Enjoy, and I do not own Skyrim!

"What do you mean, I can't come in?" I demanded, glaring at the guard as I placed my hands on my hips.

"City's closed with the dragon about. Official business only." Then the guard turned his head and looked at his buddy as if to say 'can you believe this crazy woman?'

"This is official business, you dolt!" I yelled, waving my arms wildly, "Riverwood calls for aid!"

"Riverwood is perfectly safe," insisted the guard. Angry, I drew my sword and whacked him on the helmet with the handle, causing his buddy to draw his own weapon and come up to me.

"You have commited crimes against Skyrim and her people. What say you in your defense?"

I sighed, hefted my change purse, and said, "I'll pay of my bounty."

"Well, ma'am, you'll have to come up to the keep to make sure you aren't carrying any stolen goods."

Gotcha! I thought, Now I can get into the city, and Mr. Annoying is knocked out cold.

After paying my bounty and being relieved of my nonexistent stolen goods, I strolled right into Dragonsreach with a grin on my face, ready to tell the Jarl that Riverwood was in danger…

…Only to find the redheaded Breton-Loki, if I remembered correctly- stealing my message.

"My Jarl," she was saying, "Riverwood is in grave danger."

I felt my jaw drop, and I blinked.

"Excuse me, miss. What do you want?"

I turned to see a Dark Elf woman dressed in a warrior's attire hefting her sword at me.

"I escaped from Helgen," I blurted out, "I have news of the dragon attack!"

"Oh." Her face seemed to fall at the thought of not being able to skewer me. "I guess you had better go up then. Jarl Balgruuf," she called, "This woman brings news from Helgen."

The breton spun around and grinned at the sight of me, a crooked grin that was surprisingly genuine.

"Hullo again" she said brightly, clasping my shoulder as I stood by her, "Gerdur sent me in case you didn't make it."

"The guards wouldn't let me in," I said, "I had to whack one over the head so I could pay off a bounty to get into the city."

She laughed, and I had to laugh too; her laugh was infectious. But then we were interrupted in our laughing by Balgruuf, a buff blonde nord with a beard.

"What news from Helgen?" he asked in a deep voice.

"It's been destroyed," I said, "By a dragon."

"You're sure?" He asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Yea," I said, then added drily, "I had a great view while the Imperials were trying to cut my head off."

His eyebrows flew up.

"You're very open about your criminal past," he said, and I shook my head.

"What criminal past? I was going to pick up my dead parents belongings from Solitude when I got shot at by an imperial soldier and then tackled by Ulfric Stormcloak and thrown over his shoulder! And then knocked out! I can't even walk back into my homeland without being arrested!"

Loki was giggling beside me, hiding it behind the hands she had clasped over her mouth.

"I was trying to get some armor when I got attacked by some creepy old witch," she said, "This girl here… uh…"

"Laeneia," I supplied, and she continued with a nod.

"Laeneia saved me."

"I'm sorry for making assumptions," said the Jarl, "If the two of you will follow me, I think I have a job that fits the both of you very well. My court mage is working on a project."

I saw where he was going first, and stepped into a side room, where there stood a man in blue hooded robes.

"Excuse me," I said, recognizing him as a mage, "The Jarl said that you had a project I could help with?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Please. I doubt you'd be of much use."

I sighed and folded my arms.

"Watch out. You're about to step in your own shock rune."

He looked hilariously confused.

"But I never even… ah. I see you have some knowledge of the mystic arts. Maybe you can be of some use to me."

"Farengar!" said the Jarl loudly, making both of us jump, "I see you have already met one of the girls I've hired to help you in your project. This is the other."

Loki smiled and waved, blushing slightly.

Ooh, I thought, Someone's in love…

"She's more of a mage than I am," I said, "But I come from a long line of mages and archers, so I've learned to be sneaky when I need to."

"Hullo," she said, stepping forward, "My name is Loki."

Farengar smiled brightly, and I could practically feel him laying on the charm.

"Hello, madam. It is a pleasure to meet a young woman who has interest in the Mystic Arts as I do."

Divines, I thought to myself, He is so charismatic I think I am going to gag.

Loki, however, seemed smitten, and I had to pinch her hand to get her to get back on task.

"So, what do we have to do?"

"Nothing much," said Farengar, dropping(thank the Divines) the charisma and simply being himself, "Just diving into an ancient ruin full of Draugr to find an ancient artefact that may or may not actually be there."

I sighed and asked, "Alright. Where are we going and what are we fetching?"

"You'll be going to Bleak Falls Barrow to find a Dragonstone," he said, "Which is no doubt interred in the main chamber."

Loki grinned at me and I grinned back, clasping my hands together.

"Well," I said, "This should be fun."

"This is the worst thing I have ever done."

Loki glanced over at me as she flamed another Draugr, raising an eyebrow as I sliced off the head of someone who was probably my ancestor.

We had fought off bandits, legions of Draugr, a giant frostbite spider, some elf named Arvel, and had gotten through the puzzle door. Now we were fighting even more Draugr, and I was sick and tired of it. I had numerous bruises and cuts on my body, I was pretty sure a chunk of hair was missing, and my sword arm was getting tired.

Loki, however, looked like she was going for a stroll through town. She was barely hurt- one cut on her upper arm where a Draugr had hit her before either of us could react, and a smidge of frostburn on her hand where another Draugr had hit her with a frost spell.

"We're getting closer," she promised over the din of her flame spell, "See how the horde is getting bigger? Any minute now, it will thin out and we'll be at the main chamber."

"How do you know these things?" I asked, blocking a blow from a female draugr and parrying to slice off her head.

Loki shrugged, switching over to a shock spell, which sent lightning careening into the draugr horde. A few of them fell over, dead, but there was still at least fifteen left.

"I did some ruin-diving with my brother."

I glanced at her again with a look of 'oh, really,' on my face as I grabbed my bow and started shooting the draugr instead.

"What…I…Want…to…know…" I said between shots, some of which hit my targets, "Is…why…these…things…are…coming…back…to…life…after…all…these…years."

"Well," said Loki, "They were probably cursed before their deaths, and know they found out about the curse and think we're the people who cursed them."

I swore as a draugr landed a hit, slicing open my arm. Loki, without even looking, shot a healing spell at me, and I shouted a thanks at her before quickly cutting down two more draugr.

"You'd think that you Bretons would be the ones getting reanimated after death," I said, "What with you messing around in the 'mystic arts' and all."

"No, actually," said Loki, "Because we Bretons think to cast spells on the dead that prevent them from rising. You never actually see a reanimated Breton. Nords are actually the most common."

"That's just…" I sliced off another draugr's head…"Because we're masters of battle!"

Loki flamed the last draugr into submission and looked me over, before sighing and handing me a healing potion.

"Here, 'master of battle'." She turned and took out a small blue potion, before sending me a sideways glance and muttering, "More like 'master of getting wounded'."

I downed the healing potion, wincing at the bitter taste. We had found it earlier in the barrow.

"You absolutely sure these things don't go bad?"

She nodded, turning to face the doorway.

"This is it," she muttered, "Beyond this door is the dragonstone."

"More draugr?" I asked, hefting my sword.

"Probably," she said without looking over at me. I stepped forward and grinned.

"Bring it on."

We threw open the doors to reveal a huge cavern, complete with waterfalls and a pool of water. A bridge led over this pool onto a platform, where there was a coffin. Behind the coffin was a curved wall that seemed to have some sort of carvings on it. Stepping across the bridge, I felt something within me dragging me toward the wall. It was like someone had tied a rope around my waist and was pulling me forwards.

"Do you feel that?" asked Loki quietly, her gaze locked on the curved wall. I nodded and gave into the urge, letting my feet carry me over to one carving in particular…

My hand brushed the carving just as Loki's did, and it glowed a bright white-yellow. I heard chanting in my head and then the glow flew from the carving into the both of us.

Fus, said a voice in my head, force.

Behind us, there was a cracking noise and a thud. Spinning around, I swore as a Draugr stood up from its crypt and turned to face us. Dashing forward, I drew my sword and swung at the thing…

"FUS RO DAH!"

A solid wall of force slammed into me and sent me flying backwards into a wall, making my vision go black. There was pain everywhere- in my chest, arms, legs, and head- but I stood anyway, stumbling sideways as my vision blacked out for a second, before pulling out my bow and nocking an arrow.

Loki was shooting lightning at the Draugr while it tried to hit her with its war axe. Then, out of nowhere, she pulled a dagger and began using her small stature to her advantage- she'd wait until the thing swung, and then she'd dash in and slice at it with her knife. I drew my bow and aimed, but waited until Loki was a safe distance away before shooting the arrow.

It flew through the air and hit the Draugr in the arm. Not exactly where I was aiming, but it could have been worse, I supposed. And then it got worse, because the Draugr turned its attention back to me. I swore again and stumbled forward, trying to nock another arrow as the Draugr stalked towards me. I was still dazed, however, and I completely missed. Dropping the arrow in anger, I instead used my bow as a club and hit the Draugr over the head with it. Loki quickly swept in and flamed it, stabbing it through the throat. I grabbed my sword and sliced off its head before collapsing onto the ground, my vision going black.

To my surprise, I awoke in a warm bed, staring up at a wooden ceiling. I sat up quickly, spying Loki sitting in a chair at the end of the bed. She smiled at me as I pulled myself out of the bed and stretched, noticing that I was wearing some sort of brown dress. She then held out a suit of leather armor, which I took and pulled on before sending her a confused look.

"I made it with help from the blacksmith," she said, "Your stormcloak armor was really beat up."

"Thank you," I said, taking my sword and bow from the bedside table and then slinging my quiver across my back. Loki nodded and stood, clasping me on the shoulder as I pulled on my boots.

"You were only out for a few hours," she said, "We should probably get back to Whiterun and bring Farengar his Dragonstone."

I nodded and followed her out of the inn, out into the streets of Riverwood. It was early morning, the sun barely peeking over the mountains, and we turned and headed out of town as the mist began to dissipate around us.

"So," I said, "Do you love Farengar?"

Not really a Cliffhanger, but sorta-kinda.

windyshoes: I plan on doing more chapters of this, so here you go!

Guest: Well, this chapter is longer, so I hope you enjoyed!

Please review, because it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.