It all began on a clear sunny evening in the serene forests near Riverwood. All the woodland creatures were scampering out to play. Birds flew to and fro, chirping as they dominate the air. Deer, the soft and burly beasts they are, grazed on the grass below them while they are serenaded by the roaring rapids of the nearby river. From a distance, the clangs and clamor of civilization resonated from the quaint settlement of Riverwood. But even in this cacophony of nature, an observant ear could faintly hear the gorgeous melody of a bard on his lyre. Tracing that sound to its source led to a lonesome Nord man seated on a log, with only his instrument and mead for company. This man, who goes by Ralof, had been through a lot a few weeks before. He was a warrior and loyal patriot to the Stormcloak cause and such is almost expected from a soldier, but nothing could ever prepare him for a deadly run-in with a real-life dragon that resulted in countless casualties and the destruction of an entire town. His right leg was gravely injured as a result of that incident, but he could still count himself lucky for still being alive to tell the tale.
And so, he metes out his days of recovery here, enjoying the peace away from the throngs of the battlefield. While he longed to sheathe his blade in the bowels of his enemies once more, every fighter needs his rest, more so for him considering what he had been through. As his fingers worked the lyre, he seemed to lose himself to his own tune and didn’t realize that a certain violet-haired girl was heading his way, carrying with her a wooden bowl filled with beef stew. The lass seemed slightly annoyed yet accustomed to Ralof’s behavior and a simple and well-rehearsed slap on his head snapped him back to reality. He stopped playing to scratch his head in pain and turned towards her with an exasperated smile.
“You don’t have to that all the time, Robina…” he chided teasingly.
Robina just giggled and set the bowl down next to him. “Well, I wouldn’t need to if you started playing closer to home, where Gerdur can whack you back to your senses herself.”
He sighed and rested his lyre on the log. “No, thank you. I am perfectly fine in the serenity of these woods. But in any case, thanks again for bringing me food.”
“It’s nothing really.” Robina and Ralof have been close friends ever since they met when they were but little children. The two would spend their days of childhood wandering around with reckless abandon, playing pranks on the townsfolk (mostly Ralof’s doing) and exploring the pine forest (mostly Robina’s doing), and they would always do all that and more together. Even when Robina and her family moved to Bruma in Cyrodiil, the pair continued to keep in touch, sending simple letters every month or so. After several years passed, she finally found the opportunity to return to her homeland and reunite with her best friend at last. Fast forward a few days after her arrival in Skyrim and she finally saw Ralof for the first time in forever, albeit mortally wounded amongst the smoldering ruins of Helgen. Robina was forced to hoist him to safety in the town of her birth, Riverwood. He managed to recover in a relatively short time and the two have since been able to catch up on lost time.
By this point, the sun had already begun to set. The pair didn’t seem to notice the passing of time and remained in Ralof’s makeshift camp for some time, lit only by the amber glow of the campfire and surrounded by a relative silence broken only by the continuation of his tune and some idle chatter. Then, Robina began asking the real questions.
“Hey…Ralof?” He was still occupied with his strumming and almost didn’t notice her.
“Yeah?” he replied without ceasing playing.
“You, uh, never really told me or anyone what happened on that day in Helgen. I mean, what really happened. Not just a simple ‘a dragon attacked and I survived’.” Almost immediately after she uttered the question, she became flustered. “I mean, i-if you don’t want to talk about it, t-that’s fine, I’m not really-“ Ralof let out a sigh and stopped playing, setting his lyre back down.
“No harm in asking, lass. Besides, it’s about time I blew off steam for once.” His posture shifted to a more serious one. “So what do you want to know?” Robina exhaled a small sigh of relief when he received her question well. Usually, Ralof would swipe off such questions immediately and change the subject, so his reaction now came as sort of a surprise to her.
“Oh, uh, well….All I’ve heard about what happened was from exaggerated tales from people at the Sleeping Giant. It’d be nice to actually hear a testimony from a survivor..” she said timidly. She watched him intently as he began spinning his tale. Lit by the noonday sun, Robina never really realized how stunning Ralof looked.
“Gods, where do I even start? I guess a proper story starts at the beginning. I was assigned to Ulfric’s guard a while back and was tasked with getting him safely back to Windhelm. And then, right at Darkwater Crossing, we were ambushed by Imperials. Their plan couldn’t have gone any smoother. They outnumbered us with ease and sooner than you could cry out ‘Oblivion’, Jarl Ulfric cried surrender. Next thing you know, we were all bound at the mercy of General Tullius and his merry band. They didn’t even spare any onlookers either. A wayward horsethief was unlucky enough to be in the sidelines and he joined us. Poor lad. “
“At first, I thought they were going to take us to the Imperial City. Parade us like prize game in front of the Emperor. But I was wrong. We stopped at Helgen and was all set for the headsman. And then, as you know, the dragon attacked. Chaos and confusion ensued and I managed to slip away, with the help of a kindly traveler, bless him. He got me into the safe reaches of the keep and guided me out. After the attack, we parted ways and that was the last I ever saw of him. All that leads up to here. Now, I hope that covered all that you wanted to know.”
“Hmph. I expected more, to be honest.” grumbled Robina in a teasing tone. Ralof smirked.
“Well, what else do you think was supposed to happen? Me slaying the big black beast with my bare fists?”
“Maybe.” she muttered timidly. He just chuckled, prompting Robina to do the same.
“I really don’t know what you expect from me, Robina.” Ralof turned to the fire and noticed that it was dimming. He grabbed a log of firewood and chucked it into the campfire, the flame beginning to strengthen. Night passed on and they could see that the inhabitants of Riverwood were beginning to end their days and went into their homes. Back in the camp, the silence had returned and stayed for quite some time. Ralof was basically used to stagnant late hours like this and remained pretty much fresh even at this time, but Robina grew increasingly drowsy. She rested her head on her companion’s shoulder. He was slightly surprised by the sudden contact, but kept his calm. Most men his age would at least blush when they saw this adorable purplette’s head on their shoulders. Ralof was not most men and just smiled and changed his tune to a softer, lullaby-like one. With his new tune, the gentle crackling of the fire and the distant sounds of the critters of the night, Robina was about to lose herself to sleep until by chance, she spotted a brilliant object dashing through the sky. She almost instantly pointed at it enthusiastically, with no trace of drowsiness in her face.
“Look, Ralof! A shooting star!” she beckoned at him giddily. He was a bit slow to react and didn’t really notice it for a few seconds.
“Hmm….that’s rather bright for a shooting star.” As they both examined the faraway object, they noticed that it was indeed very bright even from this distance. In addition, its great glow was a faint purple instead of the usual white of stars. Another thing they observed was its strange trajectory.
“Strange, though. It looks like it’s heading right towards us….” They detected the incoming impact almost too late. Ralof, the battle-hardened warrior he was, noticed the anomaly first and immediately dove at Robina, taking them both behind a large log and out of harm’s way. The two remained there for a moment, still in disbelief as to what happened.
“W-w-what was that?” Robina finally managed, her voice shaky and her heart still racing from the shock.
“I..I don’t know. But it’s obviously not a shooting star. Let’s have a look for sure, shall we?” Ralof’s composure was kept calm, but even he was surprised when he saw that….thing coming straight for them. The fact that in spite of his broken leg, he still managed to get them both safe surprised him more. Reluctantly, she gave him a silent nod and helped him up to get a better look of what in Oblivion attacked them. From there, they could see the encampment wrecked. A black circle of soot was present around a new shallow crater where the fire had once been. The log Ralof was seated on was charred horribly, and he thanked the Nine silently. In the crater, he could notice something unusual.
“Robina. Stay put.” Slowly, he hopped over the log and limped towards the crater. It was then that he saw the strangest possible thing lying there: a woman, clad in simple clothes. She had short reddish brown hair and the slightly tanned skin made Ralof first assume that she was an Imperial. She didn’t stir and appeared to be passed out, or worse: dead. He silently beckoned for Robina to come closer. The timid Nord scampered hesitantly towards her companion.
“What is it, Ralof? What did you-Whoa.” she was shocked by the visage of the woman in the crater. “Are you telling me this pretty woman attacked us?”
Ralof shook his head. “I am not sure. Last time I checked, Imperials don’t fly.” Robina rolled her eyes. Typical of him to make an assumption like that.
“No matter. Why don’t you try waking her up?” Heeding the words of his sensible friend, he slowly slid down the crater to get closer to this enigmatic figure. Was she a rogue wizard? Was she some sort of heavenly being? Was she a stranded spirit from Sovngarde? Questions cluttered his mind as he examined her. He could notice her chest rising and falling as she drew breath, which meant that she was at least alive. Now for the real test. He shook her body gently to try and stir her from her slumber.
“Hello? Miss? Can you hear me?” He tried everything he could to wake her up and only after a few minutes of this did she finally come to her senses. She opened her eyes slowly and hesitantly like a bat would and managed a few words.
“W-where am I? Who are you people?” Her voice had an inexplicably exotic accent to it. Ralof had never heard one like it from anyone he’s seen, be it a Dunmer or a Khajiit, and he didn’t want to admit it, but he was enchanted by her. Still, he needed to not be a blubbering idiot in front of a beautiful stranger and tried his best to keep a level head. He cleared his throat as he tried to greet her.
“Uh, greetings, whoever you are. We don’t know how you got here, but you are now in Riverwood. My name is Ralof and up there is my friend, Robina.” From above, she waved down at the two, flashing a wide and friendly smile. The woman managed to wave back and reply.
“H-hello…My head hurts….Where am I?”
Ralof looked just as confused as her. “I just told you. Riverwood.”
“I’ve never heard of it…”
“Never heard of it? Well, is this your first time in Skyrim?”
“Where in the world is Skyrim?”
