Julianna crouched low in the shadow of a tree. Her eyes locked onto the deer in the distance, refusing to let it out of her sights. She didn't even let herself get distracted as one of the geysers nearby came to life and shot up to life towards the sky. She fought back the excitement so that she could keep her eyes on her prey. The animal put its head back down to graze and she placed the notch in arrow along the string of her bow, slowly drawing the string and arrow back.
She was surprised when the deer was struck down when her arrow hadn't even been shot. Her eyes shifted around quickly, looking for the source of the arrow. Then she heard the heavy hooves of horses behind her and gasped as she jumped against the tree closest to her to avoid being trampled.
Apparently she was not the only one rather spooked by the rather sudden series of events. She had unintentionally spooked the horse that had been galloping towards the kill. The man on top of the horse tried to calm his mount but to no avail. The horse kicked and bucked until the man had fallen off, and at the feel of the reigns becoming slack it took off and away from them.
She watched the horse run off then slow and stop once it reached where a group of men and horses now stood. They looked back towards where the horse came from confusion and worry in what their faint voices. She kept her back pressed against the tree, still trying to recover from the near death experience.
"Damned beast is scared of everything," a masculine voice murmured near her, nearly causing her to jump. She looked over to the man, who until he had spoken, she had forgotten about. When his eyes met hers she felt like the ice color of his eyes literally froze her in place. She looked him over, confusion swarming around her head. She noticed he dress quite well, so he had to be a noble of some kind. He had blond hair, which wasn't too out of the ordinary for a nord. But the way he scowled made her think twice about even flinching.
He seemed to assess the situation, looking her over and trying to decipher whatever puzzle he thought she might be. Then after a few moments of scrutiny he finally spoke, "What are you doing?"
"Eh? Erm," she looked down towards her bow then to the other side of her before looking back at him, "Well, at this precise moment trying to figure out exactly what I should do. I'm sorry about spooking your horse," she said finally, albeit it felt a bit awkward for her.
His scowl softened slightly, seeming to understand that she truly had no intent to do such a thing. He stood up and gently brushed some dirt off his nice trousers. He went to speak up when the rest of his company came over and interrupted.
"Well, you certain weren't ready for that now were you Ulfric?" A large man with what she thought was a snow bear pelt around his shoulders said.
"Ulfric? Why does that sound so familiar?" Julianna thought.
"I'm fine father," the man she now knew was named Ulfric growled. The larger man let out a hearty laugh and turned to her, about to speak when another interruption occurred.
"Julianna!" She heard her father's frightened voice sound. He came up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "What's going on?"
"The girl spooked my son's horse on accident when she jumped out of the way of the beast's hooves," The larger man said, then gave her a wide grin, "I must say, none of us saw you hiding their in the shade."
"Aye, she's always been good at staying hidden when we go out hunting. I hope you can forgive her for the incident, Jarl Tyrleif," her father spoke apologetically.
"No harm done," he said, again with a grin.
"Jarl Tyrleif the Bear! And this man Ulfric is his son! Way to go Julianna, you totally helped the Jarl's Son look poorly," Julianna thought, attempting to keep her face straight and her embarrassment hidden. However she couldn't prevent the wince that had occurred when the realization struck.
This caused a round of laughter from the men and her father. She hadn't noticed the absence of Ulfric's laughter until he spoke up. "Leave the girl be, she obviously hasn't been in Windhelm enough to recognize us," he said.
She smiled weakly up at him, unable to offer anything more as a thank you. She saw the corner of his lip turn upward slightly, as if to not make it obvious that he was satisfied with the response. She watched as her father looked back towards the now setting sun, giving way to the twin moons and night.
"It'll be dark in an hour," he said thoughtfully, more to himself than to anyone else.
"So it seems. I invite you and your daughter to make camp with us for the night. It's just my son, myself, and our body guards. It'll be nice to have some more company," the Jarl of Windhelm spoke.
"As long as you don't mind, my Jarl. There have been rumors of Bandits in these parts and it would make it safer to have more people," her father spoke, and then turned to her. "Julie, would you mind getting our packs from the spot I was at up on the hill? I'll help the Jarl skin the dear he shot in the meantime."
"Sure thing," she said as she turned on her heel and began walking towards the hill her father had kept watch from earlier. As she walked away from the group she overheard the men she'd left behind her talking.
"Actually it was my son's kill. He's finally visited me after having spent quite some time away studying. Decided to take the boy hunting, his mother insists I spend time with him even though he's grown," the Jarl said with a laugh.
"Ah, well, that was a great shot. And maybe almost being trampled will teach my daughter to be more in tune with her surroundings," her father added. She turned to glare back at him as she made her way up the hill. What caught her off guard was when the Jarl's son began laughing. She blinked in confusion and looked at him. While she had looked back to glare at her father, she had noticed in her peripheral vision that his arms had been crossed, a sign that he wasn't exactly excited to be hunting.
"It seems the lass heard you," Ulfric answered to the confused looks their fathers gave him. This caused the two older men to look up at her and she huffed as she turned her head back to glare down at the ground in front of her as she continued up the hill. She cringed as they burst into laughter again.
"Well this has turned out to be a great day," she thought sarcastically.
After the sun had set and the camp had been made Julianna sat with her back against a tree. She sat with the campfire to her left so that the light from the flames would illuminate the pages of the book she read. The laughter from the others didn't distract her from the book resting in her lap. She hadn't even notice someone walk up and peer at the book over her shoulder as she turned the page.
"The Black Arrow, huh? And if I remember from reading it myself correctly that's volume II is it not?" the person said unexpectedly and Julianna quickly looked up to the person who had spoken. She was caught even more off guard when she saw the young Ulfric Stormcloak peering down at the open pages of the book.
"Yes, it is volume II," she answered, suddenly a bit uncomfortable with the company. Her uneasiness was either unnoticed or ignored as he sat down next to her, his eyes still on the book.
"I read that when I was a younger lad, probably about my thirteenth winter," he said.
"Yeah, I read volume I a few years ago. Unfortunately however we don't get very many books in Kynesgrove, so I hadn't been able to get a hold of this copy of volume II until recently," she said, a bit embarrassed to admit the small communities lack of reading material to the jarl's son.
"So you are from Kynesgrove," he said a bit thoughtfully, looking up from the book.
"Yes, born and raised there," she said, "it's definitely not as big as Windhelm. But because it's so small I know everyone there very well, and I like that aspect of it."
"It certainly is a lot small than Windhelm. And I can't say I know everyone in Windhelm. I know of the nobles and the beggars who crowd the fires at night, but there are also people that I don't even recognize," he said.
"You know, Windhelm is so close, yet I've never even been inside the city walls," she said, thinking of the large city.
"Really now," he commented thoughtfully, rubbing the short whiskers on his chin.
"Yes, usually my father goes to the city with Kjeld for supplies while I stay and take care of the inn and do chores," she said.
"Ah, that seems a bit boring," he said honestly, getting a laugh out of her.
"Not as boring as it seems. The inn is really easy to help take care of, and if they don't need any help in there I get to go up the trail and read or have lunch at the dragon burial site."
"Dragon burial site?" he questioned, obviously curious.
"Well, at least that's what my mother told me before she died. My dad doesn't think so though, says it's just a giant mound of dirt," she said, a fond smile at the memories of her mother playfully arguing with her father.
"Ah, I see," he said, looking back towards the camp fire as laughter erupted amongst the others.
"Dear boy, what are you doing? You're drink is all the waaayyy over here," the Jarl slurred slightly.
"Julie! Julie!" her father started, turning in his spot next to the fire to see her better.
"Oh no, he's drunk. What is he going to do? I hope it's not as bad as the time he danced around the Inn with a bucket on his head," she thought nervously as she watched her father turn to face her.
"Julie! Stop it!" he said, the grin plastered on his face scaring her quite a bit.
"What is it I'm doing that I should stop?" she asked, leaning forward slightly so that she could see her father around Ulfric.
"You're catching my son's attention with your looks lass!" The jarl said bursting into a fit of laughter.
"Yes, and you are too young! You're not marrying anybody till you're…. till you're… till I say you can!" her father said before bursting into a fit of laughter like the others. Julianna covered her face with her hand and shook her head in disappointment.
"Well, it's not as bad. It's worse. Now the rest of the night is going to be awkward."
"Well, at least their tempers aren't rising. Better to have a few embarrassing drunks than some angry drunken ones," Ulfric said, and then he unexpectedly continued in a softer tone, "Besides, you are quite lovely on the eyes."
She looked up and lowered her hand from her face, "Oh, um, thank you," she replied softly, unsure of what to say other than that.
"You're quite welcome," he said, then looked back over to their fathers.
"I swear that man loves to embarrass me and himself," she mumbled. She was a bit surprised when Ulfric suddenly laughed and her gaze went from her father to him.
"There was one time he half danced; half stumbled around the inn trying to serenade a broom into cleaning the porch for him," she said, grinning as Ulfric snorted and held his side in a fit of laughter.
"Does your father drink often?" he said between laughter.
"No, but when he does it certainly is entertaining," she answered with a wide grin.
"Oi! What are you talkin' 'bout over there!" Her father suddenly shouted.
"Nothing Daddy, just keep talking to the good Jarl," she said in a sweet, yet sarcastic tone which caused Ulfric to stifle another bout of laughter.
"Hear that son! The good Jarl!" Jarl Tyrleif said happily.
"Oh, shut it you old bear, of course I heard her. I'm sitting right next to the girl!" Ulfric looked over to his own father and said.
Suddenly a yawn escaped her lips and she suddenly realized how tired she was. She was about to look up to the sky for the time when she saw Ulfric's Icy-blues looking at her. "Perhaps you should get retire for the night," he said and stood up from the spot he had taken next to her against the tree.
"I suppose I should," she said as she herself stood up, taking a moment to stretch her arms upward. As her arms came back down to her sides he caught one of her hands and gently pressed it to his lips.
"Good night Julianna," he said softly then turned to return to the camp fire.
"Good night," she said, a blush appearing on her face. She walked over to her bed roll, her face still tinged a shade of red as she crawled into the thick furs. She couldn't believe a guy could make her feel as giddy and tickled as she did, but then again, how many guys in Kynesgrove were actually her age.
The next morning was fairly busy. Julianna prepared the some venison for breakfast, as her hung over father had asked her to do, and after a quick meal the group pack camp and was ready to head their separate ways.
"Thank you for letting us camp with you, Jarl Tyrleif," her father said, a wide smile on his face.
"And thank you for the drinks and company," the Jarl replied.
"Be sure to come see us in Windhelm sometime," Ulfric added.
"Certainly," Julianna said, as she picked up her pack off the ground.
"Well, good hunting," the Jarl said as he mounted his steed and began riding away. Ulfric followed suit and gave a curt nod before following after his father and guards. Julianna and her father turned towards the direction of Kynesgrove and began their hike back. After a half hour in silence, she was surprised when her father spoke up.
"So the Jarl's son seems to be interested in you."
"I'm sure he was just using his manners," she said nonchalantly.
"Perhaps, although the Jarl did mention that his son usually didn't bother with the women in Windhelm," he said as he looked up to the sky. Julianna eyed him suspiciously as they walked down to the road.
"What are you getting at?" she asked.
"You're interested in him, aren't you?" He asked with a wide grin on his face.
"DAD!" she exclaimed, causing him to jog down to the road ahead of her, laughing loudly.
Ulfric dismounted his horse at the front stables as his father began walking towards the city gate.
"I can't believe you convinced me to give them away all the venison from your kill," his father said as he caught up to him.
"They seemed to need it more than us. Besides, I did scare the girl when I almost trampled over her," he replied calmly.
"Ah, I see," his father said smugly.
Ulfric raised a curious brow to his father, "What is it?"
"The girl, what was her name again?" he asked.
"Julianna, why?" he said.
"Ha! It's true then, you do have an interest in the girl! After all this time of introducing you to young, capable noble women and you find interest in a young huntress," his father said with a laugh.
Ulfric cast a glare at his father, "Even if I was interested in the girl, it would have been rude to leave her out of the group as she read."
"Oh shut it Ulfric, you like the girl and I know it. Although, I don't see why you'd go for a young huntress like her when you have the young noble women of Windhelm who'd be more than happy to be at your side," his father said, "You could have that young Shatter-Shield girl. She herself is quite lovely."
"The women of Windhelm enjoy being gifted various trinkets and jewelry like any of the better to do folk. They're usually spoiled by their parents, and wish to be spoiled by their spouses as well," he replied, attempting to conceal a growl.
"Ah, I see. So then it is because she is not spoiled, and because she finds joy in simple things. Makes her easier to take care of," his father said.
"If I know better, which I usually do, she can take care of herself," Ulfric said as he and his father approached the Palace of Kings.
"Aye, perhaps she can," his father said, dropping the subject as they entered the palace.
Author's Note: First off, thanks for reading! This was a fun idea I've been contemplating for a few weeks, and now I've got a fairly good idea how this is going to go. First off, I'd like to explain that Julianna is NOT the dragonborn. He will be in the story later, but he won't play a very large roll except for when he is in the Stormcloak ranks a bit later. Also, I just wanted to explain that this is set when Ulfric is 20, or at least the first few chapters are going to be. And while this starts out with our characters at 20 and 17(Julianna) it will eventually lead up to current events in skyrim.
Well, thanks once again for reading! I'll have the next chapter up no later than February 22, 2012 8:00 p.m. EST.