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

Location: The Ragged Flagon, The Ratway
12th of Rain's Hand
6:18pm

Who knew that the Ratway was in such a mess? AND full of people trying to kill me? Gods… Kayleigh had just got done relaxing in the Bee and Barb for about an hour and did not expect to have to fight her way through the Ratway. She opened a door, not before wielding her Mace of Molag Bal in her right hand. She was expecting another wave of crazies trying to kill her, but instead, she was in what looked like a hall, surrounded by water. She walked on the dry land and it led her to what looked like… a bar.

A bar?

She sheathed her mace when she spotted civilians hanging around the bar, oblivious to her presence. They all had their attention on a red-haired man, dressed in black.

"Those days are over, Bryn…"

"I'm telling you: this one's different."

Brynjolf. How nice to hear your voice again, she thought sarcastically to herself. Kayleigh walked up to the group of people and cleared her throat to get their attention.

While everyone else had a threatened look on their faces, the one on Brynjolf's face indicated that he was surprised, yet pleased. "Well, well! Color me impressed, Lass! I didn't think I'd see you down here!"

"Because there were a bunch of lunatics trying to kill me? They weren't much of a fight anyways," She said and folded her arms across her chest. "Care to tell me which way is it to the Ratway Warrens?"

"So you're really here for the old guy?" He sighed at that, obviously expecting her to join the Thieves Guild. "Fine. Head through that door." He pointed behind her. "That'll lead you through the Ratway vaults."

"Thanks, handsome." She told him with a little smile, walking past him.

"Eh, you might want to watch out for the Elves that passed through here." Brynjolf added.

She turned back to him almost immediately. "Elves?"

"Yeah, a bunch of them came through here." A white-haired lady explained. "Nearly tore through this place. They wanted to get to the Warrens as well."

"Damn…" Kayleigh instantly knew what that meant: more trouble. In the form of Thalmor. "Alright," She unhooked her Mace of Molag Bal from her side. "If you fellows here any screaming, don't mind it. It's just the sound of people dying."

Location: The Ratway Warrens, The Ratways

"Morons…" Alright. One of these contains my Blades guy. She looked at the second floor of the Warrens. One of the doors appeared to be black and heavy. It was definitely different from the rest, which were, well, just gates. She skipped up the stairs and knocked on the bulky black door.

"Go away!" An old, gruffly voice said from behind the door.

"Esbern? Of the Blades? Open up! I'm a friend!" She tried to sound as friendly as possible.

A few seconds of silence and then, "Huh, what? No, that's… not me! I'm not Esbern!"

Yep, I'm in the right place. "It's okay. Delphine sent me. You remember Delphine, don't you?" She questioned. The phrase. She needed to use the phrase that Delphine gave her. "She said to remember the 30th of Frostfall? Apparently you would know about that?"

"D-Delphine? 30th of…" His voice soften as he attempted to absorb her words. "Aaah. So you're not Thalmor, are you?"

"No, not at all. I mean, I ran into a few on my way up here, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. They won't be a problem anymore!" She assured. "You can tell by my voice too, Esbern: I don't sound like your typical High Elf."

"No, you don't… Well, in that case… Come in then. Let me just get the door," She could hear him struggling with the heavy door for a bit, but he managed to open it up. "There we go." He was bald, but he had a white beard, and he didn't look like he was in his 70s though. "Come in, come in! Make yourself at home." He smiled warmly at her. It had been a while since she looked at a friendly face.

Kayleigh entered his 'home' and was surprised by how he managed to make it look like one. He definitely did a good job. She could see he was well-stocked: he had food, drinks, books, the works.

"Now," Esbern got her attention and placed his hands on his hips. "I don't know who you are or what you want with me, but I know that since you're not of the Thalmor, you can be trusted."

"Yes, I can. Esbern, my name is Kayleigh Leanne." Sh introduced herself. "And I believe you've heard of the Dragon attacks. Well, I want you to know that you don't have to worry about that now. Because I'm the one the Blades have been searching for."

Esbern raised an eyebrow, confused, but wanted a meaning to her sentence.

"I'm Dragonborn."