Mutants Misplaced

Chapter 4

Welcome to Skyrim

"This is gonna make it harder to stay hidden." said Leo as the rays of the dawning sun touched their skin.

"Yeah, but I ain't going back into that tomb again, once is enough for me." said Raph "I'd rather fight something that stays dead, than wait in there and possibly having those boneheads coming back to life again."

"We also need to find a way back home, not to mention food." said Mona.

The mutants had already figured out that the necklace Mikey picked up was the thing that brought them to this world, but they never saw it during their fall, so it was most likely back on their world. That meant that they had to find something else that could take them home.

So far, it didn't look like the technology on this world was advanced enough for space travel, but there was magic and that could be the key.

Another obvious problem was the locals. After seeing the corpses in the tomb, they knew that there were humanoid life on this world at some point, but there was at least some form of intelligent life still here, the small lab was proof of that. While the room itself was most certainly as old as the tomb, the stuff in it didn't seem to be more than ten to fifteen years old, not to mention that it seemed like it had been used not too long ago.

The turtles had had their fill of hostile locals, both on other worlds and on their own, humanoid or otherwise. However, finding a way home could require the help from someone with knowledge of this new world, which meant that the mutants need to find someone that they could trust, once they've gotten past any language barriers.

For the time being, they decided to keep to the shadows and observe before doing anything involving contact with the natives. While preparing to move out, Donnie discovered something that would hinder them, their shell-cells were dead. He guessed that the transportation had drained the power from the batteries, and until they could find a way to replace or recharge them, splitting up should be avoided.

Jumping down from the ledge, they headed downhill and kept their eyes peeled for any signs of people. Aside from a couple of larger rocks and the odd tree, there weren't much that they could use to hide if they needed to, so they had to be very observant.

After some time of walking, they saw a wooden cabin just past a river with rocky ledges, standing outside the cabin were four humanoids. Hurrying to the river, the mutants hid behind the ledge, this was the first time they came across people and they didn't want to reveal themselves, but they did want to get a good view of the natives.

Spying over the edge, they managed to see clearly what the four humanoids looked like. Much to their surprise, the people were human, male humans at that. Mona, Sephie and Tyroth were the most shocked, while the turtles were only mildly surprised, this had happened to them before.

Three of the humans were dressed as if they lived in the wild, with clothes or armor made of animal hides. All three had boots and loin cloths, with two of them having something resembling a t-shirt of tunic while the third only had a very short cape. They were all unshaven and had half long hair in dark colors and wore swords in their belts.

The fourth man was much older, having a longer white beard and almost no hair on his head. He wore a shirt of white cloth with a brown vest and gray pants and seemed agitated.

Though the mutants couldn't hear what was being said, it soon became clear that the elderly man wanted the other three to leave, which they showed no intention to do.

The man with the short cape drew his sword and knocked over the old man with his other hand, while the other two laughed.

Tyroth couldn't stand what they were doing and was about to get up and help the old man, when Leo placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We can't get involved." he said. "We don't know what we're dealing with yet."

Tyroth didn't like it, but Leo had a point, they needed to stay hidden. But when the large man kicked the old man while he laid on the ground, Tyroth didn't care about staying hidden any longer.

"Screw this! Those dirtbags are going down!" he snarled as he left the hiding place, ignoring the others' protests.

He didn't waste any time as he dashed over to the cabin. The three men never noticed him until he was right on top of them. Slugging the largest one first, Tyroth quickly punched the remaining two before they even had time to react. In no time at all, all three was laying on the ground, still conscious but not much of a threat any more.

"W-what in Oblivion happened?" said one of the thugs in clear English.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna gut someone for this." said the large man and he started to get back on his feet. When he got onto his knees he saw Tyroth standing between them and the old man. The other two saw him as well when they stood up. Much to Tyroth's surprise, they didn't seem to be shocked over his appearance other than his size.

"Damn lizard! I'm gonna wear that tail as a belt!" the large man yelled, taking a swing at Tyroth with his sword.

"I don't think so." said Tyroth as he effortlessly caught the mans wrist.

Struggling to get free, the man noticed Tyroth's wings.

"What the... Wings?" the man said confused, but any further thoughts were interrupted when Tyroth gave him a headbutt, making him stumbling backwards a bit, falling to his back when Tyroth released his grip.

The other two moved towards Tyroth to help their comrade, but stopped dead in their tracks when two arrows knocked their swords out of their hands. Standing by the river, Sephie readied another arrow as she walked towards them, while the rest of the reptiles just had made their way there, weapons drawn.

"The place is crawling with lizards!" said one man.

"Let's get out of here!" said the second.

"Good riddance." said Tyroth as the three men picked up their swords and hurried away.

"That wasn't a good idea, Tyroth. We were supposed to stay hidden." Leo said in a scolding tone.

"Sorry, but I just can't stand by when something like this happens, never have."

"I understand, and believe me, I would want to do the same, but we have to be careful."

While Leo talked with Tyroth, Mona walked over to the old man, concerned about his well being.

"Are you alright?" she asked cautiously, kneeling beside him.

"Ugh... aside from the pain in my side, I'll be fine. Thank you for asking." he said, looking up at her with nearly white eyes.

"You're blind?"

"Not quite, but there may not be many years left before I am. I can still see shapes and some colors to some degree though, so there's no need to pamper me."

"Let me help you up at least."

"That's very kind of you, my dear." the old man reached out to grab Mona's hand and managed after a little fumbling.

"Your hands... they're scaly." he said, causing Mona to worry a little. What should she say?

"Then I wasn't imagining, those ruffians really said 'lizard'. To think that I'd meet an Argonian in my own yard. And a whole lot of you lizard-people, at that." he said looking around.

"Did you guys hear that?" Sephie whispered to the turtles and Tyroth, to which they nodded.

"Is that... a problem?" Mona asked.

"No, not at all, my dear. You just don't see many Argonians in these parts of Skyrim, let alone such a large group. Are you a merchant caravan, like the Khajiit?"

"No, we're simply lost, and trying to get home."

"Oh, then you've got a long trip in front of you, my friends. I hope that you have supplies for such a trip. If not, I recommend that you stop by in Whiterun."

"Whiterun? Where's that?"

"Of dear, you really are lost. It's in that direction." the old man said pointing roughly towards the fort the team had seen before. "I'm pretty sure that you can see Dragonsreach, the fortress on the top of the hill that Whiterun is built on, from here. The people there are quite friendly, even with the war and all."

"Wait, what war?" asked Leo.

"The Civil War of course, between the Empire and the Stormcloaks. Just how long have you been in Skyrim anyway?"

"Not very long at all. What's this war about?" said Leo.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure, I don't get much news here. But I do know that my nephew is in the Imperial Legion, that's why those ruffians came here, they don't like the Empire and thinks that I support them. Fools I tell you, there's a much greater threat to us all now that the dragons have returned."

"Did you just say 'dragons'?" asked Tyroth.

"Yes, there is an old legend, but very few knows it anymore. Now how did it go again?

'Though defeated in times of old, their defeat was merely a delay.

From the time after Oblivion opened, when the sons of Skyrim would spill their own blood, the dragons would return.

The World-Eater will awake and the truth will finally dawn, and it will dawn in fire.

But there is one who they fear, one that can claim their might. In their tongue, he is Dovahkiin, Dragonborn!'"

Upon hearing the word 'Dragonborn', the six mutants all looked questioning at Tyroth.

"Don't look at me, I've already been part of one world saving destiny, I ain't doing a second one." he said in a low voice.

"That's quite the tale, and it's true?" said Sephie.

"Well, no one have seen a dragon for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and then they show up out of nowhere when the Civil War rages. It's too close to the legend to be a coincident. Keep an eye on the skies on your travels, my friends. Those dragons attack whoever they want to, if they want to."

"Thanks for the warning." said Leo.

"Don't mention it, lad. Now, off you go, it'll take you a couple of hours to reach Whiterun and the weather can be cruel around here."

"But, what about you? What if those thugs come back?" said Mona.

"There's no need to worry about me, dear. There's a patrol of guards that will pass by within the hour or so, they're more than enough to deal with a handful of bandits."

"Okay... if you say so..."

"If you by any chance do meet the Jarl, tell him that old Torleif says 'hi'."

"Will do, thanks."

The mutants started walking towards Whiterun, they had a lot to process and even more to learn about this new world.

"Dropped in the middle of another war, and now with dragons added to the mix. Our memoirs are gonna look like comic books!" said Raph annoyed.

"I know! Ain't it great?" said Mikey.

"Let's focus on current events, guys. We know nothing of this war, so we'd best stay out of it all together." said Leo.

"Yeah, but you did hear what, uhm, Torleif said, right? There are lizard-people here! We might be able to walk around in the open! Just think of it, no need to hide, to be out in the sun, and just act like normal humans." said Sephie.

"Hold that thought for now, Sephie." said Donnie "We still need to know more about these Argonians, all we know now is that they have scales, but other than that, we're not sure what reptilian features they may or may not have. And we all look quite different from each other, due to our different species, so not all of us might be able to pass as an Argonian."

"Maybe we should make up a story of some sort, to explain why we look the way we do." said Mona. "Something like that we're from an undiscovered island far to the south."

"That could work, but we might need something else, just in case." said Leo.

"Hey, what about that Dragonborn stuff? That could be a great way to get some respect and such." said Mikey, turning his gaze at Tyroth.

"I've already told you, I ain't Dragonborn. I wasn't born like this, remember, I was transformed."

"Technically, that could count as being reborn, so in a sense you are Dragonborn." said Donnie.

"You ain't to much help." Tyroth muttered.

"Don't be such a sourpuss, big guy, look on the bright side, we might get to meet the Jarl... What's a Jarl?" said Mikey.

"Jarl is a title given to those that would ascend to king in medieval Sweden, the English word is earl which both meant 'chieftain'. Some were charged with ruling an area for the king in his stead, and I think that that is what we are dealing with here, but I could be wrong." said Tyroth.

"How come you know so much about vikings, jarls and the like, anyway?" said Raph.

"Didn't we tell you? Tyroth's a descendent of the vikings." said Sephie.

"Really? Wow. That explains a few things." said Mona. "May I ask on which side of your family?"

"My mother's actually. When dad discovered that when we were tracing our lineages, he simply sighed. He had long suspected that his mother-in-law was the direct descendent of Attila the Hun. He wasn't that far off though."

"Well, if the people here have more in common with vikings, I think that you should do the talking, Tyroth, since you're the expert." said Leo.

"Placing the role of leader on me, are you?"

"Think of it as if you've been appointed jarl."

Meanwhile, not far from the mutants, the three bandits from earlier where walking through a forest.

"Imagine, being humiliated by lizards, the boss is gonna be furious." said one.

"Let him be that then. If we play our cards right, he might take out his anger on the lizards instead of us." said the second.

"Then it's new boots for the whole gang!" said the third.

Looks like the gang's made some new enemies, and after less than a day no less.

Apologies if this chapter has been rather heavy with lore and the like, but it's needed, and there will be more chapter like this in the future. But, there will also be more action packed ones as well, like the next.

Be seeing you all!