Riverwood, Whiterun Hold
Skyrim
The 17th of Last Seed, 4E201

Ralof and Hadvar reunited with their families, both of whom helped Belinda out. She got clean clothes, armor, a steel sword, and food. Belinda bathed into the river, using magic to keep her body warm in the cold water. Some bathing sugars and careful shaving with a dagger left her feeling imensely better. She dried off and dressed in black leggings and a black shirt and brown leather armor lined with black fur and adorned with iron studs. The armor fit perfectly when buckled right. She then combed and braided and her hair.

The sky overhead was beautiful. She could see an endless expanse of stars in the dark blue sky. In the east was the huge, red moon Masser with little white-silver Secunda to the side. Where Belinda lived, she could count the stars. Here, she was lost in them. Then there was the river of violet-red and red-violet with brighter stars. It was so beautiful. She sat in the grass and looked up, enjoying the crisp, cool night.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" came a deep, familiar voice.

Belinda sat up and turned her head to see Ulfric Stormcloak, riding a bay horse. She smiled. "Quite. Good to see you made it out of Helgan," she responded. "I take it you'll be heading back to Windhelm?" she inquired.

"Yes; do you know who else escaped?"

"Your soldier Ralof and an Imperial Hadvar, natives of Riverwood," Belinda said. "They're currently with their families. Tomorrow I'm heading to Whiterun to let the Jarl know that the dragon was last spotted flying north from Bleak Falls Barrow."

Ulfric nodded. "Be weary then," he said. "Balgruuf if known for his temper and his Housecarl is fierce and wicked with a blade."

"If she holds such a position as the Jarl's Housecarl, I expect her to be," Belinda chuckled. She laid back in the grass, still watching the stars. "May you have a safe journey," she said to Ulfric.

"Good luck to you also," Ulfric replied, and the rode off.

Whiterun, Whiterun Hold
Skyrim
The 18th of Last Seed, 4E201

Belinda awoke in the foredawn, lying on her side in the grass. She was a tad stiff, but the soft ground was a Hell of a lot more comfortable than a wooden wagon. She stretched, arching her back and making an X-shaped much like a cat. She went through her daily wake-up routine before drawing her new boot knife to slice and core a red apple for her breakfast. After tossing the core and seeds to the ground, she rinsed her knife in the river and went through Riverwood. It was quiet and peaceful in the foredawn, a time that Belinda enjoyed even on her homeplane. There was little traffic and little noise, allowing her to go about her tasks quickly if she was awake and wanted to go outside or go somewhere. Night was ideal for her. She worked best in those hours. Maybe it was because she was an insomniac?

Nonetheless, she made it to a spot just as the sun was beginning its ascent where she could see the vast, rolling plains of Whiterun Hold better. They came in shades of yellow, gold, and light brown with the occasional green fields of hardy produce and dashes of blue, red, and violet where wildflowers grew. There were mountains surrounding the golden plains, ripe with white mana. She could feel the power of red, white, green, and blue flowing through her. It invigorated her, making her fingertips tingle in excitement at the prospect of the mana-rich area.

Then there was the capital of the hold: Whiterun itself. It had tall, grey stone walls that were weathered and looked ready to fall. They never did though. The city was built on and around a small mountain, and was surrounded by several farms and ranches. From her perch on a boulder alongside the road, she could see farmers and ranchers rising to tend their fields and animals. One farm was, interestingly enough, empty. Belinda was curious.

She descended down to the farm, Pelagius Farm, where she spotted four people lying low, waiting. They were all Nords except for one. A small Cyrodiilic girl was closest to where Belinda stood, hidden in the shadows. No magical talent. She had a pretty face but was admittedly plain otherwise. Tan skin, light brown eyes, dark brown hair worn in Nordic fashion. She wore scale armor, fur lining it and steel studs and light steel plates adorning it. She carried a rather intricate steel sword on her belt.

There was only one Nord woman in the group. She was tall with fair skin, freckles dusting her cheeks and forehead. Her nose was similar to that of a wolf's. She had moon-silver eyes with small pupils and long, wild, auburn hair. She had painted her lips green with three green streaks across her face akin to that of a monster's claws. She was clearly very proud of her form, as she wore a brown leather tunic-like dress with a plunging V-shape neckline, an open back, and moonstone-adorned iron plates giving it some sort of modesty. There was a darker brown leather belt just about her hips that held iron plate armor and iron chainmail over the sides of her thighs. There was the fur-lined iron plate pauldrons, heavy leather boots, long, olive green, fingerless gloves; studded leather and iron plate bracers, a quiver of steel arrows, a hunting bow, and an intricate steel dagger.

There were two Nord men. One was much larger in every way. He had long, messy black hair and matching stubble around his mouth and the same striking moon-silver eyes as the redhead beside him. He had messy black warpaint around his eyes. He wore Nord carved steel armor. He wielded an intricate-looking great sword. Despite his rugged and dirt-smudged face, he was very attractive. Belinda wondered what the actual Hell was with all the attractive people?!

Finally, there was the last Nord. He wasn't as large as the steel-clad warrior beside him, but he still was quite big. He wore no head cover, so his medium blond hair was visible, two braids framing his face with a matching beard. His eyes were also a moon-silver, a trait Belinda was beginning to notice. Were the three Nords relate? No, their hair colors were too diverse. Granted, one of them may be a recessive trait. This blond Nord wore steel plated armor with a wolf carving on the chest piece. He wore a tunic of black wolf fur underneath and had black steel war axe on his back. Belinda examined the axe and the armor closely. Wolf Armor. The Companions. And that had to mean the axe was Wuuthrad! It certainly looked like the ancient axe she had read about.

They finally found all the pieces and reforged it, Belinda thought. The Nord who was wielding it was definitely someone to keep an eye on. Belinda reached out a little deeper. The Nords were werewolves. That explained the striking silver eyes. Then the ground shook softly. Belinda adjusted her position and saw a giant arrive on the farm. It was probably 15 feet all with tangled brown hair and wielding a large club of bone and wood. It had a level of intelligence in its eyes, enough to survive. He leaned down to grab the produce, and that's the Companions struck, shouting battle cries.

The two large Nord men and the Cyrodiilic woman came with weapons in hand. Belinda finally observed that the young Cyrodiilic also had an iron-bound wooden shield. The redhead hung back, notching an arrow to the string of her bow and aiming. She shot at the giant. The giant immediately turned to the charging Nords and Cyrodiilic. He swung at the larger Nord, sending him flying back and into the cobblestone base of the windmill.

"Farkas!" the Nord with Wuuthrad shouted, pausing to see if his friend was well. That was all the distraction the giant needed.

"Watch out, Harbinger!" the Cyrodiilic exclaimed.

Harbinger?! Belinda thought.

The Nord bearing Wuuthrad leapt aside as the giant's club came swinging down. That was when Belinda came into the fight, chanting an incantation that brought ice to her hands in the form of spears. She launched them, one at a time, at the giant. The giant letting out a rumbling grunt of pain as the spears pierced his shoulders. The Cyrodiilic woman was behind the giant, and jumped up to cut the tendons of his knees. The giant howled in pain, blood spraying from the wound as his left knee gave. The giant was in a kneeling position, which gave the Nord with Wuuthrad the chance to hop onto the giant's back and slam the blade of Wuuthrad into the back of the giant's head. The giant groaned and toppled over, dead.

Belinda sighed in relief and went to the one called Farkas. She rolled him over, hearing him groan. She tapped the land's rich white mana. She chanted a healing spell and healed Farkas's injuries. After finishing, she raised her hand with three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked.

"I ain't good at counting," Farkas answered, pupils dilated to nearly the edges.

"You may have a concussion," Belinda pointed out. The Nord wielding Wuuthrad came over, the Cyrodiilic and the redhead behind him. Belinda and Wuuthrad's wielder hauled Farkas to his feet. "There a healer in town?" Belinda asked.

"Yeah; I'm Sieghard," answered Wuuthrad's wielder.

"Pleasure to meet you," Belinda said. "I'm Belinda. And I'm assuming this is Farkas?" she questioned.

"Aye," Farkas mumbled, supported by Sieghard and Belinda.

"That's my woman Aela the Huntress and that's Ria," Sieghard introduced.

Belinda nodded to the women and they made their way up to the city of Whiterun. As they approached the gates, they saw travelling merchants and a Khajiit caravan and there was a large crowd at the gates themselves. They stopped at the edge of the crowd. The traveling merchants were being barred from entering the city and they were angry about it. Belinda heard snippets of what the people were shouting. "Let us in!" "It's safer in the city!" "We'll be killed!"

"Why isn't the Jarl letting people into the city? Whiterun is a trading hub," she asked Sieghard.

"The Jarl..." Sieghard went silent. "That is a fine question."

"Step aside! Companions coming through!" Aela shouted. People moved out of the way as Aela led the group. Ria brought up the rear. They went up to the gates, the guards quickly opening the doors. They moved to Jorvaskr rather quickly, getting Farkas on his bed. Aela shouted for a Dunmer named Athis to fetch a Nord woman named Danica Pure-Spring from the Temple of Kynareth.

"Torvar! Where's Vilkas?!" Sieghard demanded.

"Job!" the scruffy looking Nord answered.

"Good," Sieghard grunted.

"Tilma!" Ria called, running out of the room.

Farkas groaned. Belinda elevated his feet 12 inches. Farkas gave a groan of relief. "That feels better," he rumbled.

"It should," Belinda said.

"You a healer?" Sieghard asked.

"When I need to be," Belinda answered. "We need to get this armor off." She and Aela carefully removed Farkas's armor. He wore leather trousers and a shirt missing the sleeves.

An old woman entered. This must be Tilma, Belinda thought. The old woman put a cool, damp cloth on Farkas's forehead. "How was he hurt?" Tilma asked.

"Giant smacked him into a stone wall," Sieghard answered.

"I healed most of the serious injuries, but he's got a concussion and a few fractures," Belinda explained.

Tilma nodded. Once Danica Pure-Spring arrived, she and Tilma shooed everyone from the room. Belinda took this as her cue to leave. That's when Sieghard turned to her and said, "Thank you for helping us with Farkas and against the Giant."

"What was I supposed to do? Stand around like a dolt?" Belinda responded.

Sieghard chuckled.

"Well, I best be off," Belinda said. "I need to speak to the Jarl."

"I'll take you to him," Sieghard offered. "As Harbinger, he'll listen to me. But I must ask: Why do you need to see him?" he questioned.

"I was at Helgan," Belinda replied. "I have info on the dragon."

Sieghard stared at her in shock. "So there really was a dragon?"

"Oh, yeah." They began walking, Sieghard asking about the dragon. How big was it? What did it look like? What happened? How did it destroy Helgan? Were there any survivors? Belinda replied with: About as big as the temple. Black, spiky scales and red eyes. It used a Thu'um that rained fiery boulders upon everything. And yes. They arrived inside Dragonsreach, the ceilings huge! The dragon would fit inside the place! That's when the thought crossed Belinda's mind: If Dragonsreach was meant to hold a dragon, then why the hopping Hell was it made out of damn wood?!

As they approached the Jarl, they heard him in a heated discussion with the steward. Jarl Balgruuf was on his feet, face displaying his anger. He wasn't overly attractive, but he was muscular and imposing, though not so much as Ulfric. He had blond hair and a blond beard (something Belinda wasn't so overly surprised about) and blue eyes (again, go figure). His face had some age, but he was the Jarl of Whiterun Hold. It was the busiest of the holds due to its central position, a merchant hub. Proventus Avenicci was a small, pale, balding Cyrodiilic man. The Jarl's housecarl was Dunmer woman with sharp features and dark grey skin.

"What would you have me do then? Nothing?" Balgruuf demanded.

"My lord, please! This is no time for rash action," Proventus exclaimed. "I just think we need more information before we act. I just-."

"I hate to interrupt, but there's the rather large matter of a dragon destroying Helgen," Belinda pointed out, loud enough to cut everyone off.

They turned to stare at her, wondering who she was, why she was there, and who let her in. The Dunmer woman drew her sword, a fierce look in her crimson, almond-shaped eyes. She approached, but then Sieghard made his presence known.

"At ease, Housecarl Irileth, at ease," he commanded. "She has important information concerning the dragons. She was at Helgan."

The jarl, housecarl, and steward paused, their eyes falling on Belinda.

"You were at Helgan? You saw this dragon with your own eyes?" Balgruuf asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"Yes, Jarl," Belinda answered. "He had come flying into Helgan, landed on the central tower, and Shouted. Then it was literally raining fire. I managed to escape with the aid of others. After we got out, we saw the dragon fly over Bleak Falls Barrow before flying north. When I passed through Riverwood, no one seemed to notice, but I guess they all thought that everyone would think they're crazy or something. The only person who claimed to have seen it was an elderly woman on the southern edge of town and her son thought she was crazy. The dragon was black as night. And I saw him up close. His eyes were red." Belinda was keeping the dragon's identity a secret. For now. Best not to completely incite a full on panic. Everyone would run around like chickens after their heads had been cut off! Actually, I'd pay to see an entire city do that, Belinda thought in amusement.

Balgruuf groaned, sitting back in his throne and pinching the bridge of his nose. "You were right, Irileth," he grumbled. "Bleak Falls Barrow…Irileth, send a contingment of men out to Riverwood at once."

"But what if Jarl Siddgeir assumes we're siding with Ulfric to attack him?" Proventus asked.

Crap, I forget how close Riverwood is to Falkreath Hold, Belinda thought.

"We must-." Proventus was immediately cut off.

"Enough!" Balgruuf shouted, rising to his feet. "I will not stand idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people! Especially considering the drought this year!"

Has it really been a dry summer? Belinda wondered. Skyrim summers were usually never dry. They third of the year where the province wasn't completely blanketed in snow, it rained every couple days. Dragons appearing now would be very problematic indeed…