Danny pushed his cigarette into the stone fence he was sitting on and got up. He knew that if the guard caught him he'd be served on a platter to an unmentionable Daedra. "Hey kids, don't smoke!", that's what the school specials said. Yeah right. It'd hurt someone who wasn't the top of their Restoration class. Under strict rule of the New Empire, they had cracked down on a lot of stuff. Riften had become squeaky clean, and there was no more corruption in Markarth. There wasn't any fun anymore. No adventure, no more crypts to find, nothing. Danny liked the old days better. Well, he thought he'd like them.
He was only a kid. A seventeen year old Breton. He'd never lived in the days of yore, hell, not even his great-great-great-great grandparents grandparents had lived then. But he liked to read about them, the Dragonborn and her accomplishments. His mother once took him and his sister to up to the Throat of the World on his Last Seed vacation. Mirion had been less exited about the trip, but Danny took so many pictures that two walls of his room were papered. Most importantly on that trip, he had snuck something big out. He reached under his Faon (It's something like a hoodie), and pulled out a fossil on a chain.
A piece of the dragon Paarthanux. One of his smaller bones. Danny wasn't necessarily a bad kid, he just did what he wanted, and was careful about it. He rubbed the bone and smiled, remembering the trip fondly. "What are you doing?", a sarcastic smooth voice asked from behind him. He tucked the necklace in to his Faon, and turned around quickly. It was one of the girls from his school, and one he had his eye on lately. She was a halfling, part Nord, part Dark Elf, and it added elegance to an otherwise strong build and face.
"Nothing.", Danny replied coolly. The girl leaned to one side and looked at him decidedly. "You were smoking, weren't you?", she said with slight accusation. "Maybe." "Oh come off it, I can smell it on you, and the rest of the roll at right at your feet." Danny looked down worriedly. "Ah ha! So you were!", she laughed. Danny rolled his eyes and looked back at her. "But really, you might want to move away from here before the Street Patrol comes and finds you next to a smoldering cigarette. C'mon."
Danny didn't need the advice twice, and walked off with her. "I'm Sevami. I think I've seen you at school.", she said reaching her hand out. "Danny. You're in my Math class." "Oh! You're the guy that made that drawing of a-" "Yeah. On the desk. Hey, it's not like Mr. Oresman was paying attention." They shared a laugh, and stopped in front of a monument to the Old Empire. Sevarmi looked at a clock on a building behind them and started. "Oh crap! I'm late for sword practice! Hey, I've got to go, but maybe we could hang out some time!", she smiled to him and ran off. Danny ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. He'd like that.
How about now? He slipped through an alley and ran by the right wall to an almost unnoticeable slit, and slid through. He knew a shortcut to the Old Battleground. Whiterun had expanded its city limits, and what was once a wide plain was now part of the city. Gjukar's Monument was still there, of course, but it was in the middle of the Old Battleground, which had been turned in to a sports field, mainly for the swordplay teams to use. This shortcut wasn't one used by the general populace; it was filled with thieves, the mad, and even skeevers, but Danny was once with the shadows, and no one seemed to notice him.
He came around a corner and jumped over a fence, and walked toward the main building for the Old Battleground. He pushed open the door. "I'd like to try out for the Sjak Swordplay team.", he told the woman behind the front desk. She looked up at him with a cynical look in her eyes, sighed, and ripped a piece of paper from a small pad. "Here. Hand this to the big Khajiit guy in field A.", she said, giving him the paper. He went through the door on the other side of the room. "Wait. Which one is A?", he thought, and looked around himself.
Danny smacked his forehead. "The one with the big Khajiit, dumbass!" He walked over to field A, and approached the Khajiit. He was sitting on a fold out chair watching two kids spar with interest. The kids in the team were in a circle. "Stop slouching! Keep your wrist firm, but don't make it tight!", he yelled at a young Khajiit boy of about thirteen. Danny tapped his shoulder, and the Khajiit turned his head sharply. "WHAT.", he snapped. Danny took a step back. Even though he thought himself to be tough, this guy scared him. He recollected himself, and held the paper out to the Khajiit.
"I'd like to try out for the team. Sir.", he added quickly. The Khajiit snatched the paper out of his hand. "Stop!", he growled at the two kids sparring. They abruptly put sheathed their swords and joined the circle. He turned back to Danny. "So, you want to join the Whiterun Rams, huh? Please. You're just a toothpick little Breton boy, without any aggression or skill.", he growled. Danny looked him in the eye, his blood boiling. "Do you know who the Forsworn were, or are you so stupid you don't even know a simple piece of history?", Danny spat, instantly regretting it, but not letting his fear show.
The Khajiit glared at him, and laughed. "This one has a spine! Alright kid, you can try out. Just, don't embarrass yourself. You don't look like you've had any training. Training armor's over there, i'll pick you out a partner. You'll call me Coach K'maaiq.", the Khajiit told him, standing up. Danny walked over to the bin on the side of the field that the Coach had pointed at, and dug through the spare armor. Too big, too small, by the Nine, is that a fungus?! He pulled the best fit out and took off his Faon, and slid the thick white plastic over his shirt and pants and attached all of the buckles.
He dug through the bin again for helmet, and attached a sword to his put the helmet on and walked back to the circle. "Look who showed up!", Coach yelled across the field at a figure in armor. They had different armor, theirs was more elegant and was gold colored, much nicer than the rest of the armor. They walked past the coach and joined the circle. "Because you were so late, I'll just have you test out this new meat! They say they want to join; I say, they'll have to do at least decent battle with you."
The gold clad figure stepped in to the middle of the circle with Danny. "Take your stance!", Coach yelled. "Act like you're on a horse newbie!" Danny took the horse stance, and put his hand on the hilt of the sword like his opponent did. "Aaand... Draw!" Before he could get the sword out of the sheath, his opponent had knocked him down, and their sword was hovering over his throat. Coach sighed. "Let's try this again. And, this time, let him get at least two strikes in before you knock his lights out." The gold opponent nodded to him, and reached their hand out for Danny to take.
Thinking quickly, he pulled them down with him, rolled over, got himself up, and while the opponent was still sitting up, he pretended to swing the sword on their neck. Coach clapped, and a few of the other kids cheered. "Surprise! That's a good skill to have! I'm sold; congrats kid, you're on the team!" The gold armored kid pulled off her helmet and threw it down beside her, still in the grass. "But coach! That's not fair!" "It's not against the rules either, Sevami!" "Oh!", Danny said surprised. He hadn't realized they were Sevami. He had known it, but he hadn't noticed. He pulled his helmet off too.
"Danny?!", Sevami said exasperatedly. "Hi.", he grinned.