The cart rattled loudly underneath me. I could almost feel my teeth clicking together if I really wanted to be dramatic about the whole ordeal. I glanced around slowly, watching the trees go by and wishing I was perched atop one of them.

"You awake finally?" The man sitting across from me directed the question somewhat aggressively. I merely raised an eyebrow, silently waiting for him to continue. The cart was soon filled with senseless rambling - lots of whining and complaining and boring history that anyone who hadn't been living under a rock would probably already know. The Stormcloaks were rebelling, Ulfric Stormcloak had murdered the High King, so on and so forth. Their voices turned into a soft drone as I looked up at the sky - an oddly relaxing shade of blue - and tried not to think about all the things I would have rather done differently. That's what I was supposed to do, right? Think about all my mistakes, wish I could go back, relive my entire life, as I was led to my execution? Somehow I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

We finally came to a stop, and I was jolted out of my mindless thoughts. I quietly followed the other prisoners out of the cart, plodding slowly through Helgen and ignoring the various, conflicting shouts of the villagers as I waited for my name to be called - if these pompous imperials even knew it. I half-listened as General Tullius addressed us; it had always been difficult to keep my attention fixed on only one thing at a time. A distant roar startled me though, and I squinted into the sky. A few murmurs rushed through the group, but no one paid any mind. I didn't even notice as the heads began to roll; I was far too busy scouring the sky for any sign of what had made that bone-chilling sound.

I jumped a little as someone yelled at me, calling me forwards. Another roar shook the village; a few more people seemed concerned. My heart thumped loudly in my chest, and I started breathing quickly, shallowly. I got down on my knees, awkwardly placing my head on the already bloody stump. I glared up at my executioner, knowing it wasn't really his fault but blaming him anyway. I was determined not to close my eyes. I could still feel my blood pounding in my ears.

I lifted my head ever so slightly as something dark appeared on the horizon. I leaned closer, not that it did much good, and stared intensely. Suddenly, the huge creature was upon us, screeching as it crashed down onto the tower right above us. Everyone started screaming; panic descended. The execution was completely forgotten as everyone abandoned his sanity and fled for his life. I struggled to my feet as fire rained down around me. The air was thick and hot; turbulent as the dragon ascended again, surveying the tiny village. I stumbled, coughing, wishing I had my bow with me. It was almost impossible to keep my balance with my hands tied in front of me, but I knew I had to keep moving. Someone was shouting - the man who had spoken to me earlier. I hesitated a moment, not wanting to trust him, but the dragon crashed down again, shaking the ground with him, and I sprinted towards the blonde Stormcloak.

I growled underneath my breath, still capable of feeling insulted despite my vulnerable state as he lead me through the crumbling ruins that Helgen was quickly becoming. He repeatedly stopped, turning around to check on me every few minutes, shouting orders at me. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I growled at him as we crouched behind a low stone wall, "I'm not brain dead. Shut up and run." He held my gaze for a moment, clearly considering a reply, before he took off for a tower. I followed him clumsily, shoving past him as we entered the tower. I climbed the stairs as best I could with bound hands, leaning against the wall every time I stumbled to avoid breaking my teeth on the stone. I paused near the top, turning to make sure he was still behind me - somehow his hands weren't bound, and I found that fact useful in a companion. Just as I turned, though, the wall exploded, and I staggered backwards, falling to my knees. I wanted to cover my ears to block out the bone-chilling roar, but I could do nothing but close my eyes and scream back. I finally gathered what little sense I could after the crippling shout and looked up - straight into the face of the dragon. His scales were black as ebony, shimmering with blood and spattered with dust and debris. A few arrows protruded from his shoulders and legs, but he was clearly unaffected. He opened his mouth, breathing hot, sulfuric steam directly into my face. I winced, my eyes watering from the toxic fumes. He withdrew from the gaping hole he had created, descending on the once peaceful town again. I struggled to my feet, surely a graceful sight, and looked around me. I couldn't continue up the tower; I would have to jump to the neighboring home.

I took a few steps back, inhaled, and leaped. I couldn't help but close my eyes, praying to whichever Divine was in the mood to listen to me - was there even one dedicated to this? My knees popped as I miraculously landed in the other building, and I stumbled forward, slamming my shoulder into a cabinet. I gasped, a mixture of pain and sheer disbelief, before I started looking for a way out. I noticed a hole in the floor, and I lunged for it, dropping to the ground more nimbly than I had jumped before. I crouched for a moment, surveying the disarray, before blondie joined me and lead the way again. I followed him, still crouching, as we rushed towards another door. He opened it for me and waited for me to enter. I stood in the middle of the Keep, seemingly disconnected from the rest of the panic outside; it was an odd sensation. I could smell smoke and destruction thick on my ragged garments, and I coughed faintly at the heaviness of it. I could feel dirt and grime caked on my face and neck; it would be a pain to get all that filth out of my tightly braided hair later. My blood was still racing, my heart still pounding, and my nerves still on edge despite the eerie calm surrounding me. I knew just beyond that flimsy wooden door was a murderous monster... and somehow my co-escapee had forgotten that.

"Here, take his armor... it's not like he'll be needing it anymore."

The faintest show of emotion didn't really impact me, I just cocked my hip and glared at him. "Oh, okay, I'll just carry it around with my teeth. No worries."

"Right... sorry about that. Let me help you..." He seemed distracted, but I couldn't quite blame him. Finally, he unbound my hands, and I fell on his fellow Stormcloak, stripping him naked and throwing on all of his much too large armor. I felt like a child playing with his parent's work boots. I grimaced, trying to tighten up the belt as best I could, rolling the pants at the waist to make them tighter, and trying to keep the helmet from obstructing my vision. I finally threw it off - and narrowly avoided getting my hand cut off with an axe.

"What the hell?" I jumped out of the way as it clattered to the floor. "Do you mind?"

"You'll need that, hurry up."

I glared at his back as he began trying to find a way out through the locked doors, picking up the axe he had thrown and wondering how he would like it if I casually tossed it into his back with all the force in my tiny body.

My daydreams were interrupted by loud shouting, and my muscles tensed up again. Imperial soldiers burst through the gate, and I fell on one instantly, hacking blindly with the axe. Not as clean as I would have liked, probably a lot more painful and drawn-out than he would have as well, but I got the job done. With relief I grabbed his sword, abandoning the axe for a much more familiar weapon. Blondie had finished off the other imperial and was already sprinting away. I rushed to her, thankful she was indeed a she, and grabbed her armor. I quickly started to exchange it for my own, hoping for a better fit as I ran after him.

The only thing I could think about was escaping as we barreled through the various tunnels. With a sword in my hand, I could much more peacefully dispatch anyone who got in my way - if murder was something you could consider peaceful. I scavenged quickly through every body, picking up gold and anything else useful. Blondie seemed to think that was insufferably annoying and time-consuming, but, unlike him, I had absolutely nothing to live on after we escaped. Stupid on my part to come to Skyrim without a septim to my name and barely any food, but I wasn't always smart when I had my mind set on some crazy scheme like running away from my past... or running straight back to it... I hadn't really come to a conclusion on what exactly I was doing here anyway.

It was much easier when we got around to the spiders. The damp, cool cave was a relief from the smoldering village we had left, and I breathed in as much of the air as possible, concerned that, once we got out, there would still be nothing but destruction and burning to greet us. From what I had heard of dragons, they weren't the type to stop while they were ahead.

I figured it was time for some small talk. We had been plodding along silently with only the occasional murder spree to spice things up, and I had the feeling there was still a ways to go.

"So. Dragons."

I never claimed to be good at small talk...even if I did begrudgingly admit the need for it.

He glanced back at me, clearly confused and probably a little irritated as well.

"You're a real talker."

I shrugged, picking my way across the damp rocks. "I feel like it's something we should talk about. It did almost wipe us off the face of the earth."

He paused, and I could see his jaw working. He was clearly thinking about it. Something had bothered him. "I didn't even think dragons existed..."

"Well, they clearly do..." I also paused, tilting my head a little as I thought. "So, what makes you think this isn't just the end of the world? I mean, how sure are you that when we get out of here there will actually be something pleasant waiting for us?"

"Shut up," he hissed.

I stopped, offended. I started to get defensive, regretting my attempt at small talk and even my decision to follow him in the first place. "It was just an honest question; why are you such a baby - can't handle the truth?"

"No, shut up!" he whispered in an overwhelmingly aggressive tone.

I refused to listen to him, taking a threatening step forward and holding up my sword. I opened my mouth, preparing for another verbal assault, when he lunged at me, covering my mouth and crushing my ribs with his bulky arms.

"Seriously. Shut up. There's a bear."

I followed his gaze, noticing the huge lump of fur in the shadows across the way.

I shrugged him off, feeling embarrassed. "You could have just said that, dumb ass. Did you not learn the proper way to communicate danger?"

"Let's try and sne-"

I grabbed his bow off his back, notching an arrow and pulling back with all my strength.

"WHAT!" he roared, completely forgetting the bear thanks to my thievery. He successfully woke the beast, and I squinted, taking aim as he charged towards us. My arrow sailed through the air, nailing the bear squarely between the eyes. He staggered forward, rolling a little as he fell. I handed the bow back to Blondie with a smug look.

"Sneaking is for pussies."

I paused, trying to decide whether I wanted to skin the bear or not. I quickly decided it would be a good idea and set to work with a dagger I had picked off one of the guards.

"Are you seriously skinning a bear right now? We're kinda trying to escape."

I didn't even look up from my work, deftly navigating the beast's body. I had almost finished when I finally looked up at him. "Are you seriously still waiting for me? I was kinda trying to ditch you."

I chuckled, rolling up the vaguely bloody and damp skin and stuffing it away. "Alright, fine, let's go."

We finally managed to find an exit, struggling through oddly cold and snowy conditions for the inside of a cave. I wasn't complaining, though, the cold was always nice. As we emerged into daylight, Blondie started talking again, rambling off random nonsense, something about a chick named Gerdur in Riverwood, grateful he was alive, see there's no dragon... I took this as my cue to disappear into the nearby bushes. I crouched there for a moment, waiting for him to notice I was gone. I backed away slowly, keeping my eyes trained on him the whole way. Of course, he headed off in the wrong direction to look for me - I guess he thought I had blindly sprinted away. I shook my head, emerging from the bushes but still checking behind me as I followed my own path through the underbrush with no intentions of going to Riverwood or anywhere else with other humans for that matter.

Author's Note: So this is my first fan-fic in a looooong time, and my first ever Elder Scrolls. Sorry this is long and horrendous, I'm a sucker for details. I promise it'll get better :) Please leave a review, feel free to correct any mistakes... I'm somewhat new to Elder Scrolls in general so yeah. Hope y'all enjoy~