DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or the Elder Scrolls franchise in general. The franchise is owned by Bethesda Studios, including Tamriel. Few original characters in there are mine and mine alone, except for one (1) original character that a friend of mine has made for the sake of this story.
Okay. So. Cana didn't expect this to go the way it did. She had been trying to go to her family home in Whiterun when she had been captured by Imperials. That was great. The khajiit looked over at the other three people who were in the cart with her, catching the attention of the nord who sat directly across from her.
"Hey, you," he said, "you were trying to cross the border right? Same as us, and that thief over there." Cana gave no response, tuning out the rest of the conversation. The thief - she later would learn, is from Rorikstead - tried to tell her she didn't belong here with the Stormcloaks. Yeah, she knew that.
The Imperial who was at the head of the cart told them to shut up. Cana gave a small, silent sigh. Today was more bothersome than what she'd hope to admit.
And then finally, as if her prayers had been answered, they reached Helgen. It only took two minutes to go into the small town and get off of the carts. Lokir was shot and killed when he tried to run away from his doom while Ulfric (at that she gave a small scoff at the notion that the rebel leader had been captured so easily) and Ralof (who was proving to be more annoying than she would have liked) simply just accepted their fates.
"Wait, you there," the Imperial soldier looked at Cana. She walked up to him, along with the captain, in silence.
"Who are you?" he questioned. The white khajiit looked at him curiously; was she not on the list?
"Cana. Cana Silverwolf," she answered, hoping to whatever gods out there listening that he didn't question the name. It wasn't a traditional khajiit name, she knew that.
"Captain, what should we do?" he sounded slightly unsure, "she's not on the list." Well that certainly was a surprise. She had remembered that when the Imperial soldiers captured her along with the Stormcloaks, they had asked for everyone's names. Did they forget to put her on it? Oh well. Maybe it meant she wouldn't be executed.
"Forget the list. She goes to the block," the captain told him. Well there goes that plan to stay alive.
"I'm sorry," the soldier told her, "I'll make sure your remains go to Elsweyr."
"Don't bother," she responded, "just send them to S'karim. He's here in Skyrim." S'karim would know what to do with her remains.
"Alright. Follow the captain, prisoner," he told her, but it sounded more like a request. Cana turned her head, following after the Imperial captain without another word. She had seen plenty of executions in her time. It would be quick and painless. That was good.
She tuned out the conversation between general Tullius and Ulfric, and tuned out when there was a roar in the distance. With her family, she knew what the roar was. She'd just ignore it for now.
A Stormcloak to the right of her walked towards his death. She watched with mild interest as his head was severed from his body. The captain called her up to the block, but was interrupted by another roar.
"There it is again. Did you hear that?" the same Imperial soldier with the list asked worriedly.
"I said, next prisoner!" the captain exclaimed, looking at him sharply. The soldier looked at her apologetically.
"To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy." Cana walked towards the headsman and waited. The captain roughly shoved her down to the ground, where her head was almost taken off just by the wooden block itself.
The rest happened in a blur. She was looking at the headsman, waiting quietly. There was a third roar. It was way too close for comfort now. Then she saw the source of the roaring. The dragon came crashing down on the tower. It shouted something in the dragon tongue - something she easily recognized. Meteors came crashing down upon them, one hitting the headsman himself. The dragon said something and Cana felt herself blown away forcefully.
"Hey, you. Come on, get up!" she heard Ralof's voice tell her in an urgent whisper. She groaned as she got up from the ground for two reasons - one being that Ralof was still alive. The other because she felt like the dragon had just landed on her instead of throwing her across the ground with wind. When she was finally standing, the khajiit looked up at the dragon. He stood above them all as if he were a god among mortals, but was staring right at her. It wasn't intimidating. It was a vow. A promise. They would meet again if she were still alive by the end of this.
But it was something more. Something inside of Cana - a primal urge - seemed to ignite within her. She didn't understand it. And that slightly scared her.
The next few seconds were another blur. She followed Ralof, went upstairs the tower, the dragon almost ate her as he burst into the wall, she jumped through a hole into the inn, and then met up with the Imperial soldier. His name was Hadvar, apparently.
"Still alive prisoner? Stay close to me if you want to stay that way!" he shouted.
"Just call me Cana," she simply replied. They watched as the dragon blew flames across a man, burning his body to a crisp. That was an inviting sight. She paid no mind to it as she dashed across to the wall along with Hadvar, who shouted to stay close to the wall as the dragon trapped them in a small space. A soldier was killed in front of her eyes and then the two were off once more.
"Hadvar, into the keep, soldier! We're leaving!" Tullius shouted. The keep. Yeah, that seemed like a good place to use as an escape route. She followed Hadvar some more, and then met up with Ralof. Again. Gods, the nord annoyed her to death. If only she still had her weapons...
"Ralof, you damned traitor. Out of my way!" Hadvar commanded.
"We're escaping, Hadvar. And you're not stopping us this time," Ralof replied smoothly.
"Fine. I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde," the Imperial soldier told him. Ralof looked at Cana.
"You! Come on, into the keep," the Stormcloak prompted.
"Cana, come on! You'll be safe inside the keep!" Hadvar shouted. The khajiit had a choice: Hadvar or Ralof. '
Why are there two doors anyways?' she wondered as she took long strides towards Hadvar as he opened the door and the two entered the Helgen keep together.
This was only the beginning of the storm.