(AN: I realized several things while debating what to do with this story. One, obviously, is that Sigrun doesn't quite have enough flaws. I know that it's a modern trope [that I hate] to make heroes fallible, even unlikable, and riddled with so many flaws that they are no longer heroic, but I don't see her as having anything else besides being too trusting. Another was that, because she was too trusting, she went with what we saw in the last chapter far too easily. This will be addressed here.)
Going Back
Everyone was in shock after what had just happened. In their minds, Sigrun had went from hazy and shocked from the aftermath of battle to angrily crushing Willow-Arvela's neck with her bare hands, all in the matter of an instant. She was also looking rather surprised herself, staring down at her hands and back over her shoulder. Jonna was the first one to dare approach her.
"Hey, Sig, you alright?" she asked.
"I...I don't know," came the answer. "I have to go back home. I have to see if he's safe."
"Wait, what?" Jonna exclaimed. "We just took the fort! You want us to leave already?"
"You don't have to follow me," Sigrun replied, kicking aside the limp body of Arvela and going over to the other body that lay on the ground.
"You're leaving us? Sig, what's the problem? What's gotten into you?"
"Bjorn's in trouble," she replied, then repeated what she had said before. She had to go back to Lakeview Manor to see if he was safe.
"I'm coming with you."
"I told you, you don't have to."
"Well, I'm going," Jonna insisted. "And that's that. You're as good as a sister to me, that makes Bjorn my little brother. If he's in danger, he's gonna need both of us."
"Wait a minute!" Erik spoke up. "We just claimed the fort from the Imperials. They'll try to take it back, and Roggi and I can't hold them off."
"Then go," Sigrun said, not looking back at him as she knelt down by the old man's side and began rifling through his clothes. "You're free to leave. I won't take you back to Whiterun, and I won't tell anyone where you've been or where you choose to go."
"But we jus' had a proper victory!" Roggi stated. "Gods, even if that Willow was a dark elf, she got us a fort. If we leave, bandits'll take it over, or th' Imperials'll take it back! An' then what?"
But Sigrun did not answer him. She found a small stack of papers bound with a cord, whose seal was from one of Father's signet rings. She stowed that away into her armor, then picked up the little totem that had fallen out of her hands when she held him.
"Kinswoman!" Roggi sternly stated. "If we're 'bout t' lose what we fought t' gain, we need t' know why-for!"
"I...I can't explain it," Sigrun returned. "Just...just go wherever you want. Find the Sons of Skyrim, take the fight to our enemies. Let our cause live on with them."
"We're giving up?" Erik asked, dismayed.
"No, we're not giving up," Sigrun stated. "It's...well, it's personal. That's all I can say. I'll find you again."
"How?"
Sigrun looked up from the body of the old man. "I'll just look for the trail of dead elves." Roggi smiled at this, but Erik said nothing: he was still too grim and sullen in the face of, what appeared to be, desertion and giving up.
The two women made preparations to depart at once. They left most of their gear behind, for they were determined to arrive at Lakeview in short order and needed speed. Instead of steel plates, they wore hardy cloaks of wool to keep out the cold and each of them a hauberk of chain-mail on top of their clothes. For weapons, they had only sword and axe: the old man's sword Jonna gave to Roggi's keeping, with the instruction to go north to Dawnstar and look for an old spellsword. Arvela's horse had disappeared, but there was one swift steed stabled in the fort which would carry the two of them.
"You're really going through with this?" Erik asked.
Sigrun said nothing, but merely nodded and helped Jonna climb onto the back of the horse. She then climbed on in front of her, and wrapped Jonna's hands around her waist as she took the reins of the horse.
"Talos be with you," were her last words before she galloped off southward.
They rode on at a feverish pace, stopping for nothing. From the fort, they made their way southward till the snows gave way to the uplands of the golden tundra plains of Whiterun. Rather than keeping to the road or making for Whiterun proper, Sigrun turned the horse westward and skirted along its border. At last they crossed the main road that passed from Whiterun to the Reach, and continued south by southwest. Day wore on and the sun started to pass toward the Reach and High Rock, lengthening the shadows around them. But Sigrun kept going, eager to reach Lakeview Manor as swiftly as possible.
On and on they rode, with Sigrun urging the horse on faster and harder. They passed into the eaves of the forests of Falkreath and continued down the road that would lead them along the southern shores of Lake Ilinalta to Oakwood, and then to Lakeview.
The sun was now almost completely hidden behind the tall ironwood and pine trees of Falkreath. Evening was closing in about them, and the doleful cries of wolves and other wild creatures began to fill the evening air. They rode into Oakwood at a feverish pace, Sigrun urging the horse on and on again. Suddenly, as soon as they had passed the town by, the horse collapsed and Sigrun and Jonna were thrown to the ground. Sigrun didn't even bother looking at the horse, but got up to her feet and started walking down the road. She knew these roads and could return to Lakeview from Oakwood. Jonna followed after her, forcing herself to move despite being weary from the intense jostling ride.
Through sheer force of will, Sigrun jogged the rest of the way from Oakwood to Lakeview, coming at last staggering to the steps of her home. Behind her heaved and panted Jonna, barely able to stand. At the door, a figure in black was waiting for them.
"Back so soon?" the figure asked.
"Serana," Sigrun gasped. "Let us in."
"Your Mother and Father aren't here," she said. "They've gone to a meeting of the Sons of Skyrim."
"I just need to get inside," Sigrun gasped. "Let me in."
Serana removed from her belt the key-chain and unlocked the door. Sigrun staggered inside, with Jonna after her and Serana looking suspiciously at them as they ran to Bjorn's room. At the door, Sigrun knocked as loud, hard, and fast as she could with what little energy was left. No answer. Then she threw her shoulder against the door as hard as she could: the door did not give and there was no answer. Jonna and Serana came in after her.
"What's going on?" asked Serana.
"I need..." gasped Sigrun. "...to get inside. Bjorn's...in danger."
"Is the door locked?" Serana asked.
"It won't open," Sigrun gasped.
Serana pushed Sigrun aside, and inserted the key into the lock. None of the keys worked: she tried the same key several times, and even different keys on the chain, but none of them opened the door.
"I don't understand this!" she groaned. "This is the key to open this door, but it won't budge! Unless..."
"What?" Sigrun gasped. "What do you know?"
"Maybe it's magically locked?"
"Then how do we get in?" Jonna asked.
"I could try breaking the door down," Serana suggested.
"I tried that..." Sigrun panted. "It won't budge."
"You're not me," Serana reminded her. With that, she thrust her fist through the door and pawed away the boards of it, until there was nothing left of the door. Sigrun pushed her aside and ran into her brother's room. Everything was there exactly as she left it: his bed, his trunk, his clothes laying on the brim of his open trunk, shelves full of books - and stacks of books and scrolls lying on the floor when he ran out of space.
But Bjorn was not there.
Sigrun gasped, falling to her knees, her hands covering her mouth. Serana and Jonna seemed dumbfounded behind her.
"Where is he?" they both asked.
Sigrun gave no answer.
"Serana," Jonna asked. "Where is Bjorn?"
"I don't know," she replied. "He was inside the last time I saw, and never went out. I watch the perimeter every night, I would have seen him leave."
"It was him..." Sigrun muttered, her voice breaking. "It was him...and I killed him!"
With that, Sigrun buried her face in her hands and wept. Jonna seemed quite bewildered by all of this, but she knew where her place was right now. She knelt down and wrapped her arm around Sigrun's shoulder and held her while she wept.
Several minutes later, in the dining hall, the three women were seated down. Serana had brought them some food: bread, cheese, and some dried meat. Jonna ate ravenously, for their journey had been long, tiring, and they were all hungry. Sigrun ate nothing, but gazed at the wall in silence, her face grim and sorrowful. Jonna was just starting to eye the food set before Sigrun when she noticed how she was.
"You know, you'll bore a hole in the wall if you stare at it like that," she teased. "What will your Da think?" Sigrun made no answer.
"Look, back at Fort Dunstad," Jonna began. "You told them you couldn't explain what happened. But you can tell me. You dragged me half-way across Skyrim, fighting trolls, wolves, bandits, Dunmer, and Divines know what else, all because you had a dream of saving Skyrim. And I believed in that dream; Erik and Roggi, they believed in that dream, even though they barely knew what our goal was. And then, all of a sudden, you just gave it up and dragged me half-way across Skyrim again to find Bjorn, and instead of searching for him, you look like you're about to die."
"There's no hope in searching," Sigrun sorrowfully muttered. "He's dead. I killed him."
"What do you mean 'you killed him?'" Jonna asked. "We never ran into him at all. Now I've been very patient with you, but I'm gonna need answers, Sig. I'm not that big of a fool, you know. I won't just go along with anything, especially when you kill the elf-b*tch you were trying to defend. So come on, let's hear it."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
Sigrun sighed, but shook her head.
"Listen to me, Sigrun, if you want my help, you're going to have to be honest with me. Now tell me what in Oblivion is going on?"
Tense silence filled the dining hall. At last, Sigrun began her story. She started with the figure in black, then the images, then at last what had happened in Apocrypha. Jonna and Serana listened intently, but said no words to her in return. At last the story came to an end: the vampire said nothing, but Jonna seemed almost as overwhelmed as Sigrun had been when the old Bjorn revealed it to her.
Almost.
"That's...really something else," she said at last. "I don't even know if I want to believe it, much less wrap my head around it."
"I know," said Sigrun.
Jonna said nothing about what had happened when he appeared to her. She didn't feel right in sharing that she had had some significant part in wasting old Bjorn's life.
"So what are you going to do?" she asked at last.
"I don't know," Sigrun replied. "I mean, none of what he said makes sense. But how else can I explain Bjorn's departure?"
"Maybe he teleported away?" Jonna asked. "I mean, he's pretty skilled in magicka, even for a kid."
"That kind of teleportation spell would be too great for a novice to cast," Serana commented. "Certainly no child could cast it."
"And you're sure he wasn't kidnapped or just left?" Jonna asked.
"I would have known if it happened," Serana replied. "And by the blood, it never did."
"Then how could you not sense him disappearing?" Sigrun asked.
"I don't know," Serana returned. "If what you said is true, and he cast spells to hide himself from us, I wouldn't have sensed him leaving at all. I don't know the first thing about Hermaeus Mora other than what your Father told me about his time in Solstheim."
Jonna turned back to Sigrun. "But what about the rest of this? Do you really believe the world is going to end in three months?"
"I don't know," Sigrun repeated.
"Well, if it is, we gotta do something about it," Jonna insisted.
"What can we do?"
"We could tell this to your Father," Jonna suggested. "Get the Sons of Skyrim together, find the Emperor and kill him. He should be somewhere here in Skyrim."
"How do you know the Emperor is in Skyrim?"
"Nevermind," Jonna dismissed.
"No," Sigrun insisted. "No, you want to know my business, now I want to know yours. How do you know Emperor Crixus is in Skyrim?"
Jonna made a frustrated groan, then said: "Because I saw him."
"You saw the Emperor?" Sigrun asked. "When?"
"Several days ago," Jonna replied. "Jorrvaskr was burned, the Companions were scattered...and then he appeared just outside of Whiterun. He abducted me and tried to get me to do something for him."
"He what?" Sigrun asked, surprised. "What did he want?"
"It doesn't matter, I said no anyway."
"What did he want?"
Jonna opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out were sputtering sounds. She tried again, and again, but just as the words were forming in her head, they disappeared and she was left sputtering like an idiot. She tried again to say something, but her head hurt and nothing could be said.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sigrun asked. "Spit it out."
"I...I'm trying to!" Jonna exclaimed, slamming her fist on the table. "It-It...nothing's coming out. It...it has something to do with that paper he sent me. Yes, he gave me a paper with my instructions on it." She reached into her bosom and pulled out the paper, unfolded it, and placed it on the table.
"There, right there," she said, pointing to the paper. "Plain to see."
"Jons, there's nothing there," Sigrun replied.
"What?"
"It's just a blank piece of paper."
"No, no, there's words on it." Jonna insisted. She held up the paper for both Sigrun and Serana to see. "Can't you see it?"
"It's blank," said Serana. Sigrun nodded in confirmation.
"B-B...but it's there!" Jonna insisted. "Can't you see it? I mean, I trusted you with your story, even if it sounds insane. Can't you believe me as well?"
"You believe me?" Sigrun asked.
"Uh, no, not really," Jonna returned. "But if you're set on doing this, then I'll go with you. You know I would; don't even need to ask me."
Sigrun smiled. Jonna's devotion was reassuring.
"What about the letter?" Serana suggested. "You said the old man gave you a letter?"
"Uh-huh," Sigrun nodded. She then produced the small bundle of paper that she had taken off of the old Bjorn. Breaking the seal, she found that it contained several leaves of paper, written in the handwriting of Bjorn: after living with him for all her life, she recognized it anywhere. Here it what it said:
'To my dear sister Sigrun,
If you're reading this letter, then I presume that I am dead. It also means that I have failed, and now must tell you all that must be done to save our beloved Skyrim.
The year you were born, the Empire circumvented the peace treaty with the Stormcloaks. They called fresh legions from Cyrodiil through the Jerall Pass in the Rift, then had a letter sent with the implication that the moot was summoned to High Hrothgar to settle the matter of the next High King. They hoped that Ulfric Stormcloak would take the bait, and they would trap him with their legions on the mountain and put an end to the Stormcloak Rebellion. Father intervened, but it served only in delaying the inevitable. Once Ulfric returned to Windhelm, Dunmer let by Athal Sarys took over Windhelm using Imperial weapons smuggled into the city: they killed Ulfric after a long siege and handed his body to the Imperials, but they never returned the city.
This defeat was greater than one could imagine, but its aftermath was worse. A Thalmor justicar named Thelgil invaded Skyrim and began systematically wiping out the Nord population of Solitude. Though he was deposed, this was not the end. Our Father put Servius Crixus, his long-time rival, on the Imperial throne. His hatred for our people came to fruition as soon as he took power: what Thelgil did became commonplace in Skyrim under Emperor Crixus, for the sole purpose of eradicating the armed might of resistance of our people. Whether willing or no, he became a servant of the Aldmeri Dominion in their goal to eradicate mankind and achieve godhood. By the time of your eighteenth birthday, they had gotten themselves in a position to successfully invade High Rock and Skyrim: the Empire was powerless to defend itself. All was destroyed in a matter of days. This must not come to pass.
I have enchanted this letter so that no one may see its contents save for you: this way it will not fall into enemy hands. If I am dead now, then you are the only one who can save our people. Take the enchanted totem I leave with this letter, smash the head, and go back in time, by the blessing of Akatosh, to this critical moment. Prevent the defeat of the Stormcloak Rebellion, and ensure that Thelgil never takes over Solitude. Above all else, Servius Crixus must not be allowed to become Emperor.
When you go back, things will be different from how they are now. Stay to your purpose no matter what. Servius Crixus is a silver-tongued rogue, and the blood of many is on his hands, including Titus Mede II, the old Emperor. He will try to dissuade you from your task, whether by fraud, force, or seduction: you must not put your trust in him. If he is allowed to live, he will kill our Father: for only one Dragonborn can exist at a given age.
If Ulfric Stormcloak is compromised in any way, it is up to our Father to unite and lead Skyrim. He is powerful and of upright character, and the people would follow the Dragonborn if he called them.
I wish that I could see you again, one last time. If this goes to plan, I may yet see you again. If not, then my soul will be lost to Apocrypha for all time, in payment of my folly and hubris.
Talos guide you, my dear big sister.
- Bjorn, son of Eirik the Dragonborn'
Sigrun read the letter out-loud. Upon reaching the end, she slumped back in her chair, aghast. Suddenly there was a great task ahead of her, the salvation of Skyrim: and she was the only one who knew about this. Jonna looked at the letter when she heard Sigrun read that it was enchanted, and saw that it was empty.
"Ha!" she exclaimed. "I knew it! That Colovian bastard did something to that letter! That's why I couldn't talk about it, and why none of you could see it!" She turned to Sigrun, and her expression softened when she saw how grim she looked.
"So, what do you make of this, Sig?"
"It's genuine, alright," she uttered. "I've seen Bjorn's handwriting a hundred times. It's his."
"And you found it on the old man?" Jonna asked. "So...it really was Bjorn!" She then became ghostly white and went silent.
"Is it even possible to go back in time?" Serana asked.
"Da went back," Sigrun muttered. "At the Throat of the World; he saw Alduin's first defeat."
"But that was your Father," Serana stated. "And didn't he have an Elder Scroll with him?"
"Wait, didn't the letter say he left you something to take you back?" Jonna asked. "Like a...a totem or something?" Sigrun held up the short stick she had found on the body of Bjorn. Jonna and Serana's eyes welled up with amazement.
"Does it really work?" Jonna asked.
"Only one way to find out," Sigrun replied.
"Wait a minute, now," Serana interjected. "I know I'm sort of in on this little plan of yours, but let me just be the voice of reason here with you girls."
"What?" asked Sigrun.
"Well, you're dabbling in potentially dangerous magic," said Serana.
"You mean like necromancy?" asked Jonna.
Serana rolled her red eyes, and continued. "Going back in time is much more dangerous than just raising the dead. What if you go back and you can't return? What if you die back there? What if you run into yourselves back there?"
"Huh?" both Sigrun and Jonna asked.
"Look, I was alive back then, I remember it," Serana continued. "Seventeen years ago, you Jonna were just a baby and Sigrun wasn't even born yet. What if some accident happens and your younger selves die? What would happen if you came in contact with your younger selves?"
"Well, what?" Jonna asked.
"I don't know the first thing about Mysticism," Serana replied. "Even back in my day, few knew anything about it who weren't mer: and they weren't exactly forthcoming about it, not to Nords anyway."
"So..." Jonna sighed, looking at the totem in Sigrun's hand. "We don't know what's going to happen with that thing." She looked Sigrun in the eyes. "Are you sure about this?"
"No," Sigrun answered. "But..." She sighed in resignation. "...whatever misgivings I might have, that old man was Bjorn. I'm sure of it."
"How can you be sure?" Serana asked.
"His eyes," Sigrun said. "He had Da's eyes. And this letter has his handwriting all over it. It was him." She gripped the totem tightly in her hand. "If there's a hope of saving him from this fate by following through with his plan, then I choose to take it." She turned to Jonna.
"We go back."
"Wait, we?"
Sigrun smirked. "Didn't you say I didn't have to ask you to follow me?"
"Well, yes, of course. But what about Serana?"
"What about me?"
"Are you coming with us?"
"Someone has to stay here and guard the homestead," Serana replied. "Besides, what about the world you're leaving behind? We're going to keep on living after you drop out of it, and someone with power and longevity has to protect it."
"This world is doomed, though," Sigrun stated. "I..." She stammered, as her eyes started to grow red. "...I don't want to lose you too!"
Serana reluctantly held out a hand and placed it on Sigrun's shoulder. "Come on, now. Don't start crying. If you cry, then I'll start crying. And you don't want to see me crying blood all over you."
"Gross!" Jonna retorted.
Serana chuckled. "Just teasing." She then turned back to Sigrun. "Don't worry about me, Sigrun. I can take care of myself. No matter what happens, I regret nothing of what's happened with me. I reconciled with my mother, I helped your father save the world, and he gave me charge of what was most important to him in the world."
"You sure fucked up with Bjorn," Jonna muttered. Serana gave her a venomous look with her red eyes, then turned back to Sigrun.
"You don't need to worry about me," she continued. "I'll take care of things over here. What's more concerning is what will happen to you two."
"I'll take care of her," Sigrun and Jonna both said at once. Serana smiled, but made them no answer. Then all of a sudden, she spoke up.
"Wait a minute," she said. "Sigrun, did the letter say precisely when and where you'd be going back?"
"Just seventeen years ago," Sigrun said, shaking her head. "Why do you ask?"
"It could make all the difference," Serana began. "If I remember correctly, there was an attack that set off the war. I think it was Rorikstead."
"Alright," Jonna said. "So we'll put that on our list of things to do. Go back, stop the attack on Rorikstead, keep the rebellion alive, make sure this...Thelgil character doesn't arrive in Solitude, make sure Crixus doesn't become Emperor, and keep ourselves alive...and if all else fails, make sure your Father becomes King of Skyrim."
"Easy stuff," Sigrun sarcastically stated. "Well, I guess there's no point in delaying the inevitable. The sooner we go back, the better." She turned to Serana. "Will you take care of things while we're away?"
"You can count on me," Serana replied.
"When you see Ma and Da, and aunt Jordis, tell them..." Sigrun began, but she paused, trying to think something up.
"Tell them that we're saving Skyrim," Jonna added.
"I will," Serana nodded. "You too be careful."
Minutes later, they were once more outside in the dead of night. Sleep was starting to overwhelm them, for they had ridden hard that day and were still quite weary. But Sigrun remained intent on her goal. They came to the patch of bare earth at the doorstep of Lakeview, where Sigrun and Jonna both stood around the totem. With them were some necessities they decided to take with them: cloaks lined with fur, a map of Skyrim, some potions of Serana's making, and a few small food items for themselves.
"Are you ready, Jons?" Sigrun asked.
"I'm ready if you are, Sig," she replied.
"Listen you two," Serana said to them. "When you get back, seek me out. I might be able to help. And, most importantly, don't tell anyone who you really are."
"We know that part," Jonna said, rolling her eyes.
"But what about you?" Sigrun asked. "You won't know us back then, so how will we get your help?"
"Just say you're friends of your Father," Serana replied.
"I don't feel right about lying," Sigrun demurred. "What shall I say to Tsun when he asks for an account of my life at the Whale-Bone Bridge?"
Jonna groaned, rolling her eyes. "Then I'll do the talking, okay?"
"Okay," Sigrun sighed. She then held up the totem and placed it between the two of them, gripping it tightly in her hand. Jonna noticed that Sigrun was looking scared. Her fingers were flexing over and over upon the totem, and her lips were quivering.
"Just breathe, Sig," Jonna said, placing her hand upon Sigrun's hand. "We can do this."
"Can we?" Sigrun asked. Her last rebellion had been thwarted before it even began, and now she had abandoned that to take on yet another insurrection. The enormity of what she was about to do, and the terror of what was looming before her in the future, were closing in upon her now at the moment of decision.
"Yes," Jonna assured her. "Now give me your hand." Sigrun held out her left hand, which Jonna took.
"By Shor's bones, and the old gods of our ancestors, I swear that we are going to save the Fatherland if I have to drag you along and personally kill every last damned faithless Imperial soldier in Skyrim." She then took Sigrun's left hand and placed it on the top of the totem. With four hands upon it, they thrust the pearled head upon the ground.
There was silence, then a crack heard alone above all other sounds. Then a blinding flash, and then Jonna and Sigrun both blacked out.
(AN: So I ended up coming up with something of a flaw for Sigrun while writing this. It's not necessarily a flaw, but it will get in the way of her mission and manufacture conflict [that sounded wrong]. Other than that, this chapter was mostly a "walking" chapter. The next one is where we'll be heading back and seeing how it all changes.)