He sat on the hard wooden chair, mulling the task before him.
In the chair was a young Imperial, from Cyrodill, male and well-built. He wore a set of unadorned steel armor with a Skyforge steel war ax tethered to his hip. He was thinking about the camp he was about to clear out, as he was a bounty hunter. He killed bandits and giants whenever they became a nuisance. He was well accustomed to war and fighting, as he had aided the Imperials in the downfall of Ulfric Stormcloak several years beforehand. Several of his advisors, such as Galmar Stone-fist, had escaped. Now, to line his pockets, he became a sellsword.
He heard a knock on the door of his house, Breezehome, in Whiterun. He opened it to reveal a Kajiit in simple leather armor. The Imperial grinned and stepped aside to admit the Khajiit. "How are you?" the Khajiit asked. Sin'zah, being raised by humans, had an adequate grasp that many Khajiit lack. The Imperial, Samuel, shrugged and sighed. "The usual. I've been surveying a fort where bandits are holed up. The captain of the guard in Falkreath is offering a nice 250 septim reward for someone to clear it. They seem reasonably well stocked, so I could grab some of the armor or arms and make some more. Adrianne has been running short of iron and steel lately and I could get a good price for it. What about you?" He asked. The Kajiit's tail flicked and he said, "Well, I was hoping I could join you." For the second time that day, the Imperial's face lit with a broad smile.
Sin'Zah was left on the doorstep of Jorvaskar as a kitten, and the then companions raised him as their own. He studied for many years under the great Eorland Grey-Mane and was able to make leather armor as tough as dragon hide, and sharpen weapons to an amazing degree. He later became married to Aela a number of years ago. When Samuel moved to Whiterun, they became fast friends.
"I always value your company," Samuel said.
The next day they set out to find the bandit camp. They set up camp about a kilometer away. They had begun to set snares when they heard yells and a feline hiss. Sin'Zah dug out a spyglass out of his travel pack and looked at the old fort. They saw a series of prisoners being ferried in. one in particular caught Samuel's eye, a Khajiit female who had struck a guard and was being restrained by three other bandits. Sin'Zah bristled with anger. "Never have I had a love for bandits, but this is absolutely cruel. What could they have done?"
They continued to survey the fort when Galmar Stone-fist walked into sight. Samuel gasped. "Him!" Samuel said. "You remember the fall of the Stormcloaks, right? Five years ago?" Sin'Zah nodded. "Well," Samuel continued, "He escaped. But what he's doing in the company of bandits I have no idea." Samuel nodded his head to a thicket, about fifty meters from the fort. "Come on." They snuck to the thicket and surveyed the area. Sin'Zah nodded his head to the ramparts. "They have sentries, but they look bored. We could probably sneak up there, no problem." Samuel nodded and they snuck up to a wall that had collapsed and picked their way up. When they got to the top, the pair took cover behind a set of barrels. They waited for the sentry get close to them, and then they vaulted the barrels. Samuel made short work of him with his ax. Unfortunately, the sound of the arrows and armor hitting the stone drew attention to the pair, where Stone-fist spotted them. "Shoot them!" he shouted, then ran into the hold where the prisoners were held. "Cover me! I'm going to make sure he doesn't harm the prisoners."
He jumped the railing and bolted to the hold, arrows whizzing by him. He made it, and slammed the door and heard several arrows hit it. He locked it, took a deep breath, and then began to make his way down the staircase.
