Chapter Text
"Dovahkiin…"
Words spoken with reverence as the Greybeards summoned the Dragonborn to the gathering room with voices of thunder. Elegant, graceful, ethereal, deadly - all were used to describe the scourge of Alduin. The ones summoned to High Hrothgar were all on different sides of the conflict that was tearing Skyrim apart. Stormcloak, Imperial, Blade, Thalmor - no-one there trusted the others. Most of the people gathered had come at the request of the Dragonborn -some, however, felt themselves above needing invitation and turned up themselves. Arngeir was unsettled, particularly by those troublesome, meddling Blades who insisted on sticking their nose where it didn't belong - but the Dragonborn had, and would, make a choice of their own.
How far they had all come...
"I can't believe you're finally asking Danny out!" a squeal rang out. Two girls, one brunette, one auburn-haired, lounged on a bed, flicking through their phones and dipping into a bowl of popcorn.
"I haven't asked him yet," the redhead replied grumpily, flicking her fringe out of her eyes. Her friend watched her with mischievous doe eyes.
"Well, tomorrow we'll drive straight down to his house-"
"Wait, why do you have to go with me?" Blue eyes blinked up at her in total confusion.
"I'll bring my guitar and you can serenade him like in that 80's flick!" she barrelled on. The redhead facepalmed.
"Raven Willow Sullivan, you are NOT helping."
"It's so romantic though," Raven teased, pulling her friend's hair.
"Don't make me ban the Reese's," she deadpanned.
Raven twitched reflexively. "So how are you gonna ask him, Evelyn Marie Hughes?" she asked coyly while throwing a popcorn kernel at her.
"Nunya." At her friend's look, she clarified, "Nunya business."
"Aw, but I wanna know! You know all about my past exes," the brunette pouted, sinking back into a pillow.
"That's cause you a ho," she teased, reaching for her box of pamper treats. "Come on, I'll put on a face mask for you, and we can play that pretty music you like so much."
Raven pouted, but obliged, letting Evie set the cold clay mask on her face.
"Cherokee music is the best for zenning out. Grandma used to play the flute all the time.." she paused, changing the subject with, "Though, Evie, I am proud of you for stepping out of your comfort zone like this and finally asking Danny out. Believe me, it was a LONG time coming!" She winked, ignoring Evie's eyeroll. "He's been eyeing you up ever since I first saw you two together."
"Yeah yeah, sure."
She put on a tune her grandmother used to play for her when she was younger. As they listened to it, their eyes fluttered closed, letting the face masks soak in as the rain fell softly outside.
"You know, my grandma used to play this song every time it rained like this," she said dreamily, "And whenever we heard thunder and were scared, she always told us that it was just the Thunderers strolling through the skies, watching over our people, and protecting us from the Uktena flying serpents."
Evie 'uh-huh'ed before she slapped a hand over her friend's mouth.
"Hush up and start soaking up the vitamins via your face-hole. Flying serpents - dragons, right? Sounds like a fantasy novel. Dragons aren't real." She exhaled gustily, the mask flapping comically around her mouth. "Though to be fair, there is a phrase we use around here - away with the fairies. You're not just away with them, you've established a dictatorship over the poor critters."
Raven giggled.
"Maybe, but Grandma always told those stories like they were absolute truth, and to a little girl, I wanted to believe them. Plus how flippin' cool would that be? I mean, imagine dragons flying about the place! I mean, the Uktena were only ever evil, but imagine flying on one of those! Or watching the Thunderers shouting them out of the sky?"
"I'm setting the Reeses on fire if you don't hush up and listen to the pretty music," Evie warned. "AND I still have that video from final year that can be posted online in a heartbeat."
"Girl, they'd only be in for a treat," Rae winked. In response, Evie reached for a box of matches. "Alright! Alright, fine! Not the Reese's please! They're all I have of home!" she cried dramatically, flopping herself backwards over the bed in a fake faint. Evie responded by jabbing her ticklish friend in the ribs, and the pair fell into the familiar rhythm of a wrestling match. They grappled, pinched, tugged and pulled, and much to Evie's annoyance, Raven pantsed her, though she got her own back by tossing a Reese's pack out the doorway to skid down the hall.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Raven flung herself after it, Evie close behind her, grabbing her ankles to keep her from reaching them.
"Admit your defeat or lose the Reese's forever!" she proclaimed.
"NEVER! THIS. IS. SPARTA!" she began to try and army crawl towards the precious prize.
"GOD DAMMIT!" Evie threw her full weight on her friend, causing a weird squawk to tumble out of Raven's mouth. As she was about to proclaim victory, Raven farted. The redhead made a disgusted noise and dove away.
Dying of laughter, Raven choked out, "That's what you get for jumping on top of me after burritos and alcohol."
"I'd say you need Jesus, but he'd damn you to hell for that explosion of sulphur and brimstone from your butthole."
Clutching her side, Raven grabbed her Reese's and crawled back into the room.
After the pair had calmed down, they put on a horror flick and crawled into bed, causing Raven to fall into a deep sleep more or less straight away, much to the bewilderment of Evie.
"The hell?" she mumbled as she switched off the tv and crawled under the covers herself. Soon enough, they were both sound asleep.
Some time in the night, Evie awoke suddenly. As she reached for her phone, a sudden sense that something was wrong jolted her into full awareness. Whatever it was, she felt vastly uneasy. Raven, of course, was fast asleep. Tugging sharply on her friend's hair half-woke her, but aside from the string of mumbled curses, she didn't budge. Grunting in annoyance, Evie slipped from the bed and tiptoed towards the door, phone in hand, to investigate. She assured herself that though her friend was a deep sleeper, even she'd wake up if Evie was to be murdered. Oh God, why do I do this to myself? she thought, banishing Freddy Kruger back to the depths of her mind as she reached for the handle.
Raven woke up, shivering. Evie must have burritoed herself again, she figured, blindly groping for the covers.
"Evie," she mumbled, "Gimme some duvet."
When she didn't feel her friend or the blankets next to her, she finally decided to open her eyes, but what she saw wasn't Evie's bedroom. I'm still in my shorts and tanktop, she thought, is this a dream? At first she saw nothing but blackness, but then she could make out a bit of weird mist swirling around her...
"Rae?" a voice called. Evie stood a few feet away, still in her pjs and that silly cardigan she liked to wear to bed, looking bemused.
"Evie!" Raven answered, What a cool start to a dream!
Suddenly, a towering figure loomed over the two, and a great voice rumbled, "Awake at last, I see." The person sounded faintly amused. Raven's eyes widened.
"An Uktena? COOL!" And she ran forward, poking one of his talons, petting his tail, and then climbing up his robe. "I told you Uktena were real! Come on, Evie!" At this point, Raven had reached the Dragon Man's shoulders, and was pulling one of his horns. Like an irritated parent, Evie put her hands on her hips and glared up at her.
"Raven, get down from the dragon," she ordered.
"But it's a dream and he's so cool!" She started booping his snout. Evie growled then hiked up the front of the robes herself, determined to bring her death-seeking friend down to earth. Maybe this time she'd push her down and let her inner Scar take control for a moment. Other figures began to slowly appear behind Akatosh as the redhead reached his shoulders and grabbed Raven's ankle, a few of them highly amused, as the Uktena reached up, and grabbed the pair like unruly kittens, setting them back down on their asses.
"You made it mad. Apologise," Evie demanded as they touched ground.
"You're even less relaxed than you are in real life, girl!" Raven laughed, "I can't wait to tell the real you all about this when I wake up."
"I don't want to wake up after being dragon chow, you dammed drunk lemming!" As the pair bickered, in the back of Evie's head, the feeling was still there. But hey, Evie had weird dreams all the time. Like that one with the man-eating sandwich. So while a dragon in a dress was semi-scary (mostly weird), she was okay with it being a dream. Dreams couldn't hurt you. Raven flailing around in bed hurt you.
God, she needed a drink. Or maybe to lay off the drink. She'd decide when she woke up and punched Raven.
The great Dragon Man sighed, turning to his friends, and said, "I didn't realise they'd be this naïve. Especially the one who practically grew up with our tales."
"Well, they are your children," a pretty woman in gold and blue teased. "You fathered curious creatures."
"I thought they'd be more mature," the dragon griped. "They're more like Talos."
"I take offense to that," a man in armour interjected mildly. "But you're getting distracted, Akatosh."
"Right. Listen, children-"
"Oi, I'm not a kid!" Evie snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. "Jury's out on her." Akatosh gave her a look like a father would give to their pouty five year old. Evie zipped it, crossing her arms.
"As I was saying, you aren't sleeping. This is Oblivion, land of the Divines." He gestured toward himself and the others standing behind him. "I brought you here because it's time for you to fulfil your duty, and save the worlds from being eaten."
"Cool!" Raven swayed as she sat, getting a bit restless, "Eaten by what?"
"An evil being named Alduin. He is the eater of worlds, and won't stop until he's satisfied. Your world as well as ours-"
"Raven, this is the last time I let you choose the burrito fillings," Evie interjected. "I'm tripping on so many balls right now." She giggled. "Balls," she repeated, and the pair dissolved into laughter. Akatosh felt his eye twitch, and he glanced over his shoulder to Mara, who shrugged, laughing herself. Talos leaned down and rested his hands on his knees, gazing at the pair.
"Dang, he hot," Raven ogled. Mara exploded in snorts of laughter as Talos valiantly struggled to keep his expression neutral.
"Putting that aside. We are sending you to our world to defeat Alduin," he said evenly as the pair gaped up at him. "Only a Dragonborn can defeat the World-Eater."
"Dragon?" Evie pointed at Akatosh. "He's a dragon, make him do it."
"An Uktena defeat another Uktena?" Raven pondered tipsily, "That doesn't make any sense. The Thunderers are supposed to do that."
"I don't care, let the scaly princess do the work," Evie fussed. "I have tequila to drink and she has pills to take."
Akatosh held in a groan of derision as the other Divines were losing themselves in laughter.
"Raven, what you learned about the Uktena and Thunderers was mostly true, but think of the Dragonborn as someone who is half-Uktena, half-Thunderer." Raven looked like her mind was imploding with the imagery of that. Evie wasn't getting the picture though.
Something to figure out when I wake up, I suppose, she mused. The dragon apparently had reached his limit, pulling Talos back and clicking his clawed fingers. A portal opened up beneath the girls and with startled yelps, they fell into the swirling vortex.
"Now, that was rather rude," Mara managed, wiping her eyes carefully. "I thought they were rather amusing."
"The sooner they get to work, the better," Akatosh said, rubbing his nose gingerly amid laughter from the other Divines.
Next thing they knew, they woke up in a wooden cart, ambling its way through a forest pass. A rugged man looked at them.
"Hey, you two. Finally awake I see. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there." As the pair blinked, he continued, "The name's Ralof."
"Uh...hi?" Evie said cautiously. "I'm Evelyn, this is Raven."
"Hey there! This dream is getting weirder and weirder," Raven smiled and hummed pleasantly as she took in her surroundings. Though the cold was making certain parts of her stand to attention; and Ralof was definitely noticing.
"Damn you Stormcloaks." A nervous looking man said, "Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and been half way to Hammerfell." Aside to a thin, sickly-lookly man, "You there - we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."
"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief," Ralof said grimly. It suddenly occurred to Evie that her hands were tied.
"The fuck?" she muttered.
"Shut up back there!" the driver of the cart snapped.
"And what's wrong with him?" the thief said snarkily, pointing at the gagged blonde man in the corner of the cart.
"Watch your tongue!" Ralof snarled. "You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King!"
"Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they captured you..." his sallow face paled. "Oh gods, where are they taking us?"
"I don't know where we're going, but..." the Stormcloak sighed. "Sovngarde awaits."
"No, this can't be happening. This isn't happening," the thief rocked back and forth in anxiety.
"Hey, what village are you from, horse thief?" Ralof asked gruffly. The thief sniffed.
"Why do you care?"
"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home," Ralof reminisced.
"Rorikstead," he stuttered quietly. "I'm...I'm from Rorikstead."
"Ooh look!" Raven pointed, bouncing in her seat, "We're stopping!"
"I said shut up!" the driver snarled again as large stone walls and an open wooden gate loomed out of the mist. They slowed as they passed through the gate, passing a small squad of grim-faced soldiers in red. The driver in the cart ahead of them called out to an older man with greying hair on a horse.
"General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!"
"Good. Let's get this over with," Tullius muttered wearily.
Even more scared, the thief implored, "Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me."
"Look at him, General Tullius the Military Governor," Ralof spat as they passed by said General and a woman with sallow skin he seemed to be conversing with. "And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this."
"Wh-"
"This is Helgen," the Stormcloak mused, as though lost in his own world. "I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny...when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe.
A man and son were watching the prisoners pull into town.
"Who are they, daddy?" the kid asked innocently. "Where are they going?"
"You need to go inside, little cub," his father replied heavily.
"Why? I want to watch the soldiers," the child whined. His father was having none of it.
"Inside the house. Now."
The wagon stopped near the chopping block. Raven ogled at all the people around her, still lost in the fantasy that this was a dream.
"Why are they stopping?" the thief asked, panic obvious in his eyes.
"Why do you think?" Ralof asked bitterly, "End of the line. Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us."
"No! Wait! We're not rebels!" he cried, twisting about in the cart.
"Face your death with some courage, thief," Ralof scoffed as they began descending from the cart; Jarl Ulfric, the whining thief, Evie, the silent prisoner, Raven and finally Ralof. The soldiers watched them closely as they lined up, hands resting on their swords or bows.
"You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!" the terrified man howled.
"Step toward the block when we call your name. One at a time!" the General drawled.
"Empire loves their damn lists," someone muttered.
"Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm." And the rugged, gagged man stepped forward.
"It has been an honour, Jarl Ulfric!" Ralof proclaimed.
"Ralof of Riverwood. Lokir of Rorikstead." Ralof stepped forward proudly, while Lokir looked like he was going to shit his pants.
"No, I'm not a rebel!" he pleaded, "You can't do this!" With wild eyes, he broke into a run, heading back towards the main gate.
"Halt!"
"You're not going to kill me!" Lokir called over his shoulder as the captain called for archers. The arrows found their mark, and Lokir of Rorikstead was dead before he hit the ground. Raven watched all this wide-eyed, captivated.
A sick, twisting feeling started coiling around in Evie's stomach. This couldn't possibly...could it? she wondered fearfully.
"Anyone else feel like running?" the captain snarled. Surprisingly, no-one took her up on her offer.
The soldier calling names looked at the rest of them and asked, "Wait, you three. Step forward. Who are you?"
The three looked at each other, unsure as to who should go first, so they all stepped forward at the same time. The unknown prisoner went first.
"Bjorn, from Riften," he said in a husky voice.
"You picked a bad time to come home to Skyrim, kinsman," the Imperial tutted. "What are you doing here, Redguard?" He questioned Raven, "You a sellsword? A sailor from Stros M'kai?"
Raven laughed. "I'm a Cherokee princess for all you know." The soldier gave her a funny look before glancing at Evie.
"Evelyn," she supplied. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"You're a long way from the Imperial City. What're you doing in Skyrim?"
"From the what in the where now?"
Aside, he asked, "Captain, what should we do? They're not on the list-"
"Forget the list. Send them to the block."
"By your orders, captain." To the trio, he simply apologised and gestured for them to join the other prisoners.
"Ulfric Stormcloak," Tullius sneered. "Some here in Helgen call you a hero, but a hero doesn't use a power like the Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne." Ulfric grunted in protest, struggling against his binds. "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace."
A distant noise rang down the mountainside. Looking worried, one soldier asked, "What was that?"
"It's nothing. Carry on," Tullius replied impatiently.
"Yes, General Tullius." The Captain then turned to a hooded figure. "Give them their last rites," she commanded.
The Priestess, Raven assumed, raised her arms and began to pontificate, "As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you, for you are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved-"
A redhead male prisoner from the cart in front of them stepped up to the chopping block impatiently and said, "For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with!"
"As you wish..." the robed woman said stiffly, standing aside.
"Come on, I haven't got all morning. My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?" he smirked before the Captain pushed him to his knees, and held him in place over the chopping block, where the executioner swung his axe down, and the Stormcloak's head dropped into the basket with a sickening thud.
A female Stormcloak screamed, "You Imperial bastards!"
"Justice!" a man cried.
"Death to the Stormcloaks!" an old woman croaked.
"As fearless in death as he was in life," Ralof observed respectfully, bowing his head for a moment. Woah, Raven thought, This dream is getting intense!
The soldier motioned to Bjorn. "Next, the Nord in the rags!"
Another cry rang out on the mountainside, far closer and louder than before.
"There it is again. Did you hear that?" the list-taker insisted.
"I said, next prisoner!" the captain said through gritted teeth.
He sighed. "To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy."
As Bjorn was marched to the chopping block, a dark figure shot through the sky.
"What in Oblivion is that?" the General asked, finally alarmed.
"Sentries! What do you see?" the Captain snapped.
"It's in the clouds!"
The ginormous winged creature landed on top of the tower before them, sending them all into a frenzy.