Chapter 3: Settlements

Vince looked at them questioningly. First his eyes moved to Ralof, then to Hadvar and back again. Seeing that the silence between them was beginning to grow ever more awkward, decided to voice his worry.

"Riverwood? Both of you?

Ralof and Hadvar looked at him with doubt, unsure of how he would take the fact that;

"Its our home village" said Hadvar.

"Aye, my sister Gerdur runs the mill and his uncle is the local smith" added Ralof.

Vincent was speechless for a second, trying to comprehend this newly acquired information. "Let me see if we're on the same page" he began, "you two grew up together as neighbours, I'll even assume childhood friends, and yet you were ready to slaughter each other back in Helgen? And don't say that you're on the opposing side of the war," he quickly added seeing as they wanted to argue with him, "that basically means you were willing to murder each other simply because of opposing political opinions"

Abashedly, like two scolded children, the two Nords nodded their heads whilst not looking up. Once Vince put it that way, this really was what they were doing.

"Besides, is that really the only place you two can go now?"

Ralof spoke up "No, but its the closest. We need to resupply and rest, and warn the locals of the threat lurking around these mountains".

Ah, that made sense. 'They want to warn their families' Vince mused. 'How noble'

He took a deep breath, deciding that he too was in a similar predicament after all. His original garments are lost forever and he cannot possibly wear the uniform around everywhere he goes. Half of Skyrim will try to hunt him down for it. Not to mention, food and directions would be fantastic luxury right now.

"May I come with you to this Riverwood?" Vincent inquired.

Ralof was more than happy to accompany him to the village. Hadvar on the other hand... "I can't just stroll into town with you two in tow. The rumors would spread and be the bane of us. Two Stormcloaks and an Imperial together?" he explained.

Vince's eyes narrowed, "How many times do I have to say this? I am in no way affiliated with the rebels. I'm wearing this poor excuse of an armor because I had nothing else to wear."

Ralof's eyes flared at the degrading mention of the arms of his cause. Vincent didn't even let him speak his mind before adding "Don't delude yourself Ralof. This armor is pretty terrible, no matter how grandiose you may believe your rebellion to be. That's not to say Hadvar's gear is any better. It doesn't even cover up most of his arms which I don't think I need to mention is a glaring flaw both in terms of battle practicality and weather assimilation."

Neither could argue with that.

Vincent sighed and finally conceded "So where is this Riverwood?". There was no point arguing about armor design. They agreed that once they got close to Riverwood, Ralof and Vincent would enter followed by Hadvar a couple minutes later. It might raise suspicion but at least that wouldn't be as preposterous as a Stormcloak and Imperial marching side by side.

And so they set off North towards a wooded valley between the mountains. The walk was pleasant enough, Vincent was able to absord be land's natural beauty and even picked a few flowers and mushrooms on the way. When they started walking downhill, a sound of a running river could be heard. Just in time as well, they were getting quite thirsty. But before that...

"These are the Guardian stones, three of the thirteen standing stones dotting Skyrim's landscape." proclaimed Ralof. Vincent was unsure as to what their purpose was and yet felt and unexplainable pull towards them. With every step he took, he realized that one stone in particular was making his senses tingle; the middle stone. After getting close enough, he could make out the figure of a mage carved into the stone. His eyes widened wen he saw that this was in fact a representation of the Mage Constellation. His hand moved on its own accord and his palm gently brushed the stone and he felt an inflow of wisdom and energy and felt more harmoneous with his magicka than ever before.

"Mage, heh?" Hadvar asked, "Not quite the same as an honourable worrior but not bad". Ralof smiled, "Trust me, he can fight well enough and dousn't need the superstitious help of a standing stone."

But Vincent ignored that. What he was astounded by was the beam of light that ascended to the skies and highlighted the stars of the Mage Constellation. Looking back at his companions, it seemed like they didn't see it, nor did they believe in the power of the stones and yet here it was, so ironically close to them. Shaking his stupor off, Vincent decided to carry on down the road. 'Standing still we'll never reach our destination' he thought.

Sometime later, their path was blocked by a pack of salivating wolves. Whilst Hadvar and Ralof got ready for a fight, Vince had no intentions of wasting his time and effort fighting off animals so he waved his arms, hands coated in green and the wolves lost interest. Some might consider it a waste of magicka but to Vince it was good practice of affecting multiple enemies simultaneously.

'With time, perhaps I can manipulate a gang of bandits' he thought. 'Definitely worth looking into'.

Shortly after, they made it to Riverwood. It turned out to be a quaint settlements of wood and stone with hidden among trees. People were meandering about, carrying on with their daily lives without a care in the world, absolutely oblivious of the fact that a nearby village was just razed to the ground by an presumed-to-be-extinct mythological beast.

As was agreed, Ralof and Vince walked in first.

-Several Hours Later-

"What do you mean you won't let me in?" Vincent was beginning to get impatient with the people of Whiterun, and he hasn't even entered the city proper yet. First, after he decided not to get tangled in a battle against a giant because he was completely freaked out (he's never seen one before) some gal had the gall to approach him and scold him for not helping out. 'The nerve' he remembers thinking. Then they boasted of being the Companions or something and how oh so noble they were. Their tone told him everything he needed to know; some kind of warriors with a superior sense of honor. Pft.

Already his journey to this city was interesting as it was, though granted, nowhere near as eventful as Helgen, and now fate had it that he encounter guards who refused to let him inside. Wouldn't be much of a problem if not for the fact that the sun was setting and he did not have the time for the short trek back to Riverwood.

"Sorry citizen. But the orders are to not let anyone in with the dragons about" the guard replied.

'Dragons' Vince noted, 'plural.' and gulped. One was enough for a lifetime, hopefully he would not have to deal with a single one from now on. Oh, how much does he not know yet!

"And if I said I'm on official business regarding said dragons?" he offered. "I'm not sure if you heard, but Helgen was burned by one of those aforementioned beasts and Riverwood cries for protection". Yes, Gerdur asked him to travel all the way to a Jarl, as if any random straggler could have audience with him, and plead for his help. At least she was nice enough to give him an silver necklace in her gratitude for keeping her brother safe which helped procure some gold to haggle with the local town trader Lucan, who was, unlike Alvor the town smith, willing to trade for Vincent's Stormcloak uniform. Vince had the sneaking suspicion that Alvor couldn't buy that; his nephew was a Legionnaire. Either way, Vincent acquired a simple blue shirt and blue cloak with a hood to travel, deciding to keep the fur boots and gloves. He couldn't afford an outfit like his old one just yet. Not after the Imperials took his purse.

The question from the guard brought him back to the present, "Then I suppose that the Jarl will want to talk to you. Fine, I'll let you in but you go straight to Dragonsreach and report to Jarl Balgruuf." He opened the gates for Vincent who could finally step in. The first thing he saw was a man and a woman arguing.

"I simply cannot fulfill and order of that size of my own" the woman said. She was dressed in what appeared to be this province's typical smithing outfit and apron. The other Nord was dressed in... 'Ugh, what's an Imperial soldier doing here?' he thought.

"Why don't you swallow that pride and ask Eorlund Graymane for help?" she continued but the man scoffed at that.

"I'd rather bow down in front of Ulfric than ask him for help. Besides, Graymane would never forge steel for the Empire" the Nord rebutted and walked off promptly.

Vincent decided to ignore this town's drama and wlked uphill to what turned out to be the market square. Dragonsreach was looming above it all so it was not too difficult to walk in the general direction. This might take some maneuvering around the streets of this city but he wouldn't lose sight of his destination. As he was climbing up the stairs to the higher level of the town, a smug Redguard approached him. "I own a very profitable business here and often advise the Jarl on political matters. What about you, do you go to the Cloud District very often?"

Vincent scrutinized the man in front of him. "You?" he asked "You believe that you have the intellectual capacity to comprehend politics and that you have the skill to glibly speak at court alongside a man of such importance?" Vince giggled a bit, speaking just loud enough for anyone to hear. Something told him that people were enjoying seeing this fool being verbally vaporized. "You can't even refrain yourself from boasting to a random fellow you just met on the streets. Something tells me that the Jarl has a steward to advise him, and that you are not that person." Vince's eyes hardened and his voice became more commanding "Now remove yourself from here, I'm going to that palace. I have news which are of actual importance to the Jarl." he added the second part smugly.

The Redguard's face contorted with rage and was about to retort but Vincent paced forward without glancing back at the... mild disturbance and went straight for Dragonsreach. He could hear other people laughing at the Redguard, who's name was Nazeem, and telling him he had it coming to him.

'No need to let him know that I don't even have an infinitesimal clue as to what the Cloud District is' Vincent mused.

As he climbed the final set of stair, the vastness of the palace became even more pronounced; it shot upwards to the clouds. A fortress made of wood with decors carved into every pillar and every rooftop having a dragon head sculpture on it. It was far more breathtaking up close than from afar.

Anyhow. Pushing through the great gates, Vincent was met with a blast of comforting warmth coming from the roaring hearth in the middle of the hall. And once more, Vincent was awestruck with the rugged beauty of the hall. Much like the outside, it consisted of wood expertly carved with Nordic runes up along the pillars. There were balconies overlooking the hall on either side, no doubt having a secondary purpose of acting as a defensive vantage point for archers. Not that they didn't blend in with the atmosphere though. However, Vincent's hairs stood on end when he heard a sword being drawn. His hand automatically landed on the hilt Elegance, ready fro a fight if one broke out. Looking around, he located the source of his apprehension; a Dunmer with a simple steel sword was approaching him. Her eyes mistrustful, her pose ready for a fight as well. "Who are you? The Jarl is not supposed to be receiving any visitors today" she demanded.

After a short stare-off, Vince decided to relax and took his hand off of Elegance to show that he meant no harm. "I have information regarding a dragon attack on Helgen and a message from Riverwood. I would like to speak to the Jarl regarding this."

She however still did not trust him. "You may talk to me abou-"

"Let him come Irileth. He has news that interest me" a deep voice called from the throne. Reluctantly the Dunmer obeyed and permitted Vincent to step closer to the Jarl. Jarl Balgruuf the Greater was dressed very well in red and gold, with a beard and long blond hair tied back and a circlet sitting atop his brow. Vincent had to admit, that despite the dismissive pose of the Jarl on his throne, he demanded attention and respect. Almost enough for Vincent to actually give him that.

Once he was close enough, he folded one hand behind his back and the other one across his abdomen and bowed forward. He didn't know the customs of bowing of this land but had faith that it would be recognised as one and that it would suffice. It did.

"What is your name, traveller? And what is this I hear of Helgen and Riverwood?" the Jarl asked.

"My name is Vincent, sir. As for Helgen and Riverwood, well that would be a long story..."

Sorry for being late by two days. I had little time to write on Wednesday, and admittedly have fallen into binge-watching an anime.

But anyways, I digress. Here it is: chapter three for you guys!

I forgot to say this in previous chapters but please don't be scared of following and reviewing this story. It doesn't bite.

And again, it doesn't say it in the description, but feel free to PM me with your OC's. They won't necessarily be crucial but I will implement them as meaningful side characters.

The next chapter will be of Bleak Falls Barrow so expect lots of action!

Until next week.