Cursing softly, Freija brushed her pale blonde hair out of her face and readjusted the heavy war hammer on her back, lessening the pull of the straps digging into her shoulders. Ralof casted her a sidelong glance tinged with concern.
"You all right, kinsman?"
"Fine."
She wasn't much for complaining. In all honestly though, the weight of the war hammer was taking its toll on her weakened form. She hadn't eaten in days and her muscles were sore from swinging the unfamiliar weapon. The fact that the cold wind cut through her Stormcloak cuirass and chilled her to her bones wasn't helping either. It had been a long time since she had last been in her homeland. She had grown used to Elsweyr with its sunny weather and warm sands, and Skyrim was far colder than she remembered.
Hugging her cuirass closer, she set her jaw and pushed the thoughts of Elsweyr out of her mind. There was no use thinking about it now. She had grown up in this climate and she would eventually get used to it again.
"My sister, Gerdur, runs the mill in Riverwood, just up the road. I'm sure she'll help you out."
Freija simply nodded and remained silent, thankful that this stranger had taken a liking to her and decided to help. Thinking back, she couldn't believe her luck, really.
Upon returning to Skyrim she had been caught up in an Imperial ambush and captured for supposedly being a rebel and bearing an amulet of Talos around her neck. No amount of convincing on her part could stop the Imperial soldiers from ripping away her possessions, forcing her into a rough spun tunic, and loading her on a cart with the rest of the captives. The war had certainly gotten worse in her absence.
There on that damned cart headed for Sovengarde is where Freija met Ralof and Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the rebellion himself. She did her best to ignore her fellow passengers as Ralof conversed with a horse thief, resolved to keep a fixed stare on her bound hands. It had been two days since the ambush and she was in no mood to listen to the thief's whining.
"Gerdur!"
"Ralof? Is that you?"
Ralof rushed forward to embrace his sister and began speaking in hushed tones. Gerdur demanded to know about what happened to the pair that caused their alarming appearance; tired, gaunt, and covered in dried blood, some of it their own, most of it not. Ralof tried to calm his frantic sister and insisted that they needed somewhere secluded to talk.
Gerdur led the pair away from the town of Riverwood on the other side of the mill where no one would hear them. As Ralof began to recount what happened at Helgen, Freija couldn't help but relive it herself.
"Captain, what should we do? She's not on the list."
"Forget the list. She goes to the block."
"By your orders, captain. I'm sorry… at least you'll die here in your homeland."
The anger that had been simmering under Freija's skin exploded into a full blown boiling rage. Who the hell did these Legionnaires think they were? Who gave these Empire lackeys the authority to send the innocent to their death, without a trial no less?
"Follow the captain, prisoner."
Freija sneered at the man and spat at his feet before brushing past the captain to join the Stormcloak soldiers standing before the headsman. The notion of escape tugged again at the edges of her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. She wouldn't end up like that horse thief.
'There is no honor in dying with an arrow in your back.'
Those words from her past echoed in her mind and she became resolved to face her death with dignity, shoulders back and head held high. She wouldn't run away. She wasn't raised to be a coward.
"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. You started this war and plunged Skyrim into chaos. And now the Empire is going to put you down and restore the peace."
A roar sounded in the distance, causing Freija and everyone else to look to the sky.
"What was that?"
"It's nothing. Carry on."
"Yes, General Tullius. Give them their last rites."
"As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you. May-"
Stepping forward to the block, a red headed Stormcloak soldier cut off the priestess before she could go any further.
"For the love of Talos, shut up, and let's get this over with."
"As you wish," she replied with pursed lips.
"Come on! I haven't got all morning! My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"
Freija watched unflinchingly as the headsman's axe swung down to meet the red haired man, effectively sending him to Sovengarde.
"As fearless in death as he was in life," murmured the man who called himself Ralof.
"Next, the Nord in the rags."
The roar sounded again, closer and louder this time.
"There it is again. Did you hear that?"
"I said, next prisoner!"
"To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy."
Freija glared daggers at the Legion soldier, but she nevertheless stepped forward towards the headsman's block where she was brutally forced down by the captain. Lying in the blood of the man who was slain before her, she kept her steely gaze locked onto the headsman, making eye contact as he raised his axe for the second time.
Her eyes that had previously shown no fear widened in horror as she saw a large, black, and supposedly legendary dragon land heavily atop the tower behind the headsman. The dragon let out a deafening roar that caused the headsman to stumble and Freija's vision to blur. She had to move. Now. She struggled to her feet, and blindly tried to follow the voice calling out to her.
"Hey, kinsman! Come on! The gods won't give us another chance! This way!"
She ran as best as she could behind the Stormcloak that had called to her and they made their way into a watchtower. Once her vision cleared, she was able to identify the owner of the voice as Ralof. He was leaning against the door and was panting heavily.
"Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?"
Removing the gag that had been placed over his mouth, Ulfric Stormcloak turned to look at Ralof.
"Legends don't burn down villages."
Skyrim really had gone to hell while she was away.
A/N: Hi, this fanfic will be focused on Freija (pronounced Freya) our Nord Dragonborn. It will be pretty cannon with both dialogue from the game as well as entirely new dialogue. This chapter was more of an introduction, and Freija's real adventure starts in chapter two, which I hope that you'll stick around for. This story will probably not exceed 20 chapters and I intend on making each chapter around 1000 words. Leave a review or drop me a pm, I would love to know what you guys think. :)
Love,
NettleBat