It was late afternoon when Sorcha saw the walls of Whiterun on the horizon, past the flat farm lands the city stood tall and proud. She'd finally stopped to read the note her brother had left in her bag, it was a map of Skyrim. Saying he'd meet her in Whiterun. Sorcha had always liked cities, there was an inherently safe feeling from being within a city walls that you didn't have being in a village. Ahead she saw a small group of people fighting what looked like a giant, she sprinted over but by the time she reached them the giant had slumped to the ground dead. A woman not much older than her was looking around bouncing slightly from excess adrenaline and excitement of the successful kill, she saw Sorcha and greeted her enthusiastically claiming her name was Ria. The other woman was glaring at Sorcha for some reason, maybe she was annoyed Sorcha hadn't helped kill the giant but it was already dead before she even reached the group. The last was a man with shaggy hair and a scruffy beard, he didn't look like the smarted man Sorcha had ever met but he was looking at Sorcha like she was some sparkly gem or something of the like.

"We killed this giant no thanks to you" the red-haired woman with the face paint chastised her.

"You killed it before I could get here, and I have daggers" Sorcha pointed out comparing her forearm lengthed daggers compared to the long sword, great sword and bow that they had. That answer didn't seem to satisfy the woman though, she quietly snarled at Sorcha before turning back towards Whiterun. The man gave her one last wistful look as he went lumbering after her.

"Names Ria, you new to Skyrim? You should come visit Jorrvaskr, you look like you might fit in with us" the young woman said "It's the mead hall in Whiterun, if there are people sparing inside you're in the right place" she told her as she went running after the group. Sorcha took a moment to look over the giant but found nothing of interest so she started walking towards Whiterun.

Her mother had told her some titbits about Skyrim that she'd learned scouting the place before they decided on the move. Whiterun apparently used to trap dragons, Solitude was where the King used to live, Riften was the home of the Thieves Guild and Windhelm was bad for anyone that wasn't Nord. That was fine for Sorcha since she was Nord by blood but she could see how that would be a problem for her mum and brother, her mum or technically adoptive mum was a Dunmer and her brother was complicated. She was glad she had a map now, at least her brother had the foresight to get her one.

There were stables near the entrance to the city, and a small camp of Khajiit merchants. She'd always liked Khajiit's, her adopted dad was one and she had faint memories of playing with his tail while he read to them. Though those were sadly only one of the few memories she had of him before he passed away. She waved to the camp as she walked passed and they smiled and waved back. There were guards walking around the walls of the city, eyeing Sorcha suspiciously, as she neared the main gate one came up to her.

"State your business" he said harshly

"I was sent with news about the dragon attack" Sorcha explained, the guard turned his head to look to the other guard at the gate who gave a miniscule non.

"Very well, go right in" he said while the other went to push the small door that was cut into the gate open.

It was a nice city, the smells of fresh food from the market that Sorcha could see up the path ahead of her. There was a man and woman arguing near a forge, apparently, the woman wasn't making enough weapons for the man's taste and he wasn't going to ask for some Eorlund Gray-Mane to help. She couldn't see her brother but that didn't worry her too much, Azlem generally stayed inside when he wasn't working or travelling so he was probably in a bar or inn. As she walked up the path the neighbourhood children ran past her laughing as they were playing tag, there was a woman at a fruit and vegetable stand watching the children proudly so at least one of them was her child Sorcha assumed.

"Hello, my names Sorcha I'm new to Whiterun" she said to the woman

"Oh, welcome to Whiterun then, I'm Carlotta Valentia. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I'm guessing the Jarl is up there?" she asked pointing to the big building towering over the city at the top of the stairs, Carlotta nodded "What should I know about the people here?"

"Well avoid Mikael, he's the bard in the Bannered Mare, horrible flirt that thinks he's a gift to woman kind. The Battle-Born and Gray-Mane families are the biggest families in Whiterun and they have a lot of bad blood between them. You look like you travel so if you need new equipment or repairs Eorlund Gray-Mane or Adrianne are your best options, you'll have passed Adrianne when you came in. Arcadia's Cauldron is just there, she sells potions and Belethor just there for general goods, and our Jarl is Jarl Balgruuf the Greater"

"Has anyone else new come to town? I'm meant to be meeting someone"

"Ah the only newcomer we've had got arrested shortly after getting here, strange looking man not much older than you actually. They caught him lurking around on rooftops"

"Oh… where's your cities prison?"

"Under Dragonsreach, up there"

"Thank you, I'll see you later" Sorcha said sprinting up the stairs to Dragonsreach, heading straight through the doors to the prison. Waltzing straight passed the confused guards to the cell where her brother was.

Their parents had never properly explained how Azlem came to exist, they were skilled with magic and that was as far as it went. Being a Khajiit and a Dunmer supposedly made it near impossible for them to have had children naturally so that might have explained his appearance. He had a humanoid frame but was shorter and thinner then he should have been at his age, he had the dark skin from his mother and the red eyes common with Dunmer but he had patches of orange fur instead of hair, claws instead of nails, canines sharp enough to be fangs, large cat ears and an orange tail. He was a lovely man but no one ever really gave him a chance, didn't help that their family was known to be thieves. Sorcha leaned against the wall beside the cell door waiting until her brother noticed her, when he did he ran up to the cell door reaching out to hug her through the bars.

"I'm so glad your safe" he said quietly

"What did you do?"

"I was sitting on a roof, they thought I was breaking in and threw me in here" he explained

"What's your bounty? I have some coins"

"Don't worry, they're just keeping me in for a couple of hours then cutting me loose. I'll be fine have you heard from mum?"

"No I figured she'd have met up with you"

"She knows the plan and its mum, of course she'll be fine I'll see you at the Bannered Mare when I get out?"

"Of course, stay safe brother"

"You too sister" with that Sorcha left the prison, pretty confident that these guards would let him out tomorrow but if they didn't she'd make sure they did.

The hall was gigantic, with high ceilings and large open space floors, the wood work was rich dark wood and Sorcha could see faint detailing carved into the surfaces. There was a long fire pit along the floor with equalling long tables either side going up to where the Jarl was sitting on his fancy chair with what Sorcha assumed to be his advisor. Three children were sitting at the table eating, they all varying shades of brown hair that they must have inherited from their mother since Balgruuf had blonde hair. The eldest, a boy, had a benevolent look a respect in his eyes and nodded in greeting but the other boy and girl looked smug. As she approached the Jarl his bodyguard stepped down towards her with her sword drawn.

"Dragon attacked Helgen, might be going for Riverwood I survived Helgen and was sent to talk to the Jarl" Sorcha quickly explained

"Stand down Irileth" the Jarl ordered "You were at Helgen? What happened?"

"The Legion were executing Stormcloaks they'd caught in an ambush, Ulfric was amongst us. I'm not a Stormcloak by the way I was just in the area when they sprung the trap. They were about to chop my head off when this huge dragon flew down from the mountain top, it landed on one of the buildings and shouted. Then it was just chaos, buildings crumbling and burning, Stormcloaks and Imperials swapping between fighting each other trying to kill this thing and just trying to get out before they burned to death" Sorcha could tell she was talking too fast but actually thinking about what happened it was horrifying.

"Take a breath, you're fine" Balgruuf told her

"I escaped with a man named Hadvar who took me to Riverwood to see his uncle. I don't know who or how many others escaped but I was asked to come and tell you what I knew. Because the next nearest place to Helgen is Riverwood so it's likely to get attacked" the Jarl leaned back in his chair, hand against his chin contemplating.

"Irileth, sound out a detachment to Riverwood at once" he ordered

"Yes, my lord" the bodyguard said marching off to carry out the instruction.

"My lord are you sure that's wise? It could be seen as us moving to join Ulfric's rebellion" the Jarl's advisor pointed out looking slightly concerned

"I will hear nothing more on this Proventus, I will not risk my people being killed by a dragon" the advisor mumbled an apology and excused himself to attend to his other duties quickly walking away. The Jarl pushed himself up off his chair stepping down towards Sorcha, he was an aged man but she had no doubt he'd still be a pretty formidable opponent. He lifted an arm and set his hand on Sorcha's shoulder, she recognised the gesture as something brothers in arms did. "You've done a great service for Whiterun, I won't forget this. Though perhaps I can ask another favour of you? Come, we must speak with Farengar my court wizard he has been looking into the matter of dragons and rumours" he said striding past Sorcha heading for one of the side rooms.

The room smelled heavily of botched potions and charcoal like the wizard had a strong tendency towards burning whatever he was trying to create than successfully creating anything. He had a table cluttered with bits of paper talking about different potion ingredients, fields of study, legends and the like. The wizard clearly slept in the same room he worked in judging from the bed, Sorcha guessed the man didn't get out much. Maybe he was allergic to the sun, it would explain why he had his hood pulled up over his face despite being inside. It took him a moment to notice they'd walked into the room as he was thoroughly engrossed in his reading but when he did he bashfully tidied his papers as best he could.

"Farengar, I have someone who might be of some use to you" was all the Jarl said before leaving them to it.

"Ah he must be talking about my research on the Dragonstone, I have heard it may or may not be in Bleak Falls Barrow. I need you to go and retrieve it"

"May or may not… show me where it is on my map" Sorcha said unfurling her map, he marked a location not that far a walk from Riverwood. "I'll just get going now then" she said awkwardly leaving the room "May or may not, that is not professional" she mumbled walking out the building.

Sorcha was focusing completely on her map trying to work out the best path to Bleak Falls Barrow when she glanced up to see she was about to walk into the side of a horse. It was a beautiful horse with clean well brushed white fur and mane. It didn't mind when Sorcha started petting its neck. After a few moments, a man not much older than Sorcha approached, his golden hair matched by the gold pieces of the gold and white metal armour he was wearing. He had friendly blue eyes and a cocky smile on his face.

"Hi, I see you like my horse" he greeted playfully "Her names Fray"

"She's beautiful, you must take good care of her"

"She's been a loyal travel companion, it's the least I can do to return the favour" he explained as he went about saddling his horse up. "My name's Falcor, I take it your as new to Skyrim as I am?"

"Sorcha, and yeah I got here not too long ago. I'm actually away exploring, the Jarl asked me to go to this Bleak Falls Barrow to fine a Dragonstone for his wizard"

"Bleak Falls Barrow? I'm heading there myself actually, this brother and sister got something of theirs stolen and the thieves went there. You want a ride?" he offered as he climbed up onto the saddle.

"Are you sure I won't be too heavy or get in the way?"

"Fray can carry two fully grown men and still move alright, you look like you way a feather. If we're going the same place a horse is the better choice, it is up a mountain" he held out his hand which Sorcha took and he helped lift her up onto the saddle in front of him. The horse started moving at a steady trot, Sorcha had never had the chance to ride one before it was an odd experience. She leaned back against her new companion which he didn't seem to mind. "So, what brings you to Skyrim?"

"My mum wanted to give us a clean slate, moving to a new place did that so here I am, how about you?"

"My mentor told me of the building civil unrest happening in Skyrim, I was sent here to help in the best way I could. That is my calling"

"You joining the army or rebellion?"

"Neither. I don't believe either cause is truly just and that this war is just going to harm innocent people, I am here to help people" he explained, the horse broke out into a sprint up hill and for a moment Sorcha was worried she'd fall off but the Falcor had both hands firmly on the reigns so arms on either side of Sorcha kept her balanced on the saddle. She was happy to be travelling with this Falcor, he seemed like a genuinely friendly person.

As they went higher up the mountain it started getting colder, the wind getting an icy chill to it as they were riding through thick snow. Cold weather wasn't something Sorcha was used to but she was thankful her mum had insisted on tattooing her with heat runes to stave off illness. The outline of a ruin entrance came over the horizon, Falcor stopped his horse and climbed off offering Sorcha a hand down. When her feet touched the ground, she sunk into the snow with it nearly falling over into her boots. Falcor said something to Fray and she started back down the mountain path, he checked the sword before he moved forward. Sorcha was careful to walk in the man's prominent footsteps making it easier to walk through the snow, all of a sudden Falcor stopped and dropped to his knees grabbing Sorcha's wrist and pulling her down. It took a moment for Sorcha to see what had Falcor on stealth mode, outside the entrance to the Barrows were three bandits patrolling the area. Quietly Falcor drew his sword, creeping forward towards the ruins when Sorcha grabbed his arm.

"Are you going to kill them?" she whispered

"These might be the bandits that robbed the Riverwood Traders, if so they're dangerous. I'd rather avoid combat but I want to go in prepared" he whispered back, even so he waited for Sorcha to nod and get her own daggers ready before he continued creeping towards the bandits.