Unlikely

Chapter 1: Return

Slowly I regain conciseness. I do not open my eyes, but feel something, movement. I am moving. Slowly my eyes adjust, and I realize that there is light beyond my eyelids. I open them abruptly, waking up, and having more feeling in the rest of my body.

My hands are bound, and my head is on the shoulder of a man sitting next to me, also bound. "I'm so sorry!" I apologize, jerking my head up and off of him. I blush slightly, something that I never fail to do. He says nothing, for upon his lips is a gag.

"Finally, you're awake." A voice says from directly in front of me. I look up to see a blonde nord man. I realized then what situation I was in. The bumping I felt was from the carriage that I had been planted on. Along side me, were three other men. One gagged, the one who spoke, and another, with brown hair, who looked the most fearful.

"Where... Where am I." I say. I have no recollection of what events had gotten me into the situation. All I can remember back to is the night before, and going to sleep on the ground, right outside of Cyrodiil.

"You're on a carriage. It seems we are going to the small town of Helgan." The man across from me says, face grim. I must have looked confused, because he continues. "You don't remember? That would make sense. There was a battle, you seem to have been caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Imperial swords had been poisoned. One made a slight scratch on your cheek, and you went down." I raise my bound hands to touch my cheek. There is a long scab trailing from my temple to my lower cheek. "Ulfric was using a healing spell on you when we gave in, and were captured. They took you as our own." He gestures towards the man I had been sleeping on.

"You mean, that's Ulfric Stormcloak? The jarl of Windhlem? You're the reason that I'm here?" The brunette man finally spoke up.

"Careful what you say horse thief. He's to be the leader of Skyrim one day if we make it out of this alive." He chuckles slightly, trying to lighten the spirits. "What village are you from?"

"I don't see why that matters." The horse thief returns. He seems to not want anything to do with men associated with this Ulfric Stormcloak.

"A nord's last thoughts should be of home."

"Rorikstead... I'm from Rorikstead." He says. The full effect of the situation finally hits him. "Oh gods, where are they taking us?"

"I don't know where we are going, but sovengarde awaits."

I don't cry, although I know that death is waiting for me as soon as the carriage stops. We continue on our way for some time before reaching the city gates. My hands begin to sweat, I look around for a way out of all of this, but the men driving the carriages are much better armed than I. They had stripped me down of everything I own. All that is left are my filthy under clothes. I start to panic internally. I am not ready to die, but my emotions will not get the best of me, the divines would not answer to someone so afraid, I hold my faith.

We roll into what the man across from me must have been referring to as Helgan. For a village it was rather large. From what I remember many cities of Skyrim are not walled in. The blonde man makes some comments about his childhood, I say nothing, the tears in my eyes are held back by sheer force, and words will cause them to spill.

"It's funny, imperial walls used to make me feel so safe." He finishes, we come to a wall, and abruptly stop.

"Why, why are we stopping?" The horse thief wonders.

"Why do you think? End of the line." He says back, grim as he has been this whole time, but he still manages to stay optimistic, more for the sake of the rest of us rather than him self. "Let's go, best not to keep the gods waiting."