The sun shone over Helgen's wall, bathing the town in a soft warmth, countered only by the bitter wind that blew through. The citizens of the town walked around doing their daily business, joined by a large number of Imperial guards that seemed to swarm the safety of the walls. While the guards were a common sight, there seemed to be more than normal, and Connie was almost certain she saw a woman ordering the guards around.

In the weeks they had been stranded in Skyrim, Steven and Connie had managed to gather enough information about the ongoing events of the land, mainly from casual eavesdropping and almost casual questioning.

From what Connie had gathered a civil war was being fought between the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks. After a peace treaty from a war had outlawed a 'God' named Talos, who the Imperials had argued was not a true God, the Stormcloaks felt their religion was being pushed aside, and so a rebellion had begun. Once the leader of the Stormcloaks, a man named Ulfric, 'shouted' the High King to death (With Connie making a mental note to learn exactly what 'shouted' meant) the rebellion became a full Civil War.

But for now, Steven and Connie were doing what they could to survive in the world.

Connie brought her axe down with a resounding thud on the log, cleanly splitting it into two pieces. Steven picked up the wooden halves and threw them effortlessly into the pile of firewood. "I think that's enough for today," Steven said as he counted the firewood. "Yeah, 20 pieces, that'll cover us a room and food for the night." Steven picked up a heavy armful of the wood and motioned his head. "I'll start bringing it over to Vilod now and order us some lunch."

Connie smiled and nodded. "I'll give Torolf his axe back then meet you at the inn." Connie held the axe in her hand, sword sheathed to her hip, as she walked to the town's central market. She passed Ingrid who was selling her food, and soon saw Torolf with his wife, Matlara.

In the distance Connie heard their son, Haming, as he ran around the town completing errands.

Matlara and Torolf were both well-muscled, which made sense for their jobs.

Torolf was the town's lumberjack and usually did the task that Connie and Steven had just completed for the day, while his wife used to be a mercenary for hire. "Torolf," Connie announced once she had been noticed. "Your axe." She handed the man the tool and he nodded appreciatively.

"I assume there were no problems?" he asked.

"Course not," Connie grinned. "You enjoying your free time now that you don't have to chop trees?"

Torolf gave a look to his wife who raised a stern eyebrow at him. "Of course," he deadpanned. "More time with the wife. What could be better?" he joked.

Matlara ignored her husband, before looking at Connie's sword. "I still think you should try merc work. Seems a waste of that sword otherwise. Back when I was a merc, I saved up all my Septims to have a Mage enchant my sword. If it wasn't for Haming I'd probably still be a mercenary, instead of having my sword as decoration on my wall."

"Not sure if that's really my thing?" Connie admitted. "It might be good money, but Steven and I have a good thing going where we don't put our lives at risk." She laughed. "I'll keep it in mind though. But, I'm supposed to be meeting Steven again now for food. I'll see you tomorrow for more woodcutting."

Like always, the Helgen Homestead seemed to be relatively empty. The guards tended to be the most seen patrons in the inn, ordering food and drink most nights, although few were by Steven today.

Connie quickly spotted Steven as he talked to Vilod, so she walked over to him. Steven looked up as she approached. "Hey. I bought the room but didn't know what you wanted to eat."

"Chicken Stew," she said to Vilod who began the preparation of cutting the chicken piece.

"The usual for you?" Vilod asked Steven as he chopped the meat. Steven nodded and Vilod grabbed a potato and tomato to add to the cutting board.

Connie and Steven waited for their food to be prepared, standing patiently as Vilod boiled the water above a roaring fire. "Matlara suggested I take up mercenary work again," Connie told Steven as they stood.

Steven raised an eyebrow. "Again? What did you say?"

"That I'd think about it." Connie shrugged. "Maybe it'd be good to explore this place? And we'd get more Septims."

"But Helgen is safe," Steven argued. "No danger, no life-risking. We can just exist here. Live our life, together."

Connie's reply went unsaid as Haming sprinted into the inn. Unlike his parents, Haming wasn't tall or muscled but was a scrawny and short child. "Vilod!" he panted. "It's Fenrik!"

Steven and Connie turned their attention to the child, as Vilod stopped all interest in their meals. "What about him?" Vilod asked with concern. The room had gone silent as they waited for an explanation of what had happened, the guards motionless as they listened.

Haming stuttered once he realized the attention was on him, his cheeks becoming a bright red. "Bandits!" he cried. "Vilod's in the market now, but bandits stole all his things. He knows where they're camped and he's talking about gathering people to take them down for good."

Vilod's eyes widened in panic. He thrust a handful of Septims into Steven's hand. "Apologies you two. Time for me to go." He hurried out the door, and with a brief glance to each other Steven and Connie quickly followed him.

Outside, Fenrik was stood by Girder and his cart, which was now devoid of any of his belongings, and was yelling at anybody that walked past, the guards ignoring him with barely a glance. "Ingrid, I know you've been scorned by the bandits too! Join me!"

"And risk death?" the food seller replied incensed. "They can take what they want if they let me live!"

Fenrik ignored her and turned to Torolf and Matlara. "You two! Fight for your town! Make it a safer place for your son!"

Matlara stared him down with barely restrained rage. "By having him sent to Honorhall? Do you really think the bandits will hesitate to kill anybody that goes into their camp?"

Fenrik looked at Steven and Connie. "And you two? I helped you both, and this town took you in. Will you fight for it?"

"I will." Connie's answer caused Steven to whip his head towards her in shock. "Fenrik's right," she explained. "This town helped us, and we have no reason to help it back."

Steven considered arguing back. Making points to try and change her mind.

But Connie was hard to argue with. She was determined, logical, and above all she was moral. "Ok," Steven found himself saying. "I don't want anyone to get hurt. Not the bandits, not people from here." He sighed before looking at Connie with resolve. "And I don't want you to get hurt either. If you go fight bandits, then I will be right there with you."

Fenrik eyed them both with satisfaction before motioning to his cart. "Get on then," he ordered. "I know exactly where they are."

Connie readied her blade. "Let's do this then."

Fenrik nodded. "Agreed. Let's make this quick." He looked at the guards with barely restrained distaste. "Not like the guards will do their job. They're too busy preparing for the execution."

"Execution?" Steven asked with disgust.

"Aye. They caught Ulfric Stormcloak. They're going to execute him today."