Hearing that voice felt strange, so I opened my eyes and saw the bear frozen in place.
I was extremely confused and was about to touch it when I heard that voice again.
"Son, can you hear me?"
"Who's speaking?"
I looked around, but I couldn't see who was talking. It also felt odd to hear someone call me son again, since I was an orphan.
"You're alright. That's good."
"I asked, who are you?"
"For now, you cannot know. But what I can tell you is to move forward with all your strength until you reach the small village to survive. If you want to know more, go to the Temple of the Divines in Solitude."
I felt that the voice was fading away little by little.
"WAIT!"
At that moment, I noticed time starting to move again. The only thing I could think of was to run, or else the bear would catch me.
Time resumed its normal flow, and I began running as fast as I could while hearing the bear's steady steps chasing me.
I didn't know why, but it seemed like the bear was struggling to keep up with me compared to before—it was falling behind.
'Did I regain my stamina?'
The climb to Ivarstead was much longer and steeper, but I managed to make my way up.
In the distance, I saw Ivarstead, though it looked different; it had more houses than I remembered. However, this wasn't the time to admire it.
"HELP!"
I shouted to see if a guard might assist me, but I didn't see anyone, so I had to keep running.
As I was about to reach the village, I heard a voice yelling in my direction.
"KEEP RUNNING!"
Ahead, I saw two guards aiming their bows. This gave me a sense of relief—I just needed to keep running and leave the bear to them.
The guards began shooting arrows at the bear, trying to slow it down, while I did my best to dodge its attacks.
I reached the guards, who could now attack the bear more effectively.
I sat on the ground and saw one of the guards shoot an arrow into the bear's eye, making it roar in pain.
The other let out a loud shout that made me tremble slightly.
I watched as the bear retreated, as if frightened.
'Battle Cry! The guard must be a Nord.'
Seeing the Nords' racial ability firsthand was impressive. It was very different from how it was in the game—it felt like a small shockwave.
"Kid, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It didn't catch me."
Standing before the guards, I suddenly remembered something. Stormcloaks. If there was anyone who could be considered the most racist people in all of Skyrim, it was the Stormcloaks. Their primary hatred was for non-human races—in other words, me.
"Hey, look at him."
Both guards stared at me and then burst into laughter.
"I never thought I'd see a hybrid between an Argonian and a… Nord?"
"Looks like your father took The Lusty Argonian Maid a bit too seriously."
They laughed again, while I recalled that The Lusty Argonian Maid was an erotic book in Skyrim, akin to porn.
'How could anyone get excited over mere words without visuals?'
I tried to figure it out but couldn't come up with an explanation, so I set the thought aside.
"Thank you so much for saving me."
I thanked them as expected, since I would've died to the bear like in many of my game runs.
"Don't worry about it. It's our job to protect anyone in need."
"Yeah, you've got terrible luck running into a bear. Be more careful next time."
"And how did you end up here in that state?"
I looked at myself again; I was wearing nothing but a destroyed robe. I had to think of an excuse quickly, and only one thing came to mind.
"I don't know. I just woke up by the river, and the bear was there."
The guards fell silent.
"Well, you were lucky to make it here. Where's your family?"
"I don't remember."
The guards blinked several times.
"Huh?"
"Like I said, I don't remember."
--
--
[Third-Person POV]
The strange boy now sat beside the guards, who were talking among themselves, while he held a garlic bread in his hands.
He began eating the bread, ignoring what the guards were discussing.
"Do you think he's one of the kids that were kidnapped?"
"Maybe. We'll have to alert the others in case they're nearby."
The guards glanced at the boy, wondering what to do with him since he couldn't stay in Ivarstead, which was more of a transit spot and home to mostly elderly folk.
"We should send him to Riften."
"You're right, but first, we need to figure out how much memory he's lost."
"Kid, do you know your name?"
The boy was about to answer, but his mind went blank.
'My name… What was my name?'
He tried to think, but couldn't recall it. He figured he must have lost some of his memories after being electrocuted by the beer earlier.
"My name..."
Suddenly, a word came to mind.
"Lun."
"Lun? Is that your name?"
"Uh, yeah, that's it."
"It's obvious you're a hybrid. I'm Hraldir, and this here is Cassian. Don't mind his face; it's just how he looks."
"Hey!"
Lun didn't quite understand what they were joking about, but they seemed laid-back and didn't discriminate against him.
He finished eating the garlic bread, and the guards decided to take him to the village, so someone could examine him.
As they entered the village, the first thing Lun noticed was how different it looked. From a distance, he saw a large mill that didn't exist before; previously, there had only been a small one for grinding wheat.
He looked toward the farm and then at what should have been Temba's sawmill.
'Where's the sawmill?'
It was just an empty space with nothing there.
He looked further and saw Narfi's house, which wasn't destroyed but instead in good condition.
"Excuse me, what year is it?"
"Uh, let's see… It's the year 180 of the Fourth Era."
Lun felt a bit dizzy and fell backward.
'Year 180? That's 20 years before the start of the game.'
He looked around and saw a strange flow in the air.
"Hey, are you alright?"
He felt his heartbeat quicken and his blood flow surge. A strange but familiar voice called to him, as if summoning him somewhere.
He collapsed to the ground, feeling incredibly dizzy.
"Quick! Get the old man!"
Cassian ran toward the inn to fetch someone.
Lun's head throbbed with intense pain as words formed in his mind.
"Your heart needs to better adapt to your body, so you'll feel some pain, but you'll manage. I'm sure."
Overwhelmed by it all, Lun fainted in front of Hraldir, who picked him up and ran toward the inn.