"Hey! You awake, Khajiit?" Ralof addressed the young dark calico furred Khajit with shoulder length black hair and earrings sitting across from him. Said Khajiit was also in rags and bindings like the other passengers in the back of the wagon they were riding in.
"Huh?" the Khajiit groaned as she lifted her head up and looked around, her pale eyes taking in the surroundings, before wincing as a headache made itself known. "Uhh...where is Tadal'alla?"
"You and your Argonian friend walked right into that Imperial ambush when you tried crossing the border." the man explained. Tadal'alla blinked before the memory came back.
"Glack-Al!"
"Snrrt! Mmm."
Both man and Khajiit turned to see an Argonian sitting between Ralor and Lokir. His scales were a mix of dark green and brown with light green colored feathers on his head. He had a few scars here and their on his face, white colored spikes running along his thin jawline, and dark green coloring around his eyes, which were a light, almost glowing blue when he blinked them open.
"Huh?" he asked after a jaw-cracking yawn. "Where am I?"
"Captured with these rotten Stormcloaks!" Lokir explained while shooting a glare at Ralof. "If not for you rebels, I'd be in Hammerfell by now!"
"Quiet back there!" ordered the Imperial soldier driving the horse-drawn carriage.
"Oh, so we're prisoners." Glack-Al surmised before looking at Tadal'alla. "I blame you."
"Me? What did Tadal'alla do?!" the Khajiit snapped.
"I don't know. But it wasn't my fault this time, so I still blame you." Glack-Al smirked, earning a hiss and a glare from Tadal'alla.
"I said shut it! Now, or I'll carry out your execution here!" the Imperial soldier snapped.
"Wait?! Execution?!" Lokir yelped in panic. "T-That can't be right! I'm not a rebel!"
"It doesn't matter to the Imperials." Ralof said as they continued onward. "We're all brothers and sisters in bindings."
"This is a mistake! Tell them I'm not with you! Or him!" Lokir yelled in panic.
"Hey! You will adress Ulfric Stormcloak with respect!" Ralof barked.
"The Jarl of Windhelm?! The leader of the Stormcloaks?!" Lokir asked in shock before scowling at him. "The one who killed High King Torygg?!"
"The only true High King is Ulfric Stormcloak!" Ralof snapped.
"You following any of this?" Glack-Al asked Tadal'alla.
"One of us has to." she smirked.
"Open the gates!" came a shout, garnering everyone's attention. They all turned to see the gates leading into Helgen open up, showing many Imperial Soldiers inside, alongside with civilians and Thalmor High Elves watching from a distance. Ralof began to say something, only to be interrupted by a hiss coming from Tadal'alla.
"Hutch!" she growled.
"What?!" Glack-Al snapped as he whipped his head towards her viewpoint. He scowled as he noticed a young, but well built, Redguard being handed a hefty bag of septims. He wore a suit of armor made of pure black steel armor, black hair with none on his face, and a scar going over his left eye. He accepted the gold before turning his horse to leave, but shot a parting smirk at the two before riding off.
"Friend of yours?" Ralof asked after noticing the man ride off.
"If by friend, you mean 'bounty hunting bastard that's been on our tails for a few years now, then yes. We're the best of friends!" Tadal'alla bit out at the end before the wagon stopped near a crowd gathered around a chopping block.
"Let's go. Best not to keep the gods waiting." Ralof said as they all began walking off the carriage.
"No! There's been a mistake! We're not rebels!" Lokir protested desperately.
"Face your death with dignity, horse thief." Ralof scoffed.
"When we call your name, approach the block!" barked a female Imperial captain.
"Ohh~" Tadal'alla cooed to herself as she eyed the woman, only to jump and with a surprised yelp of pain when she felt something snap across the back of her thighs. She turned an acrid glare towards Glack-Al, who merely looked away with an innocent smile on his face, his tail returning to swaying behind him.
"Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm!" announced an imperial named Hadvar as he held up a quill and prisoner logbook.
"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric." Ralof said as the gagged Jarl walked towards the group of other prisoners that were to face death.
"Ralof of Riverwood." Hadvar continued, prompting said man to step forward and join the crowd. "Lokir of Rorikstead."
"NO! I'M NOT A REBEL! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Lokir yelled hysterically before making a run for it.
"HALT!" the captain yelled.
"I'M NOT DYING HERE!" Lokir yelled back. Sadly, the salvo of arrows that were embedded into his now dead corpse said otherwise.
"Anyone else feel like running?!" the captain challenged with a scowl. Said scowl dropped to a look of confusion when Glack-Al suddenly fell on his face.
"Don't even think about it, Glack." Tadal'alla reprimanded the Argonian as she put the foot she used to trip him back down, earning a glare from him before two Imperials brought him to his feet.
"In a hurry to die, lizard?" the captain asked as he was brought before her.
"What? I thought I could make it." he responded with a grin, which fell when she rammed the hilt of her blade into his gut, causing him to double over.
"Anyway," Hadvar said after a moment before looking down at him. "What is your name, Argonian."
"My name's...Glack-Al." he huffed out after getting some air in his lungs.
"Hmm. And you?" Hadvar continued as he looked at Tadal'alla.
"Tadal'alla." she responded. Hadvar nodded before looking down at the list.
"These two are not on the list." Hadvar informed.
"We were also told that that these two are Stormcloak sympathizers from that Redguard that left moments ago." the captain explained.
"Hutch." Glack-Al grit out in anger.
"And besides, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. They were on the carriage, they go to the block!" the captain ordered.
"Yes, captain." Hadvar nodded before looking at the two. "May the gods have mercy on your souls." And with that, Glack-Al and Tadal'alla walked to join their fellow prisoners and wait their turn.
"I still blame you." Glack-Al whispered to Tadal'alla, who silently glared back.
"Ulfric Stormcloak." General Tullius greeted as he glared at the Jarl. "Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero would never use a power like The Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne."
"The Voice?" Glack-Al whispered Tadal'alla.
"Why are you asking me?" she whispered back.
"Aren't you the smart one?" he retorted.
Their conversation died when a distant roar was heard, causing everyone to look around.
"What was that?" Hadvar asked, his voice holding a small hint of fear.
"It's nothing. Carry on." Tullius ordered.
"Yes, General Tullius!" the Imperial Captain nodded.
"Glack." Tadal'alla whispered, her voice full of concern with her own fear mixed in. "You know that bad feeling I get on the tip of my tail when something bad's about to happen?"
"Yeah?" the Argonian whispered back, his eyes to the sky as the sound of an axe cutting through flesh was heard. "Let me guess? Not because of the chopping block.
"Not even close!" she hissed out when the same roar came, only this one sounded closer. She couldn't say anymore before being pushed forward by an Imperial towards the chopping block.
"I said get up to the block, cat!" the captain snapped as Tadal'alla was forced onto her knees, her head shoved down on the block.
'Mother...Father...we're on our way.' she thought as she closed her eyes. She expected death in the form of the headsman's axe, but instead...
"By the Hist!"
She was treated to Glack-Al's shout in shock. Snapping her eyes open, she was greeted with a giant form landing on the roof of the building behind the headsman, throwing the man off balanced and away from the block, giving her a clear view of a...
"DRAGON!"
Indeed it was. A giant dragon with black scales looked down upon every terrified face looking up at it. It's gazed lingered upon Glack-Al and Tadal'alla for a moment longer, it's eyes seeming to narrow at them, before it took a deep breath...and everything went straight to Oblivion.
Meteors began to rain from the heavens after the dragon shouted while the Imperials either began firing arrows at it or led the civilians to safety.
"Tadal!" Glack-Al yelled as he knelt down next to her. "Are you alright?!"
"Khajiit is alive!" she answered as his teeth ripped her bindings off her hands.
"Hey! You two! Over here!" They turned to see Ralof standing in the doorway of a nearby tower. "Get in here before it sees you!" They both scrambled towards the tower while Glack-Al bit his own bindings off before joining up with Ralof, Ulfric, and a few other Stormcloaks. "By Talos! A dragon! Just like in the legends!"
"Legends don't burn down villages." Ulfric stated. "We've got to move! Now!"
"Up through the tower! Move!" Ralof yelled as he ascended the stairs, followed by everyone else in the tower. They kept climbing before a pile of rocks blocked their ascent. Some Stormcloaks tried to move them, only for the wall next to them to be violently broken down by the dragon's head smashing through-
"YOL TOOR SHUL!"
-followed by said dragon turning anyone in the path of it's fire into ash before flying off.
"Why is this happening?!" Tadal'alla yelled as she stared at the piles of ash in terror.
"No idea!" Glack-Al answered as they gazed out of the hole the dragon made.
"Do you see the Inn on the other side?" Ralof asked as he stared down at the gaping hole in the building below. "Jump down there! We'll catch up when we can!"
"Lizards first!" Glack-Al yelled as he hopped down and rolled into the fall when he landed, followed by Tadal'alla shortly afterwards. Both of them ran through the Inn and followed the sound of Hadvar yelling for a little boy to run towards him. Haming obeyed, leaving a man named Torolf to die when the dragon dropped down and reared it's head back.
"Oh Gods! EVERYONE GET BACK!" Hadvar yelled right before the dragon roasted the poor man alive. "Still alive prisoners?! Keep close to me if you want to stay that way!" he ordered.
"Right behind you!" Tadal'alla shouted as she and Glack-Al ran behind him while Haming stayed with a man named Gunnar. The three of them maneuvered through the burning town of Helgen, stepping over corpses and dodging blasts of fire along the way. "Keep close! We're almost out of here!" he yelled as they ran, only to stop when they met up with Ralof. "Ralof! You vile traitor! Out of the way!"
"We're escaping! You're not stopping us, Hadvar!" Ralof declared.
"LOOK OUT!" Glack-Al warned as the dragon did another fly by, it's fire scorching a path through town as it flew. The four of them jumped away to avoid the fire, separating the group with a wall of flame. "TADAL! YOU ALRIGHT?!" Glack-Al yelled over the roar of the inferno.
"YES! KEEP GOING! I'LL MEET YOU OUTSIDE OF TOWN!" she yelled back before following Ralof, leaving Glack-Al to follow Hadvar.
"Hin sil fen nahkip bahloki!" roared the dragon as both groups ran inside Helgen Keep.
A/N: And that is the end of chapter one. Hope you enjoyed.
Hutch the Redguard was provided by: CC-6776
The name Tadal'alla was provided by: Hedgehog of Time
Future help will still be appreciated.