A/N: This took a while didn't it? When finals creep up on you, you go through a crisis of realizing too late in the semester that your major isn't clicking with you but you have no idea what to change to at the time, and no one's reviewing, it becomes hard to get motivated to write. Hopefully a big chapter can make up for a long absence. Buckle up, this will take a while. Let's go! I don't own Skyrim or Zelda. Read and Review!
Impa sheathed her Biggoron's Sword as the two bandits fell dead, new victims of her blade. As she made her way deeper, she came across a man caught in Frostbite Spider webbing. The man struggled, calling out for help when he noticed Impa. The man was likely a member of the bandit group that had stolen the Golden Claw. As she advanced, a gigantic Frostbite Spider the size of an alpha Dodongo dropped from the ceiling. Impa drew her naginata and struck the spider across the face. Screeching in fury, the spider struck out with its front legs, knocking Impa off balance. It then pounced, intending to impale Impa with its venomous fangs. It got an afterimage instead. Impa slashed at the beast's abdomen with her spear and circled around it as it attempted to spot her again. Eventually, she managed to kill it. She approached the bound man, a stern look on her face.
"So, are you that Arvel the Swift I heard your allies speaking about at the entrance?"
"Yes, yes. Where are they?"
"Dead. And unless you choose your words carefully, you'll be joining them in Hell."
"Wait! Wait! I know how the claw works!"
"… What do you mean 'how it works'?"
"The claw is a key to a treasure deeper in this old tomb. I'll tell you what- cut me out of these webs and I'll split the treasure with you when we find it. I'll even let you take the claw when we're done."
Impa could tell that Arvel was lying to her about splitting the treasure. Her various positions meant that she'd had to deal with people lying to her often, whether it had been those times in Zelda's childhood where she had rarely attempted to lie her way out of trouble, which was a habit Impa had thankfully rid her of, or a captured enemy trying to feed her false information. It was pretty obvious that when she cut him down, Arvel would either flee or attempt to kill her. But still, this was the only way through. She cut him out of the web, but Arvel turned and fled with a taunting remark as soon as he could move. Impa chased him, furious, but stopped short as some of the tomb's corpses began to rise from their resting places.
"I'll just let the draugr take care of-"
Arvel was cut off by a loud CLANG as a spiked wall swung forward, triggered by the pressure plate he had foolishly stepped on. He was flung across the room, dead before he hit the tomb wall, impaled in multiple places. Impa clashed with the undead draugr as they advanced on her. They were nothing like ReDeads or Gibdos. The undead she had faced were slow, lumbering, mindless monsters dragging gigantic blades and using paralyzing screams. These undead were every bit as agile as they likely were in life, using a variety of weapons and speaking in some language that Impa did not understand. They weren't as tough as a ReDead though, and as such it only took one or two slashes to put them down. When they were dead, Impa moved over to Arvel's body, taking his journal, his gold, and the Golden Claw from his corpse. After avoiding the pressure plate that had set off the spike wall trap, Impa continued deeper into the tomb, taking a few items such as potions, coins, books, and strange purplish-pink gems. Eventually, she came across a large door with three rings around it, each ring displaying a different picture. The rings could be spun to reveal one of three different pictures. In the center, there was a strange lock that the Golden Claw could fit into perfectly. She had a feeling it wouldn't be that simple. Checking Arvel's journal gave her the answer. The claw was enscribed with three symbols which matched to ones on the rings. She just needed to adjust them until the door matched the claw, and it opened seamlessly after the claw was inserted. A few rooms later and quite a few draugr later, and she found herself in the main chamber. There was a sarcophagus, a chest, and a strange wall with writing on it. One word on the wall appeared to be glowing. Impa found herself drawn to it, staring at the glowing word. Knowledge flowed into her, and her vision blurred. Impa stumbled back, clutching her head as her vision cleared. A word floated into her mind.
Fus…
"Fus…" Impa whispered the word to herself. What did that word mean? Why could she suddenly understand a word she did not know how to read? What had happened to her? This question would have to come later, as the sarcophagus' lid was flung open and a dangerous-looking draugr emerged. Impa clashed with the zombie, the strange enchantment on its weapon making it a tough fight, not helped by the fact that it periodically pushed her back by shouting something she couldn't make out. It proved no match against the burning slashes of her naginata, and it soon fell. Impa made use of some of the potions she'd collected to restore herself, taking the Dragonstone from the draugr's corpse. Impa made her way back to Riverwood to return the claw, and then returned to Whiterun, returning the stone to Farengar.
"Wow, you actually found it! I suppose the Jarl chose the right person for the job. Now then, my friend and I will do our job."
Farengar turned back to the person standing over a map on his desk, when Jarl Balgruff's personal guard Irileth came running in.
"Farengar! Come quickly! A dragon's been sighted by the Western Watchtower!"
"A dragon!? Really? How exciting! What was it doing?"
"I'd be more concerned if I were you. If it attacks the city, I don't know it we can stop it. You two, come with me. The Jarl wants to speak with us."
Impa followed the two up to the Jarl, who tasked Impa and Irileth with killing the dragon. The two rallied a small force of soldiers and headed out to the watchtower. A lone survivor called out.
"Stay back! The others tried to make a run for it and got grabbed. Kynareth preserve us, here he comes again!"
The soldiers drew weapons and Impa readied herself as a loud bellow split the sky and a gigantic dragon came swooping out of the sky, spitting flame. Arrows peppered its tough hide as the soldiers scrambled to find a place to shoot from that was still somewhat safe from the flying reptile's flame breath. It didn't have as much raw power as an Argorok, but was a lot faster. Impa found herself taking cover by Irileth.
"This isn't working. Impa, do you think you can find a way to damage its wings and ground it?"
"Of course I can" Impa replied, looking out at their foe. She'd need to time this right… Soon, she saw her chance. Impa dashed towards the watchtower, and leaped off its wall as the dragon dived, managing to land perfectly on the monster's back. The dragon flew higher and began rolling and thrashing, attempting to shake her off, but the Shekiah held on tightly to one of its dorsal spikes. Drawing her naginata, Impa drove the weapon into one of the dragon's wings and pulled down, tearing a gash in the webbing of that wing. She then reversed her position and tore another gash in the other wing. Screeching in pain, the dragon plummeted. Impa leaped from its back, and the dragon crash-landed in the dirt, tearing a ditch in the ground. It managed to get back up, folding in its damaged wings and coming at Impa, furious. Impa drew her Biggoron's Sword and readied it, staring the dragon down. It stopped, and to everyone's surprise, spoke.
"You would bet your life on a single strike? You are brave, yet at the same time foolish, little joor. I am Mirmulnir, and I am your death!" the dragon roared. Mirmulnir's jaws opened wide as he lunged, and Impa's blade snapped out. The dragon reared back, a deep cut in his jaws, and Impa took the opportunity to leap forward and bring her blade's fury to bear on the underside of the dragon's exposed neck, cutting his throat. Blood spewing from the wound, his life fading fast, Mirmulnir glared at this mortal who had dared bring him down. Still, it mattered not. Alduin was back and he would be back. Then he felt a strange force pulling at his life, and his eyes widened in horror as he realized just who had slain him. "Dovahkiin?! Niid!" He managed to choke out through his blood before falling to the ground, dead. Impa sheathed her blade as the other soldiers ran up to her.
"Amazing! You actually killed a dragon!"
"That was incredible!"
"I've never seen such a battle… wait, what's happening?"
Impa whirled to look at Mirmulnir's corpse. It was beginning to catch fire and the skin was starting to flake off. As everyone watched in awe, Mirmulnir's skin was transformed into several streams of glowing, fiery energy. Impa took a step back as said energy flowed directly into her chest. Impa clenched her teeth and stood still as a new sensation flowed through her body. It burned like she was standing in a fire, yet it felt like new power was flowing through her veins as well. This went on for several seconds until it stopped. Impa let out a breath and looked at Mirmulnir. Only the skeleton of the dragon remained, and the soldiers were staring at her in awe.
"I can't believe it… You… You're Dragonborn."
"I thought the Dragonborn were a myth."
"Tiber Septim himself was one."
"I've never heard of Tiber Septim killing any dragons."
"That's because there weren't any in those times, idiot. They're just coming back for the first time in… forever."
"Wait, wait. Dragonborn? What are you talking about?" Impa interjected. She had no idea what these people were talking about, but if it meant some answers as to what in Din's name had just happened, she wanted to know.
"It's an ancient legend. In the old times, when there were still dragons in Skyrim, the Dragonborn would kill dragons and steal their power. That's what you just did, isn't it? Absorbed that dragon's power?" asked the guard who had called Impa Dragonborn in the first place.
"You… may be right. I have no idea what exactly just happened, but judging from how that felt, I'd say that's likely what happened." Impa stated.
"Well, there is one way to find out. The Dragonborn is said to be able to Shout without training. Go ahead and try to Shout. That should be proof enough."
Shout? Impa wasn't sure what the guard was talking about. Then that word from Bleak Falls Barrow floated into her mind again. Should she try that one? Might as well try. Impa nodded, and then turned to the skeleton. She inhaled, let the word flow into her mind, and shouted it out.
"FUS!"
To everyone's shock, including Impa's, a blue blast wave of kinetic energy flew from Impa's mouth as soon as the word left her throat, rattling the bones and knocking the skeleton on its side, scattering the bones.
"That was Shouting, what you just did! You really are Dragonborn!"
Impa looked at the toppled skeleton in awe. Dragonborn? What did that mean? Had she really been born this way in Hyrule and just never known it due to the only dragons she'd ever encountered being dark magic constructs? Or was this because of the magic anomaly that had brought her to Skyrim in the first place? These thoughts were swirling in her head as she made her way back to Whiterun. The rumbling of the ground and a set of voices sounding at once snapped her out of her reverie.
"DOV-AH-KIIN!"
A/N: This took way too long to write. Still, I just changed to an English major and I hope I'll be able to write more alongside my assignments. Now for talking about the chapter. The part where Impa is slashing Mirmulnir's wings while holding onto his wings is a reference to Shadow of the Colossus (Great game, BTW). The "You would bet your life on a single strike" line is a reference to Berserk, where a demon asks Guts such a question. The clip is in Guts' analysis in Death Battle if you're interested. In terms of the draconic language used here, joor means 'mortal', niid means 'no', and Dovahkiin translates directly to 'Dragonborn'. So, we've stormed Bleak Falls Barrow and slain Mirmulnir. The Greybeards are calling us… What exactly do they want? What is Impa's destiny as Dragonborn? Has anyone reading this really not played this game before? Find out next time, in Impa, The Dragonborn! Again, be sure to review!