The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Ulfric Stormcloak & Kayleigh Leanne – "Runaway With My Heart"

Location: Hjerim, Windhelm
6th of Second Seed
6:01am

The next day had dawned. Kayleigh awoke from a blissful sleep. Getting up to head to the kitchen, she scratched her head and yawned. She was still half-asleep when she exited her room, so she screamed out, "OH!" after seeing the shirtless Molag Bal inspecting her weapons and mannequins. "Don't you EVER knock?" She asked, stunned.

"No time." Molag Bal placed the mace into one of her weapon cases and closed it. "I have souls that need claiming." He turned to her. "You'll hear the news of an old butchered hag any time now."

Her eyes widened. "By Talos' beard… you actually did it."

"I did." He walked up to her, this time, in a non-threatening manner. Molag Bal flipped his mid-back black hair to his back. "Now her beastly soul serves me in Oblivion. No blood on your hands."

"Somehow, I don't feel right thanking you…"

"Dearest mortal," He laughed. "You must stop feeling guilty for the things you do. It's rather… annoying."

She shot him a dirty look. "Gee… thanks…"

"Ah! There's my thank you. I will take my leave then." He smiled, and then looked at her with pity. "That Jarl, the blonde… he does not know what he's missing. You should forget about it."

"It's too early to tell. Maybe I have a chance!" She said.

"I will agree with the gibbering fool when he said that you're everything a man could want." Molag Bal admitted.

"You mean Sheogorath." She corrected. "And he just happens to love me very much." She smiled.

He chuckled. "Indeed he does. Amongst all the Daedric Princes who foretold that your birth would be special, Sheogorath took the most interest in you."

"Why is that?" She asked. "I never got the chance to ask him. Even if I were to, I wouldn't know how to start. He cares so much for me. I don't want to question why."

"Go ahead and question him," Molag Bal encouraged. "I'm sure you'll love his answer."

"Why? What'd he say?" She asked.

"That's for you to ask, mortal." He simply said. "Now, to revert to my previous statement, if you want to go ahead and wait for that Jarl, go ahead." He leaned in. "But just remember that there are other men out there who will gladly care for you."

She gave him a forlorn smile. "But there's only one I want."

Location: Understone Keep, Markarth
6th of Second Seed
3:51pm

When Kayleigh and Vigilance arrived at the Stormcloaks' camp in the Reach, Galmar had a new mission for her. She was supposed to walk over to Markarth and find evidence that Raerek, the Jarl's steward, was a faithful Talos Worshipper. She needed to use that evidence to "persuade" him to aid their cause indirectly. There was no way she could sneak again; she felt that part of her life alone after a year of stealing and sneaking. There had to be another way.

Upon entering the palace, Kayleigh spotted the steward having his lunch at one of the benches outside his quarters. Most of the guards were guarding the steps to the Jarl. So Kayleigh had Vigilance stay at the front door and she worked her way to the Jarl's quarters.

"Halt! You're trespassing here!" A lone guard stopped her from walking through the doors of the quarters.

Kayleigh put on her best seductive smirk and twirled a lock of her dark auburn hair. "Oh, come on, now. How can I ever be a stranger?"

He was slowly lowering his guard when Kayleigh heard the calmness in his voice. "Well… I can't imagine you being a stranger then…"

She giggled and walked up to him. "That's what I thought." Raising her hand, she casted the paralyzing spell on him and caught him before he could land on the ground with a 'thud!'. Sheogorath had taught her that spell, seeing as how the Spell Tomes were hard to come by.

After picking the lock on Raerek's door, she tore his room apart for some kind of evidence. And she found it: an inscribed Amulet of Talos.

"There we go…"

Outside the quarters, Kayleigh slipped past the paralyzed guard and made her way to Raerek. She hated to blackmail people, but she kept reminding herself that she was only doing this for Skyrim. Settling down opposite him, she sat the Amulet down in front of him, much to his shock.

Drumming his fingernails on the table, he thought for a bit. "So what do you want?"

"You're a worshipper for Talos. That's pretty obvious right now." She said. "But why not support us?"

"You really do not know how the Thalmor work, do you, Stormcloak?" Raerek shook his head. "They'll throw me in jail. My family's honor would be stained for generations. I don't want that to happen to them."

"Alright. Then maybe they don't have to get caught in the middle of this." She said. "I sure you can give me something that can give the Stormcloaks another victory."

Raerek did, in fact, have something on his mind. "What if I told you about a large shipment of coin and weapons?"

The corner of Kayleigh's lips curved into a smile. She pushed the Amulet to him. "Tell me more."

Location: Stormcloak Reach Camp
5:20pm

After reporting back to Galmar in their camp, he ordered Kayleigh to meet up with the men who just so happened to be along the route where the shipment was being taken. The wagon sustained an accident and it was now abandoned on the pathway. Ralof was the Stormcloak in charge for the group stalking the wagon. After a brief explanation, Kayleigh knew exactly what to do.

"Leave this to me: I know how to handle these morons." She winked, and left their hiding area with Vigilance. She wielded the Wabbajack this time and left her Mace of Molag Bal back in the camp.

As she approached the Imperials' campsite and well as the broken wagon, she counted six of them. One of them was standing guard spotted Kayleigh and shouted for her to halt, but she kept walking to their direction. Clutching a bolt of lightning in her left hand, she casted the Lightning Bolt spell on that same Imperial.

Shocked and in awe, the rest of the Imperials readied their swords and arrows.

"Oh no, no. Not this time." She smiled wickedly. "ZUN!" She Shouted. That was the first Word of Power for the Shout 'Disarm'. Arngeir had taught her a few Shouts during her short stay at High Hrothgar during the peace council.

All the Imperials dropped their weapons like hot rocks. Kayleigh took this opportunity to turn one of them into a Sweetroll, and another exploded in a giant ball of fire. The Wabbajack was the best thing that came across her! Smirking, she casted the Chain Lightning spell and the rest of them acted like they had seizures.

No more Imppies to bother them.

Location: Fort Sungard
7:04pm

Now that Fort Sungard won't get those shipments, the Imperials in the fort would be more vulnerable. It was perfect; also perfect for a night-time attack.

Two Imperials guards were on duty, patrolling the front door of the fort.

"Ugh… I hate guard duty…"

"I know: you won't shut up about it."

"Why should we be the ones stuck out here anyways? It's cold out here in the Reach!"

"Because, moron, we need to keep guard in case the Stormcloaks show up!"

"What if they show up with that woman?"

"The Dragonborn?"

"Yeah, her. You heard the kind of messes she's caused. And she's a woman! I heard she's got Daedras backing her up!"

"Don't be stupid! Why would Daedra be involved in all this? You know what you should be worrying about? That damned mutt of hers…"

"Oh, I know… ever seen that thing's teeth? What did it look like?"

"Well, like…" A set of white fangs was the last thing he ever saw.

Location: Palace of the Kings, Windhelm
10:24pm

"Well done. I'm glad we have the Reach back. You are quite the miracle worker, Dragonborn." Ulfric Stormcloak complimented as he let her walk into the palace first.

"Well, I do try. What's next? Hjaalmarch?" She guessed.

"Indeed. There is much to be done there as well." He said. "But as for you, Dragonborn, I bestow you a new rank: Snow-Hammer, as multitudes of our enemies have been buried in an avalanche of pain and retribution delivered by your hands."

She smiled. "Wow. That's a pretty name. Better than 'Bone-Broker', I can assure you."

"I agree." He smiled back. "And as for your reward, I had a shield prepared for you but then I realized that you don't use those. So I have something else."

"And that would be?"

"Dinner." He simply said. "Please sit."

Ulfric led a shocked Kayleigh to her seat and he took his seat opposite her. All she managed to do was produce a stunned laugh. "My Jarl, this is most unexpected but lovely! I would love to."

Smiling, he raised his goblet. "To Skyrim."

She giggled, and took her own goblet. "And the High King."

Location: Hjerim

"That's not really possible, Dragonborn. With me off in the Great War and then tending to my duties here, I hardly had the time for romance." Ulfric said and he walked Kayleigh to Hjerim. "In fact, I don't think there was ever a woman for me to romance with." He realized. "No one could ever capture my heart."

Kayleigh raised her eyebrows and listened carefully. "I see… you had a type."

He nodded, admitting to it. "Indeed I did."

"Well, may I ask what kind of woman were you looking for?" She asked, interested in this.

He smiled to himself. "In short?" He stopped to turn to her. "You."

She felt her heart skip a beat and quick possibly a few more. "M-me?"

"Well, someone like you, Dragonborn." Ulfric then went on to explaining. "You're everything a Nord woman should be: strong, fierce, determined, loyal. You have the beauty that cannot be compared to Dibella. I'd say you are the perfect Nord woman."

She could not suppress her grin and the redness in her cheeks. That included a little school girl giggle. "I thank you, Jarl Ulfric. You are most kind." She found it hard to look at him in the eyes.

Ulfric was enjoying this: teasing her and looking for telltale signs that she was in love, especially after her drunken confession. Part of him wanted to flat out say that he was in love with her too, because she was everything he had been searching for, but this was more fun. Seeing the legendary Dragonborn giggle and act all shy around him made him tickle. "I still find it hard to believe you aren't spoken for. Are you sure about it?"

She nodded. "I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Why do you think that?" He decided to ask.

"Well…" She did not know how to start. The man she was in love with was now making her fall madly in love with him. Needless to say that he was everything she was searching for in a Nord man. "I guess… it's because I haven't found someone with my qualities yet."

"And what would those qualities be?" He asked with a smile.

Oh, dear. The smile. Wasn't the voice enough? Stop it, knees! Keep breathing, Kayleigh! Stay still, heart. "Well… he must be strong, determined, love this country as much as I do. He must care what I have to say and put up with my explosive anger from time to time. He must understand that I have a horrid past and help me get through it when needed. But most importantly…" She smiled to herself. "He must understand that once he gets my love, I'll be giving him a lot more and everything. I would give up anything and everything just to hear him speak. He must understand that I would love him so much to the extent that I would even die for him, if needed."

And I'm sure you would, because you are that dedicated. "Strong words, Dragonborn. I never knew this side of you."

"Well now you do." She laughed. "But don't hold it against me, Jarl Ulfric. Nobody needs to know that I have a really, really soft spot for love. It's just that… I've lost almost everything. But now, after obtaining this title, I've met new people and now they have all my love: Hunter, Paarthurnax, the Greybeards, Sheogorath… but there's this other love that I have and that's the love that I would give to someone who captured my heart. You know?"

He nodded. "I do. I do…" By the Gods, if I had the courage to tell you…

She sighed. "Here we are." She looked at Hjerim.

Vigilance trotted to the front door and barked for his master.

"In a while, Buddy." Kayleigh turned to Ulfric. "Thank you for a wonderful evening, Jarl Ulfric. I don't think I've had this much fun in… forever!" She expressed.

"I would agree with you there. I've never had a pleasant evening like this before." He sighed. "All thanks to the company." He looked at her.

Keep breathing… keep breathing… STOP SHAKING, KNEES! Kayleigh looked down at her feet, blushing. "Good night, Jarl Ulfric."

Ulfric took her hand and kissed the top of it. This made her giggled softly. "Good night, Dragonborn." However, he was not done yet. He needed to do this. So he leaned in and kissed her on her cheek. "I certainly enjoyed your presence tonight. Take care." So saying, he turned around to walk back to the Palace of the Kings.

It took a while before she could comprehend that, touch her cheek with her hand and break out into happiness after he was gone from her sight.

Practically dripping with glee, she skipped over to Vigilance and unlocked her front door. She let Vigilance in first and then she locked the door. Leaning against it, she breathed heavily, unable to believe what had just happened, but all she could do is grin. She also squealed multiple times, unable to believe her luck. So many questions ran through her mind.

However, before she could tackle them, she realized there was a letter on the floor. She picked it up and unfolded it to read it. Her grin disappeared like smoke.

On the letter, was a print of a black palm with the words "We know" underneath it.

A/N: O.o Oh, Kay is going to have her hands full!

Hope you've enjoyed :)

By the way, Kay's not going to join the Guild anytime soon. Although she was thief for a year after she ran off, she left that small part behind. So yeah. HOWEVER. My second Skyrim story is based on the Thieves Guild. My character is not a DB, but she'll still play a big role :)

AND! The next chapter will be the MOST intense chapter EVER. OF ALL TIME. I can promise you that. I WILL be having you beautiful people on the edge of your seats! If I don't, I will eat my laptop! Then how can there be more chapters? I dunno. x)