Chapter Text
Some people say the world has rules that need to be followed.
Grass grows, birds fly, and magic always comes with a price.
That was what the dragonborn had learned during his time adventuring across the continent of Skyrim. Upon finally slaying the dragon Alduin in the realm of sovngarde, he returned to the continent of Tamriel, spoke once more with the leader of the greybeards: Paarthurnax, and returned to his home of Lakeview Manor. A quaint home he had constructed, having been given the land from the jarl of Falkreath, now home to his many trophies from his time across the continent.
Opening the door, the winds of Skyrim blew in as the dragonborn walked in, stood in the entrance for a minute, and dropped the sword he had been carrying on the ground. Its blade clattering to the ground as the crackling of a fire in the other part of the house could be heard.
Dragging their feet through the house, the dragonborn looked around at all that surrounded him. Swords, shields, bows, and other legendary weapons granted by the many Jarls of the continent as thanks to the dragonborn. All of which now found themselves hung around the manor. The various enchantments shining on them from the flickering of the flames. Similarly, various armor found itself on the stands in another room out the corner of the dragonborn's eye. A large black helmet with giant horns seemed to stare at the dragonborn with a large furry coat created from the hide of a werewolf. Both of these pieces were given to the dragonborn by two daedric princes.
“Something troubling you my thane?” a voice spoke up from behind the dragonborn.
Turning around, the dragonborn looked at Lydia who along with Marcurio stood there looking at the man.
“Ever since you returned from Skuldafn after defeating Alduin, you have been visibly tired.”
The dragonborn looked at the two of them. Lydia the housecarl, who was his earliest companion since his escape from beheading all those months ago. Wearing the same armor she had since their first meeting, she was a very big help to the dragonborn in some of their early fights against bandits, spiders, and more.
“I’m alright Lydia,” the dragonborn said to his companions. Their voice was audibly tired.
“Just drained is all,” he said getting up from the chair, “Travel between realms, even for a dragonborn is quite draining. I believe I am going to retire to my bed for the time being.”
“Of course,” Marcurio said, “We shall see to it to spread word of your return.”
As the dragonborn pushed out the chair and got up to head to his bed. Each step of the staircase creaked as he walked up. Unstrapping the heavier pieces of armor, it still smelled of fire and smoke from the attacks Alduin had blasted him with all that time ago. Luckily it wasn’t hot so it was safe to place at the bedside. As the dragonborn laid down on the bed, the crackling of the fire down below became the only sound in his head. Eventually as he drifted off to sleep, that sound too began to grow further and further away until there was only silence.
CLANG!
A sound of a sword slashing against scales.
BOOM!
The sound of a fireball hitting the same target resulted in a roar of agony.
The dragonborn took out their sword and rushed Alduin as the three souls of past heroes stood back. As the dragonborn jumped into the air, Alduin was distracted by the attacks of the others. Landing on his head, the dragonborn took their blade and stabbed it into Alduin’s head.
“AH!” the world eater shouted, throwing the dragonborn off.
Falling to the ground and rolling towards the heroes of sovngarde, Harkon One-Eye helped the dragonborn to his feet.
Alduin made some final words until with a great blast of energy that rose into the sky, his form vanished.
The scene switched from this to a black void. Despite having interacted with many of the daedric princes in his travels, the dragonborn did not recognize this plane of Oblivion.
“Ful dovahkiin, hi lost vanquishaan zu'u two timdro Nu,” a voice spoke out from the darkness, “Let thdro kos aan way fah zu'u wah Mindok tol zu'u alwayye daal.”
A roar suddenly was heard and a ripple of light appeared in the distance. Putting their hand in front of their eyes, the dragonborn tried to look at it, but as it grew closer, the light grew too bright to look at.
“Thdro tiid , zu'u dreh Ni see viik,” the voice said once more as the light washed over the dragonborn.
Jumping awake, the dragonborn looked around to find himself not in his manor, but on a moving cart traveling through the woods.
“Hey, you. You’re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.”
Looking ahead, the dragonborn saw a face he hadn’t seen since the beginning of his time. The Nord sitting in front of him was named Ralof with the Nord beside him being named Lokir and beside them was the Jarl of Windhelm: Ulfric Stormcloak.
“Wait a minute,” the dragonborn thought to himself, “What’s going on?”
“Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along,” Lokir said to Ralof, “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.
Lokir then looked at the dragonborn, “You there. You and me — we shouldn’t be here. It’s these Stormcloaks the Empire wants.”
The dragonborn remembered hearing all these words spoken once before. It was the words they had spoken during their trip to the town of Helgen. Right before seeing General Tullius and before getting out to line up for their own executions.
The dragonborn took a deep breath and looked for the words of power within himself, but only exhaled. Being a dragonborn, the way of the voice came naturally to him, but something was wrong. The words he had learned on his journey were not working.
Finally the wagons had made their way inside the town and they were ordered off. Lokir tries to run off, telling the Imperials that he is not a stormcloak. However the only answer he receives is arrows to the back. Falling to the ground, he stops moving.
The priest begins her prayer to the divines before being interrupted by a prisoner who tells her to just get this over with. Eventually it comes time for the dragonborn.
“Wait a second,” the dragonborn pleads as soldiers move him towards the chopping block, “I’m sensing a pattern here. A bit of deja vu.”
“Silence stormcloak,” General Tullius says.
Suddenly a large black dragon descends from the sky and with a loud thunderous roar, brings forth a storm.
Now slightly free, the dragonborn looks up at the dragon he recognizes as Alduin: The World Eater.
The piercing red eyes of the dragon look back at the dragonborn and the two exchange a look. Despite the dragonborn knowing who the dragon is, it seems that whatever was happening, the dragon didn’t know the dragonborn.
“You there!” Ralof shouted to the dragonborn, “This way prisoner!”
As the dragonborn turned around and ran, Alduin continued to attack the town. Despite his hands still being tied together, the dragonborn could still run. As he jumped out the side of a tower and into a burning house, he made his way back to the opening. There he encountered Ralof and Hadvar
“This way prisoner!” Hadvar shouted, “Over here if you want to make it out of here alive.”
“Damn you imperials!” Ralof said, “The stormcloaks will finish this!”
The dragonborn couldn’t remember who he had escaped Helgen with originally, but this time he ran towards Hadvar.
Making their way inside of the keep, Hadvar and the dragonborn stood there for a moment as the destruction continued outside.
“That was close,” Hadvar said before turning to the dragonborn, “Here. Let me see if I can’t remove those bindings.”
“Thanks Hadvar,” the dragonborn said.
“You know my name?”
“Ralof said it outside,” he said to the Imperial soldier, “Something about this day feels familiar.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Hadvar said, “First time I’m seeing a dragon and I haven’t had the pleasantries of being able to avoid my own execution.
“Not like that,” the dragonborn said, “Something feels off.”
“How so?”
The dragonborn paused and looked at their hands.
“I feel like I’ve done this before,” he says.
“Well we should focus on getting out of Helgen at the moment,” Hadvar says, “See if you can find any weapons around here.”
The dragonborn walked to the other end of the room remembering how he found a sword hanging on the wall the first time. As if the universe was mocking him, he found a sword hanging on the wall.
“You found a sword?” Hadvar said, walking over patting himself down, “Great work! Let’s get moving on.”
The dragonborn and Hadvar made their way through the rest of the keep. Even without the power of the thu’um, the dragonborn still knew a lot of his training he had received during his travels. A sword swing here, a strike to the back of the head there, and the rebels went down.
“Impressive,” Hadvar said as the last stormcloak fell, “You fight as if you trained in the imperial army. If we make it out of here, the empire could use somebody like you. We’d even forgive whatever crimes landed you on the road to the chopping block.”
“Thanks,” the dragonborn said, “I’ll think about it.”
Finally the two entered the cave system below Helgen, the sounds of the battle grew quieter as the two ventured further in.
“Ssshh!” Hadvar whispered, “There’s a bear there. Tread carefully.”
The two sneaked by the bear and eventually made their way out of the cave where the glistening sun shone over the landscape of Skyrim.
Suddenly a loud roar was heard causing Hadvar and the dragonborn to duck behind some rocks. Looking up to the sky, the dragonborn saw Alduin fly overhead and into the distance.
Hadvar made some comments about heading to Riverwood and that the two should go their separate ways for the time being, but the dragonborn was not listening. If this was a dream, then he should have woken up. Pinching his arm, he felt pain.
“This is no dream,” he said to himself as he walked down the road, “Could I have angered one of the divines? Do they have that power?”
The crumpling of the leaves under his boots he had looted from a stormcloak rebel became the only sound the dragonborn heard for a moment.
Suddenly the wind shifted as the dragonborn felt a disturbance. Standing upright, he felt something push into his back.
“Don’t move or I’ll gut you like a fish,” a voice said, “Give me all your valuables!”
“Are you sure about that?” the dragonborn said.
Reaching his arm behind him, the dragonborn grabbed the hand holding the knife and swung the figure around and threw them forward. Looking at the thief who tried to rob him, the dragonborn saw it as a khajiit wearing simple thug attire.
“You don’t want to mess with me,” the dragonborn said, “I’m having a really confusing day.”
“Oh ho ho,” the thief said laughing, “Well too bad for you then. Gold, jewels, anything! Hand ‘em over!”
The dragonborn took a deep breath and with an exhale he spoke the words of the first shout he learned.
“Fus…RO DAH!”
Normally this would create a large blast sending whoever and whatever was in its path hurling backwards away from the dragonborn, but this only acted as a minor shout. The thief stood there holding his knife confused.
“Was that supposed to scare me?” he asked, “No matter. You die now.”
The thief charged the dragonborn and went to stab the dragonborn, but in a flash the fight was over as the dragonborn punched the thief in the face knocking them to the ground instantly.
“Uuuuuughhhh,” the thief muttered as they laid on the ground.
“You won’t be needing this or these anymore,” the dragonborn said, taking the knife and the satchel the thief was carrying. Inside he found a couple pieces of gold, a lockpick, and a diamond.
The dragonborn looked down at the thief who stopped making sounds and was sleeping now. Feeling somewhat sorry, he picked up the thief and threw them onto a branch in a tree.
“There,” he said, “You should be fine from wolves or anything that comes by till you wake up.”
Making his way towards Riverwood, the dragonborn took his time walking along the road. Eventually, the sun began to set as nightfall crept across the sky by the time he neared the town's outer edge. Looking up at the night sky, a feeling of dread filled the dragonborn's stomach.
“The sky,” he said, “It’s the same as the day I escaped. I truly am back where I started.”
End of Chapter 1