The woman looked up at the sky but quickly changed her mind when the wind blew snow and ice in her eyes. The weather was awful and Aurora could no longer feel her fingers and toes. Not even the thick fur boots could keep her warm, but at least they were better than her non-existing gloves.

Her fellow Stormcloaks had been singing and keeping their spirits up for the entire four-day trip, but now even they struggled to keep warm. Only Galmar seemed to be as happy as always – probably because he would get the chance to kill enemies within minutes.

They were preparing for the attack; some hurried to drag the catapults into place, others were fixing their apparel or sharpening their swords. Aurora was sitting on a stone, trying to keep her temperature by curling up. She was organising herself mentally for the task that lay ahead, but she could not find a valid argument for killing Balgruuf without manipulating herself, something she just would not do. She would not sell her values and honour for all the Skooma in Elsweyr.

"I remember you... you were with us at Helgen," she heard a man say and come closer to her. "Glad to have you with us. How are you?"

"I'm good..." Aurora awkwardly answered, pondering over why he would ask about how she was.

Only when he sat down next to her, she realised it was indeed the same man she met whilst being brought to Helgen to be executed. He had encouraged her to go to Riverwood to meet up with his sister, but Aurora wanted nothing to do with the Stormcloak organisation back then.

"Good, good," he repeated. "Decided to join us after all?"

Aurora took a closer look at him, but only really wished for him to go away and leave her to soak in her misery alone. There was something rather interesting about him, though. Whilst the other soldiers were nervous, Ralof appeared to be very calm.

"Aye... But it took a while."

"You will have to tell me all about it. After the battle, that is."

He had a very warm smile that was enhanced by his razor sharp cheekbones. Aurora began to realise that she found those attractive to the point of stupidity. Ralof was a well-built, blond Nord that reminded her of a young Ulfric. He had a slightly smaller nose, though, and he trimmed his beard shorter than the Jarl he fought for did. And those cheekbones...

The man gave her a push on the shoulder as he walked away, forcing her to stop daydreaming. Soon thereafter, Galmar ordered his troops to gather.

He held another speech, but Aurora always disliked them. She found no inspiration whatsoever in other people's words in a moment like this. The catapults were firing at the town, and that was all she could think of. Her beautiful little town, being destroyed by her rebellion.

When they finally stormed forwards, Galmar took the lead. He must have been a frequent visitor to the town, for he knew every bush, every stone on the road. He neatly avoided all the obstacles, something that could not be said about others. A few Stormcloaks were lagging behind as they could not keep up with Galmar's pace. Aurora was not one of them, though. She followed him like a shadow, preparing to cover his back.

Once they reached the stables, they came under attack. Arrows were piercing the air, flying past them with only inches to spare. The woman raised her shield whilst on the search for the enemy soldiers.

Thankfully, the soldiers who were firing at her were not locals. They wore the Imperial cuirass, not the Whiterun Guard. As soon as they began to press the Legionnaires backwards by destroying their pike-structures, it became evident that it was in fact fellow Imperials Aurora was killing.

The constant wave of arrows falling from above made the Stormcloaks insecure, and Aurora realised that something had to be done. Galmar was far into enemy-held territory, and she was the link between him and the army.

Standing still was not an option, for there were Legionnaires everywhere. Her first objective was to free the drawbridge, for the archers were now shooting rather efficiently at her comrades.

The woman sprinted upwards, neatly pushing the defenders over the edge to a certain death, or at least a severe concussion. She tried to avoid using her sword, for it was not Draurgs she was skilling – it was real people with families, friends and dreams. As the woman was rather tall, bashing was a good option of neutralising Imperials. It was also a lot less tiring than to swing her sword all the time.

One last soldier remained between her and the handle, which would open the drawbridge. It was a male Officer who was responsible for the defence of the bridge, and he was not giving up as easy as the others.

He saw the woman coming and prepared his sword, calmly waiting for her to make a move. Aurora saw through his tactics and slowed down. About five yards away from him, she came to a standstill and prepared her weapons.

She looked at him, trying to provoke him to make the first move, but he was well trained in the art of psychology. The man did not seem to care for her warning gaze.

Had Aurora been wearing her old armour, she would have been the first one to attack, but after her last mission, she was learned her lesson. He would give in at some point, and by that making a mistake.

Yet it took ages, and Aurora was becoming worried for Galmar who was out there on his own. She had to get that drawbridge open as soon as possible. After many seconds of waiting, she decided to make her move.

There was no point to cover it up; he knew from the beginning that when she moved, that would be it. The woman raised her sword and fixed the shield and leapt towards him.

He blocked her swing with ease, and their blades struck together in chest-height, only to be thrown upwards. That was when she realised that she had made a mistake. Aurora tried to push him away from her, but he was too heavy, and when she was unbalanced, he kicked her to the floor.

She hit her head against a skirting and was a little too slow to react to what happened next. He raised his sword over the head, and swung it towards her. Without thinking, she rolled to the side, only to hear a clinging sound against the floor. It had been too close.

The woman gripped her sword and rolled up to her feet. This time she was on the other end of the bridge, and he was the one leaping forwards.

Aurora held her weapon in what seemed as a dangerously skew angle, and that was where he aimed. In the last moment, she corrected it, but it was too late for him. Without realising how it all happened, he fell to the floor with her blade buried inside of his chest. He seemed very shocked with his eyes wide-open and gaping mouth.

The Dragonborn did not have time to think of what happened, she threw herself onto the lever and began to put the bridge down. Thankfully, the rest of the Stormcloaks were close by and entered as soon as they were given the possibility.

Galmar was already by the gates, fighting two Imperials on his own when the Stormcloaks came to help him. Aurora jumped from the bridge and ran towards them.

The woman had been glad not to find Whiterun guards outside of the town, but she realised that they probably had a second line of defence on the inside.

She did not even throw a gaze at Breezehome when she walked through the gates. Aurora did not wish for any of her fellow Stormcloaks to know of her life in Whiterun, it was easier that way. Instead, she hurried towards the stairs that led to the second district of the town. A few guards tried to stop her and Galmar, and as her leader was of the less considerate type, she threw herself forwards to avoid unnecessary deaths.

Aurora bashed them, aiming at their heads. If they fell to the ground unconscious, the Stormcloaks would probably not touch them. One of the guards proved to be tougher than the rest and made the Dragonborn's job rather problematic. He was the last one though, so Galmar and his high-ranking Officers hurried towards Dragonsreach, leaving Aurora to take care of the Whiterun guard.

Remembering her mistake from minutes earlier, she decided to wait for the man to do something. She had seen him many times before, and it would hurt to kill him. Gingerly, she spread her arms to show that she was not attacking. The woman looked him in the eyes and shook her head slightly.

Neither one of them moved as they stood there, silently. Aurora swallowed hard, knowing that the next person she would stand in front of would be Balgruuf.

"I urge you to put your sword down, citizen. The battle is almost over. Spare your life."

He still looked at her, thinking of whether to surrender or not. She gave him a worried look, hoping that he would accept. She still needed to hurry to Dragonsreach, preventing Galmar from doing something stupid to Balgruuf.

The guard was still thinking, and Aurora could wait no longer. With a leap, she pressed forwards, pushing him into the water.

"Enough. It's enough! I surrender... I surrender," she heard a voice cry.

There was no question about whose it was, and she ran up to the group of people, passing six dead soldiers.

The woman forced Galmar to put his sword down by giving him a warning gaze as she approached.

Balgruuf had been kneeling, but stood up and looked at her with discontent and disappointment clearly noticeable in his eyes.

"You. A Stormcloak? I'd thought better of you. You'll all come to regret this day."

Ralof had taken a firm grip of her shoulders and led her outside when he saw the impact Balgruuf's words had on her. It was very late, but at least the wind had calmed down. They walked in silence towards the camp they had set up just outside of the town. Well, Aurora did. Ralof seemed rather keen on talking to her, but it appeared as he could not find the right words. Aurora tried to ignore him, but his presence made it difficult for her to think.

Once they were a few hundred yards away from the tents and clearly could see the campfire, the man became unbearable, so Aurora asked him what he wanted with an unfriendly tone.

"You fight like a lioness," Ralof answered with a rather flirtatious gaze.

His words surprised her, for she had been avoiding direct combat by bashing and pushing the enemies rather than using her sword.

"Sorry?"

"Your technique is very elegant. I've never seen anyone handle their sword like you do."

"Thanks," she said and rolled her eyes when she realised that he was bending the truth in order to woo her.

"Still killed more than you. I counted," he smiled.

"Good for you," Aurora answered whilst putting on a brave face, not wishing to inform him about the difficulties she encountered by killing people she knew.

She felt lonely. The fight she had with her Jarl still hung over her like a dark cloud, and she did not even wish to think of what Balgruuf had said to her. It felt as if the entire world had turned against her, making sure that there were unclimbable obstacles on either way she chose.

Once they arrived at the campsite, Ralof invited himself over to Aurora's tent. Technically, they were allowed to sleep wherever they pleased, but the woman had been the first in that specific tent. They spoke for a while about the battle, but then the subject moved on to discussing the fellow Stormcloaks, including Galmar. After hearing him complain about the fact that their leader did not know his name (probably because he was not Dragonborn), Aurora felt like it was time to go to sleep. Ralof had other plans, though, and began to insult her.

"What if I told you that you are smaller and uglier than I remember you to be?" he cheekily exclaimed.

Aurora laughed. "I'd kick you down before you knew it."

"That's what I feared, so I'll just kiss you instead."

That was indeed what he did. Aurora's heart jumped when his lips touched hers. Slowly, he made her separate them and let his tongue explore her mouth.

His warm breath tickled her skin, but she enjoyed every second of it. She loved the feeling of stubble against her, and pressed her body closer to him, automatically placing her hands at his chest. It had been long since kissing felt that intimate and... tickling in her stomach. This was something new and fresh about Ralof that she could not withstand.

He broke the kiss and looked her directly in the eyes, smiling.

Feeling that someone was stroking her hand, she woke up. How wonderful it was to rest in bed, even if it was a temporary one in a tent, out on a field. She loved how protected she was from the cold outside. The body heat was enough to keep a pleasant temperature in the crowded, little space.

When she opened her eyes, her mood changed very quickly. She realised where she was, and with whom. The woman remembered the events that had taken place the previous night and wanted to hit herself with a hammer in the head.

Oh Gods, what had she done? It was not the fact that she had been unfaithful towards her Jarl – that bastard obviously did the same to her. No, this was more of a personal shame. She craved love and comfort, damn it, and she would go great lengths to receive it.

Aurora acknowledged it – she was emotionally unstable to the point where she would sleep with almost any man she was even slightly attracted to and gave her attention. This was not about being a confident, strong woman anymore. When doing so without those qualities, it was nothing but destructive. Her weakness was not attractive men, it was the fact that she needed affection from them. She lay there for as long as she could before getting out of bed, promising herself that she would not be carnal with a random man ever again.