I lose my mind thrashing the door now in full panic, Imperial goo now running down my back. The door doesn't budge, my frothing madness amounting to nothing. Light headed I stop to breathe, figuring that I'm dead anyway if Alduin sees me. He seems more interested in soldiers at the moment so I take a moment to rub my two oxygenated brain cells together. Realizing I weigh next to nothing as an emaciated girl I change tactics, opting instead to use whatever leverage I have and push the door with all my strength. To my surprise the door opens before I can apply my full strength, throwing me on the stones. I earn a quality head lump but I hardly care, scrambling back to the door to shut it. I find that it actually sticks pretty bad, not having been locked in the first place. I decide against locking it, since Alduin won't care anyway and someone innocent might need to follow me.
The noises outside are deafened quite a bit and it's eerily calm inside. My body involuntarily breaks down from the relief and I slump against the stone wall by the door. There's a ringing in my ear now. It's so much quieter in here I guess my body needed to compensate. I feel my eyes burn but shake off the urge to relax. I've landed in the barracks, the room you'd enter if you sided with Hadvar in the game. There should be some basic equipment here (although I've never seen a hay bed look so inviting). Several dozen beds line the interior here but it's surprisingly bare, maybe disused or in the process of? Going to where I remember there being equipment I find an old iron sword on a weapon rack and use it to cut my bindings. The process is a lot harder than I anticipated as the blade is nowhere as sharp as I'd hoped. After I find the right angle to cut the leather cuffs I take the iron sword, with some disappointment. It's not even the standard Imperial equipment, which itself isn't great, though I guess beggars can't be choosers. It's also surprisingly heavy, although that might be because I'm a girl now. Given the state of the room I'm guessing the equipment in this corner are leftovers. I pull out an equally rough looking half scabbard, a thing I didn't realize existed until now. Had the chest not had several more I would have thought it was damaged but it keeps the pointy bit away from me, so good enough.
The chest below the sword rack only contains almost a full set of Imperial light armor. Looks wise it's like someone saw Roman armor from a distance and decided to copy it with leather. Armor wise you could do worse, but light armor offers light protection. It's probably perfect for someone like me who's normal protective layer is a t-shirt but I wouldn't mind some metal between me and the scary things. It's missing a helmet so I begin searching the rest of the barracks to see if I can find one like I remember there being. It's not exactly in the same place, there are a lot more beds now, but about four beds down I find one under a bunk. Since I need to change anyway I should probably take stock of my new body before I head down into possible danger.
Removing the ragged trousers and tunic reveals peachy skin that seems to adorn bone. I wasn't feeling hungry before but the sight of my ribcage does make me think a nibble would be good. No boobs to speak of, though that might change if I eat so much as a Sweet Roll. I wish I could say the same for my penis, which might be smaller than my pinky finger, with two little nuts no bigger than quail eggs. I don't even need to reach around them to inspect my new equipment, which I discover with a jolt is definitely a vagina. Now I know I'm definitely dual wielding genitals, the question is why. I don't remember any of the original lore mentioning this sort of thing, except for maybe the lizard folk having gender swaps. Powerful Daedra could change their form all together but gender was more of a suggestion for them. I look back at the Imperial leather armor I laid out on a bed and remember the battle mages with their strange padding's.
Shit. Shit shit shit.
I'm not in normal Skyrim. I'm in my Skyrim. My modded Skyrim. A version of Skyrim I carefully crafted with modifications to… enhance my gameplay. Basically an expansion fetishists wonderland. Those mages didn't have strange padding, they were the padding. Women grow bustier the more powerful they become as mages, men the same but it's their testicles that grow. If you have both well... it took quite a bit of trouble shooting to make that work on my end but you'll have double the orbs to ponder. Warrior skills build muscle and general size, very straightforward. Thief skills... expanded backsides. Not really sure how that connects but the legs would also be built up as well so maybe it would make crouching easier. As a fan of luscious behinds I wasn't complaining and these don't even represent half the mods I installed on my game.
"Get that door open, soldier!"
I jump and scramble to collect everything off the bed before hiding underneath it. The door sticking turns out to be a blessing, buying me enough time to hide. After shaking the door a burly Imperial smashes through it, letting in red light and the sounds of the outside chaos. Two more Imperials step through, one I recognize as Captain Bitch. Only the captain is wearing metal boots so I guess the other two must be regular grunts. They shut the door but enough damage was done to it that it no longer fits well and lets in some light and noise from outside. A roar shakes the keep, knocking dust off the ceiling.
"Take a minute to breathe and find anything useful. Once I find the key we move again, ready or not." Captain Bitch says.
Three pairs of feet hurry about in different directions. One set beelines to a very specific bed and starts to rummage. Another meanders along the far wall, browsing the shelves where I think there was some wine and bread. Captain Bitch heads for the equipment corner, where I guess I overlooked the key in my excitement to arm myself.
"Looks like someone's already been here. Watch out for rebels on our way out."
Oops.
"Come on soldiers, this way!"
The other feet rejoin her and leave further into the keep. I wait half a minute before crawling out from the bed only to find all my loot is gone. I panic, pawing the dusty stones as if looking for invisible treasures. I lay there panting from stress and just decide to crawl back under the bed. A bit calmer now I look around and see absolutely nowhere for my stuff to have gone. Either it's a glitch or... maybe it's still with me. Skyrim's inventory system gave the appearance of disappearance so maybe that's it. Trouble is I have no idea how to access it, or if it even exists. With nothing to lose I concentrate really hard on the Imperial armor, thinking just how nice it would be to not be cold anymore. To my surprise it appears, wrapped around me, in roughly the right place. I do the same for the boots, bracers and helmet and as easy as blinking find myself clothed.
Standing up I find that the armor has only been loosely placed on my body, I still have to fiddle with the straps to get a decent fit. Once that's done I'm surprised to find the Imperial armor fits me pretty well given that I'm probably a touch smaller than the average soldier. Thinking on my sword now, I'm surprised again to find that I can see it in my mind's eye and will it with its scabbard to appear on my hip. I have to tighten that as well but it's little bother, equipment for Imperial grunts is pretty easy to figure out, likely by design. I take it back, the Imperial light armor does have metal, it's just thin and placed strategically. The bracers are two thin plates wrapped in leather, the helm has a thin pot for the head with leather over that and a thinly padded fabric lining. The boots have a strip of it running down the center of the shin. They also have metal cleats which is a bonus. The main piece has the thickest leather but not metal save for buckles and rivets.
Satisfied with my new equipment I do a final scan of the room. I was hoping the mess corner would have still had some food but it looks like what was there was taken save for the books. I take those with me, willing them into my inventory, a space I am becoming more aware of as I practice. I move to leave down the same hallway the Imperial left earlier but not before grabbing a spare sword to keep, in case the first on breaks. Equipment breakage wasn't a thing in Skyrim but neither was tasting your own blood. I barely enter before the hallway carries to me the voices of people arguing. Barely audible amongst the din emanating outside as I move closer I recognize the voices.
"...who's side are you on!?!" yells the Bitch's bitchy voice.
"Captain please, this man saved my life. Can't we just leave them here and move on?" the voice of Hadvar says pleadingly.
"You're a soldier, damnit, and soldiers follow orders. Now turn around and kill those rebels or there will be consequences." the Bitch demands.
I've turned the corner and can start to see them now. Two Imperial soldiers flank her, both male, one sporting a pretty nasty burn on the left side. Directly in front of her is Hadvar protecting two haggard Stormcloaks and a badly burnt Ralof seated on a chair by a small table in this circular entrance hall. He is not conscious. Everyone but Hadvar (and Ralof) have their weapons out. The Stormcloaks, male and female Nord's with dirty chestnut and blond hair respectively, are nervous. At Ralof's feet by his right side is a dead Stormcloak. In game he was just a way to give the player that followed Ralof access to Stormcloak gear and weapons. Now he's someone's friend, lying cold on the floor.
"Leave them alone! Just walk away and you'll get to see your families again." I say with all the determination I can muster, iron sword in hand.
It's not really bravery that compels me, just simple math. If Hadvar gives in, Captain Bitch will have the number's advantage and Ralof will die. I own him enough to try and save him. If he wasn't still visibly breathing I would have probably just waited for this to play out before leaving through a much emptier keep.
"You," Captain Bitch says, eyes narrowing. "Men eyes front. That woman is an imposter and I'll deal with her myself. Hadvar, you've got until I've finished to decide if you're a damn soldier or not. Otherwise my report goes straight to the General."
She pushed past the other two soldiers who close the gap behind her. I pegged her a wiry earlier but that was only in comparison to the other soldiers, compared to me she's a bodybuilder and taller too. She must have realized this as well because she sneers with her nose pointed a little higher than necessary.
"Think that stolen armor will save you, Breton thief? It belongs on a real soldier. I'll give you just one chance to kneel for a quick death." she says.
"I'll give you one chance to kneel to suck my dick."
"Bad move!" she shouts, charging at me.
She goes for a massive overhead swing that I think I can block pretty easily. Her swing knocks the sword out of my hand and only just grazes me, shocking me with her power. She steps on my sword advancing while I retreat, summoning my spare sword. Realizing I'll have no chance in a sword fight I summon a little help right behind her. The phantasmal being I now affectionately call wolfy leaps from the gate, grabbing her unarmored calf and pulling her down.
"Ahh! Stupid mutt!" she cries.
Thinking I've won I go to strike her only to be repelled when she slashes at my legs, drawing some blood at my uncovered knee. She kicks wolfy off and in a rolling motion stabs the familiar on one knee, killing wolfy instantly. Desperate to save my wolf I ran at her back, dropped my sword and jumped her moments before wolfy died. She stands up with me on her back easily and slams me against the wall. I get the wind knocked out of me and possibly break some ribs.
"Get off!"
She then goes to peel my arms off her but in a surprise move I place my left hand on her open mouth and cast the last of my preloaded spells. Flames. Fire enters her face only for an instant, I used all my magicka on wolfy, but it's enough to drop her coughing and sputtering. This does a much better job of dislodging me as I'm forced to let go of her crumpled form to maintain stability. I grab my sword from the ground and in a move similar to what the captain did moments ago I bring it down in a big swing. She turns at the last moment, feebly raising her sword but my strike lands with a shatter. My iron sword breaks on her steel armor, shattering up to the hilt, but hitting with enough force to knock her weapon from her hand.
"Captain!"
The other Imperials notice their captain's plight and try to rush to help her but behind them the Stormcloaks take the opportunity to charge. Fighting erupts in the chamber beyond and no help will reach the captain in time. We both reach for her dropped sword, but I easily grab it first. It's a proper steel sword, shaped like a gladius but longer with the dragon motif of the Empire in the hilt. She grapples my legs, dropping me before crawling on top to wrestle her sword away. I desperately slash at her neck and hit dead on but the wound is too shallow, my arm too weak. Like a demon she grips the blade with her left hand and pushes my face down with her right. Cast Flames in her face again. She reflexively covers her face in agony and I drive her sword between her arms to her neck. This time I'm rewarded with a lot of blood. Captain Bitch sits up straight, hand on her bleeding neck before giving me a strange look and falling over.
The fighting is still ongoing in the other room by the sound of it. I can't really help much. Just trying to stand is a problem with these ribs. I use the wall for support and climb up. I can see Hadvar by Ralof, sword drawn but unmoving, looking at a battle I can't see. When I stumble into the room I see a Stormcloak and an Imperial on the ground each. The other two are still fighting to my left, the burnt Imperial and a Stormcloak brandishing a two handed iron warhammer. The hammer offers better reach but it's painfully slow and getting slower. Out of breath the Stormcloak rebel goes for another swing only to have it caught by the Imperials burnt arm who then impales the rebel on his sword.
I move to Ralof and this seems to break Hadvar out of his dilemma and he rushes over to the surviving Imperial. Ralof is still breathing, but I can't tell for how long. His skin is... red at best, liquid at worst on his right side. Healing is a self targeted spell but I remember that the next area has some potions we might be able to use. I look to Hadvar who's laid the surviving Imperial up against the wall.
"Hadvar, are there some potions nearby?" I ask leadingly.
"What? Yeah actually, should be some in the store room. Might be enough to save both of them." Hadvar says, gesturing to the wounded Imperial, who seems to have lost consciousness.
"You really want to help him after that?" I say, eyes raised.
"I know it looks bad but he was just following orders. If we work together then no one else has to die today." Hadvar pleads.
If any Imperial but Hadvar had made that plea I might have told them to suck skeever eggs but I give a muted "Okay" instead.
"Great. And don't worry, I'll take responsibility if he becomes a problem after we've picked him up. Just follow me, the store rooms below here."
Hadvar walks through another gate to a spiral staircase leading down. On the way I fire up Healing again to fix my ribs earning praise from Hadvar. At the bottom of the stairs the main passage is blocked off by rubble, which means I must be running late. In the game the ceiling would collapse in front of the player to cut them off dramatically, forcing them into the store room to the left. Hadvar opens the door and I'm quietly relieved to see that no one is here. Originally you'd have two enemy Npc's who job it was to challenge the player and heavily hint at the location of some potions in the room. I'm not one hundred percent sure if I'm living in a simulation but I'm glad I don't have to kill anyone else. Even killing Bitch wasn't as fun as I thought it'd be, and she deserved it.
Then I see it. On the table next to a bottle of what I think is wine is a piece of bread. A wonderful, nourishing, probably stale piece of bread. Not like the pitiful bread slices of my modern world either, these bread loafs were meant to be something like dinner rolls, in a time before sandwiches. I seize the half loaf but before I can cram it in my mouth see Hadvar feverishly looking for potions and decide it would be better to just munch on it normally. It's not half as stale as I thought it would be and the wine chases it down pretty well, being similar to a tasty port.
"I found three healing potions over here, did you find anything?" Hadvar asks from just around the corner.
"Uh, yeah, just gimme a second." I say, swallowing the last of the bread with a swig of wine. "Looks like just one healing and one magicka potion here."
"Good. I think we could have made do with the three but it never hurts to have more. Here, I found one of those magic potions too. Not much use to me." Hadvar says, handing me a blue bottle.
We make our way back up, finding the room just as awful as we left it. Ralof hasn't moved but the Imperial is emitting a near constant whine of pain. Nodding Hadvar walks to Ralof to see if three potions will save him, while I take my one to the wounded Imperial. Looking back at Hadvar I watch as he uncorks the top of the red bottle and pours it over Ralof's body. A familiar golden light washes over Ralof, if only briefly, and I can see some life visibly return to him. Taking my bottle I do the same and pour it over the poor Imperial. His whines immediately cease and he lets out an involuntary moan from the pain relief. Regaining himself he blinks around the room a bit before staring up at me.
"Thanks." he finally says. "I owe you."
I help him to his feet, though he still winces in pain standing. To my relief Ralof seems to have woken.
"How do you feel?"
"Better now. I suppose I should thank you but seeing as you were going to execute me earlier I guess this is just repayment for saving your life, am I right?" Ralof says to Hadvar.
"Right. I still think you're a traitor, but a real Nord pays his debts." Hadvar replies.
"Are we ready to go?" I call, earning looks.
"Go, you mean together?"
"Yes, go. None of us are going back outside and if we move together we'll have a much easier time escaping and we'll be able to avoid unnecessary fighting." I say. Hadvar and Ralof look at each other for a moment before Hadvar shrugs.
"Fine. But only so long as we're working on getting to safety. After that it's business as usual." he says.
"I can agree to that." Ralof says, standing up.
"I don't think I could make it out by myself and I still owe you." The burnt Imperial says, "As long as there are no more officers between here and the exit we should be fine. The General doesn't need to know as far as I'm concerned."
"Good, let's move. Here-" I hand the Imperial the wine bottle. "I only took a few swigs. You look like you need it."
"Thanks. I'll try not to drink too much." he says, taking the large bottle gratefully.
"Alright, give me just a second and I'll be ready." I say, heading back a little way into the hallway where the captain lies.
I return quickly and we move back down to the store room. Ralof seems to be able to move a decent amount, which is a relief, considering half his body violently lacks hair. Not much has changed since we left but I snag some of the herbs hung out to dry, particularly the Elves Ear and Garlic. Elves Ear I know goes into a magicka potion and Garlic is just tasty. The keep shakes a little again as a roar reverberates into the stone. We quickly move to the back of the storeroom and end up on the other side of the collapsed hallway. We move down into a torture room were there has clearly been a fight. Two dead Imperials and one Stormcloak lie dead here amongst the cages and manacles. There's a lot more blood in the keep than outside, I realize. No dragon fire to burn it up. It just coats the floors and walls like someone had just spilled buckets of the stuff accidentally. But it's not. Every spray is a wound, every puddle a last stand, and every pool is a grave.
"Is this what I think it is?" Ralof says, gesturing about the room.
"You'd understand if you were actually trying to protect something. I don't like it but rooms like these are necessary to save innocent lives." Hadvar says grimly.
"Whatever you say. I don't know how you Imperials sleep at night." Ralof says.
"Lets just grab whatever is useful and go." Hadvar says, not looking at anyone.
My loot brain turns on and I head behind the counter where a torturer lies dead. He was tall, thuggish, with balding greasy hair, his eyes staring into space. I pick up a circular wooden shield, reinforced with iron at its center, leaning against the counter. Scattered on or in the counter are a few books, some thin metal strips I recognize as lockpicks and an iron dagger. An iron mace coated in dried blood hangs on a weapon rack and I take it as well. I never cared for maces in the game but now who knows? Ralof is looking into one of the cages, our two Imperial friends having already moved deeper in. Walking over I spy a knapsack on a small table with a book next to it. It's the book of the Dragonborn, which might be a good reread if I survive Helgen. The sack has a few more lockpicks and one minor healing potion. I scoop it in my inventory, making sure Ralof doesn't see. I might throw it at the hurt Imperial if we don't need it later, for now everyone is moving just fine. I join Ralof at the cage
"Looks like there's a dead wizard in this cage, but I can't find the key. His robes are probably valuable, we might need that gold when we get out." he says.
"I found some picks, let me give it a go." I reply. Lockpicking was always super easy in Skyrim, and I'm eager for a dopamine hit, as well as some enchanted robes.
It should have been the easiest lock in the game. Of all Skyrim. I then proceed to break every lockpick I found trying. Fuck. Ralof pats me on the back, and I resist the urge to bite his hand like an angry dog. Looking at the cage again I realize the bars are easily far enough apart in certain places that I could just take what I want. I don't even have to undress the dead man to get his robes, just touch him. I already did this with the captain earlier, making it easy to take her metal armor off her body. I plan on equipping her heavy armor when I get a chance to breathe, and maybe a few square meals. For now I get the set of robes, a minor magicka potion, a few gold pieces, and a spell tome of Sparks from this poor mage. He was originally just an excuse in-game to give players access to wizard gear but I can't help but feel bad he had to die for it now. I open the spell tome up to see if I learn the spell instantly, as it would be in game, but it appears I need to take the time to actually read this. Oh well, at least I won't get bored with all my free time.
Nodding to Ralof we follow our other two companions further in the jail. The torture chamber is morphing into a proper dungeon now, with spacious jail cells built into the stonework. Spacious compared to the cages in the torture room at least. I know that one of these cells has a sizable gold stash but it's far from the door so that gold will get to stay un-plundered. Ralof pulls out his weapon, an iron war axe, and I imitate him. It's not impossible the Imperials plan to betray us, especially if they found comrades. Down another hall, lit by metal brazier, we make it round another corner to what might be an older torture room. Oversized bird cages filled with skeletons and cobwebs litter the room. One of them has a fresher corpse by the entrance, died of who knows what a while ago but that's not the most recent activity here. Hadvar and the burnt Imperial are waiting for us by the back with dour expressions. They stand at the back of the room where the wall has been busted through to what looks like a cave passage. I think it used to be the original escape route but got walled off at some point before being opened again.
"Looks like a smugglers tunnel." Hadvar says. "We should be able to get out through here."
He leads the way through the tunnel. It takes a little longer to travers than I remember. The tunnel turns and we see a Stormcloak woman with dull red hair using a bloodied great iron sword to stand, clutching her side on the opposite side of this room. She stands in an open chamber that's a mix of construction and natural cave built around a small stream that cuts through the center, lit by sunlight through cracks in the ceiling. She stands above a dozen bodies, sole survivor apparently. The stream, despite having good flow, is pink.
"Imperial bastards! I'll not surrender again, white take you!" she yells defiantly.
"Easily Lilia, there with me." Ralof says, stepping forward.
"Ralof? What are you doing with them? Have you gone mad?" she asks.
"It's just until we get out of here. They already saved me once," he says, gesturing to his bald spot, "so I'll trust them for now."
"Fine." Lilia spits. "It's not like I could fight back anyway. But I'm warning you, I may be injured but I can still take one of you with me to Sovngarde!"
Ralof hurries over and helps to lay Lilia against a wall. I realize she mistook me for an Imperial when she gives me a dirty look as I pass. It doesn't matter, this was the last room the player would find any human opponents so it's unlikely there are more angry rebels around. Hadvar moves towards the exit to look for a way out. The burnt Imperial follows him, but keeps glancing back at the Stormcloak girl. I don't blame him, she has that Celtic warrior princess look to her. Remembering the potion I found I walk up to him.
"I forgot to mention, I found another one of these in the dungeon. You could use it for your back or-" I pause with a grin, "You could give it to that lady over there. See what happens."
"Wait what? You want me to- are you out of your mind?"
"I mean I'm giving you the potion, you can use it however you want." I say, shaking the bottle a little. "If you don't want it-"
"Give it here. I'll play your game, stranger, but don't expect anything good to come of it." he says, snatching the bottle and walking over to Ralof and Lilia. While they're busy I walk to Hadvar.
"That dragon's broken the bridge, see?" he says, pointing to the large pile of wood in the gap between this platform and the next, a large hunk of the ceiling having smashed it. "There's no way out this way."
"What about that culvert there I say," pointing to the left.
Hadvar cranes his neck to see a culvert easily large enough for a man leading out and away, and looks back at me with a smile.
"Well I'll be. Those are some eyes you've got. Come on, let's get the others. Next rock that falls might be on our heads." he says smiling. "We found a way out, it's just through here," he says when we reach the other three.
"I'm staying here." Lilia says flatly. "That potion probably saved my life but I'm still in pretty rough shape. I can watch for Ulfric if he comes this way while you lot find a way out."
We don't try to argue. I remember all too well how much it sucked running around with barley mended organs.
"I'm staying too." says the burnt Imperial suddenly, sliding down against the wall. "I need to lie down, my back is killing me. You go on ahead, just make sure the way is clear."
No one here wants to argue. Potions or not we're all pretty tired. Lilia doesn't seem to mind but keeps her axe close and away from the Imperial.
"Fine by me. Just don't get any funny ideas." she growls.
"I won't. Don't think I can stand up on my own anyway." he says, adjusting stiffly.
"We should get going. If we don't come back this way it probably means we made it." Hadvar says.
"Or something killed you." Lilia replies.
"Right." Hadvar says having been off put.
"I'll see you in Windhelm sister." Ralof says with a nod.
"Talos guide you."
We leave the odd couple behind and jump down the platform to walk under the culvert I 'spotted' earlier. Leading the way I see a familiar skeleton holding a coin purse and a healing potion. I pocket both without acknowledgement, sweeping them up like I have a thousand times in game. Behind me I hear the sound of something hitting the ground.
"Damn." Ralof says, holding tattered pieces of the thick leather layer that fit around his chainmail.
"What happened?" I ask.
"Dragon fire must have overwhelmed the rune?"
"What rune" I ask.
"It's a simple rune placed on objects to keep them in working condition," Ralof explains. "Not too sure how but it keeps anything it's put on in good condition. Too much damage though and the rune can't keep up."
"I'm surprised you didn't know since you're a mage." Hadvar remarks.
"It's so common nowadays most people don't think about it anymore. " Ralof replies. "Makes life easier but it's a pain when it fails."
"Here," Hadvar says, taking off one of his too-small leather bracers. "This is what it looks like, see?" he points to a small symbol pressed into the underside. "Way I understand it, runes like these pull energy from the surroundings to work their magic. Pretty cool huh?"
"Yeah," I say, stunned.
"There's no saving that piece. Your chainmail fine?" Hadvar asks, putting back on the bracer and turning to Ralof.
"Aye. It's not as warped as I remember. I'll be fine, let's press on." Ralof answers
Rune magic is something I generally understood to exist in the Elder Scrolls world, but it's usually the tool of writers to make something seem more mystical or amazing. To see it used here as the excuse to not have armor repairs seems jarring to me. I'm not complaining, I certainly do not belong to that class of people who adore durability mechanics or gritty realism.
We traverse through the path, which is also the stream, before finding another skeleton with another gold pouch. The boys are uninterested and I scoop it up bringing up the rear. Then the path dips down into the spider den. I 'help' from a distance, shooting my Flames at any dog sized spider that comes close to me but Hadvar and Ralof easily dispatch most of them. Having no choice but to pass their corpses to leave the bright orange Frostbite Spiders look like they've come from a movie set. Their eyes are too big, their fangs are too long and their bodies have just enough hair to make them uglier. Shivering I follow my companions, but not before I catch sight of a crab sized on hiding in a hole in the wall.
Just beyond is another large cavern. There should be a bear at the other end of this one, being much longer than any of the previous openings. I spy the smuggler's kart I'd been looking forward to finding again, laden with wine and gold. Well three bottles and twenty septims, but I've recently fallen below the poverty line, even for Skyrim. I see a bottle of Black Briar mead, high end honey wine, just beyond the kart but get stopped before I can reach for it.
"Hold up! There's a bear just ahead, see her?" whisper Ralof.
"I'd rather not tangle with it right now," says Hadvar. "We might be able to sneak by. Just take it nice and slow, and watch where you step."
"Or if you're feeling lucky, you can take this bow," Ralof offers. "Might take her by surprise. Go ahead. I'll follow your lead and watch your back."
Either way sucks. If we fail the sneak test a bear runs up our defenseless assholes, if we shoot at it a bear runs up our defenseless assholes. In the game the bear was nerfed to suck at detection and combat but I have no way of knowing here. There's something else though, a voice I wish would shut up. The voice of a gamer, wanting to challenge myself on what would be in my old world an impossible challenge. People with guns on earth die all the time to bears, often with empty magazines. There's one other voice, a voice I don't recognize, telling me to kill the bear for power. I've never had much of that.
"If you've got bows, get ready. We'll shoot on my mark." I whisper.
Hadvar pulls out a very handsome bow, I recognize the Imperial issue. Ralof pulls out a simpler bow, similar to the one he gave me. I nock my arrow and give a look to the other two. Together we draw, and after a moment I count down.
"Three… two… one!" I whisper.
They loose their arrows but I hold back. I've never used a bow so I'm hoping that by pulling back really hard and firing at point blank I'll land a hit. They both hit the bear from behind, earning an immediate howl. The beast frenzies at us instantly, pulling up dirt with its claws like a cartoon character. Hadvar and Ralof pull out their melee weapons, a sword and shield for Hadvar and two one handed war axes for Ralof, while I quietly shit my pants. My first time using a bow and it'll be point blank in an angry bear's face. The bear has tried to take the fastest path to us, but the cave is rocky with a natural ditch carved by the stream between us and it has to slow down a bit climbing out of it. I fire just as it surfaces and the arrow actually flies toward the beast. I hoped the arrow would have been a direct hit but the shot bounces off the bear's face, drawing blood but otherwise doing no damage. I don't know what happened next as my mind gets sent from my body.
Heavenward my mind flies, instantly and unperturbed. I float above to what seems like a cosmos of many cloudy stars. All manner of twinkling lights and nebulous storms swirl about in this endless space. Directly surrounding me are constellations familiar to anyone who's played the game; the Warrior, the Mage, and the Thief. Once I understood these as game mechanics. Now I feel I am asked to choose where my favor lies inside my own being. It is not so much the stars giving me their power as much as it is me giving favor to a part of myself, which itself also exists within the stars. I consider myself with a clear and unbothered mind in this space, gazing onto what I knew before as skill trees. Conjuration, the skill that aids in summoning, is noticeably the most developed of my abilities along with a few more arcane skills and the Speech skill. All my other skills are nonexistent, save for tiny blips in Marksmanship and One Handed. As much as I love wolfy I need to expand my physical abilities before a particularly hungry skeever rat takes my lunch money. I won't always have two strong Nord boys to save me and the College is many miles and adventures away from here. I place my favor on One Handed and the warrior in the stars seems to give me their approval before I'm shunted back down into the cave with the bear.
No time seems to have passed at all here in the cave. The boys were still seconds from fighting the bear. I drop my bow and stand up straight, pulling out my sword and trying to get around the fighting to hit the bear. Hadvar meets the beast with his shield while Ralof tears into the beast's side with his twin axes. The bear's bulk and power are too much for the Imperial and a mass of angry furred muscle crashes down on the shield of the brave Nord, pushing him down against the cave wall. Having found the right visual angle I summon wolfy right behind the bear tear into its hide. The footing is treacherous and hard to navigate, the cleats are the only reason I'm standing upright. Ralof keeps making swipes on the bear but he still might be too weak to do any real damage. Hadvar is pinned and can't take swings at the beast. My furry familiar latches onto the right leg of the bear and starts pulling and tearing. The bear doesn't seem to care. It's fully enveloped Hadvar, a thin piece of wood all that stands between him and the bear's jaw. Then the beast gets pulled back by just a half inch by wolfy and it loses all momentum, taking a blow to the neck from Ralof that makes the bear go limp.
Only the sounds of the stream and heavy breathing are heard for several minutes afterward.
"Nice work" Hadvar says to Ralof, finally catching his breath. "For a rebel."
"Not so bad yourself, for an Imperial." Ralof replies. "Don't think this changes anything ."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Hadvar replies, picking himself up.
I examine the bear just before we leave. I surprise myself by taking the bear's hide right off the dead animal instantly using my inventory. The carcass goes from a fuzzy brown to fifty shades of red immediately and its guts slop out onto the cave floor. It would have been fascinating if it hadn't been so sudden.
"Good idea. It's probably better if we do have some meat on hand in case we need to hide from that dragon," says Ralof. He didn't notice me jump, just heard the bear's entrails slorp over the floor.
Hadvar's already gone on ahead. I thought that maybe he was going to leave us but he pops back down to find us.
"Come on, I can see the exit." he says.
We need no further encouragement, hurrying behind him. The path gets brighter and whiter as we read the end.
"I knew we'd make it!" exclaims Ralof.
"I was starting to wonder," Hadvar says, relieved.
It's literally the light at the end of the tunnel. I did it. I've survived Helgen free and unbound.