bad idea, considering having someone in another city is good for the guild. And it gives her a chance to adopt some children, just like she's always wanted to. She's made a good life for herself, and wouldn't trade it in for anything. Her worry over her missing past is a distant memory, almost as forgotten as her past itself.
Only, that's where the trouble begins. The job wasn't anything she hadn't done a million times before. Sneak in, take the item, sneak back out. Cash it in at the Ragged Flagon and go home to her kids. But the camp is ambushed and Cerise is arrested along with the others there, the Imperials believing her to be a Stormcloak like the others she captured, despite not wearing their armour.
She's two seconds from getting her head cut off and never seeing her family again when a goddamned dragon swoops in a saves her life by attacking the town of Helgen. Oh, and one last plot twist? Turns out Cerise is something called Dragonborn and that dragon that saved her life is actually her archenemy.