I took a little inspiration from the user Boys do Like Girls and his awesome story- Season Unending, and decided to make Skyrim larger. It seems more realistic that way.

Also, this is my first fanfiction, but that doesn't mean I want you to go "easy" on the reviews. I'll never get better that way!

CHAPTER ONE- UNBOUND

A carriage. People, supposedly prisoners sat across from me, as I wake. For a brief moment, I forget why I'm here. I tried to remember what happened, how I got here. I noticed the blue garb of the blonde, fair-haired man across from me, then noticed my own armor was the same shade. The memories rushed back into me.

"Ralof, Frakig, Godrel, Tymvir!" Ulfric Stormcloak shouted, his voice booming through the Palace of the Kings. "I have a message I must deliver to Jarl Laila Law-Giver, personally. I assign you as my guard on this mission."

Ralof turned to me, Tymvir, a fellow Stormcloak and friend. "It seems Ulfric isn't expecting any combat- or else he wouldn't have such a small guard. But I hope we find a few Imperials to put down along the way."

Of course, Ralof was completely wrong. We found ourselves ambushed, midway between Windhelm and Riften. A thief named Lokir found himself too close to the ambush, and got captured. Us Stormcloaks and the thief were thrown in the back of an Imperial carriage. Now, I don't know where we're going. I only know Sovngarde awaits.

"Tymvir, you're finally awake." Ralof said to me. Next to me was Ulfric Stormcloak, bound and gagged. Across from him was Lokir- the horse thief. I turned my attention back to Ralof.

"How long have we been in this carriage?" I asked.

"Talos knows. I have no idea." He replied.

I look to the left, and see walls, and a few keeps, flying Imperial banners. Helgen. I know this place- in fact, I was born here. At least I'll die here, in my hometown.

I turn back towards Ralof. "Where are you from, friend?" I ask.

"Riverwood. My sister, Gerdur, owns the mill there." He tells me. "What about you?"

"Here. Helgen." I turn towards Lokir. "Where are you from?"

"Why do you want to know, you damn rebel?" He retorts.

Ralof finishes my thought, saying "A Nord's last thoughts should be of home."

"Rorikstead. I'm from Rorikstead." Lokir mutters.

The carriage stops. A headsman stand over a chopping block, waiting for us. We are escorted out of the carriage, and an Imperial soldier starts reading off names.

"Frakig, of Riften." He walks forward.

"Godrel, of Winterhold." Godrel does the same.

"Lokir, of Rorikstead."

"No! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!" He runs, and an Imperial captain shouts "Archers!" Lokir has almost escaped when a volley of arrows implant themselves in his back. He falls, dead.

"Anyone else feel like running?" The Imperial captain asks. She turns to the other Imperial. "Carry on."

"Ralof, of Riverwood." Ralof steps forward, his head down.

"Tymvir, of Helgen." I step forward at my name, and hear Ulfric's name called after mine.

A crowd has amassed, some supporting, most criticizing us. My heart sinks when I see my father, Roggar, and my mother, Heddvi, weeping.

"Frakig! Step forward!" The Imperial captain orders. He steps forward and is kicked down onto the chopping block. The headsman's axe descends upon Frakig, and his head comes off. He is in Sovngarde now.

"Next, Tymvir!" The captain shouts. I walk forward, and hear an odd sound- roaring, off in the distance.

"What was that?" An Imperial asks.

"Nothing! Carry on." The captain demands.

I flash a warm smile at my parents, then I am kicked down onto the chopping block. I hear more roaring. The headsman briefly turns around, but turns back on orders.

But he's too late. I hear a… Shout. A Thu'um. Like Ulfric uses. "Fus… RO DAH!" The headsman falls down, and I get up. Looking up, I see a dragon on top of the keep! "Yol… TOOR SHUL!" an orb of fire explodes near me, blasting me back a few feet.

Godrel has somehow unbound himself, and he quickly unbinds the rest of us.

The headsman's didn't survive the blast, and I pick up his axe, then rush off with Ralof, Godrel, and Ulfric into the keep.

"Ulfric!" Ralof shouts. "What was that thing? Could it really be a dragon? Could the legends be true?"

"Legends don't burn down villages." Ulfric says in his authoritative voice.

"Then we had better get moving!"

Godrel heads up the stairs first. He sees another Stormcloak- I guess we weren't the only Stormloacks the Imperials caught. Part of the keep's upper wall blast open as the dragon scorches Godrel and the other Stormcloak. I run up to where the dragon broke through the keep. There's only one way out- a 10 foot drop into Vilod's old inn. I jump in, then Ralof and Ulfric jump, too. We all experience pain, but we keep going.

As we step out of the inn, I spot my old friend Torolf kneeling on the ground, barely alive, with a puddle of blood beneath him. He's talking to his son, Haming. I cannot stop now to say my last goodbyes. I rush past him, and the dragon lands, right on top of an Imperial.

"Yol… TOOR SHUL!" It shouts, and an orb of flames explodes from its jaws. The blast kills a few citizens, among them Vilod, the owner of the inn. The dragon takes off again, and Ulfric and Ralof salvage weapons from the fallen soldiers and citizens. Ulfric has a war axe and shield, while Ralof has a mace and a free hand.

Three Imperials stop us, among them the list-reader. Ralof steps forward, and faces him. "You're not stopping us this time. We're escaping!"

"We'll see about that." Hadvar says, and they start attacking us.

I find myself at a disadvantage- I'm used to light weapons, and the headsman's axe is slow and clunky. However, I still miraculously manage to defeat the Imperial attacking me, and quickly drop my axe and grab his sword. I charge towards Ralof's attacker, and decapitate him. Hadvar is fighting Ulfric, and realizes there is no hope. He turns, and runs toward a keep.

"After him!" Ralof shouts.

"No- Leave him be. We have more important matters to attend to." Ulfric replies. We head into the keep from a separate entrance.

Right before I enter I see part of the wall collapse on my mother, off in the distance. "NO!" I shout. I force myself not to weep. Roggar, distraught, runs after us and enters the keep with us.

"Damn that dragon to Oblivion!" My father says. We both weep shortly, but then we keep going. Roggar salvages a sword from a fallen Stormcloak.

Both gates are locked, we're trapped here. But two Imperials approach one of the gates. They open it, and Ralof charges toward them, bashing one of their knees. That soldier falls, just as Ralof's mace collapses on his head.

The other Imperial charges at Ulfric, and slashes horizontally. Ulfric blocks her attack with his shield, and then proceeds to cut off the Imperial's head. I grab a sword from one of the dead soldiers.

We move forward, and soon find ourselves in a large supply room, accompanied by six Imperials. Not surprisingly, three of them immediately charge at Ulfric. He rolls out of the way, and Ralof assists him.

The others charge at me, and Roggar rushes to my aid. He deals with one of them, while I defend myself against the other two.

A battleaxe nearly collapses on my head, but I block it with my sword. I bash the side of his head with the blunt of my blade, then he stumbles and collapses. I then focus my attention on the other Imperial. He wields a sword, like me, and steel clashes against steel. Next to me, Roggar is still fighting his assailant. I drive my sword through the Imperial's heart.

I turn, and Roggar's attacker is about to win the upper hand. I quickly tackle him, and cut off his head.

Ulfric and Ralof defeated their attackers, and I remember the Imperial I knocked down earlier. I'm about to chop off his head, when he says "Wait! I can help you! Please… spare me. I'll fight alongside you. Just please don't kill me."

Ulfric turns to me, and tells me "We can't trust him." He then turns toward the Imperial and swiftly ends his life.

Next we end up in a torture room. A mage and his assistant are attacking a Stormcloak. I sneak up behind the mage and slice his neck. We all close in around the last Imperial, and the tortured Stormcloak kills him.

He turns to us, and says "Thanks. I'm Valund. I owe every last one of you my life."

He then follows us into a room that has more Imperials than the rest. I count around 10.

"Talos save us." I mutter.

Two of them charge me. I roll behind one and cut his neck, then disarm the other and kill him.

I turn around, to see my father struggling against three Imperials. I rush in, and everything is a blur. Me and Roggar flourish our blades against our attackers, and they attack us. I stab one, and he falls. Me and Roggar close in on another Imperial. After the soldier falls, we turn our attention to the last assailant.

He quickly disarms Roggar and kicks him aside. We combat against each other, and he ends up disarming me, as well. He kicks me down. He raises his sword, poised to strike my heart. A catlike smile stretches across his face.

Then, the smile turns into a frown, as he gurgles blood. He falls, and behind him, I see Valund! "Thank you, Valund." I say. "You saved me, I saved you." He says. There are three soldiers left. One is fighting against Ralof, another combatting Ulfric. The last has a bow and arrows. I choose him for my target.

As I charge towards him, he notches an arrow. Not towards me. I don't have time to see who he is about to shoot.

I get closer…

Closer…

And then he shoots.

I quickly drive my blade through him, then turn around.

No! I think.

For I see the corpse of my father.

I press even more tears back, and continue on the trail. Both of my parents, lost on the same day. But now they have a place in Sovngarde, and that brings me peace.

We press on the trail. "Why is this keep so huge?" Ralof wonders aloud.

"I don't know, but there must be an exit somewhere." Valund says.

In the next room, we are assaulted by a group of Frostbite Spiders. We easily dispatch them, and move on.

A bear is blocking our path, and it is in a deep slumber. "I'll handle this one." I whisper to everyone else.

I sneak up to the bear, and slash it with my sword. It gets up and quickly yawns. I take the opportunity and drive my sword into its mouth, and slash again. The bear roars, and retaliates by swiping my face with its claws.

I howl in pain, and Ralof takes my place. He takes his mace and bashes it against the bear's forehead. The bear stands up to attack Ralof. However, he took his mace and slashed it against the bear's exposed throat. After a short gout of blood spatter, the bear falls to the ground.

My face is bleeding, but it is not a serious injury. We walk across the trail, when I see light. "An exit!" I exclaim. Everyone else gathers around me, and we all celebrate. We run across the ground, into the light.

Once we are outside, we discuss arrangements for what we should do now.

"I've got a sister, Gerdur, up in Riverwood. We could go there, but two of us would have to find some other place to stay. The Sleeping Giant is an inn that the other two could stay at. I bet Gerdur and her husband Hod could provide them both with the funds to stay for a few nights."

"So, who's going to stay where?" I ask.

"Me and Ulfric should stay at Gerdur's house. He'll get too much attention, simply walking into the Sleeping Giant. However, you and Valund won't attract as much attention, so you both should stay there."

"Alright." I say.

Then Valund asks, "How do we get to Riverwood from here?"

"Just follow this trail North." Ralof answers. "We can head there together, or split up."

"I say we go together. We may attract more attention, but we'll be less likely to die along the way." Ulfric decides.

"Let's hurry out then. The dragon could be here any time, along with swarms of Imperials." Ralof states. We listen to him, and we leave the ruins of my home, the horrors of Helgen and the death of my parents fresh in my mind.