(Author's Note/ Disclaimer/Warning: This is just a rough idea, and deals with time travel in a Skyrim setting. I am well aware that such magic may not exist in lore and canon, but as stated, this is just an idea I've been having, and I've also been on a TES kick so... Voila. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and as always, reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome.)
Whiterun Hold
He woke to the sun shining brightly into his eyes.
It hurt, so he rolled over.
He was surprised to find he was lying on grass.
He was outside.
"Huh?!" He explained to himself as he sat upright and looked around.
Where was he? This didn't look like the woods near Solitude.
This wasn't even woods.
He was in a plain.
He wasn't even supposed to be outside!
"This...is not my room." He murmured to himself as he stood up, groaning as it seemed every muscle in his body ached.
He reached up and raked his fingers through the snow white hair on his head, wincing as he could feel the build up of sweat, dirt, and grime in it. Ugh, he needed a bath now, too.
He then began to stretch to see the extent of the soreness. His limbs aches, but no more so than usual.
He could see nor feel any wounds or injuries, nor did he smell or notice any blood on himself or his clothes.
Once he was finished inspecting himself, he realized something.
He should be inside the city...
Yeah...
Yeah!
There was a person there, causing a big commotion and destroying stuff!
But... He couldn't remember.
He remembered his sister yelling at him... Then the two of them rushing the guy to tackle him...
Then...
He was here.
But... Where was here? And more importantly, how did he get here?
Okay, okay... Think...
Someone showed up and started attacking Solitude in the dead of night. Citizens were running everyone, panicking. The guards and soldiers had tried to stop him but they'd all fallen.
Then... Yeah, then the whole family came out and started laying into him. There were no witnesses to see them as wolves and they were gaining the upper hand...
He remembered... Mom had gotten throw back and was hurt, Merrebelle was no where to be seen, Dad was being kept back by fire magics, Uncle Kaleva and Cousin Rurik... He couldn't tell what had happened to them.
It was him and Rayona.
And... He didn't remember much after that.
He sighed and took a closer look around his surroundings.
Plains... Mountains not too far away... Was that a fort?
He couldn't smell people nearby, so perhaps that fort was abandoned?
Standing here thinking about everything wasn't solving a damn thing so he guessed his best bet was to find the nearest town and then head back to Solitude from there.
So, he walked away from the trees and towards the nearby fort. Forts were almost always near roads, so he could probably get his bearing from there.
Hopefully.
As he made his way toward the fort, he could see the road. His guess had been right.
And as he made his way into the road, he noticed a small group of people.
Two dressed in really nice, expensive looking clothes, and the other in an armor he had never seen before.
He'd never seen red in an armor before, not even with the Solitude guard. Everyone mostly sported the blue of the Stormcloaks. Sure there were some Holds and cities that had their own colors, but never red.
That was strange.
"Come on, we have to find our way to Solitude." The finely dressed man was saying.
"Why is there even a wedding in this far flung end of the Empire?" The woman was complaining.
"It's Vittoria Vici's wedding, you know, the cousin of the Emperor."
No... Surely he had heard wrong. The Empire? Not here in Skyrim. Not for almost thirty years now, right?
"Excuse me." He called over as they approached. "I'm sorry to bother you, but could any of you tell me where the nearest town is?"
The armor clad man stopped, as did his two companions.
"Whiterun is back that direction, and Rorikstead is straight up this road." He said, pointing first in a general eastern direction, then to the road itself and in the other direction.
"Thank you." The young man said, deciding not to ask too many questions right now. He did have other things to worry about. Besides, it sounded like they were visitors here, so it likely wasn't too much to be concerned about.
A wedding was usually cause for the border laws to be lifted temporarily.
He then proceeded to head towards Whiterun.
He knew capital cities often had carriages, and that would likely be his quickest way back to Solitude. If those other people wanted to walk, let them.
Another thing that was bothering him, was how in Oblivion he'd gotten all the way to Whiterun hold.
Had the excitement of fighting that mage blocked out his memory that much?
No... Last thing he remembered was charging him in the middle of the city...
"Agh..." He murmured to himself, rubbing two fingers of each hand against his temples, eyes of bluish green squinted shut as he tried to recall so mething. Anything. "Why can't I remember anything?!"
It was frustrating.
He decided to enjoy the scenery as he walked.
Whiterun was pretty. Hilly, but not as much as Haafingar. The land was more flat here. And not quite as cold. Though the air didn't have the crisp ocean scent, he could smell more of the actual land itself.
It was nice.
Much nicer than the air inside the cities.
Especially Solitude.
With its sewers running underneath the streets, it smelled like human waste more than other towns. Not that anyone else ever seemed to notice, or mind.
Maybe it was just him and his family.
Having a strong sense of smell sucked sometimes.
He passed a dilapidated watchtower and slowed in his stride.
Hadn't that been destroyed a few years back? Something about it being a hazard and they were going to build a new one?
Or maybe it was another tower in Whiterun. There were so many from what he'd been told.
Yeah, that was probably it.
He was getting close to the city now, he'd better check and see if had any coin for the carriage.
He'd find his pockets empty however, and lament the fact he'd emptied them the night before when he was getting ready for bed before everything happened.
And he had nothing else on him to sell. Welp, guess he was going to have to find some work to earn some coin.
Chopping up firewood paid fairly well. Six pieces per log... Yeah, that would be quick and easy.
He could check the prices of the carriage before heading into the city, and maybe get some food too.
He'd only just realized he was starving.
He didn't even know what time of day it was, he'd probably slept right through breakfast time.
Upon arriving at the Whiterun stables, he found it odd that some nearby guards were wearing yellow.
Wasn't Whiterun under Stormcloak control? Shouldn't they be wearing the trademark blue? Or had that changed recently?
He hadn't been around here in a while, so... maybe so.
In his curiosity, he forgot about checking the carriage prices and found himself at the gate, only to be stopped by a guard.
"Halt, city's closed with the dragons about. Official business only." The man said to the tall stranger.
"Dragons?" The young man echoed. But... They'd been dead for years now, right? "Did they come back, again?"
"Don't know what you mean about again, but yeah." He replied. Guy didn't look like your typical, muscled out, empty headed adventurer.
"So I can't get I to the city? I woke up in a field, robbed of my coin, and I can't come in to do some honest work and get paid to go back home?" The stranger asked.
"Afraid not. You can try Riverwood, though. But be careful, the dragon was spotted in that direction. We're detaching guards there to help fortify the place, but the poor sods don't even have a wall."
Well, that was just great...
"I see, thank you." He told the guard.
Well, fuck...
Great, now he had to trek all the way to the next town, and then back, just to get a carriage. At this rate, it'd be faster to just head to Solitude on foot...
Ugh.
Despite the hiccup in his plans, he decided to just head straight to Solitude.
He hoped everyone else was okay.