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I felt refreshed when I exited the woodlands; my mind had spent a lot of time wandering and I had been lucky enough to not run into anything that cared about interrupting me. I could see the large hold off in the distance and knew I would arrive there in about an hour's time. For now, I had the whole starlit sky to gaze up at, and being the ever wondrous cat I was, the idea of what they might really be, how far away they really were, poked at the back of my mind.

Discarding the thought for now though, I turned back towards my goal and nearly yowled at what I saw. Off in the distance, I could see multiple small figures, but the one that had unnerved me was a huge silhouette, standing at what looked to be nearly thirty feet tall. It hadn't seen me, seeming far more interested in the smaller figures running around it. I took its existence as a threat and pulled out my bow, strapping an arrow to the string and aimed at the monster.

Before I could release my arrow, the giant let out one final yell and slumped to the ground, causing it to shake beneath my paws. Curiously, I glanced at it again, waiting to see if it would rise again, but the beast remained deathly still. Cautiously, I slid my bow over my back and approached the group, hoping to help in any way I could.

As I approached, I made sure to make my presence known, willing to take the risk of how they would react. I figured there wouldn't be any bandits hanging around so close to Whiterun, and banked on that as I walked closer, still unarmed.

I had been expecting either disregard or a greeting and was prepared to defend myself if necessary, but I hadn't been expecting the complete disdain I was greeted with instead. Some woman holding a bow clearly superior to my own decided that she needed to express her annoyance with more than just a facial expression.

"So, you just stand there and wait for us to take down the giant ourselves and then you just try to walk on by as if nothing happened. Do you consider yourself a warrior, cat, or just someone who uses others to his advantage?"

I thought about snarling back, but considering the position I was in, the gear the group was wearing and how much they outnumbered me, instincts informed me the best idea would be to act at least slightly subdued.

"I tried to involve myself the best I could, but I had barely gotten the chance to notch an arrow before he f-"

"You're going to have to work a whole lot harder if you ever want to be considered more than just a kitten fresh off his mother's teat."

The insult was personal and I did nothing to hold back the snarl that erupted from my curled lips, even hissing to make a statement. While I was fully aware of my position, acting like a weak bitch just for survival was far below me.

"Do you even do anything more useful beyond killing giants or is there actually a purpose for the oxygen you happily take in beyond demeaning anyone who happens to catch a mere glance of your band?"

My paws were clinched and were more than ready to jump to my weapons if it came to that. I liked living, but my own personal honor was more important to me than life. Granted, for a Khajiit, what actions were honorable could be very flexible, but I stood for what I believed in, and after nearly having my head chopped off by a lunatic general, I was in no mood to suffer personal insults.

The woman regarded me for a few moments longer before speaking again.

"Perhaps I was a bit brash, Khajiit. Maybe you aren't as young and naive as you look. Both are questions that have yet to find answers, but I'm willing to let your actions answer them both if you care so strongly about your honor. You don't look like much, but I have been proven wrong a couple times in my life."

My fur bristled at the retort, but I kept my cool, having already asserted myself once and having no need to do so again. The woman continued on.

"My name is Aela. I'm part of the Companions, a time honored group that has far surpassed being a mere band. We are the most notorious warriors in all of Skyrim, both in war and in lore."

I regarded the "not a band" that stood before me, numbering about seven strong. Either the Companions were a very small and elite force or else this lady was full of herself and it was better to leave them alone and just continue to Whiterun. Curiosity demanded I find out more, and I relented.

"Elsweyr doesn't speak much of the other races beyond the biggest parts of their history and culture. I hope I don't insult anyone here..." I paused, catching eye contact with Aela before continuing on, "but I must ask if you could tell me more about who the Companions are."

Thankfully, the rest of the group seemed both more cooperative and friendly towards me and it wasn't long before I felt satisfied as to who they were and what they were known for. One of them invited me to visit Jorvaskr in Whiterun if I was interested in becoming one. I wasn't so sold on it for the moment, but I also figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to see about making some allies. The dragon situation definitely had me believing that alliances would be a necessary thing in the future.

Trudging up the final steps to the hold entrance was a tiring chore and I was more than ready to rent a room in an inn and sleep until I was ready to wake. The guards were quick to stop me, but relented when I mentioned that I had news to deliver to the Jarl about an attack at Helgen. I kept my description rather broad, keeping the information about Ulfric, the dragon and my involvement out of it.

Walking into the city, I immediately asked one of the guards for directions to the nearest inn. I followed his directions and soon found myself inside a warm cabin. I paid the lady at the counter her fifteen gold and stumbled to the room, my brain already shutting down the rest of my body in advance of actually hitting the bed. Moments later, I had managed to shuffle out of my armor and even pulled off my loincloth, wanting to sleep with no restraints. If someone walked in on me, then so be it, it would be their fault, not mine.

I took a couple minutes to numbly set my own lock on the door and then blew out the candle. Slipping under the covers, I closed my eyes and drifted back into the dream world of my subconscious, the corners of my mouth turning upward just a bit as I caught sight of a lithe and naked snow leopard in the distance, moaning out his name before fully falling asleep.

I almost always hated waking up, as almost all my dreams were of the beautiful snow cat back home and waking up meant leaving him. But I could not live life in my dreams and if I ever wanted to make the chance of those dreams coming true, I had to keep making a name for myself. That need was what brought me the decision that it would be well worth it to at least try at becoming a Companion. If they truly were as notorious as they claimed, the name Selian would surely have a stronger ring to it.

First priority stood though- I had to get news of Helgen's demise to the Jarl in Dragonsreach. Delaying that crucial message was out of the books and so I set forth on the short walk through the hold to reach it. On my way, I learned some very peculiar information. Apparently there were two rival clans here, each of whom claimed to have the more storied history while demeaning their counterpart as much as they verbally could. The Battle-Borns and the Greymanes were what they were called. I laughed to myself, trying to think of an even more pompous sounding name than Battle-Borns. While proving to be quite fun, it had to end as I reached the staircase that led to the Jarl's palace. The information I had was serious, and it was only appropriate to approach a hold King with due respect and that would not come from chuckling under my breath.

I entered in and was amazed at the sight in front of me. It was more vast and well decorated than any place I had seen in Elsweyr outside of the high palace in honor of Fadomai. Forcing myself to stop gawking, I straightened myself again and made my way to the Jarl's throne. I expected there to be some sort of first line I had to go through before talking to him and was not disappointed. A dark elf, the first I had seen of their kind, stepped in front of my path, clearly some sort of top guard and demanded to know why I was here, interrupting the duties of her Jarl.

Now was not the time for jokes, even though so much of me begged to send back out a coy response about how he could be so busy sitting in his chair, but I had learned manners from my mother and intelligence with age and both of them were against such a boldly stupid comment. Instead, I decided the best approach would be to give her the truth in the most direct way possible.

"I'm here to see the king to deliver the message that Helgen was attacked by a dragon. Ulfric was there and he escaped what was to be certain death during the diversion. I'm here to tell the Jarl that his people, both here in Whiterun and also in Riverwood, are in danger."

It seemed convincing enough to me, and she bought it. Not like it was anything to be proud of, as it really was the truth, so it wasn't like I was tricking anyone. The Jarl himself had apparently been paying at least a little attention because he asked me directly to explain in detail what had happened.

I obliged, but again left out the details of my own encounter. My part in it was not important, and it would serve me far better to make it sound as though I was nothing more than a bystander to the whole ordeal. The Jarl was not smiling when I was finished with my description, but I could hardly blame him; he had just been informed that his entire hold and people were in grave danger.

The weight of the situation was clear to me. The dragons were here for one reason only and that was to destroy the entire world. I liked this world, therefore, I felt it was partly my duty to do whatever I could to save it and if that meant fighting dragons, then fine. I was not about to put myself in the shoes of the Jarl's voluntary dragon slayer, so I kept these thoughts to my own mind.

Not that he apparently needed any encouragement; quietly mumbling to himself for a few seconds before looking back at me with the look of a man who had just come up with an idea.

"If your story is true, young feline, and I for one believe it is, then we have much to worry about, but even more to prepare for. Time is of the essence, and there is no one here who understands time as well as my adviser and court mage, Farengar. I think it is best we ask him about such matters for the history of the dragons is one of his most favorite topics."

We quickly came to his room, just adjacent to the main hall, to find him mulling over what looked to be some glowing table. I immediately recognized it to be an enchanting table and was left rather impressed. The mage went on with his incantation for a few seconds longer before turning around and addressing the Jarl.

The conversation was brief and direct. The Jarl introduced me and informed Farengar of my involvement in such matters. The mage took an interest in me and began directing his questions at me.

Through his questions, I gained a whole new understanding on what the arrival of the dragons meant for not just Skyrim, but the whole of Tamriel itself. It was a sign of impending death for all the seven races and for the world itself. That didn't sound promising at all.

Farengar then brought up the subject about how there was an item he would need to formulate any kind of hypothesis on why they had chosen the present time to make their move and what the motive was behind their sudden uprising after laying dormant for nearly half a millennium. He needed an item he called a dragonstone and after mentioning where I could find it, I pulled out my map and a smile crept up on my face.

The place he was talking about was the same place I had emptied just two days ago in the effort to retrieve a man his adored ring. Thinking back on what I picked up, the image of the dragonstone formed in my mind and I was sure I had seen it inside the cave. In fact, I was sure I had picked it up out of curiosity. Shifting my pack onto the floor, I bent down and within seconds stood back up, holding what I was sure had to be what he was talking about.

I was not disappointed as the mage cut a short breath and his eyes lit up. He seemed genuinely happy to have found someone who enjoyed exploring as much as he claimed to, and rather excited at the venture of continuing his work promptly. Before he could do anymore work though, commotion behind us drew our attention away.

The dark elf entered the room and we all got the news none of us wanted to hear. A dragon had been spotted just outside the nearby farming community outside the hold, right where I had seen the giant felled by the Companions. This reptile was not merely floating through the skies either, but had already created a large amount of damage and death.

Farengar seemed quite enthralled at the prospect of seeing a real dragon for the first time in his life, and kept pace with us as we ran upstairs to get the full rundown from the guard who had seen it happen while he was on patrol. The story was well confirmed by him and matched what we had heard initially.

The decision making would be left to the Jarl, and though my fate was not closely linked to those living here, I felt it my obligation to the hold and to the people to do what I could to hold off this threat. The Jarl seemed to assume as such and sent me and the dark elf out to slay the dragon if we could or to at least drive it away.

Thus began my second flirtation with death, but this was one that left me feeling much differently than the first. I had the choice here, as I could tell the Jarl that I had no plans of involving myself in his issues and there would be nothing he could do as I was not a citizen of his hold or the Nordish country. That possibility was in thought only in the fact that I could run away a coward and live, but it only lived in the furthest reaches of my mind. I was not afraid to die, but merely afraid of how I might die. This was one way I could stomach for sure.

The trip out to the troops was a short one, and after an inspiring speech by the elf lady, we ran out to meet the dragon. After a few minutes of running, we reached a tower that had been literally rent apart. The outer blocks were scattered for hundreds of feet in all directions, and the inside was clearly visible in all directions.

The dragon, however, was not in sight, either having left, or hiding below the horizon. We split up to search for survivors, expecting the worse. Quite quickly, I came upon one as I crested the walkway to the wrecked tower. The words in between his gasps were not reassuring.

"It's still here. It flew off just moments ago, but it'll be back."

Wasting no time, I called out to my standing comrades, alerting them to the impending and still very present danger looming somewhere above us. Shortly thereafter, a loud reptilian roar sounded above us and the ground shook as a huge beast, most certainly the dragon in question, landed a few hundred feet away and let loose a torrent of fire.

Sparing no time, determined to take immediate advantage of any distance I had, I pulled my bow out, notched an arrow and let it fly at its scales. The steel penetrated flesh and I got a small bit of satisfaction from the drizzle of blood. That was quickly extinguished as the dragon clamped his jaws around a guard that came too close and crushed him into two halves.

A controlled sort of panic ensued, with everyone screaming out in anger over their fallen comrade, and in retaliation, letting loose with everything they had. The elf let loose arrow after arrow, each one finding its mark. Righteous fury fueled me as I dashed up the beast's side, unseen until I began opening lacerations with my blade.

The response was quick and brutal. I laced a few great strikes of my blade into the swine's side before its huge and heavy tail smashed into the ground a few feet from me. The convulsing earth launched me backwards tens of feet, but my feline agility accounted for it while I was still airborne, my body contorting around to allow me to land on all four paws, spreading out to take the brunt of the impact force.

Shaken, but not out, I unleashed a torrent of arrows while the guards hacked at the beast, numbers simply overpowering the dragon's size and power advantage. It took only a few moments for it to realize this and after one more near earth shattering smack of its tail, the beast spread enormous wings and took to the sky.

Everyone took to cover, each man and woman knowing that they had won the initial battle, but also understanding that the dragon was only looking for an advantage and would land again for another round. No more than a minute later, it did, dropping no more than fifty feet in front of me and letting loose fire so hot that I could feel my fur curl.

As soon as the blast was over, I spun around with an arrow already notched and let it go. No arrow could have flown truer as it found its home buried deep in the beast's maw. The dragon reared back in agony and the guards sprung. Each let loose an arrow of their own before pulling their swords out again and going straight to work.

In too much pain to manage to breathe in enough air to pour hell out again, and with no way to close its mouth around a guard, the beast quickly learned it was beaten. It spread its wings out again, most likely to make a much more long term escape, but the guards were both merciless and ready. As soon as the wings spread, the guards switched their attention to them, slicing away at the vulnerable, thin membrane.

Still able to gain altitude though, the dragon shrieked as pain lanced through its body, each pump of its wings more painful than the last and less effective as the wind passing through the tears in the wings tore them open more. As quickly as it achieved flight, the weight of the beast overcame what it could keep aloft with its shredded wings, sending the beast tumbling back to the ground.

I launched myself skyward as the beast landed, having enough experience after one tail smash to know what it would do. Many of the guards understood their potential peril as well and followed suit. After the dust settled, more arrows flew in and the dragon was quickly dispatched, the last moan of the breath of life leaving its body.

Satisfied, but also very worn out, I knelt down to catch my breath. What I saw following that was almost unbelievable. The flesh and scales of the felled dragon began to melt away, bursting into flames in the sky. A golden aura glowed around the edges of its dissolving body and then I suddenly felt a connection I would still find impossible to explain.

Wind suddenly swirled around me, visible wisps leaving the dragon and circling around me before seeping into my armor and fur. I stared at myself in horror as a fleeting, yet terrifying thought flashed through my mind, my imagination creating a scene where I was writhing on the ground with wings sprouting from me and my fur molding into the scales only an Argonian would be proud to wear.

Glancing around me, I stopped breathing, waiting for what seemed like the inevitable fate to take place, but mere seconds after it started, the last of the wisps soaked into me and the wind became calm again, leaving only the skeleton of what was once a very alive and ferocious dragon to decorate the ground. The guards gathered around me as I managed to stagger back to my hind paws, using my sword as support.

"Could it be true, is it really him?"

"Is he the one the prophecy speaks of?"

"He just consumed the dragon's soul!"

Each comment made little sense to my confused mind, but one word caught my attention.

"Did you see that? He must be the dragonborn."

"The what? What in Fadomai's name is that?"

The mess in my head seemed to be sorting itself out and I could think coherently again, as it became more obvious that no such horrific transformation would take place upon my form. Still, the calls of the guards around me were making no connections in my brain. Except for that one word, dragonborn.

The book! Of course, that's where I had seen that. I had taken that book with me when I left from Riverhold. It was still locked inside my pack. Making a mental note to read it later, I began to finally ask real questions.

Most of the guards agreed with each other about how only the dragonborn could permanently kill a dragon by consuming its soul, and after just watching what happened, there was little I could do to disagree with them. What left me rattled was that they said I would have the ability to do something with my voice. They called it a Thu'um, and whatever it was, they seemed to want me to prove I could do it.

I had no idea what they meant, or even how I could prove I was their dragonborn, if in fact I even was. Being a dragonborn was nothing more than a word to me still and so though I knew it meant a lot to the guards, I had little clue as to why. While they kept pressing me to prove I could do something crazy with my voice, an unlikely helper stepped up, squeezing my shoulder.

"While I appreciate all of your help in battle, there is no reason to create a bunch of stories while we have no proof. There hasn't been a sign or word of a dragonborn since the fourth era, so let's stop jumping to conclusions."

Speaking quietly, she told me to walk back with her to the keep, that the Jarl would most definitely want to hear the news of the dragon's demise. She also said that I could expect some sort of reward considering my unasked for and very brave involvement in defending their people. The walk back was relieving, the stress from the battle slowly easing back down, each step forward reminding me that I was still a Khajiit and not a newly formed dragon and that I had survived not just one, but two encounters with the huge beasts.

We crested the hill when the ground quaked beneath our boots. Both of us turned around, deflated, expecting another dragon to show up, but instead, the elf's face went blank for another reason.

"DOH-VAH-KEEM!!"

The loud voice seemed unearthly, raspy, yet strong, very strong. I looked over at the she-elf and her face spelled it out for me. Whatever had just happened was very important and had a major significance to us both and to quite a few others.

"They have not spoken to this land in hundreds of years. This is big, very big and something tells me it has to do with both the dragon we just slain....and you. Follow me as swiftly as your legs can carry you, Selian, or should I more aptly call you, Dragonborn."

The very next words out of my mouth were, "Oh shit!"